Fifa Championship in our office | Winning moments

Finalist...no points for guessing who won!!!

Big rumors doing round...

Gamezebo.com has trigger a big rumor round among casual games industry watcher.... they announced that something big is going to be announced where a developer is being purchased by some publisher. Everyone is thowing interesting rumors most surrounding PopCap surprisingly.... some says PopCap bought by Steam or Microsoft or EA. Some saying that Playfirst is buying Alawar or Microsoft is buying Playfirst. Check out some interesting rumors at http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=8197

 

- Deepak Abbot

Free access to World of Warcraft WoW...wow

Anybody in India want to try out WoW, then I have got some accounts which I can share with you. I have access to 7 accounts which are valid till 31 October 2006. Hussry up and let me know who would like to be among those Lucky 7.

 

-Deepak Abbot

Reliance Entertainment to invest $100 m in gaming business

Anil Ambani promoted Reliance Entertainment, which sometime back had announced its intention to venture into the online gaming business, will be investing $100 million over a three-year period to launch gaming portals and gaming cafes across India.

Sharing the company’s strategy with exchange4media, Rajesh Sawhney, President, Reliance Entertainment, said, “In Phase I, we will launch casual gaming portals; in Phase II action gaming portals will be launched; and in Phase III, we will launch MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games).”

Reliance Entertainment had roped in Indiatimes’ Rohit Sharma as its COO to head its Gaming Division in March 2006. “Gaming is part of our huge broadband strategy. We are very serious about our gaming business. We will do things which no player has done in India as yet,” claimed Sawhney. “Our target audience will be both school and college going youths.

We will launch the first phase of portals before Diwali,” he added. Asked about the pricing strategy, Sawhney said, “We will have something for everybody. We will follow a multiple pricing strategy.” On the content part, Sawhney said that that Reliance Entertainment would have almost equal number of domestic and international games. “While most of our content will be sourced from local or international markets, we will also develop some games in-house,” he said.

New Casual Games News & Views Website

I recently checked out a blog/website dedicted to casual gaming news, reviews, previews etc. Its called Gamezebo - www.gamezebo.com

Check out this site for all the latest happenings and new games releases....

Hackers stealing the account of online gamers now

Software giant Microsoft Corp. on Monday said hackers have now set their sights on stealing the accounts of online gamers and then selling virtual items such as gold or weapons, for real world cash.
Dave Weistein of Microsoft said some of the accounts of online players engaged in massively multiplayer online role playing games or MMORPG, can be worth up to $10,000.
MMORPG allows players to assume control of a character in a virtual world where players from all-over were also engaged in the game.
He told Reuters, "The police are really good at understanding someone stole my credit card and ran up a lot of money. It's a lot harder to get them to buy into 'someone stole my magic sword'."
He said hackers use a malicious software such as malware to steal a player's account and information. A malware is a software designed to infiltrate a computer system.
Mikko Hypponen a security specialist at security firm F-secure adds they have already received complaints that some criminals were stealing information of online players.
He told BBC, "It might sound far-fetched but this is a real problem."
Popular online games include "World of Warcraft," "Ultima," and "Everquest." Players buy the game and then pay a monthly subscription to access the game online. In some countries, players buy pre-paid cards with limited game time.
Players acquire virtual objects such as weapons and other valuables while playing the game which can later be sold to other players for real cash.

Join the Indian Casual Gaming Zone at Orkut

orkut - communities - Indian Casual Gaming Zone
Guys, all of you are most welocme to join this community!!!

Research Reveals Casual Games Provide Mental Balance, Stress Relief and Relaxation

RealNetworks the leading developer, publisher and distributor of casual games, today announced research findings that demonstrate U.S. adults who play computer games play "casual" games for a quick mental break. Sixty four percent of respondents cited game play as a way to unwind and relax, while 53 percent play for stress relief.

Real is providing new details about the casual games social phenomenon that more than 70 percent of people buying casual games from the company are women age 40 and older. The findings are from a survey conducted by Harris Interactive®, a worldwide market research and consulting firm, and focus groups hosted by best-selling author and women's lifestyle expert, Jennifer Louden.

