Cockroaches, Madonna, crime, Spam and gaming.

The five things that will never go away.

From the year 2006 through the years to 2012, Parks Associates a market research firms states that in game spending will go from $370 million in 2006 to more than $2 billion in 2012. In addition, IBM and Seriosity teamed up for a joint research project that revealed
online role playing games are shaping the next generation of corporate leaders. The studies show that there are significant parallels between online gaming and the work force. Today's gamers are learning collaboration; self-organization, risk taking, positive influence, and networking as well as how to earn incentives linked to performance and be flexible in the way they communicate.

In game advertising expects an annual growth rate of 33% higher than that of TV, radio, print, and the Internet.

"If executed correctly, game advertising can provide a win-win solution for advertisers, developers and publishers, console manufacturers, game portals, and gamers." Said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, director of broadband and gaming, Parks Associates.

Advertisers are taking notice of the ever-growing industry with cheaper advertising and direct consumer attention. In game advertising helps pay for game creation and can also help make a game more real. Beyond sponsoring a game, some marketers are actually creating their own games as promotional content (called “advergames”) such as Burger King did with Blitz Games.

Jim Spohrer, director of services research for IBM Research center: "Smart organizations are recognizing valued employees who play online games and apply their skills and experience as virtual leaders to their 'real world' jobs."

Gaming is not only increasing in popularity, but also gaining new fans in the older generation. Seniors have slowly been experimenting with gaming as a way to connect with grandkids. Than again, some are simply playing because they didn’t realize how much fun they were. Advertising to seniors has always been a niche market and it’s one that hasn’t been touched for in-game advertising. After all, the gamers who fell in love with the games and demanded bigger, better, more in-depth games are aging.

British Bans Manhunt 2 - The First Video Game In 10 Years

You can not buy Manhunt 2 in Britain. The decision by the British Board of Film Classification, or BBFC, means the game, from publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, creators of the controversial "Grand Theft Auto" series, cannot be legally supplied anywhere in Britain.

BBFC director David Cooke said "'Manhunt 2' is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing."

He continued by saying

"There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

The ban in Britain prompted one U.S. family group to lobby for an ‘Adults Only’ rating to ensure major American retailers cannot sell the game to minors. According to Gamepolitics.com, Manhunt 2 has been given an ‘Adults Only’ rating in the States, rather than the usual M (mature) rating which is non-prohibitive and acts merely as a guide for parents. This means that most major retailers will not sell the game.

Take Two/Rockstar still has online retailers and independent stores to channel the game through, but big superstore chains like Walmart account for 25% of game sold in the US.

Other global territories are likely to take a similar stance as the UK and US has -- so it seems the Take Two/Rockstar strategy for stalking success and creating Hellfire controversy may have backfired.

What’s The Big Deal?

In the game Manhunt 2, players become an insane asylum escapee sneaking up on “enemies” and killing them in gruesome ways.

If there was ever a game that deserved an “Adults Only” rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, Manhunt 2 is definitely it. What other game can you graphically decapitate someone and then use the head as a bowling ball? In Manhunt (original) players were able to suffocate somebody with a plastic bag and kill using razor wire. Sequels are follow-ups introducing bigger and better than the original – if razor wire and effective plastic bag instruments of death was used in the original and received only an M for Mature rating than what the hell do you have to do to get an “AO” (Adults Only) rating?

Manhunt 2 is a disturbing game. I’d like to think I’m not squeamish – at least when it comes to videogame violence. After all, it’s not real; it’s all make-believe, right? But Take Two/Rockstar video games have become nothing more than animated ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ snuff films

My opinion may not be what you were expecting from a self-described proud to be called Game Geek Gurl. There is no story without conflict and in interactive games, that conflict is predominantly played out in violence. God of War and Destroy All Humans have violence in mass quantities, no question about that. But the Manhunt series encourages players to be as vicious as possible in killing their “victims”. One game review of the original Manhunt encouraged this aspect by stating

“it’s certainly fun watching your enemies die and that is one of the main features of this game.”

