Australia's Game of the Year is heading to Japan

escapeVektor, which recently won Digitally Downloaded's Australian Game of the Year by reader vote, is finally releasing in Japan.

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Rune Factory developer, Neverland, goes bankrupt

Japanese veteran developer, Neverland, is filing for bankruptcy. This is despite its most recent game, Rune Factory 4, receiving favourable reviews and being one of the company's fastest-selling games ever with 150,000 units to date.

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The idea that Nintendo doesn't need change is utter nonsense

Opinion by Matt S. 

Recently, Gamesindustry.biz published an opinion piece that looked at the state of Nintendo and frankly, it was terrible. The crux of the argument was "Nintendo was once the bee's knees of the games industry, and even though it doesn't sell as much stuff now as it once did, it's still making fun games and it's going to be fine doing what it's doing."

If it was some random blog that published that, then it would have been easy enough to ignore; clickbait opinion is a common enough feature of enthusiast games press. But Gamesindustry is meant to be an industry publication and the writers over there are meant to be more interested in reporting business-orientated analysis and guidance rather than stroking fan's egos or engaging in schoolyard rhetoric.

So, since the supposed trade press don't want to discuss this issue properly, I might as well pick up the baton; the reality is that Nintendo is in desperate need of change (if it isn't already too late to do so). While we all want to see the company thrive because, like Disney, our childhoods are wrapped up in growing up with the products Nintendo provided, crossing fingers and praying for the best doesn't save corporations in the really real world.

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The indie development bubble; when will it burst?

Opinion by Matt S.

Jeff Vogel, one of the true veterans of the industry, has survived as an independent developer for longer than most AAA-studios have been around. His company, Spiderweb Software, was founded in 1994, when shareware was still king and the games industry looked very different to it does today.

So when Vogel writes a blog about his observation that the indie games development business is in a bubble, I'm inclined to suggest that every indie developer (or aspiring indie developer) read closely. Because he knows what he's talking about.

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Square Enix's focus on mobile and online games is paying off

Some good news for Square Enix fans, but some bad news for the 'fans' that want Square Enix to stick to the same business models that were clearly not working for it; the company is again profitable, and it's thanks to its new business model that is focused on online and mobile experiences.

For the first half of the fiscal year, Square Enix reported a profit of ¥2.6 billion (around $260 million US, give or take depending on the exchange rate), which is even more impressive when you consider the previous period last year saw it lose ¥5.5 billion.

The (successful) re-release of Final Fantasy XIV was a big factor in this turn around. Currently sitting comfortable with 600,000 subscribers, the MMO looks like it has a good life ahead of it as well, and represents Square Enix's new approach to the market. In the earnings report, Square Enix stated that the company's games divisions are now focused on online games with variable pricing models, and mobile games.

Looking forward, Square Enix is anticipating around ¥150 billion in revenue for the year and a profit of between ¥3.5 and ¥6 billion.

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'It's too expensive'; three little words that are killing gaming

Opinion by Matt S. 

Being a compulsive Twitter user that I am, I don't think there's a single day (if not hour) that goes by that I don't see the following line (or a derivative thereof) used: "game XXXX is too expensive," or "games are too expensive."

And, in fact, that attitude is backed up by a recent poll that we ran on Digitally Downloaded where a full 25 per cent of respondents believed that a reasonable price for a top-quality game was $30 or less. Anything more than that, therefore, is "too expensive," and considering the costs involved in making a game and the profit margin that a developer or publisher actually sees from their work, charging $30 or less for a top quality game is simply unsustainable. What can we draw from that? The games industry is in trouble when it can't convince a full quarter of its most dedicated consumers (the average reader of Digitally Downloaded is not a casual game player) of the value of its product.

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While Australia's game industry has been shrinking, New Zealand's is growing

News by Matt S.

Some impressive data has come from the New Zealand Game Developer's Association (NZGDA); the development community has seen a massive increase in revenue over the past year.

For the 2012 year through to March 31, 2013, the NZ industry grew 86 per cent, to $36.3 million. Of that, a vast majority of money came from smartphone and mobile games, which saw $31.4 million in revenue.

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Square Enix's crowdfunding initiative is genius

Earlier today Square Enix announced its own crowdfunding initiative; Square Enix Collective. In partnership with Indiegogo, Square Enix is offering independent developers the ability to post up their game ideas, and if they're popular enough they'll gain funding via Indiegogo, and publishing support via Square Enix.

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Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter rakes in over $4M, releasing on eight platforms

Comcept’s upcoming Mighty No. 9 seems to be living up to its title already, at least monetarily. Headlined by Keiji Inafune of Mega Man fame, the 2D platformer amassed $4,031,428 between over 67,000 backers and hit all of its announced stretch goals in the process.

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Idea Factory goes international... Monster Monpiece localisation please!

Idea Factory, that delightful Japanese developer behind the most otaku of otaku games, has gone international and opened an office in the US.

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Sega's not just acquiring Atlus, it's getting all of Index

Oh look. I was right. Nintendo was never going to acquire Atlus. That was a silly rumour perpetuated by one dude with a poorly-informed opinion putting digital pen to digital paper.

(In fairness, I didn't quite guess which company would make the acquisition either, but I was on the right track!)

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The sobering reminder that not all indies succeed

- Article by Andrew M.

Nintendo and Sony love indies, we're told. Developers such as Jonathan Blow the folks at Image & Form enjoy wild success on consoles, and we love to report on these heroes who are living our their creative dreams somewhat free of the constraints of commercial reality. After all, we're told, making a good game is enough to guarantee enough sales to remain in business as an indie.

And then of course there is Kickstarter, which to hear the advocates speak is the great equaliser in terms of gaining funding to make the kinds of games that an indie could never fund by themselves.

