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February 27th, 2012, 23:56 Posted By: wraggster
US game academic Eric Zimmerman was recently asked by the Jace Hall show to contribute his thoughts about its 50 favourite game endings list. But rather than coo over Portal 2 or something, the eggheaded killjoy instead took the opportunity to state that his favourite games don't have endings.
...traditionally games don’t have endings. Games like Basketball, Chess, and Scrabble are activities meant to be repeated, rather than a series of levels to be beaten or a story to be played through. Many digital games, from Asteroids and Tetris to Street Fighter and Smash Bros to Sim City and Civilization are on this model of games designed for repeated play – and they don’t have endings. I prefer these kinds of games, as they are less premised on a desire to imitate cinema or linear storytelling and they are more focused on games as games as systems of rules that reward deep and repeated exploration.
Obviously, each of the games Zimmerman likes do indeed have endings - many endings. A game of Street Fighter ends with a victory or defeat screen, and beating the arcade mode on hardest difficulty grants you the above reward. Even the longform narrative-based games that Zimmerman is really talking about often have replayable elements, whether because of an unlocked hard mode, hunts for collectibles and secrets, score attack sub-modes or co-op sections.
But, yes, properly replayable games depend on rulesets over their stories. Playing the same story over and over would invite boredom, but a beautiful set of rules will never grow old.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/out-...ames-never-end
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February 27th, 2012, 23:50 Posted By: wraggster
Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, designed every kid's dream study: they passed out Wii consoles to 78 kids who didn't already have one, and gave half the kids their choice of active game — such as Wii Sports or Dance Dance Revolution-Hottest Party 3 — and the other half their choice of inactive game, such as Disney Sing-It Pop Hits or Super Mario Galaxy. The research team tracked the youngsters for 13 weeks, testing their physical activity levels with a motion-measuring accelerometer. Participants wore the devices on a belt during four different week-long periods throughout the study, which allowed the research team to determine when they were sedentary or lightly exercising and when they were engaged in moderate-to-vigorous exercise. Accelerometer logs showed that throughout the study period, kids with the active games didn't get any more exercise than those given inactive video games. There was also no difference in minutes spent doing light physical activity or being sedentary during any week the researchers monitored."
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/0...-exercise-more
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February 27th, 2012, 23:36 Posted By: wraggster
'You don't want to worry about the people who were never going to pay you' says Seamless Entertainment boss
Offering customers good value for money is key to limiting piracy, says Seamless Entertainment’s studio director.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Dan Mahaga said that creating a game that has a high-perceived value means that consumers are more likely to purchase a game.
"The argument most of us make is let's try to make it inexpensive and let's try to make it such a good value and so much fun that they go, 'You know, I want to support these guys, and I want to buy a copy’," said Magaha.
He added that the studio’s space combat simulator SOL: Exodus, had been pirated numerous times after being made available on Steam, with people even posting links to illegal downloads of the game on social networking site Twitter.
Magaha said to overcome this, it is important for studios to engage with their customer base and respond quickly to any in-game issues that may arise.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...ces-says-indie
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February 27th, 2012, 03:17 Posted By: wraggster
via http://www.emucr.com/
x360ce SVN r470 is compiled. Xbox 360 Controller Emulator (a wrapper library that translates the xinput calls to directinput calls) which allows your controller (GamePad, Joystick, Wheel, ...) to function like an Xbox 360 controller on a Windows PC. For example it allows you to play Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game with Logitech wheel.
x360ce SVN Changelog:
r470
Fixed double enumeration (Alan Wake) by adding critical sections.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ddapu065damde2y
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February 26th, 2012, 22:38 Posted By: wraggster
ALK (that's the company behind CoPilot Live) is no stranger to GPS apps, but it's starting afresh this week with a new application offering more features for free. CoPilot GPS, which will be available on iOS and Android, goes the way of Nokia Maps in that it stores all those millions of points of interests offline, so you don't need an Internet connection to calculate directions. Download the free version and you'll also get some requisite social networking integration, walking and driving directions, the ability to choose from up to three routes and built-in Bing and Wikipedia search functionality. The app also matches Google Maps with voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation and 3D maps, but you'll have to shell out $19.99 as a one-time in-app payment for the privilege. Real-time traffic updates are also an option, but that'll cost you an additional $9.99 for a 12-month subscription. According to ALK, the app will be available for iOS and Android in early to mid March, but in the meantime we've got a handful of screens below to give you a taste of what to expect.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/26/c...p-ios-android/
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February 26th, 2012, 22:32 Posted By: wraggster
“There's no margin to be made on new releases anymore.” MCV hears this more and more from specialist stores every week.
