Sunday, February 22, 2009

Wall Street Fighter [Clips]

Street Fighter is fun, economics, not fun. But turning Street Fighter into Wall Street Fighter? With M. Lynch vs Fannie Mae? Bravo, CBFresh, you've somehow pulled this off.

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/RUN8aaogY_w/wall-street-fighter

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Scientists Analyzing Entire Server Logs from Everquest 2 [Everquest]

Nearly 60 terabytes of info gathered from more than 400,000 Everquest 2 players has been made available to scientists studying a variety of topics, from social interactions to machine learning.

A meeting last week of the American Association for the Advancement of Science said that Sony, when approached about access to the game's data, simply said, "Sure, why not," when asked if it was available for research.

One researcher, who's studied shopping cart abandonment at Amazon as "a virtual event without a real-world parallel," found himself with an enormous set of data regarding similar behavior - individual players dropping out of a game, what that meant for their peers and for the community on the whole.

Another scientist studying social interactions was able to examine how and why players became involved in partnering or trading interactions, and how the actual players physical proximity to one another (same time zone, or geographic area) affected that. He also found that, even adjusting for their low representation, women were more likely to avoid interacting with other players. Wonder why.

The data set spans four years and is so large that researchers have had to inspect large hunks of it rather than writing algorithms that pass through the entire database. But they have come up with some very detailed pictures of the user base:

The average age of players turned out to be 31. "These aren't just pasty white teenage boys in a basement-to be sure, they're there, but they're not typical," he said. The older players tended to play more than the kids and, although the total hours played seem large, he said that the time mostly displaced either TV watching or movie going. And the surveys showed that those who viewed TV news in the first place continued to do so, suggesting that gamers really slotted EQ2 into their entertainment time.

Mostly, the gamers seemed healthy; their body mass index was better than the US average and, although they were slightly more depressed than average, they were also less anxious.

Buried among those happy, average players was a small subset of the population-about five percent-who used the game for serious role playing and, according to Williams, "They are psychologically much worse off than the regular players." They belong to marginalized groups, like ethnic and religious minorities and non-heterosexuals, and tended to use the game as a coping mechanism.

Science Gleans 60TB of Behavior Data from Everquest 2 Logs [Ars Technica]

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/gsGou4A2va8/scientists-analyzing-entire-server-logs-from-everquest-2

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Friday, February 20, 2009

Aion Aims For Fall Launch [Ncsoft]

A letter to fans posted on the official website for the eagerly anticipated massively-multiplayer game Aion: The Tower of Eternity reveals plans for a fall 2009 release in North America and Europe.

New Aion U.S. community manager Lani "Liv" Blazier answered some of the biggest questions North American and European fans had regarding the release of the fantasy role-playing game, indicating a fall 2009 release for both territories. Why is it taking so long for NCsoft West to bring the popular Korean game to the west?
The localization effort is enormous, with a vast amount of content. Aion is not simply being translated, a team of dedicated content writers are re-creating the written dialogue and content to provide AAA quality and to ensure that it is culturally relevant for our audience. We are going to do this launch "right" rather than fast.

I say hallelujah! The main problem Korean massively-mutliplayer games have when making the jump to western markets is shoddy translations making them feel rushed and sloppy. Glad to see they're taking the time to hopefully get this one right. If NCsoft West does it right, then maybe other online game operators will follow suit.

A Letter To Our Fans [Official Aion Website via Eurogamer]

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/tx-aeJElKB4/aion-aims-for-fall-launch

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EA Calls Gaming Recessing A "Blessing"

Reposted from Kotaku

Like many companies, Electronic Arts is having a rough time. Earlier this month, EA exec John Riccitiello called the lower than expected earnings "a clear disappointment," announcing additional, extended layoffs.

The impact of the cratering global economy on the game industry is not a bad thing necessarily says Riccitiello. It is a "blessing." Hard times means we'll see less "junk" on the store shelves.

"A lot of the riff-raff is going to go bankrupt," he said. "Our company was too big for the current economic environment," he also stated, "and it was probably slowing us down."

He also went on to talk how sequels can be innovative, the viability of PC gaming and outsourcing. More in the links below.

