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每日观察:关注谷歌或强制推行Google Wallet(3.13)

发布时间:2012-03-13 10:30:06 Tags:,,

1)尼尔森最新调查数据显示,在2011年至2012年之间,用户在手机游戏中投入的时间在所有平台的游戏时间中占比7%。

66%拥有6至12岁儿童,并且拥有一部任天堂DS或索尼PSP的美国家庭,同时也拥有一部iOS设备。

半数以上美国家庭至少拥有一部游戏掌机,2012年的这一比例达到56%,超过2011年的50%。

cross-platform-games(from nielsen)

cross-platform-games(from nielsen)

从掌机、电脑、手机/平板电脑这三类游戏设备的持有率来看,2011年至少拥有一部游戏设备的美国家庭达58%,至少拥有两部设备的家庭占比24%,三者兼具的家庭占6%。

2)据The Next Web报道,苹果发言人最近表示,尽管苹果上周发布的新款iPad在3月16日才会正式发售,但该设备已经出现供不应求的情况,不少预订用户可能需延期3周才能拿到新款iPad。

美国新款iPad网上发售日期将从3月16日推迟至3月19日,而英国、加拿大市场发货将延时“2到3周”,但零售iPad仍将于3月16日发售。

3)Unity最近宣布其游戏开发平台目前终身用户已将近100万,超过2011年11月份时公布的75万。该公司在18个月内的月活跃用户从6万增长至22万。手机游戏开发者为公司业务发展创造了一半以上的贡献。

Dead zone(from insidemobileapps)

Dead zone(from insidemobileapps)

据其首席执行官David Helgason所称,公司总收益同比上年增长130%,美国是Unity最大的市场,但亚洲市场业务在去年增幅高达270%。Unity原先是独立开发者等小型团队的选择,但现在也被大型公司广为采纳。据称在Inside Mobile Apps所评价的GDC大会展示游戏中,有三分之二游戏由Unity开发而成。

4)据Digitimes报道,有知情者透露,诺基亚可能将于今年第四季度推出Windows 8平板电脑,该设备采用10英寸屏幕,双核处理器,预计首批发货量将超过20万部。

nokia-windows-8-qualcomm-tablet(from bandwidthblog.com)

nokia-windows-8-qualcomm-tablet(from bandwidthblog.com)

观察者认为,如果诺基亚也想加入挑战iPad的行列,就必须提供像Kindle Fire和Nook平板电脑一样极具竞争力的价格(游戏邦注:Kindle Fire售价199美元,而iPad售价达400美元)。

5)据gamasutra报道,微软最近正与云技术服务供应商OnLive商谈向平板电脑推出基于云服务的Windows 7版本。

onlive-OnLive(from dailyiphoneblog.com)

onlive-OnLive(from dailyiphoneblog.com)

OnLive已在1月份推向iPad推出自己的Windows桌面应用,支持平板电脑用户访问基于云的Windows 7等微软产品,但当时有分析师质疑这种应用违反了微软授权原则。不过微软副总裁Joe Matz近日表示,公司正与OnLive积极合作解决了授权问题。

6)据techcrunch报道,管理谷歌Android平台4年之久的Eric Chu将转向公司“其他岗位”,并由数字内容主管Jamie Rosenberg接替其职位,后者仍将保持其头衔,将负责监管统一了音乐及eBook等服务的谷歌游戏平台。

7)据路透社报道,谷歌或将向Android游戏及应用开发者施压,迫使后者采用Google Wallet而非PayPal、Boku和Zong等第三方支付服务。不过谷歌至今未确认这一情况。

google-wallet-logo(from droid-life)

google-wallet-logo(from droid-life)

谷歌将在Android Market(游戏邦注:现已更名为Google Play)中推行Google Wallet,据称已有开发者在去年8月份就收到谷歌通知,该公司声称使用第三方支付服务违反了谷歌平台政策和条款。

很显然,Google Wallet将使Android游戏销售和开发等流程更为统一,而谷歌也有可能像App Store或Facebook一样从每笔交易中抽成30%。有观察者称此举有助于谷歌减少Android平台分裂性问题。

8)手机游戏公司Appy Entertainment品牌经理Paul O’Connor日前透露,《Trucks and Skulls》从0.99美元售价转向免费增值模式后,游戏收益增长了150%,游戏装载量也从原来的35万次增长至150万次。

trucks_and_skulls(from slidetoplay.com)

trucks_and_skulls(from slidetoplay.com)

