EA and Indie Games at GDC2013
March 2013 – At this year’s GDC, EA had an offsite meeting area to show showcase a number of the independent development companies that are using the EA flow and targeting mobile devices. Their showcase had about a half dozen development teams, we had a chance to talk to 4 of them – the team from Real Racing, Tetris Bliz, Snoopy Coaster and Tiny Troupers.
The Real Racing team introduced Real Racing 3 which is available as a Free To Play game on iOS, Android, Mac and PC. It features over 1000 races with real licsensed cars , driving in day time only, racing on known real licensed race tracks around the world. The game is supported by a Facebook Forum on the game status and features in game virtual currency to allow for purchase of new vehicles and upgrade of accessible vehicles. The game starts with 1 car that is available to you, and as you win races and ear points, you gain in-game currency to purchase additional cars. The races themselves range from as little as 10sec for ¼ mile drag strip style events, to 10mi or more for endurance style races.
Real Racing 3
A unique feature of the game is the ability to support an asynchronous multi-player mode. In this format, the race time you earned is stored for use by others, and they can race their vehicles against your time on the tracks, in a single player mode. This allows for people to compete in a mult-player environment, without any impact from network performance and the need to do real-time coordination. In addition to the competition modes, the game support an HDMI interface to large screens on Andoid and a TB to HDMI interface on iOS and OSx. At this time, the game supports up to 1hr of game play, and is looking at in-game currency wagering as an additional option. Like most higher end mobile games, the game supports auto-pause when played on mobile devices in the event of incoming calls or SMS message. Scores in these interrupted games can be marked accordingly, and require a continuation selection (not automatic) to restart after the call, so you can address the issues from the call before continuing with the game. The game can be found at http://www.ea.com/uk/real-racing-3-ios.
Tetris Blitz
EA also was showing Tetris Blitz. This is a new version of the game that has a two minute play time. The game which is available for iOS/Android/Kindle File platforms supports new PowerUps and finish options. There are new PowerUps available each week and you can combine them for up to 3 per round. The FTP game supports in-game currency to allow for use of PowerUps and features that have not been earned as yet. Primarily designed for iOS as the basis, the game did not support an auto-pause feature for the timed play. The game can be found at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.tetrisblitz_na&hl=en
On the Indie developer side, Chillingo had a couple of their titles on display. These included Tiny Troupers 2 – Special Ops (http://kukouri.com/games.html ) and Snoopy Coaster (http://www.chillingo.com/games/snoopy-coaster/ ). Both of these games are available on iOS. Tiny Troupers 2 is a follow-on game to the original. Designed to be played at 1015min per level, the game features about 8hrs of total game play. The game supports custom characters and in-game currency for purchase of weapons and supplies in addition to what is earned in the game. The game also features a live leader board for each of the campaign levels, so single player game for the iPhone and iPad can be shared under social media. The game is available for $1 at iTunes, and currently available free.
Tiny Troupers 2 – Specail Ops
Snoopy Coaster is the newest release from the Peanuts group. It is a traditional side scroller style game with the Peanuts characters. The game supports in-game currency for unlocking features and shopping for collectables to supplement the points earned in the game. Unlike some of the high profile characters in the gaming and comics industry, the Peanuts group allows for screen grabs and images from the game to be captured and used on the devices as background, wall paper and to be used as social media posting to share accomplishments in the game. Typically available for $0.99, the game is the app of the week and currently available free from iTunes.
Snoopy Coaster for iOS
Chillingo also acted as host for the 100% Indie developers get together at GDC. This event was packed with a very enthusiastic audience of independent developers and those providing workflows for the group. The community is a very social one for sharing time and discussions regarding development, and the majority of the attendees were very appreciative of a sponsor for an event focusing on Indies.
