When Facebook purchases a company, you can often hear a collective groan go around the internet — “there goes the neighborhood.” The social network’s purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp gave Facebook access to a younger and more global user base.
Inside gaming culture, “hardcore” and “casual” are tribal divisions. For the hardcore, gaming is the passion. Casual players enjoy games, yet they don’t steep themselves in gamer culture rites like midnight openings.
When the Pokemon cartoon theme song first hit American TV airwaves in 1998, “Gotta catch ‘em all,” became a mantra for kids. But few people imagined that in 2013, the stars of this cartoon would still be going strong
Automakers have set up shop in Silicon Valley and are looking to the digital world as a way to lure younger drivers. Car companies are looking outside their industry to learn how make cars an extension of all the services Millennials already love.
It’s not just cars that Millennials question owning. Nearly any possession you can think of stopped being an “of course” and became a “hmmmm” for Millennials.
The last time most video game players were excited about virtual reality was the 1990s. Before internet browsers were commonplace and game consoles were still actively marketed by the number of bits they could process, virtual reality held out the shimmering promise of the cyberspace envisioned by science fiction authors like William Gibson: the future was going to be accessed by way of immersive technology that would project digital avatars of ourselves into detailed virtual worlds.
The online video sharing site YouTube is this generation’s MTV. Artists like Gotye and Psy have found mainstream success when their videos go viral. Yet the site is dominated by amateurs covering other people’s songs – from toddlers chirping The Beatles to teens tackling Led Zeppelin.
For the first time, the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, has added a Gaming Expo. Since the 1980’s the city has been the spiritual heart of computer gaming. Austin’s strong ties to the $67 billion dollar video game industry are now being recognized by the festival. This puts the 7,000 game developers who work in Austin– according to the IRS by way of the International Game Developers Association — in the spotlight. While conventioneers have been gathering downtown to hear about the latest trends, I went in search of Austin’s burgeoning independent game scene.
Thousands of Americans lined up last night, not to vote, but to buy one of the most anticipated new video games of the year. Halo 4 is the latest installment of the popular franchise for the Microsoft XBox 360. Some gamers refer to Halo as their Star Wars.
