Tag: ONLINE GAMING

It was a world I could fully understand and control, in marked contrast to the chaos of being a teenager, with a home life ripe with conflicts I could neither escape nor resolve. In the case of my teenage self, and, I suspect, in the cases of many addicts, the world of the game was a private and unassailable refuge from a seemingly hostile world. The Guardian's own Tom Meltzer reflects on his ...

File-sharing and online gaming expose kids to a variety of harmful elements. The fact that most parents are unfamiliar with these services (relative to other online endeavors like social networking) only compounds the inherent dangers and issues. File-sharing services, also known as peer-to-peer networks (P2P), close as frequently as new ones spring up, which makes it difficult for parents or ...

Share Online games like 'FarmVille' continue to attract social networkers (and their paychecks) at an exponential rate, but the industry definitely seems to lack adult-themed titles. Jolt Online, however, has partnered with a powerful ally in order to provide a "Christmas gift to the Internet," or -- more specifically -- to randy teens and creepy old men. The company has officially announced ...

Ever since Alexey Pajitnov first assembled the game code back in the 1984, there have been countless versions of 'Tetris' introduced to countless game consoles. With each iteration, developers tried different takes on the original: 'The Next Tetris' included multiple piece previews; 'Tetris: The Grand Master' first allowed you to rotate pieces before they actually showed up on the main screen, ...

With the rise of social networking sites, it has become a little easier to join the Mafia. Your college roommate, little brother, or (God forbid) even your dad might send you an invite to join his or her 'Mob.' While this virtual 'organized crime' lifestyle won't cost you your life, it could cost you plenty of time, grief, and money, too. According to CNET News, sites like Facebook, MySpace, and ...

The software industry has been slowly moving away from traditional physical media and in-store purchases. Downloads, legal and otherwise, have all but wiped away the music industry's business model, and the Internet and video-on-demand services have hurt DVD rentals and sales. The software industry (and especially the video game industry) foresaw the future of distribution and started moving ...

According to Yahoo Tech, 'Faith Fighter,' the popular Internet game that pitted religious deities against one another in battle, was taken offline by its creators on Tuesday after a prominent Muslim organization protested. The game, which debuted in 2008, has been played by millions of people and has offended that many folks several times over. In an interview with the AFP posted on Yahoo Tech, ...

Ever feel like burning some bridges when you quit a job? Shredding important documents or yelling at your former manager? No? How about jumping on a power mushroom and groping a princess? If that's more up your alley, you're not alone; a developer named Mr. Jarrad decided to quit his job at game developer 2K Australia by creating a game featuring just those sorts of antics, we learned from ...

Are television ads a dying breed? In our world of Tivo or cable DVRs and online streams, advertisers are looking for more effective venues for pitching their products. It's not surprising that one of the most popular of these venues is video gaming. Games are great at capturing people's attention,and there's nothing to fast-forward through. But do in-game ads work? Yes, says research conducted by ...

We spent a week at the 2009 New York Toy Fair and came away with a renewed desire to be 10 years old again. This episode of our Toy Fair series showcases what's new in kids online gaming. Thanks to the phenomenal success of Webkinz, there is a slew of companies trying to catch up and cash in on the retail-to-Web gaming market. Each of the three companies we profile in the video have ...

Once the Chinese government gets its mitts on your industry, you're in trouble. Their newest target? Online games. The government is issuing a set of new rules meant to crack down on what it calls "undesirable" elements of online games, mainly MMO-style affairs. All the hysteria stems from fears of growing Internet addiction which, as anyone with a level 60 Night Elf knows all to well, doesn't ...

Marathon gaming sessions are a way of life for serious players of online games like World of Warcraft or Everquest. Some game developers make changes to discourage overindulgence, but others seem to flaunt and encourage it. For the Chinese government, the problem has become more serious, with a small but well publicized number of gamers actually dying after day- or even week-long sessions at ...