YouTube star Freddy Wong has released a new humorous video in which he wins a unicorn farting a deadly rainbow. It’s amusing, but perhaps the most interesting revelation is that it was borrowed from Volition, suggesting its presence in either Red Faction: Armageddon or Saints Row: The Third.
Now available for the iPad {link no longer active} courtesy of EA mobile, download now to relive the brutal combos and vicious fatalities that made Mortal Kombat one of the most iconic video games of all time. Play as one of the original thirteen Klassic warriors including Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Sonya Blade. Innovative multiplayer modes, fully customizable controls and awesome visuals are maximized for the larger iPad screen. Customize your button layout in the control settings menu and dominate your opponents in head-to-head battle and then “Finish Him!” with epic Fatalities and humiliating Babalities. An all-new Two-Player Mode brings arcade style competition to the tablet so you and a friend can fight head-to-head or via local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Gree has announced that it has purchased OpenFeint for $104 million. The Japanese mobile social gaming platform will combine with the OpenFeint gaming platform to reach 100 million users worldwide, and will look to accelerate the growth of mobile social gaming; over 5,000 games currently use OpenFeint.
“At Gree, we are socializing the next evolution of games and, as the best-in-class U.S.-based mobile social network,” said Yoshikazu Tanaka, founder and CEO of GREE. “OpenFeint is the ideal partner for us to offer the best mobile social games to the largest global audience.”
“We are excited that Gree shares our belief in the OpenFeint network and are ecstatic to partner with a renowned global leader to build a multi-billion dollar business,” says Jason Citron, CEO and founder of OpenFeint. “Together, we will deliver the strongest global ecosystem of gaming networks to our combined 100 million users.”
YouTube is one of the more popular websites on the planet, but Google has found some difficulty getting a profit out of their $1.65 billion investment. It is for this reason that Tod Sacerdoti proposes that the streaming video site re-brand itself.
“There is ample evidence, both factual and anecdotal, that in many people’s minds, YouTube is synonymous with user-generated (UGC) video,” writes Sacerdoti. “By the way, plenty of advertisers love cat videos. But determining what’s brand-safe and what isn’t among the amateur stuff is still a problem. And because of this unavoidable association YouTube overall captures less of global video ad budgets than its market share (40 percent) suggests it should have.”
“YouTube is struggling both to fund premium content and sell ads against the premium content it already has at rates that are competitive with Hulu and others,” he added. “YouTube has large amounts of premium content, more of it in fact than any broadcaster with an online presence. However, it simply isn’t commanding the same pre-roll rates as its traditional media peers.”
He cited examples of Vevo successfully re-branding itself for music videos and the fact that advertisers don’t like user-generated and premium videos on the same site. He also thinks that something new will help the brand, even if this is simply the sizzle that sells the steak, they have a lot of steak to sell and their volumes are growing everyday. So, let the name game begin. Four letter names seem to be doing well in video — Hulu and Vevo have proven that. Perhaps it should be a blend of traditional (YTV) or leverage the existing Google domain portfolio (they own Hello.com), he proposed.
Source Ad Age
It has been 20 years since Sonic the Hedgehog was first created, and Sega is celebrating with various forms of back-to-school merchandise like stationery and backpacks. Several key retailers have signed up to carry the items.
“We have a lot of great partners on board already for different merchandise, said Sega’s head of brand licensing for Europe, Sissel Henno. “We’ve merchandise that targets kids and parents individually, and then licenses that appeal to the family as a joint experience, for instance the many promotions we have run with Burger King and Pizza Hut, as well as our collaboration with Alton Towers.”
“I believe there is still a vast untapped potential for licensing based on games, and we will see an increase in overall sales as more retailers start listing the stock and see the results in their sell-through numbers.”
Source: MCV
Earth Day has come and gone, a new study called “Mainstream Green: Moving sustainability from niche to normal” says that 82 percent marketers surveyed have good green intentions, but only 16 percent are have really committed to intentions. A large part of this stems from the fact that marketers view green products as not mass-market to begin with.
Half of the marketers surveyed viewed products friendly to the environment as targets for “crunchy granola hippies” or “rich elitist snobs.” Price was cited as the number one barrier for these products, with some seeing as much as a 100 percent premium.
Other barriers include the perception that going green is “more feminine than masculine,” making men more reluctant to adopt green habits in public. Nearly 73 percent also said they’d choose a mainstream brand over a green brand for reliability reasons.
The study believes that these stereotypes should be fought against, and that the products should be advertised as normal. “Research shows that many of the environmental messages are not just failing to close the green gap but are actually cementing it by making green behavior too difficult and costly from a practical, financial, and social standpoint,” said Graceann Bennett co-author of the study.
Source: Ad Week
With the Gears of War 3 beta getting started, fans are eager to get keys to the event. Cliff Bleszinski is having a lot of fun with this, asking fans to take pictures of themselves doing unusual things in order to get a key on twitter.
“First person to post a picture of the omen on their car windshield in peanut butter while kneeling on the roof of the car w a Gears CD wins!”
“First person to post a picture of their dog with a makeshift do rag on with a toy Lancer in its paws while you are in the back jumping wins.”
Not only that, but on Easter, the Gears of War 3 beta had male characters wearing a bunny mask. Most appreciated the gag, though some complained the ears gave away their positions in cover.
Takes a gaming “easter egg” to the next level.
Source: Save and Quitting
Nintendo has announced a new Create Britain campaign, which will be supported by both online and TV ads. Using the DS game Art Academy, Nintendo reps will show shoppers how easy it is to draw using the game at several shopping centers.
“The aim is to get the U.K. to discover its artistic side through the use of Art Academy,” said Nintendo marketing assistant Rebecca Archer. “Sampling will therefore be an integral part of this campaign, as the only way consumers will discover what Art Academy can teach them is through trying the software themselves.”
“00Many people view art as elitist and highbrow. We want to make it accessible to all by demonstrating that anyone, whatever their ability, can learn to paint and draw using Art Academy, said Archer. All of our sampling venues are large footfall shopping centers that have mass market appeal. We have also been careful to select sampling venues across the country so that every consumer has an opportunity to come along.
Source: MCV
Sony has recently had to deal with the nightmare of taking down its PSN network and associated services. While maintenance was the original vague reason given, the company is now admitting that an outside person or persons breached the system’s security and Sony is doing everything to make sure that no customer information got out and to bolster the network’s security to protect against future attacks.
“An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services” said Patrick Seybold, SCEA Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media. “In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.”
“I know you are waiting for additional information on when PlayStation Network and Qriocity services will be online,” he added. “Unfortunately, I don t have an update or timeframe to share at this point in time. As we previously noted, this is a time intensive process and we re working to get them back online quickly. Will keep you updated with information as it becomes available.”
Source: PlayStation Blog
Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has announced that they are making a new item available to Free Realms players celebrate the start of the NBA playoffs. Users can pick up jerseys from all 30 NBA teams as part of the promotion.
The NBA Jersey’s are available for download PC players only for 50 Station Cash. The jerseys include the league’s biggest stars like Chicago’s Derrick Rose, Miami’s Lebron James, and L.A.’s Kobe Bryant.
Find out more at FreeRealms.com. {link no longer active}
