24466636
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
The recently announced Amazon Kindle Fire may be gaining some attention, but a recent survey shows that while consumers are interested in Amazon’s device, the iPad still retains a considerable mindshare. 61 percent of respondents believe the iPad will continue to hold onto the tablet market, while 39 percent think the Kindle Fire will take over. Interestingly, from a demographics standpoint, Apple's tablet was found to be tops among rich people. The iPad holds complete dominance for those making $100,000+ a year, with 94 percent of respondents in that category preferring the iPad to the Kindle Fire.
24441650
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Some investors and consumers were disappointed this week after months of speculation that a new iPhone 5 would be announced, and all Apple revealed was the iPhone 4S. But in some ways, if you ask game developers, it's actually a good thing that Apple didn't overhaul the iPhone (other than its innards). Ed Del Castillo, President, Liquid Entertainment, explains, "The launch of iPhone 4S and iOS5 give developers the much needed breathing room they need to keep up and with Apple on their devices." Del Castillo notes that the move means developers can "have a more consolidated graphics strategy" and it means Apple won't be "disenfranchising their base by making their tech obsolete year over year."
24425118
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Apple's new iPhone 4S model didn't come as much of a surprise, but that doesn't mean that the hardware and the upcoming iOS 5 software is any less impressive. Developers have been lavishing praise upon Apple and the iPhone 4S, likening it to a powerful games console. “The iPhone 4S allows us to use the increased power and faster graphics to create some of the most beautiful and intense games available. It’s like having a console game in the palm of your hand," commented Namco Bandai’s Executive Producer of mobile entertainment, Jonathan Kromrey. Prettier graphics may put the phone on a level with consoles, but some developers are intrigued by the voice assistant, Siri. “Creatively,” said Alinear Studios’ Neil Voss, “I am less compelled by rendering horsepower than novel features. I'm more excited about the possibility of hacking the speech agent for voice control in games.”
24316068
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
BioWare's Mass Effect RPG franchise has been a huge hit both critically and commercially. After Mass Effect 3 ships, however, what direction will the franchise take? BioWare's about to ship its first ever MMO in Star Wars: The Old Republic, but Mass Effect's universe is equally rich and could be quite suitable for an MMO. BioWare co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk certainly appears open to the idea. "You never know," Zeschuk replied when asked about making a Mass Effect MMO. "I think once The Old Republic is done, we'll take a fresh look at the market. And we'll have learned a lot. While making it, you learn an enormous amount. It's one of the nice things about having these properties in our back pocket... If we want to use something we own as a source for a game, it's easy to do. So yeah, you never know. We've got this giant product to launch, but once that's done we'll consider next steps."
24315758
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
The top one percent in America may control most of the wealth, and it would appear that there's a similar disparity in the iOS ecosystem, as the top one percent of iOS game developers earn over a third of the digital revenue, while the top 20 percent are earning approximately 97 percent of all the game revenue made on the Apple App Store, according to a new survey of iOS developers. The survey, set up by Canadian indie developer Owen Goss, found that the bottom 80 percent of iOS developers are splitting a mere 3 percent of all App Store game revenue between one another.
24261082
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Games are increasingly going digital with the rapid growth of platforms like Steam, Facebook, tablets and smartphones, and the future of consoles remains uncertain. If you ask leading retailer GameStop, however, the future for consoles is actually very bright. GameStop President Tony Bartel commented, "We continue to believe that the console is a strong platform and will continue to be the gold standard." Bartel was speaking as part of an interview on GameStop's evolving digital strategy, which is beginning to incorporate cloud gaming as well. Bartel believes the biggest push will come from DLC on consoles for many more years. "People will begin to digitally download first a lot more downloadable content. Eventually, full games will become more relevant to some consumers who want to do that. Then we think that streaming will continue to grow. As you get additional bandwidth, we think that it’s going to become more prevalent over time, which is why we’ve invested in it," he said.
24133250
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
If the real world looks like a video game to you, you're not alone. A number of gamers actually deal with "Game Transfer Phenomena" or GTP, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Nottingham Trent University and Stockholm University. Essentially, gamers can involuntarily bring elements from their favorite games into real life. Some gamers surveyed reported seeing health bars above others’ heads, others reported seeing in-game menus, and some even admitted they voluntarily pressed a button on a non-existent controller in response to certain events. "The GTP study, while based on a small number of video game players, demonstrated that playing video games intensely can be associated with the elicitation of automatic thoughts," wrote Angelica Ortiz de Gortari, one of the study's authors.
