STEVANA CASE JOINS fatfoogoo EXECUTIVE TEAM

Casual Games Veteran Will Lead fatfoogoo Business Development and Sales in North America

SAN FRANCISCO – September 30, 2008 – fatfoogoo, the leading provider of in-game commerce ecosystems, today announced it has appointed Stevana Case to spearhead its North American business as Vice President of Business Development and Sales.

Case joins fatfoogoo at a time the casual gaming industry is expected to grow to an estimated $1.15 billion industry by 2011, according to DFC Intelligence.

“Stevana is widely respected in the videogame industry with impressive experience as a professional gamer, designer, author and more,” said Martin Herdina, co-founder and CEO, fatfoogoo.  “Her knowledge of the industry and deep passion for gaming is a winning combination for fatfoogoo as we expand our business in North America.”

Case is a widely recognized figure in the videogame industry.  She is celebrated for being one of the first professional female gamers and the first woman in the Cyberathlete Professional League.  Notably, Case has gained recognition for defeating John Romero in Quake death match, single handedly beating him the first time they played.

Most recently, Case has made her mark as a tough-minded and experienced business development professional, working on a wide range of platforms including PC, mobile, IM and consoles.  She has combined her professional gaming experience with a personal passion for the industry serving as Director of Business Development and Sales at Tira Wireless.

Prior to business development, Case worked at several gaming companies serving in wide ranging roles from videogame level designer and product manager within the social games and networking space.  Case was also the Co-founder and CEO of Monkeystone Games. Post Monkeystone Games, Case headed up the product development team for Warner Bros. Online, Mobile Group.

“I am excited to join fatfoogoo; the team’s experience with microtransactions and modular platforms will serve both developers and publishers nicely,” said Case.  “As a gamer, I love buying items and the complexity that microtransactions bring to the game experience.  As a professional, I find fatfoogoo’s technology the most comprehensive offering on the market.”

Recently, fatfoogoo announced it has made its monetization software system available to developers in Project Darkstar, an open source development environment created by Sun Microsystems Laboratories. With fatfoogoo software publishers and developers can more easily tap into unchartered revenue streams of microtransactions.

About fatfoogoo
fatfoogoo is the leading in-game commerce ecosystem for monetizing online games and virtual worlds. Fatfoogoo’s solutions allow both publisher-to-player and player-to-player financial interaction, as well as traditional user and subscription management. Publishers can choose white label turnkey solutions or individually configured modules. Founded in 2006 by Daniel Petri and Martin Herdina, fatfoogoo is headquartered in Austria and also has offices in the US and the UK. For more information, please visit www.fatfoogoo.com.

Contact
Heather Sorensen
Plugged In PR for fatfoogoo
+1-503-841-0625
heather@pluggedinpr.com

Acclaim gives the green light to free-to-play Chronicles of Spellborn

Go grab a calendar and put a big bright red circle around November 27th.  From here on out November 27th will be officially know as the North American Chronicles of Spellborn release date.

The Chronicles of Spellborn is an impressive free-to-play MMORPG in which players enter a world containing the remnants of a destroyed world.  Players delve into a fantasy world where they must collect powerful shard fragments before the forces of evil do.  Powered by the Unreal engine 2.5, Chronicles of Spellborn promises a highly developed playing environment with stunning graphics, spectacular effects, and numerous fine details.  One of Spellborn’s unique features is a rotating Skill Deck that allows players to refine and enhance their skills in real time.  In addition to a well developed Player vs. Player system, Chronicles of Spellborn also features a wide variety of nasty little creatures just waiting to be crushed, and intelligent hostile factions that can react to players abilities and known combat techniques, thereby providing a ‘smart’ battle scenario.

Naturally, coming out of the Acclaim stables in North America, Chronicles of Spellborn will be a free-to-play adventure BUT: the game will only feature a starting area that is 100% free.  The best way to think of it is as an open trial in a limited area.  If gamers like what they see, and want to continue further with their adventure, they can purchase a premium service that will unlock additional game content.  This premium service is slated to offer a wide variety of payment options.

“I’ve been playing and testing the game, and I’m having a fantastic time. The only thing that’s missing is our gamers! I can’t wait until November 27th to greet them all in the amazing world of Spellborn,” says David Perry, the US Director for Spellborn.

Acclaim is set to release details regarding the opening of Spellborn’s closed beta test in the upcoming weeks.  This closed beta is scheduled to feature several upgrades an enhancements in the class system, fame system, combat, and the quest structure.  If you’re not a resident of North America, no worries, as Acclaim is also making The Chronicles of Spellborn available in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South America.

