Game talk

This is the catch-all category for stuff about games and game design. It easily makes up the vast majority of the site’s content. If you are looking for something specific, I highly recommend looking into the tags used on the site instead. They can narrow down the hunt immensely.

Venezuela bans violent video games

 Posted by (Visited 10112 times)  Game talk  Tagged with:
Nov 052009
 

Ugh, yet another country…

Last Thursday in Venezuela, a new law criminalizing “violent” video games and toys was approved by the National Assembly.

The law scapegoats gamers for the obscene levels of violence in our country (see below), and goes to extraordinary lengths to criminalize gaming, to the point of holding out long jail terms to people who buy the wrong kinds of games.

It’s no joke. Last year, on a trip to the US, I was able to buy a Nintendo DS for my brother, and a puzzle game that deals with using weapons to defend the fish stock of penguins in Antarctica, Defendin’ de Penguin. Early next year, when the law kicks in, bring such a game could land me in jail for 3 to 5 years, for importing forbidden violent games, as the penguins use snowball guns to ward off walruses, foxes (in Antarctica? OMG think of Biogeography!), polar bears and the Yeti.

via Venezuela bans violent video games: a first-person guest essay – Boing Boing.

China gov’t rejects WoW again

 Posted by (Visited 6404 times)  Game talk  Tagged with: ,
Nov 032009
 

Massively is reporting that WoW is caught in the battle between the Ministry of Culture and the General Administration of Press and Publication over who gets to regulate online games — and has been denied permission to operate (again).

The Ministry of Culture was, I believe, the arm of the government there that recently banned gold farming, but also the one that last gave WoW permission to operate there.

The GAAP was the group that issued the recent regulations on foreign companies operating in China.

The Ministry of Culture gave the last approval; the GAPP is the one now saying that the game is in “gross violation” of regs.

Massively’s got all the links for you!

Playing live concert nowish!

 Posted by (Visited 5604 times)  Game talk, Music
Oct 312009
 

And it will be here:

Concert over!

Thanks to everyone who came — I had a blast! I recorded the audio stream, so I will post it up once I get a chance to peek at it in a sound editor. Off for Halloween night stuff now, though!

Playing live Halloween concert tomorrow!

 Posted by (Visited 6428 times)  Game talk, Music  Tagged with: ,
Oct 302009
 

A collective of Metaplace users led by the intrepid MacZ have set up a huge Halloween event tomorrow. It kicks off at noon Pacific time in the world Riverbeer with costume contests, art displays, and a bridge to similar events in SL., proceeds to hayrides and world tours at 1pm, then Superbad supplies DJ music in The Lotus Room until 4pm.

And then comes the SCARY part. 🙂 I’ll be doing a 2 hour live set of music selected to fit the spooky theme, just me, my guitar, and as many creepy laughs as I can muster! It runs from 4 to 6pm Pacific in The Stage, and I will have it embedded here too. I set up a special version of the venue all decorated up for Halloween.

After my set, we’ll have more DJing, in the same venue, from J-Digital.

This will be the first time I have done a formal virtual concert, and I am terrified. Come share my fear. 🙂

Virtual Goods presentations

 Posted by (Visited 6559 times)  Game talk  Tagged with: ,
Oct 302009
 

Slideshows from the Virtual Goods Summit are starting to pop up, and here two that I found so far:

Virtual Goods: Why & How They Work by Amy Jo Kim, all about them motivations behind virtual goods purchases.

Virtual Goods: Why & How They Work

View more presentations from amyjokim.

A nicely detailed deck by William Grosso of LiveGamer on Managing a Virtual Economy that has plenty of concrete advice.

Managing a Virtual Economy

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