Those looking to play the free online shooter Battlefield Heroes without paying any money will probably be disappointed. EA announced a few days ago that they are increasing all of the Valor Point (VP, the currency that is earned rather than bought) prices for goods as well as reducing the amount of time users get them. Instead of a week, users can only buy new items with VP for up to three days.
In contrast, the BatleFund (BF, the microstransaction money) prices for goods have dropped, including prices for the special skinned weapons. Note that the weapons you buy with BF can be bought permanently, and are often stronger than comparable VP weapons. Naturally, the community is in an uproar and there is even a petition with a thousand signatures. It's to be seen whether or not this will positively or negatively affect the game itself, as some people are bound to stop playing in protest.
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn ea. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn ea. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 1, 2012
Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 1, 2012
The Sims Social is live on Facebook; kiss your (real) social life goodbye
UPDATE: 3:30 P.M. EST: And Sims Social is down again. A Sims rep says this is because the game is "not officially launched" and is in open beta, so the people behind the scenes are still running tests on the game. So, take that to mean that the game could be fairly unstable until ... well, it's not. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Sims Social seems to be up and running again. Sims Social was live earlier today, but is now having connection problems. More news as soon as we got it.
The day has finally come to retreat to the comfort of your computer from the heat ... and other people. Well, at least in the flesh, as EA and Playfish London have launched The Sims Social on Facebook. First revealed officially at this year's E3, the game takes the classic "god game" play style that made the PC versions of The Sims so insanely popular and injects some interesting social features never before seen in a Facebook game.
The game features an incredible amount of character customization from head to toe, as well as some interesting character archetypes that will somehow play a role in how you interact with your friends. But the unique social interactions go farther than that. As we learned yesterday, friends can become "frenemies" and eventually transform into archenemies, but can just as easily become lovers and later make "WooHoo," as Playfish London GM John Earner put it to us in a recent exclusive interview.
The Sims Social, like almost all Facebook games, uses an Energy system to govern how long players can enjoy the game for free daily. However, you can visit your friends and perform unique helpful or harmful actions to their Sims any time you wish. Keep in mind, though, that Sims have a mind of their own--just like in the original games--and will ultimately decided for themselves whether to listen. There are a number of interesting things to do in The Sims Social already, and as Earner told us recently: "We're just getting started."
Gallery: The Sims Social on Facebook
UPDATE: Sims Social seems to be up and running again. Sims Social was live earlier today, but is now having connection problems. More news as soon as we got it.
The day has finally come to retreat to the comfort of your computer from the heat ... and other people. Well, at least in the flesh, as EA and Playfish London have launched The Sims Social on Facebook. First revealed officially at this year's E3, the game takes the classic "god game" play style that made the PC versions of The Sims so insanely popular and injects some interesting social features never before seen in a Facebook game.
The game features an incredible amount of character customization from head to toe, as well as some interesting character archetypes that will somehow play a role in how you interact with your friends. But the unique social interactions go farther than that. As we learned yesterday, friends can become "frenemies" and eventually transform into archenemies, but can just as easily become lovers and later make "WooHoo," as Playfish London GM John Earner put it to us in a recent exclusive interview.
The Sims Social, like almost all Facebook games, uses an Energy system to govern how long players can enjoy the game for free daily. However, you can visit your friends and perform unique helpful or harmful actions to their Sims any time you wish. Keep in mind, though, that Sims have a mind of their own--just like in the original games--and will ultimately decided for themselves whether to listen. There are a number of interesting things to do in The Sims Social already, and as Earner told us recently: "We're just getting started."
Gallery: The Sims Social on Facebook
Thứ Ba, 3 tháng 1, 2012
Buzz! maker Relentless Software snags EA staffer for social games
Are hits like The Sims Social and (supposedly) SimCity for Facebook on the way not enough? Another EA employee has left the nest to take a crack at social games elsewhere. Relentless Software, best known for the Buzz! quiz game series for consoles, announced that it has hired former EA staffer James Wright as executive producer of its new social games division.
"We're serious about social and mobile games and that's why we have taken the logical step to separate these activities from the console business," Relentless Software executive director Andrew Eades said. "We've hired James Wright as Executive Producer who has a decade of experience in developing and publishing mobile games and has been involved in a number of top ten tittles including Draw Race 2. Our original IP will be steered from the Digital division and already includes Blue Toad Murder Files and Quiz Climber."
