Connected Gaming Week - May 4, 2012

by Wonacott Communications

Greetings everyone! Let me introduce you to the next evolution of Wonacott Communications with the new Connected Gaming Week. For those of you who visited our website or offices recently, you'll notice that Wonacott underwent a complete redesign to reflect our five years of progress in interactive entertainment, social and corporate communications. With the advent of cross-platform play from browsers and mobile phones, it was time to bring the Online Entertainment Insider to the next level, so we give you: Connected Gaming Week. Please be sure to add cgw@wonacottpr.com to your safe lists - we'll be using that address starting next week.

This week, Blizzard gave a rundown of how the real cash auction house will work in its impending blockbuster, Diablo III. Basically, the Americas (including Oceania), Europe and Asia will have individual auction houses to sell any in-game item. Blizzard will take a $1 cut for weapons and a 15 percent vig for any other items. Users who pay an extra 15 percent can get the proceeds sent to a Paypal account, or else the funds go to Battle.net, creating a cycle where users can play Diablo III to finance their World of Warcraftsubscriptions. Dare we say this move is...diabolical?

There were a couple of mobile gaming bombshells that floored me this week. First was about the power of tween girls. According to a Spil Games report, tween girls doubled their playing game playing time to 78 minutes a month, with Android devices leading the way for mobile gaming sessions. The second was a Newzoo report that finds 91 percent of mobile game revenue in the US comes from in-app purchases. We knew the free-to-play model was catching on in the US, but 91 percent of all revenue? Incredible!

We mentioned this last week, but now it's official. The call for speakers at the 2012 LOGIN Conference is open, with submissions due on June 7. 

Check out the links below for more news from the world of online gaming in this edition of Connected Gaming Week, and have a great weekend.

The Industry
90% of U.S. Mobile Game Revs Come from within Games - Study
Game Retail Weakens as Consumers Turn to Alternative Entertainment - Analyst
The DeanBeat: Don't Ya Wish these Fantasy Game Consoles were Coming?
GamesAid Releases 2012 Video
London Games Festival Set for September
Games Industry Perspectives: The World of Biz Dev
Could Next-Gen Consoles Cost $99?
E3 2012: The Big Games List

The Players
Designer Jane McGonigal Launches Gratitude Network Game for Oprah Winfrey
Major Publishers Integrating National Fitness Challenge into Games
Funzio Scores Big with Third Million-plus Hit on the iPhone
Uncharted Designer Richard Lemarchand Leaves Naughty Dog after Eight Year Run
Sega's Mike Hayes Steps Down
Report: Microsoft to Undercut Competition with Surprise $99 Xbox 360 Bundle
Zynga.com Grows to 2.8M Monthly Active Users in 2 Months
Ubisoft Investing $505M to Build up Toronto Studio
Activision Blizzard's Quarterly Earnings Report Predicted to Shine come Wednesday
Gameloft's Smartphone and Tablet Sales Grow 59 Percent Year-over-year

The Entertainment
Online Action Game Elsword Celebrates First Anniversary
Activision Confirms Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for November
Release This: Awesomenauts, Sniper Elite V2 Debut Worldwide
Angry Birds Space Hits 50M Downloads in 35 Days
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - A Bold New Future
Skullgirls to Rush Down on PC - in 2012
Brands Ready to Invade Draw Something
Black Ops 2 Pre-Orders Top Modern Warfare 3's
Building Puzzles in Portal 2

The Technologies
Alienware Debuts Three Ivy Bridge Gamer Laptops
BlackBerry 10 revealed: RIM finally brings the PlayBook's Magic to Phones
Microsoft Cleans Up Windows Phone Marketplace
Nintendo to Launch Digital Downloads for Third-parties

Upcoming Events
E3, Los Angeles, June 5 - 7
MobileBeat / GamesBeat, San Francisco, July 10-12
San Diego Comic-Con, San Diego, July 12-15,
Gamescom, Cologne, Aug. 15-19
PAX Prime, Seattle, Aug. 31-Sept. 2
LOGIN, San Francisco, Sept. 26-27
GDC Online, Austin, Oct. 10-13