Tag: game developers conference

TRIPLEPOINTS OF INTEREST – WEEK OF FEB. 27

With the madness of GDC dying down, we here at TriplePoint thought we could sigh in relief. Little did we know…This week’s TPoI features PSVR’s success, Twitch announcing that it will sell games directly, and of course, the launch of the Nintendo Switch! What a week!

How Impressive Are Sony’s ‘Surprise’ PlayStation VR Sales, Really?

In the four short months that PlayStation VR has been available, it has already sold over 915,000 units – beating even Sony’s own projections. The New York Times reports that even the head of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Andrew House, had doubts regarding the PSVR and advised a slow approach towards production. Despite this, the PSVR managed to outsell both the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive which moved a total of 663,000 units combined. TechCrunch provides insight into PSVR’s strong market performance, pointing out that the PSVR is cheaper than its competitors and an accessory to the already successful PlayStation 4 with over 50 million units sold. In addition, Forbes highlights that the PSVR’s purchase rate is less than 2% when considered alongside the total number of PS4s sold. Beneath all these numbers, however, is the fact that PSVR’s success is a boon to the VR industry and will help it develop faster. In an interview with UploadVR, HTC Vive China expressed this exact sentiment while congratulating their competitor on its success.

Twitch partnering with game devs, studios to sell games on site

Love to donate to your favorite streamer on Twitch? Now you might be able to get a game with that money! According to Polygon, Twitch is edging into the online marketplace for video games, but with a twist. Instead of a simple click-and-buy market, Twitch will allow its users to purchase video games right from their favorite streamer’s page. To sweeten the deal, Twitch will contribute 5% of the sale to the streamer and give the purchaser a digital Twitch Crate, which will contain a randomized item such as a chat badge or game-specific emoji that you can use on the platform. The Verge reports that Twitch’s move into the marketplace will help streamline the purchase process as many gamers watch streams before making the decision to buy or pass up a game. By allowing its users to purchase from the site and contributing a portion of the sale to the streamer, Twitch hopes to be one step closer to being the ultimate hub for gaming on the web.

Nintendo Switch Sells Out All Over The World

Finally! It’s the day that everyone has been waiting for – Nintendo Switch launch day! All the anticipation ends today as every major retailer has stocked their shelves with the new portable gaming system from Nintendo. Or does it? Chances are, if you don’t already have a Nintendo Switch in your hands, you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer. Forbes is reporting that the Nintendo Switch is sold out around the world and to expect a trickle of inventory as Switches will continue to fly off the shelves in the upcoming months. According to USA Today, some gamers lined up for more than 12 hours in order to get their hands on the highly coveted device. It’s no surprise as the Nintendo Switch launches with Breath of the Wild, which received a perfect 10 rating from GameSpot. So if you don’t have the Switch yet, keep your fingers crossed and your eyes peeled for restocks from retailers, and if you did manage to get your hands on one, happy gaming!

GDC 2012: TriplePoint Client Preview

TriplePoint is bringing the heat to this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC 2012). And by heat, I mean a menagerie of clients with cool games and gear. (Obviously.) People keep asking what we’re up to, and it’s no secret, so… OK, actually,  there are some secrets. If I told you everything in this preview, what would be left for next week? Let’s just call this a sneak peek and get going already.

TriplePoint’s GDC 2012 client catalog:

In alphabetical order, because we love all our clients equally…

Frima (Multiplatform)

Frima Studio is flying in all the way from Quebec City Canada to tease a variety of titles in their original IP lineup including:

  • Lives & Death: A dark, adventure game in development with comic book legend Marv Wolfman for XBLA and PSN. A trailer, screenshots and concept art will be available.
  • Nun Attack: A tower offense game in development for iOS that puts the player in control of an elite squad of attack nuns. Extensive screenshots and character bios will be available.
  • A Space Shooter: A retro arcade style shoot em’ up available now for PSN, iOS, Android and Kindle Fire. Playable iPad demo available.

Frima’s booth will be located at Kiosk #10 inside of GDC Play. Contact zfuller (at) triplepointpr (dot) com for appointments.

Papo & Yo (PSN)

Papo & Yo, the PSN puzzle platformer already getting nods as one of 2012’s most anticipated titles, will be on the GDC show floor in Sony’s PSN section, showing a new gameplay demo. As Quico, a young boy, players travel through the surreal world of Papo & Yo with companions Lula, a robot, and Monster, a monster. Need assistance getting in on all this awesome? Contact joleary (at) triplepointpr (dot) com.

