Word Count for the week: 10,791 words.  A bit up and down this week. A few good days, a few days where I fell asleep getting my kids to sleep (in their bed) and had to struggle to wake myself up just to knock out my thousand words. You can sleep when you’re dead though, right? They promised me. . .

Total Word Count: 46,342. Right on the cusp of the mid point, contextural shift.

Quote du jour:
“I’m good,” he said.
“You don’t sound good.”
“I said I’m good.”
“You did say that.”
Robert sighed. “Being surrounded by Imps not trying to kill you, I guess it takes a little bit of getting used to.”

View of Epsilon Eridani and its dust cloud from the moon of a supposed second planet.

Epsilon Eridani

For those of you out there who have played Frontier or First Encounters and hung around Federation space, you should be pretty familiar with Epsilon Eridani. Its a fun system. Its a corporate system. There is one inhabited planet, a terra-formed world called ‘New California’ and ruled by ‘New Governator’.
(Ok I made that last bit up). There is only one planet starport, Masseyville, but there is an orbital and a few other settlements.

I described in an earlier post and in my Lave Radio interview how the characters will be visiting the system and will have to interact with the people and the environment there. This leads to a bit of a tricky problem for myself:

What will actually be in the game?

I have a few sources of information to go to when it comes to Corporations. I have the Frontier and First Encounters computer games. I have a direct line to Elite:Dangerous backstory writer extroadinaire Allen Stroud. I have Frontier Developments themselves to ask questions of. But the specifics of this one system are quite low on their priority list and I can’t just sit around waiting for it to be finalised.

And thats just the Corporation details. What about the solar system? I’m an engineer with a strong interest in celestial mechanics so in my writing I’d like the Epsilon Eridani system to be as true to reality as I can make it. But again I have the same problem:

What will actually be in the game?

For example, my research into the Epsilon Eridani system has lead to several nuggets of information:
1) The star has a dust belt/ring which extends beyond the equivalent orbit of Jupiter
2) A planet has been tentatively detected inside this dust belt, as well as a potential second planet beyond the ring.
3) Epsilon Eridani, a young orange star, is going through puberty and has increased x-ray emissions and magnetic activity compared to our own sun. Oh, and it’s spinning quite fast.

But these all depend on what Frontier:Developments are going to do with the game and what I have license to do (and not do.)

So what is my plan? Well I don’t want to write vague. Specificity is the key, even though I have little specifics. I write the Epsilon Eridani system that I want to write about using all the Frontier/First Encounters knowledge I have. I have run a quick check past Frontier Developments over my description of the city of Masseyville but otherwise I’m going to do what works for the story knowing full well that when I submit my draft, Frontier may ask me to change some of it.

They key is BEING OK with this. This whole Elite Universe belongs to them. It might be my favourite science fiction universe and I might feel like I have some rights, but ultimately this is David Braben’s sand pit and I’m a guest (And I feel extremely honoured to be a guest). I would like to think that some of what I have added to the Epsilon Eradani system will be taken on board. Hopefully a lot of information from Frotier/First Encounters will be retained.

So I’m going to write how I want to write it and I’m going to write it fast to give myself time to change it in the next draft. Although the story is about the specifics, I’m not going to let the specifics hold up the story.

Backers

This is a shout out and ‘Hello’ to all my new backers. Thank you for your financial support. I appreciate it and feel indebted to you. I also have my first Kiwi backer to back me through the website. That’s fantastic, but it does lead me to a problem. My paypal is setup to accept payments in Pounds because most Elite fans are English. If Pounds are not your local currency and you would like to support, feel free to drop me a line and we can organise paypal off the website and do it in any currency you like (though GBP, USD and NZD are preferred).

Stretch Goal – Audiobook

To my wife’s horror I spend a lot of time thinking about this project, as there is a lot to do: Writing, updating this site, keeping up on twitter and facebook and thinking of new plans.

One of these new plans is an audiobook. The more I think about it, the more I think I can put together something reasonable for little money. I have some sound help and some voice talents and with a few more pieces falling into place I can have a good crack at this. If anyone has any ideas on ways to cheapen this process or if anyone is able to offer tips, please get in contact.

Once I’ve figured out the total costs I’ll be annoucing this as an official stretch goal. If we reach funding I’ll ensure that it is completed in time for the game launch. If it does not reach funding then it is something I may look at after the official launch.

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Ok, that is this week’s report done and dusted. I’d love to hear your thoughts. See you next time.

Cheers,

John

Onto the stats (with bonus stat for this week):

Word Count for the week: 7,799 words.  A bit of a struggle this week.  Some days bed sounded like a superior plan to writing, especially when you know the kids will wake up screaming in a few hours, but a goal is a goal and I’m sticking to this one.  Discipline!

Word Count for the month (1st Feb to 1st March):  31,895 words.  Just over the goal of 30,000 words a month.