Problem is, the life of the indie is still a great risk and not everyone succeeds.

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Marketing exec: For Ubisoft, it's "not only having the great games, it’s having the great stories."

Article by Matt S

Amongst the Western publishers, Ubisoft stands almost unique in its dedication to memorable characters and narratives. Or, in other words, if the western publishers were to create their own “Smash Bros”-style games, Ubisoft would have Rayman, Ezio, Connor, Jade, Aveline, Rabbids and a host of others. Activison would have Spyro and that Call of Duty guy, and EA would have Bioware’s characters… and that’s about it.

There’s some exaggeration in there, but Ubisoft’s unique differentiator amongst its immediate peers is that it is one of the few to emulate the success of Nintendo and Square Enix in Japan to foster a stable of popular and bankable characters to help sell it games.

Now Ubisoft is looking to build its own brand, as opposed to that of its individual franchises and characters. With this goal in mind it partnered with Australian content marketing studio, Drifter, to launch Ubisoft3dcharactercreator.com.au in Australia. Acting as a competition, the website allows players to build their own 3D character and write a bio for him or her. Each week a winner is selected and a hand-painted 3D model of that character is created.

According to Drifter creative director, Joshua Hunt (pictured above), the hope of this campaign is to get fans engaging with Ubisoft, rather than its individual brands. So far it seems to be working. Two weeks after launching the campaign there has been ‘thousands’ of entries, according to Hunt.

Competition Winner: "Faeliss is a new member of the Alitis Lembos (Winged Scouts) Division of the Lethahlese Army. Her wings are a gift from the goddess of the sky, and they allow Faeliss to glide silently through the air. Her beloved katana is an ancient family heirloom."

“That is at the heart of Ubisoft - it’s not only having the great games, it’s having the great stories, and the great stories are only as good as the characters that are found within them,” Hunt said.

“The nature of social media and digital marketing is such a you want to give people something tangible they can play with. People can get in and take their own creativity and input into the Ubisoft world.”

Drifter is a new studio at around a year old, and many of the team, Hunt included, came from popular game-based marketing company, Soap Creative (Soap Creative recently won a videogame grant from Screen Australia to expand its business in that area). Hunt’s relationship with Ubisoft started there, and he said he’s keen to continue to integrate video game technology and concepts into future campaigns.

Competition Winner: In the deep dark depths of south Auckland, a courageous and deadly hunter was born. He was taught everything by his parents, A saxophonist and a ballet dancer, giving him the means to kill with agility and jazz. This also explains his fashion sense.

“We set up Drifter this year to do innovative digital executions, and so I don’t think we’re as set in our ways in gaming as an agency like Soap is, but from our part if it does offer a new and exciting way to engage with people,” Hunt said.

“One of my last projects at Soap was using the Xbox Kinect device, but it was for Cornetto Ice Cream. We set it up at a festival and one day you’d get up and control a giant Cornetto Bear (the mascot for the campaign,)” Hunt said. “Interactivity is spreading to every touch point these days and we’re looking for new and exciting ways to leverage it.”

Gamification, or the application of game-like technology or features into work or marketing projects, is rapidly becoming a powerful way for organisations to engage with their customers. From the big organisations like MacDonalds and VISA, right down to local operations, the games industry is set to continue to benefit as interactivity becomes a default way to engage with customers digitally, Hunt said.

“In terms of society, people interact in tribes and as a result there’s a group mentality to the way people interact with one another. And with any group mentality there is inevitably a level of competitiveness. This is the kind of psychology that drives gamification, and the interesting thing is just how rich the opportunity is; it’s amazing how you can make something as simple as doing some routine work more rewarding and fun using gamification techniques.”

- Matt S
Editor-in-Chief
Find me on Twitter: @DigitallyDownld

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Free apps to run into regulatory trouble?

Australia's ACCC has announced that it is joining a global push against the free-to-play game development structure for games targeting children.

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AIE: Conventions a good way for Aussie indies to compensate for the local industry "brain drain"

The Academy for Interactive Entertainment (AIE), one of Australia's most prominent games industry educators, is preparing for its third annual series of iFEST conferences, to be held in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. These events have exploded in popularity as the Australian indie development scene has grown to compensate for our many collapsed big-budget studios.

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Aussie indie developer, Nnooo, has become a publisher

Well, this is a neat bit of news for the Australian game development industry; Australian indie developer, Nnooo, has just announced its first foray into third-party game publishing.

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Square Enix turnaround on track

Square Enix's quarterly results for the financial year paint a picture of a company that is just about back in the black: the company has reduced its losses by 75 per cent year-on-year.

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Nintendo's Australian financial results; worrying, to say the least

This piece comes to us courtesy of Renai LeMay at Delimiter

The Australian division of Japanese video gaming giant Nintendo has taken another staggering hit to its finances for the second year in a row, losing a further 36 percent of its overall revenue over the past year as its flagship Wii U console has flopped with consumers due to what is perceived to be a lack of quality games.

The company’s finances have been suffering for some time. For example, for the year to 31 March 2011, Nintendo Australia booked $339.7 million in revenues, capping off a strong growth period for the company in Australia. The company’s Australian revenues had grown strongly over the preceding five years as it made money hand over fist from its successful Wii console. To illustrate how strong that growth has been, in 2006, Nintendo Australia made just $71 million in revenue from Australia.

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Bidding for Atlus has begun; 20 companies bid, SEGA only known one to date

The bidding war for Atlus has begun. 20 companies have thrown their chips into the ring and it seems that the acquisition is going to be a big deal. While there's only one known bidder so far, SEGA, the bid is ¥20 billion (approximately $200 million USD).

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Sony profits for quarter, but PlayStation 4 bites into games divison

The improved conditions of the Japanese Yen has helped Sony realise a profit for its business for the past financial year quarter.

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