Windows 10’s Gaming Possibilities

Microsoft has a big event planned on Wednesday, which should provide a great deal of inormation about the company’s forthcoming Windows 10 update. Although details have yet to be revealed regarding what the new operating system will bring, it could no doubt change the landscape for Microsoft’s PC userbase — and, yes, that includes games.

Led by CEO Satya Nadella, the company has undergone a few changes to bring its stock to an all-time high, with a focus on not only cross-platform support for its products, but also a huge leap forward for its video game division, led by the popular Xbox One.

Windows 10 is likely to bring with it a new desktop operating system, as seen in the photo above, that makes it easier for programs to be accessed. This is even better for gamers that want to launch their titles right away, rather than jumping through sub-menu after sub-menu just to begin a round of Halo: Spartan Assault or Hydro Thunder Hurricane. There’s a possibility that users can activate their programs by voice command as well, as Windows 10 is likely to have support for Cortana, the company’s patented voice recognition system.

There’s also word that a new Xbox app within Windows 10 will make buying and browsing for games that much easier, as well as tracking progress with Achievements and seeing what their friends are up to on interactive activity feeds. Microsoft hasn’t broken down just how smoothly the downloading process will work, but its main goal is ease of use with the new program, so we’ll likely see something come out of that.

Integration isn’t just limited to PCs, laptops, and notebooks, though. Windows 10 is likely to be introduced acroos a full specturm of devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones, allowing users to access their data and applications much more easily than before — and probably have more access to games in the process. As well, Microsoft is rumored to be making it easier than ever to develop applications that run across all of its platforms, with the goal of leveraging its major market share on desktops to bring more apps to mobile devices. In particular, this could mean game developers could easily support not just PCs, but Windows tablets and Windows smartphones with the very same application and only a minor amount of effort. Which could result in a huge increase in the number of games available on Windows mobile devices.

SmartGlass, the company’s connected application that works with a number of Xbox One games, may also see better integration with Windows 10-related products, making it easier to activate a “second screen” experience with the likes of Halo and other games.

Finally, depending on the power of the service, Microsoft could very well introduce a new line-up of games to attract a bigger Xbox-style audience. Although it’s doubtful we’ll see something like Halo: The Master Chief Collection running on a mobile device anytime soon, that’s not to say we can’t see the original Halo running in some form — or maybe even one of the newer titles in the series. And Microsoft could always figure out a side release to coincide with the forthcoming Halo 5: Guardians, as a way to appeal further to the gaming public.

It’s even possible that Microsoft may introduce some new hardware at this event, though we wouldn’t expect to see a mobile Xbox One. Still, seeing some games appear on both the Xbox One and on mobile devices might be in the offing, which would certainly open a new front in the console wars.

More details on Microsoft’s plans with Windows 10 will be unveiled tomorrow, but don’t be surprised if they provide a number of changes for the better.

Instagram’s Users Are Getting More Comfortable With Branded Content

This morning, SimplyMeasured published their latest Instagram study diving into how brands are performing on the mobile platform up to Q4 2014. With storied engagement numbers, brands have been leaping onto the platform in great numbers to see for themselves if this is true.

Now that 42 percent of Interbrand’s 100 is seeing over 100k followers looking to actively engage with branded content, we now have better insights on what is performing and from this can discern Instagram best practices.

“The ability to make an impact with a single piece of content is growing rapidly, and giving the visual network real, measurable value for brands,” says SimplyMeasured in the report.

We looked deeply into the report to pull out some of the actionable takeaways that marketers should look to be doing on the platform in order to get the most engagement out of the content they post.

Brands Are Finding It’s Not Enough Just To Have An Instagram Account

You have to be active on it, too. According to the study, active brands have almost doubled since O3 2012 and in that time, the posting frequency that brands have adopted is beginning to find its groove. Most brands are posting 10-20 times a month, but some brands are seeing the benefit of posting even more than that, with some saying they post even more than 50 times per month.

SimplyMeasured Instagram Study
SimplyMeasured Instagram Post Frequency

Engagement Is Up By 83% On Average Each Post

SimplyMeasured Instagram Brand Post

Instragram has 300 milion active monthly users now generating 70 million photos each day, but even more than posting, Instagram users love liking. They do it 2.5 billion times each day. Savvy brands are certainly not missing out on this. Of Interbrand’s 100 brands, SimplyMeasured saw 130 million total engagements.

