tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85348168089305991702024-03-18T20:17:20.546-07:00Incredible Games WorldKeep Updated With Infomation on Gamesmuhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-43010271263078311992009-07-01T13:50:00.000-07:002009-07-01T13:58:51.218-07:00Time-Dilation and Other Relativistic Catastrophes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgo4VRGJpUbIr2JlP4kr3iqKUr_FLSbGXhEf0NSf6_nPVutXNGwGhgjE6qbuJFZAZydMageRkb1teoCkuv-06_AJKLqeZsdtXy2cSbEcWRlc4WdoTK6fx-XYZp9fLDoEPhAeT6Et0IV-n/s1600-h/artscience2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvgo4VRGJpUbIr2JlP4kr3iqKUr_FLSbGXhEf0NSf6_nPVutXNGwGhgjE6qbuJFZAZydMageRkb1teoCkuv-06_AJKLqeZsdtXy2cSbEcWRlc4WdoTK6fx-XYZp9fLDoEPhAeT6Et0IV-n/s320/artscience2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353599098630911874" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Tahoma,Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;">First things first: let's get rid of the overwhelming subliminal assumption beneath this fascination for the game industry, i.e., that making games and playing games are mere variations on the same theme. Believe me, they have nothing in common. Thank God for that, too. Think about it for a minute. These days, the typical game is considered a success if it provides the player with about 40 hours of enjoyment. Forty hours. About a week. Now, developing that very same game will take, on average, two years. Please reflect on the staggering implications of what you just read. Unless you are a tester, or you happen to be designing chess or Civilization III, you will work on your game one hundred times longer than your customer will play it. one hundred Please imagine how much fun it would be to play the same game, and only that game, every single day, eight twelve hours a day, for two years. Yep, that's right, wouldn't be any fun at all. After a month, you'd be hopelessly bored. Two months, and you'd grow warts at the mere mention of it. By the time you'd be ready to ship the sucker, you. Well, you would have killed everyone else on the team long before, so you never would ship. Developing games has its own rewards, of course; otherwise, no one would bother. But it is hard work, and nothing, nothing like playing games all the time. Get that through your thick skulls! </div><p><span style=";font-family:Verdana,Tahoma,Arial;font-size:85%;" ></span></p>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-58418922690187266612009-07-01T13:44:00.000-07:002009-07-01T13:50:34.275-07:00Should working in games be more fun?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDw3CjJ8VJ2aglawI4rfKi_QodgCs8SyfQLNOrWULg7CFxpxf6BMTz-1dKQDHRmO9Ng_XtdKqKLVW71pQafcP-V6fhPKPbCa7AH_XFbP1QrJX0Yn0TfbIU4y9Z8mHtKt5kwZLZz_clUMH/s1600-h/Games_a_new_perspective.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDw3CjJ8VJ2aglawI4rfKi_QodgCs8SyfQLNOrWULg7CFxpxf6BMTz-1dKQDHRmO9Ng_XtdKqKLVW71pQafcP-V6fhPKPbCa7AH_XFbP1QrJX0Yn0TfbIU4y9Z8mHtKt5kwZLZz_clUMH/s320/Games_a_new_perspective.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353596670792974530" border="0" /></a><br /><p><span style="font-family:Verdana, Tahoma, Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Yeah, we've all seen 'em. The bright-eyed, eager kids who, upon learning that we work in the interactive entertainment industry, drop to their hands and knees and beg us for our secret. How did we do it? How did we manage to get someone to pay us for this? There are millions of them. Mostly guys, but the number of girls is getting surprisingly high. They're kind of naive, and maybe a little annoying, but in a charming kind of way, since they worship the week-old leftover pizza crusts we reluctantly throw out. They'd do anything to be like us, up to and including pledging their souls to the denizen of the fuming tar pits of Hades of our choice. Sure, they feign to listen when we warn them about the crazy hours or the lousy pay. But nothing registers. To their untrained eyes, making games seems to be somewhat akin to a mild all-day orgasm. And then, something terrible happens to them. They finally get a job in the industry. </div><p><span style="font-family:Verdana, Tahoma, Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></p>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-6142382551098504412009-07-01T05:50:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:59:16.544-07:00Movie Games Earning Back Consumer Respect<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEAmABd4csaFBXyJ9JAA9IKVhKOOo0KzTYH5cNcqz1XRNFWUF_i0NHzq0nj41hdNtPghBRndoohcYxLp0I493DStdeeGPhYDCa96x6HA-KKc73D65fhrJ_pP6skjkCJiTESq1nkobk5tx/s1600-h/godfather_006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353474492621692210" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEAmABd4csaFBXyJ9JAA9IKVhKOOo0KzTYH5cNcqz1XRNFWUF_i0NHzq0nj41hdNtPghBRndoohcYxLp0I493DStdeeGPhYDCa96x6HA-KKc73D65fhrJ_pP6skjkCJiTESq1nkobk5tx/s320/godfather_006.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>It's the summer blockbuster movie season, and the high buzz around popular action flicks is having a positive effect on their tie-in games.Nielsen finds that movie license games are topping the list in terms of both "online buzz" and player intent to purchase, and concludes that maybe movie license games are finally getting some respect from gamers.At the top of Nielsen's purchase intent list is Activision's X-Men Origins: Wolverine for the week of its release, and it's joined by other games tied into big box office properties: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, also an Activision release, and the GRIN and Halcyon-developed Terminator: Salvation game. It's not just that the current film season is driving proxy enthusiasm for the associated games. Nielsen says that a few months ago, Electronic Arts' Godfather II scored well on the purchase intent list even though the movie came out in 1974.Two months away from its release, Eidos' Batman: Arkham Asylum is tied for second fifth place, and Nielsen expects it to hit number one by summer's end, while the Terminal Reality-developed Ghostbusters video game, released last week, topped the online buzz list and ranked fourth in terms of purchase interest.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-44083779472099246762009-07-01T05:45:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:58:38.934-07:00Microsoft Adding Silverlight-Based Rich Media To Xbox Live<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAzVo8ZROD_01BXD6bBxnYbBK3Y2yAreTmBIW5EMEc9BB1CnflDmtn95yFxidT01G9NfRskO-blkSftIhMdjsdamyiqmhhpoZR6TjrGwNF_FPNKTPCW3jlSbJ7fLUFfSZKCHNujsSHTlg/s1600-h/silverlight.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353472948403923474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 287px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAzVo8ZROD_01BXD6bBxnYbBK3Y2yAreTmBIW5EMEc9BB1CnflDmtn95yFxidT01G9NfRskO-blkSftIhMdjsdamyiqmhhpoZR6TjrGwNF_FPNKTPCW3jlSbJ7fLUFfSZKCHNujsSHTlg/s320/silverlight.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span>Microsoft plans to bring its Silverlight graphical framework to Xbox 360, enabling portability of online advertising campaigns between the console and other Silverlight-supporting platforms.According to a MediaPost report, Microsoft will open up space for advertising, presumably on the Xbox Live Dashboard, that will be identical to what is available for web ads, and will conform to Interactive Advertising Bureau guidelines.Silverlight as a technology is similar in intent to, and a competitor of, Adobe Flash. It is used for advertising as well as other purposes, such as browser-based games and video streaming. The article specifically indicates that "Silverlight-powered media on Xbox will have the same appearance as ads seen on a Web browser."Video rental service Netflix recently began using Silverlight for web-based streaming, and MediaPost says Microsoft will also use the technology to add more and better-quality video streaming options to Xbox 360.With the move, Microsoft is aiming to make advertising available across personal computers, consoles, mobile phones, and even devices based on Microsoft Surface, with a minimum of redevelopment necessary between platforms. </span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-51432531955629908042009-07-01T05:38:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:57:58.635-07:00Uncharted Drake's Fortune Getting Film Adaptation<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMmsf3kD5gNRo_Yq1tQwVhnDuTaNN6E35s-B9sfHOBifpgCmt40J3x-QDIteMalAwBmHfTVW7-fzDXxoZ0eJGIwqyoFhTElZbBl4JM3oEnvDGNh71elQxe1bP4l3ZuwLxau8XGXjtPGIZ/s1600-h/uncharted1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353470999907231026" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMmsf3kD5gNRo_Yq1tQwVhnDuTaNN6E35s-B9sfHOBifpgCmt40J3x-QDIteMalAwBmHfTVW7-fzDXxoZ0eJGIwqyoFhTElZbBl4JM3oEnvDGNh71elQxe1bP4l3ZuwLxau8XGXjtPGIZ/s320/uncharted1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span><br />Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, has been discovered by Columbia studios, and now a movie adaptation has been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter.<br />Kyle Ward, the same man responsible for writing the screenplay for the Kane & Lynch and upcoming Hitman 2 adaptions, is set to do the same for Uncharted. The movie will be produced by Avi Arad, Charles Roven, Ari Arad, and Alex Gartner.<br />Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was one Sony's first exclusive titles to be met with critical acclaim, selling 1 million copies in its first 10 weeks back in 2007. The game unfolds like any blockbuster action adventure movie should, complete with cheesy dialogue, explosive firefights, and a plot that keeps things entertaining.<br />As a game, Uncharted's scope and intense action was a formidable undertaking that fit the video game medium perfectly. To see a movie studio planning to translate the huge, lush, green jungles and ancient ruins of the game onto the big screen is truly ambitious. However, if done correctly Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has potential to be as entertaining as similar adventure films such as King Kong or Indiana Jones.<br />Here's to hoping the movie adaptation of Uncharted takes shape into a film that is not only good for being based on a video game, but good on its own merit. However, Columbia has an uphill battle. As Nathan Drake would say, finding a good video game movie "is like trying to find a bride in a brothel."</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-67818234367586558642009-07-01T05:35:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:37:41.005-07:00'Daring Book For Girls' Coming Soon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjro0etQYbiedeHczPegFOvWXgTvX4yjLfsXjUFcrnLlPVPa7SfHNVjI1_Vs2oU7s769z5qNhyD_NS3fEJqEi-dlq8bbj2P3t-EUMQoIST19NLpzo-meCF-UkOrjEfqwavVKcDa8UqH9mOw/s1600-h/yggg8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353469922911642786" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjro0etQYbiedeHczPegFOvWXgTvX4yjLfsXjUFcrnLlPVPa7SfHNVjI1_Vs2oU7s769z5qNhyD_NS3fEJqEi-dlq8bbj2P3t-EUMQoIST19NLpzo-meCF-UkOrjEfqwavVKcDa8UqH9mOw/s320/yggg8.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><span>We’ve seen games based on books before, but Majesco’s newest adventure title takes inspiration from an unlikely source and applies it to one of gaming’s fastest growing markets. The Daring Book for Girls series is sort of a how to instruction manual for adventurous young girls, covering everything from secret note-passing skills, to how perform the cats cradle string trick, to tips on perfecting the cartwheel. Due out this October, Majesco’s digital take on the HarperCollin’s series will let players virtually experience activities straight from the books. (We wonder if this includes the eternal mystery of what boys are thinking.)<br />After creating their own character, players will take part in a variety of different challenges including managing a corner stand, playing freeze tag, and adventuring through an African Safari. Scattered throughout these various minigames will be an assortment of educational facts about famous women throughout history. We just hope the game provides some kind of insight into what girls talk about during sleepovers. </span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-89286590199749697392009-07-01T05:21:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:32:23.948-07:00Mass Effect 2 Will Not Feature ‘New Game Plus’<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQa1L7iuNcqbRgzyb7LvN7hn8Tuus6Z7pGCOPZECEI7EsVUw6InKYz9ssQLs2YCxfGaGif7gnnCQ4f67olYT1PUIKTKBfE_6yv-ixf6oc8Gd3EKMup1cfZoab7WCvY7dJ3uXAU31dYjEEn/s1600-h/masseffect2_wallpaper_1_1280x1024.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353467040131894226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQa1L7iuNcqbRgzyb7LvN7hn8Tuus6Z7pGCOPZECEI7EsVUw6InKYz9ssQLs2YCxfGaGif7gnnCQ4f67olYT1PUIKTKBfE_6yv-ixf6oc8Gd3EKMup1cfZoab7WCvY7dJ3uXAU31dYjEEn/s320/masseffect2_wallpaper_1_1280x1024.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><br /><span>The first Mass Effect is one of the most replayable games in recent memory. A variety of choices, from moral dilemmas to romantic interests, ensure that every time through the game players are provided with something new. In addition to seeing how different situations resolve depending on your decisions, Mass Effect also has another powerful incentive to entice gamers into replaying the adventure: New Game Plus.<br />The term popularized by Chrono Trigger on SNES refers to beginning a new playthrough after beating the game. However, instead of starting at square one, the players begin with the stats, abilities, and equipment their characters had at the end of the previous playthrough. In other words, you start over with an end-game character, complete with all of the powers and advantages that affords.<br />New Game Plus is the perfect option for players who want to re-experience the story without being robbed of the effort they invested into maxing out their characters. Unfortunately, according to a post on BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 forums, the second entry in the series will no longer support this feature. Responding to post asking whether New Game Plus will be in Mass Effect 2, lead designer Preston Watamaniuk responded:<br />“The short answer is no.<br />“The reason is progression. We have been working very hard to make sure we design the abilities system to offer smooth progression into ME3 from ME2. Allowing double progression on characters makes that almost impossible. We have to have reasonable knowledge about where a character could end up finishing all content on a playthrough. We also want to offer choice of character build within specific classes.<br />“We replaced that feature with playing after you were done because it preserves progression and allows for smoother downloading of PRC post-release content.”</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-256101746615552692009-07-01T05:18:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:30:53.366-07:00The NFL, the Supreme Court,&Video Games?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9fNbV8jKXELS5jnihLUmILu9SWnBu6-fhbeTCtXzRkJ2cUJzhUuqow1ZdGz16GFS5N6Webk8ozAh0kBG9VXE7YZY76mpCW6nJPOU_Myw1Dtfywio6wbz2dx1akPrEm8jLKLf6kB_svFc/s1600-h/madden_nfl_09.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353465603774535794" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 174px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9fNbV8jKXELS5jnihLUmILu9SWnBu6-fhbeTCtXzRkJ2cUJzhUuqow1ZdGz16GFS5N6Webk8ozAh0kBG9VXE7YZY76mpCW6nJPOU_Myw1Dtfywio6wbz2dx1akPrEm8jLKLf6kB_svFc/s320/madden_nfl_09.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><br /><span>Listen up sports fans: we’ve got a story for you straight out of left field. And we promise the sports metaphors will end right here. Now.<br />As Mike Florio reported in an article on profootballtalk.com, the Supreme Court announced today that it will listen to arguments as to whether the NFL’s 32 teams count as separate or a single entity with regards to marketing deals. To simplify, the question the Supreme Court will try to answer is whether the NFL has the right to make blanket decisions for all of the league’s teams, or whether the owners of individual teams should be able to work out deals themselves. Wait, was that any simpler to understand?<br />Let’s just get right to the point that interests us: video games. For years now, EA Sports have enjoyed an exclusive deal with the NFL that gives them sole rights to portraying players, team names, and logos in video-game form, making the Madden series the only place for NFL fans to turn to for a realistic and up-to-date football video game. If the Supreme Court rules that each team has the right to negotiate their own terms for how their team is marketed, however, it would not only destroy that agreement, but possibly the entire Madden series.<br />What happens if some teams sign an agreement for a game and others don’t, or sign instead with another competing franchise (*cough* NFL2K *cough*)? Or what if a team just demands more money than the developer is willing to pay? Would you have real teams playing against imaginary ones? How would it affect the rosters, if developers couldn’t include the real names and stats of players? When Sega lost the right to use NFL teams in the 2K series, it killed the franchise – despite having always received great reviews. What would happen if no company could secure a full roster of teams?<br />And the ruling could affect not just the NFL; no doubt owners in the NBA, NHL, MLB, and pretty much any other team-based sport are waiting to see the precedent that this case will set. And as far as we can tell, no other industry could be affected by the outcome more than the video game industry: people who buy Nike or Gatorade aren’t going to care if only some sports teams endorse their product ­­– but no gamer is going to want to buy a game that’s missing half of the league.<br />However, the case hasn’t even started yet, and the Supreme Court’s ruling will probably go in favor of the NFL, so there’s no reason to jump the gun. Wait, that’s a track and field metaphor; looks like our use of sports metaphors went just into overtime – we’re calling a flagrant foul on this article and sending it to the locker room… metaphorically speaking.