Triplepoints of Interest – Sept. 25

In this week’s TPoI, Atari releases more information about their new Ataribox console, YouTube changes policies on external links for non-monetized users, and Bluehole confirms negotiations with Tencent.

Atari Unveils Details on the Ataribox

Atari sent a newsletter Tuesday morning with details on their upcoming Ataribox retro gaming console, including details on the hardware and initial pricing. TechCrunch reports that the system will run Linux and will be powered by a customized AMD processor and Radeon graphics processing unit. These components, which SegmentNext reports are very similar to parts used in traditional PCs, allow the Ataribox to run modern games as well as arcade classics. The Verge reports that preorders for the system will begin this fall on Indiegogo and that the system will start at $249 and could go up to $299.

YouTube Restricts External Links for Non-Partners

Non-partnered YouTubers have recently been reporting that they are no longer able to post links to online merchandise stores, personal websites, and their crowdfunding platforms. A representative from YouTube told Polygon that the site is changing their external links policy to “combat inappropriate and abusive content.” Engadget reports that this policy change affects non-partnered YouTube channels and that a YouTube channel needs 10,000 views before it can be considered for partnership, a number which many smaller content creators are struggling to meet. VentureBeat mentioned that this change follows YouTube’s recent demonetization policy changes and the decreased advertising revenue which many content creators are struggling with.

Bluehole Begins Business Negotiations with Tencent

South Korean developer, Bluehole Software confirmed on Thursday that they are talking with Chinese publisher Tencent about publishing PlayerUknown’s Battlegrounds in China. Gamesindustry.biz reports that while Bluehole had previously denied rumors of the partnership plans but that Bluehole chairman and cofounder Chang Byung-gyu has now announced that Tencent is interested in buying an equity stake in the company to help encourage development.  Bloomberg reports that Bluehole, which is now worth over $4.6 billion dollars, is interested in expanding the feature set of their game and launching it before the end of 2017. PCGamesN reports that Tencent has now purchased a 5% share in the company and is planning to buy a larger stake in the company in the future.

TriplePoints of Interest – Week of March 7

The games industry is a tumultuous one. Competition is fierce and studios have to keep up with the times or find themselves left in the dust. This week, Fable Legends was deemed unworthy by Microsoft Studios and was canceled, Riot Games looked to expand their portfolio by acquiring Radiant Entertainment, and the new launch of The Division breaks Ubisoft’s sales records.  Continue reading TriplePoints of Interest – Week of March 7

TriplePoints of Interest – Week of February 8

Gaming is becoming more and more integrated into mainstream culture. Players and viewership are rising, and nothing can say that better than the phenomenal 2015 streaming platform Twitch had. Larger companies have taken note too as Amazon jumps into the game development sector with their newest game engine, Lumberyard. Yahoo is also joining in the fun as they start developing their own eSports vertical.  Continue reading TriplePoints of Interest – Week of February 8

TriplePoints of Interest – Week of October 5

Where do you prefer to watch the League of Legends World Championships? Twitch? Azubu? Maybe you should tune in on…BBC! This and other news from the world of games!

BBC: the next big thing in eSports

ESPN, TBS, and now BBC! Game Informer reports that BBC Three will be streaming the League of Legends World Championships starting on October 15, including all four days of the quarterfinals and other supplemental programs. Commentators will be broadcasting live from London’s Wembley Stadium, adding BBC to the list of mainstream channels broadcasting eSports tournaments.

Spend to meet your Destiny

Bungie announced they will be adding microtransactions to Destiny on October 13. GamesIndustry International reports that Bungie added this feature to “bolster the service provided by the live team for another full year, as they grow and create more robust and engaging events that we’ll announce later this year.” Bungie will be introducing silver as the Destiny’s in-game currency.

Everything you need to know about Rock Band, you learn from GameSpot

Purchased Rock Band 4 and have a lot of burning questions? GameSpot has you covered with their “everything you need to know” guide that includes how to import old songs from previous installments–including on-disc tracks, which old instruments will work on the new system, and where to buy new gear.

Ads can be games too!

Zynga is experimenting with a brand new type of ads. Called SponsoredPLAY, the advertisements are delivered in the form of mini-games. Gamasutra explored an example using Progressive’s iconic character, Flo, who appears in one of the Farmville games as part of an ad. Zynga has since reported a double-digit increase in user ad engagement.
Photo from BBC

TriplePoints of Interest – Week of August 24

The eSports gods have spoken: watching the tournaments on streams is a hit and more! Check out the awesome statistics from the eSports tournaments of the past weekend as well as some interesting insight of how much time Americans REALLY spend on their phones and playing games.

