Category Archives: DICE Summit 2008

Epic president Mike Capps has said that allowing creatives to have free rein within games businesses is dangerous, and that Blizzard’s model of senior staff staying out of the creative process is nothing to be proud of.

“I think it’s crazy,” he said here. “Because talent without focus on business is a really, really dangerous thing. Blizzard is a great example. I don’t know how they’ve been so successful and as huge as they have. But to throw away a game three times… That’s not necessarily something to be proud of in perhaps your methodology, so much as that somebody somewhere up high has the willingness to say, ‘You know, it’s not working.’ That’s very different from saying you’re producing efficiently.”

His comments came after Blizzard’s conference at DICE last week, where co-founder Mike Morhaime claimed that senior business staff have no sway on the creative process at the company.

Speaking at DICE, which finished yesterday in Las Vages, EA boss John Riccitiello has shouldered blame for failing to maintain the creative dominance of several large studios acquired by the publisher.

“At EA we’ve had our share of failures with the acquisitions of developers,” he said. “Westwood, Bullfrog, Origin Systems – these places no longer exist today and are no longer creative forces in the industry. There was a fundamental belief that we could be one happy family. We had a top-down approach to development. We at EA blew it. I would say I blew it.”

He said that EA’s answer to a “disturbing” current, industry-wide financial situation has been to form a “city-state” approach whereby developers largely govern their own fortunes but are part of an overall business network. Bioware and Pandemic – the mega-studio EA bought last year – will be the perfect test of this fresh model, he said.

“I can’t guarantee that this is going to be the perfect example, but I think you’ll find they buy into this idea as much as I do.”

More here.

The 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards have now been and gone, an apparently glitzy affair in Las Vegas, capping off this week’s DICE Summit. All prizes awarded are listed below, courtesy of Gamespot (winners in bold).

Overall Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)

Console Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)

Computer Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Crysis (Electronic Arts, Crytek)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Vivendi Games, Blizzard Entertainment)

Handheld Game of the Year
Drawn to Life (THQ, 5th Cell)
Jeanne d’Arc (SCEA, Level 5)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3 Publisher, Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions)
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters (SCEA, High Impact Games)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo, Nintendo)

Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
EVE Online: Trinity (CCP, CCP)
Guild Wars: Eye of the North (NCsoft, AreaNet)
Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa (NCsoft, Destination Games)
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Midway, Turbine)
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Vivendi Games, Blizzard Entertainment)

Action Game of the Year
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Crysis (Electronic Arts, Crytek)
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie Studios)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Namco Bandai Games America, Namco Bandai Games)
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Electronic Arts, EA LA)
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (THQ, Relic)
Supreme Commander (THQ, Gas Powered Games)
World in Conflict (Vivendi Games, Massive Entertainment)

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 08 (Electronic Arts (Electronic Arts)
MLB 07: The Show (SCEA, SCE San Diego)
NBA 2K8 (2K Sports, Visual Concepts)
NHL 08 (Electronic Arts, EA Canada)
SKATE (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)

Adventure Game of the Year
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
God of War II (SCEA, Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA, Insomniac Games)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box: Portal (Electronic Arts/Valve, Valve)

Racing Game of the Year
DiRT (Codemasters, Codemasters)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft Game Studios, Turn 10 Studios)
Motorstorm (SCEA, Evolution Studios)
Need For Speed Pro Street (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)
Project Gotham Racing 4 (Microsoft Game Studios, Bizarre Creations)

RPG of the Year
Eternal Sonata (Namco Bandai Games America, Tri-Crescendo)
Jeanne d’Arc (SCEA, Level 5)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
Rogue Galaxy (SCEA, Level 5)
The Witcher (Atari, CDProjekt Red)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Paris, Red Storm)
skate. (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)
Need for Speed ProStreet (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Guitar Hero III (Activision, Neversoft)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Singstar POP (SCEA, SCEE London Studio)
skate. (Electronic Arts, EA Black Box)

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
BioShock (2K Games (2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
God of War II (SCEA, SCE Santa Monica)
Heavenly Sword (SCEA, Ninja Theory)
Lair (SCEA, Factor 5)

Downloadable Game of the Year
Azada (Big Fish Games, Big Fish Games)
Build-a-Lot (HipSoft, HipSoft)
flOw (SCEA, That Game Company)
Peggle (PopCap, PopCap)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3 Publisher, Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions)

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft Game Studios, Turn 10 Studios)
Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios, Bungie Studios)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
World in Conflict (Vivendi Games, Massive Entertainment)

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo, Nintendo)
The Orange Box: Portal (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)

