The Walking Dead Collector’s Edition Comes To GameStop

GameStop announced it is rolling out an exclusive The Walking Dead Collector’s Edition. The Collector’s Edition will retail for $69.99, compared to the the standalone version of the Telltale game that will cost $29.99.

Along with being housed in a unique box, the The Walking Dead Collector’s Edition will feature The Walking Dead Compendium One, which packs in issues 1-48 of Robert Kirkman’s comic book series, with exclusive cover art by Charlie Adlard. The retail version of The Walking Dead will consist of five episodes released by Telltale Games, with the fifth is expected to launch in November.

Gamigo Purchased By Samarion

Gamigo has been sold by Alex Springer, which has owned the German company completely since 2009. Samarion S.E. is the new owner, and Gamigo will use the resources to enhance its position in the online gaming market by focusing on content portals, marketing and classifieds portals.

“With Samarion S.E. we want to strengthen our focus and make use of future growth opportunities, also through the consolidation of our market segment of online gaming,” said Gamigo CMO Patrick Streppel.

Lego Batcave Rocks Our Blocks

Carlyle Livingston II and Wayne Hussey have made the most impressive recreation of the Batcave ever using Lego. The project took 20,000 blocks and more than 800 hours to complete, with lights and motors added for detail.

Construction of the project took twelve weeks, and the finished product weighs over 100 pounds. The whole thing is designed to break into three pieces for transport, however.

Source: Flickr.com

Anarchy Reigns On January 8

Sega of America has confirmed that Anarchy Reigns will launch on January 8, 2013 after delaying the game during the Summer. The PS3/Xbox 360 game will release for the value price of $29.99.

“Sega is hugely proud of the work PlatinumGames has put in to creating a videogame with such a unique and engaging vision” commented Jurgen Post, COO of Sega Europe. “Gamers will soon be able to experience the full adrenaline rush that comes from competing in explosive multiplayer matches of Anarchy Reigns.”

Developed by a PlatinumGames, Anarchy Reigns features varried brawling content with multiplayer matches that feature up to 16 players. Along with a story mode, there’s an all-out Battle Royale destruction, co-operate with your friends and vanquish hordes of monsters in Survival mode or test your sportsmanship over a few rounds of Deathball!

“Focusing on online play with Anarchy Reigns presented a new challenge for us here at PlatinumGames,”added Atsushi Inaba, Executive Director/Producer at Platinum Games. “Very few games fall under its genre of a melee-based online multiplayer brawler, so I think we’ve been able to supply a new kind of excitement that you can’t find anywhere else. While some time has passed since its Japan release, I look forward to having gamers in North America and Europe enjoy the Anarchy!”

Assassin’s Creed III: Benedict Arnold Missions Exclusive To PS3

Sony has revealed that Benedict Arnold will be the focal point of a free DLC pack that is coming to Assassin’s Creed III. The PS3 exclusive will see Connor foiling a plan to betray West Point to the British, exposing Arnold.

“Benedict Arnold is a name that transcended the Revolution and became a synonym for the word ‘traitor’,” said Matt Turner, Scriptwriter for Assassin’s Creed III. “Given some of the themes in the main story thread, it flowed really well with some of the later beats… but I won’t be specific as they are spoilers! It was also a great opportunity for us to tell a story that people know but don’t really know, you know ”

“We have some scenes that have the actual words spoken by key players in the events at West Point, according to the records from the court proceedings following what happened,” said Turner. “On the other side of things, we needed to inject it with some gameplay so there are some liberties in terms of the action. But who was there, what they did, and what happened to them is as precise as the history books would allow.”

“Our interpretation of Arnold actually weaves into the overall fiction and to divulge that would be to spoil a portion of the story,” he added. “That being said, we don’t like having ‘bad guys’ in Assassin’s Creed and this is no different in terms to Arnold and these missions. He has his reasons, and from a certain perspective they make complete sense.”

 

To put the event in historical context, Arnold’s betrayal could have cost the Colonists the war. “A simple fact is that the Hudson River was the single most strategic body of water during the American Revolution. It essentially split the colonies in two, so whoever controlled the river controlled the supply lines. And West Point was by far the most heavily fortified area during the war for this very reason. Where the fort was built, the river narrowed and made a small ‘S’, allowing enough room for only one tall ship to pass through at a time. The Patriots built a massive chain on rafts floating across the water stopping any ship from making its way up because they were so outmatched in terms of the navy. It was the only way they could hope to hold it – and it worked,” said Turner. “A large portion of Revolutionary historians contend that if West Point had been captured by the British, and the chain destroyed, the Patriots would have lost the war.”Source: Blog.Playstation.com

Nintendo 3DS: Play As You Are

Nintendo has clearly put young female consumers in its sights for the 3DS, with ads starring Penelope Cruz, Dianna Agron and Gabby Douglas. While there was a bit of a pushback to the initial focus on the phrase “I Am Not a Gamer” the campaign has more comfortably shifted to the tagline “Play As You Are.”  {link no longer active}

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Facebook Gamers On The Rise In Spite Of Zynga

Just days after it reported a significant decline in Zynga game revenue, Facebook is saying its total gamer traffic has seen a year over year spike. Facebook said 251 million people played games on its social network in September 2012, a 16 percent spike from the same period last year.

Earlier this week the company announced better than expected third quarter earnings but also said revenues from its top game moneymaker Zynga fell by 20 percent. But it seems that doesn’t people have necessarily moved on from gaming on the network. Facebook said users are driving the growth in number of people playing games by inviting friends to join the games they’re playing. Users also tend to try out a game when they see their friends playing it in the App Center.

Speaking at a press event, Facebook Growth Director Alex Schultz said, “When you sign up for a social game where only one or two of your friends are playing, it’s not as fun as if 10 to 20 of your friends are playing.”

Facebook also pointed to more variety in the types of games now available. Where the site was once dominated by simulation games, and namely the “point-and-click-villa” fare served by Zynga, it’s now seeing more gamer-friendly genres such as arcade and puzzle games on the rise.

Source: Mashable.com

Promax: Ayzenberg’s Earned Media Guarantee Is ‘Bold Promise’

PromaxBDA conducted an interview with Ayzenberg’s Chris Younger and Simon Ward on the firm’s new offering of guarantees on the performance of its social media campaigns for clients. Ayzenberg rolled out its Earned Media Guarantee last month, which Ward introduced in a byline article here on [a]list daily.

Source: Altimeter Group

In its interview published yesterday, Promax delves deeper into the methodology behind the program. Promax blogger Justin Sanders called it, “A bold promise to clients that [Ayzenberg] will not only predict the performance results for a given campaign, but be accountable for them.”

Read the interview at PromaxBDA.

Yelp Picks Up Qype

Yelp has bought Qype for $50 million. The U.S. local listings and reviews service Yelp is expanding with its European equivalent.

“With its strong local content in key markets like Germany and the United Kingdom, we believe that Qype will help Yelp become the de facto choice for local search in those markets,” said Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman. “Type’s established European sales force will also bring more local business owners into the Yelp ecosystem, which in turn will bolster our mission to connect people Yelp CEO with great local businesses all over the world.”

Qype has entries for Germany, the U.K., France, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Italy and Brazil. Services like this have largely supplanted traditional Yellow Pages directories’ classifieds business.

Google’s integration of Google+ and its local listings is going to be a significant challenge to dedicated local reviews services. Yelp, however, is going to work with Apple, and Qype will expand their offerings into new regions.

Source: PaidContent.org