Photo: Sony

If you’ve been reading about gaming news online for some time now, you’ll likely remember the name Phil Harrison. The former Sony president was once one of the central figures in gaming’s ranks with an opinion that carried much gravitas. His recent coments at the Italian Videogame Developers Conference about cloud gaming services, or more specifically browser-based gaming being the future of video games are likely to be as divisive as any he’s made.

Browser based gaming

Asking the crowd if they thought we would ever see a high quality game of Modern Warfare 2’s kind on a browser, Harrison affirmed his own question by saying ‘I think the answer is yes’, wrote Develop. He continued, saying ‘I think in the next five to ten years we will easily get this level of gamin inside a web browser, on your mobile platform, on your iPad, and we will be able to deliver that level of ’

Gaikai and OnLive are about to become sworn enemies

Phil Harrison went on to predict that in this very transition, we will see a ‘browser war’ for gamer’s attention of the scale of Sega vs. Nintendo in the late 80s and early 90s. And since they have first movers advantage, it stands to reason that current cloud gaming services OnLive and Gaikai may be one (if not both) of those companies slugging it out in the browser war.

Somebody is going to win

Harrison, who it must be said still makes for great quotes all these years later, saying that ‘Somebody is going to win. Somebody is going to deliver console level 3D graphics, video and audio into a web browser. That will be the tipping point for the evolution of our industry that will accelerate what we can do in a browser, and I think will create the next generation platform for games.’

Still not convinced

Photo: Flyinace2000 / Flickr

As I read Phil Harrison’s thoughts on the future of browser-based games, cloud gaming services and this supposed browser war, I cannot help but see his prediction being analogous to what is happening with browser-based applications and services eroding the core business of software giants who relied on desktops for their applications to run.

Back then there were people betting against that happening, and now it’s pretty obvious that it is inevitable. Maybe Harrison is right. Then again, I can’t see how browsers will be able to provide the computational horse power to run intensive PC titles like StarCraft II, let alone Modern Warfare 2 or its follow up, Call of Duty: Black Ops. And this is not to say that the browser will never get to the equivalent level of contemporary games, but rather that PC gaming will likely have advanced significantly by then.

Photo: dfarber / Flickr

Activision Blizzard CEO and video gaming bad guy Bobby Kotick has said that he sees the value in listening to customers and that he cares what you, the gamer, think about Activision products. This is what he told a room full of tech luminaries and media at the Web 2.0 Summit, at least.

Incredibly passionate customers

Mr Kotick said he thinks paying attention to customers needs is more critical now than its ever been before ‘…because you have incredibly passionate and vocal consumers, and they are really thoughtful and articulate about what they would like to see in a game, how you can enhance the experience.’ All true, yes, gamers? He continued, saying: ‘So if you take the time and actually listen to what your customers have to say, you are going to create much better experiences.’

While his intuition about listening to what gamers say being valuable is undeniable, it’s hard to take that seriously from a man who once said he wanted ‘to take all the fun out of making video games’.

WoW support is really good, though

Even though you’re likely treating this sentiment with the pinch of salt it deserves, one has to admit that World of Warcraft support really is unmatched in video gaming. So, when Kotick cited the 2,000-strong customer support team assembled for WoW – the service’s single biggest expense – you can’t turn your nose up at Mr Kotick and dismiss him.

In addition to discussing the value of paying careful attention to customers’ demands, The Activision Blizzard head honcho also spoke on the value of patience in building titles and the huge leg up that’s given the company. Speaking specifically to Blizzard – who take forever to release games due to the amount of polish they add – Kotick pointed out the direct relationship between time and product quality.

StarCraft II fans, who waited for a decade before getting the title this year, will attest to the truth in that statement. Diablo III fans don’t even want to discuss how much it sucks being in the dark about the release schedule of that title, while WoW fans merrily keep plugging the hours away at their title while they wait for the release of WoW Cataclysm next month.

Activision Blizzard is on a roll right now, and maybe Bobby Kotick deserves the benefit of the doubt. Just maybe.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

When technology first began to proliferate, and boost productivity dramatically, people heralded this as the beginning of an era where we’d have more personal time. How dreadfully wrong they were, with us only working harder even though social productivity has dramatically risen over what it previously was. And, considering this, it’s a joke that we still obsess over being even more productive. It is the nature of the beast, nevertheless, so people have devised many schemes to enable them to do more in less time.

