money
Culture
Study: Playing Games Hurts Income, By The Minute
7:20AM Stephen Totilo | Studies about video games say the darnedest things. Either it is plainly obvious that being a gamer hurts your income — because you have to spend money on these games! — or there is a mathematical revelation here. More »
News
So, How Much Do Game Developers Make?
3:30PM Luke Plunkett | Game Developer magazine have released the results of their patented “Game Developer Salary Survey”, which gives us an insight into just how much the average games developer gets paid. More »
News
Raw Deal Capcom Pre-Paid Credit Card Policy Changed
2:00PM Brian Ashcraft | When Capcom announced its pre-paid Visa debit card, folks got excited. Then they saw that the card carried exorbitant fees and got angry. CheapAssGamer’s goomba478 did what most would. He started complaining. More » Advertisement
Manager Organises Your Finances, Leaves More Time And Cash
If you want to buy the latest games, you’ll need money — and that means you’ll need to get your finances organised. Yeah, we know, dullsville, so you might as well make the process as automated and painless as possible. ANZ Money Manager can automatically (and securely) import information from pretty much any Australian bank account, categorise it, and help you track where your money is going and set long-term financial goals. Unlike your accountant, it won’t sneer when it discovers that most of your disposable income is going on Xbox Live. It’s free to use and requires nothing more than a browser, so if your gaming desires are being held back by fiscal mismanagement, this is the place to start. ANZ Money Manager More »
News
Report: Game Industry Spent $823M Shilling Games In ‘08
9:40AM Michael McWhertor | The video game industry racked up impressive sales in 2008, pulling in more than $21 billion in sales in the United States alone. That makes for a similarly impressive marketing tab. More »
Media
Piggy Banks You Can Play
2:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Gaming…banks? Saving money is a game, so hey, why not. There’s an article I wrote in the latest issue of Wired about Japanese piggy banks that incorporate gaming elements. The Jinsei Bank (”Life” Bank), Ikemen Bank (”Cool Guy” Bank) and BANKQUEST. The neat thing about doing the piece is that I actually “played” through all the banks. Had to get a huge stack of bills changed — “Jinsei Bank” can hold about a thousand bucks! Be sure to click through the gallery to get the blow-by-blow gameplay account. This Little Piggy Bank Became a Videogame [Wired] More »
News
Economic Crisis Could Kill Blu-Ray
6:20AM Stuart Houghton | If there is one sector that is sure to ride out the economic downturn in some comfort it has to be business punditry. Today’s instalment in Things That Will Be Either Better Or Worse In The Next Financial Cycle comes from the HD3 Conference in LA, where a panel of entertainment execs discussed how the Blu-Ray format might suffer as the credit crunch begins to bite. More »
University Charging Students To Use Game Room
11:00AM Kotaku US Edition | Students at the University of Northern Kentucky will have to pony up if want to enjoy their leisure time playing video games at the Student Union. The Northerner reports students will have to pay $4 an hour to use any of the game systems, one controller and one game. But surprise! The students hate it, as they should. What’s worse is they’ll still be charged the full $4 even if they bring their own games and controllers or stay for only half the time. I never used the game room at my school, but it was still free. We just couldn’t steal anything. I realise things cost money, and it appears this particular game room was quite expensive, but to nickel and dime already poor college students who will be paying off loans for years after they graduate isn’t the smartest of ideas. Hell, just secretly raise tuition or offer some kind of membership program. Just don’t do hourly charges. Any Kotakuites out there have to pay to use their school’s game room, too? Or is this an isolated case? Game room gets complaints [Image] More »
Warhammer Online Does Not Heart Gold Farmers
6:30PM Luke Plunkett | Mark Jacobs, co-founder of Mythic Entertainment, does not like gold farmers. He will not tolerate them in his game, Warhammer Online. Posting on his blog, Jacobs writes: I hate gold sellers/spammers. No, that’s not strong enough, let me try again. I HATE GOLD SELLERS WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING. Ah, that’s better. Now, why do I hate them you may ask? I hate them for a number of reasons, most of which have been detailed in various interviews I’ve done over the years. And now that they have taken their obnoxiousness to new levels with gold service spamming, I HATE GOLD SPAMMERS EVEN MORE NOW THAN EVER BEFORE. Remember: Mark Jacobs does not like gold farmers. So what are he and his crew doing about them? More »
