Live Coverage: Techcrunch50 – Games

Below is our live coverage of the Wednesday morning startup presentations at the Techcrunch50 conference in San Francisco. Keep refreshing this page to view the newest coverage – we will note once the coverage has concluded. And check our main DEMO and TechCrunch50 conference section for our video event coverage as well.

Grockit

– massively multiplayer online learning
– gives points when experts help others
– offers a game lobby to see what other games are active
– get "grockit points" for saying helpful things (yea that won’t be gamed)
– allen: i would stay away from calling this a game

Akoha

– games for everyday people
– games for people who don’t want to be wizard
– wanted the game to have a tie to philanthropy
– wanted to play it in the real world
– based off the idea of pay it forward
– works with some mission cards
– viddler for the video
– apparently you give something plus the card – really no idea
– has a karma map so you can "touch" other members of the community
– i bet this was a great idea in concept but in reality it’s really pretty weak
– aah the cards cost money to get

Atmosphir

– design grid to create video games that you can share
– "if you have built with lego blocks then this is for you"
– canvas of 1 million spaces
– nice looking game development interface
– revenue model is based around virtual gifts
– ok so you make the level and then walk around it – it’s not a game, but more like a simcity
– if they pitch it as a sim and not as a game, it could work well

Playce

– they believe you should be able to send a link to a friend and then play a high end game with high end graphics
– the games are multiplayer with a social graph
– they are making the world a playground
– focus is on the social experience – you can import your friends
– has a text based chat
– the presenter keeps pushing that there’s no download
– there is no download – there is no download – there is absolutely no download
– they don’t create the games themselves, they partner with other game developers
– they offer "game infrasructure as a service"
– i guess it’s like gigya for casual games
– monetization from virtual goods and advertising

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