回顧2014年五款受歡迎IOS遊戲

1.Vainglory

Vainglory採用了現今最流行的PC遊戲玩法之一，MOBA（多人連線競技場），並且在觸控裝置上，這款遊戲也能在依然保持遊戲性的情況下，增強了玩家的遊戲體驗，iPad可以說是這個遊戲的一個完美的平台，它能讓你在非常精美的畫面中，體驗3V3的戰鬥過程。雖然這款遊戲可以在app內儲值付費，但是這並沒有破壞到遊戲的平衡性。

2. Monument Valley

解謎類遊戲現在已經並不會顯得很新鮮，但是在Monument Valley中，讓玩家去體驗的並不是一種枯燥無味的解謎過程，而是在一個華麗得讓你流連忘返的迷宮裡找到你的出路，在遊戲場景中，玩家需通過轉動和連接不同的機關來尋找正確路徑，每個機關的圖案設計都相當有意思，理所當然地，這款遊戲在2014年裡面贏得了不少玩家的稱讚。

3. Threes!

也許這款遊戲是2014年最讓玩家意猶未盡的一款，遊戲中的出現的難題相當簡單，簡單得也許讓你會想，為何以前從來沒有人能想得出來？它把我們生活中最習以為常的數字通過千變萬化的排列，形成了一些有趣的幾何數學題，總是這款遊戲的玩法被其他許多遊戲所模仿，但是它依然是最讓玩家欲罷不能的一款。

4. 80 Days

80 Days可以說是一本內容豐富的小說，它用了遊戲的方式，來重新敘述了Phileas Fogg環遊世界的80天，當玩家在「閱讀」這本書的時候，還需要作出很多的選擇，這些選擇都關係到整個故事的發展。世界很大，但是要怎麼走，由你來決定。

5. Hearthstone：Heroes of Warcraft

以往一直堅守自己風格的暴雪，恐怖在現在智慧手機和平板觸控裝置盛行的時代下，也不能不作出讓步。相信大家對暴雪在近年推出的這款卡牌遊戲也不會太陌生，在一個有多年底蘊的魔獸故事背景之下，這款遊戲自然受到不少暴雪遊戲愛好者，特別是魔獸的玩家的青睞。不過，暴雪的遊戲肯定不會只有這些，這款遊戲中一個完善而且能讓人深度研究的卡牌系統，讓一場看似簡單，並且時間簡短的對戰顯得變幻無窮，雖然暴雪這次的嘗試算是冒險，但是也總算沒有違背許多玩家心中的那句話：「暴雪出品，實屬精品。」

2014年遊戲回顧 失望與歡樂

2014年對於遊戲來說，是有喜也有悲的一年。主機遊戲方面，自去年年底Xbox One和PS4的推出至今，新一代主句已有一年歲月，另一方面，PC遊戲仍然處於強勢，Valve借著在Steam上的勢頭，繼續成為PC遊戲的帶領著。臨近歲末，讓我們一起來回顧一下本年度一些遊戲重大事件，並且從中回味過中的喜與悲吧。

大哥，我的遊戲壞掉了！



2014年也許會因為幾款萬眾期待的大作所開的玩笑而變得難忘。《刺客信條》在剛剛上市不久便爆出遊戲中出現各種各樣的Bug，遭到不少網友抨擊以致劣評。不過，Ubisoft並不是一個人在戰鬥，還有Microsoft和343 Studios的Halo: The Master Chief Collection在剛剛推出不久，便出現一大堆網路連線問題，導致無法連線進行遊戲。

大哥，我的主機壞掉了！



PS4更新到2.1版本之後，新增了不少功能，包括Youtube，保存影片以及Share Play，但當玩家為此感到興奮時，他們也許很快就會發現這只是一場空歡喜。很快地，玩家就爆出PS4進入睡眠之後不能被重新喚醒的問題，這讓這款新一代主機瞬間受到不少人的劣評，這也許也使以前一直認為主機是最穩定的遊戲平台的玩家改變了他們的想法。

Steam變得更「富有」了



遊戲平台Steam現在支持交易的貨幣新增了Ringgit（馬來西亞貨幣），Peso（菲律賓貨幣），新幣，Rupiah（印尼貨幣）以及泰銖。這意味著Steam仍舊是PC遊戲平台的老大，而且也預示著他們還將會開拓更多地區的市場，不過這一舉措也許會影響到遊戲零售商的業績。

Microsoft收購「Minecraft」工作室



全球最出名的獨立遊戲工作室被Microsoft以二十五億美金（約八百億新台幣）收購了。收購遊戲工作室已經不算是新鮮事情了，但是Minecraft已經在非常可知的平台上被推出，Microsoft這一收購行為在早前的時候，有傳出過Minecraft不會在其競爭對手Sony平台上被支持的傳聞，不過後來被揭發是炒作新聞，因為Microsoft和Mojang（Minecraft的工作室）都沒有直接表明遊戲不會支持Sony平台。

Xbox One發售不帶Kinect



這也許是為時已晚的消息，PS4在全球的銷售數量和業績對Xbox One造成了極大壓力，Microsoft決定推出Xbox One sans Kinect版本，這版本不帶有Kinect控制器，在價錢上比原來的配套便宜一百美金。這一舉措之後，Xbox One在北美地區的銷售數量也有所回升，但是在Sony還是穩定的情況下，似乎還是不能超越它。

