Topic: Gaming and bitcoin will bring mass adoption (Read 2887 times)

yeah, it's definitely possible to balance a game.

Check out Entropia Universe for an example of how it might work. I think Entropia is a bit before its time, but I think it's a really good idea. It's also kind of decentralized, in that you can buy "land deeds" allowing you to own land in the game and charge a tax on people who play on that part of the land, like decentralized ownership of the game. There are also different planets, which are almost different "games" in the universe, but you can travel between them. There also are people (or at least were, when it was somewhat popular) who earned enough money for a living (though not a very luxurious one) by playing the game. Quite fascinating, in my opinion, and I really think that this format is the future of VR gaming.

Convincing current MMOs to change to bitcoin is rather difficult, because their games are not designed based on a real currency in the game. Rather, I'm hoping that new game developers who have an interest in bitcoin can develop new hit MMOs, or the big bitcoin investors will invest in these games, to make their own bitcoin stash more valuable. I really think that this is much more effective in promoting bitcoin than the nth exchange, or the xth bitcoindice, or even convincing giants like amazon to accept bitcoin.

The only way to get these games to swap their virtual currencies for Bitcoin is to ask on them on the forums. {The more people asking, the better chance of getting it accepted in the game}

Here is a list of the more popular games out there ---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_games

I also agree with you, that it is quite difficult for everyone to get their hands on Bitcoin, but if it was "in-game" you would have another way of earning it, whilst you playing.

When I started playing Batmud, I had little money, and I had to mine for Mithril or salvage it from equipment I received from battles. I could then acquire new skills or better equipment.

When people start playing for real money, it change the dimension of the game. {People with lots of Bitcoin, not earned through the game, can dominate quickly without lots of effort... which is in a way cheating}

A newbie could enter the game and buy the best equipment availlable and defeat level 100 players... So there are negative things to consider... but it can be over come with clever coding. {Only people with enough dexterity or strenght can carry advanced weapons ... and these has to be gained by gathering experience in the game} things like that...

But it can work, and it can be rewarding.... imagine buying your next game, like the 2cnd or 3rd Starcraft add-on with the earnings you received from playing the original game.  

This is an awesome idea actually.
Gaming and bitcoin , i think most of the guys play Games or have at some point , imagine if we could put bitcoin advertisment in games and like buy virtual currency of game through Bitcoin or may be better just earn some Bitcoin playing games.
I would love to see a GameStore online where i could pay with bitcoin and get a Genuine copy of that game  , though that's already happening i see many people selling games for btc.
Keep it up ! Bitcoin needs every little help

Just create your own bitcoin game... little Satoshi's robbing banks using their Tesla getaway cars.... of course it would have to include trips to the moon 

This is exactly the answer I concluded with. Just look at games like clash of clans, candy crush, etc. They're not even good games yet millions of people use them, and they earn millions per day in revenue, per game. If that all became bitcoin transactions, we could see adoption spreading into other places as well.


However, simply adding a pay with bitcoin option doesn't do anything. Why should people use bitcoin instead of normal fiat? The fact is, the steps required to actually get a bitcoin is very inconvenient and annoying. I'm not talking about 0.00001 bitcoins from faucets, if you actually want a decent amount that can pay for things, you'll need to exchange it somehow, and there really isn't a really convenient way to do that yet.

What we need, is a huge incentive for people to use bitcoin instead of fiat. And the best incentive I can think of is accepting bitcoin exclusively.

This would work really well, I think, with MMORPGs that replace their virtual currencies with bitcoins. We already have the Entropia Universe, which is a real world currency based game. It has been around for quite a while now, showing that this method is somewhat sustainable, to say the least.

Personally, as technology becomes more advanced and VR and gaming become more and more realistc, I believe real world economy based games are the future. Adding bitcoins to this could potentially speed up adoption for both bitcoins and real economy gaming.

This is good stuff. Rewarding bitcoin for doing well in a game. I wonder how much you get though. The bitcoin pot is funded by ads and donations, should not expect more than "faucet-size" tips. 

gaming and adult are two great niches for bitcoin to thrive in ..