他还分享了开发者转换盈利模式需注意的几个要点:

*采用免费增值模式必须以增强游戏体验为前提。不要迫使玩家付费使用原来存在的功能。之前免费的内容,之后还是免费。

*不要忘记添加一次性使用的易消耗品。

*更换原有应用要以维持用户基础为前提。

*在游戏玩法中添加免费赠品,保持游戏目标和机制的一致性。

*不吝于奖励免费道具,这样方可避免原玩家对转换盈利模式后的游戏大感失望。

AngryBirds_Space_Menu(from nasa.gov)

AngryBirds_Space_Menu(from nasa.gov)

9)芬兰开发商首席营销官Peter Vesterbacka最近表示,《Angry Birds Space》将于3月22日登陆iOS和Android平台,并称下载量已超过7亿次的《愤怒的小鸟》系列不久还将在3DS平台亮相,预计将来还可能推出PS Vita版本。(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)Mobile gaming drives seven per cent rise in total gameplay

by Zen Terrelonge

Two-thirds of children with a handheld games console also own an iOS device.

New research from Nielsen shows the power of the mobile gaming platform, claiming it boosted total gaming time by seven per cent between 2011 and 2012.

This is reflected in the rise in ownership of mobile devices for gaming. The data says 66 per cent of American households with children aged six to 12 that own a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP also own an iOS device.

However, gaming on the whole is also growing with more than half of US homes in possession of at least one games console, reaching 56 per cent in January 2012, up from 50 per cent last year.

* Are you interested in how games development is being addressed by cross-platform tools? Check out our ‘cross platform development’ month in April. For more info, click here.(source:mobile-ent

2)Apple pushes back new iPad shipment dates — Apple has pushed back the shipment date for the new iPad from Mar. 16 to Mar. 19 in the US and delayed UK and Canadian shipping estimates to “2 to 3 weeks”.  While this likely indicates Apple’s online store is sold out of the devices, retail shops will still have the device on the original Mar. 16 date, reports The Next Web.(source:insidemobileapps

3)Unity revenues up 130 percent, more than 50 percent of business is now mobile

Kathleen De Vere

Unity is beginning to look more and more like the standard for mobile gaming, as mobile developers now account for more than half of the company’s rapidly growing business. Tellingly, two thirds of the games Inside Mobile Apps previewed at the Game Developers Conference last week were built with Unity.

“I don’t think I’ve ever dared to use the word standard myself, but the more the better,” says Unity’s CEO and co-founder David Helgason.

The development platform, which allows developers to create high quality 3D games, has now seen almost a million lifetime users, up from the 750,000 the company reported in November 2011.

In just 18 months, the company’s monthly active users have gone from 60,000 to 220,000.

According to Helgason, the company’s growth has largely been in the last two years, and has been primarily centered around mobile. Although the company isn’t aiming to be “just a mobile product,” Unity is working aggressively to expand its reach on mobile. Until April 8, the company is giving away the $800 add-on license that allows developers to create iOS and Android games with Unity. As of last week, the company had already attracted more than 20,000 new customers with the promotion.

“We were a horribly slow-burn company for a long time,” he explains. “We were already on a curve with our web-products and they’re still doing really well, but mobile really accelerated everything. It’s now more than half the business. Adoption is slow — it might take a year to convince someone to use Unity, but one they do, they stick with it and tell their friends. That’s why the curve is so sharp now, but it’s still a slow, long-term process.”

Unity is backed with $17.5 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, David Gardner and others. Although Helgason declined to share any specific revenue numbers, he did reveal his company is profitable its overall revenues grew by about 130 percent year-on-year.

The company’s largest market is still the US, but its Asian markets grew by 270 percent last year, although they started from what Helgason refers to as a “low base.” In September, Unity opened a Japanese office and partnered with GREE to distribute free licenses to Japanese developers. The company now employs 170 people in nine countries.

As Unity has grown, so has its customer base. Originally the engine of choice for independent developers with small teams, Unity is becoming more and more popular with with large companies. This has forced Unity to shift its strategy slightly, growing the product into more all-encompassing toolset that can go head-to-head with heavy hitters like Epic’s Unreal Engine.(source:insidemobileapps

4)Nokia Win 8 tablets coming in Q4?

by Zen Terrelonge

Ten-inch tablet complete with dual-core power could land by Christmas.

