Thor: The Dark World is releasing this week, and despite the amount of Internet fandom Loki gets, he is not as cool as his brother Thor to grade schoolers. Check out Tom Hiddleston as he tries to unsuccessfully recruit kids to his side.
Marius Titus had his personal world reduced to ashes when his family was killed by barbarians. Watch episode one to get some context behind the exclusive Xbox One game and the live-action series.
When it comes to designing a game console, some folks want a design or a color that stands out. Microsoft, on the other hand, was looking for something that, instead, blended in.
During Roadmap 2013 earlier this week, Carl Ledbetter Sr., Senior Principal Creative Director at Microsoft’s Xbox Industrial Design, spoke about the design of the system, and how the team wanted it to be a comfort in the living room. “We wanted to strike the balance between a pure form that feels like it’s an invited member of the home,” he stated.
The company wanted to find a design that fit not only sitting with other devices, like a cable box or satellite receiver, but also with its own technology. “They do share one common design language. It hasn’t happened before, and it’s something we want to take further,” said Ledbetter.
Microsoft also wanted to go for a “friendly” approach for players of all types. “We still have the Xbox 360, and part of our challenge was that we’re offering more entertainment through Xbox One,” he concluded. “We’re making the design and concept of the system echo first.”
Source: GigaOm
Despite some skepticism that the series was beginning to show its age, Activision’s Call of Duty: Ghosts continued the trend of defining what a blockbuster the series has become.
The publisher has announced that the company has sold more than one billion dollars of Ghosts in its first 24 hours of release – beating Grand Theft Auto V‘s accomplishment of the same amount by a single day.
“Call of Duty is by far the largest console franchise of this generation,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “More people have played Call of Duty this year than ever before, logging four billion hours of gameplay. And in the last 12 months, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, including its digital content, generated more revenues than any other console game ever has in a single year. Although it is too early to assess sell-through for Call of Duty: Ghosts, it’s launching a ta time when the franchise has never been more popular.”
“Ghosts is an amazing game which ushers in the next generation of Call of Duty. The team at Infinity Ward has delivered yet another epic thrill ride in the campaign, and what I think is our best multiplayer game yet,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “This is the must have launch title for the next generation of consoles, and we expect Call of Duty: Ghosts to be the most successful launch title for the Xbox One and PS4 by a wide margin. In fact, according to GameStop, Call of Duty: Ghosts is their most pre-reserved next gen title.”
In addition, the game has captured the number one slot on Xbox Live usage for its first 24 hours of release.
More than likely, the numbers will continue to pick up leading into the holiday season, especially with new versions of Ghosts being available for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Source: Activision
First Facebook and now Twitter, Forrester takes aim at the value of the social site as Twitter opens itself up today at $45.17, which is a whole 73 percent above its IPO due to such high demand. For all those riding the wave out there today, take heed: when it comes to actually producing value for marketers, Twitter doesn’t satisfy.
In a report compiled by Forrester’s principal analyst Nate Elliott, a survey found that only 55 percent of marketers were happy with the business value provided by Twitter. While Twitter has a broad user base that continues to grow exponentially, especially internationally, the proven value of Twitter as a marketing channel has yet to be seen.
Furthermore, Elliott says that Twitter hasn’t sufficiently provided hard metrics, tools and advice that marketers need to thrive on Twitter. Fair enough, but Twitter appears to be making some great headway integrating social TV and infusing their newsfeed with photos. Innovation at Twitter is a fire that has only just been set alight.
Of note is Facebook’s response to Forrester’s previous report that brought Facebook ads to task, saying their report was “illogical and irresponsible.” Facebook has made metrics and tools easily available to marketers and is transparent about ad value, all of the things which Twitter apparently lacks. What Twitter has an edge over Facebook on is the ability to grow communities faster.
While Forrester may have a point, Twitter’s inherent value to marketers is obvious. We will hope it is just a matter of time before Twitter answers to the need for better and smarter tools for marketers without having to use data from outside apps.