Total Word Count: 35,551

Quote du jour: “”I’m an Alliance Operative.  We solve problems.”  He couldn’t be entirely sure but he thought he saw a slight curve to the end of her mouth, an unborn smile struggling on unfamiliar ground.”"
Lave Radio:

This is a very fun and informative podcast put together and hosted by four Jameson’s that will be familiar to all Commanders kicking around the Frontier forum: Allen Stroud, Chris ‘Fozza’ Forrester, Chris Jarvis and John Stabler.  They have put together a few podcasts now talking about Elite:Dangerous, questions coming out of the Design Decision Forum, general questions about the game and a lot of naval gazing about ifs and butts, all of it very entertaining.

As a new section to the podcasts they have started doing interviews with all the authors of Elite:Dangerous fiction and They will be interviewing me this week.  Look out for me on the next issue of Lave Radio. (www.laveradio.com)  For those of you that followed my indiegogo campaign you’ll be familiar with my voice, but for those that haven’t, be warned:  I’m a Kiwi and I talk like one.

A plot point or two . . .

As mentioned above and in earlier posts I had to rework the novel’s original concept around to fit it with the requirements of Frontier Developments.  I wanted to shine a torch on some parts of Elite folklore and bring the mystery and hidden truths to the forefront.  But of course thats not much fun because if you unveil the truth surrounding myths and legends, they don’t stay myths and legends.  So I was advised to steer my novel toward other shores.  This led to a new direction which I loved and David Braben and co were quite excited with, even making their own suggestions for it.

I hoped to now be able to bring you some more details on what this is, but now that I have made my own myths and legends into Elite folklore, I have to keep these ones a secret too!  So you will just have to wait a year and buy the book to find out.   Life is cruel sometimes.

You Name it:

Just a shout out to all my supporters who pledged at the rather generously high level of ‘You Name It.’  Please contact me and let me know which character  you would like to name.  Some examples are listed on the ‘You Name It’ tab at the top of the website.  There a lot more characters in the story including intelligence agents from all the major powers, so if nothing listed on the site fits email me what you’d like and I will see what I can do.

So far I’m writing the story and naming people by their initials and it makes for funny looking writing.  If I keep doing this these characters will become so ingrained with their initials it will be hard for me to give them actual names.  So please, get in touch and give the gift of identity.  My characters will thank you for it.

One month it, where to next?

It’s kind of amazing that I have been drafting for one month, working on the novel for two.  I don’t know where the time has gone.  And I have twelve months left to get this novel ready for you to download.  It’s promising to be a very quick year!

At the moment I am concentrating on the draft.  Drafting is the easy part for me – I type fast and I have an outline to work off so its just a matter of filling in a few details and pounding it out on the keyboard.  Its the editing that is the hard part – polishing the story to a perfect finish – that will take up most of my time.

At the same time I am trying to get my name out there, let more people know about ‘And Here The Wheel’ and get push publicity to a new level.  I’m on Twitter, I’m on facebook and in a few weeks you’ll see a few guest blogs from me around the place.    If any of you out there have blogs and would like to swap advertising please let me know.

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Another report over and done with.  Thanks for sticking around and hit me with your feedback.  I’d love to hear what everyone has to say.

Cheers,

John

Click link below picture

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Kickstarter is perhaps the biggest story in the world of gaming since the birth of the home video console or the integration of online components into consumer entertainment. No new product, innovation, or invention has carried with it such immense potential for shifting the way the industry plans, builds, and delivers its products. And with projects covering everything from hardware to companion apps, it’s almost impossible now to imagine a gaming world without Kickstarter, even though it was our reality just a few short months ago.

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.Click link below for article:

http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/08/2012-the-year-of-the-mmo-kickstarter/

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Elite Dangerous is to be the sequel to the iconic space game Elite, and will be created by Frontier Developments and the creator of the original game/Founder of the company David Braben. But this will only happen if they receive their Kickstarter amount!

“Elite” has gone down in history as one of the most successful games of the 1980s. It was the first ‘open world’ game in which the player can freely roam a vast space. It was the first true 3D game too, and set many other benchmarks. Ian Bell and I set out to make a game for ourselves rather than for some imagined market. We were sick of games with three lives then a new life every 10,000 score; we wanted something new.

Mostly Harmless.

The original “Elite” fitted into around 22K of memory, out of a total of 32K on the BBC Micro Model B computer on which it was launched (8K was needed for the screen, 2K for the system). This is less than a single typical email today. In it were eight galaxies each with 256 star systems. Each planet in those systems had its own legal system, economy and so on. Clearly some magic had to happen to fit it into 22K, and that magic was procedural generation.

Competent

“Frontier” followed in 1993 on 16 bit computers, and pushed these procedural techniques further. In it I made a model of the whole of the Milky Way galaxy with all 100,000,000,000 or so star systems, and many more planets and moons, each of which you could visit. It is something I am really proud of, as it was as scientifically accurate as I could make it, and provided a great backdrop for a game. I loved the richness of the galaxy, but with the benefit of hindsight I think the way the ships flew detracted from the joyous immediacy of those in “Elite”.

