1、EA Sports总裁Peter Moore表示数年内视频游戏公司的传统运营和销售模式将土崩瓦解，随之兴起的是新型在线销售模式。游戏邦认为，这种情形类似于Napster和Netflix的崛起给音乐和电影销售行业带来的影响。游戏公司需要调整运营策略以适应这种改变，比如让人们免费玩游戏而只花少量金钱来购买某些特别权益和虚拟商品。当然也可以选择其他运营模式，包括手机下载、通过广告盈利或收取订阅费用等。

他认为免费模式对游戏业的发展有益，因为这使得游戏在某些无法支付高额费用的玩家中普及，玩家基数大大增加。游戏销售的最终形态将是传统销售退出市场，玩家为时刻在线更新的游戏内容支付订阅费用。

Peter Moore

2、近日，教育网游《Cyberonia》在新加坡小学中开始运营。游戏邦获悉，到今年年底，所有新加坡小学5年级以上学生都将接触到这款游戏。儿童在这款网游中建造房屋和照顾虚拟城镇市民过程中会涉及到游戏沉迷、病毒防护和网络礼仪等内容，而这正是开发游戏的初衷——在小学生中普及网络健康知识。

游戏想法源于全国预防犯罪委员会(NCPC)2008年开展的调查结果，新加坡青少年虽然对互联网了解颇深，但对网络行为的安全意识和责任感仍较为薄弱。许多人不知道如何限制他人访问个人信息，或如何同陌生人交流。NCPC成员Lum Hon Fye表示，青少年经常会使用到互联网，因而教导网络安全显得格外重要。

3、对今日的MMO游戏而言，与Facebook结合已不是什么新鲜事。但瑞典网游《Mortal Online》采用了全新的方式，玩家可以根据该社交网络中朋友的数量来削减自己的订阅费用。当然有些许限制条件，这些朋友本身不是这款游戏的玩家。玩家可获得最多1.25欧元的折扣，但只要有5个没有玩的朋友，就可以有0.25欧元的降价，确实很合算。玩家登陆账户12天后便可以享受到优惠，这简直就是新玩家的福音。同时，游戏会向朋友展示玩家所取得的成就。游戏邦觉得，这种借助社交网络推广游戏的新方式值得众开发商借鉴。

DC Universe Online

4、索尼发言人Satoshi Fukuoka在接受《华尔街日报》采访时表示，日本地震并未影响到新掌机NGP的发布计划，玩家大可放心。但是对那些关心是否能在该掌机上玩到控制器品质高清游戏的玩家而言，公司近期对该设备潜力所发表的看法似乎更有价值。MMO已成为游戏界大金矿，《DC Universe Online》让索尼成功将MMO引进控制器，因而NGP势必也有发展的机会。

索尼在线娱乐总裁John Smedley表示，MMO游戏市场正在发生改变，NGP同样存在发展机遇。而且，《指环王Online》和《愤怒的小鸟》的成功表明免费或低价游戏也存在闪光点。游戏邦认为，掌机上的高质量MMO游戏也有可能渐渐流行起来。

5、在视频游戏领域，《Minecraft》获得巨大的成功。这款网页游戏大部分由独立游戏开发者Markus Persson独自制作，注册用户超过6百万。去年本作格外流行，甚至导致Paypal因怀疑Persson涉嫌欺诈而冻结其账户。硬核玩家希望《Minecraft》能尽快发布，Persson表示游戏将与2011年11月11日推出测试版本。据Persson所述，游戏中还将加入诸如降雪和暴风雨等区域性天气效果。这是否会影响玩家的建筑进程或游戏中的怪物目前还无从知晓，但这些特征可能使《Minecraft》更有内涵且令人为之着迷。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

1. Peter Moore runs EA Sports, the huge sports game business of Electronic Arts that sells games in the tens of millions. But Moore said in a speech yesterday that EA is expanding as fast as possible into the new world of digital online games.

As gamers expand their numbers and move to all kinds of platforms, disruption is coming to the traditional console game makers, who must either adapt to the new world of social and mobile games or die.

At EA, executives refer to the changes as Gaming 3.0, and Moore says the disruptions coming for traditional business models in the next few years will be the biggest that the video game industry has ever seen. They resemble the changes that the music industry faced with the rise of Napster and are reflected in the rapid rise of digital movie distribution companies such as Netflix.

Game companies have to respond to this change with new business models, such as free-to-play, where gamers can play for free and then pay real money in small amounts for extra privileges or virtual goods. Downloadable content for console games is turning those games from products into online services that can be more frequently updated. Other options for business models include downloadable mobile, ad-based, or subscription fees. With all of those options, digital game businesses now add up to 45 percent of the total industry revenue in 2010, compared to 31 percent in 2008, Moore said.

