Sep 27 2008
According to mmogchart.com’s list of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) with 200,000+ subscribers, the most popular titles are, in order:
1. World of Warcraft
2. Runescape
3. Lineage
4. Lineage II
Two recent releases, Age of Conan and (very recently) Warhammer Online apparently have fewer than 70,000 and about 500,000 players respectively.
Dec 11 2007
This week, Tracey John interviews women in the gaming industry on the MTV Multiplayer blog. Already posted are interviews of Morgan Webb, co-host of G4TV’s X-Play, and Jane Pinckard, who’s famous for her blog Game Girl Advance.
The interviews bring to light many issues that women face in the industry — especially sexism that they face; topics range from Internet trolls to Jade Raymond. Morgan Webb puts it bluntly:
I don’t want to constantly read fan forums and find people who think I’m “hot” or something because then that’s not a normal life. I feel like you can’t really live like that because then your entire ego is going to be wrapped up in what random people think of you and what forum you land on that day because half the forums are going to be like “She’s dumb and she has ugly hair” or something. People are just going to write how your hair was ugly that day or how your outfit was stupid or how you look fat or whatever and it’s like, you know what? I’m trying, I’m working really hard, and I’m putting myself out there. What’s my other option? Sit at home? Play video games all day? Oh wait… [laughs]
The interviews continue tomorrow with Elspeth Tory of Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed.”
Nov 28 2007
Game #2: Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
In between the first person shooters and role-playing games, there is a serious shortage of adventure games these days. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is the first adventure game in years to break free of this stranglehold on the industry — it goes without saying that it is, bar none, one of the best games of 2006 — and I’m not the only one to say so.
You play Zoe Castillo, a free-spirited twenty-something who lives in Casablanca in the year 2199. After experiencing some seriously creepy nightmares — of which there is no explanation given for until near the end of the game — she quickly falls into a web of mystery that is sparked by an errand that her boyfriend asks her to do. What follows is a dimension-hopping adventure where she has to solve two world’s problems at the same time.
You also play other, minor characters throughout the game, though not for long periods; however, their impact on the story is significant.
While the game stands out for its brilliant narrative, which plays like a well-written novel, Zoe is portrayed in an extremely positive light — an independent, strong-willed woman who, over the course of the game, discovers inner strength and the will to fight against a corrupt organization bent on world domination.
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is available in stores and on Steam for the PC, and is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB.
Nov 18 2007
Nintendo has most definitely done something right when their latest Mario adventure on the Wii turns out to be the highest rated game ever made. I couldn’t agree more with the reviewers.
Super Mario Galaxy plants you onto a cosmic universe that is by far the most expanse ever featured in a Mario game. Each stage — referred to as galaxies in the game — offers a completely unique world with multiple challenges. This is definitely not Super Mario Sunshine, which comparatively was a huge disappointment.
The two features of the game that stand out the most are the fantastic level design and the equally fantastic sound design — this time, with a full orchestral score that is a joy to listen to while playing. Additionally, Shigeru Miyamoto, the game’s designer, says that this is the first time he’s implemented a satisfactory co-op mode into a Mario game; the second player can help (or hinder!) the first player’s progress throughout the adventure.
The controls feel fluid and work as well as the game does. The entire game, save for one or two challenges, offer an incredibly satisfying experience from start to end.
Nov 18 2007
The recent release of Assassin’s Creed, a highly-anticipated game from Ubisoft this holiday season, was recently marred by the release of a modified pornographic image depicting Jade Raymond, the game’s producer. The image surfaced on the popular web site Something Awful’s forums, though they claim that neither was it created or hosted by any of their members.
The fact that somebody had gone out of their way in an attempt to defame Ms. Raymond is worrisome, but it speaks volumes to how women are being treated in leadership roles in the video games industry. It appears that women pursuing leadership jobs in the industry have two choices: either accept a lesser position or be the target of a smear campaign that targets them personally.
It is sad indeed that this sort of attack is even tolerated at all.
In Ubisoft’s defence, they launched a cease-and-desist order against Something Awful in order to remove the content from the site. But as we all know, the Internet never forgets — the damage is already done.
Sep 07 2007
GameTap, a subscription service where one can play an enormous amount of video games for a single subscription fee ($9.95 USD), recently announced a new program targeted directly at independent developers.
Called the GameTap Indies program, it enables an independent developer’s game to be featured and available on the GameTap service. This is a significant step in bringing independent developers into the industry proper.
