N-Gen Orbit: A fictional gaming system

Editor's note: This group project may be confusing. It is a collaboration of several different topics made into one product. It was a lot of fun to work on. Below is the mission statement and four articles about the product.

N-Gen Orbit Mission Statement

Electronics company N-Gen is proud to announce that we have partnered with Apple Inc. on our newest project, the Orbit. For years, other operating systems have entered the market in an attempt to wrestle dominance, however, with a 7 percent market share in personal computers, and a massive 20 percent market share in mobile devices, Apple has taken a keen interest in the console home gaming marketplace as a third staple.

In an effort to ensure the Orbit maintains its status as a premium brand, all Orbit consoles will run a fork of the Apple iOS operating system, allowing all currently existing apps to be downloaded and run on the Orbit, opening the Apple marketplace to purchases made with Bitcoin, and launch with the long-anticipated Electronic Arts-developed Star Wars title, Star Wars 1313, covering the early life of Boba Fett deep in the underwater cloning facility, Level 1313.

In an attempt to jumpstart the publicity surrounding the Orbit, N-Gen’s headquarters are being renovated for the purpose of both being a 20,000-square-foot arcade on the lower levels, with an additional 150,000-square-foot, 22,000-capacity hall for gaming conventions, conferences and other N-Gen, Orbit and Apple events. This new attraction/commodity/hotspot in downtown Houston will serve as a community center and feature walls of systems, early game testing, exclusive promotions and a relaxed environment open to the curious public.

Furthermore, we will be working closely with several different eSports leagues, including one backed by five members of the Houston Astros (George Springer, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Bregman) called StarLeague, to ensure a seriously competitive, yet equally entertaining environment. StarLeague will be a gaming convention, with bracketed competitions featuring many popular competitive titles for varying prizes, including Bitcoin. This will be hosted in the convention space at N-Gen headquarters.

N-Gen utilizes social media and online memes to market the console at a cheaper cost than traditional advertising from weekly audience engagement. There will also be a weekly meme contest with prizes and the winning memes will be projected onto a wall in the arcade. Entry to the arcade will be free during promotional events and during the weeks before release.

Houston Astros back eSports league on new console Orbit by N-Gen

By RENE SCHWARTZ

HOUSTON

A group of players in the Houston Astros banded together to support an eSports league that will be exclusive content to N-Gen's new video game console, the Orbit.

George Springer, Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Bregman all created an investment firm called StarMan Investments Inc. to support an eSports league they named StarLeague that is exclusive to the Orbit.

The Astros players went about this venture immediately following their 2017 World Series Championship win. The attention on these players was at an all-time high because of this, and they used this publicity to promote the Orbit and their Orbit eSports league.

Apple and N-Gen, the two electronics companies responsible for the creation of the Orbit, gave it its name in honor of the Houston Astros mascot, Orbit the alien.

"I had no idea about the Orbit" UHCL graduate student and long-time Houston Astros fan Austin Green said. "But, when I found out members of the team were backing it, I decided to look more into it." I found out about the free arcade at the N-Gen headquarters, and now I can't wait to go and buy my own Orbit!"

An eSports game is a multiplayer video game played competitively for spectators, typically by professional gamers. Players join together as a team and when 12 teams are formed, they become an eSports league. eSports are very competitive because many players are hoping to win real money.

As for the Astros players' participation, if any Astros players are victorious, any prize money they win will be donated to local charities, however, if any other players win, the prize money is theirs to keep. All the money exchanged through N-Gen is with bitcoin.

"The eSports trend has really been growing and evolving over the last two or three decades," a team member of the UHCL eSports club Lora Gouge, who's also the social media lead for the organization, said. "MLB teams have really taken a liking to it with the Texas Rangers even backing Overwatch league teams.

Overwatch is the most popular eSports league at the moment, its 12 teams are from Boston, Dallas, Florida, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seoul and Shanghai.

"Games are even being shown on ESPN, whether or not people are happy about it," Gouge joked.

When asked about why she thought the group of Astros players would back a local Houston eSports league, Gouge had this to say:

"I think the Astros are really seeing the growing interest in the community and how much fun it is; which is why the players are reaching out to a growing part of Houston."

