MOBILE NEWS: 5 stories you should now about

All the stories all linked.

The theme is the impact new platforms are having on the market, and reactions of companies to try to catch up or how they lead the way



Nokia, reporting a 90 per cent fall in profits for Q1 2009. (shame big fan of the N series for years very good phone, all though its iPhone all the way now for me)

Net profits reached €122m, heavily down on the €1.2bn in the same period in 2008.

Sales were also down, dropping 27 per cent from €12.7bn last year to €9.28bn. However, the results were not as bad as many had predicted, the result of which was an eight per cent increase to the company’s share price.

Samsung steps on to a new platform with Google Android handsets soon to be released S8000 will be sporting the exciting mobile OS.

Samsung is also believed to be planning a trio of Android devices.

Sony Ericsson confirm that it will be revealing more details on its Entertainment Unlimited service on May 28th.

The company has already confirmed that the Idou – its first Entertainment Unlimited handset – will be launched in the second half of this year. Entertainment Unlimited itself broadly unites Walkman music, Cyber-shot imaging and Java gaming, with messaging and other services/apps also in the mix.

It also allows consumers to share content through the TV, PC and wi-fi and syncs with web applications and PlayNow.

The company earlier confirmed a massive pre-tax loss for Q1 09, albeit in line with earlier forecasts, and swiftly embarked on a €400m cost savings drive that will see 2,000 more jobs go this year.

PSP platform opened up the store to encourage uptake with tomorrow's 5.50 firmware upgrade removing the need for a PlayStation Network account to browse the store.

As long as a wi-fi connection is at hand, any PSP user will now be able to check out the latest games, trailers and demos available to download on the machine.

The 5.50 update also allows for access to the PSN Information Board via the machine’s XMB interface.

DSi sells 435,000 units in first US week

In an official response to the NPD's March 2009 sales numbers, Nintendo revealed that the Nintendo DSi handheld - released April 5, has sold 435,000 units in North America in its first week.

This figure surpasses initial sales of the handheld's previous iteration, the Nintendo DS Lite, which sold 226,300 in its first week on the market.

NEWS: Google Yahoo & Microsoft block April Fools

In a strange move Google Yahoo, Microsoft and others invloved in the semantic web program have tried to block April fools from reaching the web in fear it will corrupt the developing semantic web Google say jokes could set them back a year.

"All the misinformation and lies on the internet could cause a big problem for semantics"

The Semantic Web is an evolving extension of the World Wide Web in which the semantics of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content.

See here

INVESTMENT: Google Starts a VC fund

Google reviews has announced Google Ventures, a venture capital fund that “seeks to discover and grow great companies” in a “broad range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, hardware, clean-tech, bio-tech and health care.”

The fund has two managing partners: Bill Maris, perhaps best known in tech circles for founding Web hosting company Burlee.com, and Rich Miner, co-founder of mobile platform Android

As far as the size of the fund goes, actual amounts aren’t disclosed; however, the official site claims that the fund is “able to invest amounts ranging from seed funding to tens of millions of dollars.” In other words, anything goes, and Google probably won’t be cheap if they see a good opportunity. On the other hand, Google has always been somewhat careful, acquisition-wise, so don’t expect Google Ventures to be burning money; as they say, their goal is to “build great companies” but also to generate “long term financial return.”"

Start you business plans now.....

NEWS: Gaming will soon be a part of everyday for most people

1. DS breaks 100 million barrier

What does this mean? it means another bit of the puzzle that will lead to gaming becoming something that will be part of most peoples lives. May be it will take another generation or 2 but soon everyone will play games (electronic games as I challenge you to find me people who don't play a game in one form or other)

2. Paid apps arrive on Android market

Now developers can start to monetize there devs, and if Google are smart they will make the APP store as good as Apples store. (apple really have shown the mobile companies how its done) In case you haven't tried it its the best experience I have ever had on a mobile. This further expands the reach of gaming.

3. 6000 games now available from APP store

Ok so not everyone has an iphone or ipod touch, but look what Apple have achieved so far and give it a few years and it could be a standard platform, They have dominated music download market and I bet they do the same here, they are actively increasing the expose of gaming to NONE gamers.

