Nintendo Rolls Out Digital Deluxe Promotion

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Nintendo launched its Digital Deluxe promotion site for users that purchased a Wii U Deluxe model and any games from the eShop. Signing in using a Nintendo ID, users can enter retail codes or redeem digital purchases to get 10 percent back in points.

Those with at least 500 points can trade them in for an activation code worth $5 of eShop credit. Ineligible for the promotion are items purchased within the Wii compatibility mode, anything on the 3DS eShop or any subscriptions.

Source: Nintendo.net {link no longer active}

Google: Android Winning Over iOS

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There is some debate whether Android has surpassed iOS in the smartphone market, given the greater developer support for iOS at the moment. However, Google chairman Eric Schmidt thinks that the 1.3 million Android devices activated every day and the 72 percent share last quarter of the mobile market point to a clear Android victory.

“This is a huge platform change,” he said. “This is of the scale of 20 years ago: Microsoft versus Apple. We’re winning that war pretty clearly now.”

“The core strategy is to make a bigger pie,” he added. “We will end up with a not perfectly controlled and not perfectly managed bigger pie by virtue of open systems.”

Source: Bloomberg

The Secret World Opens Up Business Model

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Funcom has eliminated the mandatory subscription from The Secret World, assuming a model not unlike Guild Wars 2. Those that maintain their subscription will receive points to spend on virtual goods, while all missions, abilities and equipment will be available to all players.

“Everyone who has purchased (or will purchase) the game can now enjoy the full game without being required to sign-up for a monthly fee,” said Funcom senior community manager Tarib. “This means that all of the heralded story-line and all of the game content available right now can be played as you please without requiring any additional payment.”

Naughty Dog Fought For Ellie’s Placement On The Last Of Us Box

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The box art for The Last Of Us features protagonist Ellie very prominently. According to Ashley Johnson, who voices the young character, there was some push back against that idea from the marketing team.

“I feel like they don’t put women on the covers because they’re afraid that it won’t sell,” said Johnson. “It’s all gamers really know – and I don’t want to be sexist by any means – but I get the feeling, generally, that they think game’s won’t sell as well with a woman on the cover, compared to some badass dude on the front.”

“I agree with what Ashley said,” said Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann. “I believe there’s a misconception that if you put a girl or a woman on the cover, the game will sell less. I know I’ve been in discussions where we’ve been asked to push Ellie to the back and everyone at Naughty Dog just flat-out refused.”

Source: VG247

Your Tweet Is Denied

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The State Department wants to make sure its staff can’t use Twitter to actually “twitter.” The department is seeking new rules that prevent employees from constantly chattering online or making any statements of public record without prior approval. Among proposed guidelines is a two-day period to review tweets by its staffers before they’re posted. Blogs and public speeches would require five days. Long-form works such as books would be in the queue for 30 days.

Citing political blog Diplopundit, the Washington Post says the department may be responding to embarrassing revelations in both a book and an ongoing blog by Peter Van Buren, a foreign service officer who helped in the Iraq reconstruction effort. Van Buren is no longer with the agency. The legacy of his truth-seeking could be new rules that might be well meaning but have that undeniable air of scary government overreaction. Among changes would be expanding confidentiality from classified information to what the State Department would define as “protected information.” There’s no word yet on whether the proposed rules are implemented.

Source: Washington Post

Exclusive: Ubisoft Wants The World To Just Dance

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By David Radd

Ubisoft has one of the most diverse lineup of console titles this holiday season, ranging from Wii U exclusive ZombiU, multiplatform mega-hit Assassin’s Creed III and the mainstream dancing title Just Dance 4. In part one of our extensive interview with Tony Key, SVP of Sales and Marketing at Ubisoft, we touch on parts of the overall campaign but focus heavily on their evergreen Just Dance series.

[a]list: Give me an overview of Ubisoft’s holiday line up.

Tony Key: At the top, we have Just Dance and Assassin’s Creed that have been our premier launch brands. What’s fun about these for us: they’re the yin and the yang for Ubisoft, they don’t overlap for the most part. Just Dance is a family-oriented party game, and Assassin’s Creed is a completely immersive story-based mature-rated title that primarily appeals to adult males. For Just Dance, we’re appeal to people from 3 to 93 years-old; college kids, grandmas, teen girls anyone who wants to work up a sweat in front of a television. It has broad appeal.

On top of that, we have something that’s completely different in Far Cry 3, a FPS with an open world setting. We feel like Far Cry 3 is a breakthrough for the shooter category. Right now we have a 90 Metacritic score and many reviewers appreciate what a breakthrough title it is.

Then there’s the Wii U, and if you encapsulate Ubisoft’s Wii U strategy, it’s really a reflection of our overall strategy. We have games for several different segments, like core titles like Rayman Legends and ZombiU but we have have family titles like Just Dance 4, ESPN Sports Connection, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, and games like Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth aimed at younger gamers. We have Assassin’s Creed III on the Wii U as well, so we have something for almost everyone. We’ve always had a good mix of core products and non-traditional gamer games. I think that’s part of the reason for our broad success.

