http://www.mediapost.com/publications/ Mainstream consumers are slaying monsters and playing Tetris; here?s what you should be doing about it. en-us Copyright 2009 MediaPost Communications http://www.mediapost.com/rss Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:11:41 EST Social gaming is exploding, though currently that turn of phrase has a slightly different connotation than it normally does. Yes, there have been some major successes in the space, most notably EA's recent acquisition of Playfish. But over the past week, TechCrunch has been fighting pretty hard against the affiliate programs that make up a portion of the revenues for many social game sites. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=117412Josh Lovison <>Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:45:51 ESTElectronic Arts yesterday launched a social extension of one of its hit properties of 2009, Spore, with the Facebook game "Spore Island," which allows players to create and evolve a creature on their own personal island, and then send their creature to their friends' islands for a Darwinian competition where the most efficient creature ends up on top. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116983Shankar Gupta <shankar@mediapost.com>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:45:10 ESTGame consoles are continuing their stealthy takeover of the living room. We've been seeing this trend for a while, but the pace is accelerating as the holiday season approaches. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116487Josh Lovison <>Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:45:34 ESTEarly next month, Bioware's "Dragon Age: Origins" will launch, putting the exclamation point on over three years of hype. The title was first announced at E3 in 2004, and as of today there are 101 pieces of media associated with the game on GameTrailers.com, with over 3 million downloads, about 10,000 YouTube videos, both user- and fan-uploaded, and a full year of DLC planned out. The character creation tool for the game has already been released. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116050Shankar Gupta <shankar@mediapost.com>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:32:57 ESTWhat's the difference between "World of Warcraft" and a loyalty program? Surprisingly little. Blizzard (now Activision Blizzard) has made an empire out of games that don't end. From "Diablo" to "World of Warcraft," these are bestselling hits predicated on a simple formula: Make your customer an addict http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=115600Josh Lovison <>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:48:46 ESTBig developments in the motion control space recently, with Sony and Microsoft offering new details on what titles will be used to launch their own entrances into the world of motion-controlled games, which has thus far been wholly domminated by the Nintendo Wii. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=115202Shankar Gupta <shankar@mediapost.com>Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:30:15 ESTFirst of all, I'd like to note that two weeks ago when I said it was only a matter of time until a brand used DLC to push retail product, I hadn't expected it would only be a week. The" Star Wars" Third Season Blu-Ray includes an exclusive T-shirt for the upcoming "Star Wars" MMO. But seeing this got me thinking: Why haven't we seen more innovative ad formats become standard practice in casual gaming? http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=114715Josh Lovison <>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:15:28 ESTThere's a recent trend among video game retailers that's worthy of note for brand marketers. For a while now, retailers such as GameStop have been offering exclusive extras for their customers. These premiums were typically small tchotchkes, small inexpensive trinkets. But now we're seeing this trend extend into the realm of downloadable content. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113791Josh Lovison <>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:46:36 ESTWhile it would be great to see an uptick in quality branded games, there are definitely some barriers. For one, the skill set for making fun, simple, casual games isn't especially widespread -- it seems like it's easy to make an OK advergame, but very difficult to make a good one. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113459Shankar Gupta <shankar@mediapost.com>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:46:45 ESTSome of the most innovative games over the past two years have been concepts so powerful there is no way they could have made it into a box. Innovation is a difficult thing to commit to when the life or death of a company hangs in the balance. With the rising costs in game production, the market is becoming less amenable to taking risks. Because of this, more and more of the innovation in the industry seems to be leaving the retail box. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113046Josh Lovison <>Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:15:06 EST