1）据pocketgamer报道，NaturalMotion旗下热门iOS游戏《CSR Racing》自6月28日发行以来一直长踞苹果应用营收榜单之首，该游戏每月收益超过1200万美元（未扣除苹果的30%抽成）。

CRS Racing(from insidemobileapps)

值得注意的是，该公司在数月前还刚融资1100万美元。NaturalMotion现已收购该游戏开发商Boss Alien（一家伦敦工作室），后者核心成员来自前迪士尼赛车游戏工作室Black Rock Studio（已在2011年夏季关闭），其14名成员将加入NaturalMotion位于牛津、伦敦和旧金山的三个不同开发团队。

2）据gamasutra报道，芬兰开发商最近聘请硬核游戏传业元老、前EA工作室Easy Studios总经理Oskar Burman任公司斯德哥尔摩新工作室主管。

oskar burman(from joystiq.com)

该工作室是Rovio在芬兰总部之外的首家工作室，其团队将负责开发Rovio现有游戏及新项目。但Rovio并未透露该工作室是否将制作硬核或中度硬核游戏（游戏邦注：即结合富有沉浸性的玩法和休闲机制，并采用免费增值模式的游戏）。

Burman此前曾任Avalanche工作室经理，负责监管开放世界动作游戏《Just Cause 2》开发工作，之后在Easy Studios参与开发免费第三人称射击游戏《战地英雄》。

3）据gamasutra报道，Nnooo创意总监Nic Watt日前表示，他认为如果从用户吸引力来看，任天堂下载商店的优势已胜过苹果App Store，因为“购买任天堂平台的用户确实想购买和体验任天堂游戏，而iOS平台则充斥大量不花钱的用户”。

虽然有些开发商难以在WiiWare、DSWare和eShop等平台获得成功，但Nnooo（代表作包括：《(EscapeVektor》和《myNotebook》系列）在任天堂平台的可下载游戏销量超过了在App Store的销量。

据其所称，出现这种情况的原因在于，任天堂掌机用户最看重游戏本身的内容，而iOS用户却只图新鲜感和便宜价格，他们并不在意游戏质量和长期体验。

4）游戏行业博客gamesbrief最近列举一些免费游戏“短暂循环”体验的设计案例，并指出免费手机/平板电脑游戏都应该提供这种可让玩家在短时间内完成任务，并获得乐趣的体验。

运用了这种设计的典型包括：

Temple-Run(from appadvice.com)

*《Temple Run》和《Jetpack Joyride》中无尽的奔跑机制；

*《宝石迷阵闪电战》中的单一操作；

*《FarmVille》中收割和重新种植庄稼；

*在《Dragon Vale》收集钱币；

*在《New Star Soccer》玩单个回合的游戏；

*在《Tiny Tower》中为单个商店填充商品。

这些任务都很短暂而有限，玩家可以在等车、等咖啡或等电梯过程中完成。

5）DisplaySearch移动设备高级分析师最近预测，2016年平板电脑销量将超过笔记本电脑。

ipad-vs-notebook(from smallbiztechnology.com)

平板电脑屏幕一般为5-10英寸，而笔记本电脑则多为10-17英寸，平板电脑注重便捷性，而笔记本则以性能取胜。平板电脑在美国等成熟市场更为热销，笔记本电脑则在新兴国家更有市场，因为笔记本电脑一般用于执行高性能任务，并运行办公软件。

目前多数平板电脑售价为500-600美元，预计到2017年这类设备价格将降至201-300美元范围之内。

6）移动广告网站InMobi最新报告指出，今年第二季度美国人每天在手机媒体内容上的平均投入时间达2.4小时，超过了在电视（2.35小时）和PC（1.6小时）上投入的时间。

multitasking_at_home(from burrowsdigital.wordpress.com)

还有70%美国人在看电视的同时使用手机和平板电脑，三分之二用户表示自己偏爱手机的原因是这种设备更易使用，56%受访者称自己总是随身携带手机。

71%用户通过手机搜索内容，64%使用手机上网，77%在床上使用手机，65%在等待的时候使用手机打发时间。

报告指出女性用户比男性更常使用手机，常在床上使用手机的男性用户比例为70%，女性则高达84%；常在购物时使用手机的男女用户比例分别是26%和40%。（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）Top grossing iOS game CSR Racing is generating $12 million per month

by Jon Jordan

Glued to the top of the Apple’s top grossing charts since its 28 June release, NaturalMotion has now revealed the headline revenue figures for CSR Racing.

