While the movie 300 ended with the heroic death of the 300 Spartans, we’ve still got larger and more climactic clashes between the Greek states and the Persian empire to commit to film. Along with the epic sea clash at the Battle of Artemisium, there’s promised details of the rise of Xerxes as “the God King”.
Internet funnyman Nathan Barnatt has taken his act to the Mega64 extreme with his latest video. Watch as most of the people in this video play it straight as he plays Trevor from GTA V trying to dispose of a corpse (actually a live human).
Though Nintendo has been struggling over the past few months with sales of its Wii U game console, things are finally picking up with the release of such popular titles as The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World. According to Nintendo Germany’s general manager Bernd Fakesch, this could just be the beginning leading into next year.
Speaking with Neckar-Chronik, Fakesch stated that the racing game Mario Kart 8 and the Namco-produced fighting game Super Smash Bros. could make their debuts during spring 2014, adding a much-needed double-header that could sell more Wii U units.
Mario Kart 8 was previously planned for some form of spring/early summer release, but Super Smash Bros. didn’t have a pegged release date at the time. Upon asking for confirmation on the story, Nintendo stated, “Nintendo has nothing to announce at this time.”
Considering how well both properties sell, it’d be nice to see Nintendo release these games sooner rather than later.
Source: Gamespot
With the PlayStation 4, Sony has provided the means for users to record and set up live feeds for their gameplay sessions using the Twitch TV streaming service. Today, the company reported just how popular the service has been – and it’s definitely growing.
Sony has stated that the system has accounted for approximately 10 percent of Twitch content since its launch last month, a figure tallied based upon broadcast minutes. In addition, the service has also added over 100,000 new PlayStation 4 subscribers since the system’s release, pushing its user base to well over 700,000 broadcasters total.
Matthew DiPietro, VP of Marketing at Twitch, stated, “When people look back at the true game changers of 2013, the integration of Twitch into the current generation consoles will be on the short list. As testament to the growing appeal of live broadcasting video game content, the amount of broadcasters on Twitch has grown from around 600,000 in October to more than 700,000 in November.
“In addition to more than 100K new broadcasters signing up since the launch of PlayStation 4, PS4 owners make up ten percent of all content on Twitch based on minutes broadcast,” DiPietro concluded.
Look for the number to continue to grow in 2014.
Source: Engadget
Web browsing can be addictive, whether you’re sitting in front of a computer or using a mobile device. If you’re doing yours on the go with a smartphone or tablet, don’t be shocked – it’s picking up more in popularity than you might think.
A report from StatCounter indicates that the use of mobile web browsers has risen higher than ever, accounting for more than 20 percent of all global browsing for the first time. The chart above shows just how much they’ve picked up with this milestone.
In general, the mobile share of browsing has picked up an approximate 53 percent this year, as back in January, it only accounted for 13 percent of worldwide browsing, according to Computerworld. This has clear implications for makers of browser-based games, among others.
One has to wonder if the trend will continue into 2014. Don’t be surprised if it does.
Source: GigaOm
Nintendo 3DS owners will have more than enough opportunity to get social this weekend, as Nintendo has announced a National StreetPass Weekend that will run through December 14 and 15.
The weekend will have Nintendo shuffling around StreetPasses through Nintendo Zone locations across the nation, allowing users to meet with others no matter what their location.
When it comes to making bets in social casino games, one would think that guys would be more likely to be high-rollers. However, according to a new report from DoubleDown, women are the larger demographic.
Based on the gameplay data from six million monthly active users and utilizing its “social casino index,” the company’s global marketing VP for DoubleDown’s parent company IGT, John Clelland, pointed out there’s a higher female audience for the games.
“We had this belief that men would make the highest bets,” said Clelland. According to the report, however, “women between the ages of 45 and 55” make up most of the audience.
However, when it comes to spending actual money, men still take the cake, as a report from payments platform PlaySpan pointed out that men still spend nearly three times as much as women.
Source: All Things D
In an effort to expand its social network, Google has announced that it has added Google+ integration to its Google Play store for Android devices. Still in the process of “rolling out over the next few days” according to the company, the update will provide a number of new features where users will start seeing recommendations and app usage from friends.
