Video game creative writing has quickly become one of the most innovative arenas for writers in the 21st century. Imagine Todd Meier’s “Civilization” without leader motivations, steampunk scenarios and wistful narrator musings to distract and amuse while the game loads. No comic book-based action-adventure game would have any elan were it not successfully adapted from its source material of lengthy scripts to bring the characters and story to life. Role-playing games with their various outcomes just doesn’t feel organic without realistic consequences to smooth the action back into the cutscenes. And lest we forget, cutscenes themselves can be longer than entire trilogies worthy of their own edited presentations on YouTube.

As with any other profession, skills must be developed, nurtured and honed. An education in creative fiction writing might not be necessary for everyone, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have the skills and experience that go along with that particular degree when job hunting. Even spending time in a university drama department can yield valuable skills when it comes to directing voice actors to give life to your characters.

On the flip side, having a grasp on the nuances of back end game creation and development can be just as useful when building a realistic and cohesive narrative for a digital universe. Understanding the creative bounds and potential of coding will give you, the writer, context for how the overall product is developed with developers on the technical side.

Here are some recommended steps you can take now:

• Really, truly, obsessively study video games. Play them to be sure, but take notes on the successes and failures of each. Is there a thread or theme that runs from the opening credits until your sign off? Do characters interact hyper-specifically to each other, their environment, and the prompts and buttons of the player?
  
• Be the writer you want to become. Writers write – don’t just dream it, be it. Write short stories and novellas because you love telling stories. Write poetry to make your prose shine. Keep a journal of ideas, notes, brief excerpts of conversations real and imagined.

• Seek assignments from local publications for the professional experience, whether or not it yields a paycheck. The criticism and feedback provided by the editors and fellow writers will be essential in your personal writing process. Writing for a timed publication will also teach you the importance of meeting a deadline

• Make friends with other writers! Even well-known writers you’d think would never give you the time of day. Join creative collaborations with amateur artists and game designers, many of whom frequent game shops where good old fashioned dice rolling RPGs are sold. Established writers don’t have all the time in the world for folks that aren’t serious; but if you’re tenacious and respectful of the craft and show some actual promise in your work, you’ll find that 99% of professional writers are somewhat approachable and there are many ways for this to manifest. 

• Explore digital art! As digital artwork and artists have become part of the vernacular and are bridging the gap between fine art and gaming, taking the time to catch a show or deep dive into digital art archives will provide you with a base level understanding of the imaging and universe creation that you’ll be writing for – context is everything!

• Make your own hypothetical video game or find someone who can build your ideas into a real interactive prototype. Be prepared to hire someone and don’t be afraid to fight for the integrity of your vision while also yielding to the limits of the technology. Remember you’re still learning about the creative process here and see this is a stepping stone towards future success.

• Build your writing portfolio. The more work you can show prospective partners and employers the better. Consider the range and type of work in your portfolio as well. Don’t be afraid to include a variety of writing projects and experiments – nothing is too short or off-base as long as it is of quality.

• Apply for jobs in the industry and go on interviews. Learn to take criticism and “No” for an answer and how to persist without being a pest. Do it for the practice and don’t be afraid to come back for more. Many employers eventually hire the person who appears to want the job the most.

Be patient. No one gets anything they want quickly especially in a competitive field like video game design, but be persistent and eventually this practice will bear fruit.

The post How to Get Into Writing for Video Games appeared first on Grit Daily News.

As anyone who has dealt with decentralized apps or cryptocurrency knows, joining the blockchain space can be overwhelming. Crypto wallets, tokens, cryptocurrency, blockchain networks, gas, addresses, protocols, and exchanges, are only some of the terms a beginner will find. There is no going around it and denying it, blockchain is not the most user-friendly technology out there.

If understanding these terms and navigating them is hard as a user, understanding how they work on the backend and the complex infrastructure that supports it can be even harder. In fact, ease of development is considered by many as one of the biggest issues preventing corporations from actively using blockchain. Not only are blockchain developers in limited supply but the work required to transform existing infrastructure into its decentralized version can also result in high costs.