GameTap’s service is built for success of independent games. GameTap acts as publisher and creates marketing materials for all of the new games added to the service — which take the form of short “commercial”-style videos at around 30 seconds each. These videos are played back at several points in the GameTap client and on the website. Since users don’t have to purchase games that are available on GameTap, more are likely to try independent titles.
As of writing, GameTap offers subscriptions at $9.95 USD per month with the first month priced at $0.99 USD.
GameTap
GameTap Indies Submission Form
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS; Parent Company)
Aug 28 2007
In an industry that has a significant base of female participants (as noted by an earlier story), it’s surprising that there aren’t more great games that are targeted towards women. It is important in our day and age to promote gender neutrality in video games in order to attract the largest possible audience — and thus, the largest possible return on investment.
Game #1: Beyond Good & Evil
Beyond Good & Evil follows the adventure of Jade, who is a rebellious photographer that consequently runs an orphanage. After an alien attack and necessity to earn some money to turn the power on, she dives head-first into a situation that has the government chumming with aliens to become all-powerful.The game is great for anybody. The storytelling is superb, the voice-acting just as much so, and the cartoon-like style of the animation is fantastic. All the characters have a likable personality, which is rare in any form of media, and the game’s pacing is such that the player does not feel frustrated with it. The only gripe is that it’s a little short.
Additionally, and what I feel makes this game “work” so well, is that Jade is portrayed in a non-stereotypical fashion. She singlehandedly proves that girls and women can do whatever they want to do when they set their mind on it, which offers an extremely positive role-model for young girls.
Beyond Good & Evil was part of Ubisoft’s 2003 holiday lineup, which also included other top-notch titles like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. Not to mention that Beyond Good & Evil scored consistently high reviews in all major publications following its release. Unfortunately, due to strong competition from Ubisoft’s other games at the time, Beyond Good & Evil did not sell as strongly as hoped.
The game was released on all major platforms at the time — PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Gamecube. However, lackluster sales create difficulty in finding this game on the used games shelf. The PlayStation 2 version appears to be the easiest to find, but the PC version provides the most visually engaging experience from its high-resolution graphics. The Gamecube version is extremely difficult to locate. Your best bet is to try to find it on something like eBay.
Beyond Good & Evil was rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB and is appropriate for those 13 and up.
Beyond Good & Evil (official site, Ubisoft)
eBay search for “Beyond Good & Evil”
Ubisoft Home Page
Jul 11 2007
This may not come as a surprise to many. Joystiq reports today from Nintendo’s E3 2007 Keynote address:
E3 officially starts today and runs until the 13th. With a new format this year, the convention takes place in smaller locales, such as hotel convention centres. Additionally, the guest list is shortened: only invited media representatives and exhibitors and their staff are admitted.
Engadget & Joystiq live from Nintendo’s E3 2007 Keynote
E3 Insider
Jul 03 2007
The International Game Developers Association, or IGDA for short, is a not-for-profit organization that brings individuals in the game development industry together to foster communication between developers. The IGDA also runs multiple special interest groups which focus on a particular issue currently in discussion within the industry — of particular interest to myself, there is a Women In Game Development group.
This group focuses, perhaps obviously, on women who work in the game development industry. Of particular interest is their mailing list, called women_dev, which has moderate activity, and discusses topics of interest to women who are interested in game development — anybody can join this list, male or female.
The group is a good springboard for young women interested in the game development world to get acquainted with women who actually work in it, fostering a positive opinion of video games development — after all, it’s not just a “man’s world” anymore.
International Game Developers Association (IGDA)
Women In Game Development SIG
Women_dev Mailing List
Jun 17 2007
Microsoft Canada held a conference called EnergizeIT in Toronto yesterday that I had the pleasure of attending. The conference was to showcase some of Microsoft’s new technologies to an enthusiast crowd. There were multiple streams that each attendee could participate in — from security, to networking, and finally, to game development, the one that I decided to go to.
The game development stream showcased, mostly, Microsoft’s new XNA framework, which is freely available and allows individuals to write fairly complex DirectX-based games in C# with little effort. These games can then play on your Windows-based PC or on an Xbox 360. This framework is exciting news, and the fact that Microsoft is taking a more proactive approach to game development is a good sign.
However, out of a room of about 60 people, approximately 5 were female, which isn’t a good sign that the game development world is including a whole lot of women. The XNA community, as well, doesn’t appear to have a lot of women developers, either — too bad.