Casual games are non-violent games that are simple to learn and difficult to master, and categorized as games that players can leave and pick up again easily. Play time can vary from a few minutes to hours. Digital puzzles, word games, card games, board games, and classic arcade games are all classified in this category.

The research found:
-- Women over age 40 who play casual games:
- 67 percent play casual games at least four times per week
- About half (47 percent) play every day
- About 60 percent or more would rather play a casual game than talk on
the phone, knit or do other projects at home (such as building or
painting)
- About 50 percent would rather play casual games than go to a movie or
spend time cooking

-- Men and women ages 18 and over who play casual games:
- 64 percent do so as a way to unwind and relax
- 53 percent do so for stress relief
- 42 percent cite the activity as a way to keep his/her mind sharp
- Among those with children, 75 percent see educational benefits for
their children who play casual games
"It's a wild concept, but I see this trend as a way for women and men to establish mental balance and embrace a healthy form of comfort," Louden said. "Surprisingly, more and more women are turning to casual gaming as a way to cope with stress and take a brief escape from daily responsibilities. As an author and life coach, I've worked with thousands of women for nearly 15 years to develop and encourage ways to better care for ourselves and create healthy, balanced lives that fit our individual needs. It's fascinating to see how people are using technology to comfort themselves."

According to Louden, many people indulge in "shadow comforts," things that we think will make us feel better but don't, like eating too much, shopping for things we don't need or watching TV. Alternately, casual games-which attracted 100 million PC users in 2005-can stimulate the mind and combat loneliness, further supporting mainstream adoption among men, women, senior citizens and children.

"We've always known that the appeal of casual games extends far beyond that of traditional video games, but never fully understood why until the results of this research," said Michael Schutzler, senior vice president, Games Division at RealNetworks. "Now, with insights from the research conducted by Harris Interactive and Jennifer Louden telling us that people play for stress relief and mental balance, we can appreciate the social impact of casual games and better serve our customers."

MTV Shocks, creates Shokcwaves, buy Shockwave.com

MTV Networks has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Atom Entertainment, a known operator of online film and gaming Web sites, for an amount of around $200 million. Atom Entertainment has four leading Web sites encompassing games, short films, and video; namely, Shockwave.com, AddictingGames.com, AtomFilms.com, and AddictingClips.com. For MTV Networks, the acquisition furthers its aim of building an attractive universe, comprising music, gaming, entertainment, news, et al. Sources say that adding Atom to MTV's overall portfolio fits exactly with the company strategy of offering its targeted, global audiences a superlative online video experience. As per MTV estimates, the acquisition will bring-in over 50 million gamers, playing over 400 million games per month. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2006.

Videogame revolution started from a Plumber

Forget Microsoft's Bill Gates, Sony's Nobuyuki Idei, or Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata. The most powerful person in the videogame industry isn't a CEO -- he's a plumber.
A mustachioed, Italian, red-shirt-and-overalls-clad plumber, to be precise. His name is Mario, and he's the hero of the best-selling franchise in the gaming world, and one of a dozen characters who have consistently proved their marketability and staying power.
Over the past 25 years, Mario-themed games have sold more than 185 million copies worldwide.
Created in 1981 by Nintendo's legendary videogame designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario was initially only known as 'Jumpman,' the nondescript hero of arcade hit Donkey Kong.
But before the American release of the game, the character was re-christened in honor of Mario Segale, landlord of a warehouse owned by Nintendo America, to whom he reportedly bore a physical similarity.
Mario got his big break four years later when, the Nintendo Entertainment System was launched. It quickly became one of the most successful game consoles in history, and Mario -- star of Super Mario Brothers, which came bundled with many of those consoles -- was assured his place in history. To date, he's starred in or made guest appearances in more than 140 games.
Nintendo didn't run out of steam after it unleashed its hero plumber on the world: Several other of the worlds' best-selling game franchises were created by the 116-year-old company, including Donkey Kong (which has sold nearly 48 million games outside of the Mario titles) and The Legend of Zelda (about 47 million).