The Astros' involvement has garnered fan interest not just in the Orbit, but in StarLeague as well.

"I haven't been exposed to a lot of eSports, but I'm aware of it as a growing trend," Green said. "Once I get my Orbit, I can't wait to try out the Astros' backed eSports league StarLeague and play with all my friends and maybe even the Houston Astros themselves. Playing for Bitcoin also is appealing because it's worth so much right now. And I love playing games and earning real-world money!"

Apple and N-Gen anticipate sales to reach record highs in the game console realm. The companies plan to ship over 5 million consoles only a month after the soft opening of the arcade. The Astros’ players-backed StarLeague anticipates numbers that compete with Overwatch's 35 million players by the end of the calendar year.

Go see the Orbit for yourself at N-Gen's arcade in downtown Houston

By RENE SCHWARTZ

HOUSTON

N-Gen is a relatively young electronics company with a vision to change the face of home gaming by combining all of the current devices into one. These devices include home PC or gaming console mixed with streaming services of a Roku or Apple TV. Other features include access to the App Store and the ability to make purchases with Bitcoin.

N-Gen approached Apple in 2015 about creating its vision of an immersive and engaging new home console.

Surprising many industry insiders, Apple agreed to the partnership and by March 2017 they announced the launch of the console for March 2018.

N-Gen and Apple partnered with StarMan Investments, consisting of five Houston Astros players, George Springer, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Bregman, to create an exclusive eSports league called StarLeague that is only available on this device. Because of the support and publicity associated with the Astros, the companies agreed to call the console the Orbit, named after Houston Astros mascot Orbit the alien.

Apple's appearance on the home console market was a surprise to many. And even more surprising was its launch location.

Apple and N-Gen chose downtown Houston to test out the market for this new system. N-Gen's headquarters are located in downtown Houston and in May will launch a complete remodel of its building with an arcade and convention center making up the entire ground floor.

N-Gen’s headquarters are being renovated for the purpose of touting a 20,000-square-foot arcade on the lower levels, with an additional 150,000-square-foot, 22,000-capacity hall for gaming conventions, conferences and other N-Gen, Orbit and Apple events. This new attraction/commodity/hotspot in downtown Houston will serve as a community center and feature walls of systems, early game testing, exclusive promotions and a relaxed environment open to the curious public.

The arcade's main attraction and N-Gen's biggest contribution to the Orbit is its new launch title, Star Wars 1313, which covers the early life of Boba Fett deep in the underground cloning facility, Level 1313. This title has been in the hearts and minds of gamers for years now but is finally seeing release exclusively for the N-Gen Orbit, and available for early testing in our Houston-area headquarters.

Additionally, the arcade will be filled with brand-new Orbit consoles, big, flat-screen televisions, comfortable couches, large high definition LCD computer monitors and have Orbit's preview beta version of their upcoming virtual reality headset. The Virtual Orbiter headset is on track to debut around Christmas-time 2019. Until the final version is released to the public, the N-Gen arcade will be the only place for gamers to try out this futuristic, state-of-the-art virtual reality experience.

"I heard that the Virtual Orbiter is supposed to be the most realistic virtual reality system ever made, local virtual reality enthusiast Dallas Brown said. "I lost my job, I got divorced, but it's all going to be worth it once I try out that new VR headset."

The arcade will also be promoting a meme contest that every week will have a different theme and different prize to be paid in bitcoin. The winning meme will also be projected on the wall.

On the other walls will be displayed vintage gamer memorabilia; psychedelic posters, handmade sculptures and other artwork, old controllers, etc. and much of it will also be for sale by local Houston artists.

The arcade is set for a May soft opening in which it will be open to the first 1,000 people every weekend in May and then open to the general public June 1.

The arcade will be open 24 hours a day from Friday through Sunday and from noon to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Schoolchildren invited to tour N-Gen facility, arcade during May soft opening

By RENE SCHWARTZ

HOUSTON

Houston has an exciting new attraction in N-Gen's new arcade and local schoolchildren are going to be some of the first to experience the new state-of-the-art gaming center.

The launch of N-Gen's, in partnership with Apple, new console, the Orbit, has been long anticipated by the people of Houston.

