gamaniagvoice

2

FEB, 2011 vol.33

2 0 11 Wha t's new

Gaman in ia?

8 860282 269 166

brand.gamania.com/gvoice

● There seems to be more and more foreigners in Gamania… ● "Store" the old and map out the new—glorious history that

we shall not forget ● 2011 New Year Resolution

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2011 New Gama-Paradigm 2011 marks the 16th year for Gamania, transforming from an Asian company into a globalized company. Gamania has greater and more comprehensive self-production momentum in store, and successfully raised the ratio of self-produced games. As Albert said, “The industry has reckoned Gamania as a brand new Gamania that is ready to create the new GamaParadigm.” However, what internal changes will there be this year? What’s new? In this edition of G!Voice, we will tell you all about what ’ s happening in Gamania in 2011, you wouldn’t want to miss it for the world!

In commemorating Gamania ’ s 2011, G!Voice will subsequently launch the ‘ digital version”—the online magazine to replace the physical one. In the future, we will also launch the iPad/iPhone version to provide you with the most updated information and expedient and easy reading experience for all Gamanians. We hope that you will provide your feedbacks and comments so that we could continue to grow and improve further.

Editing Department

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● Publisher: Albert Liu ● Editorial Desk: Eric Chen ● Editor-in-chief: Yoyo Dai ● Creative Desk: Kiwi Chang/Betty Wang ● Art Editor: x940 ● Web Planner: Kenji Lin ● Web Designer: Snow Wang ● Publishing: Gamania Brand Center

Contents Features

04 06 10 14 16 18 26

What's new in 2011? Gamanians'got something to say More and more foreigners in Gamania…

Why's Gamanians' requests for leave approvals are so speedy even though the supervisors themselves are on leave or absent? why do our colleagues talk to the air when they’re sitting at their desks and not on the phone…

Group seems to incorporated quite a few new units? Are they on to something secretly?

"Store" the old and map out the new—glorious history that we shall not forget Gamanians' new wishes and others' kind wishes

Column

32 34 36

Jojo: Shuffle Alliance- Jojo

So, as it turned out, "techniques don't matter" ?!

Mika: Marketing Observer-Mika

Giving is more joyous than receiving gamaniabrandcenter:

Absolut Vodka-the most eloquent bottles in the world

Events

38 40

The Fiercest Award November Winner: Dragon Nest SPACE 17 Feature Report

Welcome to 2011 Interactive Exhibition—Gamanians' showing what they've got

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GAMANIA

Features

What's new in 2011?

Gamanians' got something to say In addition to the fun and merry stuff during special events and holidays such as having a field day on Gamania Sports Day, pranks at birthday parties, and crazy performances at the year-end parties, have you noticed anything different during your normal course of business day, work-wise or colleagues-wise?

G!Voice gathered observations and information from Gamanians and we will show you what’s new in 2011!

04

05

GAMANIA

Features

Q

There seems to be more and more foreigners in Gamania…are we turning into a globalized company!?

Hi !

?

A

06

That’s right! There was a time when you entered the company elevator, you may occasionally hear Japanese or Korean spoken.

That’s because Gamania used to act as an agent company for Korean and Japanese products and therefore we asked some Asian colleagues to join our team. Recently, you may notice there are more and more blond-haired, blueeyed westerners in Gamania, participating in our events and campaigns. One couldn’t help but wonder, where do these colleagues come from? What are they doing in the company? The matter of fact is, Gamania is marching in to the world, extending its foothold in Europe and the U.S., there goes without saying, headquarter would need some new foreign force for solid support. So who exactly are they? G!Voice found out each one of them hidden inside the headquarter and invited project managers in Europe and the U.S to say hi to everyone through G!Voice.

Foreign Colleagues at GHQ Hello everyone：）I come from St. Petersburg, Russia. I'm currently the concept designer at Creative Center, in charge of development of concept, background, characters, and footage design for specific projects. I've heard about Gamania before I joined and I'm very happy to work at such a fun and creative team.

"Hi Gamanians!!!" Really, my Chinese is getting better and better so please come talk (slowly) to me, don't be shy and thanks for having onboard!

GHQ Creative Center: Tatiana Goloviznina Yrs @ Gamania: 2 years Chinese Fluency: ★★☆☆☆

I used to work in the British game industry for a long time, including EA, Argonaut Software, Eidos, and Firefly Studios. I've participated in various computer and TV game projects. I joined Gamania last year, my main role is to do draft development for webpage based game and give other departments suggestions about game markets in Europe and the U.S. so I've been quite busy! Currently I'm working under technology R&D center of Group Chief Development Officer on R&D of 3D drawing technology to improve upon the pictorial quality of our own products. This includes working closely with a group of lovely designers and helps them enhance their processes and techniques. At the mean time, I will continue to provide consultation and introduce western developers to Gamania and help Gamania expand its global presence!

GHQ CDO Office: Warrick Buchanan Yrs @ Gamania: over 1 year Chinese Fluency: ★☆☆☆☆

My name is Carsten Lammert, I grew up in Germany. I've worked in the entertainment industry in Germany in the past. In Germany, there were over 300 shows and tournaments per year, and I did it for 7 years. The next 7 years, I was doing theater production. In 2003, I decided to move to Taiwan and studied Chinese in NTNU for 3 and a half years. Then I moved back to Germany, but it was really too cold there so I decided to move back to Taiwan again.

I've been working in Gamania for a year and I really enjoyed being part of the big family. My job is to backup the operation and the rising market researching in Europe.

GHQ International Business Office: Carsten Lammert Yrs @ Gamania: 1 year Chinese Fluency: ★★★★★

My name is Hervé and I come from France. I'm currently working at International Business Office, acting as the liaison officer between the operation team in France and GHQ and also in charge of Gamania's international business promotion.

Although I didn't know anything about Gamania before joining in, I met many great colleagues after I came here. The environment here is great and I'm really happy to be able to work here. I'd like to say hi to all Gamanians.

