Into the Great Wide Open - Building JavaScript Games for Phones, Tablets, and Desktop - page 366

Part VI
Into the Great Wide Open
By now you know how to program a game in JavaScript. But what's next? How do you create a
full-fledged game that is ready for the market? What do you need to do in order to publish your
game? And how should you market it? The final part of this topic covers these topics. This part
consists of two chapters. The first one deals with producing games, which includes game design,
game development, and the operational aspects of game production. The second chapter deals with
game publication, including models to earn money from games, marketing your game, and making
your game playable in different languages and cultural contexts.
Because it's very useful to hear hands-on advice from people working in the game industry,
I interviewed two important such folks. First I interviewed Mark Overmars: he developed the
GameMaker application, which is a great tool for creating games quickly. GameMaker has grown
into a mature application and is now maintained by Yoyo games, a company that Mark partly owns.
He is also the co-founder and CTO of Tingly games, a company that develops so-called greeting
games in JavaScript using an in-house built game engine.
Second, I had an inspiring interview with Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio Entertainment, known for its
world-famous Angry Birds franchise. Peter had a lot to do with the creation of the company. In 2003,
he organized a game-making competition while he was employed at HP, with a goal of creating the
best possible mobile multiplayer game. This was way before Android or iOS existed. Nokia had
just come out with its first smartphone. Three guys—Niklas, Jarno, and Kim, who studied at Aalto
University in Finland—participated with a game called King of the Cabbage World and won the
competition. Peter suggested to them that they start a company, and they did. Fifty-one games
later, in 2009, they created the fifty-second game, called Angry Birds . Peter is the so-called Mighty
Eagle of the company. He describes his primary role as “making sure that big things happen for
the company fast enough.” Peter is involved in many different aspects of the company, including
marketing and branding, and he is looking to help steer the company in new, innovative directions.
The following two chapters are largely based on my interviews with Mark and Peter. Both of them
are really inspiring people. Throughout the text, you'll find their views on game production and
publication, and they have shared many helpful tips and tricks.
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