AllThingsD » E3

Twitch Raises $15 Million to Be the YouTube of the Videogame World

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:00:13 +0000

Twitch, which was started by the people at Justin.TV, has raised more money to continue building an online video platform where viewers can watch live footage of videogames being played.

The experience can be analogous to watching a professional basketball or football game on TV, especially as videogames increasingly become a rival to other major forms of entertainment.

The $15 million round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners; Alsop Louie Partners and Draper Associates also participated. The capital will go toward hiring more engineers to continue building out its platform and improving quality.

The videos run on Twitch’s own platform, rather than on a third-party site like YouTube, allowing it to exclusively target the hardcore gamer. Twitch said it now has more than 20 million viewers, who tune in every month to watch different channels based on games like World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Starcraft and Borderlands 2. As part of the experience, commentators provide feedback in real time.

The San Francisco company announced Twitch a year ago at E3, saying it would be an independent brand from Justin.TV. Five years prior to that, it was trying to build out a live video platform on the Web. Now, Twitch has nearly taken over.

“We launched Twitch a little over a year ago, and already we have more than 20 million unique viewers per month,” said Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch. “Our current team has put us at the forefront of the live videogame streaming movement, and we can now invest aggressively to support our growing community with new ways to stream, watch, and chat.”

Similar to live sports on TV, Twitch makes money by playing advertisements during the game play. It has also experimented with a subscription model, where fans pay a monthly fee. Additionally, the game players get paid to broadcast their videos on the site.

Also meddling in the space is Los Angeles-based Machinima, which racks up millions of page views a month on other sites, including YouTube and Facebook.

As Gree Moves Aggressively Into the U.S., It Breaks Out Its Revenue Here

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:00:06 +0000

For the first time since entering the U.S. more than a year ago, Japan’s second-largest mobile game network is disclosing how it is performing here.

Gree plans to announce today that U.S. revenue totaled $16.9 million in the second quarter, due in large part to the May acquisition of Funzio, a San Francisco mobile game developer.

On a worldwide basis, the revenue represents only a drop in the bucket.

On Tuesday, the company reported a global profit of $500 million on revenue of $2 billion for its fiscal year, ended June 30.

However, the company did not disclose its bottom line in the U.S., and no doubt its losses are significant.

Over the past year, Gree has expanded aggressively here, purchasing two U.S. companies for a total of $300 million. It also has been spending millions more on other moves to catch attention. For example, at E3 this spring, it hosted one of the biggest booths on the show floor, and threw a glitzy party that became one of the most coveted tickets at the event.

In an interview yesterday, Naoki Aoyagi, Gree International’s CEO, said that entering a competitive market like the U.S. takes a strong commitment.

“A year ago, we decided to make a huge bet. Many companies from Asia just set up an office in California and had a few people,” he said. “But it’s very difficult to compete with local players, so we believe that we need a strong team here. We really believe there’s a huge opportunity and we are doing the right thing.”

Indeed, the company does have a strong team — one might call it a small army.

It has around 400 employees today in San Francisco, and is on track to hit 500 by the end of the year. It has also been spending heavily on advertising its games, including multimillion dollar ad buys, according to several industry sources.

Aoyagi admits that the buys were unconventional, but says they were justified.

“When we were first launching games, we needed to evaluate the performance [of the various ad networks], so we bought all the inventory we could buy, which is much more than the usual marketing campaign,” he said. “We learned a lot, and now we understand the performance of each channel, and now we can optimize the marketing spend.”

There are indications that some of the investments have started to pay off.

So far, Gree has signed up multiple publishers to be a part of its mobile games network when it launches sometime later this year. The games are routinely listed among Apple’s 25 top-grossing applications.

When its platform does launch, Gree’s goal is basically to become the social network for games on mobile, like Facebook has done on the PC for social games. It will connect the players, and then charge developers a portion of their revenue for having access to the network.

Aoyagi said the company is forecasting worldwide revenue to hit $2.5 billion in its fiscal 2013 ending June 30. Of that, he said, they expect about 10 percent — roughly $250 million — to come from outside Japan. While some of that revenue could come from multiple countries, it suggests a very rapid growth rate in the U.S. that far exceeds what the company is seeing today.

In the U.S., revenue increased 38 percent in the second quarter, compared to the prior quarter (which is essentially up from zero a year ago).

Does Aoyagi believe the U.S. has the potential to generate the same kind of revenue figures in the U.S. as it sees in Japan?

He thinks so, based on how the games are performing over the past few months. He said Funzio’s titles are already generating 23 perent more revenue under its leadership, and that two of its titles are grossing $1 in average revenue per daily active user — at the game’s peak performance.

“That is pretty good compared to the U.S. industry average,” he said, which he estimates is around 25 cents per daily active user. “With high-end content and with Japanese monetization models, then we can achieve that.”

Activision Starting to Take the Plastic Wrap off Its Mobile Strategy

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:10:50 +0000

Activision Blizzard is known for producing blockbuster hits like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

Now the videogame maker is gunning for much smaller screens, including smartphones and tablets.

In an interview with All Things D, Activision Blizzard’s VP of Mobile Greg Canessa said to expect several mobile announcements as it invests more heavily in the space.

For starters, the Santa Monica, Calif., company is announcing today that it is creating a publishing arm that will bring third-party mobile games to market. Through the program, it will assist independent game makers with funding, development, distribution and promotion of their titles across both iPhone and iOS.

As part of the deal, developers will get the benefit of publishing their game under the Activision brand, while continuing to own the game’s intellectual property.

The shift to digital has been hard for many game companies to swallow, as it typically means shifting away from selling $60 games at retail to giving away free games that are monetized through advertising and virtual goods.

As part of today’s announcement, Activision said it is partnering with Flurry, a mobile analytics and advertising platform that works closely with thousands of mobile developers to help with this transition. Flurry will provide tools to Activision’s developers to help understand mobile development and distribution, while Activision will lend its expertise in making great videogames.

“Flurry can scout and find those indie developers that we should partner with,” Canessa said.

Flurry President and CEO Simon Khalaf said his company also will be able to help promote Activision’s first- or third-party titles, by cross-promoting the apps in its advertising platform, which reaches more than 250 million consumers a day.

To date, Activision has developed some of its own game titles for mobile, including Crash Bandicoot Nitro Cart 2; Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies, which is a rendition of the console version of the game; and Skylanders Cloud Patrol. The games cost, respectively, $6.99, $2.99 and 99 cents on the iPhone.

In the future, Canessa said Activision will experiment with releasing games for free, to be monetized through advertising and virtual goods.

There are a number of reasons why Activision decided that now was the right time to invest in mobile, Canessa said, including increased smartphone and tablet penetration and the capability of the devices.

“It made a company like us, that’s focused on mid-core and hardcore gaming, take a second look at the platform,” he said. “Two or three years ago, you couldn’t envision a world where you could put mid- or hardcore games on mobile.”

To date, Activision hasn’t talked about the importance of mobile very much, but it may not really be late to the game, after all.

Last week, Activision’s close competitor Electronic Arts said that a majority of its mobile game titles will become free by the end of the year, representing a shift away from the premium games market. Unlike Activision, Electronic Arts has been one of the largest mobile games developers on both Android and iOS, but it also represents one of the biggest holdouts when it comes to shifting to free.

Halo 4 Players Will Get Free Weekly "TV" Episodes on the Xbox

Tricia Duryee — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 15:09:18 +0000

As one of the biggest videogame franchises in history, the Halo series has sold more than 42 million copies to date, generating nearly $3 billion in total sales.

The game has been so successful it has inspired books, graphic novels and so-called “strategy guides” that have sold more than nine million copies. What’s more, eight of the 10 novels have made the New York Times best seller list.

And now, with the launch of Halo 4 on Nov. 6, the developers of the game are trying their hand at TV.

Well, sort of.

Frank O’Connor, franchise development director at 343 Industries, said this week at E3 that they wanted to create a narrative surrounding the game which would prompt players to talk about it on a regular basis, similar to how co-workers chat about the latest “Game of Thrones” around the water cooler the day after it airs.

He said the game studio asked the question, “How do we create these shared experiences?”

The answer was something they are calling Spartan Ops, which will deliver free “episodic” content on a weekly basis to anyone who buys the regular or limited edition of the game for $60. The episodes are actually not TV shows, but mini-missions that tell a side story to the main Halo game.

It’s different from the main game because players will cooperate with one another rather than compete in order to finish the mission.

