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fastcompany评游戏领域最具创新能力的十大企业

发布时间:2011-03-16 10:37:22 Tags:,,,,

1.Zynga

在社交游戏领域,该公司的影响力和吸金能力堪称第一。Zynga旗下的《FarmVille》、《Treasure Isle》、《Zynga Poker》、《Mafia Wars》等游戏在全世界的月活跃用户多达数千万人,该公司最大创新之处在于虚拟商品交易模式:通过开发令人着迷的游戏,Zynga成功地让玩家自觉为虚拟商品付费,以便加快游戏进程或者向好友赠送礼物。尽管这些虚拟商品的零售价不高,但它们积累之后的数额也十分惊人,Zynga也因此获利丰厚,目前估值超过了70亿美元。

most-innovative-companies-zynga

most-innovative-companies-zynga

2.苹果

上榜理由是它创造了年度最成功的游戏平台——iPad。这款平板电脑自去年4月亮相以来,销量已超过700万部(游戏邦认为在本月发布的iPad 2将带来更大的销量),而且还推动了《涂鸦跳跃》、《愤怒的小鸟》等多种手机游戏的创新。除此之外,苹果在去年9月发布的Game Center也是该公司在手机游戏领域积极发挥作用的表现,该手机游戏平台为大量用户提供了在同一款应用中实时玩游戏的功能。

3.微软

主要上榜原因是推出了Kinect体感控制技术。微软在过去一年中的创新表现可圈可点,例如功能更加完善的Bing,Windows Phone 7,但最令人印象深刻的是它改写了远程摇控器的定义。微软在去年10月为Xbox 360平台推出的Kinect功能,可以读出用户的声音指令、面部表情,以及动作,然后将这些信息传递到屏幕上。目前为止,这款超级游戏产品的销量已突破1000万件,将Xbox 360打造成一个完全成熟的娱乐平台。游戏邦获悉,微软即将为该产品添加的功能包括:来自Netflux和Hulu Plus的内容,以及面向Xbox Live的3000万付费用户开放的虚拟世界。

4.Valve

该公司开发的全球数字内容发行平台Steam相当于游戏领域的iTunes,每天都有600万以上的全球独立用户访问Steam网页应用并购买产品。Steam提供了包括Valve旗下的《Half Life》、《Portal》和《Left 4 Dead》在内的1200多款游戏。该平台于2006年上线,但在过去一年中,又添加了Mac平台的游戏产品,用户注册帐号已接近3000万。

5.Facebook

它已经成为全球最大的社交游戏平台,在全世界6亿多的Facebook用户中,玩家在Zynga旗下的《CityVille》(游戏邦注:该游戏月活跃用户达9300万)以及PopCap公司的《宝石迷阵闪电战》(游戏邦注:该游戏月活跃用户为1100万)中每天登录游戏的时间难以计数。Facebook在去年9月推出的Facebook Credits这个虚拟货币系统,更将有助于这个社交平台巨擘从虚拟商品市场中创收数十亿美元。

6.IBM

IBM在严肃游戏领域的作为令人瞩目。在去年10月,IBM发布了被博客主誉为“现实世界的《模拟城市》”——《CityOne》,它是迄今为止用游戏解决现实问题的最积极成果。这款免费的交互式应用锁定的是商务精英、城市规划者、政府工作人员,设置了100多种灾难场景,要求用户通过由IBM开发的应用新技术,有效利用水资源、缓解交通堵塞和开发可替换能源等。IBM的严肃游戏项目还延伸到了教育领域——全球有有1000多所院校和大学,通过IBM的另一款模拟游戏《Innov8》进行运营虚拟企业的训练。

7.Rovio

这家芬兰开发商推出的手机游戏《愤怒的小鸟》已经成为全球热词,游戏邦获悉该游戏自2009年12月登台以来,目前下载量已突破1亿大关。为了扩大《愤怒的小鸟》现象的影响力,Rovio还推出了毛绒玩具等周边产品,而且还在商谈制作以该游戏为主题的电视/电影内容。

8.Emotiv Systems

该公司在脑波控制游戏领域取得了非凡的成就,在2009年发布了其首款商业产品EPOC耳机,支持用户将其插入USB接口,然后通过用户的脑波和面部表情,对一个专门设计的电脑应用程序施加操作影响。Emotiv最近还发布了一个EPOC应用商店,提供包括Cortex Arcade游戏在内的七种产品,支持用户通过脑波来操作游戏。

9.Scvngr

Scvngr将现实生活元素融入了游戏情境中,在Foursquare、Gowalla和Facebook Places功能的基础上创建了一个“签到”系统,这款手机应用为用户的现实活动提供了一系列挑战。例如,通过“害怕因素”这个活动,鼓励餐厅食客们从古怪的角度,将眼前的美食拍摄为一张看了让人失去食欲的照片。游戏邦获悉,这家获得谷歌支持的新兴公司于去年5月开张,目前已吸引了包括7-11、可口可乐、AT&T在内的1000多家企业客户,其iPhone和Android版本的下载量已超过100万次。

