It’s actually more of an opportunity than a problem. It’s rarely a problem. I’ve been a sort of creative person for a long time – in this business and then before that as a performer. And you always need some kind of boundary. Start with a blank canvas and say that you’re going to make stuff up in this big empty vac cum… it’s actually really hard to do. It’s good to have boundaries. The beauty of Tolkein is that he’s created these exquisitely detailed boundaries that have so much depth and richness inside them, and yet still have all kinds of things which are open for interpretation. I mean, we built Angmar basically from scratch, to our liking, based on very few clues… and yet it still feels as if it belongs in Middle Earth. There’s certain things – I can’t have flying cars or motorcycles or things like that. But I can have other things which are very exciting and it means, by definition, the world has a consistency, where it feels right. It all fits together. There’s not things which just don’t make sense.

Interesting interview with some great little tidbits, especially if you're interested in LOTRO specifically.

Jeffrey Steefel on LOTRO: Mines of Moria [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

THQ Announces Joint Venture with China Online Operator ICE Entertainment to Bring Casual MMO Title Dragonica to North America in 2009

New Joint Venture Provides North American Platform for THQ Online Games

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Sep 16, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — THQ Inc. today announced that it has formed a joint venture with ICE Entertainment ("ICE"), an operator of online games located in Shanghai, China, to launch Dragonica, a free-to-play, micro-transaction-based massively multiplayer online ("MMO") casual game scheduled for release in North America in 2009. ICE's Chief Executive Officer Sun Tao is the former Chief Technology Officer of The9, a leading operator of online games including World of Warcraft(R). The new joint venture combines ICE's online operating experience with THQ's product development and retail publishing expertise to create a new platform for online games in the North American market.

"We are extremely excited to be working with ICE Entertainment to bring this free-to-play, micro-transaction-based online game to the robust yet largely untapped market for online casual gaming in North America," said Doug Clemmer, president of THQ's casual gaming subsidiary. "We are even more pleased to be building a strong and mutually beneficial relationship, which we hope will lead to additional opportunities to deliver online gaming content globally."

"We are looking forward to combining THQ's extensive marketing and retail expertise with our advanced technology and proven online game operating know-how to deliver a great new casual gaming experience for North American consumers," said Sun Tao, chief executive officer, ICE Entertainment. "We also look forward to working with THQ more closely to develop new games and explore future publishing opportunities in both markets."

The market opportunity for online casual gaming in North America is estimated to be $2.2 billion by 2013 (Source: DFC Intelligence). China's fast growing online games market was valued at US$1.7 billion in 2007 and reached more than 42 million online gamers. The market is expected to grow to US$4.2 billion by 2010. (Source: Niko Partners).

About Dragonica

Dragonica is a massively multiplayer online casual game developed by Barunson Interactive Co, based in Korea. Dragonica is free-to-play and players may choose to pay for additional content and features on a micro-transaction basis. Barunson Interactive spent seven years developing Dragonica, which brings cartoon side-scrolling action online games to a new peak. The game's totally 3D rendering design, fresh cartoon characters and scenery modeling, create a new visual perception of side-scrolling games. Dragonica skillfully mixes the elements of action and arcade, and creates various ultimate skills to enhance playability. ICE currently has the rights to operate the game in China and plans to commence its closed beta for that market in late 2008.

About ICE Entertainment

Founded in 2006, ICE is an online game operator based in Shanghai, China, with an established online technology platform and proven management team, including CEO Sun Tao, former vice president and chief technical officer of leading Chinese operator The9, among others, with many years of experience in the online game field. ICE is focused on the development and operation of massively multiplayer online games. More information about ICE Entertainment may be found at www.icee.cn.

About THQ

THQ Inc. is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at www.thq.com. THQ and its respective logo is a trademark and/or registered trademark of THQ Inc.

Game Power 7 [Official Website]

Lasky, Beck and Merrill unveiled the venture this morning, and announced they've accumulated some industry vets for their studio talent, with "core members" of Ultima Online, Dungeon Siege, Jak & Daxter, Heroes of Might & Magic, Neverwinter Nights 2, Sly Cooper and Total Annihilation's teams, among others.