In short, Relentless Software wants to get into social games in a big way, and it wants Wright at the forefront of its initiative. The UK-based developer already has brief experience on Facebook with games like Quiz Climber. "The formalization of the Digital Division is a valuable starting point to take over from Relentless' self-publishing strategy," Wright said. "It will bring more fun, accessible and ground-breaking titles across several platforms for non-gamers."
It's that "non-gamers" bit that hangs us up. Perhaps Relentless Software has a different view of the 300 some million social gamers on Facebook and even more on mobile devices. Are the games currently available on social and mobile platforms not really games in the studio's eyes? At any rate, Relentless might want to get Buzz! on Facebook and mobile fast--it would kill it.
Do you think a studio like Relentless Software find more success on Facebook and mobile with a dedicated division? Would you like to see Buzz! on social and mobile game platforms?
"We're serious about social and mobile games and that's why we have taken the logical step to separate these activities from the console business," Relentless Software executive director Andrew Eades said. "We've hired James Wright as Executive Producer who has a decade of experience in developing and publishing mobile games and has been involved in a number of top ten tittles including Draw Race 2. Our original IP will be steered from the Digital division and already includes Blue Toad Murder Files and Quiz Climber."
In short, Relentless Software wants to get into social games in a big way, and it wants Wright at the forefront of its initiative. The UK-based developer already has brief experience on Facebook with games like Quiz Climber. "The formalization of the Digital Division is a valuable starting point to take over from Relentless' self-publishing strategy," Wright said. "It will bring more fun, accessible and ground-breaking titles across several platforms for non-gamers."
It's that "non-gamers" bit that hangs us up. Perhaps Relentless Software has a different view of the 300 some million social gamers on Facebook and even more on mobile devices. Are the games currently available on social and mobile platforms not really games in the studio's eyes? At any rate, Relentless might want to get Buzz! on Facebook and mobile fast--it would kill it.
Do you think a studio like Relentless Software find more success on Facebook and mobile with a dedicated division? Would you like to see Buzz! on social and mobile game platforms?
Shocker: Zynga didn't have the most popular Facebook game in 2011?
Finding things that are hidden was the most popular game activity on Facebook this year, followed by controlling a person's every move and running an entire city. Facebook has released its take on the most popular social games of 2011, and Playdom's Gardens of Time beat out both The Sims Social by Playfish and Zynga's CityVille for the number one spot.
Facebook organized the list based on "which [games] drew the most active users and received the highest user recommendations," according to a post on the Facebook blog. Other than that, it's not 100 percent clear how Facebook came to its conclusions, as AppData's findings (as of this writing) are quite different. Perhaps user recommendations were weighed more heavily in Facebook's list. It's also possible that the recent change to how Facebook calculates monthly active players in its games affected this list.
With The Sims Social and CityVille in second and third place, respectively, the list contains a number of unexpected winners. For instance, DoubleDown Casino, Bingo Blitz and Slotomania all made the overall top 10 list. This isn't to say that these games aren't deserving of such acclaim, but none of these games performed as well as, say, Zynga Poker in 2011.
This leads us to believe that user recommendations were weighed more heavily than active players in Facebook's calculations. Who knows, perhaps recommendations are a better metric than simply the number of players when rating a game's popularity. Facebook made a point to include a bunch of other notable mentions from 2011, so check out the full list below:
Most Popular Games in 2011:
Gardens of Time (By Playdom)
The Sims Social (By EA)
Cityville (By Zynga)
DoubleDown Casino (by DoubleDown Interactive)
Indiana Jones Adventure World (By Zynga)
Words With Friends (By Zynga)
Bingo Blitz (By Buffalo Studios)
Empires & Allies (By Zynga)
Slotomania-Slot Machines (By Playtika)
Diamond Dash (By wooga)
Top Up-and-Comers:
Battle Pirates (By Kixeye)
Dragons of Atlantis (By Kabam)
Gourmet Ranch (By RockYou!)
