In-Game Advertising and Opportunities

Artificial Life Launches Mobile Games in India with IDEA Cellular

2007-08-28T15:25:00.000+05:30

Hong Kong-based Artificial Life, Inc. (OTC BB:ALIF.OB - News), a leading provider of award-winning mobile 3G technology, games and applications, announced today that it has partnered with IDEA Cellular to distribute its mobile games and content in India, a thriving mobile gaming market.

IDEA Cellular will soon launch mobile games such as V-girl(r), V-boyfriend(tm), Poli - the Bear(tm), V-Penguins(tm), Let Go Of My Banana(tm), Swine Dining(tm), America's Next Top Model, as well as associated wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, and video mails.

`According to a recent Pyramid Research survey of mobile phone users across the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries and the U.K., India ranked as the top mobile game market. Of the respondents in India that identified themselves as mobile data users, 32% said that they play mobile games monthly, exceeding the UK mark of 15%. Pyramid Research believes the mobile gaming market could expand 700% by 2010, to more than US$200 million annually. Mobile gaming is the latest urban craze in India. We are delighted to have IDEA Cellular support our distribution; we believe that our titles will appeal particularly to the mass market between the ages of 15 to 26,'' said Eberhard Schoneburg, CEO of Artificial Life, Inc.

About IDEA Cellular

As India's leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in 13 service areas. With over 17 million customers, IDEA Cellular has operations in the states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. IDEA Cellular's footprint currently covers approximately 45% of India's population and over 50% of the potential telecom-market. IDEA also has licenses to operate in the service areas of Mumbai and Bihar.

IDEA is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US $24 billion corporation with a market cap. of US $23 billion and in the League of Fortune 500, anchored by an extraordinary force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 different nationalities. Over 50 per cent of its revenues flow from its operations across the world. In India, the Group has been adjudged ``The Best Employer in India and among the top 20 in Asia'' by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

More about IDEA Cellular Ltd. at http://www.IDEAcellular.com/

About Artificial Life

Artificial Life, Inc. (OTC BB:ALIF.OB - News) is a public U.S. corporation headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Berlin (EMEA headquarters) and Tokyo. We are a leading global provider of award winning mobile technology, content, games and applications (see also our Company's homepage: http://www.artificial-life.com; and our m-commerce portal: http://www.botme.com). We focus on 3G games and entertainment and our main clients and partners are: CBS, Warner Bros., Ericsson, Oxygen, SevenOne Intermedia (ProSiebenSat.1).

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our future results of operations, financial condition and business prospects. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as ``may,'' ``will,'' ``should,'' ``expect,'' ``intend,'' ``plan,'' ``anticipate,'' ``believe,'' ``estimate,'' ``predict,'' ``potential,'' ``continue,'' or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Although such statements are based on our own information and information from other sources we believe to be reliable, you should not place undue reliance on them. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual market trends or our actual results of operations, financial condition or business prospects may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward looking statements for a variety of reasons. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to obtain additional funding to operate and grow our business; the unproven potential of our mobile gaming business model; changing consumer preferences and uncertainty of market acceptance of our products; timely adoption and availability of 3G mobile technology; market acceptance for use of mobile handheld devices to play the interactive games; unpredictable mobile game development schedules; our reliance on a relatively small number of brands; our ability to license brands from others; our dependence upon resellers and telecommunication carriers and operators to distribute our products; our ability to successfully develop, introduce, and sell new or enhanced products in a timely manner; and the timing of new product announcements or introductions by us or by our competitors. For additional discussion of these risks and uncertainties and other factors, please see the documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB filed on April 3, 2007. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press release.

Contact:

          Artificial Life, Inc.
         Sandy Yeung
         +852 3102 2800
         ir@artificial-life.com

Mobile gaming takes off in India

2007-08-28T15:23:00.001+05:30

Analysts say India's young population is driving the demand

Gaming on the move is one of the fastest-growing activities among the tech-savvy in India, says a report.

The Indian mobile gaming market is expected to generate about $26m (£13.8m) by the end of 2004, according to market analysts In-Stat/MDR.

In October, mobile phone users grew by 1.4 million to 44.9 million, overtaking the number of landlines, said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Analysts say cheap rates and a huge youth market is driving the market.

India has a large population of under-25s, and many in urban areas are fast adopting mobiles as must-have gadgets.

The growth of this market sector has attracted publishers, developers, animators, musicians, and content providers

Clint Wheelock, In-Stat/MDR

India's mobile gaming market will bring in about $336m (£178m) by 2009, according to the report.

Mobile gaming is expected to explode globally over the next few years.

Analysts predict that 220 million people will be playing games on phones by 2009, generating billions for mobile companies.

Leapfrog technology

Services other than just voice calls which are offered by mobile operators in India have, as a result of the huge rise in subscribers, grown significantly and rapidly.

"The growth of this market sector has attracted publishers, developers, animators, musicians, and content providers, and is also stimulating the development of innovative business models," said Clint Wheelock, director of In-Stat/MDR's wireless research group.

The gaming on the move craze is attracting software companies

"Mobile gaming is not just about fun; it also represents one key element of a rich mobile entertainment experience for consumers, and a lucrative market opportunity for industry players."

Currently, India has six big games developers and four mobile operators that offer games to their subscribers, said the report.

According to In-Stat/MDR, it is tipped to make up one of the most important markets in the next wave of mobile multimedia growth.

Leapfrog technology

In January 2003, there were only 10 million mobile subscribers in India.

Many choose mobiles in rural areas in order to bypass poorer telecoms infrastructure.

Despite this, the penetration rate is still much lower that other countries.

Less than 20% of India's total population own a mobile in India, compared to well over 50% in most European countries.

The trend echoes the uptake of mobiles in many developing economies, which continues to grow as people opt to leapfrog slower and more expensive state-run fixed-line operators.

Glu’s free mobile games(Demo) available

2007-08-28T15:19:00.000+05:30

Play continues despite rain this Summer as Glu offers free trials of Transformers, Sonic Jump, My Hangman and Brain Genius

London and Manchester - 22 August 2007- Glu Mobile Inc. (Nasdaq: GLUU), a leading global publisher of mobile games, will be taking mobile gaming out to the British public this Summer. Teams of promoters will be hitting the streets of London and Manchester targeting commuters, shoppers and festival goers beginning August 21st offering free game demo downloads for some of the latest Glu games.

The promotion will run for two weeks, during which the Glu teams will be demonstrating Glu's most recent releases including Transformers, Sonic Jump, My Hangman and Brain Genius.

Patrick Mork, Glu's marketing director for EMEA commented,"Market research has continuously shown that consumers' inability to try games before buying them represents one of the key barriers to growing our industry today. Glu is committed to executing marketing campaigns that not only drive awareness of our great brands but also make trying mobile games an easy, fun and risk-free experience that drives more people to download games. The'I Love British Summer' campaign is an integral part of this philosophy and we're excited to be working with our operator partners to make this happen."

