Tag Archives: online

BigHead Bash comes to Facebook

Now you guys can play BigHead BASH on Facebook, our own gaming portal, SpicyWorld and on Kongregate. Not only can you play from wherever you like, but you’ll be playing against ALL the players from ALL those platforms ALL at the same time! Cool, huh?

Also, we’ve heard your concerns about weapon rentals and made a change we think you’ll like. To celebrate the Facebook launch weapons can be permanently purchased with tickets! This change will stay in the game from this point forward. Hope you enjoy!

We have also implemented Daily Quests! Players can now earn tickets, experience and tokens by logging in daily and completing different quests. For those who complete all the quests, you’ll earn a special weapons prize pack.

Lastly, we are having a BIG SALE. All toys are now 50% off. Had your eye on that Alice toy with Pepper Grinder Cannon? Now’s your chance to own them both!

BigHead BASH Head-Hunter Contest is Here

Today we are announcing a new contest:”The BigHead BASH Head-Hunter Contest”. The goal of this contest is quite simple: over the course of a week starting today, 27th July till 2nd August UTC 8PM, kill as many different players as possible to increase your ‘unique kill’ count. The one with the highest number of ‘unique kills’ in the game will win 500 gold tokens! 2nd and 3rd place players will also get gold tokens.

You can keep track of the daily leaders on the BHB Forum & Facebook

BigHead BASH Head-Hunter Contest

Happy Head-Hunting

Cross Platform/Device Gaming

“Console guys are running scared,” says Will Wright in an interview over on Games Industry. In the interview Will is asked for his thoughts on cloud gaming, to which he replies,

Will Wright: I think that is going to be the future. People have so many devices they carry around. They have their tablets, their smartphones, their PC at home, their Xbox – I think that having a game that’s accessible on all these devices at any time is going to be much more sticky than something you have to go home and play on your PC or only play on your iPhone. I think in that general sense, it’s going to hit a much broader group of players than dedicated games.

I couldn’t agree more!

Play anywhere on anything against everyone using a single persistent account. With all the gaming devices we’re surrounded by and ubiquitous network access connecting them all together it’s surprising how no game has yet to achieve this goal. There have been a couple of near-hits like Buddy Rush; though these offer a single login and gameplay across multiple platforms they don’t offer simultaneous multiplayer. This last feature is (in my opinion) a sort of holy grail which has the potential to unite gamers across all platforms and devices inside shared persistent worlds.

Cross platform real-time multiplayer links together what were once the separate islands of iOS, Android and web into a single mass community. This will improve player acquisition and retention – and help make marketing dollars spent on a single product more effective across all platforms and devices. It should also result in more engaged (happy) users who are no longer blocked by platform/device barriers when wanting to engage with their friends in the cloud.

This goal has been Spicy’s focus since we left the world of AAA console titles and entered into the F2P, online market. This week I’m happy to announce our first (and I believe the world’s first) truly cross-platform/device game launch with “Crazy Fairies: One World“.

We’ll launch CF into Closed Beta the week of July 16th. If you’re interested in checking it out, head over to the website, register and jump right in! About a month after the launch of the web/online version we’ll publish mobile versions for iOS and Android devices. And as soon as we get our hands on the latest Unity tech you should expect to see an Ubuntu build as well!

BigHead BASH Gameplay Trailer

This is the first official gameplay trailer from Spicy Horse’s upcoming online action game, BigHead BASH! The game just went into Closed Beta, which you can sign up for at the BHB Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bigheadbash

If you’re a fan of online multiplayer action games, BHB is worth checking out. It’s pushing the concept of F2P Facebook games into exciting new territory – combining stunning 3D artwork, intense action, real-time multiplayer gameplay, social elements and more… It’s the Facebook game of the future!

“BigHead BASH” Launching Soon!

The past year at Spicy Horse we’ve been pretty quiet about the projects we’re working on. There’s that secretive development of a PopCap IP – which if I even mention beyond those few words will result in pain, then death at the hands of an angry Borg-Zombie lawyer hoard. But we do have our own, original IP in development and no one telling us to “put a cork in it” about those.

