The Future of MMOs Panel at GDC 2008

Liz Lawley at TerraNova posts a very informative entry covering the GDC 2008 Future of MMOs panel, with commentary from movers and shakers in the industry.

The luminaries include: Jack Emmert from Cryptic, Matt Miller from NCSoft, Ray Muzyka from BioWare (Canadian), Min Kim from Nexon America and Rob Pardo from Blizzard.

The moderator questions covered:

• Can an MMO be successful today without an outside IP?
• Are MMOs headed towards consoles?
  
• Will microtransactions be the future of MMO business? (interesting discussion)
• Can you be successful now without multimillion dollar MMOs?

And then they threw the floor open to audience questions also covered in the post. Take a look at what TNers have to say in the comments!

Read more here>>

How would Hello Kitty fare against an Orc?

In the grudge-match of the century, Hello Kitty vs Thrall.

Think it absurd? I don't know myself. From Kotaku, Sanrio's Hello Kitty is coming out with Hello Kitty Online (now entering closed Beta phase).

"Only one MMO could possibly release World of Warcraft's death-grip on the massively multiplayer gaming market - Hello Kitty Online."

For those who can't get 'nuff cute... be prepared for your teeth to hurt.

Read the article>>

Explosion in Vancouver

Some urban Vancouver news: An explosion in the wee hours of this morning happened in my old neighbourhood near Cambie and Broadway. I basically lived right behind the Starbucks in question...and I am thankful that I wasn't there last night.

Read the CBC article>>

Some flickr photos of it here>>

Happy (Lunar) New Year!

According to the Moon, it's a New Year.

Most of 2008 will be the Year of the Rat. You can see what year (and temperment) you are according to the Eastern zodiac.

Oftentimes, the Lunar New Year gives me a sort of second go at New Year's resolutions, because honestly... what are you thinking at the end of December anyway? I've now experienced more than a month's worth of 2008 and am in a much better frame of mind to make resolutions I need, and perhaps can keep. ;)

Here's to sustainability, sanity, and success.