Dangerous

Imagine what is now possible, squeezing the last drop of performance from modern computers in the way “Elite” and “Frontier” did in their days? It is not just a question of raw performance (though of course these elements will make it look gorgeous), but we can push the way the networking works too – something very few people had access to in the days of Frontier.

Frontier Developments, the company I founded in January 1994 (and whose first product was a version of the “Frontier” game for the CD32 console), is now a very well established game development company with 235 people in the UK and Canada, with its own technology and tools and a great team of game developers.  We have a long track record of delivering high quality games on time and to budget, both published by ourselves and through big publishers like Microsoft, LucasArts, Atari, and Sony.

Elite: Dangerous is the game I have wanted Frontier to make for a very long time. The next game in the Elite series – an amazing space epic with stunning visuals, incredible gameplay and breath-taking scope, but this time you can play with your friends too. I want a game that feels more like the original “Elite” to fly, and with more rapid travel (to allow for the multi-player nature of the game) – so you travel quickly using local ‘hyperspace’ travel rather than by fast-forwarding time – but with the rich galaxy of Frontier – and more, so much more.

I’ll be frank – we have had a couple of false starts on this over the years, where progress wasn’t as good as I wanted. Also, understandably, other projects have been prioritised – projects with announced dates or other commitments. Up to now “Elite” has been worked upon by a small team as a ‘skunk-works’ activity in the background as availability permits. Nevertheless, we have been preparing; laying the technology and design foundations for when the time is right. And that time is now.

Why Kickstarter?

We’re using Kickstarter both as a means of test-marketing the concept to verify there is still interest in such a game that extends beyond the individuals who regularly contact me about the game, and raising the funds to do so. There is also the fact that as long as we hit the threshold, it commits us to making the game. From where we are now, $2M/£1.25M will get us the minimum game, but I am hoping we can get more than that as it will allow us to be more ambitious with content and platforms; something the design decision forum members (the £300 reward tier and above) will be part of a discussion about.

We will rely heavily on artist-directed procedural generation, using techniques that are a logical expansion of what was done in the previous “Elite” and “Frontier” games. This will greatly reduce the required budget – bringing it to within reach of Kickstarter. It also means it becomes a viable project to avoid the conventional publishing route – something that I don’t believe can deliver a game like this successfully.

Procedural Content

Procedural generation of content is a technique where content is generated from rules. It abstracts repetitive or arbitrary elements of content creation in a very efficient way. Imagine a medieval landscape. Laying out towns, roads, castles, farm land, forests and so on can be done by a system of rules – putting castles widely spaced out on vantage points, towns near rivers but under the protection of such a castle, roads between them, then with farm land to support them all. An artist can still design the castle, the houses in the towns, but this approach greatly magnifies the content that can be created. “Frontier” did this for the star systems, and planets, and with Elite: Dangerous, we will go further.

The Game

In the game, you will of course begin with a spacecraft and a small sum of Credits. You will be able to trade, pirate, bounty-hunt, explore, and salvage your way to wealth and fame, building on those key elements of the previous games, and with sumptuous graphics only now possible with the performance of today’s machines. Only this time some of the ships out there will be other players like yourself – other members of a secret ‘Elite’ group of space-farers…

·         Multiplayer: you will be able to control who else you might encounter in your game – perhaps limit it to just your friends? Cooperate on adventures or chase your friends down to get that booty. The game will work in a seamless, lobby-less way, with the ability to rendezvous with friends as you choose. This technology is already working, using a combination of peer-to-peer (to reduce lag) and server connections.

·         Play it your way: Your reputation is affected by your personal choices. Play the game your way: dangerous pirate, famous explorer or notorious assassin – the choice is yours to make. Take on missions and affect the world around you, alone or with your friends.

·         Trade: Buy low, sell high and discover the most profitable trade-routes. Keep an eye on the markets, supply and demand may create opportunities for quick profit. Unscrupulous players may even try distorting those markets.

·         Fight: take on the pirates, or become one yourself. Engage in combat missions within a rich and dynamic simulation to earn a reputation, or perhaps you want to become a famous bounty-hunter – feared by those that you chase, but staying the right side of the law.

·         Travel: Travel across star systems and between them. Risk leaving the relative safety of the Corporate-run space station to explore distant planets or stars. Space is big and you never know what you might find; perhaps a salvageable freighter wreck or some valuable asteroids? There are secrets and startling beauty waiting to be discovered by the intrepid explorer.

·         Ships: save your credits and upgrade your ship. Get new weapons, engines and equipment and customize your ship the way you want it. Check out the body-kits and paint jobs on offer, give your ship that personal touch.

