Anino Games

Basic Information
Company Type	N/A}
Company Industry	N/A
Company Status	Active
Foundation	November 2001
Products	Anito
Location(s)
Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

For the city in Azerbaijan, see Şəmkir.

Anino Games is a Philippine third-party game developer for different platforms. It is composed of two sister companies – Anino Entertainment, which focuses on PC, console, and virtual reality games, and Anino Mobile, which develops mobile games. The company takes its name from anino, a Tagalog word meaning "shadow".

Currently, it is a third-party game developer specializing in end-to-end game development for the PC, Nintendo DS and DSi, Wii, iPhone/Ipod Touch/iPad and mobile phone platforms. They are the pioneer game development studio in the Philippines. Their award-winning original IPs include Anito: Defend A Land Enraged (IGF 2004), Anima Wars (IMGA 2006), Anito: Tersiago’s Wrath (Nokia Series60 challenge, Singapore 2003), Deep Interactive Pursuit (Best Casual Game nominee, IMGA 2007), and Word Archery (Indie Game Showcase 2007).

List of games

• Despicable Me: Minion Mania
• Pet Resort
• Mind's Eye: Secrets of the Forgotten
• Shutter Island
• Littlest Pet Shop
• Mystery of Cleopatra
• Dream Day Wedding iPhone
• Turbo Subs iPhone
• Jumble Classic iPhone
• Flipper Deluxe
• Jumble Madness
• Moorhuhn Star Karts
• Pat Sajak’s Linked Letters
• ESPN’s Winter X Mobile
• Timothy and Titus (Game)
• Anito: Defend a Land Enraged

Anino Entertainment

Established in November 2001, Anino Entertainment is a third-party game developer of PC and console games. In 2003, Anino released the first Filipino-made game, Anito: Defend A Land Enraged, a single-player role-playing game for the PC. Anito placed the Philippines on the game industry world map and won two international awards: Innovation in Audio at the Independent Games Festival 2003 (also a finalist in all categories), and 2003 Gametunnel Role-Playing Game of the Year.

Anino Entertainment has also created numerous titles for various platforms including PDAs, TV games, and serious games for business applications such as virtual reality and industrial design. They finished production on their second PC game, Timothy and Titus, a Christian-themed casual game for children, which was released internationally at the end of 2006.

Recently, Anino Entertainment created its first PC casual game called Word Archery, which won 2nd place in the Casual category of the Indie Game Developers Showcase. Currently, Anino is working on additional titles on the PC and Microsoft's Xbox 360 such as the action-adventure/RPG hybrid "Project Phoenix".

Anino Mobile

Anino Mobile was established in April 2005 by Anino Entertainment and develops games for mobile phones. Their games include Black Ops, Anito: Call of the Land, The One Hope, and Snakes On A Plane.

In October 2006, Anino Mobile was named a finalist in the International Mobile Gaming Awards. Their game Anima Wars was one of 25 finalists, chosen out of 400 studios from 42 countries around the world.

Controversy

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the office of Philippine game development company Anino Games Inc last August 22, 2008 for alleged software copyright infringement. The raid resulted in the seizure of 36 computers that were installed with alleged illegal copies of several applications from software developer Autodesk Inc. Among the pirated software that were supposedly found were 3D Studio Max 2008, 3D Studio Max 9, AutoDesk Maya 8.5, AutoCAD 2008, AutoDesk Maya 2008 and Combustion 4.

A complaint was filed at the NBI's Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) by AutoDesk, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The group has been promoting the use of original software and seeking prosecution against alleged copyright violators, BSA said in a statement. Anino, the first commercial game development firm in the Philippines, is a member of the Game Development Association of the Philippines.

The group's president, Gabriel Dizon was unavailable for comment as of this writing.

Anino Games President Niel Dagondon confirmed the government raid. In a statement given to INQUIRER.net, Dagondon said the company "has always been willing to work with AutoDesk" to help companies like them find viable solutions. Dagondon also implored the BSA to help them instead of attacking them. Such attacks, he said, could force other development firms to either close down or "resort to undesirable means." “[A]ttacks such as these are damaging not just to Anino and its staff but to the entire Philippine creative and outsourcing industry in general. This has a negative effect not only to Anino's operations but to the reputation of Philippine offshore service providers as a whole composed of dollar earning companies whose clients are mainly based abroad," Dagondon said.

See also

• Anito

External links

• Anino Games - Official website of Anino Entertainment and Anino Mobile
• Timothy and Titus - Official website of Timothy and Titus
• IMGA - International Mobile Gaming Awards