Trailers for blockbuster movies are formulaic, but there’s an art about them that games seem to rarely match. Blizzard, however, has a rare panache about their pre-rendered videos, as evidenced by this trailer that sets up the story for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
Bit.Trip is a cute little game available on WiiWare with a small and devoted fanbase. One of those fans would like to see the number of fans grow some more, and has an interesting viral way to raise awareness for Bit.Trip.
Ridley Scott has an original idea of a documentary; he’s asking people around the world to record events on July 24, which will then be edited and compiled into a single piece. Called Life In A Day, it is as ambitious as it is intriguing.
VGMarket has announced that they’ve released their 2010 Digital Goods Report detailing consumer behavior for online game markets. The findings of the survey show that social networks saw the most in digital goods sales, with $50 per year and that women spent more on first-party purchases than men ($55 compared to $30 for men); median overall expenditure was higher for females than males too, at $80 to $60 respectively.
The report demonstrates a number of significant trends and monetization opportunities available to both first-party publishers and third-party marketplaces through the sale of digital goods, said Michael Gluck, President, VGMarket. Each type of digital good has a unique level of demand, and the amount of money that a consumer spends on digital goods continues to vary widely by genre.”
As a leader in monetization, our goal with this report is to shed light on the rapidly changing digital goods industry, while providing our clients, partners, and others with valuable information they can use to make timely and informed business decisions, said Eric Hartness, Chief Marketing Officer of PlaySpan. We look forward to continuing working with established researchers such as VGMarket to publish the latest industry data and trends, so that others can better understand the dynamics of the marketplace.
As part of its continuing efforts to branch out its in diifferent ways, YouTube has launched a new music portal at youtube.com/music. Along with music discovery, it also will be used for finding local musical events.
If you want easier ways to discover music on YouTube, just start here, writes Michele Flannery, YouTube Music Manager. Our revamped music page – part of a redesign that started with our shows and movies pages – showcases the most viewed music videos, special promotions, curated playlists, unsigned talent and gives you the ability to create on-the-fly mixes. For example, in the mood for electronic beats Just scroll down to that genre and click ‘play’ for an instant playlist. Looking for the latest viral music sensation Check ‘Today s Hits.’
Source: YouTube Blog
The 3DS had the whole industry abuzz after E3, between its games and its capabilities. EA COO John Schappert is so enamored with the device, he regards it much like technophiles regard the iPad.
The 3DS is just incredibly cool, said Schappert. The 3DS is magical. You put that in your hand, you look down, and all of a sudden it’s in 3D without glasses. That’s an amazing experience. I’m a huge fan. I think that device is going to sell like hot cakes. I think it’s going to do incredibly well, and in typical Nintendo fashion they have re-energized the industry, yet again. I give them nothing but credit and we are excited to be supporting that platform with Madden, FIFA, and The Sims that we announced.”
Schappert’s take on the PSP, by contrast, is much more measured. “I think the PSP business has been challenged for a little while now. I hope they’re able to breathe new life into [the PSP] because it’s been a very nice platform to date, but it has been soft of late. That said, we started out our conversation talking about the 3DS. The thing I like about being a third party publisher is I’ve got bets on all these things. I want them all to be successful; they re all my children and I love them all. So 3DS emerges, we want to be there. We’re going to be there and we want to do well on that platform. At the same time, I d like to see Sony do well. I think we’re pretty well distributed there and diversified.”
“It feels like yesterday when the PSP was on allocation because of Monster Hunter, wasn’t it So, you know, give em’ credit, he added. The boys are smart . . . they’ll do ok.”
Source: IndustryGamers
Facebook games have reached a critical mass, which means of course they can now be parodied. Witness Cow Clicker, described as a Facebook game about Facebook games.
You get a cow. You can click on it. In six hours, you can click it again. Clicking earns you clicks. You can buy custom ‘premium’ cows through micropayments (the Cow Clicker currency is called “mooney”), and you can buy your way out of the time delay by spending it. You can publish feed stories about clicking your cow, and you can click friends’ cow clicks in their feed stories. Cow Clicker is Facebook games distilled to their essence.
The game can be played now on Facebook.
Source: Bogost.com
Apple recently said that it would issue a rubber bumper for free to all iPhone 4 customers and refund the purchase of those who had bought it already. Still, with 8.4 million iPhones sold during the third quarter and total revenue of $15.7 billion with a net profit of $3.25 billion, the $175 million in free cases is a drop in the bucket.
It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4, said Steve Jobs, Apple s CEO. iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.
Source: Forbes
The market for smartphones is highly competitive, and while Research In Motion currently holds the lead over its competitors, it’s still feeling the heat from Apple and Google. As such, they’ve released details for the BlackBerry 6 operating system, which is expected to release in the third quarter of 2010.
The new mobile OS will have improved multimedia features, like an improved music library with album art and an on-screen carousel display. Photos can also be organized by event or day, shown in a slide show and shared actively with others.
Other improvements include the ability to upload videos to YouTube and the camera’s been enhanced to streamline the experience. BlackBerry 6 users will also be able to search for and play podcasts and sync up to iTunes or a PC.
Source: ComputerWorld
David Ellison of Skydance Productions and Dark Horse Entertainment producer Mark Gordon are working on a movie concept based upon Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They will adapt the upcoming Dark Horse comic The Strange Case of Hyde, which is written by screenwriter Cole Haddon.
“Mr. Hyde is one of my favorite literary villains, but he hasn’t been given his due on the big screen for the better part of a century,” said Haddon. “I’m excited to be playing a part in restoring him to his proper place in the pantheon of movie monsters: at the top of the food chain.”
This take on the story will see the dual-man going up against a historical villain in an action-adventure story. Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg of Dark Horse will produce with Gordon, while Ellison will produce using Skydance.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
