1）据industrygamers报道，日本发行商Capcom不久前与Peanuts Worldwide授权合作，将把后者著名漫画角色史努比引进智能手机社交游戏。

Capcom-and-Snoopy(from metrowny.com)

Capcom旗下的Beeline Interactive工作室将从今年秋季开始负责监管这些游戏的开发过程，这些游戏将主要发布于iPhone和iPad平台。

史努比并非Beeline获得授权的第一个儿童卡通形象，该团队之前还根据蓝精灵这一角色推出了热门iOS游戏《蓝精灵村庄》，并已发布新游戏《Smurfs’ Grabber》。

2）据pocketgamer报道，Capcom游戏《蓝精灵村庄》在2010年11月登陆App Store时一直高居iOS游戏营收榜单前列，该游戏最近又推出Android版本，但在9月28日前只有澳大利亚、法国、加拿大的Android Market用户可下载游戏。

Smurfs_Village_for_Android(from mysmurfsvillage.com)

该游戏由Capcom旗下的Beeline Games发布，仅限运行于Android 2.2以及其上版本的操作系统。这个版本的游戏玩法与iOS版本一样，都要求玩家从一开始的单间磨菇小屋起家，然后逐步发展成自己的田园村庄。

3）据gamasutra报道，继登陆索爱Xperia Play智能手机之后，Mojang游戏《Minecraft: Pocket Edition》将于本周在Android应用商店上架。

minecraft-pocket-edition(from anandtech.com)

这个新版游戏含有新的触屏控制方式，据Android Market数据显示，原来的Xperia Play版本安装量已达5000至1万次。

截止8月5日，《Minercraft》PC版本销量已超过300万份，现已推出Xbox 360的Kinect体感控制版本，据称其iOS版本也将于不久问世。

4）据insidemobileapps报道，Facebook尚未发布其原版iPad应用，日前就已传出该项目首席工程师将离职的消息，原因是后者不堪忍受该应用无限延期发布的情况。

facebook-ipad-app(from iphonestuffs4u.com)

该工程师Jeff Verkoeyen（在Facebook任职不到两年）通过博文表示，Facebook从去年11月开始就一直在拖延其移动业务，尽管原来宣布将于五月发布iPad应用，但后来又因未知原因而延迟了好几个月（游戏邦注：据称这种情况与Facebook、苹果之间的复杂的关系，以及Facebook对该取原生应用还是HTML5技术这一点上的犹豫不决有关）。

即将加入谷歌移动团队Verkoeyen在博文中透露，这款iPad版的Facebook应用实际上早就完工，他在过去8个月中投入大量精力开发这款应用，有时每周工作时间甚至超过80小时，在“距离发布日期仅两周”的说法中惶恐赶工。但在今年5月该项目正式完工时，他又获知产品将延迟发布的消息，他称自己无法承受这种令人纠结的打击，此事也是他决定离开Facebook的一个重要原因。

5）据pocketgamer报道，Opera日前收购应用商店运营平台Handster。

Opera-Handster(from software.benchmark.rs)

Handster位于美国伊利诺斯州，但在乌克兰也设有工作室，主要供应Android、Java、Symbian、Windows Mobile、黑莓、上网本和平板电脑应用程序。

Opera在今年3月开创了自己的应用商店，并与Appia合作推广其移动浏览器，不久前因在GetJar的竞争平台推广自己的应用商店而被GetJar移除。

6）Gamevil热门iOS棒球模拟游戏《Baseball Superstars》在本月初以《Baseball Superstars：The League》的名称登陆Facebook平台，据AppData数据显示，该游戏目前的MAU为9554，DAU为4837。

Baseball-Superstars(from insidesocialgames)

玩家在游戏组建自己的球队后，就可以通过游戏中的商店购买各种虚拟道具，以加快自己的游戏进程。该游戏的社交功能包括与好友的异步竞争玩法，通过病毒式渠道邀请好友和分享成就。

这款游戏刚在Facebook现身，目前用户仍然有限，但一直呈稳定增长状态，Gamevil已计划推出更多更新内容。

7）尼尔森最新发布的移动调查报告显示，在过去3个月中，购买Android智能手机的新用户几乎是iPhone新用户的两倍。

smartphone new acquirers(from Nielsen)

56%的新智能手机用户购买了Android移动设备；28%购买iPhone；9%购买黑莓；6%购买Windows Phone等其他智能手机。

但需要指出的是，Android移动设备制造商数量远胜过iPhone，所以其新用户所占比例更高并不令人意外。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Capcom Secures Rights to Snoopy for Social Title Development

by Ben Strauss

Snoopy, the loveable canine from the Peanuts daily funny strip, is heading into the digital age thanks to Capcom.  A new deal between Capcom and Peanuts Worldwide will give the Japanese publisher rights to develop several social gaming titles for smartphones.

