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Pair of App Store studies show Apple is the devs' choice, for now
I wouldn't have called July 4th weekend as a great time for releasing studies about in-depth App Store information, but it was certainly that, as quite a few studies came to light this weekend about how the Android and the Apple App Stores compare. First up, App Store HQ has released some information from their own database of developers indicating that Apple's iPhone still has a larger developer base than the Android platform, and while some developers have gone cross platform, most prefer to stick to one or the other. Additionally, a recent survey of mobile developers shows this may all be in due course: the majority of developers prefer the iPhone for now, but in the long run, 54% of developers polled say that Android has the best "long-term outlook." Analytics firm Distino also released a report this past weekend, about App Store offerings rather than developers, and it found that about 80% of iPad apps on the App Store were paid, with only slightly fewer for the iPhone. Google's Android market, however, has 57% of its apps listed as free, the highest percentage by far of all the mobile marketplaces tracked. That may give some indication as to why developers currently prefer the App Store -- they can make more money there, with a larger audience more ready to open the wallet. But don't count Android out -- the service is still growing (only developers from nine different countries can distribute paid apps), and as the platform becomes more viable, it seems developers will be ready to move in the future. As Appcelerator concludes, Apple's store is the current winner of developers' attention, but as soon as developers see a flexible platform with a solid userbase elsewhere, they'll happily go there. too.
Intel 'Oak Trail' is headed for tablets in early 2011
Intel's been quite forthcoming over the past few weeks about its intentions to play in the booming tablet market, and apparently Oak Trail's going to be its ticket. Despite its name, the Atom SoC platform is actually closer to Moorestown than Pine Trail or Pine View -- the major difference here is that Intel's added Lincroft and Whitney Point to enable support for Windows 7. It will also support Google and MeeGo operating systems, so feel free to let your imagination run wild with that. Intel's not sharing much else right now in terms of architecture, but the long and short of it is that the fanless solution will enable thinner tablets with better battery life than the current Menlow platform, and will also add full 1080p playback and HDMI support. But we've still got a time to go until Oak Trail will be powering slates, as it won't ship until early 2011 at best. Funny enough, that certainly seems to line up well with ASUS Eee Pad's 2011 Q1 ship date, but feel free to make what you will of the so-called coincidence. Either way, it looks like the next year will be another interesting one for tablets, and the players look to be multiplying by the minute.
Intel boosts netbooks with dual-core Atom, slims 'em down with 'Canoe Lake'
You're really coming full circle at this year's Computex, aren't ya, Intel? It was at the Taipei show two years ago that Chipzilla introduced the first Atom netbooks, and though it's taken awhile, the company is finally announcing dual-core Atom processors for the category (not to mention slightly changing its party line on the power of the sub-laptops). While the details on the speeds and feeds of the new Pine Trail N series CPUs are being kept under wraps for now, we've been told that they'll support DDR3 RAM and provide comparable performance to the dual-core desktop Atom processors, yet still maintain similar battery life to current netbooks. Intel still plans to keep these Atom chips in 10-inch systems, and told us that users will see the speed benefits in multitasking and browsing, rather than in HD playback and gaming. But netbooks aren't only about to get faster, they're also going to go on a serious diet. Intel also unveiled its new "Canoe Lake" innovation platform for netbooks, which is what's behind that 14mm thick machine pictured above. The platform can support single- and dual-core Atom processors, but provides significant cooling to allow for 50 percent thinner systems. However, "Canoe Lake" is merely a reference guideline for other manufacturers to use, so there's no telling what the machines that use this could end up looking like. The dual-core Atom for netbooks goes into production next week and should be shipping in netbooks before the holiday season. And as for that super thin laptop you're inevitably still peering at? Intel expects its partners to use the platform and have products out by the end of this year. We don't know about you, but the pictures below may keep us salivating until then. %Gallery-93974%
Sega announces Sonic Colors, coming to Wii and DS in late 2010
Man, Sega's just full of surprises, isn't it? Earlier today, the company announced Sonic Colors (or Colours, if you live in a country that spells that word that ridiculous way). a new platformer featuring the blue hedgehog and his new troupe of polychromatic friends. Sonic will have to navigate a sci-fi themed amusement park to thwart the plans of -- who else -- Dr. Eggman by saving multicolored aliens, each of which bestow a certain special ability upon the series' attitude-filled protagonist. That sounds like it has the propensity be be more colorful and trippy than a Flaming Lips concert. According to Sega Europe's blog, the game is set to drop for Wii and DS in late 2010. You can check out an extremely brief announcement trailer posted after the break. [Thanks, RupeeClock]
EA Mobile: iPad is a "destination device"
EA Mobile's Travis Boatman had a chat with Mobile Entertainment recently, and he says that the iPad is going like gangbusters for the mobile games company. "We're really pleased with the results so far," he told ME. "It has a lot of the characteristics of the type of device that plays well with our gameplay." Boatman said the digital distribution model available in the App Store has helped, but what's really impressed EA about the iPad is how immersive it is compared to the iPhone. As compared to the iPhone's bite-sized experiences while out and about, this is a device where you can actually sit down and play for a while. "It's more deliberate, and people expect more of a deliberate, immersive experience," Boatman told the site. "That affects the kind of games we build." He also says that as a "blank canvas," the device allows for a lot of experimentation in the UI. At EA, the teams look at customer desire, distribution method, and actual platform before they invest in development, but "for iPad, the answer is yes, yes, and yes." Interesting. One of the things we've heard from developers about the App Store is that it gives even small studios "the chance to compete with EA," but it looks like EA is just as committed to providing unique titles to Apple's platform.
