REVENGE

SOLVES

EVERYTHING

Blood and Gore Intense Violence

Sexual Themes Strong Language

X DISHONORED.COM OCTOBER 9, 2012

"Bethesda

a, Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax and related logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of ZeniMax arks of the Microsoft group of companies, and “Games for Windows" and the Windows Start button ation Network logo is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks or trade

& Games for Windows ® XBOX 360 Куе p PS 3 £ Â ARKANE

ня (92012 ZeniMax Media Inc. Developed in association with Arkane Studios. Dishonored, Revenge Solves Everything, Arkane, Bethe: Media Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Windows, the Windo lart button, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logo logo are used under license from Microsoft. "PlayStation," the "PS" Family logo and “PS3” are registered trademarks and the Plays names are the property of their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.

ANDY McNAMARA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF andy@gameinformer.com

Meco

Read my column or

comment on this letter at gameinformer.com/mag or follow @GI_AndyMc

Walk, Fire, Co-op

efore cooperative games existed, coop- p erative games existed. Who can say when

it all started? The instinct to use teamwork to overcome obstacles is ingrained in the human psyche. Just like early humans cooperated to improve their chances for survival, gamers have huddled together to conquer virtual space.

The moment games pitted us against an artifi- cial nemesis, we made them cooperative – even if that wasn't the designers’ intent.

1 remember what 1 did when these immortal words from Zork flickered on my friend's com- puter screen back in 1981:

West of House

You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.

After we looked at each other, confused for a moment by this strange and wonderful new type of game (to us, anyway) called a “text adven- ture,” we immediately proceeded to solve puz- zles together. We made maps. We re-enacted critical scenes. We argued over where we were and how we got there. We worked together to make sure we did everything possible to avoid being eaten by a grue.

This simple single-player text game became cooperative from the first line — all it took was a fellow adventurer. Such is the tale of gaming's past, present, and future. Games are amazing alone, but even better with a friend — and better still when designed with co-op play in mind.

| remember beating Contra with a friend after entering the now-legendary code.

| remember solving puzzles with Reiner in Portal 2, thinking "Oh, he is the dumb one," while he thought the exact same of me.

| remember being the last person alive in Halo Firefight with my friends cheering me to hold on for just one more round.

We all have memories that we cherish from co-op games and of the friends that were along for the ride. | hope our co-op issue helps you relive some good times, or even better, helps you find some new co-op gems to fill the memory banks.

Here's to co-op!

Cheers,

| T А

Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel

Visceral Montreal's co-op shooter adds new characters, a new setting, and perhaps most importantly, a more mature tone to the series. It's a challenging task, but the studio's already on track to bring the series to the level it deserves.

by Jeff Cork

"2

What's Coming in Co-Op Create Your Own Suda 51 Game

regulars

J 6 Feedback

Readers get excited about Unreal Engine 4, ask how to properly protest their least-favorite game publish- ers, and resurrect the age- old quest for the universal nude code.

J» 12 Connect

Get a better look at Epic Games’ first Unreal Engine 4 game, the colorful Fortnite; check out a unique new home game console; and read up on the upcoming game-inspired Disney movie, Wreck-It Ralph.

2% 76 Previews

We catch up with the next entry in the StarCraft Il saga, Heart of the Swarm; take a trip to Nintendo Land; and explore the exciting new Tolkien-inspired MOBA, Guardians of Middle-earth.

2 88 Reviews Bethesda coaxes back the few gamers to ever leave Skyrim with new DLC, Dawnguard. The supernatu- ral gameplay elements offer good reason to stay put in the huge fantasy world.

by Matt Miller

3» 100 Game Over We wrap up our extensive look at co-op games by talking to Gauntlet creator Ed Logg about the classic title's development.

contents

4 contents

Gear: Router Rundown

йге you OK?