Next time when you run into me, please speak Chinese to me, because I need a lot of practice!

I come from a small town in a mountainous region in the States so I love activities like hiking, skiing and mountain climbing. I also love computer games (of course), playing pools, Chinese and western chess, drinking and chatting. I got involved in software development since 1998, specializing in SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). My main job at Gamania is to improve the quality of information R&D procedure.

GHQ CIO Office: Justin Campbell Yrs @ Gamania: 1 month Chinese Fluency: ☆☆☆☆☆

GHQ International Business Office: Hervé Sohm Yrs @ Gamania: 1 year Chinese Fluency: ★★★★☆

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GAMANIA

Features Gamania Project Responsible Personnel in GEU and GUS

Actually I'm a senior Gamanian. I've joined Gamania since 1999, initially I left in 2003 and it's not until recently that I rejoined Gamania and became the responsible personnel in the French market in Europe region. Currently we're doing the closed testing of HERO:108, I anticipate that the result will be outstanding. We'll let Gamania have a great jump start in the entertainment field in France!

Hello everyone, I'm the product manager of GUK. I've been in the game business for over 14 years. Before joining Gamania, I used to work at a small R&D company specializes in strategy and sports games.

After that, was the operation manager of NCsoft in Europe region and the game producer of Aion. I appreciate your support of GEU and I hope in the future I could go to different regions to visit you. I wish you a happy new year and a prosperous 2011!

Niall Callaghan, England â—˘

Luc Tomassi, France i â—˘

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I've been in the online game indust currently I'm the game producer of Luc U.S. For the past few months, we've b for its launch in the market. We've bee discovering new marketing strategies for the market so that Lucent Heart cou with the online dating, social websi and Cosplay community. We're very this chance to participate in such an e During my free time, I like to go skateb the beach and try out new restaurants. me in GUS in Irvine, I'll be sure to take beautiful ocean view.

try for 4 years, cent Heart in the been preparing en thinking and s and methods uld be combined ites, animation thrilled to have exciting project. boarding along If you come visit e you to see the

I'm Parisian, and I've been in the game industry since I was 23. I worked as the community managers and GM in a small company in Canada. After that I joined Blizzard, during the two years I was in Blizzard I've shifted from position to position and gained many valuable experiences. In summer 2010, I decided to interview for the position of product manager with the French team at Gamania. Because Gamania's plan to spread its global mapping in France is really enticing, I decided to join the kingdom of Gamania. My job is to make sure each self-produced game could meet the market demand in France. Currently, we're doing closed testing on HERO:108 and I'm sure we'll have the best performance. The whole French team is ready to fight! I hope we could see fellow Gamanians in other regions soon. Either you come visit us in Paris, or when I get a chance to go to Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan or even the U.S.

I'm Manuel from the Berlin office, and I'm the Product Manager for the German, Polish and Turkish markets. I have had an interest an MMO games ever since I got my first computer so consequently my career path got me from starting as a Game Master for Guild Wars to the position I'm in now, and along the way, I have worked on many known titles like Aion, EVE Online or Lord of the Rings Online.

Together with my colleagues and the lovely assistance from GHQ people we want to bring the Gamania games into the Western markets, so we talk a lot to developers for ideas and changes to cater the different character of the European player. Coincidently, by time of writing this I am in GHQ, and I have met a lot of people both in Shanghai and in Taipei, and would like to express once again how awesome and great people you have been, I hope to see you soon again!

â—ŁMark Quilter, U.S â—Ł Germany Manuel Prueter

â—Ł Antoine Guyard, France

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GAMANIA

Features

Q A

Why's Gamanians requests f approvals are so speedy eve the supervisors themselves a leave or absent?

？ ？

？

You can rest assure, our supervisors did not lie to you when they said they're out for business (they certainly did not hide in the office nor did they come in office in the middle of the night) In fact, IT recently developed several useful tools for these senior global jetsetter Gamanians to handle company affairs through their smart phones (such as iPhone) when they're out of office.

？

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for leave en though are on

？

？ Sam, Section chief of GIP

Instinct and efficient management Section chief of GIP, Sam told G!Voice that starting the end of last year, IT started to build up tools that could be used on mobile phones. "It's actually not all that complicated. We set up the system so that supervisors could access specific webpage through clicking the icon set on the screen of iPhone. So they can review and approve without PKI." Although Gamania takes information security seriously, with necessary ID verification and connection control, these supervisors may approve and sign off via phones even when they're overseas.

In addition, they may access the latest operation status via their phones. Sam said that in the past key operation status and information can only be read on the flying deck or the webpage of chief officers' computer webpage, however this may still seem inadequate for chief officers like Albert. It's simply not convenient nor expedient enough and you can't use it offline. That's especially the case in Gamania, since there are many Apple users (lol), device such as iPhone, iPad, there are now many applicable programs available in App Store. We adopted Roambi and upgraded the original Metis to iPhone/iPad version. So now we've switched the formats from Metis to Roambi, the chiefs may access operation data at any time.

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GAMANIA

Features

You can sign off and approve via the icon on iPhone/iPad

Through iPhone/iPad application, the chiefs can get updates of operation status at any time.

Currently, Gamania adopted “Roambi” application.

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Q

There have been incidents where colleagues were talking to the air without phones in hands, could that be a sign of overbearing stress?

A

The phenomena that colleagues keep "talking to themselves" may become more and more serious, and will possibly permeate the whole group.

No, what we meant is that in the future, "video/ webcame based communication" will become the major communication methods in Group.

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GAMANIA

Features

No boundary in communication In fact, senior Gamanians are no strangers to video conference, such as the weekly chief meeting held at flying deck. If the content of discussion is of great importance, even if the chiefs cannot make it to the meeting personally, they will join the discussion through webcams. Adding the fact that increasing contacts with the international companies has grown significantly, video conference is definitely more effective in interaction than emails or phones.