4. Xbox 360 takes half of its consoles online

A strong indication that people want to play together and be more social, while having the convenience of DLC and added unique features that DLC brings, the more social people are them more they explore other games and ulitmatley they invite non gaming friends to join, if you get an email or SMS telling you your buddy is playing with your other buddies online somewhere and you not invloved you are gonna feel left out at some point. Think Scraboulous

5. Over 5 million Players daily for Mafia Wars

Facebook game Mafia wars by Zynga (copy of MOB wars) is further indication that gamining is penetrating deeper and deeper in to society utilizing any possible channel, in this case social networks are fast becoming a hub of gaming activity.

Several things do need to be worked out to keep us on track as our industry does have its problems like any.

Business : SPIL signs with Triplepoint PR

Not long after they employed Ex Google Sydney Mock SPIL Games has appointed international PR firm TriplePointto head up its branding efforts in North America and Europe.

Its campaign will focus on SPIL’s success as a high-traffic advertising platform and its engagement with what it describes as a lucrative audience. It will also look to increase the awareness of SPIL’s range of targeted gaming portals."

Clearly Spil are paving the way for growth and expansion. And now Sydney is on board I imagine we will start to see Spil using their power and position to try out other opportunities, remember google was just a search engine to start with. Sydney has been involved with several major product releases from google including maps, Igoogle and YOUTUBE. I wonder where your head is Sydney??

Virtual Worlds News

1. Google Lively to close

Its no surprise really there are way too many virtual reality companies trying to do the same thing.

And Google failed to notice the golden rule in getting into this market?

Accessibility......and......FUN......Dont get me wrong I used lively and yes its fun however its only short lived, its similar fun to when you first poked people on facebook, so I could see what Google where trying to do but I think they have realized that right now they can not attract the mass market. There is no reason to stick around in lively which is a shame as the UI has great potential and if only there was a game to it then may be things could have developed. Lively will shut down end of the year.

ALSO COKE STUDIO AND FAKETOWN are gone...

Faketown was a blatant rip off and well when you have Habbo why buy a fake....

Coke should never and I say this to any brand NEVER NEVER make your own virtual world the idea sucks. You should partner with existing worlds and MMO's.....of course there are exceptions but only if it makes sense like BARBIE, Disney or Buildabear otherwise stay away...


2. WOW moves 2.8 million copies in 24 hours

I think this backs up the idea about how console games could be marketed.

3. Are Habbo building a new 3-D virtual world?

There are rumors due to job adverts, however lets see. If I was Habbo I would look to enhance the 2.5D world with areas that become 3-D. This way you don't lose any customer and transition is smooth.

4. HOW FUNNY ? Divorce over SecondLife affair
A woman is to divorce her husband after discovering he was having a virtual affair within the online game Second Life.

The couple married in July 2005, while their "Second Life" avatars Dave Barmy and Laura Skye -- younger, slimmer versions of their real-life selves -- also held an online ceremony for their virtual friends.

After a rare break from the computer, however, Taylor returned to find her 40-year-old husband in an intimate, albeit virtual, position with an online prostitute within "Second Life", which she said was the "ultimate betrayal".

The Joy of JOYity: Bringing “Massive Multiplayer Trans-Reality” Games To Android Phones

The Joy of JOYity: Bringing “Massive Multiplayer Trans-Reality” Games To Android Phones: "What makes a great Android app? One that melds the virtual world with the real world in a fun or informative way. One app that does that in an impressive fashion is called JOYity and it comes from Zelfi, a German mobile gaming startup. JOYity uses the GPS in the Android phone to let you play games and go on adventures based on your location in the real world.

JOYity is a gaming platform in its own right. When you download the app you can play one of three games (YouCatch, Roads of San Francisco, City Race Munich) or design your own. In Roads of San Francisco, for instance, you have to go around the city picking up clues. When you get to a destination, a text or picture message tells you where to go next. It is a Scavenger Hunt with a story line. You can also design your own Scavenger Hunt games and play them with large groups of people."

Game Link - This weeks casual games news

Week Round up.

