1）RIM最近报告称在其举办的虚拟社区Port-a-Thon活动（游戏邦注：该活动始于1月11日，每款合格应用将获得100美元奖金，或者通过新黑莓10平台的审核）中，开发者在两天时间中就提交了1.5万款黑莓10应用程序。

黑莓10运行的是基于QNX的软件，将于1月30日正式发布。

blackberry-10(from phonesreview.co.uk).

2）广告平台Taptica最新报告指出，在iOS和Google Play平台的前十大发行商中，游戏发行商占据9个席位。

game publishers(from tapticastat)

观察者称这一现象表明游戏已经成为移动平台的主流应用，而移动游戏向其上掌上或游戏设备扩张的情况，也很可能意味着智能手机游戏市场已经趋于饱和。

3）据Apple Insider报道，第五代iPad和iPad Mini预计于今年3月面世。分析师Brian White声称iPad 5将比iPad 4更为轻薄，而iPad Mini总体外观不变，但将采用更为先进的组件；新iPhone则将在5月或6月推出不同大小和颜色的型号。

iPad_5(from pcadvisor.co.uk)

这一消息有可能惹恼最近才购买了苹果平板电脑的用户，有半数iPad 3用户不满苹果在去年10月份就发布了iPad 4（仅与iPad 3相隔7个月）。

4）据serkantoto报道，东京调研公司Yano最近图表预测，2013年日本社交游戏市场规模将增长至48亿美元，超过2012年时的43亿美元。

size of japan’s social gaming market(from Yano)

2011年该市场规模为31亿美元，这一数据与日本政府的统计结果（32.6亿美元）以及日本网络游戏联盟公布的数据（36亿美元）较为接近。

5）据CEGamer报道，Zynga最近在英国推出ZyngaPlusCasino网站，为英国年龄不低于18岁的成人用户提供相关博彩游戏信息。从该 网站消息可得知，从“2013年初”开始，玩家可以注册并体验二十一点、轮盘赌、百家乐、老虎机等多种博彩游戏（其中老虎机游戏每一回合的起始价为5欧 元）。

ZyngaplusCasino(from games.com)

6）据CEGamers报道，《Empire & Allies》目前虽然拥有340万MAU，但在过去两周中该游戏似乎并没有及时更新，有玩家在其论坛中抱怨该游戏漏洞频现，并且缺乏新内容。

报道称这一现象起始于去年12月18日，在那天之后这款游戏的Twitter消息以及Facebook页面突然陷入沉寂。如果说当时可将原因归结于12月份的圣诞假期，但现在已经是1月中旬，Zynga却仍未更新游戏的相关信息。

Empires & Allies（from games.com)

在Zynga关闭《PetVille》和《Treasure Isle》等项目之前，这些游戏的Facebook页面也都在该公司正式宣布消息之前沉寂了数周或数月之久，再加上Zynga最近刚宣布《Empires & Allies》不会入驻Zynga.com这一消息，因此有人推测这或许意味着Zynga打算关闭这款游戏，但Zynga目前尚未对此做出回应。（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）15K BlackBerry 10 apps submitted by developers in less than two days

by Daniel Gumble

RIM reports substantial number of submissions during virtual Community Port-a-Thon event.

Developers recently submitted 15,000 BlackBerry 10 apps in less than two days during a virtual Community Port-a-Thon event, RIM (Research In Motion) has reported.

The event, which began on January 11th, saw developers rewarded with $100 for each eligible mobile game or app approved for the new BlackBerry 10. Those who successfully put forward between five and ten apps received a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device.

Meanwhile, the first ten developers to submit ten approved apps were rewarded with a paid trip to BlackBerry Jam Europe, which will be held in Amsterdam in February.

“37.5 hours in, we hit 15,000 apps for this portathon,” tweeted BlackBerry Development Head Alec Saunders. “Feel like I’ve run a marathon.”

The BlackBerry 10, which runs on the same QNX-based software that powers RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, will be officially unveiled on January 30th.（source：mobile-ent）

2）Stat of the Week: Are games still mighty on mobile marketplaces?

by Keith Andrew

Mobile games were once a niche. Now they’re the norm.

Indeed, though the App Store and Google Play are designed to play host to apps of all kinds – games just one of the many categories on offer – users have always had a penchant for playing top titles on their smartphones.

