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NOV ´11
November cuts the days shorter and makes the evenings longer. But we don't complain. It means extra time for games! Or at least it feels like that. Nothing better than turning on your console and plunging into the couch straight after dinner to not come out of there till it's time to go to bed. So let's see what new things are there to entertain us on these long autumn nights. November is a top gaming month!
Advance_Gaming
Advance Blog
GAMES FOR HEALING We wrote about Jane McGonigal before. The blue-eyed angel of positive gaming is taking centre stage again. This time she is pushing her positive message about gaming a bit further. She showed the world that games can make someone a better person, but she is now opening our eyes even further, for games that can heal us. Yes, like medicine. After suffering a traumatic brain injury back in 2009, good old Jane developed a game to help herself heal. It was a low point in her life and she needed something to get her back on her feet. The game she developed back then, "SuperBetter", is now turning into a big gaming platform where everyone can create their own healing games. No matter if you are a drug addict or you have been sitting at home with a broken leg. The SuperBetter platform will do this by keeping you curious, optimistic and motivated through the healing period. In the process you will also be able to get your friends and family involved. They become crucial allies in helping you win the healing game.
There are two parts to the game. To start with you get 7 missions to create the basis of your SuperBetter experience. After that the game becomes your creation and it is up to you and your family and friends to use this part to achieve your real-world health goals.
These goals could be as simple as being a bit less stressed. Big online shoe-seller Zappos is already using it to lower its employees’ stress levels with the help of a positive emotion game and social connection. SuperBetter is based on research in psychology, neuroscience and medicine, and combines this with proven game-mechanics to make you addicted to healing. If the fun stuff isn't good enough for you, SuperBetter gives you more information on the science behind it, showing you what suddenly made you think healing is so much fun.
VIDEO
www.superbetter.com
XBOX TV COMING Don't call it a game console stupid! These days the big shiny box we used to play on for hours is turning into something much bigger. The evolution is clear, those boxes are turning into full-blown entertainment consoles with a central place in the living room. This Christmas, an extra entertainment layer will be added to that: television. Microsoft has signed over 40 deals with television and video-on-demand companies to distribute content through the Xbox. Combine that with the search capacities of Microsoft's own Bing search engine and the Kinect motion controller and you have television magic. Imagine waving your hand to get to the next show or just using Bing's voice search to find your favorite episode of Friends. "Can I have the episode where Chandler and Joey have a duck?" Great times ahead.
www.xbox.com
source: xbox.com
SHOOT HIM! Hide behind that rock, and take out your 80mm to shoot the bastard! It could be a scene in Warco, a new first-person shooter where you don't point your gun but your camera on the bad guys. Working together with a journalist and a filmmaker, the guys at Defiant Development in Brisbane are putting a game together to let you experience what it is to be an embedded journalist in a warzone. The idea comes from Tony Maniaty, an Australian war journalist who has been covering news from the worst places in the world. To get things going he teamed up with Robert Connolly, the director of Balibo, a movie about the deaths of Australian journalists during the 70's in East Timor. Only later, the development studio got involved. Warco, what is short for 'war correspondent', promises to be a refreshing new kind of first-person shooter in which you play as journalist Jesse DeMarco who both films and edits his news reports. According to the developers it is a game about making choices, about finding ways to tell your story and navigating between right and wrong. Warco is both a story telling engine and an action adventure with a new perspective. But we silently hope that it does come with at least a pistol or a knife. Just in case.
VIDEO
www.defiantdev.comsource: defiantdev.com
GLITCH If you’re not really comfortable with the aggressive vibe of World of Warcraft, maybe this new free-to-play MMO is something for you. Glitch, the brainchild of the team behind Flickr, is hard to define. It takes place in the imagination of 11 ancient giants, and believe us, ancient giants have a very weird imagination. Glitch is a little gem to explore with your friends. The web-based game keeps on expanding and players help shape the open world. According to Stewart Butterfield, CEO and co-founder, Glitch is an experiment in culture building. It provides raw materials and a stimulating environment. But it's the players who bring the infinite world alive, shaping it with their imagination. So a little bit like that long lost Second Life, but in 2D and a little bit cuter? Watch the video and decide for yourself.
