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每日观察:关注最受儿童用户欢迎的手机游戏(1.22)

1)据venturebeat报道,手机游戏开发商Capybara Games日前宣布旗下热作《Sword & Sworcery EP》在Google Play平台发布4周下载量就超过了5万次。

该公司原先通过与Humble Indie Bundle(游戏邦注:以按需付费模式创收的游戏集合)合作,将这款2D冒险游戏推向Android平台,数周后将游戏引进Google Play,并在该应用商店首页获得推荐。

Sword & Sworcery EP(from capybaragames.com)

Sword & Sworcery EP(from capybaragames.com)

2)据games.com报道,Imangi Studios日前宣布不久前发布的《Temple Run 2》在App Store发布头四天下载量已达2000万次,发布24小时内下载量达600万次。

目前该游戏在iOS应用收益榜单排名第二,仅次于《Clash of Clans》。

该游戏前作《Temple Run》在iOS App Store、Google Play和亚马逊应用商店下载量已超过1.7亿次。

3)Kytephone最近报告显示,从用户投入时间来看,Rovio游戏《愤怒的小鸟:星球大战》是儿童用户群体中最为盛行的游戏,另外几款Rovio同样高居榜首(游戏邦注:Kytephone调查样本为1.3万名年龄介于8-14岁,来自70多个国家/地区的儿童,该调查仅锁定Android平台用户)。

Kytephone发现在假期季中,这些儿童在《愤怒的小鸟:星球大战》中投入时间比在《愤怒的小鸟》中多51%,而该版本安装量却仅是后者的40%;他们在星球大战版本中的投入时间比《愤怒的小鸟太空版》多197%,尽管其安装量仅为后者的57%。

angry-birds-star-wars(from guardian.co.uk)

angry-birds-star-wars(from guardian.co.uk)

从投入时间来看,人气最旺的10款游戏分别是:

*《愤怒的小鸟:星球大战》

*《愤怒的小鸟》

*《Bad Piggies》

*《MineCraft》(demo)

*《愤怒的小鸟节日版》

*《MineCraft》

*《愤怒的小鸟太空版》

*《Temple Run》

*《Logo Quiz》

《愤怒的小鸟:星球大战》安装量比《Bad Piggies》多60%,后者在假期时安装量增长了50%,而前者则增长了60%。

从用户投入时长来看,《Bad Piggies》每安装量平均投入时间为1.12小时,而《愤怒的小鸟:星球大战》则是0.8小时,原版《愤怒的小鸟》则是0.27小时。

4)巴西电信局最近数据指出,巴西在2012年新增1954成新手机用户,该国目前移动用户总数已达2.6178亿。截止2012年底,该国移动普及率已达132.78%,

5)据福布斯报道,EA执行副总裁Gabrielle Toledano最近指出,性别歧视绝非电子游戏行业缺乏女性工作者的原因,她认为这是一个站不住脚的理由,行业性别比例失调的最大原因在于游戏公司所能够招聘到的女员工数量不足(编程领域尤其如此)。

gabrielle_toledano(from insideea.com)

gabrielle_toledano(from insideea.com)

在她看来,游戏这种创意行业如果出现性别单一的倾向,团队的思维方式会趋于一致,这样就难以实现创新。

6)据gamezebo报道,雅达利美国公司日前申请破产,意在撇清与法国母公司雅达利S.A.(目前深陷债务)的财务关系,并将在未来92-120天出售包括《Pong》、《Asteroids》以及《Centipede》等一系列IP及其logo在内的资产,计划以数字游戏业务为重心。

雅达利于2008年被法国开发商Infogrames收购,后者于2009年更名为雅达利S.A.。

atari-logo(from explosion.com)

atari-logo(from explosion.com)

7)据Gamasutra报道,赛车游戏公司Codemasters日前宣布裁员以便进行业务重组,但这一举措并不会影响《GRID 2》和F1赛车系列游戏等正处于开发过程的游戏。

该公司并未透露具体裁员人数,但据Eurogamer报道本次裁员约80人左右。(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)Sword & Sworcery developer finds success on Android

Jeffrey Grubb

You can’t make money on Android. That was a common belief in early 2012 among developers, and it was probably true. Developers complained about more pain (fragmentation) for less gain (weaker monetization) than Apple’s iOS platform offered. Reports suggested that for every dollar studios generated on iOS, they only produced 24 cents on Android.

By some measures, those numbers have tightened, and the studios that found success on iOS are porting software to Google’s mobile operating system. Capybara Games did exactly that with its Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP. At one point, the help section on Sword & Sworcery’s webpage explained why the game would never come to Android. Now that the game is available on Google Play, GamesBeat asked the developer how things turned out.

