GMO Cloud

Japan’s Unique Social Gaming Industry

Mobile social gaming is prouder and bigger in Japan than anywhere else. In the last year alone it has reached $3.26 billion with further increases predicted year on year. However, this news has been tempered by one of the most popular gaming mechanics called kompu gacha becoming a controversial topic especially for parents who pay the debs racked up by kids who play these games. This profit-making scheme has been banned by the government which has led to lower profits for gaming providers.

Millions of social gamers in Japan had been enticed by this gambling-like scheme as it allowed them to win special virtual items by buying other items first. The mere fact that Japanese consumers are willing to pay that much money for a mobile game presents a clear picture of how massive the industry is in this country.

Japanese mobile social gamers enjoy the convenience of paying through their mobile phones with carrier billing.  This encourages more of them to play their favorite games for an even higher cost.  Card games, though seemingly traditional elsewhere, still warm the hearts of Japanese mobile gamers with popular games involving role-playing and manga-related topics. Other top-ranking games deal with the social lives of consumers such as dating.

With Facebook taking over the social network industry, local users also enjoy games wherein they can manage their own farms and restaurants. Foreign gaming companies will have to do more in order to penetrate this closed market where homegrown providers still lead such as Gree and DeNa. Both of these companies are trying to break into the international market with various acquisitions.

While Japanese developers can easily produce advanced graphic designs for social games, local patrons already find entertainment in fun, interactive and simple graphics. But while cute, interesting avatars and anime graphics capture the attention of this crowd, the story of the game is still the main attraction. Many video game developers – who must invest considerable time and money in creating console games – are also setting their sights on this more lucrative market.

Another factor that makes the Japanese one of the most addicted social media gamers in the world is interaction with friends through mobile games. And since many of these gaming programs are already installed on their phones, users are even more swayed to play instantly.

Though the kompu gacha stoppage dented financial growth of social games, the market will rise again. With the advent of the smartphone and eventual death of feature phones, more local players will be lured into downloading more games on their mobile phones as technology improves apace. With 3G networks ever reliable and more innovations in the works, Japanese players will continually comprise a great percentage of worldwide users in the social media gaming industry.

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About the Guest Author:

Rodolfo Lentejas, Jr. is a fulltime freelance writer based in Toronto. He is the founder of the PostSckrippt, a growing online writing business dedicated to producing top quality, original and fresh content. To know more about him, please visit www.postsckrippt.ca. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

Why Malaysia Is Opening Its Doors to Foreign ICT and IT Companies

MSC Malaysia is the national ICT initiative strongly supported by the Malaysian Government with the hope of turning the country into a fertile land of opportunities for both local and foreign ICT/IT firms.

Designated as an incubator for ICT companies by a bill passed by Malaysian legislators, MSC Malaysia has a huge task of creating a comfortable environment for a crop of foreign ICT/IT firms that will snatch up this investment and expansion opportunity.

One of the significant programs embarked upon by MSC Malaysia is the MSC Malaysia Cloud Computing which aims at encouraging both domestic and foreign SMEs to utilize cloud computing for optimum performance and better profitability. In addition to this, the Malaysia Government expects this initiative to add more high-skill technology jobs to the currently scant workforce in the country’s ICT/IT industry.

Foreign IT firms have a lot to gain from this open-door policy. Apart from enjoying the unique liberty of expanding business operations, they can also enjoy other incentives guaranteed by the MSC Malaysia Bill, which may include tax concessions.

Cloud computing is recognized as a force that can guarantee efficiency in the activities of Malaysian SMEs as well as a factor necessary for attaining sustained profitability. The initial expectations of the Malaysian Government involve making the country an ICT/ IT hub in South-East Asia which will attract foreign players to make significant impact on the Gross National Income. Only a few countries even in Asia even operate such an open-door policy.

Cloud computing’s increased efficiency is expected to help businesses in Malaysia drastically reduce the cost of running, maintaining and expanding operations. Despite widespread adoption of cloud technology leading to reduction in the size of any company’s IT personnel, such job losses will be compensated by the creation of new work through business expansion and specialization. As firms in Malaysia turn over IT infrastructure management to independent cloud service providers, they can spend more time on strategizing and developing other business areas.

