Computer Support Blog

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

There are many highly anticipated video games for 2012.  2012 marks the return of one of the most highly successful video game franchises of all time, Final Fantasy.  But as Final Fantasy prepares to make its next big leap forward with the release of Final Fantasy VIII – 2, it is worth looking back at how the popular franchise came to be.  For that, one needs look no further than Hironobu Sakaguchi.

Hironobu Sakaguchi is the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise and he is one of the most ambitious, creative, and successful minds in the video game industry.  Orphaned as a boy and then adopted, Sakaguchi had an unremarkable childhood in Japan.  However, while studying at Yokohama National University, he became fascinated with endeavors more creative than the electrical engineering he was studying.  At age twenty, Sakaguchi dropped out of college and joined the fledging software company Square.

It was at Square that Sakaguchi developed Rad Racer, a car racing game that Nintendo needed for commercial reasons to compete with Sega.  While Rad Racer was a commercial success, it was not the type of project that Hironobu Sakaguchi wanted to develop.  So, he developed Final Fantasy.  Final Fantasy was a role-playing game that Sakaguchi developed for the Nintendo platform.  He directed Final Fantasy, as well as conceived it, so his talents were embedded in every aspect of the game.  Prior to the release of Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi decided that his video game career would live or die with the product; if the game was a commercial flop, he intended to return to the university and finish his education.

The video game players of Japan and the United States had something else in mind for Sakaguchi!

Final Fantasy was a break-out success and that success compelled Nintendo to request a sequel, which was released the next year, with Sakaguchi directing that game as well.  With the success of Final Fantasy II, Hironobu Sakaguchi’s career was off to a roaring start.  He directed three more Final Fantasy video games and now, after twenty-five years, he is directing again with the newest game he conceived, The Last Story.  After Sakaguchi directed his last Final Fantasy video game, he continued to produce and develop other video games.  At least fifty different video games include Sakaguchi in their credits!

Hironobu Sakaguchi transformed video games by infusing them with a richer sense of storytelling than video games had prior to the release of Final Fantasy.  Sakaguchi was interested in developing characters in video games and telling stories.  With that view of the potential for what video games could be, it is no surprise that Hironobu Sakaguchi dabbled in directing films following the success of his many video games.  Unfortunately, his first major feature film, Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within was one of the worst box-office failures of all time.

Always resilient, though, Hironobu Sakaguchi today runs his own video game studio, Mistwalker, which provided some of the most successful games for Nintendo’s DS platform.

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

With so many different games moving from the real world into the digitized realms of computer gaming, it is unsurprising that pinball games have been a staple computer game almost since personal computers became popular.  Unlike those who play video slot machines, pinball players tend to like some sense of order to their gaming.  Pinball players want their game to conform to the physical laws of the world and they play to thrill over the speed at which the game changes.  While a video slot machine player may play the same game in the home as they do in the casino, seasoned pinball players will tell you that playing a physical pinball machine and playing a computer pinball program are two very different experiences.

The line between the physical pinball machines and the computer pinball machines is getting a lot more narrow, thanks to Future Pinball.  Future Pinball is a freeware game construction program for Windows XP and subsequent editions of Windows.  The program requires only 19.2 MB of free drive space, but because you get to import many of your own graphics, you will want more space available.  Future Pinball is a construction program that has everything you need to create your own virtual pinball machine!

Future Pinball is best envisioned as a workshop for pinball machine enthusiasts.  You start with the empty frame of the pinball machine and then you select all of the elements you want to add to the virtual pinball machine.  All of the classic design elements of a physical pinball machine are present in Future Pinball, from bumpers to ramps to targets to additional flippers!  You are able to lay out a 3-D pinball machine with all of your favorite elements.

Once you have the basic “physical” elements of your personalized pinball machine loaded, you get to work on the style aspects.  Future Pinball makes it possible for you to load in any graphics you have on your computer.  You can make a personalized, unique pinball machine from your favorite media franchise or superstar or accent it with pictures and themes from your personal life!  After that, you may assign points to each component.  The game supports the addition of music files as well, so this can truly become your ultimate pinball machine.  If at that point you still have the willpower to resist playing your new creation, Future Pinball allows you to create the leveled games and challenges most pinball players have come to expect with pinball machines.

What makes Future Pinball so incredible is the already existing programming.  While there is a lot to configure within this game, Future Pinball comes programmed with the advanced laws of physics that guide pinball gameplay.  Each item you add to the machine has a specific composition and shape that comes programmed with realistic properties.  When you make your Future Pinball game, the virtual metal ball inside reacts as a real metal ball would, making this the most lifelike pinball game yet!

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