With blockchain still being a young technology, there are also many uncertainties that need to be dealt with. For example, the blockchain trilemma is pretty much still a thing, the bad implementation of blockchain can result in millionaire hacks, and regulatory uncertainty means more risks. While new and crowd-funded projects can afford to risk building on the blockchain, big corporations do not.

It is not surprising that many projects were born over the past few years with the aim to ease these concerns. Some projects promise to bring the best of the centralized and decentralized world to deal with the trilemma, while others claim to be invulnerable or highly resistant to attacks. However, few projects seem to be focusing on the topic of easing concerns around regulation.

While President Biden’s executive order on crypto was received as good news by the crypto community, it is uncertain what the results will be. In the past, the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken hostile actions against crypto companies like Coinschedule, Ripple, WisdomTree, and LBRY.  These actions have relied primarily on the claims that some cryptocurrencies and NFTs should be considered a security and as such, are under their jurisdiction.

To deal with this issue, Pocketful of Quarters came up with a unique “‘no Action’ ERC-20 Token” which can be used by projects in the gaming industry while remaining compliant with SEC regulations. This is possible due to the company being the only one to get a no-action letter from the SEC, granting its token “consumer product” status. While unique in its kind so far, the company’s approach has proven to be not only innovative but impactful in the space.

Pocketful of Quarters’ COO Tim Tello joined  CryptoOracle’s Co-Founder Lou Kerner in a fireside chat during Grit Daily House. The chat, which took place during Consensus 2022, provided attendees with unique insights on how this unique token could not only change the gaming industry but also the blockchain space.

If you missed the chance to attend Grit Daily House in person and to hear what Joseph had to say, worry not. You will be able to watch the fireside chat in the video below and find our other panels on Grit Daily’s official YouTube Channel.

The post Struggling to Adopt Blockchain? Meet the Token That Could Change That! appeared first on Grit Daily News.

According to the Blockchain Game Alliance and DappRadar’s Q1 of 2022 report, $2.5 billion were raised by blockchain games during the first quarter. If this trend was to continue, investments would increase by 150% when compared to last year, with activity having grown already by 2,000%.

This growth is not fortuitous but the result of technologies like NFTs, Web3, and the metaverse gaining relevance in the blockchain and mainstream tech spaces. In fact, blockchain gaming’s impact on the blockchain space has been so strong that its activity accounts for 52% of all blockchain activity.

Games like Axie Infinity, Splinterlands, Alien Worlds, Crazy Defense Heroes, Sky Mavis, and The Sandbox are some of the games leading to the rise of blockchain gaming. Not only have these games allowed players all around the world to generate economic gains but they have also introduced innovative mechanics and partnerships.  An example of this is The Sandbox’s recent partnership with Time Magazine to develop “Time Square”, a metaverse version of NYC’s iconic intersection.

“The Sandbox is often viewed as a ‘virtual Manhattan’, a vibrant space alive with culture, entertainment, and brands, where anyone can discover, learn, work, meet new people, play, dance, and find amazing new opportunities,” said The Sandbox’s Co-Founder and COO Sebastien Borget in the announcement. “By partnering with TIME, we’re adding TIMEPieces as the beating heart and soul of this virtual Manhattan, where a design call for virtual architects will be held in TIME Square, a place in our creative metaverse for brands and creators.”

But what is the reason behind gamers’ captivation with blockchain gaming? The reason is simple: The play-to-earn model. Historically, gamers have been unable to profit from playing their favorite games as most developers don’t allow real money transactions. While the reasons for this decision vary, they are often related to an attempt to prevent botting, account hacking/sharing, and legal issues.

The result is that most players don’t truly own their in-game assets as they can’t sell them nor take them out of the game ecosystem. Blockchain changed this by introducing NFTs and crypto, facilitating the creation of open marketplaces for gamers to trade their assets. This, in addition to being able to move assets out of the game ecosystem, result in true ownership.

