State of Play Conference 2007 Update

It has been interesting following the second day of the State Of Play V academic conference. This day they tackled issues like legal precedents in in-world property ownership and saw “Game Gods” from Second Life, There, and MUD creator Richard Bartle speak on building virtual worlds. This further enhances what we will be covering in Flashpoint Academy's Virtual World Development course of study.

From http://www.gamasutra.com

State Of Play Tackles In-World Ownership, Building Virtual Worlds

"In one of the real highlights to the conference, Judge Unggi Yoon again amazed the conference. Korea’s legal system is already in the process of passing laws to regulate the trade, sale and taxation of virtual goods. Their current plans are to implement a system wherein virtual properties are going to be considered “public,” which is to say real properties with regard to tax laws on transactions. Korea, however, won’t be regulating small trades between two people, which they are considering “private.” Yoon said that the system would be in place by the end of the year. This lead to a great deal of speculation: to what degree will the East lead regulation inside of online spaces?"

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15216

How to Get a Job at Blizzard Entertainment

This is a fantastic article from Blizzard's website; it's a definite must-read for those coming to Flashpoint Academy in Chicago to study game design, development and production.

"Blizzard responds to the thousands of letters we receive asking how to crack into the gaming industry. Now you can learn what it takes to work for a leading software developer like Blizzard Entertainment! Have you ever considered cracking into the gaming industry? Here is some information that is more important than a StarCraft Gas Mine! How to Get a Job at Blizzard Entertainment"

http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/intro.shtml

The Collector : a Flashpoint Academy Production-In-Action

I was on the set today of The Collector, a Flashpoint Academy Production-In-Action project, assisting with visual effect shots and doing some work for a related computer game. We also configured "hidden" video cameras to get a true behind-the-scenes look at the hours of very time-consuming effort required to get what amounts to just seconds of screen time!

Here I am, being reflective (see below). Just kidding. The whole group of people working on The Collector are incredible professionals, and it was a pleasure and honor to get a chance to be a part of making this project at our new digital arts school in Chicago where we bring students to the professionals and the professionals to students.

Stay tuned to get a chance to play The Collector: The Game! Coming soon! Visit http://www.flashpointacademy.com for more information about this exciting production.

Crysis November 16, 2007!

Crysis will be here on November 16th! Yeah! At Flashpoint Academy we will be using the new engine to do some modding and great custom content building, and who could ask for better timing. Plus, there are a slew of amazing games due out for the PC and other platforms, including Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto, Super Smash Bros., Jericho, and more (see the full list below). Students enrolled at Flashpoint will have a great opportunity to review and analyze many of these brand new releases in context of their studies in game production and design.

"Crysis coming November 16
[UPDATE] EA further crowds jam-packed holiday season by nailing down launch window for Crytek's groundbreaking PC shooter.

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Aug 2, 2007 9:16 am PT

The fourth quarter of 2007 may go down as having the most high-profile releases of top-tier games in history, with the three months following Halo 3's September 25 launch being positively jam-packed with games. Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Lost Odyssey, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Warhawk, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, NBA Live 08, NBA 2K8, Conan, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, EA Playground, Clive Barker's Jericho, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Need for Speed ProStreet, Assassin's Creed, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC), Gears of War (PC), The Simpsons Game, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, Virtua Fighter 5, TimeShift, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, World in Conflict, Beowulf, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008, Army of Two, Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, SimCity Societies, Rock Band, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Universe at War: Earth Assault, SOCOM: Confrontation, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Devil May Cry 4, Unreal Tournament 3 (PC and PS3), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, NIGHTS, and many other titles are all currently scheduled to arrive before the midnight bells chime on December 31, 2007. The majority of those titles will arrive in November, after Grand Theft Auto IV's mid-October launch and before the end of the all-important holiday shopping season in mid-December.

Now, PC gamers can add one more title to their overflowing Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa shopping lists. During today's post-earnings report conference call, Electronic Arts CFO Warren Jenson narrowed the ship window for Crysis, the eagerly anticipated shooter from German developer Crytek. "We are now planning to launch Crysis in early November," he told analysts. Previously, the game only had a tentative 2007 release date.

[UPDATE] Early Thursday morning, EA announced an exact ship date for Crysis. The game will arrive on Friday, November 16, exactly one month after GTA IV. "We're thankful to our fans for their support and patience, and we're excited to bring them Crysis this year," said Crytek CEO and president Cevat Yerli in a statement."

Go to GameSpot.com to read the full article...