Jacksonville-based BitRaider launched an eponymous digital distribution technology it says lets users start playing PC games without interruption or performance reductions -- even with as little as ten percent of a game's installation complete.

"We want the experience to be the same as if it were already pre-installed without any hit in performance," says BitRaider founder and CEO Royal O'Brien.

BitRaider works for a variety of genres -- such as MMOs, FPSes, and casual games -- using adaptive threading in multiprocessor/multicore systems to stream and adapt needed assets ahead of gameplay.

The technology is designed to allow gamers to play through a title without noticeable interruption of play or reduced computing performance by streaming game content in the background.

BitRaider utilizes a small loader program that locates needed streaming assets, installs the package, and runs a profiled file for the player. According to the company, it has been tested to work without conflict with major DRM and virus protection software.

Originally founded in 2005 as Game xStream, the company changed its name and focus from its previous streaming on-demand service for playing graphic-intensive PC games online.

"For gamers, they just want to play, they really do not want to be involved with how the download is being performed," O'Brien says.

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Customer service, above all, will drive all online game creators to create better games and businesses, said Club Penguin co-creator Lane Merrifield in a densely-attended Austin GDC keynote. Merrifield looked to his Disneyland origins -- and now, Disney-owned online game smash -- to explain why genuine respect and caring make a massive difference.

"If we can truly learn how to put the player first... we will build better games, stronger teams, and thus better businesses," said Merrifield of his essential ethos.

Merrifield was one of the two original developers of the subscription-based kids' Flash PC game, and subsequently presided over its acquisition by Disney in August 2007 for $700 million.

He worked at Disneyland long before Disney acquired his company, controlling a remote controlled crocodile on the Lion King parade. Merrifield recalled that he "...got to see first hand what it was like to be an environment about... serving each other."

Blizzard says its upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of The Lich King, will launch on November 13th, beginning in North America, Europe, Mexico Argentina and Chile.

The expansion, the second released for the popular MMO after The Burning Crusade, will release on August 14th in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Lich King will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18, and Blizzard says details on the mmainland China will be announced at a later date.

“We’re looking forward to launching Wrath of the Lich King and finally giving World of Warcraft players a chance to take on Arthas and his minions," says Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. "Until then, we’ll continue to refine and playtest the expansion content to make sure it provides a highly polished and entertaining experience."

[The preceding article by Leigh Alexander originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Damion Schubert, lead combat designer for BioWare Austin, argues that your endgame – what happens when MMO players have finished all the lower level quests and “made it” in the game universe – realizes the true potential of MMOs.

“People talk about massively multiplayer online games – whenever they gravitate to one of these games, they always gravitate to one of the big ideas,” says Schubert. “What would happen if you could burn down another guild? What would happen if you had a boss that needed 25 people to kill? What if you had a battle that was 100 ships versus 100 ships?”

“The most important thing about your endgame, about elder gameplay, is that it’s one of the few things in your games that’s actually massive. And at the end of the day, that’s what we’re talking about here.”

“Whenever you’re talking about things with your producers, (the endgame) looks like something to cut,” he says, “because maybe nobody will even get to that level. I think a lot of producers underestimate what happens at the endgame.”

Anyone who has played an MMO or participated in any online forum or service knows that anonymity creates problems -- and large groupings of people invites those with psychological issues to act them out on the larger populace. A group of MMO community managers and psychologists from the University of Texas came together at GDC Austin to examine common scenarios -- and take a peek into why these problems persist, and maybe come up with new ways to solve them.

The panel was comprised of moderator Sean Dahlberg from BioWare Austin, Troy Hewitt of Flying Lab Software, Meghan Rodberg of Turbine, and Dr. Sam Gosling and Dr. James Pennebaker, of the University of Texas.

Though both of the psychologists admitted that they are not personally gamers, they clearly find the subject of MMO audiences fascinating -- and not in a clinical way. They showed empathy for the issues, but worried that some of the tactics commonly undertaken by the community mangers are "just attending to the symptoms," in the words of Dr. Gosling.