In an interview with the The Guardian, O’Connor provided more of an explanation.

“People will typically buy a new game, they’ll talk about the big set-pieces in that game, and then they’ll move on to the multiplayer component, and often just stop talking about it,” he said. “We wanted gamers to have a continual water cooler conversation that revolves around shared gameplay experiences.”

The content won’t be shipped with the DVD, but rather will be delivered weekly through Xbox Live.

During a demonstration on Thursday at the Xbox booth on the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center, O’Connor said the computer graphics for the first episode aren’t done yet, making the process very similar to a TV show that produces content just in time.

He also said if players don’t get around to playing the content, “they will stack up on your Xbox, like TiVo, and you can play them later.”

O’Connor declined to say how many episodes would be developed in all, but did say that the weekly series will continue on for “months, not weeks.” Each episode will take about 15 minutes for four players to complete — and longer if there are fewer players. In all, he says the weekly episodes will nearly double the amount of game play in Halo 4.

Behind the Curve: EA Finally Making Mobile Games Free This Year

Tricia Duryee — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:00:44 +0000

Over the next year, Electronic Arts said a majority of its mobile game titles will become free, representing a seismic shift away from the premium games market.

“We started to see that freemium was coming in, and it took us a long time to move over,” said Nick Earl, who heads up EA’s mobile and social worldwide studios. “In all candor, we are behind.”

In an interview with AllThingsD at E3 in Los Angeles this week, Earl said the dominant model will be “freemium” in mobile. As with other game makers who depend on this model, EA will allow players to download the games for free, but then will charge a fee to buy virtual goods that enhance the game.

“We are all over that,” Earl said. “There will be a few one-time download games in the future, but they are such the exception, and the norm will be freemium games.”

As an example, EA is currently charging $5 for Madden, $5 for Need for Speed, $2.99 for The Sims 3 and 99 cents for Tiger Woods on the iPhone. A short list of free titles includes Monopoly Hotels and The Sims FreePlay.

Earl said to expect a summer launch of The Simpsons on mobile, which will mark the beginning of the transition.

The game starts off with Homer Simpson causing a nuclear explosion that wipes out Springfield (doh!); the player’s job is to rebuild Springfield using different characters, like Lisa, that are unlocked along the way, according to CNET.

Electronic Arts is one of the largest mobile games developers on both Android and iOS, but it also represents one of the biggest holdouts when it comes to shifting to free. Over the past couple of years, companies have found it easier to gain large audiences by making their games free, and then monetizing them through virtual goods. Players who get hooked on a game often end up spending more than they would have if they had paid for the game upfront.

Earl said it has taken EA so long to make the transformation because it requires a different skill set to build a one-time download. Freemium games act like a live service, which have to be able to support thousands of daily active users.

He said that as part of the switch EA will end up spending more time and energy on each title, and will ship far fewer games.

“Over the last three years, we reengineered the console business,” Earl said. “There was a lot of mediocre stuff and we moved to making a lot fewer good titles. Basically, we are taking that approach to fewer, bigger and better from console to mobile and social, and adapting to freemium.”

The company’s new mobile strategy represents just one component of EA’s goal of becoming a more digital company.

EA also used E3 this week to unveil a new digital platform, which it will spend $250 million on over the next four years, to investors at a breakfast. (Slides from the presentation can be found here.) The platform’s goal is to enable game players to access their same identity across mobile, social, console and PCs.

As I wrote earlier, the platform approach is one that many companies are attempting.

That’s a Lot of Fruit Ninja: Tablet Gaming World Record Set at E3

Lauren Goode — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:10:06 +0000

Call it extreme but effective promotion on the part of Qualcomm: This week at the E3 videogame conference, a record was set for the longest continuous stretch of game-playing on a tablet.

Thirty-two gamers attempted to play the same games for 26 hours straight starting Tuesday and wrapping up yesterday at 4:30 pm PT to complete the challenge.

Each player was assigned to one of five games he had to play the entire time: Fruit Ninja, GT Racing: Motor Academy, Virtua Tennis, Galaga Special Edition and Blood and Glory.

(I have to say … I think the guys assigned to Virtua Tennis got a raw deal. Hitting a tennis ball back and forth for 26 hours?)

The tablets being used were Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9’s, built with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S3 processors.

My first thought upon entering the little glass house in front of the L.A. Convention Center where the gamers were situated was that the place smelled a little … ripe. So, naturally, I asked the important questions. Turns out the gamers were allowed five-minute breaks for the bathroom and 20-minute breaks for meals. A representative from the Guinness Book was on hand to enforce the rules and monitor the event.

Two participants fell asleep. A couple were late returning from their breaks and were disqualified. One person gave up during the challenge.

With less than an hour to go, there were 26 gamers left. These guys weren’t just competing for the glory of setting a new world record; a $50,000 dollar purse was also at stake.

Once they completed the 26-hour gaming marathon, those remaining were then brought outside to finish in a “game-off” of home runs in Com2uS’ Home Run Battle 2.

Ultimately, a gamer named Efren Ballestamon of Chula Vista, Calif., won the battle with 33 home runs and walked away with $20,000. He and the other 25 gamers who withstood the test of time will get their names in the Guinness Book.

They’ll also walk away with their own tablets, which they likely won’t want to pick up for a good long while.

Gree Who? See Which Company Had the Biggest-Smallest Booth at E3.

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:55:37 +0000

Perhaps you’ve never heard of Gree, but if you were at E3 this week, you probably saw that it made a huge splash.

Rumors started circulating early at the annual videogame conference that the Japanese company had the second-largest booth on the show floor — after Microsoft, that is.

The booth size is particularly ironic, given that Gree was showing off mobile games, likely the smallest games on the show floor.

The monstrosity, which included both a public booth and executive meeting space, spanned about one and a half times the typical company’s showroom footprint. In the map above, you can see that the size of the booth rivals even those of gaming giants like Electronic Arts.

But it also turned out that the rumor wasn’t true. Officially, all I could find out was that Gree had the show’s largest mobile-only booth, and I was never able to track down how it ranked among all of the show’s exhibitors. Under those circumstances, I grant it the biggest-smallest booth award at E3.

But clearly the space was purchased to make a point, because Gree did not need that much territory.

While Gree was showing off games on 3.5-inch iPhones, which were zip-tied to various podiums over lush (i.e., expensive) carpeting, EA and Activision’s booths contained billboard-sized displays to promote upcoming HD titles like Madden and Call of Duty. Large booths like those typically have theaters, where attendees can stand in line for a chance to either get hands-on time with the games or watch more game footage.

That didn’t apply here, where there were no lines to play the games.

On Tuesday night, a Gree-hosted party was one of the most coveted tickets at the event. At a venue near the Los Angeles Convention Center, a packed crowd turned out to hear the DJ known as Girl Talk spin records.

So, what was all the fuss about?

As many other companies are attempting to do, Gree’s goal is to become the social network for mobile games, similar to the way Facebook has become the social platform for games on the PC.

Gree was at E3 to stake its claim in the space, while also wooing developers.

Gree, which was founded in 2004, has a head start as one of the largest mobile social networks in Japan, generating $260 million in revenue in the fourth quarter alone. In 2011, it purchased OpenFeint in San Francisco, which marked its expansion into the U.S.; last month, it acquired San Francisco game developer Funzio. Together, the two acquisitions cost $310 million.

At the booth, Gree was showing off 13 games, five of which are first-party titles, with the remainder coming from outside developers. Some of the games are already available for individual download on iPhone and Android, including Zombie Jombie and Alien Family. This summer, the company plans to finally launch the mobile social network that will allow players from around the globe to compete against each other and discover games. Other companies that will be competing in this space include Facebook, Electronic Arts, DeNA, Apple and Google, to name a few.

Game Over! The Best of E3 in Photos.

Lauren Goode — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:00:10 +0000

Gamers, geeks and partygoers joined forces this week at the annual E3 videogame conference in downtown Los Angeles.

We here at AllThingsD aren’t the most hardcore of gamers, but my colleague Tricia Duryee and I were there in full force to hear about Microsoft Xbox’s SmartGlass app, Sony’s new game titles, and Nintendo’s nod toward the “holiday season” for the release of its upcoming Wii U console. We also roamed the floors of the Los Angeles Convention Center to capture the best images from the event.

So, it may be game over for now, but for your viewing pleasure:

Samsung to Roll Out Cloud-Based Game Service on Smart TVs This Fall

Lauren Goode — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:50:01 +0000

At the E3 video game conference this year, some gamers and attendees were hoping for more hardware updates.

