GameStop has revealed that it will give away a double-sided poster to those that pre-order Modern Warfare 3. One side will be the standard green, black and white logo for the game, whereas the other side is a much more striking Time magazine mock-up cover.
Source: Joystiq
Sony today announced the Welcome Back appreciation program for PSN customers in North America. Among the PS3 game available for free (users choose two) are Dead Nation, InFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD and Wipeout HD + Fury; PSP owners can choose two from the list of LittleBigPlanet (PSP), ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force and Killzone Liberation.
PSN users will also have a selection of free rental titles, with PlayStation Plus subscribers receiving 60 free days and everyone else receiving 30 free days of the service. Music Unlimited users of various levels will all receive 30 free days of service and PlayStation Home users will be receiving 100 free virtual items.
We’d like to thank all of our publishing and development partners who’ve contributed to the Welcome Back program, including Bigbig Studios, Codeglue, Digital Leisure, Guerilla Games, Heavy Water, Housemarque, Lockwood, Loot, Mass Media, Media Molecule, SCE Cambridge Studios, SCE Studio Liverpool, SCE San Diego Studios, and Sucker Punch Productions. We couldn’t have created such a compelling package without them! wrote Patrick Seybold, SCEA Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media. As a reminder, you will be able to access the above content shortly after services are fully restored. We are doing everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible. Please visit the following sites for more information about the Welcome Back program in Europe and Latin America.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Machinima is one of the top channels on YouTube, featuring a combination of trailers, original works and fan-generated films on game franchises large and small. They’re going to be at the tip of the spear for YouTube’s forthcoming premium-content strategy, where they partner with the best companies using the service and leverage their channels.
“Because of their consistent traffic they can offer advertisers a very unique package,” said Kenji Arai, strategic partnership development manager at YouTube. “Hopefully we will create other standout partners like Machinima in other categories as well. It’ll take a combination of both companies that combines a comfortable niche and a part that really engages on the YouTube platform like Machinima does.”
Machinima also has impressive numbers to back up their claims. They saw 67 million unique viewers in March, the Dead Rising 2 original series Bite Me has seen 13 million views since premiering last December and Mortal Kombat: Legacy produced over 5 million viewers in its first five days of release.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy helped make Machinima a top 10 trending search for Google, becoming the fourth most discussed video that day on YouTube and clocking over 15 million views since its April. “People are not only watching these videos, they’re also embedding, ranking and replying to them,” said Machinima Chairman-CEO Allen DeBevoise.
“Media companies can be and are being built in nontraditional ways. At what point does Machinima rival, equal or surpass a cable network ” said Tim Hanlon, CEO of Velociter, the strategic partnership and investment arm of Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands. “These gigantic numbers suggest their distribution model is just beginning.”
Machinima has caught the attention of brands like Jeep Compass, Walmart, Dell’s Alienware, Cinemax, Panasonic’s Viera 3-D TV and movie studios like Sony Pictures and Universal Pictures, though they aren’t looking to go the traditional cable TV route. “We think we get to TV through all the devices out there. A lot of people already watch our videos on their connected TV sets,” said DeBevoise. “We’d like to be able to say to TV people, ‘What if we do a pilot or a first-season series with you guys ‘ We’re not ready for that yet, but it’s an interesting opportunity to eliminate that moment of risk when you have a $5 million pilot and five days to make it work.”
Source: AdAge
Online influence is important, but has been hard to quantify in the past, but is easier now with Klout. An influence score is given based upon 35 variables, including retweets, responses, Facebook likes, and click-throughs, with over 2,000 companies having purchased Klout’s data.
It s like a social credit score, says Klout CEO Joe Fernandez.
The company has launched as a program called Klout Perks matching high-scoring Twitter users with brands they might like. Companies like Starbucks, Audi, Virgin America, Danone, CoverGirl, and Dove have all offered free products, which does not come with requirements to tweet, but most users will.
We pick people who are passionate and engaged in online conversation, and it sparks their network, says Fernandez. It engages thousands of other people who weren t even in the program.
So far, the program is working, with 78 percent of Klout Perks programs seeing repeat business. As for those with the top Klout Scores, Indonesian Metro TV news lead with 88 and Ellen Degeneres and Piers Morgan lead media personalities with 87.
Source: AdWeek
PopCap Games has announced that they have signed an agreement to offer its first Android titles exclusively on the Amazon App Store. Chuzzle will be the first title followed by Plants vs. Zombies, which will be available for free on their first day and $2.99 for each day afterward.
“Our relationship with Amazon is pivotal to PopCap’s overall strategy in bringing a growing roster of mobile titles to the ever-widening base of smartphone users, said Giordano Bruno Contestabile, PopCap’s senior director of global product and business strategy for mobile. By making these titles available on the Android platform, we’ll significantly extend the reach of our top franchises to legions of new mobile customers and gaming fans alike.
“PopCap is a brand synonymous with great mobile games, and we’re thrilled to offer our customers Chuzzle and Plants vs. Zombies for Android exclusively through the Amazon Appstore,” said Aaron Rubenson, category leader at Amazon.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have confirmed the rumored Gotham City Impostors. This FPS title will allw users to create their own custom amateur vigilantes or villains and fight against each other in crazy costumes and improvised weapons..
Gotham City Impostors is a multiplayer game unlike any other, giving players the opportunity to rebel against conformity as they customize their own characters, reads the description. Posing as amateur vigilantes or villains, gamers will create their very own Bats and Jokerz characters using unprecedented customization options including insane costumes, homebrewed gadgets and a wide range of traditional and imagined weapons.
Source: gothamcityimpostors.com
2K Games and Gearbox Software announced that Duke Nukem First Access Club members will be the first to get access to the demo of Duke Nukem Forever on June 3, 2011. The full game itself will launch June 14, 2011 for PS3, PC and Xbox 360.
Strictly for the biggest Duke Nukem fans, the First Access Club grants members access to highly volatile, eye-popping content, including never-before-seen materials, top secret information, and for-your-eyes-only art concepts, said 2K Games. There are several ways fans can join the ultra-exclusive First Access Club, including pre-ordering the game from select retailers and by purchasing the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Windows PC.
The game everyone knew was coming saw its first teasers recently. The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 trailers seem to imply an escalating war between Russia and NATO.
Travis Touchdown is coming to PS3 internationally, and while most gamers have probably heard about the game, they might not know what the set up for the beam saber action is. As this trailer reveals, it’s quite wacky.
F.E.A.R. 3 has a new focus on co-op play, and that extends to the online modes. A new mode called ****ing Run ensures that players work together to avoid the Wall of Death.
