Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Starting a new industry in Singapore

As a fan of video games, I was glad to hear that the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore is now offering grants to video game developers in Singapore to create games for Xbox LIVE.

The amount MDA is offering will be up to S$50,000 for every successful applicant under the MDA-Microsoft XNA Development Initiative. Considering the number of Xboxes in the world, this is not a bad idea. However, I suggest that MDA expand the grants to cover all other platforms including PC, PS3 and the all-conquering Wii. I will agree that the newly launched Xbox Live Community Games Channel make it a good idea to start with the Xbox, but PS3 is more popular in Asia; PC has money-spinning MMOs; and Wii outsell Xbox and PC3 combined!

Offering grants to budding video game developers is a good idea but I feel MDA need to be more ambitious. Starting a new industry from scratch is hard and budding video game developers in Singapore need all the help they can get.

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