“The consumer starts a behavioral change and their demands change,” he said. “We are seeing that now with Netflix. Blockbuster Video is close to being put out of its misery. In a resistance to change, they wanted to hang on to the concept of building massively expensive retail locations.”

What will happen to the $60 game as free-to-play business models hit the industry? The change will be good, he said, because it will lead to an expansion in the number of gamers and a flowering of new types of content. It also helps games take off in countries where consumers can’t afford $60 games.

The ultimate nirvana will be when the $60 price melts away and consumers start paying a continuous subscription fee for games that are regularly updated online. (Source: Games Beat)

2. A new computer game to educate children about cyber wellness was launched on Friday at Holy Innocents’ Primary School.

Headed by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), the game “Cyberonia” is the first of its kind in Singapore.

The online game allows children to build their own houses, factories and recreational centres, while taking care of their citizens. While playing, children will be quizzed on topics such as gaming addiction, virus protection and proper online etiquette.

The concept of the game came about from a survey conducted by the NCPC in 2008. The survey of over 1,500 students aged 12 to 15 years old found that while youth in Singapore were tech savvy, their awareness of safe and responsible online practices was very low.

Some of the findings included not knowing how to restrict access to their personal information and accepting strangers as friends.

The game is targeted at Primary 5 students because the NCPC feels this is an age where most children start using the Internet often.

NCPC council member Lum Hon Fye said: “The internet is here to stay. Children, whether they like it or not, will have to use the Internet for research, for their school projects, for many things.

“Since this is so important to them, we need to teach children how to navigate the Internet safely. And we need to do so before they get too deep into it”.

Cyberonia will be rolled out in all primary schools in Singapore by the end of the year. It will be made available to each school for a period of two weeks. (Source: Channel News Asia)

3. Facebook integration isn’t exactly a new thing for MMOs these days, but it’s not often that you can use it to outright pay less money for a subscription. But that’s what Mortal Online is experimenting with, offering players of the game a discount based upon their friend counts. Of course, there’s a slight catch — said friends can’t themselves be players. The integrated application will also announce your major achievements to your friends, making it a clear method for players to show off the game they’re enjoying and give it a bit of advertising to boot.

The discounts, naturally, are a nice incentive. A maximum of 1.25 EUR will be deducted from the subscription price if you have 750 non-playing friends, but even five non-playing friends will net you a 0.25 EUR reduction. The discount begins to apply 12 days after you link your account, meaning that new players to the game can enjoy the discount right from the start. It’s money off and a chance to show off what you’ve accomplished, and that should be enough to win over almost any Mortal Online player with a Facebook account. (Source: Massively)

4. Apparently Tretton had been misinformed about the Japanese disaster’s effect on production, as Sony has now refuted those claims, explaining that the NGP’s production hasn’t been impacted at all. Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Sony spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka clarified that the company currently sees “no impact from the quake on our launch plan.”

So those worried about having to wait a few more months to play Uncharted on a handheld device can now relax, since it appears that Tretton’s concerns were unfounded. But for those of you who prefer to play your HD titles on an HDTV and fail to see the practicality of a console-quality handheld, recent comments made by Sony concerning the device’s potential could be of interest.

Anyone who has been paying attention to the games industry knows that MMOs are a hot commodity at the moment, and a successful one is a literal goldmine. With Sony having already accomplished the seemingly-impossible task of bringing an MMO to consoles with DC Universe Online, the company may have a brand new chance to do the same with the NGP.

John Smedley of Sony Online Entertainment – the minds behind the game – recently spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about the changing marketplace for MMOs, and the new access made possible with the NGP.

Facts are facts, and there’s no denying that the free-to-play business model works. Lord of the Rings Online saw their profits triple by offering the game for free, and Angry Birds is proof that low-price games don’t have to be lacking in polish. So while Smedley’s statements may just be speculation, there’s no question that a pocket-console capable of offering high-quality MMO gameplay on the move could explode in popularity. (Source: Game Rant)

5. Minecraft’s been one of the biggest success stories ever in the video game medium. The sprawling browser-based game’s mostly the work of one man, indie developer Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, with more than 6 million people registered. It’s become wildly popular over the last year, so much so that Paypal froze Persson’s account on suspicions that all the money coming in was part of a scam.

The title give players virtual plots of land and blocks where they can build anything they can imagine. Users have built functioning computers, replicas of the Starship Enterprise and, inevitably, homages to other games like Halo. Still, hardcore fans have complained that they want a full release of Minecraft. They’re finally going to get it. Persson just announced that the game will be out of beta come November 11, 2011.

As part of Minecraft’s continuing evolution, Persson says the game will be adding new localized weather effects like snow and thunderstorms. There’s no word on how they’ll affect the building process or the game’s monsters, but chances are these features will only make Minecraft more unpredictable and addictive. (Source: Techland)