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Gen Con 2016 Highlights: The Dark Eye and Polaris

From Gamasutra: Gen Con’s expo hall is a cornucopia of nerd-dom without parallel.

You find crowds of people poring over boxes of game dice like rare jewels on display at a bazaar, snaking queues for popular game pavilions, skyscrapers of bookshelves, traffic jams of cosplay, all with a titanic Pikachu hovering over it all.

Picking something out from the riot seems almost daunting but there’s more than a little big news hiding in the crowds. A pair of venerable and popular tabletop RPGs from France and Germany have been translated into English, Polaris and The Dark Eye, respectively.

Ulisses Spiele’s The Dark Eye (Das Schwarze Auge in German) was launched in 1984 and became the bestselling RPG in the German market, even outselling Dungeons and Dragons. The homespun alternative to D&D’s juggernaut can, at first blush, seem to offer nothing that kitchen sink settings like Forgotten Realms or Pathfinder’s Golarion don’t in spades. The anglophone market is certainly saturated with Tolkien-esque high fantasy already. But there are a few things that make The Dark Eye stand out a touch and may appeal to players like me who simply can’t get enough of Elves, Dwarves, and Dragons.

Read more at Gamasutra.com

eSports Zone No. 2

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We’re back in the zone again for eSports, for round two of news from the competitive gaming world (we hope) you can use. There’s never a shortage of stories in the fast-paced and fast-growing segment of the games world, so let’s get to it!

ESL Bringing eSports Action to gamescom 2016

If you’re attending the upcoming gamescom 2016 and you love eSports, you’re in for a treat. ESL Arena should be a massive sprawl of competitive gaming during the run of gamescom, from August 17 to 21. Including among the many titles to be contested, some with sizable prize pools on the line, are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Elsword, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Lawbreakers, League of Legends and Overwatch.

Red Bull Proving Grounds Early Rounds About to Begin

Regional qualifiers for the Red Bull Proving Grounds are about to kick off, up until mid-September. The main objective is to win against rivals in Street Fighter V and ultimately earn a spot with the pros at the Capcom Pro Tour North American Finals at the Red Bull Battle Ground, from November 4-6 at the Seattle Exhibition Hall. Rather than tell how the process works, this handy-dandy YouTube video shows how anyone can enter, anyone can compete and anyone has a shot at moving up the ladder.

Here’s the lowdown in the upcoming schedule itself:

  • Atlanta – Aug. 27, Sept. 24
  • Los Angeles – Aug. 20, Sept. 17
  • Chicago – Aug. 28, Sept. 25
  • Seattle – Aug. 13, Sept. 10
  • Philadelphia – Aug. 13, Sept. 10
  • Toronto – Sept. 10

Kingston Technology Sells One Million HyperX Headsets

Why is a million-sales headset product getting a hat tip in an eSports news post? Firstly, HyperX, the gaming product brand (which includes headsets) from Kingston Technologies, sponsors more than 30 eSports teams globally and is the main sponsor of Intel Extreme Masters. It would seem HyperX’s embrace of eSports might help some gamers decide to give the product a try. Launched in 2014, the HyperX line of headsets covers 10 products and is sold through 10,000 stores in 80 countries, so that broad availability can’t hurt sales either.

Oakland, California to New eSports Arena

The San Francisco Bay area, home to many game development and eSports-related companies, is about to see a dedicated arena for competitive gaming established in Oakland, California, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Backed by Chinese and entertainment industry money, this eSports-dedicated 1,000 seat facility will be called the “ESports Arena: Oakland”. This facility will be one of only a few in the world and the first in the area, is expected to be set up by year’s end or early 2017.

eSports as an Olympic Sport (Take Two)?

We briefly took a look at this question back in eSports Zone #1, but now the 2016 Olympic Games are in full swing in Rio and it remains an open question whether eSports will be able to join that particular pantheon of games. The International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) has submitted paperwork whether eSports belong in an upcoming Olympics, and are expected to hear back by December on that petition, according to a story on the topic by Mashable. Further, it looks like the IeSF is doing all it can to step as a governing body to be seen as an enforcer within, and promoter of, eSports.

