RAZER™ AND SIXENSE™ RELEASE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KIT AND FIRST PERSON SHOOTER UTILITY LIBRARY THROUGH STEAM™
Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, Calif. – March 9, 2010 – Today at the Game Developers Conference, Razer, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, and Sixense Entertainment, the developer of superior motion control technologies, announced that the Ultra-Precise Motion Controller SDK (Software Development Kit) and FPS (First Person Shooter) utility library are now available for download from Steam, the leading platform for PC games and digital entertainment.
“As the industry leader in computer interface design, it was a priority for us to enable and equip developers with the tools necessary to create new games and to port favorite titles for the Ultra-Precise Motion Controller, and the SDK and FPS utility library do just that,” said Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff, president, Razer USA. “I’m personally very excited to see the games that developers will create that take advantage of six degrees of freedom, but I’m also eager to experience some of my favorite games in a whole new dimension.”
Designed specifically with developers in mind, the SDK and FPS utility library require virtually no knowledge of the inner workings of the controller, allowing developers to effortlessly create a totally immersive gaming experience that takes advantage of a full six degrees of motion with ease. Porting games is similarly straightforward, as the FPS utility library provides quick and convenient access to update classic games and bring them into a brave new realm.
“Our SDK computes its exact position (X-Y-Z) and orientation (pitch-roll-yaw) to the nearest millimeter and degree and reports these values to the game with no shadowing and no drift. In gaming this instant response is the difference between instructing a character to do something and actually being that character,” said Jeff Bellinghausen, CTO, Sixense. “To give you an idea, with Valve’s support, we were able to fully integrate the SDK with our FPS Utility Library into Left 4 Dead 2 in less than two weeks.”
Through the Razer and Sixense partnership with Valve®, the SDK and FPS utility library will be available from the Steam network, allowing instant access to all the tools necessary to begin game development for the motion sensing platform.
“The Ultra-Precise Motion Controller offers gamers a new way to interact with the games they love and we are excited to give developers’ easy access to the SDK and FPS library on Steam” said Greg Coomer, product design lead, Valve. “Together with Razer and Sixense, we are designing new, more enjoyable gameplay mechanics in Left 4 Dead 2, as well as future Valve titles.”
“Steam was an easy choice for distributing the Ultra-Precise Motion Controller SDK to developers. Besides being the leading destination for millions of gamers, Steam is focused on serving PC developers,” said Amir Rubin, CEO, Sixense. “We will continue to partner with game developers around the world to provide the best gaming experiences.”
Game developers who are interested in downloading the SDK for porting their current games or developing future games based on the new motion sensing platform can go to the “Tools” tab on Steam, or write to [email protected] for further information or check out the official site at www.razerzone.com/motionsensing/.
About the Razer Group:
Razer™ is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming products and peripherals that are designed "For Gamers. By Gamers™". Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Razer’s award-winning line-up of products includes desktop speakers, headsets, keyboards, mice, software, and gaming surfaces. Since 1998, Razer has collaborated with leading professional gamers to develop, manufacture and market cutting-edge gaming peripherals using proprietary technologies that give gamers the competitive edge. Razer products offer the best in precision, sensitivity, usability and distinctive product design and have a reputation for being leaders in gaming peripheral technology.
For more information, please visit www.razerzone.com.
About Sixense™ Entertainment:
Sixense Entertainment is a Los Gatos, CA based company founded in 2007 with the goal of bringing high precision motion tracking technologies to gaming and other mass markets. Founded by a team of experts in the visual simulation and entertainment industries, Sixense recognized that the full potential of motion gaming can only be achieved when the computer knows the player’s every movement. The fundamental high performance of its magnetic tracking technology along with its easy to use software development platform has allowed Sixense to partner with hardware and software companies to commercialize superior gaming and digital media solutions.
For more information, please visit www.sixense.com.
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