Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Parents playing video games with their children, says survey

MONTREAL — Video gaming covers the gamut of ages in Canada, with parents and kids playing on their own and as a family, according to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada
The average age of adult gamers in Canada is 40 and those who played recently spent about seven hours a week on video games, says a survey released by association, which represents leading firms in the video and computer game industry.
But parents were also playing video games with their kids, making it a social activity. Six out of 10 parents played video games with their children, the survey says.
“So parents in
Canada seem to be quite engaged in their children’s video play,” spokeswoman Nicole Helsburg said Tuesday.
“There are lots of offerings where the family can play together and the games don’t appeal to just one age segment.”
Games like “Dance, Dance Revolution,” “Guitar Hero” and “Wii Bowling” can be played together by all ages, she noted.
Video gaming has been in the news recently with the death of Brandon Crisp of Barrie, Ont. The body of the 15-year-old was found in a rural area only kilometres from his home, three weeks after he ran away following a fight over what his parents viewed as his obsessive Xbox gaming habit. No foul play is suspected.
The survey found that 92 per cent of parents reported that their children were gamers.
The number of adult men and women who were gamers in Canada was almost equal. The survey found that 51 per cent were men and 49 per cent were women.
“There are just so many offerings out there from the (video game) publishers that are geared to females and to family play that you really see the rise of the female gamer, and that’s consistent across North America,” Helsburg said.
Cathy Wing of the Ottawa-based non-profit Media Awareness Network said video games that can be played by all ages together teach kids social skills and about being part of a community.
“There is a real social aspect to gaming and computer use that I think we should always be cognizant of, so that’s a very positive aspect,” said Wing, the group’s co-executive director.
However, she said the survey’s result of 60 per cent of parents playing video games with their children was the highest such statistic she has seen, and added that in some other research the figure ranged from 30 to 50 per cent.
Wing said parents have to manage how much time their children spend on video games, but also control their own gaming behaviour.
“Parents have to look at their own habits,” she said. “It could be a serious issue if the parents are excessively playing games.”
Helsburg said many adults are part of the “Pong generation” and grew up with gaming. “Pong” was a 1970s-era video game based on table tennis.
The survey also said 76 per cent of adults have played a video game at least once, while nearly seven out of 10 played in the last year.
They mostly played games on computers rather than gaming consoles. Helsburg said there are lots of games to play on PCs ranging from “really easy and simple” to online chess.
Top selling video games as of July 2008 were Wii’s “Super Smash Bros: Brawl,” Wii’s “Mario Kart W/Wheel,” and XBox 360’s “Grand Theft Auto IV.”
Top selling PC games as of July 2008 were “World of Warcraft （ Buy wow gold ）: Battle Chest,” “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” and “Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.”
The Ipsos Reid survey included interviews with 652 Canadian adults, 50 kids between the ages of six and 12 and 50 teens ages 13-17.
In 2007, sales of entertainment software and hardware in Canada reached $1.7 billion, up more than 50 per cent from the year before.
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More online worlds to explore on release of November’s new games

Hamburg - Fans of online role-playing games will have even more worlds to explore this autumn when game publishers release expanded versions the most popular titles.