Amazon收購Twitch



2014年可以說是Twitch的成長和壯大的一年，新一代主機玩家可在Twitch上進行實況試玩，這意味著實況遊戲錄製變得更加主流。Twitch的成功也引來了電子零售商巨人的興趣，Amazon以9700萬美金收購了Twitch，在時間上，這個收購是發生在今年早前發布的一個關於Youtube有意收購Twitch的報導之後。

Irrational Games關閉



製作Bioshock的遊戲工作室Irrational Games在今年二月正式宣布關閉。至今，此工作室已經成立了有7年之久，之前曾有開發過遊戲Bioshock以及Bioshock Infinite，之後Bioshock 2是由2k Games進行開發。雖然他們沒有表明關閉的理由，但是從其長時間開發的Bioshock Infinite讓不少玩家大失所望的事實中，可以猜想到有一定客觀原因。

暴雪取消「泰坦」並發布新遊戲



暴雪已經正式宣布由「魔獸世界」開發人員花7年時間開發的「泰坦」已經被取消了，曾傳出過「泰坦」非常疑似「Destiny」的謠言，也有人認為大型在線遊戲未來的方向應該定在射擊類。暴雪的這個新聞的發布是在「Overwatch」在Blizzcon 2014上發布之後。

You posted what you would see and review

Just like last year, Facebook releases something for users to review their year and it is always combined with photo that you've taken through the year. However, this seems to have annoyed quite a lot of people who have taken photos that they don't want to see again or which provoke their sad feelings, like a now dead pet, a person who has gone or a now dead person's something, as Facebook makes their review of the year by selecting and showing these kinds of photos randomly as the "best" momery during the year. It has been published that these people have been making complaints about this unhuman activity of the system and Facebook has expressed their apology for causing such inconvenience.

I actually hadn't known and remembered that Facebook has this feature when a year has come to its end (I kinda did this for my last year actually but I can't remember when.). Since some of my friends' photos were shown as the elements of their year reviews in several different languages, I have started to do what they have done. It didn't require a lot of setting and steps but just one or two clicks and that will be it. But I was a little unsatisfied with what I saw in its preview page as the photos selected by Facebook were not what I prefer to share. Some of them even do not make sense of what I have done this year: a bottle of water or some used crumpled paper which I might post for saying something but not important. But still, I have a chance to modify and reselect the pictures I want. 

However, I did see there were certain people who were blaming Facebook for selecting the photos which cause their sadness. In one of the coverages I read this morning, there was an user took a photo of his boyfriend's house which was burning and this photo had been shown in the year review of this user. For this I would ask, why did you take this photo and post it on your Facebook that you might visit everyday? You posted it and you must know there it is the photo in one of your albums. If this photo does remind your unwanted past, you should have deleted it, I suppose? What I think is, for everyone who uses social media and who owns a page, he or she must understand that something posted would be reviewed by them someday, intentionally or unintentionally. And you take the responsibility of what you posted, including copyright, whether your post is offensive to others, and what feelings would this post cause to you.

For me, I wouldn't post something I don't want to review. If there are something do make me feel sad, I will remove them definitely, at least they won't stay on my photo walls or albums. I might keep them secretly that I won't see them if I don't try to find them out myself. And you gotta need to manage your personal page well, by filtering the things you want and you don't. 

This might cause certain's disagreement but I just want to say what I want to say. This year is near its end and I would also give all my best wishes to you. 

Why Spending Money on Free-to-Play Games?

Free-to-play (or "freemium") games are the Marmite of the games industry.

Well, they would be if Marmite was an industry worth billions of dollars, which provoked long, angry arguments on the internet about why it's an inherently exploitative condiment preying on casual toast-eaters' gullibility.

Maybe the Marmite analogy doesn't really work.

But still, free-to-play games: you either love them or loathe them. The former group is much bigger, but the latter tends to be louder online. Freemium can be a very touchy subject.

We may soon arrive at a point, though, where the discussion of freemium gaming focuses on good games and bad games, rather than trying to judge the entire business model in a broad sweep of goodness or badness.

Freemium games are certainly lucrative. Three of the key companies making these games – King, Supercell and GungHo Online – reported collective revenues of $4.4bn in 2013 alone.

The upper reaches of the top grossing charts on Apple and Google's app stores, meanwhile, are dominated by freemium games, with Minecraft seemingly the only paid game able to maintain a consistent presence in the top 50.

Critics of free-to-play as a model argue that many freemium games are designed for monetisation rather than fun, meanwhile, with countless psychological tricks designed to elicit as many payments as possible from their players.

The comments section on any piece about free-to-play here is usually bustling, but I thought this may be a good time for a proper open thread, to share your experiences of why you have made in-app purchases within mobile games, and how you felt about it.

If you're a Candy Crush Saga or Clash of Clans player, how much have you spent – or if you've spent nothing at all, how tough did you find it?What have you bought, in which games, and why? Are you more inclined to spend money if a game is less aggressive about nudging you to pay? Have you ever spent money and swiftly regretted it?

If you're a committed free-to-play critic, what forms of in-app purchases (if any) do you think are acceptable? What freemium games have you seen that you thought handled their business model gracefully and without exploitation?

The comments section is open for your views, and it's not just for fun: your views will help influence The Guardian's coverage of this area, as we talk to more developers about this space in the months ahead.

When could we watch video games played in Olympics?

Today a story about "video games and Olympics" was published on the BBC news website. According to the story, the creator of Blizzard's World of Warcraft claimed that competitive video gaming (e-sport) should be included in the Olympic Games as video games are well positioned to be a spectator sport.

