Features
- The Mountain Lion Experience by Chris
- WWDC 2012: The Train Keeps on Rollin' by Tarun
- From iOS to Windows Phone: Act 3 (The Verdict) by Tarun
- From iOS to Windows Phone: Act 2 (The Experience) by Tarun
- From iOS to Windows Phone: Act 1 (The Motive) by Tarun
- A Month With Metro for Xbox 360 by Chris
- 2012 by Tarun
- Redefining Reading and Sharing: Flipboard for iPhone by Tarun
- Dropping Their Guard by Tarun
- Design Unification with Google Apps by Tarun
Podcasts
- Weekly Download #38: Google I/O, Podcasts.app, Mansfield
- Weekly Download #37: WWDC, Microsoft Surface, Windows Phone 8
- Weekly Download #36: Nokia's Abysmal Quarter, More on Instagram, Sony, Nest, Apple & Gaming, Patents
- Weekly Download #35: RIM, IE, iPad, Lumia and Windows Phone 7.5
- Weekly Download #34: Windows Phone, Google, RIM
- Weekly Download #33: the New iPad, Apple TV, Draw Something, Mike Daisey
- Weekly Download #32: Apple "New iPad" Press Conference Event
- Weekly Download #31: iPad 3, Google Goggles, T-Mobile, Facebook, iFactory, Chomp, Microsoft, Nokia, Siri
- Weekly Download #30: Mountain Lion, iPads, Browser Cookies, Nook, Playbooks, Blackberry
- Weekly Download #29: iPad 3, Apple TV, Patent Uselessness, Facebook, Bing & Social, Google's Living Room
Category Archives: Games
Link: The 3DS Turnaround →
Nintendo reports Q1 loss overall, but the sales of 3DS consoles is telling: Sales of its 3DS, launched in February last year, more than doubled to 1.86 million from 710,000. Weak demand for its latest console forced Nintendo to slash … Continue reading
Link: The Obese 3DS →
Kyle’s Orland’s paragraph here pretty much sums up the bet: Nintendo is counting on rapidly increasing 3DS sales to turn around historic losses for the last fiscal year, but the market for larger Nintendo portables isn’t exactly proven. While the … Continue reading
Link: Spend Real Money to Get Fake Money →
The upshot of this deal is that you now have an actual exchange rate set for Zynga dollars. The idea could be a really big deal for other companies to pursue.
Link: EA: Digital Investments Key to Future Revenue →
Interesting turn of events for a primarily console-based company.
Link: Ads You Draw, By Zynga →
Gruber quips: Draw your own ads, how fun! I’d rather have to draw Doritos and make it a game then have to see an annoying banner ad. Even this is better than an iAd.
Posted in Business, Design, Games
Tagged advertising, draw something, zynga
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Link: Different Strokes, or Living in the Past? →
Nintendo has suffered through poor quarter, and Zynga has had another booming one. This article from AllThingsD quotes Michael Pachter, an analyst, speaking on the current state of the gaming industry and consoles: Nintendo is living in the past, repeating … Continue reading
Link: Gabe Newell Says Valve-Apple Meeting Didn’t Happen →
Kotaku reveals in an interview with Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve, that Tim Cook did not actually visit the company after all: No one here was meeting with Tim Cook or with anybody at Apple that day. I wish we … Continue reading
Weekly Download #36: Nokia’s Abysmal Quarter, More on Instagram, Sony, Nest, Apple & Gaming, Patents
In this episode, Chris and Tarun discuss Nokia and what “restructuring” means, more on the Instagram+FB deal; Sony’s downfall story and how it relates to similar Apple competitors; Nest vs. Honeywell; Apple and a potential partnership with Valve; our favorite … Continue reading
Posted in Android, Apple, Business, Design, Facebook, Games, Google, iOS, Microsoft, Mobile, Mountain Lion, Podcast, Politics, Social Networking, Twitter
Tagged business, nokia, podcast
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Link: Apple + Valve? →
Interesting scoop from AppleInsider. Games have definitely been a focus of marketing for Apple, especially with the iPod touch. One can only imagine a bigger partnership moving forward.
