1）据Gamezebo报道，Rovio日前发布的最新财报显示，公司在2013财年净收益下降2860万欧元，比2012年下滑50%以上。

但需要指出的是，该公司总体收益却从去年的1.522亿欧元增长至1.56亿欧元，可见其财务状况仍然较为稳定。

《愤怒的小鸟》近日在应用商店付费榜单位列第61名，而其免费版本甚至都没有进入前200名免费应用榜单（仅位列免费游戏榜单第73名）。

Angry Birds(from gamezebo)

观察者推测，出现这种情况可能与Rovio近年极力打造《愤怒的小鸟》品牌，无所不用其极地将其投向玩具、服装和卡通等授权领域，导致用户和消费者对这一无所不在的品牌形象产生了心理疲劳有关。

2）据gamasutra报道，日本传媒公司Kadokawa（游戏邦注：其业务范围包括图书、杂志、电影、动画和漫画）日前宣布收购《暗黑之魂》工作室From Software，旨在利用后者的全球影响力打开市场。

Dark_Souls(from gamersareus.com)

From Software旗下著名代表作包括《Armored Core》和《Temchu》，被收购后将与Kadokawa Games（Kodokawa旗下成立5年的电子游戏分公司）在营销和开发环节相互合作。

3）据gamasutra报道，任天堂总裁岩田聪曾在之前的股东会议上表示，任天堂致力于在未来十年成为一个“提升人们生活质量”的平台公司，而在最近的Diamond采访中，他却提出了另一个观点，即任天堂是一家专注于“以趣味提升人们生活质量”的娱乐公司。

他表示，有许多人认为“任天堂只是一家电子游戏公司”，但他认为任天堂的发展方向应该强调的是不仅局限于电子游戏这一媒体的“趣味”。

4）据gamasutra报道，在最近英国电脑行业网站PCR的采访中，DFC Intelligence分析师David Cole表示，PC游戏收益现在已经超过了主机游戏，原因是硬核玩家目前的主要游戏设备是PC而非主机。

play-video-games(from richiedrants.com)

Cole表示硬核群体中的主机和PC玩家多有重叠，但主机现在成了一种奢侈品，而PC却是必需品，这意味着PC拥有更广泛的用户群体。

DFC曾在2011年预测PC游戏收益将在2014年超越主机游戏，并于今年初在GamesIndustry.biz采访中预测2014年PC游戏收益将超这250亿美元。（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）Rovio’s profits dropped 50% in 2013

By Jim Squires

You know what isn’t making the kind of money that it used to? Angry Birds. As hard as it might be to believe, the Mario of mobile gaming isn’t quite pulling in the number that it once did. According to the latest financials released by the company this morning, Rovio’s net earnings fell by €28.6 million; a more than 50% drop from 2012.

Before you sound the panic alarms, it’s important to stress that despite poor earnings, the company’s overall revenue actually went up a few million euros – from €152.2 million to €156 million. So while earnings might be down, Rovio’s financial security is not.

Still – it’s hard to not look at the situation and ask what went wrong. There was a time when seeing Angry Birds on the top 10 paid apps list was as certain as the rising sun. Today it sits at #61. And it’s free-to-play kart racer that hoped to make a big splash back in December? It’s not even in the top 200 free apps (though, yes, it manages to crack in at #73 for free games).

This is a far cry from the “top of the App Store” situation of a few years ago. So what happened? It would be impossible to speculate, but we’re sure going to try.

It’s possible that in their attempts to create an evergreen brand, Rovio spread themselves too thin (or put their brand in front of audiences too much). Toys, clothes, cartoons – Angry Birds has been EVERYWHERE in recent years. Did people simply grow tired of it?

Is it possible that people merely wanted more of the same, and weren’t interested in offshoots and publishing attempts like Amazing Alex and Bad Piggies? Or maybe people wanted something new, and were getting burned out on similar experiences like Angry Birds Star Wars and Angry Birds Friends?

Whatever the hypotheticals, it’s seems like the real answer at the root of things is this: you can’t make lightning strike twice.

I guess that’s why they’re so determined to milk the Angry Birds brand for all its worth.（source：gamezebo）

2）Dark Souls studio acquired by major Japanese publishing house

By Mike Rose

Japanese media corporation Kadokawa today announced that it has acquired Dark Souls studio From Software, with the aim to take advantage of the company’s worldwide influence.

From Software, which is also known for series like Armored Core and Tenchu, will now work alongside Kadokawa Games, the umbrella company’s five-year-old video game subsidiary, and the two companies will assist each other when it comes to development and marketing. Kadokawa is a major Japanese publishing house with arms that reach far into the media business: books, magazines, film, animation, and comics.

In particular, Kadokawa says that [Japanese language PDF] it plans to expand to new game platforms, overseas markets and more digital platforms, through the production of new video game IP.

Kadokawa Games is best known for publishing titles like Lollipop Chainsaw and Killer is Dead in Japan. The studio also develops games, such as Demon Gaze, Natural Doctrine and The Kantai Collection.（source：gamasutra）

3）Nintendo can be about more than video games, says Iwata

By Alex Wawro

“Yamauchi was one to always say ‘Nintendo is a company for entertainment, and it shouldn’t be for anything else,’ and he didn’t necessarily think that ‘entertainment equals video games.’”

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata elucidates the genesis of his “quality of life” rhetoric in an interview with Japanese business reporting website Diamond.

Iwata surprised many when, in the course of January’s Nintendo shareholders meeting, he promised that Nintendo would strive to become a platform business that aims to “improve people’s quality of life” in the next ten years.

Today, Siliconera published translated excerpts of an interview that Japanese economic reporting outlet Diamond conducted with Iwata in which he takes pains to explain how Nintendo’s new direction really isn’t so novel.

To hear Iwata tell it, Nintendo — which also created hanafuda cards, novelty toys, and a TV network before getting into video games — is an entertainment company focused on “improving people’s quality of life with fun,” rather than on a specific medium.

“Surely, a lot of people around the world must think ‘Nintendo is a company that is just for video games,’ about us, and I believe that there are more and more of our own employees who’ve begun to think like that,” Iwata reportedly told Diamond.

“I finally figured that ‘improving people’s quality of life with fun,’ with emphasis to the ‘fun’ would be perfect for Nintendo. And that’s when I decided to use this as a focus.”

You can read further translated excerpts of the interview, including Iwata’s thoughts on the directives of former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi, on Siliconera.（source：gamasutra）

4）Analyst: Globally, PC game revenue now exceeds console game revenue

By Christian Nutt

In a new interview with UK computer industry website PCR, DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole says that PCs now generate bigger revenues than console games — as core gamers now focus on the PC, rather than the console, as their primary game device.

“Among core gamers there is a heavy overlap with most console gamers also playing on a PC. The big difference is that consoles are now the luxury item and PCs are the necessity. Just a few years ago the reverse was true. This means PCs have the broader audience,” Cole told PCR.

DFC predicted the dominance of the PC over the console for revenue generation in 2011 — saying, at the time, that it would happen in 2014. That appears to have come true.

However, Cole does allow that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One should see the console segment make a future increase. DFC told GamesIndustry.biz earlier this year that it expected global PC game revenues to cross $25 billion.（source：gamasutra）