OnLive on webcomics

Ctrl+Alt+Del joins Penny Arcade in mocking OnLive, seems like most of the larger webcomics aren't taking it very seriously.

Click for larger image

Yet ANOTHER new contender enters the ring..

There's no doubt that todays gamers are in a sort of "arms race" with the video game industry. Developers publish new games each day that require more and more system resources to run and new consoles need to be purchased to play the latest titles.

However a new startup company is hoping to change this. OnLive seeks to put all the hardware and processing power necessary for next gen games not in your living room but rather on their servers and machines which will then deliver the content to you through a broadband connection, basically applying the concept of cloud computing to gaming.

The gaming world is buzzing with people either bashing or praising OnLive's novel idea but I'll wait til the beta has been underway for a while before I form a concrete opinion.

A detailed look at Everquest II users

Gamespy released an interesting graphic today, a by the numbers break down of Everquest II players. Some of it is somewhat predictable, 80% are male and a disproportionate number have been diagnosed with depression(predictable only when you subscribe to the negative stereotype of video gamers perpetuated by society).

However more interesting is the unexpected information.

First contrary to what South Park would have you believe Everquest's gamers are on average, less obese than the average American.

Secondly more than 50% of Everquest users are over the age of 30 rather than the teenagers that society so often thinks of as gamers. A possible reason for this may be the fact that Everquest users must pay a monthly fee to play, making it slightly easier to access for those with a income.

And finally, on average people that have attended college are more likely to play Everquest than those without. Something worth noting but not totally unexpected.

Check out the higher resolution image at Gamespy's site if not for the information than just to look at the aesthetically pleasing charts.

A new competitor enters the ring...

A new video game startup company is developing a low cost console targeted at developing countries like Brazil, Russia, China, and India. Named "Zeebo" the console will run older games such as Resident Evil 4, Quake, and Sonic Adventure, all video game classics which have sold millions of copies in the US alone. The company has an innovative distribution model that they hope will both drive sales and reduce privacy. Rather than having gamers go out and buy physical copies of the game or set up broadband connections to download the latest games a-la Steam or Xbox Live Arcade, Zeebo wants to use the existing cell phone networks in place to sell games.

On paper the idea seems to be sound but I have my reservations...

For one, the makers of Zeebo hope to sell it at about $199 to make it relatively cheap and affordable. Yet $199 is still extremely steep for many inhabitants in the developing world not to mention that due to recent price cuts the Xbox 360 is now only $150 in most locations.

Secondly Zeebo is trying to sell classic games at 10 dollars a pop, yet the games vary wildly. For very old games such as Quake and Sonic Adventure this seems doable, yet I doubt companies like Capcom would want to sell their recent hits like Resident Evil 4 for the same amount.

And finally most games are written specifically for the consoles they will be released on. The Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo all have different coding systems requiring each game to have a team of developers porting it for secondary systems. The possibility of developers hiring employees to port their games to the Zeebo is slim.

Yet who knows, the Zeebo can be the next big thing, revolutionizing the way video games are marketed in developing countries. For now all we can do is wait and see if the makers of Zeebo can solve their significant and many obstacles.

Late April Fools

Bethesda decided to play with its fans a bit today. They've announced that all their Xbox 360 downloadable content would be half off...except for the horse armor.

Haha, horse armor.