Virtual Worlds Update Japan

Tokimeki Memorial Goes Both OnOff Line

HYamaguti — 2005-10-16T09:24:00+09:00

Tokimeki Memorial, a hit "love simulation" game, goes to both on and off line.

Tokimeki Memorial ("Tokimemo") series are known to be the best hit love simulation games in Japan. Konami launched the first game in 1994. A player played the role of a high-school boy, and developed relationships with female classmates through various school activities. Finally the player chose one of the girls and ask for steady relationship. The result depended on how the player had developed the relationship with the chosen girl.

Since then, Konami launched 3 follow-on products, of which 2 is for males (boy-meets-girl type) and 1 is for girls (girl-meets-boy type). Another girl-meets-boy type game is under development. All these are single-player, console-based games.

And now is the time for Tokimemo to go online. "Tokimeki Memorial Online" has started its open beta test on October 2005. In the game, each player becomes a high school student and spends school life. There are no monsters nor warriors. Instead, students take classes (answer quizzes) to raise the teacher's evaluation, or club activities for group battle. But more emphasis is put on communication among players. The status of players are developed through communication rather than competition. The game allows players to spend virtual school life.

One characteristic of the promotion campaign of this game is an attempt to merge on and off line worlds. Several idol talents (both males and females) participate in the game by using avatars of themselves. Besides, they will open a cafe featuring Tokimemo in Harajuku, the trendiest spot in Tokyo in November. The staff of the cafe wear the uniform of the virtual school in the game so that players can feel like they are actually in the game. These staff also play the game as the avatar of themselves, and participate in various promotion activities of the game.

A major difference between single-player and MMO RPGs is that not everyone can be the heroine/hero in the latter. In MMORPG a player is just "one of many players." This makes MMORPGs less "dramatic" than single-player games and less "centered." Konami's attempt in the promotion campaign of Tokimemo Online is to solve this problem by having real "idols" in the game. These idols (including the staff of Tokimemo cafe) are expected to become the hub of relationship and communication among players in the game.

If you define the relationship with (paid) idols are not real, the communication in Tokimemo Online is only imaginary. But in many cases human relationships in MMORPGs are virtual anyway. Commitment to the "idol" avatar in the game is nothing different from that to a real-world rock star. The "communication" with the rock star is only imaginary, but for the fans it is nothing less than real. In this sense, this is another way to create virtual communities and to promote virtual communication.

For virtual idols in the game, this is another chance for them to be exposed to people. They might appear in television, radio, magazines, and movies; and now they obtain a new media: MMORPG. If one of them becomes a "real" star, it would certainly alter what people think of games.

Lineage II Goes On Air

HYamaguti — 2005-10-13T09:21:29+09:00

NC Japan launched an AM radio program on Lineage II, a major MMORPG.

The subsidiary of NC Soft, a Korean MMORPG operator, sponsors the program of Osaka Broadcasting Co. (OBC), "Lineage II Presents: Shoko Nakagawa's Shokotan Pact" from October 7.

Ms. Shoko Nakagawa is an idol talent and a begnner of Lineage II. In the program, she logs in and learn how to play the game, being taught by the staff of NC Japan. The program also has a radio drama on Lineage II. The program has its own website, and is distributed through internet streaming broadcast (You need Windows Media Player. Push "Play" button in the middle. The program is, of course, in Japanese.).

Nowadays, it is not unusual for Japanese game companies to have radio programs on their products. But as for MMORPG, this is the second attempt, preceded by the case of GungHo Online Entertainment on Ragnarok Online. Many radio listeners in midnight time are active game players, and NC Japan tries to extend subscription base of the game by this radio program.

By the way, OBC belongs to the network of Fuji Television, which had fought a proxy battle against Livedoor, an IT company. Fuji TV now is eager to merge broadcasting and internet services.

Online Mahjong Is For Competition, Rather Than For Communication

HYamaguti — 2005-06-01T16:07:00+09:00

In virtual worlds of online games, people often compete against other players by using various items, such as virtual swords, magic skills, automobiles, or spacecrafts. In some games they might use virtual cards or slot machines.