Nokia is pinning all of its hopes on Microsoft’s Windows OS to resurrect smartphone sales, and fresh from releasing the Lumia series in late 2011, it will release Windows 8 tablets as soon as Q4 this year, according to Digitimes.

Citing the usual ‘sources’, the report says Nokia will unleash a ten-inch, dual-core powered tablet, and anticipates that debut shipments will pass 200,000.

However, the sources were tightlipped as to how many shipments or sales the firm expects to witness in its first quarter overall, though it will need to be looking at the low millions to become relevant.

Amazon’s seven-inch Kindle Fire was launched in November, and shipped four million to become the world’s number two tablet maker.

If Nokia does plan on joining the ranks of iPad rivals, it will need to offer very competitive pricing as the likes of the Fire and Nook tablet retail for as little as $199, while iPads cost upwards of $400.(source:mobile-ent

5) Microsoft, OnLive ‘actively engaged’ over Windows 7 iPad app licensing

by Mike Rose

Newsbrief: Microsoft has revealed that it is currently in talks with cloud technology company OnLive regarding the latter’s latest move in providing a cloud-based version of Windows 7 via tablets.

OnLive, which has historically focused on streaming high-end PC games to remote devices, launched its Windows desktop app for iPad in January, allowing tablet users to access a cloud-based version of Windows 7, amongst other Microsoft products. However, questions where raised by analysts about whether the app violated Microsoft licensing.

Microsoft corporate vice president Joe Matz has now said that the company is “actively engaged” with OnLive, with the aim to provide the company with a proper licensing scenario to provide users of its app with. (source:gamasutra

6)Google’s Eric Chu steps down as Android Market head

by Keith Andrew

Little over a week after Google announced the unification of ts mobile digital services under the Google Play banner, reports claim Eric Chu has stepped down from his position overseeing Android Market.

Chu, who had been involved with Google’s OS for more than four years, is said to be ‘exploring other options’ within the company, with director of digital content Jamie Rosenberg set to pick up the slack.

Playing the game

Rosenberg, who is to retain his current title, will take charge of Google’s games platform as it integrates with the firm’s music and eBooks service.

As billed, Google Play is designed to “eliminate the hassle” of moving files and syncing devices using different methods, bringing together Google’s stores in an iTunes-like service.

Its launch comes as Android Market trails Apple’s App Store both in terms of the number of apps available and download totals, despite Android activation rates putting Google’s userbase comfortably ahead of iOS on the global scene.

At last count, Google’s SVP of mobile and digital content Andy Rubin pegged Android daily activations at 850,000, with more than 300 million devices having been sold since launch.(source:pocketgamer

7)Google pressuring Android developers to use “Google Wallet?”

By Nadia Oxford

According to a report from Reuters, Google Inc. may be pressuring Android game and app developers to adopt an in-house payment system in the place of third-party alternatives like PayPal, Boku, and Zong.

The in-house system, named “Google Wallet,” would be utilized across the Android Market (now called Google Play). Some developers reportedly received notes from Google as far back as August informing them that using a third-party method of payment is a breach of Google’s terms and conditions.

“They told people that if they used other payment services they would be breaking the terms of use,” Papaya Mobile CEO Si Shen told Reuters. “Whether it’s right or wrong, we have to follow the rules.”

“If we had a choice, the freedom to choose which billing service, then that’s even better. But if we have to follow the rules, we will. I want to maintain a very good relationship with Google. We are very collaborative. It’s very important to the business.”

Obviously, Google Wallet brings the sale and development of Android games a more unified process that’s not unlike the App Store, or Facebook. Moreover, Google will supposedly receive a 30% cut from each transaction, which is also in line with what the proprietors of its competing platforms take from developers as a fee.

On the flipside, Gamesindustry.biz writer Dan Pearson points out that the Android platform has long suffered from fragmentation issues, and that a unified payment system is one way to combat the problem. “By offering a familiar, single cashing point, Google hopes to lower friction and increase trust, thereby increasing user spend,” Pearson writes.

