computer games

Showing posts with label computer games. Show all posts

Friday, October 12, 2018

The UK’s biggest student video games conference comes to Scotland this month and it's free - link

The biggest names in gaming will descend on Abertay University later this month, as the UK’s biggest student video games conference comes to Scotland for the first time.

The Ukie Student Conference features exclusive talks from industry figures, who’ll give the inside track on how to carve out a successful career in the business.

Among the key speakers at the free event are Hannah Watts, an Abertay alum who’s now a Senior Artist at Coatsink, and Chris Bain, the former General Manager for Microsoft in the UK.

Full post click here...

Monday, June 05, 2017

Raiders of the Broken Planet Background Story Video Developer Diary and info

The second developer diary for Raiders of the Broken Planet, that focuses on the the background story of its 4 divided by 1 asymmetric shooter. Currently in closed beta Raiders of the Broken Planet takes a pulp sci-fi approach melding comic book visuals with an intense narrative that involves various factions fighting for an mythical power source.

In one of the moons of Saturn, a scientific expedition from earth discovers the remains of a space ship stranded millions of years ago. The explorers enter the ruins and discover Aleph, an incredible power source that is the key to interstellar travel. Motivated by private interest and corporate greed, the organisation sends a group of paramilitary factions to the Broken Planet. On arrival, an accident renders the paramilitaries technology useless and the factions begin a battle for supremacy, Aleph and the alien technology that can return them back to earth.

Full post click here...

Saturday, February 28, 2009

PlayStation 3 laptop possible as Sony merger divisions...

Could we see a laptop that plays PlayStation 3 games from Sony?

Sony have announced it's laptop division will join its gaming business in a company shake-up.

Second - Its consumer products group including its television, digital imaging, home audio and video businesses. Hiroshi Yoshioka, currently executive vice president of Sony and president of its TV business group, will become its first president.

A third cross-divisional group – the common software and technology team – which will be charged with ensuring compatibility between the two new division's products.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

How to build a Supercomputer out of PlayStation 3s...

Less than a 10th the cost per GFlop of the $2500 supercomputer
Take 8 PS 3 consoles, Yellow Dog Linux, a Gigabit Ethernet switch and your favorite protein folding or gravitational wave modeling codes and you’re doing real science. On a Playstation!

Try playing Ratchet & Clank on a Cray
Most scientific computing is done on cluster computers. Blue Gene/L, the world’s fastest supercomputer, uses 130,000 processors. Plus a lot of money, power and cooling.

At about $4 per billion of floating point operations (GFlops) the PS3 is the cheapest supercomputer building block available today.

Full post here on zdnet...

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

X-Blades - More Spells and Beasts ...

More Action from X-Blades, the fast-paced action adventure game, featuring a blend of cinematic style and beautiful anime-inspired characters, combat and environments

Light Blades: The power of Light is just as strong as other powers. Perhaps more so? I can actually use the Power of Light to envelope both my blades and guns and use it to inflict awesome damage! I can’t get over how beautiful it looks…or how deadly it is. (Requirements: Lightform)

Ray Of Light: Hmm…this is Ray of Light is actually very impressive. This spell consists of a ray of glittering light that is hurled against an opponent. It explodes upon impact, dealing out damage points galore. I’ve seen it do incredible amounts of damage to creatures of the dark. It will be interesting to what else it can do. (Requirements: Light Blades)

The Queen Spider: The Queen Spider is able to control her offspring. Covered in armor and gifted in the use of magic, she guards the upper floors of the castle. Apart from the spiders, which block the way to the Queen, small creatures that are invulnerable to magic attacks, to which the Queen is particularly vulnerable, surround her.

The Ancient Six-Winged: The oldest living Six-winged has been hiding in cliffs, where his only friends were the little Pangos, which used to share their food with him. They protect him desperately during attacks, so you can only hurt the Ancient Six-winged after freezing the Pangos. He prefers to attack his opponents from a distance due to his extreme sensitivity to heat. He is, of course, vulnerable to light and Fire magic.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

The best mobile games in 2008...

Gameloft made the best mobile games in 2008, says PocketGamer.biz analysis.

Top 10 Mobile Games...
Top 10 Mobile Publishers...
Top 10 Worst Games...

