HTML5, the future of the web.

More and more game companies are turning to the HTML5 web format to create cross-platform games. The latest is Pangalore, a social and mobile game startup based in Seoul.

Pangalore was founded in May to create games that can run on multiple platforms by using HTML5 as their technical foundation. Pangalore built from scratch a game engine that can work within the limits of HTML5, said Doyon Kim, chief product officer and co-founder of the company who runs the office in San Jose, Calif., in an interview.

Pangalore is announcing two new Facebook and mobile games today: Artfit and Wild West Solitaire. Both are slow-moving, cartoon-like titles that accommodate the main weakness of HTML5 now: slow speed. Pangalore is also working on two more titles, Pop the Candy and Bubble Prince, for release later. Kim says the company will release titles every couple of months.

“The benefit of HTML5 games is that you can start them on one platform and then finish them on another,” Kim said. “We designed our games from the start to be multiplatform games.”

While young, the company has a big staff. It has 25 employees and funding from NHN, the largest online game portal in Korea. The good thing about HTML5 games is they can run on just about any platform, from Facebook to Android phones and tablets. It runs on browsers on mobile devices, PCs, and Macs. Pangalore is also making native format games for the Apple iPhone.

Kim said that deeper strategy and role-playing games are in the works as well, using the Unity 3D game engine. Those games, including a simulation title, will be coming in early 2012. Among the team are some experienced game creators including those who created Ragnarok Online, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game with 3 million players in North America.

The games are free-to-play and are accessible from a single Facebook account that works across all devices. Kim co-founded the firm with Brian Kang, former chief executive of Gravity and a former venture capitalist. Kim previously founded Dialpad Communications, Opinity and Spotplex. Rivals included other HTML5 game makers such as Moblyng and Zynga.

The Wild West Solitaire game sets players on a card-playing journey along the historic Oregon Trail, where you race against the clock or friends to play solitaire challenges. Artfit is a falling blocks game where players must place the pieces into forms to score points and advance through increasingly complex levels. Over time, HTML5 is expected to show better performance so that a wider variety of games will be playable on it. Pangalore hopes to be ready when that happens.

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6th Grader, iPhone Application Developer

This is a must watch video.
Thomas Suarez is a 6th grade student at a middle school in the South Bay of Los Angeles. When Apple released the Software Development Kit (SDK), he began to create and sell his own applications. "My parents, my friends and even the people at the Apple store all supported me," he says, "and Steve Jobs inspired me".

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Pitch It! - An opportunity for Startups to get funded by Top Investors of India

The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay presents Pitch it! for the startups who are looking for funding.

With it's unique format of express funding, the participants of Pitch it! get an opportunity to pitch before panel of investors. The best 10 entries will be selected from all over India for the finals at E-Summit 2012, where they will get exposure to funding opportunities from top Angel Investors viz.Mumbai Angels, Indian Angel Network(IAN) and many more. Some of previous year's investors are Blue Run Ventures, Seedfund, Canaan Partners, Telnet Ventures etc.


Pitch it! is a three phase event:

1. The first phase is online submission of the questionnaire by the start-ups. 10 entries will be shortlisted by a panel of investors for the final closed-room pitching.

2. The second phase comprises of mentoring, where these top 10 teams will be mentored on “pitching tactics” for funding from experts.

3. The third and final phase would be held at E-Summit on 29th January, 2012, IIT Bombay wherein the start-ups will be required to present their final pitch in their quest for funding by the Angel Investors/Venture Capitalists.


Don't miss out on this opportunity. Registration for Phase 1 closes on 5th december, 2011.

For more details and registering visit http://www.ecell.in/pitchit

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