Photo: Electronic Arts

EA versus Activision is nothing new, given they’re the two biggest publishers in the video game industry – both on PC and on consoles. This competition has recently spilled over, somewhat, with the two companies slinging mud at each other. Or, rather, EA has been trash talking and goading Activision, to which Activision responded, calling the mudslinging unnecessary. EA thinks otherwise – quick to remind Activision that video gaming is ‘a competitive industry’.

A bit of background

The latest EA versus Activision standoff comes at a time where the two companies prepare to face off for the first person shooter crown, when EA’s Battlefield 3 contests with undisputed industry leader (sales-wise) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. EA has been goading Activision, saying that they planned to beat the Call of Duty franchise over time, and that they would like to see the franchise ‘rot from the core.’

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg used his Gamescom 2011 keynote to call a stop to this. After saying competition is healthy, he added that ‘it’s one thing to want your game to succeed and another thing to actively, publicly say you want other games to fail,’ citing EA’s ‘rot from the core’ comment.

Umm, deal with it!

Jeff Brown, who works in EA’s corporate communications department, responded to Hirshberg’s Gamescom 2011 comment, but did not extend an olive branch of any kind. Speaking to Industry Gamers, he said: ‘Welcome to the big leagues Eric – I know you’re new in the job but someone should have told you this is a competitive industry.’ Cheeky.

Saying Activision Publishing had reason to be nervous, he added that: ‘If you don’t believe me, go to the store and try to buy a copy of Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk.’ Burn.

What do you make of it all?

Does Brown (and EA) have a point, or has he taken this public spat too far, coming off as tactless and, I venture, classless? If you play video games at all, whether on PC or on consoles, you’ve no doubt heard of EA or Activision. If not, you’ve almost certainly played their games, what, with the two publishers able to claim World of WarCraft, Fifa, Call of Duty, Need for Speed and even Bejeweled in their stable.

Chances are high you might even have a horse in this race. But is this ‘calling each other out’ episode in the latest EA versus Activision standoff the way to go about things, or does everybody end up looking bad as a result?

Thoughts?

Photo: michaelnugent / Flickr

Where gaming was once done predominantly on the consoles and dedicated handhelds, the economics of the industry has changed dramatically, with the rise of mobile gaming and smartphone gaming. Now Electronic Arts, one of the biggest video games publishers in the world, says that the Apple iPad is ‘the fastest growing platform’ for their companies, while industry-wide sales importance on consoles declines.

The decline

Where consoles once accounted for 80 per cent of the revenue in the video games industry, things have changed dramatically explained EA CEO John Riccitiello in an interview with Industry Gamers. He said: ‘Consoles today are 40 per cent of the game industry, so what do we really have? We have a new hardware platform and we’re putting out software every 90 days. Our fastest growing platform is the iPad right now and that didn’t exist 18 months ago.’

Even when the tablet was first announced, who would have guessed a traditional giant like Electronic Arts would put serious focus on iPad gaming?

Changing the rules of engagement

After speaking to the well-known ‘console cycle’ where manufacturers release new hardware every five or so years, EA CEO John Riccitiello explained he felt this was an antiquated way of running the business. ‘I would argue that there’s more to be provided in terms of value for the consumer in micro-transactions and social experiences and driving those better in cross-platform gameplay between a console and a PC and a handheld device and a social network than there is supercharging graphics.’

The focus shifts

With over 30 major releases in its iPad gaming catalogue already, Electronic Arts is all in with Apple’s tablet PC mobile OS platform. What’s most telling about this is that it confirms suspicions that mobile devices could well become a bigger gaming market than dedicated handheld consoles – and even the classic console-in-the-living-room.

What do you make of the rise mobile platforms for playing video games, like the smartphone and iPad gaming trends EA is speaking to?

Photo: włodi / Flickr

Video games are big business, and research firm Gartner says industry-wide growth will not slow anytime soon. What has changed is how that revenue is distributed in the gaming industry, with traditional platform holders watching their social gaming rivals racking up big sales.

Good growth

Research firm Gartner reports that consumers spent around $67 billion (£41.75b) on gaming in 2010, with this figure swelling to $112 billion (£69.8b) come 2015. This year, the gaming industry will see growth of more than 10 per cent as sales approach $74 billion.

Freemium the future

While the PC platform and consoles have historically been the place where video gaming revenue has been concentrated, social, casual, and mobile gaming has begun taking a big chunk of the pie.