Players can sign up for the beta at http://spellborn.acclaim.com/

Having seen and played TCoS personally at the games convention in Leipzig, I’m chomping at the bit to get my hands on this one again.  Sure, there are overtones of another MMORPG involving fantasy and classes that you might already be familiar with, but The Chronicles of Spellborn truly does have some unique features that help it to stand out from the crowd.  Think of Spellborn as a blender.  Take a dash of this MMO, a slice of that fantasy RPG, two scoops of this shooter, a pinch and a half of the Unreal Engine and blend to perfection.  The Chronicles of Spellborn features some of the best parts of a wide variety of popular MMOs, blends them all together, adds it’s own touch of originality and packs it all into an exciting new MMORPG.

Premium sports broadcaster Setanta joins New Street Media in PES 2009

New Street Media, a pioneer in in-game advertising has recently signed a deal with Setanta to deliver ads in Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.

With over 14 years of digital strategy experience, New Street Media delivers game based marketing strategies across every digital platforms including OC, Console, mobile and iTV.  Sentanta Sports is a leading sports broadcaster with nine channels in the UK, Ireland, North America and Australia.  Their digital content is available to more the 50 million homes worldwide.

The PES 2009 title, which is set for an October 17th release date, is widely regarded as the premier online soccer game, and will feature Setanta ads throughout the game via static perimeter board advertising.  The Setanta/New Street Media deal is not limited strictly to actual in-game advertising, but extends to various PES events slated to take place throughout the year, where Setanta advertising will also receive high profile treatment.  PES competitions and PESfan.com and PESRanksings.com will also feature Sentanta ads.

Jon Murphy, PES Team Leader for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH, commented,“We are delighted to be working with such a prominent brand in the football world and hope this will be the start of a longer partnership”

“This is a truly symbiotic relationship, where the partnership delivers extra value to both parties’ audiences. Successful in-game advertising campaigns need to consider the gamer and add value to the gameplay experience and give something back to the gamer!” said New Street Media’s Managing Director, Maryam Bazargan

Setanta’s Online Marketing and Acquisition Manager, Ben Carter said:“Setanta is always looking for new ways of reaching our core target audience of sports fans and so this was an obvious partnership for us, given Pro Evolution Soccer’s strength and position in the football games market.”

While there’s been some waves in the in-game advertising sphere over the past few weeks, most notably Google, Konami and New Street Media seem to be headed in the right direction with this one.  Gamers are certainly a fickle bunch, and often a bit put off by in-game ads, but if the advertising context mirrors the game content and ads an even more ‘real world’ feel to the game play, who could oppose it?

Microtransactions arrive in Capcom’s Mega Man 9

With the release of the digital download only Mega Man 9, there’s another great feature awaiting players: customized upgrades via microtransactions.

Released late last week, Capcom’s Mega Man 9 will offer players the ability to update the game via puchaseable features.  While the content is not yet available for download, the online manual lists a number of optional features and the pricelist for each.

Here’s what Mega Man 9’s got on tap thus far:

• Endless Attack: (300 Wii Points) Test your skills on a stage without end. Try to break the record for getting the farthest. Releases October 6.
• Hero Mode: (100 Wii Points) Play the game with a more difficult level of enemy distribution. Releases October 20.
• Superhero Mode: (100 Wii Points) Play the game with a super difficult level of enemy distribution. Releases October 20.
• Proto Man Mode: (200 Wii Points) Play the game as Proto Man. You can use the shield while jumping. There is no story for Proto Man. Releases October 6.
• Special Stage: (100 Wii Points) Gives you another Time Attack stage to try, including a new Boss at the end. Results will be displayed in the rankings. Releases October 20.

After giving Mega Man 9 a go, let’s hope that there will be additional items for sale in the game, as this is proving to be the most challenging Mega Man to date.  Not quite enough to make me want to bag it quite yet, but getting very close.  There’s a fine line between challenging and downright impossible.  As with any new game, there’s always a lot of trial and error involved in boss fights (and some NPC’s as well), but Mega Man 9 presents players with a seemingly impossible trio of robot elephants that lob multicolored balls at you.  After doing a bit of digging around, it seems that I’m not the only one with elephant troubles: Patrick Kiepek over at MTV is having the same difficulty.

From what I’ve played thus far, it’s been quite a challenge, and I’m not quite ready to shelve Mega Man 9 quite yet, but as previously mentioned, hopefully Capcom/Wii intend on either a content upgrade (I’m not asking for a cakewalk…just a tab bit easier guys) or some juicy (temporary) microtransaciton goodness that’s going to help me blast said elephants (and hopefully Concrete Man as well) into next week.

