Rugby Challenge game

[milla]

This morning we announced a new Rugby title, due out next year. Shout if you have questions. Phants has done a good write-up about it here, after visiting and checking it out.

[[BT]Monza]

Look forward to it.

Already people submitting some good ideas.

[SID|DensitY]

Originally Posted by [BT]Monza

Look forward to it.

Already people submitting some good ideas.

There was one idea from that thread that made me chuckle

CHALLENGE: World Cup 1995, NZ vs England, STOP JONAH!

reminded me of the All Lomu team in Jonah Lomu Rugby 95 (so far the best rugby game to date).

I'm going to assume that a ps3 version will be released, if so you have one sale already.

[milla]

We're getting a lot of input from users, even the League guys, which rocks. David Farrier did a story on the game the other night, which was rather good:

http://www.3news.co.nz/Game-develope...2/Default.aspx

That's TV3's on-demand service.

[surreal]

As a programmer I have mucho respecto for game developers who work hard like the folk at Sidhe and definitely hope this one comes off a big success!

As a Jonah's (lomu-rugby) ex-nut who has not found joy from recent rugby games I am full of ideas but I think they are all a dime a dozen and ideas aren't what really matters here...

Except for me what is crucial, is for a rugby game to limit the occurrences of bizarre not-rugby-like events such as:
- post-try celebrations (animations) taken from a soccer game
- audio balance that doesn't match what you get on tv coverage (i.e. the ball bouncing should not make a noise, sigh).
- anything just extremely unlikely, like a tiny player holding off a strong player on their own

But yeah, go hard, cant wait to see it.

[Mario]

Just announced this morning -

JONAH LOMU RETURNS TO VIDEOGAMES IN RUGBY CHALLENGE

All Blacks Rugby legend lends name, likeness, and expertise to videogame

SYDNEY, Australia – December 6, 2010 – Home Entertainment Suppliers Pty Ltd (HES) announced today that rugby legend Jonah Lomu will appear in the Rugby Challenge console and PC game. The appearance will mark the first time Lomu has appeared in a videogame in over a decade.

“HES is pulling out all the stops to make Rugby Challenge an exciting and memorable experience” said David Robles, Business Development Manager for HES. “Jonah is one of rugby’s greats, and will bring an extra something special to the game”.

In addition to including his name, likeness, and motion in the game, Lomu will also bring his experience and expertise into the development process by working directly with Sidhe, the Wellington based studio behind the game.

“I’m a big fan of videogames and being involved in making Rugby Challenge is a great experience,” said Jonah Lomu.

Rugby Challenge will release for consoles and PC in Q3 2011. More information and ongoing updates about the game can be found at the official website http://www.rugbychallengegame.com

[Fx.]

awesome

(remake jonah lomu rugby imo)

[milla]

SYDNEY, Australia – May 11, 2011 – Home Entertainment Suppliers Pty Ltd (HES) revealed today that seasoned rugby commentators Grant Nisbett and Justin Marshall would join forces to voice upcoming video game Rugby Challenge, in development for the PlayStation®3, Microsoft Xbox 360® and PC, by Wellington-based games developer Sidhe.

“In developing Rugby Challenge, we have reached out to many experts who have lent their experience and talents to the game” said David Robles, Business Development Manager for HES. “Having dynamic commentary voiced by well known professionals like Grant and Justin ensures an authentic and engaging gaming experience”.

“The attention to detail in the commentary has been amazing, and any possible scenario that can happen in the game of rugby has been covered here” said Grant Nisbett, a veteran commentator with over 200 Test Matches under his belt, “The process has been a lot of fun”.

“Being involved in the development of a videogame has been a great, new experience” said seasoned commentator and former All Black, Justin Marshall. “I’m looking forward to the game coming out as from what I have seen, the detail is incredible!”

Rugby Challenge will include the Qantas Wallabies, the All Blacks, ITM Cup, Super Rugby teams, amongst other licensed teams and competitions, and will feature multiplayer online play, a multi-year franchise mode, extensive customisation options, tutorials for the novice player, and dynamic real-time commentary.

Rugby Challenge will release for PS3, 360 and PC in Quarter 3 2011. More information and ongoing updates about the game can be found at the official website http://www.rugbychallengegame.com

Making of video - visual presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Ji-kLB4bo
Making of video - commentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az8d9Md1fTA

[fobski]

make me a beta tester milla,

!

[milla]

If you'd stayed in Wellington usability testing would have been a distinct possibility:

http://forums.sidheinteractive.com/s...ad.php?t=40943

We're always looking for testers

That'll teach you not to skip town!

[milla]

A dedication to the sport to be proud of:

http://rugbychallengegame.com/2011/05/training-day/

Developers getting real

[IceFox]

Where is Dwayne? I only seen him for like a second, make him get his ass in there =P

[*oRiGiNaL*]

Originally Posted by IceFox

Where is Dwayne? I only seen him for like a second, make him get his ass in there =P

Dwayne makes a cameo appearance, just wait and see

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by *oRiGiNaL*

Dwayne makes a cameo appearance, just wait and see

Can I get your autograph bro? ?

