Japan Game Market Shrinks

JAN. 5, 2012 • According to Japanese publisher Enterbrain, the Japan game market contracted ¥459 billion ($5.9 billion), or 8%. The contraction is the fourth such year-on-year drop in a row.  Hardware sales, however, grew 2.4% to ¥179 billion ($2.3 billion). .....

Star Wars: The Old Republic Draws 1 Million Players

DEC. 26, 2011 • During it first week in release, Star Wars: The Old Republic attracted more than 1 million players worldwide. Electronic Arts, the MMO’s publisher, needs the game to be highly successful to recoup its investment. The Old Republic is oft accused of being the most expensive computer game ever made. If true, BioWare developed title would have cost more to produce than Grand Theft Auto IV, which had a budget of $100 million. .....
Investors Cool to Zynga IPO

Investors Cool to Zynga IPO

DEC. 16, 2011 • Zynga Inc. got less a less enthusiastic investor response to its intial public offer than hoped. The Zynga IPO debuted at $10, the stock closed its first day of trading lower at $9.50. A high-profile technology IPO is usually expected to provide substantial early appreciation in stock value for early investors. Impact: Opinion around whether Zynga is a good investment is all ac.....

Kindle Sales Top 1 Million A Week

DEC. 15, 2011 • In the weeks leading into Christmas, Amazon.com announced that it was selling more than 1 million Kindle devices a week worldwide. The online retailer would not say how many of those units sold were the new Fire model. Amazon had never previously announced any sales numbers for its e-reader devices. Impact: The e-reader devices like the Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Co.....

Aion Goes Free-to-Play

DEC. 14, 2011 • NCsoft’s Aion MMO will become a free-to-play service in Europe during the first quarter of 2012. GameForge partnered with the Korean-based publisher in overseeing the adaptation and manage Aion in Europe moving forward. The shift away from a subscription mode.....

Interview: Funzio Grabs the Spotlight

DEC. 7, 2011 • Amongst the slew of new start-ups in the social network and mobile game space during 2011, Funzio stood out for several reasons. First, there was the $20 million in funding through IDG Ventures in the U.S. and IDG Capital Partners in China. Next, came the hiring away of Jamil Moledina from Electronic Arts last November.  Moledina was director of business development at EA Partners, the publisher’s third party d.....

Interview: Corsair Still Sets Own Course

NOV. 26, 2011 • One of the side effects of video game cycles that stretch on for a decade or more is that the game technology torch is passed to personal computers. While console development is locked into a stationary hardware specification, developers who want to push into advanced content territory can only do so on PCs. There’s a stable core of gamers out there who are well aware of this technology shift, and who modify,.....

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