News: Former Ensemble designer hits back at crunch claims
A lead designer at the now defunct Ensemble Studios has hit back at claims that the Age of Empires developer closed because of a combination of ingrained crunch culture and spiralling costs.
Writing on his website, Ian Fischer disputed claims made by Paul Bettner at GDC last week, in which he implied that over-spending and excessive work hours irreparably damaged the respected development team.
“Ensemble Studios, while certainly fond of numerous inefficient development practices, was no costlier or less efficient than any other developer of our calibre during this period of operation,” wrote Fischer.
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News: iPhone free-to-play revenues can rival consoles – ngmoco
Neil Young, the CEO of iPhone developer and publisher ngmoco, has said that the revenue made from free-to-play iPhone titles could rival that made from console in the future if designers are able to deliver compelling enough content.
Speaking at GDC, Young said that ngmoco’s own business model which has now moved entirely to free-to-play was developed over time following the company’s launch in 2008.
To begin with the company launched two titles simultaneously one, Mazefinger, as a free title and the other, Topple, as a paid app.
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News: Lib Dems hedge bets on games tax breaks
The Liberal Democrats are “sympathetic” to the call for tax relief, but will not “categorically back it” over concerns the “industry itself is not totally united behind it”.
That’s the message from Don Foster MP, Culture secretary for the party, whose comments came in the wake of a hint from the government that the measure could appear in next week’s budget.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Industry.biz this week, Foster said: “I’m delighted Stephen Timms, the Minister with responsibility, has recently said the case is coming together. The problem I think we’ve got is that the case has not been finally put to bed.
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News: Publishers lost over £6m following Red Ant collapse
A year on from the collapse of distributor Red Ant, legal documents have revealed that game companies have lost almost AUS $10 million (£6m / $9.1m) to the Australian company, with former staff still AUS $250,000 out of pocket.
It has also been revealed that before the company went into administration, Red Ant loaned more than AUS $2 million (£1.2m / $1.8m) to companies and trust funds including Mad4 Australia, Green Monkey and White Commerce Trust all owned by Red Ant managing director Julian White, who also received a AUS 700,000 loan from Red Ant.
In a report published on Industry.biz today, White said that all loans to companies that he was a director of were for business purposes only, and the companies were now in debt to the bank. White’s explanation that the personal AUS $700,000 loan was repaid “by dividends” does not tally with the sum registering as outstanding on legal documents.
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Article: The Rise and Fallout of Red Ant
They were one of Australias largest independent videogame distributors until the Australian dollar crashed and brought them down with it. A year on from the collapse of Red Ant Enterprises, documents have emerged that raise serious questions about unexplained loans made by the company, as well as the movements of its director and his wife.
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News: Court rules in favour of Nintendo, MS over controller patent breach
A Washington court of appeal has ruled in favour of Nintendo and Microsoft following accusations the companies breached a patent relating to controller power conversions.
Patent holder Fenner Investments first sued the two console makers three years ago, reports Gamasutra, claiming that their devices used a design they had patented.
The patent in question is for a ‘Low-Voltage Joystick Port Interface’ described as an analogue stick which outputs to a digital signal – which is found in the majority of controllers for home consoles.
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News: IGN to reduce in size; staff lay-offs reported across company
Online media site IGN is to lay off staff in every area of the company, according to a leaked internal memo from IGN president Roy Bahat.
The memo says the move is a cost reducing exercise. “While we’ve been doing well we’re still feeling the effects of the economy,” it reads.
It adds that job losses will be felt in every part part of the company, despite the company’s audience growth of 40 per cent last year.
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News: OnLive business model a "shot in the arm" for Gaikai
David Perry has pointed out the drawbacks of cloud gaming service OnLive compared to his own Gaikai service, due to launch later this year, in the wake of OnLive’s pricing and strategy announcements at this year’s GDC.
Although OnLive players can rent and try free demos, they are being asked to pay for their PC on top of a $14.99 subscription, a pricing strategy that some are suggesting will hold back any significant growth.
“It’s very different to OnLive,” he told Industry.biz. “We’re not trying to replace the consoles.
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News: British Inspiration Awards to honour UK creative sectors
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Conservative leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg are lending cross-party support to the British Inspiration Awards, a new initiative to honour the UK’s creative sectors, including , film and the arts.
The executive committee for the awards is being led by Nintendo’s David Yarnton, and it will also be a charity-facing event with 100 per cent of proceeds split between Aid and The Dallaglio Foundation.
“I am enormously proud of the talented people in this country who, through their creative and entrepreneurial gifts, illuminate their lives and enrich ours. And the British Inspiration Awards is a great way of both recognising their endeavours and celebrating our achievements as a nation,” said Brown in a statement.
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News: GAME opens Home space
UK retailer GAME is to open a space in PlayStation 3 Home this week, offering visitors access to exclusive content and competitions.
The company becomes one of the first retailers to make use of the service, which now boasts an audience of over 12 million worldwide.
As well as offering social spaces, the GAME Moonbase will provide free-to-play for visitors, with rewards for user’s avatars on offer.
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