GSN Hires Andrew Pedersen As Chief Studio Officer

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GSN announced that it has hired Andrew Pedersen as Chief Studio Officer. Based out of GSN Digital’s San Francisco office, he will oversee the company’s virtual currency game production across its mobile, social and online gaming platforms.

“Andrew is a highly respected industry veteran with a wealth of experience managing online entertainment and consumer web studios,” said Jeff Karp, GSN’s Executive Vice President Mobile & Social Games. “His creative talent and business expertise are exactly what we need to continue delivering the highest quality games and the best possible entertainment experience to our players.”

“GSN Digital was a pioneer in the social games space and has since built one of the leading social casinos on Facebook with extensions on the Web and mobile platforms. I’m excited to be a part of the company’s continued success as we look for innovative ways to keep players engaged while attracting new ones across all platforms,” Pedersen added.

American Express Syncs With Xbox 360

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American Express has launched a co-branded experience on the Xbox 360. The credit card company is using its Card Sync technology with Halo 4 to unlock content and offers for U.S. and for U.K. card members.

Card members can sync their Card to their Xbox Live Gamertag by logging in at Sync.AmericanExpress.com/Xbox. This will grant card members an Access Code, real-time, to enter in the American Express digital experience tile in the Game Marketplace in the Games section of the Xbox 360 dashboard, then will ask them to share their Xbox Live Gamertag to be directed to the offer dashboard.

Offers include spending $10 at AMC Theaters and get $5 and spending $50 at PacSun and getting $25. “We’re bringing a totally new experience to the platform that’s never been done before,” said American Express’ SVP of digital partnerships and development, Leslie Berland, adding that 40 million Xbox Live users are also American Express card members.

“The basic mechanics of ‘earn an achievement [and] get a reward,’ that is not a complicated exercise to extend beyond Halo,” said Ross Honey, GM of Xbox Live Entertainment and Advertising. “We expect this to be the biggest game of the year.”

There are plans to go beyond this game, as once the syncing occurs, it can be implemented later. “This is the first manifestation of how [American Express’s technology] Card Sync and Xbox can work together,” said American Express’ head of business and product development, Dave Wolf. “We’re excited about future ways we can bring it to life through streaming, music, anything on the Xbox platform.”

There’s potential for rewards from media viewing companies like Hulu in addition to rewards for in-game achievements. “We deeply value our partnership with Hulu…I’d love to bring that up to them,” said Honey.

Source: AdWeek.com

DeNA Purchases Stake In Rage Of Bahamut Developer

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DeNA has announced that it is buying a 20 percent stake in Cygames. The shares, bought from Cygames majority owner Cyber Agent, are worth roughly $92 million.

The Rage of Bahamut developer has helped push DeNA’s revenue across Europe, the U.S., Korea and Japan. DeNA recently reported sales of $627 million for the second quarter with profits of $254 million.

Army Of Two: The Devil’s Cartel Rolls Out Pre-Order Bonuses

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Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel has been confirmed for a release on March 26, 2013. Those that pre-order the game will see their game upgraded to the “Overkill Edition” with early access to three “Overkillers” contracts, new equipment like a TAH-9 side arm, Double D automatic shotgun along with Overkill and polymer textured masks and outfit, and a Day of the Dead themed assault rifle with a similarly designed outfit and mask created by popular tattoo artists.

“With Army of Two The Devil’s Cartel we wanted to take the series in a new direction while also leveraging the aspects that made the first two Army of Two games unique,” said Julian Beak, Executive Producer, Visceral Games. “We knew coming out of the gate that meaningful co-op gameplay, customization and over-the-top action would be key pillars for us, and we’re bringing these elements to the next level by presenting them in a setting that is more serious in order to dial up the intensity.”

Mass Effect Trilogy Dated For PS3

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Electronic Arts has announced that they will launch the Mass Effect Trilogy for PS3 on December 4. The $60 compilation will include Mass Effect‘s Bring Down the Sky DLC and Mass Effect 2 will have Cerberus Network, Kasumi, Overlord, and Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC.

To coincide with the release of the Mass Effect Trilogy on PC and Xbox 360, BioWare will hold its first annual N7 Day on November 7. The day will consist of online, live and in-store events, with more details coming soon.

Molyneux’s Curiosity: The Cube Sees Huge Demand

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Peter Molyneux’s gaming experiment Curiosity: The Cube saw overwhelming demand from thousands of users, and 97 million “cubelets” have already been destroyed on the first layer, with the average daily destruction rate for each user at 306. Molyneux reported yesterday that 2 billion in-game coins had been spent and 625 people have purchased the 1 million coin chisel.

“I now understand what’s going on, basically we and our server are overwhelmed by the number of people trying out the experiment,” tweeted Molyneux. “Everyone please remember something as concurrent as this has never been attempted before, and we’re just a tiny company.”

Curiosity: The Cube is free and the first of a series of “experiments” for Molyneux’s 22 Cans studio. Users strip away layers of a cube by tapping, but only the user who removes the final cubelet will get to see what’s at the center of the cube by video link.

Source: Twitter.com

Skyrim DLC – Dragonborn

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Elder Scrolls V Skyrim‘s latest expansion pack features a return to Solstheim, the setting for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind‘s Bloodmoon expansion. The cold northern island houses a legendary figure, the first Dragonborn!

The Amazing Morphing Campaign Money Map

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It’s election day, and it’s time to see where all that money from ads from SuperPACs and other outside groups has gone between April 10 and October 10, 2012. Also included, Tickle talks about what he would do if he was made President of the United States and Chris Rock being his hilarious self.

From Mobile To Web, Instagram’s New Desktop Profiles

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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

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