Will You Unlock The Animus?

Part of the launch of Assassin’s Creed Revelations, a new URL destination called “Unlock the Animus” {link no longer active} has been launched tasking fans to complete a number of tasks designed to assess their problem solving abilities. Every seven days, a new task will be allowed and fans will have one attempt per day to solve the puzzle. To begin, fans can either log in with Facebook credentials or create and account and sign up. To qualify for the final challenge on November 8, fans must complete every Strand (puzzle). Winners will be eligible for a trip for two to Istanbul including flights, four nights of a hotel accommodation and spending money. Fans will be able to tour the beautiful and historic Constantinople of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods, visiting the grand palaces, mosques and bath houses for which the city is famous.

Steve Jobs Biopic Rights May Go To Sony Pictures

Reports are that Sony Pictures is making a large bid for the official Steve Jobs biography in the realm of $1 million to $3 million. The project will be managed by MG360, which is the movie production partnership between Gordon and Management 360 that did The Social Network and Moneyball.

The book, simply titled Steve Jobs is authored by CNN chairman and Time Magazine managing editor Walter Isaacson. 448-page profile is based on over 40 interviews with the Apple co-founder and over 100 conversations with friends, family members, colleagues and competitors and has been moved up to release October 24.

Source: Deadline

iPad Dominates Tablet Web Browsing: comScore

According to comScore’s “Digital Omnivores: How Tablets, Smartphones and Connected Devices are Changing US Digital Media Consumption Habits,” iPad accounts for 97.2 percent of all tablet internet traffic in the U.S. What’s more iPad accounts for 46.8 percent of iOS Internet traffic versus the iPhone’s 42.6 percent.

“The popularization of smartphones and the introduction of tablets and other web-enabled devices…have contributed to an explosion in digital media consumption,” said comScore’s senior vice president of mobile Mark Donovan. “As these devices gain adoption, we have also seen the rise of the ‘digital omnivores’ – consumers who access content through several touchpoints during the course of their daily digital lives. In order to meet the needs of these consumers, advertisers and publishers must learn to navigate this new landscape so they develop cross-platform strategies to effectively engage their audiences.”

iOS devices account for the largest share of mobile internet traffic overall accounting for 58.5 percent of U.S. non-computer traffic in August, followed by Android with 31.9 percent. It’s telling give that Android is the most popular OS, with 43.7 per cent of the smartphone market.

Marvel Universe Online Developer Talks Problems With MMOs

Gazillion Entertainment’s president and COO David Brevik thinks that’s MMOs are in a rut trying to replicate World of Warcraft. He’s currently leading the development of Marvel Universe Online, and he thinks that the game’s freemium model is the way to launch a game.

“I have a lot of friends in the industry and… I mean, the budget for The Old Republic is outrageous, but it’s the last, large scale subscription game I can think of,” he said, adding about converting the game to F2P, “Part of the problem with it is that you aren’t going to get the results. This is kind of going back to my talk: if your gameplay is integrated with the very concepts that you’re trying and integrated with the platform you’re going to get a better experience. Converting something to free-to-play works to some degree, but to have the most success you have to have that as an integral part of the game itself.”

“And not only that, but what do you do with your existing subscribers,” he added. “How do they view this How do you treat them ‘I’ve already spent X amount of money on this game. What do I get out of this ‘ There are some tough problems to deal with if you don’t make a free-to-play game right off the bat.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Facebook iPad App is Here

Facebook has announced that it is set to release an updated version of its iPhone application, designed to fill out the larger screen of the iPad. This comes after said was was repeatedly delayed during the summer, reportedly caused by Apple’s closeness to Twitter.

Another updated feature is that the new app has functionality with Facebook games like Words with Friends that the old app did not have. The official Facebook app for the iPhone and iPad app is free to download.

Source: usatoday.com

BioWare Responds To Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Reports

Reports had been going out far and wide that Mass Effect 3 would indeed have some form of multiplayer. This has resulted in some official tweets on the matter from those involved confirming and teasing more about the multiplayer.

“There will be a multiplayer component for #ME3,” said BioWare’s Twitter feed. “Full details soon, so wait until then before making your decision. We think you’ll like it!”

“Yes, co-op MP missions for #ME3: they’re real, and they’re spectacular,” said Mass Effect 3‘s executive producer Casey Hudson on Twitter “Rest assured it’s nothing of what you’ve feared. More soon…”

CrowdStar Invests $250,000 In Six Mobile Developers

CrowdStar has announced that they have made their first investments in their StarFund investment fund. Six mobile start-ups will receive approximately $250,000 each and will likely create games for iOS and Android that appeal to a wide, female audience.

“We’ve had great inbound interest since we announced the fund,” said Jim Mills, former VantagePoint Capital Partners managing director, now director of the StarFund. “We are focusing on games that have mass-market appeal and multi-platform game play.”

Source: VentureBeat