“The e-Sports World Championships are kind of like IeSF’s own version of an esports Olympics. The championships are hosted in a different member country every year, and  member countries can send teams to compete in different games each time like Starcraft II, League of Legends, Street Fighter and more.

IeSF has also been working to legitimize esports by making partnerships with titans in the sports world, including the International Association of Athletics Federation and becoming a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Agency.”

Hopefully by the end of the year, there will be an update on where the petition stands to join an even larger world stage for competitive gaming.

Thresh Second to be Inducted in eSports Hall of Fame

At QuakeCon 2016, pioneering competitive gamer Dennis “Thresh” Fong was formally inducted as the second pro gamer into the eSports Hall of Fame. If you know Quake, Thresh is almost as big a name as the game itself and is likely a familiar name to you. If not, to sum up some of his accomplishments: Fong was well-known in DOOM, but far better known in Quake. In id’s 1996 first-person polygonal shooter game, he never lost a tournament, and was known for popularizing WASD key bindings, controlling game pace, armor or ammo tactics, and leveraging sound as clues in game combat, as mentioned in an article by PVP Live.

Fong’s induction follows that of Emil ‘HeatoN’ Christensen, who was an ex-professional Counter-Strike player and founder of Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Intel Game Developer Showcase at AGC

The Austin Game Conference has partnered with Intel to host the Intel Game Developer Showcase pitch and demo event at AGC onSept. 20th starting at 5pm.

Taking place at Brazos Hall, just two blocks from the convention center, the Game Dev Showcase is an eventful evening filled with networking, amazing game previews, hands-on demos, food and beverage, and more networking. Doors open at 5pm and presentations begin at 6pm.

We invite indie game devs worldwide to submit their PC games or PC VR games for consideration.

10 finalists will be selected and given:

  • Five-minutes to present and pitch you and your game to Showcase attendees that evening. Judges will select winners who receive visibility and special prizes!
  • Demo kiosk station at Showcase that evening so everyone there can play your game
  • Demo kiosk station on the Austin Game Conference Expo Hall floor Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 21 -22 so everyone there can play your game

DEADLINE: The call for submissions runs through Wednesday, August 31, 2016 midnight Pacific time. Studios with games selected will receive notifications shortly thereafter.

The Austin Game Conference (AGC), taking place September 21-22, 2016 at the Austin Convention Center, provides critical insight into developing live, participatory games with real-time engagement between developers, players and spectators. The AGC line up includes 70 expert speakers across five conference tracks: Design, Business, Production, Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality / Mixed Reality and Audience Participation (Streaming and eSports). Game design legend Graeme Devine, head of games at mixed reality startup Magic Leap, will deliver the opening keynote. View the schedule, speakers and register here. Early registration ends August 31st. Register now and save $200 off the onsite price.

Get 10% Off Austin Game Conference Tickets!

Get 10% Off Austin Game Conference tickets! Use our code: EFGVIP and register at: http://austingamecon.com/register. The 10% is above and beyond any discounts already in place on the AGC website!

The Austin Game Conference and Expo (AGC 2016) is September 21-22, 2016, in Austin. The event provides participants critical insight into developing live, connected, participatory games with real-time engagement between developers, players and spectators. Tracks include production, platform, community and more.

AGC is a venue for developers, technologists and business professionals to network with colleagues, learn from industry leaders, stay informed about the latest techniques, tools and technologies and get business done in a relaxed atmosphere.

The attendees are decision-makers, setting the standards and looking for insights to improve their businesses and they come to AGC for the opportunity to drill down on key issues.

Participants can get the information needed to create and run always-on, run-live, play-live games as a service and hear from experts on the latest development techniques for multiplayer, online and social games, including eSports, AR/VR and live streaming.

AGC 2016 Event Websites:

AGC’s official website

@AustinGameCon on Twitter and #GenCon, #GenConIndy, #GenConIndy2015

Austin Game Con on Facebook

Flash Memory Summit 2016 to Discuss VR, AR and Wearables in Panel

During the Flash Memory Summit 2016, a conference unlikely to be familiar to most gamers, still has an impact on the virtual reality, augmented reality and wearables that are becoming part of many gamers’ lives. Namely, a panel conversation will be taking place this week that covers the role of flash memory in storage and delivery of data and content to and from VR, AR and wearables devices.

