my . com
urltoken cofounder and ceo dmitry grishin. (photo courtesy of my. com )
russia - based mail. ru launches urltoken here in the u. s .
russia’s urltoken hopes to crack u. s. market with mobile chat and email programs
urltoken — communication and entertainment services: mymail, maps. me, and games .
armored warfare is a team - based action mmo tank game from urltoken for the pc .
you' ve got mail. ru: russian internet giant looks for u. s. expansion with urltoken
the challenge for urltoken with urltoken is that it’s entering a competitive market with little experience of american consumers’ tastes. grishin is obviously bullish about the company’s chances. he explains that marketing and market research for urltoken will be handled from an office in mountain view, silicon valley, although all development will take place in russia .
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russian giant urltoken launches in the us as my. com, with free email and im apps subsidized by mobile gaming
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we knew that russian internet services giant urltoken was planning to launch internationally under the name urltoken, and today that drive starts with the us launch of email and im apps, mymail and mychat, along with a mobile gaming product called mygames .
russia' s urltoken enters u. s. market with mobile chat, e - mail programs - ina fried - mobile - allthingsd
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here’s one particularly interesting factoid about urltoken that could make the ears of those who have privacy concerns perk up pronto. despite the fact that urltoken is based in mountain view, calif. , (yes, that’s google territory) urltoken ’s servers are located in the netherlands, not here in the u. s. this could allay people’s fears after it was revealed that the nsa monitors communications here in the states .
russian internet company urltoken is making its foray into the u. s. market on tuesday, announcing mail and chat programs for both ios and android .
in addition to the chat and email apps, urltoken will offer a collection of free games, with a handful of titles already launched, including jungle heat, poker arena and lucky fields .
: dmitry grishin, ceo of russia’s urltoken group and creator of robot venture fund grishin robotics, is getting into the u. s. app market with the launch of my. com .
fellow russian titan yandex struggled in its initial experiment with the american market but urltoken is going in much bigger here with a far more mainstream brand and range of products. we’ll be watching closely to see how it fares
“we can learn a lot and compete with the best companies, ” he said. urltoken has five people in an office in mountain view for its new my. com u. s. subsidiary, with plans to double that soon .
despite the fact that the u. s. market is already saturated with such apps and games, grishin expects to bring in money from the sale of digital items in these games, as urltoken group has done successfully in its home country .
whether urltoken can compete with the likes of google, yahoo and others remains to be seen. though mail. ru is incredibly popular overseas, that popularity won’t necessarily translate to high immediate adoptions numbers here in the u. s. . stay tuned .
urltoken is a web site devoted to news, analysis and opinion on technology, the internet and media. but it is different from other sites in this space. it is a fusion of different media styles, different topics, different formats and different sources. read more »
last week at techonomy 13 i was able to sit down with dmitry grishin chairman and ceo of mail. ru group one of the worlds largest internet companies to talk about the launch of his new company urltoken in the united states today. dmirty demonstrated two their new apps that they are launching today .
meanwhile, urltoken hopes to use mychat get a foothold in the us ‘sms replacement’ im app market before the likes of asia’s line make a big push there. the whatsapp - style app offers voip and voice calling in addition to im, and there’s the now almost compulsory inclusion of stickers that users can send to each other .
“we understand that this is hard and there is significant competition, so we are using the startup approach, ” grishin said. “we think it is important to create a product, see how people react, see what needs to be changed, and then advertise it. urltoken products combine communication and entertainment, and we believe this idea of ‘communi - tainment’ will be powerful. ”
slightly mad studios announces team - based pc racing mmo and suggests there’s no technical reason it couldn’t come to ps4 and xbox one .
slightly mad studios, the developer responsible for need for speed: shift and racing - sim project cars, today announced team - based arcade - racing free - to - play mmo, world of speed .
the title is set for release on pc later this year and speaking at the announcement event, technical director, ged keaveney, suggested that while there aren’t currently any plans to launch on ps4 and xbox one it shouldn’t be ruled out, “putting the game on new platforms is something that we’re well geared - up for and could do without too much trouble or without compromising performance, ” commented keaveney .
