SimCityEDU Inspires Learning Through Gameplay

Glasslab teamed up with EA to develop SimCityEDU, a STEM-centered educational tools based on SIMCITY videogame.

UFO from Simcity.com

Educators are taking a greater interest in games. It is becoming a trend in the learning community to embrace, redefine, integrate, inspire and engage students learning experience using the power of videogames.

Viktor Rydberg school in Stockholm, Sweden adopted gamification in their educational programs wherein all 13-year-old students must now take a mandatory course on Minecraft to enhance students learning experience about environmental issues and city planning.

On March 5, 2013, another project-based learning tools utilizing the digital platforms is set to launch to boost students interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. SimCityEDU, a collaboration between Electronic Arts (EA) and Glasslab is keen to serve as an online resource and community for teachers to create and share lesson plans.

“For decades, SimCity has been embraced by the educational community as an engaging videogame that also provides a powerful learning experience, teaching problem solving skills through imaginative civic gameplay,” said Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA’s Maxis Label. “We want to up the ante of SimCity’s educational influence. Through our partnership with GlassLab, SimCity will become the foundation of a program to re-imagine learning in a way that will inspire today’s youth to get excited about STEM education and become the problem solvers of tomorrow.” Source: EA Press Room

According to EA, SimCityEDU’s curriculum and tools will be correlated to U.S. Common Core standards.

Electronic Arts News has the full story.

To stay up-to-date on the latest regarding SimCity please visit http://www.SimCity.com.

SimCity – Concept Art – Crash Scene, Simcity.com

US-Philippine Business and Information Technology Delivery Council Propels Software And IT Industries In The Philippines

RDI was shown up on the radar in an article published within the Technology Section of Inquirer.net on Thursday, 8th November.

The article mostly focuses on the partnership between Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) and the Department of Trade and Industry as they attempt to prop-up the Philippines as a competitive provider of Software, IT, BPO/KPO and electronics manufacturing services and strengthen the country’s market presence primarily in the entire US and Canada.

According to Philippine Consul General Marciano Paynor, “with the right companies, we can build a microcosm that will drive the Philippines in the limelight of the global economic scene”.

RDI is among the companies endorsed by US-Philippine Business and Information Technology Delivery Council.  Read the full story via Technology.Inquirer.net. 

Eurogamer Expo 2012 In London

 

 

Hello gamers and game-enthusiasts!

RDI will be back in London on the 27th, along with thousands of gamers to attend this year’s Eurogamer Expo.

Eurogamer Expo, UK’s largest and most awaited consumer game show is returning to Earls Court London to welcome over 40,000 gamers from the 27th to 30th of September 2012. In this event, gamers will be given the opportunity to see the latest developments and most interestingly, will be given the opportunity to play major game titles, before their official release dates.

According to Eurogamer.net, there will be over 1,000 screens of playable gaming at this year’s Eurogamer Expo. Here are the game titles everyone is looking forward to get their hands-on during the event:

Assassins Creed 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Crysis 3
Halo 4
Hitman Absolution
Resident Evil 6
Dead Space 3
DMC: Devil May Car
Doom 3: BFG Edition
Far Cry 3
Fifa 13
Grid 2
Lost Planet 3
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Tomb Raider
Warface

To see the complete list of playable on the show floor, visit this link and see what’s on.
http://www.eurogamer.net/expo/whats-on

 

According to Tom Champion, Community Manager of the EuroGamer Expo, what makes the event stand out from the other rival gaming trade shows like GamesCom and E3 is the fact that EgEx is a consumer show. The event is geared towards showing ordinary gamers the latest pre-release games.

The organizers included additional features to the event such as career fair, indie arcade, retro area, tournament zone, cosplays, community meetups, parties and of course, the developer sessions.

RDI’s main aim in attending this event is to talk to developers, find out what services we can provide them with so they can release their games faster in the market. The event lasts a few days, but RDI will only be there on the 27th.

Here’s a link to the event if you’re interested to check it out.
http://www.eurogamer.net/expo/

If you’re planning on attending, let us know! It’d be great to see you!

