Mario Warfare Teaser

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The Modern War Gear Solid series is concluded, but Beat Down Boogie hasn’t entirely put aside using Ghost and Snake! Plus, a sneak preview of their new project: Mario Warfare!

 

Pick A Friend And Blast Through The Walls Of Brotherhood

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On the official site for Gears of Wars at Xbox.com, fans can experience an interactive Facebook connected engagement video and help blast through new content. An onboarding video spins around a cement cube which is then detonated and blasted apart. Fans can use their mouse to slide back and forth in time to watch the explosion as it flares and then dies out revealing an etching in the cement of Marcus Fenix and his partner Dominic Santiago. Fans can click on each character and reveal a new character wallpaper for Marcus and a new video featuring Dominic, both of which can be posted to Facebook or shared. To access additional new chapter content, fans can connect with their friends (“someone that’s got your back”) on Facebook and invite them into the program to continue to unlock more community assets and rewards. Act quickly, the call to action only lasts 24 hours.

EA Labels President: ‘People Seem Happy With PS3/Xbox 360s’

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Some people are eager for the next generation of consoles to release from Sony and Microsoft. However, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau is not one of those people clamoring for new consoles, arguing instead that the current crop of HD consoles is good enough for most.

“It’s hard for me to conceive what you would do on a PlayStation 4,” Gibeau said. “The displays are already 1080p, you’re already connected to the internet… You could make it faster, you could have more polys and you could up the graphics a little bit… but at what cost It’ll be interesting to see how [Sony and Microsoft] think about it in terms of the next generation but it seems to me that customers are happy, and we’re happy to build games on [360 and PS3] right now.”

“The way the business used to run where you had these big console transitions just isn’t happening anymore. They’re much longer, the online capabilities are making the way customers interact within the audience very different from when we went from PSOne to PS2,” he added. “I think that [the age of] big, abrupt change in consoles where we all pile in on top of each other and everything changes overnight is just gone. I’d like to see the cycle last a little longer. I don’t see consumers right now banging on the walls for a new platform. They seem to be very happy with their PS3s and 360s. They love the online connectivity, they have great communities and great libraries.”

Source: CVG  {link no longer active}

Kinect Gets Child Of Eden Pack-In

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Up until now, Kinect Adventures has been the lone pack-in game for the Kinect sensor on Xbox 360. Now, however, it has been revealed that a downloadable copy of Child of Eden will also come with the Kinect.

“Today we have announced we’re updating the Kinect Sensor bundle to include both Kinect Adventures and a download code for a free copy of Child of Eden.” said Larry Hryb, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson. “This new bundle will be priced the same as the current sensor bundle and will start appearing in stores next week in all Xbox Live regions (except Japan since Child of Eden has not been released there.) This bundle will be available in limited quantities and while supplies last so be sure to look for the special packaging above to make sure you’re getting Child of Eden!”

Source: majornelson.com

Amazon Builds Ad Network, And So Can Other Retailers

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Amazon managed to make a low key announcement in June with using its consumer data to deliver advertising on third-party sites across the web. This is no small deal, however, and might help companies reach consumers with targeted ads to reach certain websites.

“Amazon has more than a decade’s worth of sales and consumer shopping data, so it’s almost a surprise it took the company this long to capitalize on its data and enter the behavioral-targeting space. It’s a great idea that will help marketers find interested consumers, and other retailers are already trying to copy the model. Every online retailer is a media network, even if they don’t know it yet, and there’s plenty of opportunity for retailers of all sizes to copy Amazon’s model,” wrote Jay Habegger. “Merchants can function as both media properties and audience networks because they already posses a targeting criteria that actually matters: consumer behavior or brand-preference data that can power interest-based advertising across the web. Retailers know which brands consumers interact with on their sites, and that is indicative of consumer desire.”

This data allows Amazon to compete with other behavioral-targeting networks immediately. Amazon has built up years worth of insight into consumer shopping activity and brand preferences; it’s hard for other retailers to do so on the scale that Amazon is doing it, but not impossible.

“Retailers can gather data about what consumers are shopping for, and then make some estimates about the products they are in market for. By pooling this collected data with manufacturer partners, retailers can quickly gain the scale they need to effectively target in-market consumers, very similar to what Amazon is doing. The retailer makes money off its own data, advertisers reach interested consumers and consumers see more relevant ads as they search the web,” noted Habegger. “Amazon is going to profit heavily off of this win-win-win scenario. If you take this retailer/ad network model and combine manufacturer data, in a system where open data sharing is encouraged, you’re opening the door to unprecedented ad targeting, something all retailers could profit from.”

Source: AdAge

Facebook: How Demographics Interact Differently With Brands

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According to research by SocialCode, both men and women “like” brands equally on Facebook. However, women are 11 percent more likely to click on an ad before giving it the “like” seal of approval.

“It shows a deeper psychological trend where women are more considered purchasers or actors,” said SocialCode CEO Laura O’Shaughnessy, nothing that the company’s research is derived from four million data points from 50 of its clients in a range of industries.

The study shows that 18-to-29-year olds click “like” 9 percent more than their elders. It’s an important lesson for advertisers, since it will help them tailor their campaign to specific user segments; target younger audiences with the ‘like’ and a older and/or female audience with the landing page.

“If you want to attract a younger male audience, you want to focus on text that gets users to ‘like’ within the ad,” O’Shaughnessy said. The inverse: When targeting the older set, or women, it’s best to optimize the landing page to stimulate behavior after a click-through.

As to whether people actually enjoy brands on Facebook, a separate survey by Barkley Service Management Group and Boston Consulting Group said over half of 16-to-34-year-olds enjoy checking out a brand on social media sites. A third of those surveyed appreciate a brand more when it’s on the social media sites, though 30 percent said they find brands in their Facebook and Twitter Feeds to be annoying.

Source: AdWeek

OnLive Demos Available On GameSpot

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OnLive today confirmed an alliance with GameSpot, wherein OnLive instant-play demos would abe available directly from GameSpot reviews. At the same time, GameSpot video content like game reviews and interviews will be included on the OnLive platform.

“For as long as video games have existed, consumers have sought out information that helps them make smart purchases and get the most out of their gaming experience,” said Simon Whitcombe, Vice President, Games, CBS Interactive. “Now, the next big innovation is here: merging the editorial with the experiential. By making demos available from our review pages, GameSpot is now the ultimate one-stop destination for gamers to read reviews, news, watch videos, and actually try out the latest games.”

“By integrating OnLive-powered instant game demos, GameSpot has deepened its user experience and further distinguished itself as a premiere gaming destination,” said OnLive Vice President of Games John Spinale. “We streamline the process of sampling a game, making it an integral part of discovery and evaluation by the GameSpot reader—not a disjointed one that forces the customer to go down to the store or wait several hours for something to download to their hard drive.”

Ubisoft Shifts F2P Euro Control To Blue Byte

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Ubisoft has revealed that Blue Byte will take control of all of the company’s free-to-play titles in Europe. The subsidiary successfully launched the browser game The Settlers Online, and looks to make roughly 70 new jobs at Blue Byte’s Dusseldorf studio by the end of the year.

The company has several free-to-play projects under development, including Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online, currently in beta testing. The staff for Blue Byte currently stands at 120, and they’re looking to shore that up with more international development.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz