1）Facebook日前终于在苹果App Store发布其原生版iPad应用，并称其手机应用、iPad应用都将引进Zynga游戏（包括《FarmVille Express》、《Texas HoldEm Poker》、《Words with Friends》）、Wooga游戏（《Magic Land:Island》）、Moblyng游戏（《Social Poker Live》、《Word Racer Live》）以及Storm 8游戏（《World War》、《iMobsters》、《Vampires Live》），这些游戏还支持以移动网页版本的形式运行。

Magic Land Island(from insidesocialgames)

2）PopCap高管Giordano Bruno Contestabile在日前的GDC Online大会发言表示，他看好iOS和Andorid手机平台，并称Android发展更为迅速，预计到2012年底Android将收获6亿至7亿的移动用户。

PopCap-games-logo(from razorianfly.com)

他认为尽管Android存在平台分裂性问题，但Android并非Java的翻版，虽然该平台的ARPU值现在仅是iOS的20%左右，但到2012年可能达到后者一半的水准。

他同时还指出，尽管免费模式备受推崇，但高质量的付费游戏仍然会有市场，并称游戏趣味性最为关键，当前的小型开发商总是过于重视向多个平台发布游戏，却总是忽略了产品本身的游戏体验。

3）英国开发商Hogrocket首款游戏《Tiny Invaders》初次登陆App Store就获得了苹果推荐，收获大量积极反馈，其玩法和美术风格都极具新意。

Tiny-Invaders(from insidemobileapps)

玩家在游戏中需控制一支微小的外星入侵大军，但每次只能引导其中一个外来生物入侵地球，让它们穿过血管收集小球。点击这些生物可以加快它们的速度，系如果玩家在每个关卡都获得三颗星，就会获得高分，但如果耗时过长则无法获得任何一颗星。

有些关卡拥有一些特殊的小球（有些可产出更多入侵者），玩家需事先制定好策略以便快速闯关。该游戏支持Game Center功能，目前售价为3.99美元。

4）comScore最新数据显示，6.8%的美国网络流量来自“非电脑”设备（游戏邦注：包括智能手机、平板电脑），上一季度的同一比例则是6.2%。

share of non-computer traffic(from comScore)

在这些非电脑设备中，手机所占流量最大，比例达4.4%，平板电脑则是1.9%，其他非电脑设备占0.5%的流量。

读写网曾报道，2015年全球移动数据流量将增加26倍，达到每年75艾字节，相当于190亿份DVD的容量，也就是2000年所有互联网流量的75倍。

5）Localytics从今年1月至7月搜集的数据表明，支持Facebook分享功能的手机应用数量超过含有其他社交网络功能的应用。

sharing(from socialtimes)

20%的手机应用支持社交网络分享功能，其中有10%仅支持Facebook功能，只有1%的应用仅支持Twitter功能，还有9%同时支持Facebook和Twitter功能。

虽然所有Facebook用户产生的分享行为是Twitter用户的两倍，但平均每名Twitter用户分享的次数是Facebook用户的三倍。

观察者认为，如果应用开发者希望让应用被更多用户所分享，最好同时绑定Facebook和Twitter功能。

6）Appy Entertainment执行制作人Steven Sargent在日前的GDC online的智能手机及平板电脑游戏峰会上分享了公司将iOS游戏移植到Android平台的过程，并指出除了内存和压缩文件这个问题之外，Androind平台分裂性以及游戏与各个型号手机的兼容性也很让人伤神，他们去年颇费了一番周折才让《FaceFighter Gold》的Android版本达到了与iOS版本同样理想的运行效果。

facefighter-gold(from theappera.com)

但最大的问题还在于Android付费游戏难以盈利，Adnroid平台的盗版率是70：1，而iOS平台的同一比例则是3：1，因此Appy再也没有向Android平台发布产品。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Facebook Games Come To iPad, Mobile Devices

by Frank Cifaldi

Social network leader Facebook launched a number of new mobile initiatives on Monday, finally releasing a native iPad app and starting a mobile gaming initiative with major players.

The native iPad app is scheduled to be live on Apple’s App Store sometime Monday, and features an all-new, tablet-friendly interface that encourages gestures such as pinching and swiping to interact with Facebook’s content.

