I’ve been playing a couple text-based games recently. Both of these are ChoiceScript games, available for the iPhone or for the web browser.

Choice of Romance is a new text-based PC and iPhone game by Heather Albano and Adam Strong-Morse, using the same ChoiceScript code and choose-your-own-adventure style as Choice of Dragon. You play as a young mage, from a noble but impoverished family, looking for love in a Spanish-influenced magical kingdom.

The royal court bore striking resemblances to Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon: The king and his politically-advantageous wife have one sickly child, while the king’s wandering eye has led to an illegitimate son. One time I played through, I went after the king, and was soon receiving gifts, stringing the king alone and deposing the rightful queen, just like a magic-using Anne Boleyn. I don’t know if this was the intention, or if maybe I should lay off the historical novels for a while.

Via Simpson’s Paradox: Choice of Romance

I checked out Choice of Dragon, a free text-based adventure game  for a web browser or iToy.  The multiple-choice interaction gave me the opened-ended storyline I loved in text games, without the turn-key-in-lock frustrations of a game that parses text entry. (Hey, I wasn’t THAT nostalgic) You play as a dragon in a generic fantasy land, full of princesses to capture (or princes, your dragon can be an equal-opportunity kidnapper), adventuring parties to torment, and treasure to steal.

CoD is a solid IF game. Engaging descriptions of scenes and character never become long-winded. The story uses fun fantasy stereotypes, without going into the complete parody in Fantasy University or Kingdom of Loathing, and uses light sarcasm, but never takes on the unhelpful DM’s tone from Zork or Adventure. The game is fairly short, but reading the game is such a delight, it’s practically impossible not to play through a few times for different stories.

Via Simpson’s Paradox: Choice of Dragon

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Immediately after launching Coconut Dodge, UK studio FuturLab is asking for your help naming their next game. The new game is “a futuristic shoot ‘em up that features a unique teleport mechanic”.

FuturLab’s Managing Director, James Marsden said: “Coconut Dodge has been scoring very well with reviewers and gamers, with many people considering it the best example of what the minis platform can offer. However, with only a tiny budget for marketing we’ve found it very difficult to get traction with a larger audience. So, this time we thought of a way to get as much attention as possible!”

John Griffin, FuturLab’s New Projects Director added: “The puzzle was a creative way to grab people’s attention, and this competition is a great way to invite fans of Coconut Dodge and the wider gaming community to take part in our next production. People can suggest names for the game in addition to the lead character, and we can’t wait to see what people come up with!”

Go here to name the game!

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Swedish indie devs, The Bearded Ladies, are announce the launch of their retro-inspired helicopter-adventure game Landit Bandit. The game promises co-op or duel mode, sexy girls and killer penguins.

The feel-good digital game of the summer has finally landed. Literally. Join eccentric characters Marley and Lander, as well as hot island babes and Tommy Gun-wielding penguins in Landit Bandit: a retro-looking, 3D casual-physics-based-helicopter game now available on the PlayStation®3 Network priced at a mouth-watering 12.99 Euros.

Landit Bandit has the depth of a cool-blue ocean and offers gameplay to suit a universal audience. Players can compete for the high-score on the global leaderboard – as well as battle head-to-head in 6 unique duels – or work co-operatively across a 20-level campaign against the backdrop of gorgeous 3D levels ranging from the picturesque desert islands to the cool, ice-filled tundra, each packed with enough humour to keep you laughing out loud from one level to the next.

David Skarin, CTO of The Bearded Ladies is elated at the release, “To have our game on the PlayStation®3 Network is great. Its a testimony to the hard work and raw talent of our small independent studio. We’ve defeated a string of self-imposed, gruelling milestones and overcome technical challenges akin to the cerebral workout being offered in the game that would leave any bearded lady weeping. The release brings joy to our hearts, although the real excitement is going to come in monitoring the reaction of the players”.

CEO/Producer, Haraldur Thormundsson added, “We have fulfilled our dreams with the release of Landit Bandit on the Sony PlayStation store. Its been one of the most rewarding expeditions I’ve been part of to date. To have shared the milestone with such a talented – not to mention eccentric group of creatives – is also very special. We’re all confident that players will enjoy the retro-goodness and LOL just as much as we did during the development”.

The North American gaming community can expect to get their hands on the controls of Landit Bandit from July 13^th.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Ok, maybe not smarter exactly, but a new study shows it does increase brain function.

SEATTLE, Washington – May 26th, 2010 — PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual video games, today announced that preliminary results of a new study being conducted by East Carolina University’s Psychophysiology Lab have identified improvements in cognitive function through the playing of “casual” video games such as Bejeweled and Peggle. (PopCap Games, maker of the aforementioned games used in the study, did not underwrite the study.) The study, which has been underway for nearly six months and will be completed later this year, involves dozens of U.S. consumers age 50 and older, and explores the effects of the games on subjects’ short term cognitive acuity. In each instance, sizable improvements were identified in the performance of the experimental group as compared to the control group.

Dr. Carmen Russoniello, Director of the Psychophysiology Lab and Biofeedback Clinic at ECU, is presenting initial data and analysis from the study today at the 6th annual Games for Health Conference in Boston. Full study results will be submitted this fall for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

“The initial results of the study are very intriguing, in that they suggest that the ‘active participation’ required while playing a casual video game like Bejeweled provides an opportunity for mental exercise that more passive activities, like watching television, do not,” said Russoniello. “Future applications could include prescriptive applications using casual video games to potentially stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-type disorders.”

More than 40 test subjects have participated in the study so far, with dozens more being included by the study’s completion. Measurements were achieved through tracking of Electroencephalography (EEG) brain waves as well as subjects’ participation in the standardized Trail Making Test™ parts A and B. Both cognitive response time (the speed with which a subject completes a task) and executive function (the frequency of correctly completing parts of the task) were tracked. Those subjects who played Bejeweled or Peggle for short (30 minute) periods showed an 87% improvement in cognitive response time and a 215% increase in executive functioning when compared to a control group. According to ECU, these improvements in overall cognitive acuity are comparable to changes recorded after other types of cognitive interventions such as mindfulness based cognitive therapy and cognitive remediation therapy.

“Video games with more complex rules and controls, and more sophisticated or detailed imagery – so-called ‘hardcore’ video games – might provide similar cognitive benefits for many people,” said Russoniello. “But those games take significantly longer to learn to play and appeal to a considerably narrower subset of the overall population, especially older consumers. In our experience, ‘casual’ video games are ideal both in terms of their accessibility and ease of understanding and because they appeal to nearly everyone.”

Via GamesPress

Popularity: 2% [?]

Join the Big Bluff’s open beta!

Think you’re good at trivia? Are you confident in your own knowledge to bet on whether or not you will know the answer against other players? Step into the Open Beta of The Big Bluff, a new game developed by himojo, an entertainment company and social games developer for the Facebook platform, and experience the thrill of online multiplayer trivia that integrates the mechanics of Texas Hold ’Em Poker. Playable within Facebook and on TheBigBluff.com via Facebook Platform, the free-to-play online trivia game stands ready to pit your knowledge against others unlike any other trivia experience to date.

Upon logging in to your account, you will be given a purse of in-game currency to spend on virtual items for your avatar and at the tables. Step into a room and pull up a seat, where games of up to five players will already be in progress, 24/7.

Similar to Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, a dealer will display three cards in the community hand – the first displaying the question category, followed by two hints at the answer. Players will then have the option to match the pot to continue playing based on the cards shown. The fourth card displays another hint, while the fifth and final card displays the question that players must correctly answer. Fold at any point in the game if you’re not confident in the final question and answer, or bluff your way to the end and force your competitor’s hand. Call your opponent’s bluff and win bonus currency if they don’t know the answer.

“We’ve spent months experimenting with ways to combine the best aspects of trivia and Texas Hold ‘Em Poker into one game and are pleased to finally offer early access to the Open Beta of The Big Bluff,” said Eric Arlt, Chief Executive Officer, himojo. “The game offers an online trivia experience through Facebook unlike anything else out there. Poker and Trivia are two huge activities that are beloved around the world and we look forward to everyone experiencing this new hybrid of the two games in a competitive, free-to-play and social environment.”