at its core, world of speed is a team - based racer in which two teams vie for control of real world locations starting with london, moscow and monaco, with many more to come. one of its key mandates is to address two of the main issues in racing games, as slightly mad studios sees it. the first is the sense of futility experienced by players who crash out on the first corner and then spend the rest of their time on the track desperately trying to make up lost ground. the second is that it’s generally only podium finishes that award points, glory or a sense of having meaningfully affected the outcome of a race .
world of speed aims to mitigate these failings by widening the scope of your involvement in each contest so that it includes more than just a race to the finish and by issuing challenges that contribute to a team’s overall race score. to facilitate the former, players will take on roles in a similar vein to those found in other mmos and team - based online experiences of different genres .
“even if you' re not amazing at racing but you know you’re friend is then you can play a support role, which is the equivalent of something like the medic in team fortress, ” explains creative director, andy tudor. “you can support your guy and contribute to your team maybe by being a blocker and stopping other people overtaking or as a damage dealer looking to take out competitors. ”
to empower you to do this, varied load - outs are available for the numerous car models, with new parts and items awarded as you earn experience during races but that can also be crafted, again emulating more traditional rpg mmos .
it’s possible to flit between load - outs to suit a particular role without having to change cars and while some models will more naturally lend themselves to clattering opponents or out and out racing, there’s no reason why with the right load - out you can’t turn a hulking dodge into a speed machine. more likely, though, is that you’ll find a couple of favourite vehicles and customise them accordingly to suit your team strategy .
“we want people to be planning and strategising before they even get to the start line, ” tudor enthuses. “by working together as a clan, you can establish who’s doing what and ensure that people’s talents are effectively utilised rather than just aiming to get all of your racers across the line as quickly as possible. ”
hands - on experience with two of the uk courses illustrated how that might work in practice, with straight - up racing circuit, brands hatch, and the tortuously circuitous st james’ district offering very different experiences. on the former, world of speed feels like a traditional arcade - racer, as i attempt to follow the ideal - race line around the track and fight against my car’s heavy handling, which tudor later suggests is one of the many areas that will be upgradeable .
switching to the streets of central london i get a better feel for how working as a team pays dividends as the tightly twisting streets ensure that each member in the 4 vs 4 match - up is either exploiting their racing skills or trying to take the opposing team out of the race. at one point, with the opposing team occupying three of the top four positions, i run headlong into the team’s fourth member who has parked across a bottleneck to form a barricade in order to buy a few more precious seconds to win the race .
this role - play is further bolstered by the challenges, such as having to tag every other car in the race or drafting a player for sixty seconds. completing these challenges combined with nabbing a couple of high - ranking race spots can swing victory your team’s way. in addition, there’s personal xp to be gained for performing actions such driving a clean course section, taking shortcuts and fulfilling role - based tasks such as blocking and damage dealing .
with only the vanilla models on - hand it’s difficult to establish just how much the upgrades might change the feel and handling of the cars. damage is intended to be persistent across races but it’s currently undecided if this will impact handling or just mar the cosmetic appearance of your favourite ride. similarly, gear shifting is currently set to automatic - only and with the option to control your racer via the keyboard, it’s unclear just how nuanced the control scheme will ultimately be .
world of speed looks set to offer an unintimidating entry point into the world of free - to - play mmo racing. however, its best ideas and most interesting concepts currently exist in theory rather than in a hands - on build. we’ll have to wait until later this year to find out whether the depth suggested by the xp, challenge and role - play systems materialises in practice and whether the microtransactions and social features that will form its lifeblood will be as accessible as its pick - up and play racing .
stace harman is a freelance contributor to ign and is convinced that zombies will one day inherent the earth. you can follow him on twitter .
it' s available now, along with watchos, tvos and homepod versions .
the company will launch an ipo on a' recognized' us stock exchange .
it comes with boards, fishing rods, a tent and a solar - powered shower .
mymail is designed to offer an alternative to the built - in email programs on ios and android, while mychat is another entrant into the crowded messaging space led by whatsapp and other upstarts .