Top Games with 50,000-100,000 Users
Super Slot Machines (By Davy Campano, David Livingston Kirby and Robby Campano)
WestWars (By Innogames)
MouseHunt (By HitGrab)
Top Casino Games in 2011
Zynga Poker (By Zynga)
Slotomania – Slot Machines (By Playtika)
DoubleDown Casino (By DoubleDown Interactive)
Top Sports Games in 2011
TopEleven – Be a Football Manager (By Nordeus)
Pool Live Tour (By Geewa)
EA Sports: FIFA Superstars (By EA)
Top Fashion Games in 2011
Mall World (By 50 Cubes)
ItGirl (By CrowdStar)
Coco Girl (By Metrogames)
Do you think Gardens of Time deserves to be on top? What do you think of the conclusions Facebook came to?
Facebook organized the list based on "which [games] drew the most active users and received the highest user recommendations," according to a post on the Facebook blog. Other than that, it's not 100 percent clear how Facebook came to its conclusions, as AppData's findings (as of this writing) are quite different. Perhaps user recommendations were weighed more heavily in Facebook's list. It's also possible that the recent change to how Facebook calculates monthly active players in its games affected this list.
With The Sims Social and CityVille in second and third place, respectively, the list contains a number of unexpected winners. For instance, DoubleDown Casino, Bingo Blitz and Slotomania all made the overall top 10 list. This isn't to say that these games aren't deserving of such acclaim, but none of these games performed as well as, say, Zynga Poker in 2011.
This leads us to believe that user recommendations were weighed more heavily than active players in Facebook's calculations. Who knows, perhaps recommendations are a better metric than simply the number of players when rating a game's popularity. Facebook made a point to include a bunch of other notable mentions from 2011, so check out the full list below:
Most Popular Games in 2011:
Gardens of Time (By Playdom)
The Sims Social (By EA)
Cityville (By Zynga)
DoubleDown Casino (by DoubleDown Interactive)
Indiana Jones Adventure World (By Zynga)
Words With Friends (By Zynga)
Bingo Blitz (By Buffalo Studios)
Empires & Allies (By Zynga)
Slotomania-Slot Machines (By Playtika)
Diamond Dash (By wooga)
Top Up-and-Comers:
Battle Pirates (By Kixeye)
Dragons of Atlantis (By Kabam)
Gourmet Ranch (By RockYou!)
Top Games with 50,000-100,000 Users
Super Slot Machines (By Davy Campano, David Livingston Kirby and Robby Campano)
WestWars (By Innogames)
MouseHunt (By HitGrab)
Top Casino Games in 2011
Zynga Poker (By Zynga)
Slotomania – Slot Machines (By Playtika)
DoubleDown Casino (By DoubleDown Interactive)
Top Sports Games in 2011
TopEleven – Be a Football Manager (By Nordeus)
Pool Live Tour (By Geewa)
EA Sports: FIFA Superstars (By EA)
Top Fashion Games in 2011
Mall World (By 50 Cubes)
ItGirl (By CrowdStar)
Coco Girl (By Metrogames)
Do you think Gardens of Time deserves to be on top? What do you think of the conclusions Facebook came to?
Thứ Hai, 26 tháng 12, 2011
Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty takes cue from social games in China
Call of Duty
And here we though the day would never come: The pinnacle of hardcore gaming, Call of Duty (CoD), has succumbed to the pressures and potential profits of Facebook games ... in China. VentureBeat reports that Activision Blizzard announced a new CoD game today, though the game will be a free-to-play affair for Chinese audiences only (at the moment). The company made the announcement in an earnings call today, and said that it will create a "best in class digital platform" to support the game.
"Today, Call of Duty is part of the cultural landscape," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, in the earnings call. But to succeed in foreign lands, the game will have to adapt to cultural landscapes as well. Free-to-play games supported by micro-transactions are what Chinese gamers expect these days, and Activision plans to deliver. Not to mention that the company also created a studio known as Beachhead to make an online community for CoD players worldwide. The platform has been in development for two years already, and Activision expects it to be ready in time for the expected fall release of the next CoD.
According to VentureBeat, details on the next CoD developed for Western audiences will surface in the coming weeks. And Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick promised that this next CoD will be the best experience that the company has ever made. If the company is aware of what resonates with Chinese gamers, surely it's considering the massive social games movement in the US. In fact, with EA already offering free-to-play versions of its Battlefield franchise, Kotick has at least mulled it over.