My question is though, once companies such as Valve or EA (Or whoever you're personally rooting for), what incentive is provided for people to purchase the games with Bitcoin? Because, based on my experience, most "gamers" just use Paypal, which is fairly quick and fairly easy for most users. "We accept Bitcoin" is only a small part of the pie. There might be a small influx of Bitcoin consumers for that site, but there is no way that everyone would swap over to a different system of payment just because a company accepts it.

If an incentive exists, then people will use it. Example: Discounts (Such as what Dell(?) did when they started to accept Bitcoin).

Calling it a "digital currency" won't mean much, especially to people who are exposed to wide varieties of "digital currencies" in the games they play every day.

Apple is approving games that tip in BTC already:

http://www.coindesk.com/apple-approves-ios-game-tips-players-bitcoin/

It's happening.

Would be great to see it adopted into gaming, but no to Bioware (Not Bioware themselves, but EA, F**K EA).

I think DOTA 2 could be a great way to break bitcoin out.

Some rich bitcoiners should sponsor the International or the Asian Championships. Maybe Steam should have some bitcoin and pay it out to players with a really high MMR. Or say if you win 10+ games in a row, you get micro-payments on every successive game afterwards, that helps you keep that streak alive.

To be honest though, beyond video-games, I think online P2P gambling is going to make bitcoin hit the mainstream. It's legal in a lot of EU countries, and Las Vegas is trying to fight its legalization in USA as we post.

Yeah that site is good..but I like miniclip as well.!

Flash games were the first computer games that has been introduced to me. Newgrounds.com has many cool games that I really used to spend hours on. They can upload great games with bitcoin-related content, yes, and I'll be glad to donate something for it.

Checking out newgrounds.com now. Thanks for letting me remember that site. Great site, great flash games.

Well seeing that gamers nowadays really spend big on games, integrating bitcoin as a payment option may be of a great help to the network and to the company that integrates it. Surely, majority of bitcoiners are focused on politics, financial talks and the likes. Why not mix up some games that may divert their attention from seriousness and help the economy by using bitcoin to pay for their games or in-game items? Thaw would be fun.

Wow Newgrounds....I haven't been to that site since the 90s!  Reminds me of all those sites I used to go to back in the day like Romp.com and Heavy.com.

When flash was still in it's infancy...brings back memories!

But yes, NG should take Bitcoin!  I'd donate.   

Does anyone remember or still go to Newgrounds.com?
It is a flash game/entertainment site where it was free for users to upload their creative flash games/movies for all to enjoy.

Many online free to play flash gaming companies upload their work to Newgrounds everyday.
It is even possible you have played some of their games (to pass the time for some) and not even know it, on other sites.
I think these companies and websites like Newgrounds.com, could be helpful toward bringing Bitcoin/bitcoin mass adoption through Gaming.

We should be using these free sites to upload great bitcoin related content in flash, to reach their user base. (if you are a Flash Artist/Animator)
These proposed Animated movies/games would be valuable advertisement toward Bitcoin/bitcoin and is currently untapped.
Here is an example animation from Newgrounds: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/646835

We should contact and associate with those companies to see if they will put in their games, bitcoin donation and or information buttons.
Free to play online games, usually in browsers, are likely a large user base.

I totally agree. Especially digital downloads and DLC would work perfectly with btc.

A game (FPS would be best) should be created and run as a free to play game with the ability to buy in game premium currency or add the currency (Bitcoin) and then hope it will be popular like War Thunder or World of Tanks.

By having a way of paying with CC, PP or bank to get the in game currency (BTC) then you would create a natural buy pressure that should be able to pull some extra money into the bitcoin world, and the users will start looking for ways to get into BTC.

Freaking hate this game , though wish people accept bitcoin for it

I'm pretty sure average age for a gamer is not a teenager, but 30 to 32 years old (in the US).
http://www.esrb.org/about/video-game-industry-statistics.jsp

The current average bitcoin user is interested in finance (diversification, hedging, stocks, etc) or politics (libertarian, anarchists, etc).
IMO, I think that the gamer group will bring the next increase in ranks. They won't hold the beliefs of the previous groups, but will understand the use and potential.