<br />Be sure to check out Florio’s article for a more in-depth look at the issue, and a history lesson in previous NFL court cases.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-20703923820304730312009-07-01T04:51:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:30:04.653-07:00Three DLC Packs Coming To Red Faction Guerrilla.....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzLlF00wvgGtz0zjRmF0K5zvEOI-wIZuFvUEFkunPOYHPXkDt0oM6W9jrfl8358WxnkzbVSnZK7fspbAR1wAQPcwk3zetcMMe5AWjiMbwjZncQK0weBmC0rHjrKuA0mNZhANwTTWrg5xh/s1600-h/fallout3content.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353458679131336866" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 205px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzLlF00wvgGtz0zjRmF0K5zvEOI-wIZuFvUEFkunPOYHPXkDt0oM6W9jrfl8358WxnkzbVSnZK7fspbAR1wAQPcwk3zetcMMe5AWjiMbwjZncQK0weBmC0rHjrKuA0mNZhANwTTWrg5xh/s320/fallout3content.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>Have you already ravaged and razed every bit of geometry on Mars? Have you been wading around in waist high piles of rubble, searching desperately for a defiant building to demolish? THQ understands, and three individual DLC packs are on their way that will get your hammer swingin’ again in no time.<br />Destructoid reports on the first of the DLC packs, ‘Demons of the Badlands.’ The pack is to be released August 13 for $9.99 on PSN, or for 800 Microsoft Points on XBLA. The additional content fleshes out the single player campaign with a new “mission arc” that sends the player “outside of the game’s expansive world.”<br />With this first pack exclusively expanding the single player experience, it's likely that at least one of the future DLC packs will add to the game's multiplayer component. Cross your fingers for something that involves an Earth setting being terrorized by a Godzilla-esque monster.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-9201514006603489082009-07-01T04:47:00.000-07:002009-07-01T05:29:35.872-07:00Sony To Extend Brand Association<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12RbAY331nzfQMCzLT0ed2TcQb5lGTXKrTB_WwqiWsctr9uHz5aG___PKV4UzFbTZmwE7aANsx_227VQX5igqN4FFJ0L9e1sgw915-6QJ_-IRvxq02mJmwLA0PP22TRm-wWtsmmZsfUry/s1600-h/PlayTV_SonyBrandEnvironment1_1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353457503243820050" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 226px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12RbAY331nzfQMCzLT0ed2TcQb5lGTXKrTB_WwqiWsctr9uHz5aG___PKV4UzFbTZmwE7aANsx_227VQX5igqN4FFJ0L9e1sgw915-6QJ_-IRvxq02mJmwLA0PP22TRm-wWtsmmZsfUry/s320/PlayTV_SonyBrandEnvironment1_1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span style="font-size:+0;">Tired of that flat, stubborn price of $54.99 attached to a new PS3 Dualshock 3 controller? Want more options? Sony has an idea. They're set to augment the pool of available accessories by branding top quality products with the Sony logo.<br />Third party manufacturers deemed worthy will be granted access to Sony's top secret technical documents. The specs are to be used for the creation of peripherals for PS3, PS2, PSP, and the upcoming PSPgo.<br />Hopefully this will push more manufacturers to meet Sony's high standards for peripherals, and effectively guide consumers away from shoddy, second rate PlayStation accessories. Nintendo has been using the “seal of quality” to distinguish premium products since 1985, so it's surprising Sony would mimic motion control before this.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-83377027523372989002009-07-01T04:39:00.000-07:002009-07-01T04:45:54.818-07:00Robot Entertainment Becomes Self Aware<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JHTF6D-gHiykw99SO7jga0KVSJ20M_fH84XqYZSomlPg1cdmNsyn85ZDQSvp26J1-0o9e1l24_ltTNa-uwfrpkPuJUk2FUZCWqL9hw451-Tjc-uw-MYJwx7OVb2saJYF_Kd8sv2vhkRk/s1600-h/zz3b2ec5f0-440x290.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353455608045596530" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 211px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JHTF6D-gHiykw99SO7jga0KVSJ20M_fH84XqYZSomlPg1cdmNsyn85ZDQSvp26J1-0o9e1l24_ltTNa-uwfrpkPuJUk2FUZCWqL9hw451-Tjc-uw-MYJwx7OVb2saJYF_Kd8sv2vhkRk/s320/zz3b2ec5f0-440x290.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>new game-development company has risen out of the ashes of Ensemble Studios makers of Halo Wars; recently canned by Microsoft, and it threatens the fate of all humanity. Its name is Robot Entertainment, and we’re not sure if that means it’s entertainment made by or for robots. If it’s entertainment for robots, it will no doubt involve the killing of the puny meatbags collectively known as the human race. If it's entertainment by robots, then we guess it’s all good…<br />Regardless of the company’s possible plans for humanity, we received news today that Robot Entertainment’s Web site is now up and running, including “robot blogs!”<br />To put your machine-mistrusting minds at ease, we’re going to let you in on a little secret: the guys at Robot Entertainment aren’t actually robots. They’re humans – and judging from their blogs and studio information, they are an extremely enthusiastic bunch of people who are eager to share what they’re trying to accomplish in the video-game industry, and the fun that they’re already having; their first posts discuss art, families, and an unsettling love of Lego.<br />So if you’re interested in following the trials and tribulations of an independent game studio – or if you just want to keep tabs on what may still turn out to be the cause of the inevitable human/robot war that we all have looming in our future – be sure to check out their site. </span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-12214337320531663232009-06-30T04:10:00.000-07:002009-06-30T04:22:34.108-07:00A Closer Look at the Video Game Character Artist.......<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa6o5qnw9wkAL-zMf86VDm0Mm_Nwl_SckHAcFtb1kkTgobD3hHplb3fuMm_8WZv8ne1SfsG_2AG3raJF8kQSU-O7fyRk-UjOGFCnKwa0h911Z3Ec09lveeOvuaEhpye4w_s2IIK7qKoiS/s1600-h/GameWallpaper3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353076960406699266" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDa6o5qnw9wkAL-zMf86VDm0Mm_Nwl_SckHAcFtb1kkTgobD3hHplb3fuMm_8WZv8ne1SfsG_2AG3raJF8kQSU-O7fyRk-UjOGFCnKwa0h911Z3Ec09lveeOvuaEhpye4w_s2IIK7qKoiS/s320/GameWallpaper3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>If you love video games and want to pursue a career that allows you to design your own video games, and video game characters, then you should get on track to becoming a video game character artist. The first thing any successful video game character artist should know is, of course, what makes a great video game, and what kind of characters best suit those games. Second, you will need advanced technical training in graphic design and computer animation so that you can be prepared with the skills to see your ideas through.<br />There are degree programs and technical training available in video game design at colleges, universities and vocational schools across the country. Through these programs you can gain a thorough education in video game design, and character design that will prepare you for a great career in the growing field of video game design and character design. In these programs you will learn how to use state of the art computer hardware and software programs that will allow you to create multiple levels of video games from the initial storyboards to the final project. You will also learn to read and use basic computer languages such as C++ for writing video games, as well as Maya, 3DS MAX, or Softimage XSI for 3D creation and animation of video game characters.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-20779280156993622402009-06-30T03:57:00.000-07:002009-06-30T04:23:44.133-07:00Get some training<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjmb7IKegVValWRgRVLhyphenhyphenNJa_loxrmfI1K1rNemq1JMymXSxdkMWwvkEmAzMZBeo0dkvddExksaSz-4iakPXj4VKaJBIUzaaVlaXsOAVHtgVlkNJ21oz4vGBbaNKgpR3cq_i8pKONgwpy/s1600-h/Game-Scenes--18-.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353075661194871650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmjmb7IKegVValWRgRVLhyphenhyphenNJa_loxrmfI1K1rNemq1JMymXSxdkMWwvkEmAzMZBeo0dkvddExksaSz-4iakPXj4VKaJBIUzaaVlaXsOAVHtgVlkNJ21oz4vGBbaNKgpR3cq_i8pKONgwpy/s320/Game-Scenes--18-.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>So you've got what it takes to become a video game designer? You can't just walk into a game studio and get a job though. You need very specific training offered at video game design schools. Check out some of these top rated video game design schools listed below that offer gaming degrees.<br />ITT Tech: School of Drafting & Design offers a very strong cutting-edge Digital Entertainment and Game Design degree. And with over 100 plus locations nation-wide, there's a good chance that you can find a school near you.<br />DeVry University offers something more towards the programming end of things with their hot Game and Simulation Programming program. This should really get your feet nice and wet. Take it Online, or check out the various campus locations.