As part of Grit Daily House during Consensus 2022, attendees had the opportunity to hear directly from one of the pioneers shaping the future of blockchain gaming. PixelSmarter’s Founder & DashLeague Creator Joseph Lazukin sat with Entrepreneur Magazine’s Jeff Hunter to talk about the opportunities and challenges in the blockchain gaming industry.

If you missed the chance to attend Grit Daily House in person and to hear what Joseph had to say, worry not. You will be able to watch the fireside chat in the video below and find our other panels on Grit Daily’s official YouTube Channel.

The post The Future of Web3 Gaming and How It Is Driving Blockchain Activity appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Some bright spark recently called the metaverse just space on someone’s computer (or more correctly computers) but on February 15, JP Morgan issued a report on metaverses which concluded by saying that the metaverse will most likely infiltrate every sector in some way in the coming years, with the market opportunity estimated at $1 trillion in yearly revenues. It’s a bit loose on specifics but the report leaned much more heavily into the hype than reality (from the title of the report).

Someone who knows first-hand the opportunities involved in the metaverse, before it was even given that common term, is Sébastien Borget, co-founder of Sandbox (TSB), arguably one of the most successful metaverses and certainly leading the pack in this increasingly crowded field. 

Today there are more than 2 million wallets registered to TSB, a growth of 1000% year on year. There are 18,500 LANDS owners, a 375% increase year to year. The current value of the TSB world based on the secondary market price is close to $1.5 bullion while the TSB marketcap is $3.3 billion and ranked #37 overall by total market cap, per CoinMarketCap.

Borget himself comes from a gaming background. As a teenager he began playing video games and was hooked. 

“I really wanted to make my own video games but creating games on consoles was prohibitively expensive and you needed big teams and a publisher. It was out of my reach.”

Then in 2011, he got his first smartphone and instantly realised it would be possible to create a mobile game with just one or two people. With his colleague and fellow games producer, Arthur Madrid, they founded Sandbox to allow game creators to develop their 2D pixelated characters and games. The platform was predicated on user generated content.

“It took off. Over the next eight years we attracted 40 million installs and 70 million user generated worlds. And the game generated good revenue for the company.

“So that made us happy, but we were also frustrated as we could not reward the creators of these worlds, these games, and typically they would leave after a year or so.”

Then in 2017, Borget and Madrid found out about blockchain technology. 

“We tried playing crypto kitties. Now the breeding of new kitties was not new, but the fact that cats were NFT digital assets that could be owned, transferred outside the game and sold to other people – that made us sit up. Creators could now monetise their work outside the game.”

This led to the precursor of the Sandbox metaverse. The concept was to take user generated content and NFTs and provide utility for those in a new platform. The game moved from 2D to 3D, from single player to multiplayer and from mobile to both PC and Mac.

“We spent the last four years building more than a game, we were developing a virtual world platform with creation tools, a free editor, game maker, a map and a marketplace. We are proud of what we have achieved so far and are building on more.”

This is where the ‘overnight success’ title is rejected. This was eight years in mobile gaming and four in blockchain. Still Borget’s real pride lies in the fact that they can reward creators for what they develop or even for staying on the platform.

“The timing is right.”

Sandbox has also been very successful in attracting brands to the platform, including big names such as The Walking Dead, Atari, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Care Bears, The Smurfs, Shaun the Sheep, and Binance.

With his cofounder Madrid, Borget credits both the entire team and the community for its growth.

“We’ve been unlucky at times and also lucky. I wouldn’t pretend we invented anything. The ingredients were all there and we were able to piece them together with meaning, value and utility. Now we are focused on how we develop this form of entertainment. We started with gaming but we are open to any kind of entertainment and want to bring in more culture, more lifestyle, more immersion and more socialisation in ways not seen before.”

Currently the Sandbox is run as a centralised entity, but the economy is being decentralised through NFTs – Borget calls it a progressive decentralisation.

“We want to give our vision and then to inspire others but in time we will probably step away and let the community take over.”

