Chrome Web Store Launches With Games

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Google recently unveiled details for their long anticipated Chrome Web Store and Chrome OS. Running within the newest version of Chrome, the Web Store supports several popular social games and the OS will work on notebooks, with Verizon providing the dataplan.

“People want to get paid for their apps, but they don’t want to trust a small, independent developer,” said Sundar Pichai, Google VP of Product Management. “That’s one of the problems we wanted to solve with the Chrome Web Store.”

Certain browser-based games are available for the platform like Plants vs. Zombies, BurgerTime Deluxe, FarmVille, and RuneScape. EA is also supporting the platform with titles like FIFA SuperStars, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online and Madden NFL SuperStars, with Pogo-branded title Poppit built-in to every browser.

“We were able to convert into a state-of-the-art HTML5 web app in less than 48 hours,” EA COO Schappert said at the event. “It’s blazing fast. It’s simply the fastest Poppit we’ve made.”

Source: Engadget

Microsoft Dismisses Home As ‘Nice Chat Room’

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Despite a mixed reception to Home from some in the gaming media, Sony has long maintained that Home is a successful and profitable venture for them. However, despite the presence of their own avatars that might be perfect for a virtual world like Home, Microsoft seems very cool to the idea.

“That’s not something that we’re looking at,” said Xbox UK marketing manager Stephen McGill. “I’m not sure what their learnings are from the Home experience, it’s a nice chat room I guess, not an awful lot more.”

“I think that the honest answer is that, online we’re following our own agenda,” added Xbox UK and Ireland general manager Neil Thompson. “It’s been pretty successful for us over the last four or five years. I think we’re focusing on what we think we can drive and that’s where our energies are going to go.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz {link no longer active}

Smartphones ‘Very Real Threat’ To DS/PSP

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According to a report by Interpret 43.8 percent of the portable gaming market plays games on phones. This represents an over 50 percent increase over the last year; also the proportion of those who play dedicated portable game consoles like the DS and PSP dropped by 13 percent. 27.2 percent of consumers that own both no longer use their DS or PSP.

“The proliferation of highly multifunctional smartphones and messaging phones is a very real threat to the dominance by the DS and PSP of the handheld gaming market,” said Courtney Johnson, Manager of Research and Analysis at Interpret. “Devices which satisfy a variety of entertainment and utility are fast outstripping single-function devices as consumer favorites.”

Source: Interpretllc.com {link no longer active}

Citi ‘Thanks’ Zynga Users

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Citi has announced that it is expanding its ThankYou Rewards program to include gift cards and virtual products from Zynga, similar to American Express. Starting at 600 ThankYou Points, users can get a line of exclusive items available only to Citi ThankYou Rewards members.

“Citi is continually looking for opportunities to provide our millions of ThankYou Members with new and exciting ways to use their points. Partnering with a leading social gaming provider like Zynga to add new, exclusive gaming content to ThankYou not only helps to keep our reward collection highly relevant and exciting but it also meets an expressed demand for products in the social games category,” said Terry O’Neil, Executive Vice President, North American Cards, Citi. “The virtual Zynga gift cards provide our members with an easy way to redeem rewards quickly and for relatively few points while the exclusive content enables them to express their individuality with gaming characters and content they won’t find anywhere else.”

Tony Hawk ‘A Lasting Icon,’ Says Activision

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Tony Hawk: Shred managed to sell only 3,000 units during its first few days at retail. Still, Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, believes in the brand power of Tony Hawk.

“I think it s early to close the book on Tony Hawk Shred, because we are marketing it to kids, and it is a great gift, and the gift-giving season has already begun, said Hirshberg. We re going to keep the pedal to the metal on that and continue to market through the holiday and hopefully we ll deliver some proponents.”

“The interesting thing is that I think the last game had some technical problems with the board, and lots of times when you innovate that happens. This game and the relationship between the game and the board is spectacular, he continued. It s a whole different level from Tony Hawk: Ride. That might change things too. But at the same time, I think that you re basically asking the same questions that I m asking and that we re asking about how to recapture the mass imagination surrounding this franchise.”

“Tony Hawk does really still have relevance and tremendous appeal for people, added Hirshberg. He is a lasting icon. He has that Michael Jordan-ish or Jordan-esque staying power, seemingly. And that doesn t mean that other great skaters haven t come up who are younger and more current, but he really is that kind of Mount Rushmore-level guy in that category, so that s not the issue. I think we have to ask all the smart questions and make some smart moves in terms of innovation to see if we can recapture people s imaginations.”

Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}

IGN/GameStop Sign Partnership

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IGN and GameStop today announced a special partnership. They are integrating their online media and retail offerings in order to make a more unified experience for every part of the consumer experience.

As a part of this deal, IGN will create branded media advertising for GameStop.com. They will also be GameStop’s sales representative online, where advertisers will be able to buy branded ads for the retail site.

GameStop will buy ads for IGN.com and IGN content will appear on GameStop.com. There are also plans for cross-linking and opportunities for e-commerce on IGN.com.

The traffic on IGN and GameStop will be combined, adding the 7.2 million monthly uniques of GameStop to the 28.9 million that take in IGN s gaming content. This partnership reflects the relationship GameStop has with GameInformer (the retailer owns the magazine) and gives IGN a chance to grow its branded advertising.

Source: All Things Digital  {link no longer active}