MMO/virtual world/serious games platform developer Icarus Studios has announced the expansion of their 3D development platform to the iPhone. The official launch of the Icarus 3D iPhone client is be in the first quarter of 2009.

The current prototype of the iPhone extension includes the ability to create virtual worlds that are navigable using the accelerometer.

The Icarus platform incorporates a number of technologies, such as Vivox for VoIP, Ageia's PhysX for its physics engine, IDV's SpeedTree, and OC3 for avatar speech and facial expressions, and was designed to meet the needs of next-generation Virtual Worlds and MMOGs, supporting functionality such as user generated content, in-world social and entertainment activities, scriptable AIs, dynamic game systems, diverse revenue models, and in-world profiled marketing.

“We are committed to porting our platform to established and emerging devices. The iPhone offers a tremendous opportunity to extend Virtual Worlds and MMOGs to mobile devices in a visually rich and intuitive device,” said James Hettinger, Chief Executive Officer of Icarus Studios.

Multiverse's Bob Moore, a sociologist, says games have always been social -- even Pong had a two-player mode. But most of the sociability that occurred happened around the game. With MMOs, sociability has moved further into the virtual environment itself, where players interact avatar to avatar instead of face to face. So how can we design environments for sociability?

Moore defined sociability as: "A distinct social form that distills out of social life the pure essence of association, the sheer pleasure of the companies of others." Currently, that's what MMOs do best, he says.

He clarified that there's a difference between sociability and socialization, and the two are not equal -- "Sociability is a term that is routinely misused in this world to mean socialization," he says. "Newbies learn the culture of a game -- there is social vision going on, but that's not the same as sociability or socializing."

So what facilitates sociability in MMOs? So far, gameplay has the most accessible way to do it.

Free-to-play MMO publisher OGPlanet has announced that their in-game currency is now available for publish in the form of pre-paid game cards, available exclusively at Blockbuster stores.

The virtual currency, called Astros, can be purchased online, but the new agreement with Blockbuster marks the first time OGPlanet-specific game cards will be available at a "brick-and-mortar" retail outlet.

Astros can be used in OGPlanet's four titles -- Albatross18, Rumble Fighter, Cabal Online, and the upcoming La Tale.

"The availability of OGPlanet game cards at Blockbuster stores nationwide represents an entirely new level of accessibility for OGPlanet fans," said Don Choi, COO of OGPlanet. "We're thrilled to be working with Blockbuster in this venture. Their success as an entertainment retailer makes them an ideal location for distribution of OGPlanet game cards."

Bay Area headquartered, John Romero-headed MMO developer Slipgate Ironworks has developed a robust system for its music, which audio director Kurt Larson considers the only viable way to move forward with MMO soundtracks -- which he presented with programmer Chris Mayer and composer Jim Hedges.

The presentation began with Larson presenting rough financials on traditional music creation for games. At $1,500 minute, most single player focused, 30-hour games would cost $45,000 to score. "$1,500 is not an unusual figure," says Larson, before pointing out that his EverQuest character has logged 70 hours over its play life -- which he jokingly noted would translate to $630,000,000 at that rate.

Instead of generating completed music, Larson proposes using "supplied composer sounds to generate music, completely unique. Think of it as wind chimes. Recognizable, familiar, non-repeating."

While he admits that the system is unsuitable for generating a "highly-structured intensely-composed warfare game opening" he believes it to be an extremely effective solution for ambient background music. "Like the wind chimes, it creates a mood, and supports the emotional experience you want the player to have. This is the best way to go about music in a massively multiplayer game. This is my message."

Electronic Arts studio Mythic Entertainment sold 1.5 million units of upcoming PC MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning to retailers.

Shipping to stores in North America, Europe, and Oceania on September 17th, the game set a company record for the most retail pre-orders placed by consumers for a PC title in EA's 26-year history.

Mythic claims that WAR will be the first MMORPG to open its servers simultaneously in all three regions.

The title is based on Games Workshop's tabletop game and its science fantasy setting. WAR features "Realm vs. Realm" game play that pits factional armies against each other.

