Wrong Kind of Viral? NYPD Twitter Backlash Spreads

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Tread carefully out there. That well-intentioned hashtag you just crafted: it’s branded without being cloying, it’s set to engage, you’ve gone and prepped some very cool assets — you are waiting with bated breath for it to go viral. Who doesn’t love cats after all?

But oh! What’s that you see in your stream? You’ve just stoked the ire of the Internet. Moreover, they aren’t exactly trolls but customers with real complaints. Your hashtag has been hijacked.

While in hindsight is very easy to see why the New York Police Department’s #myNYPD attempt was an exercise in futility, it might not have been so obvious for the U.S. Postal Service last month. On the whole, their Twitter campaign looked pretty benign. They even brought in Spiderman for a photo op.

Dove #TrueBeauty Experiment Parodied

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PlayStation Home Gets Co-Op Emotes!

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This Music Is On Fire

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Oculus Rift Goes To The Movies

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We know that Oculus Rift, which was recently acquired by Facebook for a hefty sum of $2 billion, is a remarkable device when it comes to games. But could it be meant for another type of medium?

USC professor Jonathan Taplin and Facebook vice president of mobile engineering Cory Ondrejka talked about the device at a keynote presentation to this week’s Hollywood IT Summit, believing that it’s not only suitable for games, but also movies.

“I actually both shudder and am thrilled to imagine what’s going to happen,” said Ondrejka. “I am completely excited about the intersection of Hollywood and virtual reality. I think what we’re going to see over the next coming year is going to be truly spectacular.

When it comes to what type of movies would benefit from the device, Ondrejka added, “The assets that were already produced to make the movie can be re-rendered and can be reused to create new experiences. I would expect that IMAX is going to be one of the killer experiences.”

There’s no word on an official release date for Oculus Rift yet, but it should be sometime later this year.

Source: Variety

Google Tries App-Install Ads

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Google is looking to increase its promotion on installed apps – and the key is through mobile.

The company has announced a new series of updates to its search product AdWords, and also seeks to allow app developers to buy ads promoting installed applications through mobile search and YouTube.

By using AdWords, consumers can open up new pages within apps through organic search results, which has been working relatively well since its initial introduction in 2011. But now, it’s available as a tool to paid search advertisers.

This is the latest trend in the advertising world, following Twitter’s introduction of app install ads, as well as Facebook. Yahoo is reportedly looking into doing it as well, though nothing has been confirmed yet.

Any ads that are connected via YouTube will run through TrueView, an in-stream service which allows users to glance through videos at will, instead of just sitting through a typical advertisement.

Source: AdAge

Xbox One Gets Japan Release Date

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After gaining five million units sold across a number of markets, Microsoft is finally ready to make its debut in one of the biggest ones in the gaming world – Japan.

The company has announced that will launch the Xbox One in Japan on September 4, with several titles releasing alongside it. These include Forza Motorsport 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, Ryse: Son of Rome and Call of Duty: Ghosts, among others.

In addition, the company has announced that 40 overseas developers have pledged support for the system, including Sega, Capcom, Level-5, Cave, Square Enix, From Software and Arc System. No word yet on what games are coming from them, but some announcements could be made as soon as the Electronic Entertainment Expo event in June.

Source: MCV UK

‘Assassin’s Creed’ Franchise Sells Big

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Ubisoft certainly knows how to maintain popularity with a franchise, as it recently reported some huge numbers for two of its biggest ones, Just Dance and Assassin’s Creed.

The Creed series, which has spanned across several games, including last year’s release of the pirate-oriented Black Flag, has managed to sell 73 million copies in all across both PC and console platforms. Mobile and handheld releases were included as well.

Just Dance has fared almost as well, selling 48 million copies across various sequels, while the separate The Experience games, featuring the likes of Abba and Michael Jackson, sold nine million copies.

Other franchises are doing well for the company, including the Tom Clancy ones. Splinter Cell has racked up 30 million copies sold, with Rainbow Six closely behind at 26 million and Ghost Recon at 25 million.

Additional franchises worth noting include Rayman with 25 million sold, Prince of Persia with 20 million sold and Far Cry with 18 million sold.

Source: GamesIndustry International

BlizzCon 2014 Announced For November

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Gamers, prepare yourself for gaming bliss, Blizzard style.

The publisher of such games as World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo have announced the latest BlizzCon event, which will take place on November 7 and 8 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The event is a great place for members of these gaming communities to get together and schmooze, as well as take part in panels featuring game developers and artists, gaming tournaments, community contests and surprise reveals.

Tickets are slated to start selling on May 7, with another batch going on sale three days later on the 10th. In addition, several tickets to an exclusive pre-BlizzCon dinner will be available starting May 14, to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

Source: Blizzard

Image source: Joystiq