A Facebook For Gamers

BY

At a first glance, Duxter seems to be a dream for advertisement opportunities aimed at gamers. Adam Lieb, CEO of the tiny startup — it recently raised $500,000 in seed money – draws contrast to other gaming sites such as Raptr. But he says those sites put a heavy focus on stats and achievements related to game play, where Duxter is more geared toward the gamer lifestyle and user interactions through the site with platform functionalities much closer to that of LinkedIn and Facebook.

For advertising, Duxter claims that it doesn’t “put static banners all over the place hoping for accidental-clicks.” The site is serving two major functions – a social network and a “Duxter for business.” It wants to gather anyone interested in games and the people who play them, from hardcore to casual players and of course the advertisers clamoring for their dollars.

While currently focusing on launching its online community, Lieb says the company wants to eventually expand into mobile and game consoles.

Source: Tech Crunch

You Write It, He Performs It

BY

“I created it to invite you to collaborate with me — through Shatoetry.” — William Shatner

Shatoetry lets you arrange words to compose sentences, statements, phrases, messages and then William Shatner will perform them for you.

You can save the ‘Shatisms’ you create, send them to your friends by email, and share them through social media. Team up with other Shatoetists through GameCenter and co-create with your friends online. Or pass it around the room to take turns Shatoetizing with that person next to you.

Some people like to use it to compose poetry and haiku . . . but the more common and practical creations are simple sentences, phrases, word juxtapositions . . . even individual words sent in Bill’s voice as messages, comments, and communications to friends can be really fun.

From Mobile To Web, Instagram’s New Desktop Profiles

BY

Instagram has introduced web-based profiles. The Facebook-owned company’s new format is incredibly reminiscent of Facebook Timeline in aesthetic, and essentially nothing more than a desktop version of its app with a few added bonuses especially for brands.

For one, bigger screens mean easier and more frequent interactions. Now, user profile pictures are housed much more prominently, bios are clearer, and, similar to Facebook Timeline, there is a larger chronological stream of user content to engage. Users should find it easier to share photos, post comments and discover other users and brand pages.

While the web addition could lay down the foundation for a deeper Facebook integration in the future, Instagram is remaining true to its original format. For now, users are not allowed to upload or filter photos directly from the website.

As Instagram makes its web version public over the next week, it will be interesting to see how brands utilize their new slab on the internet. Users can currently see who and what’s available in the new format by typing in ‘instagram.com/ [username]’.

Source: Mashable.com

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE:

Do you think the addition of Instagram web-profiles will prompt more brands to create an Instagram account

Share your thoughts on our Facebook poll: Facebook.com/TheAlistDaily

Wreck It Ralph ‘Game Jumps’ To iOS

BY

Disney promos for Wreck-It Ralph have included a few treats for old-school gamers, from actually developing the Fix It Felix Jr. game from the film and putting arcade cabinets in theaters to producing a mock 1982 TV ad for it. Now along with the almost compulsory console games aimed at kids, Disney has an iOS game.

The 99-cent app features the “original” arcade game and the ones Ralph ‘game jumps’ into in the film, Sugar Rush and Hero’s Duty. As far as homages to classic arcade games go, Fix It Felix Jr. is spot on. Hero’s Duty is a top down shooter, think Smash TV (or Robotron to the really ‘old-core’). Sugar Rush has elements of Doodle Jump.

Look for a video interview this week in [a]list daily featuring Wreck-It Ralph director Rich Moore, where he talks about how involved he was with the development of the arcade game.

Level Up Before Unboxing Halo 4

BY

Halo fans hoping to level up their soldiers in Halo 4 can pick up Mountain Dew and Doritos products to earn double experience points.

Beginning October 15, players who purchase Mountain Dew’s special Game Fuel soft drink and specially marked Doritos products can begin entering codes through the promotion’s website. Load up on Double XP before the game launches beginning November 6, 2012.

Halo 4 fans can also get their hands on the new app that uses location-based augmented reality. The game app will work on both the iPad and the iPhone, and is designed to help promote Halo 4, Mountain Dew, and 7-Eleven stores.

The app is available worldwide, but is focused on the U.S. and Canada and is designed to allow players to fight to be the King of the Hill at their local 7-Eleven store.

The app allows players to win all sorts of in game awards, including digital Halo 4 gear such as Double XP and an exclusive Custom Locus Helmet for U.S. players. Players in Canada can win a custom Ghost Prop Avatar. The game app requires players to scan their favorite Halo 4 themed Mountain Dew and Doritos products to get supplies in games to keep the battle going.

