Category: PC Gaming

Go to Work with Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor

The second entry in Gas Powered Games’ Kings and Castles video blog shows you a day in the life of creative director Chris Taylor. Join him on his morning commute and for a tour of the office. Chris Taylor is funny and awesome (even if he did miss our DICE 2010 meeting), so you should watch this video. It’s good, clean fun that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at Gas Powered Games.

PadCast: BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk Talks Games, Social Media, Fitness Titles, and Being Awesome

BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk completely rules. He truly is one of my favorite people in the business (as is his partner in crime, Dr. Ray Muzyka). After the diabolical Chris Taylor missed our interview session at DICE 2010, Dr. Greg was there to save the day. Naturally I asked him about the crazy three months BioWare has had, with two giant games — Dragon Age: Origins Awakenings and Mass Effect 2 — released in short period of time. The good doctor revealed which characters he used in Dragon Age. I also asked him about BioWare’s efforts to extend its properties through web games, Facebook games, iPhone titles, books, and more.

Since he was a practicing physician before starting up one of the best development houses in the business, I wanted to get Dr. Greg’s view on games like Wii Fit and EA Sports Active. This led to a pretty cool tangent about performing remote operations with Wii-like controls. The interview ends a little abruptly because the press room was being shut down, but it was an absolute pleasure chatting with Dr. Greg and I think you’ll enjoy our chat.

(Yes, it sounds like I’m totally kissing his ass, but I’ve known Greg and Ray for several years. I assure you that my fondness is genuine.)

Today’s Poll: Bobby Kotick vs. Tiger Woods

Last week, Tiger Woods issued a highly…polished statement regarding his adultery. At DICE 2010, Activision’s Bobby Kotick delivered a somewhat apologetic and explanatory speech that some people say was similarly manufactured. Who do you think makes a better sympathetic figure?

[poll id=”27″]

DICE 2010 in Pictures II: Writers, Business Peeps, and Adam Sessler

Yes, I used Adam Sessler’s name in the title to try to pick up some cheap SEO traffic. Sorry (but not). Ha! Anyway, here are some photos of other game writers, some journalists that moved to the business side of gaming, and two sexy girl gamers.

Wired’s Chris Kohler and Electric Playground’s Enzo Zanatta Are Handsome Men

Journos Turned Biz People: Ignition’s Shane Bettenhausen and High Road’s Darren Gladstone

GirlGamer Founder & CEO Mike Prasad and IGN’s Fran Mirabella III

New EGM Brady Fiechter and Former EGM Shane Bettenhausen

I Look Terrible (Drunk) in This Photo, But GirlGamer’s Rachel Horton Looks Lovely

Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo and Rogers & Cowan’s Marina Beck Before the Awards Show

The Excellent People at 1UP: David Ellis and Mr. (Sam) Kennedy…Kennedy

Alex Pham From the L.A. Times Looking Lovely as Always

Adam Sessler and I Have No Idea Why We Aren’t Male Models


DICE 2010 in Pictures: Cool Developers and an Awards Show

Here are some photos I snapped during DICE 2010. You’ll see some of gaming’s top talent, a sexy Italian cameraman, a tap gaming analyst, and a great comedian in this set. Enjoy!

Mark Cerny Was Inducted Into the AIAS Hall of Fame Because He’s Awesome

EAT Sleep Play’s David Jaffe Says “Egg”, I Say “Chicken”

Electric Playground’s Enzo Zanatta and the Legendary Designer/Producer Don Daglow

EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich Was Great to Chat with — I Hope Bsukenyan Enjoys the Interview!

I Want This Flower Art!!!

Epic’s Dr. Mike Capps Didn’t Drunkenly Renew My Unreal Engine License This Year

Jay Mohr Rocked It (Again) As the Host of the Interactive Achievement Awards

Here’s a Shot of Jay From the Screen

Here’s What the Awards Show Looked Like From the Last (Troublemaker) Table

Attack of the Giant Interactive Achievement Award!!!


DICE 2010: Watch Bobby Kotick Be…Kind of Nice

You’ve read my notes on Bobby Kotick’s DICE 2010 presentation, now watch it for yourself! See Activision’s lord and master explain why he doesn’t play games anymore, admit that not buying Harmonix was a mistake, and come off as…kind of fun. After you’ve see Kotick live, I want your opinion on his performance. Half the people I spoke to at DICE thought he was being genuine, while the other half thought his whole schtick was staged. What side are you on?

DICE 2010: OnLive President and CEO Shows Off Streaming Games

OnLive president and CEO Steve Perlman showed off the latest beta of the company’s streaming game service at DICE 2010. Prior to the live demo, Perlman went over where he thinks gaming is going and why OnLive is the next logical step in home entertainment. While some of the content will be old to those of you that have been following the service, some of the performance gains and features are new.

As I mentioned in the comments section of this story, I saw a game of Crysis being observed on an iPhone. It looked great and ran smoothly. While a controlled demo is very different than real-world use, I’m getting more and more interesting in OnLive every time I see it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Perlman’s demo.

13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards: The Results

As promised, here are the results of the 13th annual Interactive Achievement Awards hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. As expected, Uncharted 2 did ridiculously well. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Scribblenauts did well too. As a huge BioWare fan, I was pleased that Dragon Age: Origins picked up an award (I was teasing BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk that he now has 52 of them).

Anyway, the results are in! Check ’em out and let me know what you think (please)!!!

Game of the Year
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Casual Game of the Year
Flower

Fighting Game of the Year
Street Fighter IV

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Origins

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 10

Racing Game of the Year
Forza Motorsport 3

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Batman: Arkham Asylum

Adventure Game of the Year
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Social Networking Game of the Year
Farmville

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Brutal Legend

Action Game of the Year
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Family Game of the Year
The Beatles: Rock Band

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Scribblenauts

Oustanding Achievement in Animation
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Story (Adapted)
Batman: Arkham Asylum

Outstanding Character Performance
Batman: Arkham Asylum — The Joker

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Oustanding Achievement in Story (Original)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Soundtrack
Brutal Legend

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Sound Design
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design
Scribblenauts

Portable Game of the Year
Scribblenauts

Watch the AIAS’ Interactive Achievement Awards on Feb 26

If you missed the live stream of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Interactive Achievement Awards then make sure to watch it next week on IFC on February 26. Host Jay Mohr was excellent, skewering Activision and cracking on several of the top developers in gaming. (His joke about angrily masturbating to Bobby Kotick brought down the house.)

In addition to the comedic entertainment, it’s just great watching some truly awesome games and their creators being honored. Check it out!