[a]list: Recently in the industry, a lot of top-flight publishers have stop publishing a variety of products on consoles, deciding to exclusively focus on core games. Do you feel it’s important to make console games for audiences outside of the core demographics?

Tony Key: Traditionally, that older male is the bread and butter of the industry and so many games are targeting that demographic, and we target it too, but if you want to do something different, find blue water and take risk, you have to think a little differently. Things like Just Dance don’t come around very often, but at the end of the day, it takes tremendous effort to reach that non-standard audience. We have to spend considerable time with retailers for people who are not explicitly looking for games, so you have to reach outside the game industry to be successful. You have to have visible PR at Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien and Ellen DeGeneres for that outer circle of gamers, people who don’t hear about games until they’ve released. This is the fourth try in keeping Just Dance relevant and we think we’ve gotten pretty good at it.

[a]list: I noticed the announcement that Ubisoft snagged Gangnam Style for Just Dance 4….

Tony Key: Right before Thanksgiving, we released PSY’s Gangnam Style DLC on Just Dance 4 and our goal was to get that out by Thanksgiving. It’s very popular – go to a sporting event and you’ll hear it. Just Dance is a holiday tradition now – every Thanksgiving you can pass out in front of the TV or keep the party going, and its true for Christmas too. It makes every gathering into a party.

Gangnam Style

[a]list: Just Dance 4 was one of the top sellers on Amazon over Black Friday. Was there sense inside Ubisoft that they needed to continue to push the series, that there were still plenty of fans and not to leave money on the table?

Tony Key: Not publishing Just Dance 4 would be leaving money on the table, but there’s no reason to not publish it – we believe in it and we feel like there’s not reason we shouldn’t do it. So it’s about annualizing it. It’s about making it the top dance game for yet another year.

[a]list: This is the the fourth year of Just Dance releases as you said — it wasn’t too long ago that Guitar Hero was atop the video gaming world, but there are no Guitar Hero releases anymore. Are there any concerns about something like that for the Just Dance series

Tony Key: As far as brand burnout, it’s not a trend, it’s a reflection of what’s happening in pop culture — as it evolves, so does the brand. Just Dance always has the best new music every year. I would rather not compare it to Guitar Hero; Just Dance is about the latest trends, and Guitar Hero is about great classic rock. I’d rather compare it to a sports franchise — every entry evolves the franchise and changes the roster, and that’s what Just Dance does, and every year we’re successful. It’s not burnout we’re worried about and we put a lot of work into keeping it fresh. It’s more a console tradition now and we’re the number one selling game on Kinect. So long as motion control is used on consoles, I think there’s a place for Just Dance.

[a]list: Going back to what you said about the yin and the yang of Ubisoft, it’s also good to have games like Just Dance to be the face of the medium, contrasted to the typically violent fare on consoles.

Tony Key: It brings a balance, and our retailers love it, and they’re swarmed with games like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty, but this is a game that brings the whole family together.

The casual and less-core gamer is part of the ebb and flow of the industry. When Guitar Hero was able to bring people in, it was good for everyone in the industry, and the same goes for Wii Sports, Wii Fit and now Just Dance. When hardware transitions occur, it shrinks the business, and it’s important to expand it again and doing so comes from in part capturing the hearts and minds of casual gamers. It would be a shame to relegate them to free-to-play and mobile… there’s nothing wrong with those systems but there’s no reason we can’t have that experience on consoles as well.

[a]list: So we should expect Just Dance games for the foreseeable future?

Tony Key: The whole world isn’t dancing yet!

[a]list: So the ultimate goal is to make 6 billion people dance

Tony Key: Exactly, until we reach that goal, there’s going to be more Just Dance.

 

Stay tuned more more of this interview soon!

Ayzenberg Partners With Mobile Gaming USA On NY Summit

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Ayzenberg Group is partnering with Video Games Intelligence, organizers of the Mobile Gaming conference series, for its next [a]list summit. [a]list summit NY will be a one-day event taking place on January 29 co-located with Mobile Gaming USA East, which is scheduled for January 30-31. Both events will be at the New Yorker Hotel.

Mobile Gaming USA director Max Rollinger said of the partnership, “The crossover between brands and games was a topic that we explored at our last Mobile Gaming USA conference, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone with more experience working with leading brands and game publishers than Ayzenberg and their [a] list group.” He added, “We’re excited to begin what we hope is the first of many conference partnerships together.”

Under the banner “The Rise of Mobile Content Marketing,” [a]list summit NY will focus on the growing importance of marketing on mobile for games and entertainment. The summit web site is live with updates on speakers and agenda on the horizon.