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Pay pros for lessons on sucking less at video games
Losing to a 12-year-old in Super Smash Bros. can be a real downer, but there are a few ways to prevent that. You can challenge kids who aren't as good, practice and improve on your own, or, if you have a few bucks to spend, get a video game tutor from Japanese company GameLesson.
DARPA wants you to help with its terrifying schemes... by gaming
If you like playing online games, then you too can help birth some (possibly sinister) software from DARPA. The US Army's slightly insane research division launched its Verigames web portal in late 2013 with five free online games designed to crowdsource coding. How? Like a similar effort that folded AIDS proteins, the games "translate players' actions into program annotations," to kill numerous bugs in systems code, according to DARPA. The first experiment was a success and "produced hundreds of thousands of (code) annotations," so the agency plans to expand the program with five new games.
For science! The relationship between shyness and online game friendships
It's a common stereotype that shy people flock to the internet to socialize without fear of rejection. But is it true? German researchers from the University of Münster have tackled that question. In a paper published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking this past summer, the scientists sought to determine the relationship between online video games and friendship. They surveyed German video game enthusiasts to measure their involvement with online games, their web of friendships online and off, and their emotional sensitivity -- a behavioral marker for shyness. After controlling for confounders like age and gender, they found that those subjects with high emotional sensitivity reported more online friends than offline when compared to those with low emotional sensitivity. High emotional sensitivity also correlated with online friendships that transformed into offline friendships. In other words, the shier you are, the more likely you are to make more of your friends in cyberspace than meatspace, at least if you're a self-identified gamer. As Gamasutra put it, "emotionally sensitive users are using the online gaming environment differently from their counterparts. As they are shy in face-to-face interactions which translated to fewer friends, but they were able to make more friends through online videogames which its affordances (i.e., asynchronicity, visual anonymity, etc.) paved a way for them to compensate or overcome their shyness." The full paper is behind an academic paywall, but the Gamasutra summary is worth a read.
The Soapbox: On your deathbed, you will not regret gaming
In last week's edition of The Soapbox, Mike Foster reminded us that the grim specter of death comes to us all and asserted that when your time comes, "you will not wish you had spent more time gaming." Mike took the stance that gaming provides temporary joys that can't replace real-life experiences and that it's our inherent responsibility as human beings with finite lifespans to seek out those experiences. He argued that "gaming is a hobby and not a replacement for a life well-lived" and that it's not our gaming achievements but our real life ones that we'll proudly tell our grandchildren. I think we can all agree that it's important to have offline hobbies and interests that help you keep active, but I take exception to the notion that we might regret time spent gaming on our deathbeds. Published data on the top five regrets of the dying actually seems to directly refute this idea, and my life experiences have shown the exact opposite of some of the points Mike makes. MMOs have given me some experiences that I'll probably treasure for a lifetime, and gaming as a hobby has provided me with much more than just temporary joys and escapism; it's helped me discover talents I didn't know I possessed, given me the push I needed to get a good education, led me to employment, and put me in contact with lifelong friends. On my deathbed, I'll probably wish I'd spent more time gaming rather than less. In this opinion piece, I look at evidence that suggests we won't regret gaming on our deathbeds and make the case that gaming can be just as worthwhile as offline pursuits.
PSP gets its own homebrew online gaming network, outweighs Sony's own efforts (video)
Sony made much ado of the PSP's position as one of the first online gaming consoles, but unless your idea of online play involves Skype calls, there hasn't been a lot to go on since 2004. Team PRO is addressing that deficit through Prometheus, a completely community-driven rival to PSN. The hack lets PSP games with support for ad hoc WiFi play go online by wrapping the normal local-only multiplayer in an emulator library that broadcasts to other Prometheus players. It requires a second-generation or newer PSP as well as a wireless router that can expose the PSP in DMZ mode, but there's a live who's-playing board and even an in-game chat mode to coordinate that round of Fat Princess as it happens. Of course, using a wholly separate gaming network outside of Sony's rubric involves a whole lot of warranty-voiding risk; if you're willing to live on the edge, though, Internet games of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker or Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 will let you put off that possible PlayStation Vita purchase for a little longer.
