October 2007

FEATURES

Top 20 Publishers

By Trevor Wilson

Game Developer's Top 20 Publishers report, now in its fifth year, charts the ups and downs of our publishing pals, ranking them according to revenue, number of titles, reputation, and other factors. While it’s admirable to even be in the list in the first place, several publishers have certainly made a concerted run for the top of the heap. The top ranking may surprise you!

UML and You

By Ed Pechorro

Unified Modeling Language has been used for years in other industries, most notably related to software—but it hasn’t really taken off in the game arena. Beautiful Game Studios’ Ed Pechorro thinks that should change, and wrote an article to prove it! The benefits of a unified language for coders are certainly enticing—but it’s not for everyone.

Postmortem: Realtime Worlds' Crackdown

By Phil Wilson

Crackdown’s ambitious use of vertical game space and superhero-style sandbox design won the game numerous accolades. But it wasn’t always so lauded! Broken engines, immature toolsets, and sprawling design all weighed the game down in its early days. Phil Wilson tells us how the game went from critical rags to riches, platform jumps and all.