PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: Ouya arrives, King raids the sock drawer, and Google ponders an unconsole of its own
The past 7 days in bite-sized portions
We're just about halfway through the year, and it's looking like 2013 will be remembered as the year when the traditional boundaries between gaming platforms were finally broken down.
As a cavalcade of Android unconsoles begins to trickle out into living rooms across the world, traditional console manufacturers - namely, Sony and Microsoft - are looking for ways to involve mobile devices in their next generation devices.
Of equal interest is the trend for successful mobile game developers to expand into the world of physical merchandise (we call this "pulling a Rovio") and finding success with branded clothing, plushies, and toys.
It's still not clear how all of this will affect the games industry in the years ahead, but it's easy to see its influence on the last week's flood of stories on PocketGamer.biz:
Tools and platforms- Undeterred by the Ouya, Google is reportedly working on a console/unconsole of its own.
- Everyplay unveils its new FaceCam recording tool, which records gameplay and a player’s face simultaneously - the implications for discovery are just a hit viral video away.
- Demand for the 'fox is strong - Foxconn reportedly triples the amount of employees working on Firefox OS devices.
- Nvidia's Shield trips before the tape, and sees its shipments delayed exactly one day before launch due to a QA issue.
- Although late to the party, Microsoft now reckons it's solidly knocked Blackberry out of the smartphone race.
- King's cashing in on Candy Crush Saga with branded… socks?
- Supercell, GungHo, and King all topped EA in App Store revenue this past May.
- Our weekly Charticle takes a look at XCOM: Enemy Unknown and examines if charging $20 on the App Store is a viable strategy.
- Remember when Clash of Clans went to Japan? It's now on top of the free iOS charts in Puzzle & Dragons' homeland.
- Gamevil announced the first four third-party publishing deals in its $130 million global expansion blitz.
- Elsewhere, audio mobile advertising platform Appington raised $1.2 million in a seed round.
- Top Eleven developer Nordeus expands into Ireland by opening a new office in Dublin.
- And joint US/Spanish outfit Ludei raises $1.5 million to accelerate its HTML vision
- Speaking of Ludei, CEO eneko Knorr believes that the upcoming months will be a tipping point for HTML5 gaming.
- Will Luton argues that free-to-play evangelists have been 'over zealous' in pushing business benefits and reminds us all that it’s still about games.
- Carter Dotson of 148apps wonders if the Ouya is on track to be this generation's N-Gage.
- Supercell's Ilkka Paananen isn't blinded by success, he reckons that his company's competing with 'the smartest guys on the planet'.
- Chillingo's Ed Rumley notes that its developers are 'very happy' to get onboard PlayStation Mobile.
- Peter Molyneux admits that while Curiosity helped solve Godus' discovery issue, its game design will be responsible for player retention.
- We took a three-part look at San Francisco this week examining how it's become regarded as gaming's global hub, how a history of success helps secure the city's future, and the difficulty involved in making a mark in such an influential area.
- Finally, we've got some pictures from our Mobile Mixer in Barcelona which took place during Gamelab for you to look over.