Have a very Happy Christmas, readers. We’ll be posting over the holidays, but would like to thank you all for flying Scottishgames.net in 2011 and look forward to your ongoing patronage in 2012.
Till then have a lovely holiday, complete with presents, mince pies and much love.
Brian…
It would seem that the generosity of spirit, love and compassion which the games industry is famous for, is shining out like a beacon for Christmas 2011.
A variety of developers have provided promo codes for their games to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or more ecumenically, have a lovely couple of weeks off…
Here’s the rundown of companies, games and codes for your pleasure and delight:
iBomber (all iOS) top game
N3H7HLYPFKWP
4M9F4PRRPRMX
R7PLFENY97TT
TXARPRN34L7T
LEFKJ64APFYX
Fore! by Cobra (all iOS) top sports sim
7MRWTWFLAM7K
6LTXXFJYLW6T
XNNF943NPJEL
LA33AWM6H9EF
Y3T377H9EFHL
Low Grav Racer 2 HD (iPad only) top racer
EKRRJRFXTM6N
7P46H3NWL3FN
H9K4MAFTAYET
YNRLWARWK7E7
N4ATTENJJ4LL
Sport Agent (all iOS) – top touch and tap
R3ENJJJKLEA6
33JW9XMMH9R3
M3PFWNF6NAYP
MPW9PN4RLMP3
ERJPLTXKLYJX
Danger Derby (iPad only) top down racer!!
AHYFPN9R347T
KW63TFLXMLA7
PRFXLMRHM4RE
7F9JXTFHPAJ4
H74WXN6EM99E
Kick Flick Football (iOS)
69EHW3J4KWPN
46Y4PXJTKJXL
NEXF7647XF4K
KFHKHMTFM477
NRT6YLNYJL7W
The Ship (Steam)
GLF8D-4VDED-Y2CX0
8EFCA-EL0PC-4D2MH
Q4YY8-BQWYB-HNV4Y
0KQN4-P3J9X-VTLLH
357HZ-IZDG0-RFB8T
Pugs Luv Beats (iOS)
7FPJYMHFRA3F
736WYKA6YFA4
KTWXPEN6P64T
Daniel Parker & Geoff Gunning
Fireworker (iOS)
H3AEPKHAKRJR
N739AR7A94R3
LFPTLREFP9J6
T9TYMNJYY7W6
WF3K3PK9WEP6
NXNRHEMKE4PP
Snowball (iOS)
Funpark Friends (iOS)
A HUGE thank you to all of the companies who have contributed codes, links and love. Even bigger thanks to Kevin Ng from Pixels On Toast who started the whole thing.
We covered the launch of Drop Catcher earlier this year, when the game hit the App Store. Now however, Fat Bob Games, the developer of Drop Catcher are working with Play Mob & games charity Special Effect to raise money via the game’s in-app purchases.
Drop Catcher is free to download and play, but will offer new downloadable content from within the game itself. 50% of the money raised from all such purchases will go to the SpecialEffect charity.
Euan Mackenzie of Fat Bob Games said, “We had no hesitation in supporting this initiative and working in collaboration is an amazing opportunity to do some good .”
Jude Ower CEO of Playmob added, “When we built Giverboard, this was exactly the sort of initiative we wanted to help build. It has come together really quickly and shows when good is being done, people join together as one.”
Dr Mick Donegan from SpecialEffect said “Some potential donors who’ve never played a videogame find it hard to understand the value and importance of our work and this can limit our fundraising appeal. However, time and time again, gamers have shown that they DO understand the importance of the of the charity’s work and are eager to help. What better way for them to help our work than through this amazing new idea – gamers raising funds to help transform severely disabled people’s lives simply by playing a wonderful new game? Massive thanks to Playmob, Fat Bob and GamesAid for giving us this wonderful opportunity. For SpecialEffect this idea is a REAL Gamechanger and a marriage made in Heaven!”
Andy Payne Chair of UKIE added, “This is exactly the sort of joined up creative thinking that the UK is so good at. Connecting up three vibrant technology companies digitally shows what is possible when people come together to share ideas and challenges. Gamers can now play and do some good by helping others. It really is a win-win.”
There you have it. Download Drop Catcher from the App Store now. It’s available for iPod, iPhone and iPad. It’s FREE, but every in-app purchase donates money to SpecialEffect.
Serious Parody’s Wrestling Manager game is now live on the Apple App Store for iPhone, iPod and iPad. It’s one of the first games to offer players the challenges and tribulations of pro-wrestling management.
