Blogvasion covered the issue of computer games and their influences on children. This topic is still active and still of great importance. I think everybody agrees that hardly one can forbid children paling computer games. That is logical but according to the SourceWire, games company behind the latest Wii sensation We Love Golf game has asked a leading academic to develop ideas and techniques to embed subliminal lessons about physics and maths in game play.
New research shows that U.S. retail sales of video games, consoles and game accessories hit $1.12 billion in May, a 37 percent rise over the same month last year. These parameters reported on Thursday by Market researcher NPD Group.
Ubisoft, an international developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products and game series such as Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, and Prince of Persia, is also very interested in developing games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Pauline Jacquey, Executive Producer of Ubisoft’s “Games for Everyone” said: “We don't want to keep it too narrow. At the minute, we’re only showing DS and Wii games, but we’ll be working on all other platforms. We’ll be making games not only on PC, PS3 and 360, but on iPhone and iPod touch as well.”
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A, an educational software and video game publishing and distribution company, was created by the five Guillemot brothers, in 1986. Later, Ubisoft created distribution subsidiaries in key world markets: United Kingdom, Germany and the U.S.
The Ubisoft group quickly established its leadership on Microsoft’s Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, successfully launching four titles, including Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™, and climbing to the top of the charts.
This article has been originally posted on iPhone Apple.
References:
http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/27507/INTERVIEW-softly-spoken
Stack falling bubbles, break through brick walls, stack colors against the clock, eat cookies while avoiding pesky ghosts, pop balloons with harpoons, smash tomatoes plus rescue a princess all while putting your spaceship back together, all these are available on a new CDEarth CD that includes 10 classic games.
While Grand Theft Auto IV is racking up sales records, console makers are vying for bragging rights of their own, and Microsoft seems to be the victor.GTA IV was released April 29 and global sales totaled more than $500 million in the first week alone. The first day the latest addition to the hit Rockstar Games series hit retail store shelves, sales were $310 million. More than six million copies have been sold.
The only question is, which console is the game being played on? GTA IV was developed by Rockstar North on two platforms -- the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Both manufacturers are reporting higher console sales as a result.
According to news reports that claim to have the inside scoop on Microsoft's sales data, Redmond is the big winner. Reportedly Xbox 360 console sales jumped 54 percent. Other reports estimate more than 60 percent of GTA IV games went to Xboxers, leaving less than 40 percent for PlayStation 3 gamers.
References:
http://www.biline.ca/xbox_list.htm#g
Gamers who play the new Grand Theft Auto IV are able to buy downloads of the music they hear through Amazon.com. It’s an interesting twist on music marketing.When playing Grand Theft Auto IV, players can listen to over 200 songs across 16 in-game radio stations. A new GTA IV feature called ZIT lets customers 'tag' the songs they like. When a player hears a song that interests them, they can dial ZIT-555-0100 on their in-game cell phone, and a text message appears on the phone with the song title and artist. The ZIT number is recorded on the phone for easy one-key lookups of future songs.
After playing, gamers can log on to the new online Rockstar Games Social Club community site at https://socialclub.rockstargames.com/, where they can see their stats from their game play and the full list of songs they've tagged. The site will offer a link to a customized playlist of these songs on Amazon MP3, where they can preview, purchase and download the songs as 256 kbps MP3 files.
References:
A new free online gaming tournament – the ZOTAC Cup is presented by ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd.
All the gamers and enthusiasts have an opportunity to gather online every Saturday and Sunday and compete for prizes and obtain the status of the ZOTAC Cup champion for the week in the ZOTAC sponsored event. Weekly winners of the ZOTAC Cup will win a monetary prize of 100Euro and once a month ZOTAC will up the ante and award the winner a high-end ZOTAC GeForce series graphics card.
Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International said: “ZOTAC is giving back to the gaming community that has made our ZOTAC GeForce and nForce graphics cards and motherboards successful, with the ZOTAC Cup.” He adds that “The ZOTAC Cup is just the first step in ZOTAC’s plans for supporting the thriving gaming and enthusiast communities.”
There is no limits to the gamers. Each of them ara invited to the tournament opened to all gamers and powered by GameSports.de.
According to the Free Press Release, Warcraft III tournaments are conducted Saturdays at 3:00 P.M. while FIFA 2008 tournaments start on Sundays at 2:00 P.M. and among general details are identified:
• ZOTAC Cup online gaming tournament
• Open to everyone every weekend
• Warcraft III matches on Saturdays
• FIFA 2008 matches on Sunday
• Visit www.zotac-up.de for more details
The accolades lavished on criminal action video game "Grand Theft Auto 4", long expected to be the best-selling game of 2008, pushed Take-Two shares as high as $27.10, more than a dollar higher than the $25.74 per share offered for the company by rival Electronic Arts Inc. It was the highest level for the stock since February 28, when it touched $27.61 three days after Electronic Arts went public with its $2 billion hostile bid. These ratings are quite extraordinary. It's something special and helps critics to understand why Take-Two was so confident and adamant that they wanted to wait. Many analysts have long said EA may have to raise its bid by a dollar or two per share.
Take-Two and Electronic Arts were not immediately available to comment.The Tuesday launch of "Grand Theft Auto 4" is expected to be the biggest entertainment event of the year, with first-week sales of up to $400 million.
Scores on gaming review aggregation site Metacritic.org show the game, in which players work for a crime syndicate in a fictionalized New York, is on track to be the highest-rated video game of all time.