The game is planned to be released on the PC in March 2014. Make no mistake – this is a massive game, but by using procedural techniques that we have been cultivating over the years, a new approach to multiplayer, and bringing the raw power of today’s machines to bear, it is astonishing what is possible. This is your chance to help make it happen. Become one of “The Elite” once more.

David Braben

*All names must not be offensive, trademarks, or in any way problematic for us to include in the game, and must follow our naming guidelines.

Go and back it on the Kickstarter page to make this amazing sequel happen!

In 1984 a bit of a phenomenon hit the scene. It had nothing to do with Big Brother or Orwell’s vision of a dysfunctional future but everything to do with business, process and gamification. And Space. Elite, a space trading adventure game hit the streets and immediately swallowed up weeks of my childhood when I was supposed to be studying for exams. Armed with an Amstrad CPC-464, green screen monitor, Atari joystick and endless cups of tea I quickly had my first taste of business in the space lane.

So, what does it have to do with process and gamification ?

Well, in a way quite a lot. You were given the rather open ended task of ‘make shit loads of money’ and how you achieved this was up to you. But in the same way a process can be defined by business rules the game had constraints too despite it’s open feel and you could relate this to the modern equivalent of case management and knowledge working in that the goal to trade in certain items meant you could achieve this in many ways but the most adaptive and repeatable route had to be chosen to avoid risk, loss of profit, and certain death (bit extreme in the business world these days!) Let me explain:

• You would chart your path across a star system depending on what you wanted to trade or action to perform (so, we have a process and an expected outcome)
• Your path would be dictated by amount of fuel required, stops along the way, what you were trading (we have business rules, hand-offs, and the reason for the process in the first place)
• Potentially you’ll face off to pirates looking to kill and loot your booty (according to the business rules, there may be some alternate processes and exceptions to tackle)
• Finding an optimal route you could repeat the trade knowing the acceptable risks involved (repeatable process, known risks)
• On rare occasions you’d be thrown out of hyperspace – “witch space” – and have to battle your way back (unstructured process with no clear determinable path)

There were infrequent missions which cropped up depending on your Elite rating, and in the business focused element of the game the addition of a pilot ranking system added the gamification piece. By taking the riskier routes you would certainly face off to pirates and kill for bounty, and every kill would add to your pilot ranking, rising through the ranks from Harmless through many others to reach Dangerous, Deadly then Elite itself. The rating system added impetus and more reason to play, without it the pure mechanics of space trading would have quickly become dull.

So, again what does it have to do with process and gamification ?

If you combine the mechanics in the right way a merit system adds intrinsic value and urgency to the person performing the process and when playing Elite you were, for your own reasons, compelled to seek out the better opportunities and more effective route or process to achieve the ranking. Where gamification in business falls short just now is that companies selling the concept don’t fully understand the engagement model required and how it is interlinked with the business process itself on an individual process basis, they design a one-badge-fits-all approach in most cases and little in the way of motivational understanding of the individual performing it.

In some ways, Ian Bell and David Braben designed perhaps the best example of the combination of business process and gamification almost 30 years before our esteemed analyst peers released a misguided whitepaper on a misunderstood subject.

The year was 1984, I was a wet behind the ears space trader with a rating of Harmless when I started. Now it’s 2012, I’m still a bit of a space cadet but I’m far more deadlier than I was back then.

Click here to buy it on itunes “So good, like yummy cake” according to one customer review. Can’t argue with that.

LostWinds 2 is a great example of how good a game can be when the development team are given a lot of freedom to make a game the way they want it. Something I might come back to for a future blog post. For an animator it was a challenge as all the scenes are viewed from the side, the characters are always fairly small on screen (except giant rock creature Magmok), they all have quite a low polygon-count, a fairly low bone-count, and had to be rigged by the small animation team (4 of us at its peak towards the end of production). All of these are things that an animator would probably find frustrating in a different context but sometimes these kinds of limitations can actually free up the development process and make a game more fun to work on (and to play). I think it shows that the people involved in this game really cared about making something good and thrived within the constraints set by the platform and the time and resources available. Well done to those currently at Frontier Developments for the port to IOS. It looks more beautiful than ever as far as I can tell!

You can also catch up with designer and good egg Steven Burgess, the father of LostWinds, and his new adventures as an independent developer here: http://www.trialbyfun.com/blog/

The beautiful award-winning Lostwinds series gets another outing with Lostwinds 2 on iOS. This game really is amazing and especially so if you consider it is running on iOS!

If you think I am being biased as it is made by my company (not by me though) then check out the trailer for yourself and tell me it doesn’t look stunning!

Frontier Developments have managed to get some beautiful dynamic lighting and realtime radiosity into Lostwinds 2 on IOS devices. I have not had a chance to play Lostwinds 2 yet but I played Lostwinds over Christmas and loved it, so I will definitely be getting this when I next get a chance to use my parents’ iPad.