It’s generated over $12 million in a month; presumably that’s a gross revenue figure including Apple’s 30 percent cut.

Ironically, it was only a couple of months ago that NaturalMotion raised $11 million in VC funding from Benchmark Capital.

“Our vision from the outset has been to focus on making games that people want to play – and to go viral through quality,” commented NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil.

“Our combination of deep free-to-play monetisation insights with polished gameplay and high-end 3D graphics generates margins impossible for the old type of 2D resource management games, especially those who have to aggressively spend to buy players.”

Aliens accepted

The incredible success of the game has also resulted in NaturalMotion buying Boss Alien, the Brighton, UK-based start up which developed the game.

Boss Alien was set up by senior staff from the Disney-owned racing specialist Black Rock Studio, which was closed down in the summer of 2011.

The 14-strong team joins NaturalMotion’s three other development locations – Oxford, London and San Francisco.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved together with CSR Racing, and now we’re focused on growing our studio and creating more hit games,”said CEO Jason Avent.

“We want developers with exceptional talent to come on board and join our world-class team.”

The studio is believed to be already working on prototypes for future releases, while the much-anticipated multiplayer update to CSR Racing is expected to go live when Apple releases iOS 6.（source:pocketgamer）

2）Angry Birds maker recruits core game dev to head new studio

by Eric Caoili

Angry Birds maker Rovio Entertainment has hired an industry veteran mostly known for overseeing core-targeted games, Easy Studios’ former GM Oskar Burman, to head up its new office in Stockholm.

The Swedish branch is Rovio’s first development studio outside of its home country Finland, and the company intends to build a new team under Burman’s leadership. This group will work on Rovio’s current games, as well as new projects.

Rovio hasn’t said whether the studio will make core titles or mid-core games — the latter a nascent category that combines immersive gameplay with casual mechanics and often a free-to-play model — but Burman has traditionally worked on projects with a core bent.

When he was studio manager at Avalanche, he ovesaw the development of open-world action game Just Cause 2. And at his most recent job at Electronic Arts subsidiary Easy Studios, Burman worked on free-to-play third-person shooter Battlefield Heroes.

Though Rovio has mostly focused on its Angry Birds franchise ever since the casual game series became a phenomenal hit a couple of years ago, it began releasing new titles again last July, starting with physics-based puzzler Amazing Alex.（source:gamasutra）

3）Why some devs prefer Nintendo’s download shops over Apple’s

by Staff

“People who buy Nintendo platforms actually care about buying and playing games … too many users of iOS are freeloaders.”
- Nnooo creative director Nic Watt argues that Nintendo’s download shops have a big advantage over Apple’s App Store when it comes to the audiences they attract.

Though some developers have had trouble finding any success on the WiiWare, DSiWare, and eShop services, Nnooo (EscapeVektor, myNotebook series) has sold a lot more copies of its downloadable games on those Nintendo platforms than it has on the App Store.

The creative director believes that’s because consumers on Nintendo’s consoles are interested in games, first and foremost. Watt says iOS owners on the other hand aren’t looking for quality experiences or longevity, just novelty and cheap prices.

Watts is one of a handful of Nintendo digital download developers we spoke to recently. Is his experience indicative of a trend? Or is it more complicated than that? Find out in today’s cover story.（source:gamasutra）

4）Free-to-play Design, Rule 2: The Starbucks test

Nicholas Lovell

Does your game pass the Starbucks test?

I first heard this question posed by Torsten Reil, CEO of Natural Motion, the developer of MyHorse on iOS which has now had over 11 million downloads and of CSR Racing. Both titles have been a regular feature of the Top Grossing Charts.

Torsten asked “Can you play your game and have a meaningful experience in the time it takes for a barista to make your macchiato?”

This is a critical consideration for any game being designed for a smartphone or tablet. If your free-to-play game is in the browser or on the console, it may be less crucial, but “short loops” remain key for all free-to-play games.

A short loop is an experience that you complete and have fun with in short period of time. Examples include:

•An attempt to run as far as you can in an endless runner like Temple Run or Jetpack Joyride

•Having a single go at an arcade game like Bejewelled Blitz

•Harvesting and replanting your crops in Farmville

•Collecting your money in Dragon Vale

•Playing a single match in New Star Soccer

•Replenishing a single store in Tiny Tower

Each of these jobs is short, finite and can be completed in the time it takes to wait for a bus, to collect a macchiato or even, in my case with Tiny Tower, to wait for a lift.

