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每日观察:关注EA与诺基亚手机游戏预装合作(1.14)

发布时间:2012-01-14 11:19:17 Tags:,,

1)据pocketgamer报道,EA最近通过YouTube视频发布了将与诺基亚合作预装到Windows Phone手机平台的游戏内容,该项目共涉及25款游戏,其中包括《模拟人生:中世纪》、《镜之边缘》以及Chillingo发行的游戏。

EA-Nokia(from 3879.com)

EA-Nokia(from 3879.com)

这并非EA与诺基亚首次进行游戏预装合作,EA还曾在诺基亚世界大会上宣布将针对诺基亚Series 40功能性手机提供40多款免费游戏。

2)摩根斯坦利近日预测诺基亚在2012年的Windows Phone出货量将达3700万部,Symbian手机出货量则是4000万部(游戏邦注:2011年Symbian手机出货量为7600万部)。据统计,诺基亚Windows Phone拳头产品Lumia 800在2011年第四季度出货量达100万部,超过行业分析师预测的50万部。

预计到2013年,Windows Phone设备出货量将达6400万部,而Symbain智能手机则削减至1600万部。

3)据insidemobileapps报道,Chillingo发行的最新手机游戏《Woody Woodpecker》被苹果挑选成为iOS App Store当周推荐游戏。

woody_woodpecker(from insidemobileapps)

woody_woodpecker(from insidemobileapps)

该游戏开发商是Tintash,它采用了环球影业内部工作室Illumination Entertainment在2002年推出的卡通形象,其玩法类似于iOS《Tiny Wings》。玩家需从Woody、Winnie Woodpecker、Ms. Meany、Buzz Buzzard和Chilly Willy这5个角色中挑选一者,与其他四者进行挑战。

在角色下坡时点触并按住屏幕可加快速度,而在角色将至顶峰时松手则可让它们飞向云宵。但与《Tiny Wings》不同的是,这款游戏分成了多个独立关卡,含有三个不同主题的场景,玩家获得一定成就才可以解琐之后的场景。

4)配件回收公司Gazelle最近展开的一项调查显示,iPhone和iPad用户是最乐观的手机用户群体,29%的iPhone用户和60%的iPad用户常会看到生活最好的一而,他们也很少感到不安(游戏邦注:该调查样本是参加消费电子展的群体,但并未指出具体样本数据)。

happy-mac(from venturebeat.com)

happy-mac(from venturebeat.com)

但却没有一个黑莓用户有此乐观生活态度,Android智能手机及平板电脑用户则介于中间状态——有28%的Android智能手机用户、36%的Android平板电脑用户对未来充满希望。

该调查还发现其他有趣情况,例如苹果用户更具社交性,性格也较为平和,而Android用户则多为工作狂,有48%的Android手机用户和64%的Android平板电脑用户认为让自己过得忙碌而充实很重要。

5)为优化Android应用开发,谷歌最近又推出了一个设计网站,指导开发者创建按钮、菜单工具条等内容。

buttons(from insidemobileapps)

buttons(from insidemobileapps)

以下是该网站提供的不同布局及图标设置对比图:

android-ui-comparison(from insidemobileapps)

android-ui-comparison(from insidemobileapps)

以下是谷歌希望应用开发者采纳的用户界面设计标准,其主要动作工具条设置于顶端(不同于iOS将工具条置至底部的方法),但在底部也有其他工具条,以避免图标与工具条不兼容的情况。

UI (from insidemobileapps)

UI (from insidemobileapps)

6)Ngmoco瑞典工作室总经理Ben Cousins在最近的媒体采访中表示,他认为虽然不少开发商都力图让手机游戏呈现掌机游戏一样的高质量水准,但他们却忽略了用户玩手机游戏的本质原因。

ben cousins-ngmoco(from tuaw.com)

ben cousins-ngmoco(from tuaw.com)

他认为如果开发商先关注用户为何体验榜单前列的游戏,他们就会更明白如何制作更有针对性的“核心”游戏。未来五年的“核心”游戏玩家未必想玩《水果忍者》,但他们应该会欢迎那些定价、操作方式与之相近,但格调与玩法截然不同的游戏,所以他希望通过找到《质量效应》等掌机游戏的吸引力,优化此类玩家的游戏体验。