But in some games, people use mahjong tiles for competition.

Online mahjong games are nothing new. Many game portals such as Hangame provide mahjong game. They typically include chat and avatar services, promoting communication among players. They are expected to chat during games, and the feeling of community makes them "addicted" to the game.

Something different is going on in Japan, with contrasting approaches, and contrasting results.

One was "Live-Jong," an online mahjong game with live chat feature. In "Live-Jong," the players played mahjong with female players, talking with them through live chat. These female players were paid by the game company and asked to host customers, mainly males. But this business model was costly, and thus required substantial customer base. The game falied to meet the requirement, and the game company ended the service as of May 16.

Another is "Maru-jan2," which has attracted more than 30,000 mahjong enthusiasts to membership as of the end of May. The game was developed by Signal Talk Corp. A distinctive characteristic of Maru-Jan2 is its dedication to mahjong play. The game tries hard to literally replicate what we do at a mahjong house. The board and tiles look so real, and the sound (using digital sampling) is different depending on how you put tiles on the board. A player pays 80-150 points (1 point = 1 yen) for each game, and the winner of the game (1 of 4 players) is exempted from the payment. This is usual system for real mahjong houses and makes the players motivated enough. In addition, unlike ordinary online mahjong games, Maru-jan2 has no chat feature. Since Japanese people are relatively more shy, chatting (especially among males) is sometimes rather burdensome. These players want competition rather than communication. For communication purpose, the game provides a feature to record logs to share with other players. Players can analyze and learn what he did and how to improve.

What we want in virtual worlds of online games is different according to game, players, and the nature of virtual community. Researchers and professionals often say that community is a key feature of online game services. But the contrasting results of these online mahjong games tell us that community does not always accompany communication.

Virtual World GDP: revisited

HYamaguti — 2005-04-25T22:14:59+09:00

There emerged another debates on the size of the virtual economy in Terra Nova. Julian Dibbell, one of the writers, estimated the worldwide MMO GDP at $7.29 billion, by using a ratio of RMT (real money trades) amounts to the real-world GDP (not real GDP). The figure fell between GDPs of Benin ($7.49 billion) and Malta ($7.04 billion).

As usual, a flood of comments arrived to the post. Edward Castronova, an associate professor at Indiana Univ. and a host of the blog, basically supported Dibbell's idea and methodology. But several people opposed the argument. One argued that the virtual GDP was "inflated" due to the underground nature of RMT. Some others argued that the Dibbell's method was inconsistent with the GDP calculation of real-world economies because the estimate counted gross trade values rather than the value added.

These arguments in Terra Nova, however, seemed to stack up with a question, "What is GDP?"

I would like to address the issue from basic principles of economics.

GDP is "a measure of the amount of the economic production of a particular territory in financial capital terms during a specific time period" (Wikipedia). Economic activities in virtual worlds typically include: hunting monsters and collecting marketable items, refining swards, providing magic services to other avatars, and so on. The point is, what the GDP counts is the value of "domestic" activities. Many of such activities are not included in virtual GDP calculation. But it is fine. It is just the same as in the real-world economies. Only the activities accompanying monetary transactions are counted. Thus measuring virtual-world GDP by RMT underestimates the "true" size of the economic activities there, even considering the fact that RMT amounts is gross value rather than value added. I imagine that the majority of the economic activities in these virtual worlds are collecting items from monsters, which are basically agriculture.

And another point is that the value of the GDP should basically be denominated into the "local" currency of the virtual world. In case of EQ, it is platinum piece. However, the virtual-world GDP denominated into an in-game currency is difficult for us to understand its economic implication. It is the same as the situation in which I have no idea on GDP of Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe dollar. Thus we need exchange rates. A RMT is a trade between real and virtual economies. So we can use the "exchange rate" used in RMT to translate virtual world GDP into the real-world economic value. It is a economically legitimate approach.

