• Aurora Feint Upgrades OpenFeint SDK Enabling Developers to Easily Choose Between Basic and Advanced Integrations as OpenFeint User Community Reaches 25M players

    OpenFeint 2.5 Basic Integrations make leaderboards and achievements trivial to add with simplified APIs and Game Center compatibility; Advanced Integrations to support new Turn-Based Multi-Player and Action Replays

    BURLINGAME, CA- May 27, 2010 – Mobile social gaming company Aurora Feint today announced a significant API architecture upgrade of its popular OpenFeint online gaming SDK, with the release of OpenFeint 2.5 next month. The company also announced that dozens of developers have endorsed the upgraded API architecture.

    OpenFeint 2.5 features completely revamped social APIs for leaderboards, achievements and Game Center compatibility. It also includes the much awaited turn-based multiplayer with push notifications for developers of multi-player games. OpenFeint has re-structured all the APIs and this will make what has been called “a twenty minute basic integration” even faster to implement. Also, it’s now incredibly easy for developers to create personalized gaming experiences such as integrating scores and friend profiles directly into the gameplay.

    “OpenFeint has two major segments amongst our 8,000 registered developers. Those developers who want to turn their game into an online game instantly with leaderboards/high scores and achievements, and those who want to also take advantage of our advanced features” says Jason Citron, CEO of Aurora Feint. “It’s already pretty easy, but we’ve made it even simpler to do interesting things with leaderboards and achievements. For example, now you can bring leaderboard scores directly in your game the same way as Doodle Jump with just one simple function call.”

    With OpenFeint 2.5, developers will be able to mix and match Game Center and OpenFeint features when building their games. The restructured API architecture will make Game Center and OpenFeint co-existence seamless for developers who choose to use Game Center.

    Dozens of developers in the private beta have endorsed the new approach and have started integrating key new features of the upgraded SDK into their games. There are several games already in the App Store using OpenFeint 2.5 turn-based multiplayer today including Optime’s Tic Tac Toe, Mecho Wars, and the recently released Checker Kingdoms by Centurion Games.

    “We’ve been using OpenFeint in our games for a long time and we are extremely excited about the upcoming 2.5 version,” said Paul Jackman of Origin8 Technologies. “The new API is a big improvement and will make it easier for devs to achieve seamless integration and easier for new Openfeint developers to learn. The multiplayer support is also a huge bonus as now even smaller developers will be able to add this extra feature with the minimum of hassle.”

    The company’s mobile social gaming tools have quickly become the industry standard for major gaming companies. In the past two months alone Capcom, Digital Chocolate, Hudson Soft and Glu have all announced partnerships with OpenFeint for mobile social gaming and discovery.

    About Aurora Feint, Inc.
    Aurora Feint, Inc.’s software development kit, OpenFeint, allows game publishers to implement services which enable mobile social gaming. With 25 million registered users and a presence in over 1,900 games, OpenFeint is the first and largest social gaming platform for the iPhone. Aurora Feint is backed by DeNA Inc.

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    Media Contact:
    Ken Johnston
    VSC Consulting
    ken@vscconsulting.com
    415.677.9125 x 204

     
  • People Operating Technology Releases Death Panel

    New Free iPhone Game Hopes to Educate Americans on the State of U.S. Health Care

    Need the facts? Death Panel has you covered

    (BOSTON) – December 10, 2009 – In the weeks since the House passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, claims, figures, and statistics have been passed off as facts or lies depending on who you ask, as people struggle to educate themselves on the U.S. health care industry. Now, iPhone users can gauge their knowledge of health care reform with the launch of Death Panel, a free iPhone and iPod Touch game from People Operating Technology. The game is 100% non-political, non-partisan and incorporates third-party facts into game play via a quiz-like interface.

    Death Panel is the first and only iPhone game that incorporates fun and interactive game play backed by third-party government-documented data. When the game is over, users are encouraged to share their scores online with friends via Facebook and Twitter in hopes of driving awareness and comprehension to the most important social and economic issue today.

