Singapore Games available for play

SINGAPORE, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Gamers can check out the best of Singapore-made games at the first website dedicated to Singapore games - www.singaporegamebox.com.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120607/NY20808LOGO)

• Launched today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the www.singaporegamebox.com portal is an initiative of the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore, and serves as a platform for gamers to congregate, socialise and experience Singapore games.  
  
• Singapore games are increasingly making their mark and are being enjoyed by international gamers around the world, as well as recognised for their technical finesse. They span a wide range of genres, from action, to puzzle and role-playing games, and are available across all platforms.
  
• For a start, 25 Singapore games, ranging from mobile, casual online to PC games, are currently available on www.singaporegamebox.com. See Annex A for the listing of all 25 games; and Annex B for a detailed sampling of some of the games.
  
• Of the 25 game titles, gamers can directly play two of the games on the portal itself. These are Straw Hat Samurai: Duels and Rocketbirds: Revolution!. The Straw Hat Samurai series was first produced in 2008, where the first instalment was runner-up in the prestigious Golden Joystick Awards 2008 Flash game category. Rocketbirds: Revolution! received three finalist nominations at the Independent Games Festival 2010 for "Excellence in Audio", "Excellence in Visual Art" and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
  
• In addition, Dark Dot, which is developed by GAMBIT Game Lab Singapore, has the honour of being the only Singapore game selected for the IndieCade showcase at E3 2012. Dark Dot hit number 1 spot in Apple App store in 48 countries including China and Singapore and achieved more than 448,000 downloads worldwide in November 2011. The game will be available on the portal within the next month. The IndieCade showcase creates a sense of the breadth of the independent game space that is specially curated by IndieCade for the E3 audience. The games are specially selected from the first round of submission for the IndieCade 2012 Festival.  
  
• For top players of Singapore games on the portal, their names and high scores will be updated on the game leaderboard; and they stand to win prizes unique to the games.
  
• Gamers can also test new games or prototypes on the portal. In doing so, they can win special in-game rewards when the games are ready to be commercialised.
  
• Within the next 12 months, the portal will be enhanced with more new games, forums, live chat functions, company profiles and be integrated with Facebook.
  
• This www.singaporegamebox.com portal is an initiative under the Singapore Game Box initiative, an outreach programme by the MDA designed to promote Singapore-made games. 

Annexures

Annex A: List of 25 games available on www.singaporegamebox.com

Annex B: A Sampling of the Singapore game titles available on the portal

About Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA)
The Media Development Authority of Singapore (www.mda.gov.sg) promotes the growth of globally competitive film, television, radio, publishing, music, games, animation and interactive digital media industries. It also regulates the media sector to safeguard the interests of consumers, and promotes a connected society.

Annex A: List of 25 games on www.singaporegamebox.com

1. Straw Hat Samurai: Duels

Straw Hat Samurai: Duels is the third instalment of the popular Straw Hat Samurai series and is set as a prequel to the previous two games – Straw Hat Samurai 1 and 2. The goal of the player is to become the top swordsman in the world. This can be achieved by travelling the world, performing quests, levelling up and defeating other players in real-time duels.

Number of Players: Single Player

Developer: Explosive Barrels Pte Ltd (www.explosivebarrel.net)
Explosive Barrels is an independent game development studio that focuses on creating high quality Flash games and they have been doing so for over 5 years. In addition to creating their own games, they also create games for websites and brands. Their previous clients include Ubisoft, Coke, Cheetos and E4. They are currently also working on Facebook games, Mobile games, HTML5 games and games for In-Flight Entertainment Systems.

Achievements: The Straw Hat Samurai series was first produced in 2008. The first instalment won runner-up in the prestigious Golden Joystick Awards 2008 Flash game category, while the second instalment was contracted with an exclusive licence to launch at E4.com's Summer of Games 2009. The first two Straw Hat Samurai games had seen over 21 million plays worldwide.

2. Autumn Dynasty

In this Real Time Strategy game designed for the iPad, players have to paint their battle plans directly onto the map and command their armies. They have to employ terrain, positioning and cunning stratagems to defend their lands and conquer their foes!

Number of Players: Multiplayer over internet (Wifi/3G) and Bluetooth

Developer: Touch Dimensions Interactive Pte Ltd (http://www.touchdimensions.com/)
Touch Dimensions seeks to create new possibilities in interactive entertainment by focusing on the natural user experience, incorporating technologies such as multi-touch surfaces, infrared cameras and non-invasive brain-computer interfaces in order to create compelling gameplay experiences.

Achievements: Autumn Dynasty was the #1 paid iPad strategy game in 12 countries, including United States and Singapore in May 2012. It was also featured on iTunes in 1020 places and on the iTunes home page in 88 places. 

3. Dark Dot

Dark Dot is a free action shooter game on the iPad. Players command a fleet of small minions known as Darklets to engage the enemy and conquer the world using different formations through sketching a shape, sliding to move the shape, punching, spreading and twisting to expand, contract and rotate the shape.

Number of Players: Single Player

Developer: Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab (http://gambit.mit.edu)
The Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab is an initiative between the Media Development Authority of Singapore in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), supported by the National Research Foundation. It aims to address important challenges faced by the global digital game research community and industry.

Achievements: Dark Dot was the #1 free game in the iPad App Store in over 15 countries, including China and Singapore. In addition, the game was #1 app (overall) in Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, beating other popular apps and games such as Facebook, What's App and Angry Birds. It was also the #1 action game in 48 countries including USA, China and Singapore.  

4. Dusty Revenge

Dusty Revenge is a 2D action platformer with unique support character mechanics.

Players play as Dusty, the man on a quest for revenge when the love of his life was killed in what seemed like a robbery cum arson crime. As Dusty seeks to avenge for Daisy, his path crossed with two most unlikely allies, each seeking the common enemy for a different reason. 

Players control Dusty, the main protagonist, executing and chaining combos to destroy the enemies. They have to utilize the unique support character mechanics to play through 8 lavishly drawn environments, defeat numerous different enemies and battle epic bosses to help Dusty achieve his revenge.

Number of Players: Single Player

Developer: PD Design Studio Pte Ltd (http://www.pddesignstudio.com/)
PD Design Studio Pte Ltd is an independent games development studio. Since their inception in 2006, they have designed many games for different companies and agencies. Today, the studio focuses mainly on creating their own IP. Their core area of development is in the PC, Console, and iOS platform.

SOURCE Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA)