Scotland's Steam-Powered Return to the Living Room

Well the hype of Grand Theft Auto V has started to settle down now, leaving me to return to my native habitat of PC gaming, or more accurately Steam PC Gaming…which soon may just be Steam Gaming.

Hawick: The Latest "Bad Press" on Rockstar North's List

Another Amber Glass Blog that which concerns Grand Theft Auto V? Say it ain’t so!

Ok, as you probably have guessed, this is slightly less concerning Grand Theft Auto V’s violence factor and more, interestingly enough, the series references to Scotland and Scottish Culture.

All Games Are Shooty-Shooty

My very first lecture of my third year studies has resulted in this article out of anguish. Before I start, though, this is not an attack on someone’s opinion: this is a challenge against someone’s opinion that openly admitted their lack of knowledge on our industry. And that’s fair enough.

Fusing Mediums, Women and PvPC: A Reflection on Dare's Indie Fest

Oh sure, I could cover the 15 student games that were free to play at Dundee but, sadly after spending money and sleepless nights travelling and getting lectured, I cannot sum up much energy to cover anything beyond the exhibition talks. I’m sure one of my compatriots at Amber Glass will help me out on that one…

The Digital Representation of Sexual Violence against Women

We consume digital media every second of every day. Be it films, books (I include them because of their digital adaptations these days) or games, the public are constantly digesting from the digital domain. The content that we become susceptible to has never mattered so much than it has now in this current social climate. Whether we have to be careful how we depict discrimination or terrorism, amongst other sensitive topics, the context in which something is displayed is remarkably important to get right. From my research, this might not be the case.

Money for "The Ideas Guy"

This article’s a shorty but I have been thinking about something. A short while ago, I was typing away some game documents, Wikis and toying with some programs when I had a small conversation with software engineer at Scottish and Southern Energy:

Gamification: An Interview with Daniel Livingstone

After the Learning Through Gaming event and my recent article about the need to define gamification, I stated that I wished to look further into the topic with research and analysis. Well, here's the first stage of that. After his talk on the topic, I asked Daniel Livingstone (lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland's Paisley campus) about his opinion.

Learning Through Gaming: Gamifi-why?

As the Festival of Dangerous Ideas 2013 draws to a close today, myself and Lee found ourselves at Dundee College's Gardyne Campus for the second-annual Learning Through Gaming event. Attended by personnel from the Scottish gaming and education (all levels represented) sectors, this proved to be a highly worthwhile array of presentations in regards to how games can be used to teach learners in multiple disciplines. However, what I did notice was the recurring term that many people love to use and give meaning to, but not a term I necessarily agree with. That term is "gamification".

If (PrimarySchool) {TeachProgramming();}

I thought we’d take a break from focusing on the Scottish Industry and discuss my views concerning video games and education. I got thinking about this subject because of E3. Although I’m interested more in the development process of video games, games are still my passion and I still get excited over new announcements, especially if these games are beautiful. While watching Microsoft’s press conference showing of their HAL 9000-- er, I mean Xbox One, we were shown a brief glimpse of Project Spark. This game caught my interest, not because of the gameplay or graphics but because of its rock.

What Can Scotland Take From E3?

E3 2013 is just around the corner, with the gaming industry firmly anticipating the news they’ve been expecting for months – and drooling at the surprises they never saw coming (Watch_Dogs, anyone?). Just like every year, I’ve been preparing myself for (essentially) leading a nocturnal lifestyle for the next week. 

Have a Bloody Good Time on The Ship!

Remember when I tried to appeal to Reloaded Productions to help them get APB: Vendetta off of the ground last month? Well surprise, I seem to be back at it with now a different case. A much more…depressing one.

The Struggle with Student Journalism: Where Is The Voice?

Allow me to stray off topic for a moment. Usually, we post articles based on the recent developments in and around Scotland, or write reports on events that we attend to aid in some exposure for developers and their software. However, I want to take the opportunity to highlight the struggles that we at Amber Glass have faced over the past few months as a student journalism team, and how students should be speaking from beyond the boundaries of the lecture hall.

"Money, dear boy": Realoaded Productions' Luck with Kickstarter

With members of Amber Glass trotting across Scotland and getting to all sorts of exhibitions, I figured that I would get patriotic over Scottish Gaming and started searching for more games developed here in Scotland. If this was a joke, I suppose the punch line is that I eventually started playing All Points Bulletin: Reloaded.

Two Days of Darkness: Four Games of Fear

Recently we talked about Two Days of Darkness, an event spread across two days creating various media based on the horror genre hosted by the National Theatre of Scotland. Saturday (18^th May) was the Two Days of Darkness showcase and we thought “who better to send along to a horror showcase and see what it’s all about than the easiest scared member of Amber Glass?

Can We Fix It?

So I’ve been home in Cumbernauld (nothing to shout about, let me tell you) over the weekend, having a break from studies before my final push towards the summer break, and I was referenced by my brother to an expanding initiative, which I thought would be of interest to Scottish developers.

The Radical Development of Mobile Gaming

So, I have been looking around various websites to cover gaming in a much more local level when I stumbled onto the website for the game Celtic Heroes by One Thumb Mobile which was celebrating their latest patch. I can’t tell you much about my gameplay experience since the game is an iDevice exclusive, but from what I’ve seen it is surprisingly impressive.

Scottish Women In Games 2013: Sexes Represent!

When I was growing up, you would've had more chance finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow than hearing "women" and "games" associated with each other. But, following the recent Scottish Women In Games event, I would love to travel back to that time and give them the "You were wrong!" lecture we all so love to hear. The time for representation has never been so prominent in today's industry.

One Day Digital 2013: Always Learning, But In What Way?

