Michael Phelps Game Gets Speedo Sponsorship

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505 Games and Michael Phelps have announced that one of the swimmers biggest international sponsors will appear in Michael Phelps: Push the Limit for Kinect. The Speedo brand will be visible on all swimwear and caps in-game as well as touch pads within all of the pool environments, with the game’s event (the Annual Games ) taking place in Speedo Stadium.

Speedo is synonymous with swimming and the inclusion of the Speedo brand in-game brings further realism to the game, commented Ian Howe, President, 505 Games, North America. As one of Michael Phelps long standing partners, we are delighted to have them as part of this.

Michael Phelps: Push The Limit takes the thrill of competitive swimming from the pool into the living room, giving even those who don t swim regularly the chance to get involved and engage with the sport, said Sean Hastings, Vice President of Product and Marketing at Speedo International. I m sure that individuals, friends and families worldwide will enjoy the challenge of taking on Michael Phelps, and we hope it may even inspire those who play the game to take to the pool for real!

Digital Publisher Expectations Rising, Says Zoe Mode

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The rise of new platforms had lead to more opportunities for game developers. However, this has also means that expectations from downloadable titles have risen not just from consumers, but from publishers as well.

“It used to be that ten years ago, it was PS2,” said Zoe Mode studio head Paul Mottram. “So you’d just do PS2 and then maybe some others. But now we’re finding that everyone is not knowing what platform is going to succeed – we did our first 3DS title – we got Crush onto that, but we had to delay the release of that because of the success of the platform.

“So it’s hard for us because none of the platforms are dominant at the moment, he added. The Wii is on the wane, obviously Zumba [Fitness] has done really well on that, and we hope we see some success there, but there’s a nervousness which we’re seeing from publishers who are traditionally funding some of our products. With the move to digital, what I’ve seen is people wanting to spend XBLA budgets but expecting retail content. Unless we can address that it’s going to be very hard for us to deliver the games we want to make.”

However, he admitted that he spends most of his time gaming on the iPad. “I pretty much do all my gaming these days on my iPad, and I never thought that would happen, said Mottram. I’m spending more on games on that, even at 59p, than I was on retail games at 80 or something. Now I’m spending £25 a month on getting games every day just to see what they’re doing. I think that’s good.”

Relentless Software co-founder David Amor agreed about the opportunities in app and browser games. “I like the fact that being able to play games in your browser and on your phone appears to have enabled a much larger audience,” said Amor. “I’m sure that most people didn’t buy their PC to play Farmville, and that most people didn’t buy iPhones to play Angry Birds. But now they have them, we have a wider market. So should we be sore that there’s a wider proliferation of platforms to be working on Well, no, because with that came a whole new section of people to be making games for.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Vitamin Water Gives Bus Shelters A Charge

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Vitamin Water is promoting its “energy-boosting powers’ with new interactive bus shelters. These new advertisements allow commuters to recharge electronic devices while they wait for public transportation.

“The bus shelters, installed on bus routes in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston, offer a 5-volt battery powered USB port that allows users to charge mobile phones, music players and gaming devices,” describes Creativity. “They form part of the soft drink brand’s ‘You’re Up’ campaign, underlining its message that it is formulated to provide a quick boost when you are on the go.”

Source: Creativity

EA Sports Partners With Man City For FIFA 12

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Electronic Arts has announced a partnership with Manchester City’s soccer team. Along with complimentary promotions across each others digital channels, there will also be 360 degree 3D head scan shots of the entire Manchester City starting line-up in FIFA 2012, an offer to a download a free club specific pack design prior to release, and there will be areas where the game can be played around Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

“We are delighted to be entering into a dynamic new partnership with Manchester City, said Nick Harford, EA Sports’ football business lead. Through this agreement, EA Sports will invest in the creation of bespoke content and experiences that bring Manchester City fans across the globe closer to the team they love.”

“EA Sports’ reputation is unparalleled, both within the video game industry and around the world, added Ian Cafferky, chief brand and commercial officer for Manchester City. The fact that a company of EA Sports’ caliber has joined our stable of valued partners shows a clear indication of the club’s growth and appeal to a global audience.

Amazon Looks To Enter Social Gaming

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Amazon has been involved in the distribution of games for a long time, first as a seller of physical retail products then downloadable games and most recently as a publisher of mobile products on Android. Now, it seems the leading online retailer is looking to publish its own social game, led by Jonathan Tweet.

Jonathan Tweet is a noted paper-and-pencil RPG designer, writes Steve Peterson. He’s best known for his contributions to Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, and among RPG fans for his creation of the influential titles Ars Magica and Everway, along with many other RPG credits. Most recently he worked at Gamehouse on various Facebook games. His choice as lead designer for a social game leads immediately to speculation that Amazon’s social game might have RPG elements.

Amazon is one company among many (including Facebook and Google) that want to make their site the center of people’s web experience. They’ve recently started offering streaming movies, established a book publishing imprint in Thomas & Mercer and now appear poised to become a player in the social gaming industry.

Source: IndustryGamers

Respawn Nets Veteran Movie Art Director

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Respawn has announced that they have hired Matt Codd, who has worked on movie projects like Saving Private Ryan, Twelve Monkeys and Serenity. While he hasn’t worked on video games before, he thinks there are similar creative challenges in movies and games.

Well, I think as far as I m concerned whether its video games or movies, good design isn t all that matters. It s all about trying to be original in this day and age which is really difficult because everything has been done at some point or another, said Codd. I think that there s more understanding of the design process in video games these days. I think that things have gotten so speeded up and out of control in movies that it s not so interesting to work on and the time that s put aside to video games is far more interesting and more fascinating to look at. A lot of the guys that I know in movies, we see a lot of game design and think ‘that s awesome and I wish we were doing that in movies’.

Source: Respawn.com

Batman: Arkham City Faces Off With Two-Face

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Part of the promotion of Batman: Arkham City has been the use of the main characters in stylized photos. Two-Face is the latest to get this treatment, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment also provided a little biographical information.

Real Name: Harvey Dent

Alias: TWO-FACE

Occupation: Professional Criminal

Base: Gotham City

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Brown/Grey

Height: 6 ft

Weight: 182 lb

First Appearance: Detective Comics #66 (August 1942)

  • Attribute 01: Hideously scarred on the left half of his face, which he plays up with clothing that’s differently styled on one side
  • Attribute 02: Extremely skilled with his weapons of choice: twin .45 automatics
  • Attribute 03: Psychotic obsession with duality, designing crimes around the number two
  • Attribute 04: Defers to his half-scarred coin in choices of life or death

Background Story: District Attorney Harvey Dent was one of Batman’s strongest allies in Gotham City, until a criminal threw acid in Dent’s face, hideously scarring him. The wounds fractured his psyche, and he was reborn Two-Face, a schizoid criminal mastermind obsessed with duality. His former good-luck charm, a “two-headed” trick silver dollar, was damaged on one side in the attack, and Dent has seized on it as a reflection of his half-scarred visage. He flips it to decide the fates of his victims. Two-Face is thriving in Arkham City, rallying inmates to join his gang using tried and true campaign tactics.

Secret World: Tumble In The Bathroom

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Secret World has one of the most unique set ups for a MMORPG on the planet, with its otherworldly creatures and modern setting. This CG trailer does a great job of establishing how the game universe resembles ours, but with secrets right underneath the surface.

John Carter: King Of Mars

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Before He-Man, before Buck Rogers, before Conan . . . there was John Carter. Check out the first trailer for Disney’s new tent-pole flick.