Some very serious Nintendo fans who happen to be parkour athletes did a fabulous recreation of Mario and Luigi in a real-life Super Mario Bros. game. Christian Russell and Ronnie Shalvis performed with Salt Lake City as a backdrop. Sprinkle in some CGI and an electrified sound track, and they successfully added new life to an old franchise.
The video comes on the heels of another one posted on Nintendo’s official YouTube channel that featured a highflying Luigi. There’s nothing like bringing games into the real world in order to make a successful viral video!
The rhythm game genre isn’t dead. It’s just entering a whole new realm as rhythmic martial arts in KickBeat from Zen Games. The single-player campaign game includes 18 licensed tracks, but the game allows you to import your favorite tracks and use them.
“If you really want to beat your enemies to the latest Beiber track, well, you can do that in the privacy of your own screen,” Zen Games noted.
KickBeat arrives on the PlayStation Store on September 3 in North America and September 4 in Europe.
Legendary designer Peter Molyneux and his digital game studio 22Cans is delivering what they’re calling the “regenesis of the god game” in Godus. The game lets players take on the role of a god just as in classics of the genre, altering the environment, gathering worshippers and creating a civilization. In a very Molyneux-like nod to modern times, the game also features clashes between gods, as in other players, and their worshippers.
For those who remember, Godus is also the game where a real-life person will be a god for all players in the game. Bryan Henderson was selected as the winner after smashing through 22Cans’s previous game, Curiosity, and will have a hand in the initial environments found in Godus.
Godus will be appearing in beta form under Steam’s Early Access program for $19.99 on September 13.
Bucking the rumor that Xbox One was headed to stores in early November to beat PlayStation 4, Microsoft has officially announced the system’s launch date as November 22. That’s the date Xbox One will launch in 13 markets, including the US and UK.
“We’re now in a position to share that Xbox One will be available on November 22, 2013 in all 13 of our initial launch markets – Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, UK, and USA. Many more markets will follow in 2014,” said Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of marketing, strategy and business.
The date puts Microsoft behind its rival, the PlayStation 4, in the US, but a week ahead of it in the UK. Sony has set a US launch date of November 15, and a UK launch date of November 29.
“We are humbled and gratified by the tremendous interest in Xbox One from game fans everywhere. We sold out of our pre-order supply faster than at any other time in our history and we are on path to have the biggest launch of an Xbox ever. We look forward to celebrating with millions and millions of gamers this holiday.”
Microsoft has not confirmed its pre-order numbers but Mehdi added that limited number of additional Xbox One Day One consoles would be made available today. “November 22 is a special day in Xbox history – on this day, we first launched Xbox 360 in 2005. Our next chapter begins in 79 days, when Xbox One becomes available. We built Xbox One to bring you the best games, unrivalled multiplayer and more entertainment than ever before. It’s nearly time to say ‘Xbox On’ and open a new world of games and entertainment.”
It sounds like a great idea – an even less expensive Nintendo handheld than the brand new 2DS that was announced just last week. The new Nintendo 1DS is only $99, and it’s very portable . . . so portable it does away with the built-in second screen, yet it still runs all 3DS and most DS software titles. You can hook it up to an HDTV with the included HDMI songle, or clip on your Android or iOS smartphone to use as a second screen. An amazing concept, but you could tell it’s a fake when it says the HDMI dongle is included.
And that’s the fact. Sadly, it’s not real, but a beautifully executed parody website in Nintendo’s style, complete with links to the actual Nintendo web site. Whoever pulled this off, applause is in order. Maybe it will give Nintendo some ideas.
If you like multiplayer gaming in one place, the Xbox One has you covered. According to details from the official Xbox One product page, the console supports eight controllers simultaneously with a wireless range of up to 30 feet. That’s going to require either some serious split-screening or a quite complicated single screen, but with the right game it can be tremendous fun (Bomberman, anyone ).
Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the PS4 will only support four simultaneous controllers, down from the seven simultaneous controllers supported by the PS3.
An anonymous source has revealed to Eurogamer that Sony is working on a virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4. The device was originally intended to be introduced at Gamescom, but is now thought to be unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show later this month.
That source claims that the device is seen internally as a rival to the Oculus Rift – and has been demonstrated to staff via the forthcoming PS4 racer DriveClub. In that demonstration, staff are said to have been shown the headset displaying the interior of a car’s cockpit and the view from the windscreen. DriveClub developer Evolution studios has been heavily involved with the push for 3D gaming on the PS3. Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida has previously refused to answer questions on the use of VR headsets in PS4 development.
Sony already has two headsets on the market, the TMZ-T1 and TMZ-T2, both of which are well more than the cost of a PS4. If Sony expects this to be a popular peripheral for the PS 4, a lower price will be a necessity. If true, this will give the PS 4 an interesting unique difference from the Xbox One, something that should keenly interest Sony.
Smartphone sales data have arrived from Kantar WorldPanel Comtech, and the good news continues for Android phones. The Android operating system accounted for 65 percent of sales in the nine most influential markets (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, USA, Australia, China, Mexico) in the quarter that ended in July.
Apple’s got great market share in the US with 43 percent, but its market share is low in other important markets such as Spain with only 6 percent. The pending introduction of a lower-priced iPhone (if the rumors are true) would certainly help this situation.
Meanwhile, Windows Phone continues to grow share across most markets, growing to 3.5 percent of sales in the US and 8.2 percent of sales in Europe. Lastly, Blackberry continues to shrink, dropping to a mere 2.4 percent of sales across the Big Five markets in Europe and just 1.2 percent of sales in the US.
