A look into Jennie DeBunce's 2000's Gaming Industry History.
Created by jenniedebunce on Apr 20, 2011
Last updated: 06/22/11 at 08:55 PM
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has decided to allow unlimited new domain names for company brands, political causes and entertainment groups and for the domain names to be made in any language. Groups must pay an application fee of 185,000. “It will allow corporations to better take control of their brands. For example, .apple or .ipad would take customers right to those products” (CBS), meaning that this will be a big opportunity for companies, having brand-name looks on their websites and could even apply to emails, letting them carry more weight if they are from, for example, .apple.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
This is going to be a pretty big deal in the gaming world, I feel. Game companies such as Nintendo and Playstation will be able to register their own domain names, and get their products out to the masses even more quickly than before. When Googling something, the domain name with relativity will turn up at the top.
Reference:
CBS. (June 20, 2011). Internet overseers OK expansion of domain names. Cbsnews.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/20/scitech/main20072509.shtml?tag=re1.channel
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/20/scitech/main20072509.shtml?tag=re1.channel
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
The Federal Communications Commission will implement the Net Neutrality Rules in 2011. This is supposed to prohibit ISPs from slowing traffic on one site in favor of others, but what will also happen is this: ISPs will be able to charge consumers –companies like Netflix and game sites - more to get more.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
This is quite a problem for all online game designers and developers; if this is passed, it could impact “digital distribution, online play, and a number of other revenue sources…this could mean higher costs to get the same experience you currently receive” (Boortz). As such, game designers/developers will have to pay more to get their game on the market and running at the right speed, and players may have to pay more to be able to play the game well.
Reference:
Boortz, D. (April 6, 2011). Verizon and MetroPCS Lose Round in Net Neutrality Fight. Developingconcerns.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/04/articles/game-industry/verizon-and-metropcs-lose-round-in-net-neutrality-fight/
http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/04/articles/game-industry/verizon-and-metropcs-lose-round-in-net-neutrality-fight/
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
Kiip will have the ability to “link gamers to products without removing them from the gameplay experience”, having the ability to completely redefine embedded advertising.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
This is important to the industry for a number of reasons. It is a remarkable idea, and one worth investigating, but on the legal side of things, it could get messy. Contractual obligations for developers can arise from this, if someone refuses to pay up on the reward; people getting hurt as a result of the reward, etc. Not only that, but what of the taxes? They’re difficult enough as is, but with Kiip, some states with ecommerce laws require the collection of sales tax on such goods. Game developers may also have to pay sales tax, or even be taxed in several states.
Reference:
Boortz, D. (April 11, 2011). Kiip: Rewarding People in Real Life for Virtual Achievements. Developingconcerns.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/04/articles/game-development/kiip-rewarding-people-in-real-life-for-virtual-achievements/
http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/04/articles/game-development/kiip-rewarding-people-in-real-life-for-virtual-achievements/
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
Apple has been sued over a breach of contract, unfair trade practices, a violation of California’s Legal Remedies Act, and unjust enrichment of the company, when young children have bought through their in-game item buying in excess of a thousand dollars. With Apple’s system, a password is required after entering credit card information, leaving a window of 15 minutes after that first purchase in which kids can buy as much as they want without reentering the password. This windowing results in parents receiving bill statements with things they never knew they’d bought on them.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
First off, as a designer or developer, game items that kids can buy for their game experience shouldn’t be costing them up to $100 for a virtual item. Designers really need to remember who their audience is when designing their games. If this were me, working with Apple, I’d be sure that there wasn’t such a window of time where kids had free reign of their parents’ credit cards, and that the game I was helping produce wouldn’t have such expensive in game items. I’d design it in a way that kids could win the items for completing certain tasks or events.
Reference:
Boortz, D. (April 14, 2011). Oh Smurf! Apple sued over children’s in-game purchases. Developingconcerns.com. Retreived June 20, 2011 from http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/04/articles/courtroom-roundup/oh-smurf-apple-sued-over-childrens-ingame-purchases/
http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/04/articles/courtroom-roundup/oh-smurf-apple-sued-over-childrens-ingame-purchases/
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
Libel in fiction is a legal action in which people sue when they feel they’ve been used as raw material for such things as books, movies, and other fictional forms of storytelling. This is why there is a “all characters and events are fictional and any resemblance of persons living or dead is entirely coincidental”, because somebody will sue for a character that bears strong resemblances to them. The video game industry, according to Drew Boortz, needs to be aware of this problem, and be wary of it, unless libel in fiction is another group of lawsuits that they’d like to take on.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
This is a good and informative piece of information for all developers and designers. Designers need to be aware when they’re creating, and to take necessary precautions before releasing a title. The reasons, Boortz feels, that the industry is not already rife with libel in fiction cases, is that many of the cases are heavily fact dependent, as well as the fact that video games are such a diverse and unique medium, that pursuing legal action for libel in fiction would be difficult at best.
