Tickled, financially, by the loving streams of WoW cash, they are. Vivendi is now planning on importing a sports MMOG to the U.S., specifically some sort of online basketball simulation.

As can be inferred by the title, Freestyle Street Basketball trades in the swords and sorcery for slams and jams. Instead of roaming the countryside looking for dragons and ogres to gang up on, players hit the hardcourt with their customized characters and form pickup basketball games. Given that the game has an unusual MMO theme, VU Games is looking to market it to an unusual MMO audience with an unproven business model. Freestyle Street is designed with mass appeal and quick play sessions to target casual gamers, and it will be supported not by subscription fees, but by the increasingly noticeable trend of micropayments.

Despite a personal lack of interest in the subject matter, this is exactly the kind of thing I like about the Eastern market, and would like to see more of here. I hope they manage to get some traction with it.

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