What is this secret!!!

Strange!!! I found the website sharing same name with us.... www.zapak.com
It says coming soon..... I am curious to know whats coming....
Check out...

Casual Games in Windows Vista "The First Look

Windows Vista's updated DirectX 10 API promises to give us better-looking and better-playing games by allowing game developers to get more performance out of the PC system, but Vista isn't only going to help improve those $50 games. Microsoft will update Windows's collection of casual games, which includes old standbys such as Minesweeper, FreeCell, and Solitaire, and Vista will also introduce completely new games including Chess Titans, Mahjong Titans, and Purble Place, which are designed to appeal to a large, global audience.
Click here to see

Gaming De-addiction

Guys, I read a article in The Times of India about the center in Amsterdam specialising in helping people who are game addicts. Their society has accepted the gaming addiction as some sort of a disease or psychological disorder which has led to this first de-addiction center being established. As per that report, they have got many queries and infact few people have also joined it. I just want to know who are those so called ''GAMERS" who went there for treatement.

Well I am dying to see a day when something like this will happen in India too......

 

 

Attack of the clones

Being a casual games addict, I keep discovering & playing lot of "new" games on the web. I generally prefer to play free online versions than downloading. I must have seen 1000+ games, played over 300+ games so far and I regularly play around 30-40 games. Most of these games fall in the category of puzzles and arcades which are always addicting and has got the most repeat value. But I am surprised to see 1000s of clones of some of the popular casual games like Zume, Bejeweled, text twist etc.
AT last count, I must have come across 100 clones of Bejeweled, 50 clones of Zuma and 100s of clones of Text Twist.
I was wondering why casual games developer take that route - may be to encash on the popularity of such games or there is lack of creativity and good analyticals mind in the industry. Even big publishers games like Zuma and Luxor are clones. Well I am not against clones because it stops developers/publishers from boasting too much about their skills and extracting more money from the users.
So let me know your views on the clones???

- Deepak Abbot

Funcom and Massive Introduce New Advertisement Innovation; Toyota First Company to Utilize Interactive Ads in Games

In-game advertising takes another leap forward as Funcom and Massive Incorporated introduce interactive advertisement technology in 'Anarchy Online'. The new technology allows players to interact with dynamic billboards in the game, making for a more memorable and interactive advertisement experience. The new Toyota campaign allows players of the free 'Anarchy Online' version to walk up to in-game billboards and interact with it to unveil the sleek new Toyota Yaris. Funcom expects this new move in interactive advertisement to pave the way for future endeavors across the entire games and advertisement industry.

Massive Incorporated's CEO Mitch Davis heralded the joint move as "a tremendous step forward in terms of giving advertisers what they want -- the ability to target the elusive male 18-34 range and allowing them to interact with the products for a more memorable experience." He continued, "This is just the beginning of interactive ads in games, and we are very pleased to unveil this new technology together with Funcom and Toyota. What is important to mention here though is that we are not adding this to distract from the game experience itself. Our company always has the best interest of the gamers and the game experience in mind."

Cartoon Network to Develop Massively Multiplayer Online Game

Cartoon Network announced today that it is developing its first massively multi-player online game (MMOG) in an unprecedented partnership with a leading MMOG developer, Seoul-based Grigon Entertainment. Cartoon Network New Media, already a leader in online entertainment and gaming, will debut the game in the United States. This is the first-ever partnership between a U.S. entertainment company and a Korean developer to create an MMOG for the global marketplace.

The Cartoon Network MMOG will launch in spring 2008 and target the growing and sophisticated kids' interactive gaming market. The game will be free to download, with subscription and micro-transactions available to players to enhance the gaming experience. New areas for exploration and play are planned and will be added regularly over a span of several years. The game brings Cartoon Network's beloved characters and sensibility to the fast-growing online gaming realm with an "East-meets-West" creative approach. Grigon Entertainment is best known for successfully developing and launching several online games in Asia, including Seal Online, a light-hearted role-playing game (RPG) that took the online gaming world by surprise. Localized versions are available in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Indonesia and Thailand.

Virgin, GDI Get Together For Revolutionary Distribution Strategy

"Virgin Games and Games Domain International have announced a partnership that could change the way in games are distributed all over the world."

EA Reveals Over 20 Games for 2006 - News at Talk Xbox

EA Reveals Over 20 Games for 2006 - News at Talk Xbox: "EA revealed the over 20 games that will round out its 2006 line-up. This line-up features everything including sports, action, adventure, and racing. You will see authentic athletic experiences with the FIFA, Madden NFL, NCAA Football, NHL hockey, NBA LIVE, NASCAR, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour Gold franchises. Additionally there are new titles from The Sims, The Godfather, Need for Speed, Battlefield, and Half Life franchises. See game descriptions below."

Next Generation - 'Fun' vs. 'Clever' in Casual Games

The creative director at EA’s casual Pogo division talks about what makes a fun casual game, and how casual gaming went from being the eccentric “crazy aunt” to the “hot aunt.”

Next Generation - 'Fun' vs. 'Clever' in Casual Games

MMORPGs Team is sleeping zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So you see on the right the list of contributors to this blog. But hey are they really contributing? No way........ they are all sleeping.

Come on guys....stop playing games for sometime and write something here..... else your name is gone!!!

 

- Deepak Abbot

Alternate Reality Gaming - ARG - Is it the next big thing???

What is ARG - An alternate reality game (ARG) is a cross media game that deliberately blurs the line between in-game experiences and the real world. While these games may primarily be centered around online resources, events which happen as part of the game may be communicated to the players in a number of forms.

