Everyplay instantly records your iPhone gameplay, and makes replay clips available for sharing online. The service promises developers new ways to find an audience for their games. Read more »
Fingerprint is moving forward in building a strong platform for educational kids games on mobile, launching a new multiplayer game that will allow kids and parents to play together on mobile, just as the parents might already do in Words with Friends or Letterpress. Read more »
Berlin’s highly successful games studio is moving into Android, starting off with a new version of the hit Diamond Dash. It seemed like a good time to get a snapshot developer perspective on coding for the big two mobile platforms. Read more »
Sony is taking games beyond its own hardware with the Sony PlayStation Mobile platform. The game store opens today for Sony and Sony Xperia Android phones and tablets, with three HTC models to have access soon. Purchased games also run on Sony’s PS Vita. Read more »
App developers are the cornerstones of the multibillion-dollar app market, but the overall community remains largely unknown. As app downloads increase, organizations that can bring tools, resources, and a collective voice to this group will be an important factor in the evolution of mobile-app development. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Verizon continued its push into carrier apps on Friday, announcing it will distribute Extent’s GameTanium subscription mobile gaming service. For $6 a month, Android smartphone and tablet users can play more than 100 games such as Fruit Ninja and World of Goo on an unlimited basis. Read more »
Social virtual goods revenues will grow from $2.1 billion in 2010 to $4.1 billion in 2016. Leading this growth are disruptive factors such as mobile, regulatory changes and alternatives to the traditional OS. But the most important disruption vector will be increasing the universality of virtual currencies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
I hate on-screen game controls; there I said it. As gaming goes mobile, there has to be a better solution than covering up screen to move and play. Nyko has the right idea, debuting its PlayPad products for phones and tablets running Android 3.0 or better. Read more »
Mobile gaming conjures up images of people playing on subways, waiting in line and walking down the street. But you’re much more likely to find mobile gaming happening at home and in bed, according to two new surveys. Read more »
What Zynga acquired from OMGPOP isn’t just a hit game or the team that built it. It’s not buying ad or sales revenue from Draw Something users. What Zynga’s really buying is a huge engaged audience that it can funnel into its other social gaming properties. Read more »
Zynga is reportely looking at picking off its newest rival in OMGPOP, maker of the new hit mobile app Draw Something. According to TechCrunch, Zynga is looking at acquiring the New York-based OMGPOP, which just hit 30 million downloads of Draw Something on Friday. Read more »
G-cluster plans to enter the U.S. market with an on-demand gaming service. The company has secured an unnamed amount of funding from Intel and French mobile carrier SFR to expand its reach beyond home casual gaming and movie streaming into high-end gaming for tablets and smartphones. Read more »
One thing iOS and Mac developers need to take more advantage of is the halo effect of Apple’s devices. Real Racing 2 for the Mac, is a perfect example of how to capitalize on that with value-added features. Read more »
iOS and Android have tripled their mobile gaming market share since 2009. But it’s not just number of individual game sales on iOS and Android devices that’s growing: the two platforms’ game sales are affecting the bottom lines of the biggest names in gaming. Read more »
CrowdMob, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup, is taking the wraps off its business: creating a next-generation deal network that combines Tapjoy with Groupon. CrowdMob will distribute local deals via mobile gaming apps, incentivizing gamers to purchase offers using virtual currency. Read more »
Angry Birds has soared into some rarified air with the news that it’s eclipsed 500 million downloads after launching less than two years ago. Mikael Hed, aka Mighty Eagle made the announcement on stage at the Slush Conference in Helsinki. Read more »
Ace Striker for iPhone lets you take to this skies in virtual versions of historic battles. It’s a top-down shooter with a retro vibe that lets you unlock upgrades through in-app purchases. It’s simple, and the graphics aren’t dazzling, but it’s also a lot of fun. Read more »
6waves Lolapps, the newly-merged company that develops and publishes games for Facebook and other social networks, has launched a $10 million fund to invest in independent game developers. The 6L Fund is part of 6waves Lolapps’ play to become the”clear number two” to Zynga. Read more »
I’ve never really tried side-scrolling runner games on iOS, which is a shame since Defender was one of my favorite arcade games growing up. But Jetpack Joyride, the latest entry in what seems to be a crowded field broke me down, and I’m glad it did. Read more »
The ouster of CEO Carol Bartz last week punctuated a disappointing couple of years for Yahoo, and nowhere is that disappointment more glaring than in mobile. Yahoo’s presence has waned as the iPhone and Android have fueled a surge in mobile data consumption. Meanwhile, Yahoo’s traffic on ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Crimson: Steam Pirates is the first iOS app from the studio that brought us Halo. It’s a strategy game that shares almost nothing in common with Halo, except of course for the solid pedigree and uncanny ability to provide hours of fun. Read more »
