Yesterday, our sister site Joystiq reported that InstantAction has just debuted a "Rock Band-style music game" called InstantJam onto Facebook.
We last heard of InstantAction in March, where the company hoped to revolutionize online gaming by giving games the versatility and portability of YouTube videos. InstantAction's embed technology would allow people to play games without the need for logging into games portals or sites like Facebook, in a way similar to how viewers can place and load YouTube videos anywhere on the web.
At the time, the company's passenger for this flagship project was The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition, which set sail on the Facebook seas for $9.99 USD back in April. But now, it seems that InstantAction is sold on developing its own online music game.
But the company isn't exactly blazing a new trail here -- similar games such as Foo Brew's JamLegend and Acclaim's RockFREE were reported closed last week. What InstantJam promises are special features, such as using songs from your computer and synching up with iTunes and Amazon to let you purchase music. You can also hook up a guitar controller to play the game instead of using a keyboard.
Facebook users can click here to check out the game, but be warned, the title is currently in closed beta, so there's a waiting list to get in. For those without Facebook, you can get a visual tour on InstantJam's official website.
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn facebook. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn facebook. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Thứ Năm, 9 tháng 2, 2012
Thứ Bảy, 7 tháng 1, 2012
Facebook: Changes to News Feed may cause you to miss out on game posts
Facebook is an ever-changing landscape, especially where the technical, user-interface portions of the site are concerned. It seems that with every new change to the site, whether it be for users' privacy or just for an ease of navigation, there is an effect on Facebook games that rears its ugly head. So too is the case with the latest change that Facebook has recently implemented - that being with a "trimming" of the information shown on your news feed.
This new change has happened automatically on your account, and will change your News Feed from displaying posts from all of your friends and liked Pages to just those "Friends and pages you interact with most." While this likely won't be noticed by the average Facebook user, for those game players that have tons of in-game neighbors that they may not necessarily talk to everyday (ie: you may look at their posts, but you don't comment or like them) you might have found that your neighbors have vanished, or at least become mute over the last few days.
If you'd like to ensure that you're seeing all game related posts (and are therefore able to claim each and every bonus technically possible), follow our quick steps for reversing this change behind the break.
This is one of the easier switches to make on your account, really only taking a few simple clicks. First things first, head to the very bottom of your News Feed (click on the Facebook icon in the top left of any page on Facebook - this is your News Feed page). Click on the "Edit Options" button, as seen below.
This will bring up a new window, where you'll see a list of friends, pages, and the like that you've previously hidden from your News Feed. If you haven't done this, the window will be blank. You'll see a drop-down menu with "Show posts from:" next to it. This is what needs to be changed. Click on the drop down menu, and change your setting from "Friends and pages you interact with most" to "All of your friends and pages." Make sure to click Save after changing your setting to confirm your choice.
This won't change any of your "Hide posts from" settings, so don't worry about unhiding those friends and pages that you've hidden in the past. This will simply allow you to ensure that you're seeing all of the posts that you want to, without Facebook removing anything without your knowledge.
This new change has happened automatically on your account, and will change your News Feed from displaying posts from all of your friends and liked Pages to just those "Friends and pages you interact with most." While this likely won't be noticed by the average Facebook user, for those game players that have tons of in-game neighbors that they may not necessarily talk to everyday (ie: you may look at their posts, but you don't comment or like them) you might have found that your neighbors have vanished, or at least become mute over the last few days.
If you'd like to ensure that you're seeing all game related posts (and are therefore able to claim each and every bonus technically possible), follow our quick steps for reversing this change behind the break.
This is one of the easier switches to make on your account, really only taking a few simple clicks. First things first, head to the very bottom of your News Feed (click on the Facebook icon in the top left of any page on Facebook - this is your News Feed page). Click on the "Edit Options" button, as seen below.
This will bring up a new window, where you'll see a list of friends, pages, and the like that you've previously hidden from your News Feed. If you haven't done this, the window will be blank. You'll see a drop-down menu with "Show posts from:" next to it. This is what needs to be changed. Click on the drop down menu, and change your setting from "Friends and pages you interact with most" to "All of your friends and pages." Make sure to click Save after changing your setting to confirm your choice.
This won't change any of your "Hide posts from" settings, so don't worry about unhiding those friends and pages that you've hidden in the past. This will simply allow you to ensure that you're seeing all of the posts that you want to, without Facebook removing anything without your knowledge.
Chủ Nhật, 25 tháng 12, 2011
Mahjongg Dimensions sees addition of power-ups and bonus tiles in our exclusive first look
Attention all Mahjongg Dimensions fans! The folks at Arkadium have given us an exclusive first look at a major game update that will enhance your ability to make tile matches like never before! While the ultimate goal of creating as many tile matches and earning as many points in each 60-second gameplay segment has been retained, you'll soon have access to new bonus tiles that will have you earning more points than ever before.
After the update beta launches on June 30, we'll have access to at least three new types of tiles, along with all of the regular symbol tiles on the board: Yellow Tiles, Bomb Tiles, and Time Tiles. While we'll have to wait until the beta actually begins to find out exactly what these bonus tiles do, we can only assume that the Bomb Tiles will wipe out sections of the board or at least offer us bonus points, while Time Tiles will likely either freeze time or add more time to your clock.
