Microsoft has revealed that a custom Batman: Arkham City Xbox 360 will be given away at PAX Prime. Additionally, there will also be a chance to win one directly from Xbox’s Facebook page.
Source: Facebook.com {page no longer active}
Zavvi has announced that they are releasing a limited edition version of Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection on the PlayStation 3. Along with the HD versions of Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, it will also come in custom steelbook packaging, a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4, a PSN download code for Metal Gear Solid for PSOne and limited edition art cards.
“Only 4,000 copies of this edition are being made in total, and each one is individually numbered,” writes Chet Roivas. “But if you’re already salivating at the prospect of securing yourself some fanbase bragging rights, cool your boots; getting hold of #1 simply ain’t happening. Hideo Kojima already has dibs on it.”
Source: Zavvi
The Green Album recently released as a tribute album to the Muppets, featuring songs by Weezer, My Morning Jacket and Alkaline Trio among others. The first track, however, by OK Go is a remix of the original Muppet Show theme with a twist ending in the video!
Suda51 isn’t limiting himself to just Lollipop Chainsaw, he’s creating a new platformer for XBLA and PSN. Black Knight Sword sounds like something of a twisted fairy tale, with a Black Knight seeking to defeat an Evil White Princess.
{linked video no longer active}
Aliens: Colonial Marines has been a long time in coming, but the game looks no worse for it. In fact, the game looks like it will make players jump out of their seat early and often.
On the official Facebook page for NHL 12, a Facebook app called “You’re Covered” {link no longer active} has been launched allowing fans to choose a photo (via webcam, upload or Facebook) to be featured on the cover of the game. Begin by choosing your team, console and then uploading a photo. Share with friends, add as a profile pic or print and post in your locker!
Steve Jobs announced to the world that he is stepping down as CEO of Apple after taking a leave of absence since January 17 for an undisclosed medical condition. Taking over the position is Tim Cook, who had long been positioned for this role; Jobs will remain as chairman.
“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” wrote Jobs in a letter. “Unfortunately, that day has come.”
“Investors are very comfortable with Tim Cook even though Jobs has been a driver of innovation and clearly an Apple success. Tim has shown Apple can still outperform extremely well when he’s been acting as CEO,” said Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross. “I don’t know if it’s a health issue. I don’t know if it is a shock. Most likely it was going to happen at some point. Why today versus another day I don’t know.”
Source: Reuters {link no longer active}
Traditionally, online ad performance figures are rather poor. Typically, less than one percent of Web surfers click on display ads and many ad spenders can’t decided on how ad impressions are measured.
Now, a start-up Moat has launched a new engagement currency called “No Clicks Campaign.” The heat map-focused analytics service that seeks to eliminate engagement rates measured in clicks altogether.
This is based around the theory that direct marketers care about click-throughs and brand marketers do not. As a sort of compromise, Moat says they will track “mouse hovering” over an ad, which the company believes serves as a proxy for attention.
“Most of us don’t click on ads, but we certainly notice them,” said Moat co-CEO and co-founder Jonah Goodhart. “There are studies that show we look where we move our mouse. You have to, otherwise you’re not moving it.”
Their recent study of 100 million impressions found that 0.1 percent of users clicked, 10 percent moused over the ad, and 3 percent dragged their mouse over the ad for what they declared a meaningful amount of time. This “heat-mapping” technology aggregates and visualizes where users have moused over an ad and for how long, and moat claims the data helps advertisers better understand which parts of their ad users engaged with, and how intensely.
Moat started out as an ad search engine, allowing agencies and clients to Google the placement of display ads and brands to find where they’ve advertised and where their competitors are buying Web real estate. Now the company offers a full suite of analytics centered on its heat-mapping technology, with clients like Microsoft, Kodak, and BlackBerry. “Everyone in the display ecosystem is using this engine,” Goodhart said.
Source: AdWeek
id’s John Carmack indicates that bigger budget games are still better suited to consoles. However, he indicates that the power of Apple’s iOS devices means they have to spend less time on optimization.
“We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to mobile development,” said Carmack. “We have more power than you can afford to take advantage of.”
“There’s been incorrect hyperbole about the power of these devices, where people are saying that they have console-level performance. The iPad 2 has about half the performance power, and that’s a ballpark estimate,” Carmack corrected. “But that does mean that mobile devices coming out, certainly next year, will be flat out more powerful, and they’ll probably be powerful enough where you don’t even need the hyper-optimizing, that you could do a fairly easy port-over of your technology and assets.”
Source: Tom’s Guide
PapayaMobile has announced that it has exceeded 25 million users. The social network for the Android OS has seen 11 million paid transactions with an average revenue per paying user of $22.60 per month.
PapayaMobile has seen over 874 million game sessions. The mobile social network’s largest region is China, which has experienced 500 percent growth since January 2011. North America has grown 222 percent, while Europe has grown 224 percent.
