Working for Gameloft is far from fun and games, whistleblower says

It takes quite a lot of work to become one of the top mobile game developers, but Glenn Watson, former Head Studio Programmer at Gameloft's New Zealand studio, says it's taken too much work. The former Gameloft employee told all to Games On Net in a feature that described the company's working conditions as "dangerous."

"Starting at 9:30 AM, going home at 2:30 AM, and then com­ing back into the office at 8:30 AM to start work again was not unusual ," Watson described. "There were other times when I would be called back into the office at 11:30 PM by the studio producer, only to head home again at 2:30 AM. It was after I worked four consecutive weeks of fourteen-hour days - including weekends - that I realized I needed to resign."

According to Games On Net, other anonymous former Gameloft employees have confirmed Watson's allegations. Watson went on to reveal that Gameloft had falsified deadlines to create a constant sense of crunch time. It was internally known as "golding," or constantly telling employees to keep going in order to reach gold status on time with a given product. Games On Net reports that, according to leaked internal emails, this process persists. For more on what may be going on inside French publisher Gameloft's many offices, read the feature in full here.

This is far from the first time a game studio has been accused of less-than-respectable work conditions. Most recently, the creators of Rockstar's L.A. Noire, Australia-based Team Bondi, was the target of whistleblowers for unsavory work conditions. Regardless, it's important to know that, sometimes, the idiom "blood, sweat and tears" may not be too far from reality.

Is rejection in FarmVille, Facebook games like getting dumped?

FarmVille rejection
Well, it's close enough. According to a recent study by Edward Smith, a cognitive neuroscientist at Columbia University in New York, being rejected in an online computer game could elicit "tepid feelings of rejection," Fox News reports. Though, the findings did help Smith find a link between romantic rejection and actual physical pain. Smith conducted a follow-up study using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. But did it trigger a similar response?

This technology visualized the pain receptors in the brains of 40 volunteers when looking at photographs of partners they had broke it off with. As a result, the fMRI lit up like Christmas tree when folks looked at photos of old flames. So when a FarmVille friend removes you, it might not sting as badly--or just stir some Internet rage. Regardless, the brain could still respond the same way as when rejected by a lover, though to a lesser degree. The next time you remove a friend from CityVille, try letting them down easy, eh?

[Via Kotaku]

[Image Credit: Game Casa]

Have you ever been rejected in a social game by another player?

It was ... Mafia Wars malware that infected the Air Force drone fleet?

I guess when local politicians are too busy playing CityVille to attend meetings, you really can't put this sort of thing past anyone. The U.S. Air Force has revealed new details on just what virus has infected the remote cockpits of its drone fleet, Wired reports. They're quite revealing as to what these remote crews might be up to on the job.

An anonymous defense official told the Associated Press that the malware that infected the remote cockpits' hard drives "is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online." The official didn't explain why remote drone crews were playing Mafia Wars or gambling online while on missions overseas.

And according to Wired, insiders say that the virus has been particularly difficult to remove, forcing crew to erase and completely rebuild the infected hard drives. The Air Force said that the virus is "a credential stealer," transmitted by thumb drives. So, Air Force drone crews were either playing Mafia Wars/gambling online using military computers, or using thumb drives in said computers that had been used in outside computers with access to Mafia Wars.

But do you really think those thumb drives ever leave base? If that's the case (fat chance), then this is another issue entirely. Remotely piloted drones are on slippery enough of a slope already. Come on, people, couldn't you at least have been playing a new Zynga game, like Mafia Wars 2?

[Via Kotaku]

[Image Credit:: TSgt Erik Gudmundson/U.S. Defense]

Have you ever played a social game on the job? What do you think of the remote drone program, given news like this?

Zynga: Mafia Wars is not connected to Air Force drone fleet virus

It seems that Zynga's Mafia Wars might not have anything to do with this Air Force drone scare, after all. Speaking to Kotaku, Zynga Chief Security Officer Nils Puhlmann said, "We have no indications that suggest Zynga's Mafia Wars was connected with the malware that infected the Pentagon's drone program."

Earlier this week, an anonymous defense official told the Associated Press that the virus that has infected the hard drives of remote cockpits used to pilot Air Force drones "is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online." While the official simply name-dropped Mafia Wars, it seemed terribly specific.

However, Zynga's Puhlmann said to Kotaku, "We actively take steps to maintain and protect the trust of our customers, including educating our players about the risks associated with visiting untrusted sites and downloading untrusted applications. Both of those actions can increase the risk of getting infected with malware."

The malware that infected the cockpits' hard drives was first found on a connected thumb drive, but according to Air Force Space Command spokesperson Colonel Kathleen Cook, the malware has since been isolated and has not affected the drones directly. While it's possible that the drone crews weren't specifically playing Mafia Wars while said thumb drive was connected to either a personal or military PC, the malware was likely designed to attack social networks with such games on them.

According to Cook, the malware was found on a stand-alone, Windows-based support network and was considered a nuisance rather than a threat. However, the origins of the malware have yet to be determined, only narrowed slightly. Whether a social network website like Facebook was accessed through a military computer with the drive connected, or the infected drive was used on a personal computer, is still a mystery.

[Image Credit: Sky News]

Now that Zynga has made a statement looking to clear things up, what do you think might have caused the virus? Have you ever logged into Facebook while at work or played a social game at work?

It was ... Mafia Wars malware that infected the Air Force drone fleet?

I guess when local politicians are too busy playing CityVille to attend meetings, you really can't put this sort of thing past anyone. The U.S. Air Force has revealed new details on just what virus has infected the remote cockpits of its drone fleet, Wired reports. They're quite revealing as to what these remote crews might be up to on the job.

An anonymous defense official told the Associated Press that the malware that infected the remote cockpits' hard drives "is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online." The official didn't explain why remote drone crews were playing Mafia Wars or gambling online while on missions overseas.