Archive for March, 2009

1. Misguided Layoff game takes on Bejewelled

   March 18, 2009

   Some people think it’s in bad taste; the majority seem to think it’s pretty cool. Personally, I think it’s incredibly damaging to the perception of business at a time when, frankly, we need to remember that business is the long-term driver of economic prosperity. Layoff is a match-three style game in which you, as management, [...]

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   Posted in: Opinion

   Tagged with: browser games, casual games, layoffs, redundancies, values at play

   1 Comment

2. Apple reveals iPhone 3.0: lots for game developers to cheer

   March 17, 2009

   At a packed press conference today, Apple revealed its new OS, due out in the summer. Alongside some basic additions (cut and paste, search), there are a bunch of key features likely to be of substantial interest to game developers: Microtransactions, allowing downloadable content within an App (I argued how necessary this was on PocketGamer.biz [...]

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   Posted in: Sandbox

   Tagged with: apple, iphone, os, statistics, update

   2 Comments

3. Facebook offers $100,000 to iPhone developers

   March 17, 2009

   Technically, it’s fbFund that’s offering the money, a fund backed by Facebook, Index and Founders Fund. TechCrunch reports that this year, fbFund will be investing $100k in an unspecified number of Facebook app developers chosen from a shortlist of 50. The successful applicants will get the cash and the chance to participate in an incubator [...]

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   Posted in: Finance

   Tagged with: browser games, facebook, investment, iphone, web games

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4. Ghostbusters: different age ratings for different platforms

   March 17, 2009

   Ghostbusters PS3: 12+   Ghostbusters Wii: 7+   I’m not sure I’ve seen this before. Ghostbusters, the game that Atari picked up after it was dropped by Activision and that Phil Harrison wants to turn into a $100 million franchise, is coming out on most consoles. And the age rating will vary depending on the [...]

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   Posted in: Featured, Opinion

   Tagged with: age ratings, atari, Distribution, ghostbusters

   1 Comment

5. Are IGA’s woes company-specific or are advertisers turning off games?

   March 16, 2009

   Venturebeat published a very downbeat article on the future of IGA today. Entitled “Struggling in-game ad firm IGA Worldwide seeks investments or possible sale“, Venturebeat reporter Dean Takahashi tries very hard to imply that IGA is in financial trouble. The company has hired investment bank Gordian Group to either seek a buyer or investment with [...]

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   Posted in: Analysis, Featured

   Tagged with: iga worldwide, investment, m&a, rumour, starred

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6. Delay to Champ Man augurs well for Square’s acquisition of Eidos

   March 16, 2009

   I’m not known for being an Eidos cheerleader, but I positively whooped when I saw that Eidos has delayed Championship Manager by several months. Although the financial press sees this as a bad thing (“More woe for Eidos with delay to CM” says CityAM, “Troubled computer games maker Eidos took a fresh blow today” says This [...]

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   Posted in: Analysis, Featured

   Tagged with: championship manager, eidos, square enix, starred

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7. What the death of newspapers can tell the games industry

   March 16, 2009

   Clay Shirky (as I’ve mentioned before, one of my favourite futurology thinkers) has written a thought-provoking piece on the inevitable death of newspapers. Clay is completely unbothered by this. To those who argue that newspapers are critical to a functioning society, he says nonsense: “Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism.” It just [...]

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   Posted in: Analysis, Featured

   Tagged with: clay shirky, newspapers, starred

   1 Comment