N-Gen surprised and delighted the about 4,400 Houston school district students with an offer to tour the new arcade and be some of the first to experience the new console during a special walkthrough of the newly renovated headquarters.

Not only will students get a chance to try the new consoles, five members of the Houston Astros major league baseball team, George Springer, Jose Altuve, Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Bregman, will come give demonstrations to the students about their upcoming competition-based eSports league, StarLeague.

The students will also be one of the first groups to try out a very early first look at the N-Gen virtual reality headset, the Virtual Orbiter, which is set to debut about Christmastime 2019.

The Orbit consoles, which are equipped with access to the Apple App Store, iTunes, Apple TV, not to mention the Orbit's Astros backed exclusive eSports league and its own Star Wars 1313 launch title, were announced by Apple and N-Gen in 2017.

N-Gen, with a majority of parents in support, offered the field trips for the students of Houston ISD to go to the arcade for this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday's field trip will be for all of Houston ISD's elementary school students; Wednesday's field trip will be the tour for all of the school district's middle school students; and Friday will be set aside for all of the district's high school students.

The field trips are exclusively for the students and their chaperones. School district Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan joked this field trip had a record number of parents volunteering to be chaperones in her tenure.

Other than the consoles, the arcade is filled with a number of child-friendly non-electronic games and activities such as lazer tag, life-size Tetris, a climbing wall and jumbo Jenga. These activities are offered at no additional cost.

Another stop on the tour includes an additional 150,000-square-foot, 22,000-capacity hall for gaming conventions, conferences and other N-Gen, Orbit and Apple events.

N-Gen is marketing the arcade as a very family friendly attraction. There will be no alcohol served nor allowed on the premises. All minors under 12 years old must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or sibling over 18 years old.

When the arcade opens, it will be free of charge. The arcade's capacity is 2,000 individuals at any given time. Once this limit has been reached, no one else will be admitted until other patrons have left and made room.

The arcade is set for a May soft opening in which it will be open to the first 1,000 people every weekend in May and then open to the general public June 1.

The arcade will be open 24 hours a day from Friday through Sunday and from noon to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

N-Gen, Apple launch new project; Is there room for another console?

Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One — even the Nintendo Switch — all gaming consoles released in the past six years. Is there room in the market for another console?

The Orbit sets itself apart from other consoles by its access to the Apple App Store and iTunes. Each Orbit has a built-in Apple TV and really the only thing the Orbit doesn't do, yet, is make phone calls. An add-on that supports Apple's video chatting service FaceTime is in the works but is not scheduled to be released until Memorial Day weekend 2019.

The biggest hurdle for the Orbit console launch is Apple and N-Gen don't have the home console fan base that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo share. However, Apple's customers when polled have had a 59 percent record of blind loyalty, according to a Forbes article. In the same poll, 78 percent of Apple customers said they "couldn’t imagine having a different type of phone" and 52% said they were just “really impressed” with their iPhone.

Apple is relying on the brand loyalty of its customers to support their entry in the video game home console market.

Apple and N-Gen are confident that with the proven customer loyalty, along with the technological advances offered in the Orbit, that their console will be a hit. The companies agree that if their console product can achieve their goal of a 20 percent market share in the next five years, then they will consider the Obit a success and will release it to the global marketplace.

Market analysts say Apple's market share can potentially grow as high as 50 percent.

If all these numbers don't convince you to try the Orbit — I went to the arcade for a press junket that N-Gen had to promote the soft opening and tried the Orbit and let me just say you ought to try it, too.

There are five options for controllers depending on the style you like best. I would say that was one of the biggest draws.

The consoles themselves come in five different colors: pastel pink, robin egg blue, canary yellow, matte black or matte white.

The walls were full of color as well and three of the arcade's walls were filled to the ceiling with vintage video game memorabilia, local art and old controllers.

There was one wall on which a meme was projected which was a picture of Futurama's Phillip J. Fry squinting with the text, "Not sure if '1' means I have one extra life or if this is my last life." I was told the meme was a placeholder for the weekly meme contest N-Gen will be hosting.

The Star Wars launch title, Star Wars 1313, was a blast! You should see it for yourself!

The soft opening is in May. Doors open to the general public June 1.