At the meantime, as we grow bigger and bigger, more and more businesses/projects require collaboration from different regions, hence, having a better communication channel becomes a key issue for Gamania. IT upgraded OCS to Microsoft Lync in Feburary 2011. Lync is a new integrated communication software that took Microsoft 5 years to develop. The system integrates phones, instant messaging and internet conference altogether, providing users with much enhanced, more intuitive user interface. Some of the colleagues have tried the system before the official launch and had great feedbacks about it so now they’re more willing to use this function to conduct teleconferences.

Senior Gamanians meet at the chief meetings at flying deck each week. Using video conference to get updates from COO in different region has become a norm.

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The function options on the interface became more intuitive after the introduction of Microsoft Lync. In the future, the communication will become more convenient and effective.

Picture icon that closes the gaps There are about 1,500 staff in GHQ hence cooperation across different departments is commonly seen. Sometimes, these departments use emails or phones, but they have no idea what the other person look like. Hence when IT upgraded OCS to Microsoft Lyncs, GHQ encouraged everyone to upload their picture icon unto the Lync system so when they use instant messenger or Outlook, they can see each other. A small gesture that can effectively bring both sides closer together.

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GAMANIA

Features

Q

Group seemed to add quite a few new units, are they secretly planning anything?

A

You're right. Starting in 2010, Group R&D office secretly recruited the finest talents to join Gamania. These people were assigned to two of the most important units in the group: UI Design Center and Mobil Content R&D unit.

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UI Design Center: For Creating Enhanced Products What does UI Design Center do? UI design is a type of ergonomic design and an advanced knowledge.

The purpose of such study is to find out how human, machines and the environment interact with one another so that the designer could create more "intuitive" products that can enhance user experience and suit people's physical and psychological condition. A good ergonomic design can not only improve efficiency and safety, but add the comfort factor to the user experience.

For Gamania, whose goal is to become world's leading brand and produce products with high quality, this is definitely one of the most crucial tasks in our hands. Therefore, Gamania must create the best user experience (whether in the games or other digital services) which is why UI design plays an important role in Gamania's self-production process.

"Albert emphasizes on product's User Experience (UE), he hopes that from now on, all products created

by Gamania can achieve the best UE, whether on usability and visual presentation." Michelle Lin, supervisor of UI Design said to G!Voice firmly. "To accomplish such goal, we need establish a team that can deliver such professional design skills and technical support.”

What are UI Design Center (UDC)'s main tasks in the group? They have four key functions:

1

2

3

4

Design and Technical Support：UDC will provide technical support and testing to all R&D units under the group, including UI process planning, visual design, flash/visual/graphic design, and webpage design etc.

Assist in individual projects and the Integration of beanfun's Respective Platforms：this includes the UI review and user testing. The designers and analysts of UDC will conduct the UI review in accordance with the progress of game project and provide evaluation and recommendation in each R&D phase (Prototype, Alpha, Beta etc). This year, Gamania will establish User Experience Lab. The lab is equipped with the state-of-the-art soft and hardware such as eye tracker, video sync pro and other professional analysis software to detect players' user behavior and finally, come up with report through data analysis.

Provide Professional Trainings and Promotion：UDC hopes to reinforce team members'design ability on UI/UE. UDC will also host forums, create blog that discuss UI (designEye) and publishs relevant columns in G!Voice.

Develop and Launch UI Technology：strives to develop and launch new UI technology to enhance selfmade products and platform design.

Note: UI, User Interface is a medium for the system and users to engage in interaction and information exchange. It requires hardware and software support (such as Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOS) so that users can interact with the machine or system. Console games or computers or the touch-screen mobile phones, all use this ingenuity to function.

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GAMANIA

Features

UDC members (from left to User Experience Resear right): Jason, Visual Designer; Chase, cher; Michelle, UDC Sup User Interface Designer; ervisor; Viola, Shawn, Program Design er.

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Michelle said that the mo st urgent task for UDC now is to promote group ’s recognition on the importance of UI/UE concept so that everyone knows ho w beneficial it is to the team. Next, we will propose technical sup port and recommendatio n so that our self-made products wil l be better and create stro nger consumer identification towards Ga mania. This is the part we all need to work on to achieve our goal to become no. 1 in the world.

New UI set by UDC for OH

Memo board at UDC offi ce, you can see the positive and ambitious side of the members.

In the future UDC will ado pt more advanced equipments to provide more scientific data for Gamania’s research and development.

The device shown in the picture is an eye tracker. http://www.coli.uni-saa

rland.de/groups/MC/lab.

html

UD C's blo g, des ign eye （ htt p:/ / designeye100.blog spot.com） has been set up. The y we Ga ma nia ns to visi t and lcome all exc han ge ideas.

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GAMANIA

Features nce: ta is s s A d n a Originality t R&D unit.

Mobil Conten

estic nal and dom th internatio ter o b pu e m th co to al ording ed person ce ex ill w Content: Acc s r vice ce s fo a n al mobile de p o rt a n t d e vi im st e o studies, glob m e riod, the scop e o n e o f th le's iOS or And pp a n d b e co m A it be ed. ch means id , s been redefin individual whi e market ha m u n it, Je rr y sa ga D & ld R he t n te n o lfC of hand se il ob complete nager of M PROJECT 3 is in t et D e p u ty m a en rg pm ta lo d The deve direction an ionalization. n at "Gamania's ca rn ia te in an d Gam oducts an this direction. produced pr finitely falls on de t en nt " t. co ke in mobile for that mar evelopment: not be absent ile Content D ob M not and will r fo s sk e major ta There are thre th e p ro d u ct C o n te n t ： e il b o and M le ti ro d u ct io n n ch V e rs a st o f se lf -p si n hing 1 La u co lis b ill ta w nt ition to es d e ve lo p m e tion. In add with ra g o b tin ra lla bo co will be colla outsourcing e w , ify am te ve internal ams to di rs professional estic R&D te m do as l el as w international oducts. m o ti n g nalize our pr io at rn te c e fo r P ro in n ta and is s s A as ct s w ill b e s s -P la tf o rm n te n t p ro d u co ile b o m 2 C ro P a rt ia l cross-platform P ro d u ct s ： online game of y ers lit bi si on resp facilitator. Play shoulder the a marketing in as ce t vi ac de d ile an their mob on ts collaboration uc od pr amanian may notice G . es： eir computers th to Mobile Devic addition Games into e n of in nl tio O uc te Integra the introd 3 Strive to research on the h nd a ug rn ro a Th le products. r The unit will ou in , ly p ic p bile dev es logy to a on their mo new techno re tu nt a ie fe en n nv nectio more co internet con players with provide their n ca ia an Gam services.