You may, by now, be a little jaded at yet another announcement of a venture capital-funded online games startup, but when Kotaku talked to Lasky, Beck and Merrill yesterday, they had some things to tell us about how they plan to shake things up.

"I think what was refreshing from our point of view about their approach was both a real awareness of serving a particular consumer... serving an audience that is not the sort of moms and '15-54 year-olds' that the casual games companies are focusing on," said Lasky.

"They've got a very specific community that they're targeting that plays a certain kind of gameplay pattern very aggressively... there's focus on an almost core audience with their products."

Riot hasn't announced its first product yet, but CEO Beck gave us a few hints. "There's a fundamental appetite out there for online game experiences that are not your typical 'casual game'... that's richer than the typical casual game experience but not as deep or as time-intensive as some of the front-line MMOs that appeal to the core or mid-core gamer," he said.

When we asked the team to define the "certain kind of gameplay pattern" to which Lasky referred earlier, Beck was willing to elaborate a little on their target audience: "Online, competitive gamers," he said.

"There's a particular gameplay style and pattern that we're creating that is exciting, innovative, [focuses on] replayability, and from a philosophical perspective we want to create games... that are simple to learn but difficult to master, where the depth comes in from the amounts of rich content... and from emergent gameplay," said Beck.

For example, "Rather than being Half Life 2, we want to be Counter-Strike," he said.

Here's the full announcement:

RIOT GAMES RAISES $7M FROM BENCHMARK, FIRSTMARK;

YOUNG GAMER EXECS LEAD DEVELOPMENT OF PREMIUM ONLINE TITLES

Los Angeles-based Independent Developer-Publisher Names FirstMark’s Rick Heitzmann

And Games Industry Veteran Mitch Lasky to Board

LOS ANGELES—July 10, 2008— Riot Games has secured a $7M round of funding from Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital to finance development of its first title. Riot’s development is fueled by the passion of its founders, Brandon Beck, CEO, and Marc Merrill, President and Chief Marketing Officer. The two have brought together respected industry veterans, creating a leading edge development studio comprised of core members of the teams behind some of the industry’s most popular titles, including Ultima Online, Dungeon Siege, Jak & Dexter, Heroes of Might & Magic, Neverwinter Nights 2, Sly Cooper, Total Annihilation and many more. The world-class team is already at work, building the company’s soon-to-be announced title on Riot’s robust technology platform.

Riot’s board of directors welcomes games industry veteran Mitch Lasky, a partner at Benchmark Capital, and Rick Heitzmann, a partner at FirstMark Capital. Lasky is the former founder & CEO of JAMDAT, former EVP of Online & Mobile at Electronic Arts and former head of Worldwide Studios for Activision. Heitzmann brings more than 10 years of entrepreneurship, operating and investing experience as an investor and board member of consumer technology emerging companies including Live Gamer, weplay and Clickable.

“The online game industry is ripe for new ways to bring products to market and new ways to acquire customers,” said Mitch Lasky, partner at Benchmark Capital. “Riot’s unique approach to building customer relationships and its innovative content strategy will make Riot an online publisher to watch.”

Riot Games is the brainchild of Beck, 26, and Merrill, 27. Beck was formerly a consultant at leading global business and strategy consulting firm Bain & Company, where he specialized in media, entertainment and private equity; Merrill previously managed corporate marketing at Advanstar Communications, one of the largest business to business media companies in the US. The two founders bring to the company the unique combination of an authentic love for games and business savvy.

“Tremendous opportunities continue to emerge in the online games industry as distribution and business models evolve,” said Brandon Beck, CEO, Riot Games. “As independent, direct-to-consumer developers with the vision of treating games as services, we are focused on delivering first-rate game experiences to highly targeted online audiences.”

Riot’s titles will combine premium online multiplayer session-based games with best-of-breed online services, powered by the company’s own leading technology platform. Beck and Merrill plan for the Riot platform to provide robust community services that surpass the current industry standard in tools such as matchmaking, stat-tracking, ladders and more.

“Online gamers are not shy about asking for what they want,” Marc Merrill, president and CMO, commented. “Riot is responding with a commitment to creating premium titles that focus on gameplay and replayability in order to build deep, ongoing relationships with gamer communities.”

Riot Games will announce the details of their first title later this year.

About Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital, a leading venture capital firm, was founded in 1995 to help talented entrepreneurs with original ideas build successful technology companies. Benchmark’s general partners take a team-oriented, labor-intensive approach to venture investing to deliver a superior level of service to the firm’s portfolio companies. Benchmark’s portfolio includes high-profile start-ups like Infinera, MySQL, OpenTable, Second Life, Tellme, Yelp, and Zillow, and franchise companies such as eBay, Juniper Networks and Red Hat. The firm manages nearly $2.8 billion in committed venture capital. For more information on Benchmark Capital, visit its website at www.benchmark.com.

About FirstMark Capital

Based in New York City, FirstMark Capital (formerly Pequot Ventures) has established itself as a venture leader with a strong, national reach over its twelve year history. FirstMark invests in companies that are creating new markets with innovative technology solutions or rethinking existing markets by applying a novel business model. With nearly $2 billion in capital commitments, FirstMark’s team of investment and operations professionals have decades of real-world experience and leadership in core technology markets, making the firm uniquely qualified to offer industry insight, relationships and the operational expertise to build lasting businesses. Select historical investments include: Netgear, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR); First Advantage Corp. (NASDAQ: FADV); StubHub, Inc (Acquired by eBay, Inc.); Netegrity, Inc. (Acquired by CA Inc); Flarion, Inc. (Acquired by Qualcomm, Inc.); OutlookSoft Inc. (Acquired by SAP AG); Analex Corp. (Acquired by QinetiQ); Vallent (Acquired by IBM); Syndesis (Acquired by Subex) and Navic (Acquired by Microsoft). For more information, please visit www.firstmarkcap.com.

About Riot Games, Inc.

Riot Games, Inc. (www.riotgames.com) is an independent Los Angeles-based video game development company, funded privately and through leading venture capital firms Benchmark Capital and Firstmark Capital. The studio was established in 2006 to develop innovative online next-generation titles for consoles and the PC. Comprised of industry veterans with a shared passion for creating fun, innovative gameplay, the company is currently developing a cutting-edge game platform in conjunction with their first title, combining the best elements of the action role-playing and real-time strategy genres into a uniquely replayable and competitive multiplayer experience.

He covers the widespread competitive game scene in Korea, looks into Quake's evolving role in the London game scene, and visits Iceland to see the birthplace of EVE Online, to develop what he says is a story of "how games change the lives of gamers."

I thought the idea of a "travelogue" of game culture was interesting, so I asked Jim a few questions about the book, and his experiences.

How did the book come to be, and why did you want to write it?

Jim Rossignol: It started because of some interest around a feature I wrote on the gaming culture in Korea. PC Gamer UK was commissioning some pretty interesting and aggressive material in 2006, and it came out of that.

I was keen to lay out some of the ideas I'd been collecting in longform - there's only so much you can do when writing disconnected reviews and features. To come up with a wider perspective, and a wider take, on any given subject still requires a book.

What are the ideas that the book deals with, primarily?

JR: It's a book about how games change the lives of gamers. It starts out with a couple of specific cases - my own life and that of some people I know - and moves on to more general instances. The themes the book deal with are pretty diverse - boredom, propaganda, human computation, the nature of games as a medium - but they all tie into the idea that people are changed by gaming, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Can you give a brief example of one of the instances in the story?

JR: Well, one of the more specific instances is the story of a friend of mine who now works in the games industry, but grew up escaping into games as a fairly unhappy child. He's a living instance of the kinds of traits and trends I want to talk about, because he's a person for whom some of the greatest moments in life have been to do with gaming.

Games were a way of escaping boredom and domestic discomfort, but ended up being an incredible life-defining force. He ended up playing Guitar Hero in front of thousands of rock fans at the Donnington Rock Festival in the UK, effectively opening the show for Guns & Roses. (Or so he likes to tell the tale.)

For whom is this book intended, and what kinds of readers do you hope will pick it up?

JR: Well everyone can read it, and will love it, obviously... but in all seriousness, it's an approachable book. Pop documentary, if that's a genre. I suspect there's a way to present any niche subject so that everyone finds it digestible and interesting, and I hope I've done that. It's more like chatty travel literature than dry academia, I feel.

What do you hope people will learn or take away from it?

