MediaPost | Gaming Insider

Mobile Marketing Evolves Beyond Banners -- To Games

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:28:04 -0500

What will exceed $1 billion in 2015? If you said mobile advertising revenue, you would be right. And of this cool $1 billion earned, mobile games will account for 17.4%, or $269 million. To put the number into perspective, that's about how much the 2011 award-winning "Batman: Arkham Asylum" earned at launch -- at $60 a pop. But unlike traditional video games, mobile games appeal to both men and women, young and old. Therefore, they pique interest from brands that normally wouldn't advertise in-game, let alone near them.

Game Over -- Or Level Up

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:24:58 -0500

The gaming industry has changed quite a bit compared to say, five years ago, and our next half-decade looks to bring many additional changes. Let's take a look at a few.

Activision Endangers Profits For Ad Campaign

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:30:17 -0400

Interesting news this week. Mountain Dew and Doritos have partnered with Activision on a new promotion for "Modern Warfare 3" called "RankUpXP." This promotion will allow gamers who redeem codes from Mountain Dew and Doritos products up to 24 hours of "double XP" gametime (time during which actions in the game result in double the rewards other players get ).

This is a brilliant move for both brands. That said, what is Activision thinking?? They've broken one of the most sacrosanct rules for publishers in game advertising: "Don't let an advertiser endanger your bottom line."

Little Games, Big Engagement

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:45:41 -0400

One of the challenges brands often face when they look at getting into gaming is cost and time. Concepting a game people will actually play takes a great deal of time and specialized skills. But sometimes, the simplest games can engage thousands of people if the right circumstances come together.

'Free' And 'Ads' Get A Divorce

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:15:16 -0400

The F2P model relies on providing a large introductory portion of a game to users for free, and assumes that if the game is fun/addicting enough, players will be willing to pay after an initial investment of time. This works on a number of psychological principles related to loss aversion and cognitive dissonance. In short, it's extremely potent and effective.

Let's All Go F2P

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:23:48 -0400

Free to Play, F2P, Freemium - however you describe it, the business model where consumers get the cow for free, but they need to pay for the milk, the bucket, the stool and the barn, is taking over the Games category of the iTunes app store, as well as the world of online PC gaming.

This Week In Gaming

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:30:32 -0400

A few big news items in the past week for gaming: HBO Go is coming to consoles, 3D isn't having a good week, and Diablo III news raises questions for virtual goods.

Can Brands And Indie Games Play Nice?

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:45:30 -0400

In roughly two days, independent game studio Addo Games will close out a funding drive for their iPad game in development, "Robots Love Ice Cream" -- a game paid for largely by fan donations through Kickstarter.

Currently, the project is underfunded by about $8,000, but after being featured on sites like Destructoid.com, Wired.com, and others, it seems like it might have an influx of last-minute donations to take its developers over the finish line.

EA Buys Popcap

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:46:55 -0400

EA went ahead and acquired Popcap, a move that has been rumored for weeks. This is a major development, and points to a broader gamble by EA.

'CivWorld' And Its Less-Than-Auspicious Launch

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:30:38 -0400

"CivWorld," a social game based on the storied "Civilization" franchise, is not exactly tearing up the charts. According to AppData, two weeks after its launch, "CivWorld" has a little under 300,000 active users -- not a small number of people, but it's just not in the same ballpark as Zynga's titles. Why is that?

Go Indie Or Go Mobile?

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:17:23 -0400

This past week an article in Ars Technica caught my eye that detailed the monetization realities behind Xbox Live's Indie Games. The outlook was rather grim. Most titles are struggling to break even, and even "successful" publishers consider the response lackluster. One publisher in particular cited a move to the PC as a hopeful pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The talk of the indie side of core gaming got me thinking. To be honest, other than the few critically and socially acclaimed titles here and there (I'm looking at you, "Minecraft"), I'd almost forgotten they were still there. But in defense of my absentmindedness, there were other shorter-form, lower-budget games demanding my attention: mobile and social games.

Rising To The Supreme Court's Challenge

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:30:59 -0400

Monday was a historic day for video games. The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the games industry, shooting down a California law restricting sale of violent games to children. Game developers have celebrated the ruling as a victory for free speech and a coming-of-age for video games as a medium, putting it officially in league with film, music, theater and literature.

It warmed my heart to hear the good news that day, tha

E3 Impressions 2011

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:30:53 -0400

It's that time of year again. E3, the massive video game conference in Los Angeles, has come and gone. As in the past, the conference was a perfect glimpse into what we can expect from the video game industry for the next year or two. Looking past the glitz, the glam, and the booth babes, a number of trends stood out.

'Empires And Allies': A Step Toward Real Social Gaming?

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:30:28 -0400

This week, Zynga launched "Empires and Allies," the latest in its line of addictive, microtransaction-based building/strategy games ahead of its rumored upcoming IPO. Despite being the most successful Facebook game developer nearly since its inception a year ago, Zynga has drawn the ire of respected voices in gaming spheres, and "Empires and Allies" appears to be an attempt at addressing some of the criticisms leveled at Zynga, especially the idea that its "social" games aren't really that social at all.

What Google I/O Means For Games

Fri, 13 May 2011 17:45:44 -0400

Three tidbits came out of Google I/O that will impact the mobile/social gaming ecosystems.

Portal 2 ARG Launch Offers Great Marketing Lessons

Fri, 06 May 2011 12:15:49 -0400

Two weeks ago, Valve Software released -- to critical and popular acclaim -- the highly anticipated sequel to its comedic first-person puzzle game, Portal. The game was originally scheduled to launch on the digital distribution platform, Steam, on Tuesday, April 19, in the early morning. But it ended up being released nine and a half hours earlier as part of a promotional augmented reality game (ARG) designed by Valve and a group of indie game developers.

