A new report from Pearl Research has highlighted pitfalls in Chinese outsourcing, as the region's videogame market is set to exceed US $1.3 billion (EUR 1bn) in 2008.
Outsourcing and development in the region will continue to grow, but the report warns that costs are not as cheap as some companies believe, with travel, training and project management eroding savings made in areas such as low labour costs.
Other challenges presented by outsourcing development in the region include concerns over product quality, protection of intellectual property and competition for skilled employees.
However, Pearl Research notes that as as the market matures, so will the long-term quality of output.
The report also notes that online casual gaming will make up 30 per cent of the Chinese games market in 2008, while the most popular Chinese MMORPGs can generate US $80 million (EUR 61.6m) annually.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Miyamoto to speak at Game Developers Conference
First keynote since 1999 from Nintendo's senior MD
Shigeru Miyamoto, the acclaimed game developer behind titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda, will keynote the Game Developers Conference 2007.
In his first keynote since 1999, the developer will reveal the creative process behind his work on highly-regarded software as well as his thoughts on new Nintendo hardware, in a session entitled, 'A Creative Vision'.
"The Game Developers Conference is a place for developers to learn from one another, and I think it is safe to say that every member of the community has at one time or another fantasised about having Shigeru Miyamoto as a mentor and teacher," said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the GDC.
"By guiding us through his creative vision with a keynote at this year's GDC, Miyamoto is allowing all attendees this incomparable privilege."
The Game Developers Conference tales place March 5 - 9 in San Francisco. Discount for early registration for the event closes January 31.
Miyamoto's keynote will take place at the GDC on Thursday March 8, in the Moscone Centre.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the acclaimed game developer behind titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda, will keynote the Game Developers Conference 2007.
In his first keynote since 1999, the developer will reveal the creative process behind his work on highly-regarded software as well as his thoughts on new Nintendo hardware, in a session entitled, 'A Creative Vision'.
"The Game Developers Conference is a place for developers to learn from one another, and I think it is safe to say that every member of the community has at one time or another fantasised about having Shigeru Miyamoto as a mentor and teacher," said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the GDC.
"By guiding us through his creative vision with a keynote at this year's GDC, Miyamoto is allowing all attendees this incomparable privilege."
The Game Developers Conference tales place March 5 - 9 in San Francisco. Discount for early registration for the event closes January 31.
Miyamoto's keynote will take place at the GDC on Thursday March 8, in the Moscone Centre.
European DS sales top 10million
Nintendo's handheld breaks more records
Nintendo of Europe has announced that 10 million DS units have now been sold across the continent, making it the fastest and best-selling handheld in history.
The DS launched here in March 2005, and was followed by the redesigned DS Lite in June last year. It was one of the most popular products for European consumers at Christmas, with 1.7 million units sold during December alone.
"This landmark figure of 10 million Nintendo DS gamers cements the console's position as undisputed leader of the handheld market, bringing gaming to a whole new audience - something that was unimaginable a few years ago," said European marketing director Laurent Fischer.
"The DS is now helping to shape the whole market with sales of the Nintendo DS console and games being the main drivers behind recent market growth all across Europe."
The original DS is priced at EUR 130 / £89, while the DS Lite retails for EUR 150 / £99. Forthcoming titles for the handheld include Mario Slam Basketball, Star Fox Command and Final Fantasy III.
Nintendo of Europe has announced that 10 million DS units have now been sold across the continent, making it the fastest and best-selling handheld in history.
The DS launched here in March 2005, and was followed by the redesigned DS Lite in June last year. It was one of the most popular products for European consumers at Christmas, with 1.7 million units sold during December alone.
"This landmark figure of 10 million Nintendo DS gamers cements the console's position as undisputed leader of the handheld market, bringing gaming to a whole new audience - something that was unimaginable a few years ago," said European marketing director Laurent Fischer.
"The DS is now helping to shape the whole market with sales of the Nintendo DS console and games being the main drivers behind recent market growth all across Europe."
The original DS is priced at EUR 130 / £89, while the DS Lite retails for EUR 150 / £99. Forthcoming titles for the handheld include Mario Slam Basketball, Star Fox Command and Final Fantasy III.
EA predicts software price cut
Ryan Jones, general manager of Electronic Arts Australia, has said that he believes the console cycle transition phase is now at an end - and that game prices are set to fall as a result.
Jones said, "I think it's safe to say that we're just about done with transition.
"Retail will show strong growth with the investment of GAME into the market, and it bodes well for the future having two strong specialists in the market as they tend to hold pricing and discount less to drive sales," he continued.
