An Amazing Second Screen Experience

BY

Available exclusively for the Sony Tablet S, Sony Xperia Tablet S and Apple iPad, The Amazing Spider-Man Second Screen App syncs only with the Blu-ray Disc, and transforms the movie-watching experience, giving users behind-the-scenes access into the amazing world of Spider-Man throughout the film. Additionally, the App will unlock new content each week with all content available by the November 9 release of The Amazing Spider-Man on Blu-ray.

The App includes two interactive modes —  Timeline and Production — both featuring extensive content from the set such as interviews with the cast and filmmakers, featurettes on the making of the film, behind-the-scenes photos, storyboards, concept art, pre-visualization sequences, stunt rehearsals, trivia, factoids and more.

In Timeline Mode, the App syncs with the Blu-ray Disc, allowing scene-specific trivia, featurettes, storyboards, interviews, and other content to scroll across your tablet in time with the movie.

In Production Mode, users can explore even more content that goes deeper into the making of the film by diving into the various areas of the production process including Filmmakers, Story, Design, Cast, Location and Stunts, among others. And when the App syncs with the Blu-ray Disc through a connected player, users can “sling” select content from the Sony Tablet or iPad to the television screen to watch it in full HD, for a greater viewing experience.

In addition, users can also update their Facebook and Twitter pages and share their viewing experience by posting trivia and facts directly from the App.

The Amazing Spider-Man Second Screen App is available for free from Google Play on the Sony Tablet or at www.play.google.com {link no longer active} and from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore {link no longer active}.

Google Drops Infographs On Obama/Romney Debate

BY

The first Presidential debate was not the most organized piece of political discourse as moderator Jim Lehrer struggled mightily keeping either Mitt Romney or President Obama to conform to any set of time limits. Statistics compiled by Google show, however, that Romney did well with empathy and Obama moreso with bipartisan gestures… and both candidates will have people searching for details on them they’d rather not.

Source: WashingtonPost.com

Android Devices Changing The Tablet Market: Study

BY

According to Pew Internet & American Life Project data, tablet ownership has increased from 11 percent of U.S. adults in July 2011 to 18 percent in January 2012. It is believed by that 25 percent of all U.S. adults have a tablet computer.

Most of the purchases were recent, with 68 percent getting their tablet in the last year, including 32 percent in 2012 alone. iPad ownership has gone down from 81 percent a year ago to just 52 percent, with Android making up the other half; 21 percent own a Kindle Fire, 8 percent the Samsung Galaxy, and then a mix of others.

Android-based devices are changing the tablet market as they did with smartphones; 46 percent of adults have an Android phone, 38 percent have an iPhone and 10 percent have a Blackberry. Among smartphone owners with a tablet, iPad owners are 57 percent likely to have a iPhone while just 32 percent have an Android phone; similarly, 66 percent of those who have an Android tablet have an Android phone while 29 percent have an iPhone.

Source: Journalism.org

Loot Drop Ponies Up For Kickstarter

BY

Brenda Brathwaite and Tom Hall are heading up a new “old-school RPG” using their developer Loot Drop, in collaboration with developer John Romero. The team will make a classic style RPG using Kickstarter as a means.

The industry veterans have made a variety of titles, ranging from Wizardry 8 and Dungeons & Dragons Heroes to Commander Keen and Doom. While the baseline goal is $1 million, the $1.9 million stretch goal will see both Brathwaite and Hall make two different games, while those who pledge $15 to the project will receive digitally distributed copies of the games created.

Source: Kickstarter

Assassin’s Creed III Online Pass Detailed

BY

Ubisoft announced today that it will have an Online Pass for Assassin’s Creed III for $29.99. Along with expanding on the multiplayer aspect of the game, there will also be three episode content packs called “The Tyranny of King Washington.”

The all-new single-player campaign told through will feature an alternate history where George Washington names himself King. It will be up to Connor to depose a tyrant he once called friend.

“History is our playground — and AC teams have always loved playing with historical facts and their consequences as a way to better understand a time period,” said Sebastien Puel, Executive Producer at Ubisoft. “While Assassin’s Creed III concentrates on history as it happens, we wanted to take some liberties with this DLC and tell you how things ‘could have happened.'”

Zynga’s Stock Hits New Low After Q3 Loss

BY

Zynga’s third-quarter financial results saw revenues up 19 percent to $332 million. However, the social game company still posted a $22.8 million quarterly loss.