The street promotions tie in with Glu's on-deck summer games promotions with UK operators this summer. After texting GET GAMES to 83900, mobile users will receive a link from which to download free demo versions of some of Glu's most popular titles. The demo versions downloaded will allow consumers to try Glu's games for free for a limited period of time. Once the demo expires, consumers will have the option to purchase a full version of the game.

For more information, visit www.glu.com.

Game Demos

2007-08-28T15:15:00.000+05:30

World in Conflict Demo

This demo includes a tutorial, a single-player map, and support for multiplayer domination mode.

BioShock Demo

This demo lets you sample the beginning of the game and the early portions of the underwater city Rapture.

Medal of Honor: Airborne Demo

This demo gives you a taste of the latest in the Medal of Honor series.

The Settlers: Rise of an Empire Beta

This open beta includes a single-player tutorial mission and support for online or LAN play in four multiplayer maps.

TOP RATED GAMES SO FAR...

2007-08-28T15:11:00.000+05:30

Title	Score	Released
Diablo	9.6	Jan 23, 1997
World of Warcraft	9.5	Nov 29, 2004
Unreal Tournament	9.5	Dec 9, 1999
Command & Conquer Red Alert	9.5	Nov 26, 1996
Grand Prix II	9.5	Aug 15, 1996
Civilization IV	9.4	Oct 26, 2005
Unreal Tournament 2004	9.4	Mar 16, 2004
FreeSpace 2	9.4	Oct 15, 1999
NASCAR Racing 3	9.4	Sep 27, 1999
Half-Life	9.4	Nov 20, 1998
Battlezone	9.4	Mar 20, 1998
Chessmaster 5500	9.4	Dec 24, 1997
Chessmaster 5000	9.4	Aug 23, 1996
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	9.3	Mar 25, 2006
Battlefield 2	9.3	Jun 20, 2005
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay	9.3	Dec 10, 2004
Freedom Fighters	9.3	Sep 19, 2003
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City	9.3	May 23, 2003
Rise of Nations	9.3	May 21, 2003
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way	9.3	Sep 27, 2002
Mafia	9.3	Sep 4, 2002
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos	9.3	Jul 3, 2002
Grand Theft Auto III	9.3	May 28, 2002
FIFA Soccer 2002	9.3	Nov 19, 2001
Flight Simulator 2002	9.3	Nov 7, 2001
Black & White	9.3	Mar 30, 2001
The Operative: No One Lives Forever	9.3	Nov 10, 2000
The Longest Journey	9.3	Jun 26, 2000
Rayman 2: The Great Escape	9.3	Dec 2, 1999
Myth II: Soulblighter	9.3	Dec 30, 1998
Grim Fandango	9.3	Oct 30, 1998
Sid Meier's Gettysburg!	9.3	Oct 30, 1997
Total Annihilation	9.3	Oct 1, 1997
Quake	9.3	Jun 22, 1996
Command & Conquer	9.3	May 1, 1996
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness	9.3	May 1, 1996
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade	9.2	Feb 5, 2007
Guild Wars	9.2	May 4, 2005
Half-Life 2	9.2	Nov 15, 2004
Far Cry	9.2	Mar 23, 2004
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004	9.2	Oct 13, 2003
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne	9.2	Jul 2, 2003
Age of Mythology	9.2	Nov 1, 2002
Madden NFL 2003	9.2	Aug 20, 2002
Neverwinter Nights	9.2	Jun 24, 2002
IL-2 Sturmovik	9.2	Dec 4, 2001
Return to Castle Wolfenstein	9.2	Nov 27, 2001
Civilization III	9.2	Oct 30, 2001
NHL 2002	9.2	Sep 19, 2001
Max Payne	9.2	Jul 27, 2001

Dish TV to Offer Playjam Gaming Services in India

2007-08-28T15:07:00.000+05:30

Dish TV will be India’s first Direct-To-Home provider which will provide gaming services as a special feature on its set top boxes. The private DTH, which is promoted by Subhash Chandra owned-Essel Group, gotten into an agreement with US-based Open TV for transferring this technology for around $100 million over 5 years. Playjam is a gaming product from Open TV stable and would be unveiled by the end of this month.

Jawahar Goel, business head, Dish TV says, “We are going to launch Playjam on our platform by the end of July. By 2007, we would have another gaming package. We are also looking to have a range of interactive content in movies, music and sports too. With the parity in content, DTH players would have to compete on the basis of price, brand, quality of service and VAS. It would be like the Telecom companies, all of which provide voice and text connectivity, but still compete and VAS is a crucial parameter.”

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India have denied content exclusivity and so now providers will have to depend on Value Added Service (VAS). Gaming is catching up in India on a large scale and so this option seems to be the best.

Gaming as a Career Option in India by Jump Games

2007-08-28T15:06:00.000+05:30

We literally ‘jumped’ with joy when we were invited to the Jump Games HQ to have a look at their workplace and more importantly, to talk to the people who make the beautiful games that you play on your mobile phones.

GameGuru.in has an exclusive interview with the Executive VP Ninad Chhaya, which we will be uploading later this week. However, most importantly we got an opportunity to speak with the heads of the graphics, game designing and the technology departments of Jump Games, who gave us valuable information that would be helpful to you if you are interested in charting a career in the gaming industry.

First up, we spoke to Ninad Chhaya who feels that the best time to get into the gaming industry is right now as it is booming in India and also clarifies the misconception that only programmers and graphic designers are welcome in the creative world of gaming. There are other departments like testing and biz-dev too.

He said, “There are other segments available in the gaming industry across various verticals where they can look at getting into the gaming space. You could look at entering the gaming industry as a tester where you would be spending time testing games or you could look at the biz-dev side on sales and marketing. You could look at overseeing, if you have good skills in project management; you could look at production side of things. If you are a creative artist or a sound designer or if you are good with graphics or animations, definitely there is an art side of it. Audio visuals and sound are another aspect; programming definitely is an option. So it is not just programming or graphics which are an option.”

Ninad is regularly approached by aspiring professionals who play games for twelve to fourteen hours a day and now want to become a part of the gaming industry. He advises that people who want to make it into the gaming industry should look where their core competency lies and accordingly just go ahead and follow their passion. Ninad also feels that passion is an important thing that aspiring gaming professionals should have. He explains, “One of the main points to be a part of the gaming industry is to be passionate about what you do. Apart from that, tools can be taught, skills are something that you need to have and passion is a must.”

After meeting Ninad Chhaya, we then went and had a little chat with Advait Goregaonkar who is the Art & Animation - Team Leader. Interestingly proving Ninad’s point, we came to know that Advait is an interior designer who had a keen interest in games and followed his passion when he joined Jump Games as a Junior Level artist three years ago and then worked his way up. His advice to people who want to come in to gaming, “You need to play a lot of games and live them. You have to study games, what are games and how do you accept the challenges and how to create graphics. If I talk about mobile gaming, it is the smallest screen ever possible you can play upon and to extract in that character, its characteristics, its essence and everything into the smallest possible size, it is a challenge in itself. Therefore, you have to study it and that is the way you get into it. The first thing is you have to play games.”

