If you haven’t yet played Section8, you owe it to yourself to download the demo on XBOX Live or hit up GameStop for a copy.  The single player action is fun and the multi-player totally rocks.

Congratulations to both the team at Timegate our internal project team including:

• Producer – Steven Flenory
• Associate Producer – Mike Jodon
• Lead Engineer – Eric Torrey
• Contributing Engineer – Ola Mork
• Interface/Frontend Engineer – Josh Childs
• Lead Interface Design – Christian Arca
• Interface Design – Elliott Haase
• QA – Joe Falzano & Devon Smith
• Systems Administrator – Jason Laporte
• Visual Design – ID29 (Special shout out to our buddy Bryan Kahrs!)

Nice job all around folks.  Now get ready for the next round of features!

I’m just going to parrot the MLG news post here.

MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING ACQUIRES AGORA GAMES

Deal brings online, multi-platform development expertise to fast-growing competitive gaming property

NEW YORK CITY—AUGUST 18, 2009—Major League Gaming today announced that it has acquired Troy, NY-based Agora Games. Known for both its technical expertise and elegant product development, Agora has built some of the leading video game community applications in the industry. Together, Agora and MLG will work both to enhance MLG’s online offerings, as well as to expand the services that both companies currently offer to the game publishing community.

“Cross-platform video game competition is what MLG is all about,” said Matthew Bromberg, president and CEO of Major League Gaming. “We already operate the largest online competitive gaming property in the world. Agora is the leading developer of multi-player communities in the world. Coming together with Agora allows us to double-down on our biggest strength.”

Over the last four years, Agora has developed some of gaming’s highest profile, most ambitious community websites for titles including Guitar Hero, Transformers, Call of Duty World at War, and Dance Dance Revolution. Their technology currently tracks game play statistics for over 25 million players around the world. Founder Michael DelPrete will remain as president of the wholly-owned subsidiary. Agora will continue to operate out of its Troy, NY office. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“MLG has shown the world that competitive video gaming is both a great live sports experience and can be the basis for a thriving online business,” said Michael DelPrete, founder of Agora Games. “We share a vision of the marketplace, and we’re confident the combination will better serve our existing customers and open up new opportunities to expand our offerings.”

The acquisition presents significant opportunities for game publishers. Agora has become the go-to technology developer for handheld and web-based extensions of video game experiences. Major League Gaming has proven its ability to build massive audiences around exciting new competitive social experiences. Together, Agora and MLG will partner more deeply with publishers and developers looking for deeper engagement, more ever-green experiences, and greater unit volume.

ABOUT MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING
Major League Gaming is the largest professional video game league in the world. MLG is the dominant media property exclusively targeting the approximately 40 million consumers in North America who have a passion for playing video games as a competitive social activity, while giving sponsoring brands access to this highly influential demographic. We represent the best professional gamers and give millions of aspiring players around the world an opportunity to compete, improve their skills, and socialize through our thriving online community and live Pro Circuit competitions.

While there’s the usual ‘link-up with your friends and kill them’-style deathmatch, allowing players who own either version of the game to pound on each other with the named characters from the story or their character from the main game, there’s also a special mode called Battle For Earth, which lets players duke it out for fame and glory, a list of the best players available on the official website.  The missions are more or less the same as the ones available in the main storyline, so it’s not ‘true’ DLC, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction for any DS owners looking at their console-owning comrades in jealousy.

For the full review be sure to visit http://www.wiids.co.uk/2009/08/11/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-decepticons-ds-review/.

“The new Transformers game, like its DS predecessor, has an online web-site-based metagame that pits its owners against each other. And, as of today, the Autobot side is winning.”

Read the entire article here: http://kotaku.com/5303025/autobots-fans-currently-crushing-decepticons-fans

And this:

“The conflicts are waged by players connecting their DS online to activate daily single-player challenges and then uploading their point tallies. Those challenges are associated with regions on a world map, and the battle continues until a faction claims all regions.”