Capcom’s Beeline Interactive will oversee development of the titles, beginning this fall.  The games will be released to the iOS systems, chiefly the iPhone and iPad.  Snoopy is not the first memorable kids franchise for Beeline, as the group had a successful run with Smurfs’ Village, and is close to releasing Smurfs’ Grabber to smartphones in the coming months.  Also on deck are Dream Park and Monster Pet Shop. （source:industrygamers）

2）iOS freemium moneymaker Smurfs’ Village goes live globally on Android Market on Wednesday

by Jon Jordan

It’s been one of the top grossing iOS games since it was released in November 2010, and now Capcom’s Smurfs’ Village is being globally released on Android.

Up to this point, the freemium title has only been available for Android Market users in Australia, France and Canada, but the full roll out is happening on Wednesday 28th September. [Android Market link]

Papa don’t preach

Released under Capcom’s Beeline Games label, it will be available for ‘select devices’, although these haven’t yet been specified. It will require Android 2.2 or above.

As with the iOS version, you’ll start the game with a single mushroom house and a lone plowed plot of land, building out your village with houses, gardens, bridges etc as you complete tasks and spend your cash to get those all-important Smurfberries as quickly as possible.（source:pocketgamer）

3） Minecraft Expands Android Device Support

by Frank Cifaldi

Following a timed exclusivity period on Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play smartphone, Mojang’s Minecraft: Pocket Edition will be released for a variety of Android devices this week.

The updated version incorporates new touchscreen controls, as demonstrated in a video by Mojang’s Daniel Kaplan.

According to Kaplan, the game will be released on the Android market on Thursday, with an iOS version coming “eventually.”

The Xperia Play version of the game launched just over a month ago and has been installed between 5,000 and 10,000 times, according to its Android Market page.

“I’m sure Minecraft will help drive sales of the Xperia Play,” Mojang managing director Carl Manneh recently told Gamasutra. “It will of course limit the audience [for the game], but it will be a target group very much into gaming.”

The PC version of Minecraft has sold over 3 million copies as of August 5, despite still being in beta.

In addition to the aforementioned iOS version, the game is also headed to the Xbox 360, with Kinect motion-sensing functionality. （source:gamasutra）

4）Departure of Facebook’s iPad Developer Highlights the Company’s Slow-Moving Mobile Strategy

By Kim-Mai Cutler

The lead engineer behind Facebook’s yet-to-be-launched native iPad application left the company out of frustration with continual delays around the release of his work, according to a blog post he published today.

His move underscores the fact that Facebook has not had a major mobile-related launch since November of last year at a critical time when Apple and Google are moving full-steam ahead with the Android platform and the iPad. We’re expecting to see a big announcement out of Facebook on its mobile strategy in the next two to three weeks, however.

The developer Jeff Verkoeyen said that even though Facebook’s iPad app was largely ready to go in May, the company held off on launching it for several months because of undisclosed reasons (presumably Facebook’s complex relationship with Apple or indecision over how much to invest in native versus HTML5 in the short-term).

Verkoeyen is moving to Google where he’ll work on the mobile team, after being employed at Facebook for less than two years.

Verkoeyen wrote:

“You probably saw the app when it was infamously leaked via Techcrunch. It was feature-complete by then and for reasons I won’t go into details on the app was repeatedly delayed throughout the summer. Over the past 8 months I dedicated a significant amount of time toward building this app, sometimes putting in over 80 hours of work in a given week in the hopes of meeting the “perpetually moving two-weeks-away launch date” every software developer fears.

After the app reached feature completion in May and I was told that it was going to be delayed yet again, I stopped working on the project entirely. A few weeks later I decided to focus my energy on the Nimbus project.