“Mega Man 9” arrived on WiiWare and PSN last week and goes live on Xbox Live Arcade this coming Wednesday.  Who knows…maybe Microsoft users will have an easier time with it?

Combat Arms goes live with microtransactions October 1st

Nexon’s first person shooter, Combat Arms will open the doors for in game customizations starting this October 1st.

A highly customizable, free-to-play online FPS, Combat Arms launches players into a war zone filled with enemy soldiers of fortune on the hunt for the good guys – you.  Nexon has been pushing the traditional boundaries of  the FPS genre, by way of a highly customizable interface and in game appearance/equipment.  This deadly arsenal includes weapons modifications ranging from scopes and silencers to extended magazines and other optional equipment.

Signaling the completion of a successful beta phase, Combat Arms’ ingame market place, appropriately entitled the Black Market will offer players even more customizations.  Starting October 1st, players will have the option of utilizing make and female mercenary characters as well as equipable items such as hats, masks, and backpacks.  These mercenary characters can be hired for 30 days and come with 50,000 gear points packed in their gWallet.  Basically, the update will serve to offer players even more options to distinguish themselves on the battlefield.  With an obvious clan system aspect to a FPS, these customizations will certainly help clan players readily identify other team members in the fog of war.

Nexon North America’s Min Kim commented, “Combat Arms had a great beta run, with players of all levels loving the fast-action FPS game play and in-game community features for ranking and challenging other players. With this launch, gamers now have access to additional play options that help the player stand out without compromising the fairness of play.”

Microtransactions are not the only feature going live October 1st.  The game will now feature a revamped melee system, and include some new weapons including the ninjato and a machete.  If players are unhappy with their current statistical build, that can also used Nexon Cash to relearn their talent tree.

CDC Games brings “green online game” Digimon to Chinese market

Demonstrating their commitment to “green online games”, CDC Games has recently announced that they have acquired distribution rights from SK Telecom to operate the successful Digimon RPG in the world’s largest market for online games.

“Green online games” in China refers to games with content that is considered to be healthy, non-violent, non-pornographic, and non-addictive.  The program is lead by the PAC Game Committee in an effort to combat the growing problem of internet addiction in China.  Li Jianguo, vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress states, “Internet-addicted teenagers account for about 10 percent of China’s web users under the age of 18.”

Striving to find the right balance in free-to-play games and meeting the “green online games” theory, CDC Games launched Digimon RPG yesterday.  The game is an online role-playing game based on the hugely successful Japanese television animated series.  Digimon has been aired in China since 2001, and Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02 can be seen on six channels throughout the Chinese market, including Shanghai, having a market reach of over 100 million viewers in 20 major cities.

“We are very excited to launch Digimon RPG, a major new “green” online game for gamers in China,” said, John Huen, chief operating officer of CDC Games. “We expect the TV series airing in China will help to further heighten awareness for Digimon RPG and help position this healthy and non-violent online game for growth in the world’s largest online market.”

Initially launched four years ago in Korea by it’s creator DIGITALIC, Digimon is a fully tested and ready to go free-to-play title for the Chinese market.

“We are very excited about the launch of Digimon RPG in the world’s largest online games market,” said Yongbo Cho, Convergence Game Business team leader, SK Telecom. “With CDC Games’ impressive games infrastructure in that country and its successful track record in the free-to-play online games market there, we believe Digimon RPG will be very successful in China.”

Players collect and train virtual monsters called Digimon and battle against other players.  Players initially select Tamers and a starter Digimon and battle other Digimon until level 11.  At this point they may begin capturing even more wild and exotic Digimon to fight with.  In order to enhance their chances of catching additional Digimon, players can purchase nets and hunting equipment from the online store.  As with most popular free-to-plays, players may also access the item shop to purchase custom clothing for their avatar.  CDC has also stated that players will be able to trade with each other, but no word back from them is this will be a straight trade, or a player-to-player marketplace.

If a ‘fighting’ game and the “green online games” theory of non-violence has you scratching your head a bit, you’re not alone.  CDC Games defends their position with the statement,

“Since the battles between Digimon are generally non-violent (fallen Digimon will have small birds flying around their heads), this online game is suitable for young gamers. The game also teaches a positive message to gamers because the children (i.e. Tamers) are helping the Digimon to defend the digital world, as well as the real world from evil forces. Many of today’s games involve more ambiguous enemies so fighting the evil forces is very straightforward and a more worthwhile goal for young gamers.”