dmitry grishin, ceo of mail. ru, told allthingsd that he expects stiff competition but said that the company wants to make sure it is taking part in the u. s. market so it sees what the competition has to offer .
tagged with: android, chat, e - mail, ios, iphone, mail. ru, russia, whatsapp
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there’s a lot of attention and pr around marissa, but their product lineup just kind of blows .
the first mymail an innovative email application, that is very visual, and has a design unlike anything seen to date in an email application. this is an app where you can manage all of your email accounts and switch between them easily. unique to mymail is that it allows users to customize and enable real - time push notifications even if the email providers do not support them. mymail was extremely fast, a lot of time has went into optimizing the app .
what intrigued me the most was the visual qualities. the screen show provided does little to show off the design, built in filters and ease of navigation. i encourage you to try mymail launching for free today on both ios and android .
dmitry said “i’m happy to introduce our new products to the competitive u. s. internet market, ” “russian developers tend to have outstanding backgrounds in mathematics, physics and engineering, which have propelled russian companies to the forefront of the domestic internet market. now we will use all the skills and experience we’ve earned to enter the u. s. market. ”
the second if mychat a mobile messaging service for free text, voice and video messaging. mychat’s conversation - centric interface allows for ongoing, streaming chat and sharing of media, like photos and pre - recorded video messages. voice and video calling are seamless no matter what platform users are on – ios or android. mychat it is my opinion that the versatility of this app will give all competing apps a run for their money .
the third is mygames which is part of a growing collection of fun, free mobile games already available here in the united states. mygames’ title jungle heat is a top 25 android bestseller; it has already generated nearly 1. 5 million downloads on the ios platform and 6 million downloads on the android platform .
the current collection of games also includes poker arena and lucky fields, which has seen more than 1. 2 million android installs since being soft - launched in august .
todd cochrane is the founder of geek news central and host of the geek news central podcast. he is a podcast hall of fame inductee and was one of the very first podcasters in 2004. he wrote the first book on podcasting, and did many of the early podcast advertising deals in the podcasting space. he does two other podcasts in addition to geek news central. the new media show and podcast legends .
as american internet firms go public, many have looked overseas to unearth untapped user bases. one russian - based internet behemoth is doing the same, but instead of scoping out brics or other emerging nations, it' s coming to the home of twitter and facebook .
on tuesday, mail. ru group, russia' s second - largest web company by revenue, launched my. com, a suite of mobile messaging, e - mail and gaming applications that represents its first foray into an already crowded u. s. market. for some, the move would seem counterintuitive in a nation' s whose mobile users do not lack for a
next big thing .
but for mail. ru cofounder and ceo dmitry grishin, the company' s decision is a signal of intent - - an attempt to make one of the world' s biggest internet firms even bigger .
it' s a very exciting market to learn from ,
says grishin, wearing a standard - issue silicon valley hoodie with leather dress shoes in a recent interview in san francicso .
we also think that launching a product on the u. s. market will make us stronger on our local market because we' re learning more and more and fighting here with the best of the best .
guess any number and multiply it by five ,
jokes grishin when asked about the price .
mygames represents the first aspect of that strategy, with freemium titles already launched in the u. s. including the farmville - esque lucky fields and jungle heat, already a top game on android. while wary of the precedent set by social gaming failure zynga, grishin is betting on a similar thesis that all games, not just those on your phone, will eventually be free - to - play with users paying for in - game additions. it' s mail. ru' s way of dipping its toe in the market, introducing titles as a primer for grander announcements to come, says the ceo .
businesses in russia and china are very focused on freemium models ,
says grishin .
for example, if you look at the u. s. , [ big ] gaming business here are based on a subscription model. you pay per month - - $ 20 for world of warcraft... companies like electronic arts still stick with this old model .
mymail is perhaps a safer play. without introducing a new email client, the mail. ru' s mail app is similar to the ios offering that comes standard on all iphones .
we decided it was would be the right move to connect already existing mailboxes ,
says grishin, as opposed to providing new email addresses and competing for market share .
most intriguing is mychat, whose swiss - army knife approach to communication combines the functionalities of popular voice and video apps like facetime and viber with the text - message alternatives of whatsapp and kakaotalk. it' s in communication that mail. ru' s ceo sees the biggest potential, as one voice or messaging service hasn' t grasped majority mindshare in the u. s market .
mychat seems to borrow inspiration from other previous apps, delivering their functionalities all in one place. there' s the push - to - call video ability like skype, along with the cute messaging interfaces (complete with stickers) that have propelled offerings like kakaotalk and line to the top of asian markets. and with so many options across different mediums, grishin believes there' s value in offering everything in one place. the only thing he needs now are users to pick up calls or message back from the other side .
follow me on twitter at @ rmac18 or email me at rmac @ forbes. com .
skyforge and armored warfare have been announced by obsidian entertainment at gdc 2014 in san francisco .
the former title is a science fiction - fantasy mmorpg developed in collaboration with the allods team, while the latter is an online tactical military game .
set in a universe where mortals and immortals fight for survival against invading gods and their armies, skyforge casts players as a deity and tasks then with amassing legions of followers .
the game features
unique combat and a massive variety of classes and character customisation options ,
as players rise from the rank of immortal to fully fledged god .
developed in conjunction with russian internet giant my. com, armored warfare is a team - based, tactical military game based around vehicular combat .
the free - to - play title includes
stunning next - gen visuals, dynamic destructible environments, customisable vehicles
and more .
digital spy, part of the hearst uk entertainment network © 2018 hearst magazines uk is the trading name of the national magazine company ltd, 72 broadwick street, london, w1f 9ep. registered in england 112955. all rights reserved .
russia internet giant mail. ru does something the soviets never did: invade america | venturebeat
russia internet giant mail. ru does something the soviets never did: invade america
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the russian internet giant made its first foray into the u. s. market today by launching my. com, its new american subsidiary. my. com’s platform powers the mobile e - mail app mymail, a messaging app called mychat, and a gaming app called mygames .
“globally, there are not too many countries where local players are winning the market, but in russia we are more popular than facebook or google, ” ceo dmitry grishin said in an interview with venturebeat. “mail. ru showed people that russia has huge potential as an interesting market. we thought a lot about our next move, and realized to be successful globally, you need to compete with the best players, and the u. s. market is the most competitive. ”
mail. ru is one of russia’s great tech success stories. the site includes a search engine, e - mail provider, news source, social network, and gaming portal. it is the 32nd most trafficked destination on the internet and ranks sixth in the world for unique visitors. it has a market cap of over $ 8 billion, made $ 650 million in 2012, and has 100 million monthly users in the russian speaking world .
with all this success, mail. ru’s leadership began considering opportunities outside of russia’s borders. it already has a strong hold on the russian market, and grishin said global expansion is important when thinking about the long - term success of the company .
mail. ru decided to set up shop in silicon valley and target american users .
mymail is mobile e - mail client that connects to your existing email accounts. grishin said the options in the u. s. for e - mail apps are limited, and mymail aims to stand out by having more customization features. users can receive real - time push notifications about their e - mail, and the app offers a strong set of controls for dictating what notifications you want to receive and when .
for example, you can turn off all push notifications at night while you are sleeping or decide you only want to get facebook notifications during the day. mymail also puts avatars or company logos next to every message in your inbox .
mychat is a messaging app along the lines of whatsapp, where you can chat all your friends from your contact list, facebook account, etc. the chats have options for voice and video calls as well. users can also jazz up their communiques with stickers and emoticons .
mail. ru is launching several mobile games that are free to play, and the goal is to use the gaming apps to promote the communication products. its jungle heat game’s already available in the u. s. and has over 2 million downloads .