[Image Credit: G4TV]
Do you think CoD will adapt to a more social games-esque distribution model in the states as well? Would you be more interested in the franchise if it was presented like this?
And here we though the day would never come: The pinnacle of hardcore gaming, Call of Duty (CoD), has succumbed to the pressures and potential profits of Facebook games ... in China. VentureBeat reports that Activision Blizzard announced a new CoD game today, though the game will be a free-to-play affair for Chinese audiences only (at the moment). The company made the announcement in an earnings call today, and said that it will create a "best in class digital platform" to support the game.
"Today, Call of Duty is part of the cultural landscape," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, in the earnings call. But to succeed in foreign lands, the game will have to adapt to cultural landscapes as well. Free-to-play games supported by micro-transactions are what Chinese gamers expect these days, and Activision plans to deliver. Not to mention that the company also created a studio known as Beachhead to make an online community for CoD players worldwide. The platform has been in development for two years already, and Activision expects it to be ready in time for the expected fall release of the next CoD.
According to VentureBeat, details on the next CoD developed for Western audiences will surface in the coming weeks. And Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick promised that this next CoD will be the best experience that the company has ever made. If the company is aware of what resonates with Chinese gamers, surely it's considering the massive social games movement in the US. In fact, with EA already offering free-to-play versions of its Battlefield franchise, Kotick has at least mulled it over.
[Image Credit: G4TV]
Do you think CoD will adapt to a more social games-esque distribution model in the states as well? Would you be more interested in the franchise if it was presented like this?
Thứ Tư, 14 tháng 12, 2011
EA wants to get into hardcore gaming ... on Facebook [Update]
Update: Inside Social Games has confirmed that EA has purchased KlickNation. The outlet reports that the studio will be integrated into BioWare's social game development arm, most likely referring to BioWare San Francisco. Check out the full report here.
No, you probably won't see Battlefield 3 on Facebook anytime soon. But EA could make another social gaming buy by the end of the week, according to Inside Social Games's nameless sources. The Playfish and PopCap owner is reportedly looking to pick up Age of Champions creator KlickNation in a bid to enter the emerging hardcore social games scene on Facebook.
The 70 person-strong studio would add to the publisher's stable of social game developers that could bring its traditional game franchises to life on social networks, like EA2D (now BioWare San Francisco) has done with Dragon Age Legends. It's been said that there are nearly 80 million gamers enjoying more "core" game experiences on Facebook, so it's understandable why EA would be bullish on this audience.
However, as it does with your run-of-the-mill social games, EA faces stiff competition in the strategy games space on Facebook. Developers like Kixeye, Kabam and even Digital Chocolate have staked their claim when it comes to hardcore games on the platform. EA will likely test the waters with its upcoming Risk: Factions on Facebook, but that games appears more cartoon-like than most strategy games on the network.
The second place publisher has struck gold with The Sims Social, though it's in decline. Regardless, EA will be better off sticking with its more recognizable franchises if it's to use the KlickNation team to make new games. That said, maybe Battlefield will make it to Facebook after all--and there's always Command & Conquer.
Is it a good idea for EA to buy a developer like KlickNation? Could EA make a dent in the strategy games space on Facebook with properties like Command & Conquer?
No, you probably won't see Battlefield 3 on Facebook anytime soon. But EA could make another social gaming buy by the end of the week, according to Inside Social Games's nameless sources. The Playfish and PopCap owner is reportedly looking to pick up Age of Champions creator KlickNation in a bid to enter the emerging hardcore social games scene on Facebook.
The 70 person-strong studio would add to the publisher's stable of social game developers that could bring its traditional game franchises to life on social networks, like EA2D (now BioWare San Francisco) has done with Dragon Age Legends. It's been said that there are nearly 80 million gamers enjoying more "core" game experiences on Facebook, so it's understandable why EA would be bullish on this audience.
However, as it does with your run-of-the-mill social games, EA faces stiff competition in the strategy games space on Facebook. Developers like Kixeye, Kabam and even Digital Chocolate have staked their claim when it comes to hardcore games on the platform. EA will likely test the waters with its upcoming Risk: Factions on Facebook, but that games appears more cartoon-like than most strategy games on the network.
