Group items tagged

"As the popularity and sophistication of MMORPGs has skyrocketed, enterprising gamers have found ways to make real money playing them--to the point where experts say that it has become common to run across gamers who make their entire income with virtual jobs."

"Games make us happy because they are hard work that we choose for ourselves, and it turns out that almost nothing makes us happier than good, hard work. We don't normally think of games as hard work. After all, we play games, and we've been taught to think of play as the very opposite of work. But nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, as Brian Sutton-Smith, a leading psychologist of play, once said, "The opposite of play isn't work. It's depression.""

"On Tuesday, Blizzard Entertainment, a leading game developer, hopes to reverse that trend as it plans to announces a deal with Legendary Pictures, a major Warner Brothers affiliate, to make a big-budget "Lord of the Rings"-style live-action film based on Blizzard's wildly popular Warcraft series."

"This is short film directed by Gavin Kelly ( http://www.piranhabar.ie ) we worked on a while ago called "Avatar Days". What makes this one special is the fact that it was filmed, vfx'ed and comped all in just 4 days. It was made as part of the "4 day Film" catagory in the Darklight Film Festival. It follows 4 MMORPG players taking about their online persona's. As they tell their stories we see them go about their everyday lives against the mundane backdrop of city life...but as their Avatars."

"SCVNGR, which makes a mobile game with real-world challenges, has a playdeck. It is a deck of cards listing nearly 50 different game mechanics that can be mixed and matched to create the foundation for different types of games. I've republished the accompanying document below, which should be interesting to anybody trying to inject a gaming dimension into their products."

"MMOGCHART.COM is dedicated to my research in tracking the growth of subscription-based Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs). The menu on the left is updated each version with new figures, charts, graphs, and my analysis. My work is wholly independent and free; if you find it useful please consider making a donation via PayPal. If you have any questions, desire an interview, wish to provide numbers, or would like to hire me to consult on a MMOG project, please feel free to contact me."

"This World of Warcraft cheat sheet is designed to be printed on an A4 sheet of paper and live by a WoWer's desk, to make life a bit easier."

"For 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, my colleagues and I are killing monsters," said a 23-year-old gamer who works here in this makeshift factory and goes by the online code name Wandering. "I make about $250 a month, which is pretty good compared with the other jobs I've had. And I can play games all day."

B"y the segment's estimate, an astounding half million Chinese now make a living - about $100 a month - from the acquisition and sale of WoW gold to US and EU gamers."

"Jeffrey Kaplan: I think World of Warcraft has captured much of our original vision for the game. Like all Blizzard games, we wanted something that was easy to learn, yet hard to master. The demographics of our player base are proof that we succeeded in accomplishing this goal. We have some very dedicated, skilled, hardcore MMO veterans logging in nightly. Yet at the same time, there are thousands of players who have never played an MMO who are playing right there alongside of the vets."

"Not only have Blizzard's games sold more than 40 million copies over the last 11 years, but they have also inspired a level of enthusiasm that may most closely resemble an opera audience's rapturous devotion to a renowned diva."

"No one at Blizzard ever expected World of Warcraft to become the phenomenon it has, according to Bill Roper.\n\nI remember a meeting at Blizzard where we were hoping we'd be able to sell a million copies of the game", Roper, former Blizzard North employee and now Flagship Studios CEO, has told CVG in an interview."

"Last week, during the midnight launch of the "World of Warcraft" expansion "Wrath of the Lich King," I spoke with Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. We talked about the business model of Blizzard and "World of Warcraft," and what we can expect next."

"When interviewing and talking with Production Director J. Allen Brack about the upcoming additions to World of Warcraft there were a lot of ideas that look great for the game. The MMO market is changing and WoW is set to change with it."

"We quiz Producer Mark Kern to learn the very latest on Blizzard's persistent state title, its biggest project ever."

"World of Warcraft Lead Designer Jeffrey Kaplan talks to us today about the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion in this new WarCry Q&A. Jason Rice finds out about raids, story, reputation and more."