September 29, 2006
Tony Hawk Project 8
Posted by richard ting at September 29, 2006, 10:54 AM
September 04, 2006
TrueGameHeadz
Everyone should go check out TrueGameHeadz, a new blog created with the help of my friend and fellow Bronx native, David Ross. The site has only been up for a few weeks and there are already over 100 postings.
To understand where these guys are coming from, here's a quote from their website, "We have been playing games since the old age of Atari 2600 and have gathered every system and worthwhile game since! This site was actually formed based on the stress of reviewers not giving the consumers the "real" on games. A lot of reporters in the industry have either become jaded or too friendly with the developers to give a real account of games. We feel that this may have helped stunt the industry as innovation and good gameplay has been tossed to the side in lieu of sequels and exciting Hollywood or Comic book crossovers."
Posted by richard ting at September 04, 2006, 10:17 AM
August 16, 2006
Microsoft to sell game making tools
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. on Monday will announce the availability of software tools aimed at encouraging independent and hobbyist video game makers to create titles for its new Xbox 360 console.
The move from Microsoft, which kicks off its two-day Gamefest video game development conference in Seattle on Monday, comes as the popularity of user-created content on the Internet grows and as the software giant builds a large audience for its Web-connected Xbox Live online service.
Microsoft said its tool kit, called XNA Game Studio Express, will make it easier for enthusiasts to create games to run on Microsoft's next-generation Xbox 360 console or personal computers running its Windows operating system.
A test version of the tool kit will be out by August 30. The final product will be available this holiday season for an annual subscription of $99 (52 1/2 pounds) per year for Xbox 360 game development. The software will be free to people making games to run on Windows
Read more.
Posted by richard ting at August 16, 2006, 02:44 AM
My Cheats
Welcome to the Beta of MyCheats.com, the brand new next-generation game help site from the 1UP Network. Since they're still in Beta, they're still in the process of finishing some site features, adding content, and getting out the kink. Send them feeback if you like.
Posted by richard ting at August 16, 2006, 02:20 AM
June 28, 2006
Psycho Crusher, FTW!
NES Super Mario Bros. - Using M.Bison's ultimate Psycho Crusher, for the ultimate win!
Posted by richard ting at June 28, 2006, 12:32 PM
May 10, 2006
Does E3 Amount to a Video Game Upfront?
As they do every year, tens of thousands have converged on Los Angeles for the biggest video game conference in the world: the Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3.
The crowd is mostly developers, hardcore gamers and press, all clamoring for a taste of the next generation of consoles and titles. But largely unobserved on the show floor is a new and growing contingent that's not interested in buying or reviewing games, but rather wants to climb right through the screen and become a part of the action.
Brands and their agencies are all over E3 this year, and they've booked wall-to-wall meetings with ad sales execs at the game studios and with the in-game ad firms that represent their games.
"I've got meetings every hour, which is great," said Brandon Berger, OgilvyOne's senior strategist for digital innovation. "We're starting the process now, because 2007 is right around the corner. I need to be aware of all the hot titles that are coming out and where studios are putting their money so I can know where we need to be."
Posted by richard ting at May 10, 2006, 01:04 AM
April 05, 2006
24 The Game
For all the 24 heads out there. Jack Bauer is wreaking havoc, defusing nuclear warheads, and bashing heads apart in this PS2 game.
Posted by richard ting at April 05, 2006, 06:44 AM
April 03, 2006
Spore Gameplay Video
The legendary game designer, Will Wright, presents an alternate way to develop games, and the awesome product of this way of thinking. Everyone talked about it at the 2005 DICE Summit. Microsoft made it the focus of its keynote address. For many it's a cold hard fact: the price of developing a game for the next-generation of systems is going to skyrocket. It's going to take warehouses full of artists and level designers to create all the content for every title. For many, this proposition is terrifying.
Will Wright, creator of SimCity and The Sims, says YES. And more than that, he believes he's found a way to make gaming a much more personal experience for everyone it touches. And it won't take hordes of content developers: it'll just take a little savvy and use of what's called "procedural" content development.
Posted by richard ting at April 03, 2006, 04:42 AM
March 31, 2006
Online Game Debuts Interactive Ads
PROJECT ENTROPIA, AN ONLINE MULTIPLAYER game, has begun hosting interactive ads, powered by in-game ad firm Massive Incorporated. The deal allows advertisers and brands to insert ad campaigns dynamically into the game, which allows players to interact with one another in a virtual world, and features an economy based on Project Entropia Dollars, which operate at a fixed exchange rate to the U.S. dollar. The virtual dollars can be purchased for real-world currency, and in-game assets can be sold for real-world dollars.
Posted by richard ting at March 31, 2006, 06:41 AM
March 08, 2006
Scarface -- Talent Search
[via trendcentral]
Scarface soundtrack seeks talent on MySpace: Vivendi Universal Games has partnered with MySpace on a talent search to find unsigned North American bands to supply a song for the soundtrack of Scarface: The World is Yours. Artists must have a profile on MySpace with music tracks to compete. MySpace users will vote to narrow it down to the top 200 artists, while a panel of music and gaming industry players will take it down to 20. All 20 will be posted on the MySpace game profile, voted on by users, and the winner will be announced on March 28th.
Posted by richard ting at March 08, 2006, 10:59 AM
February 19, 2006
Ozura Mobile Phone Games
Ozura Games is a leading international developer and publisher for mobile games and wireless entertainment. The company distributes games for mobile phones using Java, BREW or Symbian technology. The Ozura game engine provides entertainment applications and technologies that support multiple wireless handsets, servicing wireless carriers, aggregators, mobile phone manufacturers, media companies and content developers worldwide.
Posted by richard ting at February 19, 2006, 01:03 AM
November 08, 2005
Carnegie Mellon's Experimental Gameplay Project
The Many Ways to Make a Game. Four Carnegie Mellon grad students turned a video-game design experiment into a creative approach for pros and amateurs alike. Eric Zimmerman from NYU ITP fame is quoted in the article.
Read the Business Week article.
Check out the slide show.
Posted by richard ting at November 08, 2005, 11:41 AM
October 28, 2005
Comcastic Games
Erik Natzke and Branden Hall worked together to build the puppets section of this promotional site for Comcast. The rest of the site was done by the folks at Number 9 and The Barbarian Group.
Check out the site.
Check out Waxpraxis.
Posted by richard ting at October 28, 2005, 11:31 AM
October 20, 2005
XFire
XfireTM is a new, free tool that automatically keeps track of when and where gamers are playing PC games online and lets their friends join them easily. It works regardless of game type, server browser, or gaming service that a player is using. Xfire eliminates the hassles of running multiple programs like IRC, instant messengers, or in-game friends lists to keep track of when and where a gamer's friends are playing. It supports the best and the latest online PC games including server- and non-server-based First Person Shooters, Real Time Strategy, and Role Playing Games.
Xfire was founded by Dennis "Thresh" Fong (World Champion of Quake) and Mike Cassidy (former CEO of Direct Hit). Xfire, Inc. is funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, New Enterprise Associates and Granite Global. Xfire is based in Menlo Park, CA.
Posted by richard ting at October 20, 2005, 11:59 AM
October 05, 2005
Warriors by Rockstar Games
[from IGN]
A battle of gigantic proportions is looming in the neon underground of New York City. The army of the night numbers 100,000 strong, and tonight they’re all after the "Warriors" -- a street gang wrongly accused of killing a rival gang leader. The Warriors must make their way from one end of New York to their turf on the other side of the city. All that stands between The Warriors and their survival are 20 miles and thousands of street gang members. The army of gangs owns the streets and there’s no turning back, The Warriors must fight for their lives and learn the meaning of loyalty as danger and uncertainty emerges from the city night.
Posted by richard ting at October 05, 2005, 04:34 AM
September 07, 2005
Gamevial - 3D Games
Check out Gamevial.com, the free online game arcade. Play their 2D 3D internet games for free directly from your browser. All webgames on Gamevial were built exclusively for Gamevial and are available for download or play.
Posted by richard ting at September 07, 2005, 11:49 AM
August 26, 2005
Xbox 360 User Experience Video
Here's an Xbox 360 video demonstrating the user experience on Microsoft's new console. The demo is given by Scott Henson from the Advanced Technology group.
Posted by richard ting at August 26, 2005, 05:22 AM
August 06, 2005
The Playstation Experience
Step into the PlayStation Experience and undergo the ultimate gaming adventure. With 26 different kiosks featuring the hottest software, hardware and peripherals from PlayStation, plenty of big screens and nearly constant competitions and contests for sweet PlayStation prizes.
Truck 1: Playstation Experience.
Truck 2: Playstation Patrol.
