Framingham, Mass. – October 5, 2008 – Entertainment for All® Expo (E for All®), produced by IDG World Expo, concluded its second event on Sunday, attracting thousands of video game enthusiasts to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the ultimate entertainment experience. Throughout the three-day event, which was held October 3-5, 2008, approximately 15,000 hardcore and casual gamers, developers, retailers, students, media and other members of the game community were able to test-drive the latest video games and gadgets, and attend competitive video game tournaments and educational programs. The video game event also found ways to support the local Los Angeles community through a program featuring five gaming legends who came together to aid local foodbanks, and by serving as host to the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival.

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When they have time for screen play, millions of teenagers around the world don't fire up a console or turn to a PC game, they enter Habbo.

Whether you want to dub Habbo an online world, a social networking website, or just a digital play space, there is no doubting its popularity.

Habbo was created in Finland and is operated by the Sulake Corporation. It will next year celebrate its 10th anniversary, but is still growing and currently enjoys over 100 million registered users.

Screen Play recently caught up with Jeff Brookes, Sulake's regional director for Asia-Pacific, to chat about topics like the genesis of Habbo, the importance of online worlds, what games developers can learn from the likes of Habbo and Facebook, and the future of online communities.

Can you please give us a brief history of Habbo?

Habbo was founded in Finland in 1999, when two young men, Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrola, made an online application called Mobiles Disco for their friends' band. Mobiles Disco was purely a free time project, but, once launched, this multi-user online community was a huge success. After noticing the thrill of such a concept, Aapo and Sampo decided to try their wings and develop their idea of a new kind of way to meet friends online a bit further. Habbo grew from a hobby project into an international phenomenon.

How popular is Habbo now in Australia and around the world?

Today Habbo is the world's largest virtual world for teenagers with 106 million registered Habbos across 32 communities and countries. Habbo Australia receives 22,827,377 page impressions per month and has 3.3 million registered Habbo-characters. It has 235,748 unique browsers per month and users spend on average 1.04 hours per user session on Habbo, which is over twice as much as any other teen website according to July 2008 figures from Hitwise. In 2005 Habbo won Australian Net Guide's "Site of the Year" and was voted the "Best Kids/Youth Site" in 2005 and 2006.

Do you have demographic data on your users?

Habbo's users vary in age from 13 to 17 years and our average user is aged 15.5 years of age. The split between boys and girls is pretty even 48 per cent boys and 52 per cent.

Each year Habbo produces a Global Youth Survey that polls teenagers from Australia and across the globe, regarding their values, attitudes, online habits, brand and media preferences, in order to better understand what compels youth around the world. There is no other survey of its kind that provides as much insight into the social behaviours of teenagers.

What are some of the main attractions of Habbo?

Habbos can explore public hang outs, play a variety of games, connect with friends, decorate their own rooms, and have fun through creativity and self expression. Each user can walk around and chat, or use the Habbo messenger (within the game) for communicating with other Habbos. Habbos can express themselves anyway they want to - the key to Habbo is social interactivity and user generated content

Despite their popularity, some people are dismissive of the importance of online communities like Habbo. What do you think they can tell us about the nature of "play"? Should they be considered as "games"?

Online communities are proving to be as just as important and powerful as real life communities. For instance, in support of International Day of Peace on the 21st of September, Australian teenagers joined their fellow Habbos in attempting the world's largest online gathering - it was a peace protest in cooperation with War Child and International Day of Peace, which is organised by the United Nations.

Habbo is a "virtual playground" where users create their own content and games. There is no overall objective in Habbo - users go there to interact, express themselves and explore. The only constraints on "play" is the users imagination.

The online platform allows people to play in varied ways and to try new things, which they wouldn't necessarily try in real life, because they can create avatars, in this case Habbos, who can either represent themselves entirely or be completely different people - that's what's unique and empowering about interacting online.

Habbo's version of play is varied, some like to organise and participate in private room games and activities, some like to trade collect furni, others come to meet their real friends online or meet online friends and the rest are keen to help new Habbos.

There is however a game element of structured games in Habbo in the form of casual mini-games such as Battle Ball and Snow Storm - however these games are more about having fun casual fun with new friends than serious gaming.

You have added more game elements to Habbo over the years. Why is that?

A new updated version of Habbo comes out every month. We listen to what our users want, build it and give it to them and then ask what they want next.

Can you describe some of the games featured on Habbo? Which are the most popular?

The casual mini-games games currently on Habbo include BattleBall, SnowStorm, Wobble Squabble and Lido Diving. BattleBall and SnowStorm are both free. Wobble Squabble and Lido Diving both use Game Tickets to play.

The most popular games are the games invented, run and played by the Habbo themselves.

How difficult is it to keep users excited and coming back over so many years of operation?

What's unique about Habbo is that it specifically designed for teenagers - the layout, content and activities on offer are continually changed and updated. Habbo is updated every month to enhance the user's experience. We do this so that our users can be constantly entertained and as with all teenagers, this is an important feature.