When asked about the time taken to develop games, he quipped, “It depends on what kind of game it is. Normal course of game could take around graphics team to make upon, it takes around a month or so to make one game, a normal, medium size game as such. But some games would extend to three to six months and some games, of the smallest span may come to seven days also.”

Then we headed to the conference room where we met Jaideep Hotha, Wireless Technology Manager of Jump Games. Jaideep looks after the technology department and told us that they work on three main platforms- J2ME or Java to Mobile Edition, BREW, which is the C platform by Qualcomm and also the binary runtime environment for wireless. They also work on the Symbian platform as well as on 3D games.

Hotha remarked that the most important thing is that there are no institutes or courses available that teach wireless technology. Most of the employees who start with Jump are either freshers who have their basic education with engineering, mostly computer engineers and experienced people who have been working on some other domain but on the wireless side of it, like for example, application development, banking, mobile banking.

His suggestion to the professionals who want to make a career in gaming is, “I would suggest, most important is that when you are choosing gaming as career, you must have interest, first of all, in gaming and faith that gaming is one of the most upcoming areas of careers that everyone is taking very seriously.”

Next up to enter the conference room was Jump Games’ Lead Game Designer - Jaydev Dhakan. Before joining Jump Games, this commerce graduate did a lot of odd technology jobs like programming, graphics and teaching animation. He started as a games tester and then moved to the game designing team that he now heads.

He has to basically come up with ideas and put them down in a proper organized manner so that the entire development team can handle and understand it and convert that particular idea into a final finished product. For that, he his helped by the marketing team who give inputs about the kind of games that are required by the clients. Jaydev then conceptualizes the entire idea and then sends it to marketing team, who in turn send it to the client for approval. Once the concept has been approved, they break it down into meticulous segments like characters and products. For example, what is the game going to look like or why is that character going to walk that way or why is he going to run that way or how fast or slow the character is going to be. Then there is level designing which is an important part in game designing. These are the things he has to explain to the development team.

Jaydev feels that freshers who want to make a mark in the game designing industry should first understand games. He said, “For some one who is a complete fresher, my advice would be to first understand games are. Everyone has ideas that this would make a good game that would make a good game. It is bringing down that idea to the final product; that is what skill is all about. So brush up on your skills.”

He also explained to us that a good game designer should have a lot of knowledge. Jaydev says, “A good game designer is a person who has a variety of interests, someone who understands psychologies and has passion for philosophy and understand the technical side of things like how programming and graphic designing work. He is like a know-it-all kind of a person who knows everything. He is more like a movie director. He should know a bit about everything that goes into making the game and someone who is passionate about gaming could get into testing. That’s how you learn a lot.”

So all in all, if your passion is gaming and you have the necessary skills, nothing can stop you from making your mark in the booming field of gaming.

Indiagames Partners with Reliance for Superman Game

2007-08-28T15:04:00.001+05:30

Indiagames has collaborated with Reliance Communications to sell the content of the latest Hollywood flick, Superman Returns. Indiagames is the official distributor of Superman mobile content in India.

Reliance has a very large reach of about 4,000 cities and towns in India. A Superman zone has been designed on Reliance Mobile World. This will allow Reliance Mobile users to download Superman video clips, wallpapers and play a specially designed Superman mobile game. The game is priced at Rs. 10 and Rs. 15 per session.

“Don Kaun” Nationwide Mobile Gaming Contest Launched By Jump Games and Reliance Communications

2007-08-28T15:02:00.000+05:30

Jump Games and Reliance Communications have stated that they will be launching an India-wide mobile gaming contest known as Don Kaun.

This contest will feature 10 mobile games developed by Jump Games including Sameera the Street Fighter, Bappi Da Disco King, Run Maddy Run, and Baichung Bhutia Pro Striker. A small number of international titles like Maradona and Van Damme Kick Boxing will also feature in Don Kaun.

Salil Bhargava, CEO, Jump Games says, “Mobile gaming is on a steady rise in India and this countrywide contest on Reliance Mobile World is an outstanding platform to reach out to our audiences. We have some of our finest games up for Don Kaun Contest and we hope that people have a good time playing them and of course, winning prizes that are up for grabs.”

Mahesh Prasad, President Application Solutions & Content Group, Reliance Communications said, “Reliance Mobile’s pioneering sachet-based pricing for mobile games has shaped a large mobile gaming community within the Reliance network. The Don Kaun contest is sure to generate excitement among our subscribers.”

Daily, weekly and monthly winners will get gifts like iPods, PS2, Xboxs along with a Plasma TV for one lucky winner. However, the Grand Winner of the “Don Kaun” Mobile Gaming Contest will get a date with the sultry Bollywood actress Sameera Reddy.

John Abraham to Play Prince of Persia?

2007-08-28T15:01:00.002+05:30

Everyone is excited about the forthcoming film based on the video game, Prince of Persia. It is known that Michael Bay is working on the film, but the full cast of the Prince of Persia is not known as yet. However, Mumbai tabloid Mid Day is reporting that Bollywood actor John Abraham will play lead in the film.

In fact, a fan based in the United Kingdom has posted sketches of the Bollywood heartthrob on the official website. The fan, Venetia Sarll, has been rallying for John Abraham to get the role in Michael Bay’s adaptation of the Prince of Persia video game.

The webmaster of the site, Sujoy Mukherjee reveals that Venetia is one of the biggest fans of John Abraham and she was excited about starting an online campaign to get him in the movie. The Dhoom actor was also awed by the sketches. John Abraham says, “Venetia is the most dedicated member of my site. I just loved the sketches she has made. In fact, there was even an online poll on a fan site and her sketches topped the list.”

However, it is yet not confirmed whether John Abraham will play the lead. And there is no information on the female lead. But, it would be great if they take Bipasha Basu as the female lead as their on-screen chemistry would be awesome!

Bipasha Basu Jet Ski Champ to be Launched by Jump Games

2007-08-28T15:01:00.001+05:30

After sizzling in the Beach Blaze game from Zapak, Bipasha Basu is all set to ‘jump’ from the sand on to the water. Jump Games has sent word that they have signed a two-year exclusive worldwide contract with Bipasha Basu to develop and distribute various mobile game titles based on her. The first game is ‘Bipasha Basu Jet Ski Champ’.

The Bipasha Basu game will see the actress as a master Jet Ski rider who challenges the world’s best to an adrenalin-pumping jet-ski ride across exotic circuits. Bipasha Basu Jet Ski Champ has been made especially for the sultry actress’ fans who want to play as her character.

