The Ayzenberg Group has helped Atari produce some of the advertising content for Test Drive: Unlimited 2. Check out the full skin takeover of GameSpot and the static unit running on Xbox Live. The campaign has been focused around the coolness of being able to race around the island paradise of Ibiza in your choice of exotic supercars- living the ultimate luxury lifestyle.
Find out more at testdriveunlimited2.com/.
Hellgate: London was heavily anticipated before its release, but it received mixed reviews and the developer Flagship Studios dissolved less than a year later. Former Flagship CEO Bill Roper says that much of this was due to the company’s reach exceeding its grasp.
“The biggest failure with Hellgate is we just tried to do too much,” Roper explained. “We were a single-player game, or you could go online and play for free. And there was also this hybrid subscription model that you could get into, and the game was coming out on the new Windows platform, and we were part of the Games for Windows program. We shipped in 17 languages, we had a very high-end graphics engine that we had built but at the same time we did low-poly versions of the game. I mean, the list just went on and on and on.”
Before Flagship, Roper was VP of Blizzard North and helped develop the Diablo series of games which Hellgate: London mirrors in several ways. Roper said that not having the long development time Blizzard afforded its developers hurt Hellgate in the end.
“I think that was where our ‘growing up Blizzard’ hurt us, right [laughs] Because at Blizzard you just go for it. Every time you swing, you swing for the fences,” said Roper. “A couple benefits we had there [at Blizzard,] we really didn’t have at Flagship — I mean, even Blizzard now, but at Blizzard 10 years ago — one, there was always support from Blizzard from the top-down, from the publishing-down. We’d go in there and say, ‘We need to take six more months. This is why. This is the benefit you will see from it,’ and you always had to justify it. There was always the support [at Blizzard] to say, ‘You know what? If that’s what you need to make this game great, then that’s what we’ll get for you. We’ll figure it out.'”
Ultimately, the publishing combo of Namco, HanbitSoft and EA put pressure on the start-up to release the game at retail. “It still eventually comes down to dollars and cents and time,” said Roper. “I mean, I think when Hellgate: London came out… we knew it needed another four to six months. The publishers knew it needed another four to six months. The publishers were like, ‘Hey, we’re invested. We’re in. We’re as in as we’re going to get.’ So, the game’s got to come out, right? You get to that point.”
Source: Gamasutra
Facebook introduced the EdgeRank formula about a year ago, which weighs content put up on the social media site by a variety of factors. This means that the chance that any given message will reach fans is probably less than 10 percent of the time, but there are still some things that can be done to up the percentages.
While some brands spend as much as $50,000 creating a flashy Facebook page, over 90 percent of people never return to fan pages. It’s important, therefore, to create updates that link to the page itself; when fans interact with it, EdgeRank will deliver updates more frequently. Giving fans an opportunity to be heard is also key.
“Some of the most successful Facebook pages were created by users and not the brands behind them,” wrote Scott Meldrum. “We’ve all heard the story about how the Coca-Cola Facebook page got its start {link no longer active}. It reminds us that some of the most innovative content ideas come from outside of the company. Inviting fans to contribute content, such as photos, stories, or videos, brings up your EdgeRank score since they can only do that by visiting your page. It also makes for a more dynamic experience for the rest of the fans. Most importantly, it allows potential customers to experience what real customers have to say about your brand. If you say it, it’s a promise. If your customers say it, it’s a promise delivered.”
“Consistency in posting can also be key. Content and frequent (but not too frequent) updates keeps people in contact and builds a dialog with users. Finally, using Post Insights to measure how your posts are doing is key.”
“The only way to crack the EdgeRank code is to experiment and optimize,” added Meldrum. “Every user is different. The algorithm’s formula is user-specific. A high EdgeRank score for the same post to Fan A does not affect the score for Fan B. You will have to test and optimize constantly to establish an ideal methodology for posting. Even then, you will have to perform ongoing optimization as the fan base and content changes over time.”
Source: iMediaConnection
Anticipation can be used to great effect when you have a well known franchise and an acclaimed developer. Here, grainy footage of war thrown over the words Battlefield are complemented perfectly by an almost Terminator-like percussion beat.
Test Drive Unlimited 2 has tons of exotic cars in the exotic island of Ibiza. Check it out to the tunes of Insight [a Skillz Remix] by Fort Knox Five.
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Transformers 3: Dark Side of the Moon promises to have more CG than any average computer could render even if it started at the beginning of time. Preview the action madness below.
Sony Online Entertainment recently announced a special deal for DC Universe Online. The company’s offering a three-month discount to the online subscription for the superhero MMO, which recently became SOE’s fastest selling title ever.
“In appreciation of you pioneers we are going to be offering the chance to lock in an extraordinary promotional rate of only $29.99 for the 3-month DC Universe Online Legend Plan,” writes Wes Yanagi, Senior Producer of Sony Online Entertainment Austin. “That s over 25 percent OFF the regular 3-month subscription plan price of $41.99! You ll even be able to keep that rate for as long as you are actively subscribed and watch the savings pile up! You really won t want to miss out on this great opportunity! The new rate will be available on February 8th so look out for it!”
Source: PlayStation.blog
AOL has announced that they will be acquiring the The Huffington Post for $315 million. The Huffington Post’s co-founder and editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington, will be president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group that will include all Huffington Post and AOL content, joining other recent acquisitions by the company including TechCrunch, 5Min Media and Thing Labs.
Arianna Huffington commented that the Post has 26 million unique visitors a month; AOL has 110 million unique U.S. visitors a month and 250 million unique visitors worldwide. She compared the move to “stepping off a fast-moving train and onto a supersonic jet.”
Source: money.cnn.com
Sony Ericsson has officially unveiled the Xperia Play, which is better known by its unofficial nickname: the PlayStation Phone. More details for the phone will come in the middle of the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, taking place February 13, 2011.
The Xperia Play will run on Android 3.0 (aka Gingerbread) and will feature a slide-out section featuring a D-pad and buttons for gaming. Check out the first commercial for the device here.
Source: VentureBeat
Nintendo held onto its price point of $199.99 for the Wii over the holiday season, but Beth Pinsker, editorial director of dealnews.com, thinks that’s going to end in 2011, maybe going as low as $99.
“There are a whole bunch of new game systems about to come out and those are going to be more expensive and drive the price of the basic unit down,” said Pinsker. “Plus, there’s a lot of competition out there — there’s the Xbox and Sony Playstation, and Microsoft Kinect is getting really popular — so that all inflicts some damage on the Wii.”
Source: Money.CNN.com