Top 10 Mobile Games for 2008 (with publisher and average rating)

1 Rally Master Pro Fishlabs 9.43
2 Playman Summer Games 3 RealArcade 8.97
3 Snowboard Hero Fishlabs 8.83
3 Townsmen 5 Disney Mobile 8.83
5 Tetris Pop EA Mobile 8.77
6 Far Cry 2 Gameloft 8.67
6 Peggle PopCap Games 8.67
8 Soul of Darkness Gameloft 8.65
9 Castle of Magic Gameloft 8.62
10 Tower Bloxx Deluxe Digital Chocolate 8.60

Top 10 Mobile Games Publishers for 2008 (with average rating)

1 Gameloft 7.95
2 EA Mobile 7.68
3 RealArcade 7.63
4 Digital Chocolate 7.60
5 I-play 7.52
6 Player One 7.47
7 Glu Mobile 7.43
8 HandyGames 7.41
9 Disney Mobile 7.40
10 Vivendi Games Mobile 7.17

Bottom Mobile Games for 2008 (with publisher and average rating)

186 The Chronicles of Narnia Disney Mobile 5.83
187 Wanted I-play 5.70
188 The Incredible Hulk Hands-On Mobile 5.53
189 Rambo Forever In-Fusio 5.50
190 Iron Man Hands-On Mobile 4.13

Gameloft has emerged as the best mobile games publisher in 2008 in terms of game quality, according to research conducted by industry website PocketGamer.biz.

Its PocketGamer.biz Quality Index tracks review scores across the most popular mobile games websites, and found that Gameloft scored an average of 7.95 out of 10 from 145 reviews of its titles. EA Mobile took second place with an average of 7.68 from 102 reviews, with RealArcade, Digital Chocolate and I-play making up the rest of the top five publishers.

The Quality Index also tracked the best and worst mobile games of 2008 using the same data. The best game of the year was Rally Master Pro by Fishlabs, which scored an average of 9.43 out of 10 in reviews.

Other top titles included Playman Summer Games 3 by RealArcade, Snowboard Hero by Fishlabs, Townsmen 5 by Disney Mobile, and Tetris Pop by EA Mobile. The top publisher and games charts are in full at the bottom of this press release

“Mobile games have received a bad press for their quality, but our research shows there were plenty of excellent titles available in 2008,” says Stuart Dredge, editor of PocketGamer.biz. “Gameloft’s high average score shows the company’s commitment to quality, but it’s just as encouraging to see the high average ratings of other publishers too. Anyone who’s cynical about mobile games should give some of the top titles in our chart a try – they might just change their minds!”

However, the mobile games industry continues to suffer from poor-quality branded titles, with the bottom five games in the Quality Index for 2008 all being movie licences.

“Many mobile users are cautious about paying for games, because they worry they’ll be wasting their money,” says Dredge. “It’s a shame that publishers are still making poor-quality branded games, and that operators are still promoting them. The industry needs more repeat purchases from consumers, and disappointing games won’t help.”

The PocketGamer.biz Quality Index tracks reviews of Java and BREW mobile games only – it doesn’t cover iPhone, N-Gage or Android titles. Sites tracked include Pocket Gamer, IGN Wireless, AirGamer, Mobile Game FAQs, Handy-Player, JeuxPo and MobileXP.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Facebook add social games

Fears that computer games are turning young people antisocial are being challenged by a new generation of "sociable" games which are played through the internet.

The rise of social networking websites such as Facebook has helped attract millions of people to games which they can play with their friends.

It could represent a major challenge to the makers of hugely popular video consoles such as the Nintendo Wii or the Xbox.

While the credit crisis has forced companies across the world to rein in spending, internet games developers have received a string of multi-million dollar investments in recent months allowing them to plan expansion at a time when other businesses are making cuts.

Playfish, a British company which provides mini-golf and bowling games among others on Facebook, has attracted 25 million registered users since it was set up a year ago.

Another game on the site, a social networking device called Kidnap!, attracted 2.5 million new players in the month of October alone.

Full post on The Telegraph here...

From Mercury news...