1) New Event to Be hosted called "The future is online"

2) Lead Economist talks about Eve and the virtual economy

3) Microtransactions make it to mobile with Supper Boom Boom

4) Game loft pledge 10 titles for Android (google)

5) Atari sale is completed

6) Sega launches free to play casual games site

7) Sony to launch digital distribution for PSP (big opportunity for casual games)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Future is Online, says GameHorizon | Game Development | News by Develop: "GameHorizon is to hold a MMO-focused event in Newcastle next week.

Called 'The Future is Online', the evening will take a look at what it takes to be successful in the online space, and how studios can make the transition to online."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Eyjolfur Gudmundsson, the Lead Economist at CCP, developer of EVE Online, talks about the impact of what's essentially a real-world economy in a virtual world.

by Eyjolfur Gudmundsson, PH.D. on Tuesday, October 14, 2008
My Turn: The Birth of the First Virtual Nation

It has been over 30 years since online virtual worlds have started to emerge in the form of MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons). Over this time period several variants of virtual worlds have emerged, with each form having different opportunities and challenges for the developers.

Stating that the economy in EVE is realistic is wrong. The economy in EVE is actually just as real as our real life economies, by all measures and definition of economic value based on economic theory. This fact has great implications in terms of how to interpret information from economies in virtual worlds, and shows that economics must be used as a fundamental feature in the design and operation of these worlds.

-------------------------------------------------------------

A sequel to last year's Super Boom Boom, the one-button action game features five stages with bosses, three unlockable extra stages, casino mini-games, a driving mode, and a nationwide leaderboard.

Gamevil claims that Super Boom Boom 2's microtransaction system will cover 98% of available handhsets, enabling players to purchase G-Points (in-game currency), which can be exchanged for new stages, items, and mini-games. The G-Points can be earned for free while playing the game, but users can bypass that step by purchasing them.

The company's previous forays into microtransaction-enabled mobile games include Baseball Superstars 2008, which reportedly saw 1.3 million downloads withing 10 months.

------------------------------------------------------------

Gameloft plans 10 titles for Android, Google's open source mobile platform.

Bubble Bash, which is currently available for the iPhone and other mobile devices, will be the first Gameloft title to launch through the Android Market content distribution system in the first quarter of 2009.

------------------------------------------------------------

Atari is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames. The acquisition will enable Atari to expand its distribution capabilities and online initiatives.

by James Brightman on Monday, October 13, 2008
Infogrames Completes Atari Acquisition

Infogrames' plan to buy the outstanding stock in Atari, first revealed back in March, is finally complete. The French publisher now owns all of Atari, as compared with 51.4 percent before the acquisition.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Sega has taken the wraps off of a new casual games site with free-to-play games. PlaySega features a wide variety of titles in addition to Sonic-based gaming.

by James Brightman on Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Sega Launches Casual Portal PlaySega.com

It's been somewhat under the radar, but Sega has launched a new casual gaming portal with free-to-play games at PlaySega.com. The portal (currently in beta) features an assortment of arcade games, puzzle games, card games, quiz games, word games, sports games, and Sonic games, the first being Sonic at The Olympic Games. There are apparently more than 30 new titles in development for the site.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCEE: Digital distribution to "ignite" PSP development

The PlayStation Portable's new distribution methods will spur on creative development for the handheld, according to Zeno Colaço vice president of publisher and developer relations for SCEE.

Colaço described how the combination of digital distribution with the increased functions of the PSP 3000, announced at the Leipzig Games Convention, would make the handheld a more compelling platform for developers to work on.

YouTube to expand to video game sales

YouTube is set to start selling videogames and experiment with new advertising formats to grow revenue, according to Reuters.





Move is an effort to monitze site
Google paid USD 1.65 billion for in 2006.
Estimate earnings about USD 200 million in revenue in 2009
until now the site relied on ad sales as its main source of income.

The Google-owned video streaming website already allows viewers to buy songs from music videos they watch with links to either Amazon's MP3 store or the Apple iTunes store. However, now YouTube users will also be able to buy videogames, such as EA's Spore through the Amazon link.