Once upon a time boxed games would be sold very close to their RRP on release day. But this hasn’t been the trend for years.
Earlier this month we revealed the average cost of a boxed game drops by 23.5 per cent after one month on sale, 30.8 per cent after two, and 39 per cent after three. On day one the average cost to the consumer can be lower than the trade price.
Online retailers and supermarkets are the drivers here. This has put extra pressure on the traditional High Street specialists who can’t compete.
Konami’s UK general manager Pete Stone explains: “Discounting by UK retailers has been ferocious during the past few years. Major retailers justified their discounting by using phrases such as ‘driving volume’ but the reality has been the opposite: it has been a downward spiral.
“In the long-term we are moving towards a new era in gaming, but UK pricing has probably devalued the perception of boxed games and is leading to retailers no longer finding the category profitable.”
Major chains like GAME and HMV had a very difficult trading period last year, as well as indies who are feeling the pinch more than ever. This is due in no small part to the lack of margin on new titles.
“The discounting is serious and suicidal,” says a leading indie, who wishes to remain anonymous. “The £37.49 average launch price for FIFA 12 was already £5.71 below our cost price.
“I wonder what will happen to publishers when the retailers stop funding the discounted prices for them. Surely at some point the goodwill will run out, and would the consumer really pay £54.99 for FIFA 13? Or £24.99 for a new Blu-ray?”
It’s now such a problem, says HMV, that consumers and retailers could miss out in the long-term as price-cutting distorts the market.
“Such a high level of RRP discounting is not likely to be in the best long-term interests of the market or even the consumer, who may find it will ultimately result in reduced choice,” the retailer’s head of communications Gennaro Castaldo tells MCV.
“But when you have supermarkets and internet giants using content to drive traffic and share as part of a wider business agenda, it’s hard to stand back if you want to remain competitive.”
Some online retailers have reacted to maintain profit. ShopTo says it ‘sells closer to the RRP than ever’.
“ShopTo has changed its strategy over the past six months,” says purchasing director James Rowson. “We no longer want to be involved in the price war to chase orders at a loss.”
Gameseek’s MD Stephen Staley adds: “We stock new releases to drum up interest in our site but we’re not bothered if we sell any. There’s no point having a big market share on something that makes you a loss.”
There are ways for specialist retailers to make decent money on new goods.
“I have been encouraging indies to diversify into other lines and products, like mobile phone accessories, and hi-tech toys and gadgets,” says The Game Guide’s Chris Ratcliff. “Of course, it isn’t commercial suicide if you can subsidise the losses on new games sales with a healthy pre-owned business model, but even that has been ‘invaded’ by the nationals.”
Online indie Xbite believes a change at the supplier level would help solve the problem.
MD Nick Whitehead tells MCV: “If the publishers under supplied the market just by five per cent, it would actually ensure a more stable retail price point in the market.”
ShopTo says the answer is not so simple.
“If all games prices go up then the publishers will see a drop in units and may struggle to cover their ever-growing development costs, so the whole strategy needs a review,” Rowson adds.
But with such a competitive UK retail market, there’ll always be those who go low on new releases. The outlets willing to diversify could be the ones which really prosper.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/featu...-prices/091771
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February 26th, 2012, 22:25 Posted By: wraggster
One of the most successful Japanese console game developers has predicted that the console market will continue to shrink and in its place will rise a stronger, dominant portable games market.