<br />Another cool program worth checking out is the Game Art & Design degree at the The Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division. The nice thing is you take the course Online.<br />Are you ready to take it by the horns and ride? Perhaps video game design is the career for you. There really has never been a better time to get on board. Maybe you'll become the next hot video game designer. </span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-11465522298544994472009-06-30T03:53:00.000-07:002009-06-30T04:21:01.364-07:00What qualities do I need for game design?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSk7pot-8tzw7LQxBAwYG4V7epjaVxr8r_fDI026MO-m-q6fXZu3RodC4ngS82_NN_D4ajqWPMOkNtCTx4OOu2dmtI7EbKQWiso9jfmmlPkpoDUd5oTdycv-j459sBVfRe7HrRiloqTCD/s1600-h/inline_need_1227062106.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353072980729998498" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 210px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSk7pot-8tzw7LQxBAwYG4V7epjaVxr8r_fDI026MO-m-q6fXZu3RodC4ngS82_NN_D4ajqWPMOkNtCTx4OOu2dmtI7EbKQWiso9jfmmlPkpoDUd5oTdycv-j459sBVfRe7HrRiloqTCD/s320/inline_need_1227062106.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>There are some qualities that game companies will be looking for when hiring someone into their fold. First off, you really should like video games. You should be the kind of person that hears the theme song to a game in your sleep. These companies want to hire someone who knows what makes a game good, and what makes a game bad. They want someone who knows good level design vs poor level design. The only way to do this is by playing, and playing AND playing video games over and over again. There are a load of people who spend all their time playing these games. Why should they hire someone then that hasn't put their time into gaming, and doesn't have the same passion for games as others?Secondly, they are looking for someone with good problem solving skills. There are so many bugs and potential problems when designing a game. This ranges from collision detection to making things look convincing. You need to be the type who is willing to solve a problem even if it kills you. Hopefully this will not happen.<br />Finally, they are looking for someone who can do things in a crunch. The gaming industry works at a torrid pace. Yes, you need to be patient, but you need to be awfully efficient in what you do. </span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-2147830945455130432009-06-30T03:50:00.000-07:002009-06-30T04:20:01.728-07:00What is the Outlook for the video game designer?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJAAR0QwTwMYkiOGYobPKssCLNEPS9JM6SzSy9eWx3zzWN8sg3GGpbW39lqG7sNg9m4iLsqhfG5jyoPdewx7UAQpIo-0HeXXt_UoXt1jj5BC0Ka-oDB9Qh6ANkORoiWwsq3mhGUCrDzpC/s1600-h/8d4c378eaa9777b9.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353071911552776114" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 185px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOJAAR0QwTwMYkiOGYobPKssCLNEPS9JM6SzSy9eWx3zzWN8sg3GGpbW39lqG7sNg9m4iLsqhfG5jyoPdewx7UAQpIo-0HeXXt_UoXt1jj5BC0Ka-oDB9Qh6ANkORoiWwsq3mhGUCrDzpC/s320/8d4c378eaa9777b9.png" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>Video games are big business. We're talking about a multi-billion dollar industry that has now outgrown many other industries in a very short period of time. Video games are no longer looked upon as kids entertainment. Walk into any video games outlet, and you will see 20-30 year olds checking out the latest versions of Grand Theft Auto or the Sims. With the recent releases of the Xbox 360, the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii, producing games will be harder and a lot more involved. Video game designer teams producing these games have ballooned in size to meet the demand of a next gen experience.<br />So what does this mean for you? Basically, there are a load of opportunities to get into the video game industry. Video game popularity and complexity is exploding, and so are the opportunities at game companies and studios. </span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-5425824659376783282009-06-30T03:41:00.000-07:002009-06-30T04:16:48.970-07:00How to become a video game designer,<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHvq0lfuCPO15aapdUldG1s0ymSd_ZLHbWWMQ-bMpIlC0ilCL3XiJ5eWx-5Nwg5h3Z2tIuwa03tb_Q3yNa9TSGRQusNMuiywRPqyCVfW883r3E5LNb3AKvK0XwpCXtMHxjI5QJN4K04nb/s1600-h/halo3odst7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353071068904613762" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHvq0lfuCPO15aapdUldG1s0ymSd_ZLHbWWMQ-bMpIlC0ilCL3XiJ5eWx-5Nwg5h3Z2tIuwa03tb_Q3yNa9TSGRQusNMuiywRPqyCVfW883r3E5LNb3AKvK0XwpCXtMHxjI5QJN4K04nb/s320/halo3odst7.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><br /><span>Have you dreamt about working with the game developers on the next version of Halo?<br />Would you like to become a video game designer working on the Playstation 3, XBox 360, or Nintendo Wii? Well, you're not alone. Read a bit further, and we'll show you that you might not be that far away from your dream career. Learn how to become a video game designer.<br />One of the most exciting jobs out in the market today is video game designing. Many have the impression that it would take too much time and skills to accomplish this. Well reality check people...it does not! If you are into video games and love spending your leisure time (even your work time!), playing games then you have already passed the qualifying stages to becoming a video game designer. May it be for console, arcade, or PC; video game designing reaches all these platforms. Now, let me explain to you some of the basic principles to get you an idea of how to make this dream job work for you.Throughout the years, games have evolved from the simple Atari and first generation Nintendo graphics to the complex 3D and multi level games of the present. There are just no limits to game designing these days. This multibillion-dollar industry is ballooning and encompassing other industries at a pace no one ever thought was possible. A major factor to this can be attributed to the gamers who are in their 20's and 30's and have never stopped picking up on the latest games and game platforms. Walk into any gaming shop and you will find adults mingling with kids to check out latest releases and try them out...together! So combined with the teenage market, this raving monster called the Gaming Industry is eating chunks out of the adult and teenage market today.Need for video game design teams have increased dramatically because of this growth in the industry and the demand for better and more creative games by consumers. Therefore, the outlook for anyone trying to enter this industry is not bad at all. If you have the love and drive to create games then there is more than a lot of opportunities to do that. Become a video game designer and you could take part and even play a major role in producing legendary games such as Sims, Unreal tournament and Halo to name a few. Get a chance to team up with the best companies and game studios by becoming a video game designer. If there ever was a time to take that leap of faith and trust your gut instincts then it is now! A genuine love for games is one of the most important qualities a game designer must possess. For natural love for gaming spawns creativity and a drive to excel in producing games people will endear themselves to. You could even ask yourself a question. Why would I do a job that I do not have the talents and passion for? Now, if your answer is I am doing this because it is what I love to do, then you are the right man for this job.This natural passion, even though very important, is only one of the aspects that makes a good video game designer. Companies who hire designers are also looking for someone with good problem solving skills and who is inhumanly patient. There are so many bugs and potential problems when designing a game that it could drive someone mad. These problems range from collision detection to making things look convincing animation-wise. Many of these complex problems need to be resolved quickly and with ingenuity. You should always strive to improve and to innovate the game at any point of the production. This can be profoundly stressful and take up huge amounts of your time even to the point of exhaustion but the rewards are more than worth it. The experience brings a completely new meaning to the phrase sleeping on the job!Being a perfectionist is also a quality sought after by many of these gaming companies and studios. Making sure everything is up to the highest quality standards and done as efficiently as possible in as little time as possible are talents which are definitely sought after in this fast paced industry. Now, if you have all or even just some of these qualities then this job is just waiting for you out there... so go out and grab it.So now, you are ready to proceed and create games huh? However, wait, you just cannot walk right into one of these companies and apply for this job if you do not have the skills! Knowledge about such things as graphic designing, computer animation and game development is necessary here. You need very specific training on these and other elements in order to be a certified video game designer. Below is a listing of where you can get the best training in these areas of expertise. With no further ado, here are some of the premier video game design schools you will need to enroll in to become a top video game designer.International Academy of Design and Technology: The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication (Game Design) is designed to provide training in principles and techniques used to create interactive 2D and 3D computer games. Students can learn design software; modeling and animation skills, networking principles, level and world editors, and game engines used to design and develop games, and will examine market research and business concepts related to game production and distribution processes. Project management, creative design, and communication skills are integrated throughout this dynamic curriculum to help prepare students for entry-level positions in the game design industry.DeVry University: Offers something more towards the programming end of things with their hot Game and Simulation Programming program. This should really get your feet nice and wet. Take it Online, or check out the various campus locations. ITT Technical Institute: The ITT Technical Institutes offer a bachelor degree in Digital Entertainment and Game Design. Courses in this program offer a strong foundation in digital game design through the study of subjects such as gaming technology, game design process, animation, level design, and general education coursework. In addition, with over 85 locations nation-wide, there is a good chance that you can find a school near you. </span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-81864122043276676582009-06-29T15:59:00.000-07:002009-06-29T16:07:40.918-07:00How To Tackle Work For Hire<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XmJcYn25xB8_P2s8HdQLtNxhsacVGbR4wcpoMBlgIj1Ay5hVt1jdPH5LMc0Elume_jLO5aC4vip1I593ColwjS1KAoWBJB-X-WGAxKicSLb75FODJM2ryjyKO7LfvDBXnfE7Lhx2UQjf/s1600-h/Tackling-impossible-demands-at-work_slideshow_image.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352889615709695522" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 256px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XmJcYn25xB8_P2s8HdQLtNxhsacVGbR4wcpoMBlgIj1Ay5hVt1jdPH5LMc0Elume_jLO5aC4vip1I593ColwjS1KAoWBJB-X-WGAxKicSLb75FODJM2ryjyKO7LfvDBXnfE7Lhx2UQjf/s320/Tackling-impossible-demands-at-work_slideshow_image.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>One of the toughest questions for any startup developer is whether or not they should do work for hire. It provides revenue, which can look awfully appealing at times, but it can be a big distraction from the reason you started the company in the first place. A little backstory: Ever since we opened up our iPhone division, we’ve been flooded with requests to do work for hire. Not just iPhone games, but everything. Up until recently, I had dismissed offers of work for hire out of hand: I tended to consider contract work a pernicious trap.Of course, something strange started happening when such work came in in volume.We got work for hire offers that I actually thought were neat -- by which I mean we got work for hire offers that were interesting and compelling, independent of what they paid... work I’d be doing in house if I had thought of it first.Eventually, the temptation was too great and I caved and started taking some of these offers. Below I’ll detail what we’ve done to make contract work as positive as possible for the company, what we’ve done wrong, and what I feel is unavoidable.The ProblemI’ve seen many studios begin doing work for hire because they needed capital and end up losing focus. They become work for hire houses that die out in a few years without ever accomplishing what they started their studio to do. When I began taking on work for hire I told myself I had to do the following things:1. Distract as little as possible from the main endeavor.2. Keep employees satisfied with their jobs (not have them feel like they’re being relegated to ‘lame’ work for hire work).3. Have the work for hire more than pay for itself (this one sounds very basic, but I’ll explain below)4. Add value to the company.The AnswersEstablish a New Division: After the first project, when we decided we were going to really start doing work for hire, we established a new division of the company for it, wholly separate from the core development team working on the main project.This had the advantage of minimizing the distraction from the main project and allowed us to establish new standards and guidelines specific to the work for hire division.It also allowed us to offer a different pay scale for the work for hire team (they get less salary but they get time allotted to work on personal project which Divide by Zero helps publish and which they get the lion’s share of the revenue from, on occasion they also get part of the rev share from the projects they work on).When I say Divide by Zero is going to do something, I don’t believe in total subcontracting. I believe the quality of the work and the dynamics of the team are simply better built up over time in house. This has the disadvantage of keeping people on salary. This means that the division has a fixed cost per month, which either has to be covered by work for hire or we have to take a loss: which means that it’s takes a lot of will to remember to...Choose Work Carefully: Up until this point we’ve been an entirely equity financed company, this means that we aren’t relying on work for hire to survive. I’ve seen many studios which will just haphazardly take absolutely everything that comes their way, sometimes because they need it to survive, sometimes because they don’t know when other work will become available (and sometimes because they just get caught up in the whole contract work thing and don’t take a step back and look at why they are doing it). This is fatal.We’re very careful about what we choose to take: we probably reject work for hire offers on a 6:1 ratio. It was incredibly difficult to take a step back and say, “I’d rather take a loss on the work for hire division and give them more time to work on personal projects in any given month than take the wrong work.” But I believe it’s one of the best decisions we’ve made regarding this part of our business.Ask Who Wants to do a Project: One of the core requirements for us to take on any particular work for hire venture is to make sure that we have people who are excited and passionate about doing that particular work. Before I accept anything I go to the work for hire division and say, “We’ve got _____ coming up, who wants to work on it.” If I get back a positive response from a group of people with the required skill set and I believe they have the time in their schedule I greenlight the project, otherwise it’s a no-go, even if management is interested in doing it.Not only does this increase the quality of work we turn out (in my opinion), this keeps morale very high in the work for hire division and actually makes it easier to get things done. Anecdotally, people in our work for hire division psyche each other up and ask each other for favors. If a team is mostly formed but doesn’t have one of the people it needs, the people who want to do the project usually convince whomever they need to get on board. I rarely ever have to step in. Also, this is the only case where I’ll contract out. If we’ve got 3 people raring to go and they need one more person to complete the project I’ve had teams come to me and say, “I know this guy, I’ll get him to work for almost nothing and I’ll totally manage him. If he fails I’ll take responsibility.” In that case I’ll give it a shot. It’s worked out well for us so far (we’ve even hired someone out of a situation like that).Approach Companies: If you are going to do work for hire, biz dev is important. While a lot of work just comes our way, we’ll actively go seek work if we think it’s cool. Often we’ll be at lunch and someone will say "Wouldn’t working with X be awesome?" If it gets a resounding "hell yeah," then we go out and approach those people. Part of our core work for hire business is reviving dead IP (you’ll see in a few months…) and helping companies expand their IP into the interactive space. This allows us to continually work on projects that we think are compelling, but would be impossible if we just sat back waiting for business.Do The Math Right: Don’t try to overbid and don’t try to impress anybody by bidding low. Assume everyone’s acting in good faith and be okay when they walk. You’re not going to get every contract. Remember, everything’s going to run long or need some extra hands on it, there’s always unexpected changes in this sort of work, so budget for it. So long as you’re giving an honest estimate of what you think your team will require no one will fault you. A word of warning -- make sure to be very clear on what you’re being contracted to do. Many entities don’t understand what it takes to make games, and when dealing with contract work we find that often people change