The second place publisher has struck gold with The Sims Social, though it's in decline. Regardless, EA will be better off sticking with its more recognizable franchises if it's to use the KlickNation team to make new games. That said, maybe Battlefield will make it to Facebook after all--and there's always Command & Conquer.
Is it a good idea for EA to buy a developer like KlickNation? Could EA make a dent in the strategy games space on Facebook with properties like Command & Conquer?
Top 25 Facebook Games - December 2011: FarmVille Strikes Back
I guess in Facebook game years, FarmVille is kind of like Obi Wan Kenobi. And boy, did Zynga's farming game come back stronger than we could possibly imagine, or what? As The Sims Social falls from its cushy number two spot after losing 7.9 million monthly players, FarmVille swoops in with a 2.8 million gain this month. CityVille lost a few million, but still clings to the top.
EA and Playfish's slugger dipped even further on December's daily players chart to fifth place with a loss of 1.1 million players. (This is what we chalk all that up to.) Of course, CastleVille--Zynga's fastest-growing game ever--makes a grand entrance into both top 25 charts. The kingdom-builder shot up to fifth place in monthly players with 20.8 million, and an impressive second place in daily players with 7.3 million. That should be the shot in the arm the company needs for its imminent public offering, no?
Not so fast, considering Mafia Wars 2 didn't even make the charts in daily players, the best measure of a game's dedicated (and paying) audience. Zynga launched Mafia Wars 2 in October. The game does, however, have 11.3 million monthly players, which ties it with Wooga's Diamond Dash. That puzzle game is nine months old.
Top 25 Facebook Games by MAU
An interesting newcomer to this lineup is Nordeus's Top Eleven, which creeps up in 25th place on the daily players charts with 950,000. Unfortunately, the rest of these charts look like business as usual, aside from Zynga's major losses including Adventure World, which hemorrhaged 4.3 million monthly players. Though, it's refreshing to see some more developers continue to thrive in the top 25 charts, like King.com with Bubble Witch Saga and 6waves Lolapps with Ravenskye City.
[Source and Image Credit: Inside Social Games]
How can The Sims Social reclaim its second place spot? What other games do you think deserve to be on this list?
EA and Playfish's slugger dipped even further on December's daily players chart to fifth place with a loss of 1.1 million players. (This is what we chalk all that up to.) Of course, CastleVille--Zynga's fastest-growing game ever--makes a grand entrance into both top 25 charts. The kingdom-builder shot up to fifth place in monthly players with 20.8 million, and an impressive second place in daily players with 7.3 million. That should be the shot in the arm the company needs for its imminent public offering, no?
Not so fast, considering Mafia Wars 2 didn't even make the charts in daily players, the best measure of a game's dedicated (and paying) audience. Zynga launched Mafia Wars 2 in October. The game does, however, have 11.3 million monthly players, which ties it with Wooga's Diamond Dash. That puzzle game is nine months old.
Top 25 Facebook Games by MAU
An interesting newcomer to this lineup is Nordeus's Top Eleven, which creeps up in 25th place on the daily players charts with 950,000. Unfortunately, the rest of these charts look like business as usual, aside from Zynga's major losses including Adventure World, which hemorrhaged 4.3 million monthly players. Though, it's refreshing to see some more developers continue to thrive in the top 25 charts, like King.com with Bubble Witch Saga and 6waves Lolapps with Ravenskye City.
[Source and Image Credit: Inside Social Games]
How can The Sims Social reclaim its second place spot? What other games do you think deserve to be on this list?
Thứ Tư, 12 tháng 10, 2011
Get (the real) Tetris on your Android phone for the cool price of 'free'
Alright proud Android users, time to replace that "Tetris" game on your phones with the real deal. EA has made the ubiquitous Russian puzzle game available on Android for free, zilch, nada, zero. Capiche? (That's your queue to hit up the Android Market.) The game includes new-and-improved visuals, a fan favorite marathon mode and it's the real deal ... for free.
Seriously, do we really need a better selling point? Fine, in addition to full touch controls, players can track their stats and high scores in the free version of Tetris for Android, too. Since the ultimate puzzle game debuted in the '80s, Tetris has been made available on 50 platforms, and is available in nearly every country in the world.
That's sure some progress for a game that hasn't changed much in almost 30 years--and doesn't need to, mind you. (Though, cross-play compatibility with Tetris Battle on Facebook would be most welcome.)