Off the back of One Day Digital 2013 event that was held yesterday at the Glasgow SECC, numerous topics were discussed in regards to the current position (and future) of Scotland’s technology sector.

Why The Quick Beat The Sturdy

In competitive multiplayer games, there are a lot different options being available to players in these environments, be it fighting games, shooter games or what have you. The thing is, though, whenever I see competitive areas of various games, there seems to be a recurring trend.

Well Played, Player: The Result of Emergent Gameplay

Ever since man wore cloth (and disputably even earlier than that), mankind has had an interest in pretending to be someone or something that is not necessarily them. I dare say this is perhaps one of the oldest incarnations of play and has been seen in many variants, some role-plays might just be a group of children pretending to be adults, but for the most part we are more use to the varieties seen in video games and on table tops where players will often be in some swords and sorcery world where they choose a class, a race and level up as they attempt to kill dragons thirty times their own level.

Gotta Get K.O! The Incorporation of Combat in Sonic The Hedgehog Games

What’s this? An article that concerns Sonic the Hedgehog that is not complaining about Sonic using vehicles, Sonic looking leaner than before, Sonic kissing a human girl? It’s a lot more common than you think.

A Relief To UK Games?

As revealed one year ago in the UK Government’s Budget, the UK gaming industry will be the subject of a tax relief. This proposal, although being implemented later than what was previously planned, will begin in April 2013 and allow developers to apply for 25 per cent alleviation in tax. Games companies are required to meet a set criteria and quota to be eligible, which begs the question: what makes a game “British”?

The Bigger Picture (22/3/2013)

It’s been a relatively quiet week in the games industry this week with very few goings-on and very little “big news” headlines, the biggest of which is Valve’s Steam Early Access. There’s also controversy surrounding Shroud of the Avatar designer Richard Garriott’s recent comments and change to the way a developer approaches Kickstarter.

Scottish Community (22/03/2012)

With no podcast this week, it's time to update you on the happenings within the Scottish game community within the past week. From success in the Samsung Student Developer's Challenge to the release of a new browser-based title, it's been a busy time in and around these "bonnie banks".

The Sustainable Future of Scotland's Developers

In a recent article published by TIGA, statistics show an improvement to the UK's gaming sector for the year of 2012. As the article suggests (which you can read here), the number of employees, studios and earnings rose considerably well for a sector that wasn't included in the 2010 Economic Contribution Study reports. Almost half of new companies were formed in Scotland, and continually grow today with competitions such as Dare To Be Digital and Samsung's Student Developer's Challenge. These figures are promising, and definitely suggest a bright future for the industry that has delivered so much in the past (Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown, to name but a few). The question that looms over my mind is this: how do we make developing teams more sustainable?

Gotye Reference Insert Here: What happened to the Resi that I use to know?

The controls in 6 are still quite bad,

But even the iconic ink ribbon’s in pieces,

They've cashed in on the action fad,

Why’d this happen to the Resi that I use to know?

Ok, enough dated references, to the video games! As you may have gotten from this little piece I wrote, I have lately been playing Resident Evil 6, and by play I mean “been helping a friend of mine every Friday or so to complete Jake’s Campaign on a higher difficulty”. Now from reviews, you’d reckon I am with everyone else and hate this game as “it is a mindless action game that betrays the good old games and urgh, my heart medicine!”

Game In Scotland 2013: Nothing But Growth

One day removed from our first gaming conference as a broadcasting company (albeit as spectators, although watch this space!), Game In Scotland 2013 lived up to every and all expectations we previously had. Held in the heart of Scotland's capital city of gaming - Dundee, of course - developers, innovators and prospective talents came together for a day filled with opportunity, excitement and entertainment. The event has had a positive reaction from those who attended the event, and some talks and information in particular stood out to me personally, which I'd like to share with you.

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE FWOM YOU GWAAAAAAVE!! Analysis on the Upcoming Darkstalkers Resurrection

If there is one thing I can honestly say it's that Capcom almost always finds a way to make me retract any and all praise I have for them. Talk about the many cool new IPs they liked to throw out and give a shot at and they will release "SUPER ACRADE HYPER STREET FIGHTER 2013 EDITION: GOOD GOD PLEASE BUY THIS ONE!" (Coming to Xbox 360 Projector and WiiU in 2015 and on Steam late 2025), talk about their good content and there's an article confirming that 85% of the game is locked on the disc for DLC and talk about respect for their old IP and you will hear stories of a betrayal of a game reboot and the cancellation of 2 new games for another IP which is fading from existence.

Remember Me (If You Can)

It’s not often that a large-scale, AAA console release drifts into the background and is forgotten about by the community. Although DONTNOD Entertainment’s new title “Remember Me” may not have been forgotten by everyone, it definitely slipped my mind after Dave mentioned it when he returned from Eurogamer Expo 2012. The reason I’m bringing it up today is because it now has a release date and it’s officially time to get excited: the game will be released on the 4^th of June in North America and the 7^th of June in Europe. But for those who have forgotten or just never found out I’m going try and explain just what “Remember Me” is.

Shin Megami Tensei: Final Personamon Dating 3

What can I say about the Persona series… quite a lot actually and while I will try to limit myself I will say that this post will be quite information intensive. I will restrict myself and focus primarily on Persona 3 but there are a lot of features which are consistent within the series.

The Indie Community (01/03/2013)

It’s been another busy week in the local gaming community in Scotland. New games, new apps and a new blog to keep you up to date with the latest happenings!

A Warm Welcome!

Welcome to the new Amber Glass Broadcast website: the home of the Amber Glass Broadcast group. If you've previously been made aware about us and our activities, fantastic! If not, this post will outline who we are, what we aim to achieve and how we aim to achieve these goals in order to deliver entertaining publications for our biggest client: you, the audience.