“when people communicate with each other, they want to have more fun, ” grishin said. “together, all of these products can help each other grow in the future, promote user engagement, and drive traffic. ”
there was nothing particularly mind - blowing about any of these apps. during the demo, they seemed easy to use, but to make a dent in the u. s. market requires more than putting a polish over email clients and messaging .
however, security is also a factor here. my. com’s global headquarters are in the netherlands, which is where the servers will live, and this could be a selling point for people worried about the nsa spying on their communication .
mail. ru was founded russian billionaire yuri milner. mail. ru was an investor in facebook and owns 2. 4 percent of that company. it filed for an $ 876 million ipo in 2010 on the london stock exchange .
grishin joined as a cofounder in 2005 and assumed the role of ceo in 2010, taking over from milner. he is also the founder of grishin robotics, a firm that invests in personal robotics startups .
british developers have a glorious history of racing game innovation. back in the amiga days, geoff crammond brought imagination and authenticity to titles like stunt car racer and f1 gp. then there was codemasters with its anarchic micro machines titles, and the mud splattered thrills of colin mcrae rally. further up the m6, liverpool' s bizarre creations re - invented the f1 sim for the playstation generation before revolutionising the modern console driving experience with metropolis street racer and project gotham racing .
and clearly, despite the difficulties faced by the british games industry, it is still happening today. while evolution studios puts the finishing touches to its ambitious multiplayer ps4 title driveclub, london - based veteran slightly mad studios has announced a similarly intriguing prospect for the pc. the simulation - orientated outfit behind the respected need for speed: shift titles is not content with developing its community - led sim, project cars; it turns out they have something else on the go. something pretty huge. that something is world of speed .
due out later this year, and currently planned as pc only, it' s a massively multiplayer racing game – a team - based global competition, where crews compete across a vast range of events and competitions. as with a standard mmorpg, players earn xp throughout the experience customising their cars as they go; slightly mad also plans to continually update the game, adding new areas and challenges at regular intervals – just like world of warcraft and co .
so its driveclub meets the crew on pc? well, kind of. “you will have seen other games being announced that say that are team - based, but they’re not” says creative director andy tudor. “they continue to be free - for - alls where there’s very little collaboration between teammates. we experimented with team - based racing in dlc for need for speed shift but players were only really out for themselves, which is bad. it didn’t feel like people needed each other to win. but in world of speed, players will have to co - operate to achieve mini - goals in each event” .
with this system, the slightly mad team wants to combat what it sees as a key problem of the online racing experience: the fact that your race can often be over at the very first corner if you’re knocked into a barrier and lose touch with the pack. in world of speed, there are skill points to pick up even from last position. “it means no more instant game over, ” says tudor. “and no more rage - quitting. we hope. ”
handling is pitched toward an accessible arcade feel – a shift in tone for a development team that traces its core back to simdriving specialist simbin, responsible for the gtr and gt legends titles. we got hands - on time with two circuits: brands hatch and ‘st james’ loop’ a twisty romp through the streets around buckingham palace. the mclaren 12c i drove was thrillingly fast, but extremely solid on corners. with judicious handbrake use you can plummet into corners at ridiculous speeds then drift right through, shredding the redline into confetti. it may feel a little too safe and functional for those who enjoy the threat of spinning out at any moment, but the slightly mad team keep saying they want the barriers to entry really low, and no doubt there are custom upgrades to make things more taxking. we’ll have to see though .
there’s vehicle damage but right now its toned down and doesn’t seem to affect performance so crashes are more daytona than dirt, with impacts sending cars jettisoning into the air and back onto their wheels. in an offline racer it would be too forgiving but amid the knockabout nonsense of an eight - player race, it works well. and, just as the design dictates, finding yourself in last place isn’t a death sentence – pulling a show - stopping drift in the last corner is sometimes enough to tip the points in your team’s favour, adding tension to every finish .
added to all this is a range of badges that players earn for various achievements within the game; these can be quick skill - based wins or specific longer - term goals, like driving 400 miles in a ford car. players will be able to compare these with friends and display them in a dedicated home garage space. there’s also a multiplayer ‘airfield playground’ location, a sort of vehicular take on the skate parks in the old tony hawk games where drivers can just turn up in their cars, socialise and use the obstacles to pull daft tricks and stunts .
