1）据Distimo和Newzoo最近联合发布的调查报告显示，游戏是苹果App Store中利润最可观、最受欢迎的应用产品，其数量在iOS平台的免费和付费榜单中均占据了半壁江山。

该报告还推测，美国及欧洲主要6个国家的用户平均每月下载应用程序2.5次。这项在今年3月份执行的调查还表明，6300万的调查对象每天下载游戏多达500万次，并估计约有6%至7%的美国、英国、法国、德国在线用户拥有一部iPhone，而西班牙、荷兰、比利时的iPhone用户比例约为3%至4%。在这些iPhone用户中，手机游戏玩家约占50%至75%。

报告还指出，内置付费功能是免费应用的主要吸金工具。在前300名iOS游戏中（游戏邦注：包括免费和付费游戏），约有88%的下载量来自采用内置付费功能的免费游戏，这些游戏所创造收益占据了五分之二。

从总体来看，iPhone和iPod Touch游戏的内置付费功能创造了40%的收益，而iPad平台的同一比例则是32%。

2）芬兰开发商Rovio日前宣布《愤怒的小鸟》突破2亿次下载量（游戏邦注：该游戏在3周之前已实现1.4亿次下载量，这些下载量包括手机版本、PC版本、Mac版本，以及《愤怒的小鸟节日版》、《愤怒的小鸟：里约》）。除此之外，该游戏最近发布的Chrome网页版本上线仅一周就收获了600多万粉丝。

3）据techCrunch报道，手机游戏发行商ngmoco日前收购了荷兰工作室Rough Cookie，但并未公布具体交易金额。Rough Cookie过去曾开发了由ngmoco发行的手机游戏《Star Defense》，该工作室仅是一个10名成员的小团队，所以收购价格应该不会是一笔大数目，据称该工作室目前正致力于为DeNA-ngmoco的全球手机社交平台Mobage开发游戏。

4）休闲游戏公司SPIL Games首席执行官Peter Driessen在最近的媒体采访表示，他看好基于手机浏览器游戏的发展前景。他认为虽然HTML5还只是一项新兴技术，但目前已经受到极大的关注，SPIL植入Facebook功能，并结合自己的社交层，为用户提供虚拟形象、积分排行榜、游戏评价和云存储等服务，支持玩家在不同设备上体验游戏。

该公司目前共有1.3亿左右的月活跃用户，其中多数为女性玩家，但暂时无法通过手机设备访问SPIL的游戏门户网站。Driessen称虽然手机用户仅占其玩家总数的一小部分，但他相信随着HTML5技术发展的日趋成熟，这种情况将会得到极大的改善，他认为在今后两三年内，基于网页的游戏体验将超越游戏应用程序。

5）Particle Code日前推出其跨平台SDK测试版本，支持开发者使用Java、C#和ActionScript3等编程语言创建可跨平台运行的应用程序。其开发平台基于Eclipse IDE，植入了一个WYSIWYG编辑器，等容线和物理引擎，后台和转化技术。这个SDK支持HTML5技术，同时也支持创建原版应用程序。这个SDK在测试阶段向开发者免费开放服务，而现在注册使用该工具的开发者日后则可享受90%的使用费优惠折扣。

6）据Parks Associates最新报告显示，2010年全球智能手机出货量上升了70%，用户总数约达5亿人。预测智能手机销量将增长175%，2015年全球智能手机用户将达20亿，双摄像头、视频聊天功能以及应用程序是刺激智能手机用户快速增长的重要原因。

7）微软近日宣布将从5月25日起进行为期6周的Windows Phone 7手机游戏（Must Have Games，《愤怒的小鸟》和《涂鸦跳跃》等热门游戏也在此列）推广活动。第一天推广的是《Hydro Thunder Go》，《涂鸦跳跃》将在6月1日接班，随后分别是《geoDefense》（6月8日），《Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1》（6月15日），《植物大战僵尸》（6月22日），最后才是《愤怒的小鸟》（6月29日）。

微软还将发布WP7的最新版本Mango，该版本将植入多任务处理功能、新版IE浏览器以及与Twitter的深度绑定等功能。

8）据尼尔森调查结果显示，4.8%的美国用户在今年第一季度末购买了平板电脑。而今年第一季度末其他移动设备在美国市场的普及率分别是：8.2%用户拥有一台上网本，9%用户拥有电子阅读器，13%用户拥有媒体播放器，36%用户拥有智能手机。

