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Henry Jenkins at Authors@Google(video) Henry Jenkins"s pioneering work in the early 1990s promoted the idea that fans are among the most active, creative, critically engaged, and socially connected consumers of popular culture and that they represent the vanguard of a new relationship with mass media. Though marginal and largely invisible to the general public at the time, today, media producers and advertisers, not to mention researchers and fans, take for granted the idea that the success of a media franchise depends on fan investments and participation. Bringing together the highlights of a decade and a half of groundbreaking research into the cultural life of media consumers, Fans, Bloggers, and Gamerstakes readers from Jenkins's progressive early work defending fan culture against those who would marginalize or stigmatize it, through to his more recent work, combating moral panic and defending Goths and gamers in the wake of the Columbine shootings. Starting with an interview on the current state of fan studies, this volume maps the core theoretical and methodological issues in Fan Studies. It goes on to chart the growth of participatory culture on the web, take up blogging as perhaps the most powerful illustration of how consumer participation impacts mainstream media, and debate the public policy implications surrounding participation and intellectual property.

The computer game industry is clearly growing in the direction of multiplayer, online games. Understanding the demands of games on IP (Internet Protocol) networks is essential for ISP (Internet Service Provider) engineers to develop appropriate IP services. Correspondingly, knowledge of the underlying network's capabilities is vital for game developers. Networking and Online Games concisely draws together and illustrates the overlapping and interacting technical concerns of these sectors. The text explains the principles behind modern multiplayer communication systems and the techniques underlying contemporary networked games. The traffic patterns that modern games impose on networks, and how network performance and service level limitations impact on game designers and player experiences, are covered in-depth, giving the reader the knowledge necessary to develop better gaming products and network services. Examples of real-world multiplayer online games illustrate the theory throughout. Networking and Online Games: Provides a comprehensive, cutting-edge guide to the development and service provision needs of online, networked games. Contrasts the considerations of ISPs (e.g. predicting traffic loads) with those of game developers (e.g. sources of lag/jitter), clarifying coinciding requirements. Explains how different technologies such as cable, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and wireless, etc., affect online game-play experience, and how different game styles impose varying traffic dynamics and requirements on the network. Discusses future directions brought by emerging technologies such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telephone Service), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), Wireless LANs, IP service Quality, and NAPT/NAT (Network Address Port Translation/Network Address Translation) Illustrates the concepts using high-level examples of existing multiplayer online games (such as Quake III Arena, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, and Half-Life 2). Networking

The news hour's economics correspondent Paul Solman examines the rise of China as a global economic power, and the challenges that lie before it. Includes the Westernization of the economy, including Wal-Mart. Looks at the lingering influence of Mao Zedong. Discusses the failing Shanghai Stock Exchange. Talks with Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the Chinese Communist party and China's "father of venture capital," about economic relations with the U.S., foreign investment, textile exports, and the revaluation of the yuan. Investigates piracy of foreign intellectual property rights in China, using Viagra as an example. Questions whether China's economy can continue to grow at the current pace without major political reform.

Yesterday, we took a look at the growing comfort consumers, specifically gamers, have with purchasing virtual goods and currency on the Web and mobile devices. Virtual goods are becoming a booming market thanks to the growing maturity of gaming platforms, free-to-play models and the profusion of mobile devices. Today, international investment firm Digi-Capital published its in-depth review of the global gaming space, giving us a sense of the size, breadth, and activity of the very international gaming market last year that is contributing to the changing behavior around virtual commerce - as well as a glimpse into what we can expect from the industry over the course of 2012.

The popular Postmortem column in Game Developer magazine features firsthand accounts of how some of the most important and successful games of recent years have been made. This book offers the opportunity to harvest this expertise with one volume. The editor has organized the articles by theme and added previously unpublished analysis to reveal successful management techniques. Readers learn how superstars of the game industry like Peter Molyneux and Warren Spector have dealt with the development challenges such as managing complexity, software and game design issues, schedule challenges, and changing staff needs. Postmortems from Game Developer enhances your project management skills by showcasing projects from start to finish with candid, thorough, and specific accounts of the good and bad decisions made along the way.

In China's Internet market, if you consider making your platform open right from the beginning, some may appreciate your efforts, but you risk not getting invited to the ball. Pirate culture is the mainstream on the Chinese web. An enterprise has to identify with this culture to survive. Some firms accumulate their users and brand name in the name of cooperation with others, but will quickly burn the bridge once they have passed over. Nevertheless, China's environment and the rules of the game are improving. User consciousness and a sounder legal system will all help to establish a better environment in the Chinese Internet sphere. 

League of Legends continued its World Tour series this week with a look at its massive Chinese community. The Chinese beta was launched in July 2011, and by the end of the year, LoL had become "one of the fastest growing games released by a foreign game studio in the past three years." In addition to strong cosplay and craft communities, China boasts many of the game's best competitive players. In the IntelEM Global Challenge in Guangzhou, Chinese team World Elite dominated the North American favourite Counter Logic Gaming, and all three Chinese teams went on to participate in the IntelEM World Championship.

The computer gaming industry is bigger than the film and music industries and is growing faster than both of them put together. The industry is also changing fast. The typical computer gamer is in his mid 20s and female gamers make up one of the faster growing parts of the market. New developments in sociability and interactivity are also transforming the industry. This is the first major study of brands and gaming and shows huge opportunities for brand development

Sohu is expected to benefit from its strength in online games. We believe that Sohu's promising games portfolio and the growing popularity of Changyou's games will drive profitability over the long term. However, higher operating costs due to continued investments in video may hurt profitability in the near term. Moreover, cut-throat competition from the likes of Baidu Inc. ( BIDU ) and increasing government scrutiny into Chinese Internet usage may also hurt Sohu's growth over the long term. We, therefore, maintain our Neutral recommendation on the stock over the long term. Currently, Sohu has a Zacks #1 Rank, which implies a short-term Strong Buy rating.

