Sorry for the light posts this week, dudes. It's been a really busy one so far, so I thought I'd share what I've been up to.
Firstly, I started reviewing for Variety, and Devil May Cry 4 was my inaugural effort. You can read the review, or to summarize: it looks unbelievable, is better than the three previous games in terms of plot/gameplay balance and characters, and keeps the franchise spirit well intact.
I also have done a few interviews at Gamasutra this week:
I talked to Jon Epstein, boss of the in-game ad network Double Fusion. With the rise of ad-supported biz models for online games, I wanted to find out his reaction to some of the console publishers' skepticism about just how much potential the swelling in-game ad industry really has. Highlights -- Epstein agrees ads will never "bankroll" console game development, but believes the potential in online gaming is just beginning to be tapped. Epstein's view jives well with that of Justin Townsend, capo of rival in-game ad network IGA Worldwide, with whom I spoke late last week.
Did you catch Live Gamer's announcement a little while back? Their aim is to legitimize player-to-player purchase and sale of virtual items on a publisher-supported transaction platform, and they just launched somewhat recently. They're working closely with Sony Online Entertainment, and now SOE's Station Exchange platform, used with EverQuest II, is being replaced by Live Gamer Exchange, a sort of marriage between SOE's Station Exchange technology and Live Gamer's. Of course, MMO companies -- and players -- get a bit hot over this issue. I interviewed SOE president John Smedley about the venture and the issues around it.
This stuff gets kinda interesting. Blizzard, for example, and one of my good friends who is a WoW-obsessive, feel such things don't belong in games. It's still a controversial issue, but SOE's primarily keen to prevent massive losses from gold farmers. It's not so much that those farmers are making money that they want, but that these gold farmers steal credit card numbers and use them to create more farming accounts. The credit card companies reimburse the victims for the fraudulent charges -- and then they fine the hell out of SOE. Smedley explains just how bad a problem this has become. By the numbers, it's cost SOE a million dollars. Wow.
I don't usually point you guys to Worlds in Motion stuff -- it's more analogous than overlapping to the game world, but what do you think of this idea? It's called PMOG, and it seems to have found a way to make web surfing into a multiplayer online game. Is this something you'd want to try?
Anyway, back to the beehive! More soon.
