Following Kongregate's announcement last week that it had secured $3 million from Bezos Expeditions, Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos' personal investment arm, for its social Flash gaming portal, the company revealed a new project designed to extend its presence on the web, the Facebook Challenge Platform.

Launched in 2006, Kongregate's site invites users to not only play and rate over 4,000 Flash games for free, but to create and share them using a "video games meets YouTube" model. Members who've registered at the site can also setup profiles, friends lists, and chat with others.

Points and badges are rewarded for completing specific challenges (achievements) in the different games, and users can even invite their friends to games they've played and send challenges. That social strategy has worked out well for Kongregate, as its users spend, on average, up to an hour, playing games at the site, compared to users visiting Facebook and ESPN, who on average stay at the respective sites for 21 and 12 minutes. Kongregate intends to add this communal aspect of its Flash game network to Facebook, integrating its games and features onto the social site. Due for a public release later this month, the Challenge Platform hopes to attract Facebook's huge user base to the Kongregate experience.

Worlds in Motion spoke to Kongregate CEO and co-founder Jim Greer about the platform's seamless integration with Facebook: "Anyone with a Facebook profile will be able to start playing our games immediately. They won't need to set up a Kongregate account beforehand. It will all be available through Facebook's application directory, just like a regular game." Even users who have no interest in the platform's social features will be able to enjoy the games with a casual, single-player "Play" mode.

Continue reading "Q&A: Kongregate's Jim Greer Talks FaceBook Challenge Platform" »

Posted by Eric Caoili at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an interview at Sony’s recent PlayStation Day even in London, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves told consumer website CVG that the company was too ambitious with Home’s non-gaming applications.

After delaying Home twice since announcing the PlayStation 3 virtual world at the Game Developers Conference in March, 2007, Sony predicted at the London event that the service would open to the public by the end of 2008. Reeves was a little more specific, promising that an open beta for Home would debut in autumn.

In order to meet that deadline, though, development has shifted its focus away from non-gaming applications and more more towards the service’s gaming elements, such as trophies and launching games from within Home.

Said Reeves: "We've realised that maybe we were too ambitious with the non-gaming applications within Home, getting sponsors and stuff like that. In that sense we were deserting gamers. So, we're concentrating on the gaming by launching games in Home, and attracting people who are into gaming in first - instead of the Nike people, or Adidas people who are into fashion and not necessarily into gaming."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Freaky Creatures developer Abandon Interactive Entertainment has enlisted customer service provider Game Center Group to provide support management services for Abdandon's forthcoming MMO.

Game Center Group will provide end-to-end customer relationship management services, including knowledge base management, CRM hosting, technical, account/billing, and in-game support, for Freaky Creatures.

Just two weeks ago, Game Center Group announced a partnership with Javien Digital Payment Solutions to offer alternative payment methods, such as microtransactions and specialized accounts (parent-child sponsorships, prepaid wallets, etc.), to its customers.

Said Abandon Interactive Entertainment James Ottilie, “Game Center Group offers the best-in-class solution for live support in this space. After an exhaustive review of all our options, it was clear the team at Game Center Group had the experience and depth on their bench to provide a true turn-key solution for comprehensive support in all major markets.”

Posted by Eric Caoili at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nexon America Inc., the North American division of Korea-based developer and publisher Nexon Group, is celebrating MapleStory's third anniversary (in the U.S.) by unveiling new areas, contests, and events for the free-to-play MMO game.

To date, MapleStory has amassed over 5.9 million users in North America. Some of the celebration's highlights include Showa, a new Yakuza-themed region, a cake-themed monster named Big Puff Daddy who terrorizes several towns. Special GM events, such as a sale on Nexon Cash, MapleStory's purchasable currency, will also be held.

MapleStory will also host a contest during the month-long anniversary celebration in which players can upload videos celebrating the anniversary for a chance to win one of five prizes, including a new computer worth $1,500.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In Playboy's Q1 2008 earnings call yesterday, chairman and CEO Christie Hefner discussed the company's new revenue opportunities and online plans, indicating an approach that sounds very similar to either an expansion of its current virtual world presence or building its own virtual world based on the media brand

"The playboy brand is what creates the unique connection we have with consumers and gives us a vital competitive edge," said Hefner. "It is the strength and appeal of the brand that will drive the company's future success, and we intend to leverage that in both immersive real world and in the virtual environment to increase shareholder value. "

Playboy already has a strong virtual presence in Second Life, where its "Playboy Island" is one of the most popular company-sponsored sites in the community. Just recently, the company ran a promotion in which it invited designers to create exclusive Playboy-branded merchandise to sell along with its real world goods on the island.

