Bigpoint has over 160 million registered users online and is now coming to mobile. The company is bringing games like Farmerama and Zoomumba to iPhone, iPad and Android and will launch Toon Racer across web and mobile simultaneously.
“This space is ready for us now,” said Bigpoint COO Nils-Holger Henning.
Source: Mobile-Ent.biz
THQ has announced that they have signed a new multi-year deal with Mattel. This gives THQ access to well known brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, Rock Em Sock Em Robots and Masters of the Universe.
We are excited to work hand-in-hand with the world s No. 1 toy company to bring a new level of entertainment to its already incredibly popular brands, said Martin Good, THQ’s Executive Vice President of Kids, Family and Casual Games. As we have shown with the combination of uDraw and Pictionary, there is enormous potential for the strategic relationship between THQ and Mattel. Through video games, we can build on some of the most famous and classic toy properties in the world, as well as unlock the entertainment potential of the newest creations from Mattel.
Mattel is synonymous with play and as such we continually seek creative opportunities to generate new ways to play with our brands, said Chuck Scothon, General Manager of the Mattel s Digital Network. Partnering with THQ extends the connection consumers have with our brands to a deeper multi-platform experience with video games for kids and family audiences.
The team behind SCVNGR has received $15 million from Balderton, Google Ventures and Highland Capital. The smartphone app has game-like elements to reward participation, netting interest from brands like American Eagle Outfitters, Nissan, and the New York Times.
They’ve signed up 1,000 paying clients so far. This was the focus of the business in the first half of 2010; from the second half of 2010 onwards, they’ve focused on building up the consumer base, said Balderton. They did $1 million revenue in 2009 when SCVNGR was still a text-based game. They launched on the iPhone and Android in May 2010 and have been making multiples of that number. It took Foursquare 18 months to get to 500,000 users it took SCVNGR 20 weeks. It will have one million by the end of January.
Source: PaidContent
According to a study by Juniper Research, mobile ad spending is expected to rise from the current figure of $87 million in 2010 to $893 million by 2015. While ad spends will increase by a factor of ten, download and in-game purchases are expected to be ten times that.
“Angry Birds has been a huge hit over the last year on the iPhone since its launch; but arguably its relative impact, in terms of downloads, has been bigger on Getjar and, more recently, on Android Market, as a result of offering the game free with ads,” said Juniper’s Daniel Ashdown. “Users get a great game for free, but advertisers get significant product/brand exposure; the same is true of mobile games as marketing tools.”
Source: JuniperResearch.com
Games exist now for a variety of properties, including Grey’s Anatomy and Hannah Montana, but it wasn’t always that way. This cartoon answers the What if question about games being made over various IPs and pop culture events of the late ’80s (and we’ll forgive the fact that most of them look like Atari 2600 titles).
It’s an interesting tact Homefront is taking, using a grim occupied America as a focal point of its game, but it’s not hesitating to do so. The video below shows how they are doing so, including the integration of in-game advertising.
When Dragon Quest IX was confirmed for release outside of Japan, many of the bigger fans of the franchise in the West wondered what happened to the previously announced Dragon Quest VI. Worry not, as the game has gotten a firm date in February 14, 2011.
Some things you can look back and laugh at but sometimes there are other things that make you wonder how they were taken seriously. Take this ad for instance, with people who seem to consider their Vectrex console the most mind-blastingly interesting thing in the world.
Chill mom, it’s just vector graphics.
Source: Jeremy Osborn’s Flicker Site
While the Call of Duty: Black Ops ad featuring Kobe Bryant became somewhat controversial, there’s definitely a upside to it. See, Army combat veteran Thom Tran was featured in that ad, as a model for several of the Vietnamese characters.
It s a huge geek moment, said Tran.
Formerly enlisted in the Army, Tran initially served as a weapons and costumes specialist for Call of Duty: Black Ops, before he was asked to model the North and South Vietnamese uniforms and later to provide his own head to be scanned and used on 3D models. During the ad, Tran fires a shotgun marked with the phrase SSG Tran as he moves through the desert battlefield.
Hands down, most fun I ve ever had on a movie set, he said.
Source: Buffalo News
Suzuki has kicked off their new “Kizashi Kicks” ad campaign for the 2011 Kizashi sedan. Along with a bunch of cheeky videos showing the Kizashi pitted against everything from luxury cars to banana peels and motorized sofas, they’ve also launched a new game called Kizashi Ring of Fire. The promotional site along with racing video game can be seen at www.KizashiKicks.com.
“We believe the ‘Kizashi Kicks’ campaign expresses the heart and soul of the Kizashi and builds on the brand enthusiasm our sport sedan has generated for American Suzuki over the last year, said Steven Younan, Director of Marketing for American Suzuki Automotive Operations.
“The Kizashi kicks butt in a lot of different ways so we created the theme line ‘Kizashi Kicks’ to communicate this thought and a microsite where people can see all sorts of fun content and information, added Rob Siltanen, Creative Director of Siltanen & Partners Advertising.
