Game News 3/21/07
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13233
Research: Western MMO Market Passes $1bn In 2006
Research: Western MMO Market Passes $1bn In 2006
A new report from media research company Screen Digest suggests that the Western market for massively multiplayer online games surpassed $1 billion dollars for the first time in 2006, thanks in no small part to the continuing success of Blizzard's MMORPG powerhouse World of Warcraft as well as the introduction of more casual MMOGs.
Altogether, the subscription market accounted for 87 percent of the total massively multiplayer online market last year, and was dominated by North American subscriptions totaling $576 million compared to $299 million in
During 2006, the report found World of Warcraft to be the most popular subscription game “by far,” with Blizzard's role-playing opus accounting for 54 percent of the annual subscription market with revenue of $471 billion.
The success of traditional MMOGs has also spurred growth in social networking sites and casual online games, which have been to adopt similar business models as those exhibited by more traditional MMO titles.
Looking ahead, Screen Digest anticipates that the MMOG market will include over 10 million MMOG user subscriptions and will generate $1.5 billion by 2011. However, the research firm predicts that the European segment is poised to grow substantially over this period of time, with the region exhibiting stronger growth compared to that of
“During the past few years the Western landscape for massively multiplayer online games has become increasingly fragmented following the introduction of new genres of games including social networking, virtual pet rearing and virtual world building titles,” wrote the report's author Piers Harding-Rolls. “These new games and platforms have brought with them many new gamers and also new business models that are generating revenue that is largely incremental to the incumbent subscription business.”
Feature: Top Five Most Overrated Industry People
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23631
1,782 titles playable on launch day
Sony has revealed that 1,782 PlayStation 2 titles will be playable on the PlayStation 3 when it launches in
"Our engineers have been working overtime, and have succeeded in delivering a significant number of playable PS2 titles for the European launch," commented David Reeves, president of SCEE.
However, the UK boss reiterated the company's main focus in the future will be on PlayStation 3 development, not on the delivery of backwards compatible PS2 games.
"We will be adding additional titles to this list in future firmware upgrades, but as we have made clear before, in the future our resources will be increasingly focused on developing new services and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, rather than on delivering PS2 backwards compatibility."
The full list of all 1,782 compatible titles is available here.
Consumers will be able to play PS2 titles by downloading and installing the latest 1.6 firmware upgrade, available from midnight on Thursday.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23619
Google Confirms Adscape Acquisition
Search specialist moves into growing in-game ads market
Google has confirmed the acquisition of in-game ads company Adscape Media.
"In-game advertising is an area where we believe Google could add a lot of value to users, advertisers and publishers," details the company on its website.
"Adscape Media's technology and talented team are a great addition to Google's current advertising solutions for advertisers and publishers."
Rumours of the search giants interest in Adscape Media came to light in 2006, followed by a report in February of this year that stated the company had paid USD 23 million (EUR 17.5m) for the San Francisco-based specialist.
"As more and more people spend time playing videogames, we think we can create opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences while maintaining a high quality, engaging user experience," commented Google.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23614
Key titles to miss PlayStation 3 launch
Ubisoft and Vivendi put back release of hit franchises
Ubisoft and Vivendi Games will not have a number of key titles available for the European launch of the PlayStation 3.
Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Double Agent is due a week after launch, while award-winning Bethesda RPG Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion won't be released until April 27.
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, currently at number two in the
All titles are currently available for Microsoft's rival Xbox 360 console.
With these popular franchises missing from the day one launch, Ubisoft is left with only Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII and Enchanted Arms for the first weekend of sales of Sony's next-gen machine.
Vivendi Games has also put back the release of the PlayStation 3 version of F.E.A.R. The game has already enjoyed critical and commercial success on the PC and Xbox 360, but will not arrive for PS3 in
http://www.gametab.com/news/850704/
Xbox Live Security Compromised, Accounts Commandeered? (Updated) [02:25 pm]
110 Comments - Chris Remo
Over the last several days, large numbers of Xbox Live users have claimed that they have been locked out of their Xbox Live accounts, in many cases with the credit cards tied to the accounts being used to purchase Xbox Live Marketplace's currency of Microsoft Points. Following online reports of Halo 2 developer Bungie's player network being compromised, Digital Munition security researcher Kevin Finisterre posted to the security-centric mailing list Full Disclosure that his account too had been stolen. After accounts are stolen, thieves appear to have a window of time with which to misuse the account before it is detected and banned, but even after the accounts have been banned there appears to be no real recourse for the accounts' original owners. Finisterre claimed that a Microsoft technical support representative admitted, "Hackers have control of Xbox live and there is nothing we can do about it." (The veracity of this claim seems dubious.)
Digital Munition has now posted an audio log of one of Finisterre's many calls to Microsoft support, which seems to indicate that the representatives are aware of the issue but unable to take any meaningful action. Based on comments made by the support techs, the partial reason for this appears to be that some of Bungie's online community features are independent from Microsoft's broader Xbox Live systems, and Microsoft support cannot reverse account changes made by Bungie's system. Finisterre was assured that an account hacker would not have access to his credit card information, though that does not prevent somebody in control of an account from using the saved--but private--credit card information to buy any number of Microsoft Points before the account is banned.
Finisterre appears to have been targeted specifically. He recounts being told by his opponents during a game of Halo 2 that his account would be stolen--and the next day he discovered that it had. Other Xbox Live users tell stories of their credit cards limits being maxed out by purchases of thousands of dollars' worth of Microsoft Points, and their home addresses and phone numbers being acquired and abused.
Many of the incidents seem to be the work of clans dedicated to account theft not by technical means but by simply misleading Microsoft support personnel--though this would not explain the apparent sudden sharp rise in the number of cases. One of these clans identifies itself very publicly as -INFAMOUS-, and has no reservations in describing how its members call Xbox Live support with convincing stories, pretending to be account holders unfairly locked out of their accounts. The success of the clan's system again seems to stem in part from the discrepancy between the available support responses between Microsoft and Bungie personnel. -INFAMOUS- claims to steal "10 accounts a day depending on there [sic] levels." The site further warns, "If you talk shit we will mod on your account until it is banned. If the levels on it are good we will use the Credit Card on your account to then change the gamer tag."
Microsoft's official response to the matter appears to be scattered. In a statement given to CNET, the company said simply, "Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox Live network. Security is a top priority for Xbox Live, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behavior and theft." Shacknews has contacted Microsoft for further comment. At the moment, the company's current line is that affected users should call Xbox support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX.
Update: Microsoft employee Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has commented on the current situation, stating that, as was suspected, these incidents are the result of malicious users obtaining the account information of others through various means, and using that information to take control of accounts. In a blog post, Hryb recommends Xbox Live users peruse a Microsoft document on preventing identify theft.
http://www.gametab.com/news/851190/
Arcade classic Gyruss to blow Xbox Live
Gyruss is listed on Konami's website as a March 2007 Xbox Live Arcade release. We're sure that a cursory, even perfunctory, glance at your word-of-the-day desk calendar will remind you that there's only one more Wednesday in store for March, leaving little room for interpretation here.
Just when we were getting used to this -- Alien Hominid HD, followed by Worms, followed by Konami's coin-op classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (with co-op multiplayer!), and then today's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -- Gyruss comes along and spoils our fun. Maybe they want to pile all the Konami offerings in a row, or maybe they didn't want us to get too used to the streak of desirable titles; either way Gyruss is launching us back to the dark times of back to back releases of Root Beer Tapper and Paperboy.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/clips/clip-castle-crashers-barbarian-bash-245938.php
Clip: Castle Crashers Barbarian Bash
Another Behemoth title, the makers of Alien Hominid
