HeroClix Online isn’t just for Marvel fans anymore, at least it won’t be come December 7 when WizKids introduces the first two DC Comics-themed sets to the online game and releases the first physical product with codes for in-game heroes included. More »
Sega wants in on the Street Fighter IV-led fighting game resurgence. Their entrant? A new version of 2006′s Virtua Fighter 5, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, scheduled for a downloadable release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next year. More »
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency have targeted “screen golf” rooms that mix driving range golf with a virtual video-game-type screens. Some of these South Korean golf rooms sell alcohol and employ women entertainers in mini-skirts. More »
Things are heating up in the WiiWare section of your local Nintendo Wii, which today gets it’s first real taste of online multiplayer action with Hudson’s Bomberman Blast (1,000 Wii points). The game features classic Bomberman gameplay for up to 8 players online at a time online, and even lets you import your Mii avatars so you can create tiny, big-headed versions of people you don’t particularly like and watch them explode, and if that isn’t entertainment then I don’t know what is.
Along with Bomberman goodness, WiiWare is also getting Art Style: ORBIENT, which we know absolutely nothing about other than the description that came with the press release. Something about guiding a star through the universe and collecting other stars to grow bigger. Seriously, not a clue. What I do know is Super Turrican 2 for the Super Nintendo (800 points) on the Virtual Console, a must for anyone trying to collect the whole Turrican saga.
Pretty sure Hudson is going to win this round.
The Cutter IT Journal is offering their latest issue — on the subject of the challenges of virtual worlds — for free (registration required); the issue includes articles on ‘real world’ applications of virtual worlds and the pitfalls and promises of such a presence. I’ve only had time to read the introduction and breeze quickly through the rest of the issue, but if you’re interested in the rise (?) of virtual worlds, it looks to have some interesting fodder:
The rights of ‘avatars’ — more to the point, the people who control them and their virtual assets — is an interesting and murky part of legal issues, EULAs, and player-company relations. Court cases have been tried over ‘illegal’ seizing of assets, and with the amount of time (and money) that people pour into their online characters and assets, we can expect to see more and more real-world legal problems related to virtual issues. But are companies on the ball?:
