Recreation clubs entitled to lawful activities: HC

The Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Friday said that members of recreation clubs are entitled to carry on lawful activities within their premises and there should not be any interference from the police.

Justice K K Sasidharan gave the ruling while allowing a writ petition filed by Mullai Recreation Club seeking to forbear the police from interfering with the rights of the its members who played 'rummy' without betting.

In its petition, the club, situated at Thankkankulam said it was aggrieved because of the unnecessary intrusion caused by the police inspector, Thirunagar, into their activities when its members have been playing rummy which is a game of skill.

India's gaming industry to grow from Rs 4 bn to Rs 14 bn this year

In India's growing gaming world, localisation is the new joystick. While 13-year-old Sriram loves Tinkle comics' popular characters Suppandi and Shikari Shambu, he would rather play with them online rather read the book – a clear pointer that local gaming is here to stay. The change is being fuelled by huge growth numbers – India's gaming industry is set to grow from Rs 4 billion in 2007 to a projected Rs 14 billion in 2011. "Games like NBA, FIFA and Rally that used to dominate the Indian gaming industry till about two years ago are being swept aside by India-flavoured games.

Cricket dons a digital avatar this gaming season

Zapak, Nazara, Jump Games, Sony and Dream11 set to release games on the mobile, internet platforms to cash in on frenzy

This month, the sub-continent will host the ICC World Cup 2011 — and cashing in on the ubiquitous cricket buzz will be the Indian mobile and internet gaming industry.

“The cricket World Cup appeals to a wide audience, with even non-cricket enthusiasts getting involved. Games ideally need to be reasonably priced and should be able to touch base with the masses,” said Rohit Sharma, CEO (digital business), Reliance BIG Entertainment.

How a Mobile Gaming Startup is Turning Sports Spectators Into Players

While Thump CEO Chip Overstreet was watching the 2000 Rose Bowl with friends, he had an entirely normal conversation about what would happen next between the Wisconsin Badgers and Stanford Cardinal. At which point he was struck with a great idea. What if there was a game that allowed sports fans to compete with each other to most accurately predict the next play?

At the time, smartphones and tablets were science fiction, Mark Zuckerberg was still in high school, and the term “social game” suggested Trivial Pursuit.

Nine years later, Overstreet picked the idea back up and created Thump, a game that lives on iPhones, Android phones, BlackBerrys, Microsoft’s Slate tablet and Facebook. As sport fans watch a game, they can compete with a group of friends or strangers to be the most accurate predictor of what their teams will do next. The version for pro and college football launched in September. Baseball is planned to launch in March.

Mashable recently talked with Overstreet about how Thump aims to offer a game that is compelling to both players and advertisers.

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/01/28/thump/

Mobile Gaming Poised for Growth in India

According to latest research report “India Mobile Gaming Analysis”, India has become a high growth potential market for the global mobile gaming players. The industry has been witnessing phenomenal growth since 2005 and has outpaced other mobile gaming markets around the world. A vast mobile consumer base and increasing penetration of mobile gamers has transformed once a buzzword into a fully fledged industry. The 71% CAGR market growth during 2010-2014 readily confirms Indian market’s attractiveness and calls for foreign investments.

Cyber Cafe users are mostly affluent

Cyber cafe users are experienced Internet users with 64% using the Net for the last two years, according to an IMRB survey titled Internet Usage and Habits of Cyber Café Users. The survey has been conducted across 41 cities. More than 80% of the visitors to cyber cafes are from SEC (socio-economic category) A — 53% and SEC B — 29%, so the cyber cafe clientele is affluent. Education levels are also high, with 60% users being graduates or above.

UTV may exit Indiagames

Founder, other investors in talks to buy back stake even as boom seen in sector

Media and entertainment firm UTV Software Communications is in the process of selling its stake in UTV Indiagames — the online and mobile gaming subsidiary of the group, said two sources involved in the deal.

Sources said Vishal Gondal, founder of Indiagames, along with existing investors Cisco and Adobe, are in talks with both private equity consortia and strategic investors to buy back the stake they’d once sold to the parent firm. The deal is expected to be in the range of $80-100 million (Rs 360 crore-Rs 450 crore).

Gaming Technology Helps India Prepare For Terrorist Attacks

The 3D model of Bangalore's Garuda Mall would be right at home in a modern video game, but it's much more than that. It's part of a simulation aimed at helping emergency response teams deal with the all-too-real possibility of a terrorist attack.

