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每日观察:关注苹果iOS 8新功能及Mixi市值(6.3)

发布时间:2014-06-03 11:03:22 Tags:,,,,

1)据gamasutra报道,在日前的WWDC大会上,苹果宣布将于今年秋季推出iOS 8,该系统新功能包括Metal图像渲染系统,以及新的Swift编程语言。

除此之外,苹果还为App Store添加了一个“探索”标签,允许用户以这种新方式检索自己可能会喜欢的应用。苹果还为App Store页面添加了视频预览功能,以及相关检索和流行检索这两种新检索功能。

iOS 8(from pad.zol.com)

iOS 8(from pad.zol.com)

开发者还可以创造自己的应用捆绑包,将自己的多款应用绑定有一种价格,一次点击购买即可获得的内容包中。另外,苹果还引进了一项“家庭共享”选项,允许家长更大限度地控制子女在应用商店中的购买行为。

2)据gamasutra报道,苹果最近引进的新编程语言Swift将与苹果本地Cocoa和CocoaTouch编程API兼容,这一新语言可用于面向iOS和OS X设备开发应用,其beta版本Xcode 6已经发布,但要到今年秋季iOS 8和OS X Yosemite发布后才能正式支持这两种苹果设备。

苹果表示该语言能够与项目中的Objective-C同时使用,开发者目前已可通过苹果iBooks商店下关于Swift编程的电子书,苹果也开通了Swift开发者门户网站,为开发者提供更详细的资源和信息。

3)Newzoo最新报告显示,King和GungHo公司在游戏领域的运营表现已超过了日本行业巨头任天堂。

Newzoo数据指出,2014年第一季度任天堂整体软件业务收益达4.11亿美元,逊于King公司的6.41亿美元,以及GungHo公司同一时期的4.76亿美元收益。

nintendo revenue(from newzoo)

nintendo revenue(from newzoo)

除此之外,数据显示就连“第二梯队”的应用开发商,如日本Colopl公司也直追任天堂之势,该公司在第一季度销售额增长718%,总收益达2.37亿美元,值得注意的是,Colopl仅面向日本市场出售应用。

4)据serkantoto报道,日本最大的社交平台Mixi目前市值甚至超过了社交游戏巨头DeNA。值得注意的是,Mixi在最近几年曾经遭遇Facebook、Twitter和Line等外来社交平台的夹击而艰难求生,甚至濒临绝境,但却在2013年秋季仅凭《Monster Strike》一款手机游戏而卷土重来。

mixi-monster-strike-2-dena(from serkantoto)

mixi-monster-strike-2-dena(from serkantoto)

该游戏在2013年末开始一路发展,推动Mixi股价上升,但投资者对此仍持观望态度。但现在Mixi股价上涨9.57%,推动公司市值上升至19.9亿美元(DeNA市场为19.7亿美元),Mixi的前景开始呈现更为明朗的状态。

《Monster Strike》在过去数周位居日本iOS热门榜单第二名,仅次于GungHo旗下游戏《Puzzle & Dragons》(游戏邦注:它曾经在过去两周两次超越《Puzzle & Dragons》),在日本iOS和Android畅销榜单居于首位。在台湾App Store也进入畅销榜单前10名,有望通过腾讯在中国大陆市场发布。

5)据gamasutra报道,38 Studios于2012年申请破产后,其游戏作品《Rise of Nations》在拍卖中出售给了一个神秘买家,今年6月份该游戏将在Steam平台重新现身,其发行商却正是当年的买家微软。

rise of nations(from verycd.com)

rise of nations(from verycd.com)

《Rise of Nations》原作是由已经倒闭是Big Huge Games开发,并由微软于2003年发布。38 Studios在2009年收购Big Huge Games时一并收购了该游戏及其续作《Rise of Legends》版权。

现在微软已指定Project Spark开发商Skybox Labs更新和重新发布这款游戏,并绑定了Steamworks和Twitch等功能。(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)Apple upgrades iOS 8 App Store to boost discoverability

By Christian Nutt

Today at its WWDC conference, Apple announced iOS 8, which is due out this fall. In addition to some under-the-hood changes — such as the Metal graphics rendering system and its new Swift programming language — Apple detailed some much-needed changes to the iOS App Store which should help boost app discoverability.

As reported by Mashable, Apple is adding an “explore” tab to the App Store which will allow users a new way to discover apps they might like. The company is also adding video previews to App Store pages alongside the screenshots it already supports, as well as two new types of searches: related search and trending search. The Verge reports that a new Editor’s Choice icon should help make it clearer which apps Apple’s editorial team recommends.

Developers will also be able to create their own app bundles, allowing them to bring together multiple apps into one cut-price, one-click-buy package — a significant change.

Apple is also introducing a Family Sharing option for apps alongside iOS 8, which will also afford parents greater control over kids’ purchases — which we’ve detailed in another story.(source:gamasutra

2)Apple introduces new programming language, Swift

By Christian Nutt

In a surprise move, Apple has introduced a new programming language called Swift. It is compatible with Apple’s native Cocoa and CocoaTouch programming APIs.

