Young Justice Lives On In Game Form

The Cartoon Network series Young Justice has been canceled, but the show lives on in a way through the gaming medium. Young Justice: Legacy – slated for release this fall – takes place between seasons 1 and 2 of the TV show, and is being written in collaboration with show writers Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti.  Check out the first trailer.

 

A Look At The Avengers: Second Screen Experience

Download the free “Marvel’s The Avengers: Second Screen Experience” {link no longer active} app in the iTunes store now for expanded fun when you watch The Avengers at home.  Download the Second Screen Experience and sync it to your Marvel’s The Avengers Blu-ray disc for awesome behind-the-scenes footage – from visual FX breakdowns and concept art to filmmaker notes, animatics, trivia and more.

Also included on this app is a look at the comic books that influenced this year’s record-breaking blockbuster and S.H.I.E.L.D. Files, containing information on every person involved with the Avengers Intiative.

 

 

 

 

Dos Equis Pushes For ‘Dos De Mayo’

Gamers looking to have a little fun on Cinco de Mayo can enjoy the holiday a little earlier – or at least, Dos Equis would certainly like people to! “The Most Interesting Man in the World” – one of the more recognizable faces in advertising to a youth culture – is pushing to celebrate the holiday on May 2 because he doesn’t like the fact that Cinco de Mayo falls on a Sunday this year.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nEQ2lgtGt3U

 

Facebook Unveils New Android Integration

Rumors of a Facebook Phone being in the works seem to have only been half right. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg today unveiled Facebook Home, a new app for Android phones that will completely overhaul the user interface with a veneer of social network functionality.

“You’re going to be able to turn your Android phone into a great social device,” Zuckerberg said. “Our phones today are designed around apps, not people. We want to flip that around.”

With Facebook Home installed, updates from users’ Facebook feeds will take up the entire home screen. Users will then be able to swipe through updates, or launch other apps from within Facebook Home. Chat and incoming message notifications will be displayed by friends’ heads popping up in the margins of the screen, whether users are in the Facebook Home screen, or in another app.

Facebook Home will debut April 12 for the HTC One and One X, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S III and 4, as well as the Note II.  On the same day, HTC will debut the HTC First, a $99 phone (with two-year contract) that includes Facebook Home pre-loaded. A tablet version is also in the works.

Source: Mashable

Fallon Taking Over Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon is officially the next host of NBC’s The Tonight Show. The network confirmed the widely rumored move this week, naming the gaming-friendly Late Night host as Jay Leno’s successor.

Fallon has regularly devoted time on his show to the latest and greatest in video games. Earlier this year, he featured the PlayStation 4 on the show shortly after Sony’s official unveiling, and has also devoted segments to the Wii U, Oculus Rift, and Kinect back when it was still known only as Project Natal.

Leno will step down in spring 2014, and one other major change for the show has already been announced. When Fallon takes over, the show will move from Burbank, California to New York City, where it will be filmed at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters.

“We are purposefully making this change when Jay is No. 1, just as Jay replaced Johnny Carson when he was No. 1,” NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said of the move. “Jimmy Fallon is a unique talent and this is his time. I’m thrilled he will become the sixth host of The Tonight Show at exactly the right moment, in conjunction with our coverage of next year’s Winter Olympic Games.”

Fallon’s replacement on Late Night has not yet been named, but it is believed another Saturday Night Live veteran, Seth Myers, will soon land the job officially.

Source: AdWeek

PS4 Hardware Choice May Be ‘Defensive’ Move Against Tablets, Says Cousins

There’s a lot of buzz around next-gen and Sony’s PlayStation 4 right now, but the biggest growth area remains the world of mobile, and especially tablets. Some in the industry believe that next-gen consoles will sell less units than in previous generations as more consumers extract gaming entertainment value from mobile and tablets, and if you ask ngmoco’s Ben Cousins, that’s likely a reason why Sony went with cheaper components for PS4.

“Soon it will be like actually, I’m getting everything I need here [on tablets], do I really need to buy a console ” Cousins said in a new interview. “I think the problem with the console model and certainly with the previous generation was that it needed the ultra-hardcore, the kids, and those kind of mid-core or whatever you it call it, mainstream gamers, to a buy a console in order to make a profit because it just needed massive volume.”

“It was interesting to see PS4 clearly go for what looks like cheaper hardware than last time around, so maybe that’s a kind of defensive move against their expectation that they’re not going to have the same install base, or maybe they just want to hit profitability quicker because of Sony’s less stable financial state at the moment.”

While right now many unique indie games appear on console services first, like PlayStation Network, Cousins believes that tablets could quickly become the destination where indies make their debuts.