LostWinds (iOS) – not such a cool breeze

Despite all the recent excitement about Shenmue III, if we had to wish for just one long lost sequel it would be Elite IV. A space trading sequel on the scale to match our dreams is possible, since developer David Braben is still in the industry, but we admit never very likely. Not while his time is spent with games like Kinectimals and LostWinds.Although that may sound like a disparaging remark we have absolutely nothing against either game. Braben’s Frontier Developments has done excellent work with both Kinectimals and Kinect Disneyland Adventures. Obviously they’re aimed at game’s very youngest audience, but LostWinds is pitched a little higher and in its original WiiWare incarnation is one of the best 2D platform adventures around. Although you wouldn’t necessarily believe that to play this new iOS version.The original LostWinds was not only a great game in itself, with higher production values than most retail Wii games, but it was also one of the first to make proper use of the Wii remote. Pointing the controller at the screen you were able to direct a cursor to control the winds and an increasing number of magic powers.You’d think that simply swapping a remote for your finger would work just as well, and to a degree it does. But while using both traditional and pointer controls on the Wii was only occasionally fiddly, on an iPhone it often seems almost impossible.The game still starts with main character Toku asleep beneath a blossoming cherry tree, with you able to rustle the leaves and shrubbery simply by pawing at them on the screen. This doesn’t achieve anything at all but the effect is instantly appealing.Upon waking Toku up it turns out some sort of ancient evil is on the rampage and you’re sent off to explore the gorgeously verdant landscape and slightly less attractive underground caves. Although your wind related powers are augmented as the game goes on the basics involves creating updrafts that aid jumping across platforms.You can also send enemies flying, move boulders, revive dying fires and all manner of other useful actions. Later powers include a slipstream effect that lets you draw the path of the wind to divert water and fire.In the best traditions of Zelda the puzzles all seem extremely natural, with the solution always fiercely logical, with the usual refrain of ‘why can’t I do that?’ never heard once. Although it is irritating when your wind powers dislodge items (usually boulders) when you’d rather they stayed where they were.Unfortunately this isn’t the only time you’ll curse the game’s controls and trying to control both Toku and his wind powers at once is an exercise in frustration with touchscreen only controls. We’d say this wasn’t necessarily Frontier’s fault, except that they’ve inexplicably made things even more difficult.In the original Wii version the game was essentially paused when you were using the remote to point. Perhaps this was some technical limitation that Frontier felt they could now correct but whether intended or not it made the game a lot easier to control and its absence here makes a bad situation even worse.LostWinds is still a great little platform puzzler and we’d recommend both it and its sequel on WiiWare. On iOS though, it pretty much blows.In Short:The same beautiful, laidback 2D adventure as it’s always been, but now almost ruined by fiddly and unresponsive touch controls.Pros:Unique concept and controls service some very cleverly constructed puzzles. Great graphics and art design. Extremely cheap.Cons:The wind controls were always a little imprecise, but now so too is movement. Removal of the pause effect seems sheer madness.Score:5/10Formats: iOS (iPod touch reviewed)Price: £2.49Publisher: Frontier DevelopmentsDeveloper: Frontier DevelopmentsRelease Date: 21st December 2011Age Rating: 9+Video:Check out the LostWinds trailer

Thoughts? Email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk or leave a comment below

At last, LostWinds is available on iOS! I didn’t work on chapter one but some very good friends of mine did. It’s a great, wistful, gentle little game made of 24 carat love. Working on the sequel was the most satisfying project of my professional life so far – so hopefully they’ll port that over as well if this one does well. The original LostWinds games on Nintendo Wii showed how brilliant a game could be when there was no outside publisher, no franchise and no film tie-in to distract the designers, artists and programmers at Frontier Developments. Sadly they also showed how sometimes even the highest rated, most loved games can be the least commercially successful when the platform isn’t marketed or constructed properly*. Purely anecdotally, even some very nerdy friends of mine gave up trying to buy it on the horrifically clunky WiiWare which was the only way of buying it up until now. The less geeky Wii owners weren’t even aware that you could download games onto the device. The release of these games on iOS will hopefully set the record straight and give the game the success it always deserved! It’s only £2.50 this time as well. Bargain!

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/lostwinds/id477973472?mt=8

*allegedly

Not only are family games simple for all to enjoy, in recent years some of the world’s most recognizable brands have gotten in on the fun. While that doesn’t always spell success in the video game world, 2011 has seen the likes of Sesame Street and Disney get in on the fun with some worthwhile family titles of their own. Which are the ten best of the year that was? Here’s our definitive list.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Developer: Frontier Developments/Disney Interactive Studios
Publisher: Microsoft
Platform: Xbox 360 (Kinect)
Release Date: November 15

If you’ve never taken your kids to Disneyland or never had the chance to go yourself, Kinect Disneyland Adventures is the game for you. It’s structured to deliver similar experiences to what you’ll find in the park itself, but without those annoyingly long lines. Many of the rides that you know (or at least have heard of) are represented in virtual form as mini-games for one or two players. When you’re not racing through Splash Mountain you can take some time to visit with one of the many hallmark Disney characters wandering around the park. Using the Kinect camera sensor you can take pictures with Mickey, Goofy and the gang and interact with them with some pretty interesting ways. All while never leaving the safety confines of the living room. Not only does Kinect Disneyland Adventures deliver the sights and sounds of the park, it truly captures the spirit of Disney while also delivering fun and simple game play mechanics for players of all ages. See VentureBeat’s review.