Mythic recently saw some controversy in August after the studio's co-founder and general manager Mark Jacobs revealed that WAR will only credit staff members currently working at the company, declining to issue proper accreditation to employees that have helped develop the game but since left.

"This is truly a historic day for both EA and Mythic as we prepare to send more copies of WAR to retailers than any other newly launched MMORPG in North America and Europe," says Jacobs. "Over the course of our beta, over a million gamers throughout the world sent a clear signal to us - they want WAR, and we are more than happy to oblige them."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Ntreev USA (the North American arm of South Korean publisher Ntreev) has announced that the newest update for the MMO "action brawler" Grand Chase includes a new job class; "Arme," one of the five playable characters in Grand Chase, is now able to advance to the job of "Warlock."

As a Warlock, the magician character Arme is capable of "calling spirits" to cast spells and execute melee moves. This add melee techniques into her repertoire, allowing players to mix magical and physical attacks.

Developed by Korean developer KOG Studios, Grand Chase is set in a medieval fantasy world that follows a group of knights who join an order of nobles known as the “Grand Chase” to defeat a villain known as Kaze'aze. Grand Chase combines side-scrolling dungeon crawling with player vs. player matches.

PayByCash (a subsidiary of PlaySpan) has announced that it has launched an online version of its Ultimate Game Card, a stored value card that supports over 200 multiplayer games/virtual worlds (including Age of Conan, Club Penguin, Puzzle Pirates, and more) and is currently available at retail.

Resellers can now purchase game codes in bulk and choose between instant delivery of digital codes or delivery of physical Ultimate Game Cards. The digital codes are redeemable in all of PayByCash’s supported games, and are argued to be an "ideal product for Internet cafes and game centers," according to PayByCash's release.

“The acceptance of Ultimate Game Card has been swift, with sales doubling every month over the last few months,” said PayByCash president, Kevin Higgins. “Multiplayer games and virtual worlds are international and there is a strong demand for a global version of Ultimate Game Card. We are now pleased to offer Ultimate Game Card to resellers worldwide. Selling the Ultimate Game Card is an immediate way for virtually any business to generate revenues and bring new customers into a physical store location.”

Tutorial design may create one of the largest barriers to entry in an MMO, according to Sheri Graner Ray, who spoke during Austin GDC about ways tutorials can welcome in more players by speaking to a broader variety of learning styles.

The veteran MMO creator and consultant's presentation highlighted the fact that many gamers of both genders, but particularly women, are shut out from understanding games due to the way tutorials are generally designed in games.

Graner Ray discussed the three traditional learning styles generally accepted by researchers -- defining 'learning style' being how people choose to receive and process information. Says Graner Ray, "These things are pretty much hard-wired. The way you learn is particular to you. You can learn the other ways, but you have a preferred method."

These styles are visual (learning from reading or seeing), aural (learning through hearing, such as from presentations and speeches) and kinesthetic (learning through movement). While anyone can learn in any of these styles, most people find one to be the most comfortable. In the United States, 65 percent of people are visual, 25 percent are aural, and 10 percent are kinesthetic.

But alongside these are two other "learning acquisition styles," according to Graner Ray, methods of learning independent of the other three methods: explorative and imitative. These are generally (but far from exclusively) male and female traits, respectively.

MMORPG developer Cryptic Studios (City of Heroes) announced that it will use IBM's System x servers to power upcoming MMO action game Champions Online.

Based on the Champions pen-and-paper RPG, Champions Online will be published by 2K Games and will ship in spring 2009 for PC and Xbox 360 with cross-platform gameplay. The title allows players to customize a superhero and explore a comic book universe.

IBM's System x solution provides a scalable architecture that will enable Champions Online to accommodate thousands of simultaneous users and potentially millions of game downloads.

Built on X4, the fourth generation of IBM's X-Architecture design blueprint for Intel processor-based servers, System x is also designed to be power efficient, helping Cryptic manage energy costs.