With the improving quality and technology of video games, now this has become a huge industry that brings a large amount of income and professional e-sports events are attracting millions of audience. A recent major final held in Seoul, South Korea, filled a stadium of 40,000 people - with many more watching either online or at meet-ups around the world. However, video games are still struggling to win over those who follow more physical sports.

Before the 2014 Incheon Asian Games in South Korea, the request of adding e-sports as one of the competitions in the Asian Games was rejected. In the comments, some said that the way how e-sports are played does not accord with the feature and culture of "real sport". And the "playing" of video games is regarded as "just a game" by many who support the refusal of introducing e-sports to competitions. When I firstly heard the news report on radio, the commentary indicated "how would games be possibly brought into one of the most important sport event in the world?"

Indeed, the definition of e-sports is still remaining in a controversial situation. The difference between e-sports and physical sports is significantly obvious. However, in this case we need to ask ourselves what is sport? Is it only on a physical level or it also requires the competition of mind? Actually, I would say that if we don't allow competitive gaming to appear on either the Olympic or Asian Games, why would the competition of chess be allowed? It also seems not as physical as football, athletics or swimming. And for many competitive sports, like basketball, football and volleyball, every completion of actions is based on the control of our brain. Therefore, apart from physical training, these sports are also competitions of mind. 

But honestly, in terms of the watching of e-sports, this might not be an unfamliar thing for many spectators, especially for those traditional sport viewers. Firstly, they need to understand the game. If you don't know, let's say, Warcraft, you would only be watching several units fighting and there are some effects showing on screen. Video games are not as popularised as as other classic sports and there are indeed people who never play video games.

Not sure whether e-sports would win its chance to show up in worldwide sport competition in the future, for me, I still hope this would come true one day as having been a video gamer for more than 10 years. Maybe one day when video gaming becomes also physical and people would change their comprehension on it, we would see a golden medal obtained by a e-sports player standing on the Olympics awarding stage.

What Video Games Can Learn from Board Games

Video games already owe a lot to board games and tabletop RPGs. Most of the language we associate with digital entertainment – hit points and health potions, perks and buffs, special moves and levelling systems – can be traced back to Dungeons & Dragons or its kin. The classic pen and paper role playing game created a vernacular not just for fantastical settings, but for the way players interact with those settings.

Video games took that language and ran, building systems based on the D20 mechanic that D&D popularised. But moving away from the table inherently changed the nature of gaming; choices narrowed, stories became less fluid and experiences became lonelier.

While there are still obvious connections, board and video games are now two disparate entities, linked by a common ancestor but built on fundamentally different foundations. In a time when some claim the video game industry is beset by a malaise, trapped in a cycle of unimaginative iterations, perhaps board games can once again step up and offer some solutions?

'Despite claiming to be interactive, computer games are still struggling with the genetics of passive entertainment,' says James Ernest, designer for Cheapass Games - a company specialising in downloadable, print your own board games.



Ankh-Morpork: The Game

'They must cater to players who refuse to read manuals or learn strategies; thus, they present extremely winnable scenarios in an effort to guide players through the process of learning the game. They also rely on players’ past experiences with other games to a greater extent than their tabletop equivalents.'

This in turn, has lead video games to the cul-de-sac it finds itself in today. Tabletop games have categories like board game, card game, dice game, and so on; but computer games have much stricter definitions of their categories - an FPS is defined by its style, as much as its format.

'First Person Shooters are more similar, as a category, than even the narrowest sub genre of tabletop games,' says Ernest. 'The similarities between games in a specific genre are a product of the passivity of players, but also of two other factors: general conservatism in the industry, and the path that designers typically take into the industry.'

'The conservatism holds that it’s safer to fund a game if it is an improvement on an existing game, rather than an unproven new mechanic. And the designer’s path tends to lead through programming, which means that most designers are more interested in the mechanics of games than in the art of storytelling.'



Soace Hulk: Third Edition

For Ernest, this is the most important point. The video game industry has difficulty discerning the difference between designers and developers. In the board game world, these are two separate jobs; a designer creates an original game mechanic from nothing, then a developer hones that game and makes it into something playable, explains Ernest.

Board games don't need programmers; the engine that powers the game is a rule set based not on the mathematical limitations and possibilities of a machine, but on abstractions from a central theme.

In video games you press the button to swing your sword and the game calculates your success, in board games you perform the maths yourself, and what the game provides is an imaginative link between you rolling your dice and a creature's head falling off.

Are Mobile and Console Game still Clearly Different?

With better graphics and greater proliferation of mobile and tablet devices, more and more people are finding themselves hooked onto mobile gaming. Furthermore the plethora of free-to-play (not free) game are release almost everyday or week. Today we had our hands on Assassin’s Creed Pirate on an iPad Air.

The mobile experience redefined

Gone are the days where graphic on console is superior to the sprite graphic on mobile. Assassin’s Creed Pirates (ACP) boosts wonderful graphic comparable to that of last-gen PS3 and Xbox 360. Although PC and Console graphics are still superior, the gap is definitely narrowed. The beautiful rendered water and sunset in ACP will for a while make you lost in this new world that you can once only experience on PC and console. Of course, this is not the first game that boost wonderful graphics. Infinity blade series, FIFA and many other games boost similar quality. Console cycle is typically a few years. It will be a matter of time when mobile gaming overtake it in terms of graphical prowess. Oh and did I mention that I did not hear any noisy fan whirling typical of consoles and some PC?