although slightly mad wouldn’t confirm it, the range of locations is likely to take in rural and off road areas. certainly, one of the vehicle - specific challenges is suv racing, which surely won’t be wasted in a city setting – unless it involves a competitive school run in chelsea. it seems players will be able to freely select events set all over the globe, but it does’t look as though events themselves will have open - world elements, unlike ubisoft’s promising next - gen racer, the crew. also, races will be confined to discreet server sessions, with four - vs - four team races – although later updates may add numbers .
only a handful of car models have been confirmed so far: the mclaren 12c, mercedes sls, ruf coupe (effectively a modified porsche cayman) and camaro ss, although a pagini huayra appears among the screenshots. the team is promising a range of options from standard street cars to high - end exotics; we can also expect some retro treats and location - specific models too .
close up on a couple of the lush super cars. players will be able to display their vehicles and driving' badges' to other competitors
if all the components fit together, if its payment model suits the pockets and tastes of its target players, world of speed could be a very interesting prospect. a beta will start in the spring – we’ll know much more then. but on ambition alone, this project does justice to the grand heritage of racing games from which it has emerged .
© 2018 guardian news and media limited or its affiliated companies. all rights reserved .
< p > gamers seem to hate the cbs sitcom that everyone else loves. < / p >
the grumpy gamer can' t even escape from the mandatory holiday season
cheer
by immersing himself in mmos .
the massive media circus known as e3 really needs no introduction. so this year we thought we’d shed some light on our process for determining our best of e3 award recipients from the dozens of games we had the pleasure of experiencing in our few days at the event .
first and foremost, we’re firm believers in awarding excellence while also making an effort to put aside any form of personal bias that might otherwise get in the way of the decision making process .
each day the event team - consisting of david piner, skyla grimes, and myself – would meet to discuss our experiences from that day. we’d make note of what stood out as nomination - worthy, or any titles we thought were worth a second (and sometimes third) look while at the event .
once the event wrapped up, we sat down for a long, healthy debate that ended up spilling over into an even longer email thread over the following days .
the results can be seen below with our best of e3 2014 awards. in each case we felt the titles selected represented the absolute best in the categories listed. at the end of the day, we’re all a bunch of hardcore gaming nerds too, so are just as excited to discuss our picks with our readers as you are to see the list of award recipients each year .
when it comes to mmogs and massively social online gaming, pc continues to reign supreme when it comes to dominant platforms. but like most genres, there has been a concerted effort to make the jump to mobile and tablet devices, though only a handful of titles have truly embraced the concept to the degree that we’ve seen with world of tanks blitz .
in many ways, blitz is what you get when you take the mentality and resources of building a triple - a title, but remain conscious of what the experience needs to truly excel on a given device .
we’ve watched blitz grow from a more basic prototype into one of the best games we’ve ever had the pleasure to experience on a tablet. hats off to wargaming for making world of tanks blitz one of the truly standout titles at e3 2014, regardless of platform .
the simple fact is that we’ve reached an era when it is a breath of fresh air to see a developer return to the roots of what an mmorpg could – and perhaps, should – be. it’s incredibly fitting that a visionary like richard garriott who helped put the industry on the map to begin with would be leading that charge .
but shroud is also genuinely pushing for innovation and will attempt to address some of the biggest nitpicks we’ve had with mmos over the years. a perfect example is making crafting matter (finally). items crafted by players will no longer be vendor fodder or the crappier equivalent of quest rewards. instead, items that players create will be baked into the loot table of creatures out in the world bearing the original seal of the person who created it .
the proverbial gauntlet has been thrown down, and portalarium one of the key developers leading the charge on the future of mmorpgs with shroud of the avatar .
being able to truly specialize in a role based on what you choose to play is somewhat of a lost art form in the online gaming industry. combat roles have been woefully sanitized and marginalized across genres in favor of instant gratification and couch gaming .
one of the reasons we’re so excited about armored warfare is that it manages to achieve both of those things in one slick package. armored warfare is not only instantly accessible, but also reinforces the notion that highly specialized roles in a multiplayer setting can be an amazing thing .
