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Real Racing creator developing Need for Speed: No Limits for mobile
Electronic Arts has tapped Melbourne-based developer Firemonkeys for its upcoming mobile-exclusive Need for Speed sequel Need for Speed: No Limits, the publisher announced this week. FIremonkeys (formerly Firemint) established itself in the mobile marketplace with its sim-styled Real Racing series, later producing iOS and Android ports of Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Electronic Arts acquired the studio in 2011, acting as publisher for the 2013 free-to-play sequel Real Racing 3. Need for Speed: No Limits is due to launch next year for iOS and Android devices. [Video: EA]
EA has two teams prototyping Apple Watch game experiences
Apple revealed its new piece of wearable tech yesterday, a watch with a touchscreen, fitness apps and all sorts of other smart device functionality. Among the possibilities with the Apple Watch are gaming applications; EA has confirmed it is actively investigating, and was listed among the developers on-board with the device yesterday. EA Mobile head Frank Gibeau told CNET that the publisher has "two teams prototyping wearable experiences that are not only standalone, but also some ideas where you can actually use the fitness component in the watch that can unlock capabilities in the game that might be on your iPhone." Gibeau suggested that Watch users could possibly handle minor game experiences on the device, such as "crafting or some auction trading on your watch that goes back into your tablet game that you might check out later when you get home."
Gibeau: EA 'innovated too much' with Dungeon Keeper
EA's reboot of Dungeon Keeper rubbed new and old fans the wrong way with an aggressive approach to monetization – it's a free, mobile app heavy on microtransactions and shifty five-star rating schemes. The original game's creator, Peter Molyneux, dubbed the reboot "ridiculous," and in June, EA CEO Andrew Wilson called the situation "a shame." EA Mobile head Frank Gibeau this week told GamesIndustry that EA didn't do a good job marketing the game or communicating to fans what they could expect from a new Dungeon Keeper. "Brands ultimately have a certain amount of permission that you can make changes to, and I think we might have innovated too much or tried some different things that people just weren't ready for," Gibeau said. "Or, frankly, were not in tune with what the brand would have allowed us to do. We like the idea that you can bring back a brand at EA and express it in a new way. We've had some successes on that front, but in the case of Dungeon Keeper, that just didn't connect with an audience for a variety of reasons."
Dungeon Keeper Android makes it difficult to rate app less than 5 stars
Players who did not enjoy EA's free-to-play Android version of Dungeon Keeper found themselves unable to voice their displeasure in the days following its release, as Pocket Gamer discovered that the game actively discourages less-than-perfect ratings via Google Play. After playing Dungeon Keeper for several minutes, an in-game pop-up requests a Google Play rating, giving players the option of submitting either a 5-star vote or a rating of 1-4 stars. Choosing the "5 Stars" option lets users proceed through the ratings process normally. Selecting the "1-4 Stars" option prevents users from submitting a rating at all, instead confronting them with a request for direct feedback – a result akin to voting in a Pawnee election. Players can still rate Dungeon Keeper directly via Google Play, however, and nothing prevents users from submitting a lower rating after pressing the in-app "5 Stars" button. The game currently sits at an average rating of 4.3 stars out of 5. Speaking to Eurogamer, an EA Mobile representative defended the tactic as a method to encourage detailed player feedback. "The 'rate this app' feature in the Google Play version of Dungeon Keeper was designed to help us collect valuable feedback from players who don't feel the game is worth a top rating," the representative said. "We wanted to make it easier for more players to send us feedback directly from the game if they weren't having the best experience. Players can always continue to leave any rating they want on the Google Play Store." [Image: Electronic Arts / Pocket Gamer]
Piñatas, UI tweaks among changes in new Plants Vs Zombies 2 update
Devouring all those brains must have instilled some growing intelligence in PopCap's undead horde, as the free-to-play Plants Vs Zombies 2 has been updated with a number of clever fixes and additions. Most notable are the game's user interface changes. The PvZ2 map has been redesigned to make it easier for players to read, while in that same vein PopCap has introduced a number of smaller tweaks that should make it easier for players to "know how much you've done, where you're going, and what loot you'll get along the way." In the realm of the truly new, PopCap has introduced a fast-forward button that speeds both planting times and the advancing zombie hordes. Likewise, the studio has also introduced new "Piñata Party" stages which offer big prizes, though this positive is counterbalanced by an ominous warning that this update has somehow made it more likely for players to encounter the gigantic, ultra-tough Gargantuar zombies during normal gameplay. If you haven't already been introduced to the life-draining, productivity-smashing joys of Plants Vs Zombies, now is a great time to do so. You can find free-to-play iterations of Plants Vs Zombies 2 on both iTunes and Google Play, and while both are supported by microtransactions, it's entirely possible to play the game from start to finish without ever spending a dime.
EA mobile: People like free-to-play, detractors a 'vocal minority'
Most players like the free-to-play model, according to Nick Earl, senior vice president of EA's mobile and social All Play label. Those that disapprove of free-to-play, like those who recently decried EA's use of microtransactions in Real Racing 3, are a "vocal minority," Earl told GamesIndustry.biz. "Ultimately the numbers would show that they and others all support the freemium model better."Detractors were "annoyed" by the lack of a one price "all-you-can-eat" model, he said, "But at the end of the day, they're going to pay to eat, if that's their choice. And they're happy doing it." Enough players are happy enough, evidently, that none of this year's EA All Play titles will opt for the traditional single price model.Earl's statements mirror similar sentiments shared by EA CFO Blake Jorgensen earlier this year. Jorgensen noted that players are "enjoying and embracing" the microtransaction model, and that all future EA mobile games will feature in-game purchases of some kind.
Game of Life and Monopoly are EA's first games on Samsung Smart TVs
Thanks to EA and Samsung, its now possible to play board games with your family while simultaneously negating the purpose of board games – which is to spend meaningful time with the people that you care about away from the noise and radiation of the all-engulfing boob tube.Samsung Smart TV owners have access to virtual versions of both Monopoly and The Game of LIFE via their television's Samsung Apps marketplace. Each game costs $10 and features exactly what you'd expect from each: Buying/selling/trading property in Monopoly, becoming a teen widower in LIFE, etc. Players that also own Samsung smartphones (specifically the S1, S2 and S3) can download a free companion app that turns their phone into a motion controller for throwing dice and spinning wheels.We'd also like to take this opportunity to announce that "Playing The Game of LIFE while staring at a giant, expensive television" wins Joystiq's Unintentional Irony of the Year Award.
EA's Riccitiello on social games: 'Consumers won't pay for crap'
The decline of social games has been "overhyped," Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said at Friday's App Conference in San Jose, California, AllThingsD reported. "Companies that are now suffering will have another day," Riccitiello said.The CEO noted that viral marketing-style messages in social games that spam friends lists with requests don't make for "great gaming," and that "consumers won't pay for crap." Riccitiello had similar comments in May, when he said that "consumers want to be entertained, they don't want to be data managed."
PSA: Rock Band iOS apps to be delisted on July 31 [update: EA explains]
If you've considered picking up one of the Rock Band iOS games, now would be the time to do it. Come July 31, all Rock Band iOS apps, including Rock Band, Rock Band Reloaded and Rock Band Reloaded for iPad, will be delisted from the App Store. After this date, the games will be gone and users will no longer be able to purchase any DLC.Earlier this year, Rock Band app users received a message saying that the app would be pulled on May 31. At the time, EA stated that the message had been "sent in error." There doesn't appear to be a mistake this time around, as the iTunes pages for each app confirm the delisting. The original error, apparently, was that the message was sent two months early.Update: EA has posted a Q&A regarding the delisting, stating that "EA's licensing agreement with Harmonix is ending and as a result, EA is discontinuing downloads of Rock Band iOS and Rock Band Reloaded iOS on the App Store after July 31. "
Riccitiello hip to EA's social failings: 'I'd say we're a distant number two'
EA's embattled CEO John Riccitiello isn't above admitting his mistakes, nor is he above admitting those of his company. That honesty was in full swing during an episode of NPR's Morning Edition today where he spoke to EA's social business. "We would like to be number one in every possible area, in every geography. That's a grand ambition. We're not there yet," Riccitiello said.But then he got much, much more honest. "When it comes to Facebook, while we're number two, I'd say we're a distant number two. I mean, the other guys have lapped us three times," he said, referencing major social player Zynga. Riccitiello said EA is in the entertainment business, while his competition in social is in the data business, which he's had a hard time cracking. But he may not have to, according to his predictions."They're not really in the entertainment business. I think that will eventually die. Consumers want to be entertained, they don't want to be data managed," he said. Rather than model EA's future social business on that of the data-driven giants, Riccitiello hired up EA's first chief technology officer, Rajat Taneja, and is trying to get ahead of the Zyngas of the world before they take their next steps.He told the Morning Edition that EA is planning to "apply techniques like machine learning and neural nets, to figure out what will happen next so that we can tailor the game and experiences to delight our customers." Wait ... what? In reality, this means using data for predictive modeling, which can help figure out what you'll like before you, er, like it.Also in the report: Riccitiello wouldn't confirm or deny his company's plans to axe approximately 1,000 jobs in the near future, but he did say the company's internal statistics will see a shift from one of every eight employees being an engineer to one in two. Sounds like a bad time to be a concept artist at EA.[Thanks, Curtis.]
