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The Daily Grind: How much game time is just right?
The comments on an article earlier this month made me realize that somewhere between "too casual" and "too hardcore" lies a vast, undefined region of acceptable gaming habits. In that comment thread, one gamer who admitted to playing Lord of the Rings Online for 40 hours a week for three years was picked on for spending as much time playing as you might expect out of a full-time job. In the same thread, several people made reference to "idiot casuals" who are ruining the MMO experience in World of Warcraft, the implication being that casual play alone makes one an idiot. Both of these comments prey on ugly gaming stereotypes: the guy who plays so much that he neglects the rest of his life and the guy who plays so little that he bumbles along incompetently at the expense of skilled players. I might be naive, but I don't think either one of these guys is the norm. I've always assumed that most people out there are playing as hardcore-casuals with reasonable levels of both competence and time invested. What do you think -- how much game time is "just right" to become skilled at MMOs without degenerating into the basement-dwelling-loser archetype? Is "just right" even possible? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Editorial: The most exciting Xbox SmartGlass application isn't what you'd think
In Microsoft's ongoing battle to alter your association between "Xbox" and "Video Games," SmartGlass is its latest volley. Employing your favorite mobile device -- Windows Phone 7.5/8, Android, and iOS devices are all supported -- SmartGlass enables you to control your Dashboard experience, explore the web, input text, and much more. But what Microsoft's really banking on is its "second screen" functionality, essentially enabling another layer of interactivity with video, music, games, and the Xbox 360's other, less ballyhooed service: sports. It's this final layer that I found most enticing during a recent hands-on meeting with Microsoft. Could sports be the "killer app" that MS needs to get SmartGlass out of its tiny niche and into the hands of the masses? I think so.
Holiday giveaways: NBA apps and prize pack
The crowds in the stores and the recuperation from holiday over-indulgence got you down? We've got the prescription: more cowbell holiday giveaways galore! There's several on tap for this weekend, and a couple of them will be App Hub exclusives, so you'll have to check there later today to see what pops up in the freebie cornucopia. The first giveaway du jour is a valuable prize pack for any NBA basketball fan, so fire up those commenting fingers and get ready for gametime. You can enter the giveaway just by leaving a comment with the name of your favorite basketball team. One lucky reader will be going home with these items: Two NBA iPhone apps, the audio game tracker NBA Game Time Mobile [$9.99, iTunes link] and the live streaming video app NBA League Pass [$39.99, iTunes link] to keep you up to speed on all the action through the rest of the 2009-2010 season A NBA-branded gift pack including an Adidas league sweatshirt, handy backpack and other assorted b-ball swag Our thanks to Patrick W. and the NBA for providing today's giveaway prizes. There's more to come! Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment on this post letting us know your favorite basketball team. The comment must be left before Monday, 12/28 at 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing. Prizes: One copy each of NBA League Pass for iPhone and NBA Game Time for iPhone; NBA branded merchandise pack (total ARV $150.00) Click Here for complete Official Rules.
Get DirecTV, play WoW free for 11 months
For those of you who are interested in satellite television (and in the USA), DIRECTV is currently running a promotion for new customers: if you subscribe to DIRECTV and activate your account, you get a code good for 11 months of game time. In case you don't already have a copy of the game, they'll also give you a code good for upgrading a trial account into a proper account, which also comes with a free month of game time. So that's 11 months for existing WoW players, or a copy of WoW and twelve months for new players.Note that this offer doesn't apply to existing DIRECTV subscribers, and also that they won't give you a BC upgrade code, so you'll have to buy that yourself ($40) if you don't have it already. But if you're looking to set up satellite TV service, you should jump on this -- even at the cheapest subscription rate (buying six months at a time), 11 months is worth $143. What's better than WoW? Free WoW.
WoW Rewards Visa
I had to check my calendar to make sure this wasn't still April 1st: Blizzard is announcing that you can now get a WoW credit card! It's a Visa that gives you 1% of all your purchases as free game time, as well as a free month with your first purchase. The 1% rewards rate means spending $1,500 with the card nets you a free month of play. There are some other credit cards that give you 1% cash back (or more) on all purchases, though, so this card's strongest point seems to be its attractive designs. Then again, that may not be such a good feature if you don't want to out yourself as a WoW player every time you open your wallet. With no annual fee, I might well pick one of these up myself, if only to use once for the free month. What about you guys?