Based on more than a dozen reviews so far, the version of GTA4 for Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 game console has scored a perfect 100 while that for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 has achieved a score of 99.
Reference:
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/grandtheftauto4
A web rts game KingdomGame is now updated for iPhone consumers. KingdomGame is such kind of game where you compete against other players. The updated version features numerous bug fixes and updated functionality.You can build new buildings; attack and spy on other Kingdoms; build diplomatic relations through the embassy; buy and sell goods at the market. All while you work towards the ultimate goal of being the Ruler of the known world.
The game doesn’t work in a remote place, as it requires constant internet connection.
To use KingdomGame on your iPhone visit the website: http://www.kingdomgame.net/LoginHome.asp
References:
http://iphone.click2creation.com/?p=652
People who spend hours and hours playing video games exhibit the same personality traits as people with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, researchers say. The new UK research fuels concerns that video games could further alienate an already isolated group of people and increase mental health problems like depression. 400 gamers were examined, most of them were males.The more time a person spent playing video games, the researchers found, the more likely they were to show three specific traits usually associated with Asperger's: neuroticism and a lack of extraversion and agreeableness. But people with Asperger's may be more vulnerable to becoming addicted to playing video games because it allows them to escape into a world where they can avoid face-to-face interactions.
People with Asperger's typically find social situations stressful. They often can't make eye contact and fail to pick up social cues, like boredom, in other people. The condition tends to isolate children and can trigger depression, which according to researchers, video games may encourage. The exact cause of Asperger's is unknown, although researchers suspect there is a genetic component. Treatment for Asperger's usually consists of improving social skills and breaking repetitive behavior, the very things video games discourage.
I’ll try being easy with games and not to get addicted gamer!
References:
http://data.bolton.ac.uk/staff/jc4/ubccru/text/individualdifferences.htm
According to data released today by the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association and compiled by Chart-Track, the UK games industry racked up a total of £418.4 million in software sales in the first quarter of 2008. It appears that Nintendo is the real winner of the increased sales, scooping up 37 percent of all unit sales thanks to the success of its Wii and DS offerings, which took the top two spots. The PC was the third most popular platform for game sales, followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360. The report also shows Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games to be the most popular game in the first quarter. ELSPA's director general, Paul Jackson, used the release of the figures as an opportunity to petition the government for increased industry support. "The UK continues to blaze a trail in terms of creativity yet over the last few years it is becoming apparent that some talent is being lured away by more attractive prospects overseas. As it stands, the UK is already down to fourth place from third as the world's creative centre for games. It is time the Government recognised the massive financial contribution we make to the UK economy, especially when compared to the film, TV and music industries." - he said.
As previously reported on GameSpot, the UK games industry employs 25,000 people and contributes £2 billion per year to the country's economy.
References:
French telecom and media group Vivendi won permission from the European Commission on Wednesday to merge its videogame unit with Activision Inc in a $9.85 billion deal. The deal will give Vivendi a 52 percent stake in a new industry giant called Activision Blizzard with annual revenue of $3.8 billion.The Commission said for "all categories of game software, the combined firm would continue to face several strong, effective competitors, such as Electronic Arts, and the game console manufacturers, such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft." Activision is riding high on the success of games such as "Guitar Hero", "Tony Hawk" and "Call of Duty" but has lacked an offering in the online role-playing area, dominated by "World of Warcraft" from Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment.
HermitWorks Entertainment, founded by former BioWare game designers Cameron and Marcia Tofer, is working not only for Quack 3 for the iPhone and iPod touch ports, but on Space Traderport for iPhone as well.
As widely reported this week, the port uses the built-in motion sensors to control action in the game, and offers the capability for two player play using WiFi.
HermitWorks hopes to release Space Trader in June for the iTunes Store for users to purchase and download but in order for that to happen they would need minimal support in Apple’s official SDK which was late in coming.
Space Trader is a FPS style game but the company is also working on a RPG game called Quest. They promise that it won’t be standard 2D RPG, but instead a full 3D game, with some NPC’s being real players.
HermitWorks Entertainment Corporation is an independent game company founded in 2004 by industry veterans Cameron and Marcia Tofer. HermitWorks is an innovative company interested in developing games that casual and hard core gamers can play together. Their first game title 'Space Trader' was realeased in the fall of 2007.
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Kings, politicians and…today even ordinary people care about chairs. But not only as the source of reigning country, or managing organizations but for relaxation, too. Ace Bayou that is the leading designer and manufacturer of sound furniture, presents two of its most popular sound chairs. These chairs belong to the line of Xf media furniture at the International Home + Housewares Show in According to the Digital Game Developer, the latest wireless gaming chair - X Rocker Pro-Series combines unique and sleek designs, wireless technology and an exclusive built-in sound system, these chairs provide users with a superior level of media immersion, maximizing comfort and elevating the sound experience.
In the same source Rick Davis, Vice President, Ace Bayou, said: "We have experienced incredible demand for our Xf products and are pleased to be showcasing two of our most innovative chairs at the International Home & Housewares Show," "We expanded the concept of our original X Rocker to create more furniture that allows users to engage in all media experiences. Our customers want to enhance a range of entertainment throughout their homes, whether that be gaming, movies, TV or the Internet. Our Xf family fits just about every part of the home and office."
Media demand increased especially in the last years. The demand that Ace Bayou is going to satisfy for the home and office too incorporates in itself:
Product Specifications
Wireless Audio Recliner
X Rocker Pro-Series
References:
www.xfunctional.com http://gamedeveloper.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=333659#
http://www.acebayou.com/
