1，据socialbakers的监测数据显示Facebook在北美和欧洲增速放缓，而在中东和北非地区则进入了相对强势的爆发时区，特别是在卡塔尔、利比亚和伊拉克更是出现了年度115%、86%和81%的狂飙突进。

Facebook Users By Continent（from social bakers）

List of continents on Facebook（from socialbakers）

按照socialbakers的监测，目前Facebook的整体月度活跃数据为973219160，其中亚洲的活跃数据最为庞大，为274590720（但是渗透力相对低，只有6.78%）；其次是欧洲的249913160，渗透率为30.19%；北美排名第三，为241703080，渗透率为44.76%。南美洲的活跃用户为1.4亿，非洲为5100万，大洋洲为1474万。

2,Flurry公司的Richard Firminger在Mobile Gaming Europe 2012上称今年圣诞和元旦季ios和Android的应用下载量有望达到20亿次，去年同一时期的应用下载量为12亿次。当然如果按照7.5亿的智能手机激活量测算的话，这一时期的人均下载量也仅为2次多而已。

flurry-holiday-week-2011-app-downloads-country（from pocketgamer）

此外按照Richard Firminger的说法，进入美国榜TOP 10对App在全球的整体影响已经没有去年那般奏效，今年美国的贡献值为29%，而去年同期则高达49%。

3，gamezebo日前推出了年度最佳游戏系列。在最佳Puzzle游戏中，获得肯定的前5名游戏包括基于ios的Super Monsters Ate My Condo!、基于ios的Girls Like Robots、跨平台（ios和pc）的McPixel、跨平台（ios、Android和pc）的Bad Piggies以及基于PC的Scribblenauts Unlimited。

Big Fish Caino（from gamezebo）

4，gamezebo日前推出了年度最佳游戏系列。在最佳Casino游戏中，获得肯定的前5名游戏包括基于Facebook的Hollywood Spins、基于Facebook的Sports Casino、基于Facebook的myVEGAS、跨平台（ios、Facebook和Android）的Big Fish Casino、基于Facebook的Zynga Slingo以及跨平台（Facebook和ios）的Honorable Mention: DoubleDown Casino。

hollywoodspins（from gamezebo）

5，Capcom日前称其子公司 Beeline Interactive正在研发基于Ghostbusters电影的移动社交游戏。据称该游戏的定位目标在家庭的父子娱乐，而早先Beeline Interactive的系列产品都更为女性化一些。

ghostbusters（from serkantoto）

目前为止Beeline在移动端的表现相当成功，联合推出过Smurfs、Shrek和The Peanuts等经典IP游戏。截止今年9月份，Beeline Interactive已经实现了累积7400万的APP下载量。（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，Facebook might have almost fully penetrated core markets such as the U.S. and Europe, two regions in which the world’s largest social network’s growth is slowing. But there’s still plenty of room to grow in the MENA regions: the Middle East and North Africa countries.

And Facebook is growing rapidly in that part of the world with a population of about 400-500 million people: 29 percent growth in 2012, according to a new infographic from Socialbakers.
The “Arab Spring” popular uprisings in 2011 and 2012 contributed to that growth, according to Socialbakers — particularly in the most politically active countries, Qatar, Libya, and Iraq. Those three countries’s Facebook user numbers have soared in 2012, 115 percent, 86 percent, and 81 percent respectively. Facebook, along with YouTube and Twitter, helped protesters organize and collaborate during the popular uprisings in those countries.

Egypt, the most populous country in the region, grew the most by absolute measures, adding 2.5 million Facebook users.

It’s not profitable growth, at least not comparatively, and not yet: Facebook users in MENA countries are some of the least valuable users as far as advertisers are concerned. But that will likely change over time.

One oddity that I noticed in the infographic: Israel is missing from the map. In a variety of sources that I checked, Israel is included in the MENA countries in some cases but not all. It does seem strange, however, that Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon are shown on the map, but Israel is not.（source：ventureBeat）

2,With the end of 2012 rapidly approaching, developers are preparing for their final releases of the year.

They’re looking, hoping and praying to get a good launch that will see them rising up the charts just as people are unwrapping shiny new smartphones and tablets, and then looking for apps and games to download and play.

According to Richard Firminger, European MD of mobile analytics and advertising outfit Flurry, the holiday week in 2012 is going to be biggest ever,

Last year, what Flurry called the ‘Power Week’ between Christmas and New Year saw 1.2 billion app downloads across iOS and Android. Flurry also tracked the activation of 20 million new devices in this period.

As for 2012, Firminger says that given the growth rates in the global market, the similar period will see 2 billion apps and games download.

World of possibilities

Of course, given that Flurry estimates there are 750 million smart devices in operation (it tracked one trillion data points during October 2012), 2 billion downloads is only a couple per device.

Yet such is the competition – both in terms of holiday week activity, and more generally across the app stores – Firminger’s advice is that developers actually shouldn’t fixate about getting their games to the top of the charts.

At least not unless they’re looking to spend heavily on user acquisition; anything from ￡100,000 to ￡400,000 and upwards, he suggests is now required.

