NGDEV
Industry | Video games |
---|---|
Founded | 2001 |
Founders | Timm and René Hellwig |
Headquarters | Germany |
Products | Video games |
Website | ngdevteam.com |
NGDEV, formerly NG:Dev.Team, is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2001 by brothers Timm and René Hellwig, it is known for developing homebrew for the Neo Geo and Dreamcast.
History[]
German brothers Timm and René Hellwig began developing doujin video games in 2000.[1][2] Being fans of the Neo Geo, they started reverse engineering the hardware and were able to start developing prototypes.[2] They founded NG:Dev.Team in 2001.[3]
In 2006, NG:Dev.Team released their first game, Last Hope.[2] Only 60 copies were produced for the Neo Geo.[2] Realizing an opportunity for greater commercial success, they signed with homebrew publisher RedSpotGames in 2007 to release copies for the Dreamcast.[4] Surprised by the success of the Dreamcast version, the Hellwigs turned their game development hobby into full-time work,[1] and began development on their next game Fast Striker.[2] NG:Dev.Team use KallistiOS to develop Dreamcast games, an open source development environment for making Dreamcast homebrew.[1] While the cost of producing Neo Geo carts is expensive and the community is small, the team considers this when planning their business.[2]
In 2011, Timm Hellwig claimed roadblocks with publishing on modern consoles, saying it requires publisher and hardware manufacturer approval, while that is not necessary for publishing on old consoles.[1] He also claimed the market for homebrew on retro consoles was declining, noting that sales of Fast Striker only totaled to 60% of Last Hope before it. In an effort to compromise, they expanded to more active platforms like the Wii and iPhone.[1] Max Scharl of RedSpotGames disagreed with Timm's assessment, saying NG:Dev.Team does not promote their games well, and cited the commercial success of his Dreamcast game Sturmwind as further evidence.[1] In 2012, Timm stated that Fast Striker was not successful on the iOS marketplace and blamed its niche appeal. He also claimed that retro-style games on Xbox and PlayStation marketplaces were only popular if they had a "hipster feel" which their team was not interested in exploring.[2]
In 2019, the company rebranded themselves from NG:Dev.Team to NGDEV.[3]
Games[]
Year | Title | Original platform(s) | Publisher | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Last Hope | Dreamcast, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD | NG:Dev.Team, RedSpotGames | [4] |
2009 | Last Hope: Pink Bullets | Dreamcast, Neo Geo | NG:Dev.Team | [4] |
2010 | Fast Striker | Dreamcast, iOS, Neo Geo, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita | NG:Dev.Team, Eastasiasoft | [5] |
2012 | Gunlord | Dreamcast, Neo Geo | NG:Dev.Team | [6][7] |
2013 | Neo XYX | Dreamcast, Neo Geo | NG:Dev.Team | [8][9] |
2014 | Razion | Neo Geo | NG:Dev.Team | [10] |
2019 | Kraut Buster | Neo Geo | NGDEV | [11] |
Gunlord X | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 | Eastasiasoft | [12][13] | |
2021 | Razion EX | Nintendo Switch | NG:Dev.Team | [14] |
Reference[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Barnholt, Ray (12 May 2011). "Keeping the Dream Alive: The Men Behind Dreamcast Homebrew". Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g McFerran, Damien (4 June 2012). "Never Neglect the Niche: NG Dev Team on developing for dead systems - Germany's indie darlings speak exclusively about their new Neo Geo game, Gunlord". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "About us". NGDEV. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Brown, Peter (3 December 2012). "German Studio NG:DEV.TEAM Keeps the Spirit of the Neo Geo Alive - The Neo Geo scene continues to thrive thanks to the dedicated Hellwig brothers, who in 2000 began developing original games for SNK's 16-bit powerhouse". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Benefield, Nick (7 December 2018). "REVIEW: Fast Striker". Oprainfall. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Brown, Fraser (10 October 2011). "GunLord coming to Dreamcast and Neo Geo". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Verdin, Guillaume (16 April 2013). "GunLord enfin disponible sur Neo·Geo AES". (in French). Association MO5.COM. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Zamora, Alonso (29 October 2013). "Inicia la distribución de Neo XYX para arcades Neo Geo - Todavía se lanzan shooters para el sistema MVS". LevelUp (in Spanish). BuscaCorp. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Cowan, David (13 February 2014). "Neo XYX joins the Dreamcast's library next week". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Hannley, Steve (4 June 2014). "NG:DEV.TEAM Announces New Neo Geo MVS Game, Razion". Hardcore Gamer. Hardcore Gamer LLC. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ retroManiac (6 February 2019). "El espectacular arcade para Neo-Geo Kraut Buster está terminado, pero no parece que llegará a otras plataformas - Sus diseñadores trabajan en nuevas producciones para consolas actuales" (in Spanish). RetroManiac. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Romano, Sal (8 May 2019). "'Eurostyle platformer' Gunlord X coming to Switch on May 22". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ Guglielmo, Samuel (9 December 2019). "Indie Action Shooter Gunlord X Makes its Way to PS4 Tomorrow With Extra Content". PlayStation LifeStyle. Mandatory. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ McFerran, Damien (28 April 2021). "This Insanely Expensive Neo Geo Shmup Is Coming To Switch In Physical Form - Raze hell for Razion EX". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
External links[]
- NG:Dev.Team games
- Video game companies established in 2001
- Video game companies of Germany
- Video game development companies
- Video game publishers