Korean Online games! It's time to march into U.S.

'Game&Game World Championship 2007' the final of the U.S. region was held on L.A.

At U.S. final selection, more than 60,000 players participated from preliminary match of ‘Shot online (Sports)’, ‘War rock (Action)’, ‘Silkroad online (MMORPG)’ and US regional final event held successfully with 17 players who advanced from preliminary match and more than 200 supporters from all over the US.

This regional event was held successfully at the ‘Internet PC Café’ near LA area, and it began with press conference to help local presses understanding, and participants had great time through Korean online games with special events like professional DJ performances, and participants side shows.

Over 20 journalists from 14 local presses such as ‘MMOGD’, ‘WarCry’ visited to this event, and they showed off hot interests to Korean game companies and Korean online games.

US regional final had various episodes and special participants due to lot of games took part of it.

Especially, ‘Lunia (Allm)’ has hot-spotlight than any other events, because more than 50% of Lunia users are located in US area.

The winner of Lunia, Travis Verhagen who is student of AIU, and wish to be programmer to make games like Lunia said “It is great pleasure to win this event and I will try harder to get better result at Grand final at Seoul on Dec.”

The winner of ‘Navy field (Enternet)’ is Jedi1 (US), and OPR (Poland) took second place on 15 vs. 15 team play match. Even though it is US regional final, the ‘Navy field’ excited envy in other games because participants showed off great passion like came from all over the world (Canada, U.K., Poland, etc.) and prepare for the final.

Also ‘Bomb’N Dash (Innodis)’ brought big attentions because a user who has special job. US Marine, Jason who enjoy ‘Bomb’N Dash’ with his friends very much will dispatch to Afghanistan expressed inconvenience because he cannot play ‘Bomb’N Dash’ often after dispatch.

Last year regional finalists of ‘Silkroad online (Joymax)’ Gerald Bastien and Zachary Witeof took first and second place in this year event again, and have chance to win at Grand final this year too.

The ‘War rock (Dream Execution) proceed this event with at scene registration. ‘War rock’ had great heat from more 50 participants who came very early to enroll this game.

Mr. Kwon (KIPA) said “Over 60,000 players from US, UK, Canada, and Poland participated in this event, it proves that Korean online game already take great part of the world game market.”, also “We will try best to lead world game market by Korean online games based on popularity of this event.”

Last August, starting with the GNGWC European Finals, Korea (Yongin, 9.29-30), Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, 10.13), the United States (Los Angeles, 10.20), Japan (Tokyo, 11.17) the series will be held, each chosen gamers through regional finals will be join the Grand final on December 1 during the SoftEXPO & DCF 2007 Seoul COEX exhibition.

via Aving.

Record of Lunia War, an arcade making it's first appearance in Taiwan

Record of Lunia War (commonly known as Lunia) is a 3D on-line game that is an action packed arcade enjoyed by many from the past.

Record of Lunia War, a rendering of a comic, has a fairy tale like setting with graphics that fit the game rather than that which is not merely fancy, spectacular and high speed. Also, many users are drawn to this game because it has a great overall balance.

Record of Lunia War launched in Taiwan through Chinese Gamer

AllM (CEO Jong Myung Lee, www.allm.co.kr) announced on the 27th at a press conference in Taiwan that the online arcade RPG, Record of Lunia War, service contract was signed with Chinese Gamer (CEO Chin Po Wang, www.chinesegamer.net).

The Taiwan based Chinese Gamer is an affiliate of Softworld, a service provider for Ragnarok and World of Warcraft and more, develops and provides games. Both companies completed an Initial Public Offering (IPO). In Taiwan, over 190 thousand subscribers were connected simultaneously to Chinese Gamer’s Huang Yi Online reflecting its popularity. The successful launching of Trickster, the first published game, brought attention to management and publishing capabilities.

The CEO of Chinese Gamer, Chin Po Wang said with great confidence , “ I selected ‘Record of Lunia War’ because RPG is a new genre, the distinct game elements like experiencing a interesting story and the online game features that make the game more unique. We are in the final stages of the localizing process with AllM and we hope that this will have a greater success than Huang Yi online.”

The stress test beginning in October 17 will be the start of an all out on/off line marketing launch. Especially, the famous VJ characters have their real life voice recorded in voice chat system which more people are noticing. Famous Taiwan entertainers will participate with promotion in game channels, music channels and a variety of on/off line events.