Resonance

Interview: Victor Kislyi

games index

Aliens: Colonial Marines. . . ........ 64 Amazing Spider-Man, The. ........ 96 Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel... . . 34 Call of Duty: Black Ops Il.......... 67 ТИЙ з cnr etam imei 76 Dead Island: Riptide. .68 Dead Space 3 i. vos caesos 69 Dishonored .................... 70 Dai c eov ev essct s eeu 96 Endless Space... ose ree 96 Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two . . .69 Fal Ry 9: ord keen 66 A алдраа 86 бате & Мапйо..................

Gears of War: Judgment . Guardians of Middle-earth

К traits 65 НЛ ЛА ГАК ГС, 81 Hell Yeah: Wrath of the

DEN DBE 23 Kingdom Hearts 30: Dream Drop Distance: SSeS 94 КЕШ у. узса жил siete 96 ГОЙ СЕЙ, ТЮ... еее ааа 92 Lego Lords of the Rings........... 68 New Little King's Story ........... 87

New Super Mario Bros. 2. . .

New Super Mario Bros. U .67 Nintendo Гапа.................. 84 Penny Arcade's On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness 3.......... 96 Pocket Planes oer rent er 96 Pro Evolution Soccer 2013......... 87

Project P-100 ... Rainbow 6: Patriots

Rayman [ебеп@й$................ 68 Resident Evil б.................. 67 RESONANCE, E 93 Rome: Total War 2............... 78 Secret World, The ............... 24 Skylanders Giants ............... 69

Skyrim: Dawnguard . Sleeping Dogs . Sound Shapes .

Spelunky . . .

Stat Trek... onere Т ООО. StarCraft Il: Heart of the Swarm. . . . . 80 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy......... 95 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD........ 91

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron... . . 66

Zuma's Revenge ................ 96

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6

Contact Us

feedback@gameinformer.com

his month in Feedback, readers anticipate the advancements of Unreal

Engine 4, question how pretty a female warrior needs to be, request some timely boycott advice, and seek the holy grail of all gaming perverts: the universal nude code.

Judgment Day | loved Gears of War 3 but | still want more of the series. So when | saw Baird on the cover of the new Game Informer, | jumped with joy. | flipped to it and was amazed at the new campaign and multiplayer. The new characters look and sound awesome, and | cannot wait for the mash-up of Horde mode and Beast mode that is OverRun. Adding different classes is also genius. | will definitely be playing this game nonstop when it comes out.

Vincent Gugliotta

via email

When | first looked at the cover of issue 231 and saw the COG armor, | sighed with disappoint- ment. | couldn't believe they were going to make another Gears of War. However, after reading the article, | find myself excited. | think that Epic is doing exactly what is needed to bring a breath of fresh air to the franchise. l'm definitely going to consider buying Gears of War: Judgment when it comes out. Mike Mallengar Zolfo Springs, FL

While we received a few letters bemoaning Gears of War: Judgment, most readers are excited to see what Epic Games and People Can Fly come up with for the fourth install- ment of the series. Given the innovations Epic has already made in the co-op realm (see our Top 30 Co-op Games feature on page 44), we’re excited too.

To Wait or Not to Wait I've noticed that your magazine is a great way to complain, so here | go. | am very disappointed with game of the year edition games. First, we buy the game for 60 bucks. Then, we pay more money for DLC. Finally, the same game comes out as a game of the year edition for less money with all the DLC and sometimes new stuff too. This is bull. | know it, you know it, and every- body knows it. Now I’m scared of buying a new game because six months later a GOTY version will be released. At least they should give the new content to the people who have the regular editions for free.

Abelardo Garcia

via email

Game of the year editions are a great way for developers and publishers to get more players interested in a title after initial sales have died off. Someone else paying less for a six-month-old game doesn't detract from your experience or enjoyment of the game, so you have no reason to be angry or demand free content. If you feel like the GOTY edition is a better deal, then wait for it to come out. Preferably in silence.

Not a Fan of Indie Games It makes me sick that your rag considers "indie games" like Journey and Fez to be better than games that people actually had to work to make. | know you're a part of the liberal, elitist media that likes whine [sic] and cheese parties and is constantly defending video games as an art medium. Video games are about having fun. Not some fancy pants artistic buttf---athon. Stop being so insecure about yourselves as gamers. It's okay not to be recognized by your elitist peers.