Truck 3: Playstation Locker Room.
Gran Turismo 4 Challenge.
Posted by richard ting at August 06, 2005, 01:52 AM
July 13, 2005
spring_alpha
spring_alpha is a networked game system based on Chad McCail's drawing "Spring" and the series "Evolution is Not Over Yet". This narrates the attempts of a small, urban community to create its own "utopian" society. The narrative is used as a metaphor for the real-world issues that the project explores and a focus around which speculative and critical ideas can develop. The software system serves as a "sketch pad" for testing out ideas for alternative forms of social practice at both the "narrative" level, in terms of the game story, and at a "code" level, in terms of working with the actual data and communication structures that support the game. It is an exploration of software and social governance in relation to Free Open Source Software practice. The project combines the development of an open software system along with workshop events that seek to broaden Free Open Source Software development principles into areas outside of programming.
Posted by richard ting at July 13, 2005, 10:34 AM
July 12, 2005
Inside Xbox 360: An interview with Jeff Henshaw
Here's a great interview with Jeff Henshaw, the Executive Producer for Xbox Digital Entertainment at Microsoft. Jeff was part of the team that launched the original Xbox, and these days he's behind the push to make Xbox 360 a mainstream entertainment device.
Posted by richard ting at July 12, 2005, 08:45 AM
May 20, 2005
Snow
[from joystiq.com]
Bill Spieth, Creative Director for Frog City Software (a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive), gave us a little taste of Snow, a game in which players move up from small-time pot smuggling to major cocaine overlord. Spieth’s bosses told him that they wanted “edgy” so Snow was born. In it, players become Johnny Morrell, a washed-up actor who’s decided to make his money the old fashioned way: illegally. Players start by smuggling in small quantities of loco weed from Mexico and selling it in Los Angeles.
Your goal is to grow your operations and take over the major drug running corridors that lead to the big markets of Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. You do this by hiring a variety of smugglers, crooked accountants (to launder your money) and arms dealers (to fortify your territories).
Replace cocaine with corn and Snow would still work as a game because it’s basically a business simulation and strategy game at heart. But the illicit nature of the product is buttressed by stylishly rendered, cell-shaded cut-scenes with racy dialog and lots of sexual tension. Think Traffic with a happy ending.
The game is only 30% complete right now, so we didn’t get a chance to experience all of the different game play elements, but it’s certainly got us interested in seeing more of it. One big disappointment right now: no multiplayer mode. Spieth told us that they could focus on building a great story or on building a solid multiplayer game. They’ve had to focus their efforts on the story.
The game is expected some time next year for the PC and Xbox platforms.
Posted by richard ting at May 20, 2005, 05:32 AM
April 07, 2005
Conti FanWorld
Continental AG from Germany just recently launched ContiFanworld.com. As an official partner for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Continental AG has created a site full of soccer advergames to help fans deal with the long wait until the games kick-off in June 2006. Most of the games are simple, fun, and addictive.
Posted by richard ting at April 07, 2005, 01:11 AM
March 16, 2005
Coca Cola Championship Run 2005
Coca-Cola NCAA Championship Run puts you at center court in the middle of all the action with your favorite college basketball team. Tip the ball and follow play-by-play along with the real March tournament.
Posted by richard ting at March 16, 2005, 10:32 AM
March 15, 2005
Experimental Game Play
Check out the Experimental Gameplay Project from the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University.
The Rules:
* each game must be made in less than 7 days
* each game must be made by one person, including all art, sound, and programming
* each game must be based around a certain "toy" ie. "gravity", "vegetation", "swarm behavior", etc.
Posted by richard ting at March 15, 2005, 12:17 PM
March 09, 2005
Shockwave First-Person Shooter Demo
Here's a technology demo for a Shockwave first-person shooter.
Posted by richard ting at March 09, 2005, 11:28 AM
Video Game Ad Network Expands
[from mediapost]
by Shankar Gupta, Wednesday, Mar 9, 2005 8:15 AM EST
MASSIVE INC., A VIDEO GAME advertising network, will announce today a slate of major video game publisher deals, including established names like Ubisoft, Vivendi Universal Games, and Eidos. The Massive network will officially launch on March 28 with the release of the anticipated title "Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory," and the online futuristic role-playing game "Anarchy Online." "Chaos Theory" is the third installment in the already established Splinter Cell franchise, which features a U.S. intelligence agent fighting various global terrorist threats.
Massive's ad network aims to target the elusive male 18-34 demographic, which has increasingly turned to video games for entertainment.
"We're talking about getting to that 18- to-34 demo," said Massive CEO Mitch Davis. "If you want to reach those guys in prime time, there's only one place to do it, and that's video games."
Read more.
Posted by richard ting at March 09, 2005, 10:14 AM
March 04, 2005
Yahoo pushes into mobile gaming market
[from FierceWireless]
Yahoo today said it acquired gaming firm Stadeon and that it plans to use the company's technology to launch multiplayer mobile games. Yahoo plans to expand its popular online parlor and card games to the mobile market. The company recently launched a mobile game studio. Six Yahoo titles are already available through Verizon Wireless, and the company said it plans to expand its gaming content to other carriers. Yahoo is ranked as the No. 1 online games website with 12 million users in January. The company beat out a number of online gaming sites, including EA, Microsoft, and AOL. No financial details of the Yahoo, Stadeon deal were released.
Yahoo has focused its gaming strategy on so-called casual games, i.e., titles that can be played with only a few minutes to spare. Casual games have emerged as the leading titles in the mobile gaming market. According to In-Stat/MDR, mobile games generated $204 million in revenues in the US during 2004.
Posted by richard ting at March 04, 2005, 04:59 AM
February 12, 2005
Video Game Yellow Pages
Here's a great resource for anyone working in game design and development. It's the Video Game Yellow Pages and it's a comprehensive online directory servicing every market segment of the electronic gaming industry, from ad agencies and PR firms to developers, retailers and distributors. The site is comprised of a simple database designed to supply users with relevant information about companies involved with and related to the interactive entertainment industry.
Posted by richard ting at February 12, 2005, 12:09 PM
February 11, 2005
FHM.com's 100 Greatest Games
A good majority of the games here are really bad and cheesy, but it's worth a glance to uncover gems such as Operation Tiger, Silent Strike, Bowman, and Mini Golf.
Posted by richard ting at February 11, 2005, 01:13 AM
February 09, 2005
Little Fluffy
[description from their website]
Little Fluffy Industries is the world leader in the highly competitive field of hypertextual productivity-depletion referral services. By providing our clients with a steady influx of first-rate redirections to a wide variety of Web-delivered games, amusements, distractions, diversions, delectations, and frivolities, Little Fluffy Industries aims to cross-actualize, intra-promote, and ultra-contextualize the labor redivision process, thereby maximizing shareholder return, achieving new standards in customer involvement, and probably buying a nice house with a hot tub someplace.
Posted by richard ting at February 09, 2005, 12:20 PM
January 14, 2005
Super Mario Movie Opening
Super Mario Movie, a collaborative project by Cory Arcangel and Paperrad. Super Mario Movie is a hacked 8bit Super Mario Brothers 1 cartridge that plays a 15 minute movie using all original graphics from the game. The movie is about how Mario's world is falling apart. Like Mad Max, but in 8bits. Picture title screens, messed up fantasy worlds, castles floating on rainbow colored 8bit clouds, waterfalls, underwater dungeon nightmare rave scapes, dance parties, floating mushroom level scenes, Mario alone on a cloud crying, fireball flicker patterns, and video synth knitted at 60 frames per second seizure vidz. Each scene will also have music. And all of it is being generated by this one 32k 1984 cartridge. Basically it is Mario Brothers totally rearranged into this amazing impossible 8bit world. The entire exhibition will be 32k in size [the size of a normal jpg]. The catalogue/zine will be written by the Radical Software group's Alex Galloway, who just did an art project where he beat Mario Brothers and then made tablature on what buttons to press when to do it.
Deitch Projects
76 Grand between Wooster and Greene, Manhattan
6-8p; $free
212 343 7300
http://www.beigerecords.com/cory/
Posted by richard ting at January 14, 2005, 12:03 PM
December 15, 2004
Electronic Arts Acquires Exclusive NFL License
[from gamasutra]
Further tightening its stronghold on all things related to video game football, Electronic Arts made the surprise announcement today that it has acquired the exclusive rights to the NFL teams, stadiums, and players for use in its video games. Through deals with both the NFL and Players Inc., EA will control the license for the next five years.
