1、在GameStop宣布收购数字销售平台Impulse不久之后，GamersGate首席执行官Theo Bergquist发表言论，认为Impulse只是有少数几款游戏的过时数字销售平台，他觉得GameStop此举不会获得任何收益。Stardock的老板Brad Wardell对此言论做出回应。Wardell认为Bergquist对技术上的批评毫无依据，因为Impulse和GamersGate分属不同类型。更令他感到惊奇的是，Bergquist竟然说GameStop做了笔赔本的买卖。他表示，Stardock去年收益增长超过3倍，Steam也同样带来巨大的利益。

吃豆人

2、澳大利亚网页游戏公司Soap Creative与微软和Namco Bandai合作，重新制作经典游戏《吃豆人》，这款全新的免费游戏将以HTML5为基础的网页体验、Facebook账户链接和用户自制关卡融为一体。尽管游戏的制作目的是为了促销微软拥有硬件加速的IE9，但它在任意支持HTML5的浏览器上均可流畅运行。HTML5的盛行似乎给Flash和Unity等网页游戏引擎带来挑战，上个月迪斯尼收购了HTML5游戏引擎制作者Rocket Pack。（游戏邦注：这些大公司的举动足以证明HTML5的强劲发展势头。）

3、前Rockstar Games高级开发者Martyn Bramall和Andrew Greensmith在英国开办咨询公司，声称将提供最新的外包开发服务。两人在游戏业都有十多年的工作经验，Greensmith自2004年4月起在Rockstar担任《荒野大镖客》和《侠盗猎车手》掌机版的首席程序员和代码管理员，Bramall作为首席设计师在Rockstar的资历与前者差不多。NFinite公司在其官方网站上表示将为工作室和发布商提供咨询服务，独立游戏开发将进入崭新时代。

4、微软昨日向开发者展示了除了控制Xbox 360的视频游戏外，如何用Kinect体感系统开发其他应用程序。在微软研究院及其游戏部门不懈努力下，支持Kinect的Windows软件开发元件(SDK)即将面世。希望将Kinect运用到PC上以开发出创意性体感应用程序的研究人员不断增加，该元件的研发目的正是基于此。这个SDK发布后，微软也将从Kinect技术不断增加的实验性和富有创意的开发者中获益。

Hello Kitty Online

5、继社交游戏公司为日本地震及海啸捐款之后，网游业界也有所表现，Sanrio Digital号召《Hello Kitty Online》玩家参与其称为“日本地震援助”的计划。游戏近期鼓励玩家收集特殊的道具并将其提交给GM，昨日公司表示根据玩家提供的道具数量以《Hello Kitty Online》的名义捐助6041美元。（游戏邦注：参与此活动的玩家在游戏中会收到一件漂亮的和服作为奖励。）（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

1. Shortly after GameStop announced that it purchased the Impulse digital platform from Stardock, IndustryGamers heard from GamersGate CEO Theo Bergquist who basically bashed Impulse as “nothing more than a few games and an outdated digital distribution platform.” Bergquist also suggested that GameStop paid next to nothing to get Impulse. Stardock boss Brad Wardell was taken aback by this.

“His criticism of our technology is kind of a ‘neener- neener’ thing. He runs a web store and there’s nothing wrong with that, but technologically Impulse and GamersGate are not the same sort of thing. But what surprised me the most was his comments about the revenue, suggesting that Impulse wasn’t that valuable,” Wardell continued.

“My assumption has been that all the digital distributors are making money hand over fist. I mean, we had increased our revenue by over 300% last year. Steam had done the same thing. I assumed that everyone was incredibly profitable at this… so it surprised me and made me wonder if maybe these profit margins are only relevant to digital distributors who are running actual platforms like Impulse or Steam, where the entire experience is provided. Steam and Impulse are essentially the App Store model whereas GamersGate is more like Direct2Drive. I would have assumed if GamersGate was getting bought that they would get tens of millions of dollars from it, even though we’re pretty sure we have a larger market share than they do. So it made me question if GamersGate is doing as well as I assumed they were…” (Source: Industry Gamers)

2. Arcade classic Pac-Man received a decidedly modern update today with a new, free-to-play version that incorporates HTML5-based web play, Facebook account linking and user-created levels.

Australian web game specialists Soap Creative worked together with Microsoft and Namco Bandai to create The World’s Biggest Pac-Man, unveiled today at Microsoft’s MIX11 developer conference.

Though the title was created as a promotion for Microsoft’s hardware-accelerated Internet Explorer 9, it runs perfectly well in any browser that supports HTML5, the developing web standard that allows for highly interactive sites.

The new open format is seen as a challenger to plug-ins like Flash and Unity, which currently power most web-based games. Disney acquired HTML5 game engine maker Rocket Pack last month, and mobile game portal MocoSpace recently distributed $1 million to three HTML5 developers as part of a contest. (Source: Gamasutra)

3. Martyn Bramall and Andrew Greensmith, both previously senior developers at Rockstar Games, have created their own consultancy firm in the UK offering “dynamic outsourced development services”.

The two developers each have more than ten years of experience working in the games industry, and Greensmith had been working at Rockstar since April 2004 as lead programmer and code manager on titles like Red Dead Redemption and the handheld Grand Theft Auto releases.

Bramall spend around the same amount of time at Rockstar as a lead designer also working on the portable Grand Theft Auto games. Prior to that, he was a designer at Argonaut Sheffield (Catwoman, Bionicle) and Particle Systems (Independence War).

Taking part in what it describes as “an exciting new age for independent developers”, NFinite says on its official site that it is offering development consultancy to studios and publishers. The company has yet to announce any current clients or games it is assisting. (Source: Gamasutra)

4. Microsoft showed developers today how they can exploit the Kinect motion sensor for applications that go beyond controlling video games for the Xbox 360.

The Kinect for Windows software development kit (SDK) will be released this spring when Microsoft Research and its game division finish work on it. The goal is to support a growing community of academic researchers and enthusiasts who want to take Kinect to the PC to launch creative new motion-sensing applications. If the SDK takes off, Microsoft can benefit from an experimental and innovative community growing up around the Kinect technology.

The SDK’s features include the ability to track body movements in a skeletal outline for one or two people moving within Kinect’s camera view. It also has advanced audio capabilities, allowing developers to take advantage of the four-microphone array with acoustic noise and echo cancellation for clear audio. It also has “beam formation” technology to identify a sound source and recognize what is being said. And it has an XYZ depth camera for detecting motion in a 3D space, measuring the distance of the object from the Kinect camera. (Source: Games Beat)

5. It’s been inspiring to see how many people have stepped up following the tragic Japanese earthquake and tsunami a month ago, including gamers and studios. Sanrio Digital rallied Hello Kitty Online players to the cause with its aptly named Japan Earthquake Aid project.

During a recent in-game event, players were encouraged to gather together special items and hand them in to a GM. Depending on the amount of items accrued over the event, Sanrio Digital promised to donate a variable amount of money to Project KIBOW, which helps fund Japan’s Civic Force, an organization that hands out supplies and food to those still struggling with this crisis.

Sanrio announced today that due to the players’ efforts, the company is handing in a check for $6,041 on behalf of Hello Kitty Online. Helpful players who passed a certain item donation threshold received a spiffy in-game Tokyo outfit as a thank-you from the company. (Source: Massively)