“Dem bullets sure are pointy,” one Grunt cautions when he’s hit. When the next volley takes him out, he dramatically proclaims, “Yer… Gonna… Miss me.” High on fun and short on seriousness, The Great Little Wargame for iPhone and iPad is this week’s featured title. Read more »
At first Ticket to Ride for the iPad seems complex, but after a brief orientation period, it’s actually rather simple. It’s also engrossing, and requires some quick strategic thinking with one eye constantly on the clock. Check our explanation of the game’s mechanics and fun factor. Read more »
Angry Birds creator Rovio is using predictive analytics software from Seattle-based startup Medio in an attempt to improve the gaming experience and keep users playing. Mobile and social games might appear to be cute diversions, but they’re generating lots of money. Read more »
Most of the money people spend within mobile games is on “consumable” items that have no lasting value once used. The most popular form of that is “premium” currency, which allows users to buy their way into advancing faster in a game, according to Flurry. Read more »
Zynga is expanding its mobile ambitions by apparently picking up New York City-based developer Astro Ape Studios. The gaming powerhouse, which is preparing to go public, has been increasingly looking to shore up its mobile efforts, which has not be as successful as its Facebook business. Read more »
Nintendo’s investors think the company is wasting time and energy developing for its own devices. Instead, fund managers think Nintendo should turn its attention to developing for smartphones, especially Apple’s iPhone. Once you put all the facts on the table, it looks like the smart play. Read more »
Is the 3DS the device to lead Nintendo into another decade of growth and profitability? Probably not. With the gaming industry focusing more and more on tablets, smartphones and touchscreens, the company will almost certainly have to rethink its slightly antiquated business model to remain relevant. Read more »
Exent is launching the first subscription mobile gaming service for Android called GameTanium Mobile, which allows users to gain Netflix-style all-you-can eat access to more than 75 games for $4.99 a month. It’s another sign that gaming on Android is improving. Read more »
Electronic Arts announced it is buying casual and mobile game developer PopCap Games for $750 million as it looks to speed up its evolution toward being a digital purveyor of games. EA is moving quickly away to embrace the opportunity in social and mobile gaming. Read more »
Free-to-play games, which monetize through in-app purchases, now account for 65 percent of revenue among the top 100 games in the App Store, overtaking paid downloads, which were the most successful revenue model six months ago. It’s another sign that freemium rules for many developers. Read more »
Zynga is ramping up its mobile efforts as it prepares for its IPO. Here are a few key strategies the social gaming company should pursue as it prepares to take on established developers in the fast-moving world of mobile gaming. Read more »
With mobile games booming beyond iOS, there are a new set of opportunities opening up for a host of enablers like Seattle-based Zipline Games, which is offering a multi-platform SDK for game development as well as a back-end cloud service for mobile games. Read more »
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform is set to improve later this year, and part of the software improvements focuses on something rivals don’t have: a thriving Xbox Live game community boasting 35 million members who average 60 hours per month on the service. Read more »
While iOS game developer Pocket Gems faces increasing competition from Facebook developers Zynga and Crowdstar, the company, with two titles in the top five grossing apps list, believes it can hold its own by being a purely mobile-focused player with an eye quality and user retention. Read more »
Gaming service WildTangent is opening a rental service later this year that will allow Android users to rent games and apply their fees toward purchases. It could be another tool for developers to unlock dollars from games on the Android platform. Read more »
ISwifter, which launched originally as an iPad browser for Flash-based games and Flash video, is doubling down on social gaming by repositioning itself as a subscription service for gamers. ISwifter 3.0 has made a host of changes to improve the performance of Flash-based games. Read more »
Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play hits Verizon Wireless May 26, with pre-orders starting a week earlier. As the first PlayStation-certified handset, Sony Ericcson hopes to boost flagging smartphone sales with the unique device. And unlike prior SE handsets, the Play launches with Android 2.3. Read more »
Less than a week after OpenFeint was bought for $104 million, and six months after DeNA picked up Ngmoco for $403 million, social game platform operator PapayaMobile announced it has raised $18 million, further highlighting the momentum in the social mobile gaming space. Read more »
Wednesday I posted a video of Firemint’s Real Racing 2 HD doing double-duty on my iPad 2 and 40-inch LCD TV (included below). After playing the game, I pinged Firemint for some thoughts regarding the future of iOS gaming, and the results are exciting. Read more »