No more on screen soft button

In the past, game ported from console to mobile is often perceived as inferior given that the latter almost always feature those weirdly place on screen soft button. ACP a on the other hand, while not a port over, greatly make use of the touch interface of a move device and incorporate it into the game smoothly. Drag and swipe to steer your ship, tap and hold to fire cannon of your ship. Such actions are no performed by soft button of up, down, left and right. You can even pinch and zoom to get different level of perspective when you are on board your pirate ship.

Free-to-play but not free

ACP a is free-to-play. It is a free download on the iOS AppStore. The entry barrier to playing this game is almost zero with the exception that you need to first get an smartphone or tablet. While game is free to download, there is an option to buy coins with real money to give you an head start in the game. Mobile gamers are very used to ‘free’ games, however economic 101 tells us that the developers would still have to be paid in some way. Thus far, in app purchase seems to be the best way for this developer. Of course such trends has created some rogue developers who build games aiming at maximising revenue. The true spirit of building game to entertain and challenge players may be place in the back seat in some of the free games we see today. In ACP, while in-app purchase exists, we still find the game truly enjoyable.

What’s next for PC, Console and Mobile gaming?

PC and Console games have been consolidated. Today most games are published on multiple platforms cutting across the PC and consoles realm. Of course, there exists some games like Metal Gear Solid and Destiny that are strictly for consoles. However, these day may be short lived. Coupled by the strong competition in mobile gaming, the 50-99 dollars console game that you need to purchase may not be as attractive any more compared to the zero dollar mobile game.

Here at GameTrader.SG, we would love to see console gaming evolved to a new stage. The current generation of consoles of better graphic maybe losing its luster. We need something interesting and revolutionary to get people back to console game.

Playing Games with Your Girlfriend or Boyfriend

I am single...for the moment but I had experience dealing with the issues of my girlfriend and games. The problem was that my gf didn't want me to spend much time playing game but on her, such as going out (shopping mostly), watching TV series (that I didn't want to watch) or even talking to her (on telephone sometimes T_T).

Actually this had been annoying me so much as I was kinda forced to do many things that I didn't want to do. I tried to save some time for myself, not only for playing games but also going out with friends, staying with my families or even being alone for sometimes. But very soon, I found this totally not working as you just can't always have so many reasons to reject your girlfriend's "invitations". To be honest, I like playing games especially at that time I was in school and had quite a lot of spared time. So I spent time playing games, online or offline with friends. That's what I used to do.

I tried to figure out this problem by explain to her. I said to her that I would like to just spend few time on gaming. However she didn't seem to understand or allow me to do so. I am not complaining that is a problem of women. I can understand what she wants but I am just trying to balance my life and relationship. Unfortunately this didn't work for me and the situation just remained the same.

Then one day, a friend suggested me to ask my girlfriend to play games together. At the beginning I didn't think that's a good idea. However, when I show her the games I was playing at the time, she showed her interests and she asked for a try. Later on, she had become one of the persons I played mostly with. It was still a happy moment for me although we are no longer in relationship.

Now games, especially online games are growing more and more popular and there are different kinds of interaction in online games, like the friend list, voice chat, marriage in game, or guild. Some browsergames have already had these feature as my friends told me. Some of my friends do play games with their girlfriend or boyfriend and I found that gaming is becoming a way of constructing relationship gradually. Rather than going out or watch TV series, playing games allows people truely get involved into an activity, which I think it's the most significant advantage. But just don't be too addicted to it!

How to make money from playing games?

Everyone knows there are prizes galore to be won if keen gamers decide to take up the slightly bizarre title of “professional gamer”, with competitions offering large financial rewards for the very best.

But what about if you just want to earn a bit of pocket money from your usual gaming habit without making the leap from “amateur” to “professional”?

Video games forums are awash with what are perhaps somewhat embellished tales of the financial rewards available, but there can be more than a few pennies to be made if you are shrewd.

Do not assume this is easy or some get-rich-quick checklist – if making money from casual gaming was then everyone would be doing it.

But away from the lights of video games competitions, here are six ways to turn your gaming routine into a tidy little earner.

1) Gold and item farming

The buying and selling of virtual goods is nothing new, but with some games operating a sort of in-game auction house, there is money to be made.

This method arguably exploded with Diablo III’s, the action role playing game in which characters choose one of five classes (Witch Doctor, Barbarian, Wizard, Monk or Demon Hunter), and are tasked with defeating Diablo, the Lord of Terror.

Sadly makers Blizzard have announced that from March 2014 both its gold and real-money auction houses will be shut down, meaning you have around four months to get stuck in.

2) Game testing
Game testing or “play testing” is where large video game companies employ video game testers, who test games in development and report any problems or glitches they discover.

Although this may sound like a perfect job, approach this money-making scheme with caution.

Websites such as The Tough Life of a Games Tester highlight that this is often not particularly well paid, and that you will not necessarily be able to play games you actually like.

All video games testers sign non-disclosure agreements, so bear this in mind – as well as some of the anonymous comments below – before embarking on a job as a “play tester”.

One tester says: “Imagine your favourite movie. Now take your favourite 30-second clip from that movie. Now watch that 30-second clip over and over again, 12 hours a day, every day for two months. When you've done that, tell me if what you've been doing is watching movies all day.”

Another complains: “They flat-out tell you that what makes a good employee is the number of bugs you find and it is this number that will determine if you are kept on or not.”

Here is one games tester (rather annoyingly) boasting about his job, but also hesitating over what he is able to say.

