Nintendo Event Fails To Create Excitement, Stock Drops

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The stock for Nintendo dropped more than five percent at the event at which CEO Satoru Iwata showed off the new slider peripheral for the 3DS. Investors and analysts were not impressed with the lineup of games that includes Monster Hunter 4, Tekken 3D Prime and Fire Emblem 3DS.

“I don’t think the new games will make any difference,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment. “Nintendo succeeded by pulling in people who weren’t gamers and their needs now are no longer being filled by Nintendo, they are happy playing games on their mobile phones.”

“The only possible way for Nintendo to revive would be to stop concentrating on mobile games and switch to Wii-type games for the whole family,” said Makoto Kikuchi, CEO of Myojo Asset Management. “However, at the moment, I can’t see this change coming.”

Source: Reuters

Facebook Easily Tops Other Social Media Sites, Says Nielsen

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Nielsen has released a new study on social media, as a preemptive move to secure their place as the arbiters of knowledge on the new digital data. The report, titled “State of the Media: The Social Media Report” it says that social media is the number two activity of Americans online taking up 22.5 percent, followed by 9.8 percent for online games and 7.6 percent for e-mail; the nebulous “other” category is number one, which includes shopping and visiting adult content.

“Social media is becoming increasingly mainstream,” said Radha Subramanyam, senior vice president for media and advertising insights and analytics at Nielsen in New York. “[As a result,] there’s a need for companies to engage even more strategically in the space [than they already do,]” she added.

Of social media, Facebook was by far the most used social media site. During the May month that the study was commissioned, Americans spent 53.5 billion minutes on Facebook.com; by contrast Blogger only saw 723.8 million minutes, Tumblr had 623.5 million minutes, Twitter 565.2 million minutes; and LinkedIn was at 325.7 million minutes.

“We’ve been seeing that for a while,” said Subramanyam said of the dominance of Facebook in the social media realm. The reason is simple, she added: “It’s an incredibly fun way to spend time.”

The study also revealed that Facebook reaches 70 percent of active Internet users in the U.S. and that 62 percent of the visitors to Facebook were female. The report added that more women than men watch video clips on blogs and social networks but that men stream more videos and spend more time watching them than women.

Source: New York Times

Moshi Dance Marks First Music Single From Mind Candy

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Moshi Monsters has launched its own record label Moshi Music. As a result of the positive response to The Moshi Dance performed by Lady Goo Goo on YouTube, they will release the single for iTunes on September 18.

“We released the Lady Goo Goo music video on YouTube as a bit of an experiment and were amazed at the response and how fast it spread,” said Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith. “Kids loved it so we though it would be smart to release it and are developing many more tracks.”

Smith was quick to add that he was looking to build up Moshi as a global entertainment brand, not unlike Angry Birds. “So we kind of have a plan for this ultimate vision, and then it sort of depends on people we meet who could head up various areas of the business, so we’re desperately looking for a head of mobile, a head of music, we want an executive producer for our animation division,” he explained. “And when we find someone that’s great, and we find a partner we can work with, then that’s when we launch that part of the business.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Jetpack Joyride Takes Off To 350,000 Downloads

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Halfbrick announced that Jetpack Joyride has surpassed 350,000 downloads in its first week. The Australian developers has two of the Top 10 paid apps on the App Store in Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride.

“We knew we had a great game with Jetpack Joyride, and we’re glad 350,000 people agree,” said Phil Larsen, Chief Marketing Officer at Halfbrick. “To show all of our Halfbrick fans our appreciation for making this game a #1 hit around the world, we have already added a new content update and are committed to adding content on a regular basis.”

Additionally, there is now a free update for Jetpack Joyride. The unlockable content includes Mr. Cuddles, Fruit Jetpack, and the Honest Phil Costume.

Angry Birds Sells Millions Of T-Shirts, Plush Toys Every Month

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Angry Birds is available on platforms ranging from Android, Chrome, iOS and the PS3, and recently saw download number 350 million. Not only that, but the company revealed that it sells a million t-shirts and a million Angry Birds plus toys every month.

When asked about the possibility of a Facebook incarnation, Rovio’s North American General Manager Andrew Stalbow responded, “Facebook has actually been a massive platform for us, even though we’ve haven’t created a game on there yet. In terms of launching a game on there in the future, yes, absolutely, that’s something we’ll be talking about in the near future”

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook Gets Coco Girl

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MetroGames is looking to reach the mainstream with its latest came called Coco Girl. The social game is in direct contrast to the hardcore game AutoHustle (with a focus on criminal action) it attempted to publish a few months ago.

The game demonstrates a continued “arms war” of development resources being thrown at social games. A team of 40 built the game over the year and put in several thousand fashion items that players can buy from different in-game stores.

“We want to take Facebook games to the next level,” said Damian Harburger, chief executive of MetroGames. “This is our biggest investment.”

The Buenos Aires-based company has canceled games in order to give the proper resources to Coco Girl. The company has raised $5 million to make games and Harburger notes that they have the benefit of a fast growing market and low costs due to being located in Argentina.

Source: VentureBeat.com

Apple Matching Employee Non-Profit Donations

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Apple has revealed that it will match its employees donations to non-profit organizations. The iPad-maker will match the amount up to $10,000 annually to any applicable charity.

“I am very happy to announce that we are kicking off a matching gift program for charitable donations,” Cook wrote in a note to Apple employees. “We are all really inspired by the generosity of our co-workers who give back to the community and this program is going to help that individual giving go even farther.”

Source: Forbes

Dark Souls — Meet The Makers

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Dark Souls might be the most anticipated game to ever come out of From Software’s offices . . . so what is the development studio like The mild mannered surroundings barely suggest the horror they’re looking to inflict on players.