Keeping users excited and coming back depends upon the fundamentals, which for Habbo are allowing them to choose and personalize a character, browse the virtual world, walk around and chat and express themselves.

By constantly polling our users, which is our market research, Habbo is in touch with what teenagers are interested in and what they want to consume whether that's media or social consumption and even what they eat. On this basis of this data we are able to approach potential partners, prioritize those partnerships, and prioritize the type of properties that are coming into the hotel.

Many of the most popular applications on Facebook are games. What do you think games developers in the commercial games industry could learn from the likes of Facebook and Habbo?

Casual games are not about being complex and difficult to access. Successful casual games need to be accessible to a wide audience, easy to play and share with others and above all be fun.

Sony is about to launch PlayStation Home. Do you expect it will be successful?

Sony has recognized the power and popularity of virtual worlds and online social interaction. Whether PlayStation Home is successful amongst existing PlayStation gamers depends on how well they can breach the gap between various genres of console gaming and a single virtual world. The fact there is a very different mindset between console gamers and participants in a virtual world will make this a difficult task. The fact that PlayStation is making the service "free" will act in their favour. The fact that you need an expensive $700 console to access the service in the first place will not make it accessible to a wide audience - particularly a teen audience. PlayStation Home is also a pretty complex offering.

Do you have any interest in bringing Habbo to the console universe?

There are no current plans to bring Habbo to the console universe. We want to make sure that Habbo remains free to play and accessible to everyone over 13. You can even play Habbo on a dial up connection!

Why did you encourage the online peace protest recently? I'm sure there are some who believe online worlds and real-world politics should not mix...

The peace protest was is in response to the findings of the 2008 Global Habbo Youth Survey, in which 87 per cent of young people said that they fear a global war and 86 per cent are worried about their own country getting involved in a war.

The peace protest was also the second "Voice of the Teens campaign" - we have these campaigns because Habbo is a platform for self expression - this protest had nothing to do with politics, it was to do with a cause and an issue that Habbos felt strongly towards.

Habbos discuss real world occurrences and issues within the virtual world - there is a blurring between the two, but it just depends on the user. Some users choose to live a completely virtual life, whilst others acknowledge real life - the great thing is, is that this is the choice of the user and there is nothing to stop them from doing so, which is the reason why Habbo is so popular.

Do you discourage Habbo users from trying to profit from trading items?

Our Habbos are welcome to trade their "Furni" for other "Furni" within Habbo. Some of our items are Collectable Rares, other items are not available year round. Some Habbos have amassed large collections of rare and valuable furni within the virtual world and we even refer to them as Habbonaires. Whilst our users are free to trade within Habbo for other items - we do not permit them to sell items for real cash outside Habbo as there is too great a danger of theft or dishonesty.

What measures are in place to limit anti-social behaviour?

Habbo uses moderators to help reduce anti-social behaviour. Moderators are carefully selected, police vetted and fully trained members of Habbo Hotel staff. They can send warnings to misbehaving Habbos, kick them out of rooms or even ban them from the hotel. Moderators will not hesitate to contact the police if they feel it is necessary. We also spend a lot of time teaching our Habbos about online safety and etiquette. Habbos themselves can also moderate anti social behavior by being able to ignore and mute other players.

Earlier in the year you ran Habbo Big Brother. Do you think there is a big future for virtual game shows, like Microsoft is planning for Xbox 360 with Endemol programs like 1 Vs 100?

Virtual worlds are an ideal platform for role play and social interactions. Game shows and reality style programs can easily be adapted and enhanced within a virtual world. These worlds can allow more users to take part in such events, do not have the restrictions of non virtual worlds and allow a higher degree of imagination, creativity and fun.

What do you think will be the future of virtual communities?

Currently there are over 200 virtual worlds in existence and 200 virtual worlds currently in development - so it's one of the shiniest and brightest stars of the internet. In the next 10 years one billion people will have visited a virtual world and as many as 80 per cent of regular internet users with have a virtual self in less time than that. Virtual communities and worlds are here to stay and will continue to evolve.

The ones that are successful are the ones who understand who their audience is and what they are looking for and then cater to them. You also need to be able to nurture and grow your community and one of the foundations for this is being able to provide a safe and pleasant environment. Finally, you need to have a successful and scalable business model. Not all the current and future virtual communities will survive, so there will be a large degree of evolutions and survival of the fittest. Habbo is one of the world's largest virtual worlds, its growing and has a profitable and proven business model.

Thanks for your time, Jeff.

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The DSi will launch in Japan on the first day of November, for ¥18,900 ($179/ £101), and international releases are expected to follow during 2009, probably in Spring, for the luckier ones. The Nintendo DSi details that should be enough for us now are as it follows - bigger screen(3.25 inches), thinner than its predecessors(2.6mm less than the DS Lite), a 3MP camera on the exterior of the case, with another lower-resolution camera on the interior hinge, but the most interesting part of it all is that the new Nintendo features an SD memory slot, allowing you to store images and music, with the possibility of accessing downloadable games!

