GAME | don't stop

Got game

2007-08-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

THEY are known to television executives as the “Lost Boys”—the generation of video-gaming young men who are watching less television and, thanks to ad-skipping technologies such as TiVo, even fewer advertisements. The obvious response is to start putting advertisements into games instead, by incorporating billboards into the game environment, for example. But incorporating static advertisements into games is unsatisfactory. Now that most PCs and a growing number of games consoles are connected to the internet, however, it is possible to update advertisements when required. As a result, static in-game advertisements are now giving way to dynamic adverts, which accounted for $26m of the $76m spent on in-game advertising last year, and will account for 55% of the $182m spent this year, says the Yankee Group, a consultancy.

Even that projection is probably conservative, says Mike Goodman of the Yankee Group, since advertisers have yet to realise the full potential of dynamic advertising. As well as appealing to makers of fast-changing fashion goods, such as mobile phones and clothes, it also has huge potential for promoting films. Another possibility is to update the music in games too, and use this to promote new singles. Perhaps surprisingly, surveys show that gamers would welcome in-game advertising, at least in some games. Billboards look wrong in a Tolkienesque fantasy adventure, but they make sports games, or those set in urban environments, seem more realistic.

The technology is in place and the market seems promising. But advertisers also need to be able to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. So next month Nielsen, the world's leading audience-measurement company, will launch a service called Nielsen GamePlay Metrics to provide precise statistics. With the old static approach, advertisers know little more than how many copies of a game have been sold. But Nielsen's new scheme will gather more detailed information and then report back via the internet.

It will be possible to determine, for example, whether players position themselves to see an advertisement more clearly; the angle and distance at which it is viewed; and whether the player pauses to look at it. Such data ought to be very attractive to advertisers. Jens Hofmann of Neue Digitale, a German advertising agency that will offer in-game advertising later this year, says advertisers will pay about €90 ($122) for each 1,000 times an advertisement is viewed, which is about twice the going rate for static advertisements.

All this is good news for the companies that design and publish video games, too. Today's games can cost as much as $20m to develop, and selling prices seem to have hit a ceiling at $60 in America and £45 ($90) in Britain. So extra revenue from advertising could help to pay for development as games become more elaborate and expensive. As a rule of thumb, game publishers earn about $5 profit per copy sold. Static advertising typically provides $1 of profit, but by the end of this year dynamic advertising could double that figure.

Dynamic advertisements also allow companies to reach more narrowly defined (and therefore more valuable) demographic groups. IGA, a broker in New York that places its clients' advertisements into games, uses the internet-protocol addresses of players' computers to deliver advertising suited to their location. It can then place a French-language radio advertisement in virtual cars driven by gamers in Luxembourg, for example. Similarly, a promoter can publicise a band's concert tour in particular markets, and a pizzeria can buy advertising slots in the evening.

What's next? Jeffrey Chester, director of the Centre for Digital Democracy in Washington, DC, warns of a slippery slope towards “behavioural targeting”. In March details emerged of a patent filed by Shumeet Baluja, a researcher at Google, for a scheme to build psychological profiles of individual gamers. By analysing in-game behaviour it would assign players to categories such as “risk-taker”, “stealthy”, “non-confrontational”, “dishonest” and so on, enabling advertisements to be targeted accordingly. Google declined to comment, but furious bloggers denounced the prospect of “psychographic” rather than demographic targeting. Perhaps those bloggers will soon be offered in-game advertisements for soothing herbal teas and compilations of relaxing music.
Jun 7th 2007 From The Economist print edition

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption First Hour

2007-08-20T04:12:00.000-07:00

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a video game in development for the Wii by Retro Studios, to be published by Nintendo. It is the tenth game in the Metroid series and the third main installment in the Metroid Prime trilogy, excluding the two spin-off titles. The game takes place six months after the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and introduces a new control system based on the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. It is currently set for release on August 27, 2007 in North America and due in stores on August 28. The release in Europe is set for October 26, 2007. Nintendo released a preview channel to North American Wii owners via the Wii Shop Channel on August 10, 2007 (buy at Amazon $49.99)

World Of Warcraft Burning Crusade Collector's Edition

2007-08-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Product Features

Increase in level cap to 70
New spells and talents for each class
Two new playable races - Blood Elves & Draenei
Explore the entire new continent of Outland
Many new zones and high-level dungeons

Nintendo's Wii is revolution

2007-08-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Nintendo's Wii video game system (pronounced "we") is designed to attract people, regardless of their age or video game experience, to sit down and play together--whether they're in the same room or on different sides of the globe. The system's name reflects this simple idea. It's easily pronounced in a variety of languages, and the distinctive spelling suggests two players side by side. The two Wii features Nintendo thinks will create new levels of gaming community are built-in Wi-Fi access, supported by a new online gaming service, and Wii's intuitive, wireless, motion-sensitive game controller.

