The champions' ballad continues

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took home four more awards last night during the 21st annual D.I.C.E. Awards. Nintendo's open-air adventure was the big winner overall, claiming the coveted Game of the Year title along with Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, and Adventure Game of the Year. This game must have quite the trophy room.

The next-most-awarded game is a bit more unexpected. Cuphead won three awards -- one for Art Direction, Animation, and Original Music Composition. I find that surprising not because it's undeserved -- I adore Cuphead! -- but because Horizon Zero Dawn had more nominations than anything else.

Here's the full rundown:

Game of the Year

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

Lone Echo/Echo Arena

• Publisher: Oculus Studios
• Developer: Ready At Dawn

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

Lone Echo/Echo Arena

• Publisher: Oculus Studios
• Developer: Ready At Dawn

Mobile Game of the Year

Fire Emblem Heroes

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS and Nintendo

Handheld Game of the Year

Metroid: Samus Returns

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: MercurySteam and Nintendo

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award

Snipperclips

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: SFB Games

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

• Publisher: Bluehole
• Developer: PUBG Corporation

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

• Publisher: Ubisoft Entertainment
• Developer: Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris

Sports Game of the Year

FIFA 18

• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Developer: Electronic Arts

Role-Playing Game of the Year

NieR: Automata

• Publisher: Square Enix
• Developer: PlatinumGames

Racing Game of the Year

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Fighting Game of the Year

Injustice 2

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: NetherRealm Studios

Family Game of the Year

Snipperclips

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: SFB Games

Adventure Game of the Year

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Action Game of the Year

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

• Publisher: Bluehole
• Developer: PUBG Corporation

Outstanding Technical Achievement

Horizon Zero Dawn

• Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Guerrilla Games

Outstanding Achievement in Story

Horizon Zero Dawn

• Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Guerrilla Games

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

Super Mario Odyssey

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Outstanding Achievement ?in Original Music Composition

Cuphead

• Publisher: StudioMDHR
• Developer: StudioMDHR

Outstanding Achievement in Character

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Senua

• Publisher: Ninja Theory
• Developer: Ninja Theory

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Cuphead

• Publisher: StudioMDHR
• Developer: StudioMDHR

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Cuphead

• Publisher: StudioMDHR
• Developer: StudioMDHR

For a look at what the winners were up against, head over here to see all the nominees.

Also, shout-out to localization manager Nate "Nintendo Guy" Bihldorff for giving all those speeches.

The post Zelda was the big winner at the D.I.C.E. Awards appeared first on Destructoid.

It pulled in the most nominations

Here we go again. When the Game Developers Choice Awards recently listed its nominees, CJ wondered if The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had another win left. Well, it might actually have two!

The finalists for the 21st annual D.I.C.E. Awards are out and Breath of the Wild is contending with the likes of Cuphead, Horizon Zero Dawn, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Super Mario Odyssey for top honors. That said, Horizon Zero Dawn leads overall with ten nominations compared to Zelda's six.

We'll see how everything shakes out beginning F??ebruary 22 at 8:00p?m Pacific.

Nominees for the 21st annual D.I.C.E. Awards

Game of the Year
Cuphead
Horizon Zero Dawn
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
Super Mario Odyssey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Cuphead
For Honor
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy 

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Cuphead
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Little Nightmares
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 

Outstanding Achievement in Character
Assassin's Creed Origins - Bayek
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Senua
Horizon Zero Dawn - Aloy
Star Wars Battlefront II - Iden Versio
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - Chloe Fraiser

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Call of Duty: WWII
Cuphead
Horizon Zero Dawn
RiME
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Destiny 2
Injustice 2
Star Wars Battlefront II
Super Mario Odyssey
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy 

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Night in the Woods
What Remains of Edith Finch
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Assassin's Creed Origins
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Lone Echo/Echo Arena
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 

Action Game of the Year
Call of Duty: WWII
Cuphead
Destiny 2
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

Adventure Game of the Year
Assassin's Creed Origins
Horizon Zero Dawn
Super Mario Odyssey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy 

Family Game of the Year
DropMix
GNOG
Just Dance 2018
SingStar Celebration
Snipperclips 