Brian Blau, who is a research director at Gartner says: ‘We find that subscription fees are giving way to “freemium” models, in which the game is provided for free to gamers but is monetized through advertising (both in-game advertising and display advertising) and in-game micro transactions, such as the sale of value-added services or virtual-good purchases.’

Tablets and mobile the future, too

His colleague, Tuong Nguyen, who is a principal research analyst at the research firm, added that: ‘As the popularity of smartphones and tablets continues to expand, gaming will remain a key component in the use of these devices. Although they are never used primarily for gaming, mobile games are the most downloaded application category across most application stores.’ He later added that: ‘For this reason, mobile gaming will continue to thrive as more consumers expand their use of new and innovative portable connected devices.’

Gartner predicts that software such as mobile phone apps and the like will continue to account for the most revenue with total expenditure of $44.7 billion (£27.86b) in 2011. Things in the overall gaming industry sure look rosy.

Photo: Jack Amick / Flickr

Valve Games, the insanely popular development studio behind the Half-Life, Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress franchises, as well as overseers of popular digital retail platform Steam, have a knack for selling video games by the bucket load. The company’s co-founder, Gabe Newell, recently announced that his studio’s last video game offering, Portal 2, has seen sales top three million to date.

Incidental mention

Newell was speaking at the Games For Change event in New York City, where he mentioned, in passing, that the title had sold three million copies since it was released on 18 April 2011. Joystiq, who were on-hand to hear the announcement, say that the man behind Valve Games did not specify which platform the title had sold those figures on. As such, it’s assumed the 3 million units sold represents the cumulative sales on PC, Mac, PS3 and the Xbox 360.

Very accurate figures

What is particularly telling about the Portal 2 sales figures is that they would take into account the title’s sales on Steam, something of a rarity since Newell is one of very few people in the world who has access to games’ retail figures on the platform.

It has some way to go though before it tops sales of the original Portal – which was part of the celebrated Orange Box collection – with that title’s sales topping 4 million units. What’s important to note, though, is that that 4 million sales tally does not take into account sales generated on Steam.

Well-deserved

Upon release, Portal 2 got universal acclaim. Eurogamer, who scored the game a perfect 10/10 said: ‘Portal is perfect. Portal 2 is not. It’s something better than that. It’s human: hot-blooded, silly, poignant, irreverent, base, ingenious and loving. It’s never less than a pure video game, but it’s often more, and it will no doubt stand as one of the best entertainments in any medium at the end of this year. It’s a masterpiece.’

Talk about a rousing review, suggesting Portal 2 sales figures are well-deserved. If you haven’t bought it yet, and you love PC gaming – or any gaming for that matter – get to it, already! It’s worth your hard-earned pennies.

Photo: MenudaConsola / Flickr

Epic Games, the video game developer and maker of famous middleware Unreal Engine, built its reputation on the Unreal games on PC. Nowadays, though, it is best known for its insanely popular Gears of War function. The game’s lead developer and figurehead, Cliff Bleszinski, says that the studio – and his own – legacy goes way beyond the chainsaw gun.

We’re bigger than this

In typical unadulterated, unfiltered Cliff Bleszinski style, the iconic developer insists that while he ‘adores’ GoW, he is also ‘far from done’ with the act of creating video games.

‘I can tell you now that if for the rest of my life I am only remembered for a f**king chainsaw gun, I will drink a bottle of whisky and put a gun in my mouth,’ he told Digital Sky. He added that: ‘There is plenty of life left in Gears, but you also don’t want to beat a dead horse, right?’

Still careful to balance not misrepresenting his studio’s present love – Gears of War 3 – with whatever they have planned for the future, Bleszinski added: ‘Gears is amazing and I love it, absolutely adore it, but it will not be the final legacy of this studio.’

Expectations shift

$60 (£37) is an increasingly a steep price to pay for a game in this day and age, especially as gamers become accustomed to remarkable titles available for as little as $1. On this, Bleszinski said: ‘As a studio, we are considering where the industry has shifted. In a few years’ time I think people will still want to pay $60 for a AAA rated game, but they are not going to want to pay $60 for an OK game.’

And he cryptically hinted that Infinity Blade was not the last you would see of Epic games playing their hand on mobile platforms like the iPhone and iPad. Gears of War 3 will be released this September, exclusively for the Xbox 360. And, in case you didn’t already know, it will sell by the boatload.