“We’ve been really happy with Sworcery on Android so far,” Capybara Games president Nathan Vella told GamesBeat. “The combination of being part of the amazing Humble Indie Bundle for Android 4 – alongside some of the raddest Android games — and a great feature on the Google Play Store resulted in pretty solid download numbers.”

Capybara decided to introduce the Android version of its 2D adventure game in a Humble Indie Bundle. The Humble Bundles are a collection of games sold under a choose-your-own price model.

The Humble Android Bundles nearly always introduce a handful of games that are completely new to the platform.

A few weeks after the bundle, Capybara released the game on Android’s Google Play market. That store prominently featured the game in one of its prime front-page slots.

“The fact that the Android version has only been out for four weeks on the Google Play Store and has been downloaded well over 50,000 times goes to show that, while we’re not talking about a sales landslide, especially in light of a game like Temple Run 2′s iOS mega-numbers that came out today, there’s still room for cool paid games on Android,” said Vella.(source:venturebeat

2)Temple Run 2 scores 20 million downloads in first four days

by Brandy Shaul

Talk about a runaway train – the phenomenon known as Temple Run expanded late last week with the launch of Temple Run 2 on iPhone and iPad. While we all expected the game to be successful, even the folks at Imangi Studios probably never saw this coming. According to initial data, Temple Run 2 was downloaded 20 million times in its first four days on the App Store, with six million of those downloads coming within the first 24 hours.

While the game’s free-to-play price tag definitely helps push the download rate higher, it’s not as if the game isn’t making any money. As of this writing, the game is the #2 Top Grossing app, just behind Clash of Clans.

“The response from fans has been overwhelming,” says Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi, via a company release. “We are thrilled players want more of the Temple Run universe, and we hope to grow and expand the game over the coming months.”

Over 210 million sessions have been run since the game’s launch, with a combined total time of 1,775 years of gameplay across all of the game’s early adopters. The first Temple Run has been downloaded 170 million times across the iOS App Store, Google Play and Amazon for Android, so it will be interesting to see if and when Temple Run 2 can cross that mark and become the most successful entry in the franchise to date. Android gamers will be able to help the stats soon, as Temple Run 2 is scheduled to launch on Android later this week. Oh, the suspense.(source:games

3)Rovio Titles Among The Most Addictive Games For Kids, Study Finds

Sarah Perez

Despite a burgeoning market filled with educational children’s games and apps which aim to turn smartphones and tablets into tools for learning, when it comes to time spent actually playing games, kids are still gravitating to games that are more “fun” than instructive. At least that’s what the folks at Kytephone recently discovered. The startup, which offers tools that turn Android phones into kid-safe devices with parental controls, found that Rovio’s Angry Birds Star Wars is the most played game since its release, and several other Rovio titles top the charts in terms of time spent gaming.

Kytephone pulled this data from a sample size of 13,000 children, aged 8 to 14 years old,  located in over 70 countries. Kytephone co-founder Anooj Shah says the team didn’t find any major differences in app usage between regions. “Everyone seems to love Rovio games, regardless of where they live,” he says. The company looked at this data during the holidays and then again in the new year to see if anything had changed.

During the holiday season, the company found that children were spending 51 percent more time in Angry Birds Star Wars, compared with Angry Birds, despite only having 40 percent of its install base. They spent 197 percent more time in the Star Wars version than Angry Birds Space, despite having only 57 percent of its install base.

The most popular games, in terms of time spent playing, were as follows:

■Angry Birds Star Wars

■Angry Birds

■Bad Piggies

■MineCraft (demo)

■Angry Birds Seasons

■MineCraft

■Angry Bird Space

■Temple Run

■Logo Quiz

In the beginning of January, usage changed slightly, and Kytephone saw an increase in Bad Piggies, which then moved to become the most addictive game. The top three games now remain Star Wars, Bad Piggies and the original Angry Birds.

Angry Birds Star Wars has an install base that’s 60 percent larger than Bad Piggies, Shah noted, and during the holidays it increased that base by 50 percent while Angry Birds Star Wars increased by 60 percent.

But in terms of hours spent playing, Bad Piggies wins as it’s played an average of 1.12 hours per install. Star Wars is a close second with 0.8 hours per install, and the original Angry Birds is played 0.27 hours per install.

These figures are a different way of looking at the kids’ mobile gaming market than those studies where only downloads or even “actives” are measured, because Kytephone’s rankings are based on how long kids are playing these games, not necessarily how often. But to be clear, they’re not representative of an overall mobile trend in children’s gaming, since Kytephone is currently an Android-only service. The iOS platform has a wider variety of games and kids’ apps, we should mention. In addition, Kytephone’s service is targeted at slightly older kids, because it’s for those who have their own Android device on loan from their parents. That is, it can’t tell what games kids play when they just “borrow” mom or dad’s phone for a few minutes, as many younger children do. It also misses out on the entire iPad gaming market, which a number of kid-friendly app makers have specifically targeted.

