Sony PR Veteran Questions Company’s Priorities

BY

PR is a vital yet underrated part of the promotional cycle of games, involving a lot of behind-the-scenes work to keep journalists engaged and aware of products coming down the pipeline. When Will Powers, a now former member of SCEA PR, was let go, he took to twitter to assert the importance of his position and blast Sony.

“You have to wonder what the hell PlayStation was thinking laying off more than half of their software PR team going into the holiday season,” Powers wrote. “In typical fashion they’re sending titles out to die, because they have no PR support — [Little Big Planet Karting], Sports Champions 2, Wonderbook. Worst part it, the PR department was already under-staffed. I feel sorry for those that remain there, because their workload just doubled.”

Powers also ranted about external PR agencies. “Already they outsourced too much work to overpriced agencies, so laying off is only going to exacerbate an existing problem,” he added. “The point of having external agencies is so that you can scale back without layoffs, not layoff so you can ramp up. Internal PR teams have product loyalty and serve only one master. Neither can be said about agencies, though there are some select people.”

He continued his rant about some policies of Sony Corp. in general. “That being said, you have to question the priorities of the company as a whole — What’s the point of AdHoc multiplayer when no one has a Vita Sony in general is serving too many masters. PlayStation shouldn’t suffer because TVs are overpriced. This all being said, because I genuinely like and care about the PS product, but they’re being hamstrung from success internally,” Powers concluded.

Source: Kotaku

 

Tablets On The Rise In 2012: IDC

BY

IDC raised its forecast of global tablet shipments to 117 million units this year, up 65 percent from 71 million shipped tablets in 2011. The company also upped its original forecast from March 2012 by more than 30 percent to 261 million units.

The modifications to their outlook for 2016 reflect their optimism for iOS devices. Similarly, they now expect less marketshare for Android tablets, instead favoring Windows devices.

Source: Statista.com

 

Nike: Parallel Journeys

BY

Cricket is a sport as popular as any in India . . . a country with a rising middle class that companies like Nike want to tap into. Their new “Bleed Blue” campaign, showing professional cricket players along with those on the amateur and school-level, exhibits Nike’s usual production greatness along with whispers of their “Find your Greatness” campaign from earlier this year.

 

Zynga Veteran Brian Kahrs Hired By SGN

BY

Brian Kahrs has been hired by SGN to be the company’s new vice president of product. Kahrs previously led production teams for Zynga’s Farmville Express and Treasure Isle.

“Providing a high-quality gaming experience is central to our cross-platform user-acquisition and monetization strategies,” said SGN Head of Game Development and Operations Joshua Yguado. “As a veteran developer for both the social and mobile platforms, as well as a seasoned team manager, Brian will play a critical role ensuring our games continue to exceed the expectations of an increasingly critical audience.”

 

Steam Greenlight Sees 3,195 Submissions

BY

Valve revealed that 3,195 games have been submitted to its Greenlight service, though 1,110 submitted games have received a ban for everything from inappropriate material to not being a serious project. 9,998,476 votes have been cast on the Greenlight projects by 949,156 Steam users.

Right now, there is what is described as 800 “legitimate, publicly visible items” on Steam Greenlight. Ten games have so far been approved for full Steam release.

Source: Joystiq

 

Nintendo Says White And Silver Handhelds Don’t Sell Well Enough

BY

When it comes to electronics devices, the primary colors used are black and white, even for home and portable consoles. However, the 3DS XL does not appear in neutral colors like silver and white and Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says there’s a reason for that.

 

“We have launched silver- and white-colored GBAs, DSes, DSis, and in our market [and] they don’t sell very well. So instead of approaching this lighter-colored product as a mass , we’re going to look at the opportunity on a much more limited basis,” said Fils-Aime. “You might see a limited-time offer with a white or silver 3DS XL, or we might colorize it slightly differently. But in terms of an ongoing SKU, the consumer has responded in our marketplace and said that, for a handheld gaming device from Nintendo, that kind of white or silver doesn’t sell nearly as well as blue or red or even pink.”

Source: IGN

 

 

Transformers 4 Getting New Robot Cast

BY

The Transformers movies have been phenomenally successful, with the third entry in the franchise taking in $1.1 billion at the box office. That isn’t the whole point of the franchise, however, and Hasbro president and CEO Brian Goldner indicates that as part of an effort to push more toys, the next Transformers picture would introduce a new set of robot characters.

The reasoning is that Transformers: Dark of the Moon action figures didn’t sell well because the two previous films had also featured the same characters. The hope of the toy company is that a new robot lineup will boost toy sales.

It has already been stated that the fourth Transformers film will feature an all new human cast along with a refreshed set of robots.

Source: Slashfilm.com

 

Zynga’s Former Marketing Head Now At GSN

BY

Jeff Karp has popped up at Game Show Network (GSN) two weeks after leaving Zynga. He will be the executive vice president of mobile and social games and will report to Peter Blacklow president of GSN subsidiary WorldWinner and will be responsible for overseeing GSN Digital’s virtual currency business across its mobile, social and online gaming platforms.

“Jeff will be leading businesses which are crucial to continuing GSN’s growth,” said GSN CEO David Goldhill. “With his demonstrated expertise and strategic vision, Jeff is the right executive to lead us in achieving our ambitious goals.”

“I am very excited to join the GSN team, which has already built leading cross-platform virtual currency game businesses, including the GSN Casino mobile app, the Games by GSN Facebook app and the virtual casino,” said Karp. “I am eager to help GSN take these businesses to new levels of success.”

 

Sony Sees PS3 Games Coming For The Next 2-3 Years

BY

With the new slimmer PS3 not getting a price reduction, some are wondering if it is designed to appeal to a new audience. According to John Koller, marketing VP at Sony Computer Entertainment America, late generation Xbox 360 owners looking to try out PS3 exclusives and are prime targets for the console

“We have seen a very high interest rate from Xbox 360 consumers wanting to purchase a second console,” said Koller. “We saw the same kind of thing happen in reverse during the PS2 years, when a lot of PS2 consumers said they wanted to get an Xbox because of Halo and some other games. So we think the strategy works and it’s a good one.”

Of course, the question for many is: why purchase a PS3 now if a new console from Sony is due to come out very soon Koller was, unsurprisingly, not talking about details for a PS4, but he did say that PS3 content will be coming out for the foreseeable future.

“A lot of great content is coming, and over the next 2-3 years, the PS3 has got an incredible lineup,” said Koller. “We’re going to continue supporting the PS3 for the next few years. Absolutely. And we’re going to continue supporting it not only that long, but as long as there is a development spigot that’s running hot.”

“And I can tell you right now, the development spigot for PS3 is very hot. A lot of great games coming. Same thing with PS2 . . . it’s kind of stuck around as that old warrior, many years after its launch. But there’s still games launching for it,” he added.

Source: Gamespot