Topic: Games and Gaming

This debate will clue you in to one of the biggest new emergences that most of us haven't yet heard of: virtual property markets and their intellectual property issues. The interchange may produce a few new business plans and should also be a whole lot of fun. The participants make legal, dollar, behavioral, and design forecasts for the virtual property markets within massively multi-player games, debating the practice from seller and designer viewpoints, and business vs. gaming intentions. [Accelerating Change 2004 audio from IT Conversations]

Bill Gurley, General Partner, Benchmark Capital, says that massively multi-player online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) are an "insanely profitable business." Hear about a game in China that has 9 million active users, and how players are so fanatical in Korea, that the police have had to investigate the theft of in-world characters. Bill says MMORPGs are a business opportunity far beyond EverQuest. [Web 2.0 audio from IT Conversations]

Dr. Moira Gunn interviews Dr. Henry Jenkins and learns how he thinks video games will revolutionize education. Dr. Jenkins is the director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the co-editor of Rethinking Media Change: The Aesthetics of Transition (Media in Transition). [Tech Nation audio from IT Conversations]

Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with John Beck, a Senior Research Fellow at USC's Annenberg Center of the Digital Future. He warns that the "Gamer Generation" is about to enter the workforce -- and that means change. John Beck is the author of "Got Game -- How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever." [Tech Nation audio from IT Conversations]

"Living the Dream: Business, Community and Innovation at the Dawn of Digital Worlds" presented by Cory Ondrejka, VP of Product Development, Linden Lab, creators of Second Life. (Audio from the Web 2.0 Conference by IT Conversations)

Reality Games - The Next Revolution.

Kuma Reality Games has gathered tremendous attention with KumaWar, an innovative PC game delivering accurate re-creations of actual events in the war just weeks after they occur -- and set off a storm of controversy. But behind its provocative subject matter is a challenge to traditional game publishers. The company's 'Episodic Games' are building new content demand, new sources of revenue, and competitive distribution.

In this talk, Kuma CEO Keith Halper discusses the techniques and technology which make episodic games possible, their cultural and financial impact, and the process of introducing revolutionary change in the buzz-driven market for games. (Audio from Accelerating Change 2004 on IT Conversations)

"The Future of Game Audio Production," by Clint Bajakian, Senior Music Super, Sony Computer Entertainment America [IT Conversations audio from the Mac OS X Conference]

Audio from "The Importance of the Law and IT" series on IT Conversations: Games aren't just for gamers any more. The legal issues surrounding intellectual property in virtual worlds has implications beyond GameBoys and PlayStations. What's the relationship between real and virtual-world economies? What can these virtual worlds teach us about democracy? Will regulation leak into (or out of) virtual worlds? Who owns avatars avatars and game scenarios in Internet-based games?

These are among the topics discussed at The State of Play, an annual conference sponsored by the Institute for Law & Policy at New York Law School and the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. Ernest Miller interviews two of the conference's organizers.

Wil Wheaton from Gnomedex 4.0 on IT Conversations: You may know him for his portrayal of Cadet Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but inside the skin of an actor is a geek trying (successfully) to get out. He's the author of the weblog, WilWheaton.net, and two books: Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek. In this presentation recorded at Gnomedex 4.0, Wil reads original unexpurgated excerpts from his books, takes questions, and sits down for an interview with IT Conversations. It was one of the highlights of the weekend. Guaranteed to entertain, whether you're a Star Trek fan or not. (Part 1 of 2)