Thursday, December 4, 2008

Interview: We Talk To Felicia Day About The Guild

Season two of The Guild debuted last week, and we got the chance to chat about the online sitcom “written by a gamer, about gamers, and for gamers” with Felicia Day, the writer and star. If you haven’t heard of The Guild, don’t worry. A lot of people haven’t. But that’s fact is changing even as you read this, because now every 4-6 minute episode is available for free download on Xbox Live and MSN Video. This includes all future episodes as well, which are updated weekly. Season one earned Best Series from Yahoo! and YouTube Video and also won ON Neworks/SXSW Greenlight Award for Best Original Production. Impressive. Felicia Day explains how The Guild originated and why we should be even more excited for season two.
Game Informer: What is the Guild? What is it about?
Felicia Day: The Guild is an online web series about a group of online gamers and how they interact online and offline. The episodes are 3-7 minutes, and it follows a guild. You might recognize various online games in it [such as World of Warcraft and Everquest], but we try to keep it game neutral to focus on the characters and the comedy.
GI: How did The Guild originate? Where did the inspiration come from to write a show about of a clan of MMORPG players?
Day: I’ve [played] MMORPG’s all my life - it’s been my vice. Some people drink a lot or do drugs. I do MMO’s. My whole college years were soaked in Diablo and other MMO’s like Ultima Online. I’ve always been an RPG addict, mostly on PC. I had a two-year addiction to World of Warcraft. It got to be so out of control I would not socialize with anyone else. It got to be really bad, so when I quit, that was one of my therapeutic things, to create something as a writer. So that’s how The Guild originated.
GI: Have any publishers approached you to sponsor their game in your show?
Day: We’ve actually had a couple people approach us early on. They wanted us to feature their game [but we chose not to]. Honestly, we have so many non-gamer fans too that it would be a disservice to both gamer fans and non-gamer fans, and not having a specific game forces me to write the show about the characters rather than everybody arguing over somebody’s crit rating.
GI: How did you fund your independent web show?
Day: For season one we put up a PayPal button, and we were funded by fans, which was surprising to me that anyone would donate to keep the show going. That just shows how fantastic our fans are. When we set up for season two, we knew we’d have to have funding in order to make the show bigger and up our production values and be able to roll out episodes faster than once every six weeks [as we did in season one].
GI: Did sponsors approach you for funding of season two?
Day: We were approached by a lot of sponsors - dozens of them, really - for almost a year. I’ve been turning down deals because I really wanted to find the right production to grow our show and that really “got” the vision of the show and not only expand our fan base but enable us to provide faster roll outs and higher production values. It wasn’t until after we started filming season two that Xbox came in and said, “Hey, we’d like to help you distribute and release the show to millions more people.” It happened to be the perfect fit, and I’m really glad I held out long enough to really get the partner that would be best for the fans and best for the show.
GI: And The Guild website (http://www.watchtheguild.com/) helped generate a fan base as well?
Day: Yes, I put up the website the minute we launched season one. It’s all homegrown.
GI: If I’m a gamer but haven’t ever played massively muliplayer online games like World of Warcraft and Everquest, how will I still enjoy The Guild?
Day: A lot of our fans are not gamers, and they love it because it’s geeky humor so you don’t necessarily have to know what QQmore means or what a crit is to get the humor. Also, in not specifying a game in the show, it forces me to write using general role-playing terms. My goal is to write something for the gamers and something for the non-gamers every episode.
GI: Are you surprised how well the show has been doing so far?
Day: I guess it’s surprising that so many people like it, but at the same time I’m so passionate about my show that I feel like I want everybody to know about it. So at the end of the day, it’s all about having faith in what you’re creating and wanting to share it with the people who appreciate it the most. The subject matter and length of the show [is what viewers online] I think are looking for.
GI: There will be weekly episodes, correct?
Day: Yes, the episodes launch weekly on Tuesday at midnight on Xbox Live in HD internationally in eight languages. At the same time we have it streaming on MSN Video, and it’s downloadable on the Zune Marketplace. We’re able to provide the show for free across all platforms so everyone can enjoy it.
GI: There’s a rumor that your chracter [Codex] falls in love with Sandeep Parikh’s character Zaboo, and that Zaboo’s mom falls in love with Jeff Lewis’ character Vork? What are your thoughts on that?
Day: What!? [laughs] I would say that those are probably unfounded. I think that’s there’s a big twist in episode four that fans might look forward to.
GI: Is production on season two complete? Is season three in the works?
Day: You just made my heart stop [laughs]. No, we’re actually finishing filming season two this weekend. We’re doing a big four-day shoot. I’m probably going to wait until the end of the year to start on season three, although I already have all the storylines all mapped out. So, if we end up doing a season three, I already have storylines ready to go.
GI: After winning the YouTube and Yahoo awards, you promised fans you would show video of you playing Dance Dance Revolution (like a maniac), and you did. It was, well, interesting. Can fans expect a similar reward if season two is just as successful?
Day: Interesting, I’ve never thought about that. I would have to get back with you on that. After we finish filming maybe that’s something I can think about. [laughs] What more embarrassing thing can I do than DDR, really?
GI: Where do you see The Guild one year from now? Five years from now? What’s your ultimate goal with The Guild?
Day: A year from now maybe season three will be out, and we’ll be finishing that up. It’s hard to say where we’d be five years from now. I mean five years from now we could all be floating around in hovercrafts. I don’t know. [laughs] We’re moving to a place where everybody can be downloading content on demand. I would hope that the show is a pioneer in that field.
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Posted by JImmy in 05:38:07 | Permalink | No Comments »

City of Heroes Mac beta client coming next week

One of the nice things about World of WarCraft is that it’s also available for Macs. Given the sheer number of students toting Macbooks, this has certainly cinched at least a few extra subscribers and given pre-existing ones more flexibility. NCSoft is well aware of this subscriber boon and has been preparing a Mac client for its popular City of Heroes MMO for some time. The beta of the client is nearly here, but a brief delay will see it pushed back from this week until next.
The beta was originally scheduled to start this week with the Issue 13 patch, but a few last minute technical issues have caused the delay. “Those looking for Mac [version], should check back with us next week, we didn’t want to release it just yet so we are holding that back for now,” said NCSoft Community Relations Coordinator “Ex Libris” on the game’s official forums. “More information on the Mac [version] is coming soon.” The beta will last until some time next year, when a full boxed client will be sold both online and at retail.
MMOs are almost entirely reliant on having a large player-base to sustain interest. The bigger the better: that’s one of the main reasons why the World of WarCraft dynasty is so hard to topple. Giving players more flexibility for platform decisions is a great way to boost subscriber counts, and NCSoft will likely enjoy a nice little boost to its aging MMO with this move.

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Posted by JImmy in 05:36:31 | Permalink | No Comments »

Massive Inc. and Blizzard Entertainment

NEW YORK, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, and Blizzard Entertainment Inc., a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software, announced today a multi-year deal that names Massive as the exclusive advertising service provider for Blizzard Entertainment(R)’s Web sites and Battle.net(R) online game service in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea and Australia.
In addition, Massive has teamed with Intergi Inc., the world’s largest Web-based video game and interactive entertainment network and advertising representation company, to manage Web-based advertising to reach Blizzard’s audience of core gamers and gaming enthusiasts. Intergi is powered by the Microsoft Atlas AdManager platform to deliver client advertising across its network of more than 700 sites.
Through this relationship, Massive will serve advertising to a highly engaged audience that visits Blizzard Entertainment’s collection of heavily trafficked Web sites and plays using Battle.net, the company’s online game service with millions of active users. On Battle.net, players can meet online to play with one another in Blizzard Entertainment’s “StarCraft(R),” “Warcraft(R)” and “Diablo(R)” series of games, including the upcoming “StarCraft II” and “Diablo III.” Blizzard Entertainment’s Web sites include the home page for the enormously popular “World of Warcraft(R),” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with over 11 million subscribers throughout the world.
“Our partnership with Blizzard Entertainment aligns Massive with the creative powerhouse behind some of the most renowned real-time strategy games of all time, as well as the world’s most popular MMORPG,” said JJ Richards, general manager of platform services for the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “This deal builds on Massive’s top-tier network of console games by giving us immediate credibility on the PC. And with Intergi, we are working with a highly targeted partner that knows the gaming audience to take a brand’s campaign from the Web site into the Battle.net game network.”
“Our decision to partner with Massive was based on several important factors, including their technical expertise, global sales presence, and willingness to work with us to ensure advertisements appear only in contexts and environments that make sense,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “This partnership does not include in-game advertising, as Massive understands and respects our stance against advertising that might detract from gameplay or offend our players.”
“We are thrilled to work with two industry pioneers; both Massive and Blizzard are two of today’s leading names in the world of gaming, and their confidence in our network and advertising representation services is a true testament to what Intergi offers when it comes to reaching today’s gaming enthusiast,” said Jayson Dubin, CEO of Intergi.
About Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft(R) and the Warcraft(R), StarCraft(R), and Diablo(R) series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (http://www.blizzard.com/), a division of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net(R), is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.
About Intergi
Recently ranked as the largest digital network targeting the online gaming and entertainment sector, Intergi is both a leading online gaming and entertainment advertising network, and representation company offering a hybrid of online opportunities that connect today’s advertisers and media buyers with consumers comprising the $25 billion gaming industry. Offering reach capabilities of over 9 billion page views and 160 million unique visitors on average, each month, Intergi offers targeted advertising placements — site specific, channel-wide and run-of-network — through more than 700 specialized gaming and entertainment categories including massively multiplayer online (MMO) and first person shooter (FPS) genres. Intergi’s global market allows advertisers and publishers to connect from different parts of the world and access a more robust and viable gaming enthusiast. Based in
Deerfield Beach, Florida, the company was launched in May 2007 by a team of seasoned gaming industry veterans. For more information, visit http://www.intergi.com/.
About Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising provides world-class advertising tools and solutions for digital advertisers and publishers to drive brand and consumer engagement. The portfolio includes all of Microsoft’s digital advertising businesses: its global media network that includes MSN, Windows Live, Office Live, Xbox LIVE, Live Search, Facebook and more, and its global technology platforms and tools that include Atlas, AdECN, adCenter, DRIVEpm, Massive and ScreenTonic, which together create engaging digital advertising experiences for their consumers. Microsoft Advertising helps make buying and selling media simple, smart and cost-effective across media and devices in the Microsoft network of properties and beyond, which spans 42 markets globally and 21 languages. Visit http://advertising.microsoft.com/ for more information.
About Massive Inc.
Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., is the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising. The Massive network offers advertisers the ability to engage an aggregated gaming audience in real time across multiple platforms. Over 300 blue-chip advertisers have run campaigns across the Massive network throughout North America and Europe. Publishers in the Massive network generate revenue through dynamic in-game advertising, enabling them to fully realize the value of their content while preserving and enhancing the game experience. Massive’s technology allows for downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video and game object formats. More information can be found online at http://www.massiveincorporated.com/.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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Posted by JImmy in 05:35:37 | Permalink | No Comments »

Massive ads brew for Blizzard, Activision

Microsoft-owned ad network signs multiyear agreement with World of Warcraft house for company’s Web sites, Battle.net; extends deal with Guitar Hero publisher.
Shortly before Activision and Vivendi announced their deal of the decade, the Guitar Hero publisher signed on to receive in-game advertisements from Massive Inc for a number of its Xbox 360 and PC titles. A bit more than a year on, and Massive is now extending its reach to Activision’s new power-player, Blizzard Entertainment.
Today, the Microsoft-owned in-game ad agency said that it has signed an exclusive multiyear agreement with Blizzard. Norrathians opposed to seeing in-game ads in their local World of Warcraft watering holes need not worry, however, as the deal is limited to Blizzard’s Web sites and Battle.net, the game maker’s online gaming hub. Terms of the deal were not announced, but Massive did note that the agreement is applicable to users in US,
Canada, Europe, South Korea, and Australia.
Massive also said today that it would be extending its aforementioned deal with Activision to encompass an additional 18 titles appearing on the Xbox 360 and PC. The agency didn’t fully delineate which titles would fall under this deal, though it did call out Guitar Hero: World Tour, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, as well as games in its Tony Hawk and AMAX Racing franchises.
Massive’s deal with Blizzard is just the latest in a string of high-profile publishers signing up for the agency’s ad network. In March, Massive reached an agreement with Activision Blizzard archrival Electronic Arts to serve in-game ads in the publisher’s Burnout and Need for Speed franchises, as well as annualized sports titles appearing on the Xbox 360 and PC. Last month, THQ signed a similar deal that saw Massive become the sole in-game ad provider for all of the publisher’s Xbox 360 and PC projects.
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Posted by JImmy in 05:33:58 | Permalink | No Comments »

