Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Time	Event
9:43a	Geek Speak Blizzard, the maker of World of Warcraft, has announced that its popular MMORPG now supports 3D gaming. The announcement, made on the “Patch Notes” section of worldofwarcraft.com, provides a link to information about the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision product. According to NVIDIA’s Web site, in order to get the 3D effect, “Just slip on the stylish glasses and pair them with an NVIDIA GeForce GPU and a ‘GeForce 3D Vision-Ready’ display […].” This means that after users download the appropriate software and drivers to their PCs, they can connect the product and have the 3D effect with their current monitors. The product itself includes rechargeable 3D specs and an infrared emitter box that wirelessly connects the glasses with the computer. The glasses are not the typical red and blue plastic ones that are sold along with certain 3D movies. Instead, they are sleek, black, adjustable shades that look like regular sunglasses. Once installed, the infrared emitter box allows users to adjust the “depth” of the 3D field in-game. There are, of course, certain requirements to meet in order to run the software, but in this case, there are more than just system requirements. Safety requirements are important to consider with a product of this type as well. The installation guide recommends playing while, “no closer than 2 to 2.5 feet away from the display. Viewing from too close can strain your eyes.” It also recommends 5-minute breaks every hour, and list side effects such as nausea, dizziness, queasiness, headache, eyestrain, blurry vision, and double vision. No joke. World of Warcraft ( Currency: wow gold ) is not the only popular game becoming compatible with the 3D format. At the moment there is an impressive list of games that support the 3D gaming setup. To name a few of the ones with “Excellent” ratings: Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4, Civilization 4, Devil May Cry 4, F.E.A.R., Fallout 3, Gears of War, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Madden 2008, Mass Effect, Mirror’s Edge, Prince of Persia (2008), Spore and Unreal Tournament III. There are dozens more with “Good” or “Fair” ratings. World of Warcraft is a great example of this technology’s power. While before it was possible for Druids to use their flight form and fly all over the world, in 3D it would feel closer to real flight. If that seems interesting, imagine using 3D to play a first-person creepy, immersive game like F.E.A.R. where monsters are ready to jump out at you at any moment. NVIDIA is truly taking immersive game play to the next level.   (Comment on this)
9:44a	Metal power, WoW and Flower If you think that metal-head up there looks a bit like Jack Black, that's because it is. Black stars in an upcoming game called Brutal Legend, from critical darling Tim Schafer and his studio, Double Fine. Brutal Legend features a washed-up roadie, voiced by Black, as he stumbles into an alternate fantasy world where his guitar doesn't weep gently — it blasts fire and lightning at vaguely Nordic demon baddies who have enslaved humanity. Schafer's previous games, including Day Of The Tentacle, Grim Fandango and Psychonauts, were noted for their warped sense of humor and creativity, and Brutal Legend promises the same goods, with a new "rawk" flavor. The game doesn't drop until sometime this fall, for PS3 and Xbox 360, but for now, hit that Kotaku link above for some more screens and info. I mentioned a few posts ago that, despite my interest in the upcoming Star Wars MMO, that genre of game usually isn't my thing. Well I fired up World of Warcraft last night, for the first time in several weeks. (Had to sit through a number of patches, too, as a consequence.) It was fun — I earned a couple of levels, got a few new abilities, picked up a bit of loot. It wasn't bad. But it wasn't life-changing, either. I am reminded of Tom Hanks' character in the movie "Cast Away," when he hands an Elvis CD to a little Russian boy and tells him, "Fifty million fans can't be wrong." I mean, surely 12 million WoW players can't be that far wrong, can they? I feel like I owe it to myself as a gamer to give Warcraft a fair shake. So I'm committing myself to getting to at least level 30 with my draenei shaman (that was the class a friend, who knows my gaming personality, recommended for me). We'll see if the game grips me at some point along the way. Who else out there is playing WoW? What was it about the game that hooked you? I'd like to know. Lastly, on Thursday another unique art game, Flower, hits the PlayStation Network. This comes from the team behind browser-game-turned-downloadable-product Flow, which was sort of a cross between Pac-Man and biology class (you controlled an underwater amoeba-like creature who absorbed smaller cells while avoiding getting swallowed). Flower takes place in a series of huge, grassy fields, where you guide a flower petal across wind currents to join with other petals, using the tilt-motion sensitivity in the PS3 controller. Seems like this will be another one of those titles where the experience is more important than achieving the goal of the game. I haven't tried it yet, but I can't wait to.   (Comment on this)
9:44a	Activision Profit Tops Estimates; Outlook Falls Short (Update1) Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Activision Blizzard Inc., the world’s largest video-game maker, reported fourth-quarter sales and profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates and issued a 2009 forecast that fell short of projections. The shares fell. First-quarter profit excluding some items will be 3 cents a share, Santa Monica, California-based Activision said today in a filing. That is below the 11-cent average of 21 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales excluding some adjustments will be $550 million, below the $951.7 million projection. The results show Activision faces the same pressures as other companies in the video-game industry that have fired workers and closed studios to reduce costs. Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick called on console makers Sony Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. “The hardware companies are going to need to reconsider their pricing,” Kotick said in an interview. “Given the difficult economy, a lower-priced PlayStation, XBox and Wii would be a big benefit to consumption.” Activision fell 35 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $9.13 in extended trading. The shares lost 14 cents to $9.48 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading and have declined 30 percent in the past year. The company’s two biggest releases this quarter, “Monsters vs. Aliens” and “Guitar Hero Metallica,” come out toward the end of the period, Kotick said. Fourth-Quarter Results For the fourth quarter, Activision reported a net loss of $72 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with profit of $86 million, or 15 cents, a year earlier. Net revenue was $1.64 billion, an almost fourfold increase following the company’s combination with Vivendi SA’s games unit in July. Excluding certain items, profit totaled $429 million, or 31 cents a share, beating the 29-cent average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company reports sales excluding changes in deferred revenue. On that basis, Activision posted $2.3 billion in sales, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.17 billion. The company’s most successful title “World of Warcraft (Buy wow gold )” has 11.5 million subscribers who pay a monthly charge to play online with other gamers, up from 10 million members last year. Activision’s forecast comes as Electronic Arts Inc., the second-largest video-game publisher, is eliminating 1,100 jobs as part of an effort to lower spending by $500 million. For the year, Activision projects sales of $4.7 billion excluding changes in deferred revenue and profit of 61 cents, excluding some items. Analysts project profit of 67 cents on revenue of $5.14 billion on that basis. Activision said the 2009 revenue outlook includes $200 million less revenue from its distribution and co-publishing operations and a $400 million reduction because the dollar has strengthened against other currencies.   (Comment on this)
9:45a	Phantom EFX Launches Casino-Themed Virtual World Phantom EFX, the developer behind standalong casino games like Reel Deal Slots or Card Games, has branched out to package all the options of a modern casino in a new virtual world, Reel Deal Live. The virtual world combines social options and personal customization of the experience with the ability to wager virtual currency on everything from slots to horse races. "One thing we knew would put it all together was putting you at tables with real people. Although we've had some multiplayer poker, the feeling was to take the next step with Phantom, and everything you can gamble on, you can do it in Reel Deal Live," explained Phantom EFX CEO Aaron Schurman. "I wanted the player to have a world where they could go, just be a tourist, and start with a major bankroll. They may never go in Vegas and get to see what it's like behind the golden doors in the VIP area, to have people tripping over themselves to help them gamble. This game gives you that." Schurman says the depth and nuance of the games are, of course, the basis for what sets Reel Deal Live apart from other virtual worlds and online games, but that that alone wouldn't be enough. For example, Phantom has seen its virtual slots become so popular that they're now licensed and installed in physical casinos and it plans to add two new virtual machines each month, but if there's no  context, it can get boring. "You can give them 50 different casino games, but still you get tired of gambling," said Schurman. "That's where the leveling comes in, the bankroll, the VIP suite, the services. I took something that every gambler dreams about and made it the crux of the MMO. That's what we call progression." In Reel Deal Live, Phantom EFX has built a combination of a social world with a casino and a traditional MMOG. As users gamble, build their bankroll, and win more games, they'll level up and gain potential advantages over the games in the casino. Schurman compares the skills to spells in World of Warcraft: users can go on missions assigned by NPCs, say a cashier girl sending the user to a mysterious character in the race book, and learn how to call the right dog in more bets. They can also learn to increase slots payouts or the rate they spin at, increasing their potential earnings. Reel Deal Live is also including more fantastical elements that build on the MMOG feel, including a pirate adventure where users can wager against the ship's captain for a chance to go to a casino island. And with guild-style associations for tournaments that can have their own group powers and skills, the game-influence is clear. What ties it all together, though, is the world and sense of identity. "To a lot of people it is a big deal just to have an avatar. And that's not a big a deal as it is to being able to change your avatar.  When you go and play just online blackjack, there's no point to the money. That's the point of ReelDealLive: there's a million thigns I can do with the money," said Schurman. "Any of us can think about the glory days of playing Final Fantasy. You can buy all the boots or armor, but once you have so much money you can buy everything, it doesn't matter. That's the point of Reel Deal Live. The game can go on forever." From a business standpoint, Phantom EFX is looking to a mix of revenue streams. A lightweight downloadable version will always be available for users to try out Live, says Schurman, but users can subscribe to the world for range of $8.99 to $16.99 per month depending on the number of games they want available. They'll also be able to simply pick and choose features, from games to purple pimp suits, a la carte. The world, though, is about money and the experience. Players can earn the right to own that suit or simply buy it, but either way, they're building status. "As you start building up, you get the attention from the dealers and the pit bosses, you get attention from the big players, you get the money for diamond rings and watches," said Schurman. "That's the experience we wanted to give the player: to work up to the top and then show off to the people at the bottom, because there's always new people coming up."     (Comment on this)

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