“Consoles – PS3, PS4, Xbox 360-2 – the market for those will get smaller, and the main market will become portable games,” Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi told PSM3, as reported by CVG.
“I don’t think consoles will disappear, but more and more people will use home PCs for gaming, and a long time in the future it will just be PCs and mobile phones, and eventually mobiles will become just as powerful as games consoles.”
And of course, as a games developer Nagoshi is keen to stress that from his perspective the biggest change this represents is one of interaction and control.
“Right now, that means either buttons or touchscreens – those are the only two interfaces we have,” he argued. “So I think the next big evolution will be the introduction of a new type of interface.
“Sure, we have voice input, but voice will never become the main input. So I think that whoever can figure out that new type will be victorious.
“It’s strange the number of buttons has increased and never decreased. So that means we need to reset things, somehow. I think your hands will always be directly involved. That will never change. It’ll be something you can touch.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/index.php/news/...smaller/091773
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February 26th, 2012, 22:23 Posted By: wraggster
THQ’s UFC Undisputed 3 helped the UK games retail market rise 10.2 per cent to generate £14m last week. There was also retail price activity on many boxed games.
This caused a 14.8 per cent increase in overall unit sales which reached 615,298 during the week ending February 18th. EA’s FIFA 12 was the second best-selling title of the week ahead of Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Several recent releases tumbled down the charts, with Final Fantasy XIII-2 falling to No.6, The Darkness II sliding to No.8, Kingdoms of Amalur dropping to No.12 and Metal Gear Solid HD Collection dipping to No.13. Grand Slam Tennis 2 fell to No.38 after its second week on sale.
With PlayStation Vita on sale now, retailers can expect the market value to jump next week. Furthermore, a range of other titles hit shelves today (Friday, February 24th), including EA shooter Syndicate and Zumba Fitness Rush from 505 Games and Majesco.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/softw...-to-14m/091776
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February 24th, 2012, 00:36 Posted By: wraggster
Sales of videogames at UK retail are down 25 per cent on last year, leading one publisher to describe the situation as "an absolute nightmare."
MCV reports that this year's major new releases are selling between 10,000 and 48,000 in their first week on shelves; last year they were selling between 35,000 and 80,000 units.
"We are trying to understand it," one publisher said, "but everything is selling well below what it should. It is an absolute nightmare. I'm not making half the money back I'm spending on marketing."
Even those at the top of the charts are feeling the effects of the decline. Launch sales of current all-formats number one UFC Undisputed 3 are a third of those enjoyed by the first game in the series.
The well-publicised struggles of Game Group, the nation's largest specialist retailer, raise the question of whether its ability to source new stock following the loss of its credit insurance could be the driving factor in declining sales. However, the head of one Japanese publisher's UK division poured cold water on that theory.
"There are some stock shortages at retail, but I don't think that's what's causing these figures," the source said. "The big games of last year are available cheaply. But also, consumers don't want to spend money, and we as an industry are not giving them any reason to change their minds. I will be watching Mass Effect 3 andSyndicate very closely."
http://www.edge-online.com/news/uk-r...lute-nightmare
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February 24th, 2012, 00:31 Posted By: wraggster
Strong 3DS software sales helped Nintendo’s handheld increase its lead over rival platforms in Japan during the week ended February 19.
Dating sim New Love Plus, which launched on Valentine’s Day, sold just shy of 105,000 copies to take the top spot, while fellow 3DS titleTheatrhythm Final Fantasy debuted at number three with 67,206 sales. Sandwiched between them was the PS3 version of Binary Domain, which shifted 73,683 copies.
The only other new release to make the top ten was Samurai Warriors 3Z Special for PSP, which entered at number seven with 17,125 sales. 3DS games took six of the top ten chart spots and ten of the top 20, Andriasang reports.
3DS, PS2 and DSi were the only platforms to see a rise in weekly sales. Nintendo’s portable moved 94,667 units versus the previous week’s 67,558, pushing lifetime sales beyond the five million mark in record time, as reported earlier this week.