In this sense, Dibbell's calculation of virtual-world GDP was not done in an "exact" way, but done by using RMT value as a proxy of economic activities in virtual worlds. The estimate, thus, should be inaccurate, but still is a "good" estimate. I do not agree with views in which in-game activities not for real money have zero-value. Do not mix up the real and virtual worlds; they are different. And the values in these worlds should be denominated into the respective monetary units. In this sense I think Castronova's approach in "Cyberian frontier" paper was legitimate. Exchange rates made virtual currencies "meaningful" to our real economy. We know that the virtual world values are important to us, so we pay real money for them.

アンケート：FFXIプレイヤー求む！

HYamaguti — 2005-03-01T03:02:23+09:00

緊急告知！FFXIプレイヤーアンケート回答者募集のお知らせ

英国ミドルセックス大学で人類学を研究している修士学生のアラン・ミードスさんが、世界中のFFXIプレイヤーに対するアンケート調査を行っており、回答してくださる方を募集しています。オンラインゲームにおけるキャラクターやプレイスタイルなどが、国によってどう異なっているかなどを研究しているようです。日本人の回答まだ少ないそうなので、FFXIプレイヤーの皆さんのご協力をお願いいたします。

サイトはこちら。日本語です。アンケートは26問の主要質問と6問のサポート質問から構成されており、約10分間かかるとのこと。研究の意図などに関する詳しい説明は、ミードスさんのサイト「www.videogamestudies.com」にあります（こっちは英語）。

Online Games That Bring You Back To 80s

HYamaguti — 2004-10-17T11:25:42+09:00

Do you want to go back to the good old days of 1980s? At "Natsu-Gei," which stands for "nostalgic games," you can play various games that we had accustomed to in the 80s. Target players are now in 20s and 30s. People in these generations have grown with TV games.

The site is operated by NTT Communications, the NTT group company for long distance calls. 9 out of 10 games are for 1-person play, but one game started beta service for 2-person play. Players pay 30-80 yen per play.

An interesting feature is that the site prepares online community feature, which allows players to interact online. It includes mail, bulletin board, and chat functions. You can exchange secret skills with the fellow players.

Univ. of Tokyo Establishes Grad Program for Content Studies

HYamaguti — 2004-10-05T01:56:18+09:00

University of Tokyo, one of the leading university in Japan, opens this October a graduate program for studies of content, including games, movies, anime, and so forth. As a kick off event, they held a seminar session on September 29, titled "International Cooperation among Gamer Developers." Two distinguished lecturers presented speeches. First, Mr. Jason Della Rocca, a program director at IGDA, talked about "Industry/Academic Relations" on game studies. He explained what is expected for both industry and academic sides in enhancing game studies. And second, Dr. Gonzalo Frasca, a reserch scientist at the Center for Computer Game Research at the IT University in Copenhagen, talked about "Some Recent Trends in Cultural Computer Game Research," He presented recent trends of game studies, including i) ludology, ii) studies of virtual worlds of MMORPGs, and iii) serious games.

Money Can Buy: A Virtual Girlfriend

HYamaguti — 2004-09-11T15:09:00+09:00

Artificial Life Inc., a Hong-Kong based software company, announced that it has developed a 3G mobile game called Virtual Girlfriend," according to BBC.

According to the news release by the company, the game is based on intelligent 3D agent technology that drives a girl avatar. The virtual girl lives in her virtual world in the mobile screen, working in the office, dining at a restaurant, or relaxing in her home. Players of the game not only watch, but interact with her through real time chat, SMS or MMS messages. The technology is available for speakers of English, German, Chinese, Korean and Japanese,

Players can send vertual gift to her, and the gifts can elevate the level of intimacy to her. BBC explains that players buy the gifts with real money, and the virtual girl asks the player to buy her those gifts. It is a king of content-based fee system, which becomes increasingly popular business model of online games.