First out the gate will be “BigHead BASH“. BHB is an action oriented, social online game with virtual items. Set in a toy store, the game revolves around side-on multi-player shooting matches. Players purchase toys and weapons from the shop, fight them, collect them and swap them. Licensed content will play a role in driving what sort of toys are seen in the shop; we’re signing deals with brands, bands, toys and games. Some very cool virtual toys are already in the pipeline.

Over the weeks to come you’ll start to see a lot more “action” around the title. Starting immediately we’re releasing a series of very cool wallpapers and concept images. A game play trailer will hit the ‘net before too long. And, if all goes well with development, we’ll soon launch a Closed Beta among a small group in our fan community. By early 2012 the game will be live on Facebook and several other social-online platforms around the world.

We have high hopes for the game – it’s among a handful of titles being developed with Unity for play on Facebook. We think Facebook gamers are looking for “more”: more action, more dimension, more variety and more FUN. BHB is our first shot at satisfying that demand. And it’s our first purely online game. It should be an interesting journey – and we sincerely you’ll join us on the ride. We’re looking for players, supporters, critics and even haters to help us shape the features and fun of BHB.

If you want more info (and you do!) please check out these locations:
www.spicyhorse.com (a full site redesign is about to be launched, with a BHB mini-page)
www.facebook.com/bigheadbash (the official landing page for BHB on Facebook)
flickr.com BHB area (my flickr area, with some BHB art)

Used Games = End of Gaming Industry

Used Game Sales

Rising Used Game Sales

Another in a long line of articles on the subject of second-hand or used games over at PC World. This time blog author Matt Peckham opines:

To hear some publishers tell it, used game sales are the devil’s work, and we–meaning us consumers–the devil’s henchmen.

We’re buying too many used games, you see, and in our patient thrift, we’re destroying the very thing we’re supposed to love.

Not the games themselves, mind you–first-class game development is flourishing with or without the World of Warcraft’s and Call of Duty’s–but, if we buy the corporate line, the ability of game publishers to reap increasingly massive revenues.

Read the full article HERE.

Nothing new, really. Industry reports indicate used game sales are cutting into new game sales. Publishers and developers feel the pinch. Consumers and retailers don’t see the problem. The economy gets some punching bag action. And finally, it’s suggested the “model” might be changing – moving towards more DLC and online content.

And what of online content? In China, where piracy is ubiquitous, there is virtually NO piracy or second hand sale of domestic game product. But then, there are no physical game good here – everything is online. What box product does exist comes from outside – Western games pirated and copied ad nauseum. Chinese gamers LOVE Western games – but what little money they pay for them will never reach the publishers or developers who made them. How different is this from second hand sales, BTW?

China’s game operators know how to run their businesses. They’ve built a model which disallows competition from developers, pirates, retailers or consumers. It’s a closed-loop system enforced by government regulation and licensing. And I guarantee you Western publishers would have adopted the model in a heartbeat if they could have.

Ideal models regulated by Communist edict aside, what’s stopping Western publishers from evolving? Simple: They’re too invested in the protected market model competitively evolved over the previous two decades. The one in which their ability to spend ridiculous sums of money on development, marketing and distribution guarantees they’re the only “legitimate” publishing organizations around. It’s only with the advent of “disruptors” like publisher-independent development organizations (see Valve), innovative hardware technologies (see Nintendo), and online distribution platforms (see Facebook, iPhone, Steam) that the old model is challenged.

The old guard, AAA publishers are backed into a corner. If they’ve not yet secured their online strategy then it’s likely too late. Dependency on a retail model that even the retailers admit is broken is, this late in the game, is a ticket to ride the way of the dinosaurs.

But then, that’s what we’re talking about here, isn’t it? Dinosaurs. And the little mammals nipping at their remains. It’s evolution in action. Should we feel bad about nature taking its course? Look at Asia to see the future – where the mice have evolved into men and are taking over the world. Deride the current model, poke at the dying beasts, and imagine what tomorrow will bring. A better world?

In all of this, never forget dear consumer, it’s YOU these beasts are feeding on. Nom nom.