Battlefield 3: Aftershock won't return to iOS
The iOS spinoff Battlefield 3: Aftershock was abruptly removed from the App Store last month, when EA decided to "re-evaluate" the app following complaints about its quality. It has since been re-evaluated to death.An EA spokesperson told Vox Games that the game will not be returning to the App Store. "In the interest of bringing consumers only the highest level of quality mobile entertainment," EA said, "EA Mobile has decided to suspend development and support of Battlefield 3: Aftershock and refocus its resources on other titles."The servers will remain active through March 31, for those of you who want to enjoy the game as long as possible. Of course, the relatively small number of people enjoying Aftershock is the whole issue.
Battlefield 3: Aftershock pulled from App Store
Battlefield 3: Aftershock is MIA from the iOS App Store due to a lack of quality. IGN got a hold of a communique from EA, in which the publisher stated it is committed to delivering quality mobile entertainment and, therefore, decided to remove the game.An EA spokesperson said the company is "currently re-evaluating the app" in response to the consumer feedback. Sounds like the 2.5 star rated app, which suffered complaints about its controls and multiplayer, may not return to the app arena any time soon.%Gallery-140899%
The Simpsons 'Tapped Out' in free-to-play iOS game
The Simpsons are going to your phone! Again! Cnet reports that EA is planning to release a free-to-play Simpsons game called The Simpsons: Tapped Out. The free iOS game focuses on rebuilding Springfield after Homer blows it up. Unlockable characters (voiced by the show's actors) will give you quests as you work on your version of the city.Of course, your progress will be limited every day, unless you purchase virtual currency, in the denomination of "donuts." You'll also be able to find them in town.Tapped Out is due on iOS in the next few weeks. An Android version will follow a few months later.
BioWare looking for 'logical extensions' to its brands for mobile development
"We did that iOS Mass Effect Galaxy thing really early. We said, 'We should just try this and see what happens.' And we learned something from it," BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk told me in a recent interview, when asked about the company's unknown mobile plans. It seems that Zeschuk, and in turn, BioWare, is more interested in using mobile and other burgeoning platforms as testing grounds rather than a focus. "What we do a lot is we'll actually explore a platform and kinda play around with it," Zeschuk added. While he said that mobile, comprising both Android and iOS, is "definitely something we're looking at," he also noted that just one person of BioWare's hundreds of employees has been assigned to focus primarily on mobile development. That person is said to be in charge of identifying "logical extensions to what we do," but Zeschuk is quick to point out his company "haven't announced too much" in that space. He also pointed out that another branch of BioWare's parent company, EA Interactive/Mobile, could be of particular use in the case of BioWare properties on mobile devices. "That's one of the biggest benefits of being at EA. We have EA Interactive, who does tons and tons of mobile stuff," Zeschuk said. "We're always looking around. We're always sort of sharing ideas and figuring out what we're gonna do." Presumably we'll hear more whenever BioWare figures out what exactly that is, or at least whenever the company decides to announce as much. For now, we'll be wantonly hoping for a PopCap crossover, post-acquisition. We can dream, right?