Either say hello to us at info@renditiondigital.com or send a tweet to @rdintl

 

Like us on facebook, http://www.facebook.com/renditiondigital

Connect with us on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/company/renditiondigital-international-ltd

RenditionDigital International (RDI)

http://www.renditiondigital.com

 

Yoyo Games Recent Update To GameMaker: Studio 1.1

Great news to everyone passionate in developing games but lacking the tools and resources to empower your ideas and bring them to life.

Yoyo games has released Studio 1.1, an update to GameMaker, a DIY framework that allows users to create games. The recent update includes social network ‘Play Licensing’ support and ad networks. The audio system also has been re-written for better control of audio assets. Game Maker is created to enable ameteur developers, startups and small studios create games and make it big in the industry.

Supported services include AdColony, AdMob, Facebook, Google Play Licensing, iAds, MoPub, Pocket Change, and SupersonicAds. Yoyo Games is looking to add Google Analytics on their next update.

GameMaker: Studio has been developed with usability and efficiency at its core, allowing developers to create games in a single code base and then export and run them natively on multiple formats including HTML5, Facebook, Android, iOS, Windows and OSX. GameMaker: Studio offers a powerful, yet simple to use drag-and-drop integrated development environment with a built-in games-oriented scripting language that considerably increases games development productivity. GameMaker: Studio is a best-of-breed platform that caters to entry-level novices and seasoned game development professionals equally.

Source: Yoyo Games News

To take advantage of getting the FREE version of GameMaker: Studio for both Microsoft Windows and OS X, visit www.yoyogames.com

 Check out the screenshot from gamemakerblog.com

 

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RenditionDigital Int’l (RDI) provides offshore game testing, QA and game development. Visit www.renditiondigital.com for more information. 

A New Windows 8 Site For Developers Launched by Microsoft

For developers interested  in creating games for Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system, you can now download toolkits to make games with, attend online training and gather information for upcoming dev camps.

(Image Source: Windows Dev Center)

Here are some of the developer resources you can get from Win8 App website:

1. Windows 8 Developer Guide
2. Windows 8 App Developer Blog
3. Windows Store blog
4. Windows Store markets
5. Windows Dev Center
6. Code samples
7. Technical Docs
8. Channel9

Visit their website for more information, Windows 8 dev site.

Related tools, SDKs, and downloads for programming Windows Store apps also available.

Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 is the tool to build Windows apps. It includes the Windows 8 SDK, Blend for Visual Studio, and project templates. You must first install Windows 8 RTM.

Check out MSDN website for details.

API reference for Windows Store apps in JavaScript, C# and Visual Basic and C++ can be found here.

Supported APIs in .NET for Windows Store apps  can be found on this link.

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In the news today, Rare production director, Lee Schuneman is the head of Microsoft’s new London studio. The main focus of this new site will be on development for Windows 8 tablet.  Schuneman will report to Microsoft’s corporate VP of interactive entertainment Phil Harrison.

Lee Schuneman

Microsoft now has its fourth UK studios in addition to Rare, Lionhead and Soho Productions.

RDI At The New York Games Conference 2012

September 5, 2012 (Wednesday)-

RenditionDigital International Chairman, David Nash is attending the 4th New York Games Conference today, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York.

This one-day event gathers the most influential people in the gaming industry and connected entertainment covering the latest in technology and the future developments in console, mobile, online and social games. 

”RenditionDigital is a Dublin-headquartered provider of Game Support in the form of Game Testing and Game Moderation from our American-managed operations in Manila.” 
                                                       -Statement from RDI Chairman David Nash

 

RDI is particularly interested in networking with developers, publishers, technology providers and content companies that are looking to outsource QA/testing, iOS and Android development, Game Support and

 Moderation, Software Development, Web Development, HTML5 conversion, Digital Publishing projects. RDI is a strategic partner and a low cost provider. 

Check out the event here: http://nygamesconference.com/

 

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About RDI

RenditionDigital Int’l (RDI) is A Strategic, Reliable, Scalable Outsourcing Alternative

RenditionDigital Int’l (RDI) is an offshore outsourcing company that provides high-quality, cost-effective services in the areas of Software and Web Development, Multimedia and Flash Production, DTP/Localization and eConversion, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and more recently Gaming Support (Testing, Game Development, Moderation and Art Outsourcing). RDI has offices in Dublin, San Francisco and Manila. 

