Game Developer October Issue Showcases Top 20 Publishers

The latest issue of Game Developer magazine, the sister print publication to Gamasutra.com, and the leading U.S. trade publication for the video game industry, has now shipped to subscribers and is available from the Game Developer Digital service in both subscription and a new single-issue formats. The cover feature for the October 2005 issue is the third iteration of Game Developer's Top 20 Publishers survey. Ranked by their revenues, the quality of the games they release, developer ratings, and other factors pertinent to serious professionals, our annual Top 20 list calls attention to the definitive movers and shakers in the publishing world. The postmortem for the issue is on the graphical stylings of Capcom's Resident Evil 4. Innovative camera use, more immersive cutscenes, and life-like character expressions are just one part of the layer of freshness for the long-standing series of survival-horror games. Accompanied by detailed figures and other imagery from the game, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi shares the history of how Capcom Japan put Resident Evil's renaissance together. In addition, the 'Pirate's Life' in-depth interview talks to Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates and Bang! Howdy creator Daniel James, CEO of San Francisco-based casual online game developer Three Rings. James' mission has been to create an addictive MMO (or two) that has the pick-up-put-down rhythm of a casual game. In this interview, James discusses the barriers to distributing and charging for such games, the beauty of the web, and the trouble with executables. Finally, the magazine features reviews of tools including IDV Inc.'s SpeedTreeRT 1.7 and 3Dconnexion's SpacePilot, a news section with a wrap-up of GDC Europe, code columnist Mick West's fascinating look at whether there is a better way to make games using compilers, instead of using debug and release modes at various stages of development, plus a new art column from Steve Theodore, a Business Level special from Sony's Riley Russell, regular design and audio columns, and the A Thousand Words art page featuring Ubisoft's Peter Jackson's King Kong. Worldwide paper-based subscriptions to Game Developer magazine are currently available at the official magazine website, and the new Game Developer Digital version of the issue is also now available, with the site offering six months and a year's subscriptions, and access to back issues for a reduced price. There is now also an opportunity to buy the digital version of October 2005's magazine as a single issue. Newsstand copies of the magazine will also shortly be available at North American outlets including Fry's Electronics and Barnes & Noble.