Augmented Reality Angel Ambush Proves Success

BY

Lynx is pleased with the success of their latest perfume and they think a new augmented reality ad helped spread the word. Commuters at London’s Victoria Station saw an angel fall to Earth on a nearby screen and watch her interact with various people.

“We didn’t know if it would work, either technically or in terms of how people would respond to it,” said Becca Sawyer who helped come up with the ‘Angel Ambush’ idea. “We just thought it would be fantastic if an angel could seem to appear in real-life. Augmented reality is all about creating a fantasy experience that people can interact with.”

Some, however, assert that this was not augmented reality because it was not an independent 3D object. Myles Peyton says that commercial power will be fully realized with augmented reality when consumers can interact with objects that are accurately modeled.

“We know that the longer somebody touches a product, the more likely they are to purchase that product. So by giving them a virtual product, it can drive and uplift sales, said Peyton. “We’re seeing augmented reality move from being a gimmick, to being a trend. It’s going to explode.

Source: BBC

Bing Hitting RIM

BY

Microsoft has announced that Bing will be the default search and maps provider from RIM’s Blackberry and Playbook devices. Internet Explorer 10 will also be coming to mobile, and will probably be the default browser for RIM devices as well.

“We’re going to invest uniquely into the BlackBerry platform,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “Bing will become the default search provider in the browser and maps [on BlackBerry devices.]

“Central to this collaboration, Blackberry devices will use Bing as the preferred search provider in the browser, and Bing will be the default search and map application for new devices presented to mobile operators, both in the United States and internationally,” wrote Bing director Matt Dahlin. “Also, effective today Bing will be the preferred search and maps applications with regular, featured placement and promotion in the BlackBerry App World carousel.”

Source: The Register

Ubisoft Motion Pictures Bringing IP To Big Screen

BY

Ubisoft has announced that it will be bringing its brands to television and film via their new movie production house Ubisoft Motion Pictures. It will be headed up by former EuropaCorp CEO Julien Baronnet, with former Walt Disney Studios France executive Jean de Rivieres in charge of marketing and promotion.

Ubisoft licensed Prince of Persia to Disney which made the fairly successful Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time grossing $335 million worldwide. Other franchises that might see more exposure via non-interactive mediums are Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed.

Source: Variety

Kinect Success Has Not ‘Seriously Affected’ Wii, Says Iwata

BY

The Kinect for Xbox 360 has been popular since its release in late 2010, and the belief among many industry pundits is that its taken some momentum from the Wii. However, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata doesn’t think that the success of the Kinect has come at the Wii’s expense

“When we talk about whether Kinect contributed to significantly expanding the number of Xbox users, the number of Wii users has grown to about 10 million, but the growth in the number of Microsoft users is much smaller,” the Nintendo president told investors.”Therefore, we feel that it would be rather unusual if Nintendo’s Wii market was taken over by the launch of Kinect, or if the users who were playing with Wii quit playing with it and started to play with other consoles.

“Of course, many users in the U.S. have multiple consoles at their homes. Many Wii users also have Xbox 360 and vice versa, so I am not saying that there is completely no effect in terms of use rate, he added. However, hit titles are not being released continually every month for Kinect software, so we don’t believe Wii sales are being seriously affected.”

Halo Merchandise ‘Designed To Answer A Specific Need’

BY

Sometimes cross-media products for video games come off as obvious byproducts of a marketing department. 343 Industries franchise development director Frank O’Connor, however, asserts that Halo products are designed to fulfill specific needs.

“Our marketing people at Microsoft actually only market our games, ” says O’Connor. “Our marketing people don’t work on books, or the novels, or the comics. Every single one of those products, what you might call ‘ancillary products,’ was designed to answer a specific need. Fans wanted this; fans wanted to know this story.”

O’Connor said that Halo paraphernalia are “a community effort.” He noted that the comics and figurines released are not part of the game product cycle.

“[Someone says,] ‘I want a Master Chief action figure,’ and we went and made that happen. And, ‘I want to know more about this angle of the universe’ or ‘this back story in the universe,’ and we just went and made it happen. Everything has answered a question,” explains O’Connor. “We’re literally looking at making a grunt plushie this year, and not because — well it’ll probably sell a lot and make a lot of money — but because it’s the single most-demanded item that we haven’t fulfilled in the franchise history. ‘I want a grunt plushie!’ But the weird thing is, it’s the hardest core fans that want that.”

“It’s just trying to make sure that you reach a state where 100 percent of that demand is met successfully, He added. So yeah, I don’t worry about saturation, or overexposure, because all of these things are what our fans want, one way or another.”

Source: Gamasutra

Discover The Ark In Brink

BY

On the official website for Brink, a new interactive feature allows users to explore the Ark (also known as The Island ); a model of what a near-future vision for contemporary green sustainable living might look like. This massive man-made floating city was a home for scientists and thinkers focused on making the vision a reality, while some wealthy patrons built it as a recreational paradise. A 3D interactive model allows users to explore battlefield areas like the Shipyard and Container City each of which reveals an in-game fly-through cinematic of the area. Annihilated by an actual global environmental crisis that threatened the survival of humanity, thousands of people fled to the Ark as a last hope filling it with refugees in a lawless land suspended in total isolation from the mainland. Check out video profiling the Security and Resistance forces which are locked in a battle for control of the Ark and choose a side. In the coming weeks, make sure to return to the Ark as more battlefields are revealed.

Microsoft Refocuses Studio On Core Titles

BY

Microsoft Game Studios has re-branded Zipline Studios as Microsoft Games Studios Vancouver. This studio will be focused on core games, specifically for the Kinect.

MGS Vancouver is building a world-class development team in Vancouver, BC, Canada, dedicated to making games for ‘core’ gamers, reads a description. Our mission is to push the limits of proven and unexplored game development and show the world what’s possible on Microsoft’s game consoles. And yes, we’re also an awesome place to work!

Source: mgsvancouver.com