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Unless you’re a journalist, analyst or developer, your odds of ever attending the Game Developers Conference are pretty slim. Feel free to live vicariously through the Joystiq crew by checking out the gallery below. No, it’s not nearly as flashy as E3 and PAX’s show floors — except in the case of the MotionCapture.com booth (pictured above), which is quite possibly the flashiest thing we’ve ever seen.

JPEGs from the frontlines of the GDC 2010 show floor originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meeting with Gaikai’s founding fathers — ( from left to right) Rui Pereira, Andrew Gault and David Perry — this morning, we chatted about the company’s unique take on “cloud gaming,” particularly how, unlike competitor OnLive, there will be no fee to play streaming games using its servers and in-browser app, and what it’s doing to “reduce friction” in trying (and eventually buying) games online.

Saying that Gaikai “isn’t trying to be PlayStation 4 or take out the next Wii,” Perry described (and demoed) the concept of embedding instantly playable games on any website. A publisher can, for instance, have a clickable pop-up appear when people are looking at one of its games on Amazon, which quickly launches an overlay window running the full game, with whatever time limit the publisher chooses. After this period, players can opt to buy the game for unlimited streaming, download it, or have a physical copy shipped to them.

What intrigued us more is the ability to Tweet from within these demos, and, if you’re playing a multiplayer title, anyone who clicks the link sent to your Twitter feed will be launched into your game. We also got a look at a widget that places a small video of any game you’re currently playing via Gaikai on your personal blog, which friends can click to either try the game or actually join the session you’re in, if applicable. This demo used Mario Kart 64, in which it was possible for Gaikai staff to drop in as player two, three or four fairly easily.

Perry also revealed to us that Gaikai has secured servers at 300 data centers across the US (as opposed to OnLive’s five), in addition to inking deals with local broadband providers to install servers at another 900 peering locations — all with the goal of keeping latency as low as possible. The ideas we saw in action have the potential to shake up the traditional game demo model, for sure. What do you think of what Gaikai’s cooking up?

Gaikai will be fee-free, utilize 300 data centers in the US originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Mass Effect 2’s in-game DLC pipeline, The Cerberus Network, continues to transport new weapons (and soon, a new vehicle) to players for free, BioWare has announced the game’s first pack of paid downloadable content. “Kasumi’s Stolen Memory” finally completes Commander Shepard’s dirty dozen, adding a confident female thief to your anti-Reaper repertoire. It’s currently scheduled to launch for Xbox 360 and PC on April 6th.

After downloading the DLC, players can get in touch with Kasumi on the Citadel, either in the middle of an ongoing Mass Effect 2 game or after the completion of the main story (lesson learned from Mass Effect 1 DLC!). Once recruited, Shepard aids Kasumi on a secretive mission of recovery, which requires a suave disguise and a run-in with an influential and predictably corrupt art collector. The content, which also provides the “Locust” SMG, a flash-bang grenade loyalty power and a new Achievement, should take about an hour and a half to complete.

BioWare is currently in the midst of “internal discussion” to determine the price of the DLC, but we’ll keep you updated as soon as it’s finalized. Look for some impressions of “Kasumi’s Stolen Memory” on Joystiq later today. Spoiler: It looks great.

Mass Effect 2 DLC ‘Kasumi’s Stolen Memory’ lands on Apr. 6 (don’t forget!) originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Forced to surrender, Sam’s put on a plane and “brought home” for questioning about a plot to bring down Washington, DC with an EMP attack. Handling the transport is Black Arrow, a private military contractor, and it’s this outfit’s private airbase that serves as the setting for the game’s second level. It presented me with new challenges, specifically staying out of site in some really wide-open spaces. I was reminded of Metal Gear Solid more than once, what with patrolling guards, stacked crates and roaming flood lights to negotiate.

Continue reading Hands-on: Splinter Cell: Conviction

Hands-on: Splinter Cell: Conviction originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Very aggressive” is the phrase THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson used to describe his company’s plans for downloadable titles across the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC platforms during a GDC 2010 interview with Joystiq. With two studios dedicated to the downloadable space — THQ Digital Studios Phoenix (formerly Rainbow Studios) and THQ Digital Studios UK (formerly Juice Games) — Bilson told us THQ plans to release “up to six” downloadable titles within the next year, some based on the company’s biggest brands.

“We’re going to be building stuff on some of our core brands,” Bilson said, noting the plan is to create downloadable titles within the same universe as THQ’s major franchises in order to improve brand awareness. Surprisingly, Bilson’s plans include “giving away” some of the upcoming downloadable games, although he did not specify how this idea would be executed.

