Buddhist leader calls video games 'emotional therapy'

Ogyen Trinley Dorje--the only senior Buddhist leader recognized by China, Tibet, and India--was recently interviewed during a visit to Delhi, India, where he gave his views on politics, hip-hop, and video games.

While certainly not your average 24-year-old, he's clearly in touch with how video games can make us all feel better. He's also apparently a Mac fan.

Well, I view video games as something of an emotional therapy, a mundane level of emotional therapy for me. We all have emotions whether we're Buddhist practitioners or not, all of us have emotions, happy emotions, sad emotions, … Read more

T'ai Chi robots to rule the world?

Humanoid robots developed at the Beijing Institute of Technology can do more than perform T'ai Chi maneuvers and answer simple questions when interacting with humans. Duan Xingguang, the professor in charge of the efforts, believes we are heading into an era where robots will become part of our daily lives.

The bots were introduced in 2003 and have been updated with a new mechanical design and properties that allow for better interaction and fluidity of movement.

Professor Duan Xingguang said that they will continue to improve the robots' functionality and reliability while striving to lower production costs. He also … Read more

Swedish group calls gaming addiction a 'pandemic' threat

A Swedish organization called the Youth Care Foundation claims that computer gaming addiction is reaching pandemic proportions around the world. This is the same group that called World of Warcraft "the cocaine of the computer games world" back in February.

In an interview with Sweden's English paper, The Local, Sven Rollenhagen of the Youth Care Foundation touts his position as one that helps young people in Sweden recognize and manage computer gaming addiction.

Already ahead of the curve by "daring" to view gaming addiction as something distinct from other common problems facing young people, Sweden'… Read more

Report: Virtual currency No. 1 digital goods purchase

New research from video game market research firm VGMarket sponsored by Playspan reveals that gamers are actively making purchases to enhance their gaming experience, with free-to-play games leading the way to monetization. Playspan is a provider of monetization and payment solutions for games and virtual worlds.

Three out of four virtual goods buyers purchased in-game currency in the last 12 months and spent approximately $50 each. This statistic is interesting to me as I am always surprised when users buy in to currency that only works on one site. But, I suppose if it's the only option then you will eventually give in.

Of further interest in the report is the fact that free-to-play games may actually be monetizing better than MMOs (massive multiplayer online games) and social networks.

58 percent made purchases in free-to-play (F2P) games over the last 12 months. 34 percent made purchases in MMOs. 23 percent made purchases in social network games. The average respondent is currently playing three online games and 80 percent report buying digital goods for their own use while 20 percent said they purchase for gifts.

… Read more

FCC cites success of video game rating system

U.S. regulators may consider a single ratings system that would warn parents of programming on television, video games, and wireless telephones that could be inappropriate for children, according to a Bloomberg News report in late August.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched an inquiry into the universal rating system with a goal "to shield children from inappropriate content in this rapidly changing media environment." That sounds great, but it's something that should be handled by parents and not the federal government.

Accordingly, it's fortunate that in a report this week (PDF) regarding the implementation of the Child Safe Viewing Act, the FCC found that the video game ratings scheme is a success and that "the video game industry already provides one of the most robust voluntary rating systems available." The report also concludes that the variety and variables within each media segment make it extremely difficult to manage. … Read more

Mobile phones are enough for Japan's Net users

It's no secret that Japan has better mobile phones than the rest of the world. The country has also had access to better phone-based Internet services since the launch of NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service all the way back in 1998.

Recent data from japan.internet.com (translated by whatjapanthinks.com) suggests that Japan's mobile phones offer users enough functionality that 49 percent of the respondents to a recent survey say a "mobile phone is enough" when asked what kind of mobile device they would most like to carry.

Mobile phone is enough 49.2 percent Smartphone 22 percent Netbook 16.3 percent Notebook computer 8.9 percent MID/UMPC 0.3 percent Other 0.3 percent Don't want to carry anything 3 percent

In addition to the wealth of services and games, with the character-based typing you really don't need an iPhone or other smartphone unless you need to access corporate e-mail. While this can also be delivered directly to mobile phones, in my experience most companies don't allow access unless it's through a VPN. … Read more

Study: More than 1 in 10 Americans buys virtual goods

New survey data from research firm Magid and Associates and PlaySpan shows that virtual goods sales are growing dramatically with more than 1 in 10 Americans spending real money on purchases in the last year.

According to the study, "12% of the overall population surveyed reported that they had bought virtual goods in the last 12 months. However, a closer look at the digital entertainment habits of virtual goods buyers reveals that virtual world visitors are the heaviest virtual goods buyers, with 46% of these consumers buying virtual goods (from virtual worlds, games or social networks) and nearly one … Read more

Report: iPhone app pulls in $1 million in first six weeks

Apparently you can make a lot of money with an iPhone application. According to TechCrunch, Social Gaming Network's (SGN) Fleet Air Superiority Training F.A.S.T. dogfight game "pulled in over $1 million in download fees alone in the first six weeks it was available."

F.A.S.T was originally priced at $9.99 but SGN has varied the pricing as part of their launch plan. It currently sells for $1.99 and is said to be bringing in as much as $60,000 per day.

As I wrote earlier in the week about Flash games, … Read more

iPhone 3GS: Fantastic but flawed

I switched to the iPhone 3GS the day it came out and I'm still waffling on how I feel about it. So far, the positives still outweigh the negatives, but my work style has changed and I am able to deal with a lot more mobile device flakiness than I was able to a few months or a year ago. If I was still traveling and running around all the time, the iPhone would be a total disaster.

From a software and cloud perspective, the iPhone represents an ideal world of development functionality mixed with an ability to use mobile services. However, the App Store approval process and AT&T's wonky network will still prevent us from reaching nirvana.

I tried to chronicle the issues I've had, but the truth is, the service (and therefore the device itself) ranges from excellent to sporadic to unusable, so I'll just list out the broad issues for those considering a move to the 3GS.

Battery life--the battery life is abysmal. I've gone on every forum, tweaked every setting, and done several tests to see what works best. The hacks that people suggest (turn off push, 3G, and Bluetooth) defeat the purpose of the device. Users shouldn't have to handicap themselves because of a lack of attention from the manufacturer.

If Apple really wants enterprise and business users, this is the most important issue that must be resolved.

Phone --I haven't been a fan of AT&T mobile service in the past (Verizon Wireless is my carrier of choice) and it continues to range from terrible to mediocre for me. Bizarrely, the worst call quality occurs when talking to another AT&T user. I did a conference call the other day with two other iPhone users and none of use could decipher the others' words.

I gave up on the 3G network both for the battery drain and the calls that dropped after 10 minutes (I took notes for 2 days) and every call dropped. A recent survey says that 34 percent of those polled won't buy the iPhone because of AT&T's network. … Read more