http://fingergaming.com/2009/04/flashpoint-academy-professor-releases-blip-bloink-099/
From the article:
"Flashpoint Academy’s Chair of Game Development, Simeon Peebler, has released his first iPhone title — the puzzler BLiP Bloink ($0.99). Peebler teaches game programming and design at the Chicago-based private college, and believes that the experience of developing an iPhone title will provide valuable material for future classroom lectures.
“Students are really interested in the iPhone platform,” Peebler said in a recent press release. “As a game development educator, I believe it is important to spend some time to get one of my games out there on the iPhone. I can now leverage that experience in mentoring and inspiring my students.”
BLiP Bloink is a match-based puzzler that plays out like a mix of Tetris and Bejeweled — players must drop animals from the top of the screen and attempt to match them with creatures of the same type. The game features three difficulty modes, unlockable achievements, and a “brag” feature that allows players to update/annoy their friends with their accomplishments."
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
My new iPhone game: BLiP Bloink
Only $0.99!
In the wee hours and weekends between the long days at Flashpoint Academy, I figured it was time to get another game out into the world. This experience has helped further prepare me in working with my students at Flashpoint as they express interest and enthusiasm in working with the iPhone and in developing content for mobile devices.
Check out: http://www.blipbloink.com
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Student game, percussONE, from Flashpoint Academy now on XBox Community Games!
He got game
March 5, 2009 By CHRIS LAFORTUNE clafortune@pioneerlocal.com
Justin C. Moore is passionate about games, especially video games.
"I always sort of make little games for myself for any given task," the River Forest resident said. "I try to beat my old score, my old time, my records."
"I always think about, sort of, situations and opportunities to try to maximize your utility against your opponents, which would be anyone else in the environment around you."
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moore now has a video game he developed with friend Joshua Hernandez online at Xbox Live Community Games, called "percussONE."
Moore and Hernandez are students at Flashpoint Academy in Chicago. Moore's in his second year there, ready to graduate in the summer.
At MIT, Moore studied mechanical engineering and finished with a degree. While in college he tried to wean himself off of games.
"I didn't think it would be, sort of, a productive thing to pursue," Moore said.
He was unsuccessful. When he graduated he realized games were what he wanted to do.
"After graduating, I buckled down and started teaching myself to program, just working on smaller projects, trying to get people together to work on games," he said.
percussONE is a puzzle game, influenced by games such as "Tetris Attack" and arcade game "Klax."
Players align game pieces of similar colors, taking them off of a playing field when they line up three or more. As the game progresses, the pieces arrive faster. If the field fills, the game ends.
Players can play singularly or with friends, against one another or cooperatively. Moore and Hernandez entered the game into Microsoft's "Dream, Build, Play" contest, but failed to be finalists. They tweaked the programming, entering it into another contest, the Independent Games Festival.
"We didn't make finalist there, either, unfortunately," Moore said.
But they worked on the game further and had it accepted into the Xbox Live Community platform. It went live in mid-February.
"I have heard from, not direct buyers, but I've heard rumors of buyers," Moore said. "Friends of friends who have purchased it. There are a couple of reviews online that mentioned it favorably."
Xbox Live's Community Games platform has been online since November. About 200 games are now accessible through the system, according to information from Microsoft. Users are able to download free tools to make and distribute their own games.
Moore enjoys puzzle games, though they're not his favorite. He prefers role-playing games, in which players take on the role of a character in an extended gaming experience, either singularly or online.
He has ideas for several role-playing games, but they're the most difficult to program, Moore said. For the moment he's going to continue working on puzzle games with Hernandez and any others they can recruit.
"We started simple," he said. "We're going to build up from there."
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/riverforest/news/1460326,op-xboxguy-030509-s1.article
March 5, 2009 By CHRIS LAFORTUNE clafortune@pioneerlocal.com
Justin C. Moore is passionate about games, especially video games.
"I always sort of make little games for myself for any given task," the River Forest resident said. "I try to beat my old score, my old time, my records."
"I always think about, sort of, situations and opportunities to try to maximize your utility against your opponents, which would be anyone else in the environment around you."
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moore now has a video game he developed with friend Joshua Hernandez online at Xbox Live Community Games, called "percussONE."
