BlueGill Studios has placed first in Abilene Christian University’s SpringBoard Business Plan Competition.

The challenge was a mini-business plan competition for the Abilene community and universities. Jeff McArthur and Joseph Quigley of BlueGill Studios were one of the 123 people and teams who submitted a business plan this year.

The SpringBoard competition gave BlueGill Studios the opportunity to organize and present a business idea before a live panel of judges.

“It is all designed to encourage entrepreneurs and to create a more friendly environment for starting a business here in Abilene,” said James R. Porter, entrepreneur-in-residence at Abilene Christian University.

BlueGill Studios and the first place winners in two other categories were awarded a $7,500 cash prize. Bixby Enterprises and Mark Horn Enterprises donated a total of $24,000 of free rental credit to each winner as well.

Two days after Open Fire Gold was released for iPhone, a player beat my personal highest score. I was rather proud of it and before release I enjoyed knowing who was top dog during beta testing–me. Beta testing is long over though, and we’re not sure who the top dog truly really is, so we’re starting a challenge to find out: Who is the Open Fire Gold top dog? (also known as the Rocket Challenge).

We’re going to make Open Fire Gold free for two days, starting April 24. Throughout the week you can play Open Fire Gold’s Survival mode and rack up the highest score you possibly can. On May 1, the two players with the highest score will be selected to receive a $10 iTunes gift card. We’re also giving away another $10 iTunes Gift Card at random to someone who mentions the Rocket Challenge on Twitter with the #openfiregold tag (no purchase/download necessary to win).

So what are you waiting for? Go win yourself $10 worth of iTunes goodies (maybe even $20!).

Official contest and promotion information and rules
The top two players in the Rocket Challenge OpenFeint leaderboard will be selected at midnight Central Time, May 1, 2010.

The winners will be contacted via OpenFeint private messages and prizes will be awarded via iTunes Gift Card emails (restricted to only the US iTunes store)

The Twitter winner will be sent a direct message shortly after the challenge period ends.

BlueGill Studios reserves the right to alter, end, or modify the contest and its rules at any time.

To participate in the Rocket Challenge, you must have the latest version of Open Fire Gold installed on your iDevice, and you must be logged in and online while playing. Due to technology and design constraints, participation is not possible when playing offline.

By participating in the contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless, BlueGill Studios from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the contest or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) unauthorized human intervention in the contest; (b) technical errors related to computers, servers, providers, or telephone or network lines; (c) misdirected, or undeliverable mail; (d) errors in the administration of the contest or the processing of entries; or (e) injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the contest or receipt of any prize. Entrant further agrees that in any cause of action, the BlueGill Studios’ liability will be limited to the cost of entering and participating in the contest, and in no event shall the BlueGill Studios be liable for attorney’s fees. Entrant waives the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.

“So there’s a lone rocket man (go put on some Elton John, I know you want to) and he’s shooting the hell out of tanks. Sounds cool right? Maybe the plot to the next Rambo movie? No, it’s just what you could be doing if you played Open Fire Gold.”

Read the full review on AppLoot

Blast your way to survival with Open Fire Gold, BlueGill Studio’s new 3D arcade shooter built for the iPhone platform.

BlueGill Studios has announced Open Fire Gold for iPhone, a port of the popular PC arcade game, Open Fire Gold.

About The Game

Open Fire Gold blends strategy with arcade gameplay. It features two game modes: Timed and Survival mode where the object in each is to destroy as many tanks as possible before either time or health run out. The player is provided with rockets, land mines, weapons powerups and robotic turrets to aid them as they try to achieve the highest score possible. The game integrates the amazing OpenFeint platform to provide Achievements, Leaderboards, Chat, IM, and Facebook and Twitter integration.

Languages Supported: English

iPhone OS: 3.0+

Available on the App Store

About BlueGill Studios
BlueGill Studios is small Guatemalan game development and web site design studio. They are the creators of popular arcade game, Open Fire Gold and co-developers of hit arcade game, Open Fire.

BlueGill Studios’ vision is to make quality games aimed at both North and Latin American cultures. We focus on fun, cross-cultural games, polished products, and engaging story to create the best games ever to have come out of Latin America.

Contact

Joseph Quigley, Lead Programmer

jquigley-atbluegillstudios(dot)com BlueGill Studios

http://www.bluegillstudios.com

Announcing Open Fire Gold for iPhone

It’s here! The popular military-themed arcade is now more fun than ever before! Taking full advantage of the iPhone’s multi-touch screen, Open Fire Gold for iPhone is the best way to have intense arcade fun on the iPhone.

Of course, we couldn’t just squeeze the game onto the iDevices without giving it a new makeover and new features! Open Fire Gold for iPhone makes use of the very popular OpenFeint platform, giving it top notch leader-boards, (global, personal, regional, and friends), in-game chat, Facebook and Twitter integration, Achievements, and Player vs Player, friend vs friend challenges!

We’re so excited about this release, that we’re going to give away two $5 prizes, and 27 copies of both iOFG and PC OFG for free! So get in on the action!

Coming to  iPhone and iPod Touch April 2010 (with an iPad version following shortly thereafter)

You may have noticed (a long time ago) that the blog wouldn’t load. We noticed this around September of last year, and didn’t see any easy way to fix it. Then we forgot about it, remembered, and tried to fix it. Each time we were unsuccessful, so we created a new database and re-installed WordPress.

Unfortunately we can’t display the older posts yet, but the good news is that we can blog again!