Social Games ‘To Crash Very Hard’ Says Denis Dyack

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Social games are a huge industry right now, some valuing it at $10 billion. However, Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack is not bullish on the future of the nascent social gaming industry.

“It is damaging traditional gaming for sure but . . . how it s going to work out is anyone s guess, said Dyack. The trend that I see is it s probably going to be one of the biggest bubbles and explosions that our industry’s seen in a long time and I think when it crashes it s going to crash very hard. I don t think there s an economy there.”

“I don t know about Zynga I think that s a big micro, but I think that the amount of venture that s being poured in, in general, that’s most of the video game industry investment, he added. As far as I know right now, it’s going into pure social gaming. It looks like marketing to me. It doesn t look like real gaming. And maybe it ll change, I don t know. It looks very, very dangerous. I think Zynga s valuated more than some traditional publishers right now that have been in the industry for decades. I m sorry, but I just don t see it. It seems imaginary to me… it doesn t look long term healthy to me.

Source: IndustryGamers

BioShock Infinite Puts Payton Lane Easter In The Game

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Irrational Games has announced the winner of the “Name in the Game” contest was Payton Lane Easter. Irrational artist Mike Swiderek whip up an in-world advertisement for Payton Lane Easter & Sons Premium Automated Stallions.

When it comes to automated stallions, accept no substitutes.

“Out of well over a hundred thousand entries submitted to our ‘Name in the Game’ event, the small — randomly generated! — list of potential winners included the name ‘Payton Lane Easter,'” wrote IG Chris. “We couldn’t make up a more fitting name for a citizen of Columbia if we tried. So we didn’t. Our art leads chose it unanimously. Congratulations, Mr. Easter.”

Source: Irrational Games

Comedy Central Launching Branded Web Shows

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Comedy Central has announced it is launching two web series: a four-part game show series called the Axe Dirtcathlon starring former Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle, and the other an interview/talk show called The Download starring comedian Jordan Rubin and former Defamer blogger Molly McAleer. Dirtcathlon is sponsored by Axe Shower Gel and will focus on getting contestants getting dirty, while The Download is sponsored by Samsung and will focus on celebrity guests speaking on tech and Web-related topics.

I think we re living in a world now where, on digital platforms, the advertising expectation is for something original, said Erik Flannigan, the executive at MTVN Entertainment Group. They don t want to just be associated with something. They want to bring it you. So the marketplace demand for branded entertainment has gone up.

MTVN Entertainment Group created a sub-studio to focus on web content. While there are only five full time staffers involved, though more series are in production, including a show for Spike.

Branded advertorial content is not the explicit goal of this new production wing, but Flannigan indicates it is definitely on the company’s mind. In my ideal world, we solved two things at the same time. He added, Listen, it’s not going to work for the advertisers or for us if the audience rejects it and thinks we’re shilling and it s not funny.

Source: AdWeek

Hitman Seeks Absolution

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IO Interactive and Square Enix have officially announced that the fifth Hitman title in in development for PS3, PC and Xbox 360 after months of teasing about it. Built using a new engine, Hitman Absolution promises to evolve the Hitman franchise while depicting a story where Agent 47 must escape a dark conspiracy and pursing police.

“For the first time we are taking Agent 47 on a personal journey which allows us to explore other parts of the Hitman fantasy,” said Tore Blystad, game director, IO Interactive. “This is both a familiar and yet significantly different experience from other Hitman games; something our silent assassins will relish, as will all those new to the Hitman world.”

Sci-Fi IKEA Instructions

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Anyone who has a piece of IKEA furniture has probably seen the cheeky cartoon-ish people depicted in their manuals. CollegeHumor has taken that and put things on its ear with sci-fi depictions like Doctor Who‘s Tardis, the DeLorean from Back to the Future and dinosaurs from Jurassic Park, all given appropriately Swedish names.

Source: CollegeHumor

Facebook Worth $1 Trillion Soon?

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Kevin Ryan, CEO of Gilt Groupe, predicts that Facebook will be a $1 trillion company. He thinks this will happen once it successfully starts monetizing its platform.

As for his company, Gilt is focused on flash sales and is competing with Amazon. While he admits that competition with the online retail giant is intimidating, he thinks his company’s focus, recently raised $138 million and $1 billion valuation will help them succeed.

Source: Business Insider

GagaVille Was Just Born This Way

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Lady Gaga and Zynga have announced that they will be promoting the upcoming album Born this Way” together. Users will be able to listen to un-released songs when they visit the uniquely designed neighboring farm GagaVille in FarmVille, with the full album coming bundled as a free download with the purchase of a special Zynga $25 game card at Best Buy.

I want to celebrate and share Born This Way with my little monsters in a special way that s never been done before, said Lady Gaga. Zynga has created a magical place in FarmVille where my fans can come play, and be the first to listen to the album.

We re focused on creating cool new ways to entertain and surprise our players, said Owen Van Natta, Zynga s executive vice president of business. Our partnership with Lady Gaga offers many new experiences: Exclusive access to music in-game, a mobile contest, a free album bundled with Zynga game card purchases and limited edition virtual items across ten Zynga games. We want to thank Lady Gaga for working with us on this truly great surprise.

Source: zynga.com/ladygaga

Firefall: Class Set Up

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Firefall is Red 5’s first product, being a team based shooter that’s free to play. Check out this trailer produced by the Ayzenberg Group.