Looking elsewhere

“The US top 10 is not as important as it used to be,” he said, saying that according to Flurry’s figures, the top 10 US apps and games account for 29 percent of global sessions.

This is down from 49 percent of all sessions a year ago.

Usage in the rest of world, especially the countries such as China and Russia, continue to grow very quickly, with the number of smart devices in those countries up over 200 percent year-on-year.

These trends means that developers should be looking niche opportunities across many territories, Firminger said.

Of course, he suggests that Flurry can help developers find those audiences too.

It’s just dropped the minimum spend through its AppCircle product from 75c per install to 50c per install to encourage them to see how it works, and how Flurry’s analytics can help them segment and monetise.（source：pocketgamer）

3，The best part about the current state of the game industry—well, aside from all of the great games—is how impossible it is to predict where things are headed. Will there be another generation of consoles after the next Xbox and PS3 (PS4, I guess you could say)? Will tablets take their place? We can guess all we want, but no one truly knows. It’s something of a puzzle, I suppose you could say.

To celebrate this current state of affairs, we figured we’d lead off our Best of 2012 series with the best puzzle games of the year. We debated making it all cryptic in honor of the subject matter, but ultimately decided we’d leave such things up to the games themselves.

Without further adieu:

#5 – Super Monsters Ate My Condo! (iPhone, iPad)

It’s hard not to question the necessity of sequels in the mobile space. After all, developers are constantly patching titles and adding new content at no cost or a small fee. But Super Monsters Ate My Condo!, the sequel to [adult swim]’s Monsters Ate My Condo, has more than enough bells and whistles to justify its existence, including new condos, a boost shop filled with power-ups, and a new line-up of achievements. And if you fear change, worry not! The same addictive match-3 gameplay is alive and well in this sequel.
Even with the exclusion of the original’s Endless Mode, Super Monsters Ate My Condo! is long and afar the better game. Just watch out for those evil “nuke” condos, which will end the game the second they go off. Seriously, what kind of person owns a condo filled with nuclear weapons?

#4 – Girls Like Robots (iPhone, iPad)

Those of us who’ve attended high school can attest to how tangled some social hierarchies can get. Certain cliques immensely dislike each other, and any attempts to combine them would probably result in a volatile reaction. It’s no different in Girls Like Robots, where players must place square-shaped characters on a grid next to those they get along with, all the while avoiding placing them near those they dislike. It’s easy enough at first, but the game continually ups the nuance by introducing new characters (and pie!).
Simply put, it’s as though someone took the worst part of high school and made it fun

#3 – McPixel (PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad)

If ever someone asks you to explain the whole indie thing, just gift them McPixel on Steam or iOS. It’s a wonderfully weird game that could never have been released through traditional means, what with its odd fascination with MacGyver and peeing on things.

The game presents players with rapid-fire scenarios a la WarioWare, the goal of each being to defuse bombs before they explode or “save the day” in other ways. Easier said than done, though, as McPixel operates on a quirky (and incredibly charming) kind of dream logic.

The game also provides you the chance to feed an explosive hot dog to an alien at one point, which weighed heavily in the its favor when we were hashing out this best-of list.

#2 – Bad Piggies (PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android)

When Rovio announced the follow-up to Angry Birds, a lot of people assumed its gameplay would be streamlined and immediately accessible in the same way. There wouldn’t have been anything wrong with that, but we’re still glad they didn’t take that route. Bad Piggies is a wonderfully involved physics puzzle game that simultaneously respects the player’s intelligence and encourages them to build the stupidest contraptions possible.

It’s also one of the few games where losing a level is just as much fun as winning. Seriously, what’s more entertaining than seeing a pig in a jalopy crash directly into a wall?

#1 – Scribblenauts Unlimited (PC)

By weaving in a surprisingly affecting storyline and incorporating an explorable overworld,  Scribblenauts Unlimited finally delivers on the crazy amount of potential we knew the Scribblenauts series had all along. Sure, you can still beat most puzzles by spamming them with uninventive solutions, but why would you want to? Unlimited is a playground for the imagination, not to mention the chance to pit Cthulhu against a yeti that we’ve all been waiting for.

There’s one serious problem with the game, however: we’re violently jealous of its world. We want nothing more than to be able to type “pizza” and see one drop right in front of us. We could solve world hunger!（source：gamezebo）

4，That sound you hear is exactly what the Scorpions told us about back in the 80s: The wind of change. It seems like just a matter of time until players everywhere, including the United States, will be able to gamble for real money on their computers and mobile devices. Video game developers and gaming companies have taken steps to prepare, forming alliances and generally getting themselves in the best possible position to begin taking bets.

With that in mind, you can see the current crop of social and mobile casino games as a stealth invasion force of sorts, trying to get people ready for what’s to come. That doesn’t mean they can’t be good games in their own right, and 2012 saw more than a few that were fun to play, with or without ulterior motives. Here are the ones that the Gamezebo crew liked best.

#5 – Hollywood Spins (Facebook)

You’re kind of painting a target on yourself by calling your game Hollywood Slots (now Hollywood Spins). People are going to expect some glitz and glamor, something more than the typical slots experience. Product Madness pulled it off by giving players games with high production values, including some of the best animation you’ll find in a slots title. Some of the machines are ones you’ll find in real money online casinos. Or so I’m told.