Voice Chat in Online Games - New Revolution in MMOGs

There's a lot you can do in pervasive online worlds like Second Life or World of Warcraft, but the one thing that's missing is integrated voice.

But now Vivox is readying an in-game voice service that may help draw players into games and keep them engaged, rather than serving as an open door to other worlds.
For Eve Online, Vivox is integrating voice directly into the game's interface, for rollout this fall.
And one voice feature planned for later release will actually call players back into the game. Voice messages sent in-game will relay to the real world, so impending battles can be met with calls-to-arms to team members not even logged in.

- Deepak Abbot

How to play PS2 saved games on PS3

Backwards compatibility is set to continue on the PS3 with gamers being able to play PS2 and PSOne games, but how will it work?
Sony have answered the question on the official Playstation web site:
To used save data on a Playstation 2 memomry card, you must copy the data onto a virtual memory card without the hard disk. This requires a PS2/PSOne memory card adaptor to copy the data to your Playstation 3. A memory card adaptor is designed to edit, up/download games saves to and from EMS flash card or smart media card.
Backwards compatibility is an important issue for gamers and Sony fanboys will be delighted that the system in place to transfer these files will be so easy to use.
Sony have not confirmed whether the adaptor will be part of the PS3 package or whether it will be sold seperately.

- Deepak Abbot

X Box 360 in India - Pre launch ceremony

It was a day eagerly awaited by gaming enthusiasts. The pre-launch ceremony of Xbox 360 left the crowd enthralled. The next generation gaming console will definitely take gaming experience to a new level.
Let’s get over with the most asked questions ~ when and how much? Xbox 360 will be launched during Diwali season and will be priced at Rs 19,990 (Xbox 360 core system and a leading game title) and Rs 23,990 (Xbox 360 system).
The console was unveiled in November 2005 in Europe, Japan and north America. This time around the console will find new markets in India, Poland, Chile, South Africa, Slovakia and so on. With an approximate 1.6 million gamers in India (PC and console), Microsoft is entering a market with immense potential.
Kolkata definitely features in the top seven cities where video games are a part of life. The highest number of gamers are in Hyderabad and Kolkata is sixth on the list, higher than Pune.
“This is more than a gaming rig. You can connect Ipods, MP3 players, digital cameras on the fly and listen to them (or watch pictures stores on digital cameras) using your television/ audio set up. Xbox 360 is for the family and so, four gamers can join in to play any game,” says Mohit Anand, country manager (entertainment and devices division), Microsoft India.
Supposing you want to challenge your quiet little sister, pesky little brother and tech-savvy father to a racing game, simply purchase three extra controllers (wireless or wired), attach them to the console and voila! The screen gets divided into four and all of you race in the chosen vehicles.
“You can also control the television, media centre PC, DVD and so on with the same remote. It can control everything but the air conditioner!” adds Anand, a hardcore gamer. Okay, here’s one more pointer. A person engaged in gaming for 10 hours a week is a casual gamer, 20 hours would make you an avid gamer and 40 hours will classify you as a hardcore nut!
Another important feature is high-definition television. Reading the tablets in Taj Mahal on a normal television at 408i is difficult but at 720P it’s crystal clear. But it will be a while before television pictures reach this level.
Surprisingly, the amount of cores in multiple-core CPUs is always found in powers of two but with Xbox 360, it is a three-core CPU. For programmers, there is Microsoft XNA, which is designed to help game studios and publishers develop better games on all platforms.
The product will be sold through 150 stores and there will be kiosks with 26-inch HDTV, where you can try out the rigs. One of the big titles to be launched later is Halo 3, developed by Bungie Studios. During the launch of the console, 25-odd titles will be available and then on seven to 10 titles will be added every month.
The console will find a place among Indian gamers, sooner or later. With gamers in India spending Rs 926 every month on purchasing game titles, Microsoft will have a huge task in hand ~ great games at down-to-earth prices.

