Online Games

Trying to play a much-hyped new computer game last week, I ran into a technology barrier. Neither of the two PCs available to me had enough system memory - 128 megabytes of RAM - to run the game. It was a frustrating experience, and an all-too-common one. It helps explain why even the most acclaimed state-of-the-art computer games seldom sell a million or more CD-ROMs, while the audience attracted to simple but satisfying online games accessible to almost any PC now numbers in the tens of millions.

If it's already better to give than to receive, technology has made giving even better by making donating to charity more accessible and participatory. Or, as Bill and Melinda Gates put it last week, "easier and more fun. " The combination is especially attractive to seasonal or infrequent donors, such as the many now catching the holiday spirit, gifting for an altruistic friend or seeking to increase their tax deductions. With this audience in mind, the Gateses blogged five ways to give online they believe are innovative and well-run.

As far as summer jobs go, one could certainly do worse than playing "Diablo 3. " One Reddit poster, "WishboneTheDog," sparked interest and debate about the hit game's "Real Money Auction House (RMAH)" feature with a post detailing how he or she has made more than $10,000 selling items. Having in-game item economies that translate into real world bucks is an old concept for online games, but Blizzard's inclusion of the RMAH has institutionalized the process. What was once the unregulated equivalent of a semi-legal flea market has been turned into Blizzard's own eBay, and "Wishbone" seems to be the first person who has invested serious time into making it pay off. In the past two days, "Wishbone" has answered dozens of questions from other players and intrigued "Redditors" about the process for accumulating such a large sum of cash, the viability of doing this as a profession and the macroeconomic implications of selling in a digital economy.

As far as summer jobs go, one could certainly do worse than playing "Diablo 3. " One Reddit poster, "WishboneTheDog," sparked interest and debate about the hit game's "Real Money Auction House (RMAH)" feature with a post detailing how he or she has made more than $10,000 selling items. Having in-game item economies that translate into real world bucks is an old concept for online games, but Blizzard's inclusion of the RMAH has institutionalized the process. What was once the unregulated equivalent of a semi-legal flea market has been turned into Blizzard's own eBay, and "Wishbone" seems to be the first person who has invested serious time into making it pay off. In the past two days, "Wishbone" has answered dozens of questions from other players and intrigued "Redditors" about the process for accumulating such a large sum of cash, the viability of doing this as a profession and the macroeconomic implications of selling in a digital economy.

It's unwise that the General Assembly will be considering the expansion of Maryland's gambling program to a sixth casino before its five existing slots parlors is up and running. But the idea of legalizing Internet gambling at the same time - with little opportunity for public debate or due diligence by legislators, and no precedent from other states - is downright reckless. Internet gambling may be the future of the industry, but that future is not yet upon us, and there are too many unanswered questions - legal, logistical and social - for the state to make a headlong rush to legalize it. The idea first surfaced in a serious way this week in a memo from Maryland Live developer David Cordish about the conditions under which he could drop his opposition to the proposed sixth casino inPrince George's County.

Zynga Inc., one of the largest developers of online games for social networks, said Tuesday that it will open its first East Coast office in the Baltimore region this year, and it will be led by an area veteran in the gaming industry. The office will have 12 to 15 employees this year and will work on an unspecified new social network game, the company said. Zynga East, the name of the new office, will also work on projects with the company's game developers in its San Francisco headquarters.

If it's already better to give than to receive, technology has made giving even better by making donating to charity more accessible and participatory. Or, as Bill and Melinda Gates put it last week, "easier and more fun. " The combination is especially attractive to seasonal or infrequent donors, such as the many now catching the holiday spirit, gifting for an altruistic friend or seeking to increase their tax deductions. With this audience in mind, the Gateses blogged five ways to give online they believe are innovative and well-run.

When Kurt Frerichs comes home from a long day of fixing computers, he likes to eat dinner with his family, tuck his 2-year-old daughter into bed and settle in front of his PC with a steaming cup of black coffee to inflict nonstop misery on his fellow man. The 25-year-old technology consultant relishes the indiscriminate slaughter of other players in online games, heaping scorn on his victims and exploiting programming bugs to his advantage. Frerichs is what is called a "griefer" - someone who plays to make others cry. They stalk, hurl insults, extort, form gangs, kill and loot.

Maryland Live! Casino at Arundel Mills will have its grand opening at 10 p.m. June 6, casino officials announced Thursday morning. The grand opening still requires approval by the Maryland Lottery, which will oversee a trial run to take place before June 6. The announcement comes as the state slots commission on Thursday considers a bid to open a casino in Rocky Gap, in Western Maryland, by Evitts Resort LLC. The commission also has yet...

Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. announced a nationwide education challenge Tuesday that is geared toward helping students knock their math skills out of the park. Through his organization, Ripken Baseball, the Baltimore "Iron Man" launched a Grand Slam Math Challenge, which will ask students in grades kindergarten through 12 in every state to play the online and board game TiViTz to improve their math skills. Ripken said Tuesday that he was inspired to launch the challenge — which uses math skills on a video baseball field — by the youths in his Ripken Baseball program.