“Cryptic Studios is dedicated to building strong player communities, and developing challenging, yet accessible games with deep and enjoyable gameplay,” says Cryptic Studios CTO Bruce Rogers. “Our development team aims to deliver the best player experience possible. With the high performance capabilities and scalability of IBM System x, Cryptic will be able to deliver the quality experience our players expect.”

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Shanghai-based online game operator The9 announced the addition of Allegorithmic’s procedural texturing middleware ProFX to its game development pipeline for an upcoming free-to-play MMO targeting the Chinese market.

According to Allegorithmic, ProFX enables developers too potentially produce textures with file sizes several magnitudes smaller than traditional textures, which translates into shorter download times for users, an attractive solution for MMOGs, virtual communities, and casual and downloadable games.

The9 manages the operation and distribution for several popular MMORPG titles, including Ragnarok Online 2 and World of Warcraft and its expansions, in mainland China. The company chose ProFX specifically to help reduce the file size and download time for its forthcoming MMO.

"In developing a successful title using the Free2Play model, there is a direct relationship between the size of the game client and the success of the game," says The9's R&D center senior director Liu Kun. "This means it is imperative that we offer players incredible graphics and an improved gaming experience overall with a minimum download time and storage footprint. ProFX helps us accomplish this goal quickly and efficiently."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

The end user license agreement, or EULA, is essentially what protects an online game from players – but not necessarily the reverse.

In this panel, Raph Koster from Areae, Scott Hartsman of Ohai, game lawyer S. Gregory Boyd, author Erin Hoffman, and moderator Erik Bethke of GoPets discuss how to improve the EULA for all – with significant conversational travel into real money trading (RMT) territory.

As part of the session, Koster revealed that the Metaplace EULA and terms of service (TOS) will be an exceptionally wide-ranging document including freedom of speech and IP ownership aspects.

Erik Bethke started thinking about EULAs during a talk he gave with some other folks at Stanford about virtual items. The talk covered the gap between what is owned by whom in virtual worlds – and in general, nothing is owned by the player.

In the Worlds In Motion Summit keynote on Tuesday, Google Lively's Kevin Hanna explained the genesis of the search engine giant's online world space, along the way revealing an upcoming API to embed playable games inside Lively.

In a key announcement, Hanna, who worked on the project since its inception and now works as creative director at X-Ray Kid, which built the core content for the title and was formed in association with Google, explained: "We're going to update the API for game development - I think that opens up the world for possibilities."

The game-related APIs for the title will take both a short-term and a long-term perspective. In the short-term, Google Lively is opening up the platform so that the Google Gadgets API will work on surfaces in the game, meaning that people can embed and play casual games on polygonal surfaces (such as TV screens) in the world, much like Sony's Home has been experimenting with.

Further into the future, Hanna says that the company intends to open up a more general API to game developers to potentially create 3D multiplayer games using Google Lively's technology and back end -- though this is intended to be a long-term goal, and neither of the two plans have specific timeframes on them now.

Speaking in an Austin GDC panel on the art of upcoming Sony Online Entertainment MMO DC Universe Online, noted DC comic artist artist Jim Lee shares some insights on translating 2D characters and designs from comic books to fit an online 3D game's style and needs.

The DC Universe sponsored talk began with a “moderator” showing a couple of videos, and then opening the floor to questions. After a brief awkward silence during which attendees realized they would be running the panel themselves, a number of interesting topics came to light. Here, we’ll focus on Jim Lee's collaboration with SOE.

Lee began by discussing the difficulties of translating 2D characters into a 3D space. “You tend to draw these female characters with really long legs,” he said by way of example.

“They look better on the page, but when you animate them they look less graceful, kind of clumsy. So the big thing is figuring out what looks good in 2D, and how that translates to 3D. Really figuring out the length of something like Batman’s cape, which in comics is really variable, in games it’s not nearly as variable as I’d like it to be.”

MMO portals Aeria Games and IAHGames announced the integration of BitTorrent’s Delivery Network Accelerator (DNA) content delivery service to distribute their massively multiplayer online games and patches.

