Business & Games: The Blog

Today on Business&Games, Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. It's an adventure game, it has a title long enough to raise one of your eyebrows and it might just spearhead a new generation of episodic games created and published outside the sphere of big name companies. Let's see what perspectives this could open for both developers and advertisers. But first, a quick brief to acquaint you with the game's creators, before we move to talk about the game.

Continue reading "Episodic games, here to stay? A look at Penny Arcade" »

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With over 400.000 subscribers already, as you might've heard. That's a pretty good initial rush and it certainly proves that a strong interest in MMOs that aren't WoW does exist, assuming the game isn't, you know, utter crap and that the marketing team handling it isn't made of lemurs.

Continue reading "Age of Conan Doing Pretty Well" »

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Researchers at the University of Westminster studied the impact virtual worlds have on children, using BBC's own virtual world as the context. Children playing Adventure Rock, a world aimed at kids aged 6-12, were interviewed and the results were barely surprising. As the researchers found, virtual worlds provide a good way of 'rehearsing' for the real world.

Continue reading "Research: Virtual Worlds Useful to Children" »

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Ran into this one earlier, while going through my feeds. Made by American Public Media, the hilariously named Budget Hero is a browser based flash game that challenges you to have a shot at balancing the US public budget, using a playable cards system. As far as ways of spending 15-30 minutes go, this game isn't a bad one. Even if it's rather lightweight, the game does require a bit of thought and I certainly am glad to see more flash games straying from the 'let's emulate 1980s console games' path. Via Woolly Boolly.

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In case you've missed it, the fifth anual edition of Games for Change (or, in short, G4C) is starting in a little under two weeks. The conference will be starting up with a free workshop, dubbed '101 on making social issue games'. Do note that even if the workshop is free, registration is required and they only have so many seats so you probably should hurry and sign up if you still want to attend. The conference will take place in NYC (google maps link) and will feature speakers such as Henry Jenkins and Ian Bogost. The role of the conference is to further promote the idea that games are a powerful tool for whatever serious endeavor you may be undertaking. In their own words, "digital video games provide a platform that is highly engaging, challenging, empowering and educational by nature". And so they are :)

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A couple of years ago, I wrote a thesis on in-game advertising. One chapter about history didn't make it into the final version, but now you can view and download the entire chapter in its original format, complete with proper references. Here, I am publishing a series of excerpts, illustrated, where possible, with screenshots and gameplay videos that have began to appear on YouTube. This first installment deals with the early years of advergames. The next one will be about brands and arcades.

Continue reading "History of In-Game Advertising and Advergames: The First Wave" »

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There are quite a few advergames designed to be played on the popular Wii console out there. Pictured above is MINI's Pinball. Early last year (news), Wrigley's has optimized a number of its games for the Wiimote, and Live Free or Die Hard movie was also promoted by a Wii-able game (now gone). Like the iPhone advergames, Wii games are designed to be accessed through the console's browser.

Continue reading "Wii Advergames" »

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The rumored Ikea-themed stuff pack for The Sims 2 is due out on June 24 for $19.95, according to this this now removed but cached page on EA store.

Continue reading "Ikea Stuff Pack for Sims 2 Confirmed" »

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Harvard Researchers say: video games don't make your child violent. Politicians all over the world hold emergency meeting in order to identify a new scapegoat.
UK software piracy rates drop slightly, BSA claims. In the same article: Armenia software piracy rate estimated at 93%.
Advertising networks rates decline. On a related note, ads on social networks don't really hit the spot with about 87% of the users.  And, finally, it seems like Playboy is facing a pretty common brand problem in Second Life.

Happy Thursday y'all.

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The title comes from the excellent Harvard Business Review article, Leadership's Online Labs. The article gives an in-depth view of the similarities between leadership in business and in games.  While this is not the first time the subject is approached, the HBR article gives it the treatment it needs. And of course, gives the theory some weight...

Continue reading "Leadership in Games Is a Task, Not an Identity" »

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More numbers for the file. According to the NPD Group,  subscriptions for games/games portals reach and even exceed $1B, based on their estimates.

Continue reading "Online Subscriptions Generate One Billion USD Yearly" »

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via DMW Media

"China’s online video game market is expanding rapidly, with sales forecasted to grow from $1.7 billion in 2007 to $6 billion in 2012, according to a survey released by Niko Partners today."

It's pretty common knowledge that in China and such, everyone and their mothers can beat you at any video game you pick and they're only expanding! However, as with all forecasts, take this with a grain of salt.

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Over at casualgaming.biz, a playful look at what people did during office hours throughout history.  The same website has a 101 on what casual games are about, with references to everyone's favorite work-dodgers.

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"This untapped potential of games upsets the very foundation of advertising as we know it. Instead of surrounding us with images that reflect lives unlived, games can allow us to try out hypothetical lives with new products, people and ideas. To realise this potential, advertisers of both goods and viewpoints must stop blindly inserting their billboards into games or creating feeble copies of the cornerstones of videogame pop culture. Instead, they must start simulating the products, public policy positions, charitable interventions and other worldly ideas in new games – games worthy of our attention."

Ian Bogost in The Guardian

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While mainly aimed at people with disabilities, I gotta say this'd be quite a fun way of playing MMOs in the future. Via Wonderland.

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Is Apple prepping a 3D shopping interface? A Second Life resident thinks it might (via Brand Flakes) if the new patent is any indication. The patent was filed in September 2006 and published a couple of weeks ago. (Follow a lengthier discussion.)

Continue reading "Apple Eyeing Virtual Store?" »

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Guest post by Heather Johnson

If gaming and toy conferences have taught us anything lately, it's that 2008 is going to be riddled with new virtual worlds. However, most of us could do without another Habbo or Second Life clone.

One of the most interesting startups that are slated to launch this year is Konstruction Zone, a "virtual playground" that is geared toward both children and their parents.

Continue reading "Innovative Virtual World For Future Engineers " »

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Serious Games challenging us to play a better future

FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES has launched a "dot com" website at http://futuremakingseriousgames.com/.

Continue reading "FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES New Website" »

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