In addition to these cosmetic aspects, EA also has exclusive rights for online console features in its football games, as well as access to NFL Films and the NFL Network for the company's titles, which includes the Madden, NFL Street, and Fantasy Football franchises. However, EA is not limited to the above franchises in the use of the NFL licenses; the deal also allows EA to develop new football titles using the assets if it chooses. The one facet the deal seems not to cover is web-based or mobile games, such as titles for cell phones.
With Take-Two's recent announcement that the company was considering raising the price of its ESPN Football line again, after some successful cut-price competition with the Madden series earlier this year, it looks like EA's sales slip of 2004 is something the company is determined to never let happen again.
In fact, now this presumably massive financial deal now in place, further Visual Concepts-developed, Take-Two/Sega published football titles will not be allowed to use any 'name' players or teams, likely rendering them a much less potent competing force, despite a competitive graphics and gameplay engine. Should Sony or Microsoft decide to resume their own sports line after this year's hiatus, they may also have an uphill fight on their hands.
Posted by richard ting at December 15, 2004, 10:01 AM
December 01, 2004
Online Games Quarterly
The IGDA's Online Games SIG is proud to announce that the inaugural issue of the Online Games Quarterly has been released.
http://www.igda.org/online/quarterly/1_1/
The idea for this e-publication grew out of a discussion at the 2004 GDC among members of the SIG. The group felt that a smaller publication released at more regular intervals would compliment the annual papers and serve as a place to highlight industry peers throughout the year. In this first issue, you'll find interviews with developers and industry analysts. In the future, letters to the
editor, opinion pieces, and feature articles will be added.
Posted by richard ting at December 01, 2004, 03:12 AM
November 23, 2004
Human Pacman with Bluetooth and GPS
CNN reports on a Human Pacman game, developed by Singapore based researchers, that can be played out in the streets or any real environment. The system was designed by the Mixed Reality Lab at the National University of Singapore. It includes Bluetooth, GPS, head-mounted displays and inertia sensors. Pacman can pic up power pills (in the form of Bluetooth enabled boxes in the environment used in the game) in his attempt to avoid pursuers.
Posted by richard ting at November 23, 2004, 12:13 PM
November 04, 2004
Halo 2 launch
AKQA launched a teaser campaign aimed at the millions of gamers waiting for the debut of Halo 2 on Nov. 9. Pre-orders for Xbox-exclusive title have passed 1.5 million in the United States alone, guaranteeing first-day revenues higher than any movie in history. Online ads direct gamers to the Halo 2 Web site and are running on IGN, Gamespy, UGO, and Gamespot with the message "Earth will never be the same." The Halo 2 site brings the user into the world of Halo from the perspective of the Covenant, the alien forces determined to wipeout humankind. Interestingly enough, the site is not in a language that any human would understand (and if they do, I'm frightened) and site navigation obeys "alien logic." The campaign launched across 19 countries in 17 languages and targets males between 15 and 30.
Posted by richard ting at November 04, 2004, 12:23 PM
October 28, 2004
Mobile Phone Gaming to Top $1 Billion in '04
LONDON (Reuters) - Video game and mobile phone companies are set to make money this year as customers use phones to zap space invaders or sink game-winning golf putts, pushing the mobile gaming market over $1 billion, a study said.
According to London-based consultancy Screen Digest, mobile phone gaming also will grow by more than six times to $6.4 billion between 2004 and the end of decade. Currently, Japan and Korea are well ahead of North America and Europe in market size, accounting for nearly 80 percent of all revenues derived from video game play and game downloads, Screen Digest said on Thursday.
A confusing maze of tariffs for downloads and gameplay charged by mobile operators in Europe is depressing early growth in the region, Screen Digest said. "We think the mobile operators in Europe have not yet got the strategies right to exploit this market to its full potential," said Screen Digest chief analyst Ben Keen.
The firm added that North America, despite having a less sophisticated mobile phone market than Europe and Asia, is expected to grow at a faster clip than those regions. Compared to the booming video games business, the nascent market for mobile-phone gaming has only recently begun to show signs of life as a new breed of sophisticated handsets has hit the market and more gaming companies have developed top titles for the small screen.
Earlier this year, gaming giant Electronic Arts (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said it will boost production of video games for mobile phones over the next year, bringing four top-selling titles including "Fifa Football" and "The Sims" to handsets. Rivals Eidos (EID.L: Quote, Profile, Research) , Ubisoft (UBIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and THQ Inc. (THQI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) have been investing more money into the promising market as well.
Posted by richard ting at October 28, 2004, 01:17 AM
October 19, 2004
Nintendo Game Handhelds
During the early 1980’s Gumpei Yokoi was asked to create a new toy for Nintendo which would result in the Game and Watch pocket systems. The small handhelds similar to the Tiger brand LCD games. The Game and Watch were a small pocket sized system that often folded in half to protect the LCD screen it contained and many popular games were created utilizing the Nintendo trademark figures such as Donkey Kong, Mario, and Zelda. Some systems, like Zelda, contained a double LCD screens. From this achievement, Yokoi also patented the Directional Pad or D-pad that Nintendo has used for many years. At the time of production for these small units, a joystick would be too difficult and clumsy to incorporate into a small system, so Yokoi, the great inventor created the D-pad, he called it ‘control cross’, which provided the most reasonable and accurate movements. The production line lasted from about 1980-1989 and produced about 60 or so different games. Two LR44 batteries are required for play. From my stand point, because of it’s historical significance, one can argue that a collection of Game and Watches (1 or more) could be counted as one system total, but this does not include the Tiger games. A series of three Game and Watch Galleries was released for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color which include ‘generic’ Nintendo titles such as the Octopus game.
Posted by richard ting at October 19, 2004, 11:24 AM
October 14, 2004
BloodRayne 2: does sex sell videogames?
[By James Ransom-Wiley]
Majesco resorted to the oldest trick in the book when it came to publicizing its vampire-vixen sequel: sex sells. Yes, the boys (and girls too?) over at Majesco broke some serious boundaries while generating hype for BloodRayne 2. We’re talking digital boobies, Playboy: October issue. But if you’re anywhere half-way-interested in videogames, you already know that. You may have even spotted Rayne’s handiwork in the latest Evanescence video, appropriately titled, “Everybody’s Fool”. And so, as expected, BloodRayne 2 is simply the latest offering of style over substance. It’s a game plagued with bugs (of the programming sort) and mindless violence. But it sure is pretty, and the type of game that anyone can pick up and play. So, while it’s still a bit early to judge, we’re betting that BloodRayne 2 will sell. And that’s just the current state of the industry.
Read more.
Posted by richard ting at October 14, 2004, 05:46 AM
Go see the Pokemon movie, get wireless downloads for your Nintendo DS
[by Dan Wu from Joystiq]
An interactive gimmick that’s definitely designed to get asses in seats, Nintendo says that you’ll be able to wirelessly download extra characters and data if you bring your new Nintendo DS portable game console along with a Gameboy Advance Pokemon title with you to the theater showing the new Pokemon movie that opens next summer (and by “you” we mean all of our gradeschool readers out there—we hope). Sounds like someone will be setting up a lot of wireless hubs, but the one thing we don’t know quite yet is whether they’ll be doing this in theaters anywhere besides Japan.
Posted by richard ting at October 14, 2004, 01:04 AM
October 02, 2004
Mobile gaming growing in Asia
According to IDC's latest report,"Asia/Pacific Wireless Gaming 2004-2008 Analysis and Forecast: Ready to Play?", the wireless gaming market in Asia/Pacific (ex Japan) reached US$237.4 million in 2003, and is expected to reach US$1.3 billion in 2008 with a 40% CAGR.
Korea accounted for approximately 73 % of the total wireless gaming revenues in 2003 in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan. This was due to the fact that the market in Korea is much more developed and the carriers' next generation networks have been in place much longer compared to other countries.
Posted by richard ting at October 02, 2004, 11:42 AM
October 01, 2004
Tokyo Game Show
The Tokyo Game Show opened yesterday — with all the usual fanfare — at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. Amid the pounding music, laser light shows and the 3G's (Games, Geeks and Girls), we found what has been one of the most highly anticipated product debuts of the season: Sony's new PlayStation Portable; the device is also Sony Entertainment's first step into the mobile gaming market. Today's program brings you close-up video of the PSP during its first public unveiling. (Subscribers will also get a hands-on look at a several new games for DoCoMo's F900i-series of handsets.)
Check out the Tokyo Game Show.
Posted by richard ting at October 01, 2004, 12:07 PM
Michael Vick Arcade Game Launch
Nike launches an arcade version of MV7 experience from nikegridiron.com.
Posted by richard ting at October 01, 2004, 10:45 AM
September 29, 2004
"Tokyo Game Show 2004" (Sept 24-26, 2004)
[from eurotechnology.com]
The "Tokyo Game Show" is probably one of the most important - maybe THE most important - game show globally to set the trends.
