Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb 29 2012

Bigpoint Signs Deal With GamesAnalytics

All games, all analytics, all the time. Oooh yeah...Edinburgh’s Games Analytics have signed a deal with Bigpoint, the German-based online games publisher.  The deal will integrate Games Analytic’s Predict platform into Bigpoint’s games.

This will allow Bigpoint to analyse and predict user behaviour.  They can use this information to enhance the user experience, personalise games and increase retention rates and revenues.

Games Analytics worked with Bigpoint on one game back in 2011 and obviously impressed them with their technology and approach, since this new deal means platforms will be integrated and tight connections formed.

The Bigpoint Logo - yesterday

Bigpoint is the company behind games such as Battlestar Galactica, Skyrama, The Mummy Online and many others.  They get millions of players on a monthly basis.  Most of their titles use the freemium model, so clearly customer satisfaction and retention is a key priority.

Quote time:

Philip Reisberger, Chief Revenue Officer, Bigpoint said: “We are pleased to continue the collaboration with GamesAnalytics having enjoyed very positive results from our first project. Their predictive modeling and in-game messaging technology is an excellent extension our existing market-leading analytics toolkit and we look forward to seeing increased player value and player satisfaction.”

GamesAnalytics’ COO and Co-Founder Mark Robinson added; “it’s a great opportunity for GamesAnalytics to be working with Bigpoint. Their games are played by millions of users which the Predict platform can segment into actionable behaviors to develop sophisticated in-game messaging strategies.”

Games Analytics are out at GDC should you fancy a quick chat with them.  Stand #833 to be precise.

While some people may scoff, or indeed sneer at the use of data analysis and modelling, this is a great achievement for Games Analytics.  Online gaming is only going to get larger and to move beyond the standard cash up front business model (which doesn’t work out so well for anyone bar the publisher) data analysis is a key tool.  Congratulations to the Games Analytics team.

Feb 28 2012

Relaunch: Digital Goldfish Online!

Everyone’s favourite tangerine coloured, mobile game type, non-analogue, low maintenance, pet themed development studio, Digital Goldfish has had quite a good couple of years, thank you.  The company’s work on the massively popular Bloons franchise has gone from strength to strength, while DG’s original content and other branded games have also started to gain traction in the App store/s.

Now, Digital Goldfish has given itself a major makeover, with the launch of an entirely new website.

David Hamilton, co-founder told us: ”We hope 2012 will be another great year for Digital Goldfish and there’s no better way than kicking it off with a new look (which was well overdue!) We’ve got some great games coming out this year so be sure to ‘Like’ our facebook page and follow us on twitter to be kept up to date”

Congratulations to the DG team and we’re looking forward to finding out more about their new games, new projects and further monkey focused blob fun.

You can find the company’s new website here.  Follow them on Twitter, or Like and love them on Facebook.  You should.  They’re lovely.

Feb 28 2012

Scottish Companies Attend Mobile World Congress

The Courier has helpfully pointed out that several Scottish companies are attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.   It just lists the ones from Dundee and Fife however.

Outplay, Tag, YoYo and Zendit are all highlighted, though there are 21 Scottish companies attending the event.

From The Courier:

A contingent of 21 Scottish companies are attending theMobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona — a show that attracts more than 60,000 delegates including representatives of the world’s leading technology firms — with the support of Scottish Development International.

Developers Outplay Entertainment, TAG Games and Yoyo Games of Dundee will all be showcasing their latest developments along with Dunfermline-based Zendit, a company which provides a platform for multi-channel internet applications.

Yoyo Games founder Sandy Duncan, a former vice-president of XBOX Europe who worked with Microsoft for 17 years, said it was essential that Scotland’s digital gaming talent found the global recognition it deserves.

He said his company had picked up work at a recent trade fair in Hamburg and he was flying out to the Games Developer Conference in San Francisco immediately after the Spanish conference where Yoyo was to be an exhibitor for the first time.

