For the last year or so occasional hints have been dropped regarding Google’s interest in the gaming industry. It all started back in July when the big G slapped down a cool 100 million to invest in this little company named Zynga. Ever heard of them?
They then snagged Mark DeLoura – you know, that dude from SCEA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, THQ, etc.. – as their Developer Advocate. Things were looking good! Sadly, four months later, he quit.
Time continued to move on forward as time usually does, during which a few more things happened. Google spent another 180 million acquiring Slide while backing other gaming companies like SCVNGR and ngmoco, for example. A couple job postings went up for things like “Product Manager, Games”, and the world continued to wait.
Today, that posting refreshed along with a new one – seemingly looking to replace the position that has been vacant since Mark left. So right now we have two game related job postings before our eyes. Project Manager and Developer Advocate. Looking to Apply? Well you better be darn good at what you do.. and it wouldn’t hurt to be able to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
It is no secret Google cares about games. And in looking at the requirements it seems to me said games could easily be headed to Android, Chrome OS, or Google TV.
Or all of the above.
Now I’m not much of a gamer so excuse my limited imagination here – but even I can think of a few really cool ways for those platforms to play together to introduce some really awesome gaming at home and on the go. Imagine playing a game on Google TV that could also be played from your Chrome OS notebook – while you and your friends use your Android phones as remotes. Your friends on the other side of the world.
Other friends can join in any time. You have a keyboard there to chat while you play. Incorporate GTV HD video cameras, webcams or cell phone front facing cameras into the mix.
Imagine being sucked deep into the world of your new favorite RPG when suddenly you’re forced to go on some dang family vacation and your parents, or spouse, say “NO!” to bringing your Revue box with you. That’s okay, you have your Chrome OS notebook for when you arrive, and your phone for the car ride!
Imagine full scale console-style games all stored in the cloud bought from Google, stored by Google. Extensions onto your devices and phones for on the go playing, maintaining of characters, or chatting with friends. No new hardware or subscriptions required.
…are all these ideas new? Nope – not to me and not to any of you. However.. if anyone can make them happen with a BANG and knock the gaming industry into a whirl, it’s Google. Not only do I suspect they’ll come out swinging once they get everything in place – but they plan on giving you all the tools and resources to do it too. Just look at the requirements for the Developer Advocate. Part of his or her job will be to blog, podcast, and write tutorial code samples to go on code.google.com.
That’s where the real fun comes in. Countless developers will have everything they need to bring their (much bigger than my) imaginations to reality. I’m excited to see what they can do. What YOU can do.
[ Developer Advocate | Project Manager | TechCrunch ]
[ via GTVsource ]