Over 100 game software companies preview their lates releases. This years highlights was SONY with a stunning display of the new "PlayStation Portable" - PSP - .
In a stunning arena around a huge upscaled PSP model, visitors could play with the software SONY partners have prepared for PSP. SONY also arranged an amazing preview display of the new "Gran Turismo 4" racing game to come out later in 2004. "Gran Turismo 4" is typical for the hyper popular car racing game sector. DoCoMo also had a stunning display area, highlighting 15 of DoCoMos most important partner companies. DoCoMo has over 4000 i-mode content partners aligned, and games are one of the most important area on the i-mode menu - many customers are driven to buy the next handset upgrade for the new game content they can play. Therefore DoCoMos display was centered on the 900i FOMA/3G handset series.
Posted by richard ting at September 29, 2004, 10:15 AM
September 14, 2004
Interactive fiction for gamers
[from trendcentral]
| By now it’s no new news that the gaming industry is rapidly becoming a leader in the entertainment world. The latest evolution in the gaming category is the genre of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs). ARGs are a form of interactive fiction that use a variety of platforms, such as television, radio, newspapers, Internet, email, SMS, telephone, voicemail, and regular mail to deliver stories and puzzles to enhance products such as video games, movies, and books. ARGs are typically comprised of a secret group of Puppetmasters who create and control the stories and puzzles and a public group of players, known as the collective detective, that try to solve the puzzles and thereby further the story.
While ARGs have been around for a couple of years (there was one surrounding the release of the movie Artificial Intelligence: AI) only recently have they really been taking off. I Love Bees is an ARG created specifically for the release of Halo 2 that is attracting a global fanbase. The latest I Love Bees stunt involved web-imbedded code with payphone booth coordinates, phone calls, secret passwords, and audio files. While ARGs haven’t quite hit the mainstream at this point, marketers should be taking note of ARGs, as their diverse media format seems conducive for brand integration and promotions. For more info, check out www.ilovebees.com and www.argn.com, the definitive website for ARG news and info. |  |
Posted by richard ting at September 14, 2004, 11:13 AM
September 09, 2004
“Mama Said Knock You Out”: Def Jam Fight For NY Soundtrack revealed
It’s nothing we didn’t expect, but nonetheless Fight For NY’s soundtack features an impressive lineup of hip hop vets and up-and-comers.
The list is as follows (as posted on 1up.com):
”America’s Most” — Method Man, Redman
”Anything Goes” — C-N-N
”Are We Cuttin’” — Pastor Troy
”Bust” — Outkast
”Comp” — Comp
”Flipside” — Freeway
”Get Into It” — Comp
”Get It Now” — Bless
”Let’s Get Dirty” — Redman
”Let’s Go” — Shawnna
”Lil’ Bro” — Ric-a-Che
”Make It Hurt” — Busta Rhymes
”Mama Said Knock You Out” — LL Cool J
”Man Up” — Sticky Fingaz
”Mother Mother” — Xzibit
”Move!” — Public Enemy
”’Nuff Respect” — Big Daddy Kane
”O.G. Original Gangster” — Ice-T
”Pistol Grip Pump” — Volume 10
”Pop Off” — Joe Budden
”Poppa Large” — Ultramagnetic MCs
”See About Ya” — Beezle featuring Bonecrusher
”Seize the Day” — Bless
”Take a Look at My Life” — Fat Joe
”Walk With Me” - Joe Budden
”We Gon’ Hit ‘Em” — Deuce, Dub and the Junkyard Gang
”What’s Happenin’” — Method Man
”Yes Sir” — C-N-N
Posted by richard ting at September 09, 2004, 01:58 AM
August 30, 2004
Bush vs. Kerry Boxing
Amid swift boat ads and recalled military records, political discourse in the presidential campaign is getting equal parts ugly and personal. Instead of just listening to candidates trade verbal jabs at press events, though, Sorrent is inviting gamers to come to blows. Round one has begun for Bush Vs. Kerry Boxing, Sorrent new pugilist parody where Bush, Kerry, Edwards, and Chenery slug it out -- and results are posted on the 'net. Ten-percent of the proceeds of Bush is going to Rock the Vote, an organization dedicating to getting young people interested and involved in the political process.
Posted by richard ting at August 30, 2004, 04:52 AM
August 29, 2004
Redefining Games - How Academia is Reshaping Games of the Future
By Lauren Gonzalez
The history of electronic games, as relatively short as it may be, can already be divided into several distinct personalities. To the game developer, this body of history represents a list of successes and failures compounded by the belief that if only he or she would have had as much polygonal power in 1987 as exists today, the failures would be fewer. To the game-consuming public, the history is a dull lesson that drops off just short of the second-to-last game system actually owned. The future, to game players, is possibly more important than the past. To the collector, the electronic games history is a bible to be revered and a reference to be digested and divulged at classic game conventions. To the academic, this history is a disorganized, infantile beast--full of discrepancies and confusion--that's waiting to be collected, sorted, observed, tamed, and pushed into the realm of true innovation.
Each group, though driven by different motives, has something to offer the others. The game developer can teach the consumer what to expect in the coming months. The consumer can teach the academic about buying patterns and attention spans. The classics enthusiast can teach developers what makes a good game, regardless of era or trends. And academia can teach everyone a thing or two about what motivates a person to play games, why they are important, how we can make them better, and what we learn from them overall. Academia is also interested in collections, which benefits the developer, consumer, and classics enthusiasts fairly equally. Classic game fans archive too, but they usually do so for personal reasons and not for permanent public availability and accessibility. Furthermore, the academic archives less selectively, collecting all ideas, verbal history, written history, and digital history, which comprises a complete history quite unlike the conceptual history of electronic games currently available.
But there's a stigma attached to academia, particularly among game designers and game players. In a word, academia is "boring." GameSpot set out to challenge this notion by seeking some of the more compelling minds that are addressing game theory, which includes those who teach game studies and new media through universities, through thought-provoking games and Web sites, through art, and through community. The goal was to develop a State of the Union: Redefining Games: How Academia Is Reshaping Games of the Future. Because like it or not, electronic games are not babies anymore. They have been around long enough to stand on their own. So it's time for us to see what they're really made of so that we know what they'll become.
Posted by richard ting at August 29, 2004, 02:34 AM
August 28, 2004
The Gaming Industry Looks to the Ladies
When it comes to gaming, boys seem to get all the attention, but women are also playing. The gaming industry has yet to reel in the female demographic completely, but naturally, they are working on doing so, as will be explored at the upcoming Women’s Game Conference in Austin, Texas. As more women join the industry, more emotional games and consoles that promote social interaction are predicted to evolve. While the industry is undeniable male dominated at present, there are several gaming projects out there right now that are getting some buzz in the female gaming community:
Alter Life: Met with acclaim at E3, this MMPORG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) social activity game is a forum for players to make friends, form relationships and families. Fashion-forward avatars set the game apart from similar games such as The Sims.
Chickstop.com: This UK-based online gaming site is targeted to women, who as studies continue to show, are big fans of online gaming.
Karaoke Revolution: This game is brining the popular nightlife past time home where it is becoming a house party favorite.
PowerBabes: This multi-user chat game with four main characters, reportedly played by 50% of Danish teen girls, has big plans to become a more widely recognized title. Plans for a novel, a mobile phone game, a console game, and even a TV show are in the works.
Posted by richard ting at August 28, 2004, 12:08 PM
August 03, 2004
Advergames Provide Big-Time Brand Boosts For DaimlerChrysler
by Ross Fadner
Last week, Jeff Bell, VP of marketing for Chrysler/Jeep, demonstrated the positive effect of custom advergaming initiatives on Chrysler brand awareness during his keynote address at the Jupiter Media Advertising Forum in New York City. In fact, Bell revealed that in some instances, demonstrated interest led to actual sales.
One of the games--called "Race The Pros"--generated a 27.6 percent lift in Dodge brand awareness, as well as a 19.6 percent purchase intent and a 24.7 percent rise in overall brand awareness for DaimlerChrysler brands among users who played and downloaded the game. It was promoted online at MSN and FoxSports.com, as well as during certain Fox broadcasts on TV. WildTangent, which created the game, has built several other games for blue chip companies, and is currently working on Nike's Speed campaign.
"Our fastest-growing area by far is in the Internet," said Chrysler's Bell. "The great thing about the Web is you can take a risk, learn from it quickly, and move on." He added that the positive results from the gaming initiatives will result in more online spending from the automaker.