“As brand adoption reaches its max, engagement is growing at a greater rate than new brands are adopting the network,” says SimplyMeasured.

It is clear users are becoming more used to branded content now as they elect more and more to have it appear in their feeds. The report also notes that photos continue to be more popular than video content on the platform, and users love engaging with brands with their own photos by tagging them. Looking for a well of UGC, anyone

SimplyMeasured Active Brand Engagement

Instagram Posts Have Longevity

If Twitter is like a flash in the pan and Facebook feels like having a protracted half-life, Instagram is proving to be a platform on which content has considerable longevity. The platform’s format lends itself well to enabling discovery, and it appears that is no different for branded content. In fact 10 percent of comments come in after a post has been around for 19 days which is pretty much eternity on the Internet. Just 50 percent of comments are posted within the first 10 hours, which goes up to 69 percent in 48 hours.

But not just any posts– good posts. “High-performing content on Instagram has a longer shelf life than lower performers. This is an important reason to focus on quality.”

SimplyMeasured Instagram Brand Post Longevity

It Doesn’t Matter How Long Your Post Is

It matters what’s in it. Caption length doesn’t have any correlation with engagement, although most brands tend to keep it within 141 characters. What’s most important is ensuring appropriate users and related accounts are @Mention’d appropriately. It’s a no-brainer, but reaching a wider audience will of course ramp up your engagement.

SimplyMeasured Average Brand Post Engagement

When it comes to hashtagging, brands tend to keep it well within Instagram’s cap of 30 tags. Hashtagging is chiefly important to ensuring your content is discovered by a relevent audience, so 86 percent of brand posts make sure to include at least one hashtag. A high 91 percent of top brand posts have seven hashtags or less, so perhaps therein lies Instagram’s magic engagement number.

SimplyMeasured Instagram Brand Hashtag Trends

On top of that, tagging location also proves to be an engagement booster. Not many posts do it, but those which do are rewarded with a 50 percent lift. Don’t miss out on that!

Instagram SimplyMeasured Location Tag Performance Brands

CREATIVE: ‘Strafe’s’ Kickstarter Trailer Is Like A Missing Cronenberg Short

When it comes to Kickstarter campaigns, standout indie game developers are known for getting rather entrepreneurial. Few, however, can match the delightfully gonzo bag of tricks Strafe’s marketing team has at their disposal.

Strafe, a first-person shooter by Los Angeles-based indie developer Pixel Titans with an aesthetic recalling Doom, Wolfenstein, and other gloriously 32-bit PC games of the mid-1990s, is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign seeking to raise just over $185,000 by February 19. Started just yesterday, the campaign is already seeing funding in the tens of thousands. Described by its creators as “the fastest, bloodiest, deadliest, most adjective-abusing, action-packed first-person shooter of 1996”, Strafe’s aggressive roll-out includes a trailer befitting of a Cronenberg film.

The trailer, as retro-campy as it is gleefully violent, mixes gameplay footage with a story of a boy’s obsession with the game, his younger brother’s fated desire to play, and their harried mother caught up in the unfolding madness. If ever there were a spot likely to make you think “Long live the new flesh!”, this would be it.

It would seem that Strafe’s developers are courting gamers with an offbeat sense of humor who might be jaded by gaming’s reliance on graphics as a marketing tool at times. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, something Strafe is aware of with its 90s-heavy aesthetic. As “core” gamers continue to be attracted to PC gaming, the fact Strafe was built for both PC and Oculus is notable. Oculus’ promise of a beautiful and immersive gaming VR future has inspired a huge base of fanboys and Pixel Titans is betting on them.

Strafe’s advertised features include “BILLIONS of level possibilities”, Oculus Rift compatibility, and “UBER-GORE Tech for ludicrously persistent gibs”. If their funding goal is reached, Strafe’s developers are offering silly incentives like customized AOL buddy icons and “EARLY SHAREWARE ACCESS”.

Social’s Purchase Influence Grows

“We’re finally seeing the correlation from social to sales that we’ve intuitively known to be true in our understanding of changing consumer behaviors. It’s only going to grow faster and the brands who’ve significantly invested in their social presence will be ahead of the pack,” says Suzy Ghov, Senior Strategic Planner at Ayzenberg, in light of a new social e-commerce report from Business Insider.

The report sheds light on what has been an as-yet difficult to quantify aspect of marketing and shows just where social lies in the e-commerce mix. While you can read the full report here, we’ve extracted the most important aspects of the report for marketers below.