The Big Bluff Features:
• Facebook Platform – Play the game by logging into your Facebook account on either Facebook.com or on TheBigBluff.com
• Real-time Online Multiplayer – Step into a room for five and watch opponents and friends play you live from across the table
• Chat System – Real-time chat during the game, allowing players to put on their poker face and play their bluff
• Customization – Access the dressing room and customize your avatar from head to toe with publicly available and exclusive items
• Virtual Currency – Earn in-game currency by winning a hand, daily check-ins and by purchasing with real-world money
• Global Leaderboard – Win rounds, build up your purse, unlock high-roller rooms and gain stardom by making it onto a central leaderboard

To start testing your trivia knowledge and betting big on your skill, visit the official The Big Bluff website at www.thebigbluff.com and log in using your Facebook information. Be sure to connect with us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thebigbluff and follow us on Twitter @thebigbluff for daily trivia and giveaways.

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A press release for Evony landed in my mailbox today. My previous experience with Evony involves wondering why there are bra advertisements on gaming sites. I put on my magic BS-reducing journalist glasses to read it, and here’s what it said:

Evony, the free-to-play gaming sensation, today announced its official one year anniversary, inviting the 19 million people who  clicked the boobie ads looking for softcore to join in the celebration. First launched in May 2009 with Evony: Age I, Evony has enjoyed a warm reception from its growing fan base, especially those who haven’t got girlfriends or live in areas without Victoria’s Secret catalogs. The game’s unexplainable success is expected to continue with the April launch of Evony: Age II, the expansion that boasts a suite of new features and enhancements, and even more intrusive boobie advertising on all your favorite gaming sites.

In May of 2009, what started with only two servers and a clever vision to create a browser game designed to be played secretly while pretending to work, has evolved into a MMO phenomenon that’s anything but subtle.

“This is an amazing moment for the Evony team, all made possible by a community of game sites and games bloggers running Google Adsense, and a community of potential game players who are easily distracted by boobs,” said the Vice President of Operations at Regan Mercantile, LLC. “Our goal with the Evony franchise is to make sure we don’t accidentally attract any female players or mature adults by mistake.”

The recently launched Evony: Age II features new quests involving historical heroes and cities, a redesigned graphical interface and innovative panty photos for the upcoming advertising campaign.

Unedited press release here.

Popularity: 3% [?]

So I heard a bit of a rumor that Merscom was changing their focus, moving away from hidden object games (like Shutter Island, Wisegal and National Geographic’s Mystery of Cleopatra) and into social games. I didn’t realize that meant they’d soon be acquired by Playdom.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today the continuation of its roll-up of talented social gaming development teams with the acquisition of Merscom, LLC. Privately held Merscom develops online and social games for third parties with nationally recognized brands. Merscom is currently developing games for Sea World, Purina, National Geographic and NBC Universal. Merscom is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Playdom plans to leverage Mercom’s expertise in working with IP owners as Playdom moves to develop partnerships with powerful global brands. Playdom also plans to use the acquisition to leverage the talented North Carolina game development community. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Via Playdom Announces Acquisition of Social Game Developer Merscom, LLC — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ –

It’s interesting to see Merscom described as a social and online games company, since I associate them with hidden object games and HO/adventure games.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Kelvin’s Space Ranch is a cutely futuristic time management game with an educational slant from Incubator Games, the Canada-based team behind the upcoming Tribes of Mexica game, for Science Alberta. Players raise chickens and cows for eggs and milk.

The game is available online here. (Is anyone else having trouble getting Chrome and Unity to play nicely together? Just me? Kelvin’s Space Ranch runs smoothly in Firefox, though.) Here’s the trailer:

Popularity: 1% [?]

Max and the Magic Marker, from Legacy Interactive, is available now:

LOS ANGELES, CA (April 16, 2010) – Casual games developer and publisher Legacy Interactive announced today the release of Max and the Magic Marker, an award-winning physics platformer that challenges players to draw their way through 15 innovative and challenging levels. It is now available for PC/Mac on Legacy Games at www.legacygames.com.