Others have said: Consoles are on their way out and the cloud is where it’s at.

Samsung, for one, is planning on rolling out a cloud-based gaming service on its LED 7000 series TVs through a partnership with Gaikai, an interactive network that delivers PC-based games through the Web, and chip maker Nvidia.

The app, called Samsung Cloud Gaming, will be accessible through Samsung’s Smart Hub, its media center on Smart TVs. Samsung expects the service to stream “console-quality hit games” – sans consoles — to 40 million TVs in the next 12 months.

The service is entering beta testing this summer and will launch this fall.

The games offered will be a mix of family-friendly and hardcore games, including Bulletstorm and World of Warcraft. In terms of hardware, Samsung Cloud Gaming will work with a variety of both wired and wireless controllers.

“Consoles are a six-year cycle, while our processors double their speed every two years,” says Keita Iida, director of global content management at Nvidia, which makes the chip powering Samsung’s cloud-based service. “Will some hardcore gamers still go to consoles? Sure, but we think you’ll be able to get the same thing on connected screens and mobile devices.”

But, to that point, as more hardcore games migrate to the cloud, gamers used to the processing power of a console may find themselves waiting for technology to catch up to content.

Cloud-based gaming services won’t work on just any device to start. Only new high-end 7000 Series TVs will support Samsung’s service because of the dual-core processors needed to stream the games.

When asked about whether the future holds a console-free gaming world, Marc Whitten, corporate vice president of Microsoft Xbox Live, said in an interview with AllThingsD that the functions the Kinect performs require too much processing power to see it happening in the cloud. “I don’t think we’re going to be sending a frame-by-frame map of our living rooms out of the house and into the cloud.”

A Closer Look at "SmartGlass" With Xbox's Marc Whitten (Video)

Tricia Duryee and Lauren Goode — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 21:01:14 +0000

One of the big surprises this year at E3 was Microsoft’s announcement that it had developed technology that lets you use your mobile devices as a remote control and keyboard for the TV screen.

Microsoft Xbox Live’s Corporate VP Marc Whitten gave an overview of the application, dubbed “SmartGlass,” to All Things D today, after making the announcement during the company’s entertainment-packed press conference Monday.

The app, which he said has been under development for about a year, will be available this fall on iOS, Android and, of course, Windows Phone.

In the video below, Whitten demonstrates how SmartGlass can be used as a keyboard to enter URLs to surf the Web using Internet Explorer on the Xbox. Whitten easily typed in AllThingsD.com and then navigated around the page by dragging his thumb across the phone’s screen.

Whitten says that to get the app up and running, all the user has to do is log in to both the Xbox and phone with their Xbox credentials. There’s no syncing required over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

A big trend this year at E3 is being able to play games and access other entertainment over multiple devices, and, of course, that’s the centerpiece of Nintendo’s upcoming hardware launch of the Wii U, which comes with a tablet. In both cases, Nintendo’s GamePad and the SmartGlass technology will also provide an ancillary screen for gaming, where users will be able to view maps or access other information that is not currently on the TV.

Whitten said the upcoming launch of SmartGlass was not a defensive move against the popularity of mobile devices, including phones and tablets.

He declined to compare the SmartGlass technology to Nintendo’s Wii U, but said their solution is based on watching and learning from millions of Xbox users, and not from “drawing it all up” in a “magical world.”

“Once you build habit, and they are using it,” he said, “then you are learning because what you originally thought was probably wrong. You probably had good ideas, but good ideas need customers and then good things come from that.”

Given that neither is available commercially, I guess we’ll have to wait and see to draw our own conclusions on how the two stack up.

[ See post to watch video ]

Hollywood Facial Animation Tech Comes to Sony PC-Based Games

Lauren Goode — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:29:22 +0000

Motion sensor technology isn’t exactly a new thing; neither is facial recognition technology, although both are still being fine-tuned in their various consumer use cases.

But precise animation technology is usually reserved for Hollywood movie making. Think of movie stars standing against a green screen, wearing special suits with buttons on them while their movements are recorded and translated to an animated character. Now, add that to your PC games, with a little help from a Web camera.

At the E3 video game convention in Los Angeles this week, Sony Online Entertainment has been showing off technology that makes an animated character on screen mimic a gamer’s facial expressions.

In a demo, SOE showed how an animated frog on a PC screen talks, yawns, nods its head and raises its eyebrows exactly as the gamer is doing so. Voice-altering technology also changes your voice to suit your character’s.

“SOEmote” is targeted at the thousands of MMO, or massive multi-player online, gamers who are looking to convey emotion and add personal expression — and in some cases, mask their voices — to the other players they’re communicating with through the games.

Sony licensed the technology from a California-based company called Image Metrics. The voice-altering tech comes from Vivox.

This feature is in its earliest stages and is expected to be available this month. To start, SOEmote only works with one title, the eight-year-old EverQuest II, though Sony says it plans to add SOEmote to all of its online games. And the SOEmote tech suffers from the same problem we’ve seen with other motion sensor and gesture recognition tech: When someone else walks by your screen, the sensors sometimes pick up on that movement, interrupting the intended effect.

For an idea of how it works, check out this video below:

[ See post to watch video ]

Nintendo Holds Back the Goods on Wii U Launch Date

Lauren Goode — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:20:07 +0000

Today at the E3 video game conference, Nintendo showed off a spate of software titles for its upcoming Wii U gaming system, but declined to reveal the exact launch date of the highly anticipated successor to the best-selling Wii console.

Nintendo listed 23 titles that will launch alongside the Wii U, including Super Mario Bros. U, Pimkin 3, Batman Arkham City, Zombi U, Rabbids Lands and more. Another title, NintendoLand, offers mini-games like Donkey Kong within the game.

Nintendo President of America Reggie Fils-Aime said NintendoLand would become available when the Wii U launches — “this holiday season.”

But aside from that, the game maker kept mum on details regarding launch date and price, to the disappointment of some E3 attendees.

The Japanese gaming company first announced the Wii U at last year’s E3, with more details about the device trickling out in recent months.

Just a couple days ago, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata appeared in a video and revealed that the tablet-like game controller for the game system is officially called the GamePad. He also announced plans for a Web-based social network, Miiverse, which won’t link to other social networks like Facebook or Twitter.

Fils-Aime did reveal today that the Wii U will work with up to two GamePads. Traditional Wii controllers, as well as Nintendo’s new secondary Pro Controller, will also work with the Wii U for multiplayer game play.

The GamePad has a 6.2-inch touchscreen display and a forward-facing camera, and in addition to acting as a controller for the Wii U gaming system, it offers standalone games, video chatting and Internet browsing.

It now also has near field communication (NFC), which allows for the wireless sharing of data between devices.

Nintendo faces formidable competition from other console makers like Microsoft and Sony, both of which have introduced motion-sensor and gesture control technology to their newer gaming consoles in the past year and a half. Microsoft in particular has built up the library of media and entertainment apps available on Xbox 360 to draw consumers who aren’t necessarily hardcore gamers — an audience that Nintendo had previously been successful in wooing.

Nintendo reported that it sold 4.5 million Wii units in 2011, having gotten a boost during the holiday season. Last year, the game maker dropped the price of the six-year-old console to $150 from $200.

In the video posted Sunday, Iwata said the Wii U system was a much more friendly environment compared to the war-torn, trash-talking environments found on Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation 3.

Disney Releasing Mobile Games for "Phineas & Ferb" and Pixar's "Brave"

Tricia Duryee — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:52:30 +0000

At E3, Disney is announcing two new mobile games, leveraging two of its major brands, the “Phineas & Ferb” TV show and Pixar’s new major motion picture, “Brave.” The first game — Where’s My Perry? — is a new take on the company’s popular game Where’s My Water? and features a crime-fighting platypus named Perry. In the archery game Temple Run: Brave, the movie character Merida shoots her way across the rugged landscape of Scotland. Both games are launching this month on iOS and Android.

Nintendo Reveals a Wii Bit More About the Wii U

Tricia Duryee — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:50:38 +0000

At this point, pretty much the only two things left to say about Nintendo’s Wii U are when it will be launching and how much it will cost.

The Japanese game company first unveiled the Wii U a year ago, and two days ago, it hosted a video briefing, where it unveiled a lot more information, including details of the 6.2 inch touchscreen it is calling the GamePad.