The lowered results were blamed on “reduced performance of some of our live web games” and “several new games which are at risk of launching later than expected.” Chairman and CEO Mark Pincus said that in the months and years to come, it will launch real money games outside the U.S. and will continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring game developers over the next three to five years

The company is expecting revenue of roughly $300 million to $305 million during the next fiscal quarter. Zynga also revised its full year forecasts down to $1.09 billion – $1.1 billion from earlier expectations of between $1.15 billion to $1.23 billion.

Zynga continues to make gains in mobile, as 33 million of the overall 72 million daily average users are on mobile devices. This is a positive sign, as the traditional social game sector as a whole has been rapidly diminishing over the past several months.

The company’s beleaguered stock sank 41 percent, to $2.99 in after-hours trading after the results came out. The damage might not even be done, as Facebook will soon make its own its first-ever earnings report as a public company; Facebook’s stock fell $2.54, or 8.7 percent, to $26.80 in after-hours trading.

Resident Evil 6 Promotional Campaign Features ‘Human’ Meat

BY

Capcom has announced a campaign that involves the selling of human flesh promote Resident Evil 6. It’s not actually human meat, just replicas using meat of other animals that are gruesomely accurate.

Wesker & Son shop in East London’s Smithfield Meat Market were all crafted by “food artist” Sharon Baker. Proceeds from the sale of what are being called “Peppered Human & Lemon Sausages” and “J’avo Caught Human Thigh Steaks,” along with pots of Red Herb and Green Herb (like the health items in the game), will go to the Limbless Association.

Those interested will be able to attend two days of lectures at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Pathology Museum about how Resident Evil‘s themes relate to real-life research.

Source: AdWeek

Tomb Raider ‘Final Hours Edition’ Revealed

BY

Amazon has announced that all pre-orders of Tomb Raider for PS3 or Xbox 360 will receive the “Final Hours Edition” of the game. This Amazon exclusive will include a 32 page art book for Tomb Raider, a “Hunter Skin” for Lara, and a copy of The Final Hours of Tomb Raider – ‘Director’s Cut’ Kindle Fire Edition by Geoff Keighley.

In the last 20 years the world famous development studio Crystal Dynamics has developed and released over 30 titles, including the famous Legacy of Kain series. But none compares to the size and importance of their latest project, the re-imagining of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series. As the studio closes in on what will undoubtedly be the biggest development project in its history, go behind the scenes and experience the highs and lows as famed video game journalist Geoff Keighley documents the inner workings of how this Bay Area studio went back to the drawing board to reboot one of the most iconic video games in history.

Tomb Raider will release for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on March 5, 2013.

Source: Amazon.com

BioWare Founders Pushed Out By Fan Backlash, Says Former Developer

BY

Former member of BioWare and Balder’s Gate developer Trent Oster thinks that negative fan reaction to games like Dragon Age II, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic may have pushed Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk out of the industry. Oster said that Zeschuk was exhausted the last time he saw him.

“The last time I met up with [Greg], I felt his exhaustion,” explained Oster. “‘Punch out, eject, get the hell out’, was my suggestions to him and it hit closer to the mark than I had realized. I also think the Mass Effect 3 fan reaction and the Old Republic fan’s negativity was just too much. You have to love games and you put your heart into them to create them. To have the fans creating petitions against the work is pretty hard to take, especially when you’ve spent the last few years crunching overtime to try and ship a game. It can be hard to shut off the overwhelming negativity the internet spews forth, especially when it has your name or the name of your company in it.”

Ray Muzyka responded indirectly on Twitter, saying, “I respect/revere fans, because they speak with deep, honest passion.”

Source: NowGamer.com

[a]list Summit Seattle: The Guilds Of ArenaNet

BY

ArenaNet’s Chris Lye talks about how the Guild Wars 2 maker approached appeasing and growing its loyal fan base as it launched the highly anticipated sequel, in this video interview outtakes from a presentation at [a]list Summit Seattle.

Lye, who serves as the game developer’s Global Brand Director, says key to their communication strategy was to make provocative claims that they knew the game could deliver. That included positioning it using a ‘revolution in MMOs’ theme that underlined the entire marketing campaign.

“That combination of provoke, cause some debate, have a bunch of people say ‘no, there’s no way these guys are going to be able to do this, or willing to do this’, then quickly follow up with a proof point, that has been what has built our credibility with our community,” says Lye.

“That whole revolutionary notion, a lot of people have tried to say ‘yes, our studio is revolutionary, or our game is revolutionary.’ We’ve actually demonstrated it time and time again when it mattered.”

 

[a]list daily will be covering [a]list Summit Seattle with reports starting this afternoon and updates throughout the day posted on our home page.For live updates from the event, follow our Twitter stream.For agenda and full list of presenters, visit the [a]list Summit site {link no longer active}.