该调查还指出，平板电脑用户更经常观看视频和阅读电子书内容，更不排斥广告，比起其他移动设备的用户，他们更容易因广告而产生消费冲动。另一项有趣的调查结果是，70%的美国用户边看电视边使用平板电脑。

9）日本游戏发行商Capcom宣布将于6月份在日本发布玄幻RPG游戏系列《Monster Hunter》的iPhone版本。该手机游戏名称是《Monster Hunter: Dynamic Hunting》，仅采用触摸屏控制系统，玩家将以第三人称视角，通过手指点触和划动来采取攻击、躲避和防御行动。

10）手机应用盈利解决方案平台Adknowledge日前与Ansca Mobile（游戏邦注：它是一款游戏开发引擎，支持不熟悉编程知识的业余开发者快速创建游戏）合作，将两者的平台整合在一起，帮助手机应用开发者方便快捷地创建iOS和Android应用，并顺利实现收益。

Ansca的用户即日起可下载绑定了Corona的软件开发工具包（目前使用Corona服务的应用程序下载量已超过1300万次），而采用了Ansca的Corona开发工具的游戏开发者还可以植入Adknowledge的创收系统，使用包括Super Rewards等奖励下载推广服务（游戏邦注：该服务竞争对手包括Tapjoy）

11）据All Things Digital报道，索爱Xperia Play手机（又名PlayStation Phone）将于5月26日通过威瑞森渠道发布，这款采用了Android操作系统，结合了智能手机游戏功能的产品售价为199美元。该设备预装了7款游戏，其中包括《Madden 11》、《模拟人生3》、《Crash Bandicoot》等。Xperia Play手机没有传统的键盘功能，但采用了PlayStation控制器和触屏双摇杆功能。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）63 million iOS gamers in US and Europe clocking up 5 million downloads a day

by Keith Andrew

The first fruits of a new data sharing partnership, Distimo and market research firm Newzoo have published a report that adds weight to the App Store’s status as the most lucrative marketplace for games.

The report published by the two firms unsurprisingly concludes that games are the most popular brand of apps on iOS, accounting for both half of all paid and free titles.

More interestingly, however, the report deduces that the monthly average download rate across the US and the six major European territories is 2.5 per user.

Game for games

Based on stats taken in March, Distimo and Newzoo claim that a total of 63 million users download 5 million games a day.

The two parties estimates that between six and seven percent of the online population  in the US, UK, France and Germany own an iPhone, while in Spain, Netherlands and Belgium it’s three to four percent.

The share of iPhone owners who play games comes in between 50 and 75 percent.

In-app aptitude

The report also claims that in-app purchases are becoming an essential monetisation tool for studios delivering free releases.

“Offering gamers the opportunity to spend money in-game is becoming a must-have feature for game developers,” the report states.

“While some 88 percent of downloaded top 300 iOS games are now offered for free, in-game purchases – within both free and paid games – generated approximately two-fifth of total revenues.”

In total, in-game spending on free games grosses 40 percent of total revenues on iPhone and iPod touch games, and 32 percent on iPad releases.（source:pocketgamer）

2）Angry Birds series surpasses 200 million downloads

by Keith Andrew

Three weeks to the day since Rovio detailed Angry Birds’ last milestone – a mere 140 million copies downloaded globally – the developer has announced that the game’s total now sits at over 200 million.

The figure includes downloads of the main game across mobile, PC and Mac, as well as additional releases Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio.

Rovio also claimed that the newly released Chrome web version has amassed more than 6 million fans in its first week online.（source:pocketgamer）

3）Ngmoco buys longterm development partner Rough Cookie

by Jon Jordan

Last week’s DeNA-ngmoco’s lost in translation situation has been thrown into sharp relief with the news the US publisher has just acquired Dutch cross-platform mobile studio Rough Cookie.

TechCrunch says the deal was an all-cash affair, but doesn’t give a value.

However, the developer – best known for its ngmoco published Star Defense, is a small team of around 10 individuals, so don’t expect big bucks.

Dealing with munchies

Over the years, Rough Cookie helped out, providing additional resources for many ngmoco games such as Touch Pets, Godfinger, Epic Pet Wars and porting the Android versions of We Farm and We City.