Midafternoon on Wednesday, August 10, 2016, this very topic will be addressed in the session, “Augmented Reality, Wearables that Make Great Use of Flash.” The panel will be moderated by Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research. During the session, panelists will explore how quickly AR is becoming integrated into all aspects of our lives. The demands AR places on high-performance, high-capacity flash memory technology, in keeping with the focus of the summit, will also be discussed.

Overall, the topic likely deserves a closer look because the wearables market is strong and gaining popularity. Worldwide, shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 101.9 million units by the end of 2016 and are projected to reach 213.6 million units shipped in 2020, which adds up to a healthy compound annual growth rate of 20.3 percent.

In a press release, Peddie said:

“AR and VR technologies are quickly going beyond gaming and video production. To enjoy and take advantage of these technologies, we need a constant flow of information. We’re taking advantage of the power of our pocket computers and connecting them to mountains of data stored in the cloud. At the same time, AR devices become personal recorders, generating reams of data. We need to store and connect to that information in real time and flash memory can play a key role in bringing AR/VR mainstream.

“While the devices and technology will account for only 10 percent of the wearables shipments by 2020, they will be over 40 percent of the market’s total revenues — and storage will be a key component to its success,” he added.

The following will be a part of the AR/VR and wearables-focused panel on flash memory that Peddie is moderating:

  • Soulaiman Itani, CTO and founder of Atheer
  • Daryl Sartain, director of virtual reality with Alliances, Content and VR at AMD
  • Christopher C. Croteau, director of business development for Head-Worn Products, New Devices Group at Intel
  • Rick Tewell, vice president of system solutions, Verisilicon
  • Manuel Gutierrez Novelo, CTO, founder of Innersion-Vrielia

To further quote the press release, diving into the depths about the panel and its topics it hopes to cover,

“AR is paradoxically about the efficiency of human action in relation to usable data and simultaneously the avoidance of reality in the form of pictures and graphics. The panelists will discuss the challenge of being careful of what you wish for with the technology since too many labels in a scene or too many objects may make it difficult to read/digest the information needed. They will also outline the limits and privacy protection issues that have to be addressed by storage and device manufacturers to keep AR devices from being inundated with unwanted, overwhelming information.”

The Flash Memory Summit 2016, held in Santa Clara from August 9-11, 2016, showcases the latest in flash memory design, production and applications with over 10 simultaneous panel session tracks and 14 keynotes speakers from industry leaders around the globe.  Attendance to all of the August 10 wearables, AR/VR technology sessions will be open to FMS registrants at http://www.flashmemorysummit.com/

Smartphone MOBA ‘Vainglory’ to Host Tournaments in Seattle, Cologne

The touchscreen-based MOBA “Vainglory” is hoping to climb its way to find its niche in the competitive MOBA scene during PAX West 2016. The Vainglory Summer Season Championships will run September 2-4, 2016, and will be hosted at Amazon’s event center in Seattle. PAX attendees can get in for free, and tickets are open to the public for $5.

Additionally, the European championships will run in ESL’s Esports Arena in Germany on September 9-11, 2016. Attendees can find tickets at the Eventbrite page for $12.60. The European tournament is not running in conjunction with another event, unlike the Seattle tournament.

Both tournaments will place the top eight teams from their respective regions. From there, the winners will qualify to participate in the fall season for a chance to place in the first 12-team World Championship this December.

Vainglory is a touchscreen competitive MOBA, comparable to “League of Legends.” The game’s publisher, Super Evil Megacorp, has claimed the game has the largest audience for a competitive tablet game. “Vainglory” can be downloaded for free on select Android and iOS tablet devices.

August 2016 Game Industry Events Calendar

To help you plan attendance for this month’s game industry conferences, conventions, festivals and other events, we post a consolidated list of events each month. View the complete August event list below!

August 2016 Game Industry Events Calendar:

Click here for the main calendar view.