I hope it helps people to figure out what they really think about video games. I don't want to lecture anyone, just offer some descriptions and examples that might be useful in making up your mind. One of the key tensions in the book is whether video games are fundamentally a waste of time, and what that even means. I'd like to think that both people who don't play games, and the gamers themselves, will find that they're able to discuss the pros and cons of being a habitual gamer a little more fluently once they've read it.

I don't have time to waste this weekend, sadly, but if you do, there's a challenging little puzzler called Putty Puzzler, found over on the interestingly named 'Coke and Code.' It's putty. It's a puzzle. It's kinda hard. I spent a little bit of time with it and was pleasantly challenged — I'll come back for more after I've got a little time to waste.

Putty Puzzler [Coke and Code via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

I dress like the guy in The Fly. My closets is filled with row upon row of identical pragmatic clothes. I wouldn't know the difference between a cardigan and a camisole if my life depended on it (I actually had to look it up.)

Yet many avatars, especially those in online games, are ultimately about fashion and style. The cut of the fabric is important. The patterns matter. The colors...don't even get me started on the colors. It is no surprise that some online game companies (like StarDolls) build up such an expertise in fashion that they are launching their own real world clothing lines. So I've been reading women's fashion mags. It's a whole different world out there.

Oh, how we suffer for our art. Of course, there's more in the little essay than fashion tips, but it's a nice little primer on what goes into putting together even the simplest of avatars.

The joy of 2D avatars [Lost Garden]

Console game sales were up 75 percent on a per-unit basis to 2.48 million, but Hanson noted that due to a Chinese console ban in place since 2000, the entire segment persists through the gray market ....

"The big boom this year came from the easier availability of the new next-gen consoles ...."

She pointed to PlayStation 2 as being more popular than its successor, on the strength of its affordability, game library, and backwards compatibility, with Wii seeing popularity for similar reasons. Between PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Hanson claimed Xbox 360 is more popular in China for its price point and library.

Other details and explanations can be found in a nice wrap up over at Gamasutra.

Niko's Hanson On Chinese Game Biz Growth [Gamasutra]

The challenge: race the sun and hand out as many insecticide-treated bed nets as you can to African families. The more nets you deliver - before the mosquitoes come out - the more lives you save. Once you're done playing the game, sign up, confirm your email, and a life-saving bed net will be sent on your behalf!

Launched by the Ministry of Education and sponsored by the China AIDS Roadmap Tactical Support Project, the contest ran for three months last year, yet its effect continue - the site remains up and nearly 19 million people have logged on.

In a survey of participants, 95 percent found the test enhanced their understanding and concern for the HIV-infected and AIDS patients; the same proportion felt better equipped to protect themselves against the disease; and more than 83 percent thought the contest should take place regularly.

Students take up AIDS challenge [China Daily via PlayNoEvil, photo Wu Shuibin]

An online game is just online content that you need to market in order to sell. The number of potential customers you can drive to the game's website either through word of mouth or through marketing spend is the key driver of sales, just like any other online business. The UV trend line is the best indicator of sales potential of a game.

Considering the amount of time I spend plowing through press releases for new MMOs and releases bragging about the earning potential of those currently on the market, it's interesting to get inside perspective on what all those pesky statistics actually mean from an operator's perspective.

How To Compare Online Gaming Businesses [Gamasutra]

The 1000:1 ratio is really, I think, the key takeaway of the article. Several people have grasped that and started applying it to different numbers in the industry, and the results are very disappointing.

Clearly, if we could always have a big gain from a fix that maintains itself, it is worth spending the time to fight piracy. However, since that isn't always the case, it can sometimes (often?) be pretty discouraging to try and stop piracy.

One of my favorite blogs deals with the issue of piracy relatively frequently, and I'm interested in the pirated goods market in Asia - but Mainland bootleggers are the least of some companies' worries. I think as long as people are selling things, there are going to be people out there trying to figure out how to get it for free; but I'd be curious to know what companies have found to be most successful in terms of trying to stem the tide.