Paradox (PC)

Paradox Interactive is doing 2 cool things at GDC that you should know about. THE FIRST COOL THING: Showing off four indie games at the oh-so comfortable Paradox loft on O’Farrell and Powell, not far from the Moscone. Three titles being shown are unannounced; one of them is the new project from the Magicka development team. And they are:

  • A Game of Dwarves, from acclaimed independent developer Zeal Game Studio
  • Project “JFK” by Arrowhead Game Studios, creators of Magicka
  • Project “Revenge!” by Brazilian dev team Critical Studio
  • Project “Silverado” from Zeal Game Studio

THE SECOND COOL THING: Paradox is hosting a multiplayer event on Tuesday March 6th at 4pm! The game being shown is War of the Roses (from Paradox and Fatshark). It’s basically going to be a kick ass LAN party with beverages and what not. Think: Battlefield meets medieval combat. Want more details? Need some help? Hit up dmartinez (at) triplepointpr (dot) com.

RocketChicken (iOS)

Developers from RocketChicken are flying in from the great white north (or just Vancouver, if you prefer) to demo their new location-based ARG iPhone app at GDC next week. An ARG iOS app? Yup. It’s called CodeRunner and, in it, you get to be a badass spy. You get to interact with OTHER badass spies. You can to leave “dead drops” all around the real world (which can be physical or picture clues left via riddles). AND the game has incredible production value, from voice acting to video.

Furthermore, I think you should check this out because our content manager has been running around San Fran all week setting up geo-locations for the demos. I need him back, and you need this game. CodeRunner details are here. Contact pklugman (at) triplepointpr (dot) com for appointments.

Shadow Government (iOS)

Play the news, rule the world. That’s right, you heard me. Shadow Government is the brain child of Playmatics, one amazing development team and a heap of government data from the Millenium Institute. It’s a little hard to explain, which is why it’s great news that the game’s creators are giving a talk next week to tell YOU all about it. Meantime, read more here.

Shadow Government is a reality-based social game for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and is set to enter closed beta next week. In addition to formal GDC talks by one of the Playmatics founders, Nick Fortungo, you can also catch the creators AND THE FIRST EVER PUBLIC DEMO at the Swiss Game Arcade on Tuesday evening. RSVP for that, stat. If you’re a reporter and you want to meet with the development team outside the Swissnex event, please contact kate (at) triplepointpr (dot) com.

Sketch Nation Studio (iOS)

This iPhone app is more than a game – it’s a toolkit that allows you to build your own games, then sell them for REAL MONEY on the ACTUAL APP STORE! Draw your game’s characters and scan them in, or create them using the in-app painting tools. Then create your game, whether it’s a shooter, free-runner, platformer, racing game, the sky is the limit! It’s totally free, and players can earn in-game currency by selling their hand-drawn assets in Sketch Nation Studio. For more info, please contact rjones (at) triplepointpr (dot) com.

SweetLabs (Pokki)

I said SweetLabs, not sweetbreads. This company is sweet nonetheless, and they’ll be showing off their new Pokki platform next week in the Intel booth (#1024 ) during show hours. Oh but THAT’S NOT ALL, friends. SweetLabs will also be hosting a panel on Tuesday as part of the Social & Online Games Summit (with Dan Hsu as moderator and execs from EA, Digital Chocolate and Kabam). During GDC, SweetLabs will also be announcing the winners of their $50K developer challenge, honoring top original game submissions. You can schedule a chat with SweetLabs co-founders by contacting dblackwell (at) triplepointpr (dot) com.

What does Pokki do? It brings awesome apps to your desktop. That’s what.

More, you want more detail? Oh alright. Pokki’s app platform is transforming the “desktop” experience with games from the likes of Kabam, EA and Digital Chocolate, in addition to other multimedia and communications apps. That means better discovery and increased engagement for game publishers through one-click access to content via desktop apps. Pokki enables developers to create full-featured desktop apps for Windows 7 using HTML5, which currently includes apps such as EA’s Madden NFL Superstars, Kabam’s The Godfather: Five Families, Rdio, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter.

Was your favorite TriplePoint client not on the list? It doesn’t mean they won’t be at GDC in some capacity next week. Maybe their stuff was simply TOO secret to talk about yet ;]