World of Warcraft （ Currency：wow gold ）, Lord of the Rings Online and Everquest are all set to release expansion packs this autumn. The Chronicles of Spellborn marks the introduction of at least one brand new online world. And for players who want to stay offline, there will be an apocalyptic world to explore in Fallout 3. If you just want to race a car, there’s Need for Speed - Undercover. Saying the name of the newest Warcraft game - World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King - is a challenge even before you start the game. Fans have abbreviated it to WotLK. But once you have overcome this hurdle, you can focus on the second expansion to this very popular online game, which is already played by more then 10 million people. The designer of the game, Blizzard, and the publisher Vivendi, have added a new continent for WotLK. Characters can now aspire to an 80th level, up from the previous limit of 70. Characters who have achieved the 55th level can also create a Death Knight - a new class of character being introduced with the expansion. The game is set for release on November 13. The standard set will be sold for 35 euros (about 45 dollars), while a collector’s edition will retail for about 70 euros. Players will also have to continue paying monthly membership fees. Whereas knowledge of World of Warcraft is generally limited to its fan base, almost everyone knows about Middle Earth. Surprisingly, it took until 2007 for an online world based on The Lord of the Rings to be released. And to this day, the online version of Middle Earth remains incomplete. However, the November 18 release of The Mines of Moria expansion pack will add new areas and catacombs to explore. Similar to other games, players work their way up through the levels. The expansion pack lets players aspire to the 60th level, up from the previous limit of 50. It should also add two new characters. Codemasters will sell the game for about 30 euros, while a package set with the basic game will cost 60 euros. Everquest 2 started off as insider tip within the gaming community. The original game was released at the same time as World of Warcraft, but was never as successful. Nonetheless, a loyal core of fans continues to wander the virtual world of Norrath. Now they can look forward to The Shadow Odyssey, an expansion pack which is to be released by Sony Online Entertainment on November 18 for about 30 euros. Chronicles of Spellborn is also considered something of an insider’s game. A team in the
Netherlands has been working on the game for years. However, the release has been delayed repeatedly and will be launched on November 27, promises the publisher Frogster. The world of Spellborn is unlike other online fantasies as it focuses on a post apocalyptic world and new gamers have to learn a combat system as well and costs around 50 euros. “Postapocalyptic” could also be used to describe Fallout 3 from Ubisoft. But this game is played offline, meaning players are alone in the virtual world. Players find themselves in the ruins of the United States following a nuclear war in the late 21st century. The game’s publisher, Bethesda, has had other successful series such as The Elder Scrolls and hopes are high that Spellborn will also be a highly demanding and entertaining game. Fallout 3 should be available in November for around 50 euros. Racing fans will also have plenty to look forward to this months. Electronic Arts has expanded its Need for Speed line with its latest expansion, Undercover. The expansion optimizes graphics and adds a few new options. But, as usual, the goal remains to see how fast you can drive. Some gamers simply want more of the same with no added attractions. Need for Speed Undercover will be released on November 20 for 50 euros.

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NEWS: Ford, Nokia, CCTV, Li Ning, and World Of Warcraft Sponsor Eighth Annual One Show

November 2008 The Largest Group of Advertising Professionals From Around the World to Ever Travel to China Teams Up With The One Club to Nurture Young Creative Talent New York, NY – Ford, Nokia, CCTV, Li Ning, and World of Warcraft （ Buy wow gold ）are sponsoring an ambitious journey to Shanghai in which a stellar group of international advertising professionals will conduct workshops with young professionals and university students from throughout mainland China (People’s Republic of China) in The One Club’s Eighth Annual One Show China Creative Workshop to take place November 15-21, 2008. The
