The News Review:
- Q&A: CDC’s Williams Talks East Meeting West With Lunia EVE
- Disney Partners With Online Game Company
- George Ruhe for The New York Times
- Museum and Gallery Listings
- OPINION: Games Not Film Talent’s Top Choice
- YouTube awards celebrate buffalo battles and bouncing baby
Q&A: CDC’s Williams Talks East Meeting West With Lunia EVE
Gamasutra – Mar 21, 2008
While this seems straightforward we have found that when working with Korean developers in particular there can often time be a strong resistance to change even small things in the game and changes are slow-coming in general. We also have found that Korean developers tend to manage the development lifecycle of the game in a manner that is not optimal for internet-delivered content which is a significantly faster tempo than what is required to be successful in the PC Cafe markets of Asia. North American online games need to be operated in a very on-demand and just-in-time update-driven manner while the PC Cafe market in Asia is very similar to the enterprise software arena in North America and Europe where things are tightly controlled risk mitigation is more important than user satisfaction processes are locked on-rails and changes are made on slow predictable schedules. We also look for games that can be localized with minimum code changes. This means the game has been designed to easily change text sounds and character avatar appearance. Most importantly the gameplay needs to be something we feel will be appealing to North American gamers and more specifically gamers that we feel are underserved by the current market offerings. With Lunia we identified an ideal mix of these things and have found Allm to be a very good developer to partner with.
Disney Partners With Online Game Company
Pacific Epoch – Pacific Epoch (subscription) – Mar 21, 2008
HK) has signed with Disney’s Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG) for content development and distribution reports qq. com quoting company president Liu Dejian. Liu said the companies will release a new game based on Disney’s animated characters in 2009. NetDragon is currently seeking more overseas partners for business innovation said Liu.
George Ruhe for The New York Times
New York Times – Mar 21, 2008
But GoCrossCampus represents the new kind of online games that unite the participants of real-world communities in a common online cause. The rules of GXC are relatively simple. Every player is allocated a number of armies each day and must coordinate attacks troop movements and defensive maneuvers with teammates. Players can move their armies once each day and the game software calculates the result of clashes with an algorithm that gives a slight edge to defenders. Some of the most significant moves occur offline as players gather in the real world to elect commanders recruit other players and discuss strategy and ways of spying on opponents as they formulate battle plans.
Museum and Gallery Listings
New York Times – Mar 21, 2008
(Her avatar China Tracy is featured in the book “Second Life: The Official Guide. ”) For her latest show she has created a virtual city within the game. The Lombard-Freid Projects gallery has been made over as a real-world sales office for “RMB City” above with a white plastic and aluminum model of the metropolis a reflection pool showing shifting digital projections and computers that allow visitors to navigate the city. With its skyscrapers cranes and spiraling ramps “RMB City” resembles the retro-futuristic metropolis of the Jetsons crossed with a modern-day Beijing.
OPINION: Games Not Film Talent’s Top Choice
Next Generation – Mar 21, 2008
‘Burnout Paradise’ provided many challenges for Criterion Games. Creating the scale of a city 30 square kilometers populated with realistic modeled buildings bridges and countryside all with no loading screens. Add to that real time traffic with realistic AI computer controlled competitor racers accurate physics with stunning car deformation in a game running at 60FPS which can transform into an online game with eight opponents at the click of your fingers. That’s a real technical feat and one that film talent is realizing that comes only in gaming. So why do I commit to the bold statement that gaming rather than film is the career destination for top talent? Don’t get me wrong. Film is a great experience but albeit very linear.
YouTube awards celebrate buffalo battles and bouncing baby
Guardian Unlimited – Mar 21, 2008
Crocker lost the commentary category to Michael Buckley who satirises pop culture in a YouTube show he calls What the Buck?. One Hollywood bigwig even scored a nomination in the series category which was dominated last year by the prototypical YouTube starlet LonelyGirl15. But a comic video How to Seduce Women by Knocked Up star Paul Rudd was beaten by The Guild a dramatic show about friends who play online games. Other winning videos got the nod more for visual appeal than star power. The sports award went to a group of skateboarders who filmed themselves wheeling noisily through a track filled with blue balloons. A Swiss filmmaker won the most creative clip contest for using stop-motion technology to recreate the iconic video game Tetris using human bodies to represent the game’s geometric pieces. Among all of the 21st-century sensations recognised by YouTube however was one who has no idea of his global fame.