[casual_games] gamelab :: changes

Fri Mar 17 10:53:10 EST 2006

The project based model is similar to the film funding
model. Unfortunately, there is only one funding model
in US, which is publisher-developer model. But, it is
very common is Asia to explore different funding
models including the film style project based funding.

Here is a something more on what is happening at
Gamelab.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/03/gamelab_finds_w.html

-------------------------------
Seung Taek Lee (AKA Peter)
Co-Founder/President
Gamelab
tel: 646.827.6644
fax: 646.827.6645
368 Broadway #210
New York, NY 10013 
-------------------------------

--- Matthew Ford <matthew at fordfam.com> wrote:

> In case you are not on this mailing list; this is a
> significant development.
> Good on them! 
>  
> I wonder if this means they will eventually pull
> distribution from their
> other channels?
>  
> And who knows more about the "project-based
> investment" pattern mentioned
> below? I *think* I know but I may not have it right.
> 
>   _____  
> 
> From: gamelab [mailto:info at gmlb.com] 
> Sent: Friday, 17 March 2006 8:59 AM
> To: gamelab
> Subject: gamelab :: changes
> 
> 
> 
> BIG CHANGES ARE HAPPENING AT GAMELAB
>  
> The inventive game development company you've grown
> to love through titles
> like Diner Dash, BLiX, and LEGO Junkbot is busting
> out in all directions. We
> are becoming a game publisher, starting a new
> partnership with Curious
> Pictures, pioneering a new form of game financing,
> receiving a major
> research grant from the MacArthur Foundation, and
> we've got great new games
> to boot! 
>  
>     = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>  
> -Gamelab the publisher-
> That's right: Gamelab is becoming a game publisher.
> We'll be financing and
> distributing our own work. For a creatively-driven
> company, this is an
> important and necessary step in our evolution: there
> are new audiences to
> reach, new stories to tell, and new forms of
> gameplay to explore. Initially,
> we'll be focusing on three downloadable games - the
> same business model as
> Diner Dash - but multiplayer and handheld games are
> also on the horizon.
>  
> -Curious Pictures partnership-
> Gamelab is teaming up with Curious Pictures, a
> leading NYC-based animation
> studio known for award-winning series like Kids Next
> Door and Sheep in the
> Big City. Curious and Gamelab are creating a
> narrative property that we'll
> publish as a downloadable game and bring to a
> variety of other media.
> Code-named BRENDA'S BRAIN, the project brings a
> Hello Kitty pop sensibility
> to the adult world of psychological quirks. 
>  
> -A new funding model-
> It's one small step for Gamelab, one giant leap for
> independent games.
> Taking a page from the film industry, Gamelab is
> funding titles through
> project-based investment. Not a traditional game
> publishing deal and not
> venture capital, project-based investment has been
> bandied about the game
> industry for years - and now it's here. We already
> have one project underway
> funded through this model, a downloadable game about
> office life that we'll
> publish ourselves. More games funded on this model
> to come.
>  
> -It's genius-
> And now for something completely different. The
> MacArthur Foundation is
> awarding a major grant to Gamelab and the Academic
> Co-Lab at the University
> of Wisconsin, Madison. The $1 million+ award will
> fund the research and
> development of Game Designer, innovative educational
> software that will
> teach junior high through university students about
> game design by letting
> them create and modify games. The Academic Co-Lab,
> headed by leading game
> scholar Jim Gee, will work closely with Gamelab
> throughout design and
> production. Game Designer is part of The MacArthur
> Foundation's ongoing
> support for research and innovation in digital
> media, youth, learning, and
> education.
>  
>     = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>  
> -Play games now-
> Of course, Gamelab is still making great games!
> We've got two downloadable
> titles just out on the web, both published by
> PlayFirst. Plantasia is an
> action sim about gardening, featuring a romance
> story about a hard-working
> fairy restoring the gardens of a dilapidated estate
> and a handsome
> groundskeeper with a tragic past. Egg vs. Chicken is
> a comedic action-puzzle
> romp through time, as the player helps a rag-tag
> team of eggs fend off
> marauding chickens as they battle over which came
> first. Both games feature
> approachable and addictive gameplay, chock-full of
> music, story, and
> luscious visuals.
>  
> -More games soon-
> We've got several more original games coming out
> over the next few months.
> LEGO Fever, a project we're publishing in
> partnership with our favorite toy
> company, is one part wild LEGO brick building and
> one part hip nostalgia.
> Shopmania, published by iWin, is a frantic parody of
> consumer culture that
> puts the player behind the retail counter of a mega
> superstore. Two pop
> culture games with VH1 are also in development. Last
> but not least, Gamelab
> is continuing a partnership with NYC nonprofit
> Global Kids, in which we
> collaborate with high school students to make a game
> about a social issue.
>  
>     = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>  
> -Anything else?-
> Gamelabbers are busy as usual outside our office. At
> the Game Developers
> Conference next week, catch talks from Nick
> Fortugno, Peter Lee, and Eric
> Zimmerman. Eric also just launched The Game Design
> Reader, an anthology
> co-edited with Katie Salen  and published by MIT
> Press. Greg Trefry
> continues to write smart game reviews for
> PopMatters.com and Nick Fortugno
> pens design essays for gamezebo.com. Jacqueline Yue
> created a series of
> information graphics for Metropolis Magazine. Nick
> Fortugno, Catherine
> Herdlick, Peter Lee, Mattia Romeo, and  Greg Trefry
> are hard at work on Come
> Out and Play, a festival of street games running
> this fall in NYC. Lauri
> Berritta is getting her Manhattan-based Dirt Theater
> Company up and running.
> Beom Shim's award-winning animations are appearing
> in festivals in New York
> City, Paris, Rome, and Stuttgart. Ranjit Bhatnagar
> continues to exhibit his
> wacky robot musicians, at the Flux Factory gallery
> in Queens and the
> Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, CA.
>  
> -What is Gamelab?-
> The New York Times says Gamelab is a company with a
> "penchant for smart
> experimentation." But decide for yourself. The
> current Gamelab crew includes
> Lauri Berritta, Ranjit Bhatnagar, Naomi Clark, Tim
> Conkling, Josh DeBonis,
> Nick Fortugno, Heath Goldman, Catherine Herdlick,
> Yun Kyung Huh, Dauna
> Jeong, Peter Lee, Carolina Moya, Seok Min Oh, Peter
> Nicolai, Kyron Ramsey,
> Mattia Romero, YunHo Seo, Shim Beom Sik, Khoeun Tep,
> Greg Trefry, Howard
> Wakefield, Jonah Warren, Jacqueline Yue, Stephanie
> Yue, and Eric Zimmerman.
> Audio stylings by mixmaster Michael Sweet and his
> crew at Audiobrain.
> Gamelab TEENS include David Dai, Joel Esquite, Jane
> Friedhoff, Riley Gay,
> Ben Hayes, and Aaron Santigo.
>  
> Contact Eric Zimmerman for more information about
> anything mentioned above:
> 646 827 6644 / eric at gamelab.com.  
>  
>     = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>  
> Gamelab: www.gamelab.com
> Curious Pictures: www.curiouspictures.com
> MacArthur Foundation: www.macfound.org
> 
=== message truncated ===>
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