Google also announced the launch of AdSense for Games, a program that integrates video advertisements into web-based games. The search-engine specialist claimed to be working with game developers and publishers including Konami, Playfish, Zynga, Demand Media, games network Mochi Media, as well as beta advertisers such as Esurance, Sprint, and Sony Pictures.

Google Lively opens up API for embed games

Google Lively's Kevin Hanna explained the genesis of the search engine giant's online world space, along the way revealing an upcoming API to embed playable games inside Lively.

Google Gadgets API will work on surfaces in the game, meaning that people can embed and play casual games on polygonal surfaces (such as TV screens) in the world, much like Sony's Home has been experimenting with.

The future, see a more general API for game developers to potentially create 3D multiplayer games using Google Lively's technology and back end though this is intended to be a longterm goal. (I guess it will depend of the success of Lively)

Mentioned that virtual item creators able to make money from Google Lively

The Google Lively which runs embedded in webpages requires a plug-in download for Windows.

As for the online space itself, Hanna explained that: "We wanted to add something that is a piece of the puzzle", rather than an all-encompassing online world such as Second Life.

The world has drawn some criticism for requiring a reasonably robust plugin download, but Hanna indicated that the visual fidelity and quality -- and diversity of content -- is key to Google Lively's appeal.

For example, there's 16,000 base hair styles in the game, part of Hanna's point that: "You kind of get sick of seeing the same characters over and over again."

Approved Google developers can add furniture, and 120 just got added to the system - Hanna noted it "goes to the Google core philosophy of empowering the user."

inappropriate content may be vetted by users in a similar way to YouTube, according to Hanna.

despite some negative blogosphere buzz for the application, it has actually been remarkably successful compared to initial estimates - with the unspecified target for the first month's downloads and userbase exceeded in the first 12 hours after launch.

He actually quipped that for the first 2 days, "we thought we were under attack by spam bots" - but it was actually just people downloading the game.

In game Advertsing

Ok the key things are as follows

1 Google will be able to send in game video adverts, and will be trying to claim a good chunk of the market
2 Google may use characters to deliver ads, could this could backfire?
3 Adverts work well when done contextually, they fit in with game play
4 Google launches Lively virtual world
5 Bushnell points towards big growth potential for in game adverts
6 In game adverts different from adverts that appear in the pre-load before a game or in banners
7 Google releases Android open source OS for mobile phones

Google ready to offer in-game ads for web games? | Casual games | News by Casualgaming.biz: "Google's is finally going to commit to in-game advertising, with a target that will include online web-based PC games, according to a report on VentureBeat.

'Sources close to the matter said that the company has developed an in-game advertising technology that allows it to insert video ads into games,' says the report, adding that a demo shows in-game characters themselves presenting ads to players with 'words from our sponsor'-like intros."

Gamasutra - Nielsen: 82% React Positively To Contextual In-Game Ads: "Nielsen: 82% React Positively To Contextual In-Game Ads

Nielsen: 82% React Positively To Contextual In-Game Ads Up to 82% of consumers feel games are just as enjoyable with integrated dynamic game ads as without, according to a research study conducted by Nelsen BASES and Nelsen Games on behalf of in-game advertising network IGA Worldwide. The study, “Consumers' Experience with In-Game Content & Brand Impact of In-Game Advertising Study,” found that in-game ads produce “a measured lift” in overall consumer awareness and opinion of the products advertised."

Bushnell sees inefficiencies in game advertising // News // GamesIndustry.biz: "Bushnell sees inefficiencies in game advertising

Atari founder and Pong creator Nolan Bushnell has noted the inefficiencies in advertising support for the videogames industry.

Speaking at Wedbush Morgan Securities' annual Management Access Conference, Bushnell said that there was a huge disparity between the current situation and what it should be.

'If you really look at the advertising support of broadcast media, it's over USD 100 billion,' Bushnell said.

'People in the US watch about 27-28 hours of television per week and they play about 7-8 hours of games per week - which, on a parity basis, says that there should be somewhere between USD 25-30 billion of advertising support available for the game business.

'Clearly, it's less than a billion dollars now.'"