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Facebook Evolves into Interactive, Shareable Scrapbook [with infographic]
Now that Facebook has wrapped up its F8 Developers conference, it’s time for an overview of what emerged from the rumors and gossip. After all, with 800 million users – half a billion of which checked in to the site on one single day last week, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg – anything Facebook does is likely to affect an awful lot of people. The ubiquitous social network has now become a giant interactive scrapbook that includes a user’s photos, videos, news, music, movies and memories, all automatically organized better than most people’s desks and shareable with friends.
SpongeBob MMO Game Expands to More Continents
Aw, tartar sauce! Viacom today fed fan interest in the upcoming "SpongeBob SquarePants" massively multiplayer online game, including a longer list of countries it will be released in that still does not include the United States or Canada. An iOS mobile game is also now in the works. The potential audience is huge. SpongeBob has than 27 million fans on Facebook. Syndicated in 171 markets in 36 languages, "SpongeBob SquarePants" is the most widely distributed property in MTV Networks’ history.
'DC Universe Online' Drops Subs for Tiered Free-to-Play [with Video]
Sony Online Entertainment has decided to adopt a flexible free-to-play business model for DC Universe Online, the company’s popular massively multiplayer online game. Beginning late October, it will be free to download the PC and PlayStation 3 version of the game, after which players can choose from three separate levels of game options and benefits: Free, Premium and Legendary.
No Geographical Restrictions for PlayStation Vita [with video]
Sony Computer Entertainment has confirmed that the handheld PlayStation Vita, which is set for Japanese release on Dec. 17, will be region-free. This means users can play games purchased in any territory on any PS Vita, instead of having a situation like with DVDs in which the player and the titles have to be from matching zones. The confirmation came directly from Shuhei Yoshida, president of SCEA Worldwide Studios, shortly after he spoke at the Tokyo Games Show.
Capital One Opens CityVille Branch
Capital One has integrated itself into three of Zynga’s most popular games, using recognizable elements from its TV commercials to deliver unique freebies and rewards that enhance the game for anyone who engages with them. One of the more innovative features is in "CityVille," where players can place a Capital One branded bank in their personal metropolis. Both companies said this opportunity was the first brand integration of its kind.
Raptr Analyzes 10 Million Gamers' Behavior
As the media coverage swarms around Facebook, Google+, Weibo, Renren, LinkedIn and others, targeted services like Raptr are connecting targeted people rather than the masses. That’s how the social network for gamers recently managed to reach the milestone of 10 million registered users, up from 6 million in February, with over 1 million of them active on a daily basis.
Club Penguin's Puffles Rocket to Mobile
Members of Club Penguin love their Puffles so much that that they blast them out of cannons. Now Disney Online Studios has made that activity into the virtual world’s first iOS game, Puffle Launch. This is Disney, so not even virtual critters get hurt. Puffles are the penguins’ pets, round fluff-balls that come in many different colors, and they seem to enjoy rocketing out of cannons and collecting Puffle O's.
BringIt Lets Players Wager on Facebook Games
It takes in-game currency to do well in many Facebook games. For those who have had enough of things like searching for berries or answering surveys, but who don’t want to get out a credit card, BringIt has comes up with a different way to get coinage: betting on head-to-head challenges. Among the companies signed up to use this feature of BringIt’s real-time transactional platform are CrowdStar, East Side Games, Sometrics and Mall World, with a combined reach of over 2.1 million daily active users.
Netflix Customers, Meet Your New DVD Service Qwikster [with video]
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings published a blog post Sunday evening, apologizing for how the company handled its recent price increase. His thoughts undoubtedly were concentrated by the precipitous drop in Netflix’s share price late last week. Hastings also took the opportunity to announce that Andy Rendich has been promoted to CEO of the physical disc rental operations, however, and that this service will be rebranded as Qwikster within the next few weeks. Additionally, Qwikster will begin to offer video game rentals alongside movies and TV shows.
Free 'Portal' Downloads to Teach Physics [with Video]
Valve Corp. is giving away Portal, one of its best-known titles, to encourage use of the game to teach principals of physics and critical thinking. The only catch is that people must first install the company’s Steam game platform client to their PC or Mac. That’s free too, but it does require registration. It’s part of Steam’s “Learn with Portal” campaign and runs until Sept. 20, when the game returns to its $10 regular price.