"Tetris is one of the most distinctive, well-known and popular video game franchises in the world and it gives EA the opportunity to grow its already-expanding customer base on the Android platform," said EA Interactive VP of Sales and Marketing Bernard Kim in a statement. "Tetris has a strong legacy in the mobile gaming world and we're excited to bring a free version of Tetris to yet another great platform."
Tetris Android Free
Tetris follows Scrabble as being the second game EA has made available on the Android platform. Perhaps we're witnessing a growing EA trend. Now, if only that trend would find its way over to my iPhone.
Click here to download Tetris on Android for Free Now >
Have you picked up Tetris on your Android phone for free today from EA? What do you say, has Tetris stood the 27-year-long test of time? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Seriously, do we really need a better selling point? Fine, in addition to full touch controls, players can track their stats and high scores in the free version of Tetris for Android, too. Since the ultimate puzzle game debuted in the '80s, Tetris has been made available on 50 platforms, and is available in nearly every country in the world.
That's sure some progress for a game that hasn't changed much in almost 30 years--and doesn't need to, mind you. (Though, cross-play compatibility with Tetris Battle on Facebook would be most welcome.)
"Tetris is one of the most distinctive, well-known and popular video game franchises in the world and it gives EA the opportunity to grow its already-expanding customer base on the Android platform," said EA Interactive VP of Sales and Marketing Bernard Kim in a statement. "Tetris has a strong legacy in the mobile gaming world and we're excited to bring a free version of Tetris to yet another great platform."
Tetris Android Free
Tetris follows Scrabble as being the second game EA has made available on the Android platform. Perhaps we're witnessing a growing EA trend. Now, if only that trend would find its way over to my iPhone.
Click here to download Tetris on Android for Free Now >
Have you picked up Tetris on your Android phone for free today from EA? What do you say, has Tetris stood the 27-year-long test of time? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Thứ Tư, 5 tháng 10, 2011
The Sims Social maker EA wants you ... to make it lots of ad money
And unfortunately, it doesn't sound like you'll have much of a choice. EA, co-creator of Playfish's The Sims Social on Facebook (and arch nemesis to Zynga at this point), has announced EA Legend.
This is the company's new platform to provide marketers and advertisers with "campaign and audience insights across mobile, social, online and console games reaching over 300 million people worldwide," a release reads.
In other words, you're more valuable to EA than you might already know. The publisher wants to use the information you provide them inadvertently through gameplay to rope in ad and marketing deals not just through its Facebook games but all of its games. More specifically, EA said it can provide advertisers with (prepare for buzzword overload):
Key cross-platform campaign performance indicators such as impressions, clicks, unduplicated reach, demographic profiles, social media buzz, and ROI metrics.
Segmented audience insights based on demographic, psychographic, and social data.
Ability to drill down into the factors that impact campaign effectiveness including audience engagement, audience segmentation and type of creative all measured over time.
EA Legend
What's that again--psychographic data? This may all sound like something out of "1984," but it's nothing new. If you think other game creators don't do this type of stuff, then here's your wake-up call. We won't know exactly what information about us EA will provide to advertisers through Legend until it makes advertisers see green at this year's Advertising Week event in New York City on Oct. 4. And if EA keeps using words like psychographic, we may never know.
[Via All Facebook]
What do you think about this new EA Legend program? Do you think it's something worth worrying about, or is this just business as usual? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
This is the company's new platform to provide marketers and advertisers with "campaign and audience insights across mobile, social, online and console games reaching over 300 million people worldwide," a release reads.
In other words, you're more valuable to EA than you might already know. The publisher wants to use the information you provide them inadvertently through gameplay to rope in ad and marketing deals not just through its Facebook games but all of its games. More specifically, EA said it can provide advertisers with (prepare for buzzword overload):
Key cross-platform campaign performance indicators such as impressions, clicks, unduplicated reach, demographic profiles, social media buzz, and ROI metrics.
Segmented audience insights based on demographic, psychographic, and social data.
Ability to drill down into the factors that impact campaign effectiveness including audience engagement, audience segmentation and type of creative all measured over time.
