Play, Live, Work, Enjoy.

If you read the title of this blog post and thought… "Wow! Now that's a combination I could really get into!" Then you're right there with us. If not, read on, and at least you'll get where we're coming from. We were more than psyched when Roadrunner Records came calling looking for a metal twist on the casual game.

I pride myself on listening to all kinds of music, and although my earliest memories were of The Beatles and Bob Dylan; the first records I got on my own included Holy Diver, by Dio and Mellissa, by Mercyful Fate (an early Roadrunner Records act). Incidentally, one of Roadrunner's artists, Killswitch Engage does a killer cover of the (Holy Diver) title track…. magical rock lives on!

Anyhow, the news is that we're working on a series of casual games for the Roadrunner Records website. The first game recently launched and we're happy to see that the site's users are already begging for more. Photo Moshup is basically an online adaptation of the barcade classic Photo Hunt where users have to identify differences between two images. All of the games we're making for Roadrunner feature dynamically generated content and quality music clips of the bands featured in the game.

Keep an eye on the Our Work and Games sections of our website for links to more games as they launch. Works in progress include a tile swapping game with an arachnid twist to it and a Legend of Zelda style adventure in support of Madina Lake's upcoming release Attics to Eden.

Play PHOTO MOSHUP on RoadrunnerRecords.com

Local tech firms try to branch out

Broader services combat downturn

Amid the recession, some local tech companies are still finding ways to grow.

360 Professional Services Group, a Web development and design company based in Amherst, recently hired its 14th employee. The company was started in 2005 by three young men whose own employer was shutting down.

While many businesses might be anxious about their prospects this year, 360 PSG is looking forward to steady growth. The company is sticking to its strategy of catering to small-to medium-size companies and nonprofits that want to create effective Web sites, and then help those customers update and expand their sites’ services over time, said Joel Colombo, president and chief executive officer.

[ Hit the jump to read the rest of the article… yes… the part about us is just another paragraph or two down…. ]
Continue reading 'JRVisuals in the Buffalo News'

Wishing all of you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year from all of us here at JRVisuals LLC.

As has been our tradition since the founding of our company we have released a holiday game as a gift to our clients, friends, and family.

Ease back into your work-flow by taking a little break and playing this unique and original Penguin Panic Flash game… and thing about the environmental impact of our society while you're at it.

Help the penguin stave off the effects of global warming by pushing magical ice cubes into the water. Catch fish to keep your penguin healthy. Try to avoid getting hit in the head by falling cubes. Don't let too many pile up or you will sink.

Play Penguin Panic IV : Penguin Pusher

One of my favorite memories as a child growing up in New York City was taking the one train downtown with my grandmother and walking down Fifth Avenue and around Herald Square to see the holiday window decorations. They were always amazing and that is one thing that has not changed.

Our friend, and client, photographer Richard Cadan (RichardCadan.com) has started a tradition of his own. For the last three years… the moment these windows are unveiled he braves the weather and the crowds of shoppers in order to capture the holiday spirit… and some amazing images along with it. To celebrate this imagery and wish his clients a happy holiday season Cadan has commissioned us to create a Flash slide show of these images in time with the Nutcracker Suite and some programmatic snow.

If you have a chance to visit NYC this time of year… make sure you make it downtown for this spectacle… if not… you can get a glimpse right here… View Richard Cadan's Holiday Window Images.

We are proud to announce the public beta of our first Flash game developed specifically for the Facebook platform. Gifted! was developed for Koinonia Interactive and is a game about mastering the art of giving. Gifted! takes the worlds of social networking and online shopping and combines them into a fun and insightful blend.

With a catalog of over 300 unique gifts hand-picked from online retailers like Amazon and ThinkGeek players can not only give gifts to their friends online, they can also click a link and purchase these gifts "Fo' Real." Players are in store for some gifting fun just in time for the holidays… and who knows… maybe your holiday shopping will be just a bit easier after playing a few rounds.

Technically speaking, Gifted! brings together a variety of existing APIs such as Amazon's AWS, Google's Analytics and Facebook's ever-evolving code base as well as key aspects of PHP, MySQL and Flash ActionScript 3.0. Needless to say this was not a cookie cutter project but we have a happy client and a great foray into the world of socially networked games.

Will your friend think your gift is awesome? cool? or just plain craptastic?
Play Gifted! on Facebook and find out.

Here at JRVisuals we like our small plates… we also enjoy our wine.

When we were presented with the opportunity to develop a Flash micro-site for Triscuit, that paired gourmet recipes presented on the ever popular snack cracker with a variety of wines we were quite intrugued.

