Gaming for a Tradeshow
February 15, 2005 10:14 AM Subscribe
Never make a suggestion in a committee. 'Cause you'll be the one getting the action item. Even if you know nothing about it. Committee is concerned with promoting metro networking standards. My friend's suggestion was that online interactive gaming should be part of an upcoming tradeshow demo in Chicago. [+]
I, er, my friend is over 40 and knows nothing about the subject. Any suggestions on how to attract a multi-user online gaming provider to a weeklong tradeshow demo? Provider would get branding, PR out of it.
I, er, my friend is over 40 and knows nothing about the subject. Any suggestions on how to attract a multi-user online gaming provider to a weeklong tradeshow demo? Provider would get branding, PR out of it.
You should probably start by looking at platform needs, are we talking all M$ machines, will there be other O/S represented? The O/S and the type of hardware determine what software could even run, let alone wether the publisher wants it used.
posted by Megafly at 1:56 PM on February 15, 2005
posted by Megafly at 1:56 PM on February 15, 2005
Response by poster: For the purposes of this demo assume that any network attached computers would be either M$ O/S, or perhaps video game consoles (e.g. X box)?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:16 PM on February 15, 2005
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:16 PM on February 15, 2005
maybe if you provide more details on how the online network gaming is going to promote metro networking standards?
or do you just want to know how to set up a bunch of game clients on a server?
i don't know much about online gaming, but i'd suggest adding some details to your inquiry.
i'm under the impression you could acheive this by buying a bunch of licenses and then just installing them on all the boxes... at most that'd cost you $30-50/box, which is a drop in the bucket when I think about what my old company used to spend on tradeshow expenses.
or did you want to get the licenses donated?
posted by fishfucker at 4:53 PM on February 15, 2005
or do you just want to know how to set up a bunch of game clients on a server?
i don't know much about online gaming, but i'd suggest adding some details to your inquiry.
i'm under the impression you could acheive this by buying a bunch of licenses and then just installing them on all the boxes... at most that'd cost you $30-50/box, which is a drop in the bucket when I think about what my old company used to spend on tradeshow expenses.
or did you want to get the licenses donated?
posted by fishfucker at 4:53 PM on February 15, 2005
or do you want all the boxes to play on the same private server?
(in this case, i'd imagine you want to set up your OWN server).
posted by fishfucker at 4:53 PM on February 15, 2005
(in this case, i'd imagine you want to set up your OWN server).
posted by fishfucker at 4:53 PM on February 15, 2005
Response by poster: I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that there were multiplayer games available on a service provider model. Is this incorrect?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:09 PM on February 15, 2005
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:09 PM on February 15, 2005
Best answer: ZenMaster ... Yes, but I don't think they're what you're looking for.
The games that are available on a subscription, service provider basis are called MMORPGs. And they're not area-specific. They're global. So it really wouldn't do you any good to attract them to your city; they're based in places with very well developed IT infrastructures and the servers are distributed all over the country at colocation facilities, or clustered in one area near the company's HQ. Users typically play these games via broadband, such as Cable or DSL. Examples might be Everquest, World of Warcraft, Eve Online...
There are also games like Half-Life 2, Jedi Knight Academy, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, Battlefield 1942, and about a bajillion others where you purchase the game and can connect for free to servers owned either by the game's publisher, a 3rd party, or another user. These are the type of games that you will often find played at LAN parties or in Internet Cafes. They are free to play if you own the hardware or the game, otherwise you can rent a computer and access to the software from the internet cafe. You can play these either over a local area network or with people around the world via a broadband connection.
If you want to make an impact on metropolitan networking, might I suggest looking at develoing a public wireless network cloud in your city? That would help many more people, especially the disadvantaged, than gaming (which is very mature technology from the user side) would, because games do not require a specific type of network besides a broadband connection to the internet.
posted by SpecialK at 6:32 PM on February 15, 2005
The games that are available on a subscription, service provider basis are called MMORPGs. And they're not area-specific. They're global. So it really wouldn't do you any good to attract them to your city; they're based in places with very well developed IT infrastructures and the servers are distributed all over the country at colocation facilities, or clustered in one area near the company's HQ. Users typically play these games via broadband, such as Cable or DSL. Examples might be Everquest, World of Warcraft, Eve Online...
There are also games like Half-Life 2, Jedi Knight Academy, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, Battlefield 1942, and about a bajillion others where you purchase the game and can connect for free to servers owned either by the game's publisher, a 3rd party, or another user. These are the type of games that you will often find played at LAN parties or in Internet Cafes. They are free to play if you own the hardware or the game, otherwise you can rent a computer and access to the software from the internet cafe. You can play these either over a local area network or with people around the world via a broadband connection.
If you want to make an impact on metropolitan networking, might I suggest looking at develoing a public wireless network cloud in your city? That would help many more people, especially the disadvantaged, than gaming (which is very mature technology from the user side) would, because games do not require a specific type of network besides a broadband connection to the internet.
posted by SpecialK at 6:32 PM on February 15, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
Or what the generic market space descriptions are for companies who do this? Is "multi-user online gaming provide" even the correct term? I'm thinking some kind of multi-player "Doom"-like game which can be shown running across our multi-vendor demo. I'm dyin' here. Seriously.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:40 PM on February 15, 2005