Photo: IGN

Video game media house IGN’s expansion efforts continue briskly, as the company announces Dominate. IGN Dominate is an iOS app that allows gamers to check-in to video games they are currently playing. In effect, the media firm wants to do for video gaming what Foursquare did for location-based services.

Domination commence

In more detail, IGN Dominate is an iOS app that allows gamers to check into any game they are playing. You will then be able to share this information in real time with your friends via pre-eminent social networks Twitter and Facebook. Like Foursquare, if you check-in enough you become royalty in that game, but instead of becoming ‘Mayor’, you ‘Dominate’ the game. Makes sense.

Cross-platform gaming to the core

The differentiating factor of the IGN Dominate service, when compared to other similar services, is that this check-in service is intended for every gaming platform and game type played on major platforms. So mobile games will be represented, console games, PC games, and even social games played on networks like Facebook.

Cross-platform app to the core

IGN Dominate, while iOS only at present, was reportedly built using the Sencha framework, which uses a combination of HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. This means that the firm will have an easier time porting it to other platforms like Android and Windows Phone 7 than if they had built it for iOS natively.

Get it out there

In its current incarnation, the application is reportedly barebones, but it works as it should and is lightning fast, too. Overtime IGN intends on bringing new features to the party, like Push Notifications and deepening the way you connect with your friends on the service. While I usually have such little time to game that I get straight into it, the value of a system that notifies you when you play a game your friends are playing is huge, especially if the game is multiplayer.

We’ll be keeping our eyes on this location-based check-in service.

Photo: SobControllers / Flickr

For the video games industry, the digital revolution has been coming for some time now. Though major games publishers have been careful to not upset the retail partners who sell their physical games, a higher emphasis on digital downloads has meant greater financial rewards, proving the long-expected revolution is, in fact, in effect.

Similar returns

Activision Blizzard used their Q1 earnings report to announce that revenue from digital sales grew 30 percent year-on-year. Perhaps more importantly, a full 50 percent of the company’s net revenue – around $378 million (£231m) – was from its various digital channels.

Electronic Arts, the world’s second biggest video games publisher, and Activision’s biggest competitor, said that its digital revenue totaled $833 million (£509m). What was most notable about those figures is that it exceeded its own forecast of $750 million (about £458.46m).

Different approach

Where Activision and EA differ, of course, is in their respective approaches to digital games and digital downloads. While Activision Blizzard has made most of its digital revenue from downloads of the $15 Call of Duty: Black Ops expansion pack, currently available on the 360, and set to arrive on the PS3 and PC in Q2, EA’s placed a huge focus on mobile games and social games.

With a heavy presence on the iPhone and iPad you’re likely to find several EA titles in Apple’s App Store Top 20 on any given day, and this is especially so during seasons like Easter and Christmas when Electronic Arts has major promotions. The company also has a heavy presence on Facebook, after it acquired Playfish, the number two social games company in the world at the time.

While it’s still early to call the shift to digital a full-blown revolution, the success of a service like Steam coupled with the digital downloads and digital sales major publishers are seeing, it’s clear that this is big business.

Photo: Wright Way Photography / Flickr

In case you didn’t realise it, on-demand is all the rage. On-demand music services Spotify and YouTube will soon be offering streaming video content. MOG, an online music service, will be replicating Spotify’s streaming movies service. And now there’s word that video game retailing giant GameStop is preparing a streaming video game service for Android devices.

Acquisition run now makes sense

Throughout April the games retailer made a few key acquisitions that indicated a service of this sort was in the works. These acquisitions included the purchase of Impulse, which is a digital retailer of games much like Valve’s Steam is, as well as Spawn Labs, which is a company that makes streaming tech for video games.

Now Digital Trends (via Joystiq) has reported spotting a recent LinkedIn job posting detailing a position for a software engineer who has experience working with Google Android. So a digital retailer plus a company that makes streaming video games technology and an Android software engineer points to the games retailer making a play for the hot mobile games market.

Details on the posting

The LinkedIn job posting reads: ‘The Sr. Software Engineer will be responsible for the development and maintenance of our Player software on Android tablets and smartphones. The ideal candidate will have several years of experience in application development in Android or iOS applications.’

‘Player software’ maintenance pretty much spells out GameStop’s intentions.

