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Speaking at a LostWinds-centric Frontier Developments presentation at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival today, Braben and Burgess reiterated their intention to produce a follow-up to the critically-acclaimed platformer, identifying the world of LostWinds as one they would be “foolish not to return” to, before revealing a number of clues to the direction the franchise might take; Braben stated that he “would love to see” a full disc-based LostWinds release in the future, and even teased us with fresh artwork of a black, swirling thundercloud, a suitably foreboding and nebulous sample of things to come for little Toku and the world of Mistralis.

What we won’t be seeing, at least in the foreseeable future, is an Xbox 360 or PS3 version of LostWinds; when quizzed about the possibility of cross-platform pollination for the WiiWare exclusive, Braben and Burgess stated that they are “not planning” to convert the Wiimote-driven franchise to more traditional system.

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ND: What are the plans for future installments? The story alludes to the possibility for multiple games that follow Toku and Enril. In addition, you already speak of a sequel in the works on your website. Can you divulge any details on this front, such as locales or new moves?

DB: Thank you again! The enthusiasm for the game within Frontier has meant that, long before it was even certain that that game was ever going to see the light of day, the key champions of the game internally created a coherent, fabulously detailed story and world within which the game is set, and the current game is a self-contained section of that. So we certainly have an awful lot more to show and tell; so much more for the players to experience. There�s a darkness in Mistralis that is hinted at in LostWinds, and from our point of view, it would be a tragedy not to let the greater mystery unfold. But for now we don�t want to discuss details -� sorry!

ND: Do you have any plans to make games for retail release on Wii? Any other titles for WiiWare?

DB: We’ll be doing both, I hope. We view WiiWare as ‘just another way’ of getting our games ‘out there’, and we have a lot of great ideas that we want to work on so undoubtedly some will be via WiiWare, some via disc, some for other consoles (in the same way LostWinds was designed specifically for Wii, we have ideas that would suit other consoles). 2007’s ThrillVille: Off the Rails that we did with LucasArts was a disc-based title for Wii, XBox360, PS2, PSP and PC!

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1 - Super Mario Bros. 3
2 - Super Mario Bros.
3 - Super Mario World
4 - Mario Kart 64
5 - Super Mario Bros. 2
6 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
7 - Super Mario 64
8 - The Legend of Zelda
9 - Punch-Out!!
10 - Donkey Kong
11 - Pac-Man
12 - Donkey Kong Country
13 - Paper Mario
14 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
15 - Kirby’s Adventure
16 - Star Fox 64
17 - Double Dragon
18 - Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
19 - Excitebike
20 - BUBBLE BOBBLE

WiiWare

1 - My Pokemon Ranch
2 - Pong Toss - Frat Party Games
3 - Dr. Mario Online Rx
4 - Defend your Castle
5 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
6 - TV Show King
7 - Pirates: The Key of Dreams
8 - LostWinds
9 - Family Table Tennis
10 - Cocoto Fishing Master
11 - Gyrostarr
12 - SPOGS Racing
13 - Wild West Guns
14 - Major League Eating: The Game
15 - Block Breaker Deluxe
16 - V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack
17 - Magnetica Twist
18 - Pop
19 - Toki Tori
20 - Protothea

Link

Videogaming247.com suggests that the sequel to Frontier Games’ superb-but-short WiiWare title LostWinds could be announced before too long.

Frontier has already confirmed it is working on the game, but nothing else is known about the sequel, such as when its planned release date might be, or what alterations could be made to the gameplay.

Studio boss David Braben claimed “We’d be stupid not to look at the LostWinds world, but we’re not announcing anything yet.”

VG247 then goes on to suggest that we shouldn’t ”be vastly shocked if you hear about a sequel sooner rather than later”. Intriguing.
 

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Pioneering Elite co-developer and Frontier Developments founder David Braben spoke at the Develop conference in Brighton to argue that, despite the frequent doomsaying by various industry veterans, the state of game development is in great shape.