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
Developer: Double Fine Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Platform: Xbox 360 (Kinect)
Release Date: October 11

Few franchises are more identifiable in the eyes of children than Sesame Street and no game has captured the essence of those lovable furry character in the way that Double Fine managed. The game’s Creative Director, Tim Schafer, is more known for sculpting original off-the-wall characters and eccentric worlds, but Once Upon A Monster showcases the talents of Schafer’s development studio in a slightly different light. With plenty of mini-games that utilize the Kinect camera sensor in simple, intuitive ways, there’s plenty for the whole family to play together. See our interview with Schafer and co-creator Nathan Martz.

LittleBigPlanet 2
Developer: Media Molecule
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Date: January 18

One of the very best in family gaming came to us very early in 2011 in the form of Media Molecule’s sequel to one of the best PlayStation 3 games of all time. Thankfully, LittleBigPlanet 2 did not disappoint as Sackboy’s second adventure delivers a more fully featured bag of tricks. While players can still hop into the game’s lovable story mode and play through Mario-style levels, expertly crafted by the developers, what truly sets LittleBigPlanet 2 apart is its creation mode. It’s extremely rare for a game to deliver both accessible action as well as the ability to exercise one’s creativity. With the creation mode people can cobble together levels and even entire games of their own, then upload them for others to check out. While youngsters might find the abundance of creative options daunting, sitting down with them and watching their amazement as ideas from their mind turn into a (virtual) reality on the screen is a great way to pass the time this holiday season.

Dance Central 2
Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: Microsoft
Platform: Xbox 360 (Kinect)
Release Date: October 25

While dancing like a fool in your living room might sound like more of an embarrassment than a way to enjoy some time with the rest of the family, Dance Central 2 does a great of making you feel like a superstar, no matter how red your cheeks get. The second game in the promising series from the development studio that brought the world the original Guitar Hero and Rock Band has plenty for both veterans and newcomers. For starters, the series gets its first simultaneous multiplayer mode so two people can hop into the action and dance cooperatively or in a head-to-head dance battle. And if you’re not so confident in your moves on the dance floor, never fear, Dance Central 2 has a great teaching mode called Break It Down that will have you busting a groove in no time.

Just Dance 3
Developer: Ubisoft Paris
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: Wii
Release Date: October 7

Not to be left out of the dance party, Just Dance 3 on Wii delivers some wonderful game play for up to four players, provided you have the requisite number of Wii Remotes and Nunchuks. The third game in the series follow the standard set by the first two entries as players swing their controllers around their body, keeping the beat and following the on-screen cues to more than 40 tunes that span a solid breadth of genres. Not only will Just Dance 3 improve your abilities on the dance floor, but it also presents players with a new Just Sweat exercise mode to help fight the turkey, pumpkin pie and egg nog that inevitably come with the holiday season.

Kinect Sports Season 2
Developer: Rare/BigPark
Publisher: Microsoft
Platform: Xbox 360 (Kinect)
Release Date: October 25

While not quite as well received by critics as the first entry in the series that was released alongside Kinect last year, Kinect Sports Season 2 still brings plenty of fun for the family to enjoy together. Six sports are aptly represented. There’s golf, tennis, American football, darts, skiing, and baseball. All of them feature accurate motion controls thanks to the Kinect camera sensor and up to four players can take part in the fun. Some sports – like football, baseball and tennis – are slightly more enjoyable than the other activities, but that doesn’t mean the other parts of the package won’t bring enjoyment to you and the little ones alike. VentureBeat’s review here.

Fruit Ninja Kinect
Developer: Halfbrick Studios
Publisher: Halfbrick Studios
Platform: Xbox 360 (Kinect)
Release Date: August 10

One of the greatest games on iPhone and iPad made its way to Xbox Live Arcade earlier this year. For ten bucks you get a familiar experience, but instead of a touch-screen and using your finger to break apart all of the fruit on-screen you’ll be flailing your arms around as the Kinect camera sensor tracks your every move. Not only do you get the standard challenge mode, but there’s also a party mode where two players can work either cooperatively or competitively. Fruit Ninja Kinect may not be the longest of the ten games on our list, but there’s no arguing with the fact that it’s both instantly accessible and immediately fun for gamers of any age.