  • As more retailers are utilizing social to promote products, they are seeing earnings from these efforts. As a result, social shopping has grown 60 percent from 2012 to 2013 while e-commerce as a whole only grew 17 percent in that same period. But that’s not all. These are only the quanitiable numbers that we can measure with direct referrals and doesn’t account for the journey in the purchase process.
  • “Buy” buttons only stand to improve these conversion rates. Facebook and Twitter are currently testing these utilities.
  • Facebook leads the way for referrals and sales. A share on Facebook averages $3.58 in revenue and a Twitter share is 85 cents. Facebook has spawned Facebook-native e-commerce businesses as a result.
  • Instagram AOV has increased from $51 to $128 per order in one year.

GameDevHacker: Where Indies Can Get Real

The incredible rise of the indie game developers over the last decade has been a tremendous story, of how small teams or even individuals can craft a vision into a game that can be enjoyed by thousands or even millions. In many ways we’re truly in a golden age for indie game developers, but at the same time it’s also getting more and more difficult to make a living at developing games on your own or in a small team. That’s where events like GameDevHacker, being held on Jan. 28, 2015 in New York City, can help by providing a place to learn more about bringing games to market successfully.

As the conference web site notes: “Making games is hard! Gather with GameDevHackers all star lineup to hear, mingle, and discuss topics that drive serious growth. This is a no joke collection of topics that confront game developers and business people alike. See how the industry attacks some of the toughest challenges of the past, and the future bets they’ll be making.”

Eric Yohay, who’s organizing GameDevHacker, spoke with [a]listdaily recently about the one-day event and how to get the most out of it.

Eric Yohay

How did GameDevHacker get started?

I used to run a company that’s now called Playcrafting. We were really good at teaching people how to make games, and how to pump them out. Consistently, what I saw was we’d have 50, 100 or 200 making games every month, new people who’d never made them before, and they’d all come back to me with the same question: “Eric, I spent all my time and energy making this games and that was what I had in my sights, but now that I’ve launched it I’m clueless. How do I make it a business, how do I get downloads, how do I attract partners What should I be doing now that I’ve made this game ”

So I spun this out separately, and the lens is how do you succeed in gaming and competing in today’s market. We’ve divided the conference into two different things: The past trends, and future bets. With past trends, what’s worked in the past — let’s talk actual hard numbers and data and discuss that. Then, tell us about future bets. Where are we going to spend our time, money, and energy moving forward.

Creating the audience is just as important as creating the product these days, isn’t it?

Exactly! I compare it to entrepreneurs who their whole game plan is to raise money, and that’s where all their time and energy is. They raise money, and then they’re clueless — they have no idea what to do after. You need to execute.

Are there certain key topics that are being addressed at the conference? What do you really hope attendees get some insight into and some help with at GameDevHacker?

The major goal is: How do you make money How do you succeed, how do you keep it moving Some core things we’re having that no one else has really done is we have Mikko Setala from Rovio coming in [executive vice president at Rovio], talking about Angry Birds from the start to where it is now. He’s talking about when you do have something take off, how to capitalize on it. Now they’re not even a gaming company, they’re more of a brand with stuffed animals and merchandise, and he’s talking about really outside-of-the-box things when you have momentum.

Another thing we’re really excited about is we have Brandon Quartararo from Digital Capital Advisors, he’s our keynote. We wanted someone to come in who wasn’t from the game space but knows a lot about it. He comes from the VC world, and he’s talking about the state of gaming: Who was the biggest M&A transactions, why are companies buying other companies, where are the exits. We really wanted to put a different perspective on this. We’re going to spend a whole day diving into details, but before we do that, let’s talk high level. Here’s how the space looks, here’s how it’s changed over time, here’s where we think it’s going.

Who should be attending GameDevHacker?

It’s the business person. In the indie world, it’s typically the engineer who is the business person, because they really understand and have a lot invested. The audience we cater to is the person who’s in charge of growing the company, whoever has a vested interest in making the company succeed. Engineers, if they’re also the business owners. It’s business development people if they’re looking to cut deals. CEOs and founders if they want to see what other CEOs are doing. It’s about really good content from the speakers, and really good people in the audience who can talk with other people.

We have two types of people, and we separate them by very strong lines. We have the indie developers, and they are coming because they want to hear what the large studios are doing. If you have unlimited time and energy and money, what are you doing Then we have the large companies coming in to see what you’re doing if you don’t have any resources and you’re real creative. We shwcase both and let them share, and create an environment where there’s very easy information flow.