Piracy & Casual Games - The Follow-Up [GameSetWatch]

Ma Bell, meet Joe Gamer: Sony Online Entertainment Ushers in New Era OF voice chat FOR ONLINE GAMES with powerful suite of Communication services

- SOE Gives In-Game Chat an Audio Overhaul in Agreement with Vivox® -

San Francisco, Calif. — February 20, 2008 — Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, is poised to revolutionize the way gamers stay connected with sophisticated new voice services where fellow gamers and guild mates are never more than a shout away.

Need standard chat for groups and raids? Check. Don't want to tie up your own bandwidth? Roger that. Want your voice to sound completely different? Done. Late for your raid but want to take part in the group setup by cell phone? Can do. Dream of having in-game voicemail? There ya go. Playing a non-SOE game but want to use this service, free of charge? Aye.

These powerful community building features and tools are coming to SOE games at no additional cost to players and go far beyond basic real-time chat with the usual headset and microphone setup that is commonly used today.

In an agreement announced Wednesday at the Game Developers Conference between SOE and Vivox Inc., an established provider of high quality voice communications, players will be able to access a suite of voice communication tools including voice mail, voice fonts to synthesize player voices into in-game character voices, and the ability to receive external calls in SOE games.

"We're proud to offer this level of communication power and flexibility to gamers. These new voice services not only replace many of the voice chat options currently available but add a broad range of capabilities that streamline communication and empower gamers to maintain their online relationships in both the real and virtual worlds," said John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment. "We are giving gamers the ultimate one-stop shop to stay in touch at all times."

Beyond voice and guild chat channels, North American players will get a special PIN number to dial in from either a land line or cell phone and connect with fellow guild members. SOE anticipates adding additional features including voicemail, broadcast messages, SMS text messaging and an initial offering of six high-quality voice fonts that replace a player's actual voice with something completely different.

With the 3D voice chat, players will be able to walk their avatars into the taverns in EverQuest II, for example, and strike up a conversation with players like they would walking into a tavern or restaurant in the real world. Gamers can manage their conversations with buddy lists, volume controls and commands to leave and join audio channels at will.

SOE's plan is to add these services to SOE's games, as well as integrate it with SOE's Station Launcher, so anyone who uses the Station Launcher, even if they don't otherwise subscribe to an SOE game, can take advantage of these powerful voice chat capabilities. Furthermore, the voice features will be hosted and professionally managed on the Vivox Network so users won't be cutting into their valuable bandwidth.

"We are thrilled to team up with SOE to bring Vivox voice chat and related services to their game community," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "SOE is an industry leader with a long history of offering exceptional games and innovative services to players. Their plan to offer such a comprehensive voice service to their gamers is just another reflection of their commitment to delivering the best possible game experience and fostering community."

SOE's current catalog of massively multiplayer online games includes EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Star Wars Galaxies, PlanetSide and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, as well as upcoming titles such as The Agency.

Under the new regulation, the [GAPP] will postpone the examination, approval and licensing of foreign company products if the companies are sued or targeted for arbitration actions by Chinese online game companies.

It sounds to me like this is dealing with new products and WoW is safe from frivolous lawsuits for the time being - but this is still rife with potential problems, since many domestic games are introduced to China via partnership between foreign companies and domestic operators. The potential negative impacts on domestic companies if games are unfairly held up is huge; and some of the most recent lawsuits involving Chinese and foreign game companies have involved disputes over licenses and operations. Considering Chinese companies have proved they have absolutely no compunction about illegally operating foreign games outside set corporate agreements, I'm not at all convinced this will actually do anything in the long run other than encourage domestic companies to commit IP theft.

China Adopts New Regulations to Keep Out Foreign Online Game Companies [Virtually Blind]

Game 1: Stop Abusive Naturalization Protect the Swiss against foreign overpopulation by intercepting as many passports as possible, which the Leftists and Greens irresponsibly distribute. Catch the passports before they fall into the wrong hands. Steer Zottel left and right with the arrow keys. Use the spacebar to kick aside the judge.

Game 2: Stop Criminal Foreigners
Eject black sheep that represent foreign criminals
Return the black sheep back where they came from. Control Zottel with the mouse. Move quickly and click the mouse to eject the black sheep and buses full of sheep back across the border. Don't touch the white sheep please!"