Bilson’s theory is that by getting players “involved” in its franchises via downloadable titles, THQ can help drive pre-orders and awareness for their big-budget (in relation) retail counterparts. While he would not specify which THQ franchises would get downloadable titles, we were told the plan is to roll out this strategy on “two or three” of THQ’s biggest franchises (à la Square Enix’s upcoming Lara Croft game from developer Crystal Dynamics).

But the plan doesn’t end there: Similar to the approach taken by Microsoft’s Fable II: Pub Games experiment, downloadable releases based on THQ’s major brands will unlock content within the retail releases, teasing players with potential advantages to purchasing related retail titles; retail games will also unlock content in downloadable titles, to help drive players to explore more content within that franchise’s universe. “You’re going to see some of our core brands built out in different kinds of gameplay to get people involved in the brands and drive awareness towards a launch.”

THQ developing downloadable games based on ‘core’ brands originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading PlayStation Move: the everything you need to know post

PlayStation Move: the everything you need to know post originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That’s right, folks — Harmonix has just revealed that Green Day: Rock Band will be available for all come June 8 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Up to 6 players (3 mics; 3 instruments) will progress through the career of the trio, unlocking collectible images (more than 100, apparently) and some 40 minutes of “rare and unreleased” footage from interviews, outtakes and performances along the way.

As alluded to above, GD:RB will also sport the same vocal harmonizing feature that made The Beatles: Rock Band such a delight for mic hogs and comes loaded with 47 Green Day tracks, including “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

Oh, and if you’re looking to export these tunes, worry not: all 47 tracks are fully exportable to a console hard drive and playable in Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and the recently announced Rock Band 3. The export fee is $9.99 via Xbox Live or PSN. The export features is not available for the Wii system. Additionally, if you’ve picked up the six Green Day tunes already available as DLC, you can play them in the new game with added harmonies, “unique” visuals and more “exclusive archival material.”

Green Day: Rock Band will be available as a standalone game for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $59.99, while Wii owners will get a bit of a price break at $49.99. A special edition Green Day: Rock Band Plus will also come to Xbox 360 and PS3 for $69.99 and includes fancy packaging, an “export” feature (we assume, a voucher to export the disc tracks to the hard drive) and the six previously released Green Day DLC tracks.

Update: The GameStop pre-order bonus for the standalone game is an export voucher (for Xbox 360 or PS3). Essentially, pre-order GD:RB from GameStop, and you can export all 47 tracks to your console hard drive for free.

Green Day: Rock Band releases June 8 worldwide originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In early 2009, Centerscore co-founder Oliver Miao was assigned an extremely daunting task. His studio had recently been acquired by EA Mobile, and his higher-ups had requested an iPhone version of the studio’s successful teen-dating sim series, Surviving High School. The difficulty didn’t come in developing the title, but rather, in monetizing it.

During his GDC panel titled “Surviving the iPhone: EA’s Original Game Bet,” Miao recounted the different business models Centerscore proposed to EA Mobile for SHS. The initial idea was to sell the game for 99 cents, and then hand out additional weekly “episodes” for free. While this would help build the brand, EA Mobile didn’t anticipate enough return on the investment. It was denied, and Centerscore was sent back to the drawing board.

The second idea was to offer the current episode of the game for free, but charge 99 cents for bundled episodes from previous weeks. This idea was also shot down, and Centerscore’s project was threatened with cancellation. Finally, the two parties came up with a solution that’s proven to be fairly lucrative: give the current episode for free, charge for previous episodes, and offer the next episode in advance for an additional 99 cents — quite an innovative business model.

Of course, Centerscore could have easily raked in the cash by simply charging $500 for one of its first mobile titles, Garfield Bowling. We can’t think of a price we wouldn’t pay for that gem.

GDC: Surviving High School creator talks clever, profitable microtransactions originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively multiplayer online game players in the States allegedly spent $3.8 billion last year, according to the Today’s Gamers MMO Focus Report by Gamesindustry.com and TNS. The report claims that the MMO market in the US has reached 46 million users, with 21 million paying for online games. The rest play without spending a dime (think “freemium”).

In a shocking upset victory dripping in sarcasm, World of Warcraft was the most popular MMO with the US, besting NeoPets, Club Penguin, Disney ToonTown and Runescape. Ah freemium, where even the traditional MMO companies can make money.

[Via Massively, Gamasutra]

Study: America spent $3.8 billion on MMOs in 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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