In his keynote address, Bell noted that "the future is such that all marketing will be interactive," and "integrating your brand into popular culture is absolutely vital." He added that Chrysler plans to begin marketing on the Internet outside of the auto category--to sports and tech sites, for example. DaimlerChrysler's other advergame initiatives include "Chrysler Golf" and "Jeep 4x4 Trail of Life." "Chrysler Golf" drew 124,732 registrants; each was required to give geographic as well as car preference information prior to playing. Bell said the result was a 33 percent lift in purchasing intent over the next six months.
The "Jeep 4x4 Trail of Life" game drew an even larger audience of 383,403 participants. Thirty-nine percent of those who played expressed interest in purchasing a Jeep vehicle. Bell said that Jeep sold more than 1,000 vehicles to people who had registered for the game in the last 18 months.
In his address, Bell noted the importance of being able to experience a brand's product--particularly in an industry such as automotive--and emphasized that advergaming provides consumers with a valuable combination of technology, popular culture, and brand interaction.
Posted by richard ting at August 03, 2004, 12:32 PM
Spot On: The Halo 2 hype hoax
The "ilovebees.com" URL at the end of the Halo 2 trailer sparks August 24 release rumors; in fact, it's a complex combination of alternate-reality game, story spoiler, and sales pitch.
Last week, the Halo 2 trailer unspooled in movie theaters across the country. Besides eliciting loud cheers from gamers, the trailer also launched one of the more baffling viral marketing campaigns in years.
The head-scratching began when observant gamers noticed that when the Xbox logo appeared at the end of the trailer, the xbox.com URL at the bottom of the screen was briefly replaced with "www.ilovebees.com." After double-checking that someone hadn't laced their popcorn with mescaline, those who noticed the switch went home and looked up the URL.
What they found appeared to be a laughably amateur site for a Napa, California, bee farm called "Margaret's Honey." But besides offering some unappetizing recipes and a nauseating copy about how honeybees "make life sweet," the site appears to have been the victim of a bizarre hacker attack. After a few seconds, a black screen appears with the following copy: "HALT - MODULE CORE HEMORRHAGE. Control has been yielded to the SYSTEM PERIL DISTRIBUTED REFLEX. This medium is classified, and has a STRONG INTRUSIVE INCLINATION."
Below that is a countdown, which initially said "in [variable] days, network throttling will erode" and changed to "PHASE 1 COMPLETE: Network throttling has eroded" on July 27. After that is a countdown that ends on August 10, which reads, "In [variable] days this medium will metastasize." This is followed by the words "COUNTDOWN TO WIDE AWAKE AND PHYSICAL," beneath which is nestled a countdown clock that ends August 24. The section ends with the ominous words, "Make your decisions accordingly."
Posted by richard ting at August 03, 2004, 01:44 AM
August 02, 2004
A farewell to joysticks
Biofeedback, rhythm and brainwaves are the new game controls.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – I was cleaning out the closet this weekend when I ran across an old friend – my trusty Sidewinder force feedback joystick.
When I first picked it up in 1997, it was one of my most prized gaming possessions, bringing games like "Interstate 76" and the "Wing Commander" series to life. Saturday, I realized I hadn't given it a second thought in at least five years. Times change fast in the gaming world.
About the only people who still use joysticks today are flight simulator fans – an enthusiastic, but microscopic niche. Most gamers have moved on to gamepads and mouse/keyboard combinations.
Posted by richard ting at August 02, 2004, 03:55 AM
July 23, 2004
Online Gaming Explosion Creates New Opportunities For Advertisers
by Ross Fadner
In only a few years, online gaming has grown to an 800 million dollar industry, according to new Yankee Group figures. The nascent industry already commands 450 to 550 million in advertising dollars, and industry professionals seem to think that the online gaming market is now fertile ground for advertising growth.
"The Internet has created a whole new marketplace for gaming," notes Yankee Group Analyst Michael Goodman. He says that the types of game players have evolved just as the online game offerings have evolved.
The average online gamer is no longer an adolescent male. So-called casual games, for example, which are simple card or puzzle games, attract a predominantly female audience over the age of 45.
The expansion of online gaming to a broader audience will result in new opportunities for marketers, says the Yankee Group's Goodman. With these platforms, he says, "you already have the critical component: connectivity," which he notes carries two significant benefits for advertisers.
Posted by richard ting at July 23, 2004, 06:03 AM
June 18, 2004
Young Men Like Online Games and Video Content More Than Sports
Young Men Like Online Games and Video Content More Than Sports
by Ross Fadner
The year 2003 marked the first time that adults ages 18-24 spent more of their time using the Internet than watching TV. Now, new findings from JupiterResearch highlight two key demographic segments: 18- to-34-year-old males, and young consumers using the Internet at work. Among the key findings--young men aren't obsessed with sports as much as marketers think they are, and guys are increasingly looking up local information online.
"Of all age demographic segments, only college students are online more than men age 18-34," said David Card, VP-research director, JupiterResearch. Card, speaking at Jupiter's Internet Planet conference this week, said that in 2003, 18- to-34-year-old men watched 8 hours of television per week, which is two hours less than the previous year and 2-3 hours less than other age groups. "Evidence suggests it's going to be harder to reach this demographic through TV than it used to be," he said.
Posted by richard ting at June 18, 2004, 02:32 AM
3D games on cellphones... are we supposed to be excited?
3D games on cellphones... are we supposed to be excited?
By Jason Calacanis
doom for gameboyThe New York Times reports on how 3D perspective games are starting to find their way onto to cellphones today, using the upcoming Spiderman release for the N-Gage (proving there’s at least one N-Gage fan out there) as an example. Nvidia is working on the hardware, as you might suspect, and has licensed a 3D engine from a developer in Japan called HI Corporation. The Times thinks that being able to play first person shooters on cellphones is going to be some sort of bonanza for game publishers, but we don’t think any of this will have Nintendo (or Sony) shaking in their boots, especially since the Game Boy has been able to handle 3D for ages (at least in video game time).
Posted by richard ting at June 18, 2004, 01:27 AM
Doom 3 on Xbox delayed?
Doom 3 on Xbox delayed?
By Ben Zackheim
How much longer can fans wait for Doom3? Well, Xbox owners will have to wait until the Fall, from the looks of it. While the PC version is still slated for this quarter, the Xbox’s Doom 3 is suffering a “strategic” delay. Some think that the reason for the shift might be the fact that Halo 2 is coming out for Xbox soon and id software has no interest in competing for dollars against the Bungie powerhouse.
Posted by richard ting at June 18, 2004, 01:26 AM
May 24, 2004
Advergaming Grows in Reach and Power
Interactive Video Games Emerge as Major Ad-Supported Mass Medium
YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- Nick Kang is the ultimate action hero. Taking on the Russian and Chinese crime syndicates in the City of Angels, Kang drives, fights and shoots his way across 240 miles of Los Angeles area real estate. Crime in progress? Kang is on the way. It's a Puma truck heist at the 3rd Street Promenade flagship store in Santa Monica. Nick Kang kicks butt and heads back to the streets for more adventure.
Kang is the virtual hero of "True Crime: Streets of L.A.," a video game from Activision. And Puma is one of Activision's marketing partners. Kang wears Puma clothing and occasionally drives past Puma billboards or benches in the virtually real L.A.
Play the game, buy the clothing
Players were able to watch video-game trailers on the Puma Web site and even buy Kang's clothing or footwear on a co-branded site when the game was released in November. Promotional winners could pick up Puma merchandise, and pre-release copies of "True Crime" were available at Puma stores.
Posted by richard ting at May 24, 2004, 12:30 PM
April 14, 2004
Mobile Game Development from Nokia
As part of Nokia's mission to expand the mobile game business, they've assembled in one place all the resources game developers need to succeed.
Posted by richard ting at April 14, 2004, 10:53 AM
April 05, 2004
Video Games Emerge As 'No. 4' Medium, Displace Print Among Young Guys
Video Games have emerged as the fourth most dominant medium, displacing print media and vying with other major electronic media in the lives of both young adult and teenage males, according to findings of a unique multimedia usage study scheduled to be released today. The findings, which indicate that men 18-34 devote 6 percent and teenage males devote 15 percent of the time they spend with media each day to playing video games, may help explain the corresponding drop in TV viewing that has manifested among young males this year.
Posted by richard ting at April 05, 2004, 10:45 AM
March 25, 2004
Video Gamers Race On Times Square Billboard
Video Gamers Race On Times Square Billboard
MARCH 23RD, 2004
The bright lights of Times Square tend to draw the eyes of drivers and passers-by, but a new billboard is a whole new kind of distraction. High above Times Square, there is now a gigantic video car racing game that anyone with a cellphone can play. Of course, you need to be nearby to see the screen, at 43rd and Broadway. How do you stand perfectly still in the middle of Times Square while dodging traffic in a race car? NY1 Tech Beat Reporter Adam Balkin explains in the following report.
