Why Celebrating Gaming Anniversaries Is Important? *************************************************************************** As the current generation of consoles continues on, companies should…

Why Celebrating Gaming Anniversaries Is Important?
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As the current generation of consoles continues on, companies should do well to remember to honor the past by celebrating upcoming franchise anniversaries!
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While not quite old as other industries in the world, video games have formed a large base of users thanks to pioneering companies like ‪#‎Atari‬, ‪#‎Nintendo‬, and ‪#‎Activision‬ to name a few. Gamers are typically passionate about franchises, which makes celebrating certain achievements like anniversaries an important step. Just this year, Nintendo helped its most well known character and company mascot, Mario, celebrate his 30th anniversary, with two special ‪#‎amiibo‬ figures and a community driven website all culminating in ‪#‎SuperMarioMaker‬ – a Wii U exclusive that allows players to build their own stages using themes and items from four iconic Mario games.
Believe it or not, ‪#‎Ubisoft‬ also fits into this category as well. Long before they were known for the Tom Clancy games or mega franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft plucked the limbless hero ‪#‎Rayman‬ from the creative mind of Michel Ancel. 2015 marks Rayman’s 20th anniversary and to celebrate Ubisoft announced smaller items such as fan driven contests, an infographic, and a brand new game called Rayman Adventures – the latter of which was greeted with ample excitement. Unfortunately, after watching the debut trailer, it was revealed that Rayman Adventures was a mobile based game, and not a traditional game in the same spirit as the well regarded Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. The comments under that YouTube trailer spoke volumes as almost universal disappointment quickly set in with fans. At the very least, this shows that fans are hungry for another traditional Rayman game.
Companies also find ways of promoting games by using tie-in methods with these celebrations in hopes of utilizing that fan base excitement to purchase merchandise. Back in 2011, Nintendo used the Legend of ‪#‎Zelda‬’s 25th anniversary to help promote ‪#‎TheLegendofZelda‬: Skyward Sword with special edition ‪#‎3DS‬ consoles, merchandise, and released a special edition bundle with a gold ‪#‎Wii‬ controller and a CD featuring classic Zelda music performed by a live orchestra. Meanwhile, Sony celebrated the PS4’s anniversary with an incredibly limited PS1-themed console and controller.
Most would argue that declining sales are the biggest reason why franchises are left behind, causing companies to shy away from creating new entries in a series. To me, the bigger issue here is that companies are completely missing out on golden opportunities by not taking franchise anniversaries seriously. Gamers tend to be a nostalgic bunch, so on one level, celebrating a big milestone will immediately resonate with a faction of gamers. Not only does this attention help with the IP itself, but it reinvigorates the fan base as well.
What about you? Would you like to see more thoughtfulness and care put into celebrations that honor beloved franchises?
‪#‎Game‬ ‪#‎Ranter‬ ‪#‎Banter‬, Mario, ‪#‎PC‬, ‪#‎PS4‬, Rayman, Wii U, ‪#‎Xbox‬ One
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[By Derek Nichols]

Game Developers Conference Europe 2016 to be held in Cologne, Germany 15-16th AUGUST 2016 - The ‪#‎GameDevelopersConference‬™ Europe (GDC Europe) is the largest…

Game Developers Conference Europe 2016 to be held in Cologne, Germany
15-16th AUGUST 2016 - The ‪#‎GameDevelopersConference‬™ Europe (GDC Europe) is the largest professionals-only game industry event in Europe.
The ‪#‎GDC‬ Europe will be held in conjunction with ‪#‎gamescom‬, the leading European consumer show, creating a full week of activity and opportunity for the games industry. This confluence of industry professionals allows GDC Europe to address the development community at a central location in the heart of Europe, and command the critical mass of the European games sector. GDC Europe is the essential platform for learning, inspiration and networking for the creators of computer, console, handheld, mobile, social, and online games in Europe.
GDC Europe is hosted by UBM Tech Game Network. UBM Tech Game Network offers market-defining content, and drives community through its award-winning lineup of print, online, and event products and services, including Gamasutra.com.
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‪GAMESCOM‬ 2016 17-21th August Europe's largest trade fair for computer and video games takes place at the Cologne Exhibition Centre every August. More than 300 products from…