"On that point though, we do see next-gen pricing drifting down to AU $99 [EUR 60] by the end of the calendar year for all premium new releases." At present, full price Xbox 360 games retail for AU $120 (EUR 73) in Australia - the same price PS3 titles are expected to cost when the console launches there. Wii games sell for AU $100.
"We've had very successful next-gen launches in 360 and Wii, and with PS3 launching in March its initial success has become less significant," Jones said.
"Longer term it's hard to say who will win the console war out of the three hardware platforms but three strong platforms is certainly better than one strong, one average and one failure.
According to Jones the Nintendo DS is still enjoying strong growth, which he believes will make the handheld "a strong bet" for third-party publishers.
"We might see Nintendo's dominance on their own platforms challenged for the first time," he added.
"The challenges will be maximising the retail opportunities with so many different platforms in the market and limited growth in retail real estate in the medium term."
Jones said, "I think it's safe to say that we're just about done with transition.
"Retail will show strong growth with the investment of GAME into the market, and it bodes well for the future having two strong specialists in the market as they tend to hold pricing and discount less to drive sales," he continued.
"On that point though, we do see next-gen pricing drifting down to AU $99 [EUR 60] by the end of the calendar year for all premium new releases." At present, full price Xbox 360 games retail for AU $120 (EUR 73) in Australia - the same price PS3 titles are expected to cost when the console launches there. Wii games sell for AU $100.
"We've had very successful next-gen launches in 360 and Wii, and with PS3 launching in March its initial success has become less significant," Jones said.
"Longer term it's hard to say who will win the console war out of the three hardware platforms but three strong platforms is certainly better than one strong, one average and one failure.
According to Jones the Nintendo DS is still enjoying strong growth, which he believes will make the handheld "a strong bet" for third-party publishers.
"We might see Nintendo's dominance on their own platforms challenged for the first time," he added.
"The challenges will be maximising the retail opportunities with so many different platforms in the market and limited growth in retail real estate in the medium term."
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Rumor: Mario Galaxy Pushed Back Metroid Coming in April
The word around Nintendo is that promises of Mario Galaxy in the spring are not going to be kept. Although, the New Metroid for Wii will be coming sometime between April and June. He also told me that Metroid will be the first Wii game to be playable over the internet. When. The lack of Wi-Fi games so far has been due to developers not making use of it.
Google Plays Video Games
It appears that Google will be buying AdScape Media which delivers ads so that they can be viewed within video games. Google has already announced plans for brokering ads into newspapers and radio using the targeting capacity it has developed for search engine text advertising.
Google's moves into video games and other media could be viewed as a plan to fashion a larger footprint in the media buying market. But, its is also probably an unspoken acknowledgment that the Internet text advertising business is not longer growing as fast as it was a year ago.
Google's expansion may actually be masking a contraction.
Google's moves into video games and other media could be viewed as a plan to fashion a larger footprint in the media buying market. But, its is also probably an unspoken acknowledgment that the Internet text advertising business is not longer growing as fast as it was a year ago.
Google's expansion may actually be masking a contraction.
PS3 unsold all over the USA
Over Christmas and New Year anecdotal reports from North America suggesting that the PS3 is languishing unsold on shelves across the continent.
This, at least, should extinguish some of the doubts about the European launch date - after all, those reports were largely based on the assumption that Sony wouldn't be able to divert enough stock from the USA to satisfy a decent European launch by March.
This medicine is more bitter than the ailment it cures, and uncertainty over the prospects for PS3 is unsurprisingly high as a result.
This, at least, should extinguish some of the doubts about the European launch date - after all, those reports were largely based on the assumption that Sony wouldn't be able to divert enough stock from the USA to satisfy a decent European launch by March.
This medicine is more bitter than the ailment it cures, and uncertainty over the prospects for PS3 is unsurprisingly high as a result.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
More FREE mobile gamez
Greystripe Signs Six New Mobile Game Publishers to its AdWRAP Advertising Network
Distributing Free Games to Consumers through AdWRAP and GameJump.com
AdWRAP network, offer 400 free games
Greystripe has started the New Year off to a fast start, welcoming six new publishers and tons of new games to its growing portfolio of free, ad-supported mobile games available to consumers worldwide through GameJump.com and the AdWRAP Catalog Program partners.
“We are excited to distribute our games through GameJump and its partner portals such as myGamma,” said Jacob Møller, founder and CEO of Kiloo. “We believe in the model of ad-supported mobile games, which Greystripe is proving out via its developer-less integration and worldwide distribution.”