Michael Shulski

via email

Listen up, Mike. You can imply that indie games don't take any effort to make, and that we only pretend to like them because of how insecure we are as gamers.

But don't you dare mock our *whine"

and cheese parties. We spend a lot of time ensuring they have just the right complaining-to-cheese ratio.

|

ri

CANDID PHOTOS FROM THE VIDEO

amedi

Is Pretty Important? As anyone who's played the God of War games can attest, the artists at Sony Santa Monica are some of the best in the industry. It's baffling, then, that they would exclude female charac- ters from God of War: Ascension's multiplayer because they "do not look pretty" in combat equipment, as game director Todd Papy stated in your preview in issue 231. Not only is it dis- appointing for gamers, but it's insulting to the artists. If making them look pretty was a require- ment, of course the studio could pull it off — or they could design cool-looking female characters regardless of prettiness. Greek mythology has no shortage of women warriors, and earlier games in the series already had the likes of Athena, Lachesis, Atropos, and Erinys, who were per- fectly at home next to Kratos and the other gods. | suspect Sony is either afraid to alienate their "dudebro" audience or they simply don't have the budget for the additional effort. Either way, the reasoning that they wouldn't “look pretty” is a load of garbage.

Joe Rinaldi

Austin, TX

Sony's explanation for omitting female char- acters from Ascension's multiplayer struck us as dubious as well. Surely we've moved beyond the point where women in video games are merely sexy eye candy, right?

Don't Answer That... Back when Tomb Raider first came out, a lot of people were looking for a nude code to enjoy a more "natural look" for Lara Croft. Nowadays, games like The Witcher have some sex scenes that, while they are pleasant to the eyes, are Still not enough. PC gamers have found a way to give the nude code to these games, but we console owners have no way of doing this. Why not put a section for mature players in your mag that covers how to do the nude code? | know | am not alone in this. If you think it will decrease Game Informer sales, a solution may be to make а mature-only game magazine in which to cover nude codes and even some sex games. If not, could you send me the code?

Javier Morcilio

via email

Your suggestion that we turn Game Informer into a video game pornography magazine is an intriguing one, but we'll keep things the way they are. Since you asked nicely, we'll give you the universal nude code for all games across all con- soles that you're looking for. It's Up, Up, Down, A, B, Triangle, L3, L4, the middle trigger button, 2.

GAME INDUSTRY

Short Answers

to Readers’ Burning Questions "Recently | traded in Skyrim

and Skyward Sword for Metal Gear Solid Collection HD. Am | on acid?"

It sure sounds like it.

"| am receiving my issues of GI one morith early. Any idea what's going on?"

Let's chalk it up to time travel and call it a day.

“If I sent you a picture of my dog in a bikini can | have a free issue of the first Game Informer magazine?"

Depends on the breed of dog.

Worst News Tip of the Month:

"You should put as the cover of games that came out and how fun is it to play."

Worst Opening Line to a Feedback Letter:

“So, | have a first world problem.

(Left) Gl community blogger Kyle Wadsworth took time out of his busy ЕЗ schedule to catch up with the Game Informer crew. (Right) This month the mastermind behind our weekly online Blog Herding feature, Rich "Saint" Dickinson, stopped by the

Gl office for a visit. Read his work at gameinformer.com.

continued on page 8

feedback 7

Thanks for the Jason West and Vincent Zampella interview (issue 231). | was confused about what happened between them and Activision, and now I have a better understanding — from one point of view, at least. After reading it, I’m going to have a hard time buying a game with. "Activision" written on it. | shouldn't punish other developers and avoid games that might be great, but that's a little too much shady behav- ior to continue supporting the publisher. To be honest, | wasn't planning on buying another Call of Duty anyway (I'm tired of the genre), but now | wish | hadn't bought Modern Warfare 3.

