Assassins Creed promises to finish the trilogy within the trilogy for Ezio. This trailer hints at bigger things to come during E3.
Nissan uses some great visual imagery to demonstrate their point about gas powered vehicles. They also ding the Chevy Volt, which is an electric hybrid still heavily reliant on gasoline.
F.E.A.R. 3 is looking to have several unique multiplayer modes to round it out. In Contractions you have to fight through waves of enemies while Alma goes through spasms.
THQ and Volition have launched the Countdown to Win contest on the official Website for Red Faction: Armageddon. Fans must must be registered members of the Red Faction community to win and can either create a log-in on the official site or receive a code after liking the Red Faction page on Facebook. Unlocked over time, new questions and challenges have been unlocked in the run up to launch. Users must complete each challenge in order to earn Salvage points and be eligible to win.
Each challenge is different and requires the user to interact with Red Faction in different ways. For example, one challenge requires the user to watch the Plasma Thrower video in the Armory or play the Red Faction: Armageddon demo. Upon completion, the user receives a code that they must submit to receive points securing their completion of the challenge and points. The grand prize of the contest is a massive upgrade to any gamer’s home theater system including a Samsung 65 LED HD TV, BDI Avion Entertainment Center, a Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 Speaker System, Sony MegaChanger 400 Blu-ray Disc Player, Bell o Leather Home Theater Recliner and 10 sci-fi movies. Three runners-up will be eligible to to win 8,000 Microsoft points.
Additional digital campaign tactics include dedicated Facebook tabs looking back at the history of Red Faction and pre-order bundle deals with participating retailers.
Developed by Digital Tales in collaboration with Ducati, Ducati Challenge launching for the iPhone (supporting the retina display), iPad and Sony PSP. Developed in Milan, this 3D racing game allows players to ride the most powerful models in Ducati’s MY2011 line including 6 categories of the Bolognese product range: Monster, Hypermotard, Diavel, Multistrada, Streetfighter and Superbike. Fast race tracks, winding mountain roads, narrow medieval village streets, bustling metropolises and hot desert valleys make for perfect locations and breathtaking challenges to safely unleash all the power of Ducati’s awesome bikes. Fans can challenge their friends by choosing the “Multiplayer” option allowing up to 4 players with wi-fi connection. In-game audio features the roar of each engine recorded live to offer a true immersive Ducati experience. On Facebook, a dedicated fan page connects fans across the globe and across platforms.
MocoSpace revealed the results of a study of roughly 1,500 social gamers registered on their platform, split nearly evenly between the genders. Men were the bigger spenders, outspending their female counterparts by nearly 10-to-1.
The study also said that the majority of men bought virtual items (69 percent) compared to only 31 percent of women. Also noted was the fact that 69 percent of users responsible for almost 90 percent of all virtual goods purchased in-game.
Our research shows that from a business perspective both genders demonstrate high levels of engagement, which is good for advertisers – but men and male-dominated titles tend to drive bigger revenues for mobile social game developers, states MocoSpace CEO Justin Siegel.
The IDC is reporting that Google has taken the lead in display advertising away from Yahoo. During Q1 2011, Google Display Network s revenue share surged to 14.7 percent, greater than Yahoo by 2.4 percent.
The research also said that display comprised 33 percent of digital ad spend, up from 29 percent two years ago, while search declined, making up 48.7 percent of the market share, down from 53.4 percent two years ago. Google’s display business mostly adopted clients from its search advertising business.
Source: AdWeek
Keiji Inafune has said that Japanese developers have been too dismissive of digital markets on consoles, smartphones and social platforms. Inafune (who’s openly criticized the Japanese development industry in the past while at Capcom) says that young Japanese developers don’t have what it takes to create hit games.
“I think that one of the issues is that creators, the top-notch high-profile game creators, don’t seem to want to do digital download titles because they’re an afterthought, like it’s below them. The real ‘rockstar’ Japanese game creators are only going to do more expensive packaged products and a lot of times, even if the idea internally is to do a complimentary digital download game that goes with a packaged product, it’s kind of a hassle to try and spend some of your team and resources on a digital download when you want to keep them focused all on the main project at hand, said Inafune. “So it ends up being delayed or it becomes an afterthought; it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy almost. Additionally, that’s going to mean that consumers aren’t really into those games because the high-profile people aren’t usually making them. On top of that, because that’s one of the issues, a lot of times digital games will not sell in Japan and therefore the sales teams in Japan tend to not put a lot of energy and time to pushing them and marketing them the right way.”
“The younger creators of today, they just don’t have that power, they don’t have that strength, that creativity, they’re all kind of born into ‘Japan is number one in the gaming industry’ so all they’ve got now is a lot of pride without the hungry go-getter attitude of trying to become the top, he added. “And so what that has done now is you’ve got a bunch of people that feel entitled, that feel they’re already number one even though they’re not.”
Asked about the two studios he’s formed since leaving Capcom, Inafune said, “By forming two very separate entities as companies and saying OK, the one side that’s going to do the creative concepts this is going to be Comcept, and they’re going to focus on all the creativity and they’re not going to be limited to games, they’re going to be able to do comic books or movies or games, of course, but it’s all going to be about ideas. And then separate from that, Intercept, they’re going to be the game company, they make games, they’re going to be the production side, they’re doing what we’ve always done as game creators, they’re actually making the product but they’re more of a process, they’re more building out the games based on the ideas the Comcept side has developed.”
Source: 1UP
The attack on PSN come after warnings from the Anonymous group threatening as much. Sony CEO Howard Stringer said he didn’t think there was any lack of vigilance, though he said he wasn’t aware of the threats.
“Obviously our network security didn’t stop the attack and we’re trying to understand why, and we’ve made big strides in bolstering our security,” he said, noting his belief that Sony had, “good, robust security.
Stringer noted that with a lack of a pay-in system, he felt like theft of passwords and other personal data appeared less likely. “We have a network that gave people services free, said Stringer. It didn’t seem like the likeliest place for an attack.”
Source: Bloomberg
The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) announced that they are offering a year of membership for free for those who sign up through the Red Bull Gaming homepage. Membership will grant affinity benefits, educational resources and advocacy efforts via the ECA community.
Working together with Red Bull Gaming and their team of professional gamers is a natural fit for us, said Heather Ellertson, ECA Vice President of Marketing. Our goal at the ECA is to constantly expand our voice to video game consumers in new and unique ways, and we are extremely grateful for companies and brands like Red Bull who endorse our message and help us spread the word.
I think it s a great opportunity for gamers to stay updated on happenings in this industry, said Michael ‘Flamesword’ Chaves, Red Bull professional gamer. The ECA benefits gamers in many ways and by providing free access to their newsletter, gamers everywhere can stay in the know on what s happening in their world.