Based on the popular BitTorrent client, BitTorrent DNA is designed to improve the speed and reliability of content delivery with peer network acceleration. The service targets the needs of commercial content publishers, including video game developers and distributors, as well as media companies and software providers.

According to BitTorrent, DNA is able to automatically detect game play on a user’s system and, through BitTorrent’s congestion control technology, eliminate any impact on game play as well as other sensitive real-time applications, such as Voice over IP (VoIP) calls, streaming media, or internet browsing.

Founded in 2006 and based in Silicon Valley, Aeria Games offers a variety of PC MMOs and casual titles on its site, such as Shaiya and Last Chaos. IAHGames is a Singapore-based publisher, operator, and distributor of both online and console games in SouthEast asia, hosting titles like Hellgate: London, Top Speed, and EA Sports FIFA Online 2.

“By adopting the BitTorrent DNA content delivery service, we have increased the percentage of successful downloads of our game clients and patches while saving on bandwidth costs,” says IAHGames deputy CEO David Ng. “It plugs right into our existing infrastructure, giving us a greater degree of control over how we distribute our titles with reliability and efficiency.”

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Massively multiplayer online game Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has a new producer and game director, after previous incumbent Gaute Godager resigned from publisher and developer Funcom.

Godager was one of the original founders of Norwegian company Funcom but has resigned over issues with Age of Conan and is now pursuing new opportunities outside of the games industry. He will be replaced by former Anarchy online producer and game director Craig Morrison.

"I have done my very best making this fabulous game, but I have concluded there are elements which I am dissatisfied with," said Godager. "I have decided to act on this, and as a result I have chosen to leave Funcom. It is time to get new, fresh eyes on Age of Conan, and I wholeheartedly support the appointment of Craig."

Morrison has also previously worked as operations executive at the UK Telegraph media group and as associate editor at IGN’s Vault Network – where he managed dedicated websites for several massively multiplayer online games.

"Taking on the position as producer and game director on Age of Conan is a great challenge but also one I welcome. I have a clear conviction I can lead the further development in a good way, evolving Age of Conan into something even better. My main priority now is therefore to listen to, and act on, player concerns, while ensuring we add additional great content to the game," said Morrison.

"At heart I will always be a gamer, and the coming changes and additions to Conan will always be done with the gamers in mind. Together I am certain we will shape an amazing future for Age of Conan."

[The preceding article by David Jenkins originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Provider of on-demand payment management software Vindicia has announced that publishers Cryptic, FireSky, Multiverse and Outspark have joined its customer portfolio. The companies are to leverage Vindicia’s billing and fraud management solutions in titles including Star Trek Online, Stargate Worlds and the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer Online.

The release states that they selected Vindicia over competing solutions for its ability to "support multiple business models," such as subscription, one time purchases, digital goods or a combination of models.

Worlds in Motion recently talked to Gene Hoffman, CEO of Vindicia about the issues MMOG publishers face, and what they can do to avoid fraud -- increasingly important in a market that (according to the PC Gaming Alliance) represented nearly 70 percent of the $10.7 billion revenues industry wide last year.

“Online game publishers are at the forefront of one of the most dramatic shifts in entertainment -- a world where traditional commerce models fall short,” said Gene Hoffman, chairman and CEO of Vindicia. “As innovators like Cryptic, FireSky, Multiverse and Outspark continue to expand their own user communities, as well as their offerings, billing and fraud management solutions move from the tactical to the strategic. Vindicia’s solutions were built from the ground up to support a wide variety of business models, allowing each publisher to adopt an infrastructure that is designed for them.”

In an entertaining AGDC panel, ZeniMax Online president Matt Firor took the "subscription MMO" end of a subscription vs. free-to-play debate, explaining the current state of the triple-A MMO space, and discussing World Of Warcraft's "perfect storm" and why there will be million-subscription games post-WoW.

Firor, who runs the sister online company to Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout 3), and is working on a high-budget unannounced MMO title, was appearing on a panel alongside K2 Network's Joshua Hong (WarRock, Sword Of The New World), who was representing the free-to-play end.