If you build it they will come

New European gaming portal, Key To Play believes that an active conversation with customers and meeting their needs, rather than turning a profit is the key to success.

Key to Play creative director Toni Garcia recently spoke with Rob Purchese of gamesindustry.biz regarding this simple, yet effective strategy.  Garcia believes that high quality portals are the future of online gaming, and that Key to Play can deliver high quality games to set themselves apart from other portals.

“We are gamers, all of us. The point is: we don’t want to make money. We want to make a big, quality portal. Money’s not our priority at the moment,” Garcia explained. “We want to make things that people, if they like our service, will pay for - because we need to live! At the end of the day this is a business, but it’s not our priority. That’s the difference.”

“Maybe other portals are gamers but they don’t care as much for their gamers because they only want them to pay. That’s why we decided to go ahead with Key To Play, because in the future people will only play portals offering good service,” he added.

First up on Key to Play’s offerings list will be Pristontale 2, the successor to the South Korean 2003 Best Game of the Year, Prisontale.  With 4 years of development work, support provided by Epic Games and powered by the Unreal Engine, Prisontale 2; not a shabby choice.  If high quality free-to-play’s are really going to set Key to Play apart from its competitors, Prisontale 2 is a rock solid choice.

Key to Play is planning on monetization through microtransactions via in game items and equipment.  Garcia sees free-to-play/microtransactions as a much more valid model than yesterday’s subscription basis as it gives players the freedom to test run a product and decide for themselves if they want to drops a few coins here and there to upgrade their equipment.  Hopefully, Key to Play will also follow the growing trend of providing only temporary benefits and/or cosmetic upgrades and not providing an unfair game balance.
While not letting the cat out of the bag, Key to Play promises another MMO from Japan as it’s second offering.  Garcia stresses that online worlds are/will not be the sole focus for Key to Play, as the next title COULD be a first person shooter, or maybe even a casual title.

“The main thing is to look for good games, it doesn’t matter where they come from,” he said. “If you do things well then at the end of the day the money will come.”

Here’s to hoping that Key to Play’s wide eyed enthusiasm (and hopefully well stocked bank account) will carry over to meet players high expectations.

THQ and Korean firm Vertigo to tackle Asian online PC market

Keep your eyes pealed alert:  THQ bringing the WWE to Korea and additional Asian Markets.

THQ.  Man, no moss growing on these guys.  In addition to the Dragonica release schedule for North America next year, the Shanghai office is clearly up and running with the announcement of a late 2010 launch for WWE SmackDown vs. RAW Online for Korean PC gamers.

Tim Page and Kevin Chu are clearly takin’ care of business in their new digs at the THQ office.  The duo has enlisted Korean development studio Vertigo Games to help in development and aid the transition of a Western wrestling title into the Asian market.  Vertigo has already scored a few home runs of it’s own with the online fighter Kwonho and the MM military shooter Black Shot.

SmackDown! Vs. RAW Online will allow players to play in either single player or multiplayer mode, and take their wrestler through various matches of achievement, with the ultimate end goal of being inducted into the WWE hall of fame.  A microtransaciton model will allow all aspiring Hacksaw Duggans to purchase items, abilities and themes to aid them on their way, and customize game play.

While no official release date has been pegged for the rest of the Asian market, let’s not forget that THQ has o’plenty on it’s plate as it is.  They’ve got Company of Heroes on tap for an Asian market release,  Dragonica coming up, and let’s not forget about Warhammer 40,000.
“We are pleased to bring the #1 fighting franchise, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw, to an online format, offering gamers an immersive online experience based on the world of the WWE,” says THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell. “We view the online game market as an important driver of future growth and this new title further expands our portfolio of great games for this exciting market.”

Parabellum steals the show at AGDC

Powered by the Unreal Engine 3, with all the associated lighting, physics, and animation, Parabellum stole the hearts and minds of hardcore and new gamers alike at this years Austin Game Developers Convention.

The free-to-play, micro transaction based Parabellum features two distinct game play modes: a team deathmatch, and non-linear campaigns.  Based on fast gameplay, one non-linear campaign pits a player (and four other counter-terrorist teammates) against the clock with just 10 minutes to locate and disarm a nuclear weapon in NYC.  Of course it’s not a simple walk in (central) park, as a number of battle tactics will need to be implored along the way.  If this sounds a bit like Counter-Strike, you’re spot on, as it’s intended to be.