From this article: http://kotaku.com/5308747/decepticon-owners-turn-tables-on-autobot-gamers

Note: This editorial does not express the feelings of Agora Games as a company, and is solely the opinion of the author.

Art, by definition is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination typically in a visual form. A video game by definition is a game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display screen. By both definitions of each word, video games may be considered a form of art. The computer program which electronically manipulates images on a display screen must be created by a human. This human, must apply creative skill to create such images as well as the manipulation of images, images being a visual form. The definition of art clearly states that a the expression of human creativity is typically in a visual form, which video games by definition clearly do. Therefore, technically disregarding all personal opinions, culture, and other variable elements video games by definition are art. 

I strongly believe that video games are a form of art. Video games in fact include almost every single element of art there is. Let us analyze one of the most “accepted” forms of art in society which is included in video games, literature. Many video games these days staff writers to create a story for the particular game at hand. In fact, many game journalists include the quality of story within their review of a game. How much different is that then the New York Times reviewing a new novel? In fact, with games currently averaging about 20+ hours of gameplay it is safe to say that a well developed short story, or even a novel may be included within a video game. 

While one might argue that the quality of story is rather poor does this not also hold true to several novels? Sure one might say Gears of War had very poor dialogue and a rather poor story progression however, other titles provide players with a very well developed story and dialogue. An example of such a game in my opinion would be Mass Effect, in which a character Lorik Qui’in after you the player say, “I will let you go.” states the following, “Let me go? Do humans consider conversation a form of imprisonment? That would explain why so few of you are willing to sit down and talk…” This dialogue being directed at my character, therefore an extension of myself since I am controlling the character. The communication is not passive in nature, it is directed at myself and therefore directly impacts my thoughts and feelings on a personal level since it is I who am controlling this character, I who am a living breathing human being. The character being addressed is not print on a paper, it is my character, my choices which insinuated this response from Lorik. 

This method of immersion can not be achieved through a novel. Koster, touches on this subject by saying, “…games are very fundamental and powerful learning tools. It’s one thing to read in a book that “the map is not the territory” and another to have your armies rolled over by your opponent in a game. When the latter happens, you’re gonna get the point even if the actual armies aren’t marching into your suburban home.” Furthermore, video games are an accessible medium to any given audience. That is to say, while a certain skill is required to play a video game, both a novice gamer and an experience gamer will both be able to direct their in game experience into the subconscious, intuitive mind. However, in the art of literature, an experienced reader will gain a better experience into their subconscious, intuitive mind rather than a novice reader. 

Koster, in fact hits on this topic by comparing literature to games. “Consider the key differences between something like a book and different kinds of games. A book can do the logical conscious part of the brain pretty well. And really good readers have an ability to slurp that info directly into the subconscious, intuitive mind. But what a book will never be able to do is accelerate the grokking process to the degree that games do, because you cannot practice a pattern and run permutations on it with a book.” In essence, within a book you do not have the option to experience a scenario or event which you caused and observe the various outcomes of your actions. 

In addition to providing players with an immersive experience through literature, video games also provide creative visual elements which allow players to continue their immersion in a video game. Furthermore, combining both visual and literary elements provide the player with a unique experience which can not be simulated by any other form of art. Artists, art directors, and creative directors work in unison to give players a certain “feeling” or evoke a certain “emotion” while playing the game. 

The complexity and infancy of video games make the legitimacy of video games as a medium of art rather difficult to swallow. However, many other forms of art when first introduced went through the same life cycle. From the 1900s to the 1940s on screen films went from short black and white movies to full length hour long movies fully dressed with color and sound. As video games begin to mature and designers, programmers, artists, and musicians begin to become more experienced within this form of art I can only hope that the social stigma and media literacy problem evolves as well. One day I truly believe we will be walking through a museum watching interactive displays featuring some of the greatest forms of art, video games.