Dead Space 2 back on track for PC release
There was a bit of confusion following the release of EA's Q3 2010 investor's report, which seemed to omit a mention of a PC version of Visceral Games' next deep space horror-surgery title, Dead Space 2. The most definite answer EA could give us back in February about its intentions to bring the game to our compy was, "A PC SKU is under consideration." Now, after three months of heartfelt consideration, EA has come to a decision: Yes, fine, you can have Dead Space 2 on PC. Those weren't EA's exact words, mind you -- rather, yesterday's Q4 2010 investor's report simply mentioned the game will launch on consoles, handhelds and PC. EA later confirmed via Tweet that the PC listing was legit, and not some kind of sick, twisted act of schadenfreude executed against personal computer enthusiasts.
Media Molecule re-confirms LittleBigPlanet 2, more details coming Monday
Though the first day of the working week is typically despised by most intelligent lifeforms -- especially Garfield -- we've got something to look forward to this coming Monday. Following information about Game Informer's feature article on LittleBigPlanet 2, Media Molecule Tweeted that the game is, in fact, real, and that we can expect "full mega details on Monday." Details supposedly culled from the Game Informer feature have already found their way online, but we think we can wait another 48 hours for the first-hand skinny. [Thanks Luis!]
Content company raises $2 million to develop for iPad
Thinking Screen Media is a content platform developer, putting together a content delivery system designed to bring information to "millions of connected screens worldwide." Now, it seems that many of those screens might be iPads. TechCrunch reports that they've raised a whopping $2 million just to switch their development aim to the iPad. They currently have an iPad app up and running in the store, and they've got a number of other investment sources already. However, according to the report, this money is specifically for the iPad. Of course, in the larger scheme of things, this is small potatoes. A content channel is pretty useless unless it's delivering content that people actually want, and $2 million is loose change for some of the larger content companies. This is a significant investment in terms of its scope, though. Even a smaller company like this is heavily investing in the iPad and Apple's platform as a major part of their business.
WSJ: Apple to charge a premium to put ads in mobile apps
When Steve Jobs introduced iAd on April 8th, he provided some details on how it would work, but not all. Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting on the cost for early participants, and it's steep. Apple is currently on a dog-and-pony-show tour, proclaiming the benefits of iAd to potential customers across the US. According to a "person familiar with the matter," initial participants could be charged as much as $10 million. It's a number that has some market veterans surprised. Phuc Truong, managing director at Mobext, called it "...a hefty sum... What Apple is trying to do is certainly above and beyond what's been done in the past." Mobext's clients include Sears, Choice Hotels, Amtrak and Volvo. Apple and developers will share iAd revenue with a 40/60 split; that is, Apple gets 40% while developers get 60%. In addition, Apple will charge advertisers US$0.01 for each ad displayed. If a user taps a banner and brings up an ad, Apple will charge $2. Under the $1 million package, the WSJ points out, costs would potentially reach $1 million with all of that tapping. With 85 million installed iPhone, iPod touch and iPad customers, the potential customer base is huge. I tend to ignore ads in apps, but if they can provide me with something more than a picture and a pitch -- location-based store finders, coupons or a little entertainment for example -- I'll pay attention. Now what about iAd for podcasts?
Socle Technology's ARM-powered, 1080p tablet platform due later this year
Socle Technology, a system-on-a-chip manufacturer based in Taiwan, has just announced its sPad A11 design and development platform. Consisting of the GlobalFoundries 65nm chipset, the ARM 1176 CPU and FPU core, Mali 3D Graphic Core, and a full HD 1080p Video CODEC application processor, this bad boy supports multitasking, 3D graphics, and sports a camera, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. This is a device for those of you who believe there aren't enough Android tablets in the world -- or at least for those of you who realize that the Intel Atom and the Apple A4 aren't the only games in town. Are you an enterprising young businessman or woman hoping to get into the slate game, and in a hurry? We thought so (you do have that "look" about you). The company promises that this thing'll be available sometime in the second half of this year. For more info, peep the PR after the break.
