NPD: Digital Sales Grow While Retail Flounders

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The NPD Group reports that the overall game spend in the U.S. during the second quarter was $2.88 billion, with $1 billion was spent on new physical video and PC game software, $386 million on used and rentals and $1.47 billion was fueled by gaming content in digital format.  Europe saw a similar retail decline with the U.K., France and Germany generating $243 million from used and rental and digital format sales in those three countries producing $983 million in sales during Q2 2012.

“In the second quarter of this year, sales of content in a digital format have grown 17 percent over Q2 2011,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst for The NPD Group. “While this growth is in stark contrast to the declines in new physical software and hardware sales, the size of digital sales is not quite large enough to offset these declines, leading to an overall drop in consumer spending in Q2 by 16 percent.”

“While many European acquisition trends in the second quarter of 2012 mirrored those we saw in the U.S. due to seasonality, Europe differed from the U.S. in terms of softer mobile spending, but greater stability in rental trends,” added Frazier. “Growth in full-game and add-on content downloads in the second quarter is surprisingly similar as the content behind this increase is suitable to both markets.”

En Masse Entertainment Sees Layoffs

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En Masse Entertainment digital marketing manager Evan Berman took to twitter to confirm that he had been laid off. “Layoffs have occurred at En Masse. I was hit,” he tweeted.

“Today, we had to let go of some of the great talent at En Masse Entertainment. While a tough decision, it was necessary as we prepare for the next chapter of our business. Tera has been a great launch for us, and we are committed to our loyal players. We’re taking measures to align the needs of our business to continue supporting Tera and preparing for our future,” said vice president of publish Chris Lee in a statement. “We are working with those affected by this transition, including offering assistance on new prospects within the industry/area. If there are companies who are looking for talented people with publishing experience, please send an email with the details to info@enmasse.com.”

 

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Sells Over 17,000 Copies Per Day

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Mojang revealed that Minecraft on Xbox 360 is selling over 17,000 copies a day. Last year Mojang had revenue of $81 million and profits of $8.5 million, even with giving Markus Persson’s company Notch Development $62 million.

“Since Mojang keeps more of the earnings from the new Minecraft versions, our turnover increases a lot this year,” said Mojang MD Carl Manneh. “Our profits will more than double. Markus’ company will also make more money, though perhaps not as high a percentage as Mojang.”

Source: it24

Ouya Obliterates Kickstarter Record With $8.5 Million Raised

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The Ouya Kickstarter has closed and the final tally is over $8.5 million raised (a new Kickstarter record) from 63,416 backers. The $225 reward level sold out, giving 2,500 people their own names carved into a Ouya and the Developers Special reward at $699 also sold out, giving 600 developers a first-run Ouya (already rooted) in December and early SDK access.

The company also announced it was in talks with Namco Bandai. “Namco Bandai Games and Ouya are currently in active discussions to bring some of the world’s biggest gaming properties to the exciting new open gaming platform,” said Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing for Namco Bandai Games America. “Namco Bandai brings with it a rich history of iconic gaming franchises, from classics like Pac-Man and Galaga, to seminal franchises like Tekken and Ridge Racer, and we’re excited to explore how we can work with Ouya to bring some great titles to the forthcoming console.”

 

Also, the company announced four controller support and support for Plex along with XBMC. Now that the project has been funded, the Ouya team is working hard to make it a reality.

“We’ve got aggressive goals and we’re going to deliver. We’ll continue to push for the best content and coolest features we can bring to our little magic box. We’ll keep you apprised of the controller as it takes shape. We’ll continue to interact with you via Facebook, reddit, Twitter, Google+ and of course, our soon-to-come homepage at www.ouya.tv. And we’ll continue to listen to your requests, and answer your questions,” said Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman. “We cannot emphasize enough how much your actions and attitudes have influenced us. You’ve taken our dreams and made them your own, and together we will make them real.”

Source: Kickstarter

Jordan Presents: This Is Where It Starts

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The NBA (and Nike) has successfully expanded the appeal of basketball worldwide and they want to further expand in markets like China. This global ambition is reflected in this Nike ad showing a global rivalry unfolding over many years and being inspired by NBA players in the 2012 Olympics.

{video link marked as “private”}

 

Facebook Tool Thismoment Goes Beyond ‘Likes’

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Consumers are often reluctant to share their brand preferences on Facebook, since they don’t trust Facebook’s privacy controls. To counter this, Thismoment is using Facebook’s Open Graph to generate stories about the Facebook member’s interaction with the brand.

Find out the full story on Media Post.

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Twitter: Publisher Or Distributor?

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Twitter’s decision to suspend a British journalist’s account raises many questions about the company’s behavior. Perhaps the most important one is to what extent Twitter’s filtering and curating features could make it legally liable for the content flowing through the network.

Read the full story at GigaOM.

 

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