Friendster reborn as a gaming site, wishes Facebook cared
Friendster's as good as dead to the western world (it hasn't really crossed our radar since 2002), but Forbes reports that the site is still huge in Southeast Asia -- though not for the reasons you might think. It was the original social network when in launched in 2002, but its acquisition by e-payment provider MOL Global in 2009 led to its reincarnation as a top online gaming destination for countries such as India, Indonesia and Malaysia. The new Friendster just officially emerged from beta as a game-centric site, and the remaining vestiges of its social networking past -- you can still add friends, after all -- are gamified with reward points. Moreover, owner MOL Global has added e-payments to the mix, letting users buy Friendster Coins to purchase virtual goods. Given predictions that the Asian gaming community will exceed 1 billion by 2016, the site's future is looking rosier than ever. That might lessen the sting of being plum blown out of the social networking game by the big dogs.
EverQuest turns 13, blows out the subscription candles (video)
EverQuest? More like Ever-cost -- until now that is. The popular subscription-based game has dropped the need for recurring charges as the franchise marks its thirteenth year on the scene. If you're still set on forking out that $14.99 for full access, you can, but there's now a one-time $5 silver membership as well as the totally free option. Of course, it's free as in beer, with parts of the game restricted (only four character races and classes etc) meaning it mightn't be long before you're opening up the wallet again. But, if this doesn't turn you off, saving up for another classic just got a lot easier.
Gamestop acquiring Flash game portal Kongregate
GameStop just took a huge step into the casual online gaming market, by agreeing to purchase the Flash game portal Kongregate. According to the announcement, the site will remain under the management of founders Jim and Emily Greer following the purchase, which should finalize on August 1. CEO J. Paul Raines explained the move, saying, "Dolphin Olympics 2 is really, really wonderful." Okay, we made that up (though Dolphin Olympics 2 is really, really wonderful). Raines actually said, "Kongregate advances GameStop's digital strategy by providing a gaming platform for casual, mobile and browser games that can be promoted and played by our existing gamers. We welcome the Kongregate team to the GameStop family." GameStop has previously experimented with free-to-play online gaming with initiatives including the Legends of Zork browser game and a small "Free2Play" portal on its retail site.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite pseudo-MMO?
In recent years, the field of games that could conceivably be referred to as MMOs has exploded. Naturally, there has to be a cutoff at some point, and we here at Massively use finely tuned metrics to determine what does and doesn't qualify. (Our magic 8-ball is exceptionally tuned.) But just below that are games that are very similar to an MMO, even if they don't quite make it there, and with the border so fuzzy, players are bound to cross over. Naturally, what constitutes a pseudo-MMO versus a full game is going to be a very subjective line, and there are games such as Global Agenda and MAG that straddle the line aggressively. So what game do you enjoy that's similar to an MMO, but doesn't quite make the cut? Is it one of the two aforementioned games? Are you still of the mind that Guild Wars isn't quite there but is still a lot of fun? Or do you dig on something else entirely, like League of Legends?
GameStop's Zork 'customer acquisition engine' experiment was a success
The free-to-play browser game Legends of Zork has been a bit of an experiment for GameStop. The retailer has promoted the free-to-play browser game both in-store and online as the major title in its "Free2Play" service. It hasn't just been an experiment in offering online content to customers -- GameStop has also used it as a testing ground for promoting specific games. "Targeted customers received free in-game play cards with purchases at GameStop and they used the codes on cards to enter the game site online," explained COO J. Paul Raines in yesterday's investor call. "The results were that we added a large number of new game players to Legends of Zork, roughly doubling the audience of that game in four weeks. Our customer acquisition costs were significantly lower than advertising driven customer acquisition, and it is clear to us now that stores can efficiently convert online game players and provide a multi-channel gaming experience." Later, in response to a question about the growth of web-based games and its effect on GameStop, Raines called GameStop stores a "customer acquisition engine" for specific online games, as proven by Zork. GameStop's idea appears to be to earn revenue by promoting online games in stores -- and then possibly sell DLC cards. If it can do those things, it has nothing to fear from browser games.
