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每日观察:关注iOS免费应用及《Mob Empire》(6.9)

发布时间:2011-06-09 11:26:48 Tags:,,,

1)法国游戏发行商Gameloft宣布其iOS平台游戏下载量已突破2亿次,并计划在2011年底前再发行20多款包括付费下载、免费模式和订阅付费三种类型的新游戏。

2)应用发行及运营解决方案供应商W3i公司旗下的Recharge Studios最近发表博文指出,在苹果iOS平台中,采用免费模式的产品在排行榜前列所占比例远超Android Market。

Android versus iOS for freemium game apps(from mobileorchard.com)

Android versus iOS for freemium game apps(from mobileorchard.com)

该公司调查发现,iOS前10名应用排行榜与前100名榜单的免费应用所占比例并无多大差别。但他们认为虽然iOS平台的免费应用比例更高,但开发者仍可考虑向Android平台投放免费产品,原因是后者的盗版率很高,并且曝光率更低,采用免费模式是相对可行的方法。

3)澳大利亚女歌星凯莉·米洛(Kylie Minogue)最近与社交游戏公司3ME和EMI Music公司合作推出了一款游戏化社交应用《Access All Areas》,为最了解凯莉相关消息的粉丝提供奖励。该应用还提供了积分排行榜、竞赛和独家内容等功能,3ME首席执行官Richard Skaife表示,《Access All Areas》为艺人创造了与粉丝积极互动的机会,他们将在未来推出更多为娱乐明星量身打造的社交游戏。

Kylie Minogue(from emimusic.com)

Kylie Minogue(from emimusic.com)

4)appMobi公司日前为其手机应用开发平台植入一系列新技术,包括JavaScript成就引擎、游戏内置支付功能,多媒体信息推送服务等,此外还添加了积分排行榜、徽章、玩家挑战等有助增加黏性的功能,同时还绑定Facebook/Twitter社交功能。

该公司首席执行官David Kennedy表示,appMobi手机应用平台已可支持HTML5游戏开发者在iOS和Android移动设备上实现一站式创建、部署、盈利和更新游戏应用的操作。

5)手机应用公司CrowdMob于今年4月份发布了一款将Foursquare和《Mafia Wars》元素合为一体的地理定位社交游戏《Mob Empire》。由于CrowdMob没有针对该应用推出大规模的市场推广活动,它在用户中的影响力也相对有限。据AppData数据显示,这款游戏目前在Facebook上的MAU仅1.7万左右。

mob empire(from droidmill.com)

mob empire(from droidmill.com)

玩家登录游戏后可以在任何地点签到,抢夺地盘,像黑社会一样作恶,并由此赢得积分和经验值。CrowdMob联合创始人包括社交游戏开发商LOLapps前创意总监Damon Grow,以及Alex Han和Matt Moore,《Mob Empire》是该公司的处女作。

6)芬兰开发商Rovio通过其Facebook页面表示,《愤怒的小鸟》将推出更新内容“Mine and Dine”,将小鸟与绿猪作战的地点转移到洞穴中,目前已向苹果提交审核,但并未透露新内容具体面世时间及其定价情况。

Angry Birds---Mine and Dine(from socialtimes.com)

Angry Birds---Mine and Dine(from socialtimes.com)

7)尼尔森调查发现,比起电视、电话和个人电话,移动设备对青少年日常生活的影响更大。这类群体比其他年龄段的用户更乐于使用短信与好友联系,而不是直接打电话与对方交流。除此之外,青少年也比其他用户群体更乐于观看移动视频内容,在2010年第四季度,12至17岁的用户每月观看移动视频内容的时间平均达7小时13分钟,而一般用户群体每月所投入的时间仅为4小时20分钟。