their minds or come to realize what they actually want only after the work begins. Don’t be afraid to let your client know when they want you to do something that exceeds what you originally agreed upon and will cost them more money.We usually recommend to clients that they commission us for a design spec first. This is less risk on both sides and is the cheapest way to attain clarity and make sure that everyone’s talking about the same project. It also gives both sides a clean break point to work with other vendors if we discover the project is something that we can’t really handle in-house (and if they do choose to walk, at least we’ve provided them with a document that they can take to anyone else to determine if they’re the right vendor for the project).Be Flexible: We’ve had some crazy stuff come across the desk when dealing with contract work... and crazy stuff is often the most fun (and profitable) to work with. We’ve specifically built the work for hire division around people with a broad set of skills who are willing to dive into anything and learn (who knew how handy a working knowledge of ancient Greek would be?).Additionally, as a business, you have to be flexible: if someone has a big meeting with their funder and needs a document done in two days you’ve got to figure out a way to make it work (assuming of course they’re willing to take on the cost associated with doing so), if someone wants some crazy payment structure, consider it. You want the opportunity to say no, not the necessity.Adding Value: We also look for work for hire that adds value to the company beyond what it pays. In some cases this means building out a tool that we can use in other projects, in some cases it means broadening our skill set, in others it’s establishing good relations with an interesting IP holder or even getting to experiment with mechanics we hope to have in our major release. Downsides: Work for hire is a distraction. No matter how much we’ve tried to mitigate and how much we keep the teams separate it takes a lot of management overhead.Preparing the contract, finding cool projects, making the deals, managing the relationships with clients, even doing strategic planning for two divisions instead of one requires a lot from the management team. Don’t delude yourself going in (we did, a little bit) -- work for hire will change how your business functions. It may offset your costs but it won’t fund any major project, you’re still going to have to raise capital to put out your AAA title.If you are going to do this, do it because it will allow you to employ a few people during a down economy. Understand that it will cost you something and hope that the benefits outweigh the costs.That doesn’t mean do it stupid: you’re a business and you want to maximize every opportunity you have. Be keenly aware of what contract work is doing to you as a company and be ready to back away if it ever takes you too far off course from your original intent for the company</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-57834338198304819122009-06-29T15:53:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:59:25.292-07:00The Accretive Player Character<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9omg9UoDmHyfGTWAmFAO1wB_Hvxp1Vn2xHxbbtkatFbPjXd7Yk4TY38f1yO-q4IO1vkz75P32jYDAvuLvqYCos_EeaLtbZN71C9fr1B4-w1iad8uZGj-K7Cq7WfPqWiFcYPgYbLJPbqF/s1600-h/site_psp-ss-24.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352887793915831858" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9omg9UoDmHyfGTWAmFAO1wB_Hvxp1Vn2xHxbbtkatFbPjXd7Yk4TY38f1yO-q4IO1vkz75P32jYDAvuLvqYCos_EeaLtbZN71C9fr1B4-w1iad8uZGj-K7Cq7WfPqWiFcYPgYbLJPbqF/s320/site_psp-ss-24.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>Accretive player character" is a term of art in interactive fiction. It refers to a protagonist who has motives and abilities that the player doesn't understand or share the first time he plays through a game, but that he gradually learns over the course of many replayings.Perhaps the classic example is Adam Cadre's Varicella, a scheming palace minister in some alternate-reality Italian principality that combines the technology of the modern day with the ethics of Machiavelli and the methodology of the Borgias. The title character hopes to outmaneuver everyone else and end up with the regency. Varicella is a fastidious man with a protocol fetish -- not the strongest nor the most charismatic nor the most openly ambitious member of the court. But he does happen to know all the weaknesses of all his opponents and he's poised to take advantage of them all. The first time the player confronts this scenario, he lacks Varicella's keen political understanding, and inevitably loses. The second time, he's probably still not up to snuff either, but loses in a new way, for a new reason. But by the winning runthrough, he has Varicella's role down. He does know exactly what is happening everywhere in the castle, every minute of the day. He does know exactly whom to assassinate, when, and how. The player/protagonist gap has been erased by careful training.It takes a special kind of game structure to make the accretive player character work. The game has to play through fast, so that the player doesn't get frustrated with the prospect of retracing his steps. It has to be fun enough and deep enough to keep the player coming back despite the obvious frustration of losing many, many times. It has to give enough feedback and guidance that the player does learn from every losing step, and has a chance to make a new, better plan for the next runthrough. It has to offer significantly different experiences to the naive player and to the accomplished one who understands what he needs to do. Perhaps the hardest aspect of all: the game has to somehow communicate to the player, Look, it's all right, you won't get this the first time, but that doesn't mean the game is too hard for you. Stay around. You'll learn.Done right, though, the accretive PC is a hugely powerful device.Having the player learn by replay allows for a narrative arc that has no tutorial phase, no gradual ramping up; big things can start happening right away. The first several times the player goes through the game are the tutorial. Early playthroughs of Varicella involve a lot of wandering around the palace, meeting and getting to know people, spying out secrets. That's fun and interesting, and it lays the groundwork for later-- when Varicella has time for none of those things, and instead executes a ruthless plan. The final runthrough is a lean story with no futzing around, no time lost.The accretive PC also promotes player identification. The better the player understands the protagonist, the more persuasively he can play the role right from the start. This cuts both ways, because (I also find) if the player has spent hours upon hours working out the perfect plot for Varicella to execute, he's less likely to balk at some of the protagonist's more reprehensible actions. Jon Ingold's recent mystery Make It Good (also playable online) takes the same concept of the accretive PC and plays it in new directions. The protagonist is a down-on-his-luck cop, one drink from being kicked off the force, who is called in to investigate a murder.As the game progresses, it becomes clear that the player is going to have to do more than find evidence. He's also going to have to manipulate the suspects in order to bring about a satisfactory ending. Gameplay thus goes beyond interrogating suspects about keywords and looking under beds, into the realm of assessing and meddling in the psychology of the non-players. And these are alert characters, not the dull ciphers found in many games. They see what the player is carrying when. They observe how he acts. They notice evidence if it's left in plain sight, and sometimes find it when it isn't. They draw conclusions. They talk to one another, sometimes behind the player's back. All this makes for very difficult gameplay, and there are times when the implementation doesn't live up to the design challenges as smoothly as it might -- but the process when it works is compelling. To complicate matters yet further, the protagonist evidently knows, or half-remembers through the boozy haze, some important things. The full accounting of what he thinks is never fully available. While he doesn't exactly lie in his thoughts to the player, he verges on being an unreliable narrator.It's frustrating, not having a good clear access to what exactly the protagonist really knows. The player is stuck running around doing his best to look out for this character's interests without having full access to his memories or total control over his thoughts. And yet that too factors very effectively into the characterization: the player is coping with the constraints imposed by the narrative, while the protagonist is struggling with a long-term devotion to cheap whiskey. The player would like to know more. The protagonist would like control over his life. Gradually those two desires converge. In the winning playthrough, the player-protagonist finally achieves both agency and understanding.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-41252444350330335072009-06-29T15:43:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:50:51.840-07:00Female Gamer Population Increasing On Consoles<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9r6ffHXNC0aDloydxxGPLAJF9tEmvyIAfdzL7usMKInKhPZzHIaEFNpmAbnzqOubES_x9SOqIxYrRRQmQqWSL1Ih6vPdIBNTQL4zPo6tQF-7lYy0tfKdg1WP4uhsEAGTaNNCvR8UTMU81/s1600-h/girlgamer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352885772537276514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 230px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9r6ffHXNC0aDloydxxGPLAJF9tEmvyIAfdzL7usMKInKhPZzHIaEFNpmAbnzqOubES_x9SOqIxYrRRQmQqWSL1Ih6vPdIBNTQL4zPo6tQF-7lYy0tfKdg1WP4uhsEAGTaNNCvR8UTMU81/s320/girlgamer.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The NPD says the number of female gamers in the audience is up year over year -- "significantly" on consoles.The percentage of console gamers who are female grew from 23 to 28 percent in 2009, according to the NPD's new market segment study. The rise is mainly attributable to the Wii, which itself saw a 19 percent increase in usage over last year. But even in more core-market outliers, female presence is up, the study results assert. The audience defined as "heavy" users of portable systems saw its percentage of female constituents rise four percent.The portion of the audience defined as "extreme" gamers -- those who play an average of 39 hours per week -- also saw its female population rise four percent. "Last year was one of the most transformative in history in terms of defining the audience for gaming," says NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "Even with the increased competition from mobile and social network gaming, the console gamer segment added the most new participants to its ranks in the last year."38 percent of total gamer time was spent playing online games, finds the NPD -- flat compared to the previous year, suggesting that as the industry eagerly moves online, the audience may not be following at quite the same rate.In fact, the NPD says that while 16 percent of game purchases in 2008's fourth quarter were downloaded digitally, the average number of gamers paying for microtransactions decreased over last year. "This could be caused by the increased availability of free gaming, putting a downward price pressure on the industry," says Frazier.The NPD's study is based on a survey of 20,000 members of its online consumer panel of people "ages two to 65 plus" who say they personally play video games -- responses for two-year-olds, it says, were captured by asking parents to help their kids use the computer in order to answer the questions</div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-85550195250749112082009-06-29T15:28:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:34:52.692-07:00Nintendo the great position in the console and portable business<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy1KG_ei_jna6qtx_vAYBoszJ7MFcteDXA_E0rVF7sw20T4mkUxcN_ZQ0f2SoloV3um_2anES_svTtB_xswqRaN3GGatnktqZa9xNtM-W9141cZj5BoPUbdqDLDidIEPKPjMqb2s5d4IJe/s1600-h/saupload_console_sales_charts_metue.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352881658744434770" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 357px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy1KG_ei_jna6qtx_vAYBoszJ7MFcteDXA_E0rVF7sw20T4mkUxcN_ZQ0f2SoloV3um_2anES_svTtB_xswqRaN3GGatnktqZa9xNtM-W9141cZj5BoPUbdqDLDidIEPKPjMqb2s5d4IJe/s400/saupload_console_sales_charts_metue.png" border="0" /></a><br /><div>In past game console cycles, sales dipped in the transitions. Software sales in the U.S. were down 9 percent in 2000, for instance, and 3 percent in 2005. The current generation of consoles began when Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in November, 2005. Portables, meanwhile, saw a renaissance that began in 2004 with the launch of the Nintendo DS. The launch of the Wii and the DS Lite in 2006 changed everything in Nintendo’s favor. Since 2005, overall software revenues have grown 60 percent, largely because of Nintendo’s success.Nintendo’s Wii is expected to be the dominant console, with an expected 49 percent share of the U.S. and European markets at the end of 2009, compared to 29 percent for the Xbox 360 and 23 percent for the PS 3. But by 2011, Sony is expected to pull even with Microsoft in the No. 2 spot. Of the $44 billion worldwide sales in 2008, about 40 percent, or $17.7 billion, was hardware sales.</div><br /><div>Hardware sales of consoles are tracking about the same as they were in the last generation of consoles. To date, high sales of the Wii are offsetting slower unit sales of the PS 3 and Xbox 360. The report says there were roughly 78 million current-generation consoles sold worldwide as of year-end 2008, with 16 million PS3s, 23 million Xbox 360s and 39 million Wiis sold. That compares to 78 million legacy consoles sold worldwide at year-end 2003, with 54 million PS2s, 12 million Xboxes and 12 million GameCubes.The report expects consoles per gaming household to stay constant at about 1.4.<br />Nintendo has essentially turned the tables on Sony. It succeeded in grabbing the mass market, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 snared the hardcore gamers with high-definition TVs. Nintendo started out with a low-priced console aimed at party gamers with the added twist of the unique Wii motion-sensing controller.The Wii enabled much earlier and broader participation of the mass market than would otherwise happen in a console cycle.<br />Wedbush Morgan predicts that the console cycle is likely to last beyond the typical five-year mark, which begins anew in 2010. While Nintendo may introduce a high-definition version of the Wii, the console makers are not likely to be motivated to introduce new machines in the near future.<br />Costs are going up, but digital distribution has promise. The cost of making games has gone up. In the last generation, the average console game required 18 to 36 months to finish and cost an average of $4 million. In the current cycle, console games take 24 to 36 months to develop. Average development costs are now $8-10 million. Those costs are starting to subside as developers learn how to make games better.<br />Online games, casual games and mobile are expected to grow steadily, while downloadable content and in-game advertising will really pick up once the consoles hit a higher penetration of overall households. Activision Blizzard is an exception, since a quarter of its revenue and half of its profits come from the online game World of Warcraft.<br />Online subscription and game-related downloads are expected to be a $3 billion opportunity as video games on demand services such as <a href="http://deals.venturebeat.com/2009/03/23/steve-perlmans-onlive-could-turn-the-video-game-world-upside-down/">OnLive are launched</a>. Wedbush Morgan predicts that OnLive will be a breakthrough success and will be widely adopted. But it will be a long time before such services take a big chunk of the market away from retailers.<br />Asia, meanwhile, is likely to be the market where massively multiplayer online games such as WoW take off. There are an estimated 10 million MMO players in Asia, generating monthly revenues of $500-700 million. Free-to-play games, supported by the micro-transactions such as the sales of virtual goods, are also a small but fast-growing part of the game market.<br />Digital downloads will eventually become a big market, but for now they are hampered by small hard drive space on the consoles (20 gigabytes to 80 gigabytes on an Xbox 360).<br />The iPhone and in-game ad opportunities are over-hyped. Cell phone games are roughly $2 billion overall, largely from downloads on older phones. But cell phone games are not expected to close in on console or portable game sales levels for some time, largely due to the hardware limitations of the devices. Cell phone games are viewed as a path to making casual gamers, particularly women, into more active gamers. But the market in terms of dollars is still small, since the average paid game is about $2, and overall iPhone game revenues in the first year are about $400 million.</div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-3537340209154726862009-06-29T15:26:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:40:15.620-07:00Games are the fastest growing entertainment<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKHqqvuqToGwhWSb8SG-rftQ-l6q1Lr0rdhzKi9JvzC-bXU3EWjRtBBKg2TO6FpvtY3G1_RKIsuKkUwG74z5OVq1dydBM0Tyfem6J1vzHRmCIt7Uhcjjb1FDKCmUeXTg13cFqWwu8CcE8/s1600-h/wedbush-3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352879937193386642" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 265px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNKHqqvuqToGwhWSb8SG-rftQ-l6q1Lr0rdhzKi9JvzC-bXU3EWjRtBBKg2TO6FpvtY3G1_RKIsuKkUwG74z5OVq1dydBM0Tyfem6J1vzHRmCIt7Uhcjjb1FDKCmUeXTg13cFqWwu8CcE8/s400/wedbush-3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify"><span>In 2008, worldwide hardware and software sales were $44 billion, while US hardware and software sales were $19.5 billion. That compares to the combined US movie box office and DVD movie market of $22 billion and entertainment-related book sales of $9 billion. Right now, games are about 15 percent of the overall $75 billion in entertainment spending in the US. That percentage is expected to grow, since games are the fastest-growing entertainment sector. A reason for the growth is that gamers continue to play games even as they get older; the average age of gamers is now 35, compared to under 20 in the 1980s. There are also many more female gamers, who now account for 35 percent of the console market. In a separate report today, market researcher NPD said that females are a growing part of the console audience.