Portal Lego Sets Need Your Support

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Right now an inventive fan has made some Lego sets based upon Portal. The best news is if you head to CuuSoo and add your support, it might turn into a real Lego set you can buy!

 

Microsoft Ad Business Leads To $6.2 Billion Write-Down

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Microsoft announced that it will have a $6.2 billion write down in its fourth quarter, ending in June. This loss will mostly be related to the disappointing performance of an online advertising business it acquired five years ago.

Microsoft purchased Internet advertising firm aQuantive for $6.3 billion in August 2007. It ranks up there with Microsoft’s high-profile bid in 2008 for Yahoo Inc. (which fell through), and its May 2011 acquisition of Internet phone service Skype for $8.5 billion, its biggest purchase ever.

Microsoft acknowledges that the aQuantive assets it acquired are now worth less than what it paid for them. It underlines the general challenges companies have with trying to make money from online advertising.

“While the aQuantive acquisition continues to provide tools for Microsoft’s online advertising efforts, the acquisition did not accelerate growth to the degree anticipated, contributing to the write-down,” the company said.

Microsoft will take the non-cash charge in its Online Services Division, which includes search engine Bing, MSN and advertiser tools. The silver lining is that the company does not expect the write down to affect its ongoing business or financial performance.

“I don’t think it necessarily says that Microsoft’s online business, which is Bing, is unsuccessful, but I think it’s fair to say that aQuantive did not deliver, did not contribute to that business like they were hoping,” said James Ragan, an equity analyst at Crowell, Weedon & Co. “In the bigger picture, though, it’s a non-cash charge. It’s a hit to earnings, it’s a hit to capital, but it’s not a hit to cash. So the year will still be very profitable even after the write-down, and they’ll still have a very strong cash flow year.”

Microsoft said that although there was some good news in the Online Services Division (its Bing search share in the U.S. has been increasing, revenue per search has been growing and its partnership with Yahoo has continued to expand geographically) they noted, “the company’s expectations for future growth and profitability are lower than previous estimates.”

Source: L.A. Times

Diablo III Content Not Sustainable Right Now, Says Blizzard

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Diablo III is a huge hit for Blizzard, having already sold millions of copies worldwide. However, Blizzard community manager Bashiok acknowledges there isn’t much of an “end game solution” and that’s something they’re considering beyond the latest general patch and addition of PvP arenas.

“We recognize that the item hunt is just not enough for a long-term sustainable end-game,” wrote Bashiok. “There are still tons of people playing every day and week, and playing a lot, but eventually they’re going to run out of stuff to do (if they haven’t already).”

“Killing enemies and finding items is a lot of fun, and we think we have a lot of the systems surrounding that right, or at least on the right path with a few corrections and tweaks,” added Bashiok. “But honestly Diablo III is not World of Warcraft. We aren’t going to be able to pump out tons of new systems and content every couple months. There needs to be something else that keeps people engaged, and we know it’s not there right now.”

Source: Battle.net

Global Ad Spend Rising In Early 2012

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Nielsen is reporting that that global ad spending for the first quarter of 2012 was up 3.1 percent compared to the same period last year. The Global AdView Pulse reports double-digit increases in the Middle East and Africa, while North America and Asia Pacific saw modest gains of 2.1 and 1.7 percent respectively.

Overall global ad spend in Q1 2012 was $128 billion, up 4.5 percent over the year-ago quarter. Ad spending has gone up in the Middle East and Africa increasing by 23.3 percent as advertisers targeted emerging economies; Egypt saw a 67 percent increase in Q1 in the wake of last year’s Arab Spring.

Europe was slightly down, with Greece and Spain constrained by the economic crises embroiling their countries, but France, Germany and Switzerland saw more ad dollars than last year. The efficacy of 4,000 ads were studied and Nielsen found humor is generally the way to go.

“Humorous ads have consistently resonated best with viewers, regardless of the economy or year. During the recession, there was a notable lift in effectiveness of sentimental and value-oriented ads,” wrote James Russo, Nielsen’s VP of Global Consumer Insights. “Ads focused on product features and promotion/price do not resonate with viewers . . . even during tough economic times. The performance of narrative and sentimental ads has improved since 2006.”

Ad effectiveness is as important as ever, given the slow state of recovery and global consumer spending projected to exceed $450 trillion over the next decade. “The global recession shook consumer confidence. Economic cycles can now help predict ad effectiveness and consumer responsiveness to various creative strategies,” notes Russo. “Look for the rise of the global middle class, urbanization, the new female economy and a notable shift in advertising spending to all be engines for change and the future growth of consumer spending.”

Source: Brand Channel

Microsoft Says SmartGlass Not Imitating Wii U

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Some people watched Microsoft’s SmartGlass presentation at E3 and thought that the company was trying to emulate the Nintendo Wii U. Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios, asserts that SmartGlass and the Wii U tablet controller are being built for different purposes.

“Our SmartGlass was driven by the fact that people use multiple devices at home to consume content,” said Spencer. “Whether they’re watching TV with their laptop up or sitting with their phone while browsing the web, we could use the power of Live to connect all these devices in an intelligent way and turn your TV into a smart TV.”

