Microtransaction-based games find their way to Twitter. Oh, btw, I have a twitter account now (though I still have mixed feelings about the service.) Username: djedery.
For those of you just starting to develop an interest in Facebook games, check out Appdata.com, a really great website that reports metrics and trends for Facebook apps large and small.
This is perhaps my favorite editorial on the definition of “indie”. For the record, in my opinion the definition of indie is simply: if you publish or distribute other developers’ games, you are not an indie. Any other definition becomes subjective and political very quickly.
Australia is the only developed country without a “mature/adult” classification for games, meaning titles with notable violence or sexual content are banned from sale unless the offending content is removed. This policy will now be extended from retail games to downloadable games, flash-based web games, etc. My favorite quote from the article: In a free country like ours, do we really need the government to step in and save us from racy web games?
Mochi Media has launched MochiCoins with a handful of game developers. In early testing, the average revenue for these games has increased to $6.50 per thousand game plays (from $0.50).
In June, a Facebook game called Farm Town snagged 8 million monthly active users. I’ve played Farm Town and I think it’s fair to call it an exceedingly crude game that lacks much of the polish we’ve come to expect from good casual titles. I highlight this because it’s further evidence, to my mind, of the enormous untapped potential in the Facebook game market. Get in now while consumer demand is high and supply is complete crap! This moment of opportunity is sure to be quite brief… it always is.
David Perry unveils his competitor to OnLive, Gaikai. Notably, Gaikai will not position itself as a portal but will instead allow developer and publishers to host Gaikai’s functionality out of their own sites.
Interesting article on Nike+, the successful hardware/service combo that converts the act of running into… you guessed it, a game. 🙂 If I ever revise Changing the Game this is going into the revised version.
There’s more to life than games:
On the importance of naps, which “enhance productivity, learning and memory.”
I love, love, love technology! Restoring sight to the blind — via a tooth implanted into an eyeball, of all things.
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