Link: Freemium Will Rule Gaming Industry →
Matthew Handrahan, talk about Ben Cousins’ (ngmoco) opinion on the freemium model: As soon as one competitor in a specific field drops the price to zero, he argues, it becomes very difficult for others to continue charging. It happened to … Continue reading
Weekly Download #33: the New iPad, Apple TV, Draw Something, Mike Daisey
This was some amazing, top-notch reporting by Chris and myself. Chris griped about the new iPad (and we discussed why there is no “number”); the Apple TV as a hobby; Zynga acquiring OMGPOP; the entire nonsense of Mike Daisey and … Continue reading
Link: Zynga Purchases “Draw Something” Developer for $200 Million →
Peter Kafka with the details: People familiar with the company tell me it has recently been netting around $250,000 a day from the game — that’s after Apple takes its 30 percent cut. Wow.
Link: The Fake Pokemon Yellow iOS Saga →
Ars Technica documents an interesting case of a blatant ripoff app being approved and making its way to number 3 on the charts within the App Store. An interesting read on the Apple approval process and how this fake Pokemon … Continue reading
A Month With Metro for Xbox 360
After using the Xbox 360 Dashboard update for a month, Chris tells a little bit of the good and the bad. With this update Microsoft has made it all about the Metro Continue reading
Link: Beating the App Store Cutoff →
Apple’s Developer Portal will shutdown for the holidays on Thursday. Developers will not have any new apps accepted into the App Store for 8 days. Every year since the App Store opened this occurs and causes developer to scramble. As … Continue reading
Link: Consoles Becoming Streaming Media Hubs →
Engadget picks this up from a recent Nielsen report on game console usage for 13+ years of age: …gamers this year spent notably more time streaming video to their consoles than they did in 2010, due in large part to … Continue reading
Weekly Download #24: Flipboard, iPad Design, Miyamoto, Gaming, WebOS, Wikipedia, SOPA
This week, Tarun and Chris discuss Flipboard on the iPhone; the claim that the iPad’s design is a natural evolution for tablets; Miyamoto stepping down, Gaming on mobile devices; WebOS going open source; the potential for Wikipedia to blackout to … Continue reading
Link: Microsoft Enters the iOS Game World →
It appears the folks at Microsoft even see the value in creating games for the mobile platform. Today Microsoft released its first iOS game. If you’re Nintendo, I’d suggest you take note…
Link: Nintendo’s Miyamoto Stepping Down, Working on Smaller Games →
Chris Kohler covering for Wired, who will be publishing an exclusive interview with Miyamoto next week: In an exclusive interview with Wired.com on Wednesday, the 59-year-old head of Nintendo’s game design department said that he will move away from supervising … Continue reading
Weekly Download #22: Google Music, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook Phones, Android and WebOS, Flickr, Open-Source, Zynga
After a week hiatus, Tarun and Chris are back… to talk about the stuff you are probably familiar with! We touch on the new Google Music service and it’s sad usage of Flash; Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook as platforms entering … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Android, Apple, Business, Computer Science, Facebook, Games, Google, News, Podcast, Social Networking, WebOS
Tagged google, mobile, podcast
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Link: Zynga’s Culture Lackluster →
It seems as though the popular game maker, Zynga, has a relatively tough, strenuous, corporate culture to it. Many employees have complained that their is little room for creativity and employees must work long hours. With the I.P.O. fast approaching, … Continue reading
Weekly Download #21: Mobile Flash, WebOS, Apple, FCC, Mobile Gaming, PSA
Chris dogs Tarun about selling out and getting an iPhone 4S. They also discuss Siri; the death of Mobile Flash; WebOS being neglected; Apple and Tim Cook; the FCC pushing for broader broadband; yet another argument for Nintendo to move … Continue reading
Link: Mobile Platforms Account for 60% of Gaming Revenue →
As discussed in our most recent podcast, the future of gaming is in mobile devices. iOS and Android now account for 60% of gaming revenue, further driving home our point that Nintendo might need to take a closer look at … Continue reading
Weekly Download #20: Apple Self-Checkout, Kindle Lending Library, Nook Tablet, Success in the App Store, Virtual Goods, Gaming
Tarun and Chris talk about Apple’s self checkout model; the new Kindle Lending Library; the Nook Tablet; How to be successful in the App Store; The value of virtual goods & Zynga; the continued influence of Apple on the gaming … Continue reading
Link: “Real” Value →
Fashionistas spend $2,000 on a Prada handbag. Gamers spend $20 on an imaginary tractor or avatar or sword. It’s the same, Ries says, except “the virtual objects are all tied to the specific environment in which they were developed.” A … Continue reading