Australia is known for stringent guidelines when it comes to violent or controversial content in games. Now one game being developed in the country hasn’t even made it out before getting on the Australia’s morality radar. A city councillor for Monash, Jieh-Yung Lo, has called KMM Interactive Productions’ choice of title for its upcoming game Whore of the Orient insensitive, and he’s threatened to pursue the matter through the Human Rights Commission.
”It’s the use of the word ‘Orient’, more even than the word ‘whore’, that is the issue,” Jieh-Yung Lo told The Age. ”The O-word is very similar to the N-word for African-American communities. It’s a 19th century racial-colonial conception and it’s especially painful for older people in the communities. That was a very bad time in China, and people don’t want or need to have that dragged up.”
Lo is hoping that the developer will change the name of the game. He is also upset that the game has secured $200,000 in funding from Australia’s government investment board, which has defended the game and its title.
The phrase “whore of the Orient” is an old nickname for the city of Shanghai. KMM Interactive has yet to comment on the matter.
The folks at Game Connection are preparing to put on their next game industry networking event on their home turf, taking place December 3-5 in Paris. The event will feature the third edition of the Game Connection Marketing Awards, a program aimed at honoring efforts in just about every marketing category, from broadcast, print and PR to social, digital and experiential. They do have a few twists as far as traditional game industry and advertising awards go. Game Connection is once again forgoing fees. It costs nothing to enter or, in the case of winners, receive those spiffy Emmy-like trophies. Also for these upcoming Europe awards, any work done between January 2012 until the end of August 2013 is eligible – to make sure no one thinks that’s a misprint, that’s any work done over nearly the past year and a half.
The biggest twist for anyone just now finding out about these awards is that the deadline is coming fast. While the process to enter is fairly painless – it’s completely digital – all entries must be submitted through the Game Connection awards siteby Monday, September 9.
We talked with Giulia Palmieri, who sports the nifty title “marketing and communications Jedi” at Game Connection, about their experience with past awards and who should enter these upcoming ones.
The deadline is looming, and I bet there are people still procrastinating. Let’s get everyone mobilized – who should be excited about these awards, and why should they submit their work?
Well, everybody should be excited about these awards! In fact, we don’t mind if you are a professional working as a freelance, within the ranks of an in-house marketing team or at an agency. As far as you worked on the launch or the promotion of a game, you are invited to show off and apply to our awards! Reasons are several: first, there is no entry fee and it’s a perfect occasion to showcase your talent and gain extra visibility among your peers. Second, because if you happen to be a finalist, you get free access to Game Connection [Paris] for the awards ceremony, where you’ll be able to share information, inspiration and insight about the business of video game marketing . . . without forgetting the fun!
With this third edition of the Game Connection Marketing Awards on the horizon, it’s safe to say you’ve had success with launching them. Tell me about the experience and what it’s been like for Game Connection to not just branch into awards, but also the marketing side of the industry.
We are really happy about the response that companies have given us for our previous editions. Having approached this specific audience was a good catch. Game Connection is now an event that offers a full experience of the production pipeline, without neglecting any player within our beautiful industry. More and more marketers are now coming to the show as exhibitors and visitors, because after having taken part in these awards, they saw the real potential of Game Connection as a unique marketplace where time is never wasted and the networking is worth gold. That’s why we are keeping our feet on the gas by providing more and more content dedicated to marketing professionals during our upcoming edition in Paris.
Give us some highlights of the first two awards.
It was a hell of a ride! Last year in Paris, we were extremely satisfied to see among our nominees not only AAA publishers’ teams but also smaller and very talented companies, in the case of neoco for example, a London agency that won the Best Social Media Campaign with Borderlands 2. During our Game Connection in San Francisco, we saw again on the battlefield real giants such as Ayzenberg and Midnight Oil Creative face incredible teams such as Iam8bit, Armed Mind and ichi. I think that one of the elements that made the difference was having an incredible jury to pick the best projects. Some members renewed their interest in the initiative and joined the board again. Here a few names, for example: Antony Macaré , head of digital at Namco Bandai Games, Alexandre Scriabine, acquisition marketing at EA, Dennis Heinert, head of PR at Innogames, Steve Fowler, head of global marketing at ArenaNet, and Rupert Loman, CEO at Gamer Network.
What has Game Connection learned from running a marketing awards program?
We are learning to be more specific. The companies themselves expressed this need. For example, we have now a general category for all broadcast campaigns, where gameplay trailers are right next to live action ones. Now that our Marketing Awards are still earning their place on the red carpet, it’s not yet an issue, but as we count on becoming as big as the Academy, we’ll certainly need to add more precise categories in the future.
What else are you planning that’s geared towards game marketers?
We are really putting the extra effort on the speakers’ lineup. Game Connection Europe will offer a conference program packed expressly for marketers, because we want people to understand that our show is not only a business goldmine, but also the right place to level-up with industry experts and be always informed on the latest market trends and technology innovations.
Game Connection is at the epicenter of indie game development. Do you still see a divide between game developers and marketers, and if so what will it take to overcome that?
Well, I don’t see a real division, as indies are slowly becoming marketers – whether they like it or not. I mean, they are no longer developers only. If you want your game to be spotted, you need to improve your business skills and remember that marketing is not an option.
Any final thoughts or other major events from GC we should know about?
If we want to stay on the indies subject, I’d like to mention our famous Selected Projects Program. Deadline is on September 6th. Those that are willing to pitch their games in front of major publishers shouldn’t miss this chance. (Application is here.) I’d like to remind that one of the most downloaded apps on the App Store, Badland from Frogmind as well as the upcoming PS4 game Contrast from Compulsion Games were first spotted at Game Connection. So, it’s really worth the try!