the cherry on top is that obsidian has managed to achieve all of this without devolving into yet another “met too” moba. in fact, they deserve a lot of credit for showcasing the incredible potential for armored warfare to provide a kick - ass pve experience that’s also been lost in translation with the massive push towards online social gaming .
being dropped into a new mmorpg for the first time with limited time on the clock can be a daunting experience for developers and media alike. it’s kind of like test driving a new car. you know the basics of driving, but are hoping for that magical wow - factor to kick in the moment you get behind the wheel .
our hands - on time with swordsman during e3 2014 gave us that perfect slice of gameplay that helped illustrate the potential of its combat system, and how it holds up in a group setting .
martial arts combat can be some of the trickiest to pull off in an mmorpg, but swordsman looks and feels spectacular right out of the box in the combat department. swordsman also attempts to retain true to its setting rather than being reworked too heavily based on what is assumed will be received better with a western audience .
with the recent launch of the swordsman closed beta, we’ll be diving deeper into the overall gameplay, but based on our hands - on time during e3 swordsman ’s gameplay deserves top marks .
even though mmos are our bread and butter here on ten ton hammer, we equally big nerds for when it comes to exceptional rpgs. after all, the extended acronym for the type of games we cover does happen to be mmo rpg .
while we’re still mystified at the notion that a sharp silver sword is somehow less effective against human components (seriously, what’s up with that part of witcher ’s combat system ?) we’ve been longtime fans of the video game series. even if not readily apparent on the surface, we’ve definitely seen its influence on many of the more recent takes on active combat system, talent trees, and questing .
the witcher 3 takes all of the components that made the first two games great and adds in an extra layer of depth to choice and – even more awesomely – a proper open world experience. our preview at e3 2014 kicked much rpg ass, and made it abundantly clear that witcher 3 was hands - down the best rpg at the event .
right when we thought e3 was devolving into little more than canned marketing hype for titles we already know plenty about, crytek stepped up to the plate and hit what sports ball folks would call a home run with its reveal of hunt: horrors of the gilded age .
in fact, the only thing that held hunt back from being in the running for our best of show award is that it wasn’t playable during the event. however, what we were shown still managed to land hunt squarely at the top of our list of most anticipated games .
we expect big things from hunt: horrors of the gilded age, and are already nervously eyeballing the calendar and counting down the days until we’ll be able to get our hands on the game. the multiplayer monster hunting fun in such a rich and detailed setting simply cannot come soon enough .
we weren’t sure quite what to expect when we sat down to play skyforge at e3 2014, but by the time our hands - on session was over we knew we’d just experienced our best of show from the event .
skyforge packs a ton of exceptional gameplay concepts and elements into its fantasy / sci - fi setting. from its fluid combat system or unique take on class unlocks, to the superb graphics and storyline rationale as to why players can be defeated in combat but keep right on going like the energizer bunny, skyforge delivers .
did we mention how the group combat in skyforge kicks much sci - fi ass? it does .
we anticipate big things from skyforge, and you can guarantee that we’ll be covering the game with much gusto moving forward. in the meantime, congrats to allods team from ten ton hammer for winning our best of show award from e3 2014 !
to read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our we love bacon game page .
reuben
sardu
waters has been writing professionally about the mmog industry for eight years, and is the current editor - in - chief and director of development for ten ton hammer .
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app crossed with the latest version of tweetbot. it supports multiple email providers, including gmail, yahoo
and outlook. com, but promises realtime push notifications for all emails you receive, something most email clients (at least on ios) don’t offer. to cut down on noise, users can opt to switch off push notifications for emails from the likes of social networks and marketers .
both apps are free and (third - party) ad - free, relying on promotion of my. com’s mobile games to generate revenue. mygames currently offers three games; jungle heat, poker arena, and lucky fields. the company says that since a recent soft launch, jungle heat has already received 1. 5 million downloads on ios and 6 million downloads on android, while lucky fields has been installed 1. 2 million times on android since august .
in a briefing call last week, mail. ru ceo and chairman, dmitry grishin, described my. com’s focus as “communitainment” – offering communication products subsidized by entertainment. he noted that a photo sharing app, mycamera, would be launched in the near future .
