Mobile gaming

Sony not ceding mobile to casual games

At GigaOM’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco on Thursday, Jack Buser, Sony’s senior director of PlayStation digital platforms, talked about why Sony developed the PlayStation Mobile platform for PlayStation games that can, for the first time, be played on devices not made by the Japanese company.

Verizon launches game subscription service for $6 a month

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.

Amazon launches GameCircle to boost Kindle Fire games

Amazon is getting more serious about gaming on the Kindle Fire with the introduction of GameCircle, a social engagement layer for developers who want to add achievements, leaderboards and cloud syncing to their games. The service is Amazon’s answer to Apple’s Game Center.

Where is mobile gaming happening? At home, in bed

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.

What Zynga really wants from OMGPOP’s Draw Something

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.

Zynga in discussion to buy Draw Something maker OMGPOP

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.

Zynga’s CEO on leadership, startups & mobile gaming

About two weeks ago, I sat down with Zygna founder and CEO Mark Pincus to discuss the importance of mobile gaming to his company and evolution from Mark the entrepreneur to Pincus the CEO of a company that is valued at billions by Wall Street.

Zynga & its Facebook Problem

Zynga has been trying its very best to diversify its business away from Facebook and it doesn’t have much of a choice. Ben Schachter, Internet analyst with Macquarie Securities went through the Facebook S-1. His take: Zynga’s fourth quarter 2011 isn’t going to be pretty.

G-cluster plans mobile gaming service to challenge OnLive

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.

Sorry, Nintendo, Sony: Phone games win more dollars

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.

CrowdMob builds a Tapjoy+Groupon for distributing local deals

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.

6waves Lolapps puts up $10M to fund the next big gaming app

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.

Android not a money maker? Not for this developer

Mobile developer Gameview Studios said average revenue per user for its casual game Tap Fish is comparable between iOS and Android, and on some days Android is 30 percent higher than iOS. It shows that Android is closing the revenue gap on iOS.

Two-thirds of in-app game buys have fleeting value

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.

Zynga grabs mobile developer Astro Ape Studios

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.

Electronic Arts swallows PopCap Games for $750 million

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.

Pocket Gems focuses on quality engagement as Zynga and others attack

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.

Why Context Rules in Mobile Ads

Tap Me, a mobile advertising startup, is getting underway with its ad tool, which allows brands to sponsor power-ups in games. It’s a good example of how mobile ads are making the necessary evolution from something pushed on to users to something valuable they interact with.

Big Money Plays for PapayaMobile, a Global Social Gaming Platform

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.

With 100M Downloads Outfit7 Seeks To Be Next-Gen Disney

Outfit7, the company behind the fast-selling Talking Friends apps, is looking to build what may be a next-generation Disney-like digital entertainment company. And with 100 million downloads in ten months, the company is on its way to achieving its goal.

For Gamers, a Way to Check in With Your Friends

The trend to add Foursquare-like features has turned into a bandwagon. But is HeyZap’s new Android app, which lets you check in to mobile games, one idea that’s more than just a copycat? The company thinks the app discovery system is shifting, just like gaming.

Papaya Mobile Says Bring on the Android Games

Papaya Mobile, already one of Android’s staunchest gaming supporters, is taking its support one step further by releasing a game engine designed to make it easy for developers to build Android games that can easily hook into Papaya’s mobile social platform.

Sony vs. Microsoft: Whose Mobile Gaming Strategy Wins?

Many signs suggest Sony will soon launch a Playstation Portable Phone. It’s a move that invites comparison to Microsoft’s plan of integrating Xbox Live with Windows Phone 7, a far more software-centric method of attack than Sony’s hardware-focused strategy. Which has a better shot at success?

Offer-based Ads: Coming Soon to a Mobile App Near You

Offerpal Media this morning said it has acquired Tapjoy, a small startup aimed at helping developers monetize their mobile applications. The move is a clear signal that the online phenomenon of offer-based ads is about to move into mobile in a big way.

Nokia Kills N-Gage. Again.

Nokia is now zero for three when it comes to mobile gaming; the company said it will shut down down its N-Gage…

Kai-Fu Lee Talks Up His Post-Google Plans

Kai-Fu Lee, who resigned as head of Google’s (s goog) operations in China last month, is looking to tap into burgeoning areas…

The Past, Present & Future of Mobile Games

Few people understand the video game space the way Robin Boyar does. She boasts 15 years of research experience including online, console…