While the rest of us have been socializing on Facebook, Webs.com has been building a very interesting business. It has been creating free games on Facebook that have garnered a huge number of page views. WarBook, a role-playing game with no animated graphics, and other Webs.com games have generated a billion page views since the first game launched 90 days ago in August. The games are generating ad revenue with just about every view…

“We launched it and it’s exploding,” said Pishevar. “WarBook is getting 15 million page views a day.”…

… Street Race is a new SGN game that has no graphics. You simply sign up, get $1,000 in play money, buy a car, then race. In the race, you click on another user. Then nothing happens. Nothing. The next screen that comes up tells you if you won or lost, how much money you earned or lost, and the skill points you earned. As your skill points grow, you win more races and get more money to spend souping up your car. The social part comes in where you can get more money by inviting 20 friends to join…

It’s simple and easy. That’s why the game has gotten more than a million page views on its first day. You can play a round in about one second…

“We’re leveraging the social graph,” Pishevar said. “It’s gaming on tap. You use it as you need it. We are building the first social gaming network on top of the Facebook social operating system.”

Saturday, December 27, 2008

PC video game bargains - GTA, Half-Life, Penumbra, Bioshock and Shogun

Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas 2nd Edition
Rockstar Games - Rated: Mature

This well-crafted adventure from Rockstar Games spans three huge cities, based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, and many points in between. As "CJ," you must perform dozens of "run-and-gun" missions to track down his mother's killer, and climb behind the wheel of dozens of cars and other vehicles to explore these sprawling metropolises. A great soundtrack of '90s rock and rap songs adds to the fun.

View gamezplay.org posts here...

Half-Life 2 - Portal
Valve Software/Electronic Arts - Rated: Teen

In this ingenious strategy game meets 3-D shooter, your job is reach a destination by firing your gun to create inter dimensional portals in objects such as a floor or wall. A blue portal is the one you can jump through and an orange portal is where you'll appear. As the game gets tougher, you'll need to send objects through the portals, consider the speed in which you're traveling, and solve other challenging tasks to reach the end.

Penumbra - Black Plague
Paradox Interactive - Rated: Mature

Adventure gamers with a yen for scary films will enjoy clicking through Penumbra: Black Plague, a critically acclaimed interactive horror experience with thought-provoking puzzles. You play as Philip, trapped in a creepy underground complex, who must use items in the environment to escape and unravel the mystery behind his father's disappearance. This macabre game uses real physics.

More on Penumbra series here...

Bioshock
2K Games - Rated: Mature

Found at CircuitCity.com and ConsumerDepot.com is one of 2007's best games -- at just $9.99. The atmospheric BioShock is a first-person shooter that lets you biologically modify your body to take on the mutated creatures roaming about Rapture, a hidden underwater city you stumble upon after a nasty plane crash in the North Atlantic. Not only must you find a way out alive in this nonlinear world -- with incredibly detailed graphics and surround-sound audio -- but you also solve the mystery about what happened.

More gamezplay.org posts on Bioshock here...

Shogun - Total Gold War Edition
Sega - Rated: Teen

Why merely read about history when you can rewrite it? Armchair generals can get their fill in Shogun: Total War, a gripping real-time tactical combat game of samurai warfare, allowing you to experience epic battles on enormous battlefields as you vie to become the military ruler, or shogun, of 16th-century Japan. This Gold Edition also includes Shogun: Total War Mongol Invasion, an expansion pack that takes place 300 years before the civil wars in the main game, and adds new historical campaigns and unit types.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

WipeOut, Metal Gear Online demos on PlayStation 3 on Christmas Eve

Sony and Konami respectively have announced WipEout HD and Metal Gear Online demos for release on Christmas Eve, which is 24th December in old money.

The WipEout HD demo consists of one track, which you can play as much as you like, and then shows you the others once you've finished racing it. Look but don't touch.

Once you're done, you'll be able to go to the PlayStation online shop and buy the game at a reduced price, although Sony hasn't got back to us about what that is yet. At the moment WipEout HD costs GBP 13.99.

Meanwhile, Metal Gear Online's demo will allow you to play on three maps (Blood Bath, Gronznyi Grad and Midtown Maelstrom) in seven modes (DM, TDM, Rescue Mission, Capture Mission, Base Mission, Sneaking Mission and Team Sneaking) with 16 players supported and customisable characters.

