Friday, September 9, 2011

How Vivendi Games Was Saved By World of Warcraft

The unit of videogames of the Vivendi, that already it was a deficitary business for the French group of media, enjoys currently of one of the biggest edges of profit of the industry thanks to a game: World of Warcraft.

The world of warcraft game congregated more than 10 million users since its launching in 2004 and the president of the Vivendi Games, Rene Penisson, says that she created a new market for the company and the industry as a whole. "I believe that a great market is opening", said Penisson to the Reuters, in interview after the presentation of annual results of the group. "it is changing the way as the people play videogames."

The French rival of the Vivendi, Infogrames, that controls the Atari in the United States, affirmed this month that the games online will be the engine of growth of the industry and will compose one room of all the games of the industry in three years. World of Warcraft is a game in which the users makes friends and enemies in a virtual world formed by druids, goblins and fairies, and some times find its soul-twin in the real life. Passed year, the package of expansion "The Burning Crusade" surpassed expectations of sales and the Vivendi waited that the same happens with the package for the game, "Wrath of the Lich King", that it will be launched in the semester of this year.

Between 2003 and 2007, the Vivendi Games doubled its invoicing for more than 1 billion of euros (1,52 billions of dollar) and transformed an operational damage of about 200 million euros into a profit of 181 million. "World of Warcraft has been the essential element that it transformed the Vivendi Games", said Penisson. If the Vivendi Games did not have a so popular title, the company never would have obtained the affection of the Activision, the producer behind the successes as "Guitar Hero" and which the French group closed a partnership of 18 billion dollar in December of the passed year, Penisson said. The Vivendi Games will have between 52 68 percent of the agreed company Activision Blizzard, depending on the result of offers of action.

For 2009, the Vivendi Games foresaw invoicing agreed of 4,3 billion dollar, operational profit of 1,1 billion of dollar.

Penisson will be the director of the new company. "the combination of the two company creates a bonanza group in terms of portfolio of products and development potential", said it.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Backgammon is thought to be the oldest game in the world

Backgammon is thought to be the oldest game in the world, and archaeologists have found backgammon sets that date from as long ago as 3,000 BC. It is a classic game of luck combined with strategy, as you must roll dice and then choose how best to move. The great thing about backgammon is that the rules are simple to explain, but mastering the game can take a lifetime. Unlike chess, the game is also quick to pick up and play, with games often lasting only a few minutes.

Basically, there are two sides on a backgammon board, each with twelve spaces, for a total of twenty-four spaces. These spaces are numbered from 1 to 24 in opposite directions for the two players, so player one's space 1 is player two's space 24, and so on. Where each players' counters (checkers) are placed varies depending on the rules being used, but a common configuration is five on 6 and 13, three on 8, and two on 24.

To begin the game, you each roll one of the dice, and the player who rolls the highest gets the first turn using the numbers from both dice. The rule is that each number is a move, so if you roll a one and a six, you can move one checker one space and one checker six spaces.

This is where it starts to get a bit complicated, but stick with it. When you're deciding which checker to move and where, you have to consider which moves are allowed. Your checkers can only move to spaces that have no checkers, only your checkers, or only one of your opponent's checkers – you cannot move to any space that has two or more of your opponent's checkers. However, if you land on a space where your opponent has only one checker, you have taken it and can put it on the 'bar' in the middle of the board. The bar counts as 'space zero' for dice rolls, and any checkers there must be moved before the others can be.

Play Game Hit a Dot

New Page 4

Hit-the-Dot

Test your skill. How many boxes can you check in 30 seconds?
    
Time:
    
Score:


Instructions:

  1. Click on the radio buttons as
    they are selected randomly by the computer.
  2. 1 point per hit, minus 1 point per miss.