Bipasha Basu seems to be very excited about the game. She says, “This is something really novel for me and I’m looking forward to a successful gaming association with Jump Games. They have already created some extremely popular quality titles in the past and have done a great job with the games. Through these games my fans will get to see the athletic, adventurous and skillful side of me. I am a sports fan and today it’s a conscious effort to select my films and related work accordingly, to bring out my sporty, exploratory persona… let’s hope my fans like it!”

Salil Bhargava is the chief executive officer of Jump Games. He maintained, “Bipasha is one of the most successful celebrity brands today and her personality lends itself wonderfully to games. We are quite positive that with the increasing popularity of celebrity games in the market, the titles created for Bipasha will do well. Jump as an organization is committed to constantly providing our audiences with fresh content, and with this association, we are another step closer to that.”

Bipasha Basu Jet Ski Champ will be launched on all leading networks by Jump Games in some time. Besides this game, fans can expect two more Bipasha Basu games. One is a casual title based on the popular urban sport of bowling while the other sees Bipasha playing a sci-fi princess, who is all set to save the planet from galactic enemies.

These days’ game developers are going after every Indian celebrity available to make games on them. But most of these games are either online casual games or mobile games. Agreed that these genres are popular in India, but it would be great to see game developers make next-gen games that are for the PC, Xbox 360 or the PS3.

‘Trivia Champ’, a Mobile-based Cricket Trivia Game unveiled by Cricinfo

2007-08-28T15:00:00.000+05:30

Cricinfo Mobile has just unveiled a trivia game for mobile users to test their cricket knowledge against other cricket fans across India. The trivia game, called ‘Trivia Champ’ has been developed by Dhruva interactive is available on Airtel and Hutch at Rs.99 and Rs.50 respectively.

Trivia Champ is a multiplayer game, which requires one to be connected while playing, so we are guessing that you would have to be connected to GPRS for gameplay. But the prizes on offer, which include iPod Shuffles, DVD players, sunglasses and subscription to the Cricinfo magazine are worth trying out Trivia Champ.

Cricinfo has trivia games lined up for series featuring India over the next 12 months. They even plan to launch trivia games based on the World Cup.

This is not the usual kind of gaming that we report on, but nevertheless it’s a game to be played on your mobile especially for cricket fans that are fond of trivia and not real action.

Two Cricket Games to be Launched Around the World Cup by KrishCricket

2007-08-28T14:54:00.000+05:30

Ok, all you cricket fans, if you can’t get enough of cricket, here is a nice piece of news for you. KrishCricket, a website, which is related to former Indian cricketer, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, is planning to release two new cricket games around the time of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

That’s a lot of cricket games, as some time ago even Zapak launched a cricket game as well as an online cricket tournament. So now, its eat cricket, sleep cricket, play online cricket all the time!

Advergames Build A Unique Brand Experience With Consumers

2007-06-26T19:38:00.000+05:30

By David Scott Smith

In an age of Tivo, iPod, Podcasts, and Xboxes, today’s consumers are turning from traditional media to new forms of electronic entertainment, making them increasingly more difficult to reach through traditional advertising mediums. The challenge that marketers face today is finding innovative — and entertaining —opportunities to connect their brand with their targeted audiences.

A new media vehicle for brand marketing is through the use of advergames. Advergames are custom-developed online video games created specifically for a brand, where the plot and game-play revolve around a featured product or offering. Through word of mouth, offline marketing and online gaming channels, consumers are invited to play these branded games for free. Advergames are typically posted to a special area of an organization’s Web site, and are distributed to consumers through e-mail or accessed from popular online gaming portals. Advergames are quickly becoming a natural catalyst for generating viral advertising opportunities.

Studies show that consumers are willing to enjoy hours of free online gaming entertainment for the small price of experiencing subtle product placement and brand messaging in the context of the game. Many leading brands — ranging from Axe, Coca Cola, Dodge, Ford and Nike — have created their own branded video games, which allow consumers to experience their products through branded entertainment.

The key factor in making a successful advergame is incorporating a brand or product into the game to create a realistic and entertaining situation around the game play. An example of this would be if an automobile manufacturer featured the exact make and model of a SUV in an off-roading game. As players advance in the game, they could update to a higher model SUV and also select upgraded vehicle features. Likewise, a brand-name athletic shoe company could feature a sneaker in a basketball advergame. As players advanced in the game, they could select different models of shoes that would affect their performance and strength of their basketball abilities.

The success of an advergame is easily measured. Because prospect data and contact information is gained from game registration, brands can easily track who is visiting the site, the total accumulated hours of game play, and the number of times a game was referred or e-mailed to a friend — all valuable information to marketers.

Advergames present a tremendous viral branding opportunity for companies to exponentially distribute branded content across a range of audiences. With consumers increasingly turning from traditional media to new forms of electronic entertainment, it’s time for brand marketers to “get their game on” if they want to keep their competitive edge.

In-Game Advertising: Get Your Brand in the Game!

2007-06-26T19:35:00.000+05:30

By David Scott Smith

Looking for new, innovative methods beyond traditional and online advertising to reach your target audience and increase brand awareness? In-game advertising may be the answer.

According to a Nielsen Interactive Entertainment study conducted in the fall of 2005, television viewership among men ages 18-34 has declined 12 percent, while this same audience spent 20 percent more time with video games. As a result, this highly elusive male demographic has become increasingly difficult to reach, especially through traditional advertising mediums. With market segments turning from traditional media to new forms of electronic entertainment, it’s time for brands to get in the game — literally — if they want to continue capturing audience share.

Unlike television viewers, which tend to be more passive, video game players are focused and actively involved in the gaming experience. Constantly alert and responsive to every element on the screen, gamers are an intensely captive audience. Unlike television advertising, which is often dismissed or ignored by the audience, in-game advertising can actually enhance the realism of the game play, thereby creating a positive connection between brands and consumers.

Companies looking to integrate their brand or products in video games will find a wide range of promotional advertising opportunities, including:

Dynamic ad placement — Dynamic ad placement allows for static and video-based ads to be positioned in console, PC, and online games. With the advent of live online gaming, ads can now be tracked and evaluated, offering time-sensitive messaging and geographic targeting, which allows brands to maximize their exposure among their target audience.
Product placement — Product placement integrates consumer products into the scenery of a game in much the same way products are placed in television and film.
Situation or plot placement — Situation or plot placement integrates products into the active game play. For example, you might see a vending machine featuring a popular cola brand displayed prominently in a video game, where a player might drink a can of cola to “power up” before completing the next challenge.
Advergaming — Advergames are interactive games developed specifically for a brand where the plot and game-play revolve around a featured product. Advergames are generally posted to a corporate Web site or distributed through online game channels for download. Advergames are quickly becoming a natural catalyst for generating viral advertising opportunities.

In-game advertising is quickly becoming a mainstream medium and is growing exponentially each year. Ad spending in video games totaled only about $75 million in 2005, but estimates have that figure rising to $1 billion by the end of the decade. The future of in-game advertising is bright, and now is the time for brands to start playing.

