Have you ever wondered just what kind of person it takes to design a puzzle game? Who comes up with things like Rubik’s Cubes and Tetris and Angry Birds? It takes an incredible, special mind to create a puzzle game that becomes a phenomenon. Alexey Pajitnov is that exact type of imaginative thinker who can make a brilliant puzzle using only his imagination. Read more »
One of the big stories in the technology sector at the end of 2011 was the initial public offering of stock for Zynga. Zynga, the creator of some of Facebook’s most popular games, was all set to leap into the business of making money off its popularity and the IPO sought to raise billions of dollars for the company. Amid news reports of other video game companies experiencing financial hardships, the Zynga IPO was viewed by many as catastrophic, with the stock losing value its first few days. While this might have made a lesser CEO cringe and get out of the game, it was nothing to Mark Pincus. Read more »
Sometimes, the best ideas come from the ashes of a previous idea that simply did not work out. When ZeptoLabs began making computer games, the chief programmer worked very hard on a physics software engine. That engine was programmed to realistically mimic how objects fell based upon a player cutting the ropes that suspended the object. ZeptoLabs went with a different game mechanic for their first release, Parachute Ninja. However, the programmer who worked on the initial version of the game thought there might be a way to use that game engine. That tenacious programmer was Efim Voinov! Read more »
There are amazing things users can do on YouTube. YouTube is the ultimate playground for users with creativity, a video camera, and a computer. It should come as no surprise then to find that the YouTube user ThatsMrRobertson has created a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game entitled The Dark Room. Read more »
If you use your computer solely for business purposes and look for the most efficient and inexpensive tool possible, the odds are you do not truly understand the idea of a premium keyboard. There are keyboards that cost consumers hundreds of dollars because they are specialized to niche demographics that have unique demands for how they interface with their computers. Most of these premium keyboards are marketed to the antithesis of business computer users: gamers. Arguably the coolest, most powerful premium keyboard is the SteelSeries Merc Stealth keyboard and it is a gamer’s best friend when it comes to interface devices.
Online gaming has taken a few major turns in recent years, especially in terms of type of players and company business models. Until recently, most games on the Internet were for hardcore gamers. Now, anyone can find a game online that he or she will enjoy playing.
Social networking games have created a window into the gaming world for casual players by creating thousands of games that are free and very easy to play. These games come with a revolutionary business model that other types of games are slowly adopting.
Massively Multiplayer Online games, known as MMOs, are a type of game in which players from all over the world can play the game together in an online world. MMOs can be any type of game, but Role Playing Games (or RPGs) are the most popular. These MMORPGs, like the well-known World of Warcraft game, are beginning to change.
Puzzle games are exceptionally popular among casual computer game players. The rise of smartphones has made video games accessible to a much larger audience. Puzzle games like Hexic and Angry Birds have effectively captivated smartphone users and opened entirely new markets up in the video game industry. But while Angry Birds has remained comparatively static – Rovio has effectively merchandised Angry Birds beyond the popular game, but not released any new expansions for some time – a new game has come to dominate the puzzle game niche. That game is Cut The Rope.
Cut The Rope is a physics-based puzzle game similar in several ways to Angry Birds, which might be why it so easily took over the same niche. Developed by Chillingo, Cut The Rope features bright colors and simple animation that makes it ideal for playing on a smartphone or tablet computer, where one does not need the most advanced monitor to get the most out of the game. When Chillingo released Cut The Rope to the Apple App Store during the fourth quarter of 2010, it sold three million downloads before the end of that year! Since its initial release, Chillingo has continued to release Cut The Rope for different video game platforms, as well as a new expansion, Cut The Rope: Experiments.
Angry Birds is very cool and it is time we acknowledged that. Angry Birds may have started as a limited computer game for smartphones, but it has evolved into a real cultural phenomenon. In addition to the smartphone game, Angry Birds is now a merchandising bonanza. Stuffed toys, t-shirts and other swag featuring Angry Birds hit the market right in time for the holidays last year and were very popular among a diverse range of ages and subcultures. Even Hartz, the pet product manufacturer, licensed Angry Birds for dog and cat toys!
Why is Angry Birds so cool? First, Angry Birds is very easy to buy. The popular game started its life as a game application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch. Because those products featured a touchscreen, Angry Birds exploded onto the market as one of the first games that utilized that technology well. Apple customers were excited about their touchscreens and Angry Birds gave them something to get truly excited about. While Angry Birds was originally only available as an Apple app, with the rise of Android, the game’s publisher, Rovio, expanded the programming to allow it to play on the Android Operating System. Now, there are versions of Angry Birds for virtually every platform, including Windows, Playstation 3 and the Nintendo 3DS!
