• Leveraging The Fanatic-For-Points Gamer
    Nearly anyone who's active on Xbox Live is aware of Gamerscore points, awarded for achieving certain in-game goals. They're not used for any sort of material gain -- they're pure ego, a way for gamers to compare their chops with other gamers. And people take them very seriously.
  • How Games Are Supporting Personalized Narratives
    Online content, as it becomes increasingly interactive and tailored to the individual, faces a problem: How does it deliver an individual experience and still contribute to a cultural identity? We're especially seeing instances of the "choose-your-own-adventure" type of storytelling in gaming. But this concept of personalization seemingly operates against the need for joint attention. So how can the two needs both be satisfied? Social frameworks seem to be key.
  • TechCrunch Drags Social Gaming Into The Trenches
    Social gaming is exploding, though currently that turn of phrase has a slightly different connotation than it normally does. Yes, there have been some major successes in the space, most notably EA's recent acquisition of Playfish. But over the past week, TechCrunch has been fighting pretty hard against the affiliate programs that make up a portion of the revenues for many social game sites.
  • Will Spore Spread On Facebook?
    Electronic Arts yesterday launched a social extension of one of its hit properties of 2009, Spore, with the Facebook game "Spore Island," which allows players to create and evolve a creature on their own personal island, and then send their creature to their friends' islands for a Darwinian competition where the most efficient creature ends up on top.
  • Video Game Consoles Amp Up The Video
    Game consoles are continuing their stealthy takeover of the living room. We've been seeing this trend for a while, but the pace is accelerating as the holiday season approaches.
  • The Video Game Hype Machine
    Early next month, Bioware's "Dragon Age: Origins" will launch, putting the exclamation point on over three years of hype. The title was first announced at E3 in 2004, and as of today there are 101 pieces of media associated with the game on GameTrailers.com, with over 3 million downloads, about 10,000 YouTube videos, both user- and fan-uploaded, and a full year of DLC planned out. The character creation tool for the game has already been released.
  • Is 'World of Warcraft' A Loyalty Program?
    What's the difference between "World of Warcraft" and a loyalty program? Surprisingly little. Blizzard (now Activision Blizzard) has made an empire out of games that don't end. From "Diablo" to "World of Warcraft," these are bestselling hits predicated on a simple formula: Make your customer an addict
  • Xbox Looks To Have The Jump On Motion
    Big developments in the motion control space recently, with Sony and Microsoft offering new details on what titles will be used to launch their own entrances into the world of motion-controlled games, which has thus far been wholly domminated by the Nintendo Wii.
  • Why Aren't Casual Ads Stepping Up?
    First of all, I'd like to note that two weeks ago when I said it was only a matter of time until a brand used DLC to push retail product, I hadn't expected it would only be a week. The" Star Wars" Third Season Blu-Ray includes an exclusive T-shirt for the upcoming "Star Wars" MMO. But seeing this got me thinking: Why haven't we seen more innovative ad formats become standard practice in casual gaming?
  • Learn About Game Marketing From Retailers
    There's a recent trend among video game retailers that's worthy of note for brand marketers. For a while now, retailers such as GameStop have been offering exclusive extras for their customers. These premiums were typically small tchotchkes, small inexpensive trinkets. But now we're seeing this trend extend into the realm of downloadable content.
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