Dedicated servers have been set up for demo "to ensure that newcomers...are not overcome by its 1,000,000 registered - and highly-skilled - users", according to Konami, and they'll be up until 16th February. The demo itself will be available until 29th January.

Finally, Konami's releasing a special, limited edition MGO T-shirt for use in the game, which will be given to 1200 randomly-chosen buyers of the MEME expansion. If you win, you should get it on 6th January.

Source: Eurogamer

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Baseball Superstars 2009 game for iPhone and iPod Touch

Baseball Superstars 2009 game for iPhone and iPod touch is available on the Apple App Store.

“We are delighted to launch Baseball Superstars 2009 on the Apple App Store and are certain that the depth and details we've put into this game will give the baseball fans all the entertainment they want,” says Eusoon Han, marketing manager at GAMEVIL USA.

Baseball Superstars for iPhone and iPod touch includes 12 teams, 4 Stadiums to choose from and 10 hidden characters to unlock. With 5 games modes: Exhibition Mode, Season Mode, My League Mode, Mission Mode, and Homerun Mode, players can pick their team and create their own characters as they lead their team to a 36-game season victory. Players can also manage their team and players by trading players, training sessions, and buying equipment or items that enhances character’s abilities and performance.

Compared to Baseball Superstars 2008, not only are new characters and modes added, but also major graphical changes have been made giving a more arcade game look with vibrant colors and effects to add excitement. In addition, the game interface has been optimized for the innovative Multi-Touch user interface of iPhone and iPod touch enabling the users to play with less buttons than before.

Baseball Superstar 2009 is available for $4.99 from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Named "Best International PC Game of 2008"

Fantasy action-RPG also nominated in five other categories at the German Developer Awards

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has earned two awards and five nominations in the prestigious German Developer awards for 2008. The action-RPG, currently available for Windows PC and set for a March 2009 release on next-generation consoles, took home awards for “Best German Action Game” and “Best International Game for 2008”at the prestigious European video game awards show, held in Essen, Germany. Sacred 2 was also nominated in five other categories, including:

Best Game Design
Best Story
Best in-game graphics
Best sound
Best German Game of 2008

For more information about Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, which is available now for Windows PC throughout the United States and Canada, please visit http://www.sacred2.com or http://www.cdvus.com. Sacred 2 will be available for next-generation consoles in March 2009.
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an Action-RPG with a rich story that takes place in a giant, open-ended and seamless world. This world contains hundreds of dungeons, treacherous opponents and a variety of challenging quests. Intelligent enemies, steadily adapting in number and difficulty based on player progress, challenge players in heroic single- and multiplayer battles.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel provides numerous unique items that can be gathered in this mystical world. A deep reward system further enables advancements in character, individual attributes and character-specific fighting styles, each designed to keep players returning to the world of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel to discover what is around the next bend. Drop-in styled cooperative multiplayer gameplay ensures players will enjoy the game alone or seamlessly with friends at any time. Five unique multiplayer modes round out the experience and offer a refreshing, first-class gaming experience in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Video Games Industry Planning to Release 'Traffic Light' Ratings System

In a move mirroring efforts by food manufacturers and retailers to give consumers a clear and easy way to understand food content, the games industry is close to launching a traffic light system for the ratings on video games. As the government gears up to close its consultation into video games ratings on November 20, the industry has responded to observations made by Dr Tanya Byron in her report that there is a lack of consumer awareness of the PEGI rating symbols. The industry feels that by employing a traffic light system that is simple to understand it will be effective in combating any confusion previously felt by consumers. The new system has been designed to give parents ‘at a glance’ indicators of the age appropriateness of any game’s content.

An industry source said, “Video gaming is one of the UK’s best performing sectors and a rare economic success in today’s gloomy environment, with retailers announcing record profits and government ministers describing gaming as ‘the most important part of what we call the Creative Industries’.

“The world of gaming is fast moving and it is vital that we have a clear ratings system that is up to date with consumers’ needs. It has already been proven that everyone understands traffic light labelling, making it the perfect scheme for the industry to adopt.”

