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Rumor: Microsoft's Live support coming to free Windows games; Minesweeper, Solitaire and more
Microsoft is allegedly preparing to implement Live functionality into the free suite of games that comes with all Windows-enabled PCs: Solitaire, Chess, Checkers, Spades, Hearts, Backgammon, Minesweeper, Purple Place, Spider Solitaire and Freecell. This tip comes courtesy of our trusted source (who accurately predicted Lucidity, NBA 2K10 Draft Combine and Tecmo Bowl: Throwback). Reportedly, each Windows game will not only get Achievements, but also chat and leaderboard support. While unconfirmed by our source, we'd anticipate this to be a free update. If true -- and hey, our tipster's batting a thousand (that's sports talk for reliable) -- adding Live functionality to these games would be an ideal gateway for Microsoft to usher new users into Live and the Achievements system. After registering a free Games For Windows Live account, a new user would be able to instantly start building Gamerscore cred with the free games included on Windows PCs. It's Drug Dealing 101 -- give 'em the first fix for free, and they'll be hooked!
WoW Moviewatch: Momento Adventures: Ximista's Origins
Today on Moviewatch we bring to you a different sort of Machinima, a blend of in-game artwork and scenes as the backdrop to animated characters. At first I was rather skeptical of how it all looked and if it'd work, but by about a minute into it I was digging it.The movie is in French with English subtitles, so those of us who don't speak the language of fries are in luck (okay, I kid... I kid... It's Friday, I'm allowed to make bad jokes.).Definitely check out this very well animated cartoon. It runs just under 16 minutes too, so you'll have a bit of entertainment. And big props to Krys on his accomplishment."But I don't want to! ... You should have played Freecell instead."
Free, shiny and simple. A winning recipe for wider audiences?
Scarcely a fraction of gamers are involved in MMOGs. The percentage is a little higher if you're a gamer over 25, but below that, the odds are that only 1-2% of gamers are into MMOGs. But the gamer market is expanding. That is, the number of gamers who are involved in MMOGs is growing at a rate less than a twentieth of the growth of the hobby. Or to put it another way, the pool of potential customers is growing much larger than the customers the industry already has, if only the industry can find a way to make MMO gaming, as a hobby, more attractive to gamers who have hitherto shown little or no interest in it. There are several approaches the industry has and is attempting in order to reach out into that broader pool of would-be players.
