Until this week I was hesitant to talk about any of the cool things going on over at GameTap. I figured some astute readers might sense a deal in the making before the announcement. But now that we’re “official” I’m free to espouse my enthusiasm for their service and their model.

First up – 1UP.com is reporting some cool new offerings from GameTap – including Mac support (yay!) and ad-supported “free to play games”.

GameTap VP Talks New Service Offerings
New changes include Mac compatibility and free-to-play Internet multiplayer for specific titles

For a while now, gamers have considered GameTap to be a service something along the lines of “the NetFlix of Video Games”…which is to say, an online subscription-based service where a user pays a monthly fee for the privilege of grazing off a wide menu of classic and modern-era titles.

Come May 31st however, GameTap will be adding a few new guns to its arsenal in the form of “free-to-play” advertising-supported games… and not just Bejewelled or Space Invaders either. GameTap’s new “Challenge Play” feature will offer up ‘for the hardcore’ titles like Metal Slug and Tomb Raider: Legend free to play with no subscription fee beyond the banner ads. The company has plans to release 30 games initially at launch, with more released periodically as the service ramps up.

In my opinion the world needs more game studios which are free and willing to explore the concept of “interactive arts”. It often seems that not enough attention is paid to the narrative and visual expression potential in video games.

One team that’s doing beautiful things in the area of game concept exploration is Tale of Tales in Belgium. Their games like “The Endless Forest” have pushed artistic expression and atmosphere while showing a wonderful disdain for “goals, violence, and rules.”

If you’ve not checked out “Endless Forest“, please do. And while you’re over there you can also see an interview they recently did with me. We talked about Grimm, the game industry, and fairy tales:

It was just a matter of time before we had a chat with American McGee, creator of Alice. And what better timing than on the eve of the official announcement of his next big fairy tale project, entitled “Grimm”, scheduled for release on GameTap in spring of 2008? Not only do we share a love for fairy tales and a focus on art and storytelling in games, with “Grimm”, American also embraces the format of the short episodic game, which rings a lot of bells with our own production.

An interview with me is running over at Games Radar. Additional details about the new project along with some concept images are featured in the article.

Producer and designer American McGee didn’t win much love from critics or fans with his last two titles: Bad Day L.A. and Scrapland. But making games safe for consumption by the masses has never been his MO. If there’s one thing you can expect from an American McGee title, it’s something different, something that breaks ties with the expected and mundane.

In his next project, words will be weapons and censorship will be your enemy. McGee is returning to his trademarked fairy tail twisting that put his name on the map with the 2000 PC hit, Alice. Only this time around, the whole canon of the Brother’s Grimm will be his creative fodder.

Head over to Games Radar for the full article.

Also of note today: GameTap made their official announcement about the project via a press release. You can read that in full here: 

GAMETAP ANNOUNCES NEW ORIGINAL TITLE “GRIMM”
American McGee Revisits Classic Tales in New Episodic Game

ATLANTA – May 29, 2007 – GameTap, the first-of-its-kind broadband entertainment network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), announced today the latest addition to the GameTap Originals line-up, American McGee’s Grimm. The title cements GameTap’s leadership position as a digital publisher and pioneer in episodic games. The 24 episode series will debut in the spring of 2008.

“American McGee is one of the best known and most dynamic developers in the industry today and Grimm is the perfect fit with our GameTap Originals brand,” said Ricardo Sanchez, GameTap’s VP of content. “American is really exploring the potential of episodic game development. Adding this exciting new title to our list of already successful episodic game titles shows our commitment to this proven format.”

In keeping with American’s distinct development style on his smash hit game American McGee’s Alice, fans can expect the same twisted treatment of children’s classics, in addition to a fantastical art style, and groundbreaking gameplay elements. American McGee’s Grimm is a narrative-driven, action-adventure game which immerses the player in a world built around some of the best known tales from the Brothers Grimm, including Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, and Snow White.

“My interpretation of these classic fables will provide gamers with an entertaining and interactive way of experiencing how the stories were originally meant to unfold,” said American McGee, creative director for Spicy Horse. “The ‘chapters’ inherently lend themselves to the new episodic model that GameTap has perfected.”

American McGee’s Grimm is a story-driven action-adventure game. The player interacts with a compelling collection of vividly drawn characters inhabiting a world built around twisted takes on the best-known tales in Western fiction. The game combines familiar exploration and questing conventions with a thematically inspired fighting mechanic based on the notion that “words are weapons”.

Players will experience the game in a sandbox world which contains missions assigned in episodic fashion. Game and narrative concepts equivalent to TV cliffhangers will be used to create game play and story interest to encourage players to keep up with new releases.

Coming Soon to GameTap
On May 31st, 2007, GameTap.com will offer more than 30 free games and hundreds of original videos from GameTap TV. In addition to the free, ad-supported version, “GameTap Gold” will continue to offer access to more than 850 games via a low monthly subscription fee. Visitors to GameTap.com will also have access to the new digital retail storefront, which will offer hundreds of the best new and catalogue PC games for purchase via download.

About Spicy Horse
Spicy Horse is an American owned and operated video game development studio located in Shanghai. The company specializes in creating boutique games for the PC and next-gen console markets using rapid production techniques and high-end technology with a creative focus on story telling and art. Our development philosophy is geared towards putting the fun back into making and playing games. http://www.spicyhorse.com/

About GameTap
GameTap is the leader in digital game distribution and broadband entertainment. Launched by Turner Broadcasting in 2005, it now delivers more than 850 authentic versions of the greatest console, computer and arcade games on demand, including original and exclusive episodic properties. In addition to games for every age and interest, GameTap offers more than 600 original entertainment programs, popular video streams and thriving virtual communities to broadband-connected PCs. Continually updated with new games, programs and features, GameTap is a downloadable application that supports navigation and game play using keyboard and mouse, as well as most USB peripherals.

About Turner
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment products around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.

 

Recently we’ve been trying to fill a few remaining job openings at Spicy Horse. The process of building a team in Shanghai is made difficult by the fact that there is very little pre-existing game industry to speak of. In the US you can see hotbeds of development grow organically from local seed studios – id Software being an example in Dallas. In Shanghai Ubi Soft is the most dominate seed studio – a large percentage of the local game industry work force is made up former Ubi employees.

For a growing studio like Spicy this translates into 25% of our staff being former Ubi employees – not all were directly hired away from Ubi – but they’ve all spent time there during their careers. Ubi creates a powerful influence on the local market, helping to build Shanghai as a world-class game development hub, as companies like id did in Dallas.

The only problem is that Ubi doesn’t necessarily *like* the idea of seeding outside development teams. Personally, I think this sort of organic spread is natural and resistance to it is detrimental to everyone… everyone except the employees who are trying to move out. Several recent Ubi employees we’ve tried to lure away have reported a significant increase in benefits, salary, and position within the company. Ubi really doesn’t want to let people go…

And hence my new business model:
Spicy Horse Salary Inflation Service

This is how it works: Current Ubi employees can express interest in working for Spicy Horse. In turn we’ll send you an offer letter. Show said offer letter to your manager and presto – Get a raise! Finally, share a small % of that raise with us. And the circle of life is complete.

My guess is that Spicy can generate huge revenues off the 600+ employees currently working at Ubi Shanghai. If the model works then we’ll target EA Shanghai, Shanda, etc, etc. I smell a Chinese IPO candidate. Don’t you?