Terrorism is a major issue in India. Over the past year alone the country has seen multiple devastating incidents, from the February explosion at a German Bakery in Pune that left 14 dead and more than 60 wounded, to the December bombing in Varanasi that killed a toddler and saw more than 20 injured in the stampede that followed. Fighting terrorism is a key national priority in India.

As long as it is rummy try your hand in Gujarat

Aman Gymkhana Pvt Limited, Gujarat got relief after the Gujarat High Court declared Rummy Card Game as a game of skill and not gambling. The club owners were not happy with the regular raids and harassment by police over the issue of gambling because of which they approached the High Court.

A single judge bench of Justice Akil Kureshi considered a judgment of Apex court in case of The state of Andhra Pradesh v. K. Satyanarayana and others, reported in AIR 1968 SC 825 to give relief to the petitioner. In the said judgment, the apex court held that rummy involves element of skill and is not a game of chance and involves no element of gambling.

The court disposed of the matter with a direction to authorities that they shall not interfere with the members of petitioner’s club or any other visitors as long as it involves no element of gambling.



The court however clarified that this order should not be understood to be limiting the powers of police authorities to verify whether in name of rummy, gambling is going on in certain premises.

Source: http://www.lawetalnews.com/

Rediff launches gaming section with social networking features

Nasdaq-listed portal Rediff.com, today announced the launch of a gaming section on the website which combines features of social networking with gaming.

Though there are a variety of websites offering online gaming, the product offering is different because it has social networking features embedded, Rediff's Associate director for product development, Prerana Nayak, said.

Using the application, one can invite friends to play a particular game, let others know of their performance, or just discuss about the game, she said.

The new reality of gaming

Video games used to be about fighting aliens and rescuing princesses. Not any more

Today’s most popular games have you tilling your farm, hiring waiting staff and devising menus for your restaurant or taking your pets out for walks while maintaining cordial relations with the neighbours. Reality it would seem is the new escapism.

Farming, running a restaurant or keeping a pet are three of the most successful game concepts on social networks like Facebook or smartphone platforms like iPhone and Android. For instance, Farmville is today the most popular game on Facebook with close to 55 million people playing it every month. Its maker, California-based Zynga — all of three years old — is reported to be (privately) worth USD 5.5 billion. Two of Zynga’s well known peers, Playfish and Playdom, were acquired by Electronic Arts (EA) and Disney over the last year for USD 400 million and USD 763 million, respectively.

Clearly, there’s money in social network chore-gaming. But why on earth are people actually doing it?

GAME for a JOB - Great Jobs in Indian Online Gaming Industry

The gaming industry in India today is not just fun and games. It is a serious trade and a worthwhile, rewarding job market for those who desire to enjoy an ‘animated’ life.

Times are exciting for the Indian gaming industry. It is fast becoming a stimulating career option for the country’s gifted professionals. Consider this: Nothing less than seven to eight million mobile games are downloaded every month. The size of the Indian gaming industry grew from Rs 7.9 billion in 2009 to Rs 9.8 billion in 2010 and is expected to grow to Rs 32 billion in 2014. The industry employed an estimated 1,800 employees in 2008 and is expected to have over 13,000 employees by 2012. Clearly, the industry, which extends across the mobile, PC, online and gaming categories, is headed to a place where it will create a different DNA of people and thus an ever-increasing career prospect.

There are two components to the opportunities available in this sector in India, points out Rohit Sharma, CEO, digital, Big Entertainment. “One is that there is a huge amount of outsourcing of work in terms of art and back-end work. This will increase exponentially as the industry grows globally. Numerous studios are opening up across the country to facilitate the creation of this work, giving rise to multiple opportunities for a lucrative job market.” “Secondly, many companies like Zynga, for example, are setting up development offices in India and see a resulting growth in this industry, as well as in the number of people who will become a part of it,” adds Sharma.

MLAs holed up at Golden Palms Play Rummy Card Game

The BJP MLAs are making the most of the time that they are spending at the Golden Palms Resport and Spa of filmmaker Sanjay Khan. Not only they are eating, drinking but they say their favorite time pass is playing rummy card game.

No wonder rummy card game is one of the favorite card game whether it is the common Indian or ministers of India. The high court is hearing the case about the disqualification of 11 BJP MLAs and meanwhile the MLAs are enjoying the old Mysore legislators' favourite dishes, which include naati koli saaru (country chicken gravy), boti (diced pieces of mutton) and tale maamsa (head meat curry) along with mudde (ragi ball) at the resort.