In addition, instead of being able to activate only a single Boost at the beginning of a game as is the case now, we'll be able to choose up to three to combine at once. The combination you choose (score multipliers, elemental bonuses, time bonuses, etc.) will have a great impact on your game's result, so you'll need to use strategy and a bit of practice to determine the best combination for the highest scores possible. After all, while these new features may add more to the gameplay experience, they don't deter from the overall goal of climbing as high as you can on that friend leaderboard!
Finally, a new XP and level system will allow you to earn experience points for playing, which work towards unlocking some new features. What new features? Well, for one, we know that you'll need to level up quite a bit to unlock all three Boost slots, as you can see in these images, but we're sure the folks at Arkadium have tons more up their sleeves.
All of these changes have been inspired by feedback Arkadium has received from fans. With over 800,000 monthly players, that's a ton of heads to scratch for new ideas, and it seems that Arkadium is implementing plenty of them to make the game even better than before.
Could these changes help Mahjongg Dimensions once again climb the leaderboards to take on 60-second gameplay mainstays like Bejeweled Blitz and Zuma Blitz? With more information about the beta coming at a later date, we'll make sure to let you know if that ends up being the case.
Are you a long-time Mahjongg Dimensions fan? Are these changes those that you've hoped would be added? Will you come back to the game after an absence due to these changes?
After the update beta launches on June 30, we'll have access to at least three new types of tiles, along with all of the regular symbol tiles on the board: Yellow Tiles, Bomb Tiles, and Time Tiles. While we'll have to wait until the beta actually begins to find out exactly what these bonus tiles do, we can only assume that the Bomb Tiles will wipe out sections of the board or at least offer us bonus points, while Time Tiles will likely either freeze time or add more time to your clock.
In addition, instead of being able to activate only a single Boost at the beginning of a game as is the case now, we'll be able to choose up to three to combine at once. The combination you choose (score multipliers, elemental bonuses, time bonuses, etc.) will have a great impact on your game's result, so you'll need to use strategy and a bit of practice to determine the best combination for the highest scores possible. After all, while these new features may add more to the gameplay experience, they don't deter from the overall goal of climbing as high as you can on that friend leaderboard!
Finally, a new XP and level system will allow you to earn experience points for playing, which work towards unlocking some new features. What new features? Well, for one, we know that you'll need to level up quite a bit to unlock all three Boost slots, as you can see in these images, but we're sure the folks at Arkadium have tons more up their sleeves.
All of these changes have been inspired by feedback Arkadium has received from fans. With over 800,000 monthly players, that's a ton of heads to scratch for new ideas, and it seems that Arkadium is implementing plenty of them to make the game even better than before.
Could these changes help Mahjongg Dimensions once again climb the leaderboards to take on 60-second gameplay mainstays like Bejeweled Blitz and Zuma Blitz? With more information about the beta coming at a later date, we'll make sure to let you know if that ends up being the case.
Are you a long-time Mahjongg Dimensions fan? Are these changes those that you've hoped would be added? Will you come back to the game after an absence due to these changes?
Thứ Sáu, 14 tháng 10, 2011
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Thứ Ba, 4 tháng 10, 2011
New study finds Facebook games might do the economy good
The Facebook Economy
The success of Facebook gaming goes beyond Facebook. Based on an economic impact study released today (courtesy of the University of Maryland), Facebook games, applications, and social plugins (e.g. "Like" buttons, fan pages, Facebook Connect, etc.) are responsible for adding somewhere from 182,744 to 235,644 full-time jobs, and $12.19 billion to $15.71 billion into the US economy.
Seeing that the Facebook platform has only been around since May 2007, the growth has been tremendous. The study cites Zynga as an example as the most successful venture on the Facebook platform, primarily thanks to hits like FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Words With Friends. Zynga itself has 2,000 employees with the company valued at $15 to $20 billion. Whereas, Playfish was bought by EA for $300 million, and Playdom was bought by Disney for $763.2 million.
The study, created by professors of the Center for Digital Innovation, Technology, and Strategy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, moves on from counting the numbers of direct employment to uncovering jobs indirectly created by Facebook apps. It then estimates the economic value of all those jobs, which means analyzing salaries and benefits. Still skeptical? They're calling it the "Facebook App Economy" and you can read all about it here.
[Image Credit: Visual Economics]
[Via SFGate]
Do you still think that Facebook games are a waste of money? Do you know anyone who's been able to make a living thanks to Facebook games? Add Comment
The success of Facebook gaming goes beyond Facebook. Based on an economic impact study released today (courtesy of the University of Maryland), Facebook games, applications, and social plugins (e.g. "Like" buttons, fan pages, Facebook Connect, etc.) are responsible for adding somewhere from 182,744 to 235,644 full-time jobs, and $12.19 billion to $15.71 billion into the US economy.
Seeing that the Facebook platform has only been around since May 2007, the growth has been tremendous. The study cites Zynga as an example as the most successful venture on the Facebook platform, primarily thanks to hits like FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Words With Friends. Zynga itself has 2,000 employees with the company valued at $15 to $20 billion. Whereas, Playfish was bought by EA for $300 million, and Playdom was bought by Disney for $763.2 million.
The study, created by professors of the Center for Digital Innovation, Technology, and Strategy at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, moves on from counting the numbers of direct employment to uncovering jobs indirectly created by Facebook apps. It then estimates the economic value of all those jobs, which means analyzing salaries and benefits. Still skeptical? They're calling it the "Facebook App Economy" and you can read all about it here.
[Image Credit: Visual Economics]
[Via SFGate]
Do you still think that Facebook games are a waste of money? Do you know anyone who's been able to make a living thanks to Facebook games? Add Comment
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