Max and the Magic Marker, developed by Play Press, gives players complete control as they draw out solutions and face innumerable traps, monsters and tricky puzzles. Limited only by the imagination of the player, every obstacle has an endless number of solutions. Since its inception, it has been widely acclaimed, with its development team winning the Independent Games Festival 2010 D2D Vision Award, EIGA 2009 Innovative Game Design Award, Best Overall 2009 Unity Award, and DGA 2010 Talent of the Year.

“Fun gameplay, innovative ideas and loads of options make you replay levels over and over again.” – GamingXP

“Max & the Magic Marker is a charming puzzle platformer with pleasant visuals and a simple soundtrack. Part of the fun is noticing the details, like how the little monsters can pull out bright yellow construction hats to protect them from your pen.” – Gamespot

“The physics and drawing are spot on and it has a great art style. One of the most enjoyable games with a little boy with a giant orange mohawk as the protagonist that I have ever played!” – 411 Mania

Featuring three lovingly designed game worlds based on children’s drawings, adults and children of all ages will be immediately drawn into the 2D world of Max and the Magic Marker!

Max and the Magic Marker is available for PC/Mac on Legacy Games at www.legacygames.com and in leading retail stores, and will be appearing on popular digital distribution portals.

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Island Paradise for Facebook, reviewed on the new blog community Share Your Expertise:

Island Paradise is a Facebook game from Meteor Games, the company who also created Little
Rock Pool and Ranch Town. Players are shipwrecked on a tiny tropical
island, and they need to find and grow crops, find and maintain animals,
cook food, and later, decorate their island home.

Why I liked it: Did I mention the part where it’s on a tropical island? Sims Castaway, Lost in Blue, MyTribe for Facebook, the original MyTribe, LOST… with one notable exception (I’m looking at you, Tropical Dream. Ick.) I just love the island setting.

Cute flavortext. The description of a chicken on mouseover is
“They’re going cheap!” which almost made up for the serious flaws in
this game.

Why I didn’t: FarmVille gets the ratio of playing and waiting
right. You can optionally water your friends’ gardens. Or not. Island
Paradise was constantly asking me to bother my friends for help.

Via Island Paradise on Facebook | Share Your Expertise

Popularity: 1% [?]

Want to be in a game?

DUBLIN, IRELAND – March 8th, 2010 – Icon Games Entertainment, a leading Nintendo Wii, PSP and WiiWare game publisher and developer are offering a rare opportunity to help design its future game, Stunt Cars 2, sequel to the successful Nintendo WiiWare game Stunt Cars.

Would you like to try your hand as a game designer, helping us to shape Stunt Cars 2, and win the fantastic prize of seeing your name up in lights on the trackside billboards of our forthcoming WiiWare race game, RaceTrax (due for release late 2010).

All you have to do is download & play Stunt Cars on WiiWare and tell us what new features and ideas you would love to see in a sequel. Let your imagination run wild! The best three, as chosen by Icon, will each receive the following awesome prizes:

- Copy of RaceTrax upon release
- Dedicated in-game billboard design, featuring their name, in RaceTrax – our exciting new racing game in development for the Nintendo Wii & PSP
- A special thanks in the RaceTrax credits
- 2,000 Nintendo Wii Points to spend on whatever you would like

The competition is open to WiiWare Racers of any age.

Closing date for entries is APRIL 30th 2010.

How To Enter:
Send an email with your ideas and contact information to “comp@icongames.com”

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Open Beta has begun!

Grand Fantasia is now open to all, and the Item Mall has been released! Join the dynamic and quickly growing community now and experience the adventure. The Aeria Staff has a lot of thrills planned, and players can look forward to epic contests and events including the chance to win 1 Million AP!

Popularity: 4% [?]

The major difference between Neverdie Studios’ upcoming Next Island and other online worlds seems to be the time-traveling mechanic. Instead of opening up new areas of the map, players can travel to other times for other resources and items (which reminds me slightly of character “revelations” in Slayer Of Dragon).

From the press release:

New York – Dec. 4, 2009 – Next Island, a new free-to-download and free-to-play virtual world developed on the Entropia Universe platform is now accepting sign-ups for its open beta expected mid January. The first 1000 players who sign-up now at www.nextisland.com will get a virtual goods starter pack and will have the opportunity to help shape the development of this new online world.

