Google launches 3D virtual world

Internet giant Google has launched its own 3D virtual world, called Lively.

Similar to Linden Labs' Second Life, users are able to create avatars and socialise in specially created spaces. Users are able to visit other rooms, leave items for each other and stream photos and video.

"The Lively team wants to help people experience another dimension of the web," said Niniane Wang, engineering manager for Google.

"We hope you will use the product to express yourself with and without words, and to do this in the places you already visit on the web."

Lively runs in an internet browser on PCs with Windows Vista or Windows XP installed, and uses a plugin which uses Emergent's Gamebryo engine.

"Prior to this release, we worked closely with Arizona State University," revealed Wang.

"Based on feedback from ASU students and with help from the Google Desktop team, we added support for playing YouTube videos in virtual TVs and showing photos in virtual picture frames inside our rooms. Better yet, the gadgets you have in your Lively rooms can also run on your desktop," he detailed.

Source: Games Industry

Google coming to PSP with 4.0 update

Google is heading to the PlayStation Portable and will have a place on the handheld's Cross Media Bar (XMB) menu, Sony said Tuesday.

It will appear when users upgrade their PSPs to the version 4 firmware, which will be available "soon," according to Eric Lempel, director of the PlayStation Network, who was posting on Sony's PlayStation Blog.

"This new upgrade replicates the Google Internet search experience, delivering the same search results that you'd get at www.google.com. And with a search history recall of 20 items, Web searches couldn't be easier," he wrote.

Google will appear in the network section of the XMB. Also new in the version 4 firmware will be the ability to change viewing speed when playing back videos from Memory Stick cards.

Sony has regularly offered updates to the firmware of the PlayStation Portable since it was launched and through such updates has added a host of new features. Previous updates have added features such as a Web browser and support for a wider range of video formats.

Source: The Standard

Google expanding ad empire to computer games

Google said Thursday it is testing ways to deliver ads in computer games but declined to comment on the Internet buzz that it will be in the market by year's end.

"We think this rich environment is a perfect medium to deliver relevant, targeted advertising that ultimately benefits the user, the video game publisher and the advertiser," the Internet colossus said in a written response to an AFP query.

"We are currently in tests to determine the best approach to in-game advertising."

Google, the undisputed king of Internet search advertising, has been using portions of its wealth to expand its realm into newspaper, radio, "smart" phones, and video games.

Google bought in-game advertising firm AdScape for 23 million dollars in February.

Advertising in video games is considered a powerful marketing tool because messages can be tailored to precise demographic groups and players focus intensely on game scenes, remembering what they see there.

A player of a shooter game could be scouring a virtual cafeteria for enemies and find one hiding behind a vending machine emblazoned with soda or candy brands.

Billboards featured along streets in racing games could bear real advertising geared to car lovers.

As video games are played on consoles or computers linked to the Internet, ads can be routinely updated. It is essential, according to game makers, that ads cause no disruption to play.

"We are working with publishers to help advertisers reach their target audiences while maintaining a high quality, engaging user experience," Google said.

While Google declined to reveal specific in-game ad plans, website GigaOm contends the California firm will launch a version of its ad platform with a computer game next month.

PlayStation video game consoles maker Sony last month created a unit devoted to developing "dynamic" in-game advertising that can be modified via the Internet.

Microsoft bought in-game ad firm Massive last year and sells in-game advertising through the Xbox Live platform that connects online to the US technology firms video game consoles.

Video game console makers Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have control over the delivery of advertising to games played on their hardware.

Microsoft profits surge on Halo 3

Above: Master Chief, Halo 3, Wallpaper
Microsoft shares soared to a six-year high in New York last night, after the software giant lifted its profits for the full-year, off the back of record quarterly revenue growth.

The group reported a 27pc rise in revenue to $13.76bn (£6.71bn) for the three months to the end of September – the fastest growth of any first quarter since 1999, driven by strong demand for video game Halo 3, and Windows Vista.

Master Chief, one of the game's key characters
Halo 3 has enjoyed phenomenal success, becoming the fastest-selling video game in history earlier this month, after notching up $300m worth of sales in its first week.

Meanwhile, the development of Vista has been a torturous five-year project, costing Microsoft $6bn and arriving a year late.

However, Kevin Johnson, president of the platform and services division at Microsoft, said yesterday: "Customer demand for Windows Vista this quarter continued to build with double-digit growth in multi-year agreements by businesses and with the vast majority of consumers purchasing premium editions."

Microsoft's business division, and its server and tool arm saw combined revenue climb 20pc, thanks to robust demand for the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Windows Server and SQL Server – as well as Vista.

Overall, first-quarter sales beat market expectations by more than $1bn. Chris Liddell, chief financial officer, said: "The fiscal year is off to an outstanding start with the fastest revenue growth of any first quarter since 1999. Operating income growth of over 30pc also reflects our ability to translate revenue into profits while making strategic investments for the future."

Looking ahead, the group said it expects profits of $1.78 to $1.81 a share for the full-year, on sales of $58.8bn to $59.7bn.

The group's shares jumped as much as 13pc to $36.02 yesterday – a price last seen in July 2001.

Earlier this week, Microsoft saw off competition from rival Google to secure a stake in Facebook, in a deal which values the social networking site at $15bn.

Source: The Telegraph

Google AdSense and video games

Bafta 195, Piccadily, London - 23rd October - 8.30 - 5pm

Tiga is pleased to announce that Eva Woo Product Marketing Manager of Google Adsense will be flying over from the US to be a keynote speaker at Tiga’s Cross Media Conference ‘Working with Games’ on the 23rd October.

Eva will give the general audience an idea of where Google are headed with games content. She will also describe how publishers and developers can monetize even further their game property in areas such as ‘Gadgets’.

Other speakers from TV, film, advertising and games include Endemol, BBC, 19 Agency, Ubisoft, TT Games and advertising agency BBH.

This event is kindly supported with funding from the London Development Agency. Other partners include PACT, BAFTA and Scottish Enterprise.

Top 25 Most Popular Video Game Sites September 2007

When it comes to video game sites, we've found that many casual gamers regard the sites they happen to frequent as gospel, and therefore feel they have little to no use for other sites. However, as the truly elite gamers know many sites publish unique information that you just cannot find duplicated elsewhere. Therefore, to be truly informed you need to be armed with as many informative sites as you can. To that end, we at eBizMBA here provide you with the Top 25 Video Game sites ranked by a combination of Inbound Links, Google Page Rank, Alexa Rank, and U.S. traffic data from Compete and Quantcast.

Read the list at ebizmba