EA Legend
What's that again--psychographic data? This may all sound like something out of "1984," but it's nothing new. If you think other game creators don't do this type of stuff, then here's your wake-up call. We won't know exactly what information about us EA will provide to advertisers through Legend until it makes advertisers see green at this year's Advertising Week event in New York City on Oct. 4. And if EA keeps using words like psychographic, we may never know.
[Via All Facebook]
What do you think about this new EA Legend program? Do you think it's something worth worrying about, or is this just business as usual? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Thứ Bảy, 24 tháng 9, 2011
Sims Social survey lets you sound off on item prices, favorite features and more
It's that time folks - time to let your collective voices be heard! EA wants to know how much fun (or not) you're having with the Sims Social on Facebook, and they've released a fairly long survey to help you tell them. This survey contains all sorts of questions, ranging from the basics of how often you play the game, to allowing you to rate your opinion on item pricing (are they too cheap? too expensive?) and what some of your favorite features are in the game.
Of course, the point of all of this is to gather enough opinions to actually sway the way the game develops in the future. Hopefully, with questions dealing with how much we like to "build" items with parts (bookcases, double beds, etc.), and the option to say that you don't like it at all, we may actually see a lessening in those kinds of items, if enough users agree. You can even rank various gameplay features (decorating your house, visiting friends, customizing your Sim, etc.) in the order that you like them. In this way, perhaps we'll see more focus being placed on the most (overall) liked feature, and you'll be able to say you helped to make that happen.
Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of survey that will allow you to give your opinion on future item sets, but there are plenty of blank text boxes for you to say exactly what you want to the developers in a place that you know they'll see it. Again, this survey is prety lengthy (when compared to other Facebook game surveys anyway), so you'll want to make sure you have around 5-10 minutes to set aside to take it.
We've taken this survey as well, and if we start to notice any gameplay changes arising because of options listed here, we'll make sure to let you know. In the meantime, head over to this link right here to take the survey for yourself.
Of course, the point of all of this is to gather enough opinions to actually sway the way the game develops in the future. Hopefully, with questions dealing with how much we like to "build" items with parts (bookcases, double beds, etc.), and the option to say that you don't like it at all, we may actually see a lessening in those kinds of items, if enough users agree. You can even rank various gameplay features (decorating your house, visiting friends, customizing your Sim, etc.) in the order that you like them. In this way, perhaps we'll see more focus being placed on the most (overall) liked feature, and you'll be able to say you helped to make that happen.
Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of survey that will allow you to give your opinion on future item sets, but there are plenty of blank text boxes for you to say exactly what you want to the developers in a place that you know they'll see it. Again, this survey is prety lengthy (when compared to other Facebook game surveys anyway), so you'll want to make sure you have around 5-10 minutes to set aside to take it.
We've taken this survey as well, and if we start to notice any gameplay changes arising because of options listed here, we'll make sure to let you know. In the meantime, head over to this link right here to take the survey for yourself.
Thứ Năm, 22 tháng 9, 2011
Zynga, Playdom, EA and Bioware vets cause a Rumble with new freemium studio
While many a story has come to light recently, detailing high-level game designers jumping ship to Zynga, here's one where a fairly big gun under the big Z's umbrella has left for new pastures. To be specific, John Yoo, lead designer on CityVille, is one of a few industry veterans that have joined with Greg Richardson [pictured], of former BioWare/Pandemic fame, in the creation of a new freemium (free-to-play) game studio by the name of Rumble.
After speaking with Rick Thompson, the founder of another major social games company - Playdom - the two partnered to form Rumble. Rounding out this new package are former EA employees Mark Spenner and David O'Connor. With these big names in their camp, Richardson's goal with Rumble is to create games that are free to play (supported with paid add-ons), but lie somewhere in between the expensive world of high-end PC games and the extremely casual games represented by many Facebook titles.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Richardson has faith that this middle ground holds a lot of merit. "We saw this third hill, and we think it's the biggest of the three hills," he says. This isn't to say, though, that Facebook games are out of the picture, as Richardson confirmed that they will use the social service, but will also focus on mobile devices and PCs through the browser.