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the ceo of russia’s biggest internet company explains why he hopes to make a splash in the u. s. app market .
the market for mobile apps is huge and growing, and will only get more competitive as smartphones become increasingly common around the world .
grishin spoke to mit technology review it editor rachel metz about the arrival of my. com, his love for robotics, and his thoughts on the future of wearable technology .
why are you interested in the u. s. market, where there are already so many choices for the kinds of products you’re rolling out ?
i think one of the key reasons for entering the u. s. market is, first, we believe that long term, competition will be global. and mobile platforms like google play or the ios [ app store ] allow you to much more easily enter different markets. i think you’ll see more and more that german companies are coming to israel, brazilian companies are coming to russia, more and more of this, so definitely it’s become a global market. second, to be smarter and to create better products you need to compete with the best guys. of course we understand that the u. s. is one of the most competitive markets and one of the most difficult, so that’s why we have a local u. s. team to understand consumers, the local market .
the market for smart watches has grown tremendously in the past year. have you thought at all about creating apps for smart watches, and how that might work ?
i think strategically smart watches are a very interesting market, but it’s too small to focus on making apps for it. of course you have pebble, you have some other things like the samsung [ galaxy gear ] and some others. my recommendation, especially for small software startups, is maybe it’s an interesting thing, but it’s too early to say how big this market is .
i think right now [ this market ] needs many more hardware innovations than software. i still think hardware is called “hard” for a reason—because it’s hard. we need to have more education and more explanation for startups on how to make hardware, because there are a lot of different difficult things. like, you need to deal with distribution, to get physical stuff to retail [ stores ]. you need to make things with packaging. you need to support these devices because if they are broken, they’re going to send them back to you. you need to understand how to manufacture, which is a really, really hard process still .
speaking of hardware, one of your portfolio companies at grishin robotics, robotslab, is using robots to teach children stem—science, technology, engineering, and math—subjects. why is that a good way to educate ?
i think it’s a super cool idea because what’s happening right now with children is they’re all bored with teaching. if you have smartphones, games, to listen about mathematics—a plus b—it’s not working. i think the general approach will make education more fun, more interesting. it’s pretty exciting. i really believe that the only thing children need to learn in the 21st century is robotics. it covers mathematics, physics, mechanics, programming. these are the only things people need. really .
of course, i’m joking a little. but you know, i think it’s interesting because robotics combines [ important subjects ]. what’s more important is it makes education fun .
’s senior editor for mobile, i cover a wide variety of startups and write gadget reviews out of our san francisco office. i’m curious about tech innovation, and i’m always on the lookout for the next big thing. before
arriving at mit technology review in early 2012, i spent five years as a technology reporter at the associated press, covering companies including apple, amazon, and ebay, and penning reviews .
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the hi - tech world is all about innovation, but selling a spanking new product or service can be a daunting prospect when your target audience has little or no understanding of what it is you do. if you don’t know where to start with marketing your business, here’s my guide to selling a product no one understands .
the first thing you need to do is educate your audience. establish your target market, then provide informative materials using engaging media such as infographics, videos and simplified guides to effectively communicate the problem that your product is solving, and explain why your audience needs it.
urltoken is an international subsidiary of mail.ru company that offering games and internet-related services and products . urltoken is working under brands and services mymail , mychat , mygames and maps.me . urltoken is headquartered in amsterdam , netherlands with us office in mountain view , california . 
urltoken is an international subsidiary of mail.ru company that offering games and internet-related services and products. urltoken is working under brands and services mymail, mychat, mygames and maps.me. urltoken is headquartered in amsterdam, netherlands with us office in mountain view, california.
urltoken is an international subsidiary of mail.ru company that offering games and internet-related services and products. urltoken is working under brands and services mymail, mychat, mygames and maps.me. urltoken is headquartered in amsterdam, netherlands with us office in mountain view, california.