Six companies Oculus should buy, why developers need to kill their darlings, and is Rovio a dead man walking?

Last week's top 5 stories

• 5 Tilting Point tweaks model to focus on new devs, individual games and maximum launch impact

  

  Tilting Point, a self-styled 'new generation games partner', recently made a splash by suggesting that developers, not publishers, hold the cards.

  And now the US outfit has launched a self-serve approach, also taking games later in their development cycles and - whisper it - perhaps even becoming a publisher, at least in terms of being the corporate name on the app store.

  "We're seeing awesome games that are close to completion, many of which don't require funding. We'd love to help the teams behind those games make the most out of them and now we have the opportunity to do so," said president and COO Dan Sherman.

  "Tilting Point was built to serve the independent development community, and this expansion gives us the ability to meet more of the community's needs."

  
  

• 4 Six companies Oculus should buy to fulfil VR's gaming potential

  

  PocketGamer.biz's resident VR specialist Spanner Spencer has recently been wondering what sort of virtual reality and wearable technology that a trailblazer with deep enough pockets - like the Facebook-owned Oculus VR - could bring on board in order to deliver the full virtual reality experience.

  Oculus has the cash, but are how many companies could really help the firm fulfil its promise of bringing VR to the mass market?

  The answer, according to Spencer, is six.

  • Leap Motion
  • Razer
  • Perception Neuron
  • Delta Six
  • ARAIG
  • Virtuix Omni

  
  

• 3 Why Rovio layoffs are just the end of the beginning of Finland's success

  

  Rovio's recent decision to layoff 130 employees might have some of you thinking that the writing is on the wall for the Finnish giant.

  However, KooPee Hiltunen, the director of Neogames Finland Association, believes there's no reason to be worried.

  Rovio, suggested Hiltunen, will be fine, and the only thing that the layoffs prove is that no developer is invincible. Not even the "big boys". 

  "The game business is a business. Nothing lasts forever. Companies including the "big boys" have better days and worse days," began Hiltunen.

  "Angry Birds and its successors have been on the charts for almost five years. In addition to this, from its humble start, Rovio has managed to create a game brand larger than anything we have ever seen before.

  "When a company is doing something like that there is always a risk involved and estimating the demands of this kind of growth is not easy.

  "There is no doubt these layoffs cause a lot of headache and demand for consideration to Rovio, but they should be well equipped for that kind of endeavour."

  
  

• 2 I'm ashamed of progressive game culture, and here's why

  

  Sometimes it feels like the games industry is intent on taking one step forward and two steps back.

  For example, while the rise of progressivism and feminism has done great things for gaming over the last few years, we have to ask: has it done enough?

  PocketGamer.biz freelancer Carter Dotson doesn't believe it has, suggesting that, now more than ever, is the time to turn our words into action. It's time we made a different.

  "I believe that GamerGate is happening because the progressive movement's tendency to try and stand above everyone else - to preach from the mountain, if you like - has alienated a group of normal people from well-meaning folks that misuse their megaphones," said Dotson.

  "It takes a generous reading of their causes, but when I talk to pro-GamerGate folks and read what they're discussing, I don't think they hate women, or even feminists, as much as how the progressive culture is operating. And with that reading, I think they're right.

  "Progressive gaming culture has become so toxic, so disconnected from reality that the tactic of dealing with a vocal opposition has literally been the same for two months: don't address their claims (even if you think they're mostly invalid) and don't engage except to insult.

  "It's time for that to change, and I think I know how."

  
  

• 1 Killing your darlings: Post-mortem of a cancelled game

  

  Making a game can be many things, but anyone will tell you it's a career choice that requires dedication, sacrifice, and passion.

  Unfortunately, possessing those traits often results in developers becoming so wrapped up in their work, or becoming so consumed by new and exciting projects, making it impossible for them to know when to quit.

  That's why, according to Mitch - the founder of Two Tails, a game studio based near Oxford, UK - it's imperative that developers realise sometimes it's okay to kill their darlings.

  "Unfortunately after spending a good 12 months [on Leaf Rider] alongside our work-for-hire ... we decided that the gameplay wasn't really clicking with us. At this point we decided to stop working on the game and start on a brand new project," said Mitch.

  "I think we made this decision for the right reasons but we also made some key mistakes. We spent too long building tools, editors and levels rather than focusing on the absolute core mechanics first. We didn't fail fast enough.

  "The second mistake is that we didn't get any external feedback on the game. Had we got other people to play it we might have actually found it was fun. It can be very hard to judge your own game, especially one you've been working on for so long."