The ZeniMax executive explained of his contribution, "In many ways I'm going to do the tried and true side of this conversation," but offered a lot of relevant information on where he thinks the MMO market is going over the next few years.

As he noted, the current monthly subscription price for core MMOs is $14.99, up from $9.99 or so when the modern MMO was birthed with Ultima Online, and he noted that, inevitably, "Publishers will probably try to stretch that further as time goes on."

When Min Kim of Nexon, a company famous for popularizing the free to play MMO, asked his Austin Game Developers Conference audience how many people were developing or interested in developing free-to-play MMOs -- and roughly 70 percent of the audience raised their hands.

Some hands went down when Kim asked how many audience members had played Nexon's Maple Story; by the time Kim asked how many had played the company's Kart Rider, only about 20 percent of hands remained.

His point? "The first step to developing free to play MMOs is to play the games. People think they know how to make these games, and yet they’ve never played a FTP MMO before. I think it’s really irresponsible," Kim chided. "If you can’t do it, get an intern to do it and tell you what it’s like."

Nexon currently has 1,900 employees, and 15 concurrent games globally, with investments in some others. According to Kim, many people criticize the North American free to play business, saying it’s not actually popular.

To counter this, Kim revealed the company’s North American numbers for 2005-2007, based on the three games running in the U.S. during that time - MapleStory, Audition, and Mabinogi (Combat Arms was released in 2008).

In a unique keynote for the Worlds In Motion Summit, Bunchball's Rajat Paharia and NBC.com's Stephen Andrade discussed the creation of the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website, a promotional website for 'The Office' TV show which has surprisingly detailed and game mechanic-inspired social website.

Paharia explained the concept behind his firm Bunchball, that "gaming should be multiplayer".

The firm originally developed a synchronous game-related set of websites, and gradually built 'level up' mechanics into their business model, and have essentially "turned game mechanics into a service" for multiple websites - rewarding achievements.

Thus, Bunchball and NBC Universal created the DunderMifflinInfinity.com website, which is essentially a 'level up' centric social website, including lots of in-game game challenges and competitions to win 'Schrutebucks', with teams competing against each other to be the best 'branch office' in the game.

The project started with 100 'branch offices' recruited, each consisting of viewers banding together -- later increased to 200 offices. In total, they had 160,000 people playing the game - but why did people do this?

The "hot thing" in recent months has been branded online worlds -- the industry's now got multiplayer spaces for everything from Hello Kitty to Build-a-Bear Workshop, and toy tie-ins like Webkinz are beginning to crop up everywhere.

But LEGO Group director of business development Mark Hansen was already thinking of an online play space based on his company's iconic building block toys back in 1999 -- and the toy company just had to wait for the tech to get up to date, he claims.

According to Hansen, the serious planning and partner investigation for building the upcoming PC downloadable LEGO Universe MMO began back in 2004.

"Around 2004 and 2005, we started to see that more computers were coming into kids' bedrooms," Hansen says, noting that in order to develop a game like LEGO Universe targeted at 8-12 year olds, the era had to favor more kids having access to tech.

"We took initiative and started searching for partners. We talked to over 26 different studios, and we picked one."

Margaret Wallace of venture-backed startup Rebel Monkey -- itself developing an MMO -- was at Austin GDC's Worlds in Motion Summit to discuss user retention in multiplayer spaces. The question she posed: If you build it, will they come?

It's an area of particular interest, as Rebel Monkey's situation isn't unique. Many panel attendees raised their hands when asked if they were developing an MMO -- but only one hand stayed up when these participants were asked if they had yet launched.

As many new companies hope to launch successful online products -- and as their investors watch eagerly for their success -- retention becomes not just interesting and important, but crucial.

By 2008, it's estimated that the casual games business will be worth $2.1 billion dollars, and some 150 million players average 28 hours of gaming per month. Virtual worlds have seen rapid revenue growth from $5.9 billion in 2006 to $14.3 billion by 2009.