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ay ile content m allenges mob ch for d e an cl ty cy ni e the R&D e opportu that becaus er, Regarding th w ks lo in is th y st rr co ture, Je and the t, or sh y el face in the fu a tiv rela product nd e market is to creat the ia n it a mobile gam m a G r hand, the un easier for , on the othe er ile ev it’s actually ob ow m H e t. es s of th the marke the behavior infiltrate into er and learn id the know-how ns in a co g to s To s. ct je b su also need d ne the success. their concer crucial key to e th re e players and m co market, we’ ocess will be rm is a new . fo rs at during the pr pl ito et PP p A m Although ld as our co or w e th d rm Jerry said, “ roun ur short te evelopers a stand out. O facing with d e ourselves ak m at can get in th to g sy ea d interestin an ts n It will not be fu ng hi create produc te somet , we hope to r rm ei goal is to crea te th e ng us lo e le nk. For th never peop he w t a th ge the game ra so levera at popularity We could also that earn gre of Gamania. e online k in id th ov pr ey th to s, ile phones ob mobile device m nt ge lli es of inte on the featur rvices.” ore diverse se m ith players w

Th e d by Se ed o. ed r, de ve lo pe ch So ul C ap to n is al so to be la un io m ob ile ve rs soon.

s of fic e nt R& D un it' M ob il C on te "Worship Ground" ed is nicknam esign's Mobile D which is e. es in Ch homonym in

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Kevin, Progra

ent market.

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the digita key player in s become a Apple and Andriod. ha t en nt co mobile are iOS, ajor parties Two of the m

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GAMANIA

Features 15 Things Gamania Have Played in 15 Years!

Glorious Battles and Magnificent History

1999

START

2 Based on the idea of “ and launched “Conve selling record of 1.2 millio 3 Propelling the fun spirit officially changed to G on November 11th.

1995 1 Your job is to have fun! Founder Albert Liu founded FullSoft because he's maniac about games. FullSoft was the precursor of Gamania.

FUTURE 2010 14 Fun force marching into the western market.

Gamania established GUS and GEU. Selfproduced animation HERO:108 was aired at Cartoon Network channel.

15 Established an integrated fun platform.

Gamania created beanfun!, digital entertainment platform in pursuit of realizing the vision of “play anytime & everywhere”.

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"Store" the old and m the new—glorious his that we shall not forg

An old Chinese saying goes like the old.” However, Gamania s glory. G!Voice always emphasiz that it is only with these hardon today. Win or lose, Gaman forthcoming Gama-paradigm in

2008

2006

2005

12 Play and have dreams too! Gamania established Gamania Cheer Up Foundation, encouraging teenagers to dream and be themselves.

11 Self-produced fun station introduced to the world! Gamania had its debut exhibition of 5 self-produced online games at Tokyo Game Show.

10 Overthrow the fun ma "Maple Story" which game free of monthly sensation in the online

13 Make fun professional!

Gamania established representative team— Gama Bear, officially joining the field of electronic sports.

“Fun”, FullSoft developed enient Store”, creating a

ion sets in Asia. to the world. FullSoft was Gamania (Game+Mania)

2000 4 Actively promoting the fun market! Gamania launched "Mania Game Magazine" with the first issue reaching 200,000 copies, marking the highest circulation record of first issue in Taiwanese game magazines.

5 When we play, we play to win! Gamania officially signed a contract with IBM in 2000, establishing the biggest and most advanced professional computer room.

map out story get

2001 7 Play the international magnitude. Gamania established GHK, GJP, GKR and GCN, setting out its foothold and presence in Asian game markets.

ASIA

this “You can’t welcome the new without abandoning should never forget nor abandon our past history and zes on our history to make every Gamania understand -fought battles, can Gamania achieve the status it is nians must learn and bear in mind and welcome the n 2011.

arket! Gamania launched h became first online charge, creating quite a game industry.

6 The incredible miracle of Linage! Gamania’s success in Lineage created a trend of large scale online game, drawing in millions of players.

2004

2002

9 Change the payment method, and make having fun easier. Gamania established GASH platform, becoming the first game company that has an integrated virtual payment channel in Taiwan.

8 Creating more fun value! In addition to developing games, Gamania’s self-produced animation, HERO:108 won the title of International Digital Content Prototype Design Award in animation session.

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GAMANIA

Features

Cherish the History, Document the History, Make the History In addition to cherishing our glorious history, we need to document every precious memory at the present. In the past, Gamania didn’t have a habit of documenting and filing these records and this became a problem because when events or campaigns to be hosted in the future, senior Gamanians have to try their best to recall the past events or avoid providing the same materials. Once the project manager leaves, and everything about this project parishes with him/her. In light of this, Gamania plans to launch relevant policies to ensure each and every event and incidents are recorded and filed accurately. Brand center built a “Branding Toolbox” station on OH to collect branding tools such as corporate introductory film, logo database of each company under Gamania, Gamania E-Cards, Gama gons, and opening film for TGS etc. In the future, the toolbox will continue to collect various brand related resources and update materials online in different category for Gamanianas’ easy reference and use. This database will become the most user-friendly resource sharing treasury!