The latest Open Metaverse Accelerator Programme announced in conjunction with Brinc is only one of a series of programmes aimed at bringing new creators and users onboard.

“We set up a Creator fund before for artists and a game maker fund to support rich, diverse experiences for non-professionals. We want to attract entrepreneurs who want to leverage the assets of the Sandbox lands and to propose new businesses to build on top of the ecosystem.

“We’re basing this development on Web 3 but we are looking for people from all over the world – especially if they have great ideas but maybe don’t have access to VCs or funding. I also want to emphasise it’s not just money – we have some great mentors giving their time also.” 

Entries for the latest grant offering closes on February 27, 2022 and the results announced on International Women’s Day on March 8^th.

Already there are more than 600 entries for the 100 places but that is just part of the overnight success of Sandbox. More to come.

Looking to dive into a real-world version of the metaverse? Visit Grit Daily House’s fintech and metaverse-heavy activation during SxSW, at Grit Daily House.

The post Sébastien Borget Dishes on The Sandbox’s Origin Story appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Did you know, augmented reality dodgeball is a legitimate sport in the Tokyo World Cup? Did you know, every year AR dodgeball teams from around the world compete for a spot in this World Cup?

The augmented reality (AR) esport game is called HADO. Augmented reality brings digital elements into your world, differing from virtual reality (VR), because VR takes you into the digital world.

Founder and CEO of meleap Inc., Hiroshi Fukuda dreamed of throwing Hadoken as they do in Street Fighter. One of the most famous moves, starting at the hip, the surge is created and as the palms thrust out. The surge charges an energy wave with punching force towards the opponent. A passion burned inside Fukuda, until HADO was officially recognized as a sport in 2014.

WHAT IS HADO

Players are all equipped with armbands, headsets, and hearts of champions. Wearing an iPhone headset, players can see both their actual surroundings and the digital game elements. The user interface shows a clock, energy gauge, shield gauge, opponent life cells and player life cells. Each player can customize energy ball and shield performance using the arm sensor. Energy ball speed, ball size, charge speed, and shield stock are the adjustable options on the armband.

HADO is a team sport and extremely inclusive. People with limited physical mobility, including wheelchair users, can experience the thrill and innovation of HADO’s unique game. Teams of 3 are assembled with 6 people on the court at a time. If you’re strategic, your team can devise a play style by assigning roles to each player – the defender, technician and assassin. The rules may seem simple, yet, the depth of offensive and defensive strategy is infinite.

FIRST TIME IN NORTH AMERICA

Recreate your favorite Street Fighter Hadoken moves at the 5th Annual Synapse Summit. Strap on a headset and armband sensors on February 17th in the home of the Stanley Cup Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Amalie Arena.

For the first time in North America, HADO USA and AMRoC Fab Lab are collaborating with one of Florida’s most influential innovation-based non-profits, Synapse, to host a corporate team play tournament. Synapse creates opportunities to build meaningful connections with Florida’s innovators. HADO USA is collaborating with a unique event, key in bringing innovation leaders together from all across Florida, representing different industries, backgrounds, stages of business and entrepreneurship.

President and Founder of Green Mouse Academy, the exclusive USA distributor of HADO, Shane Vander Vooi, “On behalf of HADO USA, I’m thrilled to join our partners in bringing the world’s first augmented reality esport to this year’s Synapse Summit. Every year, teams from around the world compete for a spot in the Tokyo World Cup in Japan, where HADO was originally launched. Millions of enthusiasts throughout Asia and Europe have already experienced HADO and it’s time for the USA to Get in the Game!”

A total of 5 hours of HADO training, coaching and game play prior to the single-elimination tournament at Synapse Summit will be facilitated by The Tampa Bay Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics Center Fab Lab, (AMRoC Fab Lab). AMRoC is a program of  the non-profit Foundation for Community Driven Innovation. The mission of AMRoC is to empower people with resources for creative self-expression and bridge the manufacturing and industry talent gap through robust project-based engineering education and training.