Nexon Japan is the service provider of Record of Lunia War which is a hit in Japan and will provide GSP (Global Service Platform) to users in over 80 countries.viaAving.

Macromedia Flash 8

The Bottom Line

While Flash 8 is a great program that continues the tradition of excellence begun by its previous incarnations, upgrading from Flash MX isn't really essential to continue animating and developing effectively. The only major change that really stands out is the addition to Flash's video capabilities. If you're looking to try Flash for the first time, then I would recommend Flash 8 Basic--but if you're comfortable with MX, you may want to avoid the rather heavy upgrade costs.

Pros

* Easy to adjust to from Flash MX.
* Improves on minor flaws in previous versions.
* Intensive focus on developer functionality.
* Additional one-click effects.

Cons

* Even more cluttered than Flash MX.
* Some "new" features are frivolous and useless.
* The price tag is hefty for both Basic and Professional.

Description

* Flash 8 offers more advanced controls, streamlining once-complex actions and effects into one click.
* Enhanced video options offer a wide range of codecs and output options previously unavailable.
* Expanded functionality turns Flash 8 into a full-featured graphics editing program.
* Animation and drawing are easier than ever with new visualization tools.
* Actionscripting has new script assists; even beginners can program on an easy learning curve.

Guide Review - Flash Professional 8

At first glance, Flash Professional 8 looks like Flash MX wrapped up in a prettier package--but that's reassuring when making the transition from MX to 8. Moving up to Flash 8 is like coming home to a familiar house that's been spruced up with a new coat of paint and a few renovations--still the same comfortable rooms, but with a clean, fresh new feel.

My first impression, after trying out the program, was that a great deal of the struggle had been removed from certain functions. Filter effects that were once a "jerry-rig" process are now accomplished automatically with a single click; the Library is now a static panel with improved object tracking. Fonts look crisp without degradation; graphic transitions are now standard; line and fill controls now have more options, and Flash's video capabilities have undergone a complete revolution to turn the program into a full-featured video publishing suite. Even Actionscripting is easier, for developers--with an assist mode that practically completes the scripts for you.

Flash 8 still has a few of the problems of MX. It's still a memory-hog, for one, and although Macromedia touts an improved interface I still find it to be a bit too cluttered and overstuffed. Some of the improvements are just "fluff" that don't really matter, but they're still nice to have. While I would recommend an upgrade to Flash 8 (Professional or Basic) to anyone seeking enhanced video capability, I find that I'm just as comfortable sticking with Flash MX.

Norton All in 1

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Alien Skin Exposure 2 Photography Plug-In

The Bottom Line

Alien Skin Exposure is a plug-in designed to accurately simulate the look and feel of film in your digital photos. Exposure comes with a number of presets to imitate the appearance of Velvia, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, GAF 500, TRI-X, Ilford, and many other film types. It also offers controls for tweaking the color, tone, focus and grain of your photos. Through these settings, you can develop your own signature style and reproduce traditional darkroom effects. Being a plug-in, it runs inside a host program such as Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro, or Fireworks.

Pros

• Simulates the look of popular film stocks, including many that are no longer available.
• Provides extraordinarily realistic film grain simulation.
• Users can easily save their own custom presets to use on another computer, or to share with others.
• Hybrid CD includes Macintosh and Windows versions, plus a 50-page manual. Now Universal for Mac.
• There's an online forum where you can share presets or get help from other users and the developers.

Cons

• Price increase and stricter host requirements from Exposure version 1.
• Note: All 'cons' from Exposure 1 have been addressed in Exposure 2.

Description

• Exposure simulates the look of traditional color and black and white film stock, including many discontinued films.
• Offers more than 200 presets for Fuji Velvia, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, GAF 500, TRI-X, Ilford Delta, Polaroid, and many more.
• Includes special presets for recreating darkroom effects, push processing and cross-processing techniques.
• Custom controls for color, tone, focus, and grain let you make sophisticated adjustments.
• Grain can be larger than one pixel, irregularly shaped, and randomly spaced to mimic the subtle features of real grain.
• Grain can be adjusted independently for different strengths in the highlights, midtones, and shadows.
• Option to create output in a new layer allows for non-destructive editing. Compatible with Photoshop CS3 Smart Filters.
• Preview can be toggled on or off for comparison, or you can view before and after results side-by-side in split preview.
• Scriptable through Photoshop Actions, unlimited undo/redo, save and share custom settings, keyboard shortcuts.
• Requires Photoshop CS2 or later, Photoshop Elements 4 or later, Fireworks CS3 or later, or Paint Shop Pro Photo XI or later.