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure
Developer: Toys for Bob/XPEC
Publisher: Activision Blizzard
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii
Release Date: October 16

While video games and toy action figures are a common pairing in the minds of most children, but never before had they appeared in quite the same manner as in Skylanders. Players are able to scan different action figures directly into the game, perform missions in the story mode (either solo or with a co-op partner), and then take those action figures to a friend’s house and put them into their version of the game. Cooler still is the fact that characters can be ported into any version of Skylanders, regardless of platform. The price tag of $70 is undoubtedly steep for a title that will be enjoyed mainly by children, but being able to live out the fantasy of putting physical action figures into a virtual world and trade them with other kids in the neighborhood just might be worth the cost. See VentureBeat’s story on the making of the game.

Cars 2
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Date: June 21

Movie franchises and video games typically don’t mesh well together with most virtual representations of the silver screen being relegated to the bargain bin of a video game store within a few weeks of release. Thankfully Cars 2 is a good example of how to leverage a Hollywood property while still delivering worthwhile game play. Those who’ve experienced the joys of playing Mario Kart with the family will feel right at home here with cute characters, fast action, power-ups and more right at their fingertips. Not only that, but the PlayStation 3 version is the only edition of the game that will allow up to four players to play in split-screen mode while taking full advantage of that swanky new 3D TV you bought during the holiday season.

Nintendogs + Cats
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: March 27

There’s no doubt that this sequel to a Nintendo DS classic doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to innovating on the game play of the original, but it still excels in being a fantastic time waster for kids. Kids are charged with caring for their virtual pets and competing goals every so often. It’s not the most difficult game in the world and is instead more about playing with the cute and cuddly animals represented on-screen. So maybe this isn’t the best game for the whole family, but you’d be hard-pressed to find something more appropriate for young children during those long, trying family road trips.

David Braben is a moderately famous game developer from the United Kingdom, and the man behind UK studioFrontier Developments who have released the Rollercoaster Tycoon series, Thrillville, Lost Winds, and Kinectimals.  However, he is probably most well known as the co-developer of Elite.

Operation of the computer is simple, with users simply having to plug a monitor in one end of the USB stick and a keyboard into the other.  Storage is catered for by an SD card slot, and other external modules can also be added.

The software used could be any of a wide range of Linux distributions, although the unit is likely to ship with the popular Ubunto distribution.  This will provide a great deal of functionality for very little money, including web browsing, office applications, and much more.

When you consider the fact that this computer will fit in your pocket, this is a pretty cool innovation.  This $25 PC is going to be distributed through a new charitable foundation called the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and will also be used as way to promote and teach computer science in schools.

The low cost of this machine is also likely to inspire use in developing and undeveloped parts of the world.  Braben says that he hopes distribution will begin within 12 months.

Frontier Developments boss David Braben has told Eurogamer that their upcoming techno thriller is still being worked on at the studio.

The game was revealed back in 2005 and sees the player, a CIA agent, wrongly framed as a traitor who wants to clear his name. How he goes about doing so will be entirely your choice.

“It’s very exciting and we’re still working hard on it,” said Braben. “I’m not talking about it yet but watch this space.”

David Braben is an industry legend. The UK designer has been involved in videogames since the early 80’s, putting his name to some of the most influential games ever made; most notably Elite and one of the first ever solid 3D games, Zarch.

With this in mind, Braben is the ideal candidate for our ongoing ‘Getting to know…’ series of interviews, in which TVGB attempts to reveal the people behind the games we play. Here we chat the Frontier Developments boss on his highs and lows, his top 3 industry changing titles and his greatest influences.

That VideoGame Blog (TVGB): You’ve been in videogame design and development for over 25 years now. After all this time, what factor above all others motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

David Braben: I still enjoy what I do. All the time it seems there is something new, interesting or exciting around the corner, both in technology and in the opportunities they offer. I suppose it still all feels new; Frontier has grown consistently since it was formed, and so each year feels very different to the last, in terms of the complexities of running such a company, but also the sort of things we are doing, and the sorts of things the industry is doing.

My dog also needs to be taken for a walk.

TVGB: Are you the same person you were when you first started out?

David Braben: I think so. In many respects, it only feels like a little while since Elite came out. I’d like to say I was older and wiser – but I’m probably just older.

TVGB: From a personal perspective, what is the proudest achievement of your career?

David Braben: I’d like to think I haven’t done it yet!

Clearly I was very proud of Elite – and in terms of life-changing achievements, i.e. comparing the ‘before’ and the ‘after’ – you don’t get much bigger than that, for which both Ian Bell and I were very lucky. A big element of it was clearly being in the right place at the right time, but I think even so, it is an achievement to be proud of, as there were a lot of ‘nay-sayers’ at that time too, and what we were doing was seriously unconventional for the time, but we persisted nevertheless.

TVGB: The lowest point of your career?

