All the rules dictate that I should start this post with something like “Love is in the air at Outspark!”, but to be honest I have no idea if love is involved. To me, the idea of getting married in a game is a man-sized portion of daytime talkshow weird with a side order of emotional issues.
Regardless, Korean import specialists Outspark have decided to ‘celebrate’ (i.e. promote) the fact that players of the MMO Fiesta can now get hitched in-game by giving away that all-purpose wedding gift, the toaster.
For the next few weeks, all couples who choose to celebrate their love in Fiesta will be eligible for a draw that could see them taking home a shiny, real-life bread charring unit.
Couples who tie the knot in Fiesta also get a ‘Power of love’ spell, a wedding pet, the ability to summon their spouse from anywhere in the game and the satisfaction of knowing that they have left normal life far behind and are now sailing uncharted waters of human experience.
Toasters are good! [Fiesta.Outspark.com]
Worlds in Motion has an interesting Q&A up with Susan Choe and Nick Foster of Outspark, a company that has imported games like Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice for US audiences. Outspark has managed to secure $US 11 million in funding from various sources to “help PC-based online games find the same market in North America as they currently enjoy in Asia,” and Choe and Foster talk about everything from importing Korean games wholesale, how they put together the project in the first place, and the carpal tunnel inducing process of picking what games to bring over:
… We all played games, to a point where I needed acupuncture for my wrist! And we played games, from MMORPGs, to first-person shooters, to racing games ….
But, in a sense, we were really looking for games that everybody can play, even the thirty-five year old women, without a lot of complications. But there are certain specific criteria we also look for in the game developers: 1. They believe in the North American, Western market. 2. They have the capacity to work with us, because — as you guys know — these games, once they’re launched, that’s the beginning of your work, not the end, unlike the console games.
It’s an interesting look at one company who is trying to bring over some fresh blood while still appealing to a wide audience (and has the funding to back up their effort) – well worth a read through if you have the time.
Q&A – Outspark Gets $11 M Funding, Talks ‘Virtual Playground’ [Worlds In Motion]