Count them - there are more than a dozen, maybe two dozen television-like billboards in Times Square, but one may be of particular interest to you. That's because you can control it, as long as you have a mobile phone. The ad, by Yahoo! Autos, is actually a racing game anyone can play.
“The game works by dialing an 800 number. You find out if you're in the queue line to play the game, and when you're next in line it'll tell you which car you are - the right or the left - and you use the ‘2’ button or the ‘8’ button to make it go faster or slower,” says Jennifer Aman of Yahoo! Autos. “You just race against the computer or someone else on the street with you.” You don't need the latest, high tech, state of the art cell phone to play - you just need any old cell phone and a warm thumb. The game is kind of like those old Hot Wheels games where you set up the track and just control the speed of the car, with no steering. If you try to floor it the whole way, watch out pedestrians!
“I was a crazy driver, but it was lots of fun,” says one participant.
“It was pretty cool,” says another.
For the next month, the game will run for about 25 minutes out of every hour. The game will be up from now until April 22. And although you can play from anywhere in the world, if you're interested in winning, it’s best to be within sight of the screen.
To play, call 1-800-660-4402.
Posted by richard ting at March 25, 2004, 11:40 AM
March 22, 2004
agoraXchange
Make the game and change the world
Tate online together with BT
agoraXchange invites visitors to Tate Online to contribute towards the creation of a new multiplayer internet game which challenges the current political system.
agoraXchange (http://www.tate.org.uk/netart/agoraxchange) is a project by net artist Natalie Bookchin and political theorist Jacqueline Stevens. The site is a forum for the exchange of ideas, where participants are encouraged to work together on the rules, design, and code which will ultimately result in the game. Participants will answer questions prompting them to make decisions about the game design and in the process explore political alternatives to the present global order by accommodating four initial decrees challenging present conventions for awarding nationality and wealth. Over the coming months, the artists will implement various incentives intended to solicit contributions. Participants may also initiate their own forums to preview related projects. Participation at agoraXchange will be facilitated through techniques successfully adopted in other large-scale online distributed collaborations, such as the open source software movement and self-regulating, peer-to-peer discussion groups.
agoraXchange will host the collaborative development of the game design in phases over the next two years. An electronic conversation conducted between David Ross and Murat Ozbank will reflect on and inspire the initial game development phase and will be posted at Tate Online. When all the phases are complete, agoraXchange will be closed for submissions, and a committee of artists, activists, and political theorists will be convened to review the submissions and conversations for the purpose of proposing three distinct game prototypes. These will be available online for further deliberation by agoraXchange participants. At the end of this process, a jury comprised of agoraXchange participants will vote on these three proposals and ultimately decide which version will then be created.
Natalie Bookchin's most recent project, Metapet (http://www.metapet.net) is an online game commissioned by Creative Time, New York in association with HAMACA, Barcelona. In 1999-2000 Bookchin organized net.net.net, a series on art, activism and the Internet at Cal Arts, MOCA in LA, and Laboratorio Cinematek in Tijuana. From 1998-2000 she was a member of the collective RTMark. She was a 2001-2002 Guggenheim Fellow. Her work is exhibited at institutions including PS1, Mass MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, KunstWerke, Berlin, the Generali Foundation, Vienna, the Walker Art Center, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Shedhale in Zurich. She is based in Los Angeles and is a faculty member at CalArts.
Jacqueline Stevens is the author of Reproducing the State (Princeton University Press, 1999). Her work has appeared in Political Theory, the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Political Philosohy, Social Text, and many other publications. She is currently working on two further manuscripts: States without Nations (the theoretical basis of agoraXchange), and The Human Being Project. In 1997-1999 she was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at Yale University. She developed the ideas for this project while at Istanbul Bilgi University (2002-2004) and is also on the faculty at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
agoraXchange is the latest net art commission at Tate Online and has received financial assistance from the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology. Previous commissions have included Shilpa Gupta (Blessed Bandwidth 2003), Susan Collins (Tate In Space 2002), Heath Bunting (BorderXing Guide 2002), Harwood@Mongrel (Uncomfortable Proximity 2001) and Simon Patterson (Le Match des Couleurs 2001). The architecture and design of the agoraXchange website are by FDTdesign. Tate Online is generously supported by BT.
For further information please contact Tate Press Office, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
Call: 020 7887 8731 or email pressoffice@tate.org.uk
Posted by richard ting at March 22, 2004, 04:57 AM
March 19, 2004
gameLab Presents
gameLab presents
more new ways for you to play
Can you think outside the pod?
Get ready for some old-skool gaming with gameLab’s X-Pod Play Off game. Launched this spring by LEGO, X-Pods are small containers of LEGO bricks, designed to fit neatly in your pocket. X-Pod Play Off is a game that uses LEGO X-Pods as the raw materials for a 2-player strategy boardgame. Played entirely off the computer, in X-Pod Play Off, you deconstruct and reconstruct LEGO robots, creatures, flying machines, and land vehicles.
Part chess, part collectible card game, and part creative construction exercise, X-Pod Play Off brings LEGO building to a whole new level. Download everything you need to play at www.lego.com/x-pod.
What’s in your future?
Step right up and test your wits in FATE: The Carniv le Game(TM). Based on the hit HBO(R) series Carniv le(SM), FATE(TM) is a beautifully moody solitaire game played with Tarot cards. Choose from three bizarre carnie characters and challenge the Fortune Teller to a Tarot duel. Victory will grant you new cards that enhance your deck and reveal the dark secrets of your character's past and future. With evocative narrative
scenes, rich period graphics, and an entire deck of Tarot cards to play with, FATE: The Carniv le Game is squarely in your future.
You can reach the game on HBO's site at www.hbo.com/carnivale, and purchase the game on Real Network's Real1Arcade, where it won 2003 Card Game of the Year.
Any more games?
Coming right up. The gameLab crew is hard at work creating new playthings for your pleasure. We are designing new games for folks like Cartoon Network, Sesame Workshop, and the nonprofit organization NetAid. Coming soon: the first gameLab-designed collectible card game, created for Genio Group, Inc and featuring characters from Mighty Beanz(TM). Plus... stay tuned for some very major plans about the future of gameLab’s original work.
Read much?
The New York Observer named gameLab co-founder Eric Zimmerman one of 50 New York “Power Punks” aged 35 and under, along with folks like Chelsea Clinton, Drew Barrymore, and Jay Z. Maybe it’s because he launched two books this fall: Rules of Play, a breakthrough game design textbook co-authored with Katie Salen and published by MIT Press, and RE:PLAY, a debate in book form on game design and game culture, co-edited with Amy Scholder and published by Eyebeam and Walter Lang.
Two essays on gameLab by Eric Zimmerman are featured in yet another new book: Design Research, a collection of writings edited by media maven Brenda Laurel. To read even more about gameLab, indie gaming, and Rules of Play, check out a feature story that appeared in the London Guardian or a piece
penned by academic all-stars Henry Jenkins and Kurt Squire about our title Arcadia in the January issue of Computer Games.
LEGO X-Pod Play Off
http://www.lego.com/x-pod
FATE: The Carniv le Game (TM)
http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/
Cartoon Network
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com
Sesame Workshop
http://www.sesameworkshop.com
NetAid
http://www.netaid.org
Game Developers Conference
http://www.gdconf.com
IGDA
http://www.igda.org
New York Observer “50 Powerpunks” article
http://www.gmlb.com/images/observer_article.htm
London Guardian article
http://www.gmlb.com/images/guardian_article.html
Computer Games article
http://www.gmlb.com/images/arcadia_article.html
Origins Conference
http://www.originsgames.com
Reman Mythology
http://www.felaxx.com
The Kitchen
http://www.thekitchen.org
Rules of Play
http://www.rulesofplay.net
Design Research
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?sid=EE062E7E-D1ED-49F2-8CD4-88A77DDC8173&ttype=2&tid=10029
Posted by richard ting at March 19, 2004, 02:44 AM
March 18, 2004
Game Girls - Online computer gamers aren't who you think they are
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- If you envision a teenage boy when you hear the words "computer gamer," think again.
Women, particularly older women, are some of the most active game players on the Internet.
Women over 40 spend 9.1 hours a week playing online computer games, versus teen's 7.4 hours, younger women's 6.2 hours and men's 6.1 hours, according to a recent survey conducted by Digital Marketing Services for AOL Games.