It’s now said to be working on games for the DeNA-ngmoco Mobage global social mobile platform.（source:pocketgamer）

4）SPIL Games’ Peter Driessen says it’s already seeing great traction for mobile HTML5 gaming

by Jon Jordan

It’s been running HTML5-based mobile game making competitions for the past 10 months, so it’s no surprise social gaming giant SPIL Games is a keen proponent of the emerging web standard.

On the back of encouraging developers, as well as making content available on the mobile versions of its websites, such as games.co.uk, girlsgogames.com and jeux.fr, CEO Peter Driessen says it’s very positive about the future of mobile browser games.

“It’s early days but we’re already seeing great traction on HTML5,” says Driessen.

“The technology means we can’t provide deep gameplay at the moment, but what’s important is we can offer games in a social environment, so players can see what their friends are playing.”

As well as Facebook integration, SPIL enables this with its own social layer, offering profile, avatars, leaderboards, game ratings, and cloud-based saves so you can play your games on different devices.

It’s the future

Of course, the vast majority of SPIL’s 130 million monthly active users – generally girls and mums – aren’t yet accessing its gaming portals via mobile.

Driessen says its current mobile user base is only a couple of percent of its overall total. But as the technology matures, adding better audio features and enabling more complex content to be played, he expects this to change quickly.

SPIL will be pushing for change as it rolls out its own promotional campaign for its mobile gaming sites.

Driessen also points out that as Facebook evolves its mobile strategy over to HTML5 during 2011, this will force developers, publishers and tools companies to adopt the technology as a standard.

“Maybe in three years, we won’t even talk about mobile in this context,” he says. “I think that in two to three years, we’ll see browser-based games overtaking apps.” （source:pocketgamer）

5）Particle Code launches multi-platform SDK beta for native and HTML5 app development

by Keith Andrew

It’s hard to argue with the reasoning behind the launch of Particle Code’s SDK beta.

Developers looking to launch titles on multiple platforms simultaneously are faced with the prospect of working on several versions at once, each one accommodating the various nuances of the operating systems and hardware at hand.

Particle Code is by no means alone in looking to serve up some sort of fix, but the firm’s free public beta – which supports programming languages included Java, C# and ActionScript3 – is designed to deliver both simplicity, and a powerful level of performance.

One for all

The firm’s platform is built on top of the Eclipse IDE and comes equipped with a WYSIWYG editor, isometric and physics engines, backend and translation technologies.

But, like many cross-platform tools, it’s the SDK’s support for HTML5 that Particle Code is keen to push forward.

While the SDK beta supports the development of native apps, the platform’s strength in delivering HTML5 apps is its focus, given the standard allows it to hit multiple platforms at the same time.

HTML5 hype

“We are excited about the future of HTML5 and wanted to create a flexible environment that would allow mobile developers to harness the best of what both native and web applications have to offer,” said CEO Galia Benartzi.

“We set out to provide a holistic solution that would enable developers to achieve the same cross-platform benefits that HTML5 promises tomorrow but with the power that truly native applications deliver today.

“And while other cross-platform tools limit support to scripting languages, Particle brings millions of Java, and other programmers back into the mobile app arena.”

Currently free to download from the firm’s website, Particle Code claims the SDK will be available without charge throughout its beta period, with those that sign up now receiving 90 percent off future costs moving forward.（source:pocketgamer）

6）Two billion people to own a smartphone by 2015

by Tim Green

That’s around 30 per cent of the world being really productive/playing Angry Birds.

Parks Associates reports that smartphone shipments jumped 70 per cent in 2010 to approximately 500 million users.

It says unit sales will increase by over 175 per cent from 2010, and adds that features such as dual-facing camera-supported video chat and apps will fuel the growth.

“Smartphones represent a new lifestyle,” said Harry Wang, director of mobile research at Parks Associates.

“Consumer desire for that lifestyle has accelerated the traditional mobile phone replacement cycle and will drive near-term hypergrowth of the smartphone market.”（source:mobile-ent）

7）Microsoft confirms 25 May as start for Must Have Games WP7 promotion

by Stuart Dredge

But Windows Phone 7 users will have to wait until the end of June to get their thumbs on Angry Birds.

Microsoft has announced the rollout plans for its Must Have Games initiative for Windows Phone 7, including the release dates for the ports of Angry Birds and Doodle Jump.