Cory Rogers

via email

This whole dramatic conspiracy with Activision has my head spinning and my eyes leaking some sort of salty discharge. l've been a huge Blizzard fan since the day | was born. But now I'm left feeling betrayed. Should | hate Activision Blizzard for this nonsense they're putting Jason and Vince through, or can | justifiably continue being a fan without appearing like a total jerk who enjoys watching other people get ripped off?

Wyatt Arent

via email

You’re not alone, Wyatt. We’ve heard

from a number of respondents vowing to boycott Activision after reading our West and Zampella interview, which covered their now-settled lawsuit with the publish- ing giant. But don’t feel obliged to forgo Blizzard's offerings. Activision won't see the

е nos 296 vay И connection between you skipping out оп 38 Violence in Video Games 26% | ft eal Enc c npa he d; your favorite games and its handling of the E Unreal Engine 4 Chatter 17% 1 E 5 1 former heads of Infinity Ward.

E Gears of War: Judgment Hype 14% їй Mass Effect З Ending Complaints (Seriously, Just Stop) 14%

Æ Readers Being Babies over Top Ten Video Game Babies 3%

If you could change one business practice in the video game industry, what would it be and why?

Adam got the

thumbs up approval from Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida. C Dead Space 3's associate producer John Calhoun and Bryan were more than happy to throw a bag over Ben Reeves' head and torture him. Who wouldn't be?

continued on page 10

8 feedback

“UL TRA-VIOLEWNT, SPLATTERY FUN FOR < STARSHIP THOOBERS) FANS!

FS Paced Thrill Ride That Tis the TAA D

LL d Balchack, MovieWeb, сот з

| ae. estes TH ?

INCLUDES | m ULTRA

А YOUR MOVIES IN’ THE cLoupD rulers

BECOME A CITIZEN? Ж: E- Now to find out! -`

R [RESTRICTED «<=> EOR VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE & NUDITY |. e

Enter the Game Informer Reader Art Contest. All you need to do is draw, paint, scratch, spit, or carve the best darn art you can think. of and send it to us. Please include your name, phone number, and return address. If you're the monthly winner, we'll feature your work in GI and you'll receive a video game prize from the Game Informer vault. All entries become the property of Game Informer and can't be returned.

1 Alex Oscavich If Calvin was a kid in 2012, he’d be. imagining Hobbes as his Captain Price.

2 Katerina Chantzis Dudley is peeved that hipsters co-opted his ironic facial hair obsession.

3 Jordan Welty Little known Nintendo fact: Link is voiced by that dude from Blur.

4 Darbi Lamb Don't wake this Moogle until Final Fantasy Versus XIII comes out.

HYLIANZ

feedback continued from page 8

Does Violence Matter?

In issue 231, we asked readers if violent content affects their purchasing decisions. While most gamers are fine with digital bloodshed, many parents shy away from gory games for the sake of their children. Additionally, a few of our readers are just plain creepy. Here are some responses.

| believe violence in a game should be explained and not just randomly included. If the game has a good plot, violence is perfectly okay. However, if there’s no reason for violence, it becomes com- pletely mind numbing. After a while | find myself questioning why | am playing a game that cannot keep me entertained without mutilating an enemy every few seconds.

Forrest A.

As a 37-year-old gamer, my life has been saturated with violence courtesy of mainstream media, so video game violence doesn’t cause me any qualms. However, as a parent with two young kids, it does affect when | get to play those games — as in, before or after the kids are in bed.

Frank Loyd

No, it doesn't. Because | am a grown-ass woman who knows the difference between right and wrong, and | was a little-ass child who knew the difference between right and wrong because my parents took the time to teach me.

Leah Young

Violence does affect my decision in buying a video game. If Cooking Mama allowed you to use a spork to scrape out someone's guts and sauté them in mango chutney, | would totally buy it.

Chris Pecora

WINNER this month's

winner will receive a copy of

Game Informer

Render Art Contest 3 Starship Troopers Invasion on 724 1st St. N., E б Blu-ray DVD. 3rd Floor.