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Making Gama-History—We Want You! In addition to cherishing history, documenting history, most importantly, we have to be able to make history. Gamania started everything from the concept of having fun. In 1995, founder, Albert regarded “having fun” as his lifetime mission and thus accomplished Gamania’s 15 years of fun history. In this massive organization, you, him, or me, in the past or in the future, we will be incorporating the idea of “Work=Fun” and create history for Gamania! To cherish our history, Brand Center planned a series of campaigns and events in commemorating Gamania’s 15th anniversary—Gamania 15=Playwork which featured a touching 15th anniversary film to be aired in early March. To document our history, an exhibition will be held to share with everyone the history of Gamania in the past 15 years. To make history, we need Gamanians’ involvement. No matter who you are, you could leave tracks and marks in the history of Gamania. Upload your photos on Gamania’s website, be it the crazy birthday pranks, meetings, indoor or outdoor events or any events taking place at Gamania. When the pictures exceed 150, Gamanians will receive a big surprise present so Gamanians, don’t miss out these awesome events in March!

Video

Exhibition

Website

@ 25

GAMANIA

Features

2011

New Year Resolution

As we entered a new year, in addition to reviewing our past achievements, k mo st imp orta ntly, we nee d to loo e ahe ad into the futu re and pre par In for the upc om ing cha llen ges . ior ligh t of this , G!Voice invi ted sen Gamanians to talk about their new year resolutions and bid their wishes to Gamanians.

Gamanian, keep the momentum going!

s nian a m a G g 011, ghtin i f p In 2 e to ke and keep need als ur go for o ! ing on march

GUS COO David

GHQ CEO Albert

I don words every in 2 the tha to an y m

G J P is h goal of e a d in g t o w a r d "self-pro duced g t h e and web g a challen ames" which is mes ge for a big us of time table, q . The delay uality c etc bec on am move as e obstacles for trol planned us to b triumph ed with ut at last we and We b ć ‹ĺ§Ź ( D e D I V I N A ( S e p ) c we plan to launc ). This year h more games

26

O, GJP CO Asai i Kiyosh

s u it a b le in c lu d in t o J a p a n e s e m g PC gam c o n s o le g a m e a r k e t es adap s and te believe with GJ d from IP. I capabil P's oper i prospero t y , 2 0 1 1 w i l ation l be a us year f or u

GHK

Yali , O CO

Gamania entered the glo operatio bal n phase in 2010, t was exc his iting ne ws! I be G a m a n ia li e ve ns have no fear the fac in e of ne w chall becaus e n g e s e we're the be everyon st, e keep u p w it h good wo the rk!

iam

Will O O C GEU

cy y f a n nk n a a have to th n ’ t u, I want rd work o a s for y or their h you for f d u e a n l o p y p ope and a e n t . I h u e 0 1 0 m 2 tin hieve l con e a c r y o n e w i l territory e a t e v e into new r y ! T h a n k o g r a h c that r vict ht fo s c a r r y g i f d n t’ ll, le 011! y o u a tum into 2 n mome

ing

Last year Gamania was growing its presence all arou nd the wor ld. Eve ryo ne wor ked tog eth er to spre ad joy and Gam ania n spir it to eve ry cor ner . Thi s yea r, I hope we will carry on spreading the spirit and keep our morale high!

I've alwa ys hope d to shap e GTW&EST a forceful and fierc e Stee l Batt alion with high mobi lity. Afte r a year of training, I feel that this battalion has come into shape which makes me very proud and excited. The first day of 2011 we fought the channel war. The biggest target for

O, GCN CO o H Ronald

GTW & EST CO O Vincent Steel Battalion 2011 is to figh t! figh t! And figh t!

Gamania will fight to earn the first place in Taiwan.

And ever yone will know we're the toughest and the best and there's nothing we can't achieve!

for a ing r a p e am is is pr ur te o N , C 1 G and 1 tum in 20 n e t h m g fi y. I mo eedil ring p e s h e t on ga ral take g mo d l n i u t o s c t boo GCN s figh that loriou g d h n hope t a in e orical rket t a s i m h t a s bigge in the . world

27

GAMANIA

Features

COO GKR

Leo

Gamania's territory has grown even bigger in 2011! With steady growth in GJP and GHK and the new joined GUS and GEU, this means that we're moving on to another level. I hope that this year GKR could continue to expand the operation scope of self-produced products. And I also hope that every Gamanian can be ambitious and face the global challenge with no fear.

Fantasy Fish COO, Barron Lo

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ts to be h e p ro d u c t o t n io re a re In a d d it a rk e t , t h e m e h t in ed la u n c h e d a re in v o lv gues that a e ll o he c t r re mo n t fo d e v e lo p m e e m a g e h w is t o in t h in 2 0 1 1 . I n io t ra e n e eir best next g e to do th on ry e v e e ate a encourag her and cre ot h ac e t Let and suppor e players. an move th c at at th re g e gam e a and promis l oa g e h t e tter y ar us set h will be be is F sy ta an vision. F after year!

Si it a h su w y w G w e c t

GHQ CRO, Ala n Kuo

Kaie O O oC Seed Being in a game business is a long winding road, you can’t see the result ahead.

Although we leave traces behind, I don’t think we need to leave something other than that. We need to accumulate our achievements and therefore we need a promising and carefully crafted plan and a team that can enforce it. We need to deliberate before we execute so we won’t waste our resource or manpower.

My New Year resolution for all is, “I hope everyone could be busy with a sense of achievement!”

ince TGS 2010, Gamania has launched ts first wave of self-produced products, announcing to the world that Gamania has entered the global stage. We’ve uccessfully made our first step and we’re on the win! I hope that this year everyone will join together to witness the next glorious decade that Gamania is about to create! Gamania will be known to the world as a great entertainment brand that has the most creativity, most fun, craziest but also the warmest!

after spring t s r i f amania the the G yone This is d e n i o ever gs j Firedo want to wish r y yea I . t h e a l h t I in family d n a us e tha a joyo lso hop w e c o u l d a I . d ahea year ur o m i n g leverage on o the c , cs r i e m h o t d c oge work t nimation an our a world e h t games, w to sho works ergy! n e d an passion

iel

Gabr O O og C d e r i F

Playcoo COO Joyce I used the horoscope forecast function in Lucent Heart for Gamania in 2011. The result is as follow: [Love] Hot as the blazing sun, you should cherish the campaigns/projects you’re assigned to and you will gain positive result.