On Sunday, Nintendo said the GamePad will come with near field communication and infrared to control TVs and set-top boxes. It also announced a secondary remote, called the Pro Controller, which is similar to ones used by Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation.

In addition to hardware, Nintendo provided an overview of some of its online services for the new console, including Miiverse, a social network that will be accessible from any Web-enabled device.

Nintendo’s press conference at E3 kicks off this morning at 9 am PT in the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Follow the live updates here to see if there are any surprises:

9:00 am: Pretty much everyone has taken their seat in what is a very packed crowd at Nokia Theatre.

And, looks like we are about to begin. The music has stopped and we are watching a video with Nintendo’s star game creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

Miyamoto takes the stage to huge applause, and brings out his translator with a blow of a whistle.

Through his translator, he says for more than 30 years, game machines have had to connect to the TV. They could never take a more important role than the TV.

“We decided that the next system would have its own dedicated screen,” he said.

With the Wii U, the independent screen changes the importance of the gaming system. With this in your hands, you can quickly turn on a game.

As we were developing the new system, I wanted to develop the newest Pikmin game for the platform, he says.

They are showing off Pikmin 3, which features very cute and adorable “pikmins,” which look like little ants.

The little characters are challenged to collect as much fruit as they can, including oranges and apples and strawberries, which they must carry on their backs. The Wii U GamePad gives players an overhead view of the game play as the little characters scurry over the map collecting the items.

9:10 am: Nintendo’s President of North America Reggie Fils-Aime comes on stage to say that today’s press conference will be showing off 23 new titles for the Wii U.

That’s a lot of titles for an hour-long event.

He says: “That’s less time to consider what Wii U means to gamers and non-gamers and how it can change your life.

At its core, Wii U does three things: changes your gaming, how you interact with your gaming friends and changes the way you enjoy your TV.

“It’s not intuitive, but it stands to revolutionize your living room.”

9:14 am: Sounds like we won’t be hearing today about how the Wii U will be used as an entertainment device in the living room, like the Xbox 360.

But Fils-Aime said that doesn’t mean it isn’t coming. That means Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu, YouTube, yes, yes, yes, he said.

“There’s no way we could explain it all this week, so at E3 we are focusing on the new way of gaming, and then in the future, we’ll show you how it will integrate and elevate your living room entertainment.”

Quickly, he clears something up: The Wii U will now support two GamePads simultaneously in addition to being backwards compatible with remotes from the original Wii.

While that may sound like a minor detail, it means fewer fights among kids in the living room to see who gets to play with the GamePad next.

9:17 am: The Nintendo president is now drilling down on the Miiverse, the Wii U’s social network.

He said to think of it as Main Street, where you can see and interact with your friends, who can communicate to you with “speech bubbles,” appearing over their pictures — sort of like text messages.

Players will also be able to show recent scores or screenshots from the games they are playing.

The social network will eventually be browser based, so it will be accessible on any Web-enabled device.

9:20 am: With Miiverse, you’ll be able to connect with friends inside the new Super Mario Bros. U game.

The game is obviously the best known franchise for Nintendo; to launch the Wii U without it would be a seriously bad idea.

In the demo, Mario and his friends scroll from left to right like the traditional games, interacting with coins and turtle shells.

9:23 am: Nintendo is now getting ready to mention all the new third-party games coming to the console, which will be one of the keys to a successful launch.

Nintendo is starting off with something a little more “hardcore,” like Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition.

Unlike other press conferences yesterday at E3, where the developers take the stage to play the demos live, we have not seen any live demonstrations. Instead, there have been pre-recorded videos.

While the graphics appear impressive and the gaming experience looks intuitive on the GamePad, you wonder what it will really look like when everything ships.

Next up, from Warner Bros. Games, will be “ScribbleNauts Unlimited,” a family-friendly cartoonish title. In the game, players get to draw and create silly characters, like a dog on wheels. The illustrations are created on the GamePad, and then imported into the game.

9:31 am: Here’s a montage of more games that are on the way. In other words, more video and less action. The list includes lots of titles but is limited here by my ability to type fast enough: EA’s Mass Effect 3, Tank! Tank! Tank! and other games from Namco; Trine 2; and Aliens Colonial Marines.

And, in case you were worried about your waistline with all these games coming out at E3, Nintendo’s got a solution for that, too!

It says that 43 million copies of Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus have been sold to date.

It will also allow you to use the balance board with the new Wii U, or continue to do exercises from the GamePad when the TV is being used for other purposes.

“And, now Wii Fit U adds another valuable accessory,” he said. “It will leave you happier and sweatier.”

9:37 am: Next, a workout for your vocal cords. Nintendo’s “Sing” is a karaoke game, where the lyrics are displayed on the GamePad.

9:39 am: Nintendo’s head of marketing, Scott Moffit, comes onstage to spend a few minutes on Nintendo 3DS, but for more updates, he’ll be hosting a Webcast tomorrow at 6 pm PT at www.e3.nintendo.com.

He says a number of first-party titles for the handheld gaming unit are coming, including Super Mario Bros. 2, which is different than the one they showed off earlier, and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Paper Mario is coming this holiday season.

“What 3DS doesn’t have enough of yet is Mario’s little brother Luigi,” Moffit says.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon will haunt you in 3D this holiday season.

9:45 am: Reggie’s back to talk about Lego City: Undercover!

We’re taking a look: Funny stuff. Lego men are scaling buildings, tearing up building blocks with jack hammers and fighting evil. But it also is only video, so it’s more of a trailer than live action. There will also be a 3-D version for the 3DS.

“Our goal is to provide new and engrossing kinds of game experiences from hardcore to the newest of the newbies,” Reggie said, introducing Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft to the stage, whose company has said it has at least eight titles cooking for the platform.

9:52 am: Finally a live demo!

Ubisoft’s Just Dance 4 has four dancers on the stage to dance as Reggie decides from the GamePad which moves the dancers will perform next.

Next up, an original hardcore title from Ubisoft called Zombi U.

Yesterday, I described this as Plants Vs. Zombies meets AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” As the zombies approach from behind, the player must run — you can die from just one bite! This really is a hardcore game.

But at the end of the clip, for fun, Reggie takes a picture of his face and, using augmented reality, turns into a zombie.

9:57 am: Reggie’s back onstage after a short intermission to set up some props on the stage.

“Welcome to Nintendo Land,” Reggie said. The game is similar to Wii Sports for the original Wii and will be used to teach players how to use the new Wii U.

This makes a whole lot of sense, given that the GamePad may be daunting to some players, who will find it confusing to flip between the TV screen and the touchscreen in their hands.

Nintendo Land will have five mini-games: Donkey Kong’s crash course, Luigi’s Mansion and Ninja Castle, among other titles.

The game is a theme park, where you can play with friends or family, or competitively by yourself. What’s making this a reality is Miiverse, which they’ll talk about more later today in a developer’s roundtable.

A quick comment on that: If it takes multiple hours over several days at E3 to explain the Wii U, how much time will consumers take to understand it?

It will be vitally important for Nintendo Land to play this role and get across how much fun the system is very quickly.

10:05 am: We are more than an hour into this press conference and we still haven’t heard the two things people want to know: How much will the Wii U cost and when will it be available?

Ok, this has got to be the moment. Reggie is back onstage.

He’s saying Nintendo Land will launch at the same time as the Wii U this holiday.

But when???

The press here at Nokia Theatre will be able to play Nintendo Land, Zombi U and try out the Nintendo Wii fit features.

Reggie says, “If you imagine Wii U as a Wii Universe, then the touchscreen is the portal that transports you. Families in the same room, today distracted by their individual devices, will soon be enjoying time together. And friends online will feel more together. In a world with more obligations and less time, the promise: Together, Better.”

Okay, folks, that’s it for Nintendo (well, not counting the three other Web cast events they have lined up for developers for the rest of E3).

I guess with Nintendo, anything is possible.

No pricing. No availability.

From Sony, More Games and More Cross-Platform Play

Lauren Goode — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:40:20 +0000

Along with the Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation 3 is one of the oldest consoles on the market. But without any signs of a possible successor, will we see new hardware at this year’s E3 gaming conference?

That’s what everyone will be looking for at tonight’s Sony press event, which kicks off at 6 pm PT, along with new software titles for both PlayStation and the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s handheld gaming device.

If the Sony press conference mirrors today’s earlier announcements from Microsoft Xbox and Electronic Arts, we’ll likely see sequels of established software franchises as well as a focus on interconnectivity between devices — the console, the TV, your tablet and your phone.