The Streaking Game

2007-06-26T18:03:00.000+05:30

The Streaking Game

Your name is Sputter Freesway; and you’re a streaker for hire. Companies hire you to streak at popular events to promote their brand. The longer you manage to run around and get the crowd’s attention with wild stunts (without getting busted by the police), the more you’ll get paid.

Now get out there and shake your money maker!

MMOs Set to Grow

2007-06-26T17:25:00.000+05:30

If you've been avoiding jumping into the MMO pool, you may not be able to for much longer.
by Daemon Hatfield

March 20, 2007 - A report released today by media analyst Screen Digest suggests that massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) are here to stay and are going to become even more popular over the next several years. Titled "Western World MMOG Market: 2006 Review and Forecasts to 2011," the report finds that the MMO market in North America and Europe hit one billion for the first time in 2006.Most of the cash generated from MMOs comes from subscriptions, which account for 87 percent of the market. But new business models like in-game advertising and microtransactions are on the rise, and are expected to slice a bigger piece of the pie in the coming years. In 2006, the North American subscription market hit $576 million, and Europe rose to $299 million. Europe has seen the fastest growth over the last few years, rising from $74 million in 2004, and is expected to see the most growth over the next few, as well.

MMO publishers can follow this green staircase to the money pile.

World of Warcraft is still the most popular subscription MMO in the Western market, by far. Blizzard's money-printing machine accounted for 54 percent of the subscription market in 2006 and generated $471 million in revenue. WoW's next-nearest competitor is Jagex's RuneScape, a much smaller-profile game from a boutique developer. Overall subscription revenue in the Western market in 2006 was worth $875 million.

Here's a screenshot from the new Pac-Man MMO.

"During the past few years the Western landscape for MMOGs has become increasingly fragmented following the introduction of new genres of game including social networking, virtual pet rearing, and virtual world building title," says Piers Harding-Rolls, Games Analyst at Screen Digest. "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."By 2011, Screen Digest predicts over 10 million subscription accounts will be generating $1.5 billion in MMO revenue. Germany should maintain the largest amount of subscriptions in Europe, followed by the UK. France is set to see the strongest growth of European countries, growing 15 percent annually, with Spain and Italy both growing by 14 percent a year.Piers Harding-Rolls says, "Growth in the market will be primarily driven by increasing broadband household penetration, increasing penetration of online console platforms, and the continued introduction of more casual MMOG experiences, which are attractive to a wide number of consumers."

BMW pursuit Across Europe

2007-06-26T17:07:00.000+05:30

If you thought you had seen everything in Advergaming.

Dont be too sure till you saw this. http://www.bmw-pace.com/pace/

They say its not a game but "The most interesting movie you have seen, and guess what you are playing the lead role" :)

Maxim's Top Ten Video Game Toilets

2007-06-26T16:32:00.000+05:30

We know India has a few clean toilets.
But computer games? Maxim guides us through video games' twelve best restrooms.

Get Serious About In-Game Marketing

2007-06-26T15:57:00.000+05:30

CNET Networks Entertainment's John Broady talks about why in-game ads are increasing marketer reach and relevance, and why they aren't just for kids anymore.

As vice president of operations and business intelligence, John Broady manages both the development of advertising opportunities and the creation of vital business-analysis tools for the CNET Networks Entertainment properties, which include GameSpot, TV.com, MP3.com and FilmSpot.

John Broady: Our strategy at CNET Networks is to build brands for people and the things they are passionate about, and gaming is definitely one of those areas of passion for our users. In my role, I closely analyze our users' natural website activity on GameSpot.com to spot trends both in our users' interests and also in the gaming industry at large. For instance, in October of 2006 we noticed that our users were consuming an extraordinary amount of content about the Nintendo Wii; we knew ahead of time that Nintendo had a big hit on its hands. We offer this business intelligence to game publishers in the form of GameSpot Trax.

Harris: How large is the current gaming market? What about the gaming audience do you think it would surprise most marketers to know?

Broady: It's huge! In January through March of this year alone, consumers spent $3.2 billion on gaming systems and game software. Most marketers would be most surprised to learn that the gaming population is older (it's not just teens) and more diverse (more women and parents are playing games than ever before) than the common perception.

Harris: With so many demographics groups embracing gaming, how do you market within games to all these different people at the same time?

Broady: That's a great question. But I believe that games actually offer a more targeted marketing opportunity than most other media. Most games appeal to a targeted portion of the gaming population, whether that's "hardcore teen gamers" or "kid beginner gamers." With this knowledge alone, a marketer has a good shot at crafting an appropriate marketing message.
Another plus for marketers is that as more and more games include a significant online component, more users will be "signed in" when they play games; this will allow marketers to craft a marketing message that is targeted to an individual based on age, gender and other factors.

Harris: TV viewers use TiVo to flip through commercials. Movie-goers complain or show up late to avoid ads before the film. So, what is it about the gaming market that is more accepting of marketing messages within the entertainment content?

Broady: I HATE those ads before movies. I actually go out of my way to see movies at a theater in San Francisco that promises not to pre-show ads. And I have to admit that I use my TiVo to skip over broadcast ads as well.

The advantage to in-game marketing is that it offers marketers three great ways to reach consumers:
An innocuous advertisement in the form of a billboard or kiosk (much like the ads you see behind home plate on televised baseball games). A key product placement that actually moves the story forward. Afterall, your race car driver has to drive a car… it might as well be the latest, greatest Chevrolet! A real-time opportunity to take an action based on something that's just happened in the game. For instance, a player could choose to purchase a solution to solve a particularly difficult puzzle, or alternatively to buy those jeans that the main character is wearing.Harris: Are there examples of games that you feel have done an outstanding job of incorporating marketing messages into the play experience? What can brands do to provide a more relevant marketing experience within games?

Broady: So far, the best examples of in-game marketing have been in virtual world games, and Second Life stands out. In fact, CNET Networks once had a "party" in Second Life in a building that looked almost exactly like our corporate headquarters!
But more clever messages are showing up in traditional games. For instance, the game "Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory" featured an ad for Axe body spray as part of a puzzle. That was a great match of marketer and audience.

Harris: On the flip-side, what could a brand do to really blow it when marketing in games? Are there any absolute don'ts or things to watch out for?
Broady: I'm a believer that the best practices in marketing stay the same, regardless of the medium. Today's consumers will pay the most attention to messages that are relevant, funny and actually add something to an experience. If I were a marketer, I'd make sure that my agency were scouting out only games that were a great (and I mean great) fit for my brand or product.

Harris: What would you say is the biggest challenge for entertainment brands that want to incorporate their TV or film properties into a gaming experience?

Broady: It's interesting you ask that question, because we experienced this same issue, only in reverse. At CNET Networks Entertainment, our first site was GameSpot. As we rolled out new brands such as MP3.com, TV.com and FilmSpot, it took us several months before we stopped looking at the world through a gamer's perspective!
The biggest difference is that users consume most media, such as films and music, to relax. But users consume games to challenge themselves and to compete; games are very much a task-centered experience. How can I get from point A to point B? Entertainment brands need to make sure that their marketing message is relevant to the task at hand, or they will miss their target by a mile.