In addition to developing its own games, Rumble will publish other developer's titles. While no specific details were announced about any of Rumble's specific games (we can expect the first sometime early next year), Richardson did list many of the company's areas of inspiration, which lie anywhere from Zelda and Super Smash Bros. to Diablo and Civilization. Regardless of the game in question, he says that Rumble looks to avoid overly complex gameplay. With this many areas of inspiration, we're definitely interested in seeing what Rumble comes up with, but for now - the possibilities are endless.
Are you excited in trying out this apparent middle-ground of freemium games that aren't too challenging, but aren't too basic either? Sound off in the comments.
After speaking with Rick Thompson, the founder of another major social games company - Playdom - the two partnered to form Rumble. Rounding out this new package are former EA employees Mark Spenner and David O'Connor. With these big names in their camp, Richardson's goal with Rumble is to create games that are free to play (supported with paid add-ons), but lie somewhere in between the expensive world of high-end PC games and the extremely casual games represented by many Facebook titles.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Richardson has faith that this middle ground holds a lot of merit. "We saw this third hill, and we think it's the biggest of the three hills," he says. This isn't to say, though, that Facebook games are out of the picture, as Richardson confirmed that they will use the social service, but will also focus on mobile devices and PCs through the browser.
In addition to developing its own games, Rumble will publish other developer's titles. While no specific details were announced about any of Rumble's specific games (we can expect the first sometime early next year), Richardson did list many of the company's areas of inspiration, which lie anywhere from Zelda and Super Smash Bros. to Diablo and Civilization. Regardless of the game in question, he says that Rumble looks to avoid overly complex gameplay. With this many areas of inspiration, we're definitely interested in seeing what Rumble comes up with, but for now - the possibilities are endless.
Are you excited in trying out this apparent middle-ground of freemium games that aren't too challenging, but aren't too basic either? Sound off in the comments.
Thứ Tư, 21 tháng 9, 2011
The Sims Social beats FarmVille, attracts second most daily players
Boy, people sure do love to play god. According to Appdata, The Sims Social has surpassed Zynga's iconic FarmVille with the second most daily players of any Facebook game. Since its launch just a month ago today, EA and Playfish's ambitious social rendition of The Sims has amassed over 9.3 million daily players--that's over 1 million more than FarmVille's 8.1 million.
The Sims Social still has a way to go to the number one spot, which is, of course, held by Zynga's most popular game CityVille at just under 14 million daily players. Regardless, it's unprecedented for a game to grow this quickly in daily players, at least for a game that wasn't built by Zynga. Not to mention this is despite the hiccups the game faced along the way including days worth of downtime.
So, that's the power of The Sims, huh? Well, not so fast. While The Sims Social has certainly showed its might when it comes to gripping players (and keeping them there ... so far), the game is still in fourth place in terms of monthly players at just over 34.3 million. This number could grow in time naturally as daily players spread the word and through advertising, but it's nevertheless telling of the limits a Facebook game faces when it doesn't have a massive existing player base, like Zynga's games.
In other words, EA and Playfish have quite a lot of work ahead of them, if they want The Sims Social to be on top in all regards. But judging from the game's performance thus far despite its early setbacks--and in the face of the most popular Facebook games to date--perhaps Simlish could become the dominant language in Facebook gaming.
Have you been one of the over 9 million locked into The Sims Social? What do you think of the game so far? Share with us in the comments.Add Comment
The Sims Social still has a way to go to the number one spot, which is, of course, held by Zynga's most popular game CityVille at just under 14 million daily players. Regardless, it's unprecedented for a game to grow this quickly in daily players, at least for a game that wasn't built by Zynga. Not to mention this is despite the hiccups the game faced along the way including days worth of downtime.
So, that's the power of The Sims, huh? Well, not so fast. While The Sims Social has certainly showed its might when it comes to gripping players (and keeping them there ... so far), the game is still in fourth place in terms of monthly players at just over 34.3 million. This number could grow in time naturally as daily players spread the word and through advertising, but it's nevertheless telling of the limits a Facebook game faces when it doesn't have a massive existing player base, like Zynga's games.
In other words, EA and Playfish have quite a lot of work ahead of them, if they want The Sims Social to be on top in all regards. But judging from the game's performance thus far despite its early setbacks--and in the face of the most popular Facebook games to date--perhaps Simlish could become the dominant language in Facebook gaming.
Have you been one of the over 9 million locked into The Sims Social? What do you think of the game so far? Share with us in the comments.Add Comment
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