He said: ”The best-kept secret within the games industry is how prominent the games industry is within Scotland. I met with a guy this week who sold his company to AOL (America Online) for £100m and he asked what we were doing in Dundee.

”I had to explain to him that Dundee was full of games people. Conferences help to explain to people that Scotland is pretty much the centre of British games industry.”

Among the major companies that will be at MWC next week are Qualcomm Ventures, HTC, Nokia, Orange, Microsoft and Intel Capital.

SDI chief executive Anne MacColl said: ”We know the skills, innovation and expertise Scotland has in mobile technology are world-leading.

You can read the whole article on the Courier website.  We’ll be sure to post the full list of companies just as soon as we find out who they are.

If you’re in Barcelona this week, why not send a quick show report into your friendly neighbourhood Scottishgames for a post-gig roundup?

Feb 27 2012

Coming Soon – JACKED – The Unauthorised Behind The Scenes Story Of Grand Theft Auto

JACKED is the new book from journalist and author David Kushner (Masters Of Doom) looking at the development of the Grand Theft Auto series.  Mr Kushner promises to go behind the scenes of the insanely popular series and look at those responsible for making the game happen.

We’re excited, we won’t lie.  Not least because Mr Kushner plied your editor with drink one evening in Dundee and encouraged him to break into a car and steal a policeman’s helmet (no easy task in Dundee).

Develop has promised readers an excerpt in the April edition, while the book itself is out on March 15th, from all good bookshops, online retailers and probably Tesco.

We’re keen to suggest this as the first title in the Scottishgames book group.  What do you reckon?

Scottishgames does not condone the practice, some original team members have adopted of offering signatures for money.  We will of course do it for love.  And beer.

Feb 27 2012

Coming Soon – Cult Leader

There’s a new team in town – and they’re refined, elegant and every inch the sort of gentlemen we need in this hectic, hurly-burly world of videogaming larks.

 

Two Monocle Games is a new studio focusing on the creation of social games for networks including the current market leader, Facebook, as well as up-and-coming communities such as Google+ (with others considered as and when they release an API and have many potential players).

 


The company’s first title, Cult Leader is currently in production, with a release date pencilled in for Q1 2012.  Unlike the sleek, shiny and somewhat banal nature of the Zynga titles, Cult Leader tries to do things a little differently.

 

Players are struck by two sudden revelations.  First, that God is speaking to them and revealing that they, lowly player [x] is in fact a prophet of a higher power!  Charged with spreading the word and recruiting a fearless army of the righteous, to convert the peoples of the world and bring them to an armed compound in a remote location in which they may, together, exist in heavily-armed peace, harmony and one-ness.  All while blowing kisses at the leader’s fleet of bespoke Rolls Royces.

 


Second: that this cult leader thing is quite a good gig.  Pays well and is better even than making videogames as a career.

 

It is, as those in the financial sector are fond of saying, all upside, baby (before eating another swan, braying laughter and buying another bottle of £5,000 wine).  Those people will be first against the wall when the divine legions of [your cult here] sweep through the degenerate, smouldering remains of this so-called civilisation, eliminating the unbelievers and distributing blankets and soup to their still-twitching corpses.

 

So, all in all, nothing like Farmville.

 

Hurrah.

 


Two Monocle is clearly approaching the whole social games market with a very different attitude to the existing social game companies. Tom Naylor, the Big Cheese of the company, told Scottishgames:

 

I really want to try to do something different to the current social gaming trends.  The market leaders have a huge problem with perception and customer churn rates.  We are trying to address that using humour and game play through our brand and our products too. Cult Leader will be something really different on the social gaming scene and hopefully attract lots of attention from its obviously satirical edgy content to its actual game play (not the usual click-wait-click).

 

From our research we know there is a big market there.  Granted it is smaller than the 40-year-old-stay-at-home-mom, but it is there all the same and barely catered for. We want to produce satirical and humorous content for release every week or so (even if it’s just one mission).  Hopefully we can use this as one of the hooks to keep our customers coming back to play and enjoy.

