Tapjoy Looking Into Buyers

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Tapjoy is reportedly looking to sell itself, according to inside sources. Possible buyers include Zynga, Electronic Arts, GREE and DeNA, and it is believed the company will either sell or go public in the near future.

“I can’t comment on rumors or speculation,” said Tapjoy CEO Mihir Shah. “We’re at a level of scale and the market opportunity is so large and we’re so clearly in the lead that there isn’t really any direct viable competitor. We just continue to be focused on building this ridiculously exciting business.”

Source: Inside Social Games

Nexon Hack Signals Bigger Korean Problem

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While Nexon was recently hacked, it is not the first to suffer from cyber criminals in Korea, with other companies like online commerce giant Auction, the Korean unit of eBay, and social media provider SK Communications all having their online security compromised. This is an issue, since these sites are required by law to collect personal information.

“How many more massive data leaks will it take to finally convince everyone that the mountain of personal data floating out there really shouldn’t be there ” said Jang Yeo-gyeong, a computer security expert at activist group Jinbo Net. “It’s incredible that the government continues to let private companies collect this information and use it to generate profit when the data should be used for administrative purposes only.”

The hacking attack at Nexon compromised over 13 million accounts, many of which belonged to underage users. The data leak at SK Communications in August breached more than 35 million accounts, astounding considering South Korea has a total population around 50 million people and an economically-active population of 25 million.

Nearly all Korean Internet services require users to submit their resident registration numbers for everything from banking to checking email, checking emails, and yes, even playing online games. The 13-digit code (the Korean equivalent of the social security number) includes a person’s sex, date of birth and site of registration, which means they expose much more than comparable systems in the U.S. and Japan, which are based on random numbering.

“Nexon, despite its ineptitude in data protection, has every excuse to clang on to its files of personal identification numbers as policymakers have been imposing limits on how much time youngsters can spend playing their favorite online computer games,” wrote Kim Tong-hyung. “The online gaming curbs, which government officials claim are inevitable for combating compulsive gaming and addiction among young gamers, prevent users under the age of 16 from playing between midnight and 6 a.m. All gamers under the age of 18 are also required to make verifiable real-name registrations when subscribing to online game services.”

Source: Korea Times

Saint Row: The Third Stats Show People Embracing Madness

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THQ has released various statistics for Saints Row: The Third and they certainly are telling. For instance, over 5.8 billion people have already been killed in Saints Row: The Third, or roughly 19 times the population of the U.S., equivalent to 85 percent of the global population.

Of those killed, two million were done in with the phallic bat the Penetrator, while 650 hot dog mascots have been cooked to death by players with flamethrowers. Saint’s Row: The Third players have also spent two years streaking naked through the streets of Steelport.

Source: SaintsRow.com

Angry Birds Crack Into Wonderful Pistachios

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Rovio has announced that they will partner with Wonderful Pistachios to launch The Hunt for the Golden Pistachio. The first fully “branded version” of Angry Birds will also herald some TV spots from Wonderful Pistachios featuring the characters from Angry Birds, that are part of the “Get Crackin'” campaign.

“We’re excited to give consumers the snacks they crave with pistachios and feed the frenzy for new Angry Birds content with the launch of this game,” said Wonderful Pistachios senior director of marketing Marc Seguin.

Farmville Gets Discover Sponsorship

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Zynga has announced that it will launch a Discover Financial Services sponsored Farmville expansion called Winter Wonderland. Players will receive special rewards and farm items for simply by visiting the new expansion, where they must help a Yeti do his Christmas shopping using a Discover bank card.

“Social games bring people together into virtual communities,” explained Mike Boush, vice president of e-business at Discover. “They’re captivating increasingly larger online audiences that include many of our Discover cardmembers. Partnering with Zynga to develop a unique in-game experience helps us connect and engage with players and put more fun in time spent online.”

Video Game Awards 2011 Hosted By Zachary Levi

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Zachary Levi will be hosting Spike TV’s 2011 Video Game Awards. The star of NBC’s Chuck has also lent his voice to games including Fallout: New Vegas and Halo: Reach.