"It's a catch-all phrase; it can mean anything from Gaia Online to Club Penguin, stuff like that," says Wallace of virtual worlds, an area where new revenue models are quickly gaining traction through microtransactions and in-game advertising, the latter of which is expected to reach $1.8 billion dollars by 2010, according to DFC Intelligence.

In a Worlds In Motion Summit panel at AGDC, Area/Code co-founder Frank Lantz has been discussing the creation of Parking Wars, the Facebook game sensation created as a promotion for the A&E TV show, and pinpointing the "core values of good games" along the way.

Area/Code, the New York-based developer which recently made Gamasutra 20 list of Breakthrough Developers, saw Parking Wars turn wildly popular, with 400,000 people signing up in two months.

Another Area/Code-designed title, Sharkrunners, promoted Discovery Channel's 20th Anniversary of Shark Week by having a game where the shark movements in game were determined by the actions of real sharks out in the ocean using GPS.

Lantz, who formerly worked at Diner Dash creator Gamelab, explained of the company's philosophy: "We make games for the cloud", explaining that games are really a "stylized form of social interaction".

Thus, gaming on social networks -- as Parking Wars is -- is in many ways "a return to what gaming has always been about", primarily about interacting with other people.

MMO community operator Outspark has announced that in-game commerce network PlaySpan is to provide a secure player-to-player "virtual goods marketplace" for Outspark title Fiesta, with the intention of allowing Fiesta players an "efficient and open market" for virtual goods.

Fiesta was originally developed for the Korean market by Korean developer and publisher Ons On Soft. The title is free-to-play and already allows players to purchase premium in-game items like clothing, pets, power-ups and other accessories to customize their character from the publisher; now players are to be able to buy and sell virtual items from each other.

There has been no announcement from Outspark on whether they will take a "cut" of proceeds in the way that a real-world trading site such as eBay does.

“As a game portal, publisher and distributor, Outspark delivers a community- driven, online gaming destination for our nearly 3 million users,” said Susan Choe, Founder & CEO of Outspark. “PlaySpan’s in-game technology and player-to-player micro-transaction network provides an easy to use, secure experience that will make it possible for our users to enjoy an open market filled with the hundreds of unique virtual items available in Fiesta.”

Habbo Developer Sulake has claimed that it is to stage "the world's largest online gathering" within the virtual world of Habbo on the 19th of September with charity War Child, to "raise awareness of the impact of conflict on young people" and in support for the UN International Day of Peace on the 21st of September.

Seven teens with whom War Child have been working with in Uganda are to also take part in the virtual event, and are to share their experiences of living and working in regions that have encountered conflict.

Sulake and War Child conducted a worldwide poll to explore young people’s views on conflict, which revealed that over 50% of teens globally think that social networking sites should be used to "raise awareness of important issues," and that they are "more effective than real-world marches or petitions submitted to governments.”

“Teens around the world are passionate about serious subjects," commented Phil Guest, Habbo Regional Director, Central Europe. "They are using new communication tools, such as virtual worlds and social networks, to make their voices heard.”

Digital payment services company BSG and monetization platform provider Aria Systems announced a "risk management solution" designed specifically for games, which is designed to ensure secure player transactions and fraud prevention.

The joint solution combines Aria's proprietary gamer billing and CRM data with BSG’s Advanced Payment Gateway data to deliver an analysis of gaming transactions in real-time. The solution analyzes gamer membership profiles, forum, guild participation, and unique registered user profiles to determine the types of gamers who could pose a risk to other customers.

By identifying those gamers who have an ongoing and trusted relationship with publishers via third-party channels, and then customizing the solution by geography, genre, and industry experience, the solution can potentially enable publishers to proactively protect gamers and the game experience, as well as their revenue streams.

"We understand how important it is for game publishers to protect gamers and their experience," says Aria Systems CEO Ed Sulivan. "By combining the analysis of BSG’s payment data with our experiential customer data, we’re able to deliver a best-in-class fraud prevention solution that ensures game publishers can do just that."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

MMO publisher OGPlanet has announced the launch of side-scrolling MMORPG La Tale simultaneously to a worldwide audience. In addition to being available to North America-based gamers, La Tale is available to players in any country that does not have its own version of the game.