Game 3: End EU Taxation
The EU wants more power, influence, and money. This is why it wants to impose its fiscal regime on Switzerland.
Shoot the hats off the EU taxmen before they can plunder our reserves. Move the sight with the mouse and clock to shoot. Shoot the bags of money before it makes it to the EU. Stop the taxmen!

Game 4: Suppress Increasing Governmental Shenanigans
Collect the radar stations placed around the country. The Greens complicate matters by imposing speed limits. Advance against the Greens to engage them in combat. Use the arrow keys to move Zottel.

The message apparently isn't too repugnant in Switzerland, as the SVP has a healthy showing in the national government - but I don't think an innocuously cute goat and new fangled technology can make up for wacky and extremist messages.

Right-Wing Swiss Political Games [Water Cooler Games]

CDC Games Launches First Online Game in the U.S.

CDC Games USA to Start Open Beta Test of Battle of Shadows on September 30

BEIJING & ATLANTA—(BUSINESS WIRE)—CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation and pioneer of the "free-to-play, pay for merchandise" model for online games in China, announced today that its CDC Games USA unit will launch the open beta program on September 30 for Battle of Shadows, its first free-to-play online game to be distributed in the U.S. CDC Games USA is a unit of CDC Games' newly formed subsidiary, CDC Games International (CGI).

Battle of Shadows is the latest in several new games backed internationally by CGI. Already, CGI has sub-licensing agreements for publishing five new games with leading online games providers throughout Southeast Asia and Taiwan. In addition, CGI also has plans to publish games directly in Japan.

"We are very excited to launch our first online game in the U.S.," said Peter Yip, CEO of CDC Games. "With our recent agreements to offer five new games for southeast Asia and Taiwan, along with the launch of Battle of Shadows in the U.S. and future plans to publish games in Japan, CDC Games is positioning itself as one of the leading global online games companies with a broad and diversified international games portfolio."

Developed by Korea-based N-Log Inc., Battle of Shadows, known as "Darkness and Light" in the Asian online game markets, is a real-time strategy (RTS) and role playing game (RPG). In the team-based action game, a player can choose a character and fight enemies with weapons and magic skills. The goal of the game is to conquer the base camps of the opponents. The concept of Battle of Shadows is based on the final war between the power of darkness and light. The game features a Gothic setting with vampires, werewolves and other fantasy creatures. Some key technical features of the game include one-round matches from the RTS genre and character growth elements from the RPG genre; as well as enabling players to use the mouse only when playing so they are not forced to learn complicated keyboard-skills that are typical of RTS or massively multiplayer online (MMO) games.

"We believe Battle of Shadows will be a well-received game in the U.S. market because it combines the appeal of an easy-to-use and quick to play online game with the depth and intensity of RPG and the fun of MMO games," said Ron Williams, general manager of CDC Games USA. "In addition to Battle of Shadows, we have plans for several exciting new games for the U.S. and we expect the free-to-play model to grow rapidly in the coming years and exhibit the same potential for success that we have seen in China."

Along with the recent new games being offered in southeast Asia and Taiwan, CDC Games also offers the following commercially available games in China: Yulgang, Special Force, SHAIYA, Shine Online, Mir II and Eve. Other games planned for launch include: Lord of the Rings, Stone Age 2, ChaosGem, Come on babies, Gemfighters, Redblood, Fury and others.

Players can visit: www.battleofshadows.com to register during the open beta test program. Commercial launch of Battle of Shadows is expected by the end of the year.

[via Yahoo Finance]

There are some interesting risks for online skill games. First, "turn-based physics" games like golf, darts, and pool are very conducive to "analytic bots" that find optimal shots or allow players to test shots before they take them.

Second, these games can face serious threats from automated play bots. The "twitchy-er" the game, the more vulnerable it is going to be to botting.

... and unlike regular game models, there is a powerful incentive to attack these games.

He also notes that there's a lot of potential in this market for game types, as well as having a potential impact on the market as a whole. I don't really get the appeal of most forms of gambling/betting/etc., but I suppose if you're looking for a way to bring in some cash (or lose a lot of it) while playing games, it's one option to look into.