 


All of which points towards something unusual, unique and fun coming to Facebook fairly shortly.  Two Monocle Games have let slip that they’ll be looking for beta testers in the near future.  Rest assured that Scottishgames.net will be your first stop for all of the latest news and updates from the TMG camp as Cult Leader progresses.  Admittedly they spurned our idea of approaching the Scientologists for sponsorship, but we still like them and will enjoy any and all Kool-aid as they provide it.

 


Two Monocle Games are also to be congratulated on a most excellent blog covering the nascent company and its first project.  It’s pithy, erudite and chock-to-the-brim with salient information.  It has gained our heartiest approbation and good wishes.

 

(also note the provision of manifold images and concept art for use within this editorial article.  Our hats, ladies and gentlemen, are most assuredly doffed).
Feb 24 2012

World Exclusive – Cobra’s Super Secret New Game – iBomber Defense Pacific

The team at Cobra teased and tantalised us a couple of weeks ago with some mysterious artwork (as shown above) from a new project they have in production.

Scottishgames is very proud to announce, exclusively (seriously.  We’re the first anywhere) that the artwork in question is for the sequel to Cobra’s ridiculously addictive tower defence game, iBomber Defense.

iBomber Defense Pacific takes the game forward into a new theatre of war, building on the controls, missions and unstoppable blitzkreig from the original.

As Cobra puts it:

iBomber Defense Pacific takes tower defense to a whole new level and makes you feel like your right there and part of the incredible action. iBomber Defense Pacific has All New tactics, All New strategies, All New Maps, All New weapons and All New enemies.

With so much to play for in iBomber Defense Pacific you’ll never get bored. Whether it’s placing turrets, deciding your strategy, looking for hidden targets, getting caught by a sneak-attack, bombing the enemy from above, focusing your fire power, repairing units, preparing for aerial assault, defending your base and secondary objective or destroying an enemy outpost you’ll always have something to do and NOW plenty to achieve and unlock.

Get ready to take the battle to the enemy and win the war!

The game is being created for PC, Mac and iOS, so there’s no excuse for anyone not to pick up and enjoy the game.  March 1st is the date for your diaries, with a simultaneous release across all platforms planned.

We’ve got FIVE free limited edition posters for Scottishgames readers – featuring the delicious artwork shown above.  They’re exclusive, signed by the Cobra team and yours FREE if you like and comment on this post.  Leave your name and e-mail and the first five comments will get a sleek, shiny and highly collectable piece of memorabilia.

Head over to the new Facebook page for a preview video and to keep up to date with the latest news from the game.

Feb 15 2012

Out Now – Word Trick For iOS

Word Trick, Outplay Entertainment’s first title for Apple iOS is now live on the App Store in the US, UK, Canada and Europe.  The game is new take on the classic board game formula.  Players take it in turns to make the highest scoring words they can from a selection of eight letters.

The board features the familiar double and triple letter or word scores, but Word Trick adds a new element with green ‘trick tiles’ which give players bonus points when they’re used in groups of three or more.  Up to four players can take part in a single game and players can have up to 21 games in progress at any one time.

Clear?  Good.

Word Trick can now be enjoyed by Facebook and iOS users alike.  On the same game.  On different platforms.  Mind BLOWN.  Truly we are in the FUTURE…

You can also play against other players in the same location by passing your phone back and forth, like a tiny electronic board game of joy.

Word Trick for iOS is available now for your iPad, iPod or iPhone.  There is a free, ad-funded version of the game available now.  A paid for version which removes the adverts will be available shortly.

Go get it.

Feb 15 2012

Coming Soon – Gears Of Glory

Gears of Glory: Apex Ace is the brand new, inaugural game from Domipheus Labs (which is a side-project from the rather splendid Colin Riley.  Technical gee-whizard and all round good guy).

It’s a top-down racing game in which perfection and total control is rewarded.  The game will feature multiple tracks, achievements and multiplayer options, ensuring every driver is catered for.