3) Unofficial guides or walthroughs

As I have written in a previous post, as far as I am concerned how-to guides and walkthroughs ruin games, but that does not mean there is not a huge market for them.

Consider yourself an expert? Websites like Killer Guides allows you to write an eBook which you can then sell. You can also try this on Amazon or your own site but the market on Killer Guides is much larger.

Many of the Lord of the Rings game guides – which are often more than 100 pages long, so do not be fooled into thinking it is a quick job – sell for $29.99 (around £18 or £19).

4) Let's Play videos

Although this is probably overdone, recording videos of you playing games, putting them on YouTube and then monetising them is a possible source of video game income.

However, one thing to watch out for is that for YouTube to allow you to monetise your video, it has to have a running commentary over the entire video, not just snippets or you silently playing the game.

As YouTube’s help pages explain: “Video game content may be monetized if the associated step-by-step commentary is strictly tied to the live action being shown and provides instructional or educational value.

Videos simply showing a user playing a video game or the use of software for extended periods of time may not be accepted for monetization.”

Potential pitfalls are that there is masses of competition out there, and that individual views are not worth much at all, so you need to garner a high number of views to make it worthwhile.

5) Use games as a method of training for your new career

This, admittedly, is the most far-fetched on the list, but in a tiny number of cases it is possible to make the jump from the virtual world to the real world, and make money that way.

Jann Mardenborough, 22, is one such example. The Cardiff teenager was obsessed with racing game Gran Turismo, so he decided to enter a virtual race.

After beating 90,000 virtual drivers he gained his place in the GT Academy - a competition sponsored by Nissan and Sony - he won the chance to drive with Nissan in the Dubai 24 Hour race.

Amazingly, he scored third place in his class, and has gone on to compete in the British GT Championship, the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand, and now in the European Formula Three Championship.

After making the step up from from virtual to real, Jann said: "It felt completely normal. I'd never power-steered a car before, I had only ever done it in a game. I was controlling it just with the throttle and it was completely natural to me."

6) Sell advanced characters

This method is perfect for games like World of Warcraft, where characters are built up with new skills, weapons, magic and other abilities as you play.

Although this is forbidden in the game's terms of use, characters are often sold and transferred for anything ranging from a few pounds to $10,000.

eBay has also banned the sale of in-game characters or items, but other websites such as Armory Bids or Player Auctions exist and see regular trading of accounts.

A "Mobile First" World in the Future

According to the latest Gartner report, by 2018 the smartphone will have well and truly usurped the desktop as consumers' go-to device for communication and digital consumption.

For people in emerging economies, the smartphone, phablet or tablet is already the go-to device for web access. Across Latin and South America, Africa and Asia, affordable handsets are in many cases consumers' first-ever Internet-enabled devices.

For instance, the latest user statistics from Alibaba's Alipay — China's largest online payments provider — highlight how the adoption of mobile handsets in remote regions of the country has led to an ecommerce and latterly, mobile transactions boom.

In the first 10 months of 2014, 60% of transactions in Shaanxi and 58% of transactions in Ningxia were mobile, compared with just 29% in Beijing, where fixed-line broadband, WiFi hotspots and households with multiple devices are the norm.

Gartner's report reflects the same trends beyond China but notes that even in mature tech markets such as the US and Western Europe, where the majority of homes have at least one desktop or notebook computer and where smartphone penetration is already reaching saturation levels, the same move towards mobile can be observed.

"The use pattern that has emerged for nearly all consumers, based on device accessibility, is the smartphone first as a device that is carried when mobile, followed by the tablet that is used for longer sessions, with the PC increasingly reserved for more-complex tasks," said Van Baker, research vice president.

"This behavior will adapt to incorporate wearables as they become widely available for users. As voice, gesture and other modalities grow in popularity with consumers, and as content consumption tasks outweigh content creation tasks, this will further move users away from the PC."

As such, Gartner believes that by 2018 more than 50% of the world's population will be turning to a tablet or smartphone first for all online activities.

The company also foresees the average smartphone price tumbling over the remaining years of the decade so that by 2020, 75% of all handsets on sale will cost less than $100. Gartner notes that at the premium end of the market, saturation is already starting.

With the exception of the latest brace of iPhones, a number of companies are already struggling to convince users to upgrade to the latest iteration of their flagship device — the differences between the new model and last year's are already becoming increasingly subtle. For an example, look no further than Samsung's recent struggles in selling the Galaxy S5.

But demand is going to continue to be strong among consumers in the aforementioned emerging markets, where affordability trumps everything from fingerprint scanners to selfie settings.

Gartner also notes that prices for all handsets could well fall further as mobile devices start to replace physical wallets and cash in many of theses regions.

As smartphones become mobile payment devices, an increasing number of companies will start to subsidise or sponsor their costs to ensure the technology becomes as widespread as possible.

Would you play Browser Games?

In recent years, with the development of web technology, type of game has been varied again. There are quite a lot of browser games online, such as Shifu, Nightfalls, Dragon Atlas and Dawn of King. Instead of having to download the application or client of game, we merely need to open a web browser and install a plug-in maybe and then we can start playing straight away.

Indeed, compared to many massive games like PC, console and massively multiplayer online games, browser games provide a much easier way to play and they are usually free to play. However, in terms of the quality of game, browser games might still have a long way to go.