Outstanding Achievement in Story Development
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Drawn to Life (THQ, 5th Cell)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
The Darkness (2K Games, Starbreeze Studios)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Character Performance
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Heavenly Sword (SCEA, Ninja Theory)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios, BioWare)
The Orange Box: Portal (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Crysis (Electronic Arts, Crytek)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA, Insomniac Games)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
BioShock (2K Games, 2K Boston, 2K Australia)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Heavenly Sword (SCEA, Ninja Theory)
The Orange Box: Team Fortress 2 (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (SCEA, Insomniac Games)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (SCEA, Naughty Dog)
The Orange Box: Team Fortress 2 (Electronic Arts/Valve Software, Valve Software)

Family Game of the Year
Guitar Hero III (Activision, Neversoft)
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montpellier)
Rock Band (MTV Games, Harmonix)
Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action (Microsoft Games Studios, Screenlife)
WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo, Nintendo)

Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, has claimed Halo 3 has passed the 8 million sales mark at Las Vegas conference DICE, and has also mentioned that a gaming handlheld from the company is possible but unlikely.

On the subject of Halo, he reiterated the fact that more content’s on the way for Halo 3, and pointed out that the series is to expand this year with RTS Halo Wars. In addition, he mentioned the Peter Jackson collaboration announced at X06, but noteable didn’t called the product’s Jackson’s involved with “games”.

“We have a collaboration with Peter Jackson, creating an interactive series based on the universe,” he said.

On the subject of a portable, he said, “Never say never,” but “launching a portable device is like launching another Xbox 360… you have to really step back and ask, devoting whatever bandwidth and resources you would have to to make the Zune a multifunction device, is that really the best way to go?”

Games on Zune? That sounds like an awesome idea.

Speaking at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, Blizzard boss and co-founder Mike Morhaime has shown off a slide full of projects that never saw light of say, saying, “We don’t have a 100 percent success rate. We just don’t release failures.”

The unused projects included titles such as Crixa, Shattered Nations, Pax Imperia and Denizen.

Morhaime also spoke on the impending merger of Activision and Blizzard, joking, “Once the Activision Blizzard merger goes through, Bobby Kotick will be my eighth boss.”

DICE comes to a close tomorrow. The Interactive Achievment Awards are going to be announced at the summit sometime this evening.

Speaking at DICE in Las Vegas, Gore Verbinski has urged developers to push the boundaries of innovation and asked why companies insist on “making another Halo” when there are “so many other places to go.”

“This is the time for madness,” he said in his conference keynote. “This is the time to go down dark alleys.”

Verbinski is best known for directing the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

“As you have success, the business model gathers data and focuses on those successes,” he said. “An empty canvas is a dangerous investment, but once a few dots are connected, the business model can and must connect to those early successes and follow them in an otherwise unguided terrain. Success creates followers. That landscape narrows, and we start to migrate along those paths at the expense of our explorer instinct.”

The director has a point. He warned the games industry off the film business model, in which creativity has collapsed under the weight of numbers.

Verbinski pointed to the film industry’s creative collapse, as the greenlight process became less and less instinct and more and more a numbers game.

“I think we can all agree that film narrative has become stifled and derivative as language is borrowed over and over,” he said.

DICE runs till Friday. Full article here.

Speaking at DICE in Las Vegas, Mitch Lasky – former head of EA Mobile and now a partner at Benchmark Capital, has blamed Sony and Microsoft for me-too trends in games development, not the grouping of smaller companies.

“Don’t blame consolidation,” he said on the subject of lack of innovation in games. “Blame Sony and Microsoft for jumping the budgets up to $30 million for a console game. That’s not consolidation’s fault.”

Of course, an unhealthy lack of innovation in games is nothing to do with the way publishers like EA operate.

“Publisher have got to make their numbers,” he said. “It’s all about mitigation and growth.”

DICE is running until Friday at the Red Rock resort in Las Vegas.

DICE opens today at the Red Rock resort in Las Vegas, for three days of seminars and hobnobbing with some of the biggest names in games. The show is host to the eleventh Annual Interactive Achievement Awards this year, to be announced tomorrow.

Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard, is to be named as the eleventh inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame. Ken Kutaragi gets the Lifetime Achievement Award.

In attendance are some pretty serious cheeses. The following are wagging chins at the Red Rock until Friday:

• John Riccitiello – Electronic Arts, CEO
• Shane Kim – Microsoft Game Studios, Corporate Vice President
• Gore Verbinski – Pirates of the Caribbean, Director
• Russ Crupnick – The NPD Research Group
• Robin Kaminsky – Activision, Executive Vice President
• Mike Morhaime – Blizzard Entertainment, President
• Masaya Matsuura – NanaOn-Sha, President
• Michael D. Gallagher – ESA, President
• Dr. Mark Ollila – Nokia, Director of Technology & Strategy for Games
• Yannis Mallat – Ubisoft Montreal , CEO
• Dr. Mike Capps – Epic Games, President
• Andy Burke & Mike Acton – Insomniac Games

Watch for the Achievement Awards tomorrow.