Google has yet to confirm a switch to Google Wallet. A spokesperson for the company told Reuters that its policy has not changed, and that there is a clause in its Android developers agreement stating that developers who charge for an app or a game must do so through an authorized payment system. The spokesperson declined to comment when asked if Google has been enforcing these policies more carefully over the past few months.(source:gamezebo

8)Appy Entertainment’s free-to-play move boosted revenues by 150 percent

Kathleen De Vere

Appy Entertainment’s decision to convert its game Trucks and Skulls from a $0.99 paid app to a free-to-play title boosted the game’s revenues by 150 percent, increased player retention and surprisingly, didn’t garner the company a single complaint from its previously paying customers.

Appy Entertainment’s brand director, Paul O’Connor, revealed the information during his presentation, Premium to Freemium: Pivoting Monetization Method for Best-Selling Apps at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco last week.

According to O’Connor, making Trucks and Skulls paid capped its install base and limited how much money users could give Appy Entertainment. “Our most committed fans couldn’t pay us more than a dollar,” he explained. “If you sell you game for $0.99, you’ve capped it at $0.99.”

While its common now for paid titles to include optional in-app purchases — with some developers like Germany’s App Zap arguing it actually increases conversion — when Appy released Trucks and Skulls in 2010, the practice was largely unheard of. The game launched strong, garnering an average rating of 4.5 stars and a game of the week feature from Apple, but dropped off the charts quickly.

“We were getting our teeth kicked in by the freemium bomb,” explained O’Connor. “We needed to become a freemium company.”

Appy Entertainment relaunched the game as Trucks and Skulls Nitro, making the risky decision to completely replace the paid app with a new free version. In order to convert the game to freemium, Appy Entertainment added the ability to earn or buy an in-game currency called Coins. The company then retroactively rewarded existing players with a set amount of Coins based on their progress in the game.

The results were impressive — the game’s install base went from 350,000 paid units to 1.5 million free downloads. Revenues increased by 150 percent and the game was downloaded more than 100,000 times in a single day.

According to O’Connor, player reaction was the biggest surprise.  Although the company expected complaints, none came. The ability to earn Coins added mid and long term rewards to the game, and increased player retention. The average review score of the game also increased.

Overall, while O’Conner stressed freemium games are harder to build, have more extensive customer support needs and more post-launch requirements, developers with quality games benefit far more in the long-run by going free-to-play. “You have to accept that the app won’t monetize as well as a pure freemium app,” he said. “But it’s better to be inefficient than to be forgotten and unprofitable.”

O’Connor’s takeaways for developers looking to convert their apps were:

•Freemium additions must enhance the game. Do not remove existing features to force users to pay for them. Keep everything that was free before, free after the switch.

•Don’t forget to add expendables like single-use items

•Don’t introduce ads into the app unless the default for existing users is ad-free

•Replace your existing app in order to maintain the momentum of your app and user base.

•Link freemium rewards directly to game play and keep the goals and mechanics of the game the same

•Err on the side of your players and reward them generously with freemium items. This ensures legacy customers do not feel cheated by the switch to free-to-play(source:insidemobileapps

9)Rovio looking for multiplatform splash with Angry Birds Space

by Keith Andrew

Rovio CMO Peter Vesterbacka has revealed the launch of Angry Birds Space will result in the franchise hitting entirely new platforms in the months ahead.

Speaking during 2012′s South by Southwest conference in Austin, the self-billed ‘Mighty Eagle’ said the latest game in the series – due to launch on iOS and Android on 22 March – is to expand the studio’s footprint beyond its already sizeable print.

Coming soon to a platform near you

“With all our games, we’re going for all the screens: Smartphones, tablets, TVs, the web, so we really want to bring Space to all the screens as well,” said Vesterbacka.

“As always, we have limited resources, so we can only do iOS, Android, PC and Mac for the launch, but the other platforms will follow shortly after.”

The original Angry Birds has already spread is base across all major smartphone and tablet platforms, as well as feature phones – thanks to a deal with Nokia – and the web, via Google’s Chrome.

Birdy base

Rovio’s growth isn’t going to stop there, however. With series-wide downloads topping 700 million, Vesterbacka said the firm’s library will soon be launching on 3DS, with a PS Vita version also a likely possibility.

“We’ll have our games on the 3DS pretty soon,” he continued.

“The Vita we haven’t decided what to do about yet, but of course we want to be on all the screens, so let’s see how the Vita does in the market.

“And of course, always when working with these console guys it’s not that we can decide, it’s really if Sony wants to have Angry Birds on Vita. It’s more up to them than to us.”(source:pocketgamer


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