Business & Games: The Blog

So - World of Warcraft hit 9 million subscribers, etc etc. Richard Bartle throws a nice idea out there, saying he'd shut WoW down so you maniacs can go explore other games for a change. On the rebound, someone with less common sense than me is going to try and play WoW for 120 hours in a row. Mkay.

Staying on the subject of people with several cards short of a full deck, you may wanna check Game Politics if you're interested in Jack Thompson's latest exploits. I personally love it how, in the comments to one of the articles, someone suggest a Jack Thompson drinking game. Although, chances of not dying from alcohol poisoning within the week would be way better if you only drank when JT didn't try to pick on someone for reasons only he comprehends.

Back to more serious things. As Gamasutra informs us, Activision overtook EA as the top third party US publisher. The sales figures for the first half of the year are as follows: Activision: $387.8 millions to EA's $365.7 millions. Stop slacking and go out there and buy the same sports game you've been buying every year for 5-8 years now, uncle EA needs you!

Coming up: horrible QJ.net article. Title: Analyst says in-game advertising is good business [US$ 2 billions by 2011]. First of all, that sounds ridiculous, what with the way it's simplified. Now, the eMarketer people serve more than horrible platitudes like the one above so why try to dumb it down? And why does it seem to me you're making it sound like breaking news? In-game ads make for good business? And an analyst said that? Well slap me with a fish an' call me your cousin, who woulda thawght!

Then, as if the title wasn't bad enough, the first paragraph slaps you with an awful misconception

"Game developers can basically plaster a Coca-Cola logo on a zombie's chest and players wouldn't mind. "

Is that so?

Anyway, until next time, have this lovely little eMarketer chart:

Be good.

Alex