I don't play much browser games but I'm actually playing one now. It's a Japanese web game called SD Gundam Operation and it's on Yahoo JP. It's a card game that you keep playing everyday to try to get better cards which improve your combat capacity in total. The reason why I play this game everyday it's because it doesn't cost me much time. I can play when working in office. The manipulation is simple: just some clicks on the interface and you finish the things you want to do then all you need to do is to wait. After finishing each activity in game, such as quests, battling with other players and killing bosses, there will be a CD that you have to wait before the next same things you want to do. Well this looks boring as it doesn't even require you to think. Of course I play this because I love Gundam. Honestly the design of cards is good and if this game is not about Gundam, I wouldn't even sign up for it I think. But objectively speaking, the quality of the game isn't too good and it's more likely that you just keep doing something everyday rather than playing a game.

I am not a professional browser gamer but I would say there are also other issues of browser games, which is the content. Let's take Nightfall as an example, when I firstly knew this game, I found it is a copied version of Diablo III. The characters, the images, the bosses and the skills are very close to what I have seen in Diablo III. I can't say it's a bad game but this reveals a lack of creativity and I would play directly Diablo III rather than this game. I would spend money on what is really qualitative rather than spending time on those that I don't feel enjoying. On the other hand, the control is just too simple that you follow all the time the guidance and just give it a click to finish everything. You don't even need to pay attention or to think but do things step by step.

I wouldn't say browser games are 100% not qualitative because I don't play much. I might be wrong to make such comment above and I also know people who spend quite a lot of money on web games. I think that they are at least happy with the game but for me, most web games don't feel entertaining during the playing. I might be focus on stats and number of games while I was still adolescent, especially at the time when I firstly start playing online games. I used to be satisfied by having rare items and powerful characters. However, it didn't last for too long. Now I prefer having more interesting experiences in game, such as visual pleasure, original story and degree of freedom. Browser games can't really provide much of these features. Finally I can only say that browser games might to designed for certain specific gamers. 

Are Games Spreading the Idea of Violence?

Yesterday I have been reading a news from The Guardian, which was about the sale of the recently released video game Grand Auto Theft banned in Australia due to violence against women. I wouldn't discuss violence against women specifically because once it's violence it against all kind of people. The article wasn't too long but it raised a quite large controversial debate topic: is the idea violence being spread  by games?

Actually, if we talk about the bad impact of game content on people, there would be a lot of negative facts that we can't escape from. In 2009, there was a shooting tragedy in a school of Winnenden in Baden-Württemberg, the southwest of Germany. An only 17-year-old teenager named Tim Kretschme killed 16 people and caused 9 injured. According to the post-event report, this young German had been obsessed with the game Counter-Strike and Far Cry 2, which were thought to develop his tendency of violence.

However the truth was not like as what many people considered in this case. According to some interviews done with his families a few days later, Tim had been spoiled by his parent since his childhood. His parents gave him all they can and have never refused any requests from Tim. However, every time when Tim confronted setback, he didn't know what to do but losing his temper. The more he experienced difficulties in life and society, the more he felt lonely, disappointed and unsocial. Then a conclusion was made by experts: Tim's violent massacre wasn't caused by the violent content of game but his life.

Whether violence is stimulated by the obsession with violent content of games or induced by social issues? This has long been a controversial debate. With the development of technology and the improvement of violent game's graphic quality, this argument is becoming larger and larger rather than being subsided gradually. However, if we talk about violent content of film, it wouldn't seem such a big issue. Why wouldn't we blame a film because of its violent theme? Rather we would appreciate it, saying "it's a good film you should watch and the fighting in the film was really great!" Are the violent element and feature of games inevitable or just a genre? Will we be able to remain the core game mechanics without having such content?

I am also a player of game containing violent content. I played the series of Grand Auto Theft, including GTA III, GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas and GTA IV. I am also a fan of The Elder Scroll: Skyrim, Fable and Sleeping Dog, in which there are features of murdering innocent people. But I wouldn't ever kill someone in a shop or metro with a gun or something. I know what happens in games and what should be like in reality. We often say "it's just a game", I keep this in my mind.

In fact I would say that there are many activities in life which are consist of violence. Let's say sports, especially competitive sports. It's not rare to see football and basketball players fighting during a match. But would we ban these sport because of it? No.

What I think is, rather than blaming the content of game that influences people in a negative way, why not paying more attention to those who are the victims of social issues? I don't mean it would be excellent if a game contains much violent content but banning them is not making significant changes. Moreover, when people are have much stress in life, this kind of game would sometimes do more good than bad for them. At least they "murder" in game and not killing people in their real life. If one day all of these games are banned, will the number of murderer be reduced or shall we be killing in reality instead?

Merc Storia: a recommended anime RPG

Developed by Happy Element, Merc Storia has been one of the best mobile anime RPG and Ujoy is planning the release the game in 2015. It has been one of the best selling games in Japan and the number of download reaches above two millions. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, this game has been one of the most popular and highest-grossing games among mobile players.

This game is largely featured by its instant assistance system during battle. With the developed functionality of smart phone in terms of social communication, this system allows players to complete the quests in game through cooperating, which creates more pleasure.



More than 200 different characters, including swordsman, heavy warrior, mage and monk, will make their appearance in game. Each character is designed meticulously with the term “Kawaii”, which refers to the idea of Japanese female’s cuteness, especially in Japanese animations. The weapons they use are diverse and apart from this, the way of fighting for each character is not the same.

The quests in game are based on it storyline which is another feature of the game. The story is about a young person who has the ability of curing monsters in order to make them less hostile to human. However, he is always lazy and out of form. Since the monsters without being cured have been attacking human, this young man has made his mind of protecting people in spite of the fear of monsters.