Moore and Hernandez are students at Flashpoint Academy in Chicago. Moore's in his second year there, ready to graduate in the summer.
At MIT, Moore studied mechanical engineering and finished with a degree. While in college he tried to wean himself off of games.
"I didn't think it would be, sort of, a productive thing to pursue," Moore said.
He was unsuccessful. When he graduated he realized games were what he wanted to do.
"After graduating, I buckled down and started teaching myself to program, just working on smaller projects, trying to get people together to work on games," he said.
percussONE is a puzzle game, influenced by games such as "Tetris Attack" and arcade game "Klax."
Players align game pieces of similar colors, taking them off of a playing field when they line up three or more. As the game progresses, the pieces arrive faster. If the field fills, the game ends.
Players can play singularly or with friends, against one another or cooperatively. Moore and Hernandez entered the game into Microsoft's "Dream, Build, Play" contest, but failed to be finalists. They tweaked the programming, entering it into another contest, the Independent Games Festival.
"We didn't make finalist there, either, unfortunately," Moore said.
But they worked on the game further and had it accepted into the Xbox Live Community platform. It went live in mid-February.
"I have heard from, not direct buyers, but I've heard rumors of buyers," Moore said. "Friends of friends who have purchased it. There are a couple of reviews online that mentioned it favorably."
Xbox Live's Community Games platform has been online since November. About 200 games are now accessible through the system, according to information from Microsoft. Users are able to download free tools to make and distribute their own games.
Moore enjoys puzzle games, though they're not his favorite. He prefers role-playing games, in which players take on the role of a character in an extended gaming experience, either singularly or online.
He has ideas for several role-playing games, but they're the most difficult to program, Moore said. For the moment he's going to continue working on puzzle games with Hernandez and any others they can recruit.
"We started simple," he said. "We're going to build up from there."
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/riverforest/news/1460326,op-xboxguy-030509-s1.article
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Comments on the Game Industry Economics
For those of you following news in the game industry over the last several months, you’ve witnessed rounds of layoffs and closures and a variety of restructuring announcements really across the board. This is in line with the economic realities of the world right now of course (and underlying realities of the way that 20+ million-dollar projects are funded), but people often ask me questions about this general topic.
Despite the incredible numbers we’ve seen posted in terms of game software and hardware sales in the last few years, being in this business is far from a sure thing. Game development is a very risky business. Lots of guessing goes into product development both in terms of marketing and technology development despite how smart everyone claims to be.
Game studios are software development shops hired by “publishers” to create game products. When you have teams comprised of dozens of highly skilled practitioners who are paid an average of 40 - 100k per year, and the typical game project lasts over 24 months, simple addition shows the financial realities facing studios in product development. Add on top of that the cost of employer subsidized health insurance, other benefits, along with facilities and operational expenses (plus legal) and suddenly the game creation process cost reaches some fairly high figures. And that is just for the game studio! The publisher is its own beast and then the actual delivery route to the customer has its own set of expenses.
A couple of interesting risks:
Rapidly changing marketplace (consumer interest and competition) may hurt sales required to return investment to the publisher(s) who theoretically are paying the bills for everybody involved.
Technology problems for creating innovative products can prevent publicized release dates. This can be incredibly damaging for everybody involved.
Original IP is as can be imagined, a challenge to sell and may be met with poor reception.
Strategies publishers employ regularly now:
Focus on building brands and sequels in essentially franchising a product line over time.
Use and leverage existing game engines for almost everything.
Plan using the same content and technology for multiple platform release such that you maximize the potential sales you have.
Even with these strategies, publishers still only find that a fraction of these large projects bring a return substantial enough to offset development, marketing and distribution costs. It is hit and misses. Largely, the hits have helped offset the misses for those who are the leaders out there today.
Opportunities for those entering the industry have not dried up even in light of these realities. From Gamasutra.com’s job board, one can find MANY job postings. Those with an entrepreneurial spirit are also embraced by the game industry – independent development and innovation are keys to success. Flashpoint students are working on these kinds of independent projects and finely tuning themselves in terms of developing solid pitches to the whole range of opportunities out there in the industry right now. Interactive media is also another route for Flashpoint Academy game developers. Some students will build careers in developing game content for other sectors (education, heath care, broadcast, film, and so on).
