Video games in Megelan
The history of video games in Meᵹelan dates back to the late 1970s; in 2009, the profits of Meᵹelan's video game industry exceeded those of its film industry for the first time, with video games being seen as an art form not unlike more traditional formats such as painting and theatre. Several internal subdivisions of the Community give special tax breaks to video game companies - just as they give special tax breaks to other companies that concern themselves with other creative endeavours.
Demographics
In Meᵹelan, 59% of gamers are male, while 41% of gamers are female; the average gamer is either between the ages of 25 and 34, or between the ages of 35 and 44: the first group tends to prefer tablet computers and smartphone devices, while the second group tends to prefer personal computers.
The most popular genres among tablet and smartphone gamers are puzzle games, strategy games and arcade games, while the most popular genres among computer gamers are action/adventure games, strategy games and simulation games; adventure games and role-playing games, on the other hand, are fairly popular across all platforms.
History
In the late 1970s, Alba-based company Geloso began to build and develop coin-operated video games, often clones or licensed versions of Akashian and Gylian products; around the same time, Gradaro-based company Hi-Toro debuted a line of home computers, that began to be used by bedroom coders with no formal experience in computer programming to develop video games.
A legal dispute between Geloso and Hi-Toro, concerning the appearance of a video game developed on Hi-Toro hardware on a coin-operated arcade built by Geloso was then brought to the court of the Guild of Mechanical Engineering, but the dispute was retracted when the owners of both businesses decided to collaborate under the aegis of the Guild itself.
In 1982, the Geloso/Hi-Toro CD 8 was born, a 8-bit console that, if upgraded with keyboard, floppy drive, hard drive, RAM and mouse, could turn into a full-fledged home computer; this home computer/video game console hybrid was followed in 1987 by a 16-bit version, the Geloso/Hi-Toro CD 16, and then in 1992 by a 32-bit version, the Geloso/Hi-Toro CD 32.
The success of these products prompted hardware and software company Genuino to release a couple of 8-bit handheld game consoles, the Genuino Mono in 1989, featuring a monochrome screen, and the Genuino Poly in 1998, featuring a polychrome screen. The planned release of a 128-bit console by Hi-Toro was cancelled, either because of changes in leadership and strategy, or because the CD 128 prototype was considered inferior to the planned Delkoran and Gylian consoles.
As Genuino transitioned into an open-source hardware and software company designing and manufacturing single-board microcontrollers, and as Hi-Toro abandoned the video game console industry to focus solely on their home computer hardware and software, no video game console has been released by a Meᵹelanese company since, despite the strength of the Meᵹelanese PC gaming and retrogaming scenes, and the prominent role Meᵹelanese video game developers and publishers play in Tyran.
Video game companies from Meᵹelan
| Company | Location | Founded | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 505 Giochi | Alba | 2006 | Publisher |
| Fratelli Digitali | Alba | 1989 | Publisher |
| Graffiti | Alba | 1993 | Developer |
| Mente d'Inchiostro | Alba | 2001 | Developer, Publisher |
| Soft Industry | Alba | 2004 | Developer |
| Sonic Egg | Alba | 2012 | Developer |