He countered that by saying about the Wii U, “I think their Pro Controller makes a lot of sense with the platform they’ve built. They are building a platform that is effectively a 360 when you think of graphical capability. Now they are really making an on-ramp for the back catalog of games that are on 360. It is easy for those games to move over to the Wii U. They’ve moved the buttons around, and they’ve made a controller that feels familiar for 360 gamers, so I get why they are putting those pieces together.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Club Penguin Spending Big On Online Safety Ads

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Club Penguin has promised 3 million British pounds to spend in print, television and online ads to promote children’s safety online. The free-to-play game for 6 to 14-year-olds already includes “Ultimate Safe Chat,” with filters and human moderators.

“Safety is important to us. Even though we don’t have the ability to make the entire internet safe, we do have the ability to educate and empower kids to keep themselves safe,” said Club Penguin founder Lane Merrifield. “It starts with making sure that the parents are involved, making sure kids understand not to share personal information and to tell someone if they experience something inappropriate.”

“We don’t control who comes on the site but we have a lot of control over what they experience once there,” added Merrifield.

Source: BBC

Ubisoft Marketing Director Out After Three Years

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Ubisoft announced that i’s U.K. marketing director Murray Pannell has departed the company. He worked for Saatchi and Saatchi then later Virgin Interactive and Electronic Arts and was group product marketing manager at Microsoft’s Xbox division before joining Ubisoft in April 2009.

“I’d like to thank Murray for his contribution to the U.K. team over the past three years and we all wish him well for the future,” said Rob Cooper, Ubisoft Northern Europe managing director.

Sony Hints At Gaikai Uses Outside Of Games

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Gaikai is a game focused streaming service and Sony acquired them for their gaming capabilities first and foremost. However, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Andrew House notes that using the streaming service for other services is “absolutely within the frame.”

“It’s recognition on Sony’s part that the cloud and cloud streaming technologies are going to have profound and possibly a very positive impact on not only our game business, but also in the way our consumers interact with and obtain content in general,” said House.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Exclusive: Epic Mickey Marketing To The Second Power

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By David Radd

The original Disney Epic Mickey was one of Disney’s biggest AAA game releases ever, and it was a hit despite a somewhat mixed reception by critics; it’s a testament to both the marketing muscle at Disney and the enduring appeal of Mickey Mouse as a character. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is an even larger investment, coming to the Xbox 360 and PS3 along with the Wii, and will even have a complimentary 3DS game release in Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. We caught up with Ted Chi, Vice President or Global Marketing at Disney Interactive, to talk about marketing plans for their anticipated sequel.

What did you learn from marketing the original that you’ll apply to the sequel?

Mickey Mouse is a character with an incredible heritage across all demographics. We were able to build upon this deep connection for the launch of the first game. I think we were able to successfully tap into Warren’s original vision for the game by communicating Mickey’s role as a hero in an alternate world. We were also in an enviable position for any marketing, as the game delivered true innovation with Mickey’s power to literally change the world with his magic paintbrush and the use of paint and thinner. It is this heroism and gameplay innovation that resonated across all of our consumer facing communication. What we ultimately learned was that, despite early research, Mickey Mouse has the ability to transcend demographics — kids, adults, and core gamers alike.

How will your marketing campaign look to capitalize on the enduring popularity of Mickey as a character, beyond his role in this series?

We do have the unique ability to harness the strengths of the Walt Disney Company for Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. Our marketing campaign will leverage the unique cross-divisional support to reach gamers around the world. Whether it is through TV channels, theme parks or cruise lines, we will reach both casual and core gamers across all mediums (both physical and interactive).

What are the considerations for the Disney Epic Mickey 2 marketing campaign to bring in new fans, especially now that the game is releasing on multiple consoles?

We believe that Disney Epic Mickey is a franchise that resonates with all consumers. Whether it is a Disney fan who loves Mickey Mouse or a core gamer who wants to battle the Blot, the first game delivered something for everyone. We also recognize that some core gamers have a greater affinity for specific genres (e.g. shooters). As a result, our plan is to offer this audience a completely unique experience by delivering a high quality game, while also leveraging the existing fan base. Given the distinct demographic for each respective platform, our marketing plan will speak to each of these segments and reach them in the right place, at the right time and in the right way.

Disney Epic Mickey 2 has options for two players — how will you look to emphasize the role of Oswald in the campaign for the sequel?

Oswald is our secret weapon. Most people do not know that Oswald was actually Walt Disney’s first cartoon star, before Mickey Mouse. He is a fun, irreverent and quirky personality who will be playable for this first time in Disney Epic Mickey 2. We will taking Oswald to new heights . . . you’ll have to wait on this one but I promise you, Oswald will be a bigger star than he already is.

How will you emphasize the shift towards having musical numbers in the marketing campaign, since that seems like it will be a key part of the game.

Music is an element in any interactive medium and it’s an element that supports the overall experience in Disney Epic Mickey 2. We see the marketing campaign playing out in the same way.

What attention will you give to the 3DS game, Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, which also seems to tangentially tie into the classic Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse.

Typical videogame launches fold all messaging, tactics and creative into a single campaign. This would be a huge mistake for us, given the unique storyline and gameplay experience delivered by Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. The game itself will deliver on the nostalgia of the 1990 Castle of Illusion release, bringing new audiences into the franchise. We view Disney Epic Mickey: Castle of Illusion as a completely different Disney Epic Mickey experience — thus deserving of its own campaign.

Ted, thanks.

 

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