Fighting Game of the Year
ARMS
Injustice 2
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
Nidhogg 2
Tekken 7 

Racing Game of the Year
DiRT 4
Forza Motorsport 7
Gran Turismo Sport
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Project CARS 2 

Role-Playing Game of the Year
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
NieR:Automata
Persona 5
Torment: Tides of Numenera 

Sports Game of the Year
Everybody's Golf
FIFA 18
Golf Clash
Madden NFL 18
MLB The Show 17 

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Endless Space 2
Halo Wars 2
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Total War: Warhammer II
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen 

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Lone Echo/Echo Arena
Robo Recall
Star Trek Bridge Crew
The Invisible Hours
Wilson's Heart 

Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Lone Echo/Echo Arena
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin
Robo Recall
Space Pirate Trainer
Wilson's Heart 

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
Everything
Gorogoa
Night in the Woods
Pyre
Snipperclips 

Handheld Game of the Year
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Metroid: Samus Returns
Monster Hunter Stories 

Mobile Game of the Year
Cat Quest
Fire Emblem Heroes
Gorogoa
Monument Valley 2
Splitter Critters 

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Call of Duty: WWII
Destiny 2
Fortnite
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands 

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Gorogoa
Horizon Zero Dawn
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
Super Mario Odyssey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Gorogoa
Horizon Zero Dawn
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
What Remains of Edith Finch

For reference, the last D.I.C.E. game of the year was Overwatch. Before that? Fallout 4.

Ho??rizon Zero Dawn Leads with Ten Nominations for the 2??1st D.I.C.E. Awards [AIAS]

The post The D.I.C.E. Awards are all abou??t Horizon Zero Dawn appeared first on Destructoid.

That went to Dragon Age

When I think of the D.I.C.E. Awards, I'll remember montage guy, now and forever.

I wasn't around to see if any similar unscripted hilarity took place at this year's show, but I did catch that Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor took home eight awards before losing out to Dragon Age: Inquisition for game of the year, and Destiny was lauded as the best action ?title of 2014. Huh.

Find the nominees here, and the full list of winners below.

Game of the Year

Dragon Age: Inquisition

• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Developer: BioWare

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

Action Game of the Year

Destiny

• Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
• Developer: Bungie

Adventure Game of the Year

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

Family Game of the Year

LittleBigPlanet 3

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
• Developer: Sony Worldwide Studios Europe/Sumo Digital

Fighting Game of the Year

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Sora Ltd./BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc./BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.

Racing Game of the Year

Mario Kart 8

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

Dragon Age: Inquisition

• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Developer: BioWare

Sports Game of the Year

FIFA 15

• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Developer: FIFA Development Team – EA Canada

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

• Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award

Transistor

• Publisher: Supergiant Games
• Developer: Supergiant Games

Handheld Game of the Year

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Sora Ltd./BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc./BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.

Mobile Game of the Year

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

• Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay

Destiny

• Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
• Developer: Bungie

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Monument Valley

• Publisher: ustwo
• Developer: ustwo

Outstanding Achievement in Character

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Talion)

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Destiny

• Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
• Developer: Bungie

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

Destiny

• Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
• Developer: Bungie

Outstanding Achievement in Story

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

Outstanding Technical Achievement

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: Monolith Productions

The post Shadow of Mordor picks up eight D.I.C.E. awards, but not game? of the year appeared first on Destructoid.

What are all these buttons for?

Video games are an interesting medium. On one side of the spectrum, you have hardcore gamers that thrive on a challenge and feast upon the complexities of any given title. And on the other, you have casuals that want to do nothing but poke a mobile? or table??t all day.

The idea of conti?nuing to branch out to a wider audience seems like it may be a huge focus for Electronic Arts (if it's not already). And really, can you blame them? EA's chief creative officer Richard Hilleman had this to sa?y during the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas:

"Our games are actually still too hard to learn. Th?e average player probably spends two hours to learn how to play the most basic game. ... And asking for two hours of somebody's time -- most of our customers, between their normal family lives ... to?? find two contiguous hours to concentrate on learning how to play a video game is a big ask."