Harris: What are your thoughts on multiplayer online games? Do these capture the same user attention for brands as other gaming formats, or are they so singularly immersive that marketing messages are more likely to get overlooked?

Broady: Multiplayer online games are definitely intense, but with players' senses heightened to make that next kill, a well-thought-out marketing message has a great chance of being absorbed.

Harris: Is there a secret weapon of in-game marketing or a technique that marketers aren't yet embracing the value of?

Broady: The biggest secret weapon is to understand games. If you're a marketer and you don't play games, either start playing them or hire someone who does. Gamers are the farthest thing from a captive audience. In this case, knowledge truly is power.

Harris: What do you see as being the next big thing in game-related marketing? Anything on the horizon that you are excited about seeing?

Broady: I still remember being 11 years old in a movie theater, watching with rapt attention as Elliot laid a trail of Reese's Pieces to lure E.T. to out of the redwood forest. Reese's Pieces were on our shopping list for months afterwards. I'm still waiting for my "E.T." moment in gaming. But I'm sure my wait will be worth it; games are the perfect place for a product to move the story forward and at the same time make a huge impact in gamers' imagination.
I hope marketers out there will see that there's nothing to be scared of here. Only opportunity.

Your Go-To Guide for In-Game Advertising

2007-06-26T15:00:00.000+05:30

Get a complete overview of the in-game advertising sector, and see how to make best use of the opportunities available.

Game on

It seems hardly a day goes by without a fresh news article or story relating to in-game advertising. Faced with game-changing challenges in almost every aspect of their traditional B2C marketing communications landscape, the foremost brands and agencies are now moving out of the "test phase" with in-game advertising and investing dedicated budgets and infrastructure at a level that will have a measurable impact alongside other core marketing activities.

Early adopters such as Daimler Chrysler, Intel and Red Bull have already captured significant mindshare, but the variety of brands adopting the medium is now as broad as the game genres in which they appear, and every major territorial market is waking up to the unique dual benefits of engagement and measurability that in-game advertising brings.

This first article in a series of three will take a look at the specific categories that exist within in-game advertising, and the ideal uses and benefits of each.

Dynamic advertising

Dynamic advertising is a relatively new method of using embedded software, a dedicated back-end infrastructure and the internet to update, change and track the viewing of advertising placements in a game in real-time. The aggregation of a potentially unlimited number of games, genres and platforms into a network counteracts fragmentation and allows for extremely high potential reach, even when sub-sampled into specific geo-demographics.

Advantages. The advantages to this model include the ability to serve high value 'above the line' creative into a range of standardised ad formats. Dynamic in-game ads also provide extremely high accountability, thanks to a combination of a uniquely engaged audience, minimum size-on-screen impression thresholds and a CPM-style trading metric, effectively guaranteeing delivery. It also delivers the ability to go live with a new campaign within hours, and to localize messaging by territory.

Disadvantages. There are no obvious disadvantages, however segmented reach (territory, genre vertical, demographic, et cetera) has yet to reach critical mass, but it is growing very rapidly. Also there is yet to be a standard impression metric between networks, so it is important for marketers to understand the different options before embarking on an in-game campaign.

Future potential. Once network reach hits critical mass and metrics are proven and standardized, buying dynamic in-game advertising will be as natural and commonplace as TV, print, outdoor or online. Independent market forecasts are currently in excess of $1 billion by 2010.

Static advertising

The term "static advertising" has frequently been used as a catch-all for any non-dynamic opportunities, including product placement. However, static advertising is really the definition of billboard and logo placements that are "hardcoded" into the game environments before the game launch. This was the primary form of in-game advertising until the advent of the internet-enabled console and the subsequent dynamic ad networks.

Advantages. Static in-game ads allow you to reach every user of the game, regardless of internet connectivity, and they are still the only way to reach users of certain platforms, which are not yet enabled for dynamic advertising.

Disadvantages. It is currently impossible to accurately track ad viewing metrics, or to update or switch off campaigns. Long lead times for creative also need to be in place, due to game approval, mastering and distribution processes. There is also fairly limited geo-demographic reach in any one single game title compared to a dynamic buy.

Future potential. Static placements are likely to be substantially replaced by dynamic advertising inventory as volume and penetration of internet-connected game platforms increases.

Product placement

As with product placement on both the big and small screen, there are growing opportunities for brands to include products and product references within popular videogames. However, games are able to go that crucial step further than Hollywood by allowing the player to actually interact with a product and to experience product features and benefits in a completely contextual entertainment setting.
Advantages. No other medium allows marketers to get a fully operational, photorealistic and physically accurate model of their goods into millions of hands in a contextual setting before the product has even hit the shelves.

Disadvantages. Despite offering very obvious value, it is currently difficult to quantify the impact of in-game product placement in raw ROI terms. Opportunities are also limited and very specific, demanding a close working relationship with the game developer / in-game agency, and a healthy pre-launch time schedule and budget. In addition, as with static advertising, the hard-coded nature means it cannot be switched off or updated once launched.

Future potential. It is now possible for product placement to be tracked using similar technology to dynamic advertising, allowing for more advanced metrification. Some companies are also experimenting with being able to insert and update 3D geometry with a view to enabling fully dynamic product placement; however, as with a film script, the intrinsic nature of this kind of opportunity within a game design means that this is unlikely to become truly scaleable. Yet, you can expect to see the lines between product placement and branded content to blur, as new interactive content -- such as licensed cars in a racing game -- are offered free-of-charge or discounted to users via digital distribution channels such as the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Advergaming

Advergaming is the creation of a bespoke interactive game based around a brand, product or event. It typically refers to a web-based game due to the need for a simple, cost-effective mass-reach distribution channel. Advergames are often "re-skinned" versions of an existing game, featuring simple yet addictive gameplay mechanics.

Advantages. Advergaming can be 100 percent on-message and provides exclusive share of voice. Moreover, these types of games are typically very sticky, engaging users with easy-to-play, fun dynamics and often a high score element to keep people coming back.

Disadvantages. Advergames need to create their own audiences, and those audiences need to be relevant and in sufficient volume to make the time and expense of developing them worthwhile.

Future potential. More advanced console-based projects, such as the recent Burger King Xbox games, have brought production values up to date, and digital distribution channels on both console and PC will make finding the relevant audience easier.

Ed Bartlett is vice president of publisher relations Europe and co-founder of IGA Worldwide.

In-Game Advertising Dos and Don'ts

2007-06-26T14:33:00.000+05:30

The Mediaedge:cia strategic planning director shares a few words of wisdom about advertising in games.