The game’s been picking up some serious interest from a number of wrestling sites around the world, as you’ll see in the video above.
In addition to guiding your wrestler(s) through the murky underworld of the grappling game, Wrestling Manager also offers a variety of in-app purchases and downloads which add new features, unlock new arenas and allow players to compete on a global stage (or ring…)
Thanks to being independent, Wrestling Manager is also not tied to any specific league, organisation or outfit, allowing the game to create the ultimate wrestling challenge.
You’ll find Wrestling Manager, out now on the App Store for an affordable £6.99.
Serious Parody can be found online, or over on Twitter.
It may be heading rapidly towards the end of the year, but the new keeps on coming, like endless waves of informative zombies towards an isolated mountain hut.
You may not have come across Cereproc before, but the Edinburgh-based company is a leader in speech synthesis and text-to-speech systems. Now, the company’s emotional speech synthesis system has been granted a patent, giving Cereproc a huge advantage in the rapidly evolving market.
Cereproc is the company behind Roger Ebert’s synthesised voice, which was created for the famous film critic after surgery for thyroid cancer left him mute. Cereproc recreated Ebert’s voice from hours of interviews and recordings.
Cereproc’s aim is to bring more natural sounding and emotionally realistic voices to markets including the entertainment and interactive sectors, as well as health care and augmented reality.
According to Chris Pidcock, Cereproc’s chief voice engineer:
“One of our core aims is to create voices that are authentic and full of expression – and emotion is a part of this. We believe that higher quality, more realistic voices will increase the uptake of text-to-speech technology, and open up new markets to us.”
“In addition to our other ongoing projects, we are currently working with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) providers to add emotional TTS to the voice output of their devices. The prospect that these joint ventures could result in enabling people with serious neurological conditions such as Motor Neurone Disease or Cerebral Palsy, to speak with emotion, and in some cases for the first time ever, is really exciting. That is something which the team is truly proud of,”
You can find out more about Cereproc and the company’s advanced speech synthesis technology on their website. Or follow them on Twitter.
Ladies & gentlemen today, with only twelve days of the year left, we present what may be 2011′s most adorable – and best sounding game. The constantly surprising team at Edinburgh’s Lucky Frame studios today released Pugs Love Beats, a brand new game for iOS.
Players take charge of a growing army of space Pugs. Yes, the tiny dogs which look like they’ve been bonsai’d. The goal is to get your cadre of tiny acolytes to skip gaily from their weeny little dog houses to love and hug equally weeny and delicious beats (like beets, only more musical).
Each prance of your tiny dog’s hooves produces a magical sound, so once two or more have been set about their space vegetable loving tasks, the auditory effect is as intoxicating as scoffing a tub of vodka margarine with a wooden spoon, while sitting in a warm bath of cough syrup.
Change your pugs’ routes and paths for an endless supply of sounds and musical wonder.
Buying new outfits for your purdy little doggies improves their movement over different types of terrain. New dog houses = more pugs = more beat love = more points.
Once you have collected enough beat love, you can purchase new houses. Also planets. As you place houses, you dispel clouds from above your shiny new planet to reveal more of the landscape, allowing new houses to be placed and more beats revealed…
…and then, onto more new planets and – possibly – the most endearing galactic empire since Ming the tiny duckling and Fluff Gordon got together.
In terms of design, Pugs Love Beats is as gorgeous as it sounds – and it sounds jolly good too. Try dragging your finger around the planet buying screen and clap delightedly as your friendly helper pug sings his (or her) tiny heart out.
Bless!
Pugs Love Beats is out now on iTunes for an entirely bearable cost of £1.99. If we’ve not already convinced you, then check out the promotional video. We defy you not to gurgle with joy…
There’s an excellent in-depth piece from Lucky Frame’s Yann Seznec over on Create Digital Music. We’d recommend that too…
Funding for the game was provided by Channel 4 and Creative Scotland. We’ll have more from Lucky Frame on that in the near future.
In the meantime, find out more over on the Lucky Frame website, or follow the studio on Twitter. Or, if you eschew the 140 character-based network, like the hell out of them on Facebook.
Outplay has clearly been borrowing some of Santa’s elves, as the company has been a positive avalanche of news, information and updates in the last few weeks.
With social gaming much in the media, thanks to Zynga’s initial public offering (which is what IPO stands for, fact fans…) last week, Outplay has announced two new additions to the company’s board, as well as officially launching their debut titles – Word Trick (4.5/5 on Gamezebo) and Booty Quest (now with added Pirates).
