As EA and Zynga struggle in their very own social version of the David and Goliath story (guess who the giant is!), Activision Blizzard has sat back watching. Waiting. Calculating. Now, the number one games publisher in the world is finally ready to enter the space with Call of Duty: Elite, which the company showed off just recently. And, according to an interview with Industry Gamers, Activision's involvement in the space won't go much farther than that for some time.
"I think what Activision has done, very smartly, is we don't want to rush into anything until we figure out what our unique contribution and what our unique competitive advantage can be," Activision Blizzard Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg said to Industry Gamers. "What we're choosing to do is use social and mobile and the fact that people are playing games in different parts of the day on different devices than they have before as a way to strengthen our core business. That's what we're doing with Call of Duty: Elite."
However, Hirshberg mentioned to Industry Gamers that its upcoming kids game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a step in the social/casual games direction as well. The multi-platform console game, said to release this fall, will allow kids to upload a selection of associated toys into the game for them to play with. According to Hirshberg, the game will have an iPhone app and even a web hub for kids to have extra connectivity to the game world.
But essentially the reason we've yet to see a Facebook or mobile game from Activision Blizzard is because it was too busy learning from the burgeoning industry's successes and mistakes. Now, the company is ready to enter the social games space, but not in a way that veterans like EA, Square Enix and Atari are hopping on board. Rather, Activision wants to embrace this genre in a way that enhances its existing games--like creating its own social network for all things Call of Duty. Hirshberg calls it a "sophisticated and measured response," we call it being a scaredy-cat.
Thứ Tư, 11 tháng 1, 2012
Rovio's Angry Birds become physics teachers
If the Angry Birds have taught us one thing in their pig-bashing exploits, it's that what goes up must come down. It just so happens that this common knowledge is grounded in physics, the scientific study of motion and matter ... and my worst enemy. Luckily for the mega nerds out there--who we pray will sort out this whole "How did we get here" mess at some point--Angry Birds has become an ideal tool to teach physics to kids.
The Western New York State Physics Teachers' Alliance (WNYSPTA) has agreed that the mighty iPhone game just might be able to hit home with the game-savvy kids these days, Pocket Gamer reports. So, Michael Magnuson of the WNYPTA released a series of videos each proposing a question, and a video of the Angry Birds animating the problem to be solved.
1. Make a reasonable estimate for the size of an angry bird, and determine the value of g in Angry Bird World. Why would the game designer want to have g be different than 9.8 m/s²?
The first of five is shown above. Honestly, I couldn't figure out a bit of these problems for you (writing is my strong suit--go figure), so try the rest over at Action-Reaction if you're confident in your number-crunching and complex theorizing abilities. A little familiarity with Angry Birds helps too, so be sure go play some more to avoid these insane word problems get yourself reacquainted.
The Western New York State Physics Teachers' Alliance (WNYSPTA) has agreed that the mighty iPhone game just might be able to hit home with the game-savvy kids these days, Pocket Gamer reports. So, Michael Magnuson of the WNYPTA released a series of videos each proposing a question, and a video of the Angry Birds animating the problem to be solved.
1. Make a reasonable estimate for the size of an angry bird, and determine the value of g in Angry Bird World. Why would the game designer want to have g be different than 9.8 m/s²?
The first of five is shown above. Honestly, I couldn't figure out a bit of these problems for you (writing is my strong suit--go figure), so try the rest over at Action-Reaction if you're confident in your number-crunching and complex theorizing abilities. A little familiarity with Angry Birds helps too, so be sure go play some more to avoid these insane word problems get yourself reacquainted.
Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 1, 2012
Facebook slaps back at Google+ Games with new game features
What a cowinkydink! Just as Google announced that it will now offer social games through Google+, Facebook announced a number of new changes to games on its platform. Announced in a blog post last night (much like Google+ Games was), the most notable of the changes is the new game ticker feature. This provides players with a smaller News Feed off to the right side of their games that will automatically update with game-related updates as they play.
What's important about this change is that players can see what their friends are up to in other games without having to leave the game they're currently playing. (We should mention that these changes, like all changes to almost everything on the Internet, are rolling out to users slowly.) For instance, if a friend smacks you with a triple-word score in Words with Friends while you're busy playing GnomeTown, you will see that almost immediately and be able to jump into that game straight from GnomeTown.
