1）非盈利组织Common Sense Media最近发布的报告显示，51%年龄不超过8岁的美国儿童玩过掌机电子游戏，其中2至4岁的儿童占比44%，5至8岁的儿童占比44%。

这些儿童首次接触电子游戏的平均年龄是4岁，在5至8岁的儿童游戏玩家中，36%儿童每周至少玩一次游戏，17%至少每天玩一次游戏。

kids playing console game(from msnbc.msn.com)

2）据venturebeat报道，日前有消息透露移动广告盈利解决方案供应商Tapjoy正准备推出一个移动网站Tapjoy Games，支持用户在自己的手机上直接安装该应用，以便自己可通过下载多款应用赢取相关游戏的虚拟货币。

Tapjoy Games(from insidemobileapps)

有人认为Tapjoy此举是应对苹果限制App Store非自然下载量、奖励性广告服务的措施，但Tapjoy发言人否认了这种说法，并称早在苹果新政出台前，他们就已经在践行这个计划。

3）美国应用开发商Ludei日前利用其内部开发工具CocoonJS，同时向iOS、Android和HTML5平台推出了首款益智游戏《Sumon》。

该游戏的原生应用版已登陆苹果App Store、Android Market，HTML5版本则运行于Facebook平台，网页版本则在Chrome Web Store发布。

该公司表示，他们希望通过此举充分把握移动领域的发展机遇，覆盖更多用户。

4）据日本媒体Famitsu报道，Rockstar创意副总裁Dan Houser日前表示，他认为手机游戏领域目前的状况是数量压倒质量，盈利性才是开发商的关注重点（游戏邦注：该公司将向手机平台推出《侠盗猎车手3：十周年纪念版》）。

Grand-Theft-Auto-III-10th-Anniversary-Edition(from boothammer.com)

他称尽管开发商制作游戏是为了盈利，但他们希望与高质量的产品打交道，只重视盈利性的想法让他觉得很无趣，很令人沮丧。他呼吁人们用心做好游戏，不要一心向钱看。

除此之外，他还指出Rockstar的移动发展策略与掌机业务并非截然不同，换句话说，他们实际上并没有独立的移动发展策略，他们关注的重点是制作高质量的游戏，从来不会出于商业机遇的考虑而开发某款游戏。

5）据TouchGen报道，Capcom及旗下工作室Beeline Interactive推出的史努比iOS免费游戏《Snoopy’s Street Fair》将于11月17日发布。

该游戏设置与《蓝精灵村庄》颇为相似，但其画面风格几乎完整地延续了漫画家舒尔兹的风格，仿佛是舒尔兹本人亲自绘制了游戏美术内容。

Snoopy's Street Fair(from games)

这是一款带怀旧风格的管理题材游戏，其中还包括一些迷你小游戏。

6）手机游戏开发商Chroma Club近日宣布Android游戏《Zoo Club》已突破100万次下载量（游戏邦注：该游戏是eBook平台免费游戏《Chroma Club:The Zoo》的改制版本），并计划将这款游戏移植到iOS平台以及 Barnes & Noble的Android电子阅读器Nook。

Zoo Club(from market.android.com)

据称《Zoo Club》已成为Adnroid的头号动物园题材的免费游戏，支持玩家在其中管理自己的公园，体验一系列迷你游戏乐趣。（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）Study: Half Of American Children 8 And Under Have Played A Console Game

by Tom Curtis

More than half of American children 8 years old or less have played console video games, says a new report [PDF] from non-profit organization Common Sense Media.

According to the study, 51 percent of American children 8 and under have ever played a console video game at some point in their lives, including 44 percent of children 2 to 4 years old and 81 percent of children 5 to 8 years old.

The report points out that young children are also gaining access to mobile devices and computers at an early age, indicating that digital media is playing an increasingly prominent role in children’s lives.

Among the children that have played a console game, Common Sense Media says the average age of a child’s first exposure to games falls at just less than 4 years old.

In addition, among 5 to 8 year olds who have played games, 36 percent continue to play games at least once a week, and 17 percent play at least once per day. （source:gamasutra）

2）Tapjoy creates app marketplace, says Apple has nothing to do with it

Meghan Kelly

News leaked overnight that mobile ad monetization company Tapjoy is launching an application discovery marketplace on Tuesday.

“We didn’t intend for it to get discovered,” said a company spokesperson in an interview with VentureBeat, “Tapjoy realized in order to get really big, we needed direct relationships with consumers.”

Some argue this is a way for Tapjoy to circumvent Apple’s new ad policies. Prior to the shift, Tapjoy was paid by app developers to promote apps by offering virtual currency for downloads. It worked like this: You’re playing a mobile game, you see one of Tapjoy’s ads for another game, you download it, and you get virtual currency in the original game you were playing. But Apple put the kibosh on this when Tapjoy’s supported games climbed the App Store most popular charts, regardless of whether the increased downloads were from active players, and started grabbing even more downloads as a result.

But Tapjoy disagrees. “It is not [a way to circumvent Apple],” said Tapjoy’s spokesperson. “In fact, the wheels for this were put in motion long before Apple ever changed their policies.”

Tapjoy’s new web app, which can be found here, will take the form of a marketplace aimed at letting consumers directly interact with Tapjoy. Those who opt-in can connect their accounts to the App Store and start gaining virtual currency in games they already play.

For now, it’s too early to tell whether the degree of separation from the App Store will actually alienate some customers. Tapjoy, however, assures us this new venture is not in violation of Apple’s policies.

After the Tuesday launch, the company’s website will no longer be its business-to-business format, but a customer portal (shown right) for those wanting access to the web app. We’ll have more information after the launch.（source:venturebeat）

3）US developer Ludei demonstrates triple play, releasing new game on iOS, Android and HTML5

by Jon Jordan

There’s plenty of discussion over native apps versus web apps, but the obvious solution is to release everywhere and let the audience decide.

That’s the approach taken by US developer Ludei.

With experience on iOS and Android, it’s currently also hot for HTML5; targetting all platforms with its in-house CocoonJS tool.

Wherever you want

The first game to release the simultaneous treatment is its maths-meets-Tetris puzzler Sumon, which is now available natively on the Apple App Store and Android Market, while the HTML5 version is on Facebook, Chrome Web Store and via browser.

“Sumon is the first in a series of titles that is going to take advantage of bleeding edge innovation in mobile entertainment as we plan for a bigger footprint in the US and worldwide,” said Eneko Knorr, Ludei’s CEO.

“By launching on HTML5, iOS and Android, we’re able to bring Sumon to the largest possible audience, a sentiment that is often discussed but rarely executed, until now.”（source:pocketgamer）

4）Mobile games industry is ‘more focused on making money than making good products’ reckons Rockstar’s Dan Houser

by Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman

On the back of the announcement that Grand Theft Auto III 10th Anniversary Edition will be coming to mobiles, Rockstar looks to be taking the mobile gaming scene seriously, with the further revelation that the seminal sandbox title will be hitting a variety of devices, not just the powerhouse that is the iPhone 4S.

But according to Rockstar’s vice president of creativity Dan Houser, mobile gaming is guilty of flooding the games industry with quantity over quality, with money being too much of a focus.

A rich man’s world

“This is my personal opinion, but I think a lot of people in the general mobile industry are more focused on making money than making good products,” said Houser in an interview with Japan’s Famitsu.

“We’re a business, too – we have to think about how to build revenue and we value the knowledge you need for that, but we want to conduct business with superior products. Focusing on nothing but business is depressing to me; it’s boring.

“I want people to understand that we make games for more than just to make money,” he added.

Who needs strategy anyway?

Houser also went some way to outline the positive nature of Rockstar’s lack of a mobile strategy.

“Our mobile strategy is not at all different from our console strategy – in other words, we don’t have one,” he said.

“Our focus is purely on making games that we can be confident on the quality of. We’ve never made something because we felt it was a business opportunity or because we thought there was some niche in the marketplace we could fill.

“I don’t think mobile is going to swallow up video games, but it’s an important topic. The massive phenomenon we saw when portable game systems came out has already spread over the mobile market, but we’ve experienced successes and failures in portables in the past.”（source:pocketgamer）

5）The Peanut Gallery runs Snoopy’s Street Fair on iOS Nov. 17 [Video]

by Joe Osborne

We’re not usually the type to fawn over game trailers, but after hearing that lovely piano tune it’s hard not to. Capcom and Beeline Interactive’s Snoopy’s Street Fair is set to launch on the App Store for free Nov. 17, TouchGen reports. At first glance, the game looks a lot like Beeline’s Smurfs’ Village. And, in theory, it probably is. But what’s important here is the authenticity.

Seeing the game in motion looks like the strip come to life. (You know, aside from the TV specials.) Everything from the hand drawn graphics to the interface looks as if the venerable Mr. Schulz drew the artwork himself for the game. Players will help Chuck and the gang throw their own street fair, complete with attractions like Lucy’s Psychiatric Help and lemonade stands.

The game looks like just another property management underneath the layer of nostalgia, but Beeline has mixed things up with a slew of mini games. Players will get to roast marshmallows, mix watercolors and squeeze lemons for lemonade in unique, timed romps for the high score. It looks like the game will have a number of collectible draws as well.（source:games）

6）Chroma Club’s Zoo Club tops 1 million installs on Android Market

by Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman

Chroma Club has announced Zoo Club – the firm’s Android release based on the free eBook Chroma Club: The Zoo – has just passed 1 million installs on Google’s platform.

As a result, Chroma Club has revealed it’s looking to port versions of the app both to iOS, and Barnes & Noble’s Android-equipped Nook e-readers.

Zoo-niversal

Zoo Club pitches itself as the top free zoo release on the platform, offering players the opportunity to maintain their own park as well as take on a selection of mini-games.

The title is currently part of a daily Chroma Club competition, which gives away glow-in-the-dark bracelets to players who purchase a ticket in-game.

The app also offers additional features if users become a member of the Chroma Club, though the firm hasn’t released statistics detailing the number of members who have signed up to date. （source:pocketgamer）