We're at an interesting crossroads. Will we continue to see a trend of dumbed-down AAA titles to appeal?? to the masses? Will hardcore gamers be forced to rely on indie titles to get their fix? Or have video games truly become too complicated for our own good? The future is a scary place, man.

EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn" [GameSpot]

The post EA exec admits games are ‘too hard’ appeared first on Destructoid.

You'd think Austin Wintory would have better tools

We recently had a chance to chat with Journey and The Banner Saga composer Austin Wintory, and as a fellow musician I took the opportunity to talk shop. Curious about which tools he uses to create music with, I asked about his studio setup. Given that Win??tory is an accomplished, Grammy-nominated composer for games and film, I expected a list of the finest hardware, and not a Casio toy.

"I actually had, until pretty rec??ently, a $50 Casio 44-key keyboard," Wintory told Destructoid during our interview. "I did almost everything in my whole career on that b??ecause I had it since I was a kid. It had like a special significance to me."

"Journey was composed on that," Wintory revealed. 

Even a toy can be used as a controller if it is MIDI compatible. This keyboard was, so it could be connected to professional software, such as Wintory's sequencer of choice, Digital Performer.

I asked if he is still using it even after Journey's wild success.

"I mean, it's still sitting on the floor of my studio," Wintory said. "The keys crapped out so I went?? and bought a proper MIDI control??ler that actually does have weighted keys." 

I asked Wintory how he wa?s able to create such expressive music with what most would consider to be a toy, and not a proper musical instrument. 

"You know, it's just an input device. Ultimately, at the end of the day, if it's something that needs to be expressive, like flow, I spend a lot of time manipulating controller data. If it's something that needs to be expressive like in the manner of Journey, I'm putting microphones in front of musicians."

Be sure? to check out our ?full interview with Austin Wintory later today.

The post Journey was composed on a $50 cra?ppy Casio keyboard appeared first on Destructoid.

Interview with lead creator Rex Crowle

Earlier this month, I caught up with Media Molecule's Rex Crowle, lead creator on one of my favorite games of last year, Tearaway. My main goal was simple: to thank him for such a fantastic Vita game. But we ended up chatting about Tearaway's reception, as ?well as some of the challenges that Media Molecule had to work thro??ugh to bring us the final release.

I also repeatedly told him that they should make another Tearaway game.

After thanking Crowle for Tearaway, I asked him how he thought the game fared. The Vita platformer was well received, and made it onto many Game of the Year lists last year. We loved it.

"I've kind of been pleasantly surprised how well it has connected with people," Crowle told Destructoid. "Kind of more than I thought it might. It was kind of a risk to rely on it pres??sing the special feelings button on people. It's very hard to j??udge whether that is working until you're done."

"Obviously we're kind of kn??own for making charming games that people make some connection with. But with this one I really wanted to go a little bit deeper. It's not just whimsical, there's more of an arc in what? happens with reuniting yourself with the in-game character, and with the ending and all of that stuff."

Tearaway garnered early attention from its distinctive visuals, which were built with Media Molecule's custom game engine. But this came engine only after trying other solutions; none of them worked for what they were trying to do with Tearaway's folded-paper look.

"It was difficult in the early period where so much of it hinges on the paper engine. It was all custom built and there was no way we could use anything existi?ng," said Cr??owle.

"We had a prototype engine to try out ideas, which was kind of an isometric thing. But it just pushed us in the wro??ng direction. It was just wasted time to try to make anything in that engine."

Crowle continued: "If you're making a game out of paper it just looks like cubes. It was only when we actually had managed to get it far enough along that we were all given our sheets of virtual paper and could all start cutting and folding, that's when it really... well, the first fold was a revelation." [head explosion hand gestures]

I told Crowle that I think the game's box art didn't seem to serve the game; it didn't reflect how unique Tearaway reall?y is. The artwork is ni??ce, but any static screenshot of the game as a cover would probably have served the game better.

Crowle whispered, "I didn't like the cover."

"I think what's fun is seeing how we gradually subverted what someone might think they're getting. I think a lot of people have been surprised, thinking it's the kind of you know, the old THQ or Disney tie-in. It's got kind of a young appeal to it. And actually, w?hen they start playing, they're like whoa. Straight off, you're being asked how you want to be identified, not just the sort of pink and blue boy/girl buttons or things like that."