For people who are attending, how can they get the most out of the event?

The first thing is have a game plan in want you want to learn from the show. ‘I just launched the game, and I want to grow to a million users.’ Everything you hear, put that lens on it so you know the right question to ask, you know how to frame everything, and you walk away with takeaways. Step #2, don’t be afraid to ask questions — and if you did step #1, it’s much easier. If you’re in a monetization panel, or you’re in a panel on how to get into emerging markets you can frame the question in a way that leads back to your goals and what your game plan and takeaway strategy is.

Finally, network. At the end of the day, everyone’s a real person. We’ll have speakers who will give precise answers in a public forum, but behind closed doors they may have other ideas. They may not want to share to a large audience, but one on one, I think they will. That’s why we have lunch as kind of an open forum, and coffee breaks, and at the end of the day it’s happy hour. At that point it’s a way to socialize and talk real with people who are in the same space.

Marketing Technology Spending Could Reach $130 Billion By 2018

Marketing technology looks to have a big next five years according to IDC’s latest insights. They predict the market will grow by $32.3 billion in 2018 to reach a total of $130 billion in just five years. By that calculation, the marketing technology sector will have a compound annual growth rate of 12.4 percent.

With such growth in an ever-growing and changing landscape , IDC broke down the offerings in a more manageable way. Still, it’s very much a complex and inter-dependent system which marketers are tasked with navigating.

Google: ‘Retailers Should Embrace Mobile Tech’

Having a good mobile strategy when launching a new business-oriented website is a key to great success, as accessibility for consumers on-the-go can help be a big draw for shopping and purchasing purposes.

That said, Pablo Slough, head of mobile ad solutions for the Americas over at Google, recently spoke at the PSFK Future of Retail Event in San Francisco, discussing how more retailers can use mobile technology for better effectiveness.

The story, originally posted by PSFK, highlights Slough’s focus on mobile strategy as far as retailers are concerned. A number of consumers use their phones as personal assistants on a daily basis, like looking up key information on certain items that they’re after, or even keeping communication with someone, whether it’s business related or personal. Retailers need to find a way to grasp this to their advantage, according to Slough.

“Fighting” against the system in an attempt to work out their own program isn’t the key ingredient to success with mobile. Rather, it should be embraced and used effectively.

Slough pointed out that half of the people that utilize their mobile devices are usually in store, and once they find the pertinent information for said item, that could lead them that much closer to a purchase.

Slough highlighted three key areas in which retailers can gain the most from mobile integration: great user experience, relevant ads and insightful measurement.

The video below highlights Slough’s discussion on these topics, and it goes into a good ten-plus minutes, with him discussing the finer points that retailers should pay attention to. It’s a great topic for those who want more insight in terms of the mobile front, since it’s growing to huge leaps and bounds with millions of smartphones and tablets in the hands of consumers. There’s definitely a business market to take part in here.

Goodbye Google Glass; Hello, Google Glass 2

Upon its launch three years ago, Google Glass, a headset that enabled the user to record their day-to-day actions while also playing with a handful of games and apps, met with a great deal of controversy, mainly due to its accessibility and the fact that, well, some folks just didn’t want to be filmed. (The high price didn’t help, either.)

Alas, the time for Google Glass has come – at least, in its current form. The company has confirmed that it will stop selling the glasses set, although current models will continue to work. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s set to give up its futuristic vision, as it will soon be released as a standalone project, instead of as part of the Google-X program. Former Apple executive and Nest founder Tony Fadell has been assigned the project, according to TechCrunch.

The company hasn’t wasted any time beefing up the potential of what is essentially Google Glass 2, as a post in its Google Plus page confirmed that “you will start to see future visions of Glass when they are ready.”

“As we look to the road ahead, we realize that we’ve outgrown the lab and so we’re officially ‘graduating’ from Google-X to be our own team here at Google,” the post continued. “We’re thrilled to be moving even more from concept to reality.”

“As part of this transition, we’re closing the Explorer Program so we can focus on what’s coming next. January 19th will be the last day to get the Glass Explorer Edition. In the meantime, we’re continuing to build for the future,” it concluded.

When can we expect Google Glass 2, however The company insists that development isn’t too far off, and we can expect the new consumer-friendly build of the headset to arrive in 2015. “It is not clear what Intel chip Google will use in the new version of Glass, but there will be an emphasis on power conservation,” the company insisted.

