Xbox Live Arcade Titles’ Gamerscore Points Double

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Microsoft has announced a change in the way they do Gamerscore points with Xbox Live Arcade games. Perhaps as a way to try and boost commerce on XBLA, the amount of Gamerscore points has been doubled.

“Starting next month (April 2012) all new Xbox Live Arcade games will have the option to increase from 200 to 400 Gamerscore points, with the addition of up to 30 Achievements,” said Larry Hryb, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson. “Even better, this Gamerscore increase will be required in all new Xbox Live Arcade games starting in June 2012.”

Source: majornelson.com

MLG Looks To Raise $13 Million

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MLG has hit $11.3 million of a stated goal of $13 million raised. The competitive gaming company has managed to raise $52.5 million previous to this funding.

2011 was MLG’s biggest year ever, with a 225 percent increase in unique visitors during its Pro Circuit Season and a finale in Providence that saw 241,000 live streaming viewers. MLG currently holds more than 750,000 matches each month online, streaming to hundreds of thousands of fans in 170 countries.

Source: SEC

Dishonored — Murder How You Like It

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Arkane Studios is working on an intriguing steampunk game called Dishonored where players can use mystic powers and stealth to achieve their goals. In this first look at the gameplay, co-creative directors Raphael Colantonio and Harvey Smith talk about making the world Dishonored an open one.

Journey Launch Trailer

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Now that Journey has released, Sony has a launch trailer for the latest game from thatgamecompany. This trailer hints at the game’s stunning visuals and haunting music.

Sync Your Amex With Twitter And Save

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The American Express-Twitter coupons marriage is going so well that some of the merchant partners have already had to increase their cap limit to accommodate demand. Twitter’s viral nature seems to be driving a tidal wave of coupons getting nabbed by consumers. Within the first 48 hours, Amex saw more than 2,000 tweets with the #AmexMcDonalds hash tag, with customers sharing what they planned to order. By tweeting hashtag #AmexWholefoods, consumers receive $20 off purchases of $75 or more at the natural foods market made with their Amex cards. McDonald’s is offering a $5 discount through its #AmexMcDonalds hashtag. Best Buy, FTD, Zappos.com, Century 21 department stores, Gulf Oil, Cheese Factory, FexEx Office, Sports Authority, Seamless.com, and Ticketmaster are other launch partners in the effort. The @AmexSync account tweets confirmation of enrollment to receive the deal. Then, when consumers make qualified purchases, they receive the appropriate credit on their synced cards within days.

Jagex Hires Simon Etchells As RuneScape Marketing Manager

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Jagex announced that it has appointed Simon Etchells as Global Marketing Manager for RuneScape. Etchells has experience with Vivendi Universal, LucasArts, Square Enix, Electronic Arts and Nokia, and most recently as the group product marketing manager EMEA 1st Party Xbox, overseeing the launch of first party titles for Kinect and playing a key role in global franchises such as Forza, Gears of War, Fable and Halo.

“RuneScape’s success is second to none so it’s a great honor to be working on such a hugely popular and well-established IP,” said Etchells. “This is the one of the most exciting Marketing roles in the industry and I am looking forward to using the knowledge and experiences from my previous roles to help create the strategies which will further grow RuneScape’s popularity around the world.”

“Simon has an impressive track record working on extremely successful games titles,” said David Solari, Jagex CMO. “His vast experience, coupled with a vast knowledge of games marketing, will help advance the marketing efforts for RuneScape as the game continues lead the market of free-to-play digital MMO’s this year and beyond. ”

Nexon Says $60 Retail Game Model Won’t Last

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Right now, many AAA titles take tens of millions of dollars to make and market and cost $60 when they release at retail. Nexon America CEO Daniel Kim does not think that this high risk model, which tends to make publishers adverse to taking chances, is sustainable long term.

“I think at some point the console makers have to make a decision about how closed or open they’re going to be to the different models that are going to be emerging,” said Kim. “Today it’s free-to-play, and I’m convinced that that one is going to continue to flourish and expand into other genres and other categories, but there may be something else completely and entirely different that comes out that again changes the industry.”

“If your mind is just set on keeping the current model of buy a game for $60, play for 40 hours, buy another game for $60, play for 40 hours, that model I think is eventually going to change,” he cautioned. “It’s going to have to change. How they will adapt I really don’t know, but I hope that they’re aware enough to understand that the value proposition of free-to-play is not going to go away.”

“Dungeon Fighter is being released as a Microsoft Xbox Live Arcade version of the game. But again we had to modify the game and the business model to fit their restrictions or requirements. It’s not free-to-play, it’s DLC essentially,” he noted. “Which is not really truly how we like to service our games, we like to service our games completely free-to-play, no limits, and earn the players’ business by convincing them there’s value in purchasing stuff.”

Source: GamesIndustry International

Social Media Breaks Down Consumer Barriers, Says OMD Latino

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A new study from OMD Latino found that 90 percent of online Hispanics use social media at least once a month and that 9 percent voice opinions about brands compared to 4 percent of general-market shoppers. In particular, their influence is felt in categories like home improvements, sweet snacks, household cleaning, fast food, healthcare and department stores, according to OMD.

The Omnicom media unit’s study, which surveyed 2,169 Hispanic and general-market social media users in November 2011, also found these consumers are active users of mobile social media when they shop, twice as likely as the general market to check such sources while they consider purchases.

“[They’re also] more active in post-shopping, when they’re more likely to post a review or share their experience,” said author Pamela Marsh, director of custom research and insights at OMD. “They influence others’ purchase decisions and are equally influenced by others as they make their choices.”

Source: AdWeek

DeNA, SINA Bring Mobage Games To Weibo

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DeNA has announced a new agreement with the SINA Corporation. This will grant the Chinese operator of the Weibo.com micro-blogging site, with 300 million users, easier access to DeNA’s Mobage social gaming platform.

DeNA and SINA will create a special Mobage website in April, where Weibo.com users can download Mobage games for their Android smartphones. Mobage and Weibo.com accounts will be linked so that Weibo.com users can log into Mobage games using their Weibo.com IDs and passwords.

About 50 percent of Weibo.com users access the service from mobile devices, and the Weibo.com mobile app has been downloaded over 40 million times.  Mobage China launched for Android in July 2011, with 30 titles currently available on the service. The Mobage platform has over 1,800 titles available in Japan for smartphones, feature phones, and PCs.