1）据insidesocialgames报道，硬核开发商Kixeye日前宣布前Zynga工作室《CityVille》项目总经理Alan Patmore已加入公司团队，将任Kixeye产品副总裁，负责监管公司所有产品发展战略。

alan-patmore(from businessinsider.com)

Patmore于2011年7月加入Zynga，曾监管《Mafia Wars》和《CityVille》等游戏项目开发；在2010年3月至2011年6月，他曾任Double Fine Studios（游戏邦注：代表作包括《Psychonauts》、《Costume Quest》和《Stacking》）产品开发副总裁，，在此之前还是Surreal Software联合创始人、总裁兼CEO（他在2004年将该公司出售给Midway）。

2）据Kotaku报道，任天堂首席执行官岩田聪在最近采访中解释了Wii U推出游戏社交服务Miiverse的原因，指出用户与他人在网络上共享媒体内容的体验，与现实中的社交互动相似。例如，好友共同玩游戏时总会为对方提供建议，并相互比较游戏进程。

他认为，我们已经进入了一个即使是单人游戏也需社交元素的时代，社交元素是一个必须选项。

Miiverse(from ign.com)

Miiverse是一个类似与Facebook的社交平台，支持Wii U用户发布和查看与游戏相关的信息，任天堂计划借助这一平台将每款单人游戏转变为在线社交体验。

3）据Techcrunch报道，社交游戏发商FreshPlanet日前宣布旗下游戏《SongPop》发布三个月已收获2500万独立用户，以及400万日活跃用户。该游戏于5月份上线，在两个月内实现了用户翻倍增长。

SongPop(from afghanforums.com)

该游戏在Facebook平台月活跃用户超过1600万，它支持用户通过iPhone、Android手机体验其Facebook版本。

4）据Serkantoto报道，日本游戏开发商Koei Tecmo日前宣布《Ninja Gaiden》社交版本将入驻Mobage平台。

ninja-gaiden-mobage(from serkantoto)

玩家在这款3D动作及社交卡牌战斗游戏中要扮演忍者Ryu Hayabusa，并与其他角色过招，随着游戏进程发展，Ryu也将变得更为强大。

该游戏计划于今年秋季登陆Android和iOS上的Mobage平台。

5）据games.com报道，Komami最近向Facebook发布连线消除游戏《Blockolicious》（游戏邦注：该游戏原先由Chillingo发布于iOS平台）。

Blockolicious(from games)

游戏支持玩家在其中选择两种模式，如果是在计时模式中，玩家需在2分钟内尽可能赢取更多分数，而另一个模式则更考验玩家的策略。

6）据美国娱乐软件协会（简称ESA）报道，目前美国已有381所高校/大学，以及美术/职业学校开设游戏开发课程，并提供相关证书，本科及研究生学位。

在美国各地区中，加州提供游戏开发课程的学校最多（70所），怀俄明州、缅因州、密西西州、阿拉斯加州也都在今年开设了此类课程。（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）Zynga GM Alan Patmore joins up with Kixeye

Mike Thompson

Core developer Kixeye announced today that former Zynga Studio General Manager Alan Patmore has joined its ranks.

Patmore will be coming in as Kixeye’s new Vice President of Product, a position that will have him overseeing all aspects of product strategy and development. Before joining Zynga in July 2011 and overseeing games like Mafia Wars and CityVille, Patmore’s experience in video games comes from the more traditional side of video games. From March 2010 through June 2011, he served as VP of Product Development for Double Fine Studios (the developer behind award-winning games like Psychonauts, Costume Quest and Stacking). Before that, he was the co-founder, president and CEO of Surreal Software, which he sold to Midway in 2004; Surreal was best known for the Drakan and The Suffering franchises on the last generation of consoles.

Kixeye’s gone on the offensive with its hiring strategy lately. The company currently has 250 staffers and is continuing to grow. Most of its recruiting efforts have stayed within the San Francisco Bay Area, primarily conducted with its print advertisements placed in public transit vehicles and stations. However, Kixeye recently made headlines when it produced an HR recruiting video that not took some none-too-subtle swipes at other social game companies like EA, Kabam and Zynga.（source:insidesocialgames）

2）Iwata: Social features in even single-player games are now crucial

by Eric Caoili

“We have reached an era where even a single-player game experience [can] have a social component that is very important. And I think … that social component is mandatory.”

- Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata explains why the company will include a social network specifically for gamers in Wii U, with the upcoming console’s “Miiverse” feature.

Iwata told Kotaku that he believes the way users share their media experiences with others online now resembles the sort of social interactions they had as kids in the real world. For example, friends playing the same game would give each other tips and compare their progress.

With Miiverse, which acts as a built-in Facebook-like service enabling Wii U owners to post and read messages about their games, Nintendo seeks to mimic those interactions, turning even single-player titles into an online social experience.