This includes having access to an activity page in the Google Play Store, where you can check out all the content you’ve reviewed and rated, along with seeing more recommendations from friends and family. Of course, this will be helpful to game publishers trying to get viral audience growth, and it will encourage the spread of Google+, too.
“Have you ever asked a friend for a recommendation for a movie to rent or a new book to read ” said Google’s documentation on the update. “We’re rolling out a new version of the Google Play Store app which makes it easier for you to find and share recommendations with your friends and family.”
The update is being provided free of charge.
Source: The Next Web
“When I was young I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures, so I did ten times more work.” -George Bernard Shaw
Here are this week’s [a]list jobs:
[a]list daily is your source for the hottest job openings for senior management and marketing in games, entertainment and social media.
To see last week’s jobs, click here.
Within two months of its launch, Clash of Clans became the worlds’ top grossing game in the Playstore based on November revenues. On its climb to the top, SuperCell’s game exceeded the revenues of King’s Candy Crush Saga, despite having averaged only one fifth of Candy Crush Saga’s download numbers. GooglePlay now accounts for approximately one third of the total money generated by Clash of Clans. On iOS devices last month, Candy Crush Saga had slightly more than double the number of downloads than Clash of Clans.
The lead that Candy Crush Saga maintains on iOS devices secures its number one position overall across app stores. The recently launched Candy Crush Saga for Kakao version has pushed the game to over $1.3 million a day, which means a nice $1 million dollar net in the bank for King.
Overall, Google Play continues to gain market share from iOS, even now that iPhone and iPad game revenues are starting to ramp up towards the holiday season. The worlds’ number 4 country based on Google Play revenues, Germany, and Spain, ranked 13th, could well be the first countries outside of Asia where Google Play spending overtakes iOS.
November Country Rankings: iPhone, iPad, Google Play {links no longer active}.
iOS Games
The top 4 iOS games remained unchanged in October with Candy Crush Saga still the top earning title. King’s other hit title, Pet Rescue Saga, dropped one place to number 6, replaced by Game of War: Fire Age which continues its rise up the charts.
Modern War from Funzio, which debuted at number 18 last month, is now at number 11 in the charts. Slotomania – FREE Slots, which has been missing from the top 20 since September, has re-entered at number 15. Other new entries include Professional Baseball PRIDE and Dragon City Mobile. The number of Asian titles is steadily increasing, with 6 this month compared to just 2 in September.
November iOS Game Ranking: iOS Games {link no longer active}
Google Play Store Games
Clash of Clans, published to the Google Play Store in October, is now the top earning game, ahead of Puzzle & Dragons and Candy Crush Saga. This is a hugely impressive feat for the SuperCell game which is currently number 2 in the iOS charts.
Also notable is the debut of Candy Crush Saga for Kakao from King.com at number 11. While game play for the title is the same as Candy Crush Saga, currently number 3 in the charts, the game is played through the popular Korean social platform Kakao.
There were three other new entries in October: Brave Frontier, Poko Pang for Kakao and Suhoji for Kakao, at number 17, 18 and 19 respectively.
November Google Play Store Game Ranking: Google Play Store Games {link no longer active}
iOS Publishers
The top 3 publishers are once again unchanged, with Supercell taking the top spot followed by King and Electronic Arts. Last Month’s number 4 Kabam has fallen to 6th place while Puzzle & Dragon’s publisher GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. has climbed from number 9 to 5.
Playtika LTD have re-entered the charts at number 16, with hit title Slotomania also re-enterting the games charts. Glu Games Inc. have fallen from number 16 to the bottom of the charts.
November iOS Publisher Ranking: iOS Publishers {link no longer active}
Google Play Store Publishers
The top 5 publishers in terms of revenues generated remained the same this month, Japanese LINE Corporation claiming the number 1 spot followed by King.com and Korean giant CJ E&M corp. Supercell has stormed through the charts to number 6, a jump of 8 positions.
SUNDAYTOZ, INC also did well in October, climbing four places to number 12. French publisher Gameloft has fallen 3 places to number 18. There are 3 new entries this month: NHN Entertainment corp, EA Swiss Sarl and Korean Kunlun Inc..
November Google Play Store Publisher Ranking: Google Play Store Publishers {link no longer active}
The rankings published every month are based on data from Distimo’s AppIQ and Newzoo analysis.