Xbox Live termination ends in a consolation goodie bag for Halo 2 owners
As Microsoft prepares to pull the plug on online gaming for the original Xbox, it's decided to act benevolently toward the undoubtedly grief-stricken Halo 2 loyalists and has rewarded them all with some consolation prizes. A free three-month Xbox Live membership awaits, accompanied by 400 MS points and a place on the Halo: Reach beta, should you wish to accept it. For a console that's nearly a decade old, it's understandable that online gaming support would've had to end at some point, so you might as well just transfer all your energies into being a good guinea pig / tester for Microsoft's latest cash cow. Steve would just love it if you did.
EA CEO says digital gaming sales will overtake console numbers next year
Need more evidence that physical media is inching towards the door? Enter this Reuters conversation with Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello. While the company -- the largest publisher of "interactive entertainment" (AKA video games) -- is hurting on sales during the awesome global recession currently underway, he thinks the future is digital. All digital. Riccitiello had this to say on the matter: "When people think of games, they traditionally think, in the U.S., of what sells on the Xbox, the PlayStation, and the Wii, and they forget about all these online services that are out there... if you add all that stuff up, it's almost half the industry now. It's about 40 to 45 percent. Next year it's likely to be the larger share of the total industry and it'll be bigger than the console games all put together." He went on to say that if EA's digital arm was a standalone company, "it would be like the darling of Wall Street." Of course, he's not just talking about XBLA and the App Store -- this is an all-encompassing view of the digital market, including casual gaming, Facebook apps, and WoW transactions as well. It may not be the kind of all-encompassing push needed, but we are hoping this sort of noise rattles the industry enough to mobilize smarter, more centralized methods of online distribution.
EA and GLAAD to host a panel against homophobia in online games
Tomorrow marks an interesting event in Redwood City, CA as Electronic Arts teams up with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination (GLAAD) to host a panel regarding homophobia in online games.The panel will be featuring some major industry players, including GayGamer founder Flynn DeMarco (AKA Fruit Brute), senior director of communications and industry affairs for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Dan Hewitt, senior producer Caryl Shaw from Maxis Studio, Linden Lab's vice president of customer relations Cyn Skyberg, and Xbox Live's program manager Stephen Toulouse (Gamertag: Stepto.)Stephen Toulouse's presence at the panel is especially interesting, as Microsoft has come under fire for some rather inflammatory anti-gay policies.The panel will be moderated by GLAAD's Justin Cole, their director of digital and online media. The panel will take place tomorrow, July 18th, from 11 AM to 1 PM Pacific time.
What to do when a player dies
This AP story is making its way around the community -- Jerald Spangleberg's daughter was faced with a growing problem when he passed a way: figuring out how to notify the guy's in-game friends. As online relationships grow more and more prevalent, relatives of those who pass away are often having trouble notifying some of the deceased closest friends. Even Blizzard can't help in this situation, apparently -- they have no policy or rules to deal with players who have died, and no way for relatives to log in to the game without the password to let guilds know what has happened.You might suggest that these relationships aren't that big a deal, but when you think that guildies are encountered almost nightly, while real-life friends connect only when schedules allow (maybe once or twice a week), you can see why it might be important to let the ingame associates know what has happened. Unfortunately, all of the solutions so far are pretty morbid -- there are sites that will send email for you, or some players have left lists of contacts to reach when they move on.The importance of online relationships is likely to increase in the future if the past few years are any indication. And given that the average player is getting older even as they're making more and stronger friends online, it might not be long until we've got a much better solution to deal with this problem.
Chinese online game market operating in loss
When many of us think about MMOs, we think about companies who rake more money than we could dream about. Enough money to put together a scale model of Paris made out of 20 dollar bills.Yet the truth is that many of these companies are operating in loss, as a recent article published in the Beijing Times has shown. Over 70% of Chinese online game companies are spending more than they are earning, while only a few notable names, like The9, the operators of World of Warcraft in China, stand to even make a profit.Many games spend more in development and marketing costs than they stand to make in monthly subscriptions, leading to these problems occurring in many companies in the market. Analysts say that for every 10 online games made, only one stands to be a profitable venture.For the full report on this, check out the article over at TradingMarkets.com.