Mpls, MN 55401

Corrections: In issue 232' ا0‎ referred to the game's creative name is Ben Wanat. Sorry, Ben!

continued from page 8

(Left) Reiner did his best David Caruso impression when meeting EA's Charlie Sinhaseni and Lauren Scherr during E3. (Right) Ben Hanson and Adam were all smiles when they caught up with StarCraft II lead producer Chris Sigaty.

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SLEEPING DOGS © 2012 Square Enix, Ltd. Al Rights Reserved. SLEEPING DOGS and the SLEEPING DOGS lago are trademarks of Square Enix. Ltd. SQUARE ENIX and the Network lago is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. KINECT, Xbox. Xbox 340, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the

is ouya the next.

disney. shakes up \ with wreck-it ralph

create your own suda 51 game |

top ten loading screens

impulse: two.downloadable games worth watching

massive: unraveling the mystery of the secret world

interview: wargaming, explodes the free-to-play,

sandbox crafting game, Fortnite.

uring a recent game jam, Bulletstorm producer Tanya Jessen used her free time to toy around with the idea of getting people to play coopera- tively using disparate game types. "For example, how do you get one player who is interested in scavenging to interact with a player who is more interested in combat or exploration?" Jessen asks. At the same time, an Epic designer was interested in creating a game type that fea- tures open spaces and crafting, and another pro- grammer wanted to design a hub-based game that works around scripted enemy encounters. After the game jam concluded, these ideas eventually collided to form Fortnite. "We are harkening back to when we were building forts as kids and having fort battles," Jessen says. "Whether you were building it in the woods or in your parents' living room, everything around you was really important to the end goal of making an awesome fort. Fortnite was built on these ideas."

Some of the best ideas in the world are born out of collaboration and experi- mentation. This philosophy led Epic Games to schedule weeklong “game jams” that allow its designers to explore their most creative ideas. Over the years, these experimental sessions resulted in the development of titles like the upcoming iOS dungeon crawler Infinity Blade Dungeons as well as Epic's new

Unvel

The developer finally delivers details on its PC-exclusive building project

» Release TBA

Like a more dangerous Minecraft, Fortnite puts players into a procedurally generated world where monsters have taken over, society has crumbled, and it's up to players to survive by building forts to hold back the zombie-like hordes that come out at night. Players explore abandoned neighborhoods and scavenge every building for parts that can be used to build an ever-evolving fort.

To streamline the design process, Epic devel- oped a fort-building system that allows players to lay out a 3D blueprint of the structure first. Once players form a general layout for the fort, they can use the tables, signposts, and cardboard boxes they've scavenged as the bricks and mortar.

"Even after you've laid out your foundation, you can go through and edit the whole thing," Jessen says. If you're placing a wall you can add windows and doors, make it a half-height wall, turn it into an arch, build different types of stairs, or create floors that have railings or are half width. "It's pretty much up to your creativity to build out the building and make it look awesome," Jessen says.

connect 13

The Unreal Experience

Fortnite is one of the first projects to show off the power of Epic's new Unreal Engine 4. The new engine gives devel- opers a greater level of freedom as it stream- lines the development process. For an example of how Unreal Engine 4 allows artists to develop environments in greater detail, check out these comparison images.

14 connect

Fortnite's graphics are inspired by old Looney Toons cartoons

Players must think strategically as well as aestheti- cally while building their forts, since Fortnite's ene- mies give them no respite. Creatures called husks are the worker-bee enemies of Fortnite. They are designed to burrow through walls and overwhelm players. A single husk may not be very dangerous, but they rarely travel alone.

Fortunately, every enemy has a weakness, and players can upgrade their forts to take advantage of them. Husks have no problem burrowing through level one wooden walls, but if players upgrade their walls to level two by adding better materials, they'll stop husks in their tracks.