Facebook has also given gamers more control over who sees their game-related News Feed posts down to each individual app. This is now done in the Privacy Settings under Account Settings on the home page--just like how you remove apps or alter permissions. Finally, with what might come across sounding like the Ode to Joy for Facebook gamers with 13-inch screens (like myself), Facebook is working with developers to increase the screen size of games to make more use of your screens' width.
Facebook Games changes
While I've yet to have these changes make it to my own Facebook, they already sound impressive. However, we can't help but see some glaring similarities between these changes and Google+ Games. Namely, the (100 percent) separate News Feed for games from your standard News Feed sounds quite a lot like how Google is handling how game news is fed to players. However, we'll reserve any more comparisons until we see both Google+ Games and these Facebook changes in the digital, um, flesh. With two major competitors in the social games space now, there can only be one winner: the players.
What's important about this change is that players can see what their friends are up to in other games without having to leave the game they're currently playing. (We should mention that these changes, like all changes to almost everything on the Internet, are rolling out to users slowly.) For instance, if a friend smacks you with a triple-word score in Words with Friends while you're busy playing GnomeTown, you will see that almost immediately and be able to jump into that game straight from GnomeTown.
Facebook has also given gamers more control over who sees their game-related News Feed posts down to each individual app. This is now done in the Privacy Settings under Account Settings on the home page--just like how you remove apps or alter permissions. Finally, with what might come across sounding like the Ode to Joy for Facebook gamers with 13-inch screens (like myself), Facebook is working with developers to increase the screen size of games to make more use of your screens' width.
Facebook Games changes
While I've yet to have these changes make it to my own Facebook, they already sound impressive. However, we can't help but see some glaring similarities between these changes and Google+ Games. Namely, the (100 percent) separate News Feed for games from your standard News Feed sounds quite a lot like how Google is handling how game news is fed to players. However, we'll reserve any more comparisons until we see both Google+ Games and these Facebook changes in the digital, um, flesh. With two major competitors in the social games space now, there can only be one winner: the players.
Zynga vs Vostu Part 5: U.S. judge calls off Brazilian Vostu shut-down
Honestly, we're almost as bewildered as you might be on this one. TechCrunch reports that a U.S. judge has filed a TRO (temporary restraining order) against the Brazilian court that granted Zynga a preliminary injunction against developer Vostu, demanding that it take down four of its games that allegedly copy Zynga games directly in the face of a massive daily fine. Basically, a San Jose court is telling a Brazilian court that it cannot go through with its ruling in Zynga's favor.
Some brief background: Zynga filed suit in a U.S. court against Brazilian developer Vostu in June for copying its games. Vostu then retorted publicly, pointing fingers at Zynga for doing the very same thing, and filed a lawsuit of its own with the same allegations in July. Most recently, Zynga filed a second lawsuit against Vostu in Brazilian court for the very same allegations, this time bringing Google down with it as Orkut, a Google-owned company, hosts Vostu's games.
"Brazil has an important interest in enforcing its copyright laws," says U.S. District Judge Davila in the recently-issued TRO. "Zynga-which chose the U.S. forum first-now seeks to enforce an injunction it obtained abroad that would paralyze this Court's ability to decide this case."
Zynga copy Vostu
I guess this is what happens when you file lawsuits in two courts (internationally, mind you) regarding the same allegations. Now, we have two courts from across both sides of the equator that will duke it out over who can make what ruling. In essence, as TechCrunch's Michael Arrington puts it, this U.S. judge is saying that his court's desire to retain decision on this case outweighs the Brazilian court's rights to enforce its copyright laws.
This battle of the copycats just got incredibly nasty (and somewhat confusing), but speaks volumes to one of the most pressing issues the social games industry faces today. As Sean Ryan, director of games partnerships at Facebook, put it recently (in Inside Social Games's words): "The days of monetizing by making a clone of a clone are over." The sooner social games companies stop "borrowing" each others' ideas, the sooner we'll move on from insane international legal battles like so. And social games on the whole will be better for it.
Some brief background: Zynga filed suit in a U.S. court against Brazilian developer Vostu in June for copying its games. Vostu then retorted publicly, pointing fingers at Zynga for doing the very same thing, and filed a lawsuit of its own with the same allegations in July. Most recently, Zynga filed a second lawsuit against Vostu in Brazilian court for the very same allegations, this time bringing Google down with it as Orkut, a Google-owned company, hosts Vostu's games.