Forty-one percent of women over 40 said they played every day, compared with 26 percent of men and 23 percent of younger women, according to the online survey of about 3,610 people who had played an online game in the last three months.
"It's counterintuitive to people," said Matt Bromberg, general manager of AOL Games.
"When they think of games they think of young boys. But the real truth about online gaming is mom comes home, sees the boys in the den playing on their console, tells them, 'cut that out, go upstairs,' and after she puts them to sleep, she heads to the PC and plays for 5 hours," he said.
Posted by richard ting at March 18, 2004, 02:51 AM
February 23, 2004
Era of Eidolon
:: Fight and communicate with people from around the world in the first worldwide multiplayer roleplaying game for mobile phones.
:: Enjoy great graphics and animated battle scenes.
:: Specialize your hero with a choice of more than:
- 100 Weapons
- 100 Spells
- 65 Combat skills
- 25 Armours and lots of magic items
:: Start a clan with friends and compete against others for a monthly prize.
:: Participate in events and tournaments to win special game equipment.
:: Fight the Queens elite gladiators - each with a personal speciality.
It was a real toss-up on deciding where to post this, Richard. Looks like this could be the dawn of MMPRPG (mobile multiplayer role-playing games). I'll have to dig a bit deeper to see if it's "massive" as well....
Posted by richard ting at February 23, 2004, 12:33 PM
February 17, 2004
Academics Turn to Video Games
Interesting article on Yahoo:
Some of the new questions in a very young field: How do you judge a game? As you would a novel? Should we think up a whole new vocabulary for evaluating games? What do the social dynamics of online worlds -- those massively multiplayer games -- tell us about human behavior?In Copenhagen, Denmark, the IT University has established the Center of Computer Games Research, which just graduated its first Ph.D., Jesper Juul.
Juul appears to be the first person anywhere to ever get his doctorate exclusively in video game studies. His dissertation 'Half-Real: Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds' seeks to define what video games are, and how academics ought to go about studying them.
...and here are some simultaneously interesting and heartbreaking quotes from old coworker Eric Zimmerman and Chris Crawford:
"What we try to do is provide not a single way of looking at games but a whole series of ways," Zimmerman said. "We would like to have an audience that thinks about games as more than boy power fantasies."Some in the industry, however, are not so sure that games will ever mature. They fear games could be a dead end like comic books -- valuable as a social phenomenon, but outside a select few titles like Art Spiegelman's "Maus," not worth a great deal of individual study.
"I seldom play computer games, because it's such a depressing experience," said Chris Crawford, a game designer who is building a program to create interactive stories. "I end up shaking my head in dismay at how stuck the designers are in a rut."
Posted by richard ting at February 17, 2004, 06:15 AM
February 05, 2004
It Must Be The Shoes - NIKE AND EA SPORTS
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If it's on their feet, it's on their feet.
Electronic Arts, the company whose mantra stressing realism is "If it's in the game, it's in the game," has taken it to the next level in NBA Live 2004. Better keep those stats up if you want some old school Jordans. Not only do the players and arenas look like they do in real life, now the footwear is accurate. Nike, Reebok and adidas all have presence in the game.
Vince Carter is wearing his soon-to-be released VC Shox III's, Allen Iverson is wearing his Answer line, while Tracy McGrady sports his T-Macs. Nike, which formed a strategic partnership with EA for the game, benefits the most from the additional advertising. Looking to capitalize on the "sneakerhead" culture that has become a huge part of NBA fandom, 40 different Nike shoes appear in the game, 130 in all, if all the different colorways are counted.
Posted by richard ting at February 05, 2004, 11:36 AM
January 30, 2004
Gamers Night Groove - Jan. 31st
GNG JANUARY -> Venue: Game Time Nation 111 E 12th St NYC. Open to all ages. $8 at the Door/ $6 for Students with ID. $12 Special for double admission GNG and Direct Drive after party->(21+ @ Rare - 416 W14th St btw. 9 & 10th Ave 10 - 4am)
http://game.newyork-tokyo.com/
Posted by richard ting at January 30, 2004, 01:37 AM
January 15, 2004
Gaming With an Opponent Who's 'Over There'
LAST month Kevin Dustin Sr. spent a Monday afternoon playing video games with his son, Kevin Jr. While this might be an everyday event for many families, his session was conducted long distance, and was aimed at improving military morale.
Mr. Dustin Sr. was at a Microsoft Xbox set up at the U.S.O. center near Times Square, and his son, a 25-year-old Air Force staff sergeant, was 4,000 miles away at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany. The 90 minutes they spent playing Project Gotham Racing 2 was part of a collaboration between an Air Force command, Microsoft and the U.S.O. that enables military personnel overseas to play video games and speak with their families and friends using an online gaming connection called Xbox Live.
"It makes you feel a lot closer," the senior Mr. Dustin, 47, said after playing during an inaugural event that was also attended by his 24-year-old daughter, Laura. "It's like we were both sitting there next to each other playing."
Read the full article at NYTimes.com
Posted by richard ting at January 15, 2004, 11:44 AM
January 07, 2004
Taipei Ludographic Game Design Workshop
Taipei Ludographic Game Design Workshop
In the following pages you will find links to resource pages for Ludographers - Game Designers - and others of their ilk. Much of this material has been assembled for the benefit of students at National Chengchi University for their Game Design Project assignments. However, the material is also of general use to myself and other professional and non-professional game designers.
Posted by richard ting at January 07, 2004, 10:35 AM
December 01, 2003
Holiday Season a Feast for Gamers
'Tis the week of Thanksgiving, and crowds are thronging video-game stores to line up three deep at demo machines to check out the holiday season's crop of new titles.
What a crop it is. Yes, long-awaited titles such as Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 won't see daylight until next year -- but who cares? There is a vast selection of inviting new titles that will satisfy virtually any taste -- from hard-core virtual warriors and racers to families looking for something to do together on a lazy holiday afternoon.
http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,61370,00.html
Posted by richard ting at December 01, 2003, 10:51 AM
November 13, 2003
Academics Can Be Fun and Games
Wired News: Academics Can Be Fun and Games
Creating compelling games involves more than just developing a shoot-'em-up,' said professor Anthony Borquez, director of the Information Technology Program at the USC School of Engineering. 'Consumers are demanding the type of games that require game developers to be more creative. They need to be broader thinkers.'
The USC School of Fine Arts, School of Cinema-Television and Computer Science department are collaborating with Borquez on the proposed interdisciplinary gaming minor. Instructors from the game industry are also lending their talents.
Posted by richard ting at November 13, 2003, 11:06 AM
Smile, gamers: You're in the picture
Smile, gamers: You're in the picture | CNET News.com
By moving the wand in a circle, he can produce a trail that turns into a ring of fire on the screen. By flicking the wand toward the TV, he can make a fireball sizzle across the monitor. Other geometric shapes conjure tornadoes or make the player invisible. 'I actually had my son draw up a list of spells he thought would be good,' Marks said.
Don't put in an emergency call to the Ministry of Magic just yet. Marks, a special-projects manager for research and development at Sony Computer Entertainment America, is only recounting his exploits with EyeToy, a miniature camera he invented that attaches to the PlayStation 2 and translates body movements into a video game. Peripheral devices for video game consoles generally do not sell well, but more than 1 million of these set-top cameras have been sold in Britain since they were introduced there in July.
Posted by richard ting at November 13, 2003, 11:06 AM
November 06, 2003
GAMING'S NEW FRONTIER
OCTOBER 2ND 2003
Mobile phones are bringing video games to a broader audience
"BIGGER than Hollywood"--that is how people in the video-game industry like to describe their business. Worldwide sales of games software, they note, were worth $21 billion last year. Global box-office takings were a mere $19 billion (though Hollywood also gains from DVD and video sales and rentals).
Yet gaming is still not truly mainstream. Gamers are mostly young and male, and they must have sufficient disposal income to buy a console, costing around $200, and games, around $50 each. That may soon change, thanks to technology's new Trojan horse, the mobile phone.
Around 450m mobile phones are sold every year, and most people upgrade
their handsets every couple of years. The latest have colour screens, internet access and powerful processing chips. As well as logos and ringtones, it is now possible to download on to them small pieces of software--such as games.
According to the Mobinet study of 5,600 mobile users in 15 countries by A.T. Kearney, a consultancy, and the Judge Institute of Management at Cambridge University, the number of people playing games on their handsets has doubled during the past year to 6% of the world's 1.3 billion mobile subscribers, and will soon outstrip the number of people gaming on consoles. As if to underline the growing interest in mobile play, Nokia, the world's leading handset-maker, will next week launch the N-Gage, a hybrid mobile phone and gaming handset. Has the games industry finally found a way into the hearts, and pockets, of a broader
audience?