There are still a lots to be discovered in game. The inconceivable journey of the No.1 anime RPG Merc Storia will start in 2015. There will be a lot of challenges and rewards awaiting. Let’s be ready for its English version!

Repost from The Guardian: The gaming journalist who tells on her internet trolls – to their mothers

When Alanah Pearce discovered her online abusers weren’t middle-aged men but young boys, she went straight to the source to tackle the issue
Charlie Brooker: the internet is the toughest game in town if you’re a woman

Gaming culture is seeing a massive shift, says Alanah Pearce. Posed by model. Photograph: Graeme Robertson

Those who wonder if women gaming journalists are still subject to sexist name-calling and threats of physical and sexual violence need only talk to 21-year old media and communications student Alanah Pearce.

When she’s not studying, Pearce is a video games journalist, reviewing for Australian radio stations (4ZZZ, Triple J) and television. She also has her own YouTube channel, which she believes may have been the prompt for a recent flurry of online abuse.

“A while ago, I realised that a lot of the people who send disgusting or overly sexual comments to me over the internet aren’t adult males,” said Pearce from her company’s Brisbane base.

The journalist had assumed her abusers were middle-aged men. “It turns out that mostly they’re young boys and the problem is they don’t know any better, so responding to them rationally didn’t resolve the situation. And it got to the point where their comments were starting to make me feel really uncomfortable.”

When Pearce sat down to figure out the best way to resolve the situation, she concluded she was best off contacting the boys’ mothers directly, “especially as most of them write to me through their personal Facebook pages. It’s shockingly easy to find out who their families are.”

She wrote to four women and told them what their sons were up to. Eventually, one of them got back to her.

“She responded in almost exactly the way I wanted her to,” says Pearce with a laugh. “The fact she called him a little shit I found funny as well because I thought that but I wasn’t going to say anything.”
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Pearce adds: “I wasn’t going to post it on Twitter [either] but I was just so excited. And I thought some of my friends would find it amusing.”

Not just some of her friends. At last count, more than 11,000 users had retweeted her comment, and more than 20,000 had favourited it, eight hours after Pearce made her original post.

“It was just a way to try to reach a resolution, to productively teach young boys it’s not okay to be sexist to women, even if they’re on the internet,” she says, “that they are real people and that there should be actual consequences for that.”

It isn’t Pearce’s first attempt to combat the misogyny of certain sections of the gaming industry head-on. In 2013, she wrote a blog for the gaming site Kotaku, entitled 30 Days of Sexism, in which she listed and commented on 10 tweets she had received that made specific reference to the fact she was a female gaming journalist.

In what now reads like a lo-fi version of the viral video 10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman, Pearce responded to one commentator who praised her for not wearing low-cut tops on YouTube, suggesting his seemingly “nice” comment was “inherently sexist”.

“Some women may exploit their sexuality for views but others do it for comfort, or because they didn’t want to change their clothing,’ she wrote. “There is no logical reason to assume that any woman has changed her apparel to appeal to you.”

In 2012, the Guardian reported on a Twitter user who tracked down his own personal troll and got him to apologise. “That would be a perfect resolution,” comments Pearce.

Asked if she believes the harassment she’s been receiving is linked to theGamergate controversy, she says: “It’s directly related and it’s a weird thing that has been happening in gaming culture specifically. I’ve had people asking me today why this boy has been sending me rape threats, and is there any context. I can only assume he’s seen a video of mine that he didn’t like, or that I’m a woman in games on the internet. It sounds illogical, but it happens to so many people.”

Pearce later qualified the comment in a statement, repeating her belief that “the increase in rape threats or sexist comments she has seen recently, including this one, is directly related to Gamergate” but adding that she was “not comfortable suggesting that it is as there is no solid proof”.

For the present, Pearce says “every time this happens to me, I will do this. I won’t necessarily post it on Twitter, but I will definitely continue doing it.”

She sees hope on the horizon. “I’ve grown up in gaming culture, and in the last five years I’ve seen this massive shift, which is awesome. It’s great to have more women in the industry and to encourage more women by telling them it’s not this horrible place.”

Fight with your Dragon: Review of Dragon Atlas on 37Games

Dragon has long been one of the most popular themes for video games. Especially in those Western cultural based ones, "dragon" is often the important element in terms of the storyline and gameplay. What is special for this time is that there is a browser game which has also used "dragon" as its theme and feature. So let's take a look at 37Games' Dragon Atlas.

The storyline of this game is based on Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). It's a game that is mainly categorized as RPG but played in a SLG way. With the core element of dragon and its combination with a Japanese style of character design, players will be experiencing a world of dragons and dungeons, which is mysterious and unknown.

Compared to those traditional genre of "completing and passing through one battle by another", which could seem a bit restricted and "having to follow", Dragon Atlas provide more choices and possibilities in terms of walking through the quest line in the map. Players can discovers some extra events by opening certain chests, manipulating some traps correctly and unlocking hidden gates with the key required. There are often some unexpected events during the adventure in game.

In terms of battle, it's more likely to be both turn-based strategic and hand control way. Each turn in battle requires players' tactical deployment of characters and skills. Apart from that, manual changing of characters' position during a fight is also necessary for victory. And players need to cast spells in the right time in order to touch off the effect of skill chain to deal more damage.