[Work] Your work index continue to climb up, the more you work for it, the better it will become.

[Fortune] Splendid. This is a year of profit. You should seize the chance to actively exploring channels to make money, this will help you accumulate wealth.

[Social] Great charisma+ strong support from allies and partners.

[Fight] Morale is high. So long as you’re ready to perform your specialized skill and advantage of team work, you will move up the rank in no time.

[Overall] Be well-prepared, when the right time comes, you shall harvest with glee.

OO Jacky C e t a G d Re

st e mu p u r s u change. e w n e s s ction of e i s a i happi T h e rough afflr y c h a n g i n t h e h e t v now f a c i n g go this ’re A n d u t i o n . W e v o l u t i o n , d stress r e v o l n t o f r e llenge an f course t o r r e dible cha s which o t p a i n . incre d measure i t h g r e aad to be beyonm p a n i e s wed and gl ogether. a c c o very honor you all t unt and I’m this withcan surmo a h e a d , facingther, we o b s t a c l e s n!

Toge o m e a n y our missio o v e r c remember please

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GAMANIA

Features Gama-Partners, Back up all the way!

Gam ania Spok Cheer U espe rson, p Founda t Tom my C ion hen

IDEO Charles Hayesďźš ctor Design Dire

O inment CE a t r e t n E i Mach Jeff Huang 30

Wishing you a game-changing 2011 in Taiwan and beyond...

new the o al t n peci t i s r a a t s e x t r lenty of your ery v d p May g ects rin y an b g r r proj a t e n g e n yea l a gi ere astic c h a l l e n ywh fant r e y l v l e ica man e r y b o d y v t o e ia! an Gam

I hope that Gamania could challenge the world in 2011, push itself to the limit and spread the Gama spirit around the globe! I will be sharing with you all in the next gama-townhall in Feburary, I look forward to seeing you all!

meister： r Stefan Sag ry Graphic Designe ra Contempo ry 15 ve n o mania ed to thrill ns Ga o s i i t a p l oo ssful atu oonsc succe M Congr e ! h s r t s l yea er on alway playfu partn team a r s u y a o n Y you so ma 08.” n have i :1 o r e e v i for “H creat you o s k brand n e a b . Th tinue s to ways u con prove o d y e e t p ther pec we ho r ano d o unex f n a ” thing game every good a e hav to “ d! beyon d n a 15

Cynthia Money：Executive of Global Marketing & Product Dept Games are like films, we hope we could make the audience or players feel that beauty, genuineness and goodness through stories. But to achieve that, we need substantial amount of passion and commitment. I see this kind of passion and commitmen t in Gamania, so Gamanians, let’s fire up your passion in 2011!

Directo r Assassin of Reign of , ChaoBin Su

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GAMANIA

Column

Animation technology doesn't matter?!

About Writer

Jo-Jo

Convener of Shuffle Alliance University Lecturer Jo-Jo has been an ACG fan for more than 35 years and has profound study on Otaku community. She dedicates herself to promoting Otaku spirit, as the leader of Shuffle Alliance, she helped launching books such as Animation Comic Game, Japanese Animation Case Studies and Animation Comics 2000.

2010 is a thriving, ourishing year for animation industry in China. Many cities in China were eagerly building animation bases and invested greatly on animation companies.

After grand projects being announced one after another, lavishing on the investment amount and magnitude, the year of harvest has ďŹ nally come. The prospective number was declared in 2010.

The total box office of animation in China was $164 million RMB as of August, 2010 with annual growth more than 25%. In fact, since 2006, the share of animation in the film market had increased from 7% to 17% which caused the craze for animation in China.

We can see another astonishing fact emerging, if we take a close look at the box office of animation

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in 2010. Among $164 million in box office in the category of animation, the Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: The Adventure of Tiger alone contributed $124 millions and the rest 7 animation only brought in $40 million RMB in box office combined. While these 7 animations were all greatly invested, the investment amount for Animen was the highest, with

$50 million RMB into but box office at $7.3 million RMB. The performances of Armor Hero and Hong Mao Lan Tu Huo Feng Huang were fell short which are expected to have deep impacts on the animation industr y in China.

Many animation specialists started to analyze and try to explain such phenomenon.

Source: http://www.520885.com/pic

《 Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf 》 : the strife

between a goat and a wolf has made it the most popular animation in China.

Interestingly, they all come to the same conclusion – CG and 3D don’t matter, but the script does.

Such idea was broadly introduced to each animation companies, directors, and investors. However, when the animation company tries to expand the scale, the budgets were listed under equipments and technicians rather than the scripts.

The problem is not that the crucial issue didn ’ t get fixed but the focus is diverted. In order to emphasize the content (script), the specialists tend to highlight that the technology doesn ’ t matter. These two aspects should

《Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf 》 launches new

episode every year due to the great popularity it enjoys in China.

be co-developed but were torn apart by these specialists.

Whenever someone stresses the importance of the technology, the other side would make a list of evidences trying to prove the other side is wrong. Such prejudicial arguments may easily blur the fundamentals in the issue. Why can’t technology and script co-exist? Since both parties can propose solid evidences to support their points, isn ’ t that in itself the strongest argument that proves both aspects are Animation is artistic creation, and requires in-depth content to touch the hearts of audiences;

animation is also a product that requires high technology to be produced. With these two features, animation can cater to the audiences’ liking. Therefore, the animation company should consistently improve their technology while making progress on the content of scripts to inspire the audiences.

A popular animation can’t only focus on the content or t e c h n o l o g y, o n l y w i t h b o t h elements complement one another can a classic animation be born.

