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GDC 2010: Ngmoco's Neil Young on how freemium will change the App Store world
On the third day of GDC 2010, Ngmoco's Neil Young took the stage in one of the largest rooms at the conference to talk about what his company had "unlearned" in its time in the App Store. Ngmoco has become a large and polarizing figure in the world of App Store development -- after starting out with a big investment from the iFund, it's moved quickly to become one of the biggest iPhone-only developers, and after starting out with a few premium titles like the very successful Rolando, have recently made waves with its "freemium" business model. Young talked about the company's history so far, and went in-depth on Ngmoco's plan for ruling the App Store and why he believes it's the "most significant shift and opportunity for [game developers] since the birth of this business." We've summarized Young's long address in this post. It was pretty incredible -- not only did Young lay out his idea of a clear plan for building and developing a large portfolio of very profitable App Store titles "at scale" (the company plans to release twenty new freemium products on the iPhone in the near future, as well as six titles on the iPad), but he made it very clear that he fervently believes that freemium and the model he's structured is the future of the video game business.
Ngmoco picks up $25 million in funding, buys Freeverse
TechCrunch is reporting that iPhone game company Ngmoco has just picked up $25 million in another round of fundraising, which they used to buy out Freeverse, one of the most storied Mac game developers (and recently, iPhone game developers) on the block. The two companies were already close -- Freeverse went with Ngmoco's Plus+ network for social connections in its games, including Flick Fishing and Moto Thunder -- but this buyout would put Ngmoco in charge of their whole catalog. Ngmoco CEO Neil Young says that he plans to take all of Freeverse's currently paid games and convert them all into the free-to-play model that Ngmoco has grown so comfortable with. It's a pretty bold move -- Ngmoco is seriously investing in this model (even to the extent where they'll cancel planned games unless they can squeeze them into the model), and now Freeverse will have to follow suit. There's no word on what will happen to Freeverse's significant Mac game library as well -- will that part of the company be split off? Will Ngmoco shut it all down and choose to focus on iPhone apps? Unfortunately, the only available information is the post on TechCrunch. We've put out calls to both developers and will get back to you when we know more. Update: Touch Arcade has interviewed Young. He doesn't mention Freeverse's Mac titles, but he does confirm that "freemium" is the way they're going to steer all of Freeverse's titles in the future.
Neil Young's Blu-ray 'Archives' release back on: June 2nd for $299
Take this with a huge grain of salt, but it seems that Neil Young's long (long) awaited Archives release on Blu-ray is back on track. Last we heard, the 10-disc set was shakily headed for a February release date, but given that it's March, we'd say that obviously didn't pan out. Down at South by Southwest in Austin, Young's manager Elliot Roberts was quoted as saying that the collection will now be released on June 2nd. Archives Vol. 1 1963-1972 will include 128 audio tracks (43 unreleased and 13 never-before-heard) along with thousands of images, lyrics, letters and memorabilia. The rough news is that the Blu-ray edition will run fans a shocking $299 while the DVD set goes for $199 and the CD version for $99. Better start saving up now -- worst case scenario, the June date will get bumped and you'll have three bills to blow on cheeseburgers and cookies.
Neil Young's Archives Blu-ray collection back on for February 2009?
Hop back on the Neil Young roller coaster folks, this one's still spinning. The on-again / off-again nature of this release is becoming somewhat of a joke, but after hearing that the Blu-ray version of Archives Volume 1 (1963 - 1972) would likely be axed, HighDefDigest has it that the BD audio collection is back on track. Reportedly, it now touts a tentative street date of February 24 through Warner Music Group. If the set ever launches, it will undoubtedly be a beast: ten discs, over 128 tracks and the full-length documentary "Journey Through the Past." You could always spin the delay into a positive -- you know, considering that you'll probably need everyday between now and then to scrounge up the $431.99 (MSRP) it'll take to make it yours.[Image courtesy of SMH]
LincVolt launches new website, more details about the conversion process emerge
Some new details have emerged about LincVolt, Neil Young's latest foray into green auto, and we're more than happy to pass 'em along to you. According to our friends at Autoblog, the LincVolt shares more than just a name with GM's Volt, using a CNG engine to power the electric drive system so that the wheels are driven by the batteries alone. The car currently gets 50 MPG, but the LincVolt team are aiming at 100 MPG and a system that will achieve "over-unity" (generating more energy than is put in). The company has also launched a new website which will provide live data from Shakey's very own vehicle (voltage, battery charge, speed, etc.) as well as the typical blogs and forums. If that isn't enough, we've even included a video Neil driving his car, just in case you've never seen anybody drive a car before. Check it out after the break.
