SPECIAL FEATURE: 2009 FRONT LINE AWARDS VOL17NO1JANUARY2010 THE LEADING GAME INDUSTRY MAGAZINE 1001gd_cover_vIjf.indd 1 12/17/09 9:18:09 PM CONTENTS.0110 VOLUME 17 NUMBER 1 POSTMORTEM DEPARTMENTS 20 NCSOFT'S AION 2 GAME PLAN By Brandon Sheffield [EDITORIAL] AION is NCsoft's next big subscription MMORPG, originating from Going Through the Motions the company's home base in South Korea. In our first-ever Korean postmortem, the team discusses how AION survived worker 4 HEADS UP DISPLAY [NEWS] fatigue, stock drops, and real money traders, providing budget and Open Source Space Games, new NES music engine, and demographics information along the way. Gamma IV contest announcement. By NCsoft South Korean team 34 TOOL BOX By Chris DeLeon [REVIEW] FEATURES Unity Technologies' Unity 2.6 7 2009 FRONT LINE AWARDS 38 THE INNER PRODUCT By Jake Cannell [PROGRAMMING] We're happy to present our 12th annual tools awards, representing Brick by Brick the best in game industry software, across engines, middleware, production tools, audio tools, and beyond, as voted by the Game 42 PIXEL PUSHER By Steve Theodore [ART] Developer audience. Tilin'? Stylin'! By Eric Arnold, Alex Bethke, Rachel Cordone, Sjoerd De Jong, Richard Jacques, Rodrigue Pralier, and Brian Thomas. 46 DESIGN OF THE TIMES By Damion Schubert [DESIGN] Get Real 15 RETHINKING USER INTERFACE Thinking of making a game for multitouch-based platforms? This 48 AURAL FIXATION By Jesse Harlin [SOUND] article offers a look at the UI considerations when moving to this sort of Dethroned interface, including specific advice for touch offset, and more. By Brian Robbins 50 GOOD JOB! [CAREER] Konami sound team mass exodus, Kim Swift interview, 27 CENTER OF MASS and who went where. This technical artist-oriented article from an ex pro gymnast shows how you can use math and physics (specifically dealing with gravity) 52 EDUCATED PLAY [EDUCATION] to improve your character animation. The author most recently Focus on ENJMIN's student game AZ66 worked on UFC UNDISPUTED 2009, which has some of the best body interpolation and animation seen in games. 56 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT By Matthew Wasteland [HUMOR] By Eiko Oba Dear Mr. Wasteland COVER ART: NCSOFT ART TEAM WWW.GDMAG.COM 1 1001gd_toc_vIjf.indd 1 12/17/09 9:20:16 PM GAME PLAN // BRANDON SHEFFIELD www.gdmag.com Think Services, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES FOR INFORMATION, ORDER QUESTIONS, AND GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS ADDRESS CHANGES t: 800.250.2429 f: 847.763.9606 IS GESTURE CONTROL REALLY THE FUTURE? e: [email protected] EDITORIAL PUBLISHER THE YEAR 2010 IS UPON US. gyroscope and accelerometer year old male to bring the console Simon Carless l [email protected] It should prove to be a time of were a step beyond what had been into the house (Sony may have EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brandon Sheffield l [email protected] iterative improvements, rather than done previously, and the iPhone’s it easier here, with its Blu-ray PRODUCTION EDITOR major hardware shifts, and the area multitouch interface hadn’t player, but the jury’s still out on Jeffrey Fleming l [email protected] in which this is most apparent is really been done before with that), and market the peripherals ART DIRECTOR peripherals. Within this year, or so games in mind. The innovations as something they can plug into Joseph Mitch l [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITORS it is said, there will be three home were subtle—what was really their existing system. Microsoft is Jesse Harlin systems with motion or gesture disruptive, as Nintendo might say, rumored to be preparing a relaunch Steve Theodore control—the Wii of course, the was the marketing. for the console with Natal, likely Daniel Nelson Soren Johnson PlayStation 3 with its motion wands, responding to the predicament Damion Schubert and the 360’s Project Natal. YES, THESE ARE YOUR MOM’S I’m describing. Quite simply, my ADVISORY BOARD Everyone’s chasing the motion question is, no matter how nice Hal Barwood Designer-at-Large VIDEOGAMES Mick West Independent and gesture train, after the success » Nintendo told us that its systems the motion controls and cameras Brad Bulkley Neversoft of the DS, the iPhone, and the Wii. were new, and disruptive—but what themselves may be, will these Clinton Keith Independent Bijan Forutanpour Sony Online Entertainment But is motion really the reason they told moms, grandmothers and companies be able to rebrand Mark DeLoura Independent these consoles are successful? grandfathers was that this device themselves properly for the family Carey Chico Pandemic Studios Partially, sure—but that’s not the was fun for everyone. They could set while continuing to push the ADVERTISING SALES whole story. say that this was brand new, and blockbusters that