Fans Choose ‘Choice Chamber’

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Facebook Tweaks Actually Help Brands

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Ever since Facebook launched an initiative to limit brands’ ability to organically reach audiences on its social site, the number has dropped significantly. However, that doesn’t mean that said brands didn’t benefit.

These companies modified how they worked with the social network, and some have even managed to find the right kind of algorithm tweaks that could benefit them, rather than hurt them.

“Our approach is to prepare for a day when organic reach is zero,” said Amanda Moore, director of social media for Lord & Taylor. “It’s not enough to solely focus on content marketing anymore. If we’re going to invest in the creation of great content, we must also have a plan for distribution. With organic reach declining we have to find ways to increase our viral reach. What is the pass-along value We must give our consumers something they want to engage with and share.”

A white paper on the matter, titled Engagement on Facebook: When It Matters, details this process a little further. “Industry research…has repeatedly shown that engagement rates do not correlate with the outcomes ultimately used to judge the success of your marketing efforts,” it reads. “While clicks can be strong indicators for success for online direct response campaigns, research by Nielsen shows very limited correlation between clicks and offline sales lift; the same is true of clicks and standard brand metrics like awareness.”

Source: Digiday

Microsoft Debuts Universal Windows Apps

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Originally announced at its Built conference, Microsoft has finally launched its first universal apps for Windows and Windows Phone, which are available for purchase through its app stores. Users can buy an app once and play it on phones, tablets, or PCs.

The first two apps that are featured on the program are Halo: Spartan Assault and Skulls of the Shogun. Both games are $4.99 apiece, and can be bought through either the Windows or Windows Phone stores.

In addition, several free games are available as universal apps, including Wordament, Hexic, Mahjong, Minesweeper and Solitaire. These games, along with the above ones, will carry across all Windows-enabled devices.

More games should be released in the months ahead, although specific titles weren’t mentioned as of yet.

Source: PC World

Brainpower: 24 Is The New 40

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Think the brain gets old while you get old? Surprise, it may get even older than you actually realize.

According to a report from Canada’s Simon Fraser University, measurable declines have been shown in cognitive performance starting at the age of 24. That indicates that brainpower could very well be “over the hill” by that time, instead of actually at 40.

The researchers used an interesting method to reach this conclusion, studying performance levels of thousands of players of the Blizzard PC game StarCraft II. The game utilizes a number of strategic elements, making it prime material for such research.

The team found that “looking-doing latency” – a delay in which a player looks at a new section of the game field and then performed an in-game action – is lowest amongst 24-year olds. The lag continues to increase with older players, with a 39-year old player losing up to 30 seconds of cognitive lag, compared to the 24-year old. The researchers also believe that there’s “no evidence that this decline can be attenuated by expertise.”

This isn’t the first time StarCraft II has been used for said research, as the University of Florida previously used it in a class to teach “critical thinking, problem solving, resource management and adaptive decision making.”

Source: Washington Post

EA Launches Huge Sale On Origin

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Earlier this week, EA launched a huge sale on its Origin website, offering dozens of games for a cheaper price as part of a Gigabytes of Deals Sale promotion. It looks like EA has decided that Steam sales can be a good thing after all, and this is the company’s attempt to generate similar excitement and sales numbers.

The sale, which is running now through April 23 at 11:59 p.m Pacific, marks down several hit digital games for purchase. Among them is Titanfall, the popular multiplayer shooter that released back in March. The price on the game is now $47.99, a savings of $12 off the usual retail price. The exclusive Titanfall Digital Deluxe Edition is also available for a 15 percent savings.

In addition, games like Battlefield 4 and SimCity have been marked down significantly, both 50 percent off. Other titles include entries in the Dragon Age series, as well as FIFA 14, Need For Speed and Crysis.

Source: VentureBeat

King Resolves Trademark Disputes

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Candy Crush Saga publisher King didn’t exactly do everyone favors when it attempted to secure trademark rights for the term “candy” and “saga” in its games. Most notably, the developers of CandySwipe and The Banner Saga were less than pleased with these trademark applications, since it affected some of their game releases.

However, it appears that King has come forth and settled the trademark matters with both companies. Runsome Apps founder Albert Ransom, who was very cross with King, says the company has since addressed his complaints. “I am happy to announce that I have amicably resolved my dispute with King over my CandySwipe trademark and that I am withdrawing my opposition to their mark and they are withdrawing their counterclaim against mine,” he said in a statement. “I have learned that they picked the Candy Crush name before I released my game and that they were never trying to take my game away. Both our games can continue to coexist without confusing players.”

Meanwhile, Stoic, the developers behind Banner Saga, had a similar statement. “Stoic is pleased to have come to an agreement with King regarding Stoic’s The Banner Saga trademark, which enables both parties to protect their respective trademarks now and in the future.”

Source: GamesIndustry International

Aereo Launches Explanatory Website

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As it prepares to head to the Supreme Court next week over streaming television technology, Aereo has launched a website where customers can rally behind it and see exactly what it’s doing with legal matters.

The website, called ProtectMyAntenna.org, is an education-based site where subscribers and consumers alike can get information about the company’s legal defense, as well as access all of its legal briefs.

The company has also been busy off-line as well, with its financial backer, Barry Diller, writing a Wall Street Journal piece that blasts his former broadcast teammates and the founder and CEO, Chet Kanojia, speaking with Yahoo’s Katie Couric and showing a rooftop antenna farm to TechCrunch.

“What is at stake in this case is much bigger than Aereo,” said Kanojia in an email to both subscribers and consumers. “We believe that consumers are entitled to use a modern, cloud-based version of an antenna and DVR and that consumers should not be constrained to 1950s-era technology to watch free-to-air broadcast television.”

Should the company lose in the Supreme Court, Kanojia believes it could “impair cloud innovation.”

Source: Adweek