Visit http://www.renditiondigital.com/ for details.

 

 

GDC Europe and GamesCom 2012 Record-Breaking Attendance

 

GDC Europe 2012 has concluded last week with a record breaking attendance of more than 2100 game professionals. GDC Europe is a much more intimate event for game developers and gamers as compared to GamesCom massive record attendee count of 275,000 people.

According to Gamasutra, the breakdown includes over 100 speakers, 65+ exhibitors and sponsors, and nearly 300 media representatives. To find out what happened during the event, we invite you to visit their GDC Europe 2012 dedicated page.

GamesCom on the other hand reached a little over 275,000 attendees which is approximately the same as 2011. According to event organizers, the absence of Microsoft and Nintendo plus locking the tickets at a set of number prevented Koelnmesse’s overcapacity this year.

Joystiq.com has a list of some of the most interesting trivia about GamesCom 2012 including:

- Croissants consumed at hotel breakfast: 35 (2011: 27).
- Liters of multivitamin juice consumed: 6 (2011: 4).
- Number of times “excess” was experienced: 0.
- Number of times we were confused as working for the French magazine: 1 (2011: 2).
- Number of horse images in our hotel room: 10. Same hotel room as last year.
- Number of times a homeless guy asked us for for cash: 1 (2011: 12; 2010: 0; 2009: 8).
To find out their complete list of official and unofficial stats, checkout their website. 
Meanwhile, it has been a wonderful experience for RDI having been able to attend these two events in Cologne, Germany last week. We have posted some photos from the events on Facebook. Feel free to check them out. See you all in 2013!

 

GDC Europe and GamesCom 2012 To Host The Game Industry Giants And World Premiere Of Much-Awaited Games

It’s August everyone! And just a few days of anticipation and excitement for two of the biggest up-coming gaming events in Europe.  GDC Europe 2012 and GamesCom 2012 will be happening at the Congress-Centrum Ost Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.

View Larger Map

PR Newswire in their article dated July 16, 2012 has revealed the roster of game development giants participating in the GDC Europe this year.

Industry All-Stars Bigpoint, BioWare, Capcom, IO Interactive, Konami, Kongregate, Microsoft, ngmoco, Remedy, Sony XDev Studio, Ubisoft and more to Present Talks to Inspire Developers

-Source: PR Newswire via MarketWatch

GDC Europe is the largest European event for game developers, publishers and gaming professionals. The event not only talks about the latest in the gaming world, but also, new talks in the Social and Online Games Summit will be presented. GDCE 2012 will be held Monday through Wednesday, 13th-15th of August. Find out the latest and the highlights of this event by visiting their official website, http://www.gdceurope.com/

GDC Europe is owned and operated by UBM Technology.

Witness the world premiere of much-awaited game releases from both biggest and promising new developers alike at the GamesCom 2012 following GDC Europe. GamesCom will be held Wednesday through Sunday, 15th-19th of August at the same venue. GamesCom is the leading European consumer show for interactive games and entertainment. Find out the latest news and developments by visiting GamesCom official website, http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/en/gamescom/home/index.php

RenditionDigital International Ltd, a Dublin-headquartered company with an American-managed operations in Asia will be attending these two gigantic events happening in Cologne, Germany this year. RDI will be meeting some of the industry’s representatives during the events to discuss new developments and to offer offshore services such as QA and testing, flash engineering, HTML5 conversion, 2D graphic designs, avatar creation, iOS and Android development, moderation and support to game development companies and publishers.

To learn more about RDI services, please follow the link to their website, http://www.renditiondigital.com/solutions.php

Checkout the updates from RDI’s social accounts:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/renditiondigital

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RDIntl

GooglePlus: https://plus.google.com/100444355161046794623/posts

or follow the company page via LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/company/504500

You Don’t Have to be Indian to be a Global Outsourcing Provider

RenditionDigital is helping a number of companies to fill gaps in skill shortages enabling them to bring products to market faster and reduce development costs by providing a competitively priced outsourcing service from its operations in Manila with 300+ highly qualified staff.

Speed up development time and get new games to market more quickly. Visit their website at www.RenditionDigital.com

Contact info:

info@renditiondigital.com

 

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