Games and Business

Little Orbit looking for games to publish

2011-02-24T15:02:00.001+11:00

Do you have a game you’d like to get published? Little Orbit wants to speak to you!The US-based publisher offers digital, retail and non-traditional distribution channels, and has put a call out for developers looking for a publisher. The team will be present at the GDC event in San Francisco next week.

Q & A Interview with Black Lab Games founder, Paul Turbett

2011-02-21T13:31:00.000+11:00

Black Lab Games is the indie project of Western Australian developer, Paul Turbett, and has already produced the (very good) Star Hammer Tactics. He recently sat down to chat with us about the Minis platform, plans for the future of Black Lab Games, and what it’s like being a developer in WA. 1) First up, could you please give me an overview of yourself and Black Lab Games? What led you to

Mobile-focused Gamevil boasts record year

2011-02-15T09:25:00.002+11:00

Mobile games vendor, Gamevil, has enjoyed a record year in 2010, in terms of sales and income. Driven by titles such as Baseball Superstars, Zenonia and Illusia, South Korean-based Gamevil reported a 17 per cent increase in sales to 28.5 billion KRW ($US25.5 thousand). Income was also up 25 per cent. Gamevil plans on doubling the number of games output in 2011, continuing to focus on social

Trinigy expands its game engine to mobile markets

2011-02-11T11:24:00.002+11:00

Here’s a sign of just how popular mobile, handheld and browser games have become – game engine developer, Trinigy, is extending its previously console-specific Vision Game Engine to more casual platforms for play. The Vision Engine has been used already to create games on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and the downloadable platforms for each console. Now, development has

Does Activision's survival rely too much on Call of Duty?

2011-02-10T11:27:00.002+11:00

Activision Blizzard will cut around seven per cent of its global work force – around 500 people, as it restructures business units. The company is struggling somewhat at the moment, in part due to a lack of interest in its Guitar Hero franchise. That lack of interest will cause the publishing giant to drop its dedicated Guitar Hero business unit. This doesn’t mean Guitar Hero will go away, just

Australian games industry slumped in 2010

2011-02-09T12:07:00.001+11:00

Australia’s video game industry suffered a significant hit in 2010, but the industry still has cause to be confident about the future. In 2010, sales reached approximately $1.7 billion – a 16 per cent decline from the corresponding 2009 period, according to data compiled by GfK Retail and Technology, Australia. Console game sales were down by 13 per cent, with 16.9 million units sold in 2010,

How popular is Firemint's Flight Control? Almost four million popular

2011-01-20T22:56:00.002+11:00

Aussie developer and publisher, Firemint, is one of the all-time highest selling developers, thanks to the Flight Control. In the short few years since launch, 3,881,634 copies of the game has been sold on the iPhone. Mind you, that doesn't include sales data for the Nintendo DS, Playstation 3 or iPad. In short? Flight Control is crazy-popular. A big congrats to an emerging powerhouse in

Oberon inks game deal with Lenovo

2011-01-19T09:07:00.002+11:00

Buy a new Lenovo notebook, get pre-installed games. That’s the deal that Oberon Media has inked with the growing Chinese PC manufacturer. Oberon already has partnerships with Acer, Asus, Samsung, LG, MSI and Kingston in a similar vein. As part of the deal, Oberon will be supporting Lenovo with game acquisition and licensing of game content from developers such as I-play, PopCap, Bigpoint and

Shortlist for the best mobile phone games of the year revealed!

2011-01-18T09:18:00.002+11:00

The International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGAs) is in its 7th year now, and 30 games across six categories are up for a win. A massive 263 games were submitted for the awards, showing just how important the mobile games industry has become. Locally, just three games are up for awards (echoing our recent Golden Globes, I suspect!) - Australian developer Halfbrick for Fruit Ninja, Firemint's Real

Nintendo announces impressive sales figures for 2010

2011-01-14T23:52:00.002+11:00

In the US, Nintendo enjoyed another strong year in terms of console sales, with 15.5 million units shifting in 2010. Eight and a half million of those units were the various different DS consoles, and seven million were Wii consoles, according to statistics from the NPD group. In a release, Nintendo of America senior director of corporate communications, Charlie Scibetta, said: "Nintendo has

Runes of Magic revenue to provide Queensland with flood relief

2011-01-13T23:39:00.002+11:00

For those who haven't been following the news, a tragic, large-scale flood has devistated Queensland in Australia and destroyed thousands of businesses and homes, and claimed a number of lives. It's good to see the gaming community doing its bit to help alleviate the tragedy. Queensland based developer and publisher, N3V Games, has promised to donate a full 50 per cent of revenue from in-game

Steam competitor, awomo.com, soon to enter commercial release

2011-01-13T11:24:00.002+11:00

A download portal that the owners would like to see rival the popular Steam has entered beta stage. German-based GDC Game and Download Company expects awomo.com to enter full commercial release in February. Its competitive advantage? GDC Game and Download company claim it’s able to offer the fastest download service in the market. The company is also able to offer “White Label Solutions” to

Thought: 3DS region locking locking Nintendo out of online competitiveness?