‪GAMESCOM‬ 2016
17-21th August
Europe's largest trade fair for computer and video games takes place at the Cologne Exhibition Centre every August. More than 300 products from Germany, Europe and the rest of the world from all segments of the games world will be premiered in Cologne. The gamescom festival will bring the event to the city centre with live music
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www.gamescom-cologne.com
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[The games were chosen for their influence, longevity, reach and iconic status] ************************************************************************** Pong and Doom have been inducted into…

[The games were chosen for their influence, longevity, reach and iconic status]
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Pong and Doom have been inducted into the first Video Game Hall of Fame.
The project to find influential games that deserved to be in the Hall of Fame was begun in February by The Strong - a US museum of play.
Tetris, Super Mario Bros, Pac-Man, and World of Warcraft were also chosen to feature in an exhibit of iconic games.
Angry Birds and Minecraft were nominated but did not make the final list.
The museum invited people to nominate games played on PCs, consoles, hand-held gadgets, phones or in arcades.
Game changers
The winners span three decades of gaming from Pong, first released in 1972, to World of Warcraft which debuted in late 2004.
[Pong was released into video game arcades in 1972 and into homes three years later]
Pong was chosen because it launched the entire games industry, said the museum in a statement, revealing the six entrants in its Hall of Fame. It acknowledged that it was not the first electronic game but was the first to get "wide-scale public attention".
Other games were chosen for becoming cultural icons (Tetris), making games a mass-market phenomenon (Pac-Man) and changing the way games were made (Doom).
World of Warcraft was chosen, said the museum, because of its longevity and the way it has brought millions of players together into one game world.
[About seven million people currently pay to subscribe to play World of Warcraft]
The winners were whittled down from a long list of 15 that was picked by an internal panel of academics, journalists and game experts recruited by The Strong. Their decisions were based on a game's longevity, influence, geographical reach and iconic status.
The museum now plans to feature the winning games, the other nominees and many others in a permanent exhibition.
The other nine nominees included Legend of Zelda, Space Invaders, the Oregon Trail and Pokemon. Nominees for the 2016 inductees to the hall of fame are now being accepted.
Based in Rochester, New York, The Strong was founded in 1968 by Margaret Woodbury Strong a collector of toys, dolls and other play paraphernalia.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33005297

The new level is the first in more than two decades from the game's co-creator John Romero John Romero, one of the developers behind the seminal computer game Doom, has released his first new…

The new level is the first in more than two decades from the game's co-creator John Romero
John Romero, one of the developers behind the seminal computer game Doom, has released his first new level for the title in 21 years.
He is offering the new material for free via the file-sharing site Dropbox.
Mr Romero told the BBC he had made it as a "warm up" for a new project.
Doom was released in 1993 and had 10 million players by 1995. It has retained a cult popularity, and still has a dedicated community of players who also create their own content.

Mr Romero worked on iconic games such as Quake, Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D
The source code - the computer program that powers the game, written in a human-readable computer language - has been available for some time.
As a result, Mr Romero estimates there are about 30 alternative versions of the entire game, and more than 100,000 add-on levels created by Doom fans.
"Every day people are still making new levels for it," he said.
His new level, Tech Gone Bad, is a boss level that offers an alternative climactic fight.
It ends in a massive complex with a huge computer room that links to different portals and "hell cracks" in the floor, he said.
Tech Gone Bad Doom levelImage copyrightJohn Romero / Doom

The new level combines indoor and outdoor scenarios
The original final level was made by the developer Sandy Petersen and not Mr Romero.
The new version is mostly based outdoors.
Mr Romero said that distinguished it from the original game, which was largely based on indoor play, with the exception of Mount Erebus in level six (E3M6 in the Doom register).
"Doom mapping is pretty easy to do compared with 3D engines," Mr Romero said of his own creation.
"But I did worry... the community that's been playing it for 20 years would tear [the new level] apart."
However the reaction from players has been positive, he added.
"It's been out for four days and it's exploded. It's crazy that a game that's 23 years old has so many people still super-excited about it."
Joh_hansson tweets: Great design, it's huge a varied. Somehow it feels modern as well. Must have taken you a while to put together. More please.Image copyrightTwitter
Image caption
Players seem to like John Romero's new level.
He added he had no idea Doom would become such a perennial favourite back in the early 1990s.
"With Doom, it was mouse and keyboard-controlled on the PC when it was released, and you can still play it that way," he said.
"People remember how much fun they had a long time ago and I hope they will have that much fun again."