As security and data-protection concerns about cloud computing subside due to improved cloud technology, businesses in Malaysia will be able to completely transfer their IT applications to the cloud for better performance and increased profitability.

As an English-speaking country, Malaysia offers the possibility of instant integration for firms and English-speaking investors coming from the US, UK, Canada and Australia. With language barriers eliminated, new entrants into the Malaysia ICT/IT industry can become quickly acclimatized to the environment.

Cloud technology is, incidentally, the most appropriate choice for Malaysian ICT/IT companies if they want to achieve their Government’s plan of having industrial activities in the country digitalized for improved business operations. Cloud computing offers unparalleled scalability, which allows firms to choose storage plans based on present or future needs. It also allows a great deal of flexibility that the current system of computing neither guarantees nor encourages. The most interesting aspect of this program is that any company can utilize cloud computing for greater efficiency, irrespective of their size or systems of operations. As time goes on, the cost of migrating one’s IT structures to the cloud will cheapen further.

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About the Guest Author:

Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/

Software: the Future of the Tech Industry

As we have seen in Asian markets, particularly Japan and Korea, software has systematically been taking over areas that traditionally have been controlled by hardware manufacturers and developers. Software, in fact, has started to take over many other markets, from finance to entertainment. Today, more venture capitalists are looking for start-ups with innovative software opportunities, especially when the software they provide helps to eat into the profits or market of another industry.

This trend may also help Japan, the US and Western Europe return to the summit of manufacturing prowess. While manufacturing has shifted to other markets due to lower labor costs and direct access to energy, software helps keep labor costs down, which will have an important effect on these regions’ future manufacturing efforts.

How the rise of software affects venture capitalism and new tech businesses

While, traditionally, venture capitalists have focused on the people in a company, ideas and market share, today it is all about innovation. The rise of software has caused the tech sector to evolve rapidly. Breakthroughs are measured in days and hours and an innovative idea has the potential to penetrate completely untapped markets. Entrepreneurs today have many opportunities to use software for purposes that had never been thought of before!

Today, the tech industry is basically becoming the software industry, due to almost everything moving from hardware to software. From cloud storage to numerous devices becoming software services, and the increase in mobile apps, there is a clear trend – not even limited to technology. From entertainment to finance, software is becoming an important, systemic component of almost all major human endeavors. Simply integrating online functionality into industries traditionally handled offline has given entrepreneurs almost endless room for innovation, meaning more investment opportunities for savvy venture capitalists.

The evolving state of technology and how Japan paved the way

From network virtualization to mobile apps and innovative uses for social media, there is no question that the Asian market has been paving the way in technological breakthroughs. In particular, Japan’s technological infrastructure has made it an ideal playground for entrepreneurs with new ideas. However, there are several difficulties specific to the Japanese market that may make it more difficult than normal for start-ups:

1. Tech start-ups in Japan may be surprised by the lack of venture capital, especially in comparison with environments like Silicon Valley, where venture capital is relatively plentiful for entrepreneurs with an innovative idea.

 

2. The lack of a mentorship culture means that many start-ups may struggle initially to find ways to gain support from other companies in the field.

However, entrepreneurs with the capacity to overcome these two problems will find Japan an ideal market for new software ideas.

Fortunately for Japan, their tech market has much more in common with Europe and the United States than with China and Taiwan. The key to future technological growth in the Japanese market will be software innovation and the successful harnessing of renewable, cheaper energy sources. One possible breakthrough is the application of 3-D printing to manufacturing. The application of this innovative technology, already beginning in certain parts of Japan, combined with software developments that have been industry norms for years, may result in a dramatic resurgence of the Japanese tech and manufacturing market in the next decade.

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About the Guest Author:

Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.

Cloud Helps Software Developers Win Piracy Fight

Once in a while, new technology comes with a number of benefits that were not part of the original specifications. Piracy control is certainly one such unintended benefit of cloud computing.

The last few months have seen major initiatives launched vis-a-vis the protection of intellectual property. SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) was one well-known policy, signalling that many governments were collaborating to reduce and control software piracy. The shutdown of sites such as Megaupload and arrest of its owner is an example.

