Play’s Republic

Yesterday’s The New York Times Magazine has a lengthy article about WoW gold farmers in China:
“The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer” by Julian Dibbell

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There’s been a lot of talk lately about the looming death of the Sim franchise (the Urbz expansion pack, for example, was already DOA). But here’s a new twist that is both appalling and ingenious:

Of course, we needn’t even think about the possible dissolution of the play frame, and concurrent intrusion of the real […]

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Ken Kutaragi, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment (and arguably, the person who propelled Sony into the video gaming business), is set to step down from his post on the 19th of June. Given the Playstation series’ lasting impression on the world of electronic gaming, this… well, it’s certainly something of a shock. It’s also […]

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(YAY, Kerrigan! I don’t know why but anyway I love Zerg, I love Undead.)

Alright, now it seems to be clear that I’m a Blizzard fan, but I can’t stop talking about Blizzard. There’s a rumor; Blizzard will be introduce Starcraft 2 (!!!!!!!) at 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational (2007 WWI). Even though all Blizzard said is […]

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I second Garrison’s disappointment with Spore’s delay and am floored by its impact on EA’s stock price. Game releases have become high-stakes, just like the movie industry. In Hollywood, so much of a studio’s financial stature and continuing existence depends on its ability to put out hits or, better yet, blockbusters. The […]

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In the very early planning stages for this course, I had intended to end the semester with the game Spore–which (at one point in time) was to have been released in March. But now the much anticipated game has been delayed. Again.
According to Next Generation, an industry newsletter:
Stocks were down over 3.5 percent, […]

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The NYTimes has an interesting article this afternoon about the return of vigor to the PC gaming sector. It is interesting to think about how this market segment will be served by Vista’s integration of a game-friendly menus and displays within the OS, as well as (soon) a transparent interface to Microsoft’s XBox Live […]

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On this wonderfully most green of days, we all take a moment to think about how to preserve our wonderful non-virtual environment. We go buy compact fluorescent light bulbs. We turn down our thermostat. We even plant trees. Online.
Dell’s presence in Second Life is growing and, as part of a current […]

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An industry newsletter this AM points to a new Harris poll on videogames and kids:
Percentage of households where children report that their parents limit “how much time they can spend playing games:”
* 54 percent of 8-12-year-olds
* 38 percent of 13-18s
Additionally, “71 percent of the younger group said they must abide by rules on the kinds […]

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