 

Facebook App Search Points To Big Plans

BY

Facebook has added a search function into its App Center, raising speculation that it plans to soon introduce search ads for app developers. The site is already giving developers the option to promote their apps through Sponsored Results.

TechCrunch says of the new feature, “That sets the stage for ads within App Center. This prediction falls right in line with Facebook’s strategy to become the leading source of app discovery outside of the official Apple App Store and Google Play marketplace — where no ads appear. It believes that with social recommendations and quality ratings based on how often people actually use an app, it can help us find apps better than simple ranked lists based on downloads.”

Source: TechCrunch.com

Focus On Sociability In Social Games, Says Facebook

BY

Facebook says for social games to succeed, developers need to make their games more social and embrace targeted sharing tools such as Open Graph. Speaking at a meeting with press at the company’s headquarters, Facebook director of user growth Alex Schultz said games on their platform need to be “fundamentally better with friends, and fundamentally impossible to play without your friends.”

Schultz pointed to Open Graph as the perfect tool to spread the word about games to friends, given how it promotes “shares that are intentional by the user.”

With the way Open Graph functions, once a user adds an app to their Timeline any actions within the app are shared with their friends. In-app actions become woven into users’ activity on Facebook, constantly prompting friends to join them.

“If people are visiting their friends’ profiles — which they do — you have these aggregation units that say ‘Alex defeated five enemies this week’, or whatever. That kind of data — seeing what their friends like to play, and the progress they’re making — gets users excited to try a game,” said Schultz.

He also pointed to mobile as an increasingly important platform to drive Facebook app adoption. There is now a seamless transition between Facebook apps played online or on mobile apps.

“Mobile is bringing this, too,” Schultz said. “Mobile platforms can drive a delayed bump in users — and increased engagement — if, for example, a previously iOS-specific game is ported to Android. Players’ friends can see via Facebook that a game that they were interested in is now on their mobile platform of choice, and help boost engagement for everyone by joining in.”

Source: Gamasutra

Facebook Gamers On The Rise In Spite Of Zynga

BY

Just days after it reported a significant decline in Zynga game revenue, Facebook is saying its total gamer traffic has seen a year over year spike. Facebook said 251 million people played games on its social network in September 2012, a 16 percent spike from the same period last year.

Earlier this week the company announced better than expected third quarter earnings but also said revenues from its top game moneymaker Zynga fell by 20 percent. But it seems that doesn’t people have necessarily moved on from gaming on the network. Facebook said users are driving the growth in number of people playing games by inviting friends to join the games they’re playing. Users also tend to try out a game when they see their friends playing it in the App Center.

Speaking at a press event, Facebook Growth Director Alex Schultz said, “When you sign up for a social game where only one or two of your friends are playing, it’s not as fun as if 10 to 20 of your friends are playing.”

Facebook also pointed to more variety in the types of games now available. Where the site was once dominated by simulation games, and namely the “point-and-click-villa” fare served by Zynga, it’s now seeing more gamer-friendly genres such as arcade and puzzle games on the rise.

Source: Mashable.com

YouTube Factors ‘Time Watched’ In Search Rankings

BY

YouTube is now factoring watch time over number of clicks in its video rankings. The site says it wants to reward videos that keep users on the platform longer and not just those that manage to get clicks.

YouTube announced the change on October 12, describing it as a “continuation of ongoing efforts to focus our video discovery features on watch time.”  This follows changes that the platform made to Suggested Videos in March.

The new analytical tools factoring in watch time include an enhanced views section that shows creators how their videos are engaging viewers as a measure of performance. The site now factors that into search ranking. Previously, videos that had a more optimized search ranking were based on clicks alone. It was a ranking that was easily manipulated by clever video producers who would often choose thumbnails designed to get clicks, while the content itself may not have been worth watching.

YouTube’s “Creators” blog describes the change, “The experimental results of this change have proven positive — less clicking, more watching. We expect the amount of time viewers spend watching videos from search and across the site to increase. As with previous optimizations to our discovery features, this should benefit your channel if your videos drive more viewing time across YouTube.”

Source: TechCrunch

SHARE YOUR EXPEREINCE

Do you think these changes will improve the quality of the YouTube viewing experience Share your thoughts in our Facebook Poll. {page no longer active}

Motion City Soundtrack Goes 8-bit

BY

Motion City Soundtrack recently launched an 8-bit video game where fans can play as their favorite band member. The game is the classic tale of a man on a mission to rescue a woman who ended up on the other side of a treacherous 8-bit obstacle course. After beating the game, you are awarded a free download of an 8-bit version of their new single, True Romance from the album, “Go”. You can check out the game now by clicking here.