The online games business, although already massive, is extra special right now because of the timing. Timing is critical in business, and this market is emerging as the next evolutionary step in online entertainment.
It's about to explode.
The market today (2007) is approximately worth $164 USD per second ($5.2 billion USD annually), and in the next 156 weeks is expected to grow to $412 USD per second – of every minute of every day, and growing.
Venue: The Bridge, London
Date: 6-8 October
Format: 6th & 7th Conference and Expo 8th Workshops
In Brief:
In their second year the Conference theme will be:
‘Enterprise, education and entertainment, harnessing virtual worlds for twenty-first century advantage.’ Issues covered include the emergence of virtual worlds for competitive advantage and harnessing social networks, virtual worlds and MMOs to create communities.
The Workshops will cover Planning and Rolling Out Enterprise Virtual Worlds Applications,
Establishing Metrics Key Performance Measurement for Virtual Worlds and MMO and Legal and Tax
Update for Virtual Worlds.
The Expo is the place to attend presentations, view demos and to social network.
Register Now For Discount Pricing: www.virtualworldsforum.com
Paddlong is a newly released uVme black and white game based on the old classic-style Pong, which was one of the first computer game ever made. This should bring back memories to some of the more mature gamers out there. It appeared first in 1972 as a Atari game with paddles that were simple white lines and a white dot as a ball, based on table tennis (ping pong) it was the world first popular video game! Played both in the home on consoles and in arcades.
Paddlong has been added to the uVme classic section, which includes Sam serpent and Tetrablock.
Paddlong is played using the up and down arrow on the keyboard to move your paddle up and down, the key to playing paddlong is to hit the ball at an angle, this seems to be the best way to get the ball passed the opposing paddle. Although the Paddlong game has been updated and made much more fun and exciting to play, some things have not changed at all! I still seem to be rubbish at it! Must get back to some more practise…
Network marketing’s continuing boom attracts millions of people. But too many beginners, daunted by initial obstacles, give up in those first twelve, crucial months. This, the ultimate beginner’s guide from two of the industry’s best-known and most successful people, will helpneophytes not just survive, but thrive! Also includes strategies for transitioning to network marketing from other professions.
Synopsis
The Yarnells believe that success in multi-level marketing is largely dependent upon getting right the recruitment, training and support for the downline prospects. These latter are crucial to building a successful marketing network.
A valuable guide for anyone delving into network marketing for the first time. The first year is often the most challenging, and for some the most discouraging. . Learn how to deal with rejection, recruit and train, remain focused, stay enthusiastic and much more. This book explains ideas and provides practical advice that will expand your knowledge of the network marketing business module.
Don Failla is a legend in multi-level marketing. His classic guide: The 45 Second Presentation That Will Change Your Life. is geared around a series of ingenious presentations that you can make quickly to prospects using elementary line drawings on a napkin. Simplistic and fun but they actually have the power to educate and influence people.
This is not a book about pitching and selling. It’s about teaching the reader this simple method which allows you to learn how to build a network of associates. Failla teaches you a step by step plan for building and sustaining a profitable network marketing business. Including instruction on organizing, motivating, mentoring, working with people and a manual in psychology as well.
A powerful must have business guidebook.
Many libraries are providing video games for hire to draw teenagers and young adults through their doors. Yep, they’ll come into the libraries in droves, but is that a good idea?
Our vision of the library as a place for contemplation and studying, with the occasional homeless person, does not include a hangout for gamers. Although a large percentage of public libraries allow video games on their computers.. For the majority of teenagers this is the perfect place to go on to Facebook or MySpace social networking sites and talk to friends or listen to music Yes, I know libraries nowadays often have more DVDs than Blockbuster and more computers than the local IT training centre. But…..
CDs, audio books and graphic novels can be checked out along with books. Children’s story time, reading groups, knitting groups and lectures. Some libraries have youth groups, local history meetings, computer training (for ALL ages)… but still. Video games? Whatever next!
Libraries are no longer just about books and reading, more a recreational and social centre. A place to meet new friends and where locals share their knowledge and of course have a good gossip!
If you’re worried about video games promoting violent or addictive behaviours, rest assured that library staff are concerned too. But there is very strong evidence that online games aid concentration, enhance problem-solving skills and relieve stress.
And did I say that they get kids into the library? Maybe they may even take out a book!
Should libraries stock video games — or ban them?
We are all aware that it is important to keep our brains active. Like any other muscle in our bodies, we need to exercise our brains to improve memory and concentration levels. To keep our brains sharp, we need to improve many brain skills such as spatial reasoning and problem solving.
A perfect and fun way to do this is to play online games. As well as providing a fun experience, they can provide your brain with excellent exercise for all ages. It is not difficult to find a game to suit you. The choice and availability of online games is vast. Arcade games, word games, puzzle games, masses of sports games, problem solving games, plus many others.
Tetra Block is a good example of a problem solving game based on the popular Commodore 64 classic Tetris. It is easy to play but offers enough complexity and difficulty to keep your brain well challenged. Playing games online is a highly enjoyable and relaxing pastime and provides an outlet away from the problems and stresses of our daily lives.