2011-01-12T12:07:00.002+11:00

It appears that the 3DS will be region locked. This in itself is probably not too surprising, given Nintendo’s history, but given the 3DS will be involved in a tight battle for the growing online market, I fear it was a poor decision. For various reasons (read here for a good overview) region locking does benefit the games distribution chain. By forcing consumers to buy locally, publishers can

Partial E3 exhibitor lineup confirmed!

2011-01-12T00:02:00.002+11:00

None of these will be a surprise, but good to know they'll all be there. Together with Tokyo Game Show, E3 is the premier industry event for publishers, developers, games journalists and gamers. This year looks to be the same, and indeed, with tickets now on sale to attend the event, excitement levels are already rising. A list of the publishers confirmed to be attending, then: 505 Games

Opinion: online multiplayer developers could still learn a few tricks

2011-01-11T23:45:00.002+11:00

This Christmas, my family's gift giving could almost be considered counter-cultural. Despite being a family that enjoys its games, not a single wrapped gift was a video game. Instead, the boxes were much larger, and heavier. They were board games. Don't get me wrong, video games are great (so much so that I have these blogs...) and for single player experiences... well, I'd rather play a Final

Book review: 1001 video games you must play before you die

2011-01-10T12:34:00.002+11:00

If you needed any more proof that video games were now as legitimate as film, music and books in terms of social and cultural importance, then 1001 video games you must play before you die is it. It’s not that the list of games itself is perfect. Taking games from the formalative year of 1971 right through to 2010, many of the titles listed in the book are of debatable quality, and the

Activision Blizzard threatens to pull out of the UK

2011-01-07T15:27:00.001+11:00

The Australian games industry has its own set of problems, by we can take heart that the situation is just as tense in England. According to UK industry body, TIGA, Activision Blizzard has threatened to remove itself from the UK unless the Government changes its Games Tax policy. That could cost some 600 jobs. In a release, Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick said "I think it was a terrible mistake.

Say goodbye to Krome Studios, Australia's largest games developer

2010-10-15T21:10:00.002+11:00

It would seem it's the final days for Krome Studios, the largest Australian game development house.A report at Tsumea has claimed the developer has given the remaining staff at its Melbourne and Brisbane offices immediate notice, with the doors to formally shut on Monday.It's tragic that such a significant member of the Australian development scene has gone under, but not really a surprise, Krome

Chillingo continue to excel on iOS platform with Robin Hood

2010-10-14T22:41:00.002+11:00

Mobile specialist publisher, Chillingo, continues its strong iOS traction with a new castle defense game. Robin Hood is a 2D tower defense game featuring bright visuals and was developed by Mudloop. It's available from the App store now. Chillingo is a true publisher success story, with a number of major hits on the iPad and iPhone platforms, as well successful adaptations of those games on the

New Victorian Government games initiative is a boost to the industry, but is it enough?

2010-10-13T19:58:00.002+11:00

The Victorian Government has announced a new initiative to provide up to $100,000 to developers to come up with something innovative, but given the current strength of the dollar, is it going to be enough? According to a report on Tsumea, the Victorian Government has announced the Games Investment Program. It is designed to assist games developers to create a diverse range of games for any

Aussie developers continue to shine on Apple platforms: Halfbrick Studios

2010-09-15T18:17:00.001+10:00

Based on sales numbers, Halfbrick Studios' Fruit Ninja is quickly becoming the next Flight Control runaway success story. The popular game, which is currently available on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, has hit the two million sales mark - with roughly 100,000 of those being on the just-launched iPad. Firemint, the developers behind the ever-popular Flight Control, which hit three million sales

Apple gaining ground on Nintendo in handheld market

2010-09-14T19:14:00.000+10:00

The popularity of Apple's platforms for gaming is on the rise, with new survey data suggesting it has become a serious competitor for incumbent leader Nintendo. The survey, Newzoo's International Gamer's Survey 2010 shows that Apple's platforms have attracted 40.1 million of the 77 million Americans playing games on mobile consoles. 41 million play games on Nintendo DS and DSi, and 18.0

Q & A Interview with Nnooo creative director, Nic Watt

2010-09-14T16:44:00.002+10:00

UK-born, Nic Watt's pet project, Nnooo, has found remarkable success from a digital download platform that many dismiss - thanks in large part to Nintendo's DSiWare platform, Watt has expanded his small team to four, and is now on the hunt for a senior programmer to expand further. He sat down with us to have a chat around being a start up, the challenges of developing on other platforms (Nnooo

Krome merges middleware with tech behind Elder Scrolls

2010-09-13T21:02:00.001+10:00

In a move that might help embattled developer, Krome, in resources, it has merged its middleware with Emergent Game Technologies. What this means is the developer will be aggressive in pushing Emergent's Gamebryo and Gamebryo LightSpeed engines - both with impressive track records in industry use. Dark Age of Camelot, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Civilisation IV and the upcoming Fallout: Las

Animania 2010: Cosplay is a valuable resource for developers and publishers

2010-09-12T17:08:00.001+10:00

Animania had its second Sydney leg this weekend, and walking around the exhibition, I was reminded of the raw marketing value of cosplay and value of having a strong merchandising policy - it's the kind of value marketing that few companies have fully latched on to. In an age where social networking is king of marketing, fan-generated publicity such as cosplay is like gold. Regardless of