Artificial Life is in fact a public US corporation, founded in Boston in 1994 and registered in Delaware, and now headquartered in Hong Kong. The company will launch on December 1, 2004 in Hong Kong. A Virtual Boyfriend version of the game is scheduled for release in February 2005.

Online Gathering in Ragnarok On Air

HYamaguti — 2004-09-09T15:29:26+09:00

On Sept. 1, an online gathering was held in the Ragnarok Online, a leading MMORPG in Japan. Approximately 600 players, gathered at the town of "Alberta," enjoyed a PvP match and "rock, scissors and paper" game, and so on.

An interesting point of this event was that it was scheduled at the on-air time of the radio program, "Ragnarok Online the Radio." The casts and staff of the radio program also logged in the game and led the event while talking on air. The PvP match was also broadcasted live. Each member of the winning team got a special item as a prize.

During the event, some players tried to interfere by calling monsters. This was fatal to the players gathered there because the participants were limited to the novice characters without any special skills. But some other players there with higher-grade jobs helped them by defeating the monsters and reviving the dead characters.

An Agricultural MMORPG（農業をテーマとしたオンラインゲーム）

HYamaguti — 2004-08-18T11:15:04+09:00

"Cosmo-Gurashi" (Cosmo-Life) is a MMORPG that featured agriculture. A player becomes a farmer who, buys a plot of land, grow various vegetables and fruits, harvests and ships to the Agricultural Cooperatives. As usual for an online game, the player can raise a pet, create new items, and so on.
「コスモぐらし　オンライン的農業生活」は、農業をテーマにしたMMORPGである。プレイヤーは農家となり、土地を買い、さまざまな作物を育て、収穫して農協へ出荷する。この種のゲームではお決まりの、ペットを飼ったりアイテムを作ったり、といった機能もある。

In addition to that the game features agriculture, there are 2 interesting characteristics for the game. First, they launch a promotion campaign in cooperation to the (real) Japan Agricultural Co-operatives (JA). The vegetables and fruits of JA are sold in the game, and an avatar farmer (in the game) who receives seeds of fruits from the (our, real) earth and grows may get the real fruits (in August, muscat grape).
農業をとりあげたということ以外に、このゲームの面白い点は2つある。1つは、（現実世界の）全国農業協同組合連合会（ＪＡ全農）と協力したプロモーションを行っていることだ。ゲーム内にJAの取り扱う作物が登場するほか、ゲーム内で地球から送られた作物を育てると、抽選でその農作物がプレゼントされる企画もある。8月の作物は「マスカット」だそうだ。

Another interesting feature of this game is that the pet, called Baboo, can search and get items from websites outside the game. Probably this intends to make players view websites affiliated with the game company. It is worth noting as an attempt to link the game with real business.
もう1つは、ゲーム内でペットとして飼うことができる生き物「バブー」を使い、ゲーム外のウェブサイトからアイテムを取り出すことができるというしくみだ。おそらくはこれにより、提携したサイトにアクセスさせるということなのだろう。ゲームを現実のビジネスに結びつける工夫の1つとして注目される。

The game was developed by MuuMuu Co., Ltd. (pronounced as "moo-moo"). The company seems to devote itself to development, and the games they developed are distributed by other firms. Cosmo-Gurashi is distributed by Square Enix Co., Ltd. and adopted as a content of @nifty, DION, and BIGLOBE, leading ISPs in Japan. Many other games are diestributed by Sony Computer Entertainement, Inc..
ゲームを開発したのは、有限会社ムームーという企業だ。開発に特化しているようで、販売は他の企業が行っている。今回の「コスモぐらし」はスクウェア・エニックスが販売者となり、@nifty、DION、BIGLOBEのコンテンツとして採用されている。その他のゲームの多くはソニー・コンピュータ・エンタテインメントから販売されているようだ。

They have a TV program of this game, too. It seems that this kind of media-mix strategy becomes increasingly common in the game industry.
このゲームを紹介するためのテレビ番組も放映しているらしい。最近はゲーム業界でもこの種のメディアミックスが多くなってきた。