The site says it best: Tasty recipes for wine lovers. With their robust flavor, these bite-sized treats reflect everything that has made small plates the hottest new way for wine lovers to dine in America.

The site features an interactive carousel of over twenty different recipes and the five wines they pair best with. There are also pairing pointers for each wine to give you additional inspiration in your own recipes.

The recipe data is pulled in from external XML data files (for easy updates) and can be printed via a set of five PDF documents, one for each pairing. The carousel system was developed from scratch in ActionScript 3 and features dynamic shadows and layouts.

Visit Triscuit Small Plates on WineSpectator.com

Also, here is a direct link to the PDF of our favorite recipes…
those which pair with a nice Cabernet.

Triscuit Small Plates was created in collaboration with MShanken who was responsible for concept as well as account management and Silo Design who did the layout and user interface design.

500 B.C. is a new website that focuses on the connections between ancestry, mythology, and ecology. JRVisuals was given the opportunity to contribute by creating a series of Flash applications to help visualize these connections.

The Tribal Roots Finder and U.S. State Trees applications pair up to allow users to explore the trees which represent a specific region and it's indigenous peoples. Clicking on any of the 75+ map hot-spots will open a panel with an image of that location's tree as well as informative anecdotal text.

A third application, not yet live, shows the relationships between Celtic people, their trees, and their calendar.

As with much of our work, these applications combine elements of traditional design and typography with Flash ActionScript 3 and XML. The result is a dynamic experience which can be easily expanded and update by the client's staff without the need for a Flash expert on staff or an expensive content management system.

From the site:

Among the ancient threads that connect us, few things unite mankind like the tree. Trees are the oldest, largest, longest living things on Earth, and virtually every culture worldwide has a deep rooted tree mythology that resonates today. Travel the world using this map, and learn more. Then plant a tree in your community.

Click here to view the maps… and make sure to visit the 500BC.com site to learn more about your own roots and how you can help the planet which is your home.

Since its 1883 launch, LIFE Magazine has been the source of many American photographic icons. LIFE has recently begun the monumental task of updating their image and finding new venues for their content. For example, they have recently made 97% of their content (over 10 million images) available via a special Google LIFE search page. They are also preparing to launch a brand new website; LIFE.COM : Your World in Pictures.

In order to get people excited about the new site they have posted a temporary landing page which features a moving collage that includes a wealth of LIFE Magazine's beautiful and historic photos. That collage was created right here at JRVisuals.

Visit Life.com to check it out!

What can I say… FlashPitt was awesome! I had a great time with some great people and saw some interesting Flash and non-Flash presentations.

This was a one day show… and a long day it was. The key note by Lee Brimelow of Adobe was very cool. A lot of what we had already seen here and there with some new bits. The fact that the new drawing API allows for 3D triangles just seems to open the doors for all sorts of 3D enhancements. One of the samples Lee showed was a super slick first-person-shooter style interface. Julian Dolce's physical computing presentation inspired me to work on my "Soma Room" project. Stacey Mulcahy did not fail to impress… she speaks the truth and has some wicked funny slides to back it up. Golan Levin had some amazing non-Flash tech to show… very inspiring as well.

My presentation on Flash Games in AS3 went pretty well. I've posted the source code for the Space Invaders game I used as a case study here: http://www.jrvisuals.com/content/flashpitt08/ and plan to pretty up the page a bit as soon as I get some time. I'll also be posting my slides and updating the SI source code soon.
As always the conference wrapped with a dinner and drinks… many drinks. The next day, after a few cups of coffee, Val, Julian, Stacey, and PaperVision guru John Lindquist and I got to hit the local Apple Store and a cool art museum called the Mattress Factory.

I love the buzz of these industry conferences… meeting new people… hearing what's new and coming up directly from Adobe staff… comparing notes with other Flashers… not to mention partying with all these folks. Good times. These "smaller" one or two day conferences are nice too since they are much more affordable and don't require so much time away from home. Kudos to the FlashPitt organizers… I hope to be invited to speak at next years show!

Flashpitt happens on October 10th, 2008 at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh, PA. I'll be there as a speaker, friend of the organizers, and attendee. I'm really looking forward to it. As much as I love the larger conferences and festivals like Flash in the Can and FlashForwars there's something to be said for smaller more dynamic festivals such as this one.

Flashpitt is a one-day conference for multimedia designers, developers, and artists. It's Pittsburgh’s first major Flash-centric conference. National and international industry leaders will be present to inspire, educate, and challenge the region’s Flash community. The speaker line up will share inside tips, new technologies and behind the scenes looks to Flashpitt’s attendees.