The Synapse HADO Champions will receive a championship trophy custom made at AMRoC. Proceeds from the tournament registration fees also benefit STEM education programming at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Want to play in North America’s first ever AR dodgeball team bonding tournament? Grab your coworkers, friends, and family and head to Synapse Summit on February 17th.

The post North America’s First Ever AR Dodgeball Tourney at Tampa’s Synapse Summit appeared first on Grit Daily News.

By Luc Olinga The stock jumped more than 30% after a report that the video game retailer is launching a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). GameStop’s (GME) – Get GameStop Corp. Class A Report stock has surged as much as 31% in late trade Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is launching a division to build a marketplace for NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are unique pieces of digital collectibles blockchain-based deeds of ownership to different kinds of virtual items. The unit’s task is to build an online hub for buying, selling and trading NFTs of virt…

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The collection, which goes by the name “Blockchain Brawlers”, will be auctioned on the Binance NFT Marketplace on November 30 of 2021 as part of WAX’s GameFi project. The project aims to provide NFT enthusiasts with the possibility to move their digital assets seamlessly between WAX’s blockchain and other networks like Binance Smart Chain via a novel NFT bridge. William Quigley, co-founder of WAX, referred to this approach by stating:

​​“The NFT bridge built by WAX can build a future we envision, in which blockchain and NFT marketplaces are accessible to everyone regardless of the chain types.”

Binance Smart Chain (BSC) is only the first blockchain network to be connected with WAX, with other additions expected as a means to fulfill WAX’s vision of the NFT ecosystem. Creators and developers will be able to reach a more ample market while NFT holders will gain greater agency over their assets, opening the doors to new use cases and applications.

Blockchain Brawlers will see multiple batches being released, with the first one being the “Founder’s Edition” and having 100 exclusive NFTs. These Brawler NFTs will belong to one of four editions: Standard, Hardcore, Cage Match, and Death Match, which will determine their role in the play-to-earn game being developed by WAX.

The NFT industry has now generated more than $11 billion in sales, which has prompted investors, creators, and organizations to join the craze to capitalize on the popularity of the technology The impact of NFTs in the world of art has been so overwhelming that mainstream media has now transformed digital assets in a part of op culture, which experts believe could result in the mass adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies across industries.

The post WAX Announces “Blockchain Brawlers” NFT Collection In Partnership With Binance appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The funding round was led by SDV Holdings with participation from Mitch Garber; Noel Hayden, founder of Gamesys; Matt Kalish, Jason Robbins and Paul Liberman, founders of DraftKings; Elad Cohen, who co-founded Playtech; Astralis Capital; and Sharp Alpha Advisors. The new capital brings the total funding raised by the startup to $8 million. Lloyd Danzig, Managing Partner at Sharp Alpha Advisors, referred to the round by stating:

“Winner Winner leverages proprietary technology to enable users to play live, physical arcade games from the comfort of their smartphones for the chance to win real prizes. As compelling as the current game offerings are, we are even more excited about the underlying infrastructure that can support a robust content library, as well as skill-based, head-to-head competitions and social tournaments. Jon and Cody have built a company in Winner Winner that is advantageously positioned to provide the bridge between digital and physical worlds that is fundamental to the future of competitive entertainment.”

Playtertainment was founded back in 2019 by Jon Davidman and Cody Flaherty to give mobile gaming a classic twist, which it quickly did by launching “Winner Winner” to provide players with a live video streaming-powered game consisting of real claw machines and ticket redemption-style arcade games. Ever since, the game has been downloaded more than 1.2 million times, allowing the startup to experience more than 30% quarterly growth and shipping over 20k prizes every month.

While the platform is currently limited to players in the United States and the United Kingdom, the startup is planning to expand to new markets next year. Davidman said in this regard:

“We’re really excited about the future. What we’re working on has never existed on a large scale, and we truly believe what we are building will change the way we think about physical games and competition. Through technology, we’re able to create a highly interactive, connected gaming experience that allows players to compete with real, physical games and get rewarded when they win those contests.”