Below is a perennial favourite – reward productivity.

Short-term rewards

The 80/20 rule says that 20 per cent of the effort yields 80 per cent of the result, and this rule holds true to many areas of work, life, and even nature. As such, the short-term reward productivity scheme aims to get you to focus on your mind on focusing all your energy to complete a task with immediacy.

There are several approaches to a short-term productivity reward, but the 60/30 minute work cycle has always worked well for me. The basic idea is work intensely for an hour, followed by a half hour break. Insofar as your 60 minutes of work is extraordinarily productive, you can do whatever you want for the other 30 minutes. This has the effect of motivating you to work toward your reward, while ensuring you’re actually productive and pushing through the struggle and tedium of the actual work. And, hey, who wouldn’t want to play the recently released Call of Duty: Black Ops after every hour of meaningful work? Yes, please!

Long-term rewards

A complementary approach to the short-term productivity reward cycle is to take the long term productivity reward cycle. There are various ways to approach this, from working shorter weeks, to taking frequent holidays, to spoiling yourself when certain tasks are completed.

Carsonified, a famous web development and conferencing company based in Bath, is one such example of a company that works a four-day workweek. While some employees may see the extra day off as a perk, we suspect it’s actually a motivator for getting more done and to be hyper efficient, since you have less time to complete a ‘week’s worth’ of work. This is exaggerated further where the work done directly affects other companies that work five day workweeks. It’s a smart example of institutional productivity reward, since the company is forcing you to get more done by rewarding productivity at a contractual level.

Overall reward

What is strange about this approach to rewarding productivity is that you get the byproduct of overall reward. This overall reward can be the feeling of accomplishment that accompanies completing a huge project, or attaining goals you’ve sent for yourself, or even getting a raise and promotion. The byproduct of rewarding productivity as it goes along is that, in the end, it is self-fulfilling. You get more done, get closer to your personal and career goals, and enjoy life more. What’s not to enjoy about that?

If you’re looking for other ways to boost your efficiency beyond productivity reward, fear not, we’ve got you covered. You can click here and here for more tips on how to be productive.

Photo: lamazone / Flickr

PopCap, the folks who make addictive drugs disguised as video games, have just announced that their flagship franchise, Bejeweled, will soon see a sequel released. That’s right, folks, Bejeweled 3 is coming to PC on 7 December 2010. Suffice it to say, you may want to take leave and spend extra time with your family now in anticipation of its arrival.

Building on charted territory

Bejeweled 3 takes the work done on Bejeweled 2 and adds to it. The third title in the franchise adds four new modes to those available in its predecessor. Furthermore the Quest mode has been updated with 11 more mini-games, bringing the total to 40 quests.

For those who like their rush laid back, Bejeweled 3 adds a new Zen mode, which adds ambient sounds to make the gameplay zen-like and relaxing. And for those who love their gaming in glorious high definition, PopCap sends it’s love by making the title in HD.

Drug rehabilitation

In the office, we have a PopCap support group for recovering abusers of the company’s insanely addictive titles. Recent PopCap drug binges have included the insanely addictive Plants vs. Zombies on several different gaming platforms. Prior to that, and for some, in concurrency with that, is Peggle, which itself was released to new platforms recently, most notably Xbox Live and the iPhone.

And, for long-time sufferers, who just cannot shake the PopCap addiction, there is Bejeweled 2. It is these people in particular we’re most fearful for, with respect to the release of Bejeweled 3. All the progress they’ve made in recent months will be all but washed away come 7 December on PC, with the Mac and likely every other platform in the world following close behind.

The 500 million servings of Bejeweled across 17 different platforms is clearly not enough, and like any good dealer, PopCap keeps re-upping their supply.

Photo: J.VillaretePhoto / Flickr

In the world of gaming, Internet that’s fast and reliable enough to keep up with games is often hard to come by. Now, Demon Internet has met that need with a broadband package designed especially for gamers – but the move has raised many concerns about online equality.

Net neutrality

An issue that’s been in the spotlight recently is that of ‘net neutrality’ – or the lack of it. There’s a growing concern about the fact that those internet users who pay more for higher end Internet packages receive preferential treatment – leaving Internet use slower for everyone else. For those whose Internet experience is slowed down by preferential packages like the ones designed for gamers, the only solution at the moment could probably be summed up with the phrase ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’.

