Launching Pad Games are trying to incur my wrath by putting time aside from working on the next chapter of the excellent iOS graphical adventure "Scarlett and the Spark of Life" to develop a new, very pretty, casual title called "Mighty Fin".

The trailer promises addictive gameplay that seems to share some characteristics with the excellent Tiny Wings (don't quote me on that - I'm only going off what I can see in the trailer) albeit with a lot more platformy style action going on in the levels, to keep it interesting. And it looks like the team are staying true to their strengths in the graphical department with polished presentation and appealing cartoony characters.

Humour and charm seem to be mainstays of a Launching Pad title and the inclusion of random costumes of various types from cowboy hats to scuba gear and beehive hairdos is just the right comic touch to add some extra appeal.

Mighty Fin is due to be released tomorrow, June 2nd so keep an eye on the app store for it!

31 May 2011 - SPARX an e-therapy game developed to help young people combat depression has won a World Summit Award winning in its category e-Health and Environment. “We’re very happy to have had the opportunity to work on this game with The University of Auckland and it's wonderful to see the project has won a prestigious award”, said Maru Nihoniho Managing Director of Metia Interactive.  SPARX was developed by a team headed by Assoc Prof Sally Merry from The University of Auckland, funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Health and developed by Metia Interactive Ltd from Auckland.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – May 30, 2011 – Leading smartphone games label, PikPok™, today announced that its popular title Flick Kick™ Football for iOS/Android has surpassed 1 million paid downloads.  Released in June 2010, as part of the Flick Kick series which also includes Flick Kick Field Goal, Flick Kick Rugby and Flick Kick Aussie Rules, Flick Kick Football has reached the sales milestone in just under a year.  Since launch, the title has benefited from updates adding new game modes, Retina graphics, Gamecenter, and online multiplayer support, alongside the release of follow-up titles Flick Kick Chelsea and Flick Kick Football Free.

“Flick Kick Football and the Flick Kick series have reached a huge number of gamers and sports fans,” said Mario Wynands, Managing Director of PikPok. “We continue to build on the success of the franchise and brand with more updates, releases, and are looking at additional sports to bring to the PikPok family.”

If you haven't heard of illustrator Martin Emond you might've heard of the Illicit streetwear label that he co-founded here in Auckland, New Zealand. He also made album covers for metal doom god Danzig and delved in other high profile comics work like Accident Man, Lobo and Heavy Metal.

Sadly, Martin's death in 2004 means we won't see any new creations from his unique talent but Auckland-based developer Metia Interactive, creator of PSP game Cube, aims to keep his legend alive with new projects set in the world of his creation, the Rolling Red Knuckles.

The comic strip for Rolling Red Knuckles developed a cult following in Japan and was in the process of becoming an animated series at the time of Martin's death.

The animation embedded here was developed by Metia to promote the Rolling Red Knuckles property for a future gaming and possible film project. There's a lot of exciting potential for this project and I'm looking forward to hearing more about it in the weeks and months to come!

Sidhe's Rugby Challenge is coming soon!

They're posting weekly videos on Wednesday at the Rugby Challenge site with interesting little snippets from behind the scenes on the making of a much anticipated sports title.

I'm always interested to see the videos where developers (or animators - as in Pixar's efforts) get to grips with the real deal substance of the game or movie they're presently working on.

In this latest video from Sidhe we can see the animators on the rugby field running around and getting knocked about as they pick up the visceral elements that comprise the rugby experience.

Looks like they had a lot of fun and I'm keen to see more in the weeks to come!

Keep tabs on the developing game at rugbychallengegame.com and find more about the creators of the game, Sidhe, at their homepage: www.sidheinteractive.com

Auckland-based social game SmallWorlds has received $2.5m in an investment round led by TradeMe founder Sam Morgan to capitalise on the booming market for games played via social networks.

Launched in 2008 by entrepreneurs Mitch Olson and Darren Green, SmallWorlds is New Zealand’s largest social gaming company with 6.5 million registered players. The investment will fuel SmallWorlds’ expansion in the billion-dollar social gaming sector, with the company aiming to be a $100m export earner by 2013. Games on social networks earned over US$1 billion last year, and are expected to be a US$5 billion industry by 2015.

“One of the keys to our success has been the creation of an experience that is deeply engaging, and at the same time really accessible. Visually, we believe we have one of the most attractive and advanced social games available in a web browser,” says SmallWorlds Co-Founder Mitch Olson.

Sidhe's marketing machine is in full force releasing ongoing content about the upcoming Rugby Challenge.

This latest behind the scenes video goes into the recording of the commentary audio for the game. So many possible permutations and so many options are required to allow for the dynamic real-time commentary! Veteran Rugby commentator Grant Nisbett (with over 200 Test Matches under his belt) and former All Black Justin Marshall have been in the studio for days, working to complete the content requirements.

Rugby Challenge is in development for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC and will feature multiplayer online play, a multi-year franchise mode, extensive customisation options, tutorials for the novice player and dynamic real-time commentary. The release date is Quarter 3, 2011.

Grinding Gear Games is an independent game development studio working on an online action RPG, Path of Exile. Every two weeks we post an entry in our development diary to give people some insight into our development process.

Like any modern video game, Path of Exile uses 3D low polygon count models with normal maps that are created from a high polygon source model. This week, our 3d modeller Saveun Man describes the process of creating these low-poly models and normal maps for a Path of Exile monster.

You can read the full article here...

A group of passionate game devs and like-minded cohorts are looking to setup a local Game Jam in Christchurch. If you're looking for a chance to bust out your creative skills and get together with a group of talented and passionate people check out the Event page for Game Jam: Christchurch!

One of the key organisers and focused drivers of the project is Donald Bubbins, creator of the Winnitron NZ. If you haven't heard of the Winnitron it's essentially an arcade cabinet for indie games! You can find out more about the NZ version (and its predecessors) from the tumblr page.

The plan for Game Jam: Christchurch, as it stands at the moment, is to have the Winnitron onsite for development and just plain entertainment. (Looking forward to getting it up here to Auckland one day, we hope?)

Donald also plans a screening of Indie Game: The Movie - as per the trailer embedded in this post which features indie poster boy (one of them, at least ;) Derek Yu.