The News Review:
- uTest To ffer nline Game QA Services
- nline gamers in China must soon register with real names
- Cutting Home Energy Use Could Be a Game
- Skate II Game From Electronic Arts Makes Failing Fun
- FusionFall: Majesco ffers a Screamin’ Deal
- YouTube video comes to Wii and PlayStation 3 game consoles
- China’s online game firms record $70m in overseas sales
uTest To ffer nline Game QA Services
Gamasutra CA
The company employs 13000 testers globally and offers online game developers real-time access to its services. It aims to help developers address usability issues unique to online games — a userbase with varying hardware increasingly complex software and highly public beta processes. The company says it’s offering an alternative to the risk to brand damage that public end user betas can sometimes cause. “The use of betas as a substitute for professional testing in the online gaming industry is on the decline” says uTest CE Doron Reuveni. “This puts greater pressure on companies to produce flawless products before they go to market.
nline gamers in China must soon register with real names
Ars Technica MA
China Korea and even Japan have had a long and sordid history with online gaming addiction. There is little doubt that the potential for addiction exists with MMRPGs. The need to feel connected to the game and to stay in touch with in-game friends can be very strong and countless anecdotes from the East have produced horror stories that have gone so far as to end in death from malnourishment. The government of China already treats addiction to.
Cutting Home Energy Use Could Be a Game
EcoGeek MT
His idea would feed a home’s smart meter data into a massive multi-player online game where the more you reduce energy consumption the more points you gain. All homeowners in the online community would be competing but also working together for a common good. The concept is based on hugely popular games like World of Warcraft and Second Life. A demo video is available.
Skate II Game From Electronic Arts Makes Failing Fun
Wall Street Journal
If you never wiped out at all and never had any consequences [skaters] wouldn’t keeping raising the bar” he says. Skate II is not alone in treating failure as an objective. In the online game Minotaur China Shop for example you have to deliver pieces of fine china to customers without breaking anything. But destroying things in the shop (a type of failure) triggers your insurance policy and then you receive points for every subsequent item you break. I had more fun destroying my place of work than satisfying customers. Games typically ask players to achieve something through repetition teaching them something new in the process. James Gee a professor of reading and education advocate at University of Wisconsin-Madison points to “the achievement principle” in well-designed videogames — that there are intrinsic awards that signal a player’s growth and development.
FusionFall: Majesco ffers a Screamin’ Deal
Warcry.com
Now it’s invading the Cartoon Network Universe creating evil character clones and corrupting the world. You are the last line of defense!Get the Victory Pack Exclusive which includes: 4 month free game subscription comprehensive FusionFall Game Guide two character sets not available online and a cool FusionFall t-shirt (t-shirt only at GameStop).
YouTube video comes to Wii and PlayStation 3 game consoles
Los Angeles Times CA
Last year for example the search giant struck deals to pipe YouTube videos directly to connected Sony Bravia TVs Panasonic Viera TVs the Apple TV device and TiVo’s digital video recorder. Gamers already have a penchant for watching videos via their consoles. Microsoft’s Xbox Live online game service for its Xbox 360 console for example boasts a library of more than 30000 movies videos and TV shows (no YouTube videos though). Google says 15 hours of footage are uploaded to YouTube every minute. WiiTube or YouStation 3 anyone? — Alex Pham Screenshot of YouTube on a PlayStation 3 console.
Related from Nukleardawn: NPD: Game Consoles More Popular Than Music Devices With Kids
China’s online game firms record $70m in overseas sales
China Daily China
74 million in 2008 on the sales of 33 games developed by the countries’ 15 companies an industry survey reported on Wednesday. The country’s industry giants like Shanda Interactive Perfect World Kingsoft and Netdragon have gained ground in Japan Vietnam Russia Brazil and the US as well. NASDAQ-listed Perfect World plans to localize its product in Europe and North America in 2009 and its rival Shanda is poised to step into foreign markets through exports of its capital technologies and products said Shanda spokesman Zhuge Hui.