The arcade showcase Free Play Florida have gamers a chance to sample some classic titles.
Ms. Pac-Man, Elevator Action and dozens of pinball machines took over a ballroom at the Caribe Royale hotel in Kissimmee.
We were there early to check it out. Check out the proof below.
Continue reading Photos: At Free Play Florida, nostalgia reigns as Donkey Kong, Mario and friends visitIt’s been more than 35 years since David Crane created the platformer Pitall! for the Atari 2600.
This weekend, he will be in Orlando sharing his love for classic games at the Free Play Florida retro game festival.
He talked to The OVG about his career.
The OVG: Why are events like Free Play Florida important and why do you think so many attend?
Continue reading Pitfall! creator preferred building for Atari 2600It’s not just UCF and Full Sail University training the next generation of video game developers in Central Florida.
While those two consistently rank at or near the top in national studies that rank schools’ game dev programs, the relatively new Florida Polytechnic University has launched its own program.
This week, the school had an expo to show off what the 30 students in Florida Poly’s game design classes have built during the past several months.
Continue reading Florida Poly students showcase video games at expoLegendary video game designer David Crane said he probably should have seen the rise of esports way back in the 1980s.
While building games for Atari, a long hallway ended in a sort-of makeshift game room, where programmers would play the latest titles.
These often impromptu sessions would often draw six to eight people watching the gameplay.
“We, of course, looked at games differently than the average person – concentrating on design issues and technical implementation,” he told The OVG in an email interview. “But it could be entertaining nonetheless. It showed the value of watching an expertly played game.”
Crane would move on to Activision, where he would be the brains behind the legendary Atari 2600 game “Pitfall!,” and “Ghostbusters” for the Commodore 64.
This weekend, Crane will be in Orlando for Free Play Florida, an annual showcase of arcade games that serves as an homage to that classical video game period.
Continue reading Video game pioneer, Pitfall! creator David Crane says esports roots planted 40 years agoIt’s no secret that video game culture has become one of the more popular trends in technology and other industries.
That is clearly the case at attractions and the amusement park industry.
An international trade show in Orlando included several references to games, whether it was actual video games that were trying to make their way into the parks or exhibits that highlighted some iconic characters.
We took a few shots while roaming the trade floor.
Continue reading Photos: At IAAPA, video games emerge as theme park strategyA lot has changed in the 18 years that Shaun McCabe has worked in the video game industry, having contributed to AAA games like Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man while at Insomniac Games.
More people play.
Many play for money.
And the tools available for video game developers to build have grown in both number and sophistication.
But as tech advances the industry, one very important aspect of the industry remains unchanged.
“At their core, video games seek to engage players with compelling fantasies that allow them to experience the impossible,” he told The OVG. “That’s the same today as it was when I started my career 18 years ago.”
Continue reading In 18 years, Full Sail grad, Insomniac’s Shaun McCabe has seen video game industry evolveStudents at the University of Central Florida’s video game school will show off the titles they have been building this semester early next month.
The quartet of projects will include a virtual reality video game, a puzzle-solving platformer, a treasure quest game and a movie created using the Unreal Engine.
The groups at the Startup Showcase will exhibit their games at noon on Dec. 11 at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, 500 W. Livingston St.
Below are the descriptions of the four titles, straight from the development teams:
Continue reading 4 teams from UCF’s FIEA video game school to showcase gamesIndustry analysts have speculated that Electronic Arts could revive its popular NCAA football video game, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The move could mean more jobs for Orlando, as the company’s Maitland studio did the majority of the work on the title until it was canceled in 2013.
Electronic Arts will move its East Coast headquarters from Maitland during the next couple of years, the Sentinel reported.
Continue reading Report: EA could bring back NCAA, which could mean jobs in OrlandoA game that has players control a ball through a vertical level while collecting tokens won the top spot in the Orange County Library’s first-ever game jam, which asked those who attended to build a video game in a weekend.
The game – called Dreamscaper – was one of six built from Thursday through Sunday.
Library patrons throughout the day on Sunday played the games and voted on their favorites, with Dreamscaper receiving more votes than the other five games.
Continue reading Orange County Library hosts showcase of 6 games built at 1st game jamBen Noel was part of a team that would develop a video game that has a special place in the industry’s history.
Ultima Online was released in 1997 as one of the first massively multiplayer online role playing games while Noel was part of Electronic Arts’ Origin Studios, which created the title.
He was lured by the appeal of trying to create a networked world that connected hundreds of thousands of players to each other.
“That sounded a lot different than a video game,” he said.
Continue reading Watch: Interview with FIEA director, who helped lead development of Ultima Online
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