Envisioned as a beautiful and exciting paradise, Next Island is designed to attract the rapidly growing virtual world community looking for the next world to explore and the opportunity to turn virtual enterprise into real-world cash, as well as new users to the virtual world gaming experience.

“We are truly excited to welcome experienced virtual world entrepreneurs as well as those who have never created an online avatar before to visit Next Island,” said David Post, founder, Next Island. “Our online paradise will captivate players with its unique time travel gameplay, real money economy and superior graphics.”

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Are you playing EQ2? Want to try out the new Sentinel’s Fate expansion?

We’d like to take the opportunity to invite everyone to register to participate in the beta program for the EverQuest II expansion: Sentinel’s Fate.

Please remember that registering for the beta program does not guarantee admittance. It only puts you into the pool from which we will randomly select participants. Also, in order to participate, you must agree to our Non-Disclosure Agreement (we send ninja monkeys after you if you leak info before the NDA is lifted) and have an account in good standing.

Click here to go to the registration page and accept the terms of the NDA.

We will send you an email letting you know if you’ve been selected with all the information you need to get set up and ready to go. There will also be a link to the beta forums for you to give us your feedback.

Via EverQuest II Players – News – Article 3364

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From the press release:

2BeeGames, the leading online community for independent games, has officially announced that their second Indie Game Competition has begun on August 1st. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 and will enter negotiations with Zoo Games, Inc. for a multi-platform publishing contract.

Aspiring game designers everywhere are invited to create and submit a new, original title starting August 1st until September 15th. Throughout the six week submission phase, participants are encouraged to combine creativity and a passion for gaming towards the development of a new game. Once finished, the game can be submitted to the 2BeeGames.com website for judging. The 2BeeGames community, aka “The Hive”, will play and rate the contestants’ games and vote on their favorites along with a panel of judges. Finalists will be announced in October and a winner will be chosen November 3rd.

In the first 2BeeGames Indie Game Competition, rising developer Cipher Prime beat out intense competition to win $10,000 and is currently negotiating a publishing deal for its upcoming title, Auditorium, a unique and ethereal audio-visual puzzle game. Now, the call for the next game to shake up the indie gaming scene once again has gone out to be answered.

In addition to the second Indie Game Competition, 2BeeGames.com is hosting an “8 Weeks In 8-Bit” contest, where gaming fans are encouraged to submit original works of art inspired by the 8-bit gaming era. The first week of the contest called for gamers to create and submit the ultimate “8-bit Hero,” and the winning designs are up for display on 2BeeGames.com today. There will be a new theme for each week of the contest, with eight different opportunities to win great prizes from “8 Weeks In 8-Bit” sponsor, GamersGate.

For official competition rules and news on the second 2BeeGames Indie Game Competition, as well as information related to “8 Weeks of 8-Bit,” please visit: http://www.2BeeGames.com.

I blogged about the last set of winners, and I can’t wait to see the next winners!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Remember Bob? The would-be Nintendo developer who couldn’t get a license and set up a game-writing lock-in? Yeah, that didn’t sway Nintendo.

Nintendo finally said:

He did submit to be a licensed developer. We have an evaluation process. We evaluated the opportunity. We decided at this point in time that he did not meet the requirements to be a licensed developer.

via MTV Multiplayer » Nintendo Finally Comments On ‘Bob’s Game’ Situation.

Like I said before, it all depends on if his game is any good!

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Paradox Interactive and Nitro Games Ltd. are looking for beta testers to play their upcoming strategy game, East India Company, which is due to release in Q3 of 2009.

Now is your chance to control one of the most powerful companies in history. In East India Company, the player assumes the role of Governor General, the leader of one of the East India Companies. The goal of the game is to bring wealth and new colonies to your company and make it the dominant force within a given time limit.

The player must organize profitable trade routes to the East Indies and back, as well as use political skills to minimize conflict. However, being that there are seven other companies with the same intentions, armed conflicts and outright wars are unavoidable.

This is a really interesting historical period, and there’s an opportunity for the type of alliances and negotiations I loved in Civ3. Sign up here to be a beta tester for East India Company, or go here to see more about the game!

