Game companies sure had fun on April 1st, though the trailer where William Shatner fights a Gorn referencing the classic Star Trek episode “Arena” is for a game that definitely exists, and despite some appearances Telltale Games’ Poker Night 2 is also a real product. Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is being advertised as a low-budget ’80s sci-fi film version of the 21st century and it seems to be a a downloadable game (decide for yourself at the official site.)
Boost Mobile here presents a scenario where someone buys a wrestling belt before someone accosts him and takes it back. Always remember that wearing a belt makes you a target for other wrestlers and that you should probably spend money on cheap Android phones from Boost instead!
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Games by Suda51 are known for their wacky twists, and sure enough, Killer is Dead isn’t just about assassinating criminals. There’s apparently parts of the game where Mondo Zappa will be a gigolo and will have to fight giant kaiju beasts from outer space!
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For the last year, boxes of Mike and Ike have appeared in stores with either “Mike” or “Ike” scribbled over. The 72-year-old candy item hoped to create social media buzz and foster resonance among teens, so the packaging reflected a narrative the brand put out in the blogosphere that involved Mike and Ike being fictional business partners who had gone their separate ways for creative reasons.
A new integrated campaign has recently launched and the two characters have decided to work together again after almost tripling their Facebook fans to just under one million.
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Note: despite some reports the male characters’ storyline wasn’t meant to suggest a romantic relationship. Ike explored hip-hop, and Mike dove into his art projects, as the narrative goes. Check out their Tumblr to find out more.
Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized to Chinese customers over the company’s warranty policy. He indicated that Apple will improve customer service in the country.
This began when China Central Television criticized the Apples’s after-sales iPhone customer service in China because it gave only a one-year warranty, while in China the law is two years. It also said that phone owners had to pay about $90 to replace a faulty back cover.
While Apple did not immediately respond to the controversy, several Chinese celebrities posted harsh comments on Weibo. That was followed up by critical articles in the People’s Daily and later China’s State Administration of Industry and Commerce, with images of Chinese journalists being turned away at Apple’s office appearing on TV.
“We realize that a lack of communication in this process has led the outside to believe that Apple is arrogant and doesn’t care or value consumers’ feedback,” said Cook in the open letter. “We sincerely apologize for any concern or misunderstanding this has brought to the customers.”
The timing of the pressure was questioned by many, with the celebrities postings coinciding with the original report almost too coincidentally. Some speculate that this was a demonstration of China’s federal power against American companies, even large successful ones like Apple.
Bill Bishop, a Beijing technology analyst and publisher of the online newsletter Sinocism China, believes that Apple’s explosive growth in China might have outpaced the company’s ability to fully train and prepare its work force and management team to deal with the challenges of the Chinese market. “Whatever the merits of the case, Apple’s not going to win here,” Mr. Bishop said in an interview Monday. “Apple can’t fight this.”
Anna Han, an associate professor of law at Santa Clara University, says the apology and the change in its warranty policy puts them in the right in both a cultural and legal sense in China. “It says, ‘We’re accused of something and we’re doing something about it.'” said Han.
Source: New York Times
Something making the rounds today is a ridiculous but delectable idea – the Star Wars Pop-Tarts: Frosted Han Solo in Carbonite. Apparently a creation of Brian Altano of IGN: “We have completely stupid IGN water cooler conversations about terrible marketing opportunities and popular franchise cash-ins we wish existed. Like Star Wars Pop-Tarts: Frosted Han Solo in Carbonite.”
Source: LaughingSquid.com
Tomb Raider sold 3.4 million units in its first few weeks of availability, but this was not enough to meet Square Enix’s expectations for the franchise (which some reports have pegged at over 5 million). This comes despite the revelation that the game had both the best launch in series history and is the biggest game launch of 2013.
“It’s been the biggest week one sales in franchise history, and we’re only a few weeks into that launch right now, and it’s been the biggest opening so far in 2013,” said Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher. “So, we’re happy with the outcome. It’s certainly in a place where we feel like we’re on the road to achieving everything we wanted to.”
“Actuals and expectations, I guess, are two slightly different things,” he said. “What I’m telling you is the actuals, and they’re communicating expectations.”
Gallagher and Square Enix’s Karl Stewart spoke to [a]list daily about the making of Tomb Raider in this exclusive video interview.
Source: Joystiq
The 2013 Game Developers Conference (GDC) saw a record 23,000 industry professionals at last week’s conference in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The organizers have slated GDC 2014 to return to the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco from Monday, March 17 to Friday, March 21, 2014, with the call for submissions to open this summer.
“With the game development industry evolving at a faster clip than ever before, we find both the profile of the developer and the types of games represented at GDC also growing to include new and different people and interests,” said Meggan Scavio, general manager of GDC. “The response we’ve gotten to this year’s event makes us feel confident that the changes we’ve made, such as the introduction of the Advocacy Track and the Free to Play Game Design and Business Summit, have helped evolved the conference to be even more inclusive. We are thrilled to continue to be a place where members of the profession can connect, discuss and showcase, and look forward to continuing the tradition in upcoming events.”
More information on GDC and related events is available at GDConf.com.
Assassin’s Creed 3 has sold 12 million units to date, making it the best selling game in series history and its fastest selling. To Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat, this is an indication the franchise is not suffering from fatigue and that the multi-studio policy with the franchise is paying off.
“Right now there are more and more coming into the franchise, so I don’t see that day. It’s our breakthrough. When you have quality content, the frequency of coming out with the game is not an issue at all,” describes Mallat. “On the contrary, people expect more and more of that content. So it’s natural to be able to provide that content. The gamers are happy and it’s our job to make them happy.”
“Every Assassin’s Creed has one dedicated core team working more than one year on their projects. We call that a roadmap. It takes into account the creative content – the settings, the where and what – the technology and the team. What I described with the roadmap is we have several teams,” he added. “The team that has delivered Assassin’s Creed 3, they’re not working on Black Flag. They’re resting. They are refreshing their minds and then working on something else that is not announced.”
Source: Eurogamer
Reports are that Supercell is currently closing a $100 million funding round that values the company at $800 million. It is believed that Venture Partners, Atomico and Index Ventures are the main investors for between 15 to 20 percent of the company.
“We simply will not comment on market rumors, we’ve never really done that and will not do that now,” said Supercell spokesperson Heini Vesander.
It has been reported that Supercell receives over a half million dollars a day from its two iOS titles: Clash of Clans and Hay Day.
Source: Techcrunch