Has the way we share and discuss our game experiences online really reached the point where having social features is critical for single-player games? Or even mandatory? Will we soon see players and critics who are disappointed when new single-player games don’t include them? （source:gamasutra）

3）Name That Tune: SongPop Has Now Racked Up 25M Users, 4M Of Them Daily

Ingrid Lunden

Social games come and go but for now the buzz around SongPop continues. Today publisher FreshPlanet announced some landmark numbers, which point to how the music game — where users play each other in a kind of “name that tune” face-off in different categories — is still seeing significant growth. Three months after launch, it has 25 million unique players, and has 4 million daily active users.

That means SongPop, first launched in May, has effectively doubled users in under two months. In July, it reported it had 2 million daily active users. That puts it, according to Inside Social Apps, at number 12 for its daily active users — apps like Instagram and Microsoft Live have 10m and 12m respectively. But it is at number two in speed of growth, second to the Washington Post Social Reader.

FreshPlanet also notes that SongPop now has over 16 million monthly active users on Facebook. It is available on Facebook.com and also via Facebook to play on iPhone and Android handsets.

As we pointed out before, the game has had some pretty key endorsements from the tech early-adopter set — with Mark Zuckerberg enthusing about how fun and addictive it is; and Michael Arrington slightly more high-minded in his praise for how it is a “much better implementation of simulated synchronous gameplay” than Draw Something.

Looks like the punters agree, for now at least. The specter of declining interest — a problem that the game Draw Something found after its meteoric rise — should lead the company to other ways of monetizing beyond the in-app “power up” purchases, or thinking of stronger follow-up games.

In addition to adding more playlists, and premium versions with more clips and more challenging gameplay, there are other features coming such as in-game chat.

And there is the possibility for wider music e-commerce outside of the game: In July, CEO Mathieu Nouzareth said that the game had already driven 100,000 people to iTunes to buy tracks.（source:techcrunch）

4）A 3D Ninja Gaiden Game Is Coming To Mobage [Social Games]

by Dr. Serkan Toto

Legendary video game series Ninja Gaiden is getting the social treatment. Maker Koei Tecmo announced “1 Million People’s Ninja Gaiden” for Mobage yesterday, a mix between 3D action and social card battle game.

Players will take on the role of ninja Ryu Hayabusa (who is also the protagonist in most of the previous entries in the series) and battle against other characters in the action parts of the game (two bosses can be seen below). Ryu also has to be trained to get stronger as the game progresses.

Koei Tecmo says that Mobage users will be able to team up in guilds, play “Ninja Gacha“, and collect cards that show characters from previous Ninja Gaiden games (and new ones).

Ninja Gaiden is scheduled to hit Mobage on Android and iOS in the fall. Let’s see if it the social game will be as hard as the console versions.（source:serkantoto）

5）Konami brings mobile puzzle game Blockolicious to Facebook

by Brandy Shaul

Let’s face it, gamers that are looking for a match-three puzzle experience on either iOS or Facebook don’t have to look far, as the ever-popular puzzle genre comes in many shapes and sizes, from Bejeweled to Diamond Dash, with dozens of options in between. Offering players yet another option in the genre is Konami’s Blockolicious on Facebook, which was originally released on iOS devices by Chillingo.

Blockolicious gives players two modes to choose from, with a timed mode offering two minutes to earn as many points as possible by clicking on groups of three or more like-colored symbols. The other mode lacks a timer and is more about strategy than speed. Each time you make a match, you’ll receive a Juice Box. Match three Juice Boxes and you’ll receive a bomb capable of removing all like-colored symbols from the entire board. The twist comes in with these Juice Boxes, as the juice will eventually run out, destroying your chance at bombs and massive combo points, that is, unless you continue to make matches nearby.

Blockolicious is now available to play for free on Facebook, and we’ll bring you a complete look at the game in the near future. For now, if you’re interested in learning more before you begin, feel free to check out the game’s trailer below.（source:games）

6）More colleges than ever offering game dev courses, programs

by Eric Caoili

More schools than ever in the U.S. are offering opportunities for students to work toward a game development career. For the first time, all 50 states in the country are offering game dev programs.

The Entertainment Software Association reports that a record 381 colleges, universities, and art/trade schools now offer courses, professional certificates, and undergraduate or graduate degrees for various game industry professions.

California continues to have more schools with game dev programs (70) than any other state. Wyoming, Maine, Mississippi, Alaska, and Arkansas have all started offering courses this year.

The ESA says this proliferation of courses and degree programs reflects the growth of the game industry, as well as its expansion into new technologies such as mobile platforms. The trade group has posted a complete list of the 381 U.S. schools online.（source:gamasutra）