PlayStation Network Down For The Count

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:15:26 -0400

The other month when I wrote the article "If You Can't Beat Them, Invite Them In" about Sony's response to PlayStation hackers, I wasn't being as literal as Sony seems to have been. In what is anticipated to be the second largest exposure of consumer data from a corporate network breach, Sony's PlayStation Network has been hacked, and is down for the count.

EA Sports Takes Steps To Dominate Social Gaming

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:30:19 -0400

At the recent MI6 Game Marketing Conference, EA Sports honcho Peter Moore issued a challenge to competitors in the world of social games, including market leader Zynga. EA Sports is planning on dominating Facebook, leveraging its stable of existing properties like Madden Football and FIFA Soccer, two of the dominant sports franchises in the gaming world. "There's a big dog in front of us," he said. "But we aren't far behind, and we're confident that we can catch up. What we can bring to the market in terms of blue-chip IP is phenomenal."

Fearing Canada: Is Google Our Last Hope?

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:15:55 -0400

Digital entertainment, gaming included, would seem to be entering a golden age. Access, usage, diversity of content and audiences, sound financial models -- all of these things should be taking us to a nirvana of sorts, populated by iPads, flat-screen TVs and advanced set-top boxes, and smartphones. There's just one problem. The foundation of our digital paradise has been built on a swamp.

Color And The Future Of Mobile-Social Gaming

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:02:09 -0400

This week, photo-sharing start-up Color made huge news by securing a boatload of venture capital, banking on the idea that people in close proximity to one another will want to share photos. CEO Dan Nguyen said that Color was designed to be used with groups, but its effect is often to connect strangers through their photos on their mobile phones.

Girl Gamers: An Untapped Demographic

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:16:59 -0400

We've gotten quite used to talking about the staggering numbers of women playing games when talking about casual or social games. But typically, these gamers do not self-identify as "gamers." It is the core gaming audience that largely self-identifies with the hobby.

'Birds' Flock To Facebook

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:00:58 -0500

Great news for people who love birds and hate pigs: this week Rovio, developer of some of the top iPhone games, announced that it's bringing its marquee title "Angry Birds" to Facebook, adding in new features to make the game social-network-friendly.

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Invite 'Em In

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:00:38 -0500

Hackers. Most companies rue the term and the people it refers to. In many cases, this is with good reason. As an example, just this past month a multi-million-dollar security company looking for government contracts was totally destroyed by (apparently) a 16-year-old girl.

Are Social Games Evil?

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:00:29 -0500

Not everyone is the biggest fan of Farmville, Frontierville, Cityville and the like -- at the very least, if you don't play them, you've almost certainly hidden them from your newsfeed to avoid the constant requests. But one indie developer, Jonathan Blow, creator of the innovative platform/puzzle game "Braid", takes this idea a little bit further. In an interview with PC Gamer Magazine, the developer described the way social games on Facebook ask you to tap your friend list as an in-game resource as "evil."

'Guitar Hero' No More

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:30:13 -0500

A bit of a shake-up this week with the announcement by Activision that it is putting the "Guitar Hero" franchise on hold indefinitely, and disbanding the business unit behind the games. The company is instead focusing on the success of the "Call of Duty" franchise. So let's break this down. Activision shuts down the team behind its most casual and gender-neutral games in order to redouble efforts into its first-person shooter and MMORPG. Perhaps this is indicative of a larger change in the industry?

Indie Studio Invites Consumers Into The Creative Process

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:00:44 -0500

Steam's fastest-selling new release this month isn't EA's much-hyped "Dead Space 2" (whose "Your Mom Will Hate It" ad campaign is a little puzzling for a game targeted at players aged 17+), but an indie title, ("Magicka developed by Swedish firm Arrowhead Games. The startling success of "Magicka" is a continuing part of the rise of indie game developers who, while not having multimillion-dollar project budgets, nonetheless manage to create compelling and innovative games, avoiding the pitfalls of genre and industry tropes that often bedevil big-name triple-A titles from major publishers like EA and Activision.

Game Handheld Forecast: 2011

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:33:03 -0500

The handheld market had been on a rise since the original GameBoy. But 2010 was not a friendly year for handheld gaming, or rather, dedicated handheld gaming. In 2011, the two companies behind dedicated handheld systems are desperately trying to survive. I specify "dedicated handheld gaming," because yes, if you look at NPD's numbers for the Nintendo DS and the varients of Sony's PSP, the state of handhelds looks dire. But among everyone I've talked to about the subject, one of the key rationalizations for buying an iPad is the ability to play games. I'd very much argue that Apple's portables be counted in the same ranks as Nintendo's and Sony's offerings. So what are Nintendo and Sony doing to fight back?

Microsoft, Riot Games Eventually Embrace Amateur Developers

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:00:26 -0500

In the world of gaming, talented but amateur creators have a complicated relationship with the brands they love. Sometimes, they create new content on top of an existing game, and that content is embraced by the original developer.

The Verizon iPhone Cometh

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:45:13 -0500

Next month will bring the advent of Verizon's iPhone. This is extremely relevant for gaming, as perhaps the biggest gap between Android and the iOS devices is the maturity of their game development. The iPhone is a gaming platform that is freaking out the likes of Nintendo and Sony, and a success Microsoft desperately would like to emulate with WP7.

Thanks A Lot, Apple

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:15:33 -0500

Many parents might be sarcastically thanking Apple this Thanksgiving, as according to recent research from Nielsen, the iPad (starting at $499) is the most desired item by kids 6-12 going into this holiday season.This isn't really a surprise. The iPad is an extremely kid-friendly device, with an intuitive and simple interface, tons of games, and several entertainment options. What I am wondering, though, is this: How did the 6- to 12-year-old market figure out that it was such a kid-friendly device?