PS3 placed second with 21,993 sales and PSP third with 14,824, while Vita recorded its lowest weekly total yet. Since its December release, Vita sales have come in at 324,859 units, 72,479, 42,648, 42,915, 18,361, 15,219, 18,942, 17,141, 13,939 and now 12,309.
01. New Love Plus (Konami)
02. Binary Domain (Sega)
03. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (Square Enix)
04. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo)
05. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo)
06. Monster Hunter 3G (Capcom)
07. Samurai Warriors 3 Z Special (Tecmo Koei)
08. Resident Evil: Revelations (Capcom)
09. Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen No Toki (Konami)
10. Gravity Rush (Sony)
http://www.edge-online.com/news/japa...ekly-3ds-sales
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February 23rd, 2012, 13:42 Posted By: wraggster
When California agreed to foot the Entertainment Software Association's $950,000 legal bill accrued during its deconstruction of Brown v. EMA, we estimated the state's cumulative payout to the ESA at around $1,327,000. Once you factor in the state's own legal costs, however, California's total payout for attempting to regulate the sale of violent games to minors rings up at a cool $1.8 million, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Billable hours accrued by lawyers working for the state add an estimated $500,000 to the failed legislation's price tag, which has been slowly growing since the state decided to appeal the bill's initial injunction way back in 2007. Considering that California's budget deficit is projected to reach somewhere around $22 billion this year, two million bucks doesn't seem like all that much in comparison. It's like tossing a box of matches into a burning building: What are you gonna do, set it more on fire?
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/22/ca...me-legislatio/
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February 23rd, 2012, 03:56 Posted By: wraggster
Are you prepared to take pre-orders on this year’s biggest blockbusters? James Batchelor takes a look at the hottest games that retailers can expect throughout 2012
Q1 2012: HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
January may have been quiet but there’s no denying the supply of new titles into retail is picking up in 2012’s opening months.
We’ve already had new entries in high-profile franchises such as Resident Evil and Final Fantasy, and that continues in the next few months with a slew of big ‘3’ titles. Arguably the biggest is Mass Effect 3, the climax of EA and BioWare’s critically acclaimed sci-fi trilogy.
There’s also stealth action with Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D and Ninja Gaiden 3. And Kinect fans can dance along to the third Zumba game with Zumba Fitness Rush.
Nintendo 3DS will mark its one year anniversary with a strong offering that ranges from flagship titles Kid Icarus to casual hits like Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns.
And survival horror fans are in for a treat this spring with new Resident Evil and Silent Hill titles.
Zumba Fitness Rush (505 Games) – February 24th
Mario Party 9 (Nintendo) – March 2nd
Mass Effect 3 (EA) – March 9th
Asura’s Wrath (Capcom) – March 9th
FIFA Street (EA) – March 16th
Kinect Rush: Disney (Microsoft) – March 23rd
Ninja Gaiden 3 (Tecmo Koei) – March 23rd
Resi: Operation Raccoon City (Capcom) – March 23rd
We Sing Pop! (Nordic Games) – March 23rd
Ridge Racer Unbounded (Namco Bandai) – March 30th
Kid Icarus: Uprising (Nintendo) – March
Metal Gear Solid 3D (Nintendo/Konami) – March
Silent Hill: Downpour (Konami) – March
Harvest Moon: Two Towns (Rising Star) – Q1
Rune Factory Oceans (Rising Star) – Q1
 Q2 2012: BRINGING THE PAYNE
May has always been a time for blockbuster titles, dominated in the past few years by Rockstar Games offerings such as L.A. Noire and Red Dead Redemption and THQ’s UFC Undisputed.
Rockstar hopes to maintain its reputation for May blockbusters with Max Payne 3, the long awaited homecoming for gaming’s original Bullet Time action hero.
But the GTA firm faces competition this year from Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
Q2 will also host the battle of the snipers. City Interactive aims to follow up its 2010 surprise hit with Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 but 505 Games has the title in its sights as it mobilises Sniper Elite V2.