We’ll also have our eye on SOEmote, Sony’s new facial animation technology for EverQuest II, to see how that works.

6:06 pm: Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, is kicking off the event.

It’s a packed house here at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

6:08 pm: Tretton says Sony is broadcasting the event tonight in four different languages.

Kaz Hirai — Sony’s new CEO — is here, too.

6:13 pm: Sony starts off with a brand-new game title: Beyond Two Souls, which features a protagonist named Jodie Holmes.

Jodie Holmes is the strong, silent type, or so it seems from this game clip we’re seeing. She’s being interrogated by someone, not saying a word. But this girl can make objects fly through the air.

She’s the antithesis of the Lara Croft look, with cropped hair, a flannel shirt and dog tags.

6:18 pm: Now a reference to Sony’s viral “Michael” ad from last year.

The team behind PlayStation’s All-Stars: Battle Royale takes the stage.

All-Stars will now be available for the PlayStation Vita, and will be compatible with PlayStation 3. In other words: More cross-play on multiple devices.

6:23 pm: Now the All-Stars: Battle Royal team is demonstrating cross-play.

The clown character in this game is enough to keep a small child up at night.

And Fat Princess — that’s the character’s name — wins this round. Handshakes among the team; a smattering of applause.

6:27 pm: As AllThingsD’s Tricia Duryee predicted earlier, we’re seeing more cross-platform playing options.

Later this year, Sony will introduce a cross-controller that allows players to play and share games using the PS3 and PS Vita together, Tretton says.

Eighty percent of PS3s and PS Vitas are connected to the Internet now, Tretton says, with 1,500 downloadable titles available.

6:31 pm: Tretton says games like Journey, Papo & Yo and Unfinished Swan will now be available for download on the PlayStation Network, just a few of more than 200 digital downloadable titles that will come to the PlayStation Network this month.

Plus, freebies: Infamous 2, Saints Row 2 and Little Big Planet 2.

It’s not a new strategy, throwing in free software to drive hardware sales, but the crowd seems to like the idea.

6:32 pm: Long live the freebie: E3 attendees will also get PlayStation Plus access for free for a year.

6:35 pm: Turning now to focus on the video offerings in the PlayStation store, like Amazon’s video service, Hulu Plus and NHL Game Center.

Last week, YouTube came to Vita; Tretton says Hulu and Crackle Television are coming to Vita soon, too.

(How many Vita units have sold, Jack? We’re waiting …)

6:41 pm: They are now showing off Assassin’s Creed III for PS Vita, with a female leading role! (i.e., no more uncomfortable sex scenes for female players).

The beginning of the game takes place at sea with a boat getting rocked by the waves. No pirates so far, but it looks like there should be some.

6:44 pm: Far Cry 3 is up now, another Ubisoft title. An insane cast of characters hits a remote island.

The differentiating playing feature of this game is four-player co-op, so there’s four people up on stage — one female — showing us how it is done. The players are all in verbal contact with each other as they come under heavy fire.

Go, go, go!

High fives all around!

By the way, this is Tricia Duryee taking over from Lauren Goode, who is experiencing technical difficulties. I swear, E3 requires multiple laptops and Wi-Fi connections to make reporting it possible.

6:49 pm: Next is an update on Sony’s Move, the motion-controlled device for the PS3.

I would love to have some new numbers on Move shipments, too, as it doesn’t seem to be doing as well as Microsoft’s Kinect. You have to have a lot of compelling software titles to get people excited about buying an accessory.

To that end, Sony is showing off some new Move content.

It’s something called “Wonderbook,” which appears to be a way to make a children’s pop-up book digital. There will be educational content.

Moonbot Studios is one of the first to be working on a “game” or “book” called Diggs Nightcrawler. Moonbot is mostly known for its e-books for children, so this is bringing new kinds of content to the PS3.

The first title will be called “Book of Spells,” authored by J.K. Rowling, better known as the author of “Harry Potter.”

6:56 pm: “Welcome to the reinvention of the book. … Open the Book of Spells to enjoy new writing by J.K. Rowling.”

The Book of Spells is no ordinary book, sort of like the paintings that come to life in the Harry Potter series.

Words pop up out of the book, dragons flap their wings and fly off the page with the wave a wand. Very cool!

Handing back to Lauren Goode, who is back online.

7:00 pm: Thanks Tricia!

The book in this game also becomes a digital pop-up book.

And a game controller turns into a spell-casting wand.

All the, um, kids who voraciously read “Harry Potter” will fully appreciate the possibilities of this game.

The Book of Spells from J.K. Rowling is the first of many books that will be available for the Wonderbook library, Sony says.

7:04 pm: In case you haven’t heard: Mobile gaming is giving traditional gaming a run for its money.

So Sony is now touting its PlayStation-certified mobile games.

HTC will be Sony’s first hardware partner for PlayStation mobile games.

7:06 pm: PlayStation Suite is now going to be called PlayStation Mobile, natch.

7:10 pm: This game clip we’re watching now is showing a fierce battle on a dock with some eel-like creature slithering around in the water. There are spears! Chains! Great balls of fire!

It’s God of War Ascension, which comes out March 12, 2013.

7:20 pm: We’re watching a trailer now of the new Uncharted game featuring Nathan Drake.

Update: This game is actually titled The Last of Us…not Uncharted. I shouldn’t have assumed this heart-throbbish guy was Drake!

7:22 pm: Lots of gun-firing, head-bashing and explicit cursing in this game. Not kid-friendly, for sure.

And the head-bashing just went to a whole new level.

This is the third game we’ve seen today showing people shot directly in the face.

(I think I’ll go back to Draw Something now …)

7:25 pm: Wow. So Sony’s concluding this portion of the event with the gunshot to the face clip?

Jack Tretton wraps it up and the crowd starts to file out of the arena.

As expected, no new console from Sony this year, but we did see a new cross-platform game controller, a partnership with HTC for mobile games, new IP (Beyond Two Souls) and more titles to boost PS Vita and Move, including the super-cool Wonderbook demo.

But will this be enough to drive more sales of PlayStation 3 as it enters its seventh year on the market?

Only time will tell. We’re out for now, but stay tuned to AllThingsD for continuing coverage, including Nintendo’s press conference at 9 am PT tomorrow!

Ubisoft Prepping Eight Wii U Titles, Including Exclusives Like Zombi U

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 22:56:39 +0000

Ubisoft is aggressively going after Nintendo’s new Wii U by publishing eight titles to coincide with the console’s launch sometime later this year.

It’s still a mystery when exactly the Wii U is slated to hit store shelves, but when it does, the French-based publisher — which has always had a friendly relationship with Nintendo — said it will be ready with multiple titles, including some exclusives.

In an interview, Ubisoft’s Poix Xavier, who heads up the company’s game studios in France and oversaw the development of the Wii U games, said of the eight games, some will be exclusives, and most of them will be ready at launch.

The first exclusive is Zombi U, which is sort of like a cross between PopCap’s Plants Vs. Zombies game and AMC’s hit TV show “The Walking Dead.”

In the game, one player will be trying to keep away from the zombies, who will kill you with just one bite, while another player decides when and where to deploy the zombies using the Wii U’s standalone Gamepad.

Another exclusive game will be Rabbids Lands, which will present four different mini-games that are much more all-ages and friendly. Up to four players will be able to play at the same time, with one using the Wii Gamepad.

At a joint press conference between Nintendo and Ubisoft at E3 last year, Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata kicked off the event by saying, “I have come here today to introduce you to the most important partner for Nintendo.”

Together, Ubisoft and Nintendo demonstrated how game titles would be adapted for the platform and take advantage of not only using the TV, but the handheld touchscreen, which has since been dubbed the “Gamepad.”

At the time, Ubisoft presented two of the five games it said it had under development. Titles included one of Ubisoft’s long-standing brands, Ghost Recon, and an all-new first-person alien shooter called Killer Freaks from Outer Space. It also said Assassin’s Creed was coming.

EA Building Up Its Facebook Empire -- This Time With SimCity Social

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 21:00:53 +0000

Electronic Arts is hoping to hit the restart button this year on its Facebook strategy by bringing one of its biggest brands to the social network.

“We have high aspirations and high hopes for this one,” said Jami Laes, VP of Global Studios for Playfish, EA’s social games studios.

As part of the company’s E3 press conference this afternoon, it is unveiling SimCity Social for Facebook, where players pretend to be the mayor of their very own city.