In the current environment of evolving technologies and media fragmentation, consumers are in control of their viewing and entertainment choices more than ever before. Amid increasing commercial clutter, that control is challenging advertisers' ability to connect effectively with consumers through advertising and other forms of communication. As advertisers recognize a growing need for a closer interaction between the brand and the consumer, the search for any potential touch-points that can effectively deliver brands' messages never ceases.
Enter video games.
With revenue expected to break the $10 billion mark this year and garner over $300 million in advertising investment, the gaming industry represents a strong marketing opportunity.

Video gaming offers the opportunity to connect with traditionally difficult-to-reach consumers-- young affluent males. It attains the fourth-highest reach (after TV, internet and radio) against teens and heavy gamers. Not only can in-game advertising efficiently reach key consumers, it can also reach them while they are actively engaged with the medium.

How can marketers get smarter by playing in this environment?

In order to maximize the value of in-game communication, several studies have examined the role of brands within video games and players' attitudes towards gaming and in-game communication. The goal has been to learn how best to use games to create meaningful relationships between brands and consumers. The results are a set of insights and guidelines that will help deliver more effective in-game communication.

Ready to play?

A brand's presence should enhance the gaming engagement
Gaming's greatest benefit for brand communication is intense consumer involvement that can transfer over to a brand if the placement is executed in a relevant way. In fact, gamers are giving advertisers clear permission for brands to appear within a game-- so long as the brands serve as conduits for gamers' further immersion into the game, strengthen the game’s sense of escapism, and ultimately enhance the game’s alternate reality experience.

Brand and commercial content must be relevant to the game
As with all forms of communication, relevance of a brand to the game and its key target audience is essential. Hence, each in-game opportunity must be evaluated on its own merits. It's not about "are video games right for my brand?" but rather "which one of the games would be the ideal choice for my brand?" In other words, to prevent avoidance, the communication/commercial content must fit into the type and mood of the game and connect with its players. The key is to understand both the consumer and the game itself.

To maximize the value of in-game communication, marketers and planners must consider a game's purpose and plot, its genre and format, the profile of gamers, the specific brand placement within the game, how, when and where the game is played, as well as the particular culture around the game.

The closer the connection between the brand, the game and the player (i.e., a car in a racing game), the better the chances the game's involvement will transfer onto the brand.

Brands should feel like a natural part of the game
When discussing the value of in-game advertising, we talk about capitalizing on the high emotional investment the average gamer brings into the game. The last thing the gamer will tolerate is a disruption of the game's flow or delaying of the game's rewards caused by the appearance of a brand or its ad totally out of context. To leverage the gamer's genuine active engagement, a brand's creative should reflect the gaming environment and be tailored to an exact position within a game, so that the in-game communication does not feel like an ad, but acts as a natural extension of the game.
Game developers and ad-serving networks should work closely with brand owners and their agencies to optimize a brand’s involvement within a game.

Customization can strengthen gamers' engagement with a brand
Games provide an excellent opportunity for key consumers to experience some brands virtually, often under conditions not possible in the real world. Allowing players to personalize their own in-game experiences -- such as selecting a racing car or a team's logo uniform -- involves them further with the game, moving them deeper into the game's alternate reality. In many instances, this active involvement with in-game products and brands influences players' real-world brand perception and buying behaviors.

In-game communication must be measurable
The opportunity to reach the target audience in a highly involved environment carries a hefty anticipation of getting bang for your buck. Hence, several factors -- defining measurable performance metrics of in-game communication that will capture the degree of active involvement with a brand, improvement in the brand's recognition, perception, anticipated purchase behavior, et cetera -- are essential to the development of ROI metrics and, ultimately, the success of in-game communication.

As more of the above guidelines get incorporated into in-game communication efforts, the more likely it is that marketers will succeed at effectively connecting with a brand’s target consumers.

On the other hand, avoiding the "bombs" below will improve the chances for more effective in-game placements. You can score extra points by never…

Assuming video games will work with any brand
Interrupting, delaying or inappropriately altering game-play with in-game communication
Imposing on gamers' attention with communication that doesn't add to the game
Assuming real-world creative will work within a video game environment
Considering "advergames" as an inexpensive way of reaching a gaming audience.

Arming yourself with these guidelines of dos and don’ts when contemplating and executing in-game communication may just help you snatch the big winning score!

Fran Kennish is senior partner, director of strategic planning at MEC MediaLab, part of Mediaedge:cia. As leader of the planning research group, she oversees research needs, capabilities and dissemination of media knowledge across all North American offices.

IGA, Nielsen Partner to Track In-Game Ads

2007-06-22T16:27:00.000+05:30

In-game advertising firm IGA Worldwide announced that it has partnered with Nielsen Entertainment to conduct a landmark study of the effectiveness of advertising in videogames.

To produce the new research, which will compiled from June through August of this year, IGA has signed on two top videogame publishers – Electronic Arts and Activision – as well as a pair of Omnicom agencies: Organic and PHD. Nielsen will leverage the company’s BASES online research panels to measure videogame advertising’s ability to impact classic ad effectiveness yardsticks, such as awareness and intent to purchase.

According to IGA CEO Justin Townsend, while most major brands and ad agencies are already sold on the need to somehow engage the huge audience for videogames, they are clamoring for more ammunition to justify spending in the medium. “All the brands and the agencies say ‘we’ll increase budgets, just give us the research,’” he said.

Initially, this study will focus only on high-end retail PC games, rather than games played on major consoles like Sony’s PlayStation or Microsoft’s Xbox. High-end PC games also happen to be IGA’s specialty, as the company has existing partnerships with game developers like Activision to place advertising and product placements into games that are played using an Internet connection.

Yet Townsend emphasized the study’s collaborative nature as key to producing research that would establish new benchmarks for the growing in-game ad market. “You don’t want to do just one-off case studies,” he said. “We don’t want to set the standards based on our own business model but rather what the industry wants. There is so much impartiality here, at the end of the day, its about the results This should be a major event for the industry.”

Chad Stoller, executive director, emerging platforms at Organic, said that he believes that lessons learned from this research should be applicable for videogame advertising across the board. “There are a lot of players in this particular study,” he said. “It’s very collaborative. It’s ok with me that it is focused on PC games. These players tend to move the marketplace.” : Mike Shields - JUNE 19, 2007.

A Look Ahead: Consoles

2007-06-19T15:27:00.000+05:30

by Gerry Block

The history of gaming consoles is long and fabled. From the early travails of the first home consoles like the Magnavox Odyssey in the early 1970s, to the industry crashes in 1977 and 1983, to resurrection in 1985 and the 5 successive generations of console battles that have followed, the story is anything but boring. After a degree of stability was reached thanks to the NES in the mid-80s, a loose 5-year hardware cycle took root in the videogame industry. Spurred by the dream of owning the dominant platform in each console generation, historic heavyweights like Atari, Nintendo, and Sega, as well as more recent titans like Sony and Microsoft have invested billions in developing increasingly powerful and feature rich hardware. Today, a three-way battle rages between the 1.5-year old Microsoft Xbox 360 and newer Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. Though each console is still quite early in its lifespan, the successors to each are undoubtedly already on the drawing boards. Over the many generations of console wars that have gone down in history, the industry has proven itself both adventurous and highly reactionary. As such, when looking forward to the future of gaming consoles to come, the reality of what will eventually be released will likely be dictated as much by what proves successful in the current generation as what is available via technologic progress. To offer insight in what the future of console gaming holds, we offer our analysis and predictions for various aspects of what a 2010 future-console may contain.