Fudan University in Shanghai is hosting this unusual event at the International Convention Center. The focus of the workshops is a competition in which students will compete to create marketing campaigns to promote awareness for a particular brand or product. Eighteen advertising industry influentials from around the world will join The One Club President Kevin Swanepoel and CEO Mary Warlick to make up the largest group of advertising professionals to ever travel to China. This contingent includes Andy “Mr. UPS”Azula, The Martin Agency, Richmond, USA; Andy Greenaway, Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore; Dave Holloway, Publicis, USA; Ross Chowles, The Jupiter Drawing Room, South Africa; Joyce King Thomas, One Club Board Member and Chief Executive Officer McCann Erickson, USA. “This is a unique experience for both the students in China and the accomplished advertising veterans from around the globe to interact,” said Swanepoel. “The One Club is the first western organization to establish workshops in China for this purpose. We appreciate the incredible support shown by the major companies CCTV, Ford, Li Ning, Nokia and World of Warcraft. All have sponsored creative briefs that will be key to the educational development of the next generation of Chinese creative professionals.” “It is a testament to the success of this program that 18 teams from the previous year have been hired by esteemed agencies including Weiden + Kennedy and Ogilvy,” added Swanepoel. 3,000 entries were submitted from 24 universities and 16 agencies spanning 32 provinces and municipal cities in China. Only a selection of these entries will be chosen as finalists to participate in the One Show China Workshops. Judges will select the students from their work on a record five client briefs from Ford, Nokia, Li Ning Company, World of Warcraft and China Central Television (CCTV). Topics of the briefs range from raising awareness of Nokia’s maps and navigation systems to reinventing the brand slogan “everything is possible” for Li Ning to demonstrating Ford’s leadership in design to improving the image of the World of Warcraft online game and helping China Central Television (CCTV) present its mission of “being the window for China to understand the world and the world to understand China.” “China is a country with the deepest heritage in the past. And at the same time, it holds the biggest potential for the future. The young people of China have the highest pride of their past. And they have the most fearless ambition for the future,” said Rei Inamoto, Co-Chief Creative Officer, AKQA. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to meet and spend time with the young creative professionals of China.” Winners will receive gold, silver and bronze certificates. In addition to the workshops, The One Club has gathered the best creative minds from the interactive industry and will hold their first-ever series of internet conferences and boot camps in Asia. These conferences will take place in Shanghai sponsored by SINA on November 21st, in Taiwan sponsored by Yahoo! on November 28th and Singapore sponsored by MasterCard from December 13 to 15.
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Michigan fans rearrange their lives to devote hours to newest ‘Warcraft’

For Ryan Molitor of Flint, 21, it’ll mean weeks of three to four hours of sleep a night as he squeezes in video game time around his class schedule at Kettering University.
For Susan Struble of
Clarksville, 36, it’ll be three days of vacation from work taken solely to hole up in front of her computer and slay wyrms, giants and skeletons.
For her partner, Daniel Martinez, 37, it’ll be a TiVo full of unwatched TV shows and a cupboard stuffed with Mountain Dew and 5 Hour Energy drinks.
For players across Michigan and around the world, the release of the new chapter in the “World of Warcraft （ Currency wow gold ）” PC game means a break from real life and a chance to flex their virtual muscles in a world of mystical creatures, swords, sorcery and intense player-versus-player battles. “Wrath of the Lich King,” an expansion to the popular online game, debuts Thursday at 12:01 a.m.
More than 11 million people subscribe worldwide, paying about $15 a month to play. “Warcraft” debuted in 2004, and is what gamers call a massively multiplayer online game. Each person creates a character, ranging from orcs to humans to elves to undead, and plays it online in a virtual world.
They can see other people and their characters and interact with them, completing quests, killing monsters, selling items and working on dungeons with tough villains, called “bosses” by players, that require 25 people to conquer. The more monsters you kill and quests you complete, the stronger your character becomes. (The more difficult encounters are limited to those at the maximum level.)
The “Lich King” expansion offers players the chance to grow their characters from the current maximum level of 70 to 80. Also included: more player-versus-player zones, including areas that use vehicles and siege engines; a new type of technology that changes how players see the world depending on what stage quest they’re in; an achievements system comparable to what gamers see on the Xbox console; and more dungeons, quests and zones to play in.
Molitor, currently in the middle of a semester at Kettering, plans to get his level 70 orc shaman to 80 as soon as his game arrives Thursday — limiting sleep to three or four hours a night.
“It’s mostly the social aspect of working together with 24 other people to down high-end raid bosses that is most exciting,” he said. “The adrenaline rush when you’re close to a kill is unrivaled.”
He said it takes careful balancing to get everything done — in addition to studying mechanical engineering, he has an on-campus job. He’s been playing since 2005. Three days a week, he plays from 6-11:30 p.m. with his guild, a group that plays together online. He’s a bit of a nerd at heart, he said.
“I’m not going to lie. Dedicating this much time to a hobby takes some excellent time management skills,” he said.
