Tag: gaming

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Disruptive Technologies Impacting the Future of Gaming | REACH 2013 #REACHGAMES

WP_20131024_001This was a really fun night. Hosted by TechZulu and Gadget Review at the shared office space Cross Campus LA in Santa Monica, a packed house sat through a stimulating panel of gaming professionals talking about the current state of gaming and what the future might hold.

Moderated by Scot Rubin (NITROPOD/SVP Digital Media Big Door/Cofounder G4TV), the panel included Josh Yguado (President SGN), Chris Hewish (Head of Interactive DreamWorks Animation), Wilson Kriegel (President/COO Paltalk /former CRO of Zynga/OMGPOP), Robin Kaminsky (CEO 1st Street Partners/Former EVP of Publishing, Executive Lead Global Gaming Activision/Blizzard).

Topics were fast and varied. From casual gaming disrupting traditional console gaming to talking about monetization and micro-transactions. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of demographics. I find the current media market is holding to age and gender groups in ways which actually work against production, advertising, and distributing content to people who might engage with it, all in the pursuit of some “target demo” which may or may not respond.

Also fascinating  was a mini-debate which took place over educational games. Info-tainment might not be particularly effective. Ms. Kaminsky dropped a bomb with “if a game is fun, it’s not going to be particularly educational. If it’s educational, it’s not going to be particularly fun”, yet the whole panel largely agreed that the gamification of certain educational arenas might garner results. The example of typing tutors was brought up, and I happen to be a pretty big fan of Typing of the Dead.

For more info on TechZulu events, check out their calendar, and you can watch the whole panel discussion from their Youtube Livestream below.

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Activision Blizzard Completes $8.2 Billion Buyback from Vivendi

logo_activision blizzardConsidering their the world’s largest video game publisher it’s almost a steal…

After purchasing back $8.2 Billion worth of shares from Vivendi, Activision Blizzard is now a properly independent company. A majority of the company is now owned by public shareholders. From CEO Bobby Kotick:

“With the completion of this transaction we open a new chapter in the history of Activision Blizzard. We expect immediate shareholder benefits in the form of earnings-per-share accretion and strategic and operational independence. Our audiences and our incredibly talented employees around the world will benefit from a focused commitment to the creation of great games. Our shareholders and debt holders will have the benefit of an energized, invested, deeply committed management team focused on generating long-term, superior returns and effectively managing our capital structure.”

After trying (and failing) again this past May to offload Activision Blizzard, it would appear Vivendi finally found the perfect buyer. It never completely made sense to me why exactly Vivendi wanted to part with a profitable business, but now investors have less potential uncertainty to worry about now that A/B is a solo venture. With Skylanders: Swapforce, COD: Ghosts, and Destiny on the horizon I think shareholders will be in for a pretty decent year.

Full PR after the jump.

Continue reading “Activision Blizzard Completes $8.2 Billion Buyback from Vivendi”

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Valve Shows Off New Steam Controller on Youtube

steam controller game pad steamos somegadgetguyThe more I see from this thing, the more curious I am to try it out. These high-res “owl-eye” sensors, instead of dual analog sticks, look like they could give controller players a nice step up.

Valve details the new set up for their up coming Steam boxes in this video. Sit back, settle in, and enjoy the next four minutes and twenty five seconds of game play demonstration with Valve’s new hardware.

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Is Rockstar Games trying to tell us something about smartphone owners in GTA V?

Just a funny little observation from Reddit user praefectus_praetorio. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about what they might be implying by which character is using which smartphone… I’d like to think the “Psychopath” is using Windows Phone because Nokia phones are pretty much indestructible…

gta v smartphone owners reddit(via Reddit)

 

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Ask Juan: Can Windows Phone Compete with Graphics and Gaming?

From the Twitters:

windows phone xbox live gamingHey Yasi,

So here’s the deal, long story short, current Windows Phone Handsets will run at a deficit compared to current Android handsets when it comes to gaming. Microsoft’s hardware mandate pretty much guarantees that all Windows Phones will rock similar hardware. To date, that means Qualcomm’s older dual core Snapdragon chipset. Even though Windows Phone 8 is a decently lean OS which runs more efficiently than Android, and for day to day tasks you’d be hard pressed to see much difference in operation between WP8 on dual-core and Android on quad-core, gaming is one of those phone taxing activities where the extra horsepower comes in handy.

It’s not to say that the gaming experience is bad, far from it. I’m having a blast playing Halo: Spartan Assault, and Where’s My Water 2 was released on WP before Android. All things being equal though, playing the same game on Android and WP8, like Asphalt 7, I find levels load faster, game play lags less, and newer Android phones tend to run a little cooler than WP handsets. We’re just running into the upper limits of what this older chipset is capable of delivering.

Other comparisons become a bit more subjective. Some claim that the 1080p resolution found on newer Android fare looks better than the 720p screens on Windows Phones. Also, that the better graphics hardware means fancier lighting and particle effects. Both are certainly true scientifically, but I’ve honestly had a difficult time seeing a tremendous advantage on screens smaller than five inches.

It’s not all bad news though, as the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet is rumored to be the first Windows Phone featuring both a 1080p screen and Qualcomm’s new 800 series chipset, pretty much catapulting Windows Phone up to the current ranks of the premier Android ecosystem. On phones rocking a larger than five inch screen that resolution bump becomes a little more noticeable in fine detail and clarity.

Thanks for the question Yasi!

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Watch this Woman use Oculus Rift 3D VR goggles for first time on “Rift Coaster”

OculusRift1This is hysterically cute.

In the past, 3D goggles never really delivered the virtual reality experience they claimed they could. Current gen 3D tech is getting surprisingly good however, and the head tracking tech built into Oculus Rift provides for an extremely smooth experience, cresting that mind warping realism we’ve been seeking for so long.

This woman isn’t prepared for what’s about to happen on this roller coaster simulator, and that’s why this video rocks.

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Just for fun: Mike Tyson plays Punch Out for the first time.

How meta is it watching Mike Tyson play Punch Out? One of my all time favorite NES games, though I was never able to beat it. It does make me feel a little better about myself that one of the most ferocious boxers in history, who was the subject of this very game, was unable to get past the very first opponent. Come on Mike! It’s Glass Joe!

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