90% of tweens now play online games

Gaming may have moved with the times, and seen an increase in the number of adults playing as a result, but kids are still heavily involved. In fact, 90 percent of tweens play online games.

According to the M2 Research report (via Gaming Angels website), 93 percent of girls and 91 percent of boys (between the ages of 8 and 15) play some form of online games. The DS, PSP, and Apple products are all helping, but it’s Facebook that’s really driving this trend.

It should be noted that “online games” is different than “games online.” These young kids are increasingly turning to social networking sites such as Facebook to get their gaming fix, and so we’re not just talking about PS3 and Xbox, or even DS and Wii here.

However, as much as social gaming, as is the accepted term, can be dismissed and denigrated, it is at least a starting point. So if it gets kids involved and interested in video games at a young age, I’m all for it. After all, these are the individuals we need to buy next-gen consoles if the industry is going to grow.

Women over 55 are the biggest online gamers

It’s become something of a truism that when you’re playing a video game online and getting thrashed you are almost certainly getting beaten by a teenage boy. They are, after all, very into games and they have plenty of time on their hands in which to practice.

However, the stereotype might not be true, at least according to research from ComScore. In terms of minutes spent playing games online, the heaviest users are women aged over 55. They spend more of their time gaming than any other age group, male or female.

Global mobile gaming revenue to reach $11.4 bn by 2014: Gartner

Worldwide mobile gaming end-user revenue is expected to reach USD 11.4 billion by 2014, research firm Gartner said.

According to Gartner, global mobile gaming end-user revenue is expected to increase by 19 per cent to surpass USD 5.6 billion in 2010 from USD 4.7 billion in 2009.

The market will continue to see steady growth through 2014, when it is projected to reach USD 11.4 billion, Gartner said in a statement.

Google in talks with online gaming companies to develop Facebook rival

Internet giant Google Inc is in talks with several makers of popular online games as it seeks to develop a broader social networking service that could compete with Facebook, says a media report.

Attributing to people familiar with the matter, the ‘Wall Street Journal’ reported that Google has been in discussions with top developers like Playdom Inc, Electronic Arts Inc’s Playfish and Zynga Game Network Inc, a company in which Google recently took a financial stake, to offer their games on a new service it is building.

However, it is unclear when Google may launch the new gaming offering and the plans are not finalised, the report noted.

Indian animation sector set to grow at 21.8%, says report

India is the sweatshop for the global animation and gaming industry, expected to grow at an estimated 21.8%, but hurdles like dearth of quality talent and studios are issues affecting the nascent industry.

According to PricewaterhouseCooper's Indian Entertainment & Media Outlook for 2010, the industry is estimated to grow at Rs 23.8 billion with an increased usage of social gaming and online gaming.

According to the report, India continues to leverage its low cost advantage combined with the entreprenuerial drive of its companies to position itself on the global front but issues that are acting as hurdles include dearth of quality talent in animation and VFX, piracy affecting gaming industry, expensive hardware delaying the penetration of console gaming and lack of quality studios for high-end animation.

An out-of-this-world experience in gaming

The days of gamers going to small, crowded gaming cafes in bylanes near their houses are over. Alienware, a company famous for its premium gaming PCs and laptops, has started a top-notch gaming cafe in the city that promises to be the new hot-spot in town.

The gaming cafe, named the ‘Alienware Spaceship’, will have around 16 systems and will also have a store within. The company expects to boost interest in gaming with this new initiative.

“We’ll be offering mostly new games, not any of the older games that other cafes offer. We won’t be having Counter Strike 1.6, which is found in every gaming cafe, but the newer version of it, Counter Strike: Source. Also we are expecting a lot of gamers to come here to play games that require high-end systems such as Call of Duty. Also, three of the systems will let gamers play in 3D,” Suhas J, Brand Manager of Alienware, says.

Are PC gamers better than console players?

Rahul Sood, who started Voodoo PC and is now an exec at HP, is never one to shy away from bold statements. In his latest missive, he claims that Microsoft has killed a project that would have pitted PC gamers against Xbox fraggers in online play.

Why? According to Sood, Microsoft expected the Xbox players to cream PC gamers, but the opposite occurred: the top-notch Xbox players the company used would repeatedly lose to what Sood describes as “mediocre” PC gamers.

It’s unclear why Microsoft would have pulled the plug on such an experiment, but Sood — a long-time advocate for PC gaming — speculates that if the company had implemented the PC-Xbox gaming bridge with its Live online environment, the Microsoft’s Xbox team was would have been embarrassed.