Kinect Star Wars (Microsoft) – April 3rd
Prototype 2 (Activision) – April 24th
Risen 2: Dark Waters (Deep Silver) – April 27th
Battleship (Activision) – April
Dirt Showdown (Codemasters) – May
Sniper Elite V2 (505 Games) – May 4th
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (Ubisoft) – May 25th
Max Payne 3 (Rockstar) – May 25th
Darksiders II (THQ) – June 29th
Spec Ops The Line (2K Games) - June 29th
Pandora’s Tower (Nintendo) – Q2
Akai Katana (Rising Star) – Q2
Diablo III (Blizzard) Q2
Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 (City Interactive) – Q2
The Amazing Spider-Man (Activision) – Q2
 Q3 2012: THE SUMMER DROUGHT
It’s looking like another quiet summer again this year. But that’s not to say there are no potential hits heading to shelves. Far from it.
Instead, retailers can look forward to the arrival of Warner Bros’ LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Not only is this the sequel to the biggest-selling LEGO game of all time, it also coincides rather conveniently with the silver screen debut of hotly anticipated Caped Crusader flick The Dark Knight Rises.
Speaking of which, there is a stellar line-up of summer movie blockbusters that will almost certainly have video game adaptations, including Marvel’s The Avengers, Pixar’s Brave and Dreamworks’ Madagascar 3. Expect these to tempt movie buffs into stores throughout the summer.
Plus, there’s the not insignificant event of the London 2012 Olympics. As well as a new Olympics title from Sega, last year’s Mario & Sonic title stands to benefit from a second wave of sales.
As September arrives, the High Street can depend on unannounced but inevitable follow-ups to some of the industry’s annual surefire hits, such as EA’s FIFA 13.
Other safe bets include Codemasters’ F1 2012 – until then racing fans can enjoy next week’s F1 2011 on Vita.
LEGO Batman 2 (Warner Bros) – Summer
London 2012 Olympics (Sega) – Summer
Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft) – September 6th
Borderlands 2 (2K Games) – September 21st
FIFA 13 (EA) – September
Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix) – Q3
Anarchy Reins (Sega) – Q3
End of Nations (Trion Worlds) – Q3
F1 2012 (Codemasters) – Q3
 Q4 2012: THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR
Christmas 2012 is sure to bring with it plenty of massive blockbusters and guaranteed best-sellers.
It’s only February and the line-up is already looking like a winner – who knows what other surprises lie in store at E3, Gamescom and other trade shows.
Firstly, you can always rely on the annual smash hits. A new Call of Duty is confirmed and perhaps we’ll even see the Vita entry teased at last year.
Naturally, EA will fight back with its own shooter, with Medal of Honour II on the cards – plus a Need For Speed for racing fans.
New iterations of Pro Evolution Soccer, Skylanders and WWE are also due, along with new chapters in some of gaming’s biggest sagas: Halo 4, Resident Evil 6 and a new Assassin’s Creed, with the latter expected to introduce a new hero.
Aliens: Colonial Marines (Sega)
Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
Call of Duty (Activision)
Halo 4 (Microsoft)
Medal of Honour II (EA)
PES 2013 (Konami)
Resident Evil 6 (Capcom)
Skylanders Giants (Activision)
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (Activision)
WWE 13 (THQ)
2012: THE UNDATED
The games discussed thus far are just those with a confirmed release window.
There are countless more floating around with the ever vague “2012” date, including eagerly awaited behemoths like BioShock Infinite, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Hitman: Absolution, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider – the list goes on.
There are even expansions to online hits, such as World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and more HD collections, including the Vita version of this month’s Metal Gear Solid compilation.
And let’s not forget the arrival of the first next generation home console, Wii U. And the tantalising prospect of Grand Theft Auto V arriving in time for Christmas. And whatever surprise announcements lurk around the corner.
Buckle up, retail – 2012 is going to be a rollercoaster ride.
Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros)
Borderlands 2 (2K Games)
BioShock Infinite (2K Games)
Dead or Alive 5 (Tecmo Koei)
Dishonored (Bethesda)
DMC (Capcom)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar)
Guild Wars 2 (NCsoft)
Hitman: Absolution (Square Enix)
Inversion (Namco Bandai)
LittleBigPlanet (Sony)
Luigi’s Mansion 2 (Nintendo)
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Konami)
Prey 2 (Bethesda)
Professor Layton 5 (Nintendo)
Resistance: Burning Skies (Sony)
South Park (THQ)
StarHawk (Sony)
The Last Guardian (Sony)
Tomb Raider (Square Enix)
WoW: Mists of Pandaria (Blizzard)
Xcom: Enemy Unknown (2K Games)
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/featu...of-2012/091605
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February 23rd, 2012, 03:54 Posted By: wraggster
GAME will close Gameplay.co.uk next week, MCV can reveal.
All that website's customers will now be served via Gamestation.co.uk as of March 1st.
The move makes sense for GAME. It acquired Gameplay back in 2004 but since then it has become a forgotten brand at the retail specialist. The site was also not updated when GAME and Gamestation relaunched its websites last year.
Meanwhile, GAME has also informed a further 35 stores that they will be closed. It is part of the store closures already announced by the firm. There are currently 610 GAME and GameStation High Street stores and this will be reduced to 550 outlets by Christmas 2013.
The company says it has a 'detailed plan to help customers move to another local store or online' and says it will do its best to redeploy its staff if possible.
"So that all of our customers can enjoy the benefits of the new online platform that we launched last year, Gameplay customers will be served through Gamestation.co.uk from March 1st 2012, including customer support for their purchases," said a GAME spokesperson
"All new orders will be directed through gamestation.co.uk from that date. We’re talking to our customers who access our online community through Gameplay about this today, and look forward to welcoming them to the growing community at gamestation.co.uk."
But it's not all bad news for GAME Group. The firm will finally upgrade its in-store IT systems next month. The new system fully connects their online platform with the stores. That means click and collect should be on the way. More information will be available next month.
The news comes a year after the firm announced its 'Dedicated to Gaming' strategy. The company's strategy is to grow its multi-channel and digital offerings, whilst reduce its store count.
The news follows troubled times at GAME Group, which has suffered severe credit issues following a disappointing Christmas. The Group has secured a reduced banking facility to help it trade through the coming weeks. However, some games are still absent from store shelves.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/game-...-stores/091608
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February 23rd, 2012, 03:52 Posted By: wraggster
Specialist retailer GAME has said that it's unable to stock all new releases, in part due to shelf space in stores.
Yesterday it was revealed that the retailer would not be stocking any of Ubisoft's PlayStation Vita games at launch, and it also cancelled pre-orders for the Special Edition of Wii game The Last Story days before release.
The company is negotiation releases on a case-by-case basis with games publishers, following a troubled year in which it expects to make an £18 million loss.
But GAME's marketing director Anna-Marie Mason told our sister site Eurogamer.net that "there's no one specific catch-all reason" why the retailer isn't able to offer new releases to customers.
"With regards to the Ubisoft titles, that is one moment in time. It doesn't mean to say we won't have that title or that part of our proposition on an on-going basis.
"We can't stock absolutely everything. That's just not possible."
"The same applies in a rational way to our online business," she added. "There isn't a definitive reason why we haven't been able to stock those two things most recently. But that may well change."
Last week the store did not have copies of Namco's Tekken 3D Prime Edition, meaning it was not available on sale at over 350 UK stores. The game did not chart in the official UK sales charts as a result.
Mason also said that consumers who place pre-orders shouldn't lose faith in the retailer, as recent situations are exceptions and not an indication of forthcoming problems with other titles.
"We know our customers really well. Most of them have a really long history with us, and they know as a business we are absolutely committed to giving the best possible range as much of the time as we possibly can.
"The instances we've had in the last couple of weeks are absolutely the exception, not the rule."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...y-everything_8
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February 22nd, 2012, 23:42 Posted By: wraggster
Alex Wiltshire, Edge's online editor, is hosting a roundtable discussion at next month's F2P Summit in London.
The topic for the panel is My Worst Mistake, with Wiltshire joined by Relentless co-founder Andrew Eades, Papaya Mobile founder Oscar Clark, and Matthew Wiggins, GM of Zynga Mobile UK.