Swift, which can be used to develop apps for both iOS and OS X devices, has already been released by the company in the beta version of Xcode 6, which you can download today, but will not officially be supported by those devices until both iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are released this fall.

Notably, Apple has said that it can work “along side” Objective-C in projects — though no doubt the company hopes developers will in time fully adopt it, tying their work to its platforms. The upside, as with its new Metal graphics technology, is faster performance for apps, Apple says.

You can already download a book on programming in Swift from Apple’s iBooks store. The company has also opened up a developer portal for Swift which further details the new language and offers links to related resources. (source:gamasutra

3)King and GungHo games now bringing in more revenue than Nintendo’s entire library

By Chris Kerr

Mobile’s elite are now bringing in more money per quarter than Nintendo, numbers published by Newzoo suggests, with the likes of King and GungHo outperforming the Japanese giant by a distance.

BGR cites Newzoo data pinning Nintendo Q1 2014 revenue from its entire software library at $411 million –some way behind King of Candy Crush fame on $641 million and Puzzle & Dragons outfit GungHo Online on $476 million during the same period.

Slipping down the table

It isn’t just the big firms who are threatening to overtake Nintendo though, with BGR reporting many ‘second-tier’ app vendors, such as Japanese outfit Colopl, are now preparing to leapfrog the console giant.

Newzoo’s Q1 revenue rankings based on software sales

After seeing sales increase by 718 percent, Colopl’s revenue hit $237 million in Q1 2014: a figure that becomes even more impressive when you consider that Colopl only sells apps to a Japanese audience.

Commentators have been quick to suggest Nintendo should itself move on mobile in order to keep up with the Joneses – an assertion the company itself has been refuting for years now.

“This is absolutely not under consideration,” Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said on the subject back in 2011

“If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. Having a hardware development team in-house is a major strength. It’s the duty of management to make use of those strengths.”(source:pocketgamer

4)The Monster Strike Effect: Mixi’s Market Cap Is Now Higher Than That Of DeNA

by Serkan Toto

A lot has been written and said about how hit-driven the mobile game business has become over the last few years, but if the industry needed another bit of evidence, here it is: the market cap of Mixi (2121), Japan’s once biggest social network, has eclipsed that of Mobage operator DeNA (2432) today.

As I laid out earlier this year, Mixi was essentially considered dead in the water, after having fought (and lost) to other social services like Facebook, Twitter or Line in recent years. It is not an overstatement to say the company was just a shadow of it former self.

But in the fall of 2013, Monster Strike came and brought Mixi back on the map: a single mobile game, released only in Japan (at that time).

The game started doing really well around the end of last year, Mixi’s stock rose, but investors and others remained skeptical about the long-term success.

Fast forward to today, and the picture is much clearer, at least when you believe the stock market: Mixi shares went up 9.57% today, boosting the market cap to a whopping US$1.99 billion.

This Bloomberg chart shows how Mixi’s stock price increased in the last 4 weeks:

Monster Strike Has Made Mixi Relevant Again

The background is that Monster Strike has been sitting at the No. 2 position behind Puzzle & Dragons from GungHo Online Entertainment (3765) for the last weeks, on the top grossing rankings on both iOS and Android in Japan. Investors are seeing this as a positive sign for the title’s lifecycle.

In fact, Monster Strike managed to even take over the top position (on the iPhone) from Puzzle & Dragons twice in the last 2 weeks (additional background).

It was also released on the App Store in Taiwan, where it now entered the top 10 in the grossing ranking. Monster Strike is also expected to be released in China soon (via Tencent).

While the performance of Monster Strike is astonishing by itself, it also means that Mixi’s market cap is now higher than that of DeNA, which stood at US$1.97 billion today: and again, it’s all because of Monster Strike – nothing else.

Japanese news site Social Game Info prepared this chart that shows how the market caps of Mixi and DeNA evolved over the last months:

The problem DeNA has is that all of its native smartphone games have flopped so far – something the Mobage operator shares with long-time competitor GREE (3632), whose market cap stands at US$2.2 billion currently.

My own prediction is that this still not it for Monster Strike and that the game is going to continue well, both in Japan and abroad.(source:serkantoto

5)Rise of Nations’ mystery buyer was…Microsoft

By Alex Wawro

After 38 Studios filed for bankruptcy in 2012 its rights to Rise of Nations were sold at auction to an undisclosed party, and now the game is being rereleased on Steam in June by that mysterious buyer: Microsoft.

Rise of Nations: Extended Edition is advertised on Steam as an enhanced version of the original Rise of Nations, the critically-acclaimed RTS developed by the now-defunct Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft Studios back in 2003.

38 Studios acquired the rights to Rise of Nations and its sequel, Rise of Legends, when it acquired Big Huge Games in 2009.

Now Microsoft has tapped Project Spark developer Skybox Labs to update the game and rerelease it with new features like Steamworks integration and Twitch streaming support. It’s a familiar job for the British Columbian studio, which also worked on Age of Mythology: Extended Edition and Age of Empires II: HD Edition.(source:gamasutra


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