Economics Designer Economics designers have a fairly straightforward duty in the realm of video game design: They design the financial system within games. From the rupees that Link collected in Zelda to the ability to buy land in Second Life, economies have been a pivotal part of many games; it is the responsibility of economics designers to see that these economies are viable, fair, and entertaining for the gamer. In recent years, game economies have become increasingly important, with games like World of Warcraft and other massive multiplayer online role-playing games giving gamers endless options to explore expansive worlds, complete with monetary systems and methods of exchange and commerce. An economics designer sets the values for in-game items and services through tactics such as only releasing a limited amount of goods, or making them available only at a certain time; constantly creating new goods that gamers can aspire to at different levels; creating “wear and tear” on items, so gamers have to replace them; creating secondary markets for in-game goods and services where players can trade among themselves; creating auction houses; preventing possible fraud; and employing other strategies that rely heavily on real-world economic principles.
Toyko, Japan Tokyo is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and has been the capital since 1869. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese government and the National Diet. Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo was formerly named Edo when Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city as his headquarters in 1603. It became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from Kyoto in 1868; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo. Tokyo is a mega-metropolis of dizzying contradictions, both familiar and foreign. It has neon, skyscrapers, salaryman crowds, packed trains, cutting-edge architecture and futuristic technology. But it also has ancient shrines, plant-covered wooden houses, cycling grannies, old-school sweet shops and village-like lanes. Toyko is the home of giants of the games industry such as Square Enix, SEGA, Konami and Bandai Namco
