Draw A Stickman, Fight The Dragon

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A new URL destination has been launched called Draw a Stickman allowing fans to draw their own protagonist in a cartoon adventure. Start by drawing a stickman (or woman) which will come to life. At various different intervals you are required to draw your own escape route or weapon. In one instance, draw a balloon near your newly-animated stickman’s hand and once you’ve drawn it, it will fall to the ground and the user is accused of drawing an egg instead of a balloon. The egg then hatches into a dragon, which the player must fend off with a sword which, surprise, surprise, you have to draw as well. The moral of the story is “be creative every day”.

Who Is The Greatest NBA Team Of All Time?

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A new destination URL at nb2kdebate.com {link no longer active} asks fans to choose their team and support them by tweeting, posting to Facebook or creating/sharing YouTube videos. An onboarding video {link no longer active} featuring by Michael Jordan explains to fans how to pick a squad, upload and end the debate. On the destination site fans can sort by Tweets, YouTube or Facebook. Team rankings are updated dynamically and an ongoing list of teams can be sorted head-to-head to see how they compare. Points are broken down by either winning with your team in NBA 2K12, tweeting about your team using the hashtag #NBA2KDebate, posting to your Facebook wall with a tag about your team or uploading a debate video to YouTube tagged with your team.

Rockstar Denies PC Abandonment

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The switchover to a “consoles first” release schedule has dismayed some PC gamers who are fond of the products of Rockstar games. However, the company has stated that it will continue to support the platform with its games, though it is heavily implied that Red Dead Redemption will probably not be one of them.

“We hope that with the announcement that L.A. Noire is coming to PC this fall, and the knowledge that our next big game Max Payne 3 will have a PC release (plus that we’ve released both Grand Theft Auto IV and the Episodes from Liberty City for PC), we can finally put to rest any misconceptions that we’ve ‘abandoned the PC platform’,” said Rockstar. “We do know that, yes, there is just one title absent from our PC release plans – that game of course being Red Dead Redemption, and of course we’re well aware that some fans have been asking for it.”

“All we can say is that whenever it is viable (technically, developmentally and business-wise) for us to release a game for PC (or any other particular platform) – we will and we usually do; unfortunately, that is just not the case 100 percent of the time for all platforms,” they added. “To PC gamers, we hope that between the Grand Theft Auto titles, and the forthcoming L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3, you’ll have plenty of great Rockstar action to enjoy.”

Source: Rockstar

LinkedIn Announces Engagement Features

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LinkedIn has announced two new engagement features at its Connect:11 event in New York. One is the Company Status Updates, which lets administrators of Company Pages send things like job updates, videos, industry articles, and those who are following the firm.

They also announced a new Certified Developer Program, offering a range of tools, such as campaign management, enhanced analytics, and custom applications. Launching with Buddy Media, HooteSuite, and Wildfire, it will function like a network of developers designed to help marketers, agencies, and companies use LinkedIn to connect with their audiences.

With over than 120 million professionals globally LinkedIn is ready to make a big push with advertising, including efforts that leverage the follower feature. “We believe there’s an incredibly important moment right now in the world of online advertising,” said LinkedIn SVP of global sales Mike Gamson. “Right now is the moment of acquisition of a follower base.”

Brands will invest in their follower and fan bases over the next year and it behooves them to move quickly. “We believe there is a finite number of brands that any single LinkedIn member will follow,” said Gamson.

Currently, LinkedIn Company Pages include over than 2 million businesses and tens of millions of followers.

Source: AdWeek

Digital Chocolate Founder Sees Browser Games Taking Over

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Cross-platform play is quickly becoming more prominent in the gaming sphere and it might become common in a very short period of time. Trip Hawkins, founder and CEO of Digital Chocolate, sees the revolution driven by multiple facets, but especially browser games.

“We have several million daily players and over 100 million monthly play sessions just on Facebook alone,” said Hawkins. “We’re the first company in the world that organically from our own effort has had over 100 million downloads on mobile devices and over 100 million play sessions on the web outside of Facebook and over 100 million play sessions with virtual goods games. We’ve done all of these things in all of the new digital media and we think the business model of the future is going to be browser-based free-to-play social games with virtual goods.”

“There’s a really radical change going on right now from traditional distribution business models that in the old days involved brick-and-mortar retail packaged goods to digital,” said Hawkins. “You have streaming and downloads from App stores, but the real destination of digital is the browser because of the convenience and the ubiquity of the browser. The browser has already essentially won out on the PC as the fundamental way that people organize how they use their computer. It’s already won mobile phones in Japan. It’s going to be the big winner on tablets. I expect it will also penetrate the TV market. The browser is just so convenient because everybody in the world is growing up knowing how to use a browser.”

Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}

Rabbids Invade TV

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Ubisoft has announced that they will work with Nickelodeon to launch a Rabbids TV series worldwide. They will air 26 half-hour episodes, done up in CG animation, worldwide starting in 2013.

“Nickelodeon is one of the world’s leading entertainment brands for children and families, and Ubisoft is thrilled to be partnering with Nickelodeon to deliver unique television programming to its viewers,” said Jean-Julien Baronnet, chief executive officer of Ubisoft Motion Pictures. “As the world’s most recognized entertainment brand for children and families, Nickelodeon is the perfect vehicle to share the zany Rabbids characters and their crazy adventures with television audiences around the globe. This partnership represents a major milestone in Ubisoft’s strategy to expand its brands to new media, thereby attracting new audiences to its games.”

The Rabbids have had successful viral videos on YouTube, attracting over 41 million fans. Ubisoft Motion Pictures will work with Ubisoft’s French studios to create a TV to match the zany tone of the Rabbids games that have attracted so many followers.