8
Apr
2010
Game-On! Triangle Game Conference v2.0
Triangle Games Conference – Raleigh, North Carolina April 7th-8th
http://www.trianglegameconference.com/
For those of you not in the know, Triangle Games Conference is in its second year and is bigger and better than ever! It has expanded more than 50% since its inaugural year last year. The Research Triangle area of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham) is the third largest video game development cluster area in the United States. (right behind the Bay area, CA and Los Angeles) However, the big draw for this convention and this area is the fact that it is the World’s largest region for video game engines. That is mainly because of the incredible success and the legs that Unreal Engine 3 has in the gaming industry.
Main companies in the area: Epic Games, Insomniac Games, Red Storm, and EA even has a presence here.
Sidenote: The governor of NC, Beverly Purdue, is going to be making an appearance at the conference today to show her support of the industry and the business is brings to the region.
Expect more coverage from me about this event in the next day or so, including a liveblog of panel speakers!
1
Jul
2009
TPR Podcasts: Rants – Episode 2 : The Problem With MetaCritic
Here’s the second installment of the series of TPR micro-podcasts: Rants. Hope you guys enjoy. Please leave your feedback in the comments section to let me know what you think!
PSN – UNCyrus
Skype – UNCyrus
29
Apr
2009
Insomniac: “The PS3 is easier to Develop for than the PS2″
Nathaniel Bell – Senior Environment Artist for Insomniac Games had a chance to sit down and talk with me at the Triangle Game Conference about what it’s like to develop on the Playstation 3 console. He has as first hand experience developing environments for several Ratchet and Clank games as well as both Resistance titles for the PS3.
The conclusion that he reached was that because of Insomniac’s amazing engineering teams, and since they make all of their own development tools in house, they as a company have been able to learn from their past experiences and develop new tools to improve on them. This has led to his job becoming increasingly easier over time to the point where “it would be a nightmare to try to develop without the tools we have now”. In the end, he just came out and said that he has had nothing but great experience developing solely for the PS3 now, and because of the tools that he has at his disposal, “The PS3 is easier to develop for than the PS2″.
This will hopefully lay to rest all of the arguments about how “hard” it is to develop for the Playstation3. If you put the time and effort into learning the architecture, then amazing games are possible, as is evident from what Insomniac has released.
Keep checking back for more Triangle Game Conference updates!
27
Apr
2009
The New Game Conference: TGC
There is E3, GDC, PAX, etc. But now look out because North Carolina is making a name for itself. The first annual Triangle Game Conference is slated to kick off this week in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. (Wednesday April 29th – Thursday April 30th) Why Raleigh you may ask? This is because Raleigh and the Triangle region are home to the third largest density of game designers and developers in the entire country. There are over 30 companies that are going to be represented at this conference that account for over 1000 employees.
What kind of big names would come to a conference in its first year? That’s a valid question, except when your company is centered in Cary, NC and you make such blockbusters as Unreal Tournament, and Gears of War. I am of course talking about Epic Games. Not only them, but also Insomniac Games (Ratchet and Clank, Resistance) and Atomic Games (Close Combat) are some of the big names headlining.
Make sure to come down and check out the conference if you’re in the vicinity of Raleigh. Tickets start at $30 a day for students and range to $300 a day for premium passes. Be sure to check out their conference website for more information as well as continue to check back here for continued coverage of the entire event as well as exclusive interviews with Epic and other developers.