AUTOMATON is a video game-based media website owned by Active Gaming Media Inc. We are completely dedicated to our motto of “Veracity in Gaming” in that we refuse to sell positive reviews or coverage for games or publishers. AUTOMATON’s multicultural writer base provides an eclectic variety of voices and perspectives in the interest of providing both truth and entertainment.
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- User generated content: What Japan can learn from computer game modding culture in the West (Part 2)
- November 4th, 2011Category: Arts & Entertainment
- EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part 2 of a two-part article. Modding – The peephole to understand the relation between players and the game industry Mods are digital artifacts that avid gamers design by tinkering with their favorite games. The creators of those mods are calle ... » Continue Reading
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- User generated content: What Japan can learn from computer game modding culture in the West (Part 1)
- November 3rd, 2011Category: Arts & Entertainment
- User generated content is not new. On the contrary, it is a trend in gaming that has fascinated gamers for more than a decade already, and the availability of level editors and other modding software has drawn more and more "casual" people to start designing their own ... » Continue Reading
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- Five Things with the Power to Change the Japanese Industry In the Near Future
- August 26th, 2011Category: Uncategorized
- Even without the unanticipated disasters which have, and are still, wreaking havoc upon Northern Japan and across the rest of the nation, the economy didn’t very much favor the games industry in Japan over the last year. While “games” may be taking a backseat to othe ... » Continue Reading
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- PC Gaming in Japan and the West
- August 8th, 2011Category: Culture
- In Japan, PC-based games are very much in the minority when compared to console-based games. Hard-to-use keyboard-and-mouse-based controls, the necessity of specialized technical knowledge, the hassle of installations, etc… On the other hand, it’s quite understandable ... » Continue Reading
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- Why Don’t Foreign Fans Seem To Recognize Japanese Games?
- June 27th, 2011Category: Uncategorized
- Relatively recently, we were treated to some interesting announcements from E3 in LA, such as the introduction of Nintendo’s new gaming console, the Wii U, and the coming of a more gritty but natural Lara Croft created by game developer Crystal Dynamics. However, upo ... » Continue Reading
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- Piracy Isn’t Theft – A Challenge for Japanese Game Developers
- May 20th, 2011Category: Uncategorized
- The problem of the illegal copying of games, also known as “piracy”, has continued to plague the game industry, causing major damages. According to an investigation by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, in the period between 2004 and 2009 alone, damage ... » Continue Reading
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- The Indie Revolution – DIY Attitude for a New Games Industry
- April 5th, 2011Category: Work Tips
- A million units in sales will not cut it. As a matter of fact, there’s a very good chance that two million won’t cut it either. Costs associated with developing packaged products of a nature which the mass market perceives as top-tier, triple-A games for high-end con ... » Continue Reading
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- Could Japan’s Unique Infrastructure Hinder Healthy Growth and Expansion for Games?
- January 17th, 2011Category: Uncategorized
- Japan’s decade spent living on the cutting edge of mobile tech, from handsets to feature sets to infrastructure, made the nation the envy of international makers of handheld devices and the source of rumors as to ‘what the Japanese have’, occasionally whispered by “ey ... » Continue Reading
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- Is Japan’s Social Gaming Boom an Explosion or an Implosion?
- December 14th, 2010Category: Work Tips
- It’s remarkable that some of the most ubiquitous names associated with the Japanese video game industry today – GREE, Yahoo! Mobage, DeNA, – were more or less non-existent, at least as household names, only a few short years ago. The rulers of on-the-go gaming have se ... » Continue Reading