Neil Young starts Linc Volt electric car conversion company
Sure, you've got a couple Neil Young CDs and maybe a battered Farm-Aid T-shirt, but if you're really into ol' Shakey, you'll pick up one of his hotrod electric Lincoln conversions. Yep, Neil's started a company called Linc Volt to develop electric car technologies, and he's already converted his own personal '59 Lincoln in an attempt to win the Automotive X-Prize -- a process that's the subject of an upcoming documentary. Young says he's mostly focused on developing the tech -- Linc Volt will provide instructions as well as performing the actual conversions. Sure, we're into it -- just make sure it's got one of those rumbling speaker systems and we'll take two.[Via AutoblogGreen]
Neil Young's Archives Blu-ray collection likely axed, will be DVD only
We're pretty sure we speak for music / Blu-ray fans everywhere when we say: "What?" At the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco earlier this year, one of the main news bits to emerge from the show was that Neil Young's entire music archive was going to be released in Blu-ray form. In fact, it was even stressed that BD interactivity would give purchasers the ability to download more songs, photos and tour information via their internet-connected decks. Now, we're hearing that the Archives Volume 1 (1963 - 1972) is being relegated to DVD only, and even the DVD collection is being delayed from November 3rd to "sometime in 2009." Of course, there's still time for Reprise to change its mind and appease all the Blu-ray lovers out in the crowd, but we aren't feeling too optimistic about the possible change of heart.[Image courtesy of Mashable]
Neil Young's Archives Blu-ray collection gets November 3rd release date
Neil Young's Archives project, which will see his entire music collection from 1963 to 1972 spread out over a 10-disc Blu-ray / DVD box set, finally has a release date. After being announced at the JavaOne Conference this May, we've now learned that the set will hit shelves on November 3rd. Interestingly, a price is still eluding us, but we'd just go ahead and assume that 10 Blu-ray Discs won't be exactly cheap. Something to tide you over is waiting just past the break.
Neil Young's entire music archive to be released on Blu-ray
Sun Microsystems's pledge to aid the widespread development of interactive content on Blu-ray wasn't the only thing going down today at the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco. Rather surprisingly, famed musician Neil Young announced plans to "release his entire music archive on Blu-ray discs that can be updated over the internet." Reportedly, the first installment of Young's archive will cover 1963 to 1972 and will be released as a ten-disc set this fall on Reprise / Warner Bros. Records, and subsequent archives will be released chronologically and "include some previously unreleased songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other memorabilia." Stressing Blu-ray interactivity, it was also noted that fans could download more songs, photos and tour information via their internet-connected decks. Needless to say, we're pretty stoked about the whole ordeal, and can only hope that more artists follow suit in serving up their work via Blu-ray.[Thanks, JDS]
Sony's Phil Harrison: Wii's audience plays hard to get
At yesterday's "Lunch with the Luminaries" panel at GDC, five of the planet's most prestigious gaming industry figures had the opportunity to sit down for light snacks, civil discourse, and, of course, to flame their competitor's consoles. At least, that's what Sony exec Phil Harrison had in mind, as he warned EA Blueprint's Neil Young that the Wii is unfriendly territory for third-party developers -- due to Nintendo's overwhelmingly successful games on their own home console, everyone else can only hope to market their games to "only 40% of the installed base." Young didn't deny this claim, but retorted that the development of their most recent game for the Wii, Smarty Pants, was "very easy to build very quickly" and "fundamentally much more fun" to create -- apparently, more fun than it was to actually play. Have third-party developers resigned themselves to living in Nintendo's shadow, prompting them to fire out "easy to build," mediocre titles? We don't think they quite understand -- if only 40 percent of Wii owners are buying your games, it's because the other 60 percent know better.