7)DisplaySearch最新报告预测,苹果iPad在2012年出货量增幅将有所减缓,2012年出货量预计为6500万部,比2011年的4800万部增长35%。在2010至2011年期间,iPad出货量从原来的1700万部增长至4800万部,增幅高达182%。

ipad(from sam.odio)

ipad(from sam.odio)

不过出现这种情况的原因是,iPad刚问世时,平板电脑市场几乎处于空白状态,用户除了iPad别无选择。但在2012年,苹果将遭遇亚马逊Kindle Fire等设备的激烈挑战。

DisplaySearch预计苹果今年将发布采用2048 X 1536 全分辨率屏幕的新一代iPad,其硬件供应商可能是LG、三星和夏普。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

1)25 Popular EA Titles Will Come to Nokia’s Lumia Windows Phones

Kathleen De Vere

Every piece must fall in place in what will be a defining year for the Windows Phone platform.

That includes having the right games for the platform’s flagship phone.

So it’s unsurprising to see EA and Nokia announce a deal that will bring 25 EA games to Windows Phone on Nokia’s Lumia handsets. It’s not unlike what Amazon did in brokering initial deals with developers like Rovio Mobile to seed its Android appstore with attractive titles.

According to a video on EA mobile’s YouTube account which was spotted by Pocketgamer, the lineup is a sampling of the company’s mobile portfolio and includes several EA Hasbro titles (The Game of Life, Yahtzee), some titles developed by EA’s Firemint (Spy Mouse) and some EA original games like Dead Space, Mirrors Edge and FIFA 12.  Nokia teased the announcement earlier this week when it unveiled its newest Windows Phone device, the Lumia 900, revealing one of the pre-installed apps would be a partnership with EA that would bring “20 of the world’s most popular games to the Windows Phone marketplace, coming first to Nokia Lumia devices.”

EA first announced the deal in October at year’s Nokia World conference, when it revealed it would be making some of its games available for the Lumia 800 and 710 phones, but didn’t give any firm details. The deal also isn’t the first one EA and Nokia have signed to bring EA games to Nokia phones. During the Nokia World Conference EA also revealed it would be making 40 games available for free on Nokia feature phones running the Series 40 OS.

While thus far Windows Phone has failed to capture much of the smartphone market – accounting for only one percent of total smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2011, several analysts are predicting 2012 will be a big year for the platform.

Financial services firm Morgan Stanley is predicting Nokia will ship 37 million Windows Phones in the coming year, hopefully to feed consumer demand ignited by a joint marketing campaign between Nokia and Microsoft that is rumored to be worth more than $200 million dollars.(source:insidemobileapps

2)Nokia to ship 77m smartphones in 2012?

by Zen Terrelonge

37m for WinPho and 40m for Symbian.

Research company Morgan Stanley claims the Finnish firm is on course to see widespread adoption of it’s newly embraced Microsoft OS which was launched in Q4 2011.

The Lumia 800 is Nokia’s pioneer Windows Phone and it’s estimated to have shipped one million units during the fourth quarter. This passes earlier analyst predictions, which expected movements of just 500,000 devices.

The report says Nokia will ship 37 million Windows Phones and 40 million Symbian smartphones, which provides a sharp decline from the 76 million units the latter OS had shipped in 2011.

Further results estimate that the tide will turn even more in 2013 as 64 million WinPho devices are poised for shipment, reducing Symbian smartphones to just 16 million units.

Nokia may be pleased to hear praise for its shipment volumes despite being plagued with rumours. The most recent involved the firm selling it’s smartphone arm to Microsoft, though it’s unlikely given the potential profits to be generated from sales in the near future.(source:mobile-ent

3)Chillingo’s Licensed Woody Woodpecker Game is a Twist on Indie Hit Tiny Wings

Pete Davison

Chillingo’s Woody Woodpecker, a new mobile game based on the popular and long-running cartoon character, has been selected by Apple as the iOS App Store Game of the Week. According to our traffic tracking service AppData, Woody Woodpecker is yet to make a splash in the charts, but its prominent placement on the mobile App Store will give it a considerable amount of exposure, particularly for the low price point.