They will each relay the design and business mistakes that inadvertently led to success, and explain the lessons learned from their time in free-to-play.
Elsewhere, Paul Bowen, European VP of mobile ad and monetisation firm Tapjoy, will share tips on how to maximise revenue on Google's mobile operating system in his talk, Making Money On Android: Numbers From The Field.
Andy Lane, event director, said: "Android development is a red-hot topic for the game industry: it recently overtook iOS and RIM for the number one position in market share among global operating systems, and nearly 500,000 new Android-enabled devices are activated every day.
"This session is an absolute must-attend for everyone involved in developing free-to-play game content."
The inaugural F2P Summit, the first UK event dedicated solely to free-to-play, takes place on March 28 at Rich Mix in London's Shoreditch. For more, follow the source link below.
Source: F2P Summit
http://www.edge-online.com/news/edge...summit-session
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February 22nd, 2012, 00:51 Posted By: wraggster
Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard believes that the decline and eventual closure of high-street retailer The Game Group is now inevitable.
Speaking as part of an expert panel at the BAFTA Question Time event, sponsored by GamesIndustry.biz, Gerhard stated that the efficiency with which the internet serves the modern consumer's needs - easy access to a wide range of content at lower prices - has started a process that will eventually eradicate physical retail for games.
"I think, 10 years out from now, we'll be talking about [physical] retail nostalgically, as a museum piece," he said. "I don't think there's much there that would give it a second life."
Physical retail, Gerhard explained, is part of a system that takes "huge chunks of margin" from developers, facilitating the decline of the independent development sector.
"That all erodes the economics for developers being able to make money," he continued. "They take a chunk - say 20 or 30 per cent - the publishers take a bit, and after inflation it's no wonder that the independent games industry isn't alive and vibrant, because they're not making any money."
I think, 10 years out from now, we'll be talking about [physical] retail nostalgically, as a museum piece
Mark Gerhard, Jagex
"[Developers'] response is almost desperation. 'We're going to go straight to the customer. We're going to go online. We're going to bypass the sequence that's taking so much from us...' I recognise that it's sad, but I think it's a fait accompli."
"It's sad to see an institution decline, but the writing has been on the wall for quite some time - the internet didn't happen yesterday... People are still playing games. They're still doing business; they're just doing it in a different place... If you don't adapt you die. It's as simple as that."
Jason Kingsley, owner of the UK studio Rebellion, compared watching the rapid decline of companies like HMV and Game to studying a mass extinction on the fossil record. He admitted to always being puzzled that the games industry sold data, "on bits of plastic wrapped in cardboard and the cellophane and put on the back of lorries."
"I always thought data should go down wires and fibre optic cables," he said. "It's a reforming of an industry, and a refocusing away from selling data - which is more easily distributed in other ways - to offer a very different kind of service."
UKIE's Jo Twist warned the other panelists not to "undersell" the importance of a one-to-one retail experience with engaged sales staff. To those unfamiliar with gaming or shopping for somebody else it can be the only way to make an informed purchase.
However, Kingsley disagreed, arguing that personal recommendations through social networks already provide the same service in a more meaningful way.
Frontier Developments' David Braben went further, saying that major chains like Game and HMV never offered the level of service Twist described, and were instrumental in the decline of the independent retailers that once did.
"In a sense, they're just getting a taste of that medicine," he said. However, Braben also added that internet speeds in the UK weren't yet capable of supporting a full scale shift to digital retail for "the next year or two."
This will give physical retailers some time to find an effective way of serving the needs of consumers, and potentially allow a more passionate independent retail sector to regain some of the market.
Nevertheless, Braben echoed Gerhard's belief that, in 10 year's time, it would be "hard to imagine" any games being sold in "shrink-wrapped retail."
"Whilst I am tremendously sympathetic to all of those that work in the shops, the fundamental problem is that they've got to look at their business to reposition it anyway - that's irrespective of whether it's a good or bad thing."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rom-extinction
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February 20th, 2012, 21:06 Posted By: wraggster
THQ has taken the number one spot in the UK all format software chart, providing a glimmer of hope for the troubled publisher after a testing period.