According to the company, HTML5-based games from Zynga (FarmVille Express, Texas HoldEm Poker, Words with Friends), Wooga (Magic Land: Island), Moblyng (Social Poker Live, Word Racer Live) and Storm 8 (World War, iMobsters, Vampires Live) will be available both through its native mobile and iPad apps — as well as for mobile browsers — in the coming days.

The company also said that Electronic Arts would debut a mobile-ready game, though a specific title was not available, and Facebook was unable to respond to our request for clarification at press time.（source:gamasutra）

2）GDC Online 11: PopCap’s Contestabile says Android ARPU could rise from 20% of iOS to 50% by end of 2012

by Jon Jordan

Combining PopCap, an evaluation of iOS vs Android, and the man with the coolest name in mobile gaming – Giordano Bruno Contestabile – and you have all the ingredients for a successful GDC Online talk.

And so it was with PopCap’s senior director of mobile speaking at the Smartphone & Tablet Gaming Summit.

“There are four mega-trends shaping gaming,” Contestabile argued.

“Games are becoming mobile, social, connected and cross-platform, and mobile is the key enabler of the other three trends.”

More importantly, he said, “Mobile gaming is probably the fastest growing part of the gaming industry at the moment”.

Two to rule them all

One major reason for this is growth of smartphone; what Contestabile called, ‘the iOS-Android duolopy. (He’s not yet sold on the comparative future growth of Windows Phone.)

At the moment, there are roughly 250 million devices of each platform, but Android is growing faster.

“Android could be a 600 – 700 million subscriber market by the end of the 2012. You can’t ignore it,” he argued.

Of course, there are problems, such as fragmentation, but Contestabile said while you need to be careful, realistically there are only three screen resolutions you have to deal with to cover the majority of Android devices.

“Android is not a new version of Java,” he stated, with respect to the porting process.

It’s different, however, when it comes to monetisation.

“ARPU on Android is currently about 20 percent of iOS, but that could be 50 percent by the end of 2012,” Contestabile said.

“My personal view is Android will remain an open market but it become a bit more restrictive, which will make it easier for us to sell games.”

Don’t have to be free

He also argued that amidst the hype for freemium games, there was still a strong case for premium titles i.e. games that require an upfront payment.

“Premium games need a strong brand, a clear audience or – like Tiny Wings – rely on luck, but who wants to build a business on a one in a million chance?” he said.

But either freemium, paid, paidium… being successful in the smartphone era, you need for focus on your game, Contestabile said.

“At PopCap, we are not process or data-driven, we are game-driven,” he said.

And this relates to what developers focus on.

“The first minute is crucial. If you can provide a moment of pure joy, you’ve won 90 percent of the battle,” he said.

Instead, Contestabile said too often, small developers talk more about their plans for iOS, Android and Windows Phone than the actual game experience. （source:pocketgamer）

3）Tiny Invaders Lands on iOS, Gets iPhone 4S Announcement Bump

By Randy Nelson

British developer Hogrocket, founded by staff members from the now-defunct Geometry Wars studio Bizarre Creations, must be pretty pleased with Apple’s iPhone 4S announcement. That’s not because the game is specially optimized for Apple’s new phone. Instead, it’s because Apple featured Tiny Invaders, the company’s first game, during its reveal of the device.

This comes on the heels of Hogrocket making Tiny Invaders free on the App Store. The game is already getting a widely positive response from reviewers, and for good reason. Its gameplay is fresh and its visual style even more so.

In the game, players control an army of tiny aliens who are invading the earth one person at a time on a microscopic level. The creatures must travel through blood vessels collecting orbs, with players able to re-route pathways in order to get them where they need to go. Tapping the invaders speeds them up, which is essential since the player’s score is based on earning three stars per level and, if they take too long, these stars are lost.

Some levels incorporate special orbs, such as those that produce more invaders when collected. So players need to plan their strategy around grabbing certain orbs first in order to complete the level as quickly as possible. Game Center leaderboards are included so that players can compare their best times against their friends’ scores and the world.

Hogrocket hasn’t said how long it will be offering Tiny Invaders for free, but the title seemed to be reviewing and selling well even when it was retailing for $3.99.（source:insidemobileapps）

4）Report: 7% of U.S. Web Traffic From Handheld Devices

By Jon Mitchell

According to new data from comScore, 6.8% of Web traffic in the U.S. comes from “non-computer” devices such as smartphones and tablets. This is an increase from 6.2% in the previous quarter.