Woody Woodpecker may not seem like the most timely license, given that the redheaded bird’s last appearance on TV was in 2002, but Universal’s internal studio Illumination Entertainment, previously responsible for Despicable Me, is reportedly developing a Woody Woodpecker movie, which might at least partly explain renewed enthusiasm for the bird and his iconic laugh.

Gameplay in Woody Woodpecker is similar to popular iOS game Tiny Wings. Players select one of five Woody Woodpecker characters — Woody himself, Winnie Woodpecker, Ms. Meany, Buzz Buzzard and Chilly Willy — and are challenged to race the remaining four over an undulating course. Pressing and holding on the screen while going downhill enables the player’s character to gain speed, while releasing at the crest of a  hill sends them sailing into the air.

In a twist on Tiny Wings, however, each character also has two “tricks” at their disposal. A speed boost allows them to make up lost time after a poor jump, and a weapon allows them to inconvenience the other racers. Alongside navigating the course itself, environmental hazards gradually start to reveal themselves over the course of several levels, also — thunderclouds make an appearance early on, for example, and being struck by their lightning causes a significant reduction of speed.

Unlike Tiny Wings, Woody Woodpecker is split into discrete levels rather than simply challenging players to get as far as they can against the clock. Players are rated between one and three “thumbs” upon completing a level, based on their score and the position in which they finish. Levels are split across three different themed worlds, and unlocking later worlds is dependent on acquiring sufficient thumbs.

There’s also a multiplayer mode in which players can compete against random opponents using Game Center. At the time of writing, there didn’t seem to be many people to play with. There’s also no facility to invite friends to a game, only random opponent matchmaking. This means it’s currently difficult to get into a multiplayer game, though the exposure from the App Store spotlight will doubtless help with this.

“We worked closely with Universal Partnerships & Licensing and [the developer] Tintash to ensure the timeless humor and classic look and feel of Walter Lantz’s original creation translated well into this arcade racing game,” said Joe Wee, co-founder of Chillingo.(source:insidemobileapps

4)iPhone, iPad owners are optimists, BlackBerry buyers extreme pessimists

Jennifer Van Grove

The mobile devices and tablets we choose to tote around speak volumes about our attitudes and outlooks on life, should you believe the findings of a new study.

iPhone and iPad owners are the most optimistic group within the mobile device-carrying population — 29 percent of iPhone users and 60 percent of iPad owners expect the best in uncertain times — and they’re also the least likely to get upset easily, according to a survey gadget recycling company Gazelle conducted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.

On the flip side, 0 percent of BlackBerry bearers expect the best on a normal basis, said Gazelle, which polled CES attendees to arrive at these conclusions. Android smartphone and tablet owners, however, are a reasonably optimistic bunch — 28 percent of Android smartphone users and 36 percent of Android tablet users are always optimistic about their future.

The study, commissioned to understand the sociology behind types of smartphone buyers, had some other intriguing findings. The i-types are typically more social and tranquil beings, for instance. And the Android pack is also likely the workaholics among us, as 48 percent of Android phone owners and 64 percent of Android tablet users indicated that they think it’s important to keep busy.

Should the findings cause shock, horror or bitterness — we’re talking to you, BlackBerry users — you can perhaps take solace in the fact that CES attendees may not be all that representative of the larger population. VentureBeat put in a call to Gazelle to find out more details about the methodology behind the study. We’ll update this post when we hear back.(source:venturebeat

5)Once More, Android Tries to Bolsters Design Standards With a Style Guide

Kim-Mai Cutler

In the last few weeks, Google has been putting more muscle behind design standards across the Android platform.

Just a week after the company said that it would require newer Android phones and tablets to offer the “Holo” design theme to developers, it launched a design site meant to teach developers about how to create buttons, menu bars and more.

Design is an area that Android has long felt lacking in, at least compared to Apple’s iOS platform. While Google has made progress in more recent versions of the OS, it’s not a company that bleeds design in its corporate culture the way that Apple does. Steve Jobs famously once asked Vic Gundotra on a Sunday morning whether the company could touch up Google’s app logo.