All Things D began live coverage about an hour ago, but you may be able to catch the tail end of the live stream on Spike TV.

Leave it to a game company to not give up after getting beat the first time it challenged Zynga on the Facebook platform.

As you may recall, last year EA used the annual videogame conference to announce The Sims Social, which it hoped would push the company to the top of the Facebook charts.

For a short period, the game indeed did spectacularly, attracting 30 million players a month soon after launching. At that level, it beat FarmVille, one of Zynga’s most popular games, and helped to make EA the second-largest developer on Facebook.

But a year later, the Sims Social doesn’t even register in the top 25 and EA has fallen to fourth place.

In general, EA believes it can leverage big brands, like the Sims, Monopoly and Scrabble, to catch up to Zynga on the Facebook platform. But so far, Zynga has been able to dominate the charts through established games like FarmVille, CityVille and Poker.

In an interview, EA’s John Riccitiello told All Things D that he wished the Sims Social had sustained longer, but promised that at today’s press conference EA would be making introductions that will make your “eyeballs peel.”

In addition to SimCity, it also will show off several other game announcements for the game consoles and PCs.

To be sure, EA’s SimCity brand is the undisputed leader in city-building simulators, making this launch pivotal to the company’s success.

As with other versions of the game, the Facebook edition challenges players to act as a virtual mayor, constructing roads, buildings and streets from the ground up to make a city. But unlike other versions of the game, players will get to collaborate with friends, deciding to either build a friendly relationship with another city or a rivalry.

For instance, Laes said, a player may go to dinner with a friend and will have the choice to make it a nice evening or to sabotage it by throwing up on the table; likewise, you can send a seagull attack to your friend’s city, unleashing poop bombs on the city’s rooftops.

“It’s suitable for the platform. It’s rewarding and fun and surprising,” said Laes, who was surprisingly stoic discussing such subjects as “poop” and “throw up.”

The social game will launch soon on an unspecified date. It also precedes the launch of the new SimCity for the PC, which is expected to hit stores in February 2013.

Microsoft Calls Dibs on New Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for Xbox

Lauren Goode — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:54:39 +0000

Xbox is calling dibs on the new Call of Duty.

At the Microsoft Xbox press event at E3 today, the software maker said all new, downloadable expansion content from Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will launch exclusively on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 to start.

Xbox 360 is already listed as a console partner on the game’s official Web site, alongside Sony’s PlayStation 3, and the game will be playable on the PC, as well. But Xbox owners will get an early jump on the extra game content.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is the next and highly-anticipated installment in the record-breaking franchise. It was first announced on May 1 of this year; the game’s official Web site says the game will be released on November 13, 2012.

One thing that sets this version of the popular first-person shooter game apart from its earlier software counterparts: This one is set in the future, around a 21st Century Cold War, while the others have focused on historical battles and wars.

The franchise has been a bright spot in the softening hardcore game industry. Late last year, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, surpassed $1 billion in sales in just two weeks and two days.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will cost $60, and is available for preorder now.

Microsoft Unloads the Latest for Xbox: Shooters, Sports and Songs

Lauren Goode — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:18:33 +0000

In just a few minutes, Microsoft will take the stage at this week’s E3 videogame conference in downtown Los Angeles.

The software maker first introduced its Xbox 360 gaming console seven years ago, and it hasn’t been refreshed since — the longest console cycle for any company in the videogame industry. Still, it’s not really expected that we’ll see brand new hardware at today’s event.

What we will be keeping an eye on: More news surrounding upcoming software titles, including Forza Horizon, the highly-anticipated Halo 4 game. Also expect to see some key software partners taking the stage alongside Microsoft.

And in recent months, Microsoft has been expanding its media and entertainment offerings through the console, with recent data showing more people are watching Web stuff on Microsoft’s machine than on the iPad, iPhone or any Android machine, anywhere. Also, Xbox Live users are now watching more movies and TV and listening to music than gamers are using it to play online games.

Will Microsoft dare to stray from the traditional gaming talk to introduce more media apps for Xbox?

We’ll find out shortly.

9:20 am: People are still climbing into their seats at USC’s Galen Center, where my AllThingsD colleague Tricia Duryee and I will be providing live updates. It’s a nearly full house.

For all the gaming fans unable to make the show in person, here’s a shot of the entrance to the event.

Because we haven’t heard enough of Gotye lately, “Somebody That I Used to Know” is now playing overhead.

9:30 am: And we begin! Microsoft kicks off the event with a dramatic starship/military/world domination montage.

9:32 am: It’s Halo 4. Cheers from the crowd.

I missed the memo about bringing earplugs. We’re still in the middle of an intense, electrifying game of Halo 4, being played out on the big screen.

The Galen Center is dark, with smartphone screens dotting the crowd.

Halo 4, for those who don’t know, drops on November 6 of this year.

9:38 am: Microsoft’s Xbox Director Don Mattrick takes the stage, saying Xbox is now the number-one-selling console worldwide.

9:41 am: And now, another videogame montage. More combat scenes, brutal killings.

It’s Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell Blacklist, which was leaked ahead of this event.

Blacklist features single-player co-op and spies vs. mercs. It ships spring of 2013. Expect to see more at the Ubisoft event later today.

9:47 am: Now Andrew Wilson from EA Sports takes the stage. He’s talking about FIFA 13. (There are 13 of them?)

FIFA 13 will utilize voice recognition technology and will be available around the world this coming fall.

9:49 am: Joe Montana is here — promoting Madden 13.

Madden NFL 13 will also use voice commands. Montana says he’s excited to give the game a go, as it makes him feel like he’s “back on the field again.”

He starts using the voice command feature on stage. It’s kind of fun to see Joe Montana calling plays to a console.

Fittingly, he’s calling a 49ers game. Wonder what he thinks about Alex Smith’s performance (on Madden NFL 13, of course).

The game hits stores on August 28th.

9:52 am: Mythical creatures and impossibly realistic computer-generated humans appear in this next little montage.

Then head of Microsoft Studios, Phil Spencer, walks out.

9:54 am: He teases Forza! But first, a trailer to the Gears of War saga.

9:55 am: Now Forza. Forget Nuremberg: This Forza game is set on the open road.

Fancy sports cars are veering off the road, hitting trees, speeding off.

Forza Horizon hits the market on October 23.

9:57 am: Now we hear from Yusuf Mehdi, senior VP of Microsoft’s Online Audience Business Group. We’re seeing more Xbox voice command functions, with a focus on the media apps from Hulu, Netflix, etc.

He’s speaking in Spanish to Xbox, calling up foreign-language apps, showing how the Xbox can be used for entertainment around the world.

Paramount movies, Nickelodeon, Machinima and Univision are new content partners. Machinima gets the loudest applause — not surprisingly. This is a gaming crowd.

Now, on to sports.

The NBA is coming to Xbox, Mehdi says. NBA League Pass will give access to hundreds of games.

NHL Game Center Live is coming to Xbox, too.

ESPN on Xbox is about to get even better, he continues. Xbox already carries some ESPN content, but now: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU. Mehdi mentions that SportsCenter, Mike & Mike, all live and all in HD, are coming to Xbox 360.

Other set-top boxes, like Roku, already have deals for MLB content, as well as NBA League Pass and NHL Game Center live, by the way. And in almost all cases, consumers still have to pay for those packages or monthly access passes.

But the ESPN deal is notable. What’s still unclear is what the payment structure will be for this cable content. (AllThingsD’s Tricia Duryee has more on this in her write-up here.)

10:03 am: A video montage shows high-fiving bros on couches watching this awesome sports content via Xbox.

10:04 am: Now, a new streaming music service: Xbox Music, available on the console, tablets and phones.

Last fall, it was reported that Microsoft’s earlier music device and service, Zune, was finally, officially dead. Let’s see if the new service sticks.

10:06 am: Here’s Stefan Olander, Vice President of Digital Sport at Nike. He’s the Viking-looking guy who’s been promoting the Nike+ FuelBand in recent months.

He’s walking through Nike+ Kinect training, showing how the Kinect sensor will recognize your fitness movements while the new program calculates your movements and your NikeFuel score. NikeFuel, for those who don’t know, is Nike’s new currency for energy exerted during a work out.

Marc Whitten, head of Xbox Live, comes out after the Nike+ Kinect video.

So far, this event is heavy on teases, light on details.

10:12 am: He introduces Xbox SmartGlass, which sounds not unlike AirPlay. He can start a movie on his tablet (Windows 8, naturally) and pick it up where he left off on his TV at home.