Battlefield 3: Aftershock sets its sights on iOS
Part of me wonders why EA even bothered showing off Battlefield 3: Aftershock at a recent event in San Francisco, a planned universal app for iOS devices. It's in a pre-alpha state, with just three different maps and placeholder graphics, and some very rough gameplay on offer during my time with it. But the potential places Battlefield 3: Aftershock could go have me genuinely excited for what might be. %Gallery-140899%
Battlefield 3, NFS: The Run for $30; many others discounted in Origin Cyber Monday sale
Origin may be the new kid on the block, but that doesn't mean it was born yesterday. EA clearly realizes that its digital-only game service needs to compete with the other digital retailers, as evidenced by its overtly aggressive pricing on today's Cyber Monday sales: Battlefield 3 for $30, as well as Need for Speed: The Run, not to mention package savings that rival Steam's. Beyond the games available for PC, a variety of the publisher's iOS slash mobile titles are also getting deep cuts, all of which end around midnight tonight. If you were waiting patiently for a heavily discounted copy of Risk for your iPad, now is the time!
PSA: Free version of Tetris now available for Android devices
Are you sick of your wordsmith cousin Dwight constantly pulling out triple scores in Scrabble Free with nonsense like "Qi?" Do you also have a hardline stance against paying for Android games? EA wants to hook you up, announcing today that a free version of Tetris is launching on the Android Marketplace (the non-free version is $2.99). Fear not, anti-microtransactionite, as the game is free due to ads, not because you'll be charged $1 for the ability to use straight pieces. And hey, Dwight won't be able to laugh in your face anymore, so there's that ... unless he's also a Tetris master. Blast!
Spy Mouse is Firemint's latest iOS joint, available now
We don't take very kindly to pesky rodents sneaking around our places of residence, and we like the concept of said rodents spying on us even less. Still, we can get down with some Firemint-developed iOS games and tell you about the studio's latest title: Spy Mouse, wherein a sneaky vermin codenamed "Agent Squeak" can navigate 72 different themed levels while avoiding enemies, grabbing cheese, and employing a variety of power-ups. Considering that Spy Mouse is from the folks who created Flight Control, it's not a huge surprise that it looks like a twist on that game's control scheme and central concept, albeit with many fewer paths to address. Firemint head Rob Murray claims that, after two years working on the new game, it's "Firemint's best game yet." It's available now for $0.99.%Gallery-131661%
Dead Space lands on BlackBerry PlayBook and Android ... well, Xperia Play
In this chart of non-iPad tablets compared to "obscure" video game consoles, the BlackBerry PlayBook is somewhere between the Philips CDi and the Atari Jaguar. That is to say, the PlayBook hasn't set the world, or really much of anything, on fire. Google's Android OS, on the other hand, is increasingly taking over the mobile space (albeit not the tablet space, where all Android tablets combined are somewhere between the 3DO and the Virtual Boy). While gaming on Android is still something of a challenge, thanks to a fragmented install base, unique platforms, and multiple stores, that hasn't stopped EA from giving it the ol' college effort. So Xperia Play owners can go to EA's own Flexion Android Store to download EA Mobile and IronMonkey Studios' excellent Dead Space mobile game -- easy! We weren't able to confirm that ourselves, not owning an Xperia Play, so we've put a word into EA for confirmation. But EA didn't stop there – it's also ported Dead Space to the PlayBook. Premiering today for the same $9.99 price as its far more popular iPad-based twin, the PlayBook audience is getting one of mobile gaming's most successful "core" games. And yes, it's a small audience (smaller than the Xperia Play?) but if EA plans to continue its mobile dominance, it helps to be everywhere. [Thanks, Gerry]
Anomaly: Warzone Earth preview (iPad)
Anomaly: Warzone Earth launched back in April for the PC (feel free to give the demo a download, if you're so inclined). But it's coming to iPad in four to six weeks, and at last week's EA Summer Showcase day I got a chance to see how the transition was going. It's no surprise that tower defense games really lend themselves to being played on a touch-screen interface. Poking and prodding to move troops around and interact with the game world make those games a cinch to play. As I learned from my time with Anomaly: Warzone Earth, the same is true for tower offense games as well.%Gallery-105086%