Media Storage
Today, the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray war is still developing, and neither format seems ready to give in. By 2010, or thereabouts, there may well be a resolution that will dictate which of the optical formats it will be sensible to employ. Hardware cost for each, or the winner, will likely be quite low by this time, which will make an inclusion of the technology in a console more a matter of compatibility than a true feature. Unlike previous generations, however, physical media will likely not be the primary mechanism of content distribution for the next round of consoles. Digital distribution is the future, and is in fact already in place. Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace is offering both game and movie downloads today, and as increasingly fast broadband internet becomes ubiquitous and storage-cost on hard drives negligible, physical media will fall into decline. As such, expect all of the future-consoles to feature large hard drives for saving downloaded content. By 2010 it's likely that drives capable of hundreds of gigabytes, if not a terabyte or more, will be cost efficient enough to include in videogame consoles.

Hardware Features
In that it's unlikely that any of the future-consoles will aim to exist without the support of the internet, built-in Wi-Fi (probably 802.11n) will likely be an ubiquitous hardware feature. Supporting devices like digital cameras, handheld gaming platforms, and even credit cards are beginning to incorporate Wi-Fi features, which will hopefully lead to wireless convergence among them all by 2010. The manufacturers of gaming consoles have always hoped to capture the position of living-room media hub, and will likely aim to incorporate as much of this new technology as possible in addition to offering media-sharing capabilities similar to, and hopefully even better than, the Media Center Extender functionality of the Xbox 360 and media-hub features of the PlayStation 3, More than 25% of American homes now own HDTVs, and projections indicate we'll reach 50% and more long before 2010. As such, the future-consoles will likely all make HDMI their primary video-output, though we suspect legacy formats will also be supported through at least the next-generation of consoles.

Hardware Processing Power
Prior to the Nintendo Wii, the primary selling point of each and every new gaming console has been the promise of better graphics and more realistic games. Over the roughly 20 years since console gaming became truly established, we've progressed from pixilated models with little to no animation to our current generation of hardware that increasingly nears photo-real quality. Were it not for the recent, but so far unabated, massive enthusiasm for the Nintendo Wii, predicting yet more development of console processing power would be a no-brainer. However, if, and that's a big if, the current sales trends continue, hardware manufacturers may well aim lower in packing processing power into the next generation machines. Limiting hardware cost may become one of, if not the, major focuses in console design in reaction to the popularity of the cheap ($250) Wii and the struggles of the extremely powerful, but expensive ($600) PlayStation 3. Rather than aiming for the stars as Sony did in designing the 9-core Cell Processor, Microsoft and Nintendo's strategy of building consoles from roughly off-the-shelf components derived from PC-technology will likely be employed. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the strong graphical performance of the Xbox 360 demonstrates today. Nevertheless, such design necessitates that the conceptual future-consoles rely on hardware that is superseded in the PC space by the time the console actually sees the light of day.As such, a future-console intended for a 2010 release will likely share similarities with high-end PC gaming components released in late 2008 or 2009. Multi-core CPUs will be a given, though we'd guess we won't see more than 4-cores unless proprietary chips are designed. Multi-core GPUs are a possibility as well, though rumor suggests ATI's next major platform, the R700, will follow a route of multi-chips instead of multi-cores. Most exciting from the hardware point of view, however, will be the likely addition of dedicated physics processors or processor-cores dedicated to the task. The physics trend, which is in its infancy in PC gaming today, will likely be the next big graphical feature to follow up the "HD-generation" of consoles now on the market. Though games of today feature some real-time physics, with strong hardware support and developer familiarity that will develop by 2010 the future-consoles will likely be showcasing the fully-destructible worlds and true cloth and liquid physics modeling that are making games like Crysis the darlings of the current PC gaming industry.

Controllers
The reactionary quality of the gaming industry was blatantly revealed at E3 2006 when it became known that Sony, in response to the massive enthusiasm the Nintendo Wii's motion-based controller was generating, decided to add tilt-sensitivity to the PS3's SIXAXIS just weeks before the show. With Nintendo now the darling of the 'average-gamer' and reaping great benefits, it's not improbable that each and every future-console will make some form of motion-sensing a key element in its control interface. While we don't expect Nintendo competitors to abandon 'hardcore' controllers in favor of Wiimote like sticks, Wii-like pointing functionality will be assured.

Online Networks
The already-established console networks like Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store will develop and expand in new ways. The potential of leveraging a videogame console as a portal for digital content distribution will be great by 2010, which will mean such networks will expand the breadth of content they provide dramatically. IPTV (essentially cable-TV transmitted via the internet) is another avenue of content distribution that will likely be embraced by future-consoles, and, in fact, Microsoft is already demonstrating the Xbox 360's capabilities in this regard.

Conclusion
The combination of these various elements will likely be future-consoles rather akin to what is available now, simply more powerful and feature rich. Physics, in our estimation, will be the greatest graphical improvement leveraged by the next round of consoles, though software lighting effects like HDR, currently available only to high-end PC gamers, will also make an impact. The true avenue for exciting new capabilities in the next generation, we believe, will be the possibilities provided by digital distribution and IPTV. The gaming consoles of today have already established their utility in this regard, and as the paradigm develops in the coming years, it's likely few other hardware platforms will be able to match their accessibility and installation base.

Toyota Auris Ice Challenge - ATL Advergaming

2007-06-19T14:24:00.000+05:30

Featuring the new Toyota Auris, the « Toyota Auris Ice Challenge » is an online 3D game developed with the Virtools technology.

This close collaboration with the Japanese car manufacturer results in a high-quality application that allows you to take control of one of the 3 versions of the new Auris :
- 2 sports replica versions involved in the Andros Trophy 2006/2007, driven by the famous French drivers Alain Prost, Olivier Panis and Bertrand Balas
- A classic Auris version, whose European launch is scheduled for March 2007.

The "Toyota Auris Ice Challenge" is an online competition organised by Toyota France.

http://www.toyota-auris.fr/

With the concept of Advergaming, interactivity becomes much better then entertainment: a communication factor

2007-06-19T13:44:00.000+05:30

Advergaming is the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint. The term "advergames" was coined in January 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis who purchased the URL'S Advergames.com along with Adverplay.com. The term Advergames was later mentioned by Wired's "Jargon Watch" column in 2001, and has been applied to various free online games commissioned by major companies.

One of the most successful online advergaming portal has been Wrigley's Candystand.com. Launched by the LifeSavers Company in March 1997, Candystand.com reaches over 5MM unique users each month. The site features over 65 flash and shockwave games.