It is now nearly 5 months since the app was feature complete and I haven’t seen it released except for when the project was leaked on Techcrunch. Needless to say this was a frustrating experience for me. The experience of working on this app was a large contribution to the reasons why I left Facebook, though that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a difficult decision.”（source:insidemobileapps）

5）Opera moves into mobile services, buys cross platform app store Handster

by Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman

Despite being primarily known for its web browsers, Opera has boosted its distribution business, acquiring Handster, an app store platform company that claims the largest independent Android content library.

Handster is based in Illinois, US, though also with an office in Odessa, Ukraine, and provides content for Android, Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, netbook and tablet platforms.

Handster CEO and founder Victor Shaburov will be joining the Opera team at its San Mateo headquarters in California.

Go compare apps

“Opera is evolving from being a browser company into a fully integrated mobile services company and this acquisition is an important step in that direction.” said Opera CEO Lars Boilesen.

“We are delighted to welcome the Handster team into the Opera family. Handster will enable us to strengthen our mobile store offerings to consumers, mobile operators and handset manufacturers,”

Shaburov was also excited by the future prospects for Handster and Opera after the buyout.

“Handster could not have found a better suitor,” he said.

“The combination of our platform, along with Opera’s position in the market, will make a big impact on the mobile ecosystem, benefiting developers, publishers, operators and handset manufacturers around the world.”

Opera opened its own app store in March 2011, using white label outfit Appia, partly to push the distribution of its mobile browsers.

It recently got kicked out of GetJar for distributed its own app store though the rival.（source:pocketgamer）

6）iOS Hit Baseball Superstars Takes the Field on Facebook

By Randy Nelson

After receiving critical acclaim in its iOS iteration, Gamevil’s baseball simulation, Baseball Superstars, has arrived on Facebook. Launched earlier this month, Baseball Superstars: The League brings with it several social gaming modifications to what’s considered one of the best mobile sports titles available.

According to our traffic tracking service AppData, Baseball Superstars: The League currently has 9,554 monthly active users and 4,837 daily active users.

Baseball Superstars: The League simulates the sport of baseball as well as the team management behind it. That being the case, players have a home screen where they can build a number of businesses and training locations in order to grow and improve their franchise. After creating a team — which includes choosing a name, logo, and uniform — the ability to change player names and positions is also opened up. Performing these actions are actually tied into tasks the game presents; completing these rewards players with money and experience points. Money comes in from merchandise shops, which produce income at varying intervals. Training buildings actually improve individual players’ stats, rather than simply awarding money or XP. The game’s soft currency can be used to purchase more buildings, plus items and even special substitute players to help out during games.

In addition to inviting friends and sharing accomplishments via viral channels, the game’s social features include asynchronous competition with friends and other users for rewards. A challenged team doesn’t actually win or lose anything as a result of multiplayer match. Only the player initiating a match stands to gain any rewards.

As it has just recently launched, the game has a small user base, but seems to be growing its number of players steadily. Gamevil is already applying updates behind the scenes, as we experienced during our time with the title.（source:insidesocialgames）

7）Android Saw Twice As Many Buyers As iPhone Over The Past 3 Months

Greg Kumparak

Head down into the bunkers and lock the door, friends — there be flamewars a comin’.

Nielsen released a new mobile research report this morning, with at least one big landmark stat within: over the past 3 months, Android has pulled in twice as many new smartphone buyers as the iPhone.

The new-buyers breakdown, over the past 3 months:

56% of those buying a new smartphone bought an Android device

28% bought an iPhone

9% bought BlackBerry

6% bought “Other” (which contains Windows Phone, amongst others)

Of course, these stats really should have a little asterisk tucked somewhere inside. The iPhone is one phone (or two, counting the 3GS), by one manufacturer. Android is, at this point, hundreds of models, across dozens of manufacturers. That’s not said to knock Android in any way — but it’s worth noting that when the pie is split so many ways across so many manufacturers and models within, the iPhone is probably making exponentially more money for Apple than Android phones are for anyone.

Also worth noting, but immeasurable: how many would-be iPhone buyers held off with the knowledge that a new iPhone was not only on the way, but was actually behind its normal release schedule? It’ll be interesting to see these numbers for the next three months.（source:techcrunch）