Source: Digiday
Even if you’re not getting your racing kicks on with Sony’s forthcoming Gran Turismo 6, you’ll still be able to interact with the help of your GPS.
Sony has announced that Polyphony Studios, the developer behind the upcoming sequel, will introduce a GPS coordinate data map, which users can download to their smartphone or tablet devices. From there, they can track their movement throughout locations around the world and then recreate a similar route within the game. The drive to the store will never be dull again!
In addition, a GPS Visualizer is also in the works, which lets users with cars that enable Controller Area Network (CAN) to utilize their real-life driving data, and see how it can be recreated in the game.
Finally, Gran Turismo 6 will also support 3D via a downloadable patch to be released later — similar to how Gran Turismo 5 did upon its release.
Gran Turismo 6 will arrive this December for PlayStation 3.
Source: MCV UK
Nintendo has traditionally produced physical game releases on cartridges and later discs for its NES, SNES and other consoles. Since we’re in a new era of downloadable games, however, it’s decided to shift its focus a bit to meet that market
During a Q2 earnings Q & A held earlier this week, the company stated that it will have a sharper focus on digital releases for its new IP, with more original efforts for both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Today’s release of Wii Sports Club will lead the charge, featuring online-compatible versions of its popular bowling and tennis activities.
“When we launch a brand-new IP or when we release a game with well-known characters but with brand-new gameplay that our consumers are not familiar with, it is hard for them to anticipate and appreciate the value of the content before actually purchasing and playing with it,” said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.
“For these titles, if we take the ordinary approach of selling the packaged software, the software might not reach its full sales potential. When we offer our consumers such new play experiences exclusively in a digital format, we intend to have wide flexibility in terms of their prices and ways to market them.”
Not to worry, Nintendo fans, this doesn’t mean the end of retail games. “I do not deny the possibility that Wii Sports Club may become packaged software in the future. However, for the future of Wii U, we have prioritized releasing tennis and bowling by the end of this year,” concluded Iwata.
Check out Wii Sports Club on the Wii U eShop now. Each activity runs $9.99, but comes with a 24-hour trial period.
Source: MCV UK
Some lucky Microsoft fans out there are getting their hands on next-generation systems and games for no charge, as Microsoft ramps up its promotional engine.
The company has launched a special promotion where it’s randomly giving away Xbox One systems that include Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome and other goodies to select users via email. In addition, several gamers are also getting their hands on downloadable vouchers for the forthcoming brawl-a-thon Killer Instinct, though they’re being given out to others, instead of just those winning systems.
Several factors are being considered for the random giveaway, including a player’s GamerScore, the time they’ve had an Xbox Live subscription, how active they are in the Xbox Live community, VIP status with Xbox Live Rewards, and so forth. Again, it is random, so not all users should expect such a reward.
For everyone else, the Xbox One and Killer Instinct will both launch on November 22 here in the United States.
Source: Polygon
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag has been making waves since its release for consoles last week, but PC owners have been feeling left out over their lack of pirating action. Not to worry, as they’ll soon have plenty to sing about.
Ubisoft has announced that Black Flag will make its way to PC on November 19 in the U.S. and November 22 in Europe. It’s also announced a number of editions for the game, including a standard release, as well as a pair of special editions.
The Buccaneer Edition will include an Edward Kenway figurine, as well as a high-quality artbook, an official soundtrack, two lithographs, a collector’s box and additional in-game content. There will also be a Skull Edition that comes with a jumbo-sized steelbook case, as well as the artbook, soundtrack, lithographs and DLC.
On top of that, those who purchase select NVIDIA GeForce equipment, ranging from the TITAN to the 780 models, will be eligible to get a free digital copy of Black Flag. It looks like it’s time to set sail, mateys!
Source: VG247
Killzone: Shadow Fall is one of the biggest PS4 releases for the launch, and Sony is looking to put a lot of marketing weight behind it. Leading the campaign will be this live-action TV spot, touching on the grim realities of the conflict between the Helghast and the Vektans.
Source: Creativity-Online.com
