The Snake Pit

EA invests $167 million in China's The9
2009-09-24
(Adds comment from Electronic Arts in paragraphs 9-11)
By John Tilak
BANGALORE, May 21 (Reuters) - The world's largest video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS.O) said it would take a 15 percent stake in Chinese online game operator The9 Ltd. (NCTY.O) for about $167 million as part of its international expansion.
The9 will get exclusive rights for publishing EA's "FIFA Online" soccer game in China, the two companies said.
An analyst said this is a way for Electronic Arts, which agreed in March to invest $105 million in South Korean online game company Neowiz Corp. (042420.KQ), to speed up its growth in Asia.
"You'll see them accelerate their bu...

The Daily Grind: Massively useful!
2009-09-08
The cat is out of the bag, and what we've been doing for the last while is now out for you all to enjoy. We crawled around the Internet, assembling a crack team of both veteran writers and fresh new talent. We debated and dreamed about what was important to us for Massively to cover -- and then built the site based on our vision as a group of gamers dedicated to the MMO cause.

We've been assembling news and views and put...