A Relief To UK Games?

As revealed one year ago in the UK Government’s Budget, the UK gaming industry will be the subject of a tax relief. This proposal, although being implemented later than what was previously planned, will begin in April 2013 and allow developers to apply for 25 per cent alleviation in tax. Games companies are required to meet a set criteria and quota to be eligible, which begs the question: what makes a game “British”?

The Bigger Picture (22/3/2013)

It’s been a relatively quiet week in the games industry this week with very few goings-on and very little “big news” headlines, the biggest of which is Valve’s Steam Early Access. There’s also controversy surrounding Shroud of the Avatar designer Richard Garriott’s recent comments and change to the way a developer approaches Kickstarter.

Scottish Community (22/03/2012)

With no podcast this week, it's time to update you on the happenings within the Scottish game community within the past week. From success in the Samsung Student Developer's Challenge to the release of a new browser-based title, it's been a busy time in and around these "bonnie banks".

The Sustainable Future of Scotland's Developers

In a recent article published by TIGA, statistics show an improvement to the UK's gaming sector for the year of 2012. As the article suggests (which you can read here), the number of employees, studios and earnings rose considerably well for a sector that wasn't included in the 2010 Economic Contribution Study reports. Almost half of new companies were formed in Scotland, and continually grow today with competitions such as Dare To Be Digital and Samsung's Student Developer's Challenge. These figures are promising, and definitely suggest a bright future for the industry that has delivered so much in the past (Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown, to name but a few). The question that looms over my mind is this: how do we make developing teams more sustainable?

Gotye Reference Insert Here: What happened to the Resi that I use to know?

The controls in 6 are still quite bad,

But even the iconic ink ribbon’s in pieces,

They've cashed in on the action fad,

Why’d this happen to the Resi that I use to know?

Ok, enough dated references, to the video games! As you may have gotten from this little piece I wrote, I have lately been playing Resident Evil 6, and by play I mean “been helping a friend of mine every Friday or so to complete Jake’s Campaign on a higher difficulty”. Now from reviews, you’d reckon I am with everyone else and hate this game as “it is a mindless action game that betrays the good old games and urgh, my heart medicine!”

Game In Scotland 2013: Nothing But Growth

One day removed from our first gaming conference as a broadcasting company (albeit as spectators, although watch this space!), Game In Scotland 2013 lived up to every and all expectations we previously had. Held in the heart of Scotland's capital city of gaming - Dundee, of course - developers, innovators and prospective talents came together for a day filled with opportunity, excitement and entertainment. The event has had a positive reaction from those who attended the event, and some talks and information in particular stood out to me personally, which I'd like to share with you.

WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE FWOM YOU GWAAAAAAVE!! Analysis on the Upcoming Darkstalkers Resurrection

If there is one thing I can honestly say it's that Capcom almost always finds a way to make me retract any and all praise I have for them. Talk about the many cool new IPs they liked to throw out and give a shot at and they will release "SUPER ACRADE HYPER STREET FIGHTER 2013 EDITION: GOOD GOD PLEASE BUY THIS ONE!" (Coming to Xbox 360 Projector and WiiU in 2015 and on Steam late 2025), talk about their good content and there's an article confirming that 85% of the game is locked on the disc for DLC and talk about respect for their old IP and you will hear stories of a betrayal of a game reboot and the cancellation of 2 new games for another IP which is fading from existence.

Remember Me (If You Can)

It’s not often that a large-scale, AAA console release drifts into the background and is forgotten about by the community. Although DONTNOD Entertainment’s new title “Remember Me” may not have been forgotten by everyone, it definitely slipped my mind after Dave mentioned it when he returned from Eurogamer Expo 2012. The reason I’m bringing it up today is because it now has a release date and it’s officially time to get excited: the game will be released on the 4^th of June in North America and the 7^th of June in Europe. But for those who have forgotten or just never found out I’m going try and explain just what “Remember Me” is.

Shin Megami Tensei: Final Personamon Dating 3

What can I say about the Persona series… quite a lot actually and while I will try to limit myself I will say that this post will be quite information intensive. I will restrict myself and focus primarily on Persona 3 but there are a lot of features which are consistent within the series.

The Indie Community (01/03/2013)

It’s been another busy week in the local gaming community in Scotland. New games, new apps and a new blog to keep you up to date with the latest happenings!

A Warm Welcome!

Welcome to the new Amber Glass Broadcast website: the home of the Amber Glass Broadcast group. If you've previously been made aware about us and our activities, fantastic! If not, this post will outline who we are, what we aim to achieve and how we aim to achieve these goals in order to deliver entertaining publications for our biggest client: you, the audience.