<br />Beyond 2011, revenues from non-traditional sources — online games, casual games, mobile phone games, downloadable content, and in-game advertising — are expected to contribute meaningfully, offsetting slowing growth of packaged goods software sales, the report says. Over 10 years, digital content is expected to account for almost all of the game industry’s growth.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-40704804504553354732009-06-29T15:22:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:38:24.986-07:00Games will see strong growth over Next 3 years<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuqJ6lZT_8ob_waCswis7yc2eHAkF9X4diu3bAu94dYq8-BlWfV0lPyG5pTZPaLR-yB7yGeq7q_nytgr_CVU-NDkDYnJVySq_As7nv6cXmQjkjwKDjULR8IqmT9Mpld5wr9iQ8eUABv09/s1600-h/wedbush-2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352879333683715826" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuqJ6lZT_8ob_waCswis7yc2eHAkF9X4diu3bAu94dYq8-BlWfV0lPyG5pTZPaLR-yB7yGeq7q_nytgr_CVU-NDkDYnJVySq_As7nv6cXmQjkjwKDjULR8IqmT9Mpld5wr9iQ8eUABv09/s400/wedbush-2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">Game publishers should be able to grow revenues 9 percent a year in the U.S. and Europe as they embrace digital content and find ways to extend the consumption of games for the current generation of game consoles, a new report says.<br />The market for console game software is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9 percent from 2009 to 2011, while hardware revenues will decline 25 percent a year due to falling prices, according to Michael Pachter and Edward Woo, the analysts who created the report for Wedbush Morgan Securities. All other entertainment is expected to grow zero to 2 percent in the same time frame, the report says. That’s a bullish report, given that game industry growth has turned negative in the past few months as the recession slows down demand</div><br /><div align="justify">The 210-page report details the size of the game industry as well as major trends within it and how they affect startups trying to find opportunities in the digital content portion of the game industry. As such, it provides some good insight into several game-industry issues I discussed in one of our most popular posts about the game business.</div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-29246992900001922232009-06-29T15:09:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:16:47.947-07:00The Sega Nomad 1995<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tgYWaAaQzzxIxoHQz85wAjc5apLzWNheuZQKn5cWve13zcHyscmo873XHbTddO3S77D_0Bn7AxwaYF8lSNRI15M64-4JrzjH43Jc-Y3qDDxEML6UYIQYN0gx4Rm5g5v4hvQh5ND_SXOO/s1600-h/sega-nomad-2s.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352876743386823074" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 248px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tgYWaAaQzzxIxoHQz85wAjc5apLzWNheuZQKn5cWve13zcHyscmo873XHbTddO3S77D_0Bn7AxwaYF8lSNRI15M64-4JrzjH43Jc-Y3qDDxEML6UYIQYN0gx4Rm5g5v4hvQh5ND_SXOO/s400/sega-nomad-2s.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">The only reason this is not more well known as the most misguided piece of hardware in gaming history is because it came out around the same time as the Sega Saturn, their follow up to the Genesis. The Saturn was a more high-profile failure that almost certainly lost Sega more money, but at least you could play an entire fucking game on it. The reason that's relevant to the Nomad will be clear in a moment.<br />At first, the Nomad seemed like the best idea ever. Already the Sega Genesis was hugely popular, and instead of making a whole different handheld game, Sega just made a portable Genesis. It even played the same games, you just shoved the Genesis cartridge right in there.<br />It came out several years after Nintendo's Game Boy with its crappy black and white screen. So how could this not take the handheld world by storm?<br />It was more than twice the price of a Game Boy around $270 in today's money. And while it played Genesis games, it only did so for about an hour and a half before all six of your AA batteries died. So, yeah, it would blow through five bucks worth of batteries every time you fired it up, and you'd barely have time to get past a couple of levels.<br />Sure, you could order a rechargeable battery pack, for about 80 bucks more $110 in today's dollars. But strangely enough, after spending the equivalent of $380 on this thing, it still wouldn't blow you. Oh, and the rechargeable battery ran out even faster.<br />You also couldn't tilt, turn, drop, shake, bump or otherwise move the Nomad lest it freeze or just quit working altogether. Sega considered adding a feature where they would drive to each customer's house and punch them in the face, but couldn't decide what to charge for it.</div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-7286352395821782922009-06-29T15:06:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:09:21.542-07:00NEC SuperGrafx 1989<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fDAd2IzFWlYWJDmhKvvnLft8RXmWHRK-i_dehjNtPbERWXZqqGwXz3Z8x6wfyj25WS20JpjCO9u-eCPHPrpTgj7eyapfT3KZKwxaLDMbMriPMIFDi9ZMA_o6Yl08UaYak7RrZr-AZPnU/s1600-h/nec-supergrafx-console.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352874907281831122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 335px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 176px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fDAd2IzFWlYWJDmhKvvnLft8RXmWHRK-i_dehjNtPbERWXZqqGwXz3Z8x6wfyj25WS20JpjCO9u-eCPHPrpTgj7eyapfT3KZKwxaLDMbMriPMIFDi9ZMA_o6Yl08UaYak7RrZr-AZPnU/s400/nec-supergrafx-console.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="justify"><span>Let's face it, most video game consoles are failures. But few fail on the scale of the SuperGrafx.<br />Some of you may have owned the TurboGrafx 16 console, but may not know that the Japanese version (called the PC Engine) utterly dominated in that country, beating even the Nintendo NES in its day. Cocky from their success, NEC decided to beef up the TurboGrafx console and released the SuperGrafx in 1989. The beefed-up machine had better graphics and CD-ROM capability with an add-on. And the games were only $110 each! Or $170 in today's money!<br /><br />Uh, yeah. It was bad enough that the system itself was $300/ $540 adjusted for inflation, CD-ROM not included.<br />All in all, only five games were ever made specifically for the console it could also play the original TurboGrafx games. The sad thing was, you still couldn't get the whole library without spending enough money to get you a beat-up used car instead.</span></div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8534816808930599170.post-78220660797436252842009-06-29T15:01:00.000-07:002009-06-29T15:17:35.527-07:00The Vectrex 1982<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclCGjKHtFqJJ9k7K6I3buS9PF5lkTO1U3z7KlZrukvHQIYxUNFIP-jci7hzOXRp1StTwAOiMMeqeVFW7AvS9jBN6-P0NR9C6HghOGWvwZdZi11vPszovOjaEoAA4WADGc0g3JwmfgkoQD/s1600-h/vectrex.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352874278300179218" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhclCGjKHtFqJJ9k7K6I3buS9PF5lkTO1U3z7KlZrukvHQIYxUNFIP-jci7hzOXRp1StTwAOiMMeqeVFW7AvS9jBN6-P0NR9C6HghOGWvwZdZi11vPszovOjaEoAA4WADGc0g3JwmfgkoQD/s400/vectrex.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="justify">Considering all of the me-too ripoff consoles that seemed doomed to failure based on pure lack of effort, the Vectrex looks like a piece of engineering genius.<br />Look at it, the thing comes with its own built-in screen! The controllers have little joysticks and buttons, just like the more modern control pads! What could go wrong?<br /><br />Well, for the graphics, it used line-based two-color vectors instead of the colorful raster graphics everybody else used. So where Atari's Pole Position looked like this.<br /><br />Keep in mind, the second pic is from a console that came out five years later. It was an advanced machine in every other sense (some of the all time great arcade games used vector graphics, like Asteroids) but come on. Two colors?<br />Vectrex, being the top engineers they were, came up with a brilliant solution to this problem: include several thin sheets of colored plastic with the system, so people could just lay them over the screen to give it some color. No, seriously.<br />It was at that point the gaming public stood up, pointed out the door and said, "Vectrex, get the fuck out of my office."<br />Just a year later, the video game industry crashed and took the Vectrex with it.</div>muhammad.moinuddinnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07737502819925496274noreply@blogger.com0