Kinect Youth Of Today

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Microsoft and Xbox have teamed up with the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition to help the nation’s youth lead healthier, more active lifestyles. The Active Play PALA Challenge is a collaborative effort between the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and its member companies and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (PCFSN). By harnessing the excitement surrounding active video games, the PALA Challenge helps families establish a long-term, sustainable approach to healthy lifestyles by making video game screen time truly “active.” Active gaming is an excellent way to begin earning your Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA+), and PALA+ is a great tool to motivate and track activity levels to help you live a healthier lifestyle.

Black Ops 2 Called ‘Tired’ By EA Global Product Manager

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Company smack talk is not uncommon between Electronic Arts and Activision and that proud tradition continues with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Electronic Arts global product manager Kevin O’Leary took to Twitter to announce now apathetic he is towards the new Call of Duty.

“Poor #BlackOps2, you look tired, you should take a year off and rest,” he posted.

He later Tweeted, “Excited about the FPS competition & E3 this year. Medal of Honor Warfighter, Battlefield 3, Frostbite 2…FTW #MOH #BF3 #BlackOps2.”

Source: Twitter

CrowdStar Raises $11.5 Million For Mobile Shift

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CrowdStar has announced that it has raised $11.5 million in funding as it focuses on Mobile Girl titles like Modern Girl, Social Girl, and Top Girl, which combined has more than 25 million users. The company recently announced its intentions to shift away from Facebook development, where they’ve seen their audience slip from 50 million monthly active users to 7.8 million.

“Mobile is the much bigger opportunity,” said YouWeb CEO Peter Relan, who helped with the investment. “The purpose of this round is to double down on mobile.”

“Just by going to China, we could double the audience,” Relan added. “You will hear shortly about our international plans for mobile.”

Source: GamesBeat

Notch Criticizes EA’s ‘Indie Bundle’

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Electronic Arts recently announced that they would be releasing an indie bundle on Steam with DeathSpank, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, Gatling Gears, Shank, Shank 2 and Warp. Mojang founder Markus Persson, however, is not amused at EA’s nomenclature.

“EA releases an ‘indie bundle’ That’s not how that works, EA,” tweeted Persson. “Stop attempting to ruin everything, you bunch of cynical bastards. Indies are saving gaming. EA is methodically destroying it.”

While this would seem to be giving himself credit for saving gaming, Persson quickly added that he was referring to other developers. “FYI, I don’t even call Mojang indie any more,” he tweeted. “Vlambeer is indie. Polytron is indie. Stephen, Ed, Terry, Derek, Tommy and Chris are indie.”

Source: Twitter

Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter Successful

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Replay Games has raised $655,182 for its Leisure Suit Larry remake, surpassing the goal of $500,000 with over 14,081 backers. The game’s original creator, Al Lowe, will be involved in the remake that will be developed by the Israeli studio Adventure Mob for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.

“I’m really stoked,” said Replay founder Paul Trowe. “Especially after one of the VCs turned us down because they didn’t want to be associated with Leisure Suit Larry. It’s such an honor. When you think you’ve seen every business model, and heard every story about publisher battles and ego fights, I’m floored, thankful, and grateful.”

Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards: Reloaded has been pushed back from October 2012 to January 2013 to add more content. “At the demand of fans, we have to add a new girlfriend, two extra rooms and all new dialogue,” Trowe said. “It’s going to be a lot more than a remake.”

Source: VentureBeat

Mobile Gaming USA Discount Offer

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The organizers of Mobile Gaming USA recently sat down with Ryan Hoover, Director of Product Management at PlayHaven, to talk about how publishers and developers can retain their audiences. The podcast deals with LTV maximization and using it to measure a game’s success, best practices for retaining gamers and deciding between freemium or premium route for monetizing.

Also, Mobile Gaming USA will offer a special discount for their event, taking place between May 9-10 in San Francisco. Register here and type the discount code ALIST2012 to receive $300 off any Mobile Gaming USA conference pass.

WiiWare Market Has Diminished, Says Nicalis

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Recently, Tyrone Rodriguez of Nicalis announced that they were canceling the release of the anticipated La-Mulana release in the U.S. and Europe. His frank announcement of the reasons puts the state of WiiWare in a stark light.

“Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare,” tweeted Rodriguez. “We’ve waited, too. We’re sorry to have to announce, but we’ve waited for them to finish the game for over two years.”

When asked for more detail, Rodriguez said, “The decision to cancel publishing of La-Mulana was a tough call, but waiting two years for Nigoro to finish development has made it near impossible to sell sufficient units on Wii. The WiiWare market has a fraction of the players from 2008. The window for release and success of software on the platform ended in 2009 and took a very steep decline. Players have moved onto other digital download platforms.”

“La-Mulana was originally developed without DLC in mind and, I think being their first console project, that Nigoro got a bit ahead of themselves and spent two years agonizing on getting the DLC sort of working for Japan,” he added. “Unfortunately, it never passed Nintendo’s submission process in the US or EU with DLC in place. As the publisher, we’re responsible for various things, but development (which includes programming, art, music and design) is and always has been in the hands of Nigoro.”

“With the Wii U in the not too distant future and WiiWare sales almost non-existent, I had to make a call today. I wish them the best. They’re good game developers and good guys,” Rodriguez concluded.

Source: Go Nintendo