I updated my blog links today. I added a few and deleted one. The one was Scott Miller’s  “Game Matters” blog. Scott (in case you didn’t know) was co-founder of 3D Realms; the developer of the worlds longest still born game Duke Nukem Forever. Scott wrote some really interesting posts about the business of game development. Unfortunately the blog hasn’t been updated in a couple of years. It seems that it’s as dead and DNF. Time to let it go.

I have just updated my list of game industry law firms which you can find at http://www.obscure.co.uk/directory/directory-legal/. If you are/know of a games industry law firm that isn’t on the list please don’t hesitate to drop me at email via the contact page.

It seems that the the Russian’s weren’t the only ones to have high level spies operating deep within the UK government during the 80s and that TIGA operatives may also have been working undercover to protect the games industry for the last 25 years. (Which would be impressive as TIGA hasn’t existed that long). It would seem that either their agents sabotaged the passing of laws that restrict the sale of some video games or else the Thatcher government just wasn’t very good at actually passing laws properly.

According to a news story on the BBC website here the Thatcher government bought in the Video Recordings Act (VRA) in 1984 which restricts the sale of violent video games and films. However, despite “passing” the law they somehow failed to inform the European Commission and, as a result, the law is now rendered unenforceable until it can be passed again – a process that will take 3 months apparently.

Oddly, although those currently being prosecuted under the law can not be prosecuted the government is claiming that those already found guilty under the non-existent law will not be able to overturn their prosecution or receive financial recompense.

The government will now attempt to re-master the law without the infinite lives cheat mode.

Just spotted this trailer for the video game related movie Gamer. Obviously it is just a trailer but its central concept of gamers controlling real human avatars in a MMPG is quite interesting. The US army is already using robots controlled by remote users for surveillance in war zones. Gamer goes a step beyond to give users control over real people (in this case criminals). Would you play a game differently if you knew that getting shot meant that someone would actually lose there life?

The revolutionary game streaming system OnLive was announced at GDC this week and has prompted a flurry of press about the future of the games industry. Their presentation was ultra slick and all the right buzz words were in place.

Cloud computing… tick

End to piracy… tick

Ground breaking video compression… tick

Streaming HD video… tick

Thin client… tick

Play top end games without having to buy a top end rig… tick

The last of those is obviously aimed at potential end-users. Those people who would love to play high end PC games without the cost of buying/upgrading a high end rig. Just imagin “owning” a top of the range rig for just a low subsciption payment. Sounds too good too be true doesn’t it?

Moving on I think the other items are aimed at a different target demographic. Not the cost concious/cheap/poor gamer but the rather more affluent potential investors. As mentioned above it had the slick launch/presentation and all the latest buzz words, so what are the odds they already have a bunch of investors lined up ready to sign up if OnLive successfully gets through this GDC launch?

I think the odds of investors biting are good but the odds of the service delivering are rather less so. Like the “Leet rig on the cheap” concept that is going to attract end users the technology claims just seem too good to be true. I am sure the system does work in the lab – under controlled conditions. Sadly however the real world doesn’t much care to be controlled and neither does the Internet.

Video compression/streaming – they are talking about being able to compress and stream video far better and faster than anything currently on the market. Not a little better…. way better. Download any streaming video on the internet and there will almost certainly be a delay before it starts as your system buffers the video. It does this because the Internet isn’t a stable delivery platform… not even close. The buffering allows the video download to get ahead of your viewing so that when there is a lag in the download you can keep viewing smoothly and then, hopefully, the video download will catch up again when the connection quality returns.

Of course you can’t buffer game play because the game has to react to what you are doing with the controller now, not 5 seconds ago. So, even if their video compression is as good as they say it is, the Internet isn’t. The ability to provide a stable, close to real-time video stream at the quality they are proposing simply isn’t something they have control over. This sort of problem might not be an issue with something like a turn based game or an adventure but anything with an element of twitch control, such as a racing game, platformer or shooter will suffer badly when the quality of the connection drops. Far worse than current games that only need to transmit small amounts of 3D data.

The other issue with OnLive is that they are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Yes, cloud computing probably is the future for many games. Run your game on the server, prevent or reduce piracy, eliminate stock problems (you still sell at retail but the box just has a redmption code for a download) and remove the need for (obvious) patches. However all this can be done without the need for a giant (some may say Science Fiction) leap forward in video compression and a complete overhaul of the internet.

I am sure this service will make it to market in some form and I am sure that some games will appear but as for it being the future…. far from it. Personally I think it will be a phantom memory in a few years.

As usual the guys at Penny Arcade have things pretty well nailed.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/3/25/

Strawdog Studios have just announced their first iPhone /iPod Touch title “Turbo Duck” Strawdog Studios » Turbo Duck. The game is a fun arcade game in which you must guide a rubber duck around a pool to collect floating flags, while avoiding the obstacle’s which fill the pool over time. Hazards include toy boats, submarines, mines etc.

The game has twenty levels and will be availble by the end of March. Price details and more screenshots over at the Strawdog Studios site (http://www.strawdogstudios.com/games/turboduck).

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/eidos-clarifies-pivotal-redundancies

In a story posted on Gamesindustry.biz, UK publisher Eidos has corrected some inaccuracies regarding the announced redundancies at the company’s Bath, UK based development studio Pivotal Games http://www.pivotalgames.com/

Eidos has issued a statement to GamesIndustry.biz to clarify the number of staff made redundant at UK developer Pivotal Games.

A maximum of 95 staff are to be axed, while the remaining “ between 10 and 12 artists “ will stay with the publisher long-term.

“The number of jobs which will be made redundant at Pivotal Games will be between 93 and 95, not the rumoured 99 which has been mentioned by some websites,” said the company.

Yep you read that right. Eidos went to the trouble of issuing a press statement to clarify that only 95 people are being made redundant instead of the 99 reported by some sites. I wonder who the lucky 4 are who get to stay while 90% of their colleagues are losing their jobs.