Changyou.com Limited ("Changyou" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CYOU), a leading online game developer and operator in China, today announced that it filed its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2012.  The Annual Report is available on the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's Website at http://www.changyou.com/ir

In China alone, it's predicted that 53% of the population will have access by the end of 2013, a count of 718 million people. This is up from the 35% of the population that had access by 2010, a count of 469 million users. As it stands, the country now has the largest online user base in the world.

This book examines China "s creative economy "and how television, animation, advertising, design, publishing and digital games are reshaping traditional understanding of culture. Since the 1950s China has endeavoured to catch-up with advanced Western economies. Made in China " is one approach to global competitiveness. But a focus on manufacturing and productivity is impeding innovation. China imports creativity and worries about its cultural exports deficit ". In the cultural sector Chinese audiences are attracted to Korean, Taiwanese, and Japanese culture, as well as Hollywood cinema. This book provides a fresh look looks at China "s move up the global value chain. It argues that while government and (most) citizens would prefer to associate with the nationalistic, but unrealized created in China " brand, widespread structural reforms are necessary to release creative potential. Innovation policy in China has recently acknowledged these problems. It considers how new ways of managing cultural assets can renovate largely non-competitive Chinese cultural industries. Together with a history of cultural commerce in China, the book details developments in new creative industries and provides the international context for creative cluster policy in Beijing and Shanghai.

Chen's aware that in the current, guilty-until-proven-innocent environment for China stocks, the attitude among nervous U.S. investors for the foreseeable future will be, simply, "show me." Generate good numbers -- and make sure they are credible. The euphoria that prevailed over everything China prior to last year was ridiculous. So, arguably, is the suspicion that now trails virtually every China play.

According to figures from the China Internet Centre, nearly £1.2bn of make- believe currencies were traded in China in 2008 and the number of gamers who play to earn and trade credits are on the rise. It is estimated that 80 per cent of all gold farmers are in China and with the largest internet population in the world there are thought to be 100,000 full-time gold farmers in the country.

Changyou-the name means "uninhibited play"-operates 10 online games, but the most popular by far is Tian Long Ba Bu, a martial-arts juggernaut derived from a popular serial novel about the eight races of nonhuman demigods. Naturally, shareholders worry about customers tiring of the game one day, and whether the company has another blockbuster in its pipeline. Another concern: Competition among Chinese online games is rife, and concerns have increased that Changyou's stellar margins may wilt as it invests in the growing social or mobile platforms. Late last year, Changyou paid $162.5 million in cash to buy from its parent a Chinese game-information portal called 17173.com.

Mobile games enable senior citizens to play games which effectively alleviates their perception of loneliness and isolation. This reinvigorates their vitality by helping them reconnect with the world that they, in many cases, have reluctantly retired from. What was once strictly a youthful domain is now becoming theirs as well. Playing such games also gives the elderly the confidence to better exploit the new possibilities and life experiences facilitated by the prevalence of new information and communication technology.

How has China approached the global economy? Webber, Wang and Zhu attempt to answer this question through analysis of the concepts of globalization, transition and regionalization. China's approach has been experimental, stressing the liberalization of trade and investment flows and the development of a market economy. By these indexes globalization in China has been gradual and uneven. Integrating Western social science and Chinese research, this book assesses the nature and effect of globalization in China and its implications.

The game has already obtained the copyright number issued by The General Administration of Press and Publication of the People's Republic of China authorizing the game for public distribution.

Perfect World Co., Ltd. PWRD +1.20% is a leading online game developer and operator based in China. Perfect World primarily develops online games based on proprietary game engines and game development platforms. Perfect World's strong technology and creative game design capabilities, combined with extensive knowledge and experiences in the online game market, enable it to frequently and promptly introduce popular games designed to cater changing customer preferences and market trends. Perfect World's current portfolio of self-developed online games includes massively multiplayer online role playing games ("MMORPGs"): "Perfect World," "Legend of Martial Arts," "Perfect World II," "Zhu Xian," "Chi Bi," "Pocketpet Journey West," "Battle of the Immortals," "Fantasy Zhu Xian," "Forsaken World," "Dragon Excalibur," "Empire of the Immortals" and "Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber;" an online casual game: "Hot Dance Party;" and a number of web games and social networking games. While a substantial portion of the revenues are generated in China, Perfect World operates its games in North America, Europe and Japan through its own subsidiaries. Perfect World's games have also been licensed to leading game operators in a number of countries and regions in Asia, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and the Russian Federation and other Russian speaking territories. Perfect World plans to continue to explore new and innovative business models and remains deeply committed to maximizing shareholder value over time.

China Online Gaming Market to Reach RMB57.7B in 2012: China's online gaming market size will reach RMB 57.7 billion in this year, according to a report out last month by Beijing-based market researcher AnalysysInternational, up 20.7% from last year, while webpage games will account for RMB 7.882 billion. Another report conducted by 17173.com, the gaming portal of Sohu, has found that more than 96% of gamers are willing to pay for online games. China Mobile Gaming Market Size: According to a report by AnalysysInternational, China mobile gaming market size stood at RMB 370 million in the fourth quarter of last year with 30.28 million mobile gamers. The market is picking up as the result of proliferation of smartphones and emergence of attractive mobile games.