Happy Birthday, Pogo.com

Electronic Arts announced that Pogo.com is officially ten years old. Pogo.com launched in 1999 as a start up and has grown from a small offering of games with dozens of players to a global destination offering hundreds of games to millions of users in the North America, France, Germany and the United Kingdom making it one of the most trafficked sites on the web, and #1 in stickiness (average minutes/visitor) amongst the top 10 online properties - according to tracking data from comScore.com. In the past four years Pogo.com players have logged more than 6 billion hours and 8 billion game sessions on the site.

Pogo.com is known for its online community of players who forge life-long friendships through the site and spend way too many hours all kinds of casual games. Pogo has local sites and communities in UK and Germany. The Pogo.com premium service, Club Pogo, offers players a variety of VIP features including exclusive games, no ad interruptions, private chat and avatars. Club Pogo had over 1.75 million paying subscribers at the end of August 2009.

Birthday Party Bash shipping

2K Play has released Birthday Party Bash, a Wii party game that promises a Party–in-a-Box, including themed games, invitations, and offers from Duncan Hines, Party City, and Evite, and a how-to guide on planning a fun and original party for children. Sure, it’s kind of an oddball product, but no more so than, say, Wii Fit..

Up to 12 party goers can whack, roll, splash, pop, scribble, climb, jump, and shimmy their way through more than 20 birthday games, including Piñata Blast, Duncan Hines Cake Stacker, Pin the Tail, Hot Potato and Birthday Blowout. The birthday boy or girl can also choose from ten party theme rooms to set the scene for a bash, from Pirates complete with sword and treasure chest, to Princess with a royal castle, a fancy crown, and unicorn. When it’s time to break for cake, the traditional Happy Birthday song will play for everyone to sing along in karaoke-style, with a virtual cake on screen.

For right around $40, you get a guide filled with tips on planning a birthday celebration, 12 ready-to-mail party invitations, customized birthday party bash on-line invitations from Evite.com, a recipe and photo of an exclusive Birthday Party Bash cupcake tower from the authors of the Hello, Cupcake!, and coupons from Duncan Hines and Party City to help outfit the party with decorations, party supplies and dessert.

Four years of The Escapist

It is with great respect that I encourage you to celebrate 4 years and 210 issues of the popular gaming magazine The Escapist with the latest issue: “E-volution.”

The 210th issue of The Escapist is all about change: how the industry has changed, how the games have changed, how The Escapist has changed and even the changes that are waiting in the wings of a glorious future (I hope).

Inside this commemorative Fourth Birthday issue you’ll find a number of interesting articles including “Time to Move On” by EIC Russ Pitts, “The Incredible Disappearing Teacher” by Rob Zacny, “Memory Lane” by Leigh Alexander, “The Escapist’s 4th Anniversary Birthday Bash Quiz,” an exclusive interview with Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw and a special thank-you to all past and current contributors.

If you’re looking for something interesting to read, then check out The Escapist Issue #210.

My only advice for the new Editor in Chief? It needs more Susan Arendt.

Happy Birthday, MapleStory

MapleStory has been running in North America for four years, by Nexon USA’s count. I remember a former coworker of mine carrying on about how his niece had fallen in love with the game when it was still in beta. It was at that time that the game had taken off like a wildfire among the tween set, and then adults, intrigued by that fascination with the game, started to play it in droves. Obviously, the number of users since that time has dropped off considerably, but the game apparently still enjoys a fair share of subscribers. Of course, it’s no Runescape.

Nexon USA is celebrating this milestone - four years surviving in the rather vicious North American MMO market, by offering a number of items and events for subscribers. Some of the goodies being offered to subscribers include Fourth Anniversary Maple Weapons (Maple Hats, Maple Shields, Maple Earrings, or Fourth Anniversary Scrolls), weapons upgrades using Maple Leaf drops, a level up event (again, involving Maple Leaves), GM events, the ability to transform into a monster, 1,200 prizes over the next 40 days, a special Maple Quiz and a whole lot more.

Learn more by checking out maplestory.nexon.net.

Happy Birthday, Second Life

Second Life, the MMO game that isn’t quite a game, but serious business to some, has turned five years old today, announced Linden Lab. A lot has happened to the virtual world created by Linden Lab and launched on June 23, 2003.

To celebrate one million registered users and the five years of being alive, Linden Lab will launch a two-week long Virtual World Fair - complete with virtual fairgrounds, roundtable discussions, parties and exhibits the show off the creativity of residents. The event will be held in various regions in Second Life and will take place from June 23 - July 7, 2008.