10.Nexon

这是唯一一家打入美国市场、擅长虚拟商品交易的亚洲游戏巨头公司。Nexon旗下的在线游戏《冒险岛》(游戏邦注:该游戏全球用户已超过9000万)以及《Combat Arms》的用户规模已经超过了《魔兽世界》。目前,Target、Blockbuster和沃尔玛等3万多家零售商,均有出售含该公司虚拟货币的游戏预付卡。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

The 10 Most Innovative Companies in Gaming

01 / Zynga >>

For dominating–and monetizing–the social-gaming industry. The largest social-games developer in the world touts hundreds of millions of monthly active users on FarmVille, Treasure Isle, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, and more. But what’s truly innovative is its all virtual-goods revenue model: By creating immersive, addicting games, Zynga has roped gamers into paying real money for make-believe “virtual” goods that let them move up in the games or to give their friends gifts. Although small, those numbers add up: Zynga is already profitable, and it’s valued at more than $7 billion.

02 / Apple >>

For developing the year’s most successful new gaming platform: the iPad. The tablet has not only sold more than 7 million units since its April debut (and will generate countless more with this month’s iPad2 launch), but also fostered all sorts of new mobile-gaming innovation: Doodle Jump, Angry Birds, Enigmo, etc. Apple also made a serious–and smart–move into social-gaming with September’s launch of Game Center, a mobile platform that gives multiple users the ability to play on the same app in real time.

03 / Microsoft >>

For developing the controller-free Kinect. Microsoft wowed with several creations in the past year–a better Bing, the Windows Phone 7–but we’re more impressed by what it destroyed: the relevancy

of remote controls. Using an assortment of sensors, its hands-free Kinect for Xbox 360 console, which launched in October, reads human voice commands, facial cues, and gestures in the real world (e.g., a punch), and then responds accordingly on-screen (e.g., a video-game knockout). To date, the gaming hit has sold more than 10 million units–more than enough to kick-start its transformation into a full-fledged entertainment platform. Among the forthcoming features: content from Netflux and Hulu Plus, as well as avatars-only virtual worlds for Microsoft’s 30 million Xbox Live subscribers.

04 / Valve

For creating Steam, a global digital distribution platform that’s quickly becoming iTunes of the gaming industry. Every day, more than six million global unique gamers access the Steam Web app to buy one or more of its 1,200-plus titles, which include computer and videogame blockbusters such as Valve’s own Half Life, Portal, and Left 4 Dead. Steam launched in 2006, but in the past year alone, it introduced support for Mac titles and grew its userbase to roughly 30 million accounts.

05 / Facebook >>

For developing the biggest social-gaming platform on the planet. Facebook’s 600 million-plus users have logged thousands of hours playing the likes of Zynga’s CityVille (93 million monthly active users) and Popcap’s Bejeweled Blitz (11 million monthly active users). With September’s launch of Facebook credits–effectively giving the network its own currency–the social-networking titan is also poised to drive the growth of the multibillion-dollar virtual-goods market.

06 / IBM >>

For its audacious move into serious games. In October, IBM released CityOne–dubbed by bloggers as “SimCity for the real world”–which is the most robust effort to date to solve real-world problems with a game. The free, interactive app targets business leaders, city planners, and government agencies, and touts more than 100 crisis scenarios that require the application of new technologies–most developed and sold by IBM, of course–to create more efficient water use, lessen traffic congestion, and develop alternative-energy sources. IBM’s serious-games initiative also extends to education: Students at more than 1,000 colleges and universities around the world tap another IBM sim called Innov8 to practice running virtual businesses.

07 / Rovio

For developing Angry Birds, which has easily been the year’s biggest mobile-gaming success story. Since its December 2009 debut, the app–which has users catapult birds to knock down assorted obstacles–has been downloaded more than 30 million times. To capitalize on its own phenomenon, Rovio is launching a line of plush toys, and execs are in talks about a TV/movie deal.

08 / Emotiv Systems

For pioneering the thought-controlled gaming genre. In December 2009, the company unveiled its first commercial product, the EPOC headset, which plugs into a USB port and makes it possible for specially designed computer apps to be influenced by the player’s mind and facial expressions. Emotiv recently launched an EPOC app store that now features 7 offerings, including a “Cortex Arcade” game that lets users control Pong paddles with their mind.

09 / Scvngr

For turning everyday life into a game. Building on the “check-in” system popularized by Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook Places, this mobile app offers an array of challenges emphasize real user activity. “Fear Factor,” for example, gives restaurant patrons points for photographing their food from an odd angle to make it look unappetizing. Since the Google-backed startup’s May launch, it has secured 1,000 corporate customers–including 7-11, Coca-Cola, and AT&T–and logged more than 1 million downloads of its iPhone and Android apps.

10 / Nexon

For being the only Asian virtual-goods giant to make inroads in the United States. The company’s online games, including Maple Story (more than 90 million players worldwide) and Combat Arms, are bigger than World of Warcraft. Today, more than 30,000 retailers–including Target, Blockbuster, and Walmart–sell prepaid cards with Nexon’s virtual currency. (source:fast company)


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