Gaming Insider

Archive for July 1st, 2009

Some people in the video game industry predict the mobile games business could eventually grow to topple the handheld gaming market, Wedbush Morgan disagrees. In its July industry report, analyst Michael Pachter estimates the mobile games industry is currently closer to $2 billion and, even with expected growth, the market may only expand to $4-6 billion in the next three to five years.

In a section titled “Mobile Phone Games are a Fad,” Pachter explains that, while 1 billion iphone applications have been Downloaded across 31 million Apple products sold, “it is not evident that more than 20% of these Downloads are games.” Suggesting the iTunes App Store has generated “under $400 million in game Downloads” in its first year. Pachter does predict the mobile game industry will grow at 25% per year for a few years, but will eventually fall as competing devices enter the market.

The report also calls Electronic Arts’ emphasis on mobile games “misplaced.” EA Mobile has grown steadily over the last few years, but the report estimates the mobile games division is — along with that of competitors Gameloft and GLU Mobile — “barely profitable.”

According to the report, finger pointing in Apple’s camp should directed toward the “open forum” structure of the store and Apple’s business model. Apple runs the game Download service for an estimated 30% fee, leaving 70% to the game’s publisher, the report claims. The section on mobile games goes on to conclude that handheld systems, like the new PSP Go, will “maintain its niche, without significant cannibalization” from the mobile games industry.

Pachter: Mobile games are a fad, EA’s emphasis on sector ‘misplaced’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Renegade Kid is apparently working on a kid-friendly platformer for the DS while it develops a sequel to Dementium. The developer showed IGN that its other new project is Maximillian and the Rise of the Mutant Mudds. Players will use a water pack (think Mario Sunshine) to double-jump chasms of doom and squirt the baddies to death.

Renegade Kid plans to push its already impressive technical knowledge with the DS even further with Mudds. The developer doesn’t know if it’ll go the retail route or check out DSIware, and there isn’t so much as an inkling of a release window. Check out a video of the game after the break.

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Renegade Kid working on platformer for DS originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feeling really good about your gamer skills? Next week’s WiiWare release, Bit.Trip Core, will beat those confident feelings right out of you.

The second in a six-game series of retro-styled challenges that recall the focused gameplay and abstract graphics of the Atari 2600, Core follows directly in the wake of Bit.Trip Beat, which added rhythm-based timing elements to the iconic Pong/Breakout-style paddle-and-balls structure. The idea is to bounce balls with your paddle, but they come in so fast and so furious that you can only succeed with pattern memorization and perfect timing, to the beat of the catchy chiptunes that score each level.

Core is just as difficult, although the game has changed somewhat: Now, instead of bouncing the balls, you have to shoot them, meaning that you’ve got to press the buttons with accurate timing to destroy them as they pass by. Your character is the plus-shaped cursor in the middle of the screen, and all you can do is shoot in the four cardinal directions by holding the D-pad and pressing the 2 button.

Things get hairy almost immediately, progressing from a few small dots that you have to shoot away when they come in alignment with your beam’s line of fire, to a screen full of dots that are, in the beginning, almost impossible to “read” — you know they’re coming in with some kind of timing, but since they’re spiraling in from the outer part of the screen to one of four different directions, your first reaction — certainly my first reaction — is likely to be one of utter confusion.

Pattern memorization is important to success, said the game’s designer Alex Neuse (NOY-see), who was guiding me through the demo Tuesday at Nintendo’s office. Your skills at reading the screen will improve as you play through the levels, yes, but ultimately just remembering how to hit each successive wave of shots seems to be the best strategy. So you’ll need to play levels over and over again, making incremental progress towards the goal. (There are three levels in total.)

Core’s saving grace for players who aren’t up to the challenge could be its two-player mode, which is exactly like the single-player mode except each player has a beam. They can divide up the challenges — you take left and up, I’ll take right and down — or just try to hit all the dots in tandem.

Bit.Trip Core will be available on Monday, as the 100th WiiWare game.