Why techies love games — and why it’s good they do

From World of Warcraft to Civilization, computer games hone skills, reduce frustration, and celebrate tech
Everyone knows that techies love “Dungeons & Dragons,” where they can prowl the bowels of a castle and cast spells on clueless managers, er, mages. After all, it’s just a game.
Or is it? Many tech staffers are also hard-core PC gamers. For good reason: In virtual worlds like “World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King” and “Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword,” you can show off your awesome mental powers and flex the most feared fingers in the universe. You can hone the problem-solving skills that make you good at IT, take out frustrations from your day-to-day work, and celebrate the technology that you so love.
[ Check out InfoWorld's slideshow of the six perfect PC games for IT. Looking for other cool techie stuff? Peruse our 2008 geek gadget gift guide. ]
So what, exactly, does a kick-ass shooter game like “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” or the beautifully rendered role-playing game “Fallout 3” really say about tech life? Well, saddle up your Mechano-strider and watch as the Blade of Vaulted Secrets carves deeply into the tech-worker psyche.
The techie-gamer relationship is rooted in “Civilization”Ah, the early days of “Civilization,” or “Civ” in tech-speak. This classic Sid Meier game ran on PC DOS — no games ran on Windows
3 in the early 1990s — which basically locked out mere mortals from playing it.
That is, you needed to know how to reconfigure autoexec.bat and config.sys to load extended memory and mouse drivers so that “Civ” could run. “You had to know technology to even play games,” says George Jones, editorial director of GamePro, an InfoWorld sister publication. “Back then there was no Internet resource to help you, and so you had had to figure it out on your own. It was crazy.”
When PC games finally reached the masses, thanks largely to Windows 95, techies were already masters of “Doom,” “Quake,” “Counterstrike,” and “World of Warcraft.” (Let the jocks play “Madden NFL” — why throw a football for a touchdown when you can toss a flash grenade through a window and storm the door for a beat-down?)
Today, Jones figures more than half of all hard-core PC gamers work in tech. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist specializing in the gamer lifestyle, agrees: “There’s a large overlay between people who game and people who chose technology for work,” he says, adding, “Some people can read people, others can understand … a computer.”
Stupid users are lost in the virtual worldThe single experience nearly every tech worker shares is that, at some point in their career, they’ve had to deal with stupid users, more stupid users, and even more stupid users. These users rarely respect the unsung tech worker — and PC games can provide an opportunity for a little payback.
Let’s face it: There’s a tinge of happiness when one of these smug users creeps around the corner and right into your sniper crosshairs. It’s your “Call of Duty” to put the poor sap out of his misery. Even better, the next day you can chuckle at him in the cafeteria line.
Indeed, users should thank techies for creating an industry of sophisticated games. When users look at a game screen, they probably wouldn’t notice poorly overlapping 3-D images if a Hammer of Judgment hit them over the head.
But best-selling games such as “Fallout 3″ don’t have shoddy graphics rendering or crude artificial intelligence because “top game developers know their work will be scrutinized by trained eyes,” explains Jones. “You can’t fool them.”
Solving problems with bloody executionMany tech workers are fervent problem solvers. Some are strategic, some tactical. Some solve problems through reverse engineering, others by invention, and a few by sheer luck. PC games play smartly into the many aspects of this problem-solving passion.
In “Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword,” a player spends days, weeks, or maybe months shaping a civilization from the beginning of time to the modern era. The goal is to emerge as the leader, and there’s not just one solution or path to success. “It’s the ultimate problem-solving experience,” Jones says, “and epitomizes the mind frame of the tech worker.”
Of course, many tech workers don’t have weeks or even hours to solve a problem. That’s where “StarCraft” comes in. In this game, you’re a military leader of an alien species. The game calls for quick thinking and some serious team management during short missions.
“StarCraft” perhaps best mirrors the challenges and successes of life in IT. “‘StarCraft’ is firefighting,” says Jones. “Things are crumbling, and you have to figure out how to fix it in 25 minutes. It’s the nature of IT work.” (FYI, “StarCraft II” is planned for release next year.)
Perfect PC games for ITOK, now that it’s clear why techies and gaming go so well together, which games are the ideal fit for IT? InfoWorld has picked the ideal game for six kinds of tech staffers. Check them out in our “Perfect techie games” slideshow.
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Posted by JImmy in 05:31:56 | Permalink | No Comments »

Microsoft Sets Foothold in World of Warcraft, StarCraft II and Guitar Hero

The company partners with Blizzard Entertainment and Activision over advertising, via Massive
Via its network for video game advertising, Microsoft has announced that it has inked a partnership with Blizzard Entertainment and Activision over advertising. The source of ads will be Massive, a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. According to Microsoft, Blizzard Entertainment’s web properties and the Battle.net online game service will be served ads via Massive, as the sole service provider.
The deal is valid for
U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea and Australia. Massive will deliver advertising for online gamers accessing StarCraft (including StarCraft II), Warcraft and Diablo (including Diablo III). However, at the same time, a part of the 11 million subscribers of World of Warcraft will also see advertising from Massive.

“Our partnership with Blizzard Entertainment aligns Massive with the creative powerhouse behind some of the most renowned real-time strategy games of all time, as well as the world’s most popular MMORPG,” stated JJ Richards, general manager of platform services for the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “This deal builds on Massive’s top-tier network of console games by giving us immediate credibility on the PC. And with Intergi, we are working with a highly targeted partner that knows the gaming audience to take a brand’s campaign from the Web site into the Battle.net game network.”

Nevertheless, in addition to Blizzard Entertainment, Massive has also signed an advertising deal with Activision. Involving titles such as Guitar Hero: World Tour and James Bond: Quantum of Solace, Massive will offer in-game advertising for no less than 18 games from Activision spanning across the PC and the Xbox console.

“Activision creates some of the best content in the gaming industry,” said Richards. “With so many amazing titles added to the Massive network on a multiyear basis, advertisers are better able than ever before to plan in-game advertising alongside other forms of media. This partnership further establishes the Massive network as the medium for advertisers to reach their desired audience.”
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Posted by JImmy in 05:30:28 | Permalink | No Comments »