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GAMIFICATION PITFALLS: BADGE FATIGUE AND LOYALTY BACKLASH
BADGES ARE NOT MAGIC BULLETS Let’s cut through the hype – badges and points can’t magically resuscitate a disengaged online community. Never once during my career designing video games did we ever look at an unsatisfying level or poorly balanced … Continue reading
Imagination: Teraflops For Smartphones in 2013
Gaming Business Review sat down with Tony King-Smith, vice president of marketing at Imagination Technologies, a developer of mobile graphics and microprocessor chip technology, to discuss his view of current trends, as well as upcoming technologies. Like ARM, Imagination Technologies … Continue reading
Q&A with Mixamo: Trends in Character Animation
Stefano Corazza is the CEO of Mixamo, a San Francisco based company that specializes in character animation. He talks to GBR about trends in character animation as well as the company’s recently announced partnership with Autodesk. In March Mixamo announced a strategic partnership … Continue reading
Performance Director Tom Keegan Discusses Battlefield 3
As a performance director, Tom Keegan works with actors to create engaging, realistic performances. Tom has worked on over 35 video games over the years and he talks with GBR about his work on Battlefield 3. GBR: Tom, we … Continue reading
Interview: Chris Ulm, CEO at Appy Entertainment
Chris Ulm, founder and CEO, Appy Entertainment spoke with GBR on some of the numbers they recently released from the company’s games and the company’s strategy moving forward: – Appy titles have exceeded 10 million iOS downloads – More than … Continue reading
iPi Soft: Motion Capture via Kinect
Company Profile – iPi Soft is a Russian motion capture company based in Moscow. Co-founded by two graduates of the Moscow Physics and Technology Institute, Michael Nikonov and Pavel Sorokin, iPi Soft is focused on bringing motion capture to animation … Continue reading
Games And Movies Are Merging
As consumers, we usually do not like change and even when it occurs we can choose to focus at an affected product class as if it was consistent even though it has changed dramatically. That thought came to mind when … Continue reading
Billy’s Trend Watch: The Rise of Pay for Play
Freemium 2.0 – Publisher paid player rewards are a powerful incentive that will drive gamers to deeper participation in MMO economies, directly resulting in far stronger conversions and higher ARPU. The free to play business model has fueled the rapid … Continue reading
Clouded Thinking: Why Cloud Gaming is a Non-Category, and How Networked Games Really Work
The recent acquisition of Gakai by Sony Computer Entertainment could be the sign of an impending bonanza for cloud-based gaming services. As reported in Engadget and elsewhere, the consumer electronics giant paid $380M for the streaming game service in order to deliver … Continue reading
Gamification In 2012 Report: Free Download
M2 Research today published the report Gamification in 2012, a market update and report that highlights consumer and enterprise gamification trends. Sign up for our free GBR Newsletter to access the complete report free of charge. Contact us for more information. … Continue reading
Using Social Games to Motivate Consumers: The Link to Lasting Change
There is no denying that most people believe in supporting worthwhile causes, but when it comes to buzz words like organic, green and sustainability, consumers find it hard to imagine how they, as individuals, could even begin to make a … Continue reading
Trend Watch: Companies At E3 Doing It Their Own Way
This week the industry descends on Los Angeles for the Electronic Entertainment Expo – E3. Of course the main focus will be on the news from the big guys: Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Top discussions will revolve around a few … Continue reading
Q&A With xaitment: AI Ready for Innovation
GBR had a chance to speak with Mike Walsh, CEO at xaitment, to learn more about what the company is up to these days. Company Overview: Founded in 2004, xaitment originated from research efforts at the German Research Centre for Artificial … Continue reading
Q&A With Imagination Technologies CEO Hossein Yassaie
Hossein Yassaie is the Chief Executive Officer of Imagination Technologies, known for licensing its graphics IP that drives the graphics in most mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, on the market today. In our GBR Q&A series, Yassaie answers our … Continue reading
MIT/Stanford Venture Labs (VLAB): Gamify Everything
Last Tuesday evening I attended the MIT/ Stanford Venture Lab Forum held at Stanford University, (known as VLAB) called “Gamify Everything: from Monetization to Social Benefit.” The event was presented as a panel with 5 industry veterans chaired by the always well-spoken … Continue reading
Best Practices: Brand Integration in Social Gaming