Skillground gains ground in expanding Skill Games - Launching on Skllbet.com portal [PlayNoEvil]

As nauseating as the whole bubblegum-fashion explosion for adolescent girls can be to us "mature" adults, you can't fault Barbie for keeping up with the times. These virtual worlds for kids — the things I've been looking at on Worlds in Motion like Habbo, Puzzle Pirates, Nicktropolis and Toontown — are absolutely huge, able to generate way more hits and user activity than even the most popular MMO targeted at our set. This is big biz to corporations and advertisers right now, but even if it weren't, I guess it's sorta cool to see the evolution of the way children play with dolls keeping pace with technology.

In order to get access to the full version, players have to purchase (or get their parents to purchase for them) the $59.99 Barbie Girls MP3 player that functions as a USB key. The Bratz game requires the same sort of scheme, just at a cheaper price point (you get a doll and some stuff that Sexy Videogameland describes as "some pink computer peripherals (a mouse and pad) that look like Japanese sex toys") of $29.99. I'm fascinated, yet horrified. Yet fascinated. I neither knew about this stuff, nor realized it was so damn popular. BarbieGirls will be going to full release on 13 August.

Do You Guys KNOW About This Stuff? [Sexy Videogameland]

With the introduction of the MapleStory iTCG, Wizards of the Coast and Nexon are partnering to take TCGs to the next level by giving players a fully integrated experience between the online and offline worlds. "Unlike codes in other TCGs that redeem online for limited value vanity items, codes in the MapleStory iTCG will unlock exclusive online rewards and game experiences such as highly sought-after artifacts, rare virtual pets, and all-new quests." Says Laura Tommervik, Brand Manager, Wizards of the Coast. The iTCG is also a great way for long-time TCG players to learn about the magical world of MapleStory through a familiar format.

Are there really card game players who need the lure of a new marketing directive to pick up a free to play online game?

Wizards of the Coast Teams up with Nexon America to Release MapleStory iTrading Card Game [BusinessWire]

In the game, players control their ships, but the sharks are controlled by real-world white sharks with GPS units attached to their fins. Real-world telemetry data provides the position and movement of actual great white sharks in the game, so every shark that players encounter corresponds to a real shark in the real world.

Ships in the game move in real-time, so players receive email and/or SMS alerts during the day when their boat is within range of an encounter. Players login, choose crewmembers and an approach technique, and then collect various data from the nearby sharks.

This reminds me to set the TiVO.

Sharkrunners [via Wonderland]

For game makers who just want to have fun, get noticed in the biz, and make personal art - and those who want to make free Flash games that might turn people on to other paid games - Kongregate (alongside Newgrounds) have a great, swift, easy YouTube-ish angle that encourages a massive variety of games.

He points out that Kongregate is also looking at some alternate plans to increase revenue that could very well make it a viable proposition, but time will tell if those ideas will pan out. In the meantime, the platform does allow for indie developers to get their names (and websites) out there, which can certainly add to a developer's coffers, just not across the board.

On Kongregate And The Future Of Indie Gaming [GameSetWatch]
"A place for indie developers" [The Hollywood Reporter]

Gaming is an important and fast-growing part of a fan's connection to sports. The ESPN Arcade is the latest addition to ESPN's array of gaming initiatives — casual online games now join fantasy games, innovative content integration within console games, and news, information and reviews — all to provide sports fans with interactive connections to sports.

Sometimes I miss the days when people would actually go outside to play sports. Kim Phu

ESPN adding video games to Web site [Game Daily]

Shanda Interactive Entertainment, one of Mainland China's biggest players in the online gaming market, has just entered into agreements to license and distribute their games in Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Macao. In Vietnam, VTC Intecom has gotten the rights to Crazy Kart and Woool (that would be World of Legend - where does the extra 'o' come from? Your guess is as good as mine) for a period of 3 years; Hong Kong-based CSOFT is getting the exclusive rights to Magical Land and Crazy Kart in Hong Kong and Macao.

With Chinese-developed games gaining a serious foothold in the rest of Asia, it's probably only a matter of time before they start looking outside of Asia for their new markets. With the stealthy introduction of Korean games in Western market, could Shanda or Beijing Perfect World games be far behind? Maggie Greene

Shanda Licenses Woool, Magical Land and Crazy Kart to Overseas Markets

While the Army is somewhat notorious for some eye-rollingly bad recruitment advertisements, they hit on a campaign that works with their America's Army online game. Now they're sallying forth and have entered into a sponsorship with the Global Gaming League - and catching flak from anti-recruitment and anti-war groups.