23988966
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Games have always been one of the most popular uses on the iPhone and iPad, and now new research from Interpret shows just how much the iPad really has become a true games platform. The firm said that in the U.S. 71% of iPad owners use the Apple tablet for games, and that there are about 8 million iPad gamers in the U.S. so far. The research shows that iPad owners "include a substantial number of traditional gamers, as well as an ever-bigger proportion of non-traditional gamers." For traditional game makers, it's a trend to keep an eye on, since some iPad gamers may be playing on consoles less and less. "Collectively, iPad gamers are showing slightly decreased involvement with gaming on home consoles, mobile phones, and Nintendo handheld consoles," said Jason Preston, Interpret analyst. "These facts imply that iPad game developers and publishers can definitely reach a new audience on the iPad, and should also closely monitor Apple's positioning of the iPad as an in-home gaming device, especially considering the platform's already obvious impact on traditional gaming behavior."
23934306
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
PopCap Games and University of Massachusetts Amherst psychology researcher Susan K. Whitbourne, Ph.D. have released the results of a survey targeting the habits of older and younger gamers. Interestingly, PopCap’s Bejeweled Blitz was found to be a good cognitive training tool for older adults. Of those who play Bejeweled Blitz on a regular basis, 47 percent of adults over 50 reported feeling “sharper” while performing other tasks, and nearly 24 percent of adults over 65 felt that their pattern recognition improved. Dr. Whitbourne intends to conduct a series of studies looking into the value of gaming for older audiences.
23885288
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
While the U.S. and Europe continue to talk about a digital gaming future, the fact is that the majority of revenues still come from retail. In China, however, where piracy has run rampant, the industry already is almost 100% online and developers have embraced the digital delivery and free-to-play model. Notable designer American McGee (known for Alice and Grimm) believes the Chinese model represents the future for Western game makers. "Why waste resources on a physical location and unreliable employees when the entire experience can be made sharper, cleaner and more entertaining in the virtual representation? China provides a working model of the store-less retail model — millions of people purchase real-world items online (taobao.com) each day — making Western electronic stores like Best Buy nothing more than places to fondle physical goods you're going to buy online anyway (Best Buy went out of business in China in less than 2 years, by the way)," he remarked.
23709192
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Digital has been growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to social gaming on PC and games for smartphones and tablets. This isn't about to slow down and in fact will be one of the largest drivers of growth for the games industry worldwide, which DFC Intelligence forecasts will hit $81 billion in 2016. The research firm predicts that online game sales will eclipse retail by 2013. "On a global basis it looks like retail delivery of physical software peaked in 2008. We expect a slow, steady decline for physical game sales, with a steady increase for online delivery of games and new business models such as subscriptions and virtual item sales," said DFC's David Cole.
23547542
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Google's new games offering on Google+ has only been around a few weeks, and it's been getting mixed reactions. According to veteran game designer Ed Del Castillo, the potential is there to beat Facebook at its own game, if Google improves in the right areas, which he outlines as evolved content, player discovery and a push for HTML5. "Overall, the quality of Google+ gaming isn’t bad. It’s just another Facebook with fewer games and fewer friends. It’s a baby step in a time where successful companies, like Apple, are taking huge strides. The good news is that they didn’t blow it. They have a good base to build on," he said.
23522444
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Apple's next iPad iteration is strongly rumored to launch in early 2012, and iOS developers are eager to see what direction the iPad 3 takes, but what do they most want to see added to the tablet? IndustryGamers surveyed a number of iPad developers to find out. Some requested a Retina display, others simply wanted greater processing power, and there's still a call for Flash support as well. "The amount of content that is unavailable to consumers due to the lack of Flash support is quite limiting and we believe the iPad could become even more popular than it already is with the support of Flash," said Steve Couture, CEO of Frima Studio.
23487986
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Rockstar and Take-Two have yet to officially unveil Grand Theft Auto V, but it's widely expected that the game will indeed ship next year. The game's impact on the industry (and Take-Two's stock) should be enormous as most analysts expect the title to surpass GTA IV's 20 million sold. "Keep in mind that overall industry sales are around $18 billion in the U.S. and Europe, and that Grand Theft Auto is likely to contribute around $1 billion to that figure. Other meaningful games, like Gears of War and Battlefield, come out every few years, so GTA has to make up for their absence next year," states Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. And unlike GTA IV, the next GTA could end up on Nintendo's new Wii U when it launches next year in addition to PS3 and Xbox 360, notes Panoptic Management Consultants' Asif Khan.
23370530
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Game consoles used to be designed for one purpose: playing games. Nowadays, though, consoles have become living room centerpieces, designed for numerous entertainment purposes, including movies, streaming videos, music and social networking. It's this versatility that could enable consoles to stick around for a while, despite the rise of other devices like smartphones and tablets, argues ABI Research. “Some industry insiders have started to envision the demise of game consoles — an end expected to come at the hands of mobile devices,” said researcher Jason Blackwell. “But we feel this market still has plenty of life. While mobile devices might soon match the processing power of game consoles, there are a number of issues such as storage and portability that could hinder the transition to mobile.”