8)苹果近日在其开发者大会上公布了2011年苹果设计大奖的获奖名单,iPhone大奖得主包括Chillingo发行的《糖果小怪物》(售价0.99美元)、Chair Entertainment推出的《无尽之剑》(售价5.99美元);iPad游戏的获奖者包括《Osmos》(Hemisphere Games作品)。据苹果非官方博客TUAW所称,这些获奖者将赢得一部Macbook Air笔记本电脑、一部iPad 2以及iPod Touch。

wwdc11_awards_hero(from intomobile.com)

wwdc11_awards_hero(from intomobile.com)

9)据台湾新闻网站Digitimes报道,知情人透露微软正与设备制造厂商进行沟通,将推出微软官方版的Windows 8平板电脑,不过微软并未回应这一传言。观察者认为该公司极有可能进军平板电脑与苹果和谷歌一决高下。

windows-8(from venturebeat.com)

windows-8(from venturebeat.com)

10)WildTangent公司宣布与移动运营商T-Mobile合作,将于今年底为Android手机游戏推出新型盈利解决方案——广告植入及租赁付费服务。该服务支持用户在无需付费购买的情况下,轻松搜索并体验付费游戏。

WildTangent Games(from venturebeat.com)

WildTangent Games(from venturebeat.com)

据WildTangent首席执行官Mike Peronto所称,由于Android用户的付费意愿更低,这种模式正好为用户提供了另一种选择,让他们仅需支付少量的租金获得高级的游戏体验。在游戏内置付费功能方面,WildTangent主要通过虚拟货币WildCoins让游戏创造收益。WildTangent目前共有130名成员,其服务覆盖在线游戏和社交游戏开发商客户的1.75亿月活跃用户。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

1)Gameloft hits 200 million downloads on iOS, plans 20 fresh releases before end of 2011

by Chris James

Swiftly following up rival Chillingo’s declaration of 140 million iOS downloads, Gameloft has revealed its own tally on Apple’s platform has passed the 200 million mark.

Gameloft claims the landmark figure, which covers all downloads made since the App Store launched in 2008, owes much to the success of the firm’s core franchises N.O.V.A., Asphalt, Modern Combat and Let’s Golf.

Twenty twenty vision

“We have been able to develop a truly massive fan base by offering high-quality games on the App Store,” said senior VP of publishing Gonzague de Vallois.

“For millions of people worldwide, Gameloft is now synonymous with amazing gaming experiences on their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.”

The company claims it plans to release more than 20 titles before the end of 2011, spanning across the paid, freemium and subscription based models.

De Vallois concluded: “We are proud to be contributing to the major revolution on iOS while staying true to our values of quality and customer satisfaction.”(source:pocketgamer)  

2)Android vs iOS: A Freemium Game Comparison

by Matt Tubergen

Matt Tubergen heads Recharge Studios, a wholly owned subsidiary of W3i that invests in the development and marketing/distribution of freemium mobile games.  W3i is a market leader in distributing and monetizing apps with over 500 million apps distributed for W3i clients. Recharge Studios is actively seeking new investment opportunities, if you have a great idea for a game contact us.

Everywhere we go we read about the battle between Android and iOS. It’s simply impossible to get away from the conversation of which platform is better, where’s the money, which monetizes better, what the cost of porting is and even which OS is sexier…  Setting all the noise aside I wanted to do a simple comparison to see what the actual popularity is for freemium on each platform.

In my search I choose to do a simple count of the top grossing free apps. I also segregated the counts out by relative deck placement (i.e. top 10 apps vs. top 200).

iOS has twice the amount of freemium apps in the top 200 grossing yet both have similar ratios in the top 10 grossing. What does this tell me? Freemium opportunities on Android exist, but the market has yet to meet the demand. See below for full details.

Why go freemium on Android?

Beyond the fact that freemium has exploded on iOS, there are many other reasons to go freemium on Android. The first and foremost reason to move your business model to Android is due to the ramped increase in piracy. I have heard multiple horror stories from AAA premium developers that for every 1 paid install they are seeing 100 pirated installs…. Ouch!