The tablet becomes a device for contextual information about the movie, he says.

10:15 am: With Xbox SmartGlass, the tablet acts as a kind of enhancement controller for games as well. We’re seeing how a gamer can pause Halo 4, check his tablet for the specifications of the gun he’s using, then resume the game on the TV. (Update: The app will be available on iOS and Android as well as Windows mobile platforms.)

10:17 am: Internet Explorer is coming to Xbox this year.

He demonstrates how a movie can be watched through an IE Web page on TV, via the Xbox.

Now, we’re looking at an interactive auto Web page, via IE on Xbox.

The Xbox SmartGlass app on a tablet is controlling the Web page navigation.

Whitten emphasizes that SmartGlass works with the devices you already own: Xbox, TV, tablet, smartphone, etc. Unclear on which operating systems, though. (Update: SmartGlass will work on iOS and Android in addition to Windows mobile devices.)

10:22 am: Now two guys from Crystal Dynamics, creators of Tomb Raider, take the stage.

Lara Croft looking as fierce as ever in this clip.

10:27 am: Microsoft’s Phil Spencer is now back onstage.

Here come the world premiere exclusive titles, he says:

First, from Signal Studios, the creators of Toy Soldiers, the miniature army game that came out a couple years ago and will be featured in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Store: Their new game is called Ascend New Gods.

Second, from Twisted Pixel, there’s a Kinect game from the director of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” called Matter.

10:32 am: Now, a preview of Resident Evil 6, the franchise even some hardcore gamers admit to being afraid of playing by themselves.

This one looks like a Michael Bay movie on steroids.

(With zombies.)

10:37 am: Now, a much tamer presentation of Wreckateer from Alex Ruiz.

Wreckateer’s coming to Xbox Live this summer, she says.

10:39 am: Next! A dramatic rendition of a South Park video game. Yes, really. Laughs.

The Stick of Truth comes out March 5. And now a surprise visit from Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

They immediately poke fun at the idea of the interconnected, multi-device game-player, asking, how many of you want to play a game that’s connected to your tablet that’s also connected to your oven while you’re sitting in the refrigerator?

But really: We wanted to create a game where people feel like they’re in South Park, they say.

10:43 am: And just as quickly as they entered, they’re off, joking about procrastinating on creating the game as they do everything else.

10:44 am: Next up, Dance Central 3. AllThingsD’s Tricia Duryee is getting excited next to me. I think she’s even dancing in her seat.

Whoa — and we’ve got Usher on stage, singing and showing off his moves. (You, too, can dance like Usher if you play Dance Central 3!)

10:48 am: Usher wraps, to applause.

Don Mattrick up again.

He makes a joke about “ushering in” entertainment.

Groans.

10:50 am: Now, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. All new content will launch first on Xbox 360.

Gamers can preorder it now, the game’s Web site says. Xbox 360 is already listed as a console partner on the game’s official Web site, alongside Sony’s PlayStation 3, and the game will be playable on PCs.

10:58 am: The future looks bleak in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, for the record.

The first-person shooter can also steer a floating, futuristic military sky-vehicle around the apocalyptic game stage.

11:05 am: That’s a wrap. Some main takeaways: As expected, we didn’t see new hardware, but that was about as likely as us seeing a new iPhone prototype at D10 last week.

We got more glimpses and details surrounding key software franchises like Halo 4 and Forza Horizon, as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Dance Central 3. Plus: The South Park game, which will likely generate some buzz. Will Cartman and the gang translate well to the gaming screen?

And the Nike+ Kinect integration might lure some Nintendo Wii users who have been using the console for fitness-related activities.

The most interesting announcement is probably SmartGlass, and how that will impact both the gaming and entertainment experience in the “connected home” — at least, those with Xboxes.

On to the next E3 event!

Nintendo's Wii U Embraces Social Networking (Video)

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:55:19 +0000

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata today provided a detailed overview of the company’s upcoming Wii U game console in an online video conference.

Iwata filmed the 30-minute video in a bare conference room in the company’s Japan headquarters, making it a very different stage from the one on which he will be presenting Tuesday at E3.

This week in Los Angeles, hardware and software makers will be throwing highly choreographed presentations in the hopes of impressing both the media and fans worldwide.

Nintendo’s pre-E3 video was something much different.

It provided a much more controlled environment for Iwata, who normally prefers to speak through a translator, to make the case for why the Wii U is better than everything from the Xbox to the Apple iPad. But it didn’t provide any of the fireworks that many people were likely expecting, so apologies to Nintendo fans, you’ll still have to wait until Nintendo’s “official” E3 press conference on Tuesday for that.

Within the confines of the quieter environment, Iwata didn’t just provide a rundown of the Wii U’s hardware specifications, including new details of the 6.4 inch touchscreen display called the GamePad, but also made a case for how Nintendo offers “unique” experiences that draw friends and families together.

He said the system is designed to create a sense of “empathy” among Wii U users that is much different from the war-torn, trash-talking environments found on Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation 3. As a demonstration, Iwata played a video clip showing a teenager asking a grandpa over video chat how to more effectively kill zombies. (For dramatic effect, grandpa was sitting in a scooter.)

“It helps unite people rather than divide them, whether they are in the same room or great distances apart,” he said.

Nintendo expects to do this by having its own social network, Miiverse, which from what I can tell will be a proprietary network that will not link to already existing communities such as Facebook or Twitter. Eventually, Iwata said, Miiverse will be accessible online using any Web-enabled devices.

Iwata said people often ask him if the Wii U is a simple evolution or something that is entirely different.

“The best answer is both,” he said. “Today, Wii U does what we did only better, while at the same time it is also something entirely new. Not only can it connect people in the same living room, but it can also connect people living room to living room.”

Here are some of the more hardware-driven changes announced today, a year after the Wii U was first unveiled at E3:

The Wii U controller is now called the GamePad, which has an updated set of controllers since last year. It now also has near field communication, or NFC, and supports infrared to control TVs and set-top boxes.
Nintendo announced a secondary controller, called the Pro Controller, which is very similar to the controller for Microsoft’s Xbox.

Here’s the video, but also check back on Tuesday when Nintendo will reveal more details:

E3 Interview: EA's Riccitiello Promises to Make "Eyeballs Peel"

Tricia Duryee — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:52:55 +0000

There’s no doubt it has been a tough year for Electronic Arts and its CEO John Riccitiello.

Over the past 12 months, the gaming giant’s stock has been cut in half, falling to $13.12 a share, down from a high of $26.13. At those levels, its market cap has shrunk to $4.2 billion, making the company potentially tasty acquisition bait for larger fish.

That valuation puts it slightly below its key digital competitor, Zynga, which continues to dominate the Facebook platform in spite of several failed attempts by EA to topple it.

EA has also lost a number of high-level executives to Zynga. And its big releases of Battlefield 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic have struggled against rival Activision’s comparable titles, Call of Duty and Diablo 3.

Still, in an interview with Riccitiello this week ahead of gaming’s biggest annual gathering — E3, kicking off tomorrow in Los Angeles — he was sounding like it’s all high scores for EA.

“We are in a spectacular position. The stock is oversold, but they [investors] are waiting for a catalyst,” he said. “They don’t know what it is yet; maybe it’s the next mobile hit or social hit? But it will probably be E3. We will make their eyeballs peel.”

What that unusual image means exactly is unclear, but one assumes he hopes to impress at least some of the 45,000 attendees converging on Los Angeles Convention Center like zombies staggering toward fresh brains.

Once there, they will be overstimulated by ear-splitting music booming from a space — dotted with massive booths — about the size of eight football fields.

But for EA and the other companies showing off their wares, it’s an ever dicier situation. That’s because the show continues to celebrate blockbuster console hits over clear consumer trends focused on an increasing number of devices and platforms, as one-time purchases of $60 games are giving way to free-to-play models that make a few pennies per user every month.

In fact, about 90 percent of EA’s business used to come from the console arena, and now it’s closer to 60 percent. In the fiscal year 2012, EA generated $1.2 billion in digital revenues, representing a 47 percent increase year over year.

But in the build-up to E3, Riccitiello contended that, like so many other cycles in the past, the industry will get out of this lull too, and he’s pinning his hopes on new console hardware coming out from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft this holiday season.

“I’m not saying Moses will part the water for us, but it will damn near be close when the consoles come out,” he said. “For the past few years, we’ve had a challenging console environment, but we are about to enter an era of double tailwinds.”

