Oddworld Games Getting Digital Releases On PSN And PC

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Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning says the original Oddworld games will soon get digital releases, reports Industry Gamers.  Lanning says Abe’s Oddysee and Abe’s Exoddus, the first two games in the classic franchise, are headed to Sony’s PS Network.  The full compilation of all four Oddworld titles, including Munch’s Oddysee and the shooter Stranger’s Wrath, will be released through Steam’s Valve under the brand, Oddbox.

Lanning talked to Bitmob, a game news and community site founded by former EGM editor in chief, Dan Hsu.  Talking about future projects from Oddworld Inhabitants, he tells Bitmob’s Toby Davis that he is more compelled to create products incorporating social media than motion controllers.

Read more and access the full Bitmob interview at Industry Gamers {link no longer active}.

Apple Gives Pepsi Marketing App 17+ rating

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An iPhone app for Pepsi’s Amp Energy drink has a mature rating from Apple, reports Adweek.  The drink’s promotional app Amp Up Your Score targets young men with tips and lines for identifying types and picking up women.  Along with pick-up lines, the app helps pinpoint types of women such as cougar or tree-hugger and even maps nearby locations to meet them.

Adweek points out how apps with even riskier material have lower ratings.  Some see it as a sign of varying standards with how Apple rates apps.

Read more at Adweek {link no longer active}.

Not Microsoft Nor Sony Nor Apple Worry Nintendo

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Nintendo COO Reggie Fils-Aime talked company strategy with Mike Musgrove of Washington Post.  Fils-Aime says that Nintendo would not change a thing about the way it marketed the Wii, including its introductory price and holding out on price-cuts until recently.

Fils-Aime shrugs off competition to Wii from Microsoft and Sony’s motion controller as well as the threat cheap game apps on iPhone might post to the DS.  He cites Scribblenauts as a unique experienc created for DS and its dual-screen, pointing out it couldn’t be done on iPhone.  He doesn’t see Nintendo making a move to mobile.  He also wonders about who Sony is targeting with PSP Go, saying the product doesn’t answer the question what s the benefit for him.

Wedbush Morgan Securities Michael Pachter tells Musgrove he sees Wii sales leveling off as its price advantage to 360 and PS3 erodes, but points out that even leveled off Wii sales are still beating 360 and PS3.

Read more at Washington Post.

Facebook Winning Social Media Popularity Contest

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Traffic data from research firms Hitwise and comScore show which social media sites are winning the popularity contest, reports MediaPost.  Hitwise data shows year over year growth is strongest for Facebook and Twitter, though Twitter’s astronomical surge is starting to level off.  MySpace has seen a plunge in its share of traffic.

According to Hitwise, Facebook drew more than 58 percent of total traffic to social networking sites it tracked.  The figure is a four-fold increase from last year.  The site is claiming it grew users from 250 million to 300 million in two months.  Meantime MySpace saw a social pariah level drop in its draw, plunging 55 percent to draw only about 30 percent of social media users this year.  For Twitter, data released by comScore shows the site leveled off to about 20 million users after more than quadrupling user base between February and April of this year.

MediaPost includes a chart breaking down Hitwise data for the top five social media sites.

Read more at MediaPost {link no longer active}.

Sony And Panasonic Exploring 3D HDTV Sales

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Sony and Panasonic are showing off 3D HDTV and exploring purchase interest for the sets, reports NY Times.  Neither company has announced a price for the TVs.

Panasonic demonstrated a prototype 50-inch plasma set at Tokyo electronics show Ceatec, drawing gasps from crowds during 3D scenes from Disney’s Toy Story.   The company anticipates being able to price 3D sets to match current HDTV prices, and it claims that it s out to grow 3D HDTVs into half of of its total TV sales.  Sony is considering deploying the tech into Bravia TVs, Vaio notebooks, and even the PS3.

Research firm In-Stat has data showing that 64 percent of people are interested in 3D home viewing if the sets are the same price as standard HDTVs.  NY Times wonders whether the need for glasses estimated at $50 a pair might hinder buyers even if the sets are priced comparably.

Read more at NY Times.

Leverage The Loop When Marketing Through Social Media

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Adam Penenberg has a proposition for social media companies struggling to make money and marketers fighting to tap into the phenomenon they’ve created.  Find the most prolific users and treat them like partners, then let marketers loose on them and their vast network of friends.  Essentially, he is saying companies can monetize the viral expansion loop, the very mechanism of word-of-mouth and pass-along responsible for the growth of online networks.  Not only has he written a book about it called Viral Loop, he’s developed an app by the same name that puts a dollar value on prolific users and potential influencers on social media sites.

Penenberg sums up his argument in an article for Fast Company, discussing the impetus for his book and app.  Marketers have been getting it wrong by relying on conventional techniques on social sites, and the companies running these sites aren’t helping.  He draws a great analogy to how Google upended another so-called convention to become a multi-billion dollar company.  While Yahoo! and Microsoft stuck to conventional wisdom that search engines can’t be monetized, Google figured out the formula is incorporating advertising into the mechanism of what it provides.  Instead of selling banners, Google sold ads that appeared as returns on search queries.  Users saw the practice as enhancing the service Google provides.  Social media companies can help marketers by waking up to the fact that the value in their sites isn t just the audience they have amassed, it s the networking mechanism.

Read Penenberg’s piece at Fast Company.

Questioning The Premium Price Point For Console Games

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David Thomas raises the ultimate question in an article for Crispy Gamer.  Who set the current price of games at $60   Thomas interviews EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich and Entertainment Consumer Association president Hal Halpin for insight.

Whether it s to cover growing development costs, reflect the high quality of current games, return more money on publisher investment, or all of the above, the math doesn’t add up for Thomas.  Not when for the same price inherent product value such as game play hours and production value varies greatly from game to game.

Read more at Crispy Gamer.

Ping Pachter Through Industry Gamers

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As part of his regular column for Industry Gamers, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter is fielding reader questions.  If you have a burning question that can’t wait until the next time you can corner him at a conference, take a shot through “Pachter’s Podium. ”

Submit your question at Industry Gamers {link no longer active}.

‘Halo3: ODST’ Sells 2.5 Million Units, Says USA Today

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Reporting for USA Today, Mike Snider says Halo3: ODST is estimated to have sold 2.5 million units and generated $125 million in its first two weeks of sales.  He calls the Halo IP one shaping up to rival Star Wars, giving a rundown of the property s licensing and merchandising efforts including Halo Legends anime coming out next year on video.

Frank O’Connor of 343 Industries, Microsoft’s Halo division, tells Snider that there is a six-year plan in place for the franchise.  He also says the Halo film is still on hold and waiting for the right partner.

Read more at USA Today {link no longer active}.

PSP Mini Games Priced At A Premium

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Designed to bring iPhone style games and popular game apps to PSP, PSP mini games are proving to be much more expensive than their smart phone counterparts.  Reported by Joystiq, downloadable casual games for PSP are priced at two to three times what the same titles cost on iPhone.  A Sony representative explains that pricing is entirely up to publishers.

Read more at Joystiq.