Get For Free !!!: 10/6 L.A. Times Tech Blog

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Will Wright, creator of The Sims, talks toys
October 5, 2009 at 8:00 pm

Will Wright, creator of The Sims. Credit: Stupid Fun Club.

Will Wright is still messing around. The 49-year-old creator of The Sims, Sim City and Spore quit Electronic Arts in April, but he continues to "build things that people would want to play with."

Wright is still cagey about what he has up his sleeve, but he's given us a few clues.

Hint #1: It's a toy. Wright will be taking his concept to the New York Toy Fair in February, where he will deliver a talk titled "The Evolution of Entertainment: A Toy's Place" at the Engage! Expo, a conference on the convergence of toys, the Internet, virtual worlds, games and social media.

Hint #2: It will involve games. How could it not? Wright's games have sold more than 100 million copies and generated more than $1 billion in sales for EA, which has invested in Wright's company, the strangely named Stupid Fun Club.

Hint #3: It will have robotic components. "To some degree," he qualifies. "All of our projects have crossover elements. Even calling it a toy makes it too specific." Wright's fascination with robots dates back to when he was a child building model tanks and attaching motors to them.

Hint #4: It will be connected to the Internet. Many toys have developed online components. Ganz's Webkinz, for example, is both an online virtual world and a line of plush toys. Hasbro has collaborated with Electronic Arts to create a virtual world based on the toy company's Littlest Pet Shop line of stuffed animals.

Hint #5: It will rely on crowdsourcing. No surprises there, since The Sims spawned hundreds of thousands of fan-created YouTube videos. Wright cites a toy called 20Q that asks players to think of an object, then proceeds to guess what that object is after asking 20 questions. The program that generates the answers came from a database of questions and answers generated by millions of visitors to a website of the same name.

Still don't get it? Neither do we. But we're still intrigued. Hopefully, Wright will have more to say at The Engage conference at Toy Fair.

-- Alex Pham

Follow my random thoughts on games, gear and technology on Twitter @AlexPham.

Internet ad spending continues slide
October 5, 2009 at 6:52 pm

The recession continued to cut into companies' resources as Internet advertising spending in the U.S. fell more than 5% in the second quarter, according to a report released today.

It is the second consecutive quarterly drop in online advertising, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers quarterly report. This is the first time since the dot-com bust in 2002 that online ad spending has dipped for two consecutive quarters compared with the same quarters of the previous year.

From April to June this year, 5.4 billion was spent on online ads -- down 5.3% from a year earlier, when advertisers spent $5.8 billion.

Despite the drop in numbers, online advertising is doing well considering the economic climate, said Randall Rothenberg, president and chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

"We are in one of the most difficult economic slumps in decades. Interactive is one of the advertising sectors that has been least affected," Rothenberg said. "As the economy improves, we're confident that brands will devote an even greater share of their budgets to reaching consumers as they make interactive media a larger part of their lives."

-- W.J. Hennigan

Bloggers must now disclose if they got paid to write a review
October 5, 2009 at 5:20 pm

This sculpture outside FTC headquarters is called "Man Controlling Trade." It was done in 1942, long before bloggers. Credit: FTC.

A blogger who reviews a product -- but leaves out the fact that he or she got a payment, high-value gift or free vacation to write the review -- could run afoul of new federal regulations on advertising.

The blogger rules, announced today by the Federal Trade Commission, are part of revisions to the agency's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

The last time these guides were revised was in 1980, and of course back then there was no such thing as a blogger.

But bloggers are mentioned several times in the 81-page revisions. "The post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement," said the agency in a release. "Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

A blogger can, however, accept a free sample of a product for review purposes without disclosure, "provided that the product itself does not have such a high value that would make its receipt material (e.g., a car)," according to the revised rules.

There's nothing in the rules that specifies how the disclosure must be made. "That's left up to the endorser," said Richard Cleland, assistant director of the FTC's division of advertising practices. "It can be a banner, part of the review. The only requirement is that it be clear and conspicuous."

The new rules go into effect Dec. 1.

There are no penalties directly associated with violating the rules. But if a blogger constantly breaks them, the FTC could seek a cease-and-desist order.

If a blogger is thus ordered but continues to break the rules, it can run into real money. The fine for violating an order is up to $11,000 per incident.

-- David Colker (who was not paid by the FTC to write this post)