Originally developed by the Korea-based Actoz Soft for the Korean market, La Tale is similar in content and style to MapleStory – plus is also free-to-play with in-game items purchasable using microtransactions.

OGPlanet's recently announced game cards, available at Blockbuster, are usable with La Tale.

"La Tale is a perfect addition to our portfolio of multiplayer games and a great first step into the international market," said Ross Park, the producer of La Tale. "The depth of the La Tale world, with its diverse environments, charming characters and engaging gameplay, will please OGPlanet fans old and new."

Nonprofit toy and media guide for parents Parents’ Choice Foundation has named teen-orientated virtual world ourWorld, as the recipient of the 2008 Small Screen Parents’ Choice Award winner in the online video game category.

Previous winners in the video game category include Bee Movie Game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Shrek the Third.

Developed by FlowPlay, ourWorld is an online virtual world designed for teens that includes casual games, social networking and self expression through customizable avatars, which includes hair color, clothing and gender. According to FlowPlay, the world has over 200,000 returning users each week.

Worlds In Motion previously talked to Derrick Morton, CEO of FlowPlay in mid-may to discuss the launch of the world.

“ourWorld was created to give teens the opportunity to break away from the adult world and gain a personalized online playground of casual gaming and other forms of their favorite entertainment,” said Morton. “We are rapidly growing in popularity and we’ll continue to build more cool places in the world and activities for young Gen Y’s to explore their individuality. Receiving this award demonstrates our solid commitment to creating a safe and fun virtual world where all are encouraged to be creative, socialize, and discover the value of playing.”

Hollywood Interactive Group has announced that it has raised $5 million in Series A equity, with investment led by BlueRun Ventures. This funding is to be used to develop the company’s "slate of multi-platform content initiatives," with the first project MyHollywood.com; a women’s web destination for "celebrity and entertainment news, casual games, fashion and community."

The site is currently in public beta, and specifically targets women 18- 34 who enjoy casual gaming – intending to offer games that gives them a "more tangible connection to Hollywood than tabloids and television shows" by offering experiences is "rooted in real-world news and events" (content and game play is to be updated to reflect breaking news.)

The "centerpiece" of MyHollywood.com is to be an MMOG, Red Carpet, in which players are to try and achieve progressive levels of celebrity via celebrity-themed mini-games, answering quizzes about breaking news and headlines, and referring new players to the game. Successful accumulation of points is to allow players to collect branded virtual items, establish a place to live and gain access to VIP areas.

The site is slated to be officially launched in early 2009.

“This funding represents a tremendous vote of confidence in MyHollywood.com and recognizes the incredible revenue opportunities driven by our audience on the Internet,” said Joey Carson, Chief Executive Officer, Hollywood Interactive Group. “BlueRun Ventures has been a great strategic partner and ally for our business and we look forward to their continued support as we develop the first MMO experience designed specifically for the millions of women who love celebrity news, casual games and shopping.”

The Virtual Goods Summit has announced its 2008 conference, to be held on October 10th in San Francisco. A one day conference focused on the emerging market for virtual goods and economies, the organizers have established an intent to "build on the success of last year's event" by "diving even deeper into some of the key themes facing industry participants today. "

The conference is to feature panel discussions and expert-led breakout sessions covering topics including "What Users Want - Branded and User-Generated Virtual Goods", " Making Virtual Economies Work - Lessons from the Leaders" and " Generating Real Revenue from Virtual Goods".

Confirmed speakers include Karl Mehta of Playspan, Amy Jo Kim of Shufflebrain, David Perry of Acclaim, Cary Rosenzweig of IMVU, Daniel James of Three Rings, Paul Thind of Habbo and Gene Hoffman of Vindicia.

"This year's conference will bring together leading entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, technologists, and industry participants to spend the day discussing the present and future of this exciting new space," said an organizer. "We encourage you to join us at this year's event and participate in what promises to be a lively conversation."