One of the neatest aspects of Tearaway is that you can earn papercraft projects as in-game rewards. You're able to print these and assemble them, adding your own touches along the way. Crowle recalled what ?they were going for with this choice.

"We try ??to create these loops in game design, feeding into another thing. But, ultimately, they are all just digital things, and they don't mean anything really," Crowle? said.

"I think it's also not just that you get it out, but you've got to make it yourself. So it's going to look a bit different. When we were experimenting earlier on, and the game wasn't looking as good as it could, it was a really good moment to just get everyone to make squirrels. And although everyone was making the same plan, everyone had put the eyes slightly different. Some people had used ??too much glue, and others not enough. Even though we all started with exactly the same template, they all looked subtly different. And that really helped us get the look."

I asked Crowle if they considered other external interactions for Tearaway, suggesting that some kind?? of musical tie-in would have been great. This ha??d him recalling something he wanted to do, but ultimately couldn't implement.

"Something I really wanted to put in the lab section was the idea of the way you could encode information into paper," he explained. "Not by writing on it, but with the old ho?le punches. And also the player piano rings. I really wanted to be able to punch holes in paper and then print them out and make music with them. That was pretty out there as an idea to try to tell everyone to go spend an extra ??six months on that."

With as well as Tearaway was received, I asked if Media Mole??cule would consider making another game along these lines. He seemed to want to keep as vague as possible in his answer.

"We ?put a lot of work into it. I think what we've made is a complete thing it's not like it's a to-be-continued kind of thing. But, obviously, we want people to see it."

As we ended our talk, Crowle said that Media Molecule is really pleased at how well Tearaway was received, and mentioned how much they e????njoy seeing messages from fans online. 

"It has been interesting going online in a weird, stalkerish way, reading everything that ever???yone has been saying."

"It's really cool to see the love."

The post Media Molecule on the challenges of making Tearaw??a?y appeared first on Destructoid.

Winners announced

Naughty Dog's The Last of Us swept the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Award, taking everything from Outstanding Achievement in Story to the Game of the Year awards last night, sweeping the majority of th??e 13 categories they were nominated in. The drinking gam?e we devised in the award show audience (drink every time Naughty Dog gets an award) had me cross eyed and sloshy by night's end. Thanks for that, Naughty Dog.

The Last of Us was also Destructoid's 2013 Game of the Year.

Bioshock Infinite took both the Action Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music awards. Plants vs. Zombies 2 also took double awards: Casual Game of the Year, and M??obile Game of the Year. 

Felicia Day and Freddie Wong were tapped by the A.I.A.S. to host the show last night at the Hard Rock in Last Vegas last night. If you watched along on the Twitch livestream, you saw they did?? a pretty?? great job. Nice work, you two.

See the full list of awards below.

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Outstanding Character Performance

The Last of Us (Ellie)

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Compositio??n

Bioshock Infinite

• Publisher: 2K Games
• Developer: Irrational Games

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Outstanding Achievement in Story

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering

Grand Theft Auto V

• Publisher: Rockstar Games
• Developer: Rockstar North

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Action Game of the Year

Bioshock Infinite

• Publisher: 2K Games
• Developer: Irrational Games

Adventure Game of the Year

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Fighting Game of the Year

Injustice: Gods Among Us

• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Developer: NetherRealm Studios

Role Playing Game/Massively Multipl?ayer Game of the Yea?r

Diablo III

• Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

XCOM: Enemy Within

• Publisher: 2K Games
• Developer: Firaxis Games

Casual Game of the Year

Plants VS Zombies 2

• Publisher: Electronic Arts Inc.
• Developer: PopCap, Electronic Arts Inc.

