Picture story

As part of my pledge to keep this blog open to all types of writing, here is my picture story’s final edit. I really am too tired to keep editing and it looks fine to me. This was written for Print News II at Murdoch University, Western Australia.

Bungarra Picture Story

*Martin’s picture goes here* (I won’t post it for privacy reasons)

Bungarra Games is a small next generation games developer based in Fremantle, and it’s fighting for a place in an American and Japanese-dominated industry.

Martin Malek is part of a local, four-man development team struggling to make a name for itself with its latest prototype, Surfers (working title), for a next-generation console.

He is the 2D and 3D artist, texturer, modeler, and animator in the team, a set of tasks that would normally be given to as many members as there are jobs.

Martin believes the Australian gaming industry has some large obstacles to overcome if it is to become a major player in the global industry.

He says development teams receive “no funding from the government because they don’t understand the industry, even though games are making more money than Hollywood.”

Australia is also one of the only developed nations without an R18+ rating for games. “At the moment, Australia is out of step with the rest of the developed world on this issue,” said Rob Hulls, Victoria’s attorney general.

Without an adult rating or funding for the industry Australia is a very difficult place for gaming to flourish, as technology improves and development costs grow. This is especially disheartening to many due to the growth of the industry as a new art form.

However, Martin believes that moves by the Game Developers’ Association of Australia to receive a 40 percent investment rebate will greatly accelerate industry development in Australia.

Bungarra are expecting approval for the prototype from Microsoft or Sony within the next three months.