Category Archives: General

General, Grimm

Kotaku: Grimm’s “Clever, fun, twisted”

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Butcher Portrait

Butchered? Not this piggy!!

Being avid readers of Kotaku and well aware of their tendency towards critical butchering, it was with bated breath and whisp’ring humbleness we awaited their hands on preview of Grimm Episode 1. Well, the preview is in… and the response is… GOOD!

Here’s a snippet from the article:

Grimm has a great, simple graphical style but don’t let that make you think it’s a game for kids. This is a very twisted world and the game will have an M rating. The humor is quite black and may have some players scratching their heads but those of you with a sick sense of humor will absolutely love it. The keyboard and mouse controls are simple and easy to use but if you tend towards the controller, you can use any USB controller at your disposal (including the 360’s). Each episode is short and can be completed straight through in about 30 minutes, but there are plenty of reasons to go back and replay the levels including secret items, power-ups, beating your time and the simple pleasure of seeing everything turn scary.

I’m glad to see Grimm continuing to receive praise in previews. The development team here in Shanghai is also quite happy – deservedly so. They’ve put an amazing amount of creativity and passion into the project, and it shows. Grimm production has been a lot of fun, and made all the better by the fact that the game is finding a happy audience.

Read the full Kotaku article here.

I’m just happy our piggy Grimm didn’t get the chop!

Asides, General

Titan Studios – Hiring Engineers

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Zeus

Zeus – The other Titan

My good friend Paul Meegan has started a new game studio in the heart of Seattle’s Pioneer Square. The team is working on AAA content and technology. And they are actively seeking highly qualified engineers who have experience working with Unreal 3. This is NOT an entry level position. Considering the team and the location this is an awesome opportunity for people with the right qualifications. Hell, I almost wish I was qualified! Interested parties should contact Paul here: paul.meegan [at] epicgameschina.com

General

First True Episodic

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The guys over at Penny Arcade have been producing some of game industry’s funniest and most revealing web comics since before I can remember. I’ve always been a huge fan, but that didn’t stop me from being completely unaware of their involvement in the creation of a new game concept – an episodic one to boot! I blame it all on my Chinese manufactured “Western Media Blinders” – usually awesome, for instance I have no idea what drugs Brittany and her friends are shoveling into their children these day, but then I miss cool industry news like this!

PA Image

Turns out they’ve worked with Hot Head Games to develop and recently deliver “On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness” which is, as their website informs us:

…an episodic RPG-Adventure game set in a deranged comic-book-meets-pulp-horror universe. Armed with unconventional weaponry, you join forces with the Startling Developments Detective Agency to make war on bizarre enemies and solve the mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia.

From the hilarious and twisted minds of Penny Arcade creators Mike ‘Gabe’ Krahulik and Jerry ‘Tycho’ Holkins, legendary game designer Ron Gilbert and veteran producers at Hothead Games comes a 100% authentic and hilarious Penny Arcade experience.

All episodes of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness are available for download on Xbox LIVE Arcade, Windows, Mac and Linux.

I’ve got to say: Awesome! I’m really looking forward to this one.

Featured, General, Grimm, Shanghai

Chinese Gaming Boom

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China is a fun place to be a gamer. If you aren’t buying 360 games on the street for 10RMB, you’re downloading them from P2P and sharing them with your buddies at work. We had to put a stop to that latter practice at the Spicy Horse offices – we found some of our guys were transferring 100s of Gb per day. Yikes. Regardless of how Chinese gamers get their hands on games, one thing is clear: Gaming is HUGE here.

As if the point needed further making, the following article posted on gamedaily.com today:

Niko Partners today revealed the results from a report on the Chinese video gaming industry. The 2008 Annual Review & Forecast Report on China’s Video Game Industry says that China’s 46 million gamers spent $1.7 billion on online games in 2007, an increase of 71 percent compared to 2006. Looking to the future, online revenue is expected to be $2.5 billion in 2008 and $6 billion in 2012, increasing by roughly a third every year.

“China’s spending on games is up thanks to their booming economy,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners. “14 million hardcore Chinese gamers play online games more than 22 hours per week. They play online, LAN, and single-player offline PC games in China’s 185,000 Internet cafes and increasingly on their PCs at home, thanks to falling prices and higher disposable income.”

That’s a lot of hours spent playing games. The (un-)funny thing is how these stats only track (basically MMO) online play. Console and PC gaming are huge, but so far no one’s paying for it. The culture doesn’t support it – neither does the market. Even if you wanted to buy a legit game – you’d have a tough time finding one.

The situation is far from hopeless. World of Warcraft and online-only Chinese games are amazing examples of the market potential. Just don’t put something in a box and expect it to avoid being pirated. This is a country where you can buy fake everything. Soy sauce made from hair, bamboo shoots made from chopsticks, and fake boiled eggs made from… I don’t want to know what.

To honor Chinese gamers and their warrior-pirate ways, here’s some Chinese warriors from an upcoming episode of Grimm:

ChineseSoldiers

Ni hao! If I told you what episode of Grimm then I’d get a sock stuffed in my mouth. Just enjoy the image and don’t ask questions! Wo bu yao wen ti!

General

Goat-Filled Grimm Interview

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A new interview has posted over at Playhard where we talk about Grimm, Spicy Horse, and non-spicy Goats. Here’s a quick chunk:

Give us some background about the company named Spicy Horse.

We formed the studio a little over a year ago. It started with just two people – myself and our Art Director, Ken Wong. Ken’s the guy responsible for creating our very cool logo. Without that logo we wouldn’t be as cool as we are today – so we’re very thankful to him for that. When we started, Ken and I were down in Hong Kong – but we moved to Shanghai for the beautiful weather, complete lack of pollution and abundant supply of goats.

To read more, check out the full article HERE.

General, Grimm, Spicy Horse

New Spicy Horse Website

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Spicy Horse has a new website! You can check it out here: www.spicyhorse.com

The site was built by a company in Shanghai called Mediaman. It took us almost a year to search through local web development houses before finding their team. During that time several companies built proposals and test sites – the results were always poor. But after the first meeting and delivery of proposal materials from Mediaman we knew we’d found the right people to build our site. Everything they delivered was professional, clear, and beautifully constructed. The end result is something we’re really happy with. If you’re looking for talented, professional web developers, definitely consider these guys: Mediaman

Site content is being updated and maintained by our tireless community manager, Lilith. Over the coming months she’ll be prepping the Spicy Horse site and the new Grimm site for the launch of the first Grimm episodes. If you have any comments or suggestions for her you can send them to her via the comments section on this blog, or through the Spicy Horse site Contact Page.