Husks aren't the only foe players contend with, and many of the enemies play well together. While husks overwhelm players with numbers, smashers are brute-force enemies designed to break through walls and allow husks to get inside a player's base and cause havoc. Trolls, on the other hand, are sneaky enemies who can teleport through walls. These ugly guys don't have many hit points, but they sneak through the shadows and can slip through cracks in a fort's defenses to open doors or windows for the husk swarms. Trolls also steal from players, further weakening a fort's defenses.

Epic isn't ready to talk specifics about Fortnite's combat, item crafting, or how the day/night cycle affects enemy behavior. The developer is still experi- menting with how many users they can get into one game world, but Jessen promises that it supports more than two players.

Minecraft proved that open-world crafting games appeal to a large market. Fortnite's sharp visual style and twist on structure building should appeal to fans of this genre, but we're also eager to see if it recaptures the childlike thrill of building forts.

Ош

Goin West

The top web portal in China, Tencent, has started investing heavily in Western game developers. What does this signal for the future of gaming?

What is Tencent?

The third-largest web company in the world behind Amazon and Google, Tencent is a holding company that

owns and operates China's biggest In-

ternet service portal. Its most popular product is QQ Instant Messenger, which has more than 700 million users. The company also has made successful forays into social network- ing, search engine technology, and online advertising. Considering that the Internet penetration in China is only at roughly 40 percent of the total population, the company still has a lot of room to grow in its homeland.

What do they have to do

with games?

Tencent owns and operates the QQ games portal, which is the largest online gaming community in China. The company develops and operates shooters, MMOs, strategy games, and casual products predominantly driven by microtransactions.

Why should 1 care?

Tencent has become increasingly involved with Western publishers and developers. Last year, it bought a controlling stake in League of Legends developer Riot Games. Two months ago, it acquired a minority stake in Epic Games, the creators of Gears of War, Infinity Blade, and the Unreal Engine. Tencent also announced

a partnership to bring 2K Sports" NBA 2K series and Activision's Call

of Duty Online to its QQ games portal as free-to-play games.

What does Tencent gain from these deals?

In one word, craftsmanship. Each

of the partnerships Tencent has entered over the past two years are with proven companies and quality products. The Epic Games deal also presumably gives them easy access to technology like the Unreal Engine 4. Analysts like Wedbush Securities point man Michael Pachter believe these deals could be a precursor to Tencent eventually opening up shop in the United States and Europe. If Vivendi decides to sell Activision Blizzard

(as has been rumored), Pacific Crest analyst Evan Wilson believes Tencent is one of the few companies with enough capital and incentive to make the acquisition.

What's in it for game developers? Though several companies have suc- cessfully employed the free-to-play model in the United States, the market is still largely dependent on conven- tional retail or digital sales. By working with Tencent, Western companies gain access to the lucrative Chinese market, which is predominantly based on free-to-play titles. These publish- ers can gain firsthand experience with this surging economic model before making the broad free-to-play push

in the Western market that many companies (including big publishers like EA) believe could be the primary revenue model in the near future. The big checks Tencent is cutting also help close the deals.

f WRECKITRALPH

012 Disney

by Jim Reilly

Show Me The Games

So far, only one developer has announced a project in development for Ouya. Robotoki, a studio headed by Robert Bowling, is planning a series of exclusive episodic prequel games based on his new zombie franchise, Human Element.

"We're excited about how Ouya will allow us to deliver episodic content for the game in an

The Next Big Thing?

n less than a day, the gaming industry fell

into a craze over a new console that hopes to.

find a space between high-definition console

gaming and the ever-growing mobile market.

On July 10, a California-based start-up

revealed Ouya, an open-source, Android-

based console that promises television-based gaming with a cheap price point of $99. After securing an initial investment from friends and family, the com- pany turned to Kickstarter, a popular crowd funding website, to help get its idea off the ground and into full production. Questions surrounding the Ouya concept's popularity with gamers were answered in the first eight hours, as its $950,000 pledge goal was reached in record time. As of press time, the project has nearly 40,000 backers and has raised over $5 million, the second largest in Kickstarter's history.