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Nintendo DS Guitar Hero video games rock at the bus stop

http://gamezplay.org guitar hero nintendo ds

Guitar Hero - On Tour - Review

Pick your way to rock stardom or slip into a strange, cartoon world with Guitar Hero on Nintendo DS video games.

Guitar Hero - On Tour is about as faithful as a pint-size version of the series could be.

Guitar Hero - On Tour is packed with the Guitar Grip - attachment that plugs into the Nintendo DS providing the fret buttons - so crucial to Guitar Hero - On Tour game play. There are only four buttons instead of five on the Nintendo DS version.

The grip also has a guitar pick shape stylus.

Grip is a bit tough to master it is tricky to find a comfortable way to hold it, and gamers with larger fingers may find that it's easy to hit the wrong buttons. The player slides the stylus across the touch screen instead of a strum bar.

Guitar Hero - On Tour plays like the console version. The song list is about half that of a standard Guitar Hero video game because the capacity of a Nintedno DS card is much less than a DVD, but the variety of songs is good.

System: Nintendo DS
Price: $49.99
Age rating: Everyone 10+

Also available for Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii

F1 style video game Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli see if Lewis Hamilton can beat Kimi Raikkonen in the wet again

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

"Creating Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli has been a labor of love. Our obsession with capturing the Ferrari mystique is something racing game fans and auto aficionados will savor," said Mark Cale, CEO at System 3. "Activision is the best partner imaginable to distribute the game in North America, so we are in a fantastic position."

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is a re-creation of Ferrari's own racing series, where drivers unleash the world's most powerful, elegant cars on premiere international race tracks. The title was given a uniquely magical touch from GP2 driver Bruno Senna, nephew of F1 legend Ayrton, who acted as technical consultant on the game's handling.

"It's been refreshing to be a part of a racing title that takes itself seriously," said Dave Oxford, Activision Publishing. "Ferraris are elite performance machines and Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli simulates the exhilaration of driving them flawlessly."

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is a graphical beast - especially when running at 1080p on PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. The game has 15 international racing circuits along with multiple gameplay modes such as Ferrari Challenge Seasons, Time Trial, Quick Race, and Endurance. The 16 competitor online multiplayer action is unmatched in terms of framerate and fun, even allowing Ferrari fanatics to race against European players who own the game. Downloadable content will be continually released for the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli community beginning in September.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

SPORE the video game - www.gamezplay.org all twenty one SPORE posts

SPORE video game

Here is a link to all the www.gamezplay.org posts on the new SPORE game including the iPhone version.

All 21 www.gamezplay.org SPORE posts here...

Monday, September 01, 2008

Rock Band special charity downloads

http://gamezplay.org rock band video games

Proceeds from Rock Band Penny arcade Expo Themed download Songs to Benefit Charity

Harmonix and MTV Games announce a very special set of downloadable content to celebrate the three day Penny Arcade Expo. The “PAX 2008 Collection”, contains tracks from celebrated nerd-folk artist Jonathan Coulton, nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot, and lovecraftian doomsayers The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets - all of whom performed at the gaming fan festival. Adding to the fan-focused celebration, the Harmonix/MTV Games’ proceeds from the sale of this “PAX Pack” between launch and Holiday 2008 will be donated to the Penny Arcade run Child's Play Charity in order to help out children's hospitals around the world.

“We’re excited that some of our favorite artists can be featured in Rock Band as a result of this pack,” said Robert Khoo, Show Director for Penny Arcade Expo. “Calling attention to PAX artists and giving back to the community at the same time show why Harmonix is truly a company focused on the music and their fans above all else.

” The pack includes "Skullcrusher Mountain" by Jonathan Coulton, the story of a misunderstood genius and the woman he attempts to woo with monstrous creations like a half-monkey, half-pony, "Livin' on the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe" by MC Frontalot, Inspired by the award-winning webcomic "Achewood" and featuring Brad Sucks, and finally "Shhh...." by Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, a previously unreleased track that the nerd rockers have brought exclusively to Rock Band.

Release Date: Tuesday, September 2, 2008 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360) Thursday, September 4, 2008 (PLAYSTATION Store)

Tracks: Jonathan Coulton “Skullcrusher Mountain”
MC Frontalot “Livin’ on the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe”
Darkest of the Hillside Thickets “Shhh….”