It's unwise that the General Assembly will be considering the expansion of Maryland's gambling program to a sixth casino before its five existing slots parlors is up and running. But the idea of legalizing Internet gambling at the same time - with little opportunity for public debate or due diligence by legislators, and no precedent from other states - is downright reckless. Internet gambling may be the future of the industry, but that future is not yet upon us, and there are too many unanswered questions - legal, logistical and social - for the state to make a headlong rush to legalize it. The idea first surfaced in a serious way this week in a memo from Maryland Live developer David Cordish about the conditions under which he could drop his opposition to the proposed sixth casino inPrince George's County.

Electronic Arts is confident that “Star Wars: The Old Republic” is a massively multiplayer online game that people will be playing in a decade. As they told GamesIndustry International, EA is also considering variations on a free-to-play model, surely in part to the 400,000 player dropoff in subscribers the game has seen. MMOs are in a tricky spot. Their development certainly isn't stagnant, but what “EverQuest,” “World of Warcraft” and “The Old Republic” have done may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Maryland Live! Casino at Arundel Mills will have its grand opening at 10 p.m. June 6, casino officials announced Thursday morning. The grand opening still requires approval by the Maryland Lottery, which will oversee a trial run to take place before June 6. The announcement comes as the state slots commission on Thursday considers a bid to open a casino in Rocky Gap, in Western Maryland, by Evitts Resort LLC. The commission also has yet...

News Roundup • SEGA's game division will be trimmed and restructured after an underperforming year. Specifically, SEGA of America will focus on its blue chip titles as underperforming and developing titles have been cancelled. [ Joystiq ] •Households are now spending more time using Xbox Live to listen to music and watch video than they are playing online games. One might expect that the next version of the console is going to be presented as much as a “life device” as it is a “gaming device.” [ Los Angeles Times ]

Westminster businessman Ellwood "Bunky" Bartlett is like a lot of gamers - he knows what he likes and doesn't like in his games. The difference between Bartlett and most gamers is that in 2007, he won the Mega Millions jackpot, clearing roughly $27 million after taxes. After years of marauding through massive online multi-player games like "World of Warcraft," "Rift" and "EverQuest," Bartlett is embarking on his own quest: to create his dream game. Now all he needs is a mere $1.1 million to get started.

Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. announced a nationwide education challenge Tuesday that is geared toward helping students knock their math skills out of the park. Through his organization, Ripken Baseball, the Baltimore "Iron Man" launched a Grand Slam Math Challenge, which will ask students in grades kindergarten through 12 in every state to play the online and board game TiViTz to improve their math skills. Ripken said Tuesday that he was inspired to launch the challenge — which uses math skills on a video baseball field — by the youths in his Ripken Baseball program.

A second major Internet company has joined America Online Inc. in betting that avid players are willing to pay extra for access to the latest online games.Microsoft's gaming spinoff, Internet Gaming Zone, has announced that it intends to charge daily and monthly fees for access to two new top-of-the-line games accessible through the formerly free World Wide Web site. AOL, in contrast, plans to charge subscribers $1.99 per hour to use a host of "premium" games."We don't think gamers should have to watch the clock in order to have fun," said Steve Murch, manager of Internet Gaming Zone.

After three years at the drawing board, Adrianne Lewis has this observation to make about starting a company: "You almost have to be ... half-insane to be an entrepreneur, because you have to put everything on the line for something that has no assurance. It's all or nothing. There's not that many people cut out for that." However, Lewis, 42, says she is cut out for it. Her start-up company, adTraction, is scrambling for a foothold in online games - electronic versions of bingo, dominoes and the like - that are designed as blatant advertisements and called game ads. Online games are nothing new to the Internet.

In Mafia Wars, you recruit your friends into a virtual world of organized crime. In FarmVille, you and your friends help each other tend virtual animals and plots of land. And in FrontierVille, you endeavor to build a frontier town in the Wild West. Welcome to the universe of online social games crafted by Zynga Game Network Inc. — a thriving San Francisco-based company that launched a major game design studio in Baltimore County last year. That office, known as Zynga East, was responsible in June for creating and launching FrontierVille, the company's second most popular game behind FarmVille, with nearly 35 million users.

When Sid Meier and a partner launched the video game design firm MicroProse in the early 1980s, the industry was still in its infancy. Today, Meier is widely regarded as the "godfather" of computer gaming. Based in Hunt Valley, MicroProse grew over the years to become a beacon to computer geeks who wanted to be part of the growing market of video games on personal computers. More than two decades later, Meier, 56, is still designing video games — his most famous is Civilization, a virtual empire-building game — for another company he helped found, Firaxis Games, in Hunt Valley.