Paradox is working on the upcoming Majesty 2,  the sequel to the game by the awesome (former) game developer, Cyberlore (disclosure: My boyfriend worked on Cyberlore’s Playboy game), but I don’t know much about Nitro Games, do you?

Popularity: 11% [?]

LOS ANGELES, Calif.– March 17, 2009 – Independent video games developer Zombie Studios has reached an agreement with Fox Atomic, a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, and production company Union Entertainment to develop its military action franchise “Blacklight” as a feature film, comic book series and video game. The announcement was made jointly by Zombie CEO Mark Long*, Fox Atomic President Debbie Liebling, and Union President Richard Leibowitz.

An original property created by Zombie Studios,“Blacklight” is a covert military action epic set twenty-five years in the future. The three companies will work together on a movie and comic book series to be produced by Fox Atomic and a multi-platform video game that will be produced by Zombie.

Both the film and the video game will be written by Jason Dean Hall, a veteran writer whose latest film, SPREAD, sold at Sundance to Summit. He is also writing projects for DreamWorks and Universal.

“We are excited by the huge potential “Backlight” has to succeed across multiple platforms — theatrical features, comics books, and video games,” said Liebling,“it offers us a remarkable franchise opportunity for film.”

“From the start, I have envisioned’Blacklight’ as a story that spans all of the forms of media I enjoy most,” stated Long.“It’s an ambitious project and I’ve been fortunate to find partners at Fox Atomic and Union who share that same vision. We are cooperating on the comic, game and movie at levels that are unprecedented in the industry.”

“’Blacklight’ plays to Union’s strengths as a film and game production company, allowing us to help bring a great property to consumers in both media,” added Leibowitz, a producer on the project.

Richard Leibowitz will produce and Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons will executive produce for Union. Mark Long, in addition to developing the video game, will serve as an executive producer on the feature. Zak Kadison and R. Eric Lieb will oversee for Atomic.

The“Blacklight” film, video game, and comics will feature the same characters and high caliber military action, but with unique, intersecting storylines that complement each other. No release dates for any of the properties have yet been announced.

*Is it just me, or would “Zombie CEO” be one of the best titles ever?

Via Blacklight | Press Release by MCV | MCV.

Popularity: 11% [?]

It’s not often when my interests in China and gaming collide. Nate, of the China blog Orientation, recently posted on Chinese gaming habits, particularly the huge numbers of MMO gamers in wang ba, or net cafes.

China contains an undulating 59 million online gamers. Despite the fact that 47m of them play free-to-play games, this is a massive amount. To put that into perspective, the 2007 estimate of England’s population was 51,092,000 while the 2008 census quoted America as having 306,068,000 million people. Imagine the entire country of England plunking down and playing a game everyday. Keep in mind that these are only online PC games.

The majority of Chinese gamers, though, seem to play in net cafes and not on personal computers. (Although this may be changing, I saw plenty of Beijing teens with their body weight in personal electronics, and laptops can’t be far behind). Playing in net cafes instead of at home changes the gamer culture quite a bit. No more jokes about nocturnal gamers living in their basements, although there are plenty of 24-hour wang ba for late-night gaming sessions.

Also, fewer games rely on the purchase of software (I’ll save the discussion of China and software piracy for a different post!), since one copy will be installed in the cafe and anyone who comes by will use it. Instead, games have an in-game cash shop or an hourly fee. While talking about Runes Of Magic, Lexton Collins credits the Asian game community for bringing us the free-to-play MMO model.

I also wrote on Chinese net cafes and gaming culture over on  Wang Ba: Gaming In A Strange Land on CNReviews. (It feels a bit odd to quote myself, but it’s better than re-writing my description):

Chinese net bars sell computer time by the hour, and most also sell juice, soda, candy, snacks, and instant noodles, the Chinese equivalent of a Hot Pocket. You can also buy cigarettes, smoking isn’t just permitted in net bars, at times I think it’s mandatory.

The library-like silence of an American net cafe is gone, replaced with the usual thousand-decibel cellphone conversations, Tudou or Youtube videos, and shouts from the boys playing CounterStrike. It might not be the most conductive environment for working, especially when compared with the headphones-wearing crowd back home, but the cheery shouts of videogame victory don’t need translation.

