The homeland of the word “lottery” is Italy. Translated, it means “fate.” Any lottery draw is a game of chance based on a random selection of a ticket or number. The prize fund is formed from the total amount of money that the players themselves have made to participate in the draw. A certain share of funds is deducted to the organizers, and also goes to the payment of state taxes. For example, part of the Great Wall of China was erected thanks to the money of the players. Internet lottery Lottery (lotto) gained popularity around the world. They are involved, for the most part, gambling optimistic players who dream…
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Anti-Heroes In Video Games: Why It’s Fun To Be The Bad Guy
You’re an honest-to-goodness, law abiding citizen. You don’t lie, you don’t steal, and you most certainly don’t kill. Like most people in society, you behave according to an ethical moral code which forbids any sort of reckless, deviant behavior. But when it comes to video games, that code is temporarily deactivated, and another, largely contradictory set of rules emerges: As Kara, you stole the bus tickets in Detroit: Become Human, and proceeded to lie about having found them. As Spyro the dragon, you routinely set flocks of sheep on fire. And as Garrett the master thief, you picked pockets and swiped valuables without a moment’s hesitation. A curious observer might conclude that…
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Get a job: Harmonix is hiring a Senior Server Engineer
The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry! Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now. Location: Boston, Massachusetts Harmonix is seeking an experienced network-focused software engineer to join our team developing in-house backend services for our titles in development. As an integral part of our game development teams, you will work closely with designers and gameplay engineers to build out online functionality for brand new music-based games across multiple platforms. This is a senior, experienced role. As such, you’ll have the flexibility to help define and extend our (already modern) technology stack. It also…
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Nintendo brings Labo VR support to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Nintendo has brought support for its Labo VR goggles to another flagship Switch game. Super Smash Bros.Ultimate now gives its players a way to watch and play certain matchups in virtual reality by using the craftable VR goggles from a recent Nintendo Labo kit. Nintendo Labo offers a look at how the Switch’s more unique features can be put to creative use to create some non-traditional game experiences, and rolling out Labo Kit support for its first-party games is another way the company is highlighting those potential uses. Nintendo’s foray into console-powered VR launched last month as a standalone experience that, with a little cardboard and specialized lenses, lets Switch owners transform their console into a…
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Researchers pit DeepMind AI against human Quake III players
AI researchers at Google’s DeepMind have trained an artificial intelligence agent on Quake III and published a paper on how it performed in matches with and against humans. Video games can be a useful tool for researchers looking to evaluate the capabilities of AI technology, and several including StarCraft II and Dota 2 have attracted the attention of companies like DeepMind and OpenAI. As outlined in a Science paper spotted by Kotaku, researchers at DeepMind trained the AI agent “For the Win” on thousands of hours of Quake III play data with the goal of demonstrating the technology’s ability to function in cooperative environments. The company broke down the whole process in a blog post on Google’s DeepMind last year, and the Science…
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GameBender console merges video games with kid-friendly programming
Jay Silver, one of the minds behind the Makey Makey invention kit, is working on a plug-n-play game console called GameBender that introduces children to programming by letting them create and modify games on the fly. At its most basic level, GameBender allows its players to jump right into a game, and then modify different elements of that existing game mid-play. It’s an approach that aims to let kids learn code while playing, and make the whole process more appealing from the get-go. The concepts they learn from modifying an existing GameBender game can be used in other games on the platform, or even used to create and share entirely…
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Indie publisher Raw Fury has acquired the rights to the Kingdom franchise
Indie publisher Raw Fury has purchased the rights to the Kingdom franchise from creator Thomas van den Berg for an undisclosed fee. The kingdom-building simulation title was the first game published by Raw Fury, and has spawned two sequels including a reworked version of the original and a proper follow-up called Kingdom: Two Crowns. The series has sold over 4 million copies to date, but after spending the best part of a decade working on the franchise van den Berg is looking to step away and explore new frontiers. With that in mind, the developer has sold the rights to Raw Fury so the series can continue. It’s a deal that works well for both parties, with…
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The things I wish I knew before becoming an art director
In this 2017 GDC session, veteran art director Denis Rogic presents nine major lessons drawn from the mistakes he made as an art director so that you can learn from them — and hopefully avoid some similar misstep! When Rogic was promoted to art director, he had no clue what was waiting for him. He learned he needed to acquire a completely new, social skillset. While not all of his lessons learned are art-related, they made his work so much easier that he considers them essential to run an artistic team. He gave a great talk and if you missed it live, no worries — you can now watch Rogic’s talk free over on the official GDC…
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Angvik
An action platformer! Released June 2013. Angvik is a platform action game set in a joyful but unforgiving land. The castle has been taken over by a barbarian and no one else has the courage to confront him, so take up your father’s gear and set off on a wondrous journey! And you’re not alone: you’ll find many birds and items to aid you along the way, and you’ll encounter all sorts of creatures to fight as well. But watch your step! You have only one life, so if you die, you stay dead.
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Arvoesine
An action platformer! Soundtrack by Ben Pettengill. Released July 2010. Arvoesine is a tough NES-style platformer in which you play a Roman soldier, throwing spears and swiping your sword at the enemy.