"Brazil has an important interest in enforcing its copyright laws," says U.S. District Judge Davila in the recently-issued TRO. "Zynga-which chose the U.S. forum first-now seeks to enforce an injunction it obtained abroad that would paralyze this Court's ability to decide this case."
Zynga copy Vostu
I guess this is what happens when you file lawsuits in two courts (internationally, mind you) regarding the same allegations. Now, we have two courts from across both sides of the equator that will duke it out over who can make what ruling. In essence, as TechCrunch's Michael Arrington puts it, this U.S. judge is saying that his court's desire to retain decision on this case outweighs the Brazilian court's rights to enforce its copyright laws.
This battle of the copycats just got incredibly nasty (and somewhat confusing), but speaks volumes to one of the most pressing issues the social games industry faces today. As Sean Ryan, director of games partnerships at Facebook, put it recently (in Inside Social Games's words): "The days of monetizing by making a clone of a clone are over." The sooner social games companies stop "borrowing" each others' ideas, the sooner we'll move on from insane international legal battles like so. And social games on the whole will be better for it.
Kabam trades dragons for desert planets in Edgeworld for Facebook
Prepare to activate your "Check Your Edgeworld Base!" phone alarms. Kabam, creator of strategy Facebook hits like Dragons of Atlantis and Kingdoms of Camelot, has launched Edgeworld on Facebook and Google+ Games. (Kabam is also the first Facebook developer to launch a game on Google+ Games.) Edgeworld takes a visibly different approach to strategy games than its predecessors, with a focus on real-time combat between players.
The game also focuses heavily on mood, with rallying, futuristic music and a story that unfolds as you play. You've been enlisted as commander of a rogue faction of The Union, a collection of nations who landed on the planet Cerulea to harvest the resources and technology of an advanced, ancient alien race known as The Ceruleans.
You know, standard sci-fi fare. Like most real-time strategy games on Facebook (and elsewhere, really), you must gather resources to build an efficient base, muster defenses for that base and execute strategic attacks against both other players and the storyline factions.
Edgeworld in action
That said, players can choose to focus on either the sprawling campaign, much like Empires & Allies, or to go to war with other players. Regardless, your "safe status" will eventually disappear as you progress in the game, so you'll have to fight opposing players eventually. (Within three days of starting the game, to be exact.) While players can purchase protection from other players, the easiest way to ensure your survival in this game is to form alliances with fellow commanders for mutually-assured protection.
The game seems to have been heavily influenced by traditional strategy franchises like Starcraft and Command and Conquer. However, competing Facebook strategy game maker Kixeye claims that Kabam copied its Backyard Monsters in Edgeworld's creation. Regardless of where Kabam sourced its inspiration from, Edgeworld looks to be a blast, and already enjoys over 400 thousand players. With strategy games looking (and sounding) like this, it's no wonder that nearly 80 million Facebook gamers are playing strategy games on the platform. Just remember to sleep, kay?
The game also focuses heavily on mood, with rallying, futuristic music and a story that unfolds as you play. You've been enlisted as commander of a rogue faction of The Union, a collection of nations who landed on the planet Cerulea to harvest the resources and technology of an advanced, ancient alien race known as The Ceruleans.
You know, standard sci-fi fare. Like most real-time strategy games on Facebook (and elsewhere, really), you must gather resources to build an efficient base, muster defenses for that base and execute strategic attacks against both other players and the storyline factions.
Edgeworld in action
That said, players can choose to focus on either the sprawling campaign, much like Empires & Allies, or to go to war with other players. Regardless, your "safe status" will eventually disappear as you progress in the game, so you'll have to fight opposing players eventually. (Within three days of starting the game, to be exact.) While players can purchase protection from other players, the easiest way to ensure your survival in this game is to form alliances with fellow commanders for mutually-assured protection.
The game seems to have been heavily influenced by traditional strategy franchises like Starcraft and Command and Conquer. However, competing Facebook strategy game maker Kixeye claims that Kabam copied its Backyard Monsters in Edgeworld's creation. Regardless of where Kabam sourced its inspiration from, Edgeworld looks to be a blast, and already enjoys over 400 thousand players. With strategy games looking (and sounding) like this, it's no wonder that nearly 80 million Facebook gamers are playing strategy games on the platform. Just remember to sleep, kay?
Infographic: The average FarmVille fan plays for 15 minutes a day
Why do you look so confused? Hey, not every FarmVille player is a super fan like you are. An infographic put together by Hasai, a social media strategy firm that explores Americans' use of social media, reports that the 63 million active FarmVille players spend an average of 15 minutes a day tending to their digital crops.