Phones account for the majority of non-computer traffic. Mobile devices drive 4.4% of total digital traffic, tablets contribute 1.9%, and other non-computer devices send 0.5% of traffic.

The comScore data come from a recent report entitled Digital Omnivores: How Tablets, Smartphones and Connected Devices are Changing U.S. Digital Media Consumption Habits. The white paper is available for free (with registration) from comScore’s website.

We reported earlier this year that worldwide mobile data traffic is expected to increase 26-fold to 75 exabytes per year (!) by 2015. That’s 19 billion DVDs, just to give you a sense. To put it another way, that’s 75 times the size of the entire Internet in the year 2000. The mobile revolution is underway, and it behooves those who make Web content to get onboard.（source:readwriteweb）

5）Mobile App Sharing Most Active Amongst Twitter Users

By Frank McPherson

It seems as though lately every app that I test includes some form of social network integration. According to a Gigom article, which cites data from Localytics, more apps support sharing with Facebook than other social networks, but Twitter users more actively share by a factor of 3 to 1.

According to data gathered from January to July, 2011, 20 percent of all mobile apps have the ability to share with social networks. Ten percent of those apps only share with Facebook, and only one percent of apps just share with Twitter. Nine percent share with both Facebook and Twitter.

While overall Facebook users generate twice as many sharing events as Twitter users, on average each Twitter user shares three times more events than Facebook users. I am personally not sure about the significance of the per user averages.

What I conclude from this information is that social network integration is now expected in mobile apps. If a developer has to pick only one social network to support, they probably want to pick Facebook over Twitter unless they are seeking to increase sharing per user. Ideally, mobile apps should integrate with both Facebook and Twitter.（source:socialtimes）

6）GDC Online 11: Android’s piracy and compatibility issues mean it’s not a viable platform for us says Appy’s Sargent

by Jon Jordan

Android is the rising mobile gaming platform, but that doesn’t mean that developers enjoy making games for the device.

One such detailed, if depressing, example came from Steven Sargent, executive producer of Appy Entertainment, who spoke about taking its FaceFighter Gold game from iPhone to Android at the Smartphone & Tablet Gaming Summit.

“We’re a very Apple friendly company. We hadn’t even seen an Android phone before we started the porting process,” Sargent said, as a precursor to his talk.

The process was started on 21 September 2010, using an external company – Flying Wisdom – for the core port. Submission was planned for 26 October, but it wasn’t submitted until 5am on 22 December.

“Prior to development, we were moderately concerned about compatibility,” Sargent explained, straight-faced.

Pain, no gain

It took a week just to get the code working, with initial changes included UI tweak due to screen resolutions, installation options (SD or device), and some database changes.

More serious were issues around memory and compression.

“We had around half the memory compared to iOS, but we didn’t know there wasn’t unified compression across Android devices,” Sargent explained.

“We had to brute force textures to 25 percent just to get the game to run, although this wasn’t an option for the final release.”

Other tweaks made included dumping the UI screen from RAM, loading one opponent’s face at a time, and hack the process of getting a photo from the device camera into the game, as this could crash the game on certain devices.

Audio was also a massive problem.

“The audio was very buggy, and we couldn’t work out how to fix it, so we didn’t,” Sargent said.

And just as the company was getting to grips with the process; “Android 2.3 came out and broke everything”.

Broken, stolen

When the game was finally released, the first compatibility complaint was submitted a couple of hours later, with most issues involving the camera and texture compression. Appy has updated the game several times since.

“There are too many devices for a company of our size to deal with the compatibility on Android,” Sargent said. “Compatibility was a real nightmare.”

Still, when it works, the game’s core performance is as good or better than iOS

Yet, the biggest issue was the lack of commercial success for the paid title.

“The piracy rate on Android was 70:1 compared to 3:1 on iOS,” Sargent revealed. “That’s crippling.”

The end result is Appy hasn’t since released another game for Android, although noting that the development process is now easier in some areas, while piracy wouldn’t be such an issue if you were releasing a free or freemium games. （source:pocketgamer）