Vicious Cycle Software's Vicious Engine to Assist Development for "Minis" Initiative on PSP
Get ready for more bejeweled clones!
Published: September 22, 2009
October 1st is a day that will live in infamy, at least for people that work in the UMD manufacturing plants. While the ubiquitous and proprietary disc form isn't going away, it will take one step closer to obsolescence. You see, October 1st is the day that Sony will start offering most new games as digital downloads, as well as putting up a number of games from the back catalog as well (no word yet on the whole list, but it looks to be extensive). It also marks the launch of the "minis' program, which is clearly Sony's answer to DSiware (which itself is an answer to Apple's App Store). Featuring bite-sized games geared towards a casual audience, the "minis" should allow for more developers to churn out games quicker and cheaper, ideally passing the savings on to us poor starving game journalists.
One of the driving forces behind this new movement will be Vicious Cycle Software. You probably haven't heard fo them, and why would you? THey aren't a developer, or even a publisher. Nope, they are the guys who make the software that forms the backbone for the developers and publishers to work with. The best known game they have been involved in? Probably Puzzle Quest. Unless you work at Hilton, then they ALSO worked on some training video (?). But now they are farming that engine out to help developers work on some "minis".
“Everyone here at Vicious Cycle understands the challenges and expenses involved in video game development,” said Eric Peterson, president and CEO of Vicious Cycle Software. “We’re confident that SCE’s ‘minis’ program for PSP will make it easier and more manageable for both mid-sized studios and independent developers to design their dream game and introduce their work to a wide audience of players worldwide.”
“We needed a company that really understood the PSP platform, and the team at Vicious Cycle Software was ideally suited for the task,” said Zeno Colaco, Vice President, Publisher and Developer Relations, SCEE. “The Vicious Engine was the first commercially available game development platform to specifically support PSP, and that dedication to providing a high-quality handheld development environment has only grown stronger over the years.”
The adaptable, easy-to-learn Vicious Engine has been used to design games of every style, from adventure/platformers like Dead Head Fred to instructional titles like Hilton Hotels’ Ultimate Team Play and addictive casual games like Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords™. Vicious Engine 2 (Ve2), launched in early 2009, brings the same power and ease of use to the current generation of consoles with a number of new and improved features.
Ve2 made its retail debut in Vicious Cycle Software and D3Publisher’s Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard™, a third-person shooter with a sense of humor, released this past March across current-gen console systems.
One of the driving forces behind this new movement will be Vicious Cycle Software. You probably haven't heard fo them, and why would you? THey aren't a developer, or even a publisher. Nope, they are the guys who make the software that forms the backbone for the developers and publishers to work with. The best known game they have been involved in? Probably Puzzle Quest. Unless you work at Hilton, then they ALSO worked on some training video (?). But now they are farming that engine out to help developers work on some "minis".
“Everyone here at Vicious Cycle understands the challenges and expenses involved in video game development,” said Eric Peterson, president and CEO of Vicious Cycle Software. “We’re confident that SCE’s ‘minis’ program for PSP will make it easier and more manageable for both mid-sized studios and independent developers to design their dream game and introduce their work to a wide audience of players worldwide.”
“We needed a company that really understood the PSP platform, and the team at Vicious Cycle Software was ideally suited for the task,” said Zeno Colaco, Vice President, Publisher and Developer Relations, SCEE. “The Vicious Engine was the first commercially available game development platform to specifically support PSP, and that dedication to providing a high-quality handheld development environment has only grown stronger over the years.”
The adaptable, easy-to-learn Vicious Engine has been used to design games of every style, from adventure/platformers like Dead Head Fred to instructional titles like Hilton Hotels’ Ultimate Team Play and addictive casual games like Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords™. Vicious Engine 2 (Ve2), launched in early 2009, brings the same power and ease of use to the current generation of consoles with a number of new and improved features.
Ve2 made its retail debut in Vicious Cycle Software and D3Publisher’s Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard™, a third-person shooter with a sense of humor, released this past March across current-gen console systems.