Former head of AOL in Europe Karen Thomson has joined Outplay as non-executive Chair. Randy Breen, a former executive with Electronic Arts (executive producer/creative director) & LucasArts (VP of Product Development) has meanwhile joined the board as a non-executive director.
Quotes time!
“I chose to join the Outplay board because I believe Douglas and Richard have the vision, passion, drive and experience to create huge business opportunities as well as fantastic entertainment properties,” said Karen Thomson, non-executive chair for Outplay. “I am delighted to be involved with such a forward thinking company and look forward to working with Outplay to create rich gaming experiences that bridge the gap between mobile and online platforms.”
“Social and mobile gaming have only begun to show their full potential, and I believe Outplay are well positioned to become a major player in the industry,” said Randy Breen, non-executive director of Outplay. “I’ve known Douglas and Richard for more than a decade and having seen what they and the rest of the Outplay team have accomplished since April and what they have planned for the future, I’m very excited to be part of the board.”
“Karen and Randy bring a wealth of complementary experience and expertise to Outplay Entertainment,” said Douglas Hare, CEO & co-founder of Outplay. “Karen’s marketing background and track record with large-scale consumer-facing internet and mobile businesses combined with Randy’s remarkable creative, production and business expertise will be invaluable to Outplay’s ambitious growth plans for 2012 and beyond. We are thrilled to have them onboard.”
There’s more to come from Outplay in 2012 including, if possible, a look at the company’s three main principles for creating successful games for the new generation of online and social players:
Congratulations to Outplay and welcome, Karen and Randy, to the Scottishgames community. You’ll enjoy it here, we’re lovely.
Proper Games Yo Deshi has been given a major update and is now out for your favourite iOS devices.
Yo Deshi now includes an online multiplayer and story mode, as well as features including:
You can see the game in action over on YouTube:
Yo Deshi is out now on the App Store for iPhone/iPod and for iPad.
Follow the latest news and updates from Proper Games over on Facebook.
Channel 4 announces the appointment of Colin Macdonald as its first Games Commissioning Editor. He will be based in Glasgow and report into Convergent Formats Commissioner Anna Cronin.
Macdonald is a respected and pioneering figure in the gaming industry and has worked on some of the most innovative titles of all time including Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown.
In this newly created role Macdonald will act as Channel 4′s main point of contact for gaming companies and will be responsible for commissioning games that complement TV shows and projects that have the potential to cross over to TV.
Head of Channel 4 Online Richard Davidson-Houston said: “Colin is a brilliant addition to the team. This appointment is another step towards becoming a partner of choice for independent creative voices from a range of disciplines and from around the UK.”
Convergent Formats Commissioner Anna Cronin said: “I am hugely excited that Colin’s joining Channel 4 in this newly created role. He’s a class act, with acres of gaming experience including working on some of my favourite games. I couldn’t imagine a better creative talent to be championing games for Channel 4.”
Colin Macdonald said: “I’m delighted to be joining the team and tremendously excited by the possibilities for gaming within Channel 4. I am very much looking forward to working with the UK’s finest in games development talent to build on the great work that’s been achieved so far.”
Macdonald entered the games industry in 1990 as Software Manager of SAM Computers Ltd, the manufacturer of the last British home computer. Following that experience he founded and ran a small games development and publishing company bringing around twenty titles to market, including licences of Lemmings and Prince of Persia. He joined DMA Design in 1997 as Producer on the multi-billion dollar generating Grand Theft Auto franchise. Then helped found and was Studio Manager of Realtime Worlds, where he helped raise over $80m in investment and oversaw development of the two million selling, BAFTA-winning game Crackdown.
Dynamo Games reinterpretation of the cult TV favourite The Crystal Maze, appeared on the iPhone back in the days when the App Store was young, dynamic and had yet to reach its first billion downloads.
But technology moves on, hairstyles change, hemlines rise and fall and games, ever the bellwether of all that is fun, move endlessly on, like a death march of prisoners across a limitless mountain range.
So now The Crystal Maze is joined by its bigger, brighter and much shinier big brother The Crystal Maze HD – for iPad.
Containing a whopping 86% MORE Richard O’Brien than ever before, the game still challenges contestants to compete in physical, skill, mental and mystery challenges across a variety of zones – collecting crystals on the way, to build up time at the end in the ferocious Crystal Dome.
You can find The Crystal Maze HD on the iTunes App Store for an entirely reasonable £0.69. You can also find the latest news and updates over on Facebook or, indeed, follow the game on Twitter.
