'Game on' technology: catching up with last frontier imaginations.

• Author: Johnson, Greg
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Telecom & Technology

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It's a great time to be a geek as technology catches up to the imaginations of Last Frontier nerds.

Free open source computer software and a strong online infrastructure have lowered the geographical hurdles for those pursuing development of high-tech entertainment in Alaska.

That's what excites David Board, a self-professed "science nerd" who's making noise in the independent video game industry with his new creation "Lifeless Planet." Fresh off a March announcement that he's signed a deal with London-based publisher Lace Mamba Global for international distribution of the game, Board is hard at work in his Palmer home office creating new worlds and reviving the Cold War on a distant planet.

Game Changers

Free game development software coupled with high-speed telecommunications that allow even the most remote places to connect is a game-changer in the gaming community, Board says.

"It's not only changing things for people here in Alaska, it's changing industries," he says of programs like Unity, free open-source software that boasts more than 1 million registered developers. "In the past, you think about the music industry, movies, games, all these big entertainment industries--and they were all kind of ruled by a handful of very large production companies. Well, media and creative works are now more and more independent and user-driven in that people with a vision can go straight to their market."

For Board, half of the two-man partnership behind Palmer-based Stage 2 Studios, that connection has allowed his business to branch out into all aspects of social media. In addition to "Lifeless Planet," his first large-scale video game, Stage 2 specializes in building websites, social media content and applications for businesses and nonprofits. In Alaska, people may know Stage 2's work from watching Credit Union 1's television commercials or visiting its website, where Board has created an interactive game customers can play.

"It's like 'Sims Alaska' or something," Board says. "One of the big concepts that's catching on right now is called 'gamification.' It's a cool little industry that's cropped up, and the concept is rather than teach somebody traditionally, try to create it in the form of a game."

It's a trend being pushed by large, mainstream corporations as well, he says, including turning traditionally boring and easy-to-ignore training videos into interactive games.

"That's why we're getting more into interactive...