VIDEO
www.glitch.com
source: glitch.com
DISNEY GOES IPAD We are all playing around with our iPads here at Advance like we’re little children. But what if we were really children? What would we be playing on dad's iPad? Angry Birds for the 10 millionth time? Not anymore. With Disney's new toy there is no going back to the old days. From now on the virtual and the real world are one, just like kids see it. Pick up your favourite heroes from the Cars movie and let them drive over the screen of your iPad. No worries, the skid marks are only going to be virtual. The Appmates, as they are called, are miniature figures with special sensors mounted on the bottom to interact with the iPad. Your device will know which of the characters is being put on its shiny glass surface and will then change the game accordingly with different sounds and dialogue. Maybe a good idea for Christmas. At least if you want to share your iPad 90% of the time.
VIDEO
SOCIAL GAMERS STICKING TO THEIR MONEY How would our lives be without social gaming? There are 37 million social gamers in the U.S. alone. But who are they? And what do they want? Together with game developer RockYou, the research guys at Interpret got their hands dirty to dig to the bottom of this 3-4 year old question. When they finally emerged from the depths of Facebook and other places of uncontrolled social fun, they came to the conclusion that most social gamers are women. Three-to-two to be precise. And it seems like a big group of them would prefer to keep spending their money on shoes instead of games. A whopping 40% of social gamers said they would never pay for a social game, and only 11% said they would pay for a subscription. But the Interpret researchers didn't only come back with bad news. When it comes to in-game advertising, 45% of social gamers are willing to endure this in return for extra virtual currency. While 41% wouldn't mind reviewing or sharing the game experience for extra in-game bonuses. Seems like there is a big future ahead for "free"! But hasn't there always been?
www.interpretllc.com
www.rockyou.com
source: disneystore.com
ZYNGA STARTS BUILDING ITS OWN NEST Little boys grow up. And when they do, they want to spread their wings and leave home. The same apparently goes up for social game developers. After having made their name and fortune on Facebook, the master brains behind Farmville and Cityville are now ready to start building their own little house. Zynga is starting a gaming platform boys and girls! And why wouldn't they? Every month they have to pay rent to big daddy Facebook anyway. They just might keep that part for themselves from now on. Putting the money directly into their own pockets. Which probably explains the name of their new home, Zynga Direct. At this new hangout spot, players will of course be able to connect to each other and be social as always. Both on computer and on mobile. The aim? "To create socialness about the games and not just within the games." Get it? Zynga won't be leaving Facebook anytime soon though. Facebook is still a nice and warm home to be, but one day you can be sure Zynga will be moving all its boxes to its new house.
www.zynga.com
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CONTROLLER Step aside Microsoft and Sony. Motion control is so 2010! At least in Japan, where Tech Arts 3D, developer of the game 3D Custom Girl, will release the world's very first vagina controller. Yes, you read that right. The USB Onacon fake vagina will be in stores at the end of november and will be bundled with 3D Custom Girl. A game in which you design your very own virtual girl to do things with we don't really want to know about. But hey, there must be a market!
HOW TO GET 225 MILLION DOWNLOADS Develop some cute virtual 3D creatures that respond to touch and repeat everything you say. Then let people record funny videos within the app and let them post it on as many channels as possible. Bingo! Oh and don't forget the Asian Android market. Or as Outfit7, the developer behind ‘Talking Tom’ and other 3D talking creatures puts it: "We have users in over 100 countries, around half of our audience is in Asia and we're seeing growth biased towards Android that's consistent with its scale in that market." And let's admit, we would have forgotten about that ourselves. So, talking 3D creatures. We can only imagine the IP possibilities. Micky Mouse, time to polish your shoes!
www.outfit7.com
38%
…of kids age 2-17 play mobile games. Coming from only 8% in 2009. How many kids have an iPod Touch? Put your little hands up!
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