Hefner continued in the earnings call: "We believe that the potential of online is much greater than the performance we've seen in the last several years. And to realize that potential we have to catch up in terms of technological infrastructure and breadth of content and interconnectedness between what we do in the virtual world and what we're doing in other businesses in terms of e-commerce, in terms of events, in terms of advertising, in terms of social networking, etc."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape. You can view Part 1 of our investigation here, and Part 2 here.]

I've spent over a week with my adopted monster, Shibito -- a character in the educational, social MMO Moshi Monsters, aimed at "little kids and big kids alike" -- so what are my conclusions?

Continue reading "Online World Atlas: Moshi Monsters-- Pt. 3, Conclusion" »

Posted by mathewk at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vancouver-based networking company Utherverse Inc. plans to accompany Vancouver's New Music West Conference and Festival in May 14-18 with a virtual version of the festival in its online erotic virtual world, Virtual-Vancouver.

Advertised as "the first massively multi-user online music festival," the online event will provide audio and video of performing Canadian independent bands simulcasted in near-real-time. Adult users will be able to attend the festival by creating an avatar and visiting Virtual-Vancouver's ampitheatre.

In an interview with technology site Wired, Utherverse CEO Brian Shuster described Virtual-Vancouver's capability to host large-scale events for tens of thousands of users: "The trick comes in allowing hundreds or thousands of user avatars to appear in the same region of Virtual-Vancouver -- in this case, having thousands of users in a single amphitheater so that they can all enjoy a concert together. It is this problem that we have solved with a system that dynamically spawns new 'dimensions' of the amphitheater as needed, to accommodate as many users as necessary."

He continued, "In this way, the amphitheater will never be so crowded that anyone will have trouble enjoying the show, and users can move easily around the physical space, as well as between dimensions, so that they can meet, dance and interact with any of the other concert-goers from around the world."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Westwood-based MMO game developer Turbine is celebrating the first-year anniversary of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar's launch by offering free access to the fantasy game based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth books during May 8-12.

Turbine is inviting former players to explore updates that've been applied since the MMORPG's launch, including a new region, new quests, a hobby system, expanded avatar customization options, and more. Gamers with retired accounts will be able to simply login with their old information during the free access weekend.

Turbine is also offering two new LOTR Online pricing options for a limited time until June, including a lifetime membership for a one-time fee and multi-month plans allowing players to pay only $9.99 a month when signing up for 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month subscriptions.

Posted by Eric Caoili at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During Sony's PlayStation Day press event in London yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Kaz Hirai discussed the company plans for its social world, Home, promising to open the service to the public "towards the end of the year," a comprehensive live report of the proceedings from UK-based site Eurogamer.

Home provides PlayStation 3 owners with a full-scale virtual world, allowing gamers to customize avatars and apartments, share gaming achievements, and socialize with others. Sony plans to add advertisements and lobbies with partnering retailers, as well as purchasable content, such as clothes, furniture, or larger apartments.

Previously, the virtual world was scheduled to open in late 2007 before Sony put off its launch to Spring 2008, citing "user feedback" for the delay. Sony later extended the delay again last month to Fall 2008, noting that the company needed to spend more time in development with Home. The service is currently under closed beta testing.

Commenting on Home's unspecified release date for this year, Hirai stated, "As great as it currently is, it needs a little more time."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MTV Networks plans to unveil a case study to advertisers demonstrating how consumer engagement with programs and brands expand with each additional digital platform they are exposed to, including virtual worlds, according to a report from advertising news site Ad Week.

The "Multiscreen Engagement Case Study," which was conducted for MTV by Harris Interactive and MauroNewMedia in January of this year, details the involvement of 600 consumers with MTV's prime time hit show The Hills and their perceptions of key sponsor Pepsi.

The case study examined a control group of 300 people who did not watch The Hills and a group of 300 who did, finding that Pepsi's positive brand image traits dramatically increased among fans who watched the show and browsed The Hills content online, and even more so among fans who played in The Hills virtual world.

About half of the 240 fans who watched only the on-air version of the show said Pepsi promotes music events and supports music artists. Less than 30% of them said the brand was in touch with youth culture, and about 15% said they considered Pepsi "cool" or "hip."

Those numbers skyrocketed among those who watched the TV show and went online to enter The Hills virtual world, where upwards of 90% said Pepsi promotes music and recording artists, and nearly 70% considered the brand to be "cool," "hip," and in touch with youth culture.

Network executives say the study helps them make their case that MTV is the place to target 12 to 34 year olds, showing that in prime time, the networks are down 14% in that demographic, and MTV has had a gain of 14% according to Nielsen Media Research.

Said MTVN's integrated marketing executive vice president Tim Rosta: "What we've learned from the study is the more our audience engages with brand across platform the greater level of brand affinity they have. When we infuse it appropriately, brands become part of the dialog giving us the ability to create brand ambassadors. They know somebody is paying for the programming so they embrace brands where we don't try to fool them."

Posted by Eric Caoili at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)