We need writers, editors, and more!
As you may have noticed, PixlBit has been quickly growing thanks to our already stellar team of contributors. Given our growth, we need MORE help in order to keep bringing our readers the best content around. Application is easy and only requires you to provide a bit of writing so that we can assess your skills.
Baby, the box art is blue, ba ba ba baa!
The Wii U box art template has been confirmed by Nintendo and outside sources. Rumors are flying 'round about release dates of games and the console. What does this mean for the prediction made last week about a late September launch of the Wii U? Also inside: A discussion of what's not necessarily right regarding PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale preview coverage, 5th Cell troubles with Hybrid servers, and Dragon Quest IX and X talk! Click through for the show's download and listening links!
Sony unveils some value packed discs this month.
You’ve probably heard of the Ratchet and Clank HD Collection for PlayStation 3 by now. It came out in Europe not too long ago and we knew it was on the way for North America relatively soon. What we didn’t know was the new collection initiative Sony is rolling out with the release of this highly anticipated remaster.
A leaked screenshot adds fuel to the fire.
Despite the quick rise of the Prince of Persia series after the initial release of The Sands of Time, it has remained dormant for the past few years. 2010 was the last time anyone heard from Ubisoft on the middle-eastern series with the release of the Forgotten Sands, but it seems that there might be something in store for the “almost forgotten” franchise.
The Virtual Insanity panel at QuakeCon goes nuts for advances in VR, but Valve still hasn't committed to supporting the newest gear.
It’s hard not to get swept up by the excitement exuding from the four people on stage for a panel about virtual reality at QuakeCon. It’s the Oculus Rift VR headset (with a kickstarter that recently broke the million dollar funding level) that has gotten panel members thinking that virtual reality gaming is feasible. John Carmack and Todd Hollenshead of id, Michael Abrash of Valve, and Palmer Luckey from Oculus talked about the problems with virtual reality headsets through history, where things are now, and where they are headed. Id has solidified their interest in the Oculus Rift headset by agreeing to provide a copy of Doom 3 BFG Edition with every headset sold in the future. For now, that’s the only software confirmed to be playable with the product intended primarily for developers. When Abrash was asked if Valve had plans to make their products playable with Rift, he could only confirm his desire to do so but not any concrete plans.
Makers of Left 4 Dead, Rage, and Halo 4 multiplayer discuss what makes playing with friends so engaging.
Marty Stratton from id, Chet Faliszek of Valve, and Max Hoberman of Certain Affinity sat down for an intimate conversation in front of a hundred person audience for a panel all about multiplayer games at QuakeCon. The panel started by discussing why they find multiplayer gaming to be so engaging, and all agreed that it was the openness of it, and that their experiences in multiplayer were much more memorable than any single player experiences they had had.
Todd Howard and crew reveal the fun and difficult times to be had in game development.
Today’s slate of panels kicked off with “The Game of Making Games,” hosted by G4’s Blair Herter. Ted Price of Insomniac, Jens Matthies of Machine Games, Todd Howard of Bethesda, and Raphael Colantonio of Arkane Studios made up the panel of noteworthy developers in what was primarily a Q & A session with the audience. Herter started off by asking about each developer’s general game-making philosophy, which soon led to questions about axing faltering game elements during development no matter how much time was spent on creating them. Herter threw out the term “killing your babies” about this design necessity and it became a recurring in-panel meme.
All game developers in the making need to find out what Bethesda and Valve think is key to getting into the industry.
“How do you get into the games Industry? I don’t know. How do you make a game? Make a game.” Chet Faliszek of Valve offered this obvious but important advice to aspiring game makers during a QuakeCon panel on modding. With the release of Steam Workshop and Skyrim editing tools, the modding scene has gotten a bit more attention lately, and with good reason. Apparently the modding community continues to be an integral part of finding and training game devs. Nick Breckon and Joel Burgess of Bethesda along with Matt Scott and Faliszek of Valve filled an hour with plenty of advice for aspiring game designers and tons of appreciation for the existing mod community.
I don't know art, but I know what I like, and this ain't it.
A few weeks ago, I was watching Adult Swim pretty late at night when I came across a psychedelic piece of animation. What I saw felt like some sort of fever dream. I assumed that the swirling colors and morphing images were part of the station identification bumps, but it just kept going and I was transfixed, unable to change the channel. I eventually realized that this was an actual animated short and when it was over I blinked a couple times and decided that I didn’t get what I had just seen, though I could understand why it might rock the socks off of someone else. This is exactly how I feel about Dyad, a game that I can appreciate as something unique and artistic, and yet something that is simply not my cup of tea.
2.0 is SO last year.
Despite the rough launch and nearly unanimous negative reviews from the media, Final Fantasy XIV continues. The game had such a rocky start that the company publicly apologized for the state that the game was released in and allowed players to play with no subscription fees for nearly a year. Producer Hiromichi Tanaka stepped down from his position on the game and recently left the company entirely. But just because FF XIV is down should not suggest that it’s out. The much-ballyhooed “2.0” version of the game is now a new subtitle. Final Fantasy XIV is dead. Long live Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