Statistics, social media trends and good old-fashioned word of mouth can all agree on one thing: social gaming has absolutely exploded in the last two years. With the peak of social platforms like Facebook, online gaming has been transformed to … Continue reading
Badgeville Raises $25M Series C Round
Badgeville has announced it has closed a Series C round of venture financing. The round was led by InterWest Partners with participation by prior investors and brings Badgeville’s total financing to $40 million in just 20 months since its launch. … Continue reading
Mobile Poker Evolved: Trends and Lessons Learned
Mobile poker is evolving by leaps and bounds. Once consisting of poorly-designed premium titles with limited monetization and no multiplayer gameplay, modern poker games are now online-enabled, Retina-ready, and can be found in the top-grossing charts for both Android and … Continue reading
THQ’s Market Cap Now At $35 Million
Back in 2007 THQ had a market cap over $2 billion, today it is resting at a piddly $35 million. Since March 2011 their market cap has fallen by some $275 million. They have really backed themselves into a corner these … Continue reading
The End of Gaming (Consoles)
Which is the odd one out: The mainframe, the mini-computer or the game console? My answer would be the mini-computer, the only one that really is not made anymore (although no doubt someone will correct me). While it may surprise … Continue reading
AMD Launches FX-4170, 6200 CPUs
AMD announced two new desktop processors with Bulldozer core, and reduced the tray price of a high-performance model. The quad-core CPU FX-4170 has a clock speed of 4.2 GHz/4.3 GHz and the 6-core FX-6200 is clocked at 3.8 GHz/4.1 GHz. … Continue reading
Interview: Intel To Compete On Performance in Smartphones
We recently had an opportunity to chat with Intel about its Atom Z2460 processor, the company’s first SoC hardware for modern smartphones. Intel has been criticized for being late to the party, but Sumeet Syal, Director of Product Marketing for … Continue reading
Acquisitions & Investments: March and April Roundup
There has been a steady stream of financial activity since the beginning of 2012. In our new column, Acquisitions & Investments, we highlight the recent financial activity in the gaming industry. FUNDING May 7: Machinima is looking to raise more than … Continue reading
Facebook Credits: The Future of Game Profits
Gamification is at the core of much of what is going into business systems today. It is a concept of taking structures from successful game concepts like World of Warcraft and Farmville and applying them to tasks that people would … Continue reading
IndieCade: Independent Game Developers From Around the World at E3
IndieCade is the international independent games festival created by Stephanie Barish in 2005. At E3 in Los Angeles they will be showcasing independent games from around the world – look for them at the Concourse near the West Hall. Analogue: … Continue reading
Freescale: Embedded Cannot Be Ruled Like X86
Henri Richard, Chief Sales and Chief Marketing Officer at Freescale Semiconductor, answered our questions surrounding the embedded ARM application processor market and existing as well as evolving opportunities for developers. Read Richard’s view why Intel has difficulties gaining traction in … Continue reading
How App TV will Disrupt the Game Industry – Part 2
As an industry, video games are at an inflection point as economic, technological and social trends are coming together to disrupt the way we develop, sell and build games. These trends will remake the console business in ways both expected … Continue reading
GREE Expands Its Empire with Acquisition of Funzio
GREE continues its plans for global expansion with the acquisition of Funzio, a mobile game company focused on mid-core game titles, for $210 million in an all cash deal. The acquisition of Funzio adds to GREE’s aggressive plans to bring … Continue reading
The Act: An Example of Interactive Comedy and Mobile Storytelling
GBR had a chance to speak with Dan Kraus, Co-Founder of React Entertainment and the makers of The Act. The Act is an animated comedy that showcases the game’s unique interactive storytelling for iPhone and iPad. If you appreciate beautiful animation, … Continue reading
PayNearMe: Kids Can Pay Without Credit Cards
The industry is increasingly adopting a Freemium model with online games where players can get into the game for free, but pay for gear, access to special content and unique features. The problem is that kids, often the targeted audience, … Continue reading
First Impression: Wii U Can Lift Nintendo Again
Nintendo surprised us with a pre-release of detailed information about the concept of the Wii U, which answers the question how a tablet for the living room TV can be unique, but left others about player types still unanswered. The … Continue reading
Meet GBR and M2 Research at the GSummit!
