Gameloft Live enters the social mobile fray on Android, coming to iOS soon

Global games publisher Gameloft announced today its new gaming hub service, Gameloft Live. In a move that should surprise no one, the company has taken the concept and the name of a console gaming service (Xbox Live) and repurposed it for the mobile space with a dedicated Android app, available now, and a soon-to-be-released iOS app.

According to the press release, Gameloft Live is a new version of the multiplayer service already in many Gameloft-published … Continue Reading

Apple pulls cloned games from App Store

A developer that sells apps in Apple’s ubiquitous App Store goes by the name Anton Sinelnikov. Pulling up his apps today shows a much thinner selection than yesterday, according to website VideoGameWriters. Nine apps are left on sale from this particular seller, down from 68 previously. The reason? Cloned apps. Knockoffs.

According to VGW, apps with titles like Plant vs. Zombie, Angry Ninja Birds, and Temple Jump were among the removed apps. In addition, Temple … Continue Reading

Experimental General Motors tech brings car windows to life

Backseat boredom could become a thing of the past if experimental interactive glass technology finds its way into General Motors cars.

Currently in the prototype stage, a student project commissioned by GM envisages using smart glass technology to help rear seat passengers, particularly children, have a richer experience on the road.

Inspired by psychological studies that indicate car passengers often feel disconnected from their environment, GM asked students from the Bezalel Academy of Art and … Continue Reading

GamesBeat aspires to become bible of the games industry: acquires Bitmob

I’m delighted to confirm that VentureBeat has acquired Bitmob, the respected gaming news site known for its passionate community of users. Bitmob will be integrated with our GamesBeat channel.

The best part of the deal: Bitmob co-founder Dan “Shoe” Hsu, an industry veteran with significant street cred with gamers, will become the Editor-in-Chief of GamesBeat. He’ll join Dean Takahashi, our lead games writer, who has done an incredible job getting GamesBeat off the ground over … Continue Reading

Keas wants to keep your employees healthy with games and social media

Keas, a social game that promotes health and wellness within companies, received $6.5 million in funding on Tuesday. The second fundraising round was led by Atlas Venture and Ignition Partners.

Keas was developed by former Google Health leader Adam Bosworth to promote corporate wellness. It combines game play and socialization to motivate employees to adopt healthy lifestyles. Employees form teams and work together to complete three fitness and health goals each week. Goals range from … Continue Reading

Activision says Call of Duty Elite service will be stable for Thanksgiving users

Gamer social network Call of Duty Elite will be stable this Thanksgiving and for the subsequent holiday weekend, Activision Blizzard said today.

When the service debuted on Nov. 8 it had a number of issues that made it tough for users to connect. Now, the company says it has stabilized the service and can deliver all of its major features to both paid and free users.

“We are where we should have been at launch,” … Continue Reading

10 great PlayStation Network games under $5

With Apple and Android now dominating the mobile gaming market with their low price model, it is worth noting that there are also some budget priced bargains to be found on the Playstation Network Store. I have been trawling through the store for the past few days, and below you can find my pick of the games that can be grabbed for less than $5. All of these games can be played on PS3 consoles, … Continue Reading

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Angry Birds flies past 500 million downloads

People just can’t seem to get enough Angry Birds (or they just really hate those egg-thieving pigs).

Game maker Rovio announced today that its flagship bird-flinging series has surpassed half a billion downloads across all of its platforms, which at this point includes pretty much every mobile platform, connected TVs, and more, making it one of the most downloaded games ever made.

The company says its players have spent over 200,000 years with the game, … Continue Reading

What video game remakes can teach Hollywood

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi writes a column on videogames called The DeanBeat, while executive editor Dylan Tweney is writing a technology and business column called Dylan’s Desk. They are available to newsletter subscribers a whole day before they appear on the VentureBeat website. This week, senior editor Devindra Hardawar is taking over for a flu-ridden Dean.

Remakes of older games are becoming increasingly more common, and for gamers who missed out on … Continue Reading

Soaring RedBox lifts Coinstar profits, planning online streaming service

Video and game rental service RedBox is having a banner year, increasing the Q3 earnings of parent company Coinstar 90 percent, the company announced today in its earnings call.

Coinstar’s RedBox kiosks, located in grocery stores and other retail spots, offer inexpensive movie and video game rentals. The dollar-a-day pricing is part of its appeal, but Coinstar announced plans to raise prices on DVD rentals to $1.20 per day.

The company also plans to launch … Continue Reading

Zynga’s Shrek-inspired CastleVille is ‘building on the shoulders of giants’ (Q&A)

Amid a host other game announcements, Zynga unveiled its newest “Ville” game, CastleVille, at the Zynga Unleashed event this week. CastleVille certainly seems more ambitious than other games — it has better graphics than Zynga’s other titles and the soundtrack features a 75-person orchestra.

I got a chance to chat with Bill Jackson, creative director of CastleVille, to find out just how much work went into the game.

VB: Can you give me a sense … Continue Reading

BioWare slaps four-player multiplayer mode onto Mass Effect 3

Game maker BioWare has added a four-player cooperative multiplayer mode to its Mass Effect 3 game, one of next year’s most anticipated titles, the company said today.

The new multiplayer mode drops you into a game with three other players. The Mass Effect series has traditionally been a single-player experience and the game has relied on compelling storytelling and creating a cinematic experience to draw gamers in. It’s a formula that’s worked exceptionally well so … Continue Reading

More kids are playing games thanks to rise of smartphones and tablets

More kids are playing video games between the ages of 2 and 17, according to a new market research report.

The NPD Group reported today that the population of kids ages 2-17 grew just 1.54 percent since 2009. But the population of gamers in that age group has grown 12.68 percent.

This growth means that gaming is now a nearly ubiquitous activity for children in the United States. About 91 percent of kids, or 64 … Continue Reading

Sony unveils developer kit for PlayStation Vita, Android devices

Sony today released a software development kit (SDK) for creating games across multiple PlayStation certified devices, such as the upcoming PlayStation Vita and the Sony Tablet.

Developers can create games using C#, a programming language, that will work on any PlayStation-certified device and the PlayStation Vita. This comes after Sony announced it would begin releasing PlayStation games on devices running Google’s mobile operating system Android. Sony already has a PlayStation-branded phone, the Xperia Play, which … Continue Reading

Nintendo announces major 3DS game launch dates, analog add-on

One day before the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo has announced the launch dates of several high-profile games for the 3DS handheld console, as well as a new analog stick add-on.

Nintendo investors and fans have been eagerly awaiting encouraging news on the console, which has struggled to make a significant splash since its debut in March, 2011. The console has only sold 830,000 units in the U.S., and the company needs to gin up demand … Continue Reading

iSwifter is the first to bring Flash-based Google+ games to the iPad

iSwifter’s innovative app for streaming Flash content to the iPad now supports Google+ games, making it the first app to do so, the company announced today.

The Youweb-incubated company has already found success streaming Flash-based Facebook games to the iPad, nabbing its app over 500,000 users so far. The app remains the only way that iPad users can play Flash-based games, since Apple doesn’t support Flash on iOS.

Support for Google+ games is included in … Continue Reading

Zynga lines up its next social game: Adventure World

Zynga just revealed a teaser for its next big social game, an Indiana Jones-inspired creation called Adventure World.

The video trailer on the new Adventure World fan page says “you can explore exotic lands, solve ancient puzzles, and bring your friends along for a ride.” Zynga hasn’t described the game in more detail yet, but it appears to be a expansion into a new genre for the company, which is the leading maker of Facebook … Continue Reading

New Orleans snares a Gameloft game studio with tax incentives

Video games used to be political cannon fodder on the state level, with politicians creating laws to stop the sale of violent video games to minors. But these days, states are realizing that the jobs created by game studios are just as good as any other ones.

Gameloft is announcing on Monday that it plans to create a game studio in New Orleans with as many as 150 people. The French mobile game publisher is … Continue Reading

One of gaming’s best startups, Bungie, turns 20

Bungie is one of the most successful game startups in history, although the company was obscure for the first 10 years of its existence, or half of its 20-year life. Today, the maker of the Halo series of games is marking its 20-year anniversary with the launch of an hour-long web documentary.

Entitled “O Brave New World,” the documentary includes footage from the company’s elusive co-founder, Jason Jones, as well as former Bungie chief Alex … Continue Reading