Price: .99¢ (80 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
$2.99 (240 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for 3 pack
(All three tracks utilize the original master recordings)

Locations: Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION Network

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

My Baby Boy and Girl video games comes to Nintendo DS

International Best Seller Lets Users Love and Care for a Real Baby!

My Baby Boy and My Baby Girl for Nintendo DS this fall. Developed by Nobilis, My Baby is the first real baby life sim. Upon its release last month in Europe, the game raced to the top of the DS charts in France and held top ten positions in many other territories.

My Baby is a game that simulates life for baby care with as much affection and tenderness as a real parent. Watch them grow, change form and develop from 0 to 14 months by using all the functionalities of your portable console (breath, voice, stylus, etc.). A pediatrician and a pediatric nurse will come to your aid and review the elementary rules to keeping the baby calm, eating, going to sleep and having nice dreams. The on-screen infants will evolve during the game when your baby grows physically and psychologically, giving players a charming and rewarding experience.

“We pride ourselves on both the quality of a game as well as its level of innovation,” said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. “With the My Baby titles, we can bring a truly memorable game to a very wide and diverse audience. These titles have an incredible level of interaction within them and we’re very excited to watch as people fall in love with their babies.”

XG Blast! space shooter on Nintendo DS

Prepare for space battles galore because Rising Star Games is pleased to announce it has signed the rights to bring retro-style shooter XG Blast! to Europe. Scheduled for release in November 2008, XG Blast! (short for eXtreme Gravity and refers to the main in-game weapon) will be available exclusively on the Nintendo DS and in all PAL territories.

Undergoing a secret experimental journey, the spaceship Aknathen detects an energy spectrum identical to the one emitted by its prototype weapon, the XG Blast. Travelling to investigate, Aknathen is sucked through a wormhole and into a dimension filled with aggressive alien life-forms determined to take the weapon for themselves. Fight your way through hordes of enemies to uncover the origin of the mysterious signal and find your way back home.

XG Blast! is an arcade shooter delivered in a bright and colourful retro style. Players control a spaceship with the sole purpose of destroying the invading hordes before they do the same to you. A vast array of powerful weaponry and the special gravity blast creates a screen full of vibrant action with intensely addictive gameplay. Your ship is controlled using the D-pad and either the action buttons or the Touch Screen, allowing simple yet varied styles of play.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Sealed games sell for hundreds of dollars...

Not only is the popularity climbing, but so are the prices. Just take a look at a few of these recently completed auctions.

Granted these are all sealed and may be suffering from the VGA affect, but prices are on the rise.

Sealed GB Original System (VGA Graded 85) - $1350.00
Sealed GB Original Megaman - $537.99
Sealed GB Original Donkey Kong Land II - $203.51
Sealed GB Original Wario Land - $153.50
Sealed GB Original Pokemon Red - $127.52
Sealed GB Original Pokemon Yellow - $112.55
Sealed GB Original Pokemon Blue - $102.50

The money games are basically what you would expect. Zelda’s, Mario’s, Pokemon’s, etc. The classic games that defined the system.

More on Gamesniped.com....

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Video games to go open source?

Indie games companies are developing open source projects to produce video games...

An increasing number of mainstream video game veterans have abandoned big-budget, big-business game development and "gone rogue" as small, self-funded, often self-published independent game developers, or "indies."

Some see indie development as an entry point into a career in the majors. But for some jaded professionals who love gaming but are dissatisfied with the mainstream industry, indie development offers an escape - and a unique opportunity.

The video game market is dominated by large vendors, as discussed in this Portfolio article about Disney's efforts to lead Hollywood into video games. A bit of surprise to me was just how many games and studios Disney has acquired over the last few years, even creating a new business unit.

This isn't terribly different from what we've seen in the enterprise as big vendors Oracle have consolidated smaller vendors while frustrated developers (and business folk) have created open source companies to go against the corporate grain. Open source has flipped the enterprise market on it's head, can an open source-like model for game development help the growth of the independent gaming world?

Best I can tell is that console and downloadable games have some specific technical challenges that most people don't have experience with. It seems like there are some big opportunities in gaming right now.

CNet

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