Sex & Games

The adult content development community grows every year. It needs a place where it can discuss the unique issues, challenges and possibilities it faces while sharing information with others hoping to enter the field.
The Sex SIG hopes this "Sex & Games" blog will serve as an informational clearinghouse for such content, helping us to connect with everyone that shares our common goal of responsible, age-appropriate content development
Check out the blog here

Sex, schmoozing and video games | Damn it - It's already over

The Sex In Video Games Conference 2006
Exploring the Business of Digital Erotic Entertainment
 

http://www.sexinvideogames.com/index.html

Games on Demand - Real heavy on Broadband

I recently saw Airtel announcing Games on Demand service for its subscribers. They are offering 50 games at Rs.149 per month. Is it a good deal - well Airtel says that all these games will have a cumulative cost of Rs.15000 to the end user so at this price its a steal. I totally differ. If I take the cost of broadband into account especailly if I am on per MB plan, then I would end up paying close to Rs.100,000 for my broadband bill. Its due to the fact that most of the games are over 1 GB and there are games which are close to 4 GB as well.

 

First of all only an idiot would download such huge games for 2 reasons - no one has the patience and also all the games are pretty old. Any hardcore gamer would find alternative cheaper options to acquire games which I dont want to talk abbout here for obvious reasons. And any non-gamer would not be excited enough with such huge games. Digitial distribution is good for games below 50MB. Thats the reason casual games downloads are more frequently sold digitally than a PC game.

 

Indiagames tied up with Exent for this platform. Exent has provided this platform to Yahoo as well but the services available on 2 sites are totally different. I definitly like Yahoo service as it offers streaming which means I dont need to download the entire game to play it. Also Yahoo has over 400 games including AAA PC titles which are missing in Airtel bouquet.

 

Anyways my final verdict on this Games on Demand service is that its a crappy service.

 

- Deepak Abbot

The World of Digital Sex Games

In online games such as "World of Warcraft," would-be heroes and villains join forces with other players to slay monsters, collect treasure, and wield deadly weapons on exquisitely rendered battlegrounds. The popularity of such games is due in large part to the collaboration they foster. The social dynamics created by interacting and chatting with participants are as much a part of the fun as the virtual carnage. Soon, however, players will be able to make love, not warcraft.

Billed as the "evolution of online dating," a new game is hoping to hook players eager for a different kind of action -- the kind that involves thumping music and bumping bodies. Suddenly, in the genre known as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), clothing is optional.

"Naughty America: The Game" features the kind of skimpy outfits and flirty talk that are abundant in the realm of role-playing games, but it takes the virtual fling to a new level -- or, more accurately, to the bedroom. As in other RPGs, characters can have a casual drink or choose new outfits, but in this game they can also throw off their clothes whenever they like.

"Naughty America" has the potential to introduce a whole new element to gaming -- or it could become a Trivial Pursuit answer in some future "Gamers" edition. Players can judge for themselves when the game is released in late summer.

Clcik here for the complete story...

-Deepak Abbot

Blizzard takes that extreme step but in the right direction...axes 59000 culprits in their virtual world

Blizzard are famous for their strict guidelines and rigid enforcement when it comes to keeping WoW a happy place to play, but the 59,000 axed from the world's most populous MMO is a lot of people, even by their own standards. That said, such is the success of Blizzard's opus that a number most games wouldn't dare contemplate axing is but a drop in the ocean, aimed at keeping the vast player base satisfied.

Apparently, the 59,000 bans will be accompanied by the removal of 22-million in gold from the game's economy.

Most MMOs don't even have 59000 people playing actively. Blizzard is literally sitting on a goldmine which is extracting them diamonds as well along with some dash of platinum.

Its been really long.....

Well we all started this blog with much enthusiasm which is finally over as I can't see anybody contributing here except me. But readers dont worry, I will try to compensate for other contributor's absence and try'n cover everything from casual games to hardcore games to MMOGs.

To be very frank, even I am not getting enough time to contribute quality stuff here but I will ensure that I will carry the most relevant and important stories from all the sources I come across. So please keep coming to the site as a one stop shop for all your gaming needs.

 

- Deepak Abbot