Up to speed and well-supported

The broadband service is promised to deliver speeds of up to 20mb upstream and 1mb downstream. Perks include the network prioritisation that’s causing all the fuss, as well as a static IP address and a router. Especially good news for those who don’t want their gaming interrupted under any circumstances is the fact that a UK support team will be ready to help out twenty-four hours a day.

Word from the top

Matt Cantwell, the head of Demon Internet, said that ‘We know how important a good broadband connection is to the gaming community, and we are excited to be launching this product which has been designed to meet the specific needs of gamers. At Demon we appreciate that a better connection allows better gaming, and are confident that gamers will see the benefits that this service offers them.’ They almost certainly will – which could turn out to be a pity for everyone else.

Photo: Activision

Famed video games soothsayer Michael Pachter believes that a Call of Duty subscription service is inevitable, if not imminent, and he believes that up to 5 million gamers will sign up for the service. Cue the Call of Duty MMO calls again.

Soft software sales a concern

NPD numbers for June showed software sales declining 15 per cent over sales during the same period last year. This marked more than three consecutive months in 2010 where less software was sold than in the prior year, prompting analysts and executives at gaming companies to rethink their sales strategies.

Call of Duty subscription a necessity

Michael Pachter, the famous Wedbush Morgan gaming analyst, puts these depressed sales figures down to multiplayer games, which lead to people buying fewer games because they keep playing the same one.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

He believes this reality should force Activision Blizzard to release Call of Duty with an add-on subscription service. In an advisor’s note, he says: ‘We estimate that a total of 12 million consumers are playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 for an average of 10 hours per week on the two platforms’ respective networks’, [Xbox Live and PSN] and that this ‘has sucked the available time away from what otherwise would be spent playing newly purchased games’. Pachter then added that they (Wedbush Morgan) think this is a bad thing, and that publishers must figure out a way to recapture revenue from these lost players.

Michael Pachter adds that, ‘We think that it is incumbent upon Activision, with the most popular multiplayer game [Call of Duty], to take the first step to address monetization of multiplayer (gaming)’. He has a point, considering the runaway success the company has with World of WarCraft.

While he readily admits he’s not sure how Activision would go about this, it is clear that the folks at Activision Blizzard are thinking about the problem, too. We’ve wondered if a Call of Duty MMO was on the cards previously, too, considering others rake in the money from Call of Duty online play.

We’ll see.

Photo: OnLive

Now that E3 2010 is in full swing, it’s emerged that cloud gaming company OnLive has no intentions of going it alone, partnering with computing giant Dell to provide highly customized servers for its service.

Dell to provide servers

OnLive announced that its actually been working with Dell for several years already at the server level. The streaming gaming company’s CEO, Steve Perlman, explained the need for partnering up with Dell as one bourne out of the startups eventual challenge of accessing the ‘resources needed to produce and quickly scale computer infrastructure’. He had pleasant words to add about Dell and the value they add, saying the company has  been ‘working closely’ with Onlive’s ‘engineers to design servers to our exact specifications and business needs’.

New publishing partners, too

In addition to announcing Dell – who are better known for their computers – would partner with OnLive from a hardware perspective, the streaming gaming company also used E3 2010 as an opportunity to announce new publishers who have signed content deals with the cloud gaming company. In addition to the previously announced relationships with Take Two, EA, Ubisoft, THQ and Warner Bros, publishing giants Capcom, Konami, Square Enix and Sega will supply content, too.
Outside of getting Activision on board, the streaming gaming company pretty much has the crem della crem of video games publishers on board for the great streaming experiment.

OnLive explained briefly

Photo: Dell

Though we’ve touched on what OnLive is at length elsewhere, it’s basically a service that lets gamers play games without the need for a console or PC in your home. Your whole game – input, output and display – data is delivered via your broadband internet connection. In effect, the service allows you to perform cloud gaming, much like web apps that replace your desktop allow one to do cloud computing.

Put up or shut up

It’s showtime for OnLive now, with the service launching over the weekend in the US. The UK’s launch is as yet unconfirmed but we do know that BT, who own a small stake in the company, will provide the platform OnLive will be released on in the UK. We’re still very skeptical about whether or not this streaming gaming experiment will work, though we do believe this is the inevitable future of gaming. We’re just not sure if that future – or our broadband infrastructure – is ready now. And we’ve grown quite fond of having a PS3, 360 or Wii (or all three for over achievers) be the centre of our home theatres.

