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Archive for October, 2012

20
Oct

Coming soon from BonusXP – Monster Crew!

Hot on the heels of PeopleFun the latest mobile video game studio to form from Ex Ensemble talent is “BonusXP” formed by Dave Pottinger, John Evanson and Jason Sallenbach all of whom are Ex Ensembler’s. A little while ago they lifted the lid on their first soon to be launched mobile title “Monster Crew”.  The game is a strategic platformer game featuring combat and RPG elements. The story resolves around the young “Frankie” a boy who enjoys playing his “Monster Crew” card game. After having collecting numerous cards his collection is unfortunately sold by accident after a yard / car boot sale. Keen to get his cards back Frankie sets out on a mission to recover them. Turns out his cards are held by a mad scientist in a creepy castle. After setting about trying to get his cards back Frankie accidentally presses a button in the castle which turns him into Frankenstine, and here the adventure begins! Read moreRead more

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14
Oct

Kenny’s Word Chums review – there’s no going back!

When I was preparing this review for Word Chums, it hit me. Word Chums is like one of the following analogies, so pick the one that applies to you depending upon your age. It’s like you went from cassettes to CD’s or home phone landlines to a cell phone or dial-up internet to broadband. When I went from Words With Friends and other word games to Word Chums there was no going back. When I first installed Word Chums I immediately noticed some things that may seem trivial when you see them on a press release or someone tells you about them. But upon further inspection there are major changes to the genre of the game. And by major I mean they improve the experience by one hundred percent. The guys over at PeopleFun took what annoyed me about other word games and they fixed them. And some of them I didn’t even know that I disliked until I played Word Chums. Read moreRead more

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10
Oct

Kenny Newell interviews Tony Goodman. Ensemble Studios, Robot Entertainment and PeopleFun founder

Fantastic news for all Ensemble fans. Our expert audio interviewer Kenny Newell has managed to bag an absolutely superb interview with Tony Goodman, founder of Ensemble Studios. Tony was kind enough to invite Kenny into his house to talk about Ensemble and his newest venture, PeopleFun over dinner. The hour long interview takes fans right through Tony’s video gaming career starting right at the beginning when Tony first formed Ensemble Studios with close friends and colleagues from Ensemble Corp. This interview is an absolute must listen for all Ensemble fans where for perhaps indeed the first time you can listen to Tony first hand explain how the Ensemble journey began and his motivations. There is great insight into life at Ensemble and how the Age games came together. The Ensemble Studios acquisition by Microsoft is also discussed at length. Read moreRead more

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6
Oct

Paul and David Bettner leave Zynga

Ex Ensembler’s Paul and David Bettner who set about forming the hugely successful mobile studio NewToy have confirmed that they have now left the mobile gaming giant, Zynga. Paul and David Bettner joined Zynga after NewToy was acquired in December 2010. Back then the brothers commented that joining Zynga made perfect sense as both parties “share the same dream of building a social treasure”. Since the acquisition the NewToy studio which was re-named “Zynga With Friends” have greatly expanded the “With Friends” series of games from the massively successful Words with Friends to including Hanging, Matching, and Gems with Friends. Read moreRead more

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