Hideo Kojima envisions a platform-free future
In the future, games will no longer be bound by platforms. At least, that's what Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima told the press at a conference for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Since the inception of the medium, games have largely been bound to a specific device. "Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel -- wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience," he said, according to Reuters. As with movies and music, consumers have come to expect increased portability with their media. Whereas a decade ago, movies were largely viewed at home, now they can be watched on a computer, in a car, or even on a phone. Even now, Sony and Apple are offering some cross-platform gaming opportunities, with interoperability between the PSP and PS3, iPhone and iPad. With the advent of cloud computing services, like OnLive and Gaikai, it seems we may not be too far off from Kojima's predicted future. Until then, though, you'll only be able to play Kojima's latest game on one platform -- the PSP.
Older PS3s losing 'install other OS' option in Thursday's firmware 3.21 update
Bad news, Linux fans. The older PlayStation 3 consoles are losing one of the features they could tout over their Slim successor. Firmware 3.21 is coming out this Thursday, April 1st, and its major raison d'être is to kill the "install other OS" option. (This is "not an April fools joke," as the PlayStation Europe blog clarifies.) "Security concerns" is the cited reason, although we're sure that doesn't make you feel much better -- no one likes the loss of a feature, even if it wasn't being used. Those who wish to keep Yellow Dog or Fedora running can opt to not upgrade, but skipping out means losing the ability to access PlayStation Network and play games online, among other things. DARPA enthusiasts notwithstanding, we can't say we know many people still running Linux on their console, but if you count yourself among the few and proud, our condolences. Them's the breaks, but hey, at least some of you still have PS2 compatibility.
Valve: Coming to the Mac is "biggest event in Steam's history"
The good folks at Joystiq got to sit down and talk with John Cook, the director of Steam at Valve, and he says there's probably no comparison to the news about Steam coming to the Mac -- it is "the biggest event in Steam's history." He says that not only is it big news for the company and its services, but that one of the goals of the service will be to "prove" to other game developers that coming to this platform is important. Like PC gaming in general, Mac gaming isn't dead, "it just needs to be attacked from more directions than retail." Too true -- while PC gaming is suffering on the retail shelves, Mac games are having those same issues many times over. And with Apple taking a larger share of the desktop pie than ever, putting Steam games on the Mac platform is a huge benefit both for game companies and their customers. Cook says he hopes that "many, if not all" of the game companies with games on Steam will eventually bring their titles over to the Mac. Good news for us. He does knock down, however, the suggestion that Valve is coming to the Mac on the way to the iPhone -- Cook says the company is focused on the Mac right now. That doesn't rule out a move to the iPhone or the iPad, but for now, Steam on the Mac is a story that's plenty big. We can't wait to see the client running in April.
Qualcomm's 7x30 offers stellar 3D and multimedia performance, coming this year (video)
Feeling the post-MWC blues? Not enough smartphone hardware talk to get you through your Monday trudge? Fear not, we've grabbed a pair of Qualcomm demo videos from this year's event in Barcelona that show off its MSM7x30 smartphone platform (first announced in November of last year). It has now made its way into some demo devices and its early performance points to a very happy future for all of us mobile media vultures. Equipped with the same CPU as resides inside Qualcomm's Snapdragon, this system-on-chip comes with an HDMI output and the ability to play back 720p video on both its host device and your nearest HDTV. There's also some very welcome 3D gaming on show as well as YouTube playback using Flash 10.1 (smooth and silky), but our attention was captured by a nifty picture browser provided by Scalado. It allows you to view up to 1,000 images at the same time, zoom into each individual one, or sort them by name, color and other attributes. Being able to handle all that, with only minor perceptible lag, shows we're looking at what's shaping up to be a pretty beastly chip. Check it out after the break, and expect it to show up in a lust-worthy smartphone near you by the end of 2010. [Thanks, TareG]
This Wednesday: Fret Nice, Greed Corp, and Lazy Raiders strike a chord on XBLA
PS3 owners have had access to Pieces Interactive's Fret Nice since February 4, leaving Xbox 360 owners nothing to do with their guitar controllers but play rhythm games. According to an announcement from Major Nelson, those Xbox 360 guitarists will be able to experience Fret Nice's new type of guitar heroism this Wednesday, Feb. 24, at a cost of 1,200 ($15). Fret Nice uses both the buttons and the tilt function of guitar controllers to move members of the Vibrant Chordblasters, as they fight against Hair Bängers by jumping into the air and playing riffs corresponding to the number of eyes on the enemies. Major Nelson also confirmed to Joystiq that both Greed Corp and Lazy Raiders will be out this week, despite not appearing in the official announcement. You'll be able to get lazy and greedy this week, in addition to nice!