Like it or not, it seems the cartdridge era is coming to an end, and while some consider that downloadable games will open a new era for piracy, I can only salute Nintendo’s decision to add the memory slot, and hope to be able to play with one of these new beauties as soon as possible. If not, even an “old” Nintendo DS Lite would be enough. Do you have one to spare?

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The conference, held at the L.A. Convention Center and organized by tech giant IDG, has struggled this year in competition with Seattle's rapidly expanding Penny Arcade Expo, which has seemingly had geek cred on its side, and logged 58,500 attendees at its late August event.

For example, when E For All announced heavily merchandised pro gamer Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel as a special guest at the show, Penny Arcade's Gabe revealed that Fatal1ty would not be at PAX, adding: "Seriously, if he even tries to come we'll kick him out."

In addition, a set of wallpapers promoting E For All were roundly satirized by the Penny Arcade webcomic creators, with a shark-themed E For All effort trumped by a slightly sarcastic 'space dinosaur with a gun' wallpaper.

Of course, this isn't to say that E For All couldn't rise above to success. But it appears that of the three major hardware platform holders, only Microsoft is officially paying for a booth at the event this year, setting up an Xbox 360/Games For Windows Pavilion.

Sony and Nintendo, the latter of which participated in last year's E For All Expo, will not have their own areas at this year's event. (The event is advertising Nintendo-published games including Mario Kart and Wii Fit to be playable, but these appear to be hosted at third-party booths such as Target.)

In addition, Konami, THQ, and 2K Games will not return to the public gaming event either, despite the last two maintaining a presence at August's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle. Several other studios -- including Activision Blizzard, Namco Bandai, and Sega -- attended the rival convention, but do not intend to exhibit at E For All Expo 2008.

In fact, the matrix of comparative attendees last updated by Joystiq/BigDownload in late August appears to still largely hold sway, although Ubisoft has decided to attend E For All since that article was written, a definite win for organizers.

Therefore, a handful of upcoming titles will be available for attendees to play prior to their North American releases, particularly Ubisoft's Far Cry 2, Tom Clancy's End War, and Shaun White Snowboarding -- and Microsoft Game Studios' Gears of War 2 will be at the World Cyber Games booth. (The contents of Microsoft's Pavilion are not specified on the E For All website.)

The remainder of the expo's 41 listed booths are mostly dedicated to MMORPG companies, colleges, gaming gear, and energy beverages. As a result, the product premieres are largely food/beverage and peripheral-related.

Nonetheless, there are a couple of minor show debuts -- Signature Devices are debuting DS games including C.O.R.E, Black Sigil & Air Conflicts and the PC MMO Beyond Protocol from Dark Sky Entertainment will make its first appearance there.

With such a relatively low turnout from major publishers and developers, the organizers have turned to alternatives to fill out the space in recent weeks. Earlier announcements included a Game Career Seminar event from Gamasutra parent company and GDC organizer Think Services, but more recently, a number of peripheral add-ons have attempted to bulk out the show.

Examples include All Games Network's "Meet, Greet and Beat The Champs", which features classic arcade experts on games such as Donkey Kong, Spy Hunter and Missile Command, and 'The League of Legendary Gamers', with more pro gamers helping to collect food for the Los Angeles Food Bank.

Also included are an E for All Education Zone, which 600 Los Angeles Unified School District high-school students will attend, an expanded IndieCade independent games section, and perhaps most strangely, the fourth annual Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival, which is now holding one of its three segments at the show.

Though E For All is clearly well-meaning, its broader, scattershot style contrasts with the geek chic of Penny Arcade Expo, which lured artists such as Jonathan Coulton to give concerts, and is associated with the popular web comic.

Yet other than Fatal1ty, the other celebrity prominently mentioned at the conclusion of today's E For All press release is "Hollywood Yates, best known as 'Wolf' on NBC's American Gladiators."

As such, it's unclear -- attendee numbers pending -- whether E For All could continue to support itself in upcoming years without larger support from the major game publishers.

Gamasutra has asked IDG representatives for commentary on any other unreleased titles that might be showcased at E For All, and will follow up with an in-person show report when the event opens later this week.

Auction here

BETHESDA, Md. & REDMOND, Wash.–The Wii™ experience is just beginning for Marriott and Renaissance guests, who can now choose from 20 games, including the popular Mario Kart™ Wii, Super Mario Galaxy™, and Wii Sports™ as well as the revolutionary fitness game, Wii Fit™. In a lodging industry first, Marriott International, Inc. is piloting a new specially built Wii hotel game system from Nintendo in select guest rooms and lounges. Wii systems are available at six Marriott and Renaissance properties:

* New York Marriott Marquis
* Renaissance New York Hotel Times Square
* Boston Marriott Cambridge
* Bethesda (Md.) Marriott Suites
* Annapolis (Md.) Marriott Waterfront
* JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix (Lounge only)

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