The Escapist, Issue 34: Wanna Be My Friendster?

[Evil Avatar]

The internet has an amazing ability to support communities, whether they are one club in one school, or international organizations. The authors of The Escapist focus on on communities, both real life and internet, in this week's issue of The Escapist: Wanna Be My Friendster? (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/34) Articles include:

Allen Varney: Attack of the Parasites (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/34/3)
Casual game portals all look alike - and soon, so will their games. Allen Varney explores the rampant knockoff debate raging among independent casual game developers.

Mark Wallace: Anonymity is Not Enough (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/34/9)
Anonymity is a two-edged sword. It offers a sense of comfort and protection, but also causes issues of trust. Mark Wallace discusses how technology giants Microsoft and IBM are trying to handle internet anonymity, and how this could affect online communities.

Bonnie Ruberg: After Sex (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/34/13)
"Is there such thing as a basic human function? Does sex pop up in all our virtual worlds because it is, at our core, our primary purpose? Or is money - the need to trade, to claim value - what's at our center?" Bonnie Ruberg discusses sex, economies, and upcoming adult-oriented online games.

Max Steele: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Phone (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/34/17)
"I'm sipping a latte at Starbucks when an instant message arrives on my mobile phone. There's a mobile game tournament starting soon with a $30 prize, and I'm invited to play." Max Steele looks at how a band of rebels from Sega.com transformed Nokia's N-Gage from a failing handset to a mobile gaming software platform with revolutionary potential.

[Mason]

Yeah, nothing can stop Nokia now!

...oh wait.

[Zombosis]

Allen Varneys article this issue is spot-on. I have a couple of friends involved in the portal industry, and I've done some reviewing for one of them. It's an interesting and well-timed article, that lad is a good writer.

[DarkEternal]

The one on anonymity was well-written; it's true that one of the biggest problems plagueing the internet is that everyone is anonymous and, therefore, feels the need to act like a moran. However, the one solution that makes sure only one person can log into a block of accounts didn't seem like nearly enough to me. Sure, it's you. Who are you?

The one on sex was stupid. All she seems to fixate on is that sex grows and that videogames are the newest place that it has grown to. Tell me something I don't know. And, in any case, I never got the point of cybering. What? We're going to talk dirty to each other and make-believe that we're doing it? Oh man, I get hot just thinking about it. You did say that you weren't a man, right?