We’ll see about that, but here are highlights from my interview with Riccitiello:

On the next generation of consoles:

Each generation has built a software business that is 50 percent bigger than the one before, and that was entirely made up of a packaged goods business.

I don’t think console and packaged goods are synonymous, like how music and CDs aren’t synonymous. The delivery system has changed from a disc to a more digital model. It’s shifted to a service, like iTunes and Spotify.

Consoles are super-powered PCs that are connected to the biggest screen in the house. There’s no doubt in the mind that the TV set is going to remain as the principle display device for entertainment going forward.

On EA pulling off the transition from packaged goods to digital:

At some point they [investors] are going to have to wake up. When you are on the podium at the end of the Olympics, you obviously know how to swim. But they are still saying that we need water wings. I get it, I understand the cynicism that prevails.

On the worth of EA’s $400 million acquisition of Playfish, the social games developer, in late 2009:

If you read our fillings, you would see that they earned a significant portion of their earnout, so they must have done something right. If you go to E3, you will see a major introduction that will usher in a long train of products, which was only made possible by Playfish investment.

We are three years out from [realizing the full value of the deal], but the vision we have — and the direction we are going — has been made possible by a platform and culture and technology shift. And a gigantic part of that had to do with an infusion of Playfish’s DNA.

On shifting to an always-on model versus shipping software:

We used to peak on usage a week after we shipped. But all of our games have an ongoing business now, and Playfish was the model for all of that.

On the Sims Social on Facebook not knocking Zynga off the top of the charts as had been expected:

Maybe I wish the Sims Social had sustained longer, but relative to the impact it [Playfish] has made on our company, I can’t say enough about it.

On executive departures — such as Barry Cottle, the EVP of EA’s interactive division, and its COO John Schappert — to Zynga:

It says that people pay are willing to pay a lot of money for EA talent, but we had lower attrition than Google last year. … There were a notable number of high-profile executives who left for 300-600 percent more money. … Even at depressed stock prices, they got $12-$13 million to show up on day one. I take it as a compliment that someone is willing to spend $20 to $40 million dollars on my employees. Those are staggering sums.

On getting that talent back:

I just guided 30 percent income growth, which is better than any of my competition, and delivered a great fiscal 2012 with 40 percent growth on digital. I don’t think my team is missing a beat. Would I want them back? Not now, but I do understand it from a money perspective. I get it.

Timing of Microsoft's "Xbox 720” Hinted at in Lawsuit

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:08:15 +0000

Microsoft is not saying when it will be unveiling a new Xbox console, except to say that it won’t be at the E3 game conference next month.

Now there’s some additional information on timing, thanks to a lawsuit between Activision and some former employees.

According to confidential agreements unsealed in the court case, Microsoft’s next game console, which is referred to as the “Xbox 720,” could be released in time for the 2013 holiday season.

The Los Angeles Times originally posted the documents on Monday, but it was Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times who came up with the theory on the timing.

The lawsuit is a complicated tale, involving Activision’s insanely successful first-person shooter Call of Duty. Former Activision developers are claiming they are owed hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and bonus payments. Activision is claiming breach of contract.

The documents, revealed last week, detail a high-profile deal between Bungie and Activision in 2010.

The 27-page agreement calls for Bungie to develop four “sci-fantasy, action shooter games,” code-named “Destiny,” released every other year, beginning in the fall of 2013, according to the Los Angeles Times. Additionally, Bungie agreed to put out four downloadable expansion packs code-named “Comet.”

Bungie is the developer behind the successful Halo franchise, but is not the developer behind Halo 4, which Microsoft is developing and releasing in November.

Here’s what Dudley is suggesting based on the contract language:

An Xbox spokesman declined to comment on this theory, and referred questions to Activision and Bungie.

The document also says the game is expected to be released for the PlayStation 3 successor in the fall of 2014.

The big caveat to all of this guesswork is that the document is now two years old, so timing could easily change. Additionally, the name “Xbox 720″ could just be a code name or placeholder. Of course, console makers keep the timing of their upcoming hardware close to their vests, so that consumers don’t hold off on making purchases.

In March, Microsoft’s Corporate Communications boss Frank Shaw told AllThingsD that consumers probably shouldn’t expect new hardware at the E3 game conference, or “anytime soon.”

“For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360,” he added.

Videogames Using the Power of Fans to Get a Kick Start

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:23 +0000

Videogames are fast becoming one of the most popular categories that are able to attract start-up capital from everyday people.

SFC / Shutterstock

With the rise of so-called “crowdfunding,” game makers are finding fans online who are willing to pledge a few bucks toward a game they’d like to see produced.

The primary site where these connections are being made is Kickstarter, a three-year old company. Since Kickstarter got off the ground, the games category has garnered $29 million in pledges, according to the New York Times. Other popular categories include film/video, music and design.

Further, it was reported that 854 game developers successfully reached their fundraising goals, raising an average of $29,409 apiece.

Most impressively, three game companies have raised more than $1.5 million each since the beginning of this year: Double Fine raised $3.3 million from 87,000 backers; Wasteland 2 raised $2.9 million; and Shadowrun Returns secured $1.8 million.

Another site, Gambitious, which will be exclusively dedicated to helping game companies raise money, is preparing to launch on June 5 in Los Angeles as part of E3, the industry’s big annual conference.

The shift to nontraditional fundraising is now even catching the eye of megapublishers like Electronic Arts. Last week, EA said developers who crowdsourced funding will be able to sell their games on Origin at no cost for three months.

Origin is the company’s online game store, which allows users to download PC games electronically and counts up to 12 million users worldwide.

“The public support for crowdfunding creative game ideas coming from small developers today is nothing short of phenomenal,” said David DeMartini, EA’s SVP of Origin, in a release. “It’s also incredibly healthy for the gaming industry. Gamers around the world deserve a chance to play every great new game.”

EA doesn’t disclose how much it charges because it says fees can vary, but through this program, developers will now receive 100 percent of sales during the 90-day window plus any pre-sales that are generated before the title officially launches, a spokesman confirmed.

It’s unclear whether crowdfunding is a fad and consumers will tire of it quickly, and to be clear, not every company that requests money is able to get it.

But it pairs nicely with a broader trend in the industry that AllThingsD’s Eric Johnson wrote about last week. He explained that game developers are increasingly finding it advantageous to stay small, rejecting the notion that productions need big budgets in order to create blockbusters.

The evolution has been aided by the rise of three new distribution platforms, Apple’s App Store, Facebook and Valve’s Steam Store (and to a lesser extent, EA’s Origin, which is catching up). With these digital platforms, developers can reach customers without having to package up their software and sell it at retail, saving thousands of dollars.

With the crowdfunding phenomenon completely under way, Videogame Analyst and Consultant Scott Steinberg saw the opportunity to write an e-book on the subject called “Crowdfunding Your Business: A How-To Guide.” In the recently released book, he argues that crowdfunding helps developers identify projects that consumers are willing to pay for, before they’ve wasted the money and time on developing them.

He writes that by “requesting feedback or recruiting help from public donors via open calls for assistance — you can gauge demand for and create bankable products from day one.”

No New Xbox "Anytime Soon," Says Microsoft

John Paczkowski — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:45:55 +0000

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is selling so well there’s no need for the company to release its successor this year.

The company confirmed today that it won’t be unveiling a new Xbox console at the E3 video game conference in June, and said consumers probably shouldn’t expect new hardware for quite a while.

“While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon,” Microsoft’s Corporate Communications boss Frank Shaw told AllThingsD. “For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360.”

And for good reason. Shaw notes that the past year has been the best ever for Xbox 360 — a year in which it outsold not just all other gaming consoles, but DVD players and digital media receivers as well.

With demand for the Xbox 360 that robust, Microsoft can take its time bringing a successor to market, milking another year of strong sales out of the 360, which is still riding an upswell of momentum thanks to its Kinect motion-sensor peripheral and a strong lineup of games.

No PS4 at E3. Really.

John Paczkowski — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:40:23 +0000

Evidently Sony’s PlayStation 4 rollout plan doesn’t include the 2012 E3 Gaming Expo.

Speaking to reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman Kaz Hirai reiterated Sony Computer Entertainment President Andrew House’s declaration that the company has no plans to unveil its new gaming console at E3 this summer.

“Andy is absolutely right in that we are not making any announcements at E3,” Hirai said. “I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that.”

Ten years? If Sony’s sticking to that cycle, we may not see the PS4 until 2016.