Publishers Kiloo, Mobility Zone, JavArt, LunaGames, Soul Biz Entertainment and Cheeky have signed deals to distribute their titles through Greystripe’s ad-supported mobile games portal and Greystripe’s catalog distribution program. These new partnerships help bring consumers a selection of over 400 games, all completely free and accessible through GameJump.com, the GameJump WAP portal (gjmp.tw), casual gaming site ProGamesNetwork.com, and the BuzzCity mobile social network myGamma.com. The new games include:
• 27 games from Kiloo, including the Hugo™ series: Hugo Black Diamond Fever, Hugo Follow the Monkey, Hugo Ice Cave, Hugo and Fernando, Hugo Cannon Cruise, Hugo Earthquake, Hugo Evil Mirror, and Hugo Goes Fishing
• 28 games from Mobility Zone, including Tomb Raider Slots, Supermoto Extreme, 2006 World Soccer, Mars Mission, Pyramid Ryder, and Euroleague Basketball JavArt’s Squeegeex, Crazy 4 Monkey, and Pinocchio
• LunaGames’ Jumbo’s SuDoKu, 3D Golf xPro, and Air Traffic Controller Classic
• Soul Biz Entertainment’s 360 Speed and Flower Combo
• Cheeky’s Blobbit Dash and Grid Runner
The popularity of Greystripe’s ad-supported mobile games portal is attracting many of the highest quality publishers and creating a tipping point effect in the mobile games industry. With more than 2 million game downloads to date, Greystripe’s network offers a successful new way for publishers to generate revenue and distribute games worldwide. The success of Greystripe’s network has quickly proven the ad-supported games distribution model to be highly viral, benefiting consumers, publishers, and advertisers alike.
“Our goal at Greystripe is to help our publisher partners increase distribution of their mobile games,” said Michael Chang, CEO of Greystripe. “Through AdWRAP Catalog partnerships with casual gaming sites and mobile communities, Greystripe is able to provide the widest possible distribution on the Internet and the mobile web.”
Distributing Free Games to Consumers through AdWRAP and GameJump.com
AdWRAP network, offer 400 free games
Greystripe has started the New Year off to a fast start, welcoming six new publishers and tons of new games to its growing portfolio of free, ad-supported mobile games available to consumers worldwide through GameJump.com and the AdWRAP Catalog Program partners.
“We are excited to distribute our games through GameJump and its partner portals such as myGamma,” said Jacob Møller, founder and CEO of Kiloo. “We believe in the model of ad-supported mobile games, which Greystripe is proving out via its developer-less integration and worldwide distribution.”
Publishers Kiloo, Mobility Zone, JavArt, LunaGames, Soul Biz Entertainment and Cheeky have signed deals to distribute their titles through Greystripe’s ad-supported mobile games portal and Greystripe’s catalog distribution program. These new partnerships help bring consumers a selection of over 400 games, all completely free and accessible through GameJump.com, the GameJump WAP portal (gjmp.tw), casual gaming site ProGamesNetwork.com, and the BuzzCity mobile social network myGamma.com. The new games include:
• 27 games from Kiloo, including the Hugo™ series: Hugo Black Diamond Fever, Hugo Follow the Monkey, Hugo Ice Cave, Hugo and Fernando, Hugo Cannon Cruise, Hugo Earthquake, Hugo Evil Mirror, and Hugo Goes Fishing
• 28 games from Mobility Zone, including Tomb Raider Slots, Supermoto Extreme, 2006 World Soccer, Mars Mission, Pyramid Ryder, and Euroleague Basketball JavArt’s Squeegeex, Crazy 4 Monkey, and Pinocchio
• LunaGames’ Jumbo’s SuDoKu, 3D Golf xPro, and Air Traffic Controller Classic
• Soul Biz Entertainment’s 360 Speed and Flower Combo
• Cheeky’s Blobbit Dash and Grid Runner
The popularity of Greystripe’s ad-supported mobile games portal is attracting many of the highest quality publishers and creating a tipping point effect in the mobile games industry. With more than 2 million game downloads to date, Greystripe’s network offers a successful new way for publishers to generate revenue and distribute games worldwide. The success of Greystripe’s network has quickly proven the ad-supported games distribution model to be highly viral, benefiting consumers, publishers, and advertisers alike.
“Our goal at Greystripe is to help our publisher partners increase distribution of their mobile games,” said Michael Chang, CEO of Greystripe. “Through AdWRAP Catalog partnerships with casual gaming sites and mobile communities, Greystripe is able to provide the widest possible distribution on the Internet and the mobile web.”
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