Archive for March, 2009

1. Midway bonus scheme gets kicked back

   March 31, 2009

   Unsecured creditors are kicking up a stink about Midway’s bonus scheme announced earlier this month. Among other things, they claim: The bonus scheme is paying additional money to staff simply to do their jobs The bonuses are 400% greater than the bonuses offered to staff in 2008, when the company was not bankrupt Some of the bonuses are [...]

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   Posted in: Finance

   Tagged with: bankruptcy, midway

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2. Chinese MMO company raises $138 million in NASDAQ listing

   March 31, 2009

   UPDATE: Chris Nuttall of the FT reports that the Changyou IPO priced at the top of the range ($16), and that the shares had risen 25 per cent by the end of the first day’s trading. A good result for Changyou and Sohu. It seems that American investors just can’t get enough of online games [...]

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   Posted in: Analysis, Featured

   Tagged with: changyou, ipo, mmo, sohu, starred, virtual worlds

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3. Settlers of Catan: the best game ever made?

   March 31, 2009

   Wired has run an article on German boardgame The Settlers of Catan that has swept the world and is beginning to make Americans play board games again. It’s social, quick to play and attracts both adults and children, yet the German founders think that they need a console version to convert an American audience. The [...]

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   Posted in: Sandbox

   Tagged with: board games, casual games, games, settlers of catan, starred

   1 Comment

4. If Facebook is spending $100 million for photo serving, how much will OnLive need for real-time games rendering?

   March 27, 2009

   BusinessWeek reports that Facebook is seeking $100 million in debt financing for its rapidly increasing server needs. The reason: photos. Well, not quite, but Facebook had 10 billion photos last October, when it had 100 million users. Now it has 275 million users, and has to keep building the infrastructure.

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   Posted in: Featured, Finance

   Tagged with: facebook, infrastructure, nonstory, onLive, starred

   1 Comment

5. Sony to fund PSN developers to self-publish

   March 27, 2009

   Sony has announced a fund that will help games studios make their “next step from developer to publisher.” According to Gamesindustry.biz, Chris Eden, Sony’s development relations manager, told an audience at the Game Developers Conference today that “in return for exclusivity we’ll match your development budget with guaranteed royalties.” I think that this is great [...]

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   Posted in: Featured, Finance

   Tagged with: psn, sony, starred

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6. Playfish’s Segerstrale says big branded games won’t work in social networks

   March 27, 2009

   The games industry’s reliance on sequels and big brand franchises won’t cut it in in the new world of social networking. That was the message from Kristian Segerstrale, CEO of Playfish, at GDC. Playfish is one of the most successful social network games companies. It has five titles in Facebook’s top 10 most popular games, [...]

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   Posted in: Featured, Marketing

   Tagged with: casual games, games design, gdc, kristian segerstrale, playfish

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7. iPhone developer ngmoco snaps up $10 million investment

   March 24, 2009

   The company may only be 9 months old, but this week Ngmoco snapped up another $10 million, bringing the total raised to $15 million. New investors Norwest Venture Partners join Kleiner Perkins and Maples Investments. The deal was reportedly closed in a matter of weeks, a sign of how hot the iPhone space is right [...]

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   Posted in: Finance

   Tagged with: investment, iphone, kleiner perkins, maple investments, ngmoco, norwest venture partners

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