Mobile Games, Expertise Required Is Non-trivial

Torsten Reil, founder of Natural Motion:

Valuation: Why Zynga's Stock Is Worth Less Than $2 - Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA) | Seeking Alpha: ".... Explaining why he decided to sell out instead of trying to overtake Zynga, Torsten Reil, founder of NaturalMotion said in an interview with The Guardian:

While it's true that the revenues possible with a hit on mobile are pretty incredible, even though small companies can achieve that, the expertise that's required to create a hit is pretty deep now. On the one hand, it's quite technical in terms of the creativity required. But it's also quite technical in the insight you need to have on how to structure those games, how to retain players over time and make sure monetisation works. That expertise is non-trivial: the trend over the last 12 months has been that it's harder for an inexperienced small team to achieve that.

Supercell and King dominate mobile and they have a big lead...." (read more at link above)

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When Free Isn't Free - Google won't call games with in-app purchases free anymore

Google won't call games with in-app purchases free anymore (updated): "Google has already said it would implement several of the changes starting at the end of September. For instance, it won't use the word "free" for in-app purchase games; it'll come up with targeted guidelines for games to prevent encouragement of children to buy items; and will implement measures to monitor breaches of EU law. Meanwhile, the EU said that Apple has "regrettably" not provided any firm solutions or timetable to address its concerns, though it added that Cupertino has promised to attack the problem." (read more at link above)

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Finnish developers move from Telecom to Gaming

Finnish Pride Takes Another Blow From Microsoft Job Cuts - NYTimes.com: "While Finland had once been known for its telecommunications prowess, many of the new generation of developers and engineers also have shunned corporate jobs with Nokia. Instead, they have turned to the country’s growing gaming industry and companies like Supercell, which makes mobile games like Clash of Clans and is currently valued at around $3 billion." (read more at link above)

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Companies Experiment With Innovative Office Space

It's All About Actually Getting Work Done--

More New York Companies Experiment With Innovative Office Space - WSJ: "Like everyone else in the 250-person office, Mr. Saint-Amand is now assigned only a laptop, a headset and a locker. GLG's new office design offers an array of workspaces—from comfortable couches to high stools at a barista-staffed coffee bar to single-occupancy glass booths. "Something funny about having a lot of stuff is it makes you feel like you're doing something," said Mr. Saint-Amand, whose company helps other firms learn about business issues by matching them with experts. "But when you don't have all that stuff, it frees you up to actually concentrate and work."...." (read more at link above)


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Under the Hood of Android Auto (video)

Under the Hood of Android Auto - video below:
"Your car contains some serious technology. Learn about the Android Auto architecture, which enables you to control Android apps and services running on your phone through your car. In this talk, we'll highlight the key characteristics of the Android Auto protocol, which enables your Android phone to talk to compatible cars. We'll also take a look at some of the details of the Android Auto rendering subsystem, which uses Binders and the Android VirtualDisplay API to composite UI from multiple Android apps. Finally, we'll discuss how we're enhancing the Google Maps app by integrating with the Android Auto platform."(June 25, 2014 - GoogleDevelopers)

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Chromecast, Mirroring, Gaming, Video

From Android Auto to OnLive: how video is becoming the secret glue of connected devices — Tech News and Analysis: "What’s notable about Google’s Android Audio implementation is that the video stream is not rendered in the cloud, but on your mobile device, which is quickly becoming one of the most powerful and most frequently-upgraded devices in people’s lives... also announced at Google I/O that it is bringing Android device mirroring to Chromecast. Mirroring your phone on your Chromecast-equipped TV will provide an easy way to share personal media or the occasional video stream on the TV, but it will also effectively outsource processing of more resource-intensive applications to the handset. One area that Chromecast has been lacking in particular is gaming — the device simply isn’t equipped to render full-blown video games. However, modern phones are more than capable of doing so, and by adding mirroring to Android, users will be able to play their favorite games on the TV screen. Apple has been doing similar things with AirPlay for some time, but the $35 Chromecast stick is a perfect example of why transmitting video streams is a great way to connect powerful applications with cheap and lean devices..." (read more at link above)


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What is gambling software?