Braben, who created pioneering freeform 3D title Elite with Ian Bell in the early '80s, went on to found UK-based Frontier, which has worked on games including Thrillville and Dog's Life, and is currently developing freeform action title The Outsider.

Summarizing LostWinds

To set the stage for his point, Braben looked back on the development process for LostWinds, Frontier's WiiWare sidescroller based around controlling the flow of the wind to aid the game's platforming protagonist.

The game was prototyped in a week by two developers, and was based on an idea by Frontier designer Steve Burgess that was spawned in the company's regular "Game of the Week" concept meetings. The graphics were taken from the game's concept doc, and Braben claimed that little attention was paid to "prettiness" (though the game ended up receiving praise for its soft, colorful visuals).

Part of the game's "dramatically short turnaround" resulted from the simplicity of the game's editor, which allowed level designers to place objects anywhere in the game while it was running in real-time, so they could "tweak the game without stopping it." As it turned out, the game ended up being extremely economical - the audio alone took more memory than the rest of the game combined.

Development spanned less than four months with a team that peaked at 12 members, with a release date of May 12 to correspond with the WiiWare service's launch. There were no demos or "distractions" to finish beyond the game itself. Braben called the whole process "brilliantly enjoyable development," and sees it as evidence that it's still possible to make a game in only a few months.

Lessons Learned

Braben then used LostWinds' development history to springboard into a discussion of various lessons either taught or confirmed by that process. He started by noting that developing "something new" creates a great deal of editorial coverage - indeed, LostWinds as well as 2D Boy's upcoming WiiWare and PC puzzler World of Goo received a disproportionate amount of coverage from the gaming press among WiiWare games.

The designer also noted that non-development staff such as secretaries make for great playtesters on casual games when tuning difficulty, as they are closer to the broader target demographic than programmers would be.

Online distribution, he went on, is a great way of "de-risking" the publishing process, as it removes much of the overhead of getting games onto store shelves. Frontier has already indicated it is working on a sequel to LostWinds.

To provide a contrast to the short, tightly-focused LostWinds, Braben brought up The Outsider, Frontier's long-in-development politically-themed action/adventure game for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. In contrast to LostWinds, it aims for immersion through nonlinear storytelling; Braben compared the approach to that of the original Star Wars film, which he argues is more about an immersive world than a chronology of events.

The two titles are "at opposite ends of the spectrum," but all games need innovation to stay fresh, he argued.

(An audience member asked about the oft-mentioned but never-detailed Elite 4. In response, Braben said, "It needs the right technology. We’re very nearly there. We don’t want to do something that is not brilliant.")

The Future Is Bright

Braben challenged the industry naysayers head-on. "There is more innovation now than ever, contrary to the implication of the retro community," he stated, noting that innovation and freshness sell copies. "We are an industry to be proud of," he added.

The media is reporting on games as a more respectable business, he pointed out, and the average age of gamers in the UK is now 28, with 48 percent of the gamer population being female. In 2007, the British Board of Film Classification age-rated only 2.4 percent of games as "18," with that segment representing only 5 percent of the market. Meanwhile, sales overall were up 26 percent year over year.

With the rise of the internet, the designer also maintained that game quality is now more important than ever for sales. Player to player communication is widespread and is becoming as important as reviews, as is the accessibility of gameplay videos. A good license or marketing alone no longer automatically generates sales.

The internet also brings new opportunities for publishers and developers, he said, even beyond the digital distribution channel itself, with delivery of additional in-game content, shorter paths to market, and vibrant online communities surrounding the games.

Trouble In Paradise

Still, Braben had one area of complaint: the gaming retail scene, which is increasingly dominated by used game sales, which provide no financial reward to the games industry itself.

The storefront of the film industry, Braben pointed out, is a shiny image of a film premiere and huge advertising around the cinema. The games industry's store front, on the other hand, is full of pre-owned games. "Only the paper announcing the new stock of the Wii Fit combo is new," as he put it.