However, with Ice Cream Sandwich, Google’s team cleaned up Android’s design by creating a new font optimized for HD called Roboto. It also cut out all hardware buttons in favor of software ones and made homescreen widgets resizable.

Here are some images comparing the different layouts and icons. (Google is also asking that developers not copy over icons or design elements from their apps on iOS or other platforms.

And here’s the common app user interface that Google is hoping that developers will adopt. There’s a main action bar at the top (which is a bit different from iOS where the bar is at the bottom). There’s another bar at the bottom in case the icons don’t all fit into the to bar.(source:insidemobileapps

6)Ngmoco looks to blend core appeal with mobile usage patterns

by Staff

Ngmoco general manager Ben Cousins has big plans for the mobile company’s Swedish branch. As the mobile market continues to evolve, he and his team hope to find new ways to blend elements of high-end console gaming with the more casual usage patterns of the platform.

According to Cousins, while some developers have already tried to capture console-like experiences on mobile, they’ve overlooked the reasons why users play mobile games in the first place.

“People are [making these games] already, and it doesn’t get you to the top of the charts. Like Modern Combat 3 from Gameloft is a 10-hour, Call of Duty-style single player game with a persistent multiplayer component, and that’s not the answer,” he explained in a recent interview with Gamasutra.

Cousins thinks that if developers pay attention to how and why users are playing today’s top games, they can learn a thing or two about making more “core” oriented titles going forward.

“That’s the fascinating opportunity for me — is like, in five years’ time, what sort of games will ‘core’ gamers be playing on mobile? I don’t think they’ll be playing Fruit Ninja. I think that there will be something with a Fruit Ninja style usage pattern, and the price point, but with a very different tone and feel and level of gameplay.”

To help find that different tone and feel, Cousins is looking toward popular console franchises like BioWare’s Mass Effect, hoping to identify the base appeal of these games, and streamline those concepts to take advantage of how players use their mobile devices.

“I think we can find something which feels like Mass Effect — feels as high-end, and as dramatic, and as cinematic, with the production values of that sort of game, but that doesn’t require you to boot up a console, go through a long cutscene, walk to where the action happens, play the action, and then hit a save point. [That's] great for getting value out of a PC or console usage pattern, but not great for mobile,” he said.

For more, look out for Monday’s full interview with Cousins, which will further cover his thoughts on mobile development, his greater plans for Ngmoco Sweden, and much more. (source:gamasutra

7)iPad growth seen slowing in 2012, but that’s no disaster

By Darrell Etherington

Apple might not have as impressive a year in 2012 in terms of iPad growth as it did in 2011, according to some early predictions. Numbers from DisplaySearch (via Digitimes) on Friday indicate 9.7-inch flat panel shipments for iPads are expected to hit around 65 million in 2012, representing a relatively modest 35-percent increase over an estimated 48 million shipped in 2011.

Between 2010 — when the iPad was introduced — and 2011, Apple iPad shipments soared from 17 million to the estimated 48 million mentioned above. That’s an increase of 182 percent, but the situation was completely different: Apple’s iPad was introduced three months into 2010, and the market was almost completely untested. By the end of the year, it was pretty clear the iPad was here to stay, so consumers felt confident this wasn’t just a fad.

In 2012, Apple faces competition from low-cost devices like the Amazon’s Kindle Fire. That alone probably won’t be enough to take the winds out of its sails, but it could stop Apple from having another year ruling the tablet landscape without a credible competitor in sight.

Projected growth of 35 percent is also just that: projected. Back in late 2010, Wall Street predicted Apple would sell 28 million iPads in 2011 (though later estimates offered more realistic estimates). Apple still has a new iPad to unveil this year, which could boast QXGA 2,048 x 1,536 resolution screens, which DisplaySearch believes will likely be provided by LG, Samsung and Sharp. It’s hard to predict what demand for a Retina Display iPad will be, and how keeping an iPad 2 on the shelves as a lower-cost option might affect shipment volume, should that rumor turn out to be true.

Plus, even if Apple just meets the 65-million mark predicted by DisplaySearch, that will still represent a volume just 30 million shy of 2011′s worldwide PC shipments from all manufacturers combined.(source:gigaom


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