Cherryflava

Video gaming trends

We'll state right up front that we do not own a PS3. In fact, we're still trying to clear the last stage of 'Black' on the PS2 on the 'easy' level. So hard-core gamers we are not, but happy to clobber an opponent with a vitual RPG we are.

It's insightful therefore to get some insight as to where video gaming is heading as an industry, which in this country at least,  is still labeled as something that is done by delinquent children who don't play outside in the sun enough and eat too many boiled sweets and smoke hash.

We were surprised that the average age of gamers in the US...is 32.

Video Gaming Trends

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The local video game landscape seems to fly pretty much under the radar. An indepth analysis like this would be very interesting, but unlikely to exist.

[via Advertising Pawn]

Would you ditch your Titleist driver for a frisbee to save the environment?

Golf courses are huge environ-busters.
They suck up tonnes of drinkable fresh water, require loads of chemical fertilisers and kidnap family men for 8 hours at a time over weekends when they're meant to be spending time with their tantram throwing kids. In the US, probably because the country is technically bankrupt, golf is radically declining in popularity.

In its place....disk golf or frisbee golf. The flying disc game doesn't require a stiff upper lip or a bad attitude, the equipment is much cheaper and the course can be put up anywhere (parking lot, forested area, old age home garden) and does not require a dedicated body of water to keep it alive.

Disk golf hey? Sounds a bit like polo on Segways, but we'll give it a bash if a games going.

Read:
The Rise of disk golf: A Greener alternative to 'ball golf' - Treehugger
More Americans giving up golf - New York Times

Internal dialogue

Last week, The Times published our piece on the ever growing trend of Faith Popcorn's 'cocooning' concept becoming more a reality as individual-focused  technologies become more popular.

Now...

Second Skin, is a new documentary that looks at the obsessive, fascinating world (both virtual and real) of massive multi-player online gamers. The movie follows seven serious gamers as they reveal how their habit has changed every aspect of their lives, from leisure time to relationships to work, and dangerously, their sense of self. [via]

Partaking in MMORPGs sounds almost as bad as being a tik addict, but perhaps that's just the marketing hype surrounding the trailer.

'I'm not here to tell you how this is going to end, I'm here to show you how this is going to begin'.

Video link here.

Read: Is the advancement of technology making us lonely and depressed - The Times
Previously: Mac movie - Cherryflava

Planned virtual reality gaming releases set to make YOU the next star of The Matrix

Yesterday, on our weekly CapeTalk radio spot, we stuck our necks out and suggested exciting marketing opportunities linked with this year's predicted explosion of MMO's / alternative reality gaming  / Second Life-type games.

Up until now, the only real examples of this channel have been World of Warcraft and Second Life, but those were just the beginning.

Last year Playstation announced (last year in March; the service was supposed to go live in December but has been postponed for late 2008 release) their online platform called Home, which is a free download for all PS3 owners.
Home is a virtual online world of private and public spaces, occupied by customisable avatars who can share their digital content and social time with others.