Now anti-piracy crusaders have another reason to cheer. Software being distributed via SaaS (software as a service) model is much harder to misuse. Every user is authenticated and logged in, meaning hacked accounts are a far easier problem to control and resolve than bootlegged CDs.

Is password sharing piracy?

A recent study showed that a large percentage of users of cloud-based software freely admitted to sharing their passwords with co-workers. People do not feel this is wrong because only one user is logged in at a time. Whether this counts as piracy or not will depend on how your service agreement is worded.

Connectivity aids control

Since all cloud computing is Internet-based, detection of piracy becomes fairly easy. Previously the hacker industry used to sell cracked versions of popular programs. Modern, cloud based software can easily determine if such a thing is happening and take corrective action early.

Hackers and pirates might set up dedicated “dark clouds” – a cloud platform specifically built to distribute pirated software and sell logins. However, such centers are bound to be detected and attacked by genuine distributors, making it very likely that these will be taken down and the pirates caught. Software companies are watching the emergence of dark clouds very closely and will put security measures in place.

There have also been reports that small software routines are being written to monitor the health of the main application. In case of a bug, they are able to detect excessive CPU use and illegal memory operations and control these in time before the application crashes. Similar software could be written to monitor piracy of software as well.

Free software kills piracy

There are other reasons why cloud computing is reducing software piracy. One of these is “freemium” software. You start by using a light version of an application, often free and designed to make you familiar with the software and its advantages. As your business evolves, you graduate to a premium or a paid model. Since any user can experiment with a free instance of the software, the incentive to steal is lost.  Low cost of cloud applications is another reason behind piracy killing. If you can get full capability and support for a few dollars, why settle for a pirated model?

Although the issue appears simple in theory, there are some points that need to be resolved. A person could be logged into an application on a PC, smartphone and tablet simulatenously. Are these log-ins legitimate or not? Analytic software being produced to manage piracy would have to understand this kind of use and device some means of handling this.

While complex issues of piracy control will no doubt take time to develop, the fact remains cloud computing has given software producers a new tool to control piracy. With the decline in piracy, additional revenue that software companies make will help them produce even better products.

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About the Guest Author:

Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.

Rise in Popularity of Mobile Gaming in Japan

When it comes to gadgets and games, you just can’t beat Asians, especially the Japanese. Whether Android, iPhone or Windows phone, Japanese always welcome them with open arms. Whereas the gaming market used to be a battleground for PSPs and Nintendos, it is now dominated by smartphone-based gaming apps.

Here are the stats. When Japanese mobile gaming network GREE launched the Sci-Fi game on September first, the response was overwhelming. Within eight days the game had reached a user base of more than one million, with over 1200 new players signing up every hour! And what about GREE’s rival? When Mobage launched the highly-acclaimed Robo-War game Gundam Royal, the number of users reached an unprecedented six digit number within six days.

The success of these two games as well as the hosting gaming networks is testament to the growing affinity with mobile gaming in a place where even some five-year-olds have Smartphones. The technology mindset and increasing affordability of phones has increased consumers even more. The Japanese economy may have lost its supremacy, but the people definitely have not lost their appetite for innovative technology products.

Domestic success has motivated Japanese mobile gaming giants to go international, fueling a massive acquisition drive by major gaming giants, such as GREE’s purchase of US-based Open Feint. Mobage has also ventured into China, the US and other markets. There is an inward trend also, with major global players making their way into the lucrative smartphone gaming sector of Japan, with its user base of 15 million and projected revenues of 255 Billion Yen by 2015.

With the rise in the popularity of Smartphones and tablets, home consoles and software consumption in Japan has declined. According to a Jiji Press report, gaming console sales dropped eight percent in 2011 as compared to 2010 ($454.3 billion). Strong sales have been reported for games with local content despite many international games continuing to dominate downloads. Android is the top gaming platform with iOS on its tail. Microsoft and other proprietary smartphone operating systems need to knuckle down to catch up but with the new Windows 8 platform launched for smartphones and Apple winning a crucial lawsuit against Samsung, things are going to get interesting.

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About the Guest Author:

Mandira Srivastava is a fulltime freelance writer who specializes in technology, health and fitness, politics, and financial writing. Equipped with degree of mass communication and having worked for both private and corporate clients, I have experience meeting a wide range of writing requirements and styles.