With console sales stagnating and talent fleeing the high-end market, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman recognized an opportunity to bring those estranged designers who left to make mobile and social games back to consoles with an open platform. "There's been a lot of talk about ‘Are consoles dead?’ We don't think they're dead," Uhrman says. “We think it's time to rethink the way we do business. The current pricing is still too high for gamers, and it’s becoming expensive for developers to bring games to the TV.”

With Ouya, the developers set the pricing for their games; the one catch is that every game must have a free portion available, whether through a demo or free-to-play model. The console also supports other Android apps, such as TwitchTV, which comes included. The console comes with a controller that features dual analog sticks, a d-pad, eight buttons, and a touchpad.

The console sports a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, the same chip in the new Google Nexus 7 tablet. This chip doesn’t quite match the horsepower of current consoles on the market; developers we spoke with suggest Ouya games will likely have a similar graphical fidelity to that of current iPad titles.

innovative new way, by rapidly prototyping gameplay experiences, features, and mechanics on their Android-based development SDK in a way that would be too costly or risky on more traditional platforms,” Bowling says. “This flexibility and accessibility from a design standpoint, is allowing us to bring experimental gameplay to the living room earlier and easier than we could ever do it before.”

Beyond that, many speculate that since the console runs on Android, we'll likely see existing games, such as Minecraft and Angry Birds, ported over for launch. Still, Ouya has support from a number of other game makers. Brian Fargo, CEO of inXile Entertainment, served as an early adviser for Ouya and says he supports any idea that opens the market up for smaller game companies.

"It is quite clear from their success on Kickstarter that developers and con- sumers want what Ouya is setting out to do,” he says. “A closed system can never ultimately compete with what an open one can do, and no developer wants to be locked out of the TV market."

Fargo says Ouya's success could create a marketplace closer in nature to the iOS platform than the heavily curated console market that currently exists. "This can be both a blessing and a curse, as the number of titles can grow rather exponentially,” he notes. “But again, I'll take an open, crowded system over a closed one. With a well-run store there should be an opportunity to have the good games highlighted so that the wealth can be spread around a bit. A large group of talented developers are clamoring for a chance to make a decent living at something they love."

Thatgamecompany co-founder Jenova Chen (Journey, Flower) and Mojang (Minecraft) have also publicly endorsed Ouya.

Several other developers are taking a wait-and-see approach. Gearbox Software president Randy Pichford says if Ouya succeeds he'd love to develop for the audience. “It would be interesting to see Borderlands on the platform,” he says. "We've done some work with the chipset through a great relationship with Nvidia. | think it could work out well."

Jeremiah Slaczka, CEO and creative director at Scribblenauts developer 5th Cell, says he'd consider supporting Ouya if his studio already had an Android game made, but wouldn't create a game specifically for Ouya until it's proven to be a viable market.

"| think Ouya is a lot more pipe dream than game changer," Slaczka says. "Even if they manage to nail down their manufacturing, hardware shipping, digital distribution portal, and business models they are still, at best, offering a niche product which will likely launch with ported software from tablets while competing with existing and future consoles."

Don't Believe The Hype?

The early groundswell of support hasn't turned every developer into an Ouya supporter. Twisted Pixel lead designer Dan Teasdale doesn't believe the hype, saying Ouya brings nothing new to the table. "All | see is someone putting an underpowered mobile board in a box and calling it a console," he says. "It's boring and has no unique hook."

Teasdale suggests that even with the millions of dollars Ouya received from Kickstarter, it will be tough for the company to cover the costs of build- ing, shipping, and ultimately launching the hardware, in addition to covering extra development expenses. It may also prove difficult for developers to generate a profit.

"If I wanted to actually make money off a game, the tiny install base com- bined with what will be a stupid crazy piracy rate on a fully rootable Android console shoots that idea in the head,” he says. "I'd rather target Steam Greenlight or Xbox Live Indie Games, both — even with their faults — far healthier platforms for developers to get their start and make money off their games than Ouya."