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/TE9CknYrJkg/ea-calls-gaming-recessing-a-blessing

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Capcom launches own pre-paid Visa

Capcom has announced its own branded, pre-paid Visa cards, the first run of which will feature artwork from Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5 and Bionic Commando. The Capcom Unity Card will be available online beginning February 17 -- SFIV's launch date, we're guessing not concidentally -- and offer some interesting rewards for their use.

The most immediate benefit will be a 15% discount off purchases made using the Unity card on Capcom's online store. Every dollar added to these "rechargeable" cards will also grant their holders five Capcom Unity Points, which the company says "can be used in a number of different ways" at a revamped Capcom Unity website.

Auctions and raffles are already planned, with Capcom developing "a larger suite of rewards ... above and beyond the standard incentives." According to the announcement, these will range from "exclusive access" to beta programs for upcoming games to the possibility of "being written into a Capcom game or comic book" and -- get this -- potentially landing a spot as an extra in a movie based on Capcom properties. Additional card designs are also in the works (we know: "Where's my Mega Man?").

Most intriguing of all, card holders will be able to send money to other folk's Capcom Unity cards online. We think the timeline will go something like this: February 17, Capcom Unity card launches; February 18, the first underground SFIV fight betting network using the Unity card is formed.

M. Buy Some Stuff: Capcom launches own pre-paid Visa originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

http://feeds.joystiq.com/~r/weblogsinc/joystiq/~3/rfmbEzljnWM/

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These Guys Have Sold Two Million Atari Cartridges From A Cave [Atari]

Reposted from Kotaku

In 1990, Atari (the original Atari) were in bad shape. So they sold off their inventory of old cartridges. O'Shea Ltd bought them. All 3 million of them.

They bought them so they could sell them on to you, the public. And where do they keep these millions of Atari cartridges? Why, in a 20,000-square warehouse carved from a limestone cave, of course.

In the years since 1990, O'Shea have sold two million of the carts to customers around the world, leaving, yes, around one million of them left. There are carts for the 2600, 7800 and even a few for the Jag.

Best part? These being "new" carts, and O'Shea being specialists in the closeout business (ie selling crap after a company goes bust), the games are going for a flat rate of $5 each.

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/0lLvpF2nCZU/these-guys-have-sold-two-million-atari-cartridges-from-a-cave

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

SF PlayStation Store is Closing

Kotaku is reporting that after 10 years, Sony's PlayStation Store in San Francisco's Metreon shopping center - the only store of its kind - will close sometime this summer.
http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/J1ageN6v2ew/the-playstation-store-is-closing

"The lease on the PlayStation store, home to many a launch-night lineup (the PlayStation 2, PS3, PSP, and pretty much any major title all had events there) runs out this summer, and Sony told GameSpot it will not be renewed."

Sony did not specifically cite the economy as a reason for the decision. Will we soon be seeing any virtual world presences shutting down as a result of real world conditions - such as private or corporate virtual world presences? Or will at least those that make virtual money be seen as a shelter against the real world ups and downs, at least in the short term?

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Friday, February 13, 2009

MMOs illegal in Australia

State of NSW to clampdown on unlawful sales of unclassified games like WoW and WAR.
Australian game publishers and retailers are risking fines and imprisonment for selling online MMOs which haven't been rated by the country's board of classification.

Click here to read the full article

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=207444?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-General-RSS

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World Of Warcraft Lead Moves To Blizzard's Next Online Game

Reposted from Kotaku

World of Warcraft lead designer Jeffery Kaplan has announced that he is leaving the team behind the popular massively-multiplayer online game in order to work on Blizzard's next massively-multiplayer project.

In a post on the official World of Warcraft forums, Kaplan, who goes by the forum handle Tigole, thanked the fans and the development team behind the game for their support over the years, frustratingly without revealing any new info about what exactly Blizzard's next massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game would be.

"When all is said and done, WoW is still my favorite game. I play it every day. None of that passion is gone. If anything, it fuels the challenge of making our next MMO even better. We know we have some big shoes to fill. So thank you to everyone who has been so supportive over the years, and likewise, thanks to those who have given us pointed feedback on all areas of the game. Without all of the feedback and participation, WoW would not be the game that it has grown to be. Azeroth truly belongs to you and we're lucky to have shared in your journey."

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/hx_ZWThOTN4/world-of-warcraft-lead-moves-to-blizzards-next-online-game

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