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Jagex Founders join Sunday Times Rich List
Earlier this month, we talked a bit about the impressive revenue and profits that Jagex have seen over the past few years, mostly thanks to the long-running success of Runescape. The company began small but saw steadily increasing success over the years, eventually pulling in record profits. The revenue numbers gave Jagex another feather in their cap as founders Andrew and Paul Gower joined the Sunday Times Rich List with their £138 million fortune. The brothers earned another £39 million in 2009, making them the "483rd richest in the UK, ahead of the likes of David Bowie (£100m), Sir Tom Jones (£135m) and Phil Collins (£108m)." Solely from a game industry standpoint, the runner-up for the richest developer title goes to Jon Burton, the developer of Traveller's Tales. He netted a respectable £75 million when his company was purchased by Time Warner. Check out the full story at Develop Online. [via Gamasutra]
Traveler's Tales director assesses Sony and Microsoft motion control
Speaking to Develop, Traveller's Tales director Jon Burton voiced concerns about Microsoft's motion control solution, Project Natal. Specifically, Burton stated that Natal's lack of controller input as well as input lag could limit the kinds of games made for it, though he did admit that the device is "exceedingly clever." Burton prefers Sony's motion controller, noting that it will be "cheap, accurate and will put buttons at your fingertips," which should make it suitable for a wide range of games. Still, Burton admits he was "stunned" by the technical wizardry of Natal. With the experience of having his own motion capture studio at TT, Burton states that getting "anything resembling mo-cap" in real-time from a single camera is "nothing short of amazing." For what it's worth, Burton has not used a final version of the device. We noted Natal's input lag when we tried it at TGS earlier this year, where Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda assured us the final product would iron out, or at least ameliorate, the issue.
Traveler's Tales founder: PSP Go will die if downloads don't get cheaper
While speaking at the Develop Jury Service (a pow-wow for industry figures to discuss current gaming trends and topics), Traveler's Tales founder Jon Burton questioned the prolonged survival of the PSP Go platform, since UMD games can often be purchased new or pre-owned at a lower price than the digital versions compatible with PSP Go. "I own a PSP Go but don't want to buy LittleBigPlanet, for instance, as I can get it 20-percent cheaper on UMD from Amazon and could resell it once I'm finished with it," Burton explained. "But if I download it, I get no discount, and no chance to resell -- how annoying is that?" According to Burton, PSP Go's all-digital system is more than just a minor inconvenience. He later added, "I'm betting on Sony making PSP Go games much cheaper than the UMD versions, or the PSP Go will die." Oh no! The PSP Go is far too tiny and adorable to die so young. Listen to the man, Sony!
Traveller's Tales talks more LEGO games
Ever hear that expression "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" Traveller's Tales has, as the company has become quite the cash-earner with its LEGO line-up of games, so why change? "We've gotten started doing some LEGO games on the Warner IP... down the line," says Traveller's Tales' Jon Burton. Also, he wants to dabble in films and the like, while also keeping his "day job" in games development. What a multi-tasker!"And for me personally, I think further in the future we're making a kids' TV show... using some of the tech we've developed for games," Jon said. So, what kind of kids' show? He wouldn't name anything specific, nor would he comment on what the next LEGO game from them will be (well, aside from the soon-to-release LEGO Batman). Looks like we'll just have to wait and see.What kind of LEGO game would you like to see next?