Counter-Strike: Global Phenomenon

The stream numbers are in and VentureBeat reports over 27 million people tuned in to watch the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament at ESL One and noted that while Evo 2015 only received 248,000 peak concurrent viewers, it still saw a 75% increase from last year’s numbers. Writer, Jeff Grubb, notes that this signals a diversification of eSports content seeing brands other than Dota 2 and League of Legends grow at such a high rate.

Pass the blood samples

Two major eSports tournaments wrapped up this weekend: League of Legends North American LCS Summer Finals in New York City and ESL One in Cologne, Germany. PC World takes a look at the first tournament where ESL began testing players for drug use. Writer, John Gaudiosi, discusses the mixed reactions from fans and notes that other organizations like Major League Gaming and Riot Games have yet to implement such procedures.

Conventions got snug and cozy this year

GamesIndustry.biz takes a look at the move of Gamescom to earlier in the month of August, setting it less than 2 months after E3, and causing Nintendo to cancel their press conference and Sony moving their presence to Paris Games Week. While this meant press schedules becoming more compressed, writer, Dan Pearson, notes that this gave an opportunity for Microsoft to garner most of the press attention during Gamescom thanks to maintaining their presence at the show despite tight scheduling.

Smartphone addictions continue!

Yahoo analytics firm, Flurry, released data relating to US smartphone use and how it relates to the time spent gaming. GamesIndustry.biz reports that although time spent on smartphones has risen 35%, the amount of time spent gaming has halved. Writer, Dan Pearson says, “Flurry attributes this shift to three major factors: a lack of new hit games, with the top grossing charts remaining static; the rise of spectator gaming, as gamers spend more time learning by watching streaming services rather than playing; and the unwillingness of players to spend time grinding their way through games, instead paying their way to content via free-to-play mechanisms.”

Photo from ESL

TriplePoints of Interest – Week of June 8

What juicy pre-E3 news did we uncover this week? The main event was WWDC and then VR stole the show! Who’s going to be checking out some VR hardware at the show this year?!

Looking fine, iOS 9!

Now it’s Apple’s turn! WWDC made waves yet again with iOS 9 among other announcements. Miss the big reveals? The Next Web has you covered with a summary of all the splashes. Tech Times has a summary of Metal, which allows for better graphics rendering and thus smoother scrolling for users. According to writer, Lauren Keating, 2K, Blizzard, and Aspyr are among the developers using it to enhance their apps.

The Vainglorious Apple Design Awards

In other WWDC news, Apple announced the winners of this year’s Apple Design Awards. Crossy Road, Vainglory, and Mediocre Games’ (creator of Smash Hit) Does Not Commute were among the winners, says CNET.

Green Robot is on a Rampage!

App Annie reported this week that Android has surpassed iOS in growth this month, seeing a 50% rise in global consumer spending versus iOS’s 30%, says GamesIndustry International. Writer, Matthew Handrahan, credits multiplayer games as a great driver of spending, with 60% of consumer spending coming from multiplayer titles.

See you at the inaugural TwitchCon 2015!

Twitch announced their panel line up for their inaugural TwitchCon event, says GamesIndustry International. Subjects to be covered include the legality of Let’s Play videos and streams, using Twitch as a fundraising platform, and tips to building healthy communities.

ESPN is Legendary!

ESPN released a long-form piece profiling famed South Korean League of Legends player, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, and the culture of eSports in the country. Writer, Mina Kimes, visited the headquarters of his team, SK Telecom T1, in Seoul and followed him on his road to the year’s first major international tournament, Mid-Season Invitational tournament in Tallahassee, FL. According to Daily Dot, this article is set to appear in a special ESPN The Magazine issue that will dive deeper into video games, featuring NFL player, Marshawn Lynch on the front cover for his upcoming appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

The Oculus Rift is spawning soon!

The Oculus Rift in its final form was revealed yesterday with a view of its launch model and controller. WIRED has the full photo gallery, along with the release time frame of Q1 2016. Kotaku also has the list of games that will be released for the device.

Image from BGR

TriplePoints of Interest – Week of May 11

This appears to be a very numbers-driven week! Here is this week’s awesome collection of earnings and funding news you won’t want to miss!

Kickstarter funds yet another major franchise revival…in 24 hours!

Koji “IGA” Igarashi, the video game designer best known for his work on the Castlevania series, has stepped out on his own seeking crowdfunding for his upcoming game, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. According to The Verge, the game received over $1 million less than 24 hours after it appeared on Kickstarter. The game is set for a March 2017 release. This is the latest in a wave of veteran game developers getting overwhelming support from Kickstarter for reviving their game series independently from their publishers. In 2013, Keiji Inafune’s Mega Man revival, Mighty No. 9, reached its funding goal within 2 days of its reveal and was recently picked up for publishing by Deep Silver.

Games on your wrist?

GamesIndustry International takes a deep dive into how the Apple Watch can change mobile gaming for the better. Writer, Graham McAllister, explores new genres that can be created on the device, as well as more user data developers can reap by leveraging yet another device that is part of users’ daily lives.

Asia is the mobile gaming behemoth

App Annie released their Insights into App Engagements report for Q1 2015, revealing that Asia is still the biggest driver of the mobile app ecosystem, according to GamesIndustry International. The report reveals that games account for 90% of mobile app revenues in Japan and South Korea alone, citing that Japanese and South Korean users spend more time in games than their counterparts in the West, with 3x more game activations in Japan versus the United States. Japanese Android users also spent 4x more on mobile games than American Android users.

New 3DS XL is king in Japan

More stats from the Japanese games industry: GamesIndustry International reported on the top games and games hardware sales in Japan this week. Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition came in at #1 and Minecraft  at #3. The New 3DS XL and PS Vita came in at #1 and #2 in top hardware.

What are the most-watched games on YouTube?

YouTube just revealed the top 10 games that receive the most let’s play attention on the site. According to Game Informer, Minecraft tops the list, with the Grand Theft Auto series and League of Legends coming in 2nd and 3rd. Puzzle & Dragons was the only mobile-exclusive game to make the list.

What are YOUR most watched games on YouTube?

TriplePoints of Interest – Week of April 27

It’s quite the understatement to say a lot went on this week. Here is a collection of the top news and hot button topics from the week! But above all else, I think we can conclude that video games are indeed good for you!

Are eSports “real sports?” *drops 10 foot pole*

ESPN aired Blizzard’s collegiate championships for Heroes of the Storm, generating mixed opinions from its viewer base. Eric Johnson of Re/code cited the reaction as a reason against forcing eSports into the category of “real sports.” He says game developers pushing for their games to be recognized as physical sports puts games on the defensive and creates an “inferiority complex” that will hurt the genre in the long run and give naysayers further reasons to reject video games as a medium.

ESPN radio host, Colin Cowherd, stated he would rather retire than cover eSports, causing a negative reaction from games and sports media. SB Nation called Mr. Cowherd’s statement “dumb but expected.” Polygon’s Owen Good pointed out that this statement contradicts Mr. Cowherd’s past positive coverage of video games on ESPN like Madden NFL, accusing him of fabricating outrage to boost ratings.

Silent Hills goes silent until further notice

Konami cancels the much-anticipated Silent Hills, which included a collaboration with famed movie director, Guillermo Del Toro. Kotaku speculates the cancellation was due in large part to Hideo Kojima allegedly parting ways with the company. Polygon reports that Konami delisted itself from the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the game’s cancellation was announced.

Video games make you smart?

Good news! Video games make stronger brains! According to Daily Dot, an open-access study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the brains of 27 professional-level League of Legends and Dota 2 players against 30 non-gamers. They found the pro gamers had more connections between the brain cells and a part of the brain called in insula, leading to better hand-eye coordination and attention. What the study doesn’t reveal, however, is if the higher connectivity is a result of playing video games or are pre-existing in professional video gamers.

Tencent loves League of Legends…and Kim Kardashian!

China’s Tencent, known for its massive stake in Riot Games and thus, League of Legends, just announced it purchased a 15% stake in Glu Mobile for $126 million. Glu Mobile is most famous for their hit mobile game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and is now reportedly worth $863 million, according to VentureBeat. Glu has more celebrity-endorsed games in the works about the lives of Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and others.

Buy Ouya?

After failing to restructure its debt, Ouya is now looking for a buyer, says Fortune. There is no word yet on the asking price. With Ouya’s success in 2013 raising $15 million in Series A funding and its extensive Android content library for TVs, CEO Julie Uhrman expressed her confidence a buyer will show interest quickly.

Photo from Slashgear