Gears of Glory will also come complete with an advanced track editor, allowing players to create, compete upon and share their very own racing circuits and help to build the greater Gears of Glory universe.

The game is currently in development for Windows PCs and will be distributed by the very lovely people at Indie City.

Gears of Glory is being designed with lower specification systems in mind, so that the greatest possible number of players can join in, while the gameplay will allow drivers to jump in and out of the game for short, sharp bursts of driving goodness.

You can follow the progress of the game on the Gears of Glory Facebook page.  Or you can follow Colin himself over on Twitter.

Feb 7 2012

Codeplay Nominated For Scottish Business Award

Codeplay is one of the games industry’s more mysterious companies.  You may have heard the name, but few people can state with confidence what the company actually does.

Which is a shame because Codeplay is one of the most technically sophisticated companies in the industry and has been pushing the outer limits of the cutting edge for over ten years now.

To put it simply, Codeplay creates, tests and optimises compilers for very large companies which make devices like games consoles or mobile phone handsets.  The company’s list of projects, clients and successes makes the phrase

The company is also now working on software to help developers squeeze more out of their games and increase performance from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and in-game effects, without increasing the load on the hardware’s main processor.

In addition, Codeplay is also a member of a European-funded syndicate looking into the future of graphics and lower power graphics processing.

If this sounds rather complex, it is.  Codeplay works on incredibly advanced and sophisticated projects and has more brains in-house than the rest of the Scottish games industry should it be gathered, pressed, blended, strained and distilled into a delicious concentrate.

Now Codeplay’s hard work is being recognised.  The company’s new Offload technology, which is used in Eutechnyx’s new online NASCAR game, has been nominated in the Scottish Business Awards.

The awards ceremony take place later this month, so there’s a good chance you may be reading more about Codeplay in these pages in the near future.

In the meantime, Codeplay is hiring AND is always keen to speak to seriously smart people.  If you’re interested in making the future of gaming actually come true, then you could do a whole lot worse than give them a call.

Feb 1 2012

Now Hiring – One Thumb Mobile

We’ve had a request from the team at One Thumb Mobile, who are looking for a number of staff, to let readers know about the opportunities within the company and what they’re up to at the moment.

If you’ve not come across them before, One Thumb Mobile is a leading mobile development studio based in Glasgow, specialising in high end and complex mobile development.  The company has a track record of eleven years delivering 2D and 3D mobile games and entertainment apps.

In 2012 One Thumb launched Celtic Heroes, one of the first full scale 3D MMORPGs for mobile platforms and tablets, and has worked with games publishers and some of the world’s leading brands to create groundbreaking mobile games and entertainment products. One Thumb Mobile has created mobile products for brands such as Liverpool FC, Honda, Visa, Nissan and Star Trek, and achieved the number two overall best selling app in Apple’s UK App Store in May 2010.

The company now has vacancies for the following:
MMO Game Designer
The MMO game designer role is based around creating new game mechanics including items, stats, skills, quests, enemies, crafting, pvp, and many other types of game mechanics, whilst ensuring game balance and fun is maintained. This role comes with freedom to contribute to all aspects of the game as it evolves and improves over time.
- Experience designing RPG and MMO game mechanics is essential, with examples of previous game designs required.
- A love of MMO games and extensive playing history of numerous MMO games is essential.
- Any experience with freemium game mechanics is a plus.
- Commercial MMO or RPG design experience is advantageous.
Experienced / Lead 3D Artist
This role involves creating new artwork, improving existing artwork, mentoring of less experienced artists, and liaising with external artists. This is a great opportunity to make your mark in setting the art direction of the game, and to get involved and contribute to the overall development of the game, including visual style and game design ideas.
- Extensive experience and knowledge of 3ds max is essential.
- A strong portfolio is required, with examples of low polygon and medieval / fantasy style art.
- Experience creating artwork for RPG and MMO games is a plus.
- A love of MMO games and experience playing a variety of MMO games is also desirable.
If you’re interested, get in touch and say hello.  You can find out more about OTM on their website.