While retro gaming has become an increasingly relevant niche in the gaming industry, Arcade games have been relegated to the use of emulators. By mixing real-life arcade machines with video streaming, Playtertainment is looking to provide players with a means to enjoy and relive the nostalgia of gaming’s early stages while earning rewards.

The post Playtertainment Closes $5 mln Funding Round to Allow Arcade Fans to Relive Nostalgia appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The round was co-led by Blue Pool Capital and Samsung Ventures, counting with the participation of influential investors like Simu Liu (Marvel’s Shang-Chi), Thierry Henry (international football legend), Sabrina Ionescu (WNBA Star), Albert Pujols (LA Dodger/ World Series Champion), Steven Chen (Co-founder, YouTube), Matt Mullenweg (Co-Founder WordPress), Roham Gharegozlou (Founder, Dapper Labs), and many more.

The startup is looking to bring motion-based entertainment to the mainstream by facilitating access to a medium that has historically required expensive virtual reality devices. The platform achieves this by focusing its effort on the development of computer vision and AI technology solutions that make it possible for mobile devices to serve such a purpose.

This new approach allows the integration of fitness and entertainment by requiring the player to use its body movement to interact with the game’s world, making fitness fun and approachable for those who struggle with more traditional approaches. The use of body movement as a controller has historically been used by big companies like Nintendo and Konami via games like Fitness Boxing, Ring Fit adventures, and Dance Dance Revolution but has remained pretty limited in terms of accessibility due to the need for specialized hardware.

The latest product launched by Nex is Active Arcade, a new motion game that is available for most mobile devices running iOS or Android. Active Arcade uses the device’s camera to detect the player’s movements using computer vision, allowing players to play any of multiple games from their devices in any location.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) gaming have been growing over the past decades. However, the cost behind the equipment for these technologies has prevented it from gaining widespread popularity. By allowing players to use a device that 85% of Americans already possess, the entertainment startup is uniquely positioned to bring these technologies to the masses.

The post Entertainment Startup Nex Closes $25 mln Series B Funding Round appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Welcome back to Show and Tell, where I unbox sweet tech for every area of your life. Gamers: Could you ever reach your limit of gaming accessories? Most would answer with a resounding, “Never!” If you’re looking to upgrade your mobile first-person shooter (FPS) gaming, I’m here to unbox the Arkade Blaster FPS Motion Controller. Let’s see if this controller is a level-up.

Taking immersion to the next level

If you’re not experienced in video games, you may not know that in an FPS game, you play from the perspective of your character; the experience is more immersive and personal. So, the Arkade Blaster was especially maximized for these games. You can play in 360 using your phone, which mounts to the top of the controller. You can slide the phone closer or further from your face depending on your play style. Using a high-precision gyroscope, the Arkade Blaster follows your movement, whether you’re leaning or turning. It also produces haptic feedback, creating a more immersive experience. 

The essentials

The Arkade Blaster connects to your phone using low latency Bluetooth, which is necessary for high-quality audio and video. And if you’re looking to become the next Twitch star, push the Arkade logo on the controller to begin live streaming immediately. The rechargeable battery lasts for 14 hours. (But maybe you won’t be playing for 14 hours straight.)

Customize it

The buttons are pre-programmed for over 100 games. For PC, some compatible games are Fortnite, Call of Duty, Halo, Overwatch, Gears of War, and many more. For Android, games include Roblox, Sniper Fury, Modern Combat, Shadow Gun, and Grand Theft Auto. But if you’d like a little more freedom, you can also customize your Arkade Blaster, creating new actions for each button using the app. The possibilities are nearly endless. 

You can also choose the design you like. The colorful “skin” in the video was created in collaboration with PewDiePie, a long-time YouTuber and one of the biggest gamers on the platform. He earned $13 million in 2019 alone and is the only solo creator to reach 100 million subscribers, according to Business Insider. 

Check out Bold TV for more Show and Tell. I will be back soon to unbox more tech, but until then, check out previous videos here.

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