[*oRiGiNaL*]

Originally Posted by Phantom

Can I get your autograph bro? ?

What did you think of my first interview, not too bad eh?

Talked more than Mario

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by *oRiGiNaL*

What did you think of my first interview, not too bad eh?

Talked more than Mario

Yeah man, most def. I thought it was good! Was well impressed :>

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by *oRiGiNaL*

Dwayne makes a cameo appearance, just wait and see

Here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKTJZ...embedded#at=18

[milla]

Originally Posted by Phantom

Here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKTJZ...embedded#at=18

Beat me to it

New 'making of' video...and stuff.

[milla]

We've posted some information about how we have set up the crowd:

http://rugbychallengegame.com/2011/0...ing-the-crowd/

A couple of screenshots are included, so you can check out what we've been up to

[SID|DensitY]

Originally Posted by milla

We've posted some information about how we have set up the crowd:

http://rugbychallengegame.com/2011/0...ing-the-crowd/

A couple of screenshots are included, so you can check out what we've been up to

Looks awesome so far.. the crowds are missing one feature however

- Crowds will invade the pitch if the ref makes a blatant bias/incorrect call

[[BT]Monza]

Streakers?

[milla]

It takes a special kind of mind...

Also:

http://nzgamer.com/all/news/5032/rug...announced.html

[verve_rat]

That could be some interesting mo-cap.

[SID|DensitY]

"It's usually 'Long Rufus' but it's a little cold out here, ya know?"

[*oRiGiNaL*]

http://rugbychallengegame.com/

[[BT]Monza]

D'oh

Hi everyone,

It falls on me to tell everyone that unfortunately official licenses for the Springboks and SA SuperRugby teams will not be appearing in Rugby Challenge.

While HES and Sidhe would love for these teams to be included in the game, and discussions with SARU have been ongoing, an agreement has not be reached between HES and SARU.

The reasons for this cannot be explicitly divulged, but as you can imagine sports licensing is a complex affair with many different stakeholder parties involved. It is an even more challenging exercise during a World Cup year.

We know this news will be particularly disappointing to the many South African fans who have been following the progress of the game. We can only hope that you will continue to support the product, and that you will petition SARU and other local teams to consider inclusion in future Rugby Challenge products. We hope to be able to announce the SA distribution plans for the game soon, so fans in that country will know how to get hold of a copy.

In being aware there was some risk in not being able to secure some licenses for Rugby Challenge, Sidhe have taken it upon ourselves to provide extensive editing and customisation options for the game. Gamers will be at liberty to edit many aspects of the default players and teams that ship with the game to your own specifications.

On the plus side, we still have some exciting licenses to announce for Rugby Challenge, so stay tuned for that news in the future.


Regards

Mario

[milla]

We're put up a video this morning, showing the player editor in action:

http://rugbychallengegame.com/2011/0...player-editor/

[blur^]

Originally Posted by [BT]Monza

D'oh

wow i cant believe the saffa's dont wont to be apart of whats looking likely to be the best rugby game ever

wankers

[milla]

New stuff!

Trailer: http://rugbychallengegame.com/2011/0...lenge-trailer/
Licensing announcement: http://rugbychallengegame.com/2011/0...ces-announced/
Screenshots: http://rugbychallengegame.com/2011/0...s-screenshots/

Quite busy this week...

[SID|DensitY]

Awesome news on the licenses.. Even without the SARU, this is easily looking to be The complete rugby game.

[milla]

Yeah, the South African licences would have been nice, if only the Super Rugby sides. The player editor should go a long way to addressing the lack though

BackingBlack has put up a video of a play session Mario had with some of the All Blacks last week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve9eGUDTclM

Also, some Wallabies had a session more recently, and got a bit Tweet-happy about it:

http://forums.sidhe.co.nz/showthread...hots-and-Video!!

[milla]

Game-play footage video up on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video....83328&comments

We'll have that up on our YouTube channel tomorrow.

[Ab]

That looks fucking awesome.

[milla]

Originally Posted by Ab

That looks fucking awesome.

Success. You can put Marshall into Wallabies-spanking training with it.

[Ab]

Wish sports-game programmers could code up some proper inertia though. Just when everything's looking sweet you see a human change direction without losing any speed, like a fucking lightcycle, and the bubble pops. It's bots, not players.

*sigh*

[milla]

Preview from The Six Axis:

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/07/...gby-challenge/

Ab, there's a trade-off between interface and visuals. This game went through a lot of usability testing to optimise that.

[milla]

There's been some more coverage:

http://nzgamer.com/ps3/previews/953/...-hands-on.html
http://tvnz.co.nz/small-blacks-tv/s2...-video-4340253

[cyc]

Originally Posted by Ab

That looks fucking awesome.

I don't know about that. Aside from the inertia issue, the running and passing animations also look brutal.

[[BT]Monza]

Tried the PSN demo of the competition's offering last night, wish I hadn't. Just felt and looked like '08 Rugby rehashed...

[[BT]Monza]

Shakey-cam gameplay footage, ABs vs Wallabies with Haka