The Gamification Summit will take place this year in San Francisco from June 19-21. Gaming Business Review and M2 Research will be attending the event as our founder and principal analyst, Wanda Meloni, will be providing a market update for … Continue reading
Gamification, It’s About More than Badges: The Power of Engagement Through Quests
A quest is a traditional game mechanic that has proven extremely popular. Take, for example, World of Warcraft, a game built around quests with more then 11 million subscribers. By nature, gamification draws tactics from traditional and social gaming mechanics. … Continue reading
Microsoft Platform Play: SmartGlass
Microsoft will be using a clever app to leverage its platform power and deliver greater entertainment value for Xbox 360 gamers, Windows 8, as well as Windows Phone users. SmartGlass acts as a symbiotic structure that is the first serious … Continue reading
Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report
Today during her session at the D: All Things Digital conference, the respected Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers venture capitalist, Mary Meeker presented her Internet Trends Report. The full report is available below and is definitely worth the read. In it … Continue reading
BigDoor Raises $5M From The Foundry Group and Founder’s Co-op
BigDoor announced it has raised $5 million and launched their Gamified Rewards Program. BigDoor’s latest funding round of $5 million now puts the total amount that the company has raised at $13 million. Investors in the company include Foundry Group, Founder’s Co-Op, … Continue reading
Rovio vs Zynga: Disruption of the Farm
On November 8th Rovio will launch its latest game Angry Birds Star Wars. The timing could not be more perfect given yesterday’s announcement from Disney that it had acquired LucasFilms and all the rights to the Star Wars licenses for $4.05 billion. The … Continue reading
GREE Launches Zombie Jombie
GREE has released its first game to come out of their new North American studio – Zombie Jombie.This new iOS-exclusive title is a free-to-play card-based game that invites players to harness the power of the undead using a powerful deck … Continue reading
Capturing Actors: The Future of Acting in Capture-Based Animation
In this GBR article, Pascal Langdale outlines some of the issues facing motion capture performances today and looks at where it is going. An actor himself for 15 years, Langdale’s most notable interactive credit is playing the lead role of … Continue reading
Gaikai Beta-Launches Its Facebook App
Gaikai has beta-launched their cloud gaming service on Facebook. Starting with a few games for the North American and European markets, the company plans to eventually roll out full service that includes MMOs. The only requirements for streaming the games … Continue reading
Gaming in 2012 and Beyond: The Next Frontier
It may not feel like it yet but we are at the forefront of a major change in gaming. The human interface to computers is changing dramatically as are the back end connections between games and social services. The result … Continue reading
The Promising Future for WebGL – Part 2: Game Development
Where is WebGL popping up today for end user applications? Since I’m mostly interested in games, let’s start with games. Here’s what I’ve found: Applications for WebGL are popping up like snowdrop flowers in winter, but still there are not so many that … Continue reading
Prioritized Examination Scores Points in Video Game Industry
How Video Game Companies Can Take Advantage of USPTO’s New Program In the fast-paced world of video gaming, the market is seeing an increase in mobile gaming as well as a convergence of gaming with other media such as audio, … Continue reading
Montreal International Games Summit 2012 – Nov 13 & 14, 2012
The Montreal International Games Summit (MIGS) was created in 2004 in response to the needs of the local video game industry, to promote the growth of its workers and its businesses alike. This year the conference will take place on … Continue reading
A Solution for App Marketing Challenges: Fee-Based App Names?
This morning, I came across an infographic published by AppPromo, which suggests that only significant marketing attention and spending will help an app to gain commercial success. Among the published numbers that are presented, the top app developers devote about … Continue reading
Jumala: A Future of Gaming Comes out of Microsoft Territory
At Demo 2012, one of the more interesting products launching was Jumala, a flash based platform that allows people to both play unique games and create them and share the result with others. The platform spans beginning game designers to … Continue reading
Interview with Brian Wong, CEO Kiip
We interview Brian Wong, CEO of Kiip on his company and his vision of where things are headed with in-game mobile advertising. Company Overview: Kiip was founded in 2010 by Brian Wong, originally from Vancouver and made the “Top 20 … Continue reading
CoD: Black Ops 2 Set For Sales Record
Activision’s Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is a likely candidate for taking this year’s crown of the best selling video game and it has a decent shot at hitting a new record as fastest selling video (in history) as … Continue reading
An Open letter to Mark Pincus
Dear Mark, As my Facebook profile will tell you, I have not really played many of your games. This does not make you a bad game maker. I have followed your company though for a longtime and I have some … Continue reading
Executive VoicesMore
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March 2013GBR Interview: Marcus Krüger of Goo Technologies
Goo Technologies may not be a company you have heard of, but they are doing some very interesting work and GBR was able to catch up with Marcus Krüger, the... -
January 2013
CEO Corner: Matt Haggerty – Founder and CEO of Swarm
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