Developed by Acony and distributed in the US by K2, Parabellum sets out to keep the campaigns short and the action long.  Each campaign gameplay should last between 10 and 40 minutes, with the map list varying depending on which campaign you’ve chosen to tackle.  These short play format campaigns were the Acony goal since the inception of Parabellum.  Keep the rounds short to keep players interested and engaged all the while providing a congruent and cohesive experience.  Combine that with no up front fees, minimal system requirements; a mere 2GHz P4 and 512 RAM, and a whole lotta customization and Acony is poised to have a sure fire winner on it’s hands.

Speaking of in game customization, Acony doesn’t stop short with a few tweaks here and there.  Even at it’s pre-launch phase players can customize their Parabellum experience with:

• Player uploaded battle music (I highly recommend Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries)
• Turning off in game advertising
• Clan logos
• Two hundred available character costume customizations with many more planned for post launch.  Players will be able to customize individual pieces of their character, weapon, and equipment, thereby making it easier to identify friends and foes in a hectic battlefield.
• And a whole lot more ‘undisclosed’ content

Not to leave bragging rights out in the cold, Parabellum also features a full-fledged Web Portal where players can check stats including headshots and kill counts, accuracy, who took the most damage, and more.

Acony is quick to point out that any microtransactions features are designed to provide a customization to the game, and NOT provide an unfair balance to players with large gWallets.  Weapons mods such as scopes and silencers will not be available via microtransactions, but must be earned via experience and level.

Acony’s Founder, Frank Trigub sees Parabellum to be a mix of the pace of Counter-Strike, the social and customizations of an MMO, and a business model that fuels continued development and collaboration with the playing community.  Trigub nails the microtransacion business model on the head when he speaks of a game with no financial barrier to entry, the road to profit lies in listening to exactly what your customers want, and turning these changes on a dime.  Acony has made its commitment to Parabellum very real with a scheduled 5-year development plan.  This certainly indicates that Parabellum is no flash in the pan, here today, gone tomorrow title.

For quite a long while, we’ve heard the, “Free-to-play’s just don’t match the quality that you find in a subscription game” argument.  With Acony’s Parabellum and EA’s Battlefield Heroes, perhaps these intriguing free-to-play shooters are the new wave of the genre, finally putting this age-old conception to rest?

Free-to-play Empire of Sports in ‘Private Launch’

Sports MMO’s seem to be one of the newest and fastest growing trends in the virtual world, and developers F4 and Infront are soon to be tossing their entry onto the playing field.  Officially billing itself as a non MMO, Empire of Sports is an errr… non- massive, multiplayer online game focused on and around, you guessed it, any and all things sports.

Players start their non-mmo adventure as a rookie, and level up skills through a variety of entry-level sports: Soccer, Tennis, Basketball, Skiing, and Bobsledding.  You may also choose to participate in a wide variety of training exercises.  Word on the street is that Empire of Sports has a few goodies still up its sleeve and plans on introducing Track and Field events into the game in the near future.

An interesting and ‘real world’ touch to the experience gaining process is that each sport has a number of skills attached to it.  Training exercises can be done in single player mode that increases your general skills (think balance, reaction time, muscle structure) and you can practice specific skills to increase your ability in individual sports.  In other words, it’s a whole lot like being a real world athlete – you can go to the gym to pump some iron, thereby increasing your overall athleticism, or head off to the green ‘bounce back’ wall and work on developing that killer backhand.

As you train and gain experience in particular sports, you gain a competitive advantage over opponents.  You may also purchase in game equipment to give you some extra pwnage power.  Items can be acquired in three different ways: some are earned as a reward for winning a particular tournament or match, some are purchased with ‘won’ in game currency, while the others, and perhaps most important, can be purchased via an in game mall with microtransactions.  According to F4 and Infront, the microtransaction gear is not meant to provide über status in the game, and should not provide an unfair balance to the competitive non-MMO.  A nice balance considering the game should attract a wide variety of players, some with massive amounts of time on their hands, while others would still like to have some nice gear, but don’t have hours and hours on their hands to win the appropriate cash and/or tournament(s).

As with 99.44 percent of all (non) MMO’s, Empire of Sports supports guilds, aiding in quickly and easily finding others that have a similar play and/or time schedule.

Empire of Sports is currently in ‘Private Launch’ at the moment, which basically means you’ll need to fork over an email address to get playing….but other than that, you’re in like Flynn.  Empire of Sports is free-to-play with microtransactions supporting the continued development and support.

Give them a visit at www.empireofsports.com

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