The scheme was announced earlier this year, and will see six games given a major promotion over six weeks, starting on 25 May with the release of Hydro Thunder Go.

Doodle Jump will follow on 1 June, then geoDefense (8 June), Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 (15 June), Plants vs Zombies (22 June) and finally Angry Birds on 29 June.

Microsoft has pushed Windows Phone as a big platform for games since its launch, with the Xbox Live community a key part of its smartphone platform. The Must Have Games promotion is designed to build on that.

The company is also preparing for the release of the ‘Mango’ update for Windows Phone 7, which will introduce featuers such as multi-tasking, a new version of the Internet Explorer browser, and deeper integration of Twitter.（source:mobile-ent）

8）Nearly five per cent of US consumers own a tablet says Nielsen

by Stuart Dredge

Latest survey also finds that 70 per cent of tablet owners use their devices while watching TV.

How fast are tablets catching on in the US? Stats revealed today at the PaidContent Mobile conference in New York by Nielsen suggested that 4.8% of US consumers had bought one by the end of Q1 this year.

The company compared that to other devices’ penetration in the US in Q1: 8.2% of consumers owned a netbook, 9% owned an e-reader, 13% owned a media player, and 36% owned a smartphone.

Nielsen also claimed that tablet owners watch more video and read books, are happier to see advertising, and are more likely to make a purchase after viewing an ad than owners of the other devices.

One intriguing stat: 70% of US tablet owners use the device while watching TV. That’s why broadcasters and producers are so excited about so-called ‘second-screen’ interaction, whether through social media services like Facebook and Twitter, or through their own apps.（source:mobile-ent）

9）Capcom Bringing Monster Hunter Spin-off To Japanese iPhone In June

by Kyle Orland

Capcom Bringing Monster Hunter Spin-off To Japanese iPhone In June

Capcom’s best-selling fantasy action RPG series Monster Hunter will be making the leap to the iPhone in Japan this June with spin-off title Monster Hunter: Dynamic Hunting.

As reported by Japanese gaming news site Andriasang, the new title focuses exclusively on touchscreen-controlled battles with familiar monsters from the series.

Players will use series of taps and swipes to attack, evade, defend and use items from a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective, as shown in a short video demo posted by Famitsu.（source:gamasutra）

10）Adknowledge and Ansca Mobile cater to mobile game makers

Dean Takahashi

Adknowledge and Ansca Mobile have teamed up to help mobile game developers make money with their apps.

Adknowledge is a long-tail ad network, with monetization platforms for games and other apps. Ansca Mobile is a game engine that allows developers to create games without knowing much programming.

By combining their platforms, the two companies will make it a lot easier for app makers to monetize their mobile apps on the iOS (iPhone etc.) and Android mobile platforms.

The two companies say that mobile developers will be able to significantly cut the time it takes to develop apps and deploy them across multiple platforms. Ansca users can download the integrated Corona software development kit now. Apps that use Corona have been downloaded more than 13 million times.

In a game that uses Ansca’s Corona tools, game developers will be able to insert Adknowledge’s monetization system, which includes special ads known as offers via Adknowledge’s Super Rewards. Rivals include mobile monetization firms such as Tapjoy.（source:venturebeat）

11）Sony PlayStation Phone gets its game on with Verizon this month

by Joe Osborne

Wait, so is this the NGP or the Sony PlayStation tablet? It’s neither? The amount of devices with the PlayStation name these days has become mind boggling, and to add to the confusion is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. Otherwise known as the PlayStation Phone, All Things Digital reports that this PSP Go look-alike is set to launch with Verizon this month. The Android-based, smartphone-gaming handheld hybrid will land on May 26 for $199 with a two-year contract.

If you’re interested in playing Sony games on yet another device, Verizon will begin to take pre-orders Thursday. Thankfully, you won’t need to buy games immediately along with that $200 price tag, as the Xperia Play comes loaded with seven games. And they’re not your average games of Snake and Solitaire. Right out of the box, you’ll have access to Madden 11, The Sims 3, Crash Bandicoot and more.

While the phones features a 4-inch touchscreen, playing games won’t be much different from your standard PlayStation games. The phone slides to reveal not a QWERTY keyboard, but a full PlayStation controller complete with touch-sensitive joysticks. And thanks to a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, the Xperia Play should be able to handle much more than Bejeweled. （source:games）