Social Issues in Gaming
Article URL : http://www.theesa.com/gamesindailylife/socialissues.asp

Computer and video games are viewed as an effective way to convey and teach important values to the young people of the computer age. They are seen to have the ability to inspire and interest the audiences, and provide different organizations with a new way to spread their message.

Students of the United States took this phenomenon to their advantage and created “Darfur is Dying” and “Ayiti: The Cost of Life” to raise awareness about genocides and poverty. Organizations like the United Nations World Food Programme has also took this trend and created the game “Food Force” which educates audiences about world hunger.

Other than topics of world issues, video games help in educating people about social issues in a smaller context like Internet safety, bullying and maintain the environment clean and green. Web Wise Kids teaches kids about essential Internet safety and privacy issues through video games. Nintendo initiated the creation of “Super Mario Sunshine” and “Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol”. These games challenge players to help improve the greens by rebuilding a park and clearing up an island.

-Tan Ruo Han

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Programming Responsiveness
Article: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19208

The article is covering on the issue of programming the games to synchronize with the player. It is enforced that the programming of games should be such that it is optimized for the players. For example, in a RTS strategy game, the computer must be able to respond to the player’s movements and counteract accordingly to provide the best challenge for the player. The computer must not response too quickly to the extent that it even surpasses the best players, or the game cannot end in the player’s victory. It is implied that the fault doesn’t always lie with the player when they are unable to play the game right; the problem might be with the game itself. Because the game responsiveness is such an important issue, programmers must have absolute knowledge in it.

-Melvin Yap Wei Liang

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Introducing in-game advertisement in PlayStation® 3
Article URL: http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/080605e.html

Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe introduced dynamic in-game advertising on the PlayStation 3. Marketers are able to advertise their products through games with available in-game space for advertisements and therefore, forging a partnership with IGA Worldwide; the leading in-game advertising company with a proprietary ad serving network. This partnership is expected to further raise the already increasing worldwide in-game advertising industry by 1.150 percent to $971.3 million.

By including in-game advertisements in PS3, it will not only benefit the developers and advertisers but it will also enrich the gamers with news while playing. With the partnership of Sony Computer Entertainment, IGA is able to provide advertisers with a large and valuable global user base of 16-35 years old consumers with disposable income. This new way of advertising while playing is a fresh and different concept from the traditional TV spot.

With over more than 12.5 million units of PS3 console sold worldwide, advertising through PS3 can be very profitable for the advertisers as there are a lot of users who will view the advertisement. Also, DFC Intelligence forecasts that the sales of the current game systems will pass the 180 million, therefore, reiterating the potential for the in-game advertising market.

-Ivan Tan Hua Xiang