Another thing Nate noticed was the divide between guys playing combat-heavy games and girls spending their internet time using QQ, China’s answer to AIM. Chinese girls do play games but it’s more likely to be something cute on a handheld game or on their mobile phones than hardcore PC games.

I’m sure Chinese netizens and Old China Hands will see this as a very surface analysis, but it’s very interesting to me, to see how the gaming sub-culture translates into other countries! Share your thoughts in the comments!

Related: Travel in China is like a Fantasy Novel, Living In China Is Like an RPG.

Popularity: 17% [?]

The team at Garden Party World just introduced a new minigame. I’ve already talked about how cute and kid-friendly GardenPartyWorld is, so I’ll just pass along the news about the new game.

For those accustomed to GardenParty and its features, they will be fully aware of the bee suit and its uses. For those not so familiar, it allows Gardeners to fly both for fun and to collect items high up in the sky. What was lacking, was an activity, beyond those mentioned, which would allow the bee suit to play an integral part in a game… that was until now! From 30^th January 2009, GardenParty is pleased to announce the latest addition to the fun, safe virtual world for kids, a new multi-player bee game – BusyBee.

The much loved bee suit now has an even greater purpose within the world. The new game involves buzzing bees working together to collect the nectar for their sleeping Queen Bee, if they satisfy her need for honey, they will be rewarded, however, disappoint the Queen Bee, the quest must continue! All-in-all, this new multiplayer game encompasses fun, community and team work altogether and will have any Gardener laughing with excitement.

This latest news comes as a welcomed addition to the ever expanding world which has seen children from all over the world take part and “Grow their own fun” whilst thoroughly enjoying their experience.

To celebrate the new arrival, GardenParty will be hosting the launch of BusyBee with a buzzing party which will be at take place on the 30^th January from 4pm (UK time), 11am (EST) and 8am (PCT).

GardenParty is a free to play MMO for children. Don’t worry, you can tell everyone you’re just checking it out for your little niece or nephew.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Ah, gaming romance. I love stories like this, because they ruin the stereotype of anti-social gamers, and the stereotype that all gamers are men.

LAND O’ LAKES, FL– JANUARY 12, 2009– Artix Entertainment’s MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds was the setting for the December 29th wedding of longtime Artix gamers Bello and Merca which was broadcast live starting on www.aqworlds.com with over 11,000 gamers in attendance.

The bride, who is a retailer, and the groom, who is a pre-school teacher, have been avid Artix gamers for three years. They live in southwestern Missouri and decided to share their union with fellow gamers worldwide.

“We thought this was a unique opportunity to do something memorable,” said Bello.“We decided to go with AdventureQuest Worlds because we’ve been playing Artix games for years now and almost feel like we’ve been a part of Artix Entertainment’s maturation as a gaming company.”

Read the rest at OVER 11,000 GAMERS ATTEND ADVENTUREQUEST WORLDS ONLINE WEDDING Gaming Industry | Press Release by MCV

Popularity: 12% [?]

World of Kung Fu is a free-to-play MMORPG, with an optional system of paying real cash for extra gold and special features. Here’s their latest press release:

Shanghai, Dec. 31st, 2008– World of Kung Fu, the popular MMORPG from VestGame Entertainment wishes the entire gaming community a Happy New Year! We’d like to thank our players, fans, and supporters all over the world for making 2008 such a great year. As a special thank you, and in the spirit of celebration, World of Kung Fu will be hosting several special New Year events and offering some cool free prizes to our players.

First off, all players will be able to claim a free Chinese traditional costume for their characters – A nice suit for the men and a special Mandarin dress for the ladies. These special outfits will be given out from 8:30 – 10:30 PM Eastern Time Jan 1st on the Jade Dragon Server, Jan 2nd on Golden Serpent, and Jan 3rd on Iron Monkey.

Secondly, as a “thank you” New Year present, we will award all players with Double Loot Ratio on all three servers for the first three days of 2009! This special bonus will run from midnight December 31st until midnight on January 3rd.