Reference:
Boortz, D. (March 7, 2011). Libel in Fiction and Video Games: Will This Be the Next Litigation Front? Developingconcerns.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/03/articles/game-industry/libel-in-fiction-and-video-games-will-this-be-the-next-litigation-front/
http://www.developingconcerns.com/2011/03/articles/game-industry/libel-in-fiction-and-video-games-will-this-be-the-next-litigation-front/
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
Apple filed a lawsuit against Amazon, for Amazon’s new store for phone applications, called “Amazon Appstore”. Apple feels that this infringes on their iOS app store trademark, “App Store”, and is seeking legal action.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
Names have always been a source of identification and, in the video game industry, a huge area for lawsuits. With Apple attacking Amazon over their name, the problems for the company could be big. As a game designer, if I had been working on a game for Amazon’s new app store, and had been integrating it into the name of their online store, changing the name would be a problem. Also, if Amazon is tied up in court, doing battle with Apple, then chances are, release of the app store will be delayed while they scramble to find a solution.
Reference:
Olivarez-Giles, N. (March 21, 2011). Apple sues Amazon over ‘Appstore’ name, alleging trademark infringement. Latimes.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/apple-amazon-appstore-app-store.htm
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/apple-amazon-appstore-app-store.html
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
Activision has announced that it will be closing the division responsible for making the hit games Guitar Hero. They have also decided to cease development of another Guitar Hero game that had been scheduled for release later in 2011. They will be continuing to support the game via DLC (downloadable content), but there will be no more stand alone games.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
From a tried and true version of game making, it’s surprising that Activision would discontinue development of an already in motion game, but from a business perspective, it’s a good move, cutting costs and focusing on a more ‘easy money’ side of Guitar Hero. As a game designer, it would be pretty simple in the scheme of things to make individual song releases for Guitar Hero through Activision’s DLC, but had I been working under Activision and Blizzard when this was announced, I’d probably have been looking for another job, since my department would then be defunct. I can’t imagine how the designers of the in-progress-and-trashed game feel right now.
Reference:
DeVoe, B. (February 10, 2011). Activision Cancels Guitar Hero. Examiner.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011, from http://www.examiner.com/video-game-industry-in-denver/activision-and-guitar-hero
http://www.examiner.com/video-game-industry-in-denver/activision-and-guitar-hero
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
According to a statement by Goldman Sachs, Facebook now has “600+ million monthly active users” (Carlson). This means that Facebook is now incredibly popular, and incredibly profitable.
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
Facebook has been growing at a fast pace over the last few years, and most with a Facebook account have encountered some of the games, or apps, for Facebook. Some of these games, such as Farmville, allow players to purchase points for the game in order to level up or purchase things. This opens a great big door for game designers, and provides a new, popular source for their games – on Facebook. Companies are now able to focus on Facebook-style or oriented games, and publish similar games onto Facebook (for example, Tetris).
Reference:
Carlson, N. (January 5, 2011). Facebook Has More Than 600 Million Users, Goldman Tells Clients. Businessinsider.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011, from http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-has-more-than-600-million-users-goldman-tells-clients-2011-1
http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-has-more-than-600-million-users-goldman-tells-clients-2011-1
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
Devon Moore, an 18 year old, after being taken to a police precinct, suddenly snaps and kills three police officers before taking off in a squad car he grabbed the keys for. Part of the controversy in this criminal case is that Devon had been a big fan of Grand Theft Auto, and had bought it as a minor and played it for hundreds of hours, in effect, according to attorney Jack Thompson, becoming “trained to do what he did” (Leung).
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
This lawsuit against video games is one of many in the industry that have cropped up in the last years, condemning violent video games and calling them “murder simulator[s]” (Leung). So far, no court has ruled that a video game has been the deciding factor in crimes that people have committed; that there are plenty of other factors that contribute to the psyche, causing those like Moore to snap. Either way, the light is cast badly for such games, no matter what the press says – from the moment a video game (or video games in general) are mentioned in relation to a suicide or crime, the game industry collects another shadow to drag along behind it. As a game designer, this brings up the complicated question of how much violence is too much, and causes hard decisions for companies that want to creat similar games.
Reference:
Leung, R. (February 11, 2009). Can a Video Game Lead to Murder? Cbsnews.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678261.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678261.shtml
Question 1: What were the details of the event?
A federal appeals court reversed a controversial decision by ruling that video games are protected under the First Amendment. After trying to ban some violent video games from younger audiences, the ruling declared that the County “must come forward with empirical support for its belief that ‘violent’ video games cause psychological harm to minors” (Morris).
Question 2: Why was the event important to the industry? How would the event affect you as a Game Designer or Developer?
This event was cheered by the gaming industry; it sent a powerful statement to the government, that to regulate consumers’ access to games because of content there needs to be solid proof that it is bad for them. As a game designer, this would be beneficial, I think, in the long run for myself and my colleagues. If there are bans on certain creative content, even violence, then it puts a limit on creative output and makes a very hazy line for us to balance on, between too much and too little violence and/or other content.
Reference:
Morris, C. (June 3, 2003). Constitution protects video games. Cnn.com. Retrieved June 20, 2011 from http://money.cnn.com/2003/06/03/technology/games_firstamendment/
http://money.cnn.com/2003/06/03/technology/games_firstamendment/
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