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ArcheAge jumps into Raptr's 10 most-played games in September
ArcheAge is seeing its debut month popularity reflected in Raptr's own tracking, as the digital service saw the MMO rise 25 spots as it transitioned from beta to launch. "Based on current trends, ArcheAge has a good chance of remaining in the top 10 in October," the company predicted. Other MMOs in Raptr's top 20 include World of Warcraft holding strong at #2 as well as Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, Warframe, and Star Wars: The Old Republic vying for spots #12 through #15.
The Perfect Ten: Best MMO theme songs (part one)
As I've well established both here on Massively and elsewhere, I'm somewhat of a nut for video game music. Whereas others might collect vintage hair metal tracks or the latest Justin Bieber opus, I'm always digging through obscure (and not-so-obscure) official soundtracks to games like Wipeout and Kirby. Video game scores can be right up there with the best that the film industry puts out, and the fact that they tie into personal experiences that we've played through can lend them sentimental weight. So for the next two Perfect Tens, I scoured all the MMO theme songs that I could get ahold of in an attempt to formulate a list of the very best. It was originally slated to be just one list, but after an hour or so of listening to tracks and having friends and fellow staffers weigh in on the subject, I knew it was impossible to keep it there. Two important things to note for this list. First, I wanted to keep to just the title/login screen tracks so that I wouldn't be working on this for the next 2.5 years. Second, unlike most past Perfect Tens where there's no significance to the order of the list, in this case we're going to have a genuine countdown to the best MMO theme song of all time. And I expect to take no flak about it, do you hear me? Good. Let's begin.
Game Developer Research's 'Top 20 Publishers 2009' stays the same
The industry analysts at Game Developer Research could have saved themselves a whole mess of time and money by releasing the following statement in lieu of the latest edition of their annual Top 20 Publishers report: "See previous year." Differentiation from last year's top five ranks -- which, let's be honest, are the only ones you really care about -- is almost non-existent: Nintendo placed first (again), EA came in second (again), Activision Blizzard followed in third (again), Ubisoft retained its fourth place position (again), and Take-Two moved up from sixth to fifth, bumping Sony out of the top five. The full, totally unsurprising list -- which was calculated based on number of games released, average review scores for said games and estimated revenue for each company -- can be found after the jump. Comments stating why Publisher A is still infinitely better than Publisher B can be found further below. [Via Gamasutra]
HandyGames releases App Store analysis presentation
Top20 iPhone Games Analysis 09/2009 View more presentations from HandyGames Germany. The folks over at German developer HandyGames originally put together this slideshow presentation for their own internal use, but they determined that it actually could be useful for almost anyone following iPhone releases and their development, so they released it out into the world. And they were right -- there's some good info in here. Basically, they did a survey of the top 20 apps, both paid and free in five different regions of the world on the App Store, and then compared different qualities of all of those apps to see what the most successful apps had in common. What did they find? Things like the fact that the majority of top 20 apps do not use all caps for the title and use an original IP for their releases. The differences are interesting as well: most paid apps are made by recognizable developers, while most free apps are made by smaller publishers. Free apps receive many, many more reviews than paid apps, though (if I'm reading the presentation right) they tend to be rated lower. Chillingo is the App Store's most prolific top developer, while Digital Chocolate releases games most often, with a full 1.5 releases per week since (I suppose) they started publishing games. Very interesting stuff, though the numbers still require a little backgound knowledge to deciper (Backflip Studios appears in a few rankings, even though they've only just started releasing games last month -- popular games, but only a few games nonetheless). Cool to get an overall snapshot of the kinds of games that are doing well on the App Store so far.
Game Developer's top 20 publishers list has many MMO connections
Game Developer Magazine's Top 20 Publishers For 2008 is a fascinating look at the best of the games industry. Every year the CMP site collates its numerous survey responses into a whole, given readers a sense of which companies are truly the best of the lot. The positions of the companies are weighted carefully based on first-hand feedback from survey participants. The companies on the list, the article says, "seems to have been influenced somewhat by which companies could adapt with the times, and capitalize on the so-called 'emerging markets' of casual and online games." The MMO industry is well-represented on the list, with several major players cracking that top 20. Here they are: 2. Electronic Arts - Publisher and owner of EA Mythic and BioWare, the company already plays host to two big-name MMOs. Their adoption of casual and online titles, without a doubt, keeps them nailed near the top of this list. 10. Square Enix - The FFXI developer has been on the list for quite some time; strong console and handheld offerings will likely ensure it stays there. 12. Vivendi Games - Blizzard, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vivendi, likely had just a little bit to do with the company's place on this list. In fact, feedback on the company basically indicated that Vivendi had little to offer outside of World of Warcraft prior to the merger - a moot point now. 15. NCSoft - The only all-MMO company on the list, here's hoping they stay on the list; user feedback was indicative of the big changes and transitions at the company. 18. Codemasters - Primarly known for non-MMOs, this EU company acts as the 'across the pond' publisher for a number of US MMOs. It's worth noting that Activision and Vivendi are listed as seperate entities for the purposes of this list. To be sure, Activision/Blizzard will almost certainly be near the top of this list come 2009. Read on through to the Gamastura site for full analysis of these mighty game makers.
Beckett names Rob Pardo most influential person in MMOs
Beckett's July-August issues of Massive Online Gamer magazine (which went on sale yesterday) names what they think are the 20 most influential names in the MMORPG business today, and as you might expect, a World of Warcraft figure topped the list, namely Rob Pardo, Senior VP of Game Design for Blizzard Entertainment. Interestingly enough, Rob Pardo is the only current Blizzard figure that appears on the list. It seems to me, at the least, that Tom Chilton (If only for the Esports thing) or Jeff Kaplan should have been considered for the list as well, and I'm sure most of my fellow old school gamers are noticing the glaring absence of Lum The Mad, the grandfather of all MMO critics. Still, most of us can agree, I'm sure, that Pardo deserves the top spot. It's hard to argue with the success of Blizzard's games, especially WoW, and it doesn't look like it's going to flag anytime soon with WoTLK on the way. You can check out the complete list here, and see how much you agree with it. [Via Massively]
The top 20 most influential people in the MMO industry
If you've ever searched the web for a comprehensive list of the biggest and the best in the MMO industry, Beckett Massive Online Gamer magazine has done it for you in a recent article entitled "Top 20 Influential People in Massively Multiplayer Video Games of 2007". The top half of this list should reveal no surprises for you, including such industry celebs as John Smedley, Scott Hartsman, Raph Koster and number one on the list: Rob Pardo. But the bottom half of the list may contain a few names you don't yet recognize. Interestingly enough, NCsoft makes an appearance four times on this list with James Phinney of ArenaNet, Richard Garriott and Starr Long of Destination Games and Jess LeBow of Carbine Studios.This list highlights the most talented people in the industry and how they've influenced the future of MMOs, as determined by Beckett. You can find more details on each of their stories in the printed issue itself (Issue #13 for July-August) which hit newsstands on May 28th.
