According to a recent report from BusinessWeek Magazine, the online gaming market will reach $13 billion by 2011. This would be a 400% increase from the $3.4 billion market last year.
Over that time period, North America could challenge longtime leader Asia as the top market, but only time will tell with that one.
The full 750-page report is from market research firm DFC Intelligence. That's a lot of reading!
RuneScape Boards is one of the fastest growing forums/communities for RuneScape members and players.
Check it out at http://www.rsboards.com.
Interested to hear about other forums and why you like/don't like them ...
If you love online gaming and want to avoid any kind of fees (except for Internet access, of course), GreenAppleGames.com is offering free online "casual games" for internet browser play. These games do not require any downloads, and a user can play the game inside the window of an Internet browser.
Games include the top-selling Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects and Poker Superstars 2 as well as Mystery Case Files: Huntsville, Big Kahuna Reef, Slingo and more.
Actually some fun games; check them out!
Amid all of the massive hubbub over today's opening of The Da Vinci Code, we seem to forget that (of course) there is a video game connected to the movie, too.
The movie opens today and the game, from 2K Games, is released today, too, for Xbox, PS2 and PC.
Will it be easier to buy the game than see the movie?
RuneScape launched its latest game engine upgrade today! Here's the details from www.runescape.com:
"This is the biggest upgrade to the underlying engine which runs the game since we launched the new 3D engine two years ago, and I've been working on it for literally months. However this time the changes are more under the hood, which means (if everything goes to plan) you shouldn't actually notice a huge amount of difference!
"The game engine upgrades this time are focused on allowing us to make the game bigger and on providing support for all sorts of features we want to do in future updates. These are the sort of changes that you won't see immediately, but do allow us to do all sorts of things in the future which we've been dying to do, but couldn't previously.
"However, there will still be quite a few improvements that you will see immediately, such as:
"But of course it mainly consists of underlying changes to let us do more exciting stuff in upcoming updates ..."
SanDisk answered the call for the growing demand from power users of the popular Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) by introducing today a 4-gigabyte (GB) SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo Game card that can store up to 64 hours of MP3 music tracks, 20 or more hours of movies/videos/film trailers, 12 hours of game saves, or 4,000 digital still images. The announcement was made at E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where SanDisk is showing its new gaming products in Meeting Rooms 6809 and 6811 in Kentia Hall. Say what you want, Electronic Arts (EA) is still one of the top producers of video games (been so for a long time, too) for every platform.
EA is using E3, which opens today in LA (and runs through May 12) to showcase the following games:
EA officials say The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II for the Xbox 360 will bring players into the heart of Middle-earth to live the battles seen in the blockbuster New Line Cinema films and classic J.R.R. Tolkien literary fiction.
NCAA Football 07 on the Xbox 360™ features detailed graphics relaying the authenticity of the stadiums, mascots and marching bands of college football.
From the mind of Will Wright, the creator of The Sims, comes “SPORE for the PC, an epic journey that takes players from the origin and evolution of life through the development of civilization and technology and eventually all the way into the deepest reaches of outer space.
Sony and Microsoft used to compete head to head in video gaming consoles, but with Sony announcing PlayStation 3 prices at $499 (basic) and $599 (souped up), they now seem to be at a major competitive disadvantage with Microsoft on a key issue -- price. Xbox 360 is at $299 and $399.
And where does the new Nintendo box fit into all of this?
Gaming enthusiasts unite!
Tomorrow, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), the world’s largest gaming conference, opens in the city of angels (Los Angeles); it runs through May 12.
New programs will be unveiled by such leading companies as Entertainment Arts, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, but the biggest buzz this year will be new gaming consoles. Will the new Sony Playstation 3 blow away Microsoft’s Xbox 360? What do you think?
Here's the IGN survey synopsis... Console Makers Must Court PlayStation 2-Owner Fans of "Lost" who Listen to Gorillaz on their MP3 Players and Eat at Taco Bell, According to IGN May 1, 2006 - Brisbane, Calif. - In the race to be the leading next-generation console, any of the three manufacturers can take the prize, according to results of a recent study by IGN Entertainment's GamerMetrics and IGN Research Solutions. The "IGN Research: Next-Gen Console Allegiance" survey shows that while 36% of the IGN.com audience claims loyalty to the PlayStation 3, the spread is narrow enough for the undecided 14% to make the critical difference. 28% say they have the strongest allegiance to the Xbox 360, while 22% pledge their faithfulness to the Nintendo Wii.
IGN's survey also profiled and analyzed the undecided gamer by lifestyle choices, media consumption habits, favorite brands and game genre preferences to understand what Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony need to consider as they strategize to emerge as the victor. One noteworthy quality about the undecided gamers is the fact that they prefer role-playing games (RPGs), while the favorite genre of the entire survey sample is Action. This, coupled with the fact that 79% currently own a PlayStation 2 - traditionally considered the top console for players of RPGs - might give Sony the edge over their competitors. Favorite brands of the undecided gamers include Google, Apple, Coke, Taco Bell, Target and Dell. The group's affinity for youth-focused brands that offer quality products for reasonable prices might favor Nintendo's next-gen approach.
Gamers undecided about their next-gen purchases seem to spend more time and money consuming their entertainment at home. More have sizable DVD collections than go out to the movies (67% own at least 20 DVDs, while only 50% went to see a movie within the 30 days before taking the survey), and many (47%) plan to buy an HDTV. They won't be using it to watch MTV, however. Only 17% watch "Punk'd," while an even smaller 10% watch "The Real World." Undecided gamers will instead be watching their choice television drama, "Lost," as will those allied with the Xbox 360, a positive sign for Microsoft. PlayStation 3 enthusiasts by and large prefer "24," while Nintendo Wii devotees favor "Smallville."
Other findings about the undecided gamer include:
• 70% own a handheld gaming device (their preferred handheld being the PSP)
• 90% regularly download music from the internet; 60% own MP3 players
• Favorite band is Gorillaz (which is true also for those most excited about the Nintendo Wii. Xbox 360 fans prefer Nirvana, while those awaiting the PlayStation 3 most enjoy Eminem.)
IGN's research suggests that Microsoft must lose its reputation as being first and foremost for the First-Person Shooter crowd to appeal to a broader market. Nintendo must appeal to the consumer who can not afford to spend close to $500 on a new console and Sony must reach out to their loyalists by promoting backwards capability with the PlayStation 2 and offering functionality with the PSP. IGN Entertainment's network of videogame-related properties which includes IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, Direct2Drive and others is the web's number one videogame information destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. GamerMetrics data is based on more than 30 million users' activity on these, and on a pool of more than half a million users volunteering which titles they own, want and are evaluating. IGN's "Next-Gen Console Allegiance" survey is available at no charge to members of the press, industry analysts and clients of IGN.
