Wild Heart Ranch Inc., a content driven childrens toy and publishing company, continues to offer non-violent entertainment to all with its free, online ARMADILLO COWBOY CLUB arcade game. The game is based on an original story about three Armadillo Deputy heroes that capture criminal coyotes with slingshots, firing bees and fast flying lassos. The game takes you into desert scenes, an old fashioned street shoot out and a saloon fight.
Game Trust, the leading platform developer to manage premium casual games, announced development alliances with two of the hottest independent game development studios in the world Fuel Industries and Alter Ego Studios. These announcements follow the deals being inked at GDC.
GISH and WIK AND THE FABLE SOULS were the grand prizewinners at the 7th Annual Independent Games Festival, which has come to be known as the Sundance Festival of the videogame world. GISH won in the Open category while WIK captured the Web/Downloadable grandprize, netting each of the game development teams $15,000, at a ceremony March 10, 2005, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco,
Mary Ann Skweres sniffs out the 411 on UVPhactorys CG stylings for Pete Misers hip-hop video, Scent of a Robot.
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) is staging its biggest presence ever at the 2005 Game Developers Conference, held March 7-11, 2005, in San Francisco to feature the newest PlayStation platform, PSP (PlayStation Portable), innovations for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and EyeToy, as well as tools and technologies designed to encourage game development on all platforms.
Sony experts in game development, programming and technology have been scheduled to speak at numerous sessions during the 19th annual conference.
HALF-LIFE 2 and Eugene Jarvis took top honors in the 5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards given by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) at a ceremony the evening of March 9, during the 2005 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.
The big guns at the show were 3: HALO 2 (from Bungie/Microsoft), HALF-LIFE 2 (Valve/Vivendi) and WORLD OF WARCRAFT (Blizzard) all of them huge budget productions with great visuals and sound, but a surprising audience favorite was KATAMARI DAMACY (Namco), which was simple, but very creative.
Game Playmakaz ContestWorld Wide WebSeptember 9, 2005Deadline: July 31, 2005
Zango, the provider of exclusive free premium content online, announced the official launch of its Game Playmakaz Contest for independent game developers. The winning submission will be awarded a $50,000 game development contract with Zango. Finalist submissions will also be considered for Zango licensing agreements. Zango will announce the winning game during the Austin Game Conference in Austin, Texas.
Canadas TELETOON has launched an on-air and online promotion to support the new Mattel toy SMAX! The online initiative includes a TELETOON-designed SMAX! Squeeze Web game, which highlights the new toy and uses color combinations to collect points. The campaign will run until March 27, 2005.
SMAX! are new collectible action figures whose heads pop off to reveal a colored "brain" inside. Each color, (purple, green, orange) indicates the winner in each battle, while all the characters have special personalities and names.
Microsoft Corp. announced the first details of its next-generation Xbox video game system platform at GDC, highlighting how hardware, software and services are being fused to power enhanced game and entertainment experiences.
Microsoft corporate vp and chief XNA architect J Allard further outlined the companys vision for the future of entertainment, citing the emergence of an HD Era in video games that is fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized and always in high-def.
Discreet announced that its 3ds max software is aligned as a leading 3D animation solution to support the next generation Xbox platform. The Discreet division of Autodesk has been a close partner with Microsoft since the introduction of the first Xbox video game system from Microsoft, with the most 3ds max-created game titles for Xbox on the market above any other digital content creation (DCC) tool.
Luxology Llc. announced that Spinoff Studios and Naked Sky Ent. used modo as the core modeling tool for ROBOHORDES, a 3D robot combat demo created to demonstrate the processing power of Intels dual-core processor during the 2005 Game Developers Conference (GDC, booth #726).
The 19th annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the official trade event "by game developers for developers" of computer, console, mobile, arcade, online games and location-based entertainment. It's the forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas, network, and shape the future of the industry. The GDC features more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts.