Since dragon is the key feature of the game, the cultivation of dragon as your partner in fight is also another way of playing. By doing the main quest line, we can obtain an egg and a young dragon will be born soon. After its birth, we need to cultivate it by feeding and fighting together to get your dragon more experience to improve its ability. There are several periods of evaluation of dragons, from its adolescent stage to mature period and finally it turns into an elder dragon which possesses stronger power. Dragons can learn skills when they reach certain stage. Rome wasn't built in a day. Cultivating dragons is a long process and players will see the gradual growth of it. Once your dragon grows mature enough to fight, it can be your most powerful and loyal companion in battle.

Another important to notice is that we can form our battle team by recruiting mercenaries from tavern. There are hundreds of mercenaries awaiting in tavern and we can choose whom we want to group. Of course, each character has his or her own designed appearance and what's more important is that different characters have different skills and we can combine the best match of skills we think by selecting different mercenaries.

The quest line also allows us to get some plans for crafting weapons. For plans in higher level, we need to collect honor points by defeating enemies in order to exchange with it. Weapons can be improved by reforging and enchancing. The appearance of weapons will also depend on the degree of improvement. In this case, we can design our own weapon with an unique look.

There are still some systems and ways of playing that need to be discover in the following time of playing. For now, I would say this game has quite a lot of features that catches my eyes. I will be continuing the playing and hope to share more with you. Have fun!

(Repost)Diablo III: Reaper Of Souls corrects the mistakes of the original game

No one can stop Death," says Malthael, the Angel Of Death. But you must stop him in this expansion pack of the 2012 hack-and-slash role-playing game Diablo III.


The expansion, Reaper Of Souls, picks up where the original ended with Diablo, the Lord Of Terror, defeated and locked in the Black Soulstone. But peace is brief. Before the Soulstone can be hidden away, Malthael steals it to unleash death and destruction on the world.


Reaper Of Souls adds several refinements to Diablo III, which has been slammed for its erratic loot system. Some of the loot (items dropped after you slay monsters) were things your character could not use. The problem was exacerbated because players were able to buy better weapons and armour in the Auction House without having to grind through the game.


To rectify this, the Loot 2.0 system was implemented through a huge update patch to the original game one month before the expansion was released last Tuesday, and the Auction House was removed.


The Loot 2.0 system now churns out fewer items, but more of the rare and legendary - or most coveted - ones. The items dropped are also more likely to be of use to the character class you are playing.


The new loot system is true to its claims. For example, whenever my Crusader and Barbarian characters beat a big boss, they had never benefited from having a legendary bow dropped. Now, it is either a legendary flail or shield that is dropped after such a victory.


The patch also changed the new Paragon levels, which is the system that lets you earn stat bonuses after reaching level cap and difficulty settings. There is now no level cap for Paragon levels. In addition, Paragon levels can now be shared by all your account's characters, instead of applying only to an individual character.


Now, you do not have to play through the campaign in order to advance in difficulty settings. Just change the difficulty settings any time, before resuming gameplay.


However, you will need the expansion to enjoy these new features, which include raised Level 70 cap (Level 60 in the previous game), additional storyline chapter with Act V, the Crusader class and the Adventure mode.


The expansion introduces a new Mystic artisan who provides item enchantment and transmogrification services, and adds extra sub-quests in the new chapter.


I had plenty of fun with the Mystic's transmogrification ability to alter the appearance of my character's gear. For example, I changed my sword and shield to look like those carried by angels.


You might be expecting more character classes, other than the single Crusader class - a holy warrior who wields a shield and a melee weapon such as a flail or sword. Personally, I think one good class is enough, especially when I think it is one of the expansion's major highlights.


Inspired by Diablo II's Paladin class, which I and many other fans missed, Crusader is a mid-range melee character class which strikes a balance between the close combat skills of Barbarian and the spiritual power of Monk, while having armoured protection.


The actor voicing Crusader did a great job expressing his fervour and righteousness without being over-melodramatic.


Sound effects are realistically scary, from the creepy roars of the monsters to the eerie cries when they die. That led a friend, with whom I have played the game since the very first Diablo, to turn off the audio.


If you have an existing Level 60 character that completed the original campaign, you can go straight to Act V. But that would not be fun. I think the best way to enjoy the expansion is to play the Crusader.


Act V takes place mostly in Westmarch, a formerly thriving city featuring classical Gothic buildings. It would have been great to see the city in its full glory. Instead, you find yourself fighting through raging fires and streets heaped with corpses. Unlike the random underground cellars of the original which held nothing substantial, many of these underground cellars now have a story or time event with a mini-boss.


But even if you scour every inch of Act V, it will take you at most three hours. That is why it is better to play Crusader from the start for a more holistic story experience. If you finish Act V quickly, you now have the option of playing in the new Adventure and Nephalem Rift mode.


Unlocked upon completing Act V, the Adventure mode is where you just kill monsters to level up and pick up better items. You will revisit some campaign areas for simple quests (clearing the area of monsters, or killing a boss). You gain experience and loot as well as Rift Keystone Fragments.


Collect enough of these fragments and you can start the Nephalem Rift mode. It is a randomised dungeon with a mini-boss providing you with a short 15 to 20min playthrough.


Here, you earn experience, loot and Blood Shards that can be used to buy mysterious items from the merchant Kadala. These can range from magic to legendary. But I have yet to buy a Legendary item from Kadala.


With no cap on Paragon levels, you can play through the Adventure and Nephalem Rift modes over and over again to satisfy your thirst for more Legendary items or even sought-after Set items.

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/digital-life/gaming/story/diablo-iii-reaper-souls-corrects-the-mistakes-the-original-game-20141119#sthash.r4Yrry9d.dpuf