“I like the people you meet in the game, and it is a rather cheap hobby,” said Jerry Carter of Warren, 32. He plays two to three hours a day during the week and four to five hours a day on the weekends. He’s been playing since 2005, and plans to buy the expansion, slowly working on getting his level 70 human paladin to 80.
Rey Powell of Pontiac, 25, plans an all-nighter online with his girlfriend and some members of their guild when the expansion pack releases,. He’ll pick up his copy at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
“The chat livens up late at night, so we expect it to be a lot of fun,” he said.
Tom LaFleche of Alpena, 25, is taking the opposite tack: He’s using the expansion as an opportunity to gracefully quit the game. He’s been a serious player since 2005, logging between 6,000-7,000 total hours of game time. (“Warcraft” includes a function that lets you check; his experience is not unheard of for dedicated players.) His son is due to be born in early January.
“With that coming along, starting the grind to 80 on multiple characters is simply not viable,” he said. “I will miss the game a lot. The people are the only reason I have kept playing so long. My guild is a great collection of people. But I won’t commit the time to playing a video game religiously for four hours each night.”
Martinez of Clarksville has played “Warcraft” for more than four years. Outside of the game, he works as a wine consultant, shows dogs, fishes and, with Struble, raises a 9-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl who also play.
He puts in 25-30 hours a week now, and considers himself a fairly casual player compared with past years.
“It’s entertainment for me, and it replaces my TV time, mostly,” he said. “I log in when I have the time.”
Struble’s looking forward to her three vacation days.
“I’m just trying to get as much play time as possible before I have to head back to real life,” she said. She plays a level 70 blood elf paladin, along with four other level-70 characters. “I used to be a serious raider. However, with family demands and changing priorities, I am more of a casual raider/player now.”
She plays two to three hours a day and on weekends when her schedule permits, she said.
Bryant White of Melvindale, 19, plans to dedicate his week to getting his level 70 human mage to 80.
“Thanks to our amazing economy I have been laid off, and I’m currently on a break from school, so I seem to have plenty of time,” he said ruefully. “Right now when I’m not playing, I’m looking for jobs online. I don’t plan on doing anything that isn’t a necessity until I hit 80.”
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Interview: ‘World of Warcraft’ production director J. Allen Brack

World of Warcraft（ Buy wow gold ）” rules
America’s online world.

Never before has a paid online world game attracted so much attention and so many subscribers in this country. With its second expansion, “Wrath of the Lich King,” due to go on sale Thursday morning at 12:01 a.m., maker Blizzard Entertainment is reveling in its ever-expanding subscriber base — and its competitors are trying to figure out its success.
The Free Press talked with production director J. Allen Brack about everything from the reasons for the game’s success since it first released four years ago, to what new technology people will be able to see in “Lich King” this week.
QUESTION: What has drawn people to “Warcraft” so strongly?
ANSWER: If there was an easy answer, there’d be a lot more successful massively multiplayer online games. We have a very clean interface — we try and keep everything very simple. We continue to spend a lot of time on it, and we throw a lot of work away. We like to say that the game is easy to learn, difficult to master. There are also lots of rewards: There’s always one more dungeon, one more gear upgrade, one more level.
It was also a case of good timing. “EverQuest” had been out for many years.
Q: How do you design the game, knowing you have such a broad audience with different interests?
A: We like to say that players fall into five buckets. We try to satisfy each player. The leveling-up player quests, enjoys the game and levels up. Everyone is in this bucket at one time or another. There’s the five-person dungeon player. There’s the 10-person dungeon bucket, which has a huge jump in gear and loot. There’s the 25-person raid player. And then there is player versus player, with battlegrounds and arenas. Even within the groups, there are more stratifications.
Q: Were you surprised by any aspect of the last expansion, “Warcraft: The Burning Crusade”?
A: We were really surprised by how popular (10-man dungeon) Karazhan was. Ten-man content was a big deal that kind of caught us by surprise. Karazhan was our most successful piece of content ever.
