I ended up at IGC this year and truth be told they're doing some amazing things. They've been looking for a partner in order to take they're game to the next level. IAC is pretty amazing as they are the owners of Expedia, Servic Magic (which I use for my other business), TicketMaster, QVC, HSN, etc...
The InstantAction platform is a great tool to get games to spread quicker. One feature in particular trumps all multiplayer interfaces including XBL. That feature is the party system which lets you and a group of your friends jump from game to game without having to break up or re-load or anything. So you can instantly jump from Marble Blast Ultra to the new Wideload ( Bungie spinoff founded by one of the original two founders ) title Cyclomite without leaving the InstantAction environment or your group of friends and just move your party from game to game. The viral marketing strategy of this system is immense.
Additionally, they are unifying their platform which will be called Juggernaut. The speeches today highlighted all the ways in which the tools will be streamlined and brought together so there will eventually be one platform. They are supporting poly-soup now, shaders in 2D, 2D and 3D in one engine, component systems for everything so in due time we'll have a new tool which isn't restrictive on platform or on creativity.
Back on InstantAction there will be a host of tools which help you analyze your game in real time. They'll be able to tell you what level people are quitting on etc... etc... Basically, all those things Microsoft did with Halo 3 to perfect the gameplay by using statistics tracking techniques will be available to all developers on InstantAction. The great thing is that they'll let you update the game essentially in real time to accomodate that feedback.
The things they are doing for developers is great and the resources that IAC are bringing to the table will allow any associated developers to reach a huge audience. This site/service will be at least as advertised as GameTap if not more.
The InstantAction platform is a great tool to get games to spread quicker. One feature in particular trumps all multiplayer interfaces including XBL. That feature is the party system which lets you and a group of your friends jump from game to game without having to break up or re-load or anything. So you can instantly jump from Marble Blast Ultra to the new Wideload ( Bungie spinoff founded by one of the original two founders ) title Cyclomite without leaving the InstantAction environment or your group of friends and just move your party from game to game. The viral marketing strategy of this system is immense.
Additionally, they are unifying their platform which will be called Juggernaut. The speeches today highlighted all the ways in which the tools will be streamlined and brought together so there will eventually be one platform. They are supporting poly-soup now, shaders in 2D, 2D and 3D in one engine, component systems for everything so in due time we'll have a new tool which isn't restrictive on platform or on creativity.
Back on InstantAction there will be a host of tools which help you analyze your game in real time. They'll be able to tell you what level people are quitting on etc... etc... Basically, all those things Microsoft did with Halo 3 to perfect the gameplay by using statistics tracking techniques will be available to all developers on InstantAction. The great thing is that they'll let you update the game essentially in real time to accomodate that feedback.
The things they are doing for developers is great and the resources that IAC are bringing to the table will allow any associated developers to reach a huge audience. This site/service will be at least as advertised as GameTap if not more.