But in the year when mobile gaming is expected to ‘break out’ – the trend for ‘unconsoles’ dominating the first month of the year – just how dominant are games on mobile?

According to ad platform Taptica, very:

The question that follows, of course, is whether such dominance combined with an apparent desire to take the mobile formula and apply it to handheld or other games platforms is a sign of smartphone saturation.

Could this be as good as it gets before the mobile gaming industry changes forever?（source：pocketgamer）

3）iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 expected in March; new iPhones in summer

by Zen Terrelonge

Rumour suggests Apple fans should expect new iOS tablets every six months.

Apple is currently thought to be working on a $99 iPhone, but a new whisper from Apple Insider says a fifth-generation iPad and an iPad Mini 2 are due to arrive in March.

Analyst Brian White claims the iPad 5 will be lighter and thinner than the iPad 4, while a Mini 2 is expected to sport the same frame but with updated components.

The news will likely incense those that have recently purchased an Apple tablet, what with half of iPad 3 owners left fuming about  the October iPad 4 release – just seven months after its predecessor.

White added that Apple will launch new iPhones in different sizes and colours in May or June. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S IV is expected for launch on March 4th.（source：mobile-ent）

4）Report: Japan’s Social Gaming Market To Grow To US$4.8 Billion This Year

by Dr. Serkan Toto

Tokyo-based research firm Yano has released a chart that visualizes the size of the Japanese social gaming market between 2009 and 2013.

According to Yano, the industry will grow to US$4.8 billion this year, a relatively modest plus from the US$4.3 billion the firm has calculated for 2012 (the company labels both numbers as estimates).

In 2011, Yano says, the market was worth US$3.1 billion: this number is in line with calculations that have been released by the Japanese governmen (US$3.26 billion) and the Japan Online Game Association (US$3.6 billion) last summer.（source：serkantoto）

5）ZyngaPlusCasino brings real money gambling to the UK this year

by Brandy Shaul

We already knew that Zynga has fallen in love with real money gambling, and wants to bring it to the US. We also already knew that Zynga would start its major push into the real money gambling world via a catalog of games in the UK. But now, it all seems much more real through the ZyngaPlusCasino website, discovered by CEGamer.

Dedicated to Zynga’s UK gambling operations, ZyngaPlusCasino gives interested UK residents age 18 or older a preview of things to come. Starting in “early 2013,” interested players will be able to sign up to play games like Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Video Slots, and more. Pricing on Video Slots will apparently start at 5¢ a spin, with progressive jackpots adding more incentive to keep playing.

After making an initial deposit of real world money, new players on ZyngaPlusCasino will receive a “Welcome Basket of bonuses and new player promotions,” but the specific contents of said Welcome Baskets are still unknown as of this writing. Could one of the prizes relate to the rumored FarmVille slot machine?

Whatever the case, if you live in the UK, are over 18-years-old, and are interested in being alerted when ZyngaPlusCasino finally launches to the public, you can enter your email address for news updates on the project’s preview page. For everyone else, we’ll just have to wait and see how (or if) Zynga’s push into real money gambling develops outside of the UK.（source：games）

6）Is Zynga’s Empires & Allies on its way out?

by Brandy Shaul

With 3.4 million monthly active players, Empires & Allies may still seem pretty healthy, but active players have noticed something a bit suspicious over the past couple of weeks. The game seems to have fallen out of Zynga’s regular update schedule, as the game’s forums are filled with players complaining about new bugs, missing units, a lack of opponents in Battle Blitz and an overall lack of new content within the game.

According to the folks at CEGamers, this drought started back on December 18, as both the Empires & Allies Twitter feed and Facebook news page fell silent after that date. While we might have originally attributed this silence to the holiday season in December, we’re now at January 14, and Zynga still hasn’t made a peep about the game on either outlet.

Sure, this is all just speculation, but if we look at games that have already been closed, like PetVille or Treasure Isle, those Facebook pages also went quiet in the weeks and months before the official closing announcements were made. Even more concerning, Zynga recently announced that there’s no reason to hope for Empires & Allies to ever be released on Zynga.com, which would make sense if the developer is planning on closing the game anyway.

We’ve reached out to Zynga for comment on the status of Empires & Allies, but for now, the game is available to play as normal. How much longer it will last however, is anyone’s guess.（source：games）