Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Facebook, Facebook Connect, Last.fm, Massively multiplayer online game, Ohai, Social network service, Twitter, World of Warcraft
Earlier Techcrunch broke the news on the upcoming launch of City Of Eternals, the first Flash MMOG from Ohai.I have the rough footage below of in game play, and will add a proper screencast shortly. This is a World of Warcraft style MMOG that’s free to play and Flash based. It’s also integrated with Facebook Connect to allow easy signup and, more importantly, you can play with your friends and see the real identity of other players. (Techcrunch11/10)
Although it’s not yet live to everyone, a new Xbox LIVE Dashboard Update that adds social networking integrations with Facebook, Twitter and last.fm is currently in preview mode to beta testers and will go live to the public in short order. (Mashable 11/11)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Company, Developers and Publishers, Electronic Arts, Games, London, Playfish, Video game, Wall Street Journal
Electronic Arts announced that it plans to acquire the assets of Playfish, a London-based developer of online social games, for at least $275 million. Meanwhile, the company said it will cut 17% of its workforce — about 1,500 jobs — and close several facilities in hopes of saving about $100 million annually. The Wall Street Journal (11/9) , Reuters (11/9)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Advertising, Facebook, Fish, Mark Pincus, Social network, Social network service, TechCrunch, Zynga
Last week Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said that they would take steps to remove scammy advertising offers from their social games. There have been a couple of missteps since then, and Facebook responded by taking Zynga’s newest game, FishVille, offline. (Techcrunch11/8)
Facebook app maker Zynga, the developer behind the wildly popular Farmville Facebook app, has a new virtual social networking app set in a fish bowl. (It may be tough to get into but keep trying – the app was overloaded over the weekend.) Instead of planting and harvesting crops, FishVille has users raise and feed colorful tropical fish. Earn money as you go along to buy more fish eggs, decorations and eventually a bigger tank. Zynga’s applications are successful because they provide addictive goals to results-oriented users and incorporate social aspects such as gifting that create such viral explosions on the platform. Zynga’s Farmville app is currently tops by a mile among Facebook apps, according to Inside Facebook’s independent metrics firm AppData. (Cynopsis 11/9)
Top 10 Applications on Facebook by Registered Users
Rank App Developer Category Users
1 Farmville Zynga Games 63,543,438
2 Causes Causes Education 35,222,871
3 Café World Zynga Games 28,378,477
4 Mafia Wars Zynga Games 26,269,933
5 Happy Aquarium CrowdStar Games 24,741,376
6 Pet Society PlayFish Games 21,503,624
7 FamilyLink.com FamilyLink Friends/Fam.20,119,046
8 YoVille Zynga Games 19,765,144
9 Texas HoldEm Zynga Games 18,825,441
10 Farm Town Slashkey Games 18,430,454
Source: Appdata
Microsoft believes it has cracked the code on how best to bring advertising into the vast video-game universe. The software giant will host an Advertising Gaming Upfront at Lincoln Center in New York on Thursday, during which it will unveil several new partnerships. (Iwantmedia 11/9, Mediaweek11/8)
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Filed under: GAMING
A battle against Russian nationalists may give Activision Blizzard Inc. the biggest entertainment release of the year, said Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick. Sales of Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” to be released on Nov. 10, could surpass the top films of 2009, Kotick said. Some analysts have predicted the game may break the all-time video-game sales record set last year by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s “Grand Theft Auto 4.” (Bloomberg11/5)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Sony, Video game, Wii, Xbox 360
While the Nintendo Wii continues to have a stranglehold on console sales, both worldwide and in the United States, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are battling it out for the the second place position for year-to-date sales. Just a little over two months ago Sony announced that they would be slashing the price of their game console, the PS3, to $299. Microsoft quickly followed suit, and in just ten days dropped the price of their most expensive console, the Xbox 360 Elite, to $299. Nintendo, who has sold nearly double the number of consoles worldwide as these two, decided to lower the price of the Wii on September 27th to $199: this was the first time since its inception that the Wii has had a price cut. All three console manufacturers hoped that the decrease in price would help them to increase sales and finish the year on a strong note. (Crunchgear11/4)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: 1920s, Arts, Games, Roleplaying, Social Sciences, United States, Variety, Video game
The Mouse House will reintroduce its famous mascot in “Epic Mickey,” a videogame due late next year that will revive several of the character’s key personality traits that have been dulled or forgotten since his introduction in the late 1920s. (Variety11/2)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: DFC Intelligence, iPhone, iPod Touch, New Super Mario Bros, Nintendo, Video game, Wall Street Journal, Wii
Nintendo on Nov. 15 is scheduled to launch its latest game for the Wii console, “New Super Mario Bros.” The Japanese company needs a big hit: The heady days when the Wii was a must-have entertainment platform have, at least for now, faded, and sales and profit have gone south in the first half of the year. BusinessWeek(11/1) , The Wall Street Journal (10/30)
Revenue from video games designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch will spike from $46 million last year to more than $2.8 billion by 2014, according to a new study from researcher DFC Intelligence. The report went on to say that the overall market for games will rise just 8%, from $10.9 billion last year to $11.7 billion in 2014. The Wall Street Journal/Digits (10/30)
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