PLAYING TO WIN
That certainly seems to be the case in South Korea and Japan, the world's most developed mobile markets, where handsets that support downloadable games have been available for two or three years. The proportion of users who play games on their handsets has risen to 15% in South Korea and 35% in Japan, spreading gaming beyond its traditional user base.
New gamers want something different from existing players. They want not an immersive experience, but a time filler, akin to doing a crossword, says Ben Wood of Gartner, a consultancy. Classic arcade games, such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders, are particularly well suited to mobile play. But Asian trends suggest that while such "retro-gaming" classics appeal to early adopters, the balance shifts towards simpler games, such as card games, as women and the middle-aged start to play.
The usual model is that users pay once to download a game, costing around $3. Some games are subscription based, and multi-player games, which are starting to appear, also involve extra charges. The market, worth $587m this year, is forecast to reach $3.8 billion by 2007, according to Informa Media Group; within four years 500m people--25% of mobile subscribers--will play on their phones.
Where does Nokia's new N-Gage fit in? With more processing power than other phones, it can run 3-D games such as "Tomb Raider", first designed for Sony's PlayStation console. Indeed, the N-Gage is not so much a phone optimised for games as a gaming device that happens to have a phone in it. Yet rather than aiming at the new, broader audience of mobile gamers, it is for "hardcore" users who want to play complex games on the move; a direct challenge to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, the top handheld games console.
Moving into an entirely new market in this way is risky, even for a giant such as Nokia. Worse still, Sony, which dominates the household-console market, has announced plans to launch its own handheld console, the PlayStation Portable, in 2004. But Ilkka Raiskinen, who runs the N-Gage project, insists that Nokia has a unique advantage: its understanding of mobile communications. N-Gage users
will be able to take part in multi-player games--with people in the same room via a short-range radio connection and with other mobile users via the cellular network. "Mobile and online gaming are the key trends in the industry," says Mr Raiskinen. The N-Gage is aimed at the intersection of the two. The Nintendo and Sony consoles, in contrast, will only allow wireless gaming with players in the same room.
But Nokia is in for a fight. The N-Gage costs twice as much as the Game Boy Advance and has far fewer software titles, notes Nick Gibson of Games Investor Consulting. Consumers may not regard the phone and multi-player capabilities as worth the higher price. Nokia must subsidise game development for a year or two, as games are not profitable until there is a large installed base of users. Finally, says Mr Gibson, Nintendo will fight hard to keep its lead in the handheld-console market, since it is in third place, behind Sony and Microsoft, in household consoles.
Nokia is simply getting into new markets while it can, reckons Mr Wood. Motorola, the number two handset-maker, is flailing, and Samsung, the number three, is growing fast but is still behind. "Nokia has a window of opportunity to take some gambles, and try to open up some new segments," says Mr Wood. It is strong in high-volume electronic devices. As well as the N-Gage, it has also launched a hybrid music-player handset. Last month it even unveiled a range of jewellery, to which users can beam images from their camera-phones. Of these
various bets, says Mr Wood, Nokia only needs one to succeed.
Nokia's move into the handheld gaming market, from an adjacent market which it dominates, is strongly reminiscent of Microsoft's decision to launch the Xbox console to challenge Sony. Like Microsoft, it is about to discover that the gaming market is deadly serious.
Posted by richard ting at November 06, 2003, 07:51 AM
Ghettopoly
Posted by richard ting at November 06, 2003, 07:44 AM
EA SPORTS FIFA FOOTBALL 2004
Mobile football just got better. EA SPORTS FIFA Football 2004 Mobile International Edition is stacked with the latest player data for 2004 and exciting new features including in-game training, red and yellow cards and a penalty shoot out.
FIFA Football 2004 M.I.E is an advanced football simulation featuring real players from sixteen international teams. There are four game modes; training, polish your skills before the big match and practice passing, dribbling, shooting and crossing. In friendly mode, play in a friendly match against any of the teams in a one off match to get some practice. In tournament mode, your selected team participates in a full-on football tournament with 15 other international teams. There is also a quick-fire penalty shoot out, both single and two-player, where you can pick-up and play and get some target practice against any of the featured teams. The angled viewpoint giving a greater feeling of height, 3D penalty-taking and first class graphics maximise the realistic gaming experience.
Posted by richard ting at November 06, 2003, 03:12 AM
October 16, 2003
Some recent gaming articles
Trivial Pursuit: We Can Be Heroes
http://www.popmatters.com/columns/harvey/030724.shtml
Games Close In on Citizen Kane
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59964,00.html
Off to college to major in... video games?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0829/p01s04-ussc.html
Games suffer from 'geek stereotype'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3197911.stm
The shifting culture of video games
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/08/17/videogame.culture.ap/index.html
Computer games: Facts and fiction
http://news.com.com/2010-1071-5065675.html
Can Grand Theft Auto Inspire Professors?
http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i49/49a03101.htm
Games cited in recent deaths
http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6074253.html
FTC Workshop on Self-Regulation
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/violence/index.html
From 'Army of one' to Army of fun
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/106291458914820.xml
Not Just Rappers and Athletes: Minorities in Videogames
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20030827/adams_01.shtml
God in the console
http://www.msnbc.com/news/954674.asp
The Grey Market
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/business/article.jsp?content=20030818_63980_63980
Codes of dishonor?
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030825-9999_mz1b25codes.html
Posted by richard ting at October 16, 2003, 12:03 PM
October 13, 2003
G4tv.com
The only TV network dedicated to video games and the millions who play them.
Posted by richard ting at October 13, 2003, 08:02 AM
October 08, 2003
Spy Academy
Check out Spy Academy from the BBC.
Posted by richard ting at October 08, 2003, 11:41 AM
STORMING THE PLAYGROUND
STORMING THE PLAYGROUND
Dialogues on Game Design and Game Culture
Celebrating the launch of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals
by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, published by MIT Press
Friday, October 24th, 7:30 - 9:30pm
Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street, NYC
Free admission
Featuring Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman in discussion with:
Carl Goodman – Curator of Digital Media, American Museum of the Moving Image
Frank Lantz - Director of Game Design, gameLab
Jane Pinckard – Editor, GameGirlAdvance.com
Warren Spector – Studio Director, ION Storm
McKenzie Wark – Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, Lang College, New School University
Plus: Selected gaming cinematics curated by Katie Salen
And: Warren Spector presenting the public premiere of the much-anticipated game DEUS EX: INVISIBLE WAR
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STORMING THE PLAYGROUND is an evening of fiery debate and meaningful discussion to mark the publication of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, a groundbreaking textbook for the emerging field of game design, authored by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman and published by MIT Press.
KATIE SALEN is the Director of Graduate Studies in the Digital Design department at Parsons School of Design and has created games for Microsoft, LEGO, and the city of Minneapolis. ERIC ZIMMERMAN has been working in the game industry for a decade and is the co-founder of gameLab (www.gmlb.com), a
game development company focused on experimental gaming. Katie and Eric have lectured, published, and taught for many years on game design and game culture.
The evening will put the two authors in dialogue with a series of interlocutors on a range of topics, including the relationship between game design and other design disciplines; the meaning and significance of computer and video games; the current state of the game industry; the fan cultures of digital games; and the future of gaming. Copies of Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals will be on sale to the public.
The evening will include gaming cinematics that Katie Salen recently curated for the 2003 NY Video Festival at Lincoln Center. Celebrated game designer Warren Spector will be presenting the first public showing of Deus Ex: Invisible War, the sequel to his multi-platform, award-winning game Deus Ex.
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CARL GOODMAN is the Curator of Digital Media and Director of New Media Projects at the American Museum of the Moving Image, where he oversees the Museum's use and study of computer-based media and technology.
FRANK LANTZ has been working in the game industry for more than 10 years and is the Director of Game Design at gameLab. He teaches classes in game design and interactive narrative at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
JANE PINCKARD is the co-founder of GameGirlAdvance.com, a leading source of alternative game journalism. She has spoken and written extensively about topics like games and gender, experimental game design, and international cultures of gaming.
McKENZIE WARK is the author of the award-winning Virtual Geography (Indiana University Press) and several other books on media and culture. His new book A Hacker Manifesto will be published by Harvard University Press in 2004.
WARREN SPECTOR is a game industry veteran who currently runs Ion Storm’s Austin-based studio. He has led the development on award-winning games like Wing Commander, Ultima Underworld 1 and 2, System Shock, Thief, and Deus Ex.
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To order Rules of Play online, visit:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/rulesofplay
For more information about this event, please e-mail
cic@newschool.edu
To RSVP please visit
http://www2.parsons.edu/centernewdesign/events/register.htm