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GAMANIA

Column

Giving is more joyous than receiving

Source: http://www.giftastranger.net/

About Writer

Mika

Internet marketing observer in Taiwan Mika has been working in the field of marketing for more than 10 years, managing from brand strategy, product concept to market launch. He cares about the traditional marketing models and also pays attentions to the changes of Web 2.0, Social Media, and etc…

Blog:http://jabamay.blogspot.com/

Gift A Stranger Campaign is easy to participate, it only takes three steps

A Belgium advertising company, Happiness Brussels launched a “Gift a Stranger” campaign during Christmas time. You only have to fill out the basic information and prepare a gift for someone, the system will automatically choose a random address in the world for you. If you’re willing to send the gift to this place, you only need to print out the address, pack the gift and send it. The reason I wanted to share this case is not only because this is an interesting case, but the concept of spontaneity, unexpected fun.

This is definitely something worth noted for future campaign reference.

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The concept is for this campaign is simple: whoever wants to participate in this act of kindness, all you need to do is fill out your name, city, country and description of the gift and upload a picture.

The system will random choose the receiver address. You may check the receiver’s location through the satellite image from Google Map. You may choose to do it again

if you ’ re not satisfied with the address. The fun part is, the system will only list out the name and city of the sender (no address nor contact methods) but will not put down the receiver. All you have to write on the cover of the package is “To: The Happy Person Living At …” which means there is no reciprocity.

The gift receiver has no obligation to return the favor, but if he/she

does (assuming you left the contact information), this may lead to a whole different story. You may start contacting one another, become friends, visit each other…and then who knows!?

This is an experiment from an advertising company that acted as an initiator of a social activity.

There’s no rigid rules, no restrictions on the type or monetary

Strangers all around the world receive gifts from this campaign.

amount of the gift, no explanation on how the address is picked, no rules on returning the gift. The gift receiver probably has no idea the whole thing exists, he/she may be so confused when they receive the gift that they think maybe it’s a gift from some unknown admirer or even Santa Claus.

Nobody knows anyone and you can’t get a gift in return, why did so many people participate in the project? It is because the project invoked the “ kindness ” factor in our humanity. Because you are aware that you’re giving gifts to someone you don’ t know and you’re thinking “I wanna have some connection with someone in some corner of this world during this Christmas season.” In reality,

you don’t receive any gift back, but you may feel just as joyous as the one who receives it, isn’t that magical!?

This project plays on the idea of the game we all know, the “little guardian angel ” game played during holiday seasons in the school or company. When you draw someone out of the box, you’ll have to prepare a gift for that person or take care of that person without him/her knowing it.

This game has been passed down for generations, and every once in a while, it’ll be back in the trend again.

Whether it’s Gift A Stranger, or Little Guardian Angel, it’s all about giving and receiving, adding the “uncertainty and randomness”

A lucky person living at YanPing N. Rd, Taipei city will receive a dress from Brazil.

factors, the project is fun and brings merriness to both parties.

If we combine these two modes and incorporate it into Gamanian activities, for example, during spring break or some holiday, the system draws out a pair, then Gamania player A will give a game gift to player B, player B will have to give another gift of the same level or above to player C etc. Gamania may set up some reward systems and rules and commend those who actively participate in the activity. This modern and interesting game/activity will sure to be a fun thing to initiate.

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GAMANIA

Column

Absolut Vodka—the bottle that tells the stories gamaniabrandcenter Design Observation A blog jointly written by the members of Gamania brand center where you can find the opinions and observations on brands, marketing, and designs from designers, executives, musicians, exhibiter, creators and even aliens. G!Voice reposted the diverse and copious content to the magazine so that Gamanians can communicate and exchange thoughts with them via internet.

Website: gamaniabrandcenter.blogspot.com

Decorative art is also Absolut Vodka's forte.

Speaking of the most popular and impressive bottle, Absolut Vodka is probably on the top of the list, in addition to Coca Cola. However, which of those two is better? Well, you could see from the way people treat the bottles. People would usually throw away Coca Cola's bottle after they finish the drink but rarely is anyone would do the same to that of Absolut Vodka. It is almost guaranteed that unless the bottle is broken into pieces due to some mishaps, no one would throw them into the trash cans. What did Absolut do to create such a powerful brand power? It's actually not that complicated, they let the bottles speak for themselves.

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The design of Absolut bottle

Vodka carries the North European

made in Sweden was any good.

originated in the common drug

bloodline is no exception.

(after all, Vodka is the national

bottles in Sweden, 16th century.

However, the characteristic bottles

alcoholic drink of Russia.)

Due to the geography and climate

did not draw people's attention

But Absolut didn't give up after the

of North Europe, the design of

when it first launched in the U.S.

negative feedback, they changed

even the most common drug

Americans couldn't get used to

their campaign and marketing

bottles savor of simplistic and

the over-simplistic bottle and

strategy and overhauled their

pristine characters and Absolut

moreover, they didn't think Vodka

“simplistic and pristine” theme.

Themed around “Absolut XXX” to showcase their creativity and diversity and successfully appealed to the consumers.

Launched different limited edition bottles, making them the “must-collect” for the Absolut Vodka fans.

Excessive drinking may damage your health

They started to campaign on

ones who don't consume vodka

Absolut Vodka not only ingrained

their unique bottle designs, and

are willing to purchase their wines

the brands in consumers'minds,

adopted “ Absolut XXX ” as

for collection purpose.

but also earned massive amount

the slogan for TV commercials,

In addition to selling “attitude”,

of media exposure.

emphasizing the “ Absolute ”

Absolut gradually developed

This winter, Aboslut did not let

spirit that other brands don't have.

some routine campaigns such

their fans down, the long-awaited,

Absolut collaborated with iconic

extravagant limited edition bottles

much-anticipated limited edition

artists such as Andy Warhol to

to quench fans' collection desire.

bottle was shaped as an exquisite

play around the bottle design.