Other reasons for going freemium on Android include cost of user acquisition. Predictable user acquisition and discoverability is far worse in the Androids market comparable to iOS. Going free allows for a greater opportunity to increase distribution without risking cash for means of unknown distribution sources.(source:mobileorchard)  

3)Kylie Minogue launches social gaming app

by Tim Green

Access All Areas brings gamification to the world of obsessive fandom.

The game has been developed in collaboration with the social gaming firm 3ME and EMI Music.  It tests fansʼ knowledge on all things Kylie, with prizes for the most informed.

There are also leader boards, tournaments and exclusive content.

3ME is positioning Access All Areas as a platform for other artists to exploit. It says more will be released this summer.

Richard Skaife, joint CEO at 3ME, said: “Access All Areas social games gives artists the opportunity to engage with fans in ways that they have not been able to achieve before. 

“We are delighted to launch AAA with Kylie Minogue and we believe Kylie is the first artist in the world to have a unique social game built around them” (source:mobile-ent) 

4)appMobi supercharges HTML5 game development

by Tim Green

Says its new DirectCanvas tech can speed up graphic rendering by 500 per cent.

The firm has unveiled a bunch of enhancements to its platform, including a JavaScript achievements engine, in-game payments functionality and multimedia-capable push messaging.

Some of these enhancements are the result of appMobi’s purchase of the assets and personnel of TapJS last month.

Specifically, this added engagement enhancements like leaderboards, badges, FaceBook/Twitter integration, and player challenges.

“The appMobi mobile app platform now offers HTML5 game developers a compelling one-stop-shop to create, build, deploy, monetise, and update their game apps across iOS and Android devices” said appMobi CEO David Kennedy.

“With the addition of social interfaces and virality-enhancing features from TapJS, the appMobi platform has everything a game developer could possibly want in order to profit from the smartphone market’s impending shift to HTML5.”(source:mobile-ent) 

5)CrowdMob’s Mafia Location Game Harnesses Facebook Places to Drive Downloads

By Kim-Mai Cutler

Even though Facebook likely has around 700 million users now, it actually isn’t often that we hear the social network is a major driver for user acquisition in mobile gaming — at least compared to FreeAppADay or having an inside connection to Apple.

But a veteran team from the social gaming world is trying to disprove this with its first app Mob Empire, a Foursquare-meets-Mafia Wars game. CrowdMob, which was co-founded by LOLapps’ former creative director Damon Grow, Alex Han and Matt Moore, is among a handful of startups that are trying to build location-enabled mobile games that are genuinely social.

The app, which the company has intentionally kept quiet about since its April 1 launch, pits friends and strangers against each other in a quest to gain control of venues in their city. The game has a modest number of users at the moment with just over 17,000 Facebook monthly actives on AppData, but that’s because the company hasn’t really publicized it to date. Grow said the company is focused on getting engagement of existing users up and ensuring the back-end can scale before marketing or promoting the title.

Akin to one of Booyah’s first titles MyTown, players check into different places and can do various criminal “jobs” like jack rides, beat up bums or freeze assets of an enemy. They earn experience points and income from them. The in-game currency can later go toward buying weapons, armor or vehicles like switchblades or black vans. They can battle the “Godfathers” of various places based on their relative experience levels, weapons and armor.(source:insidemobileapps)  

6)Rovio Launches “Mine and Dine” — A New Episode of Angry Birds

By Bilal Hameed

Rovio will soon launch a new episode for its extremely successful game, Angry Birds. The new episode titled “Mine and Dine” is the sixth episode overall. Rovio made this announcement through its Facebook page stating;

We have another brand new episode coming up for Angry Birds! Take the fight for the eggs to dark underground caverns and use the geology to your advantage to root out the peskiest of piggies! Soon available in appstores everywhere!