Guide Review - Alien Skin Exposure 2 Photography Plug-In

Alien Skin Exposure was designed for professional photographers who have used film for years and are now going digital. I am not a professional photographer, so I'm not familiar with the film types that Exposure is trying to simulate. However, I do know that Alien Skin has a long history of making excellent plug-ins, and if they say they did detailed microscope analysis of real world film stocks to accurately simulate them in Exposure, I believe them. But I didn't just take their word for it; I have done a lot of research and Exposure comes highly recommended by pro photographers.

Exposure comes with presets to imitate the appearance of real world film stocks. It also offers controls for tweaking the color, tone, focus and grain of your photos. Using these, you can develop your own signature style and reproduce traditional darkroom effects such as Lomo, Daguerreotype, glamour shot softening, and so on. Custom settings can be saved as a preset and shared with others.

The adjustments you can make in Exposure were developed for a photography workflow. For instance, color saturation can be adjusted independently for the red, green, and blue channels, and toning can be manipulated separately for contrast, shadow, midtone, and highlight. With Exposure you can do advanced black and white conversions, digital toning, color filtering, and advanced sharpening and softening.

Exposure 2 brings user interface enhancements and many new film stock simulations, including the much-desired Fuji Velvia 50. Other new film stock presets include Kodak Ultra Color 100UC, Fuji Superia Reala, Polaroid, and the now-extinct Agfa Scala, and Polaroid Polapan.

Whether you're an old school photographer nostalgic for the look of film or someone who's only known digital, Exposure can bring a unique quality and new variety to your digital photography.

Silkroad Online, the road to the world

Silkroad Online, developed and provided by Joymax, is a dynamic fantasy MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) which is staged in ancient civilizations of China, Europe and Islam.

The world moves and breathes, Silkroad Online

The most distinct feature of this game is that unlike the fixed conventional settings the world is alive. It might look like it is still but merchants who are there for trade, bandits who rob the merchants, the hunters who hunt down the bandits, hostility and covert actions between the merchants and hunters within the Silkroad give life to the game.

The character will grow more experienced according to the actions. In this realm, there is no fixed job. You can freely choose among the merchant, bandit, hunter groups and switch in between which will give you and endless variety of worlds to play in.

The road to the world, Silkroad Online

Joymax is going to expand their target to the global market using Silkroad as a corner stone which is also a GNGWC (Game & Game World Championship) official event and has begun to get the spotlight of the global audience. Silkroad online has been exported to China, Taiwan, Japan and Vietnam.

In present, there are 15 million members foreign and domestic. In about 200 countries, regional global service is being provided.

Silkroad online, Joymax’s successful globalization project, and other games were joined into JOYMAX.COM, in Oct. 2, which will provide global game portal services. Also, Silkroad online 2, an extension of worldly view and game qualities of the previous Silkroad online, will be developed with hopes of becoming the next driving force.

Silkroad online got popular at the GNGWC 2006. There will be tryouts for the National team in Yongin on Sep. 30. Silkroad online will be an official event in the upcoming GNGWC 2007. The gamers of the world will unite to see who the top player for Silkroad online is.
viaAving.

The New RealPlayer

RealNetworks unveiled at D a new version of its media player software that it says will allow consumers to download video clips from thousands of Web sites to their computers’ hard drives (see a video demo). The Wall Street Journal’s Kevin J. Delaney reports that the upgraded RealPlayer software will be available for free in June.

When users of the software visit a compatible video-sharing site — such as YouTube — a small download button appears next to the video window on the site. Videos downloaded to users’ hard drives are then available for viewing through the RealPlayer application on their computers. The user can also burn the clips to CD — or DVD with a premium version of the software that costs extra — and share Web links to the original videos with friends.

Such software could allow consumers to more easily organize and access Web videos they like and watch them when not connected to the Internet. Since the videos are downloaded, it could also allow consumers to play them back without the stuttering images and interruptions in the video that sometimes occur because of delays in the streaming data transmission. Copyright holders could potentially object to users’ downloading of video files that were made available through the video sharing sites without their creators’ permission. With RealPlayer’s software, users can’t download videos where their creators use digital rights management technology to prevent it.