Pre-owned games can go around about ten times, Braben noted. In some cases, it can be difficult to purchase a particular game as new even if one wants to, particularly if it is an older game. This kind of backdoor rental is not tolerated by other industries, he claimed. In the film industry, there are special rental copies sold to stores for higher prices.

To combat this and "help retailers make the right choice," the industry could make pre-owned games more detectable, he offered. Microsoft uses one approach by including a scratch-off Xbox Live voucher with its games, although that would only be effective as a used sale deterrent to those who do not already subscribe to Xbox Live. Alternatively, developers could withhold functionality of used games in some way.

Looking further, games could be purchased online with the disc mailed after as backup, he said. Braben cited Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president and CEO David Reeves, who projects that digital distribution is likely to be the main route to market within five years.

Conclusion

Despite veering off into a brief bit of frustration, Braben finished his talk by reiterating that the games industry's future is bright. As he put it, there is more innovation, the market is bigger than it has ever been, and the rise of online communication means that quality is being valued like never before.

Rockstar Games reaffirmed its place as one of the top producers of  critically acclaimed games last night at the sixth annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards, taking home four individual awards. Rockstar North received both the visual arts and audio accomplishment prizes for Grand Theft Auto IV and was also named Best in-house developer.

Over 500 professionals from the European games industry gathered in Brighton, England for the show. Hosted by comedian Glenn Wool, the event honoured those behind the best games released in the past 12 months.

WiiWare also made an encouraging appearance, being the platform that helped two award-winners walk home with prizes: independent studio Frontier Developments’ LostWinds was named as Best New IP, while Nintendo itself received the Publishing-Hero award for letting studios publish their own games in the first place.

In addition, a special Grand Prix Award was awarded to Rockstar Games, not only for the commercial and critical behemoth that is Grand Theft Auto IV, but also Rockstar’s studio network.

The rest of the awards shaped up as follows:

Creativity:

• Best New IP:
  Lost Winds (Frontier Developments)
• Best Use of a Licence:
  Lego Indiana Jones (Traveller’s Tales)
• Visual Arts:
  Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)
• Audio Accomplishment:
  Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)
• Publishing Hero:
  Nintendo

Technology and Services:

• Tools Provider
  Epic Games
• Technical Innovation
  NaturalMotion / Image Metrics (Grand Theft Auto IV)
• Creative Outsourcing
  Richard Jacques Studios
• Services
  Babel Media
• Recruitment Company
  OPM
• Games:Edu New Talent Award
  University of Abertay & Dare to be Digital

Studios:

• Business Development
  Realtime Worlds
• Best Mobile Studio
  Ideaworks3D
• Best In-House Developer
  Rockstar North
• Best New UK/European Studio
  Doublesix
• Best Independent Developer
  Splash Damage

Special Recognition:

• Grand Prix
  Rockstar Games

We all know that buying used games and selling games to stores such as Gamestop doesn’t benefit the industry, but whether or not we continue to do so should be up to us right? David Braben of Frontier Developments, the company behind LostWinds, doesn’t seem to think so. During a speech he gave at the Develop conference at Brighton, England, he took the time to speak against the sale of used videogames that is so prominent at large retail gaming stores, in both the US and UK.

However, not only does he want to discourage this practice that costs the videogame industry money, he wants developers to take actions to prevent it. “We can make pre-owned detectable, we can put a code on the disc or the packaging…We should be doing something and it should result, in the longer term, in cheaper retail prices, which helps us all,” Braben says. We can agree everyone would like cheaper retail prices, but not at the expense of measures like this. The worst thing about digital distribution is digital rights management, and effectively making physical copies of games locked to a certain console would only be a step backwards.

Additionally, Braben said, “This is essentially rental, and it’s not tolerated by other industries”. I’m not sure which industries he’s talking about, but the resale of used media is very widespread, as seen at Blockbusters and used bookstores. Though I know the peddling of used games isn’t great for the gaming industry, there are certainly worse problems out there, such as piracy, which should be focused on first.