Exact date of the release is still not known. However Rovio has submitted Mine and Dine to Apple for approval and the fun is expected to begin very soon. There is no news when the update will hit the Android market. Price for the update is also not available.(source:socialtimes) 

7)Mobile usage is highest among teenagers

Tom Cheredar

The teenage demographic spends the least amount of time watching television, talking on the phone or using personal computers, according to a findings from a Nielsen report about how young people engage media.

Usage is quite different in regards to mobile technology, which seems to have the biggest impact on the current generation of teenagers.

Instead of phone calls, teens are using text messages to communicate with their social circle over twice as much as any other demographic, the report states.

Teenagers watch more mobile video content than any other demographic, according to the report. The 12 to 17 age demographic viewed an average of 7 hours 13 minutes of mobile video per month in Q4 2010, while general population viewed an average of only 4 hours 20 minutes.

It’s not surprising that the report also states that mobile advertising has the greatest impact on teenagers.(source:venturebeat)  

8)WWDC 2011: Apple Design Award Winners Announced

by Brad Nicholson

The Apple Design Awards are an annual event hosted at WWDC that seeks to recognize the best of the best applications and games across whatever Apple platforms Apple wants to elevate. In 2010 the Mac was snubbed, but in 2011 Apple flipped the script and gave it a place amongst the other two relevant platforms: the iPad and the iPhone.

The results of 2011’s awards show are now public. In the interest of our interests, we’ll be highlighting just the games that took the fancy little trophy Apple gave to winners. A few listing can be seen at sites like, say, TUAW.

iPhone

Cut the Rope [$.99 / HD] – Chillingo

Infinity Blade [$5.99] – Chair Entertainment

Mac

Anomaly: Warzone Earth [$6.99], – 11-Bit Studios

iPad

Osmos [$2.99 / HD], – Hemisphere Games(source:toucharcade)  

9)Microsoft planning its own Windows 8 tablet to take on iPad?

Devindra Hardawar

Microsoft is reportedly in talks with manufacturers to launch a Windows 8 tablet with its own branding, effectively creating an official Microsoft tablet, supply chain sources tell the Taiwanese news site Digitimes reports.

Microsoft didn’t confirm the rumor, but an official Windows 8 tablet from the company certainly isn’t out of the question. It would simplify tablet decision-making for consumers, and it would give Microsoft its own product to directly counter the iPad.

The company is still aiming to work with other computer makers to deliver their own Windows 8-powered tablets, but you can bet that they won’t take too kindly to an official Microsoft tablet. The situation sounds reminiscent of the fiasco surrounding Microsoft’s  PlaysForSure partners, who developed Microsoft-approved media devices that were superseded by Microsoft’s own Zune players.

Microsoft officially announced Windows 8 last week, which aims to combine the company’s traditional desktop environment with a slick new tablet user interface.

The tablet would also put Microsoft in a spot between Apple and Google: Apple offers its own tablet, while Google is working with third-parties to develop Android tablets. For Microsoft, having its own tablet could give it the benefits of both approaches (though it does bring up new potential issues).(source:venturebeat) 

10)WildTangent offers way to monetize Android games

Dean Takahashi

WildTangent announced today a new service with T-Mobile to monetize games based on the Android mobile operating system. The service will embed advertising in games and offer them for rental.

The new service enables easier discovery of premium games and options to play games with no commitment to purchase them. In effect, it’s like a rental service for Android games. If it takes off, the service could help developers make more money off Android mobile games on smartphones and tablets — a task that hasn’t been easy to do.

Studies have shown that Android users are reluctant to buy games. A rental system — with the option to apply the rental fees toward the purchase — could make a big difference, according to WildTangent chief executive Mike Peronto. The system allows carrier T-Mobile to present games to users in a more curated fashion, enabling better discovery. The WildTangent system will be live later this year.

For in-game purchases, WildTangent will offer its WildCoins virtual currency. WildTangent operates advertising for third-party online and social game developers that reach more than 175 million monthly players. Redmond, Wash.-based WildTangent has 130 employees.(source:venturebeat


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