Over the years, the game industry has been a roller coaster ride. Now is no different. Hang on!
Despite the incredible numbers we’ve seen posted in terms of game software and hardware sales in the last few years, being in this business is far from a sure thing. Game development is a very risky business. Lots of guessing goes into product development both in terms of marketing and technology development despite how smart everyone claims to be.
Game studios are software development shops hired by “publishers” to create game products. When you have teams comprised of dozens of highly skilled practitioners who are paid an average of 40 - 100k per year, and the typical game project lasts over 24 months, simple addition shows the financial realities facing studios in product development. Add on top of that the cost of employer subsidized health insurance, other benefits, along with facilities and operational expenses (plus legal) and suddenly the game creation process cost reaches some fairly high figures. And that is just for the game studio! The publisher is its own beast and then the actual delivery route to the customer has its own set of expenses.
A couple of interesting risks:
Rapidly changing marketplace (consumer interest and competition) may hurt sales required to return investment to the publisher(s) who theoretically are paying the bills for everybody involved.
Technology problems for creating innovative products can prevent publicized release dates. This can be incredibly damaging for everybody involved.
Original IP is as can be imagined, a challenge to sell and may be met with poor reception.
Strategies publishers employ regularly now:
Focus on building brands and sequels in essentially franchising a product line over time.
Use and leverage existing game engines for almost everything.
Plan using the same content and technology for multiple platform release such that you maximize the potential sales you have.
Even with these strategies, publishers still only find that a fraction of these large projects bring a return substantial enough to offset development, marketing and distribution costs. It is hit and misses. Largely, the hits have helped offset the misses for those who are the leaders out there today.
Opportunities for those entering the industry have not dried up even in light of these realities. From Gamasutra.com’s job board, one can find MANY job postings. Those with an entrepreneurial spirit are also embraced by the game industry – independent development and innovation are keys to success. Flashpoint students are working on these kinds of independent projects and finely tuning themselves in terms of developing solid pitches to the whole range of opportunities out there in the industry right now. Interactive media is also another route for Flashpoint Academy game developers. Some students will build careers in developing game content for other sectors (education, heath care, broadcast, film, and so on).
Over the years, the game industry has been a roller coaster ride. Now is no different. Hang on!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Note About Requirements for Career Success in the Game Industry
I came across this really great piece -- it is short -- but there is part of it that is in my view rather important for game developers in training and indeed anyone working to prepare for tomorrow's digital media careers --
"...the nature of the game industry [is] one that requires DaVincis -- not in the sense that only geniuses of DaVinci’s caliber can succeed, but that like DaVinci, successes in the industry are people with a diverse group of interests who are constantly working to master and refine their singular core skills.
This was as DaVinci did with painting throughout his life. He also pointed out that DaVinci was not an overnight success, but a man who began his career with years of apprenticeship.
'What is presented to us about games and game designers are little sound bite moments that only talk about went right,' said Daglow. The stories of long years in the trenches, like medieval apprentices had, and public fumbles, strikeouts and errors of judgment and moments of doubt like those borne by professional athletes are also part of a long career -- unless, of course, you quit.
'If you quit,' Daglow joked, 'you won’t have a long career. I can prove that to you mathematically.' He also emphasized the need for team skills..."
For the full piece, follow this link...
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/news/21017/future_play_daglow_talks_game_.php
"...the nature of the game industry [is] one that requires DaVincis -- not in the sense that only geniuses of DaVinci’s caliber can succeed, but that like DaVinci, successes in the industry are people with a diverse group of interests who are constantly working to master and refine their singular core skills.
This was as DaVinci did with painting throughout his life. He also pointed out that DaVinci was not an overnight success, but a man who began his career with years of apprenticeship.
'What is presented to us about games and game designers are little sound bite moments that only talk about went right,' said Daglow. The stories of long years in the trenches, like medieval apprentices had, and public fumbles, strikeouts and errors of judgment and moments of doubt like those borne by professional athletes are also part of a long career -- unless, of course, you quit.
'If you quit,' Daglow joked, 'you won’t have a long career. I can prove that to you mathematically.' He also emphasized the need for team skills..."
For the full piece, follow this link...
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/news/21017/future_play_daglow_talks_game_.php
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