“I think that what you see on consoles is the platform holders are basically trying to court developers and giving them money too, which feels a bit strange. These are exactly the sort of developers that make games in their spare time through passion or whatever and they’re having to be courted and have their games basically paid for by the console platform holders, which kind of defeats the point,” Cousins added. “It would be easier for them to just open up the platform and allow you to plug your PS4 into your PC and just develop directly onto the platform and submit to an open app store. That would be much better, I think, than courting Jonathan Blow to produce a game for the platform.”

Source:  GamesIndustry International

Ubisoft Gives Toys ‘R’ Us A Boost With Advergame

Ubisoft has partnered with toy retailer Toys’R’Us to release a new game, Toys ‘R’ Us Towers, for iOS and Facebook, which not only should boost the retailer’s brand, but it also will give real-world discounts to customers. The free-to-play games was developed by Ubisoft Quebec, and will enable players to continue wherever they left off whether playing the iOS or Facebook version.

“Players manage their own toy store by building and designing a variety of toy departments and attractions, such as creating a science toy department or even adding a Ferris wheel just like the 60-foot indoor Ferris wheel featured in the Toys’R’Us international flagship store in Times Square. As players amass experience and sales, they will progress through seven levels from trainee to Store Manager, all the way up to CEO.  Players can get their friends involved by sharing resources and helping each other participate in weekly events or engaging in friendly competition to see who can rise to the top the fastest. Players can also choose to purchase currency within the game, which can be spent on additional energy, premium toy departments, boosts and more,” Ubisoft detailed.

By playing the game, consumers can also receive real-world coupons for discounts redeemable at Toys’R’Us stores nationwide and on the official website.

“We’re pleased to continue our partnership with Toys’R’Us to bring the game to iOS,” said Chris Early, vice president of Digital Publishing at Ubisoft. “Avid Toys’R’Us shoppers can now experience the excitement of building, managing and working in their very own toy store through this fun game on their mobile devices, anytime they want.”

GameStop: Mobile And Browser Could Hurt Our Business

GameStop currently sells mobile devices, digital content in-store, and offers online browser gaming through its Kongregate portal, but as more and more of the industry swings to the mobile and online world, that may not be enough to stave off declines, the company said in its 10-K filing.

“Gaming continues to evolve rapidly. The popularity of browser, mobile and social gaming has increased greatly and this popularity is expected to continue to grow,” said the retailer. “Browser, mobile and social gaming is accessed through hardware other than the consoles and traditional hand-held video game devices we currently sell. If we are unable to respond to this growth in popularity of browser, mobile and social games and transition our business to take advantage of these new forms of gaming, our financial position and results of operations could suffer.”

“The company has been and is currently pursuing various strategies to integrate these new forms of gaming into the company’s business model, but we can provide no assurances that these strategies will be successful or profitable.”

 

Next Xbox Always Online – Report

The next Xbox will require a constant online connection to start games, and it will stop running games or apps if that connection is interrupted for as brief as three minutes. That’s according to a Kotaku report citing two unnamed sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans for the console.

This is not the first time there have been rumors about limitations on the next Xbox, code-named Durango. Last year, word spread that Microsoft would tie software sales to each console, effectively preventing used games from running on the system. Supposedly leaked documents in December also indicated that the system would require a Kinect sensor to be connected and operating in order for games to run.

The Kotaku story also notes that every source it has talked to about the possibility of an always-online Xbox sees the idea as a potential disaster. If Microsoft needs a reminder of how such plans can backfire, it need only look at the recent launch of SimCity, Electronic Arts’ always-online city-building game, which was essentially unplayable during its launch week as EA servers proved incapable of handling the demands placed on them.

Source: Kotaku

1 Million Pay-TV Users Switched To Streaming In 2012

American TV viewers are increasingly ditching cable and satellite TV providers in favor of online streaming options like those offered on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U. A new report from Convergence Consulting Group found that in 2012, pay-TV outlets lost a total of about 1.08 million subscribers to streaming solutions like Netflix and Hulu.

The group believes that the total number of so-called “cord cutters” has reached 3.74 million since 2008, and will hit 4.7 million this year. Despite that, CCG analysts expect pay-TV to dominate the market for years to come. The 1.1 million defections last year accounted for just about 1.1 percent of their total customer base.

While more consumers are swayed by online solutions, they seem to be getting less value there than they used to. About 18 percent of the audience streamed free TV episodes online last year, down from 19 percent in 2011. With providers giving less content out for free, the group expects that number to decline to 17 percent for 2013.

Source: Bloomberg