Family Game of the Year

Super Mario 3D World

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo Software Development Group No.2

Racing Game of the Year

Forza Motorsport 5

• Publisher: Microsoft Studios
• Developer: Turn 10 Studios

Sports Game of the Year

FIFA 14

• Publisher: Electronic Arts Inc.
• Developer: EA Canada

Downloadable Game of the Year

Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons

• Publisher: 505 Games
• Developer: Starbreeze Studios

Handheld Game of the Year

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo EAD Software Development Group No.3

Mobile Game of the Year

Plants VS Zombies 2

• Publisher: Electronic Arts Inc.
• Developer: PopCap, Electronic Arts Inc.

Online Game of the Year

World of Tanks

• Publisher: Wargaming Public Company Ltd. 105
• Developer: Wargaming.net

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Game of the Year

The Last of Us

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

The post The Last of Us wins 10 D.I.C.E. Awards appeared first on Destructoid.

Good, because that sh*t was expensive

In his D.I.C.E. Summit 2014 talk this morning, PS4 lead system architect Mark Cerny was put on the spot by co-panelists Eugene Jarvis (Raw Thrills??) and Mark Turmell (Zynga) on the future of gaming consoles.

Cerny quick??ly shot back: "We're two months in and you're asking where we'll be in s??ix or eight years?"

He said that there is currently "a?? very healthy audience for console games," though he admits that coming out of the gate with the PS4 last year, some questioned why we needed a new console.

"Even after our February announcement it w?as about 50-50," Cerny?? admitted.

Going forward, though, Cerny feels that the future looks pretty solid for console gaming. He feels that the influx of mobile technologies like phones and tablets are an "interesting influx" which as us playing traditional 200-hour single-player experiences alongside games like Ridiculous Fishing.  

De?spite the growth of other platforms, the Steam Box, cloud gaming, the explosion of mobile games, and even with developmen??ts like virtual reality, Cerny still feels good about console gaming's future.

"If you look at the console business itself and the hundreds of millions of fans themselves, ??it looks solid."

I think the strong sales of the new generation of systems supports Cerny'?s feelings on this.

The post Mark Cerny: ??the future of gam?e consoles looks solid appeared first on Destructoid.

Learn about the games industry

The 2014 D.I.C.E. Summit is this week in Las Vegas and it's being streamed live this year on Twitch. Today is full of talks from folks like CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson, Vlambeer's Rami Ismail, and Insomniac Games president Ted Price. The full schedule, viewable here, should give you an idea of the types?? of presentations that happen at D.I.C.E.

If you're wondering about the awards ceremony, that's happening tomorrow night. Check back at 7:3??0pm Pac?ific!

The post Watch the 2014 D.I.C.E. Summit talks live appeared first on Destructoid.

Next month in Las Vegas

While many of us non-attendees give the awards component of D.I.C.E. the most attention, there's also the presentations to consider. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has added five extra speakers who will join previously-announced presenters like Journey composer Austin Wintory and Unity's David Helgason at the 2014 D.I.C.E. Summit:

• Keiji Inafune of Comcept and Capcom
• Rami Ismail of Vlambeer
• Hilmar Veigar Petursson of CCP Games
• Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe of Oculus VR

The Summit takes pl??ace at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas on February 4 - 6, 2014. You can bet your bottom dollar that Dale will be in attendance, living it up as always.

The post Keiji Inafune, ??Rami Ismail to speak at? D.I.C.E. Summit appeared first on Destructoid.

The New Golden Age of Gaming theme set

This morning, The?? Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences have listed the first round of speakers for their D.I.C.E. Summit 2014. 

This year's theme is The New Golden Age of Gaming. For this first round of speakers for the event, AIAS lists Xbox project co-founder Ed Fries; Unity Technologies' David Helgason; DeNA CEO Clive Downie; and CEO of?? Major League Gaming Sundance DiGiovanni. 

I expect some pretty interesting talks fro??m?? this bunch, and I'm sure AIAS is working even more speaker announcements.

Last year, the J.J. Abrams and Gabe Newell talk/reveal was the highlight of the summit, though David Cage, Warren Spector, Jenova Chen, and Randy Pitchford all had something fun and inter??esting to offer.?  

We're planning to attend the D.I.C.E. 2014 summit,?? which is set for February 4-6, 2014, at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. 

The post Xbox co-founder among D.I??.C.E. 2014 ??Summit speakers appeared first on Destructoid.