New memory software for online gamers
Chatting with friends in multiplayer computer games or cranking up tunes mid-frag no longer need take online gamers out of the action, thanks to free software by a Sandpoint firm. PlayXpert LLC says its downloadable application also enables hardcore gamers to monitor system settings, research game lore and search the Web — without bogging down game play.
The software has attracted “tens of thousands” of users, said CEO Charles Manning. The company says its PlayXpert interface, which appears as a semi-transparent window over games, runs without sharing game memory and functions with almost any game, allowing players to communicate and organize in new ways.
Previously, gamers used the Alt-Tab keyboard shortcut to minimize games and perform tasks.
A handful of “widgets,” similar to self-contained programs that run on certain computer desktops, lend capabilities to the interface, such as voice chatting through Vivox and TeamSpeak or looking up “World of Warcraft” trivia through encyclopedia WoWWiki.
And through a recent deal with the maker of a high-performance network card, even more gamers soon will be exposed.
PlayXpert LLC and Austin, Texas-based Bigfoot Networks Inc. have inked a licensing agreement for the software to be bundled on Bigfoot’s Killer NIC gaming cards. The pricey cards ($199.99 or $279.99), which have built-in Linux processors and memory, allow players to run file-downloading client BitTorrent and other applications on the card, saving computing power for games. The cards are available through online retailers, such as gaming-system company Alienware.
The PlayXpert interface will allow Killer users to access card tools, such as a hardware firewall and game patcher, said Barry Raskin, Bigfoot’s vice president of marketing.
“They do it with a very unique solution in software; it matches up very well with what we’re trying to do,” he said. “It really has negligible performance impact to games.”
A forthcoming PlayXpert widget will allow fans of Sony Online Entertainment games, such as “EverQuest II,” to chat with friends in those games while playing other titles, according to PlayXpert LLC. Another recent “EverQuest II” widget gives players a way to research guilds, items and characters in-game.
Established in late 2006, PlayXpert already has tripled in size by acquiring custom-software firm Tometa Software, of Spokane, in an equity deal late last year. Renamed MetaXpert, the company had been programming widgets for PlayXpert.
“It became very, very clear that there was strategic value in purchasing the company,” said Manning, who was attending a game developer conference in San Francisco last week.
MetaXpert continues to offer custom programming, including applications for social networking sites such as Facebook.
The combined company now employs 32 full time in Spokane and Sandpoint, Manning said.
More deals with well-known companies and a new version of PlayXpert are expected in coming weeks, he said.