It's the first top slot for the company since the launch of Homefront last year, despite not selling as well in its opening week as its predecessor, which only managed second place.
Undisputed is the only new entry in the week's top 40, but there has been plenty of movement with existing titles. Kingdoms of Amalur, which was last week's number one, has slipped out of the top ten to 12, after dropping 63 per cent of its sales. FIFA 12 is back to second from fifth, whilst Modern Warfare 3 is in third.
Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games sees the combined benefit of a 3DS release and a Wii discount, jumping from 10th to fourth in the chart.
All data is courtesy of GFK Chart-Track.
| Last Week |
This Week |
Title |
|---|
| New entry |
1 |
UFC Undisputed 3 |
|---|
| 5 |
2 |
FIFA 12 |
|---|
| 3 |
7 |
Modern Warfare 3 |
|---|
| 10 |
4 |
Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games |
|---|
| 6 |
5 |
Battlefield 3 |
|---|
| 2 |
6 |
Final Fantasy XIII-2 |
|---|
| 14 |
7 |
Skylanders |
|---|
| 3 |
8 |
The Darkness 2 |
|---|
| 9 |
9 |
The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim |
|---|
| 12 |
10 |
Just Dance 3 |
|---|
| 8 |
11 |
Assassin's Creed: Revelations |
|---|
| 1 |
12 |
Kingdoms of Amalur |
|---|
| 4 |
13 |
MGS HD Collection |
|---|
| 13 |
14 |
Zumba Fitness |
|---|
| Re-entry |
15 |
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 |
|---|
| 16 |
16 |
Rage |
|---|
| 15 |
17 |
Saints Row: The Third |
|---|
| Re-entry |
18 |
LEGO PIrates of the Caribbean |
|---|
| Re-entry |
19 |
Super Mario 3D Land |
|---|
| 17 |
20 |
Need For Speed: The Run |
|---|
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...c-undisputed-3
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February 20th, 2012, 21:04 Posted By: wraggster
Activision has denied reports of blacklisting a European blog, and argued the situation was simply a misunderstanding.
"Activision doesn't blacklist journalists" a PR agency toldGamesBeat on behalf of the company.
"We believe this was a misunderstanding and are working towards a resolution."
The Call Of Duty publisher faced the accusations of blacklisting last week, after French site Gameblog.fr reported on sightings of a Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 listing on Amazon.
The game, while hardly a surprise to anyone with even a basic knowledge of triple-A franchises, has not yet been formally announced, and the news story sent the Activision PR machine into a frenzy. A representative for the company contacted Gameblog editor Grégory Szriftgiser a number of times, asking him to pull the story. He refused, at which point the company uninvited the site from a press event they had been supposed to attend.
"They also made clear that the relationship was to be severed, all advertisement plans cancelled, games not sent, and invitations to later events cancelled as well," Szriftgiser told Kotaku.
"I explained that if this was their decision indeed, we had to inform our readers of it, and would do so later in the day."
The practice of public relations blacklisting by game publishers is one that is often suspected by media outlets, but rarely admitted to by the PR representatives themselves.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...st-journalists
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February 20th, 2012, 19:33 Posted By: wraggster
Half-Life developer ponders 'hardware as a service'
Valve may build and release its own game platforms if the hardware market fails to meet the developer’s expectations, the company’s president Gabe Newell has said.
Newell said his team is currently facing the conundrum of applying its service model – of constant incremental updates – to physical hardware.
“We’re thinking of trying to figure out how to do the equivalent of the incremental approach in software design and try to figure out how would you get something similar to that in the hardware space as well,” he told Penny Arcade.
He went on to claim that the current model for releasing hardware was too inflexible.
“The sort of old method of, you know, let’s go make a giant pile of inventory and hope that some set of applications emerge to justify this giant hardware investment doesn’t seem to be very consistent with what we’ve seen to be the fastest ways to move stuff forward,” he said.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...-game-hardware
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