Manhunt 2 Ban Questions:

• What will be the result of censorship for future games?
• How will the ban effect past, current and future video game classifications?
• Does the ban purpose any serious threats to the long-term future of the gaming industry?

Censorship in any form is risky and further promotes the downwards spiral of a nannied nation. But is the merciless violence of Manhunt’s content video game entertainment or sensationalism of violence?

It’s Not Space Aliens, But It’s A Blast

Cigna Corp. (Health & Life Insurance) said on May 30th, 2007 that it will offer HopeLab's access to "Re-Mission" the video game. The game features a teen appropriate sexy Roxxi nanobot with a blaster for her left arm and glides through the bodies of fictional cancer patients with her singular purpose of blasting cancer cells out of existence. Along the way, Roxxi also battles dangerous infections and manages side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatments. As you can read, the video game is to set to help teen cancer patients deal with their disease and help them visualize the destruction of cancerous cells.

Since the game's launch early last year, HopeLab said it has delivered 76,000 copies of "Re-Mission" which is available on disc or via download on its Web site. Cigna's will also offer the game on their website.


Pam Omidyar, a medical researcher launched HopeLab in 2001 to improve the health and possibilities of recovery for young people – and she did it with a mix of quality science and fun technology. HopeLab, a Northern California-based nonprofit organization, teamed with video game developers and animators and a medical specialist as well as young patients, in developing a quality video game that would educate as well as entertain.

Medical experts say that teenage cancer patients face unique challenges that adults do not always encounter. They are old enough to be responsible for their treatment, but may be too young to understand the potentially deadly consequences of skipping a required medication dosage.


HopeLab tested "Re-Mission" in a randomized, controlled trial of 375 male and female cancer patients aged 13 to 29, in the United States, Canada and Australia. The "Re-Mission" players maintained levels of chemotherapy in their blood and showed higher rates of antibiotic use than those in the control group, indicating that the game helped patients maintain they’re cancer therapy routine. It also demonstrates that the game is helping to instill confidence that the disease can be fought and encourages consistent implementation with their treatment.

Next on HopeLab's list: Obesity

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MSNBC Goes Interactive in Movie Theaters

From Online Media

by Les Luchter, Wednesday, May 9, 2007 6:00 AM ET
WHILE SPIDER-MAN 3 ENJOYED THE largest opening weekend box office ever this past weekend, those who saw the film at National Amusement's The Bridge: Cinema de Lux theater in Los Angeles received an additional treat courtesy of MSNBC.com: a pre-movie video game dubbed NewsBreaker Live that they could play from their seats.

Attendees were shown a live msnbc.com RSS newsfeed on the big screen, and as each person moved either to the right or left, their collective actions controlled paddles that "smashed up" the real-time headlines with a bouncing ball, causing them to fall. Simultaneously, the audience moved to "capture" the headlines before they dropped off the screen entirely.

"There's a single camera at the front of the theater that's recording the audience's movements," explained David Polinchock, chief experience officer for Brand Experience Lab, which developed the game with strategic communications firm SS+K and Etcetera Edutainment, part of Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center. "As they lean left and right, the camera records that, puts it in the computer system, and that's how they interact with the game. So they, in effect, become the joystick...."

Msnbc.com says NewsBreaker Live is part of the site's new branding campaign--"A Fuller Spectrum of News"--that also includes a NewsBreaker online game and a NewsStream screensaver, and is backed by TV, print and online ads.

NewsBreaker Live will run through July preceding such other major blockbusters as the sequels to Harry Potter, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean and Fantastic 4, as well as the new Transformers. Theatergoers in Philadelphia and White Plains, NY will also be able to enjoy the fun, which one 20-something male in Los Angeles called "the sweetest movie waiting experience I've ever had."