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'Dying for Daylight' features story by True Blood author
Author Charlaine Harris writes the "Southern Vampire Mysteries" novels that provide the source material for HBO's True Blood. Oberon Media's casual game label I-play announced today that Harris is writing the story for its upcoming vampire-centric PC release, Dying for Daylight. The first episode will be out in January. The game will star Dahlia, a vampire who has appeared in some of Harris's novels. Neither the plot nor the gameplay mechanics were revealed, so we're just going to guess it's a hidden object game, except instead of "objects," you're searching for places to get it on with a vampire or other supernatural monster.
Microsoft hires former Nintendo exec to expand Euro footprint
Microsoft has opened its doors and brought on former I-Play and Nintendo Europe executive David Gosen to fill the role of Strategic Marketing VP for Microsoft's game business in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) territories. In his new role, Gosen will focus on expanding the European Market for the Xbox 360.Prior to putting on his Microsoft hat, Gosen spent more than five years as managing director of Nintendo's European arm, and most recently served as the CEO of mobile game developer and publisher I-Play. He will now report directly to Microsoft's European Interactive VP Chris Lewis, who sees the appointment as all part of Microsoft's new "laser-sharp focus" and its grand scheme to "widen the market for Xbox as a mass-market proposition," no doubt part of that whole 'Europe is key' party line the company toed late last year.
Nokia, I-play hook up for "casual" games on N-Gage platform
The exact nature of Nokia's next-gen N-Gage efforts still aren't entirely clear, but at least we know we'll be able to get our mahjong on. Nokia has announced a partnership with mobile game purveyor I-play to offer a full range of "casual" games to the N-Gage platform starting this fall. Interestingly, this announcement seems totally unrelated to the Shockwave Mini deal that was also recently inked -- so by all appearances, Nokia's putting a lot of weight behind its entertainment offerings over the next few months. There's no mention of how exactly the games will be delivered, though it's a safe bet that the upcoming N-Gage download client will play a role. Expect I-play's offerings to focus on -- as they call it -- "one-thumb" gaming experiences that make it easy to catch a quick game on the bus to work without having to get too involved. Just don't go trying World Rally Championship while you're driving, k?