have been their GLOBAL SALES DIRECTOR just for them, and mostly be right in bread and butter? Right now, the Aaron Murawski e: [email protected] YOU LOOK FAMILIAR saying it. Nintendo took out ads in 360’s best selling game is CALL OF t: 415.947.6227 UTY ODERN ARFARE MEDIA ACCOUNT MANAGER » Motion controls have been parenting and women’s magazines, D M W 2. Far from John Malik Watson e: [email protected] around for a long time. Light gun and blazed a trail of accessible a family game, that one, and a t: 415.947.6224 games in arcades and at home are television marketing that placed its market the company is not likely GLOBAL ACCOUNT MANAGER, EDUCATION primitive motion controllers, and consoles far away from the others, to abandon. AND RECRUITMENT Gina Gross e: [email protected] they’ve been around since games which were, at least in terms of t: 415.947.6241 began—one of Ralph Baer’s first marketing, very clearly for 17 year CATCH ME IF YOU CAN COORDINATOR, EDUCATION AND RECRUITMENT prototypes before the legendary old boys in the early days. Sony and Microsoft have a long Rafael Vallin e: [email protected] » t: 415.947.6223 Brown Box was a light gun that Nintendo reminded people that way to go before they can steal worked with a television. Touch it was the company that made Nintendo’s thunder. Sure, the 360 ADVERTISING PRODUCTION controls, likewise, have been around MARIO, and they all remembered and PS3 have the edge in terms of PRODUCTION MANAGER Robert Steigleider e: [email protected] for quite a while. The DS brought MARIO, right? That was probably game to hardware tie ratio, but that it to the masses, and the iPhone the only game the target market goes hand in hand with the hardcore. REPRINTS hammered it home, but PDAs have had ever played that wasn’t TETRIS. The Wii was purchased by a lot of WRIGHT'S REPRINTS had touch control for years now, and Nintendo knew the market it was people who only wanted WII SPORTS, Ryan Pratt e: [email protected] t: 877.652.5295 have been host to games with major going for, and targeted it perfectly. and maybe another Nintendo game industry backing to boot (remember Parents, grandparents, and most every year thereafter. THINK SERVICES the Tapwave Zodiac?). importantly, families. My concern is that Sony and CEO THINK SERVICES Philip Chapnick GROUP DIRECTOR Kathy Schoback I would submit that aside from Now, Sony and Microsoft Microsoft may have a stigma to CREATIVE DIRECTOR Cliff Scorso outstanding games like WII SPORTS are releasing motion control overcome before they can get the CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Anthony Adams OOM LOX or B B , much of what’s done expansions, both with the express moms and grandmas involved in AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT on the Wii with motion control could intention of broadening their their console. They’ve both spent a TYSON ASSOCIATES Elaine Tyson be done with a normal controller, if a consoles’ markets. But can they do lot of time promoting their machines e: [email protected] few design issues were solved. The it from where they are now? These as homes of blockbusters—and LIST RENTAL Merit Direct LLC t: 914.368.1000 thought struck me as I was playing companies don’t have the benefit unlike the movie definition of that MARKETING NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII, tilting of a completely new launch with word, game blockbusters only appeal MARKETING SPECIALIST Mellisa Andrade the controller to raise the end of a which to brand themselves, and to a certain set of people. e: [email protected] platform so that he could access a have spent most of their consoles’ 2010 will be a very interesting UBM TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT higher area—this could easily be lifetimes marketing to the hardcore. year, with battles fought between CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER David Levin done with shoulder buttons. (Let’s face it, Nintendo, aside from Sony and Microsoft for dominance CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Scott Mozarsky My point is not to trivialize the perhaps a brief stint in the 90s, of the hardcore set, and between CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER David Wein CORPORATE SENIOR VP SALES Anne Marie Miller Wii Remote, but rather to point never targeted the hardcore very all parties for the “emerging SENIOR VP, STRATEGIC DEV. AND BUSINESS ADMIN. Pat Nohilly out that what Nintendo did when directly, choosing to go after the market” set. As that demographic SENIOR VP, MANUFACTURING Marie Myers it released the DS and the Wii was youthful and light players with the increasingly turns to social network not to revolutionize control. There bulk of its marketing bucks.) games and the iPhone, this will be a were subtle upgrades certainly— Sony and Microsoft most battle that's hard won.