In the video game world, there is never truly time to relax. Despite innovations in gaming that might create the year’s biggest entertainment phenomenon, executives at video game companies are always pushing for the next big thing. So, even though Electronic Arts had one of the biggest video game releases of 2011 with Battlefield 3, it is already deep at work trying to dominate the market in 2012. Leading EA Labels is Frank Gibeau.
Frank Gibeau is the President of EA Labels, the division of Electronic Arts that oversees all of the video game divisions. Gibeau rose to the lead position of EA Labels after years of hard work with a very painful beginning. After getting his B.S. in Business and International Relations, a stairway collapsed on Gibeau, seriously injuring him. Gibeau broke his leg in the accident, forcing him to be immobile while his leg healed. He recuperated at his parents’ house, playing video games. At the time, Electronic Arts was in its infancy and they were looking to hire professional game players to test their games. Gibeau limped over and got himself a job for $10,000/year playing video games! Gibeau’s real big break, though, came in 1999 when he was assigned to market The Sims. With The Sims, Gibeau had a huge success for EA that brought him to the attention of the executives at EA who fostered his career.
Taking over as President in 2011, Gibeau made the successful transition from game player and marketer to corporate executive. In addition to the exceptionally popular Battlefield 3, as President, Gibeau brought to market the very successful Dead Space 2, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2, and The Sims: Medieval video games. Gibeau saw the potential of growing social networking platforms and launched SimSocial on Facebook as well. 2011 was a very good year for EA because of Gibeau’s guidance of the company.
Gibeau ended 2011 with his biggest gamble yet, the release of the massively multi-player online role playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic. This new video game required a massive investment of time and money on the part of EA and while the project was begun well before Gibeau took over as President, it fell to him to successfully shepherd it to market. Competing against the exceptionally popular World Of Warcraft and the recently-successful DC Universe Online Legends, Gibeau had the dual challenges of attracting Star Wars fans who have not traditionally been video game fans to the endeavor and luring the fiercely loyal fans of the other massively multi-player online role playing to the new game. With huge sales since December 20 when EA originally released the game, Star Wars: The Old Republic Gibeau gets to take credit for this a massive success!
Frank Gibeau has a keen marketing sense, as is evidenced by the exclusive Battlefield 3 V.I.P. kits, and the gaming credentials to lead EA Labels effectively!
About RESCUECOM:
RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.
For More Information, Contact:
David Milman, CEO
315-882-1100
david@rescuecom.com
If you are a video game enthusiast, 2012 promises some incredible developments. If you have not been someone who traditionally plays video games, the prevalence of handheld computer devices like smartphones, e-readers and tablet computers may be getting you curious about what video games have to offer. The way portable computing devices have permeated every strata of U.S. society has eliminated many barriers between subcultures, so video game geeks are hardly a fringe group any longer. In fact, game manufacturers court adults far more often for serious video games now and if you have not considered video games recently, here are some of the fundamental changes in the market in the last few years:
1. Graphics are vastly superior. If your perception of a video game is based on early 1980s Atari graphics or even mid-1990s Nintendo graphics, the video game world will absolutely dazzle you now. Some of the least sophisticated programs on the market, like the free program Angry Birds have animation that is in league with cartoons as opposed to those classic video games! Many games now have such sophisticated graphics that on non-HD televisions, they look like real environments and people!
2. Gameplay is more sophisticated. The video game industry is now a multibillion dollar industry. To keep competitive, video games now employ extensive casts of actors, have long segments of backstory and dialog and many even begin with a short movie. The new Star Wars: The Old Republic game used one thousand actors and came online with three hundred gaming hours of play programmed in. Considering that the Star Wars film saga totals approximately thirteen hours, you can see how much more complicated the one game is than the entire film story!
3. Cartridges? What are cartridges?! If you recall cartridges, you haven’t played video games in a long time! Games now come on DVD-Roms and other discs reminiscent in form to CDs. Controllers are very different, too. Some of the most popular video games on the market even use controllers specially designed for only their game. Some of the new systems even use scanning technology to scan your body and movements, making you the controller!
4. Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. With the prevalence of so many computing devices, massive games have sprouted up that allow players to play in complex virtual worlds over Internet connections. You create a character and enter a virtual world where you are either a fantasy character, interact with super heroes or fight in great space wars. Regardless of the platform, MMORPGs are subscription service video games where the longer you play, the more experience you build and the more powerful your character becomes. Unlike the days of Super Mario Bros., there is no finite end to MMORPGs. Video games, like life, never seem to end!
About RESCUECOM:
RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.
For More Information, Contact:
David Milman, CEO
315-882-1100
david@rescuecom.com