Last of the [a]list summit interviews comes from Rich Hilleman, Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts. He gives his own perspective on marketing issues for a large, traditional publisher.
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Nintendo is determined to make the launch of the 3DS memorable, and they have the software to prove it. Everything from Resident Evil to Kid Icarus to Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater to a remake of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is here.
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The world of nightmares controlled by Alma was visited in the first two F.E.A.R. games. Apparently, her being pregnant makes the “Almaverse” even scarier in F.3.A.R.
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Ubisoft has announced that it is launching a new application on Facebook. Called Assassin’s Creed: Project Legacy, it ties in uniquely to the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
This initiative is part of Ubisoft’s “Companion Gaming” plan, whereby players have multiple points of entry for an IP. The Assassin’s Creed: Project Legacy, will let users earn content and XP in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and playing Brotherhood will let users unlock 25 additional missions in Project Legacy.
A study of 30 popular Android apps shows that they would often use location information and unique identifiers with advertisers or servers, oftentimes without disclosing this to users. These findings came from researchers who will present their research at the upcoming Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation.
This information was found using TaintDroid, which is designed to track how different Android applications actually handle data and unique identification information. “Using TaintDroid to monitor the behavior of 30 popular third-party Android applications, we found 68 instances of potential misuse of users’ private information across 20 applications,” reads the report.
“Android’s coarse-grained access control provides insufficient protection against third-party applications seeking to collect sensitive data,” they concluded.
Source: InformationWeek
Play.com is launching a special offer for those who pre-order Vanquish. They will offer a copy of Bayonetta (another Platinum Games designed title) to those who pre-order Shinji Mikami’s shooter.
In addition to the critically acclaimed Bayonetta, pre-orders of Vanquish will also receive an exclusive lenticular sleeve showing Sam Gideon in his futuristic battle suit, sliding while firing his gun. Both of these items will only be offered while supplies last.
Source: MCV
GameStop is offering an exclusive virtual item with the purchase of a Zynga Game Card. The deal will run through October 31, 2010, check out the details here {link no longer active}.
Blizzard has kept the release date of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm close to its chest. The developer has been notorious for pushing back releases in the past and will only announce them when they are next to certain that the date will be kept to prevent what might be about to happen from happening.
See, many assumed that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm would release in November after Blizzcon in October, and recent periodic patches to the game lend credence to that fact. However, messages sent to those who pre-ordered the collector’s edition of Cataclysm say it will not release until January 5, 2011 – Blizzard for the moment, however, is neither confirming nor denying that date.
Director Guillermo del Toro confirmed over the summer that he is working on games with a major company. While rumors said that company was THQ, del Toro has officially confirmed that he is working with the publisher.
“We’re working together,” said del Toro. “Hopefully everything will come together in the next few days and we can formally announce it and so forth. But we are talking about huge games, huge world creation and long deadlines.”
“I pitched another game that was not developed. That’s the same one I pitched [to THQ]. They took to it immediately. More details forthcoming. I don’t want to say everything because we’re going to announce it soon. But again, long deadline,” detailed del Toro. “It’s horror…but it’s a very different type of horror game. It’s not survival horror. It’s truly a strange, geeky mix. It’s a Lovecraftian thing. Let’s leave it at that.”
While an announcement might be coming soon, the full game will not be. “With THQ we’re looking at around a three year developing deadline for each game. Big games. More details forthcoming, but we are truly exploring them in a serious manner. Expect the first game, best case scenario, 2013.”
For its part, THQ isn’t confirming anything, saying in a statement, “At THQ, we are focused on the highest level of creative development by putting artists first. Guillermo del Toro is one of many creative artists that we respect and would be interested in working with. However, at this time, we do not have any formal announcement to make.”
Source: MTV
Electronic Arts has announced that they have launched a comprehensive insights suite for telling marketers about data in and around EA games. This cross-platform tool is designed to pull together campaign performance, brand impact, social buzz, and ROI, across all platforms on the EA network.
“One of the biggest challenges for marketers is comprehensively evaluating and learning from their investments across disparate audiences, platforms and content,” said Elizabeth Harz, Senior Vice President of EA’s Global Media Sales team. “Our insights suite is the solution. For the first time, our partners will have actionable insights as a result of their marketing communications to key audiences across all of our content and all of platforms. I can’t wait to get this into our partners’ hands.”
This insights suite will be based on technology from nPario. The company is a specialist in providing data products and services that enable companies to understand and market consumer commercial intent, and EA is looking to tap that to measure the efficacy of their interactive entertainment advertising and digital advertising overall.
“As consumers embrace emerging entertainment platforms, reaching them with the right message, on the right channel and at the right time becomes even more challenging for advertisers,” said Bassel Ojjeh, President and CEO of nPario. “Leveraging nPario technology, EA’s insights suite, with the multi-platform, real-time, actionable insights it delivers, takes the complexity out of today’s fragmented multi-platform world, and turns it into an opportunity to improve advertising effectiveness and measurement.”