Interpreting patterns in games such as Fruit Frenzy and Blob Factory improve concentration and your speed as you move up the levels. The structure and general complexity of many of these types of games, although relatively simple to play, enables players to gain and improve skills that will in fact be useful within their work and student lives.
Following the recent worm outbreak on Facebook and MySpace, security experts and the social networking sites are working to prevent future attacks.
It was reported that less than .002 percent of Facebook users were affected by the worm. Everyone who was infected were notified. The culprit was a piece of web code that looked like innocent user-generated content but it multiplied across the network.
Facebook and Myspace have worked hard to solve the problem.
“They seem to be proactive at dealing with the situation and have shut it down fairly quickly. They have their own anti-spam service within the system, and that’s what helped it from spreading far and wide.”
“The issues we saw on PCs 10 or 15 years ago, we’re now seeing on social network platforms. Unless social networks are careful, they will be facing the same spam-type issues that we see in email spam. The big challenge for the sites is to accept user generated content that won’t do anything malicious to the website.”
Scrabulous - an unofficial, online version of Scrabble – launched in 2007 on the social networking site Facebook had over 1,000,000 monthly users. The owners with the rights to the game in the U.S. and Canada, Hasbro, filed suit in federal court in New York City against Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla, the Calcutta-based brothers who created Scrabulous. Mattel, which owns the Scrabble rights in the rest of the world, had earlier issued cease-and-desist letters to the Agarwalla brothers, but they ignored them. Facebook has now taken the application off of Facebook in North America
A new application has been started on Facebook – Save Scrabulous! Reportably with more than 10,000 signatures. The Agarwalla brothers have fought back and introduced a new word game called ‘Wordscraper’ in January, which is already gaining popularity from Facebook users.
The question is was this a sensible business decision from Hasbro? Missing the opportunity to capitalize on Scrabulous’s success in the Social Networking world, which all businesses want to embrace, and allienating Scrabulous fans.
What do you think?
Will you miss Scrabulous?
The Phoenix Generation: Insights into Chinese Consumers is a comprehensive lifestyle study focused on Chinese consumers ages 16 to 30. Pearl Research’s study covers Internet and technology product adoption and trends; lifestyle trends such as the growth of hip-hop, street basketball and the NBA. The study also provides exclusive consumer segmentation and an analysis of the Chinese middle-class.
The Phoenix Generation study is based on 200 in-depth one-on-one interviews across both first- and second-tier cities in China and more than 450 survey respondents.
Key findings of “The Phoenix Generation: Insights into Chinese Consumers” include:
Popular Trends – Street basketball, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and hip-hop have grown in popularity as Chinese consumers embrace new cultural experiences. Pearl Research takes a deep dive into these segments with ethnographic research and how marketers have leveraged these trends to connect with Chinese consumers. Brands such as Nike, Adidas and Li Ning have benefited from this as Chinese youth aspire to look like their favorite sports stars.
Internet and Online Games Trends – China has more than 210 million internet users making it the largest Internet population worldwide. However, Internet usage in China tends to differ as 100 million of these users are under the age of 25, thus are more likely to seek out entertainment content. Based on Pearl Research’s online survey, online gaming (60%) and chatting (65%) were cited as top reasons to go online. Approximately 51% of the study sample enjoyed playing multiplayer online games (MMORPGs) while casual games were also popular at 44%. This survey includes data about monthly entertainment spend; mobile phone, MP3 and PC penetration; PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii hardware adoption and Internet café usage trends.
Consumer Segmentation – Pearl Research has devised detailed consumer segmentation to understand the wide range of Chinese consumers. Urban incomes have reached $5,000 in first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. Allison Luong, Managing Director of Pearl Research, “As incomes rise in China, “Chuppies” or Chinese Yuppies are an increasingly common sight. Many place their savings into purchasing homes, cars, and investing in stocks and bonds. They are at the forefront of China’s burgeoning middle class and spending boom.”
Unique Websites – Pearl Research has compiled a list of unique websites in China. These sites were selected based on their popularity and growth potential. Pearl Research has included Xiaonei.com, Blogchina.com, Sky-fire.com and Dangdang.com as some of the sites to watch.
Some Conclusions - On basketball in China, Chinese Hip-Hop, popular websites, Internet café usage, that PC’s are major gaming platforms, online games and downloads are top online activities and that a significant portion of the Chinese youth are dual gamers. Plus many other fascinating statistics.
It has been forecast that more people will watch the Beijing Games online than any other Olympics Whether it is with the proliferation of social networking sites such as FaceBook or MySpace, sharing links across Twitter or on YouTube, spectators will be catching up with the Olympics, live or catchup, time and time again.
Thousands of blogs have sprung up with many individuals wanting to share personal Olympic event videos online This is a one off opportunity for media researchers to log, not only how long viewers watch the Olympic Games, but also the platforms they use – online, cell phone, TV…
The 2008 Games will also serve as a test of the ability of the Internet to reliably and securely distribute massive amounts of live and delayed digital video coverage from any given event.