Think Services’ Game Developer Magazine Names 2008 Front Line Award Finalists
Developer Magazine have named the finalists for the 2008 Front Line Awards,
the magazine’s eleventh annual evaluation of the year’s best game-making tools
in the categories of programming, art, audio, game engines, middleware, and
books.
Each year, Game Developer looks at the powerful lineup of new products and
new releases of favorite tools for professional game developers, and uses a
combination of reader nominations and editor input to select the top five
contenders in six different categories.
As always, the Front Line Award finalists represent the most innovative,
user-friendly, and useful products from behind the scenes of the world’s best
video games. The finalists for the 2008 Game Developer Front Line Awards are:
ART TOOLS
Photoshop CS3 Adobe
SOFTIMAGE|XSI 7 Softimage
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Autodesk
Modo 302 Luxology
Autodesk Maya 2008 Autodesk
AUDIO TOOLS
Vivox Precision Studio v. 2 Vivox
Wwise 2008.3 Audiokinetic
Fmod Designer 4.17 Firelight Technologies
Miles Sound System 7.2c Rad Game Tools
Voice-O-Matic 2.6 Di-O-Matic
ENGINES
Unity 2.1 Unity Technologies
CryEngine 2 Crytek
Gamebryo 2.5 Emergent Game Technologies
Torque Game Engine 1.5.2 GarageGames
Source Protocol 14, Build 3531 Valve
MIDDLEWARE
Autodesk Kynapse 5 Autodesk
PathEngine 5.16 PathEngine
Havok Physics Havok
Euphoria NaturalMotion
GameSpy SDK GameSpy
PROGRAMMING/PRODUCTION TOOLS
TestTrack Pro 2008.2 Seapine Software
Perforce 2008.1 Perforce Software
XNA Game Studio 2.0 Microsoft
Subversion 1.5 CollabNet
Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Microsoft
BOOKS
Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games by Matt
Barton
AK Peters
Game Production Handbook, 2nd Edition by Heather Maxwell Chandler
Infinity Science Press
Real-Time Rendering, Third Edition by Tomas Akenine-Moller, Eric Haines,
Naty Hoffman
AK Peters
The Art of Game Design: A Book Of Lenses by Jesse Schell
Morgan Kaufmann
Game Programming Gems 7, edited by Scott Jacobs
Charles River Media
For this year’s Front Line Awards, both Game Developer magazine
subscribers and Gamasutra.com community members were surveyed to nominate the
best game development-related products. Following consultation with the
magazine’s editors, finalists were selected based on criteria such as utility,
innovation, value, and ease of use, and professional developers are now voting
to decide this year’s ultimate winners.
“This was a year in which tools became even more key to the game industry,
with both high-end console game complexity and small-team indie innovation
needing high quality products to help get things done swiftly and
efficiently,” said
editors of Game Developer extend our congratulations to all of this year’s
Front Line Awards finalists!”
The final winners for the prestigious awards, plus one inductee to the
Front Line Awards Hall of Fame chosen for its outstanding contribution to the
game development industry for five years or more, will be announced in the
early January. (The Front Line Awards Hall of Fame inductee is not eligible
for consideration for regular awards in its winning year.)
For more information, please visit Game Developer online at www.gdmag.com.
About Game Developer (http://www.gdmag.com)
Game Developer, the print publication written specifically for creators of
entertainment software, provides technical and industry information to over
35,000 professional game developers. Each month, industry leaders and game
development experts share technical solutions, review new products, and
discuss strategies for creating innovative, successful games. Game Developer
features articles written by professional game developers on cutting-edge game
development techniques in the areas of graphics and AI programming, audio
design and engineering, art and animation, QA/testing, game design, and
project management.
About Think Services and the Think Services Game Group
A core provider of essential information to the professional game
industry, the Think Services Game Group offers market-defining content, and
drives community through its award winning lineup of print, online, event and
research products and services. These include Game Developer Magazine, Game
Developer Research, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com,
GameCareerGuide.com, WorldsInMotion.biz, GameSetWatch.com, the Game Developers
Conference, the Austin Game Developers Conference, GDC Canada, the Game Career
Seminars, the Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers
Choice Awards. For more information, please visit http://www.tsgamegroup.com.
Think Services connects specialized communities worldwide using innovative
media, educational events, consulting, training and certification. Providing
comprehensive opportunities for people to learn from, network with, and
inspire each other, Think Services builds strong brands and works within
communities to foster a unique affinity with its products and services. The
division’s flagship products include the Game Developers Conference, the Webby
Award-winning Gamasutra.com, Game Developer magazine, the International
Customer Management Institute, and HDI. Think Services is a subsidiary of
United Business Media, a global media and marketing services company with a
market capitalization of more than
http://www.think-services.com.
SOURCE Think Services Game Group