August 1-2: EduGaming (Schnecksville, USA)
1-3: GamesBeat (Rancho Palos Verdes, USA)
2-4: AnDevCon Boston (Boston, USA)
3-4: GDC Europe (Cologne, Germany)
4-7: Assembly (Helsinki, Finland)
4-7: Gen Con (Indianapolis, USA)
4-7: QuakeCon (Dallas, USA)
11: Dev Rel Summit (Seattle, USA)
12-14: Nine Worlds (London, UK)
12-14: DreamHack Montreal (Montreal, Canada)
15-16: Respawn (Cologne, Germany)
16: Intel Developer Forum (San Francisco, USA)
16: Intel Buzz Workshop (San Francisco, USA)
17-21: gamescom (Cologne, Germany)
24: GMIC Sao Paulo (sao Paulo, Brazil)
26: Arcade, Video and Game Room Expo (Rosemont, USA)
26-29: Insomnia58 (Birmingham, UK)
27: eSports Strategy and Analytics Conference (Los Angeles, USA)
31-1: PAX Dev (Seattle, USA)
31-3: A MAZE. Johannesburg (Johannesburg, South Africa)

This list is obtained from the main calendar. Did we miss an event? Let us know!

MIGS Is Back and Exciting as Ever for 2016!

This November 13, 14, and 15, the Montreal International Game Summit 2016, or MIGS16, will be back and exciting as ever. As the largest conference for the video game industry on the North American East Coast, it serves as a hub in Montréal for bringing together industry professionals from all over the world to showcase new games and share the hottest news for the video game industry. MIGS16 takes place at the at Palais des congrès de Montréal, Québec, Canada.

MIGS — Your access to experts!

The team at MIGS has taken in a lot of feedback from last year and has since updated and improved many aspects of the conference. This year, the main mission is to present an even higher level of content in the conference program. MIGS16 wants to show everyone top notch content … the industry leading lessons and advanced techniques from worldwide experts!

Here are just a few exciting aspects that will be making MIGS16 one to remember:

— More than 3000+ attendees from 20 countries expected.
— Various networking opportunities with cocktails, happy hours and parties.
— Sessions and master classes given by TOP experts of the gaming industry.
— A live demo room and job fair to see new games and hand out resumes.
— Meet over 50 publishers and IP owners from across the world.

While November is still far away, MIGS 2016 is offering a Super Early Bird discount. This deal allows anyone to get up to 20 percent discount on almost all of MIGS16’s passes. The Super Early Bird discount ends August 5, 2016, so hurry while it lasts!

Visit MIGS16’s website at: http://www.migs16.com/en/

Twitter to Play Host to Its First Live eSports Event This Weekend

From Gamasutra: The business of where eSports are broadcast has proven to be a reoccurring story of 2016. Earlier this year, Facebook struck a deal with Activision to stream MLG eSports events, and TBS began broadcasting eLeague, which hosts the “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” tournament series.

Now this weekend, the eLeague championship games are heading to Twitter. In a press release sent out by eLeague today, the league says that while the normal TBS broadcast will be held at its normal times at 5 p.m. EST Friday, July 29 and at 4 p.m. July 30, a simultaneous broadcast of the event will be held on Twitch and Twitter.

While the Twitch coverage is nothing new, it is the first time that Twitter’s streaming functions have been used to broadcast a major eSports event. Given the game development community’s strong presence on Twitter, the new live-streaming tools at play represent another opportunity alongside the growing number of platforms for developers to organize competitive or just general gameplay streams.

In an interesting note, this Twitter stream doesn’t seem to conflict with eLeague and Twitch’s previously announced partnership on streaming their eSports events.

Anthony Noto, Twitter’s CFO, says in the press release that the large number of eSports fans already on Twitter makes it a viable platform for developers to stream tournaments and gameplay.

“Gamers are one of the largest and most engaged audiences on Twitter, and we are thrilled to partner with Turner and WME/IMG[eLeague’s other owner] to bring them the live content from eLeague and Twitter commentary they are already looking for, all on one screen.”

Read more at Gamasutra

News From CES Past and Future

The technology mega-show in Las Vegas, CES, or the Consumer Electronics Show, is such a news-generating machine, it requires a mega-post just to keep on top of the news. Before taking an eyeful of the future, let’s glance back at the recent past:

CES 2016 a Record-Setter

After independently auditing the numbers, the tally for CES 2016 attendance hit the mark of 177,393 industry professionals from around the world. After 2015’s record number of CES attendees, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA, which organizes CES) pledged to limit the degree of attendee number growth and note the numbers represent 1 percent growth from 2015.

In more zoomed-in detail, over 53,000 international industry professionals, a 10 percent bump from 2015, attended CES 2016. Said another way, that’s 158 countries, which includes five more than 2015. About 3,886 exhibiting companies showed up to CES, across a sprawling near-2.5 million square feet of exhibit space. That’s a lot of ground to cover for media, which represented over 7,500 attendees.

Speaking of Media at CES

Press-day events, which include layers of company press conferences, are spreading from one action-packed day to two maybe equally action-packed days. The new schedule covers January 3-4, 2017, now preceding CES Unveiled Las Vegas and market research presentations. Pre-press day in past years was usually an “empty” day for CES press folks, at least until mid-afternoon, and now, it is planned for a noon kick-off time January 3. As if CES couldn’t be any busier for the media folks in attendance …

CES 2017 Registration Set for September

CES 2017 registration, rather than starting in August, as it usually has in recent years, is starting a little later this year, on September 6, 2016. Sign up here to be notified of CES 2017 commencement of registration. Also, if you plan to attend CES 2017, it never hurts to start looking for the hotel options in Las Vegas early, because they full up fast — which is partly the reason for a CES 2017 post in July.

Upcoming Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Event

From Pocket Gamer Connects: Pocket Gamer Connects, the leading mobile games show in the western world, is bringing its unique combination of inspirational speakers, grade-A networking, and a vibrant expo to the Helsinki, the heart of the European mobile games business on September 5th and 6th and we’d love you to join us!

Now in its third year, the show brings together over 1,000 delegates representing a true cross-section of the mobile business: from indie devs and media through tool-makers and monetisation experts to triple-A publishers and investors including delegates from across the globe.

We’ll have great speakers representing the likes of Rovio, Seriously, Glu, Machine Zone, Netease, Tencent and more sharing their expertise over 8 conference tracks covering everything from global publishing trends and UA techniques to how indies can raise funds and compete in the modern landscape.

Ultimately, of course, it’s all about making great connections and we’ve got that covered with a free matchmaking meeting tool, 3 dedicated pitch sessions, a lively expo area, an app, and after-hours networking events including the legendary PG party!

This year, in addition to the mobile core, the event will also house two new events, VR Connects and PC Connects dedicated to covering other areas of the games industry and reflecting the cross-platform opportunities and reality facing developers today.

Those 8 tracks in full

  • Indie Futures – A dedicated track for indie developers and how they can survive and thrive in the modern mobile ecosystem.
  • East Meets West: Global Mobile Gaming – Exploring the hottest regions, biggest trends, and best opportunities for mobile game publishers today including a focus on eSports and the latest from Asia.
  • Monetise, Retain, AcquireThe latest tips, trends, and techniques in UA and monetisation.
  • Mobile Games University – A track full of practical tips and workshops on everything from creating great ideas to running liveops.
  • Show Me the Money – Exploring the different sources and approaches of raising funds, from angels and publisher partnerships to government funding and VCs.
  • Fantastic Finland – A dedicated track celebrating the best of the Finnish industry
  • VR Connects: Future Visions – A dedicated track looking at VR (not exclusively mobile) and emerging technologies that will affect the industry.
  • PC Connects: The next generation – The new addition to the crowd, this track will focus on the core issues for the PC game developer from engine selection and business models to marketing and retailing.

Networking & other key features

  • Pitch & Match – Free business matching meeting system for all attendees.
  • PGC App – Free app to get updates and connect with other delegates on the fly.
  • Big Indie Pitch – Indie developers pitch media and selected experts for prizes and feedback on their upcoming games.
  • 20/20 SpeedMatch – 20 publishers, 20 developers, 2 hours, 1 room. 20 Guaranteed meetings for all selected participants.
  • Expo Area – Discover games, technologies, services and more.
  • I Love Indie Showcase – Up-and-coming indies show off their games in the dedicated expo area.
  • PG Party – Let your hair down, get your dancing shoes on, and your business cards out in our relaxed, always-popular after-hours event.

