| Wheii.com | gaming

Main menu

Sub menu

A Vision for the $25 billion-a-year video-game market

October 2005:
"In the future the interactive experience may no longer be limited to the four corners of your TV or PC screen.
Games may come to fill an entire room, like the holodeck in Star Trek."
-- Shigeru Miyamoto, senior managing director, Nintendo.

Haptic Controllers

August 2006: The next big thing in computer game control, the handset for Nintendo's forthcoming Wii console, will for the first time offer 3D-motion sensing too. Players will be able to swing an on-screen baseball bat or tennis racket or wield a virtual paintbrush, just by moving the controller through the air. When it comes to haptic feedback, however, even the Wii's controller is limited to little more than a simple shake and rumble.

For most gamers, the first truly sophisticated haptic controller will be the Novint Falcon, scheduled to launch next year. It got rave reviews when it was demoed in May at the E3 computer games expo in Los Angeles. Gamers were suddenly able to "feel" the weight and recoil of a gun and experience the sensation of wading through water in games such as the shoot-'em-up Half-Life 2. The Falcon controller consists of a spherical gripper connected to a base by three mechanical arms. As you move it around, motors in the base apply forces to each arm to create resistance in three dimensions. This gives the illusion of touching a solid object or the push of a moving one. The Falcon is a simplified version of haptic devices that already allow computer artists to sculpt shapes in virtual clay, and give surgeons tactile feedback as they manipulate robotic arms. While specialised devices can cost more than $10,000, Novint says the Falcon will sell for just $100.

Industry News, Associations, Events

2006: Top 10 Industry Facts ( Source ESA )

1.
US computer and video game software sales grew six percent in 2006 to $7.4 billion – almost tripling industry software sales since 1996.
2.
Sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play computer and video games.
3.
The average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years.
4.
The average age of the most frequent game buyer is 40 years old. In 2006, 93 percent of computer game buyers and 83 percent of console game buyers were over the age of 18.
5.
Eighty-five percent of all games sold in 2005 were rated "E" for Everyone, "T" for Teen, or "E10+" for Everyone 10+. For more information on ratings, please see www.esrb.org.
6.
Eighty-seven percent of game players under the age of 18 report that they get their parents’ permission when renting or buying games, and 89 percent say their parents are present when they buy games.
7.
Thirty-five percent of American parents say they play computer and video games. Further, 80 percent of gamer parents say they play video games with their kids. Sixty-six percent feel that playing games has brought their families closer together.
8.
Thirty-eight percent of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30%) than boys age 17 or younger (23%).
9.
In 2005, 25 percent of Americans over the age of 50 played video games, an increase from nine percent in 1999.
10.
Forty-four percent of game players say they play games online one or more hours per week. In addition, 32 percent of heads of households play games on a wireless device, such as a cell phone or PDA, up from 20 percent in 2002.

August 2005: Germans had spent 466 million euros on video games last year, 15 percent more than in the previous year but still a tiny proportion of the estimated $25 billion spent globally on games software and hardware each year. Germany, with a population of more than 80 million, lags far behind not only the United States and Japan but also smaller European neighbors Britain and France in terms of the proportion of households that have games consoles.

Gamasutra
The Art & Science of Making Games
IGDA
International Game Developers Association
Independent Games Festival
E3 2005 MMOG REPORT

Faster Visual Processing

Researchers found that gamers who devote much of their free time to Grand Theft Auto and Super Mario may be able to scan their environment and spot the target of their search more quickly than non-gamers can. Gamers' brains don't appear to have any specialized search strategy, they're just faster, explained lead study author Dr. Alan Castel, a post-doctorate fellow in psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. What this means for real life is uncertain. The advantage video game players held over their peers was on the order of 100 milliseconds, Castel noted.
SOURCE: Acta Psychologica, June 2005.

Virtual Worlds, Metaverse

Snow Crash, a book by Neal Stephenson that featured a virtual reality-based successor to the Internet called Metaverse.

Second Life
Linden Lab is the creator of Second Life. Philip Rosedale, Change Leader of Linden Lab: "I'm not making a game, I'm building a coutnry".
Second Life, blog
Terra Nova, blog
slfuturesalon, blog
Rate my avatar
There
Virtual world where people can play, shop, and chat with others.
Solipsis
The name 'Solipsis' comes from Solipsism, a philosophical doctrine that claims that reality only exists in one's mind. Solipsis is a pure peer-to-peer system for a massively shared virtual world. There is no server at all: it only relies on end-users' machines. Solipsis is a public virtual territory. The world is initially empty and only users will fill it by creating and running entities. No pre-existing cities, habitants nor scenario to respect...

Love, Life and Reality Sim(ulation)

Nintendogs
Each version of Nintendogs comes with six breeds to choose from, and you can unlock additional breeds by playing with other owners through wireless gameplay! If another person is playing Nintendogs within the Nintendo DS's wireless range, you can meet him in Bark Mode. When you enter this mode, your DS searches for a wireless partner. When you've found a match, your dog will play with that person's dog!
Singles – Flirt up your Life
Conquer the heart of attractive Linda or make Mike fall in love with you!

World Cyber Games

The World Cyber Games is the world's first "Cyber Game Festival", designed to build a healthy cyber culture. The best gamers around the world gather into different cities to share the excitement and fun of the game tournaments.

United Nations World Food Programme

Food-Force
Play the game, learn about food aid, and help WFP work towards a world without hunger.

PS3, November 2006

Given the high demand of the PS3, the console is already selling at inflated prices on auction sites. The 60GB model, which sold for an average price of 59,800 yen ($508) at stores is now selling for about 90,000 yen ($765) on Yahoo Japan's Auction site. The 20GB model, which retails for 49,980 yen ($425), is going for 70,000 yen ($595). Production problems meant that only 100,000 PlayStation 3 machines were in time for its debut in Japan on November 10. When it goes on sale in the United States on November 17, some 400,000 PS3 consoles will be available there. The console's European launch has been pushed back until March. That was the second delay, as PS3 had been initially promised for spring of this year.
Each console generation stays on the market for five years; however, the last 18 months of the old system's life cycle--and the first 12 months of the new system's life cycle--are marked by a dearth of new game products as game makers rush to build products that use all of the new features of the upgraded console. As of today, more than 200 older games don't work on the PS3. The new PS3 is experiencing production and backward-compatibility issues. This gives Microsoft--which launched its Xbox 360 last year--a full one-year jump on the competition.

Xbox 360

Microsoft Corp Vice President Peter Moore presented its new Xbox 360 game console At Xbox Summit 2005 in Tokyo on July 25, 2005. Microsoft said it would launch its Xbox 360 video-game machine with more than 100 titles in Japan and Europe in time for the year-end holiday shopping season. The Xbox 360(TM) entertainment system will cost $299.99 U.S./299.99 euro/209.99 pounds. Microsoft also announced a model with hundreds of dollars worth of accessories for $399.99 U.S./399.99 euro/279.99 pounds.

Online Gaming Europe

Feb. 2005: Blizzard Entertainment shipped 560,000 boxes of World of Warcraft to European retailers for launch. The company's critically acclaimed MMORPG has shattered records, reporting the highest number of accounts created (290,000 over the weekend), the most concurrent user populations (100,000 on launch, 180,000 over weekend), over 80 servers and additional servers on standby as new players subscribe to the game.

Online Gaming Korea

In Korea, most people prefer their PCs to TVs. If you ever watched Korean TV or cable, you probably would play with your PC more too. Korea has a unique subsector of the global gaming industry. In terms of user numbers and financial performance, Korean gaming companies kick ass. The typical profile of the top companies are US$60 million in annual revenue with net profit margins of 40 percent. Since broadband is so widespread in Korea, it has allowed online gaming to develop and flourish. 95 percent of Internet users have broadband access and over 60 percent of broadband users play games. Cheap access is probably more important with inexpensive monthly ISP costs or 80 cent per hour rental fees at one of the 20,000+ PC rooms, and has allowed for rapid growth and extremely inexpensive marketing and distribution for many Korean gaming companies. Additionally, the micro-payment infrastructure allows people to pay 50 cents to a few dollars to play casual inexpensive games (e.g. poker, tetris, pool) or hardcore games (e.g. fantasy role-playing games).

Online Games Korea
Trends in the Korean online gaming market.

Korean Companies at E3

Twenty two Korean companies will participate in the 11th Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the world's largest game exhibition May 18-20 2005 in Los Angeles USA.
Webzen, one of Korea's leading digital game companies, plans to showcase its flagship games, SUN, Huxley, APB, and Wickie, at its exhibition booth at the convention center.
NCsoft will also participate in this expo to display its new games Guild Wars,Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault,and City of Villains.

// Webzen

Webzen, Inc. has developed some of the world's top online game and client/server technologies. The company also prides itself in the creativity department, publishing some of the most highly acclaimed titles for the Asian market. For its tremendously successful 3D MMORPG title, MU, Webzen, Inc. has attracted over 56 million users and a half-million concurrent users from the Asian market alone.

February 2005: With publishing arms in all major Asian markets, including China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, Webzen has reached critical mass as a global games publisher and is planning the expansion to the U.S. The total headcount at the end of March 2005 was 496 and the total number of developers was 276.
Webzen offices: WebZen Korea > HQ // 9Webzen > their chinese J/V with The9 // Gameon > their J/V in Japan // Webzen Taiwan // Digital Media Exchange > their J/V in the Philippines // New Era > their J/V in Thailand // Webzen America.
Games pipeline: SUN (Soul of the Ultimate Nation) MMORPG 2005 Q3/Q4, Huxley MMOFPS (w/Unreal 3 engine) 2006, All Points Bulletin MMORPG 2007 Q1, Wiki MMORPG (imitation of Zelda: Wind Waker).

Webzen Games
Webzen
Online Entertainment Creator
Webzen on KOSDAQ
Volume by Institution/Foreigners
MU
MU, a 3D MMORPG
China Online Games Report
May 2004 > the three most popular online games of this year are MU, Mir3, and Mir
Shanghai-based operator, The9 (NCTY), recently went public on Nasdaq. The business is primarily focused on operating MU in China through 9Webzen.

In January 2005, Webzen, Inc. announced its expansion into the U.S. market and the opening of a Los Angeles office. Webzen, Inc. plans to bring multiple online game titles to the U.S. market. The titles include the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), SUN, releasing in the third quarter of 2005, and a massively multiplayer online first person shooter (MMOFPS) called Huxley, that leverages the latest Unreal 3 game engine and is scheduled to release in 2006.

Huxley > Interview with Huxley's Producer, Kijong Kang
Huxley, a game that will use the most advanced tools to create the ultimate Xbox Live experience.
Huxley > Preview
Huxley: MMOFPS using Unreal 3 engine!
SUN, the first title to incorporate console-style game mechanics into a classic MMORPG. With action-packed intensity, stunning graphics, unique battle systems and a captivating cast of characters, SUN is an epic medieval tale in a world of emperors, armies, magicians and monsters set to an original soundtrack by Howard Shore, Academy Award® winner and world-renowned composer of the theatrical score from the acclaimed "The Lord of the Rings".

// Gravity

Gravity develops and distributes online games in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. Gravity's principal product, Ragnarok Online, is currently commercially offered in 19 markets, including South Korea. Ragnarok Online recorded more than 770,000 aggregate peak concurrent users and more than 400,000 average concurrent users. The company also develops games for mobile phones and other handheld devices.

2005 Revenue Projections:
KRW 74.5 Billion - Ragarok
KRW 9.0 Billion - Rose
KRW 0.7 Billion - Requiem
KRW 6.9 Billion - Animation/Merchandise/Mobile

Licenses are now in place to release Rose in Japan and Taiwan. Rose also to be released in China and Europe later this year. Requiem expected to be released in December 2005. Major update to Ragnarok to be released on 3/29/05, including a new city. This is expected to bolster existing Ragnarok revenues for remainder of the year. Expecting to intoduce Ragnarok to 4 new markets in 2005: Brazil, India, Russia and Vietnam.

Gravity
Future Is Here
May 2005 Class Action Suit: Gravity failed to disclose and/or misrepresented:
(i) that the Company's core product - Ragnarok - Online which traditionally has accounted for 95% of the Company's revenue was, at the time of the IPO, suffering from declining customer demand and increased competition. In fact, contrary to the appearance of the growth presented in the Prospectus, sales of Ragnarok Online were in a material state of decline;
(ii) that the Company's mobile animation business was then being negatively impacted by material adverse trends. In fact, the Company's animation business had all but disintegrated; and
(iii) that the Company's royalties and license fees business was then being negatively impacted by certain material adverse trends in the Company's Chinese operations. Growth in the Company's Chinese business was one of the primary keys for the Company's future business. In fact, as portrayed in the Prospectus, China was projected to grow faster than any other country in terms of its demand for the Company's online game-related services. Though defendants made an effort to demonstrate China's massive growth potential for online gaming demand, the fact was that the Company's Chinese business was in peril and in a state of decline - not growth.

// NCsoft

NCsoft Corp., the nation's leading developer and publisher of online computer games. Feb 2005: Annual net profit in 2004 for the company was about $77 million, a 145 percent increase over 2003's net profit of about $39 million. Annual revenue for NCSoft totaled $246 million, which represents an increase of about 48 percent from $166.2 million in 2003, according to the company. NCSoft plans to launch its new "Guild Wars" video game in the first half of 2005, and its "City of Heroes" game in the second half of the year.

NCSoft
Imagine the next life, build the next game, create the next culture

// Nexon

Nexon Corporation is an international game developer and pioneer in the world of massively multiplayer online games and cyber-accesoring. Nexon says more than 12 million people -- a quarter of all Koreans -- have participated in at least one Kart Rider race since the game was launched a year ago (2004), and that as many as 200,000 of their colorful avatars might be piloting their cyber-cars through virtual forests, icy caves, or villages at any time. Some tournaments have been sponsored by the likes of Coca-Cola Co. (KO) and offer as much as $50,000 in prize money. Nexon has built a booming business selling avatars -- digital representations of players online -- and virtual accessories such as cars and goggles. You can buy an avatar for $2.50, a car for $3.50, goggles for $2.50 (to see through smoke thrown off by opponents). The company chalked up revenues of $110 million last year, some 85% of it from selling such digital doodads. This year, Nexon expects sales of $250 million. "I'm 100% sure the avatar business will boom in China, Taiwan, Japan, and Thailand in three to five years," says Min, Nexon marketing chief.

Nexon

Online Gaming China

April 2005: According to the government-run Korea Game Development and Promotion Institute, in 2003 the Korean companies controlled more than 70% of the Chinese online game market last year in terms of revenue. Of the 74 online games operated in China by the 38 service providers through April of last year, Korean games accounted for 36 of the titles, with "Mu," "Legend of Mir," "Navy Field" and "Fortress" finishing among the top five in popularity. While the rapid ascent suggests a case study on how foreign companies can grab the elusive China market, it is also shaping up to be a litmus test of how much success Chinese officials will tolerate by outsiders against local interests. China plans to announce new guidelines next month that will boost Chinese game companies. The guidelines are expected to corral the Korean companies, limiting their scope in one of the most dynamic areas that any Korean industry is enjoying in China.

Gaming India

Dhruva Interactive
India's premier games company, developing and publishing games for PC's, videogame consoles and mobile wireless devices.

Artificial Intelligence

Project NERO
The idea behind the research was to develop an artificial intelligence program that allowed humans to train in-game characters to react in certain ways to certain situations -- with each evolution of the characters retaining their memory. In other words, you teach the computer-generated characters how to learn.
SnowieGroup
A young and dynamic company specialized in Artificial Intelligence Gaming Software. Current products include Backgammon and Poker.

Play Different

Bodypad
Bodypad proposes physical interactions with video games.

Online Games

Miniclip
Free Games
Cowboys and Engines
by Fuel Industries > The Idea Company
teamchman
Entertainment programs for the internet (Banja.com)
YAMAGO
Web games and cartoons - Flash multiplayer Univers
Orisinal: Morning Sunshine
Beautiful Flash games
extrajetzt
Richmedia Supply
Freeciv
Freeciv is a multiplayer strategy game, released under the GNU General Public License.
It is generally comparable with Civilization II, published by Microprose.
Wildtangent
Wildtangent has created new games for websites operated by Nike, Fox Sports and FX Networks. For Nike, WildTangent developed "Magia," a three-on-three online soccer game featuring real-life soccer stars and online tournaments that will be offered for free at NikeFootball.com. Redmond, Wash.-based WildTangent also announced the release of FoxSports.com's "Hit the Pros 2003," the latest version of its game that lets batters swing at real pitches from major league pitchers, as analyzed from in-game cameras on the field.

Finally, for FX Networks WildTangent created an online game to promote its upcoming series, "Lucky," as well as a video game-style presentation for the network to show prospective advertisers as part of the TV industry's traditional "upfront" presentation. "Today's announcements demonstrate that online games are truly an effective and immersive advertising medium with unlimited potential to uniquely connect brand marketers to millions of consumers worldwide," said WildTangent CEO Alex St. John.

- Nikefootball
- FX Networks
- Hit the Pros
3D Stress Ball
3d groove
Finaldrive
Real Arcade
Station.com
Quadgames
gotoAndPlay.it

Everquest community: half a million people paying USD 9.95 per month

Retro Gaming

Retrospec
Retro Gaming at its best

Quick entertainment: Ladybug

Ladybug is the typical game that will perfectly fit a mobile device. It is all about quick fun, simple controls and pleasant colorful graphics.

Macromedia Flash is on Pocket PC's, soon we'll have it on Palm's and when it will reach mass market Smart phones, games like this one will certainly play a role. We will have on one hand sophisticated multiplayer games and on the other one simple but captivating games like ladybug (based on the original "Lunar Lander").

Special thanks to Eric van Riet Paap of Quadgames, who allowed me to quickly license Ladybug :)

Use the Arrows for steering Left and Right
Use the Spacebar for Thrust

Multi-player gaming with Flashcom

In the upcoming months, we will notice a wide range of new multi-player games based on user movement. Game Producers will use the camera activity levels and the Flash Communication server to create innovative online multi-player games.

Ohayo Players
This is a funny game, and I recommend playing this game with your friends at the same time. A webcam is required!

Massively Multiplayer online strategy Game :: MMG

mogchart.com
Travia by 17game
Travia is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) embedded with 3D EAX sound effects which enable game players to play in a more exciting and close-to-reality environment. 17game has a well-established distribution network across China for the games it licenses, including Internet cafes, software distributors, bookstores, convenience stores and department stores.

Hong Kong, Sept. 7: chinadotcom corporation (Nasdaq: CHINA - www.corp.china.com), a leading integrated enterprise software and mobile applications company in China and internationally, today announced its 81%-owned subsidiary, hongkong.com Corporation, has made further progress with its strategic investment in Beijing 17game Network Technology Co. Ltd.
Dark Age of Camelot
It is a massively multiplayer real-time strategy game presented in a full 3D environment. It has been designed so that ALL players within the game are real.
Mythic Entertainment

Multi-User Real-Time Game Access Service
Terraplay, setting the standard for online gaming

Terraplay

Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Vivendi Universal Publishing) offers a free online game service

Battlenet

Puzzle Games

Jaap's Puzzle Page
elogIQ
elogIQ has developed a 3D mechanical puzzle that challenges the physical dexterity and mental capacity of any one aged five and up. The goal is to achieve a single-color configuration, out of six possible, for all the spheres, which when moved spin together in either the x or y direction.
Puzzle Games

Online Gambling

Online gambling has grown to $9.2 billion globally since its birth in 1995 and is forecast to produce a 22 percent compound annual growth rate between 2003 and 2008, driven in particular by poker.

Sports betting represents 45 percent of total online gambling spending with other gaming representing 32 percent, but both could be overtaken by poker by 2008.
Gamblers lost $237 billion to gaming companies worldwide in 2004 and will be losing about $277 billion a year by 2008, said a report on Thursday by investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Last Friday, March 4 2005, British online betting firm ukbetting Plc launched a new poker site on its European gaming Web site www.goldbet.com. In January the world's biggest online poker company, PartyGaming, said it was considering what would be one of London's largest share listings in over three years -- estimated at over 3 billion pounds ($5.72 billion). And in October 2004, shares in Britain's Sportingbet -- the world's biggest online betting firm overall -- soared by over 50 percent following its acquisition of Paradise Poker, a rival to PartyGaming fronted by American supermodel Caprice. Online casino 888.com., which is also seen as another potential float, recently estimated the amount Britons are gambling over the Internet has increased more than six times in the last year. PartyGaming, Sportingbet and 888.com would in the future be the driving force behind a wave of consolidation resulting in some massive portals that offer poker, sports betting and gaming.
The rate of growth of online poker is 120 percent per year. In most countries, online poker is in a grey area (not legal but also not illegal).

Online Casinos

Goldbet
888
Cassava Enterprises
Cassava Enterprises Ltd. operates several online casinos, including Casino On Net, 888.com and Pacific Poker. The company's online casinos operate under a license granted by the Government of Gibraltar under the provisions of the Gambling Ordinance for the purposes of operating an Internet Casino. In addition, the company's casinos have adopted the code of conduct of the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC). Casino On Net and Pacific Poker are Full Members of the council.
Astro Bingo
2 bingo halls: one American style, one British style.
Vegas Affiliates
Vegas Affiliates is a company that hosts the affiliate program of selected and trusted online casinos.
Viper Casino Gambling Software
Grand Hotel Casino
Vegas Joker Casino
Royal Plaza Casino
Vegas7Casino
Colosseum Casino

Online Gambling

WinHoldEm
WinHoldEm, the first commercially available autoplaying poker software, wins real money while you sleep.
Sportingbet
Paradise Poker
Interwetten
Interwetten.com has been able to attract more than 200,000 registered customers in over 200 countries and this number continues to increase daily. In the year 2003 Interwetten enjoyed a turnover of around 131 million euros.
Betfair
Betfair.com, one of the world's largest online gambling operations, takes in more than 50 million pounds per week in betting volume. One of the biggest weeks during the year is during the Cheltenham Racecourse Festival, from March 16th till the 18th.
Eurobet
Soccernet betting zone
Bet on markets
Boss media

Swiss Lotto Statistics and more

6richtige