Does your free-to-play game have an experience that will draw people back again and again because they think it will only take a short time to achieve something?（source:gamesbrief）

5）Tablet computer sales will overtake notebooks by 2016

Dean Takahashi

Sleek, fast and slim notebook computers are coming as early as this fall. But that might be the last hurrah of the laptop, as tablet computers are expected to overtake sales of notebook computers by the end of 2016. That’s the forecast for the changing computing landscape, according to Richard Shim, senior analyst for mobile devices at DisplaySearch.

The change reflects a shift in consumer preferences, Shim said at the Emerging Display Technologies conference on Tuesday in Santa Clara, Calif. Tablets have screen sizes ranging from 5 inches to 10 inches, while notebook computers range from 10 inches to 17 inches. Tablets are focused on convenience, while notebooks are built for performance. Tablets are selling strong in mature markets like the U.S., while notebooks are selling better in emerging markets. That’s because notebooks are often the only computing devices in a household and they have to be used for high-performance tasks and productivity apps.

Tablets like Apple’s iPad have taken the market by storm. So far, Intel’s campaign to kickstart laptop sales with the Ultrabook label — or thin machines with high-performance and built-in security — has fallen flat in the market, Shim said. The larger market, which includes non-Intel devices and Apple’s MacBook Air, is dubbed the Ultraslim PC market. Tablets are likely cannibalizing sales of PCs at a faster and faster rate, Shim said.

A big change in the market could come with the Oct. 26 launch of Windows 8. At that time, we’ll see Windows 8 laptops, Windows 8 tablets based on Intel chips, and Windows RT tablets based on chips in the ARM ecosystem. By next year, when laptops will sport Windows 8 and Intel’s Haswell generation of power-efficient processors, thin laptops will take off in a big way, Shim said.

But that growth rate for laptops will slow as consumer tastes shift from performance to convenience. By 2016, tablet shipments are expected to overtake notebook shipments. Tablets are more responsive, are easy to carry, are more accessible, are thinner, lighter, and more intuitive to use, Shim said.

The mix of tablet sales may change. With the Jelly Bean 4.1.1 version of the Android operating system, Google finally has stable software that could jumpstart the tablet market beyond the iPad, Shim said. But the iPad is still expected to be dominant through 2017. Windows RT tablets are debuting soon. but they may come out at the high end of the market, Shim said, making their future uncertain. That’s because those Windows tablets are expected to be bundled with Microsoft Office software, which will make them more expensive.

Apple’s 9.7-inch tablets have ruled to date. But Shim expects the emergence of new screen sizes at 7 inches or so, as reflected in devices such as the Amazon Kindle, the Google Nexus 7, and the Barnes & Noble Nook. Apple is expected to debut a 7.85-inch tablet this fall.

“Resolution is a big topic these days, with pixel densities changing fast,” Shim said.

Screen quality for tablets will get better, but it’s an open question as to whether consumers can discern the quality difference above 200 pixels per inch. Apple’s iPad is already at 264 pixels per inch. Costs will naturally fall for tablets in the future. By 2017, the largest tablet category will be $201 to $300. Right now, the largest price band in terms of unit sales is $500 to $600.（source:venturebeat）

6）The average American views more media on mobile than TV or PC

by Zen Terrelonge

And 70 per cent actually use their devices while they watch the box.

Americans consumed an average of 2.4 hours worth of media a day via their mobile devices in Q2, outpacing TVs on 2.35 hours and PCs on 1.6 hours, according to mobile ad network InMobi.

Mobile may only be outshining TV viewing by a sliver, but it’s likely stimulated by the 70 per cent of Americans using phones and tablets while watching TV.

Two-thirds say they prefer to use their mobiles because they’re easy to use, while 56 per cent say the devices are always with them.

Mobiles are supporting 71 per cent to use mobile search, 64 per cent to browse the internet, while 77 per cent tent to use the gadgets in bed, and 65 per cent do so when waiting for something.

Results show that females actually use the devices more than males, with particular spikes experienced when in bed and shopping, with respective percentages of 84 per cent vs 70 per cent and 40 per cent v 26 per cent.

Anne Frisbie, VP and MD of North America for InMobi, said: “We expect the trend of ever increasing media consumption on mobile devices to continue, and even accelerate as advances in mobile rich media deepens user engagement by offering a better overall user experience.

“Marketers are taking notice and are increasingly investing in mobile to target consumers where they are spending most of their time consuming media.”（source:mobile-ent）