Terminator 5 May Star Arnold

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Reports are that Arnold Schwarzenegger is testing the waters for a new Terminator film. Creative Artists Agency is shopping around him as a star of a new film, even though there is no plot worked out yet.

The proposed film would be directed by Fast Five director Justin Lin. It is unknown how this would affect the rather convoluted Terminator continuity, but with Terminator Salvation director McG not on board, it seems likely the trilogy started in that film will not continue.

Source: LA Times {link no longer active}

Wii Owner Survey: 57 Percent Not Looking To Purchase Wii 2

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With the successor to the Wii console now confirmed to be in development, people are wondering what it will include. A survey of 1,239 British Nintendo Wii owners said that 83 percent wanted a slimmer console; that was their biggest request.

78 percent wanted a camera on movement sensor, 72 percent wanted 3D enabled games (despite the fact that Nintendo seems disinclined to include 3D); below this is 69 percent wanting better graphics and 64 percent for longer battery life for Wii Remotes and just under half wanting more color options. Interestingly, when asked if they would purchase the Wii 2 when it released, 57 percent said no and that they would stick with the original console.

It s interesting to see what gamers are looking for from the new Wii, said Mark Pearson, chairman of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk. The console has seen massive success, particularly as a family orientated games console, so I presume there will be a lot of interest in the release of the new version.

EA Looks To Push Cross-Platform Ads

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When it comes to the coveted 18 to 34 year-old male demographic, video games have never held more sway than they do right now. For EA s new Global Media Sales team Senior VP Dave Madden, he sees real opportunities among EA’s 233 million game users, such as the ability to target a female-focused casual demographic like Pogo.com with 10 million unique visitors per month.

With EA being leader in terms of audience and reach and its line-up of product and IP, there s an opportunity to make EA a leader in getting brands involved with video games, said Madden. EA has started to take some of its top IPs cross-platform across social, mobile, online, and console games.”

EA Sports FIFA 11 is one of the company’s most diverse IP. While there’s been 12.5 million console units console units sold, there are also 5 million mobile downloads of the game, 5 million registered PC users and a Facebook game.

Brands and advertisers doing stuff in sports on TV want to go to where gamers are playing and IPs like FIFA, Need for Speed, or Madden are perfect for them because they re engaging games that are available everywhere consumers are gaming, said Madden. We re making it easier for advertisers to plan and buy across our catalog.

With EA s audience, there are more gamers playing the same game across multiple games during prime time than a network is going to get with a hit show. This will unlock bigger and bigger budgets. Advertisers want to place buys and know what the results are going to be. And we ll be able to show them results, he said, adding, It s already happening today, it s just a matter of scale and standardizing the media to make the metrics more like traditional media so advertisers can understand the numbers. That s when you re going to see buckets of money.

A recent example of brand integration noted was an alliance with Toyota Prius and the Facebook Monopoly Millionaires game. They added the Toyota Eco House to the game allows users to share it amongst their friends and promotes the green message of the Prius.

Virtual goods are a great way for brands to connect with a user and earn positive association, said Madden. With more social and mobile games turning to free-to-play, micro-transaction business models, brands can step in and offer Facebook credits or virtual goods directly to the gamer for free. We had great success using this at WildTangent over the last five years.

Source: Forbes

 

Zynga Enters Wonderland

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Zynga has announced the acquisition of of U.K.-based mobile developer Wonderland. The GodFinger developer, with veterans Lionhead, Bullfrog and Codemasters, will become Zynga Mobile UK.

“Wonderland Software has always been dedicated to pursuing big and creative ideas and turning them into games that players love,” says Matthew Wiggins, Wonderland s chief executive officer who will remain on to serve as general manager for Zynga Mobile UK. “We are thrilled to continue our vision as part of the Zynga family and to reach millions of mobile players across a spectrum of devices.”

RockYou Gets Second Loot Drop

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RockYou has announced that they are publishing the second game from developer Loot Drop. They will publish the first game from Loot Drop (founded by John Romero and Brenda Brathwaite) called Cloudforest Expedition during Summer 2011.

“We’ve been collaborating closely with Loot Drop, and their progress on Cloudforest Expedition is blowing us away,” said Jonathan Knight, SVP of Games at RockYou. “Loot Drop is a natural fit with our design-driven studio culture and with our commitment to developing and publishing the best social games in the world. With Romero, Brenda Brathwaite, and a full roster of veteran developers, their team continues to exceed expectations. We’re honored to be working with them and look forward to adding two Loot Drop titles to the RockYou portfolio!”

“Since we signed our initial deal in January, RockYou has been an awesome partner. They support our creative freedom as we bring innovation to the story-driven adventure genre with Cloudforest Expedition,” said John Romero. Extending the relationship with a second game makes sense, and we re excited to reveal more details of our projects.”

Nintendo 3DS Not Selling As Expected, Says Iwata

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Nintendo recently confirmed that the 3DS saw hardware sales of 3.61 million units during its first month of availability, not meeting the company’s original forecast of 4 million. Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata admits that the console has not performed as he would have liked.

“Nintendo 3DS was launched in late March. The sales were high in the initial week, but sales fell below our expectations after the second week,” said Iwata. “Nintendo 3DS has not been selling as expected since the second week, and this is not just in the Japanese market but also in the United States and Europe, where no direct impact from the great earthquake has occurred. Therefore, we recognize that we are in a situation where we need to step up our efforts to further promote the spread of Nintendo 3DS.”

Iwata admitted that the glasses-less 3D was expected to catch on after release, but that didn’t happen, and demo booths haven’t helped. “The value of 3D images without the need for special glasses is hard to be understood through the existing media. However, we have found that people cannot feel it just by trying out a device, rather, some might even misestimate it when experiencing the images in an improper fashion,” said Iwata, noting that users need to adjust the 3D slider to suit their needs. “We need to enhance the contents which can be enjoyed passively by non-active users, like a 3D video distribution service. We will promptly work on this after the currently planned hardware update.”

Iwata also said that users need to be better educated on built in features like StreetPass, SpotPass, Augmented Reality and Mii Maker. “It is now clear that the combination of these new features is not necessarily easy-to-understand by just saying one word to those without experience,” said Iwata. “We have found that not all Nintendo 3DS users enjoy this software. There seems to be more than a few consumers who have Nintendo 3DS hardware but don’t know about this software and possibly haven’t had a chance to get interested in it.”

PSN Situation Results In Lawsuit

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The revelations about the PSN data crack have many worried many about the extent of the data fraud and what PSN customers should do exactly. While Visa says that customers should be vigilant of any data fraud and that any victims of fraud will get their money back, one Kristopher Johns has already had enough.

Johns has filed a class action suit against Sony for not taking “reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users.” He also argues that Sony took too long to inform its customers and thus did not allow them “to make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions.”

Court: Cnet