The Game Developers Choice Awards recognize games and developers that are truly worthy. The recipients are chosen by creators, who know what it takes to make great games. To submit your nominations, go to: www.igda.org/awards/nominations.htm. All game developers are eligible to submit nominations. In order to nominate, a developer must be registered with the igda. Only those game developers who submit nominations will be eligible to participate in the voting process for the finalists. The Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony will be held at the Game Developers Conference.
The Career Coach pontificates about how general gaming skills can be applied to advancing your career.
Walk of Game, the first physical landmark honoring the icons and pioneers of the videogame industry, today announced its list of 2004 inductees: Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of MARIO BROTHERS and DONKEY KONG) and Nolan Bushnell (creator of PONG and founder of Atari) were selected in the Lifetime Achievement category, and HALO, Link (THE LEGEND OF ZELDA), Mario and Sonic The Hedgehog received top votes for favorite Game/Character.
BioWare Corp. announced its plans to continue the expansion of its development teams for its future videogame projects. The Edmonton-based company is actively recruiting for a variety of positions across numerous disciplines and will be taking those recruitment efforts across North America in the upcoming months.
The Museum of Science and Industry will hold its newest temporary exhibit, Game On: The History, Culture and Future of Video Games. The exhibit makes its North American debut in Chicago on March 4, 2005. Game On features more than 100 playable games and was organized by the Barbican Art Gallery, London in collaboration with the National Museums of Scotland.
Avid Technology Inc. will demonstrate its leading computer graphics technology at the 2005 Game Developers Conference (GDC), to be held in San Francisco, March 9 11 (in booth #413). Technology demos will feature SOFTIMAGE DCC tools and Alienbrain asset management software.
At Amusement Showcase International in Chicago, Cecropia launched a preview of its first filmgame, called THE ACT, an interactive comedy about relationships, deception and the pursuit of romance. THE ACT gives players the unique experience of playing a game that feels more like a movie. Players control the characters' emotions while they experience the interactive story. The characters' feelings are apparent through highly skilled personality-centric animation, which is being animated by Cecropia's animators -- alumni of Disney Feature Film Animation Studios.
In keeping with the proud tradition of political satire, InnerMation, an interactive studio, is unleashing a twisted casual online racing game franchise called ROADKILL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. InnerMation is utilizing the game as a venue to showcase new talent along with Virtools high-end development tool set. A special sneak preview featuring the games ingenuity, coupled with Virtools technology, will be showcased at the Animation 2005 Lecture series of the Art Institute of California -- Los Angeles before the IDGA L.A. Chapter meeting March 3, from 6:30 - 7:30 pm.
RedOctane has established a new division of the company dedicated to publishing software with its first title for PlayStation2 to be announced in spring 2005.
"Launching into a new business segment with the publishing of videogames is a natural evolution for us," said Kai Huang, president of RedOctane. "We are committed to delivering the same high quality and fun found in our peripherals with the upcoming RedOctane software line."
The game will join a prestigious line of award-winning RedOctane videogame accessories.
THQ Inc. and Warner Bros. Interactive Ent. have released CONSTANTINE for PlayStation2, Xbox retailers across North America. The game, developed by Bits Studios, is based on the Warner Bros. Pictures motion picture CONSTANTINE, an adaptation of the DC Comics/Vertigo HELLBLAZER graphic novels.
High school seniors interested in education to enter the animation or videogame development industries are invited to apply for scholarships from The Art institute of California - San Francisco (www.aicasf.aii.edu). The scholarships, ranging between $5,000 and $25,000, may be applied toward tuition in the schools bachelors degree programs in Media Arts & Animation, Game Art & Design, Visual & Game Programming.
The Game Initiative will host the
Seattle Video Game Industry Job Conference and Resume WorkshopShoreline, Washington, USAFebruary 12, 2005
Seattle Video Game Industry Job Conference and Resume Workshop is taking place in the Seattle suburb of Shoreline at the Shoreline Center. Ten game companies are participating, including speakers from Mobliss, DigiPen (USA) Corp., Monolith Prods., Konami Digital Ent. -America, Sprout Games, Sony Online Ent., TKO Software, Gas Powered Games, Oberon-Media, Microsoft Xbox and Valve Software.