Some time ago, they launched a

bling-bling chandelier, if added

Combining street art, installation

bottle that has absolutely no label

with LED light at the bottom, it

art and high fashion, Absolut

to encourage people to show their

makes one feel that it's worth to

Vodka acquired more than 800

true color; the rainbow edition

just to purchase it as a household

art pieces through these brand

bottle launched to commemorate

décor.

campaigns over the past 30

the 40th anniversary of the

years. These diverse ideologies

rainbow flag in support of gay

and artistic activity overthrew the

c o m m u n i t y. L a s t y e a r, r o c k

market. Its brand image well-

limited edition was launched to

established, receiving recognition

encourage people to rock and

from the consumers, even the

rebel … These limited edition of

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GAMANIA

Events Gamania Hall of Fameďźš

Gamania Fiercest Award November Winner: Dragon Nest Dragon Nest is a 3D ARGP developed

by Evedentity Games (currently acquired by Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd.). Dragon Nest features exquisite visual effects and fluent battle effect which caused quite a craze in China, Japan and Korea after its initial launch. Dragon Nest made its debut appearance in Taiwan in November 2010, creating extraordinary result. Merely 17 days after the opening of membership application, the new joined members broke a record of 300,000 people, making it the product of the month for November in revenue contribution.

G!Voice invited the best PM in Dragon Nest to share with you their keys to success!

Dep uty Pr oduc t Ma na ge r o f G TW BU2 Jessica Lee

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2 Keys Factors for Success

1

2

Guarantee Clearance of Any Hack Tools

Control Variables to Increase Stability

Before any product could be launched to the market, it needs careful and comprehensive observation which includes the product itself, market and the players to ensure smooth operation and success in the market.

Initially, before acquiring agent right of Dragon Nest, Gamania did in-depth analysis and research on the product and found out that the game had a serious hack tools problem. The main cause for the problem was that the developer company couldn’t target the hack tools within the game and did not want to deal with the problem, causing the number of concurrent online members to drop significantly. To ensure Taiwanese players that the same problem wouldn’t appear here, Gamania established specialized HackTool Team to clear out all the tools to ensure players’ rights and benefit. The act itself gained trust and loyalty of the players so after its official launch in November, the members continued to soar. One month alone, the members increased nearly half a million with a record of 500,000 concurrent online users per day. That was the beginning of Dragon Nest’s success.

Some minor unstable factors which often appear in the initial stage of product launch may cause the loss of players. In light of this, Gamania took into consideration problems and operation status in other countries to forecast possible scenarios and jumped start on the preparation and adjustment. Dragon Nest was connected to beanfun! during CCB stage, so all the soft and hardware had gone through complete testing to ensure the stability of the server and reduce unforeseeable risks and human oversight. The team also opened membership application in advance to lower the threshold for players’ easy access. The team managed every crucial links and variables and successfully achieved stability which was why Dragon Nest can succeed in Taiwan.

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GAMANIA

Events

Feature Report

A locale for Gamania internal cultureexchangea n d f o r expressing ultimate creativities and crazy ideas, SPACE 17 is the exhibition space for Gamanians.

Each month, we curate exhibitions and featured events. Creative talents, such as ar t ists and designers are also invited to have speeches from time to time. In the future, we are planning to share more creative concepts as well as to discover more interesting people and what is happening inside Gamania.

SPACE 17 Special Reports

「 Welcome to 2011 」 Interactive Exhibition—Gamanians' showing what they've got

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The first exhibition of SPACE 17 in 2011 was a symbolic gesture to bid “ Hello ” to this brand new year.

The exhibition integrated interactive programs and devices in the film studio-liked show room and attempted to get Gamanians involved in the exhibition. In the beginning of 2011, it not only brought fun to all but new vibe too!

In order to close the distance between viewers and enrich the exhibition, many exhibitions have launched interactive functions which gained many quite a few great feedbacks because the contents were fun and the devices were cool. SPACE 17 took the opportunity to hold the first interactive exhibition in the beginning of the year.

As you entered the show room, you could soon observe that the special arrangement in SPACE 17 was like a film studio while there was no camera but a computer which can identify the faces and take photos automatically.

Gamanians could put on all kinds of wigs and accessories to express themselves in front of the monitor which computer took photos of them. There was a gate in the middle symbolizing stepping into a brand new year. After the photo was taken, Gamanian could walk to the other side and see the number “2011” made of their photos. The viewers could see their own photos when waiving to “2011.”

The planner said, “Although the interaction method in this exhibition was relatively simple but the most important thing was that we were trying to get more Gamanians to participate in the event. Meanwhile we’d also like to bring out a lively, vibrant vibe in the new year. This exhibition was a new attempt, we will provide more events and venues for interesting interactions in the future.”

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GAMANIA

Events

Interaction Makes Life Comes Alive They say technology comes from humanity, true word of wisdom. But what is “humanity”? People like to have interesting things to enrich their lives. Through the concept of interaction, the internet, exhibition, and life can therefore be enriched.

1

SXSW Music + Film + Interactive Technology Festival SXSW is an organizational event launched by independent rockers 23 years ago, which included music, films, and interactive technologies. The interactive technology has attracted many internet entrepreneurs, for instance, the wellknown Twitter was first introduced on SXSW in 2007. The festival once even caused the temporary breakdown of AT&T telecom services due to the massive usage of iPhone during the event.

Beatriz Areilza interactive showcase There is barely any one who doesn’t know this top digital company from Stockholm – North Kingdom in the digital interacting industry. The digital academy of Hyper Island established by the company has introduced many amazing works. Beatriz Areilza is one of the members of the academy, he introduced the concept of interactive digital showcase in 2011, attempting to facilitate interesting interactions between the dummy in the showcase and the passersby. His idea has attracted more than 80,000 viewers in only a few days.

3

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2

Sixth Sense The talented student, Prarnay Mistry from MIT Media Lab attempted to realize his unique idea of life experience. He invented a device to integrate the virtual and real world – the Sixth Sense. The device combines projection, filming, and voicing. The users can operate the device whenever and wherever they like. The program also has functions like identification and reality expansion which allow people to further experience the unlimited possibility of the virtual world.

GAMANIA BRAND NEW TITLES

H N C O N U W！ A L

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