Joystiq

Australian government invests in game industry to halt job migration

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:15:00 EST

Australia's government-funded Screen Australia program plans on investing $20 million into the local video game industry. Gamasutra reports the organization will spend $4-5 million on games production and $2-3 million on supporting business sustainability over the next year.

The organization cites the American-owned Firemonkeys, studio-killing LA Noire and Halfbrick (Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride) as successful signs of Australian-developed games - hey, one legit shout-out to Halfbrick out of three ain't bad.

Australia has had to spend the past several years reinventing its place in the video game industry. Unfavorable exchange rates for foreign investors caused major publishers to pull console game development out of the country, causing severe job losses over a three-year period. The region has found success focusing on the mobile market.

Australian government invests in game industry to halt job migration originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here's what Real Racing 3 looks like on iPhone 5

Mike Suszek — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EST

Take a good look at the screen above, because it's from today's live demo of Real Racing 3 at Apple's press conference event for the iPhone 5. The EA Firemonkeys game, announced last month for iPad, will be optimized for the upcoming Apple device later this year.

EA's press release also mentions "time-shifted" asynchronous multiplayer for the game, which uses Game Center iOS 6 challenges. Regardless, hot racing action on a four-inch retina display sounds just fine to us. Now about those controls ...

Continue reading Here's what Real Racing 3 looks like on iPhone 5

Here's what Real Racing 3 looks like on iPhone 5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Real Racing 3 coming in 2012 from Firemonkeys [Update: Trailer]

Xav de Matos — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:40:00 EST

The first game from recently merged developer Firemonkeys is Real Racing 3, the developer revealed moments ago during EA's Summer Showcase event in San Francisco. The racing sim was revealed for iPad during the event and is slated for launch in 2012.

The third installment in the originally Firemint-developed franchise is going bold with new never-before-seen features in the series' history, such as real-world tracks - including Laguna Seca and Indianapolis.

As a member of the EA family, Firemonkeys also has use of the Porsche license, which they intend to make use of, along with other licensed cars from Audi and Dodge and other unnamed companies.

Real Racing 3 coming in 2012 from Firemonkeys [Update: Trailer] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More Puzzle Quest coming from reborn indie Infinite Interactive

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EST

Yesterday's announcement regarding EA's Firemint and IronMonkeys merger actually had a sideplot to it, in that Infinite Interactive, which was "acquired" by Firemint last year, quietly split off this past January to be independent again.

"There was never an actual acquisition of Infinite, it was more of a merger. It was all amicable stuff - as much as it would be fun to have a bit of a scandal. Unfortunately there isn't one," Infinite Interactive's founder and creative lead Steve Fawkner told us. "I think everybody agreed that Infinite does its best work when it's independent, and so we headed back out into the wilderness to work on our own stuff again."

Fawkner explained he couldn't get into the "nitty-gritty" details about intellectual property ownership and that things are "a little more complicated" than before, but that Infinite do still retain the Puzzle Quest and Warlords IP rights.

"While I don't have a specific announcement that I can make at the moment, if you shook a Magic 8-Ball and asked it 'Will Infinite's next game be a Puzzle Quest title?', then it would quite probably say 'All signs point to yes!'," Fawkner explained.

"In the short term, we will continue to build and innovate in the genres and settings that we know and love. That means games that combine fantasy, puzzles, strategy and tactics. It's doubtful we'll ever move too far from those genres, because they are our favorites, and you always do your best work when you're building games that you're passionate about."

[Thanks Aaron S.]

More Puzzle Quest coming from reborn indie Infinite Interactive originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IronMonkey and Firemint merging into Firemonkeys, jungles burn across the world

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:30:00 EST

Electronic Arts is smooshing its two Aussie mobile developers together to form one studio known as Firemonkeys. IronMonkey (Mass Effect Infiltrator, Dead Space) and Firemint (Flight Control, SPY mouse) combined now form "Australia's largest game development studio." Awkward.

Firemonkey will continue working on separate projects, along with "collaborating on new ones out of the EA Melbourne office."

It should also be noted that shortly before it was acquired by EA, Firemint purchased Puzzle Quest developer Infinite Interactive. Now, the only thing more dangerous than Firemonkeys would be Infinite Firemonkeys.

Update: Turns out Infinite Interactive quietly split away this past January.

Continue reading IronMonkey and Firemint merging into Firemonkeys, jungles burn across the world

IronMonkey and Firemint merging into Firemonkeys, jungles burn across the world originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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