Mobile and console working in harmony, iOS 8 adoption hits 30 percent, and why western practices don't work in Asia
The past 7 days in bite-sized portions
This week's news-bag contained all kinds of treats, and, with most of the UK games industry down in London for EGX, variety was the name of the game.
DeNA's management director Kenji Kobayashi perhaps gave some of the best advice of the week, when he explained why western practices simply don't work in Asia.
Despite reported software issues, iOS 8 adoption continued to rise, with 30 percent of iOS users having installed the new OS after just 8 days.
In the west, a US survey found that mobile gaming actually encourages other forms of play rather than cannibalising the market, with 42 percent of respondents explaining that they've bought a console, handheld or PC game because they enjoyed the mobile version.
As always, there's more nutritious news where that came from, so take a bowl, grab a ladle, and dish out some of our homemade Week That Was.
Industry Voices- DeNA's management director Kenji Kobayashi explained why western practices don't work in Asia.
- A designer who worked on the glorious mobile puzzler, Monument Valley, believes that games must stop relying on the trope of violence.
- GREE's Andrew Sheppard believes it's time for mobile to scale up with conviction.
- Microsoft's Phil Harrison suggested that developers need to be inspired by Kinder Surprise.
- Bossa's Imre Jele dished out some truths at TIGA's Smartphone and Tablet Conference, explaining "if you can’t create something that stands out, you’re already dead".
- In our latest Studio Profile, the Cowboy Games team told us why game development is a risk well worth taking.
- A new regular arrived on PocketGamer.biz, as we found out why space-age thrill ride ALONE is a steal at $1.99.
- Mobile analytics and ad network Fiksu has revealed that the adoption rate for iOS 8 after 8 days is at 30 percent.
- A US survey found that, contrary to what some believe, Mobile games are a force multiplier for entire industry.
- Puzzle & Dragons hit 38 million downloads, including 5 million in North America.
- According to venture capitalist Matt Witheiler, body-mounted wearables are attracting the most VC investment.
- TIGA' s annual report, Making Games in the UK Today: 2014, has revealed that the Scottish video game industry is thriving, with the sector contributing over £99 million ($160 million) to the UK's GDP.
- Fresh research revealed that The UK games industry's 1,902 games businesses could be worth as much as £1.72 billion ($2.8 billion): a figure that's double the official estimates given in both 2011 and 2012.
- Woodchopper game Timberman, from Polish developer Digital Melody, integrated the real-money skill-based platform Cashplay.
- Cloud-based service provider AgeCheq has announced that new infrastructure improvements are being put in place to bolster its system following the FTC's decision to publicly enforce the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
- Speaking at the first Oculus Rift conference held in Los Angeles on 19 September, VP of handheld devices Max Cohen explained tha the Oculus Rift will launch with a free app store.
- Oculus Rift also revealed the new Crescent Bay devkit headset.
- German mobile developer Wooga appointed Dr. Marion Trautbeck-Kim as its new head of finance.
- Our Finnsider introduced you to No More Pie: the Finnish game company you've never heard of, that doesn't exist anymore, and is debuting on Windows Phone.