E3 2010 continues throughout the week and we’ll cover all the major announcements and reveals.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

2K Games thought it wise to run a competition awarding $1 million to the first person who pitched a perfect game in MLB 2K10. What they didn’t bank on is it would happen less than three days after the title’s release.

Million dollars for gaming

23-year-old Wade McGillbery pitched the perfect game less than three days after the title was released. Though his wife had recommended he take a day off work and try for it so that he had the jump on others, he opted to do the responsible thing, playing after returning from the office. He rolled his camera, did the not-so-impossible-after-all and, as they say, the rest is history.

Rare accomplishment

Photo: 2K Games / 2K Sports

A perfect game requires the pitcher completely shutting the other team out. This means the other teams’ batters neither score nor reach a single base. We’re talking no hits, no walks, and no movement at all. It’s such a rare accomplishment that in the real-life competitive format of the game, a perfect game has only been accomplished 18 times, the first time being in 1880 and the most recent in 2009.

Great publicity

McGillbery said he thought it was great publicity for the game, and 2K confirmed that the competition had a visible impact on sales. Though a million dollars may seem like a lot for marketing and expenses, insofar as MLB 2K10 sold at least an additional 50, 000 copies as a direct result of the competition, the promotion has paid for itself. (This calculation is based on publisher keeping a third of the $60 retail price.)

McGillbery, who is a records keeper for a retirement plan, and his wife, plan to use the money to pay off the mortgage on their home and start a family. MLB 2K10 is available in stores now.

Those who love their laptops because of the games they can play on them as and when they want to, know what they want in their laptops. High performance, big screen, high end graphics card are just some of the factors that would define a good gaming laptop. And there are many laptops that can lay claim to being a desirable gaming laptop but only few which can be counted among the best.

HP Pavilion dv7-2070 (NL862EA#ABU) is one of the most impressive gaming laptops. It features Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor with a clock speed of 2,400 MHz. It has a RAM of 4 GB, hard disk storage of 500GB and uses ATI Mobility Radeon HD4530 graphics card. This 17 inch laptop is one of the best mobile gaming systems around. However, for those who would like a slightly larger screen size, then the Sony Vaio VGN-AW11M/H with its Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, RAM of 4 GB, hard drive of 320GB, 18.4 inch screen and NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics card comes along as an excellent option. And because it is Sony so it has durability and offers complete value for money too.

Another strong contender for the best gaming laptop is MSI Megabook GT725-087UK which uses Intel Core 2 Duo processor and has a storage capacity of 500GB. A 17 inch screen and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850 make sure that you can have remarkable experience while playing your favourite games on the laptop.

In addition to these three there are some other gaming laptops that make strong claims to be counted as the best gaming laptops of 2009 like Dell Studio 1737, Advent 6552, Apple MacBook Pro (MB604B/A) and a few others. The best thing is you can pick any of these and be sure that you won’t be disappointed.

Equipped with Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz processor, Samsung R510-FAAG is an advanced laptop. Fully loaded with multimedia capabilities, the Samsung laptop has 4GB RAM and 320 GB Hard Disk Drive that can store a huge amount of data, files, photos and other media. It is a good combination of advanced technology and multimedia features and designed to please the most demanding user. It comes with a 15.4″ TFT display that offers sharp and crisp images to the user and makes viewing photos and videos a visual delight. Its operating system is Windows Vista Home Premium and it also has an integrated 1.3 mega pixel webcam. A 3-in-1 card reader and a wireless LAN aerial are its other useful features.

Intel GMA X4500 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0 is the graphics controller in the machine. It also has built-in stereo speakers and the chipset is Mobile Intel GM45 Express. Weighing 2.68kg, it is light and portable and can be easily carried around from one meeting to another. Value for money and reasonably-priced, this machine comes with a year’s warranty. A reliable and flexible machine, the Samsung R510-FAAG (NP-R510-FAAGUK) is efficient and extremely user-friendly. The multi-format DVD-RW disc rewriter drive can handle recordable DVD and CD formats, including double-layer discs. Sharp display and high performing, the machine offers all kinds of ports that enhance its connectivity. Ideal for the most budget-conscious user, this laptop offers great value for money. All in all, it is a practical laptop ideal for everyday computing tasks and a good investment.