It’s true that you won’t find a lot of social features in this game, but let’s be honest: Slots are kind of a solitary activity anyway. Pull up a virtual slots stool and just enjoy the ride.

#4 – Sports Casino (Facebook)

If you want the young, male demographic to play Facebook games, you’re probably not going to lure them in with farming games. You know what might work a little bit better? Sports gambling, even if it’s for play money. Sports Casino not only allows you to place simulated wagers on real sporting events, it’s packed with social features so you can talk smack or just check out what teams other people are backing to win.

You can even place prop bets that update and change while games are in progress, which is the real killer feature. A selection of other casino games to play on the side is just the icing on the cake. Online sports betting in the U.S. is probably further away than becoming legal than any other from of gambling, but if it does, we’ll be able to look back and say this game was a window into the future.

#3 – myVEGAS (Facebook)

For the past decade or so, casino operators have fought the good fight against online gambling, figuring it would cut into their own profits. Now that the writing seems to be on the wall, they’ve changed tactics and done the old “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” thing. They’re being clever about it too, as evidenced by games like myVEGAS.

The hook for this one is that you can win rewards at real Las Vegas casinos playing slots and blackjack for play money: Show tickets, restaurant credit and more. Yes, you have to put in a lot of time to win anything of real value, but it’s better than winning nothing at all playing other slots games. There’s even a little city builder thrown in for good measure as you build the MGM casinos on the Strip. If you’re the type of person who enjoys real slots as much as their online counterparts, this is a game you’re going to want to check out.

#2 – Big Fish Casino (iPad, iPhone, Android, Facebook)

Titles that simulate individual casino games are all well and good, but sometimes you want to be able to play everything in one spot. Big Fish Casino lets you do just that, offering up slots, video poker, blackjack, roulette, Texas hold ‘em poker and more. It’s a whole bunch of fun under one roof. You know, just like in a real casino, except without the cocktail waitresses. Ah, the cocktail waitresses…

Another plus is that you can enjoy this game on your computer or mobile device, with the mobile version impressing a bit more with on the design and graphics front. Either way, this is a convenient way to get your fake gambling fix from a single game.

#1 – Zynga Slingo (Facebook)

What, this isn’t casino enough for you? Too bad, because Zynga’s attempt at doing some alchemy to combine slots and bingo turned out to be a successful one. It wasn’t the first company to do that, of course, but it was probably the first to make Slingo so stylish and addictive.

The fun twists like multipliers and power ups add something fresh, and the graphics and sound are catchy without beating you over the head with the Zynga brand of cuteness. The social features are what you’d expect, but it isn’t mandatory to add friends to progress through the game.

In short, it’s everything that Zynga does well with very few of the things that make the company’s detractors experience elevated blood pressure. If that isn’t worth stretching the definition of what makes a social casino game, I don’t know what is.

Honorable Mention: DoubleDown Casino (Facebook, iPad, iPhone)

Okay, this didn’t come out in 2012, which would seem to make it ineligible for any year-end awards. Yet we’re willing to do some Doctor Who-style ignoring of the usual rules of time to revisit this casino sim because of everything it added during the year. Think of it as a “Most Improved” award if it makes you feel more comfortable.

DoubleDown Casino added poker and bingo to its game selection, which was already pretty good. The slot machines kept coming, with over two dozen games available right off the bat, no unlocking necessary. And while I usually speak out on the perils of chip inflation, you’ve got to admire the chutzpah of a game that gives you 1 million chips as soon as you start to play and has people atop its leaderboard with 10 billion chips or more.

This is a game worth revisiting since it’s almost like it doubled down on content. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to forget I made such an obvious pun.（source：gamezebo）

5，Capcom today announced that its subsidiary Beeline Interactive is working on a mobile social game based on the Ghostbusters movies.

The company says the title “aims to increase communications among families by using a social game that incorporates a popular movie”. Apparently, the goal here is to let play “fathers and sons” together (the background given here is that Beeline’s other games are more geared towards female players).

That sounds like a lot of nonsense to me, but OK, the game isn’t out yet.

Capcom explains:

Beeline plans to distribute the “Ghostbusters” social game worldwide. Based on the worldview of the movie “Ghostbusters”, which was a hit among people of all ages, this game will allow users themselves to serve as Ghostbusters. Their job is to drive ghosts out of New York City while upgrading their gear and characters.

So far, Capcom has been pretty successful with their Beeline brand. The subsidiary was established last year just to focus on development of games for phones and tablets – often combined with strong (external) IP like The Smurfs, Shrek, or The Peanuts. Capcom says the number of cumulative downloads reached 74 million by September this year.

I wouldn’t be so sure about Ghostbusters though: the two movies are pretty old now and shouldn’t be very appealing as a game for anyone but people in their 30s or 40s. It’s hard to imagine this to become a mainstream success, even though a third movie is apparently coming.

The plan is to release the Ghostbusters social game at the beginning of next year (worldwide) for iOS.（source：serkantoto）