Disney
buys LucasArts in surprise $4 billion dealDisney has added George Lucas' privately-owned Lucasfilm Ltd. -- including
its video game publishing arm, LucasArts -- for an estimated $4.05 billion.
Tokyo
Jungle studio not afraid to be JapaneseIn
an industry pumped full of sequels and safe bets, it was questionable that
Western gamers would flock to Tokyo Jungle -- yet developers Crispy's and
SCE Japan Studio weren't worried at all.
Microsoft
points to big Windows 8 sales to garner dev supportInitial sales for Windows 8 are higher than Windows 7 -- Microsoft has
already sold 4 million upgrades for its operating system to consumers, and has
sold tens of millions of copies to corporate customers.
Raph
Koster to examine 'How Games Think' at next month's GDC ChinaOnline game legend Raph Koster will present a keynote at next month's GDC
China in Shanghai, examining "how games think," how they influence the world we
live in, and what that means for our future.
Grand
Theft Auto V releasing next springGrand Theft Auto V, the next entry in Rockstar North's extremely
popular open world game series, will release worldwide for Xbox 360 and
PlayStation 3 next spring.
Apotheon
makes ancient art work in a modern gameApotheon looks nothing like the last game independent developer
Alientrap put out, Capsized -- that title inhabited a verdant alien
world, lush with detailed hand-drawn illustrations of the planet's exotic flora.
iOS chief
Scott Forstall leaving AppleApple's iOS senior vice president Scott Forstall, who has overseen the
operating systems and software for the iPhone and iPad since the devices
launched, will leave the company next year.
Fastest-Growing
Facebook Games: From Ruby Blast to JetSet SecretsGamasutra's bi-weekly look at the fastest-growing Facebook titles examines
recently popular games, including Zynga's match-3 puzzler Ruby Blast
and Electronic Arts' newest release JetSet Secrets.
THQ
struggling to break even on Darksiders IIDarksiders II has sold an estimated 1 million copies, but analyst
Michael Pachter says the game is struggling to cross the 2 million milestone it
will need to reach for THQ to break even on the title.
UK game
industry prepares for tax reliefUK
studios will have to pass a cultural test to show that they deserve to receive
tax breaks. UKIE has stepped in to offer its suggestions as to how this cultural
test can be best applied to the UK's video games industry.
How
Valve empowers each and every one of its employees"Three people at the company can ship anything... the work gets better if
you just check with a couple of people before you decide to push a button." -
Greg Coomer, product designer at Valve.
EVE
Online and the meaning of 'sandbox'"Sandbox gameplay" is one of those ambiguous terms in game development that
is used a lot, but rarely defined. CCP senior designer Matthew Woodward makes a
strong argument for his own vision of the sandbox.
Windows
Phone 8 launches with top games from rival platformsAs
it prepares to launch its Windows Phone 8 devices next month, Microsoft is
aiming to convince consumers that the app and game selection on WP8 devices is
comparable to those on iOS and Android.
Loot
Drop's Ghost Recon social game has been canceledThings aren't going so well at social developer Loot Drop today, as studio
co-founder Brenda Romero just revealed on Twitter that the company had to lay
off the team behind the upcoming Ghost Recon Commander.
Behind
Binding of Isaac's blasphemous successThemes like child abuse and suicide should have relegated Edmund McMillen's
The Binding of Isaac to the niche, but it sold a million units anyway. In
a Game Developer magazine postmortem, McMillen talks blasphemy and game design.
Robotic Arm
Software Robotic Arm Software brings a variety of tool development services to
game companies. We focus on the asset pipeline, helping you to create, build and
manage your data.
Ozone Music and
Sound Creative Audio, the art of sound. That\'s all we do. Your projects,
schedules, and budgets are unique, so are we.
Game Consulting
Since 2002, GameCo is the most important Art Outsourcer in France. With
an international team of senior artists and managers, we can handle your Art
production with the highest quality and efficient rates.
Media Elements LLC
Media Elements LLC is a global leader and top multimedia studio in
business and multi-platform multimedia services for Video Game and Digital
Entertainment.
GarageGames, LLC.
GarageGames is currently located in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the makers of
the Torque game development technology, we have provided professional level
cross-platform technology and tools since 2000.
Forge Studios
Forge Studios is an outsourcing production services studio founded by an
experienced team of professionals. Our team has worked on a variety of projects
providing high quality in-game content as well as engine integration, workflow
setup, art direction.
PLAY!
Illustration/Design for Toys & Interactive Games PlayIllustration.com showcases professional artists and design firms
with experience in the GAME and TOY industries. Over 300 professional artists
are featured on the site. Their skills include include illustration, 3D,
modeling, animation, storyboarding,
Frogtale Studio
Frogtale Studio is an offshore art production company based in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, providing high quality outsourcing solution to game
developers.
Clean Cuts Music
& Sound Design Clean Cuts is a world-class audio facility with over 25 years of
experience in custom music composition, sound design, audio production and voice
over casting. Our team of staff composers and sound designers are passionate and
take pride in understanding
SomaTone
Interactive Inc. With over 1000 titles to our credit, SomaTone is the #1 provider of
audio and art in games, period. Our active clients include Activision,
Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Zynga, Playdom, Big Fish Games, PopCap, Gazillion, F9,
Gameloft, Arkadium, THQ, Disney, a
Game
Jams: Game Development Speed Dating Here, Game Developer magazine editor Patrick Miller outlines how you
can hone your game design skills by taking part in high-speed game jams.
Hello
World: Moving From Journalism To Development And Beyond Next Level Games programmer Brian Davis interviews former journalist and
current game producer James Mielke to talk shop about working in the industry,
switching career paths, and more.
Exploring
Emotional Storytelling With Mother 3 Erik Foss of The Guildhall at SMU picks apart the narrative of Mother
3 to demonstrate how this quirky GBA title succeeds and fails in creating an
emotional bond with its players.
