Justin.tv does gaming

Justin.TV has launched a brand new section dedicated specifically to gaming. Yay. Justin.TV is no stranger to the world of gaming, having covered live streams of E3 press conferences for G4TV - amongst the game related content. Located at gaming.justin.tv, this is the first of many planned themed locations within the site that will cater to a specific subject including music, social stuff, non-profits, etc.

To kick off the gaming section,. Justin.tv is co-hosting a StarCraft tournament as well as organizing a fundraiser gaming marathon for the wonderful Child’s Play charity. Who doesn’t love StarCraft and helping sick children?

The Lab celebrates art and gaming at art.tech

The San Francisco alternative art space, The Lab, will be hosting a three-day festival in early Sept. celebrating what organizers call the intersection of art and technology. While gaming isn’t the only thing going on at this three-day event, it has a prominent place in it, with experimental approaches to video game development explored by several artists that involve interactivity and innovation.

Sean Wallace will be showing Fluxly, a video game featuring wizard duels in which users must make their own hardware controller to compete. Most everything in the game can be manipulated so it up to the user to make and program a controller to find victory. Users can also play the game with some pre-built controllers like a hamster ball, a cigar box, a MIDI keyboard or work on one by programming it and putting it together with the help of a technician. Find out more at as220.org.

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Raptr: Everyone’s a Gamer

Raptr announced today that it has launched a new multi-network instant messaging service and client, and has added two new publishers to its Raptr Partners Program.

For more details, we spoke with Raptr CEO and Founder Dennis Fong, who walked us through some of the new features in a run-through of the new client earlier this week. His comments are highlighted in blue  throughout.

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Anime Expo 2009 begins Friday, July 2

The country’s largest Japanese animation and manga (comics) convention is opening tomorrow at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Anime Expo 2009 will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center July 2 - 5. Celebrating its 18th year, this year’s expo will focuses on manga, anime, gaming and related industries.

During the convention, members of the anime/manga and game industry, along with the general public, will meet to discuss ongoing industry trends and speculate on how these trends will impact the U.S. and international markets. Panel discussions, industry awards and other events will take place throughout the four-day convention. More importantly companies like Atlus USA and Capcom will offer a variety of events, participate in panels and showcase their line-up of current and upcoming games.

More information can be found at www.anime-expo.org.

Championship Gaming Series Calls It Quits

Sad news yesterday for the world of professional gaming. The Championship Gaming Series pro gaming league has packed up, turned off the lights, and left the building. The official word of the CGS dissolution came as a surprise to fans of the league. Gamers checking out the CGS website were surprised by an open letter, which read as follows:

“Today BSkyB, STAR, and DirecTV ended their Championship Gaming Series (CGS) business.

While the concept was ahead of its time and we are extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished, it became increasingly clear that as this ambitious project evolved, that profitability was too far in the future for us to sustain operations in the interim.

Our goal was to be ahead of the curve in the e-sports space, and we conceived of CGS as a true sports league. We invested wholeheartedly in the venture and presented viewers with a top-notch production, but the economics just didn’t add up for us at this time.

Our only regret is that we will lose a team of creative and talented individuals who invested their hearts and souls into Championship Gaming Series. We recognize their achievements, and thank them for their hard work and passion.

BSkyB, STAR, and DirecTV continue to be committed to the video games sector, which is an important part of many of our customers’ lives and a great source of entertainment.

Sincerely,
The CGS Team”

GameStrata Survey: 18 - 48, The Spending Years

According to a survey conducted by GameStrata, gamers spend on average more than $30,500 on games and gaming hardware during the years of 18-48. The survey, which solicited the opinions of “hundreds” of GameStrata members, also found a strong correlation between digital purchases and the Xbox 360. Online multiplayer was another important reason that most surveyed seemed to prefer the Xbox 360 over other platforms. Some respondents also mentioned the PS3 as their platform of choice for micro transactions and multiplayer.

85 percent of respondents confirmed the purchase of a virtual good in the last month and nearly 40 percent said that they play 6-10 hours online per week. The study also found that having a social network helped foster and encourage micro transactions and multiplayer.

“Though most gamers are already likely to purchase virtual goods online, participating in a social network and seeing friends update their games and systems may expedite the process and help gamers make buying decisions faster,” says GameStrata.

You can learn more about GameStrata and the survey by visiting www.gamestrata.com.