Pre-Flight Instructions For Laughs

BY

 

Most Popular Steam Games Revealed

BY

Ars Technica recently revealed a report showing which titles were the most popular on Valve’s Steam service, and it appears some older favorites continue to be high on the list.

Leading the group on the report is DOTA 2, Valve’s strategy title, which currently has over 25.9 million players. In close second is the classic third-person strategy/shooter Team Fortress 2 with 20.3 million, and Counter-Strike: Source with 8.9 million players.

What’s surprising, though, are that some games are owned by players, but have never been opened or activated. Source is the leading title on this list, with an estimated 3.1 million players who bought the game but never touched it. The original Counter-Strike is at an equal amount, while the zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2 is close behind with 2.1 million.

Most of these purchases seem to stem from sales on the service, although it’s a bit odd that players don’t ever open them up, not even for an hour’s worth of play. Then again, with more popular multiplayer games like DOTA 2 and Team Fortress 2, they probably just haven’t found time for them yet.

Source: Ars Technica

Xbox One Summer Launch For China

BY

After months of attempting to figure out when to launch its console in the market, Microsoft has finally confirmed that the Xbox One will finally arrive in China this July.

BesTV, the Chinese media company that works closely with Microsoft in partnership, revealed the information this week, and also confirmed that the company would assist in appointing a new CEO for it.

According to estimates, the Xbox One is expected to sell through 100,000 units in China at launch, with more sales to come. Games are already set to sell for a lower price, going for around 300 RMB, or $48 in U.S. dollars.

This launch is a major one for Microsoft, following the country’s lifting of a decade-long console ban last September. Sony and Nintendo, meanwhile, are still figuring out their plans.

Source: GamesIndustry International

NBC Universal Launching Digital Content

BY

Even though it has no intention of abandoning its network services, NBC Universal is looking to dabble in the digital front with all-new online programming.

The company will launch more than a dozen video series that will appear first through digital means, including channel websites as well as on-demand and Hulu.

“The combination of digital video alongside television content is extremely powerful and becoming an increasingly important part of the connection advertisers make with consumers,” said Linda Yaccarino, president of ad sales for NBC Universal. “We want to offer our partners the unique ability to harness the power of our creative assets along with our distribution capabilities including the video-on-demand platform like no other company can do.”

NBC Universal had tried the original programming method before in 2008-2009’s season with Gemini Division and Woke Up Dead, but obviously this time around will bring a much larger focus.

The programming announcements are expected to come within a few weeks time, before AOL and YouTube hold their “newfront” meetings with advertisers.

Source: Variety

 

Vlambeer Offering Latest Game Through Twitch

BY

Twitch is usually known for its video game streaming capabilities, but now it appears that the company is helping a developer get its game to market.

Vlambeer Entertainment, the creators of such games as Luftrausers and Ridiculous Fishing, will launch its game utilizing subscriptions to its service via Steam . The game will be offered through a substantial developmental program through an API, which is located here.

“You can now buy access to the Steam build, Vlambeer emoticons and a subscription to our Twitch.tv channel through Twitch.tv itself,” said the announcement. “If you’re interested in learning about game development, this is where you should buy the game.”

Videos of the game’s development will be broadcast on the developer’s channel every Tuesday and Thursday, showing its ongoing progress.

Source: MCV UK

Zuckerberg Talks Facebook ‘Failures’

BY

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently took the time to sit down with The New York Times to discuss a number of topic, ranging from the perceived lack of innovation with his website to thoughts on new apps, such as Secret. He admitted that some ideas weren’t exactly big ones – Facebook Home immediately came to mind – but there were valid reasons because of which.

“The reception was much slower than we expected,” he said. “When you install it, it’s really active, and if it does anything that you don’t like, then you’ll uninstall it.”

He is particularly fond about some other ideas, such as Graph Search. “I think that’s a five year thing,” he added. “We have to think about it over a longer period of time.”

Regarding apps based on anonymity, such as Secret, Zuckerberg stated that Facebook isn’t exactly a recipe for success with other companies. “I’m not going to say it can’t work, because I think that is too extreme,” he said. “But I tend to think that some of these interactions are better rooted in some senses of building relationships.” Because of the lack of identity Secret carries, “building an understanding of people” is quite difficult.

“So anonymity is not the first thing that we’ll go do,” he concluded.

Source: The Verge

Samsung’s Big Spending On Marketing

BY

Samsung has been on a marketing roll since 2012 with a new plan, and it’s done quite well against the likes of Apple, though it’s running into a few problems when it comes to judging returns.

Kantar Media recently reported the marketing gap between the two companies, with information revealed from the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial that’s currently ongoing.

Samsung has spent $364.03 million in marketing back in 2013, while Apple spend about $350.9 million in the same time period. Overall, that has led to revenue of $128.4 billion for its mobile division, a rise in 32 percent from $105.8 billion the previous year.

However, some statistics are missing with these numbers, as certain numbers, such as with Facebook users, couldn’t be accurately read. However, the company was pleased with the rise in customers from Best Buy and AT&T locations following its big Super Bowl ad a couple of months back.

Source: ZDNET