While that number is already grossly inaccurate, according to AppData, it's nevertheless interesting to get a glimpse at the average FarmVille player. (Blame the breakneck speed at which this genre moves.) Why is the average so low?
When you compare the vast amount of monthly players to the relatively small group of daily players, that would surely skew the numbers. Hasai goes on to point out that, over a year, that's 5,475 minutes spent playing the virtual sharecropper--two weeks worth of a full-time job. (Come to think of it, I'd love to see higher times in this average.)
The infographic also shares an interesting statistic overall: Online video games, the second most heavily-used Internet activity, make up 10 percent of all Internet activity in the U.S. And yes, that includes Facebook gaming. Honestly, I thought this percentage would have been larger, considering the amount of online gaming platforms there are even outside of Facebook. Well, there you have it: Not every FarmVille player is the super addict that your average evening news spot makes them out to be. You know, like this lovely lady claims to have been? Find the full infographic below (click on it to make it larger)
While that number is already grossly inaccurate, according to AppData, it's nevertheless interesting to get a glimpse at the average FarmVille player. (Blame the breakneck speed at which this genre moves.) Why is the average so low?
When you compare the vast amount of monthly players to the relatively small group of daily players, that would surely skew the numbers. Hasai goes on to point out that, over a year, that's 5,475 minutes spent playing the virtual sharecropper--two weeks worth of a full-time job. (Come to think of it, I'd love to see higher times in this average.)
The infographic also shares an interesting statistic overall: Online video games, the second most heavily-used Internet activity, make up 10 percent of all Internet activity in the U.S. And yes, that includes Facebook gaming. Honestly, I thought this percentage would have been larger, considering the amount of online gaming platforms there are even outside of Facebook. Well, there you have it: Not every FarmVille player is the super addict that your average evening news spot makes them out to be. You know, like this lovely lady claims to have been? Find the full infographic below (click on it to make it larger)
The Sims Social thanks players, comes out as beta in official email update
While the official Facebook fan page of The Sims Social has kept quiet over the game's troublesome downtime, Electronic Arts have finally broken the ice by sending a direct email to all the fans via the game's newsletter. (Even if you don't remember ever agreeing to subscribe to the newsletter, you probably got automatically subscribed by being a fan of the game's Facebook page.)
The email, with a subject heading of "Update about The Sims Social", was sent from "thesimssocialemail.com" which was registered by the Corporation Service Company (CSC), so it checks out as legit.
In it, the staff of the game thanks the fans for being "adventurous early adopters", promises us that they're working hard on improving the game, and that -- here's the most important bit --
Part of of this beta testing stage is gradually adding more players in a controlled way. So if you are currently not able to play The Sims Social, this is why. Please bear with us while we go through this process and rest assured that you will not lose your progress in the game to date.
This sounds like they're getting ready to let folks back in, but it's not going to be all of us at once. Aside from that, I guess they're being nice and just wanted to emphasize to players that the game's still in beta, which is why they refer to game as "The Sims Social Beta" in the opening and closing paragraphs. Because hey, if you look carefully, you'll also see that they've finally tacked the word "beta" onto the game's logo.
The Sims Social email
So, Electronic Arts... I guess that answers everything, except this: if we tell you, "You're welcome," do you think we'll get in faster? Signed, an Adventurous Early Adopter.
The email, with a subject heading of "Update about The Sims Social", was sent from "thesimssocialemail.com" which was registered by the Corporation Service Company (CSC), so it checks out as legit.
In it, the staff of the game thanks the fans for being "adventurous early adopters", promises us that they're working hard on improving the game, and that -- here's the most important bit --
Part of of this beta testing stage is gradually adding more players in a controlled way. So if you are currently not able to play The Sims Social, this is why. Please bear with us while we go through this process and rest assured that you will not lose your progress in the game to date.
This sounds like they're getting ready to let folks back in, but it's not going to be all of us at once. Aside from that, I guess they're being nice and just wanted to emphasize to players that the game's still in beta, which is why they refer to game as "The Sims Social Beta" in the opening and closing paragraphs. Because hey, if you look carefully, you'll also see that they've finally tacked the word "beta" onto the game's logo.
The Sims Social email
So, Electronic Arts... I guess that answers everything, except this: if we tell you, "You're welcome," do you think we'll get in faster? Signed, an Adventurous Early Adopter.
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