 

Most ARGs have a specific goal of not only involving the player with the story and/or fictional characters but of connecting them to each other. Many game puzzles can be solved only by the collective and collaborative efforts of multiple players, and strong communities flourish around individual games and the ARG genre as a whole.

Alternate reality games are usually earmarked by a large game-reality in the form of multiple websites, all of which are presented as being real (non-fiction). In fact, sometimes it is difficult to tell if a website is fictional or not. These websites form the foundation of the game's universe, and are usually the primary storytelling vehicle, although the various media listed above can be used as well. This creates a situation where the game's alternate reality and the real world collide -- some games have extended into players' everyday lives by pushing information towards players at certain times ( e.g. SMS messages), whereas others have required players to initiate all communication.

The concept of "this is not a game" is central to the ARG genre. Alternate reality games do not advertise themselves as such, and never admit to being a game while 'live' -- when the game is over, some information about its creation may become public. The mystery surrounding the game's events and creators is a major contributor to player immersion and enjoyment, as is the general thrill of discovering the game's alternate universe and exploring its boundaries with the real world.

- Deepak Abbot (Source: wikipedia)

PlayFirst casual games coming to mobile thanks to Konami

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced they have expanded their partnership with PlayFirst, Incc., a leading full-service publisher of casual games, to include additional titles for mobile, Pirate Poppers(tm) and Professor Fizzwizzle(tm). Already popular casual PC titles, the games are expected to be available on mobile platforms next year. Together, Konami and PlayFirst are expanding the international market for casual games by bringing highly-original content to cell phones worldwide.

Firms seek to cash in on 'casual games'

Anyone desperate for a break from crunching numbers, minding the kids or studying for exams knows how easy it can be to find distraction in the simple brain teasing of computer games like Sudoku, solitaire or mahjong.

And that's exactly what online game services from companies such as RealNetworks Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. are banking on. As more people get hooked on playing such "casual games" online, game providers are seeking out better ways to make money off the phenomenon.

Casual games — generally defined as easy-to-learn, one-player games that you can play for five minutes or five hours — are alluring to companies in part because they tend to attract women and people over 35. That's quite a different audience than the young men traditionally associated with video game consoles and other types of computer games.

The business also is attractive because, if the right sales model is found, companies say it can be highly profitable. That's especially true for those who produce the games in-house, and then can easily — and cheaply — modify them for multiple countries and languages.

But one big challenge is that many of the games are available for free. To make money, companies are trying out a number of ideas, including embedding advertising into free games, selling all-you-can-play memberships devoid of ads and using free trials to entice people to purchase downloadable versions.

Still, many expect the business of selling casual games online to only get stronger.

DFC Intelligence estimates that revenues from casual games worldwide will grow to $953 million this year, from $713 million last year, after steadily rising from $228 million in 2002.

But Frazier, with NPD Group, notes that online game sales have partly come at the expense of profits companies used to make selling games in retail stores.

Electronic Arts' Pogo unit offers free casual games, a subscription service and downloads. Beatrice Spaine, senior director of Pogo marketing, said the business has been profitable because the company has been able to make money off different users in different ways.

For example, teens may be willing to sit through ads but unwilling to pay for a service, while an older woman may be more willing to pay the $35 per year subscription fee so she doesn't have to wait for intermittent ads.

The advertising industry's increased interest in online opportunities also has helped. A few years ago, Spaine said one big challenge was convincing advertisers that anyone but young men were playing its games. But in part because many of the sites' users are women over age 35, the company has recently been able to sell ads for name brands like Dove soap, she said.

Still, Cole of DFC Intelligence notes that major brands targeting women are still primarily interested in traditional advertising, like in television and glossy magazines, rather than in online games.

For now, RealNetworks' Glaser said his company primarily gets money from people buying its subscription game service or purchasing downloads for about $20. But many in the industry estimate that only about 2 percent of free trial downloads are converted into purchases, so companies including RealNetworks are mixing advertising more deeply into free versions.

RealNetworks recently started displaying ads during downloading and at regular intervals during game play, and the company also is considering letting people play trial versions longer if they consent to more advertising.

Glaser said RealNetworks increased the ads cautiously because it was wary of alienating users already loyal to a less ad-cluttered service.

Besides Electronic Arts and RealNetworks, the most popular online game sites are from Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, according to data from comScore MediaMetrix. As the business grows, a key challenge is keeping users from drifting off to other sites where similar games might be available.

Paul Thelen, chief executive of Big Fish Games Inc., uses mass mailings and other tactics to aggressively try to reach customers — and then employs regular e-mails and an optional toolbar to try to keep them.

The tactic appears to be paying off. Privately held Big Fish said revenue for its game site grew to about $6 million in the second quarter ended June 30, from $1.16 million a year earlier. The four-year-old company broke even in the most recent quarter.

 

Source: Yahoo News

Casual Games vs MMOGs

So what you prefer to play?? Well world prefers to play casual games. I am not saying that but statistics suggests that. There are overall 300 million casual gamers worldwide and out of which 15 million are paying monthly subscription of $5 or more on some or the other portal. Besides that 110 million casual games are downloaded every month generating revenue of over 200 million $ every year for the industry.

Whereas MMOGs user put together are "mere" 13 million. They may be generating lot of money for the industry but casual gamers outplay MMO players in numbers by a long margin.

Let me know what you are playing????

 

- Deepak Abbot

2006 Casual Games White Paper: Job done in hurry I guess

This document represents the best practices and knowledge of more than 30 in the casual game space. The paper follows on the success of previous editions, and is a must read for anyone working in the casual game industry. Click here to download the PDF file