So, no, Glass isn’t going away. It’s simply evolving.

Artificial Intelligence Has Mario Playing Himself

It’s interesting to see what heights artificial intelligence has reached as of late, with programs designed to think for themselves and, in some way, provide an unusual entertainment, even if users aren’t necessarily “hands on” with it.

That’s exactly what a team at the University of Tubingen, Germany has done, creating an AI program for the Nintendo game Super Mario Advance that essentially has the heroic Mario character playing as . . . himself.

According to CNET, the program allows Mario to respond to certain vocal commands from folks as part of a play session, although it can generally experience emotions and act on its own behalf in response to certain commands and inquiries.

The program utilizes a speech recognition toolkit put together by Carnegie Mellon, which understands these commands, even though Mario can essentially make the decisions for himself.

Interacting with items in the environment can go a long way into helping with the learning process, even if it’s something as simple as jumping on the head of a Goomba.

“Mario will collect coins if he is hungry, whereas when he is curious he will explore his environment and autonomously gather knowledge about items he does not know much about yet,” the researchers stated on their website. “We have developed and implemented artificial adaptive systems that learn, develop and behave autonomously based on learning principles derived from cognitive psychology and neuroscience.”

“Meanwhile, we have investigated behavioral flexibilities and spatial representations and perceptions to verify or evaluate the developed computational models and to gain further insights on how space is perceived and behavior is controlled,” it explained.

The video below shows more of these actions in place. It’s quite unique, and it’s a curious thought to see if we’ll see this kind of behavior in future game releases.

What We Can Learn From Twitch’s Broadcasting Success

There’s no question that Twitch.tv has emerged as a true champion of the broadcasting world over the past few years, accumulating millions of viewers and players and gaining enough popularity to be the subject of a huge buyout by Amazon. But there may be more to its success than most people may realize.

EEDAR’s Patrick Walker recently spoke with GamesIndustry International,  pointing out five key factors that people can learn from Twitch’s success. It’s not just a matter of letting people “do their thing” when it comes to gameplay sessions — there’s a certain nuance to it that others can certainly learn from.

Twitch isn’t just about eSports and PC games

From the stat sheet below, it’s easy to see which games are the most popular on the service, with the likes of League of Legends and DOTA 2 leading the charge. However, there’s also room for other gaming experiences, like the action game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and first-person shooters like Counter-Strike and Destiny. Popular favorites like Ultra Street Fighter IV and FIFA 15 are also given a great deal of exposure.

The addition of console support also makes Twitch far more accessible than it’s been in the past, as it was originally a preference for hardcore PC players. Nowadays, though, people can connect via an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 console with ease.

Games with strong communities drive the channel

Approximately 61 percent of titles with popular game communities led the charge in view volume for the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Walker. Strong eSports support for games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 have resulted in big viewership numbers. In fact, League alone has seven times more monthly active users than any of the other titles on the list, indicating a hardcore audience that generates big viewership for the channel.

There’s still room for other games

Despite Legends‘ dominance, there’s always room for a “new kid” to dominate, even if it’s an older title. View volume has waivered over the past month with a number of games entering the top ten, including Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Trials: Evolution, as well as older favorites like Spyro the Dragon and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It just goes to show that diversity can truly be king, even if Legends is the strongest of them all.

Launches, events, tournaments and more can contribute to broadcasting success

Walker broke down more specific stats in regards to game movement in the top ten, attributing events surrounding the game as a factor for driving up viewership.

“Call of Duty: AW released on November 4, 2014, temporarily displacing the eSport-focused CS:GO as the top Shooter. Ultra Street Fighter IV held the Capcom Cup tournament sponsored by Capcom launching Ultra Street Fighter IV into the top 10. From January 4th to January 11th the Awesome Games Done Quick charity channel (#AGDQ2015 Benefiting the Prevent Cancer Foundation) pushed many older games into the top 10. On January 9th, this included Spyro, GTA: Vice City, and Trials Evolution.”

New releases always have a way of breaking in

The launch of new games on the market always provide an opportunity for a new mover and shaker to emerge in the top 10, especially if they have an avid fanbase. For instance, when Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare launched last year, it had no problem beating out popular favorite Counter Strike: Global Offensive in the top ten, due to its popularity.

The bottom line with the report is that, despite huge favorites on the Twitch channel, there’s always room for new content and games to be featured, provided they have the right kind of “buzz” and community supporting them.

More statistics from the report can be found here.