Measuring Impact

Even if Ouya is a home run with developers and consumers, it won't necessarily turn the indus- try on its head. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes it has no chance of sup- planting the traditional game consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

"| don't think it hits the industry much, if at all," Pachter says. "This is a supplement to new consoles, or a cheaper alternative for people who can't afford new consoles. It could lead to a broadening of the market, serving as 'training wheels' for some people who aren't sure if they want to buy a next-generation console."

Slaczka agrees, adding that several alternatives already exist for independent developers to release profitable games. "This isn't a console that is going to sell millions, and indies already

have PC and other digital platforms to get their work out,” he says. “However, | still think it's a very noble effort, and I’m excited that the company is setting such lofty goals.”

Ouya is currently scheduled to ship in early March, with backers of the Kickstarter getting priority. Additional launch details have not been announced.

Breaking Down the Ouya Console

* Quad-core Tegra 3 proc

or

e 1GB LPDDR2 RAM

* 8GB on-board flash

* HDMI connection to the TV at 1080p HD

* 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi

* Bluetooth LE 4.0

* Enclosure opens with standard screws

* Ethernet port

Controller

* Wireless controller with ?.4Ghz ВЕ

* Standard game controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, à system button)

* Touchpad

* 2x AA batteries

* Enclosure opens with

standard screws

OS and software

* Android 4.0

* Custom TV UI

* Integrated custom game store

* SDK for game development

* Ability to root device without voiding warranty

connect 17

What a Wreck

interview by Ben Reeves

| Disney Shakes Up Video Game Films B with Wreck-It Ralph

uring the early ‘90s, Rich Moore helped shape prime-time television with his Work on some iconic episodes of The Simpsons — including “Treehouse of Horror" and "Flaming Moe's." Moore later went on to work on shows like Futurama, The Critic, and Drawn Together. All the while, the

director has retained his love for video games. During the production of his upcoming Disney film, Wreck-It

Ralph, Moore blew off steam with games like Skyrim and Saints Row: The Third.

Moore's love of games shines through the film's early trailers; Wreck-It Ralph already looks like one of the best video game-related films ever made. Set in a world where arcade characters come to ife, Wreck-It Ralph tells the story of the villain from the fictional arcade classic Fix-It Felix Jr. After spending 30 years terrorizing his virtual word, Ralph grows tired of being the bad guy, and sets out to explore

the fellow game worlds in his arcade and find a greater purpose.

Moore's new animated film displays a reverence and respect for the medium that most feature length films (even those with game licenses) often lack. We sat down with Moore to talk about the original concept for the movie, how he worked to get characters like Bowser and Pac-Man into the film, and how Disney hopes to wreck video gaming's terrible movie legacy when the film releases this November.

18

Did you grow up playing a lot of games?

| grew up during that generation when video games first hit the scene. When Pong came around, | can remember playing that. Space Wars was a big one in my town, and Asteroids right after that. | was always at the arcade with my friends. | would hang out and spend a lot of money at a place called Golf ‘n’ Stuff in Venture, California. Looking back, you never think, “Wow, I'm going to be nostalgic for Golf ‘n’ Stuff." But really, those were great, formative years. It was around the time when Star Wars came out. So for a young person in the late ‘70s, there was

a lot of fuel for the fire. | feel like those hours of playing Crazy Climber, Dig Dug, and Pac-Man are finally paying off.

When you started working on Wreck-It Ralph, you weren't even sure you'd do classic games. What was your original pitch for the movie?

The thought was: no one has ever done a feature-length movie set in games — besides Tron; that's its own kind of genre. It seemed like the life of video game characters is interesting. It's a really rich world. Visually, it would be stunning. But at first, | didn't think it would work, because video game characters — they have no choice; there's no free will. They're programmed to do one thing and that's it. That's not compelling. From there, the next step was, "Well, maybe that's the conflict in the story." Maybe there is a character who wants more out of life than what he's got, what he's programmed for. And that little spark was the human aspect of it. That's the deep internal core ofthe story.