August 2006 in video gaming

August 23, 2006

• The 2006 Games Convention^[1] in Leipzig, Germany begins and runs through the 27th of the month.^[2]

August 17, 2006

• Business Week releases a report highlighting effects of video games on children undergoing medical procedures, such as surgery. According to the report, certain "serious games," such as Free Dive, the length of pain tolerance by children was increased dramatically.^[3]

August 16, 2006

• Phantom Entertainment—the company planning to produce the controversial Phantom game system—scraps their console project. The company now plans to release the Phantom Game Service, a subscription-based software installation for the Windows XP OS.^[4]
• America Online acquires American gaming news site GameDaily from Gigex in a financially undisclosed deal. The site will be merged into the company's AOL Games network.^[5]

August 14, 2006

• In a discussion at Microsoft Gamefest, security development engineer David Weinstein warns of active organized crime on MMORPG servers. Hackers steal account information and sell them off in "black markets" both within the game atmosphere and outside of it, such as on eBay.^[6]

August 1, 2006

• Game publisher Electronic Arts reports a loss of $81 million in its first quarter, though its revenue earnings for April–June 2006 quarter were better than anticipated.^[7]

References

1. "GAMES CONVENTION ONLINE". gc-germany.com.
2. http://www.gamespot.com/events/leipzig06/index.html
3. Reena Jana. "Harnessing the Power of Video Games". Businessweek.com.
4. David Jenkins. "Gamasutra - Phantom Game Service Goes Software Only". gamasutra.com.
5. Simon Carless. "Gamasutra - AOL Acquires U.S. Game Site GameDaily". gamasutra.com.
6. "Microsoft: Mobsters targeting MMOGs". GameSpot.
7. "EA reports $81 million quarterly loss--but beats expectations". GameSpot.