Initial Speakers include:

  • Ville Heijari – CMO Rovio
  • Sebastian Kriese – Wooga
  • Tommy Palm – Resolution Games
  • Petri Jarvilehto – Seriously
  • Teemu Maki-Patola – Frogmind
  • Jami Laes – FuturePlay
  • Jana Karlikova – Stugan
  • Aki Jarvilehto – Everywear
  • A Representative – Next Games
  • Lasse Seppanen – PlayRaven
  • Kieran Park – Nexon
  • Sabrina Carmona – King
  • Antti Sten – Boomlagoon
  • Vladimir Funtikov – Creative Mobile
  • Veli-Pekka Piirainen – Critical Force Entertainment
  • Shum Singh – Agnitio Capital
  • Daniel Blomquist – Creandum
  • Ricardo Flores – B5 Studios
  • Kim Soares – Kukouri Mobile Entertainment
  • Michael Peiffert – Mi-Clos
  • Anders Lykke – Priori Data
  • Ian Verchere – RoadHouse
  • Oliver Kern – TinyLoot

TennoCon 2016 Hailed as Success

The online free-to-play co-op third-person shooter game “Warframe” recently was the center of attention at TennoCon 2016. TennoCon is the first convention devoted exclusively to indie publisher and developer Digital Extreme’s “Warframe.” Hosted in London, Ontario, on July 9, 2016, over 1,100 “Warframe” players (known as Tenno) from around the world experienced a day full of panels, activities and tournaments for the players as the common ground through which they’d connect with each other and the game’s developers.

Digital Extremes pledged to donate 100 percent of all ticket sales from TennoCon to its official charitable partner, Outward Bound Canada. To that end, over $74,000 was raised from the convention.

Of the convention and “Warframe”‘s community spirit, Steve Sinclair, creative director at Digital Extremes, said: “I’m not often speechless, but there are no words I can say that captures the excitement and emotion felt when meeting so many fans today in person. It was an incredible experience for me and the entire ‘Warframe’ development team to see how games — our game — can bring people together in such a positive way. Our community is second to none, and they proved it by making our first TennoCon a huge success not only by attending, but also by raising a significant amount of money for a very good cause.”

It’s not a true blue game-focused convention without some news about the game itself to whet the appetites of its fans (and potential new fans). TennoCon 2016 offered “Warframe” news, too, closing the event with a live-streamed show on Twitch.tv for first-looks and teasers for the game. Straight from the official post-event press release, a few highlights include:

The War Within Teaser: The War Within will be the final installment of “Warframe”‘s latest three-part update, starting with the release of the new competitive sport mode, Lunaro, in June and followed by the Specters of the Rail last week. TennoCon 2016 attendees received a first-look at a cryptic teaser, featuring the Operator as well as Conclave Master, Teshin. Expect more news on what’s in store for Tenno in the next chapter of “Warframe”‘s storyline as the launch of The War Within draws nearer. Console players can expect to see The War Within update following its PC debut.

Titania Warframe Debut: “Warframe” Design Director Scott McGregor shared plans for designs and abilities for Titania, an all-new Warframe-in-development. Most exciting was plans for Titania’s ultimate ability, which will shrink the Warframe down to one-tenth of its normal size, allowing players to navigate levels in Archwing mode while attacking enemies with swarms of Titania’s vicious butterfly minions. Please note that all names and ability descriptions are not final at this point.

100 Days of “Warframe” Teaser: Working in partnership with Paul Otaking77077 and the good folks at mashed, “100 Days of Warframe” will be an action-packed animated video short that pays homage to “Warframe” and its awesome community with a humorous storyline based on the first 100 days after a Tenno awakens. Expect more news about “100 Days of Warframe” later this summer.

If you crave more info about “Warframe” and the TennoCon 2016 experience, check out the video from “Warframe”‘s official YouTube channel.

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