Finally, the main cities in WoKF will be specially decorated for the event. Don’t be surprised if a big floral basket suddenly appears by your side! Some of the GMs might even bring fireworks to enhance the celebration.

All in all, 2008 was a very good year for World of Kung Fu, and 2009 is set to be even better. There will be a major upgrade to the game in mid-January followed by others at regular intervals throughout the year. We encourage all of our players to join us for the New Year festivities, and welcome all new players into the game.

For more information about World of Kung Fu including tutorials, forums, screenshots, videos, and downloads, please visit the official World of Kung Fu website at http://www.worldofkungfu.com.

Speaking of New Year’s festivities, it’s almost time for WoW’s Lunar Festival, another chance to get a qipao and fireworks for your in-game avatar!

Popularity: 4% [?]

From Kotaku:

Go tiny or go home. That’s the Spore marketing philosophy apparently, as the folks from EA have installed what is probably the world’s daintiest billboard in San Francisco’s Union Square. At just 14″ by 6″, the Spore billboard requires a telescope to see.

Fortunately, EA has installed said telescope and aimed it directly at the wee* Spore advertisement, giving passersby a chance to enjoy some smartly conceived marketing. If you happen to be in the Bay Area, specifically Union Square, you have a brief opportunity to check it out.

Brilliant marketing, or just weird? I’m leaning toward brilliant, because obviously it’s creative enough that I’m blogging about it! I wouldn’t bother to post about a regular billboard, unless it was really funny or clever… or awful!!!

And the actual billboard is clever.

Via Ea: Spore Gets World’s Tiniest Billboard, Requires Telescope To See

*wee is one of my favorite words!

Popularity: 11% [?]

I saw this today on Simpson’s Paradox » Blog Archive » Nancy Drew: Lights, Camera, Curses

What makes Nancy Drew: Lights, Camera, Curses! a
girls’ game is the female protagonist. It’s not pink, it’s not cutesy,
there are no magic animal friends, there is no shopping. Let me repeat
that in case you were skimming. This game is not pink.

I want to call up the developers at Her and make them all cookies.
(Note to self: Consider revising “baking for feminism” stance)  I got
the chance to beta-test Lights…, and I was so pleased to see
that Her did not take an existing game, change the racecars into pink
fluffy bunnies, and then call it a girls’ game. Lights… has a solid storyline, amusing NPCs, engaging minigames and pretty cutscenes.

Nancy’s on the set of Pharoah, a remake of a big-budget
Silver Age Egyptian story, where mysterious accidents keep happening,
and she has to figure out who’s behind it. Does a crew member have a
grudge? Is the production cursed? Does it have anything to do with the
tragic death on the set of the original Pharaoh? What’s with that cat?

Playing as Nancy, players have to use items around them to solve
puzzles, a lot like an old Sierra game, only without an inventory.
Every screen has the items for the puzzle on that screen, which keeps
the game very linear, and eliminates wandering from location to
location, wondering what you’ve missed. With the solution to each room
in that room, it’s impossible to get stuck.

A few days ago, Her Interactive posted a preview screenshot of Lights… and a sharp-eyed forum member noticed a sign for a bar in the background, causing a bit of a ruckus
over whether a world in which alcohol exists is an acceptable setting
for an E rated game. I’m even more baffled by the worries about a minor
alcohol reference because Nancy Drew solves murders, embezzlement,
robbery, forgery, etc. Seems like if you’re worried about kids seeing a
sign for a bar, they probably shouldn’t see chalk outlines or death
threats either.

Read the rest at Simpson’s Paradox

Via Simpson’s Paradox » Blog Archive » Nancy Drew: Lights, Camera, Curses

Popularity: 2% [?]

This is a great news for all WII players, indeed Dead Rising will be adapted in this game console. Dead Rising is a shoot-em up where you have to kill zombies and where a lot of players have been able to test it during the TGS 2008.
But people, who tested it, were not satisfied because the gaming was very light, zombies to kill very few, exploration very short and so on… During an interview done by Seth Killian, Senior Community Manager de Capcom, he said that the game at TGS was only and a simple demo where the actions are limited and it cant represent the real game which will come out soon !!!

Popularity: 3% [?]