Psuedo-Professor Red Thomas delves into the details of what makes virtual economies function, and conducts an analysis of the component pieces. Warning – Hardcore nerdiness within. Readers should click at their own risk.
General: Women in Gaming – Undead Labs’ Sanya Weathers
Women are becoming an increasingly significant sector in games development, taking part in every aspect of bringing games to life. As one of the often lesser-known sectors of the industry, we wanted to shine the spotlight on some incredible leaders including our once (and future!?) columnist, Sanya Weathers from Undead Labs.
General: Rich Vogel & Gordon Walton Co-Chair Austin Game Conference
The Austin Game Conference has been dated for September 21-22, 2016 and is aiming to provide “critical insight into developing live, connected, participatory games with real-time engagement between developers, players and spectators.” Of particular interest are the co-chairs of AGC, Gordon Walton of Artcraft Entertainment and Rich Vogel of Bethesda’s BattleCry Studios.
General: NCSoft Profits Up, Guild Wars 2 Sales Soar
NCSoft has released its Q4 2015 revenue report that shows quarter-over-quarter growth across the board, including a significant surge for Guild Wars 2 seemingly tied to the release of the Heart of Thorns expansion.
General: Conan Exiles – Bringing Hyboria into the New Age of Smaller Scale MMOs
After last week’s announcement from Funcom about the latest sandbox MMO Conan: Exiles we quickly got the team to do an interview about the game. Conan remains a hugely popular franchise and Funcom has a rich history with the brand after Age of Conan’s release. Now with games coming out in early access and offering a much more hardcore style of survival play, the company wants to bring Conan into the new age of smaller scale MMOs.
General: Final Fantasy IX Arrives on Mobile Devices a Day Early
Square Enix has just released Final Fantasy IX for both iOS and Android Devices. From February 10th to February 21st, players can grab a copy for 20% off the normal $16.99 price. The PC Steam release is expected in “early 2016” so let’s hope it’s hot on the heels of today’s mobile release.
General: GameTrailers.com Closes the Door After Thirteen Years
In somewhat surprising news today, the GameTrailers.com Facebook page has been updated with a post informing users that the site is closing its doors effective immediately after thirteen years.
General: Amazon Lumberjack – A New, Free AAA Game Engine
Amazon is entering the games biz in a big way with the launch of its free AAA game engine that can be used to develop PC titles as well as both XBox One and PlayStation 4 games. Currently in beta, Lumberyard also features Twitch integration and Amazon Web Services integration. Lumberyard comes without any type of royalty payments or subscription requirements.
General: The Pre-Order War
The competition for your preorder dollars has heated up this year, but who if anyone really wins? Rob weighs the pros and cons of preorders in today’s column.
General: MSI Announces New Notebooks with Eye-Tracking Technology
MSI has announced that a new line of notebooks are now available that feature eye-tracking technology that allows players to interact with games simply by focusing or looking away.