“Zac Levi is an avid gamer who is truly a part of gaming culture and understands the fans,” said Casey Patterson, executive producer and executive VP event production, talent and studio relations for Viacom Entertainment Group. “He has great ideas about this year’s show. Zac is all about honoring the year in gaming and ushering in the future by showcasing massive world premieres at this year’s event. We’re excited to be working with Zac.“

The 2011 VGA’s will feature performances by the Black Keys and deadmau5 with presenters including Family Guy‘s Seth Green, LL Cool J, American Reunion stars Jason Biggs and Seann William Scott, and NFL Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. The award show will debut on Saturday, December 10 at 5 p.m.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Capcom Bringing Sour Patch Kids To PSN/XBLA

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Capcom has announced that it is venturing into the realm of candy based adventures with a game based around the Sour Patch Kids candy. Players will navigate something resembling the real world as a Sour Patch Kid, with narration provided by Creed Bratton and the new Method Man track “World Gone Sour (The Lost Kids).”

“Sour Patch is the #1 all sour candy brand in the U.S. but there is so much more to these iconic characters than just their sour exteriors and sweet interiors,” says Sebastian Genesio, marketing director for Sour Patch. “Bringing our ‘lost kids’ to life in video game form will add a new dimension to these lovable snacks. We feel this video game will resonate strongly with our core audience of teens and young adults.”

“Sour Patch has brought its brand to life in a unique experience that only video games can deliver,” said Christian Svensson, senior vice president, planning & strategy, Capcom Entertainment. “Whether you’re a fan of Sour Patch Kids or fun and engaging gameplay, World Gone Sour has something for all gamers to enjoy.”

iOS Price Slashing Force Indies To Freemium

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The realm of paid iOS titles is quickly becoming occupied by large publishers like Electronic Arts and Gameloft. This pushed smaller companies like Fuse Powered into the freemium range, who looked at it as an opportunity to change its entire approach to the mobile games business.

“That’s one of the things that motivated us to transition our business model,” said Fuse Powered CEO Jon Walsh. “That idea that a big publisher can drop prices, take a hit and fill up all those top slots. That said two things: paid games are always going to have that risk. The big publisher is basically selling at an extremely low cost to gain market share and if it works for them they are going to continue to do it. So we can either complain about it or make sure our business model works around it. That’s where the freemium model works for us.”

“It also said to us that we need to go towards a publishing model where we have a base of really avid players that are enjoying our games so that when we bring out more stuff we don’t need to get into those top 25 positions in the App Store, we can deliver directly to the existing player base,” said Walsh. “That will be a continued risk for people selling 99 cent games.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Facebook Settles With FTC Over Privacy

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The Federal Trade Commission has announced that they have signed a broad settlement with Facebook. This is make sure that Facebook will respect the privacy wishes of its users, while subjecting the site to regular privacy audits for the next 20 years.

Eight complaints were made, including Facebook deceiving users on content left over after they deleted an account to sharing information with advertisers, though no fines were levied and Facebook was not accused of intentionally breaking the law. In the future, if Facebook violates the terms of the settlement in the future, it would be liable to pay a penalty of $16,000 a day for each count.

“Facebook has always been committed to being transparent about the information you have stored with us — and we have led the Internet in building tools to give people the ability to see and control what they share,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who conceded that the company had made “a bunch of mistakes.”

Facebook will now have to obtain its users’ “affirmative express consent” before it overrides their own privacy settings. If a user sets a content to be visible to “friends,” Facebook will have to ask to distribute it more broadly.

“The order is designed to protect people’s privacy, anticipating that Facebook is likely to change products and services it offers,” said David Vladeck, director of the bureau of consumer protection at the FTC.

Facebook has enacted numerous changes since 2004 that have sometimes upset users. “We’ve all known that Facebook repeatedly cuts corners when it comes to its privacy promises,” Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University. “Like most Internet companies, they thought they could get away with it. They didn’t.”

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, thinks that the FTC was right to do this, but what is needed is a federal law to protect consumer privacy. “We hope they will establish a high bar for privacy protection,” said Rotenberg. “But we do not have in the United States a comprehensive privacy framework. There is always a risk other companies will come along and create new problems.”

Meanwhile, the settlement with the FTC could help allay investors concerns about government intervention in Facebook. “When you have an I.P.O. you don’t want investors to be skeptical or jittery,” said Ryan Calo, who leads privacy research at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. “In order for you to be as valuable as possible, you want to make sure the seas are calm. This calms the seas.”

Source: New York Times