Anarchy Reigns — Rin Sisters Joined By Bayonetta

Anarchy Reigns (Max Anarchy in Japan) has a colorful cast of characters that keeps on growing larger, and now it has more women to round it out. Here are videos of Bayonetta, Rin Rin, Ai Rin and Fei Rin in action – you’re welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/v/oDsNgfgjsYA {video link no longer active}

 

PopCap Licenses Plants vs. Zombies For Merchandise

 

PopCap Games has announced that it has finalized a number of licensing deals for their Plants vs. Zombies franchise. The company’s first brand licensing agreements have been signed with Trends International, Bioworld Merchandising, Funko!, MjC International, Jazwares and Walls360.

“We’re taking a measured, deliberate approach to licensing our IPs, focusing on quality brand extensions that expand our unique game icons and experiences for our fans in authentic, meaningful ways,” said Brennan Townley, director of brand licensing at PopCap Games. “The partnerships we’ve announced today represent partnerships with some of the most highly regarded licensees in their respective categories.”

Bioworld will be creating apparel, bags and accessories, Jazwares is developing a series of plush toys, figures and electronic accessories and Walls360 will be offering a starting line up of wall graphics including individual characters and exclusive bundles. Funko! will be creating Plants vs. Zombies versions of their distinctive Pop! Vinyl Figurines, MjC International is working on adult sleepwear and boxers, while Trends International is developing calendars and posters.

 

 

Avengers: Brands Assemble!

Marvel’s The Avengers will see over 600 pieces of merchandise tied to the film at Walmart alone. Helping promote this will be a new augmented-reality app tied to the film in order to locate the merchandise.

Those that download the Super Hero AR app from iTunes or Android Market and have instant access to Hawkeye. Unlocking the rest of the heroes involves going to proper locations within the venue.

“We are happy to have Walmart’s tremendous support behind the release of Marvel’s The Avengers,” stated Mark Rhodes, SVP of North American Retail Development at Marvel Entertainment. “We are always looking for opportunities to develop unique retail programs with our partners and feel the Super Hero Augmented Reality app enables fans to extend both their shopping and movie experience in an interactive way.”

“Walmart is bringing this summer’s most anticipated blockbuster into stores through a first-of-its-kind augmented reality experience which bridges the gap between the physical store and mobile gaming,” added Seong Ohm, SVP and general merchandise manager for entertainment, Walmart U.S. “We’re committed to creating engaging and fun experiences at Walmart, and we’ve tapped different areas of the store for movie fans to interact with the mobile app while shopping the more than 600 ‘Marvel’s The Avengers’ merchandise available.”

The Avengers will have an absolutely staggering number of official marketing partners. Below is an image of some of the sponsors, which includes Harley-Davidson, Acura, Dr Pepper, Hershey’s, Visa and more.

Source: Brand Channel

Big Fish Games Hires Founder As CEO

Big Fish Games has rehired founder Paul Thelen as CEO, who left to be managing director at Goldman Sachs in 2006. Current CEO Paul Lewis, who was promoted to the position in 2008, will step down from the position but will continue on as a director at the company .

“This is a natural point in our company’s progression for me to pass the responsibilities as President and CEO back to Paul, who at this stage is best suited to lead us forward,” said Lewis in a company memo. “He will bring his characteristic entrepreneurial drive and creativity to the forefront.”

Big Fish had sales of $180 million in 2011, up 30 percent year-on-year. With dividends paid to its shareholders and almost every employee in October, it is believed that the company will go public soon.

Source: AllThingsD

Wemade Entertainment Expands Social Portfolio

Wemade Entertainment has acquired Fever Studio, Link Tomorrow, and Liny Works. The Korean social game company has also acquired developer Ngonsoft and invested in the popular smartphone messenger KakaoTalk, which will be integrated into its social service brand ‘We Social’.

“Some speculate that mobile devices will outperform video game consoles within 3 years, we agreed with it,” said Namgung Hun, CEO of Wemade. “Playing on hands does not mean the quality is behind PC games. We would rather show features for mobile devices that PC cannot present.”

Source: ThisIsGame

Tribes: Ascend Hits 800,000 Registered Users

Tribes: Ascend is a free-to-play incarnation of the classic multiplayer FPS title and has been well received by the press. Since launching April 12, Hi-Rez Studios COO Todd Harris has confirmed that the game has attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of users.

“Hi-Rez Studios’ COO told us today that the F2P game Tribes: Ascend has over 800K registered accounts,” said a Tweet. “Not bad!”

Source: Gamasutra

Google Faces FTC Anti-Trust Case

The FTC announced that it has hired an outside litigator to take charge of an antitrust investigation of Google. The hiring of Beth Wilkinson, a former Justice Department prosecutor who played a lead role in the conviction of the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, shows that the agency has moved beyond the preliminary stage of its inquiry and was preparing to go to court.

“In an important case, you want to do a thorough investigation,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.

Google formally denied obstructing a government investigation into a privacy breach but agreed to pay a fine of $25,000 anyway. Initial investigations showed that while Google denied it was collecting substantive digital data with Street View cars with the cameras, it was revealed that they were also collecting Wi-Fi location data and unencrypted Internet communications.

Source: NY Times.com

Google Introduces YouTube Marketing Ambassadors

YouTube has seen several businesses established onto it over the past few years. It’s also been helpful for many up-and-coming musical artists, and the managers of YouTube recognize and salute these trends.

“To recognize these businesses and their work in fostering a culture of entrepreneurship on YouTube, we’re introducing our first ever YouTube Marketing Ambassadors—a group of outstanding organizations that have used YouTube to drive sales and grow operations,” wrote Baljeet Singh, Group Product Manager, YouTube. “We’ve invited nine businesses from across the country to participate in this program, and last week our YouTube Ambassadors joined us at our headquarters for a two-day summit to meet with executives and learn more about online tools for businesses.”

The YouTube Marketing Ambassadors include BerkleeMusic.com, which has taught over 30,000 students from 135 countries since 2002 and the Richard Petty Driving Experience showing celebrity customers’ reactions after their final lap around the racetrack to use as testimonials. There’s also RevZilla, where co-founder Anthony Bucci deconstructs technical motorcycle gear through simple video reviews, giving tips on sizing and features, with over 1,400 videos to help motorcyclists shop for products.

“We’ve awarded these Ambassadors with a badge for their YouTube channel and retail storefront, and will feature them on the YouTube homepage,” noted Singh. “To pay it forward, each Ambassador will mentor a nonprofit organization of their choice on how to get started with a video presence on YouTube. They’ll also host Google+ Hangouts throughout the year to share their strategies. To find out when the Ambassadors will be hosting a Hangout, stay tuned to our YouTube for marketers {link no longer active} Google+ page.”

Source: Googleblog.Blogspot.com