Stix 200 Wiimote wannabe reviewed: it's just as awful as we imagined
Be honest here, GoLive2's Stix didn't stand a chance at being taken seriously, and even when one reviewer attempted to have fun with the unashamed Wiimote knockoff, he failed epically. The Stix 200 looks strikingly like Nintendo's accelerometer-packin' controller, though this 2D-only rip was seen as "a set of slightly unresponsive, highly inconvenient arrow keys" rather than an exciting new controller. The PC games that can be played with the device are equally dreadful, and while the 3D-capable Stix 400 might be able to make up for some of the 200's shortcomings, we can't wholeheartedly say it's even worth the effort to check out after reading this review.[Thanks, Robert]
217 million people playing games world-wide... or are there?
comScore, a company earning its way in the world by compiling and analysing consumer data, tells us that there are currently 217 million people in the world playing games online. (Of course, this number only sounds impressive until you realize that there are over 6 billion people living in the world today.) But the numbers themselves seem to leave a lot to be desired -- over at PlayNoEvil they have a detailed analysis of the other things this data seems to have overlooked: All of the companies comScore seems to be tracking are US-based. What about the large online gaming market in Asia? Smaller game sites aren't considered. (Smaller than Yahoo, MSN, WildTangent, etc.) Client-based games like World of Warcraft are excluded. People playing in internet cafes (common in Asia) aren't counted. So, from this data we can definitively determine that there are 217 million people in the world enjoying online gaming -- or maybe more. While it's interesting to see attempts at quantifying the online gaming market, I'd be interested in seeing some more inclusive estimates.[via The Forge]
Google is watching you
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Google_is_watching_you_even_when_you_play_with_yourself'; Google has invented a system for monitoring the habits of online gamers. The technology is intended to track gaming habits in order to make in-game advertising more relevant to users. It's targeted at all online platforms, including Wii.Apparently our playing habits can reveal all sorts of information about us. The way we behave in a game can be used to draw up a profile of our psychological characteristics, and this data can then be used to sell us stuff.The system was patented in the US and Europe last month, although Google say they have no plans to roll it out in the near future. Privacy campaigners have deep concerns about the system, pointing out that while Google's ideas may be relatively benign, the information may not stay in their hands. The US federal government has already taken Google to court in order to gain access to their data.So what do your gaming habits say about you? Does your in-game behaviour reflect your real life personality? Any dirty little secrets hiding on your memory cards? They might not be secrets for much longer.[Via Wiiha!]
Google's Da Vinci Code puzzle quest launching soon
We've already seen the Da Vinci Code spun into a video game and a mobile game; starting tomorrow, it will also become an online puzzle trail, an Alternate Reality Game-style code quest run by Google and accessible from your Google homepage. This movie tie-in game fits with the book's themes of brain-bending puzzles, and it should hopefully be an enjoyable ride, with puzzles being issued daily until May 10 -- coincidentally, the start of E3 -- and a prize draw for those who answer all 24 puzzles correctly.There's something of a discrepancy in prizes, thanks to regional sponsors -- the US grand prize winner will be flown on a first class trip to England, Rome and Paris with three guests, bagging over $120,000 of goodies along the way, whereas the top UK winners get a trip to Paris on the Eurostar. It's an interesting move to add this kind of daily ARG-style play into a personalised homepage service such as Google provides; people using the service already will find it easy to play the game, whereas those who haven't tried the service have a new incentive to do so.[Via ARGN]
Gamer Punished With Virtual Crucifixion
In what has to be the single coolest punishment ever devised for anyone, the makers of the MMO Roma Victor have responded to the actions of a particularly disruptive player and hung him on a cross for seven days, for all to see. The full story can be read here.I don't know why it's taken this long for something like this to happen. Aside from being almost poetic, it's got to really tick off the gamer who's dedicated enough to cause that much trouble in the first place. Blizzard GM's, take note...there's a lot of empty road on that long stretch leading into Orgrimmar....I say line that whole road with timber & string up all the gold farmers!