Macworld 2010: Telltale Games and their Mac revolution
Well, there you go. After consistent rumors that the whole catalog would be coming over to the Mac, Telltale Games announced at Macworld last week that that's exactly what was going to happen. Starting with the Tales of Monkey Island series (based on the Lucasarts games, where many Telltale developers formerly hung their hats), the company will co-release Mac and PC versions, giving customers versions for both platforms at the same time. Telltale is hosting a vote on its website right now as to the next game set to be released, but as we learned directly from co-founders Dan Connors and Kevin Bruner, eventually the whole platform, including Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Wallace and Gromit, and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, is coming over. And it's probably not long until the iPhone and the iPad follow suit. Kevin Bruner spoke with us on the livestream during the show, and Dan Connors sat down for a longer interview about Telltale's past, the decision to join the Mac gaming community, and what both founders think of Apple's newest platforms and the Mac community at large. Read on to see the full text of the interview.
Activision "selectively expanding" brands onto iPhone
Activision is probably the biggest gaming company going these days, and in their conference call earlier this week, CEO Bobby Kotick briefly mentioned its foray into the world of the iPhone. We've talked a lot in the past about indie developers and how they find their way on to the App Store, but it's the larger companies that sometimes have a tougher time of it, making larger games that don't always make back their accordingly large development costs, much less make any money. Kotick says that Activision is still a bit leery, but that they will continue "selectively expanding our brands" onto platforms like the iPhone (he basically says that Guitar Hero is coming to Apple's handheld soon), and that the company is looking into Apple's platform more as a brand extension rather than a potential source of financial revenue. Case in point: Blizzard's release of the Mobile Authenticator for their World of Warcraft. They're not planning to release games necessarily, but just other ways for users to connect with the company and its brands. Not that they can't release successful games -- Activision is also dropping the first downloadable map pack for its very popular World at War: Zombies game (based on the Call of Duty brand). The pack is $5 (on top of the $10 app price, though there is a free version available without the DLC to try), and adds a second map to the game, more than doubling the size of the in-game world, as well as adding more perks, content, and other goodies. Interesting to see the approach that a larger developer is taking with Apple's platform.
MAG designed to be a 'platform,' balancing patches coming soon
We recently got a chance to speak with Zipper Interactive's Alan Van Slyke, who produced the company's recently released multi-multi-multiplayer FPS, MAG. When asked about ongoing support for the title, Van Slyke responded that the developer won't let the game go stale -- in fact, he explained that Zipper sees MAG as a platform on which new content can be added in the future. Van Slyke explained, "we made a big investment, we had a lot of learning, we built a lot of tech, and we have this awesome multiplayer platform that we can build upon and add new gametypes to." He later added, "the possibilities are endless for us, and in many ways, even though we just released the game, looking forward for us is super exciting, knowing what we can do with the engine we have today." The producer also addressed concerns many players have had with balancing issues -- particularly that the ragtag S.V.E.R. faction is far too overpowered. "It's something we're definitely aware of, and we've already got a number of fixes in the pipe. We're definitely committed to making sure all the maps, factions and gear is perfectly balanced." For more information on MAG's past, present and future, check out our full interview with Van Slyke when it goes live tomorrow afternoon.
Blizzard offers updated look at the new Battle.Net
Let's be honest. Between Diablo III, Stacraft II and the new World of Warcraft expansion, we're all going to be pretty heavily embroiled in Blizzard's games over the next couple of years. That's why we were thrilled to see this recent update on the new Battle.Net, which has been renovated by Blizzard from the ground up to offer a Steam-esque cross-game platform for players of all Blizzard's titles. A recent post on the StarCraft II blog reveals the three pillars of the service: Achievements for in-game deeds (which, in turn, unlock avatars and emblems for your profile); a beefy competitive ranking bracket and auto-matchmaking functionality; and social networking features available for everyone playing one of Blizzard's games online. It looks predictably slick -- check out some screenshots and a video of the interface on Blizzard's official blog.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Nintendo Week rips the lid off of it
We usually don't buy into Nintendo Week's particular brand of family-friendly hype generation -- after all, this is a Nintendo-funded program and we'll be damned if we're going to let The Man tell us what we're going to like. But this week's update on the Nintendo Channel is pretty amusing, especially if you enjoy fake mustaches, fourth wall destruction and tips on playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Or, you know, ripping the lids off various things. Head past the break for this week's content.