    “Mobile technology provides a fascinating medium though which businesses and other organizations can gain mindshare,” said Jason Petralia, co-founder of People Operating Technology. “We made Death Panel to shed some light on a hot topic in a compelling way”.

    According to US Census, last year saw the number of uninsured increase to 46.3 million from 45.7 million in 2007. The percentage and number of children under 18 without health insurance were 9.9 percent and 7.3 million. The uninsured rate and the number of uninsured for children are the lowest since 1987.

    In order to educate users to these facts, Death Panel puts users in the role of their local office holder. To build a strong constituency and progress in the game, the user must stand on a virtual platform and answer questions correctly about health care from an anxious public.

    Death Panel also features an integrated Geo-locational roster of real-life congressional “players”, indicating state, political affiliation and enumerating funds received from lobbyists.

    Incorporating hundreds of questions about health care reform, Death Panel also features:

    • Original audio soundtrack
    • Unique artwork & graphics
    • Facebook & Twitter sharing capabilities

    Information and data for Death Panel is collected and from WhiteHouse.gov, StateHealthFacts.org, the NCHC.org, and FactCheck.org.

    Death Panel is available for free in the App Store or at http://bit.ly/DeathPanelGame. For more information please visitwww.peopleoperatingtechnology.com

    deathpanel1 deathpanel2 deathpanel3

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    CONTACT

    Michal Habdank-Kolaczkowski
    VSC Consulting | AppLaunchPR
    415.677.9125 x207
    michal@vscconsulting.com

     
  • New Live Action Trailer Available for Flick Kick Rugby

    MEDIA ALERT

    NEW LIVE ACTION TRAILER AVAILABLE FOR FLICK KICK™ RUGBY

    #1 Sports Game in New Zealand in Apple’s App Store

    December 10, 2009 – PikPok™, the New Zealand based publishing and development group focused on the growing iPhone and iPod Touch apps market, today released a new live action trailer for Flick Kick™ Rugby.

    A Hi-Res version can be downloaded here:
    http://www.game-newswire.com/images/Sidhe/Flick_Kick_Rugby_LiveTrailer.mov

    For more information on Flick Kick™ Rugby, please visit: www.pikpokgames.com

    Flick Kick™ Rugby Features

    Intuitive Flick Kicking: Control the angle and curve of your kick with the flick of your finger.

    Realistic Rugby Pitch: 360 degree wind with shifting severity. Anything from a light breeze to gale force winds must be taken into account if want to score a conversion

    Multiple Game Modes:
    – Sudden Death: The classic test of skill. No time limit, just keep making kicks to add multipliers to your score.
    – Arcade Mode: 5 kicks taken from five different positions. Score as many points as you can. The 5th kick at each position will award you bonus points if you make it. Each successful goal will earn you points, but keep your eyes on the wind strength and direction. Total is out of 25 possible kicks.
    – Time Attack: Quick Fire Flick Kicking! Make as many kicks as possible within the time limit – Don’t buckle under the pressure!
    – Practise Mode: Perfect your technique and learn how to become a kicking master

    Online Leaderboards and Achievements with OpenFeint Support: Show your friends that you’re the best kicker around

    iPod Library Access: play your favourite music during the game

    Stunning 3D graphics: Rugby fans – see if you have what it takes and step up to the ultimate conversion challenge!

    About PikPok
    PikPok is the iPhone and iPod Touch publishing label and development studio created by Sidhe. With a portfolio of original and licensed entertainment properties in development for the platform, PikPok is positioned to deliver games that appeal to mainstream consumers with pick-up-and-play gameplay, high-quality art, and audio design which provide rich game experiences. PikPok’s first title Fame, is based on the MGM feature film. For more information on PikPok, please visit: www.pikpokgames.com

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    Contact:
    Sean Kauppinen
    International Digital Entertainment Agency
    +1-415-299-2156
    pikpok@ide-agency.com