Q: Is that why there’s such an emphasis on 10 man dungeons in “Lich King”? Every 25-man dungeon has a 10-man version as well.
A: A lot of players haven’t ever gotten to see Illidan (the end boss of “Burning Crusade’s” Black Temple 25-man dungeon). The idea that we would create this content and that such a small percentage of the population would get to see it… Naxxramas, in the original “Warcraft,” was like that. Much less than 2% of the population got to see it. It was also devastatingly hard. [Naxxramas is now the entry-level dungeon for "Lich King" players.]
Q: Talk about the new “phasing” technology, which changes the way the game world looks depending on what stage of a quest you’re in.
A: We’ve used that technology liberally. You can see other people who are in the same phase, and group with them, but others who aren’t in that phase aren’t visible. It’s used in the attack on Undercity quest, the Death Knight starting experience, the Icecrown zone and some other areas people haven’t seen.
Q: Arthas is a major villain in “Lich King,” and is present in more quests and more areas than Illidan was in “Burning Crusade.” Is that by design?
A: We spent lots of time on Illidan, but most players never got to see him. He’s in the starting cinematic, saying “You are not prepared!”, and for most people, that’s the last they see of him. Arthas is there from the beginning. As a death knight, your first quest comes from him. He makes guest appearances in five-man dungeons.
Q: Discuss the new “achievements” system, which awards points for accomplishing certain things, both significant and fun, in game. Why shouldn’t we accuse you of shamelessly ripping off Xbox Live?
A: If I were you, I’d accuse us of shamelessly ripping off Xbox Live. (laughs) We love it. That was definitely the inspiration. We see what they did and we made improvements. Hidden achievements are not fun. We like the way some achievements progress — catching 1 fish, 25 fish, 50 fish, all in the same box. It’s not ambiguous. Achievements were late to get into beta testing, but we’ve been talking about them for 18 months to two years. We plan to release achievements with every patch from here on out.
Q: Some of the achievements ask you to complete a certain number of quests in a zone. Is there ever going to be a way to check what quests you have and have not done?
A: There are some technical and bandwidth problems with making that available in game.
Q: But what if it were outside the game — say on the Web, as part of the Warcraft Armory?
A: (chuckles) Stay tuned.
Q: Who plays Warcraft? The impression you get from being in game is that it’s not always the typical young males.
A: It’s very difficult to get accurate numbers for demographics. You would be surprised how many people lie on the Internet. But anecdotally, it runs the spectrum. I’ve been in the game industry for 14 years. WoW is the first game my dad ever played.
Q: One of the things that developers have said repeatedly is that they’re going to overlap some of the capabilities of the different classes in Warcraft, so that a shadow priest or a mage or a paladin, for example, could bring the same buff to a group. How much of a worry is it that the classes will become too much alike, degrading into “ranged damage” or “melee damage” or “heals” or “tanks”?
A: It’s a fine edge. I don’t want to be forced to bring the assassination spec’ed rogue for this one particular fight (for example). I want to bring Shawn, because I enjoy playing with him. The classes are a little bit more homogenized. But I think there’s enough differences.
Q: There has been discussion about allowing players to choose two different specifications for their characters, so they could switch between them for a particular encounter. A paladin might be damage-oriented for one fight and healing-oriented for another. What is that going to look like?
A: We haven’t figured out exactly how it’ll work. We talked about it just yesterday. We still don’t know. Part of it is that the way people play in the beta tests is not the same way they play in the live game.
Q: Are you surprised by any player reactions to Lich King you’ve seen in the beta test?
A: We underestimated how cool the vehicle and siege weapon technology would be. We ended up using the vehicle technology all over in quests. One of my favorite quests is the escape from a Worgen village, where you’re on the back of a horse controlled by a (computer-controlled character). The bombing runs in “Burning Crusade” felt heroic; that was definitely the model for the types of new technology we wanted to include in “Lich King.”
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