A slideshow on FastCompany.com highlights how far brands are going to get infused with popular entertainment. A review of eighteen “innovations” from CAA describes how the talent-turned-marketing agency goes about working with content makers and corporations to create a win-win for both parties.

In the slideshow, we see examples that include how CAA helped Neutrogenaintroduce a 22-year-old Neutrogena scientist into LonelyGirl15; and how they “wove” Cisco, Acura, Microsoft and UPS into the plot of web series Gemini Division.

All very interesting and not necessarily bad if it also means a ‘win’ for the audience too. Fast Company comments by saying:

With the media landscape changing faster than a J.J. Abrams storyline, Hollywood talent agencies can no longer rely on last century’s business model. That’s why powerhouse CAA is as interested in transforming a sports celeb into a Web 2.0 maven as it is in turning a brand into a Webisode character. Here are some of CAA’s recent innovative deals.

Sopurce CAA

GAMES TRUMP SOCIAL NETWORKS AMONG US TEENS

NEW YORK: A total of 78% of US teenagers regularly play online video games, compared with just 65% who use social networking websites likeFacebook and MySpace, according a new study by The Pew Internet & American Life Project. 
The "Generations Online in 2009" report also found that the number of 12–17 year-olds using email fell from 89% in 2005 to 73% last year, a drop attributed to the rise of social networking.
Says Sydney Jones, research assistant at Pew: "Teens really gravitate to these instant forms of communication. They're not likely to be sitting around waiting for e-mail."
Overall, 97% of teenagers play video games of some kind, but just 10% of 12–17 year-olds use "virtual worlds" like Second Life, a figure falling to 2% of older web users aged 18–32. 
Among the latter group, 50% of web users regularly play games online, and 67% are active users of social networking services. 
Members of both age ranges are more likely to use the web for entertainment than practical purposes according to the survey, which was conducted late last year among 2,253 internet users.

Data sourced from AdWeek (USA); additional content by WARC staff, 02 February 2009

Read more here IQblog: Sony запускает виртуальную вселенную Home

Future: Life Skills Through Video Games

Artist, film maker and game designer Michael Highland discusses the significant impact video games have in programming the brain in his film As Real as Your Life:

The beauty and reality of video games today lies not in the lifelike graphics, the vibrating joysticks or the virtual surround sound, it lies in that these games are beginning to make me emotional.  What is sadder is that my inability to understand and decipher the real world I live in makes these simple, virtual emotions even sweeter.  The people that make these games are smart, They know what makes me tick.  What makes me scared, excited, panicked, proud and sad.  They use these emotions to train me to survive in the worlds they create.

As Real as Your Life (Original Cut) from Michael Highland on Vimeo.

Michael Highland discusses the way virtual violence is increasingly mimicking that of the real world, with real violence often reflecting methods used within video games.  Highland believes the increasing amount of time spent in the virtual world allows gamers to form emotional bonds with virtual characters.  The use of repetition and real-life situations in gaming creates survival instincts within the brain.  Once purely virtual, these survival instincts begin to arise in real-life situations, making video games a most effective tool for propaganda and ‘brain reprogramming’.  Highland believes that video games’ significant influence over people’s brain functions can be used to educate people for the better, but warns: “Be careful what you play, and what your game might be wiring into you.”

Source TrendONE, PSFK, As Real as Your Life (Original Cut) from Michael Highland on Vimeo.

Michael Highland - As Real As Your Life / games and experience

Sony запускает виртуальную вселенную Home

Спустя почти полтора года после анонса, Sony Computer Entertainment наконец-то завершила подготовку своего самого масштабного проекта. На завтра назначен релиз виртуальной игровой вселенной Home. Данная разработка, по задумке Sony, станет ключевым местом встреч, общения и игр владельцев игровых консолей Playstation 3. Концептуально, "Дом" производства Sony будет представлять собой классическое смешение стилей - здесь будут присутствовать элементы из Second Life с одной стороны, из Microsoft Xbox Live с другой, и социальных сетей, таких как Facebook, с третьей. Читать дальше

Source CyberSecurity

Faux Rockstar!

Source TrendhunterTV

Immersion: Photographer Robbie Cooper shows just how focused young video-game players can be

Source The New York Times 

Видеогеймеры — более ценные потребители

Люди, которые активно играют в видеоигры, являются более ценными потребителями, чем те, кто играми не увлекается, — утверждают в IGN Entertainment и Ipsos Media CT. Исследование потребительских привычек видеогеймеров «Are You Game?» (PDF) было проведено в июне 2008 года Ipsos MediaCT среди 3 тыс. пользователей Сети в возрасте от 12 до 54 лет. Выдержки из него приводит Marketing Charts. Подробнее здесь

Источник МедиаРеволюция

Real Pilots Racing Against Virtual Airplanes

More news on the augmented reality front - Sky Challenge is working on a new sport that will mix real life planes with computer obstacles and competitors. Players at home would be able to compete with real life pilots, flying through a virtual obstacle course that is overlaid on top of real world terrain. The real world pilots would also be able to see their virtual challengers and the computer generated obstacles. Sky Challenge hopes to make this a world-wide event, where anyone could compete from home via their computers.

These kind of games bring up questions of how to navigate in these augmented spaces. How will people in the real spaces discern what’s what? Virtual players could accidentally (or purposely) cause very real problems for the pilots.

Source Gizmodo