GB: What is gambling software? | DLA Piper - I-gaming - JDSupra:



further UK info here 

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Android has record 85 percent smartphone marketshare

Android grabs record 85 percent smartphone share | PCWorld: "Google’s dominance of the smartphone market has reached new heights, with its Android operating system now accounting for a record 84.6 percent share of global smartphone shipments, according to research by Strategy Analytics. The growth in Android phones during the second quarter of this year came at the expense of BlackBerry, Apple iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone, the research firm said Wednesday. Android accounted for 249.6 million smartphones shipped in the quarter, up from 186.8 million a year earlier, and about seven times more than the 35.2 million Apple iOS phones shipped. The market share of Apple’s iOS slipped to 11.9 percent in the quarter from 13.4 percent in the same quarter last year...." (read more at link above)


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The Future for Zynga

Are Better Days Ahead for Zynga?: Video - Bloomberg:
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IDG Ventures USA's Tyler He and Bloomberg Intelligence's Praveen Menon discuss the outlook for Zynga with Pimm Fox on "Taking Stock." Bloomberg's Cory Johnson also comments. (Source: Bloomberg Aug7)


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Kardashian Video Game Maker Glu Mobile (video)

Kardashian Video Game Maker Glu Drops on Forecast: Video - Bloomberg:
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Glu Mobile, the publisher of the hit Kim Kardashian video game, dropped in extended trading after projecting gross margin for the third quarter that’s narrower than the last period. Cory Johnson takes a look at the numbers on "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg July 30)

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No Man's Sky: Infinite Worlds (video)

No Man's Sky: Infinite Worlds -

No Man's Sky is a science-fiction game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe. This is just a tiny sample of worlds you could visit. Published on Jun 9, 2014

http://www.no-mans-sky.com/

Music: Pacify by 65daysofstatic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyZ0_...

Developed by Hello Games, the indie studio behind PS3 hit Joe Danger, No Man's Sky is a science-fiction game without limits. If you see a mountain, you can trek there. If you see a planet hanging on the horizon, it's a real place, with its own rich ecology. You can get in your ship, fly into space and it's yours to explore. Not just that, but every star in the sky is just the light of a sun, with its own solar system waiting for you to discover

Exploring No Man’s Sky, A Computer Game Forged by Algorithms | MIT Technology Review: "... Murray formed Hello Games in 2009 with three friends, all of whom had previously worked at major studios. Hello Games’ first title, Joe Danger, let players control a stuntman. The game was, according to Murray, “annoyingly successful” in the sense that it locked him and his friends into a cycle of sequels that they had formed the company to escape. During the next few years the team made four Joe Danger games for seven different platforms. “Then I had a midlife game development crisis,” says Murray. “It changes your mindset when a single game’s development represents a significant chunk of life.” Murray decided it was time to embark upon the game he’d imagined as a child, a game about frontiership and existence on the edge of the unexplored. “We talked about the feeling of landing on a planet and effectively being the first person to discover it, not knowing what was out there,” he says. “In this era in which footage of every game is recorded and uploaded to YouTube, we wanted a game where, even if you watched every video, it still wouldn’t be spoiled for you.”..." (read more at link above)


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Microsoft-made HTML5 version of Settlers of Catan

OK Microsoft is onboard with HTML5games--

Play a Microsoft-made HTML5 version of Settlers of Catan in your browser right now — Tech News and Analysis: "There’s no app version of Settlers of Catan — the island building board game beloved by geeks worldwide — for Windows Phone, although its iOS and Android versions are excellent. So Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team announced an HTML 5 version that’s truly cross platform — in addition to running on devices with IE, like Windows Phone, it should work in any modern browser that supports HTML5. Catan Anytime is a multiplayer web app: You’ll need to find at least two friends, because it doesn’t set you up with random online opponents nor furnish AI players yet. Catan Anytime works asynchronously, like Words with Friends. You take a turn then your opponents have a set amount of time to take theirs. Because notifications change from device to device, turn notifications are delivered through email...." (read more at link above)

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Digital Revenue: Worldwide mobile gaming revenue rose 27 percent in 2013

Mobile Games Still a Footnote at the Electronic Entertainment Expo | Re/code: "....from its humble display at E3, one would hardly guess that mobile gaming is the fastest growing part of the videogame business. Worldwide mobile gaming revenue rose 27 percent in 2013, compared with the prior year, according to SuperData, a research firm that tracks mobile and social gaming. Indeed, smartphone and tablet games, which brought in $3 billion last year in the U.S., are the largest source of digital revenue for the gaming industry. Digital revenue has become the industry’s muscle-bound hero. This category, which sweeps in mobile apps, social games, subscriptions, downloadable console titles and additional content, now accounts for more than half of the $21.5 billion U.S. consumers spent last year on games, according to NPD data.... " (read more at link above)

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