"It is part of this campaign for the last 20 years to invade youth culture with militarism," Project on Youth and Non-military Opportunities co-founder Rick Jahnkow told AFP.

"It affects the way young people think. It affects their world view. That is a very dangerous thing."

While I see what people are saying regarding glorifying war and making it seem like a much more fun process than it is in actuality, this sort of thinking is rather endemic to pop culture (and not just American) as a whole. One prominent Japanese historian in America felt the need to teach an class with the specific intention of overturning the romantic ideas about samurai, and war games in general are quite popular - be they of the console or reenactment variety. With recruiters in a hard spot these days and tons of news stories talking about suspect methods, is it any wonder the US Army has turned to a popular form of entertainment to make their pitch? Maggie Greene

US Army's computer game recruiting plan takes fire [Yahoo News]

Greetings, Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada.

So the last bit there wasn't 100% true (or at all), but it sure sounds like it, doesn't it? Either that or there's some Ender's Game crap going down (read the book).

So are they taking the idea of military gaming and having the Army leverage an existing environment to find potential candidates for recruits?

"We're taking the idea of military gaming and having the Army leverage an existing environment to find potential candidates for recruits," said Reuben Hendell, CEO of MRM Worldwide, the agency that will create the specialized games section.

Well no worries. It's not like the army is all about combat. Gary Bishop, overseer of Army marketing and advertising, sets the people straight.

Being in the Army is about driving trucks, welding, nurses and computers.

Recruiters scour online gaming market [Army Times]

A vast armada of women has invaded gaming. Where once we heard over Teamspeak the confident bluster of the male warrior, now our ears are assailed by the shrill whinging of a female in the midst of her monthly ovum flushing. Where once we casually discussed in guild chat bitch fucking and the worldwide conspiracy against women, now we pretend to have "feelings" because we are cuckolded for being "insensitive."

And it's getting worse! With great smugness, Jane over at Chilly Hollow wrote us, linking us this article that states that women are the dominant online gamers. "Eliza and I outnumber you," she wrote.

Well, first of all, at five bills, Eliza outnumbers most solar systems. Second of all, it appears that you only outnumber men if you count endless hours spent on the free Flash version of Bejeweled as "online gaming." Thirdly: we don't care if you outnumber us as long as you're not adverse to taking off your top. And finally: you count Faith Naked amongst your numbers, which pretty much drops your numeric and intellectual superiority a few dozen percentile points.

So don't get too smug, ladies. As Sean Connery famously slurred, "Shometimesh a woman jush needsh a little shlap." And my aching hand is poised. Florian 'Just Kidding, Ladies!' Eckhardt

Women outnumber men in online games, survey finds [MSN]

A Buena Vista Games rep is giving a run down on how to slice skeletons, sail ships and adjust pirate nostril height. The upcoming MMORPG Pirates of the Caribbean sets sail in 2007 and offers standard features like custom avatars, guilds and raiding, but lets folks play along along side characters from the movie like Jack Sparrow. The goal? Become the most infamous pirate in the Caribbean.

"The game is for everyone," a Buena Vista rep says over my shoulder. The downloadable title can run on low spec PCs, making the game a broad as possible. "It's really because the movie appeals to so many people," says Buena Vista's Petrina Walker. Well, it is Disney...

There's also a cell phone version. I'm taken in the back to a blue room with small white chairs. Ricci Rukavina, a develop from Buena Vista mobile, pulls out a small clam-set to show the phone Pirates game.

With clean graphics, it's a straight forward pick-up-and-play. Just three clicks and players are ready to set sail. There are guild forming, chat and 16 multi-player online play. "We've realized that everyone has cell phones in their pockets so let's create a short experience," says Rukavina.

Back at the PC demo, I'm watching a pirate racing around empty streets. Buena Vista says the online version will obviously feature more and also offer player matching that links online players with others interested in the same missions. The attacks are all timing based, and there are three weapons available for swashbuckling: a sword, a pistol and voodoo.

"Nothing in the game is final," notes Buena Vista's Petrina Walker. Nothing ever is.

Buena Vista [Official Site]