David Braben: I think the dreadful premature release of the First Encounters game, and the subsequent lawsuit with Gametek/Take Two (which I eventually won).

[First Encounters - a sequel to the seminal Elite - was released too early and full of bugs. Critical response was scathing, with the general conception being that the game was unfinished. The early release of the game led Braben to launch a lawsuit against publishers Gametek, which was eventually settled out of court - Ed]

It was a very bad time, particularly as you cannot talk publicly about such things while a lawsuit is in progress, and people jumped to all sorts of mistaken conclusions.

TVGB: As the industry expands and videogame design courses multiply in Universities around the world, more and more people are looking to establish themselves in the industry. But what are the downsides of the dream job?

David Braben: The industry is very competitive, and can lead to long hours at times. Having said that, I’m still glad to be a part of it.

TVGB: What single mistake have you learned the most from?

David Braben: Trusting Gametek.

TVGB: What would you say are the three games that have changed the industry most in the last 25 years, and why?

David Braben: Elite, RollerCoaster Tycoon, and GTA, each for different reasons.

I include Elite, as in the years following its release it changed the way game publishers looked at what might be successful – I think a lot of the innovative game ideas that followed, from Populous to GTA, would have fallen on stoney ground, or at least would have required a lot more persuasion to get published.

RollerCoaster Tycoon is included as it also changed the consensus within the industry. It was a game that was also very hard to get published – because it was 2D isometric, when the received wisdom said ‘all successful game are 3D’ – paving the way for a great many other ‘tycoon’ style games.

Grand Theft Auto I think was the first game sold to a broad audience. Dave Jones employed Max Clifford to court controversy, not within the narrow gaming arena, but within the mass media, and they got it. A side effect has been to very much skew the opinions of that same mass media of games in general, something we are only just recovering from, but there is little doubt it changed the industry.

TVGB: Is there a particular game that has influenced you and your work more than any other?

David Braben: Probably not one game, but many games have influenced me at different times.

TVGB: Is there a game you particularly admire that you wish you had worked on?

David Braben: Peter Molyneux’s Populous, as it stood apart from the other games at the time. Will Wright’s The Sims, too. I loved the purity of Eugene Jarvis’s Defender way back at the start of my career. The beautifully planned Zelda: Ocarina of Time from Shigeru Miyamoto. Many more besides.

TVGB: Is there a particular developer/designer or team whose work you respect most? Someone you, if the opportunity would arise, would work with in a heartbeat?

David Braben: Shigeru Miyamoto and his team at Nintendo have probably had the most consistent success at bringing novel ideas to fruition – something that is really hard to do, and deserves a great deal of respect.

TVGB: What kind of an industry change are you looking forward to and rooting for the most?

David Braben: Richness of experience – through gameplay, story/world, novelty – however it is achieved it is vital we work at achieving it.

TVGB: If you had to choose between critical or commercial success, which would it be?

David Braben: My heart says ‘critical success’ – but practically speaking commercial success is vital in order to keep driving things forwards. In truth, both are very important, and in fact usually go hand in hand to some degree at least – piracy being a big factor that might greatly reduce any corresponding commercial success. My head says ‘commercial success’ – as this implies some degree of critical success too.

He also talked about DSiWare and that they may be working on something in the future.  It may not be directly related to LostWinds, but more of a “Game of the Week” idea, which if you didn’t know was how the idea for LostWinds was spawned in the first place. 

Source: Cubed3 via GoNintendo

I can tell you that the first game was on the top of my list of WiiWare games in 2008 and the sequel shot to the top of my list for 2009.  This game rivals many of the retail disc experiences in terms of quality.  More LostWinds would only be a good thing and I would really like to see a fully fledged double digit hour length experience come to Wii.  I think it’s the perfect platform for a game like that.  If you haven’t read it yet, check out our review of the game and I urge everyone who hasn’t played it yet to download this game and give it a try.

WiiWare’s future looks very bright indeed if it can pop out more unique titles such as ‘LostWinds’ being developed by Frontier Developments exclusively for the upcoming Wii download service WiiWare. It’s games like this that make me proud to be a gamer. The video below shows how the game will work, however let me break it down for you. You control the main character “Toku” with the nunchuck analog stick, and then you have the power of the wind at your disposal which is a sphere named Enril. You can use the wind by directing it with the Wii remote, this will help Toku get around as well as help solve environmental puzzles such as using the wind to blow water onto different seeds to grow them into plants to use at your disposal.

I am really impressed by the games art style, it is all very serene and calm supported by a mellow soundtrack, very relaxing indeed. Little subtle things like background objects moving due to the wind and water kicking up as the wind sways over water are all subtle but in the end make the difference between a good game and a great game. The game also seems to have sort of a “Kirby Canvas Curse” type feel to it as you help direct the character with the use of strokes, though it seems to be much less essential in LostWinds. Look for this title most likely later this year as downloadable only. In the mean time enjoy the very first video trailer: