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MapleStory to feature retail giants in game

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maplestory.pngNexon America Inc., the U.S. division of Asia’s online entertainment company Nexon Group, whose Game Cards are available at retail giants such as Target, Best Buy, and 7-Eleven, Inc., plans to integrate its mega store partners into MapleStory, its most popular game. Nexon America is educating their players on the availability of the Nexon Game Cards through outlets such as Best Buy, CVS, Duane Reade and 7-Eleven, by bringing the stores to the players virtually.

Nexon America will send its millions of MapleStory players to the virtual markets with themed quests that will promote both the retailers and the availability of Nexon Game Cards in these stores. The special quests will prompt users to complete various tasks and visit any of these chains to earn their own virtual Nexon Game Card, which will provide Maple Points, the in-game currency of MapleStory.

Nexon America is an attractive partner for retailers because it provides a dedicated and entertained community. Special events are ongoing throughout the holiday season to promote the spirit and culture of MapleStory. Players are not only immersed within the game, but can take part in real-world events, too. Such events include a photo submission contest of a Maple Story-themed holiday meal and an upcoming poetry contest awarding the winner a custom poster and original concept art. These contests offer a creative venue to showcase the real-life talents of Maplers for the enjoyment of the entire Nexon community.

Originally posted on December 4, 2007 @ 12:10 pm

Vivendi and Activision to create Activision Blizzard– the world’s largest, most profitable pure-play video game publisher

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vivendi.pngActivision, Inc. and Vivendi have signed a definitive agreement to combine Vivendi Games, Vivendi’s interactive entertainment business– which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft – with Activision, creating the world’s largest pure-play online and console game publisher. The new company, Activision Blizzard, is expected to have approximately $3.8 billion in pro forma combined calendar 2007 revenues and the highest operating margins of any major third-party video game publisher.

Activision, one of the world’s leading independent publishers of interactive entertainment, is best known for its top-selling franchises, including Guitar Hero, Call of Duty and the Tony Hawk series, as well as Spider-Man, X-Men, Shrek, James Bond and Transformers.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vivendi Games will be merged with a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision. In the merger, shares of Vivendi Games will be converted into 295.3 million new shares of Activision common stock. Based on the transaction price of $27.50 per share of Activision common stock, this implies a value of approximately $8.1 billion for Vivendi Games.

Originally posted on December 3, 2007 @ 7:12 pm

uWink launches real-time, multiplayer in-restaurant game platform

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uwink.pnguWink, Inc., a developer of digital media entertainment software and an interactive restaurant concept, announced the launch of its real-time, multiplayer game platform, that allows for restaurant-wide, head-to-head and team game play, greatly enhancing customer interaction.

The first game to be featured on uWink’s new game platform, uWink Trivia Live, allows patrons throughout the restaurant to play a multiple-choice trivia game against one another in real-time (including real-time scoring), either head-to-head individually or in teams, using uWink’s proprietary tabletop touchscreen terminals. The game scoring and results are projected on the walls of the restaurant in real time, making the game a truly immersive experience.

Future games to be featured on the platform include uWink Scene Investigation (uWink’s riff on the popular CSI television series), Xingo (a mashup of bowling and bingo) and Picture Perfect, uWink’s popular “find the differences” game.

Originally posted on November 28, 2007 @ 11:30 am

Xbox to add social networking features

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xbox liveAs part of its Fall Dashboard Update on December 4, Microsoft also plans to add social networking features in its Xbox Live platform, allowing members to connect to old friends, meet new ones, send messages, and compare games.

Dubbed as the Friends of Friends, members can meet new friends by browsing the Friends lists of other Xbox LIVE members. Each member has the option to limit the people who can see his or her friends list. The default settings are:

  1. Adults – Everyone
  2. Teenagers (13-17 years old) – Friends Only
  3. Children (under 13 years old) – Blocked

Given the presence of many social networks like Facebook and MySpace, Microsoft believes this feature is already expected by consumers as a way to interact in the online community.

The Xbox Live community has more than 8 million members worldwide and a social networking feature can be a very powerful tool to enhance the online gaming experience.

However, not all Xbox Live members find this new feature cool. Xboxer, for one, thinks this is very disappointing because video games used to be a safe place you could go to escape from people and talking.

The good news is that members can also turn off this feature if they find it annoying.

Originally posted on November 27, 2007 @ 9:36 am

FIFA, EA and Playstation heat up search for best virtual soccer player

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fifa1.pngThe virtual soccer season is heating up as gamers and soccer fans around the world are getting ready for the next stage of the FIFA Interactive World Cup. Since the launch of FIFA Soccer 08 last month, over 10,000 players from 25 countries and five continents have started battling for top position on the leader board in the online part of the competition via Playstation Network. This month, the first live qualifying events have kicked off in Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary and will move on to Korea, Portugal and a total of over 20 locations across the world over the next five months in search for the world’s best interactive soccer player.

On May 24, 2008, the 32 finalists will travel to Berlin from the four corners of the world to compete at the Sony Centre for the ultimate title of FIFA Interactive World Player 2008. The winner will receive an invitation to the FIFA World Player Gala 2008 and a cash prize of $20,000. The first players to have qualified for the Grand Final are 15 year old Christian Lønhart from Bagsværd in Copenhagen and Roland Császár (17) from Budapest. The Dutch qualifying event was won by last year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup winner Andries Smit (18) from The Hague, Netherlands who secured his spot in the Grand Final for the second time in a row following a tense qualifying match.

The FIFA Interactive World Cup is the world’s only officially FIFA sanctioned global soccer gaming competition with presenting partners EA and PlayStation. Participants from around the world compete with EA’s FIFA Soccer 08 on Playstation 3. This year, players can participate at one of more than 20 physical FIWC 08 Qualifier Events across the globe or online via the Playstation Network in over 25 countries.

Players who think they have what it takes to become one of the 32 finalists can register for online qualification.

Originally posted on November 26, 2007 @ 4:08 pm