[This is a repost from my real blog] We just released the results of our second global Habbo youth survey. For this 2007 edition, over 58,000 people contacted via the Habbo sites in 31 countries answered a survey the results of which have been painstakingly analyzed for weeks, n… Continue

Game industry pundits have developed a peculiar malady over the last few years. Analysts (both professional and amateur) continue to proclaim the death of the PC gaming market, pointing to tumbling NPD sales numbers, shrinking shelf space at retailers, and announcements by major development houses that they are moving to console only. Contradictory enthusiasts, fan boys and apologists alike quickly rise to the bait, pointing to major titles like the Sims or World of Warcraft expansions, which co… Continue

“Oh, Take-Two Interactive, would you be mine?” breathed Joe Electronic Arts as he stared into his would-be lover’s eyes. Jane Take-Two Interactive looked away and glanced across the Game Industry Bar to the successful couple, Jack Vivendi and Jessica Activision, sitting in the private lounge nearby, cradled in each other’s arms and seemingly lost in each other’s company. … Continue

I recently had an interesting conversation with a developer of a virtual world. When I — perhaps glibly — described what he and his colleagues were developing as an “online game”, he quickly corrected me to tell me it was absolutely and only a virtual world. The question set me to thinking, finger tapping on my chin, about the basic understanding of what an online world is and how important those distinctions are. To sort through these online neighborhoods, let’s first define them and see what… Continue