Traditional Pokemon RPG

2007-08-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

Pokemon Diamond is a traditional Pokemon RPG that takes place in a region called Sinnoh.

In the Sinnoh region, there are two Pokemon that symbolize the region. They appear in the Sinnoh reigon's myths and old folklore. One is called Dialga, and is said to have the power to control time. The other is called Palkia, who is said to have the ability to distort space. The sinister organization called Team Galaxy is trying to rule the region by utilizing these two Pokemon's power. During your adventure to complete your Pokedex and become the Champion, these two Pokemon, and Team Galaxy, will intertwine into the story and lead you on a fantastic journey across the Sinnoh region.

When you set off on your travels, you'll be able to play as either a boy or girl Trainer. You will also utilize the DS's dual slots to transfer Pokemon from the GBA Pokemon games and be able to link up with Pokemon Ranger to access more special content. Pokemon fans have caught glimpses of Mime Jr., Lucario, Munchlax and Weavile in Pokemon movies, and these Pokemon will be debuting in this adventure.

Review: Madden NFL 08

2007-08-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

Review by eze543113 "EZE" (CIRCLEVILLE, OH):
this madden has alot of new features such as.. "weapon mode" which is in a nutshell an icon over the player. the icon are things like smart qb, smart db, power back, speed, great hands, and shutdown corner and more. i want to talk about smart Qb and Db. the icon is a lightbulb and if you are a smart qb and the D keeps picking the same play the light bulb will fill up and you can read the play. you can do the sam if you are a DB,Lb,DB if they have the smart icon..

Gameplay-- over all the graphics are good and the game play is pretty much the same and this time you can play for trophies and Build up your ring instead which is ur gamer level.

superstar mode--- this time you can play as a real rookie like( Clavin johnson, peterson and more) or make them the only way. but in 08 you dont have to watch the whole game. you can hit Y and sim untill your on the field and that makes it much better!

Fran-- pretty much the same but you can Now Can make your own team, take off the Cap, and do the Front office Thing if you like that,

Co-op mode- play up to 4 players not sure if that works online or not ?

Make your own Team-- about time!! u can make your own team

World of Warcraft

2007-08-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

World of Warcraft didn't invent the online role-playing genre, but it certainly benefits from the missteps of other titles that have come before. A mind-boggling array of improvements in graphics, gameplay, networking, and interface--really every category--makes this game the crown prince of the genre, a great starting place for newbies, and a challenge to any other MMORPG currently in the works.
The game looks magnificent. There's plenty of detail and variety to the landscapes and interiors, and the artwork has a refreshingly playful style. There's not a lot of variety in the character creation process, but with all the skills and proficiencies to combine in the game, WoW focuses its customization not on the appearance of your character but rather on the character of your character. The game lets you adopt any two trade skills, regardless of character race or class, and combine those skills in useful ways. If you choose skinning and leatherworking, for example, you can fashion bags from the carcasses of monsters you defeat, which will allow you to carry even more inventory items.
Price at Amazon $14.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.

World Of Warcraft Expansion: Burning Crusade

2007-08-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Blizzard Entertainment took online role playing by storm with their hit title, World of Warcraft. With mind-boggling improvements in graphics, gameplay networking, and interface -- really every category -- this game became the crown prince of the genre. World of Warcraft players will be excited by the approaching release of the new expansion pack: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. This pack expands the already massive, award-winning multiplayer online role-playing game by tremendous bounds, adding new races, lands, battlegrounds, professions and items, and much, much more. Although no release date has been set, here is sample of what you can expect from The Burning Crusade.
he expansion pack features an increase in the level cap to 70. There are two new playable races, including the magical Blood Elves that you can read more about below. The other race has not yet been released by Blizzard. There will be new starting zones in Quel'Thalas and beyond. Another eye-opening addition is the entirely new, unexplored continent of Outland that is reachable through the Dark Portal. Plus, you'll find many new high-level dungeons to explore in Azeroth, Outland, and elsewhere that will substantially boost gameplay. There are new flying mounts in Outland; tons of new and dangerous monsters (including epic world bosses); hundreds of new quests and items; and even a new profession: Jewelcrafting. Of course this isn't the end of the list -- this is just a glimpse of what Blizzard has planned for their unreleased expansion pack.