There’s a lot of money to be made

A recent PopCap Mobile Gaming Research project conducted back in January found that 33.6 per cent of mobile phone owners were gamers, so the field is fertile enough for GameStop to want to plough in. In effect, GameStop will be attempting to copy what OnLive is doing in the console space.

Whether owners of Android smartphones will flock to GameStop’s streaming video games service remains to be seen, but it’s certainly worth a try.

Photo: THQInsider / Flickr

We have undying love for all of Valve’s games, as well as everything the company stands for. While the games no doubt speak for themselves, it’s the attitude the company has to video game development and gamers that makes us love the company. And in response to a recent post on gaming industry website Gamasutra, the company showed it had an understanding of gamers shared by too few.

Single player will remain relevant

The insightful and very intelligent folks over at Gamasutra suggested that dedicated single player games were grave-bound, since publishers have trouble making money from them or curtailing their piracy.

While Gamasutra’s proclamation is not completely unfounded, Erik Johnson, who is the project manager of Portal 2, responded saying: ‘I still think the analysis that every product needs to be a competitor in multiplayer, or an MMO, is incorrect; there are a lot of people who want an experience without the stress, so I don’t see that changing.’ Amen!

Stop blaming everything on piracy

And speaking to the piracy factor, he responded saying ‘You brought up piracy being a reason to not do single player, which I think is a pretty crazy analysis on an issue like that.’ Let’s be fair, piracy is everywhere, on every platform, and on every game type. Yes, multiplayer games and servers may have some protocol built in to mitigate piracy to some extent, but stop it completely? Not happening.

Understanding gamers

It’s this understanding of gamers and their needs that has long set Valve apart from its competitors. And with the upcoming Portal 2 being a single player only game, the company sure is putting its money where its mouth is. But I – and likely others – find, just like Mr. Johnson suggests, there are just times I cannot be bothered for the twitch-based stress of a Call of Duty: Black Ops, and would far rather prefer the slow reward of a Fallout: New Vegas or game of the year Mass Effect 2.

On the PC especially, where gamers run the gamut from super hardcore, to folks who just dabble because they have devices capable of running good games, single player gamers certainly have a place. In many ways, we’re willing Gamasutra to be wrong, since the decline of single player games would also be the decline of many people’s way of winding down, as well as eroding nostalgia from an era where multiplayer was a feature, and not a commonality.

What make you of Gamasutra’s ‘single player games are dead’ argument? Are they right, or well off the mark? Oh, and in case you were wondering, the single player-only Portal 2 is scheduled to release early next – and will likely be incredible.

Photo: Popcap

With the belated arrival of Plants vs Zombies on the Xbox 360, console gamers are finally able to see why we’ve been making a fuss. Having said that, though, consoles are still way off the mark when compared to PC games in the independent games stakes. Below is our current top three PC indie games.

Plants vs. Zombies

Still. Over a year later, and Plants vs. Zombies on PC/Mac is still amazing. Seriously, though, it’s a classic tower defense game with a lick of foliage and the undead as characters mixed with phenomenal balance, to make it easily the best game Popcap has ever made. Zombies versus vegetables! Come on, that concept alone makes it classic.

To be fair to PC indie games, Popcap, as popular as it is, shouldn’t be considered a PC indie games developer, but can we turn a blind eye simply because Plants vs. Zombies is so awesome? Just this once? Thanks

Machinarium

Photo: Amanita Design / Flickr

Machinarium was on many people’s shortlist for PC indie game of the year, and for good reason. This point and click adventure took everything that makes point and click and indie games good and blended them with a generous serving of character. The cutesy robot on a mission to rescue his girlfriend and get revenge on the bullies who tossed him out of town is insanely endearing. Machinarium dominated 2009’s PC indie game playtime for me, with the love carrying over into 2010.

Time Gentlemen, Please

Time Gentlemen, Please is a secret pleasure of mine. For my money, it is one of the best adventure games in the world. Period. The writing is inexplicably witty and intelligent, proving a worthy follow up to its solid predecessor Ben There, Dan That.

Very rarely do videogames – especially something that is ostensibly a point-and-click adventure – leave one laughing out loud, but Time Gentlemen, Please, had me in stitches many times throughout the game. Its just confirmation, really, that there is certainly a place for brilliant writing in video games. Warning: don’t buy it for your kids, though. They may learn a few words and terms you would prefer they didn’t know.