That being said, what these numbers do show that Rovio has managed to increase the stickiness and addictive nature of its games over time, at least in terms of children’s preferences.(source:techcrunch

4)Brazil sees 20m new mobile subscriptions in 2012

by Daniel Gumble

2012 saw 19.54 million new mobile lines added in Brazil, taking the countries total number of mobile subscriptions to 261.78 million.

The number of new lines added last year represented just over eight per cent growth in Brazil’s subscriber base, while the mobile penetration rate in the country was at 132.78 per cent at the end of 2012, a report from sector regulator Anatel has shown.

Meanwhile, in December, 210.82 million (80.53 per cent) lines were prepaid, with 50.6 million (19.47 per cent) were post-paid.

With regards to market share in Brazil in 2012, Vivo came out on top as market leader with 76.1 million customers, equating to 29.08 per cent market share.

TIM Brasil followed in second place with 70.3 million customers (26.87 per cent), while Claro Brasil took third with 65.2 million (24.92 per cent). Oi came in fourth with 49.2 million (18.81 per cent).(source:mobile-ent

5)EA: Blaming sexism for lack of women in our industry is a cop-out

By Mike Rose

“If we want more women to work in games, we have to recognize that the problem isn’t sexism.”
- Gabrielle Toledano, executive vice president and chief talent officer of Electronic Arts, says that blaming sexism for the lack of women in the video game industry is unreasonable.

In an article for Forbes, she noted that the video game industry is being painted as a more sexist environment than other male-dominated workforces, and that this simply isn’t the case at all.

“As an insider, I find this argument is misguided,” she says. “It’s easy to blame men for not creating an attractive work environment – but I think that’s a cop-out. If we want more women to work in games, we have to recognize that the problem isn’t sexism.”

She notes that, while sexism is definitely not something to take lightly, the real reason that there aren’t enough women working in video games is that there simply aren’t enough to hire.

“Our industry needs and wants more women,” she says. “The only way to be successful in a creative industry like gaming is to stay on the cutting edge and innovate. You can’t do that if your team all looks and acts and thinks the same.”

But she adds, “We’d love to hire more women but we can’t find enough of them to hire, especially in engineering… If women don’t join this industry because they believe sexism will limit them, they’re missing out.”

She concludes that, while sexism is unfortunate, women looking to get into the video game industry should put aside any preconceptions they may have. “I can tell you firsthand that in the video game industry women are not just welcome, we are necessary and we are equal,” she says.

Toledano’s thoughts clash with those of the women in the video games industry who took to Twitter last year to raise their concerns over sexism and harassment via the #1ReasonWhy hashtag.(source:gamasutra

6)Atari U.S. files for bankruptcy to escape its French parent company

By Mike Rose

The U.S. branch of Atari has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as a means of separating its financials from its French parent holding company Atari S.A., and in turn securing a fresh start.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is often used to allow large companies to restructure their business affairs, although it is usually only put into motion after careful consideration of alternative options.

Atari Inc. and its other U.S.-based companies, including Atari Interactive Inc., Humongous, Inc. and California US Holdings, are looking to sell all of their assets within the next 90-120 days, as the collective looks to shift business from traditional retail games to digital and licensing.

Assets due to be sold include Pong, Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Battlezone, Tempest, Test Drive, Backyard Sports and Humongous.

Atari was bought out by French developer Infogrames back in 2008, and in 2009 Infogrames changed its name to Atari S.A., as it looked to make use of the Atari name.

However, the U.S. branch of Atari now wants to separate itself from Atari S.A., as it says that its new focus on digital games has turned it into “a growth engine,” yet this has gone “unrealized while under the control of Atari S.A.”

This move will allow Atari to pull away from “the structural financial encumbrances” of its parent company, it said in a statement.

As part of the filing, Atari is looking to obtain $5.25 million in debtor-in-possession financing from financial investment company Tenor Capital Management. (source:gamasutra

7)Racing game company Codemasters announces restructuring, layoffs

By Mike Rose

Racing game specialist Codemasters today announced layoffs at the company, as it looks to realign and remove its operations that are no longer delivering value.

In a statement to Gamasutra, the UK-based company noted that the proposed restructure is not company-wise, and will therefore not affect certain titles that are in development, such as GRID 2 and its F1 racing series.

Codemasters did not state how many employees will be affected by the move, simply noting that it has “entered into a period of collective consultation with the affected employees.” Eurogamer reports that around 80 people may have been affected.

The news follows a troubling 2012 for the company, including a period in which it claims it accidentally overpaid laid off staffers.

Last April the company said that it was dropping development on all non-racing titles and focusing solely on racing games, while it later revealed an attempt to mix arcade gameplay in with its realistic F1 series.(source:gamasutra


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