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EA's CFO Eric Brown, speaking at the Citi 2011 Tech Conference yesterday, told listeners that the publisher's Online Pass system has brought in around $10-15 million in revenues.
The system, which is designed to rake back some revenue from customers buying second hand titles by asking them to buy a one-time code to use online features, costs users $10 for each pass.
"The revenues we derive from that haven't been dramatic," Brown told the conference, via Gamasutra. "I'd say they're in the $10-$15 million range since we initiated the program."
Brown also revealed that EA's latest large-scale social venture, The Sims Social, has been a tremendous success - becoming the third most played game on Facebook, according to EA's own statistics, which put the DAU figure at 7.8 million. That figure leaves Sims Social just 200,000 daily average users short of second placed Farmville.
"What has made [The Sims Social] a success so far is the Playfish expertise...combined with the creative excellence of the core Sims team," Brown told the audience. "Those teams work together exceptionally well."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-USD20-million
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Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, strongly believes that cloud gaming technology will massively improve education.
"I've been working on an education project for about 10 years now," said Bushnell, speaking at the Cloud Gaming Conference USA, "and it turns out that educating children and computers go together."
"If you go into a class of fifth graders - say there's 30 of them - and they all have computers, I guarantee you that 10-15 per cent of these computers do not work. They're virus infected nightmares. Every time you have a company that has 30-40 computers, the system's administration of all those computers is a nightmare."
Bushnell cites the reason for this being that children are naturally curious and will inadvertently break the computers. "Does that mean you're a bad kid? No. It means you're just messing with the system which is what we're genetically programmed to do."
This wouldn't be an issue on the cloud, Bushnell notes. "In cloud gaming you disconnect the system's administration from the computer to the cloud... It's going to be an important step for allowing technology into the classroom."
Bushnell added that he's been testing software for years to improve education. "We've been in hundreds of classroom with 40,000 kids. We are currently teaching subjects 10 times faster. We believe that when we roll this up to full curriculum we'll be able to teach a full career of high school in less than a year. And we think we'll be able to do that by the end of next year."
"That's a lot of time to chase girls and have fun," he joked.
Freeing up leisure time is only a small part of Bushnell's overall goal. He finds the real issue in America to be much graver.
"Our public school is a disaster," he said, adding "It's creating an underclass that will erode the foundation of our society. The kids who happen to have won the lottery and been born to rich parents can survive. The parents make sure the kids are either in private school or something. The kids who have lost the lottery are being put into schools with dysfunctional teachers."
His solution to use software in conjunction with teachers will benefit everyone, stating, "If we can have a kid learn twice as fast we can pay teachers twice as much."
"I believe education is the most important thing that we can do to fix the world."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rove-education
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For his keynote presentation at Cloud Gaming USA in San Jose, THQ CEO Brian Farrell spoke of the various opportunities that come with gaming in the cloud and what that could mean for THQ.
He predicts that future consoles won't have disc drives, hypothesising that this "will result in a lower cost for the hardware manufacturer, which will result in a lower cost to consumers and therefore a lower entry point, thus driving more mass market adoption."
Furthermore, this would save money for game developers and publishers since there'd be "no physical goods cost for game makers. No inventory, no markdowns, and all the money spent by the consumer would go to the developer or publisher."
Farrell also thinks cloud gaming will help build a stronger relationship with the community by delivering more custom tailored content. "Our games are always on and our players are always connected....We have the opportunity to interact with players in new ways that can be reactive to their desires, play habits, and buying habits."
"The box, ship and done model is transitioning to: observe, measure, and modify," he added, explaining this as "a games as a service model where direct consumer feedback allows the ability to operate in this always on, always connected environment."
This will put lots of emphasis on post-launch content. "We intend to create an online digital ecosystem with the consumer that keeps them interested for almost a year, perhaps even longer. And we expect most of our large console games going forward will extend the base experience with DLC packs. Things like online in-game storage, and consumables and other online items that will go on for at least a year post-release."
THQ's upcoming Saints Row: The Third will have more than 40 weeks of DLC, Farrell revealed, "which will grow and change the experience as the consumer engages with the game."
This focus on adaptation will open up lots of potential new business models. Farrell expressed lots of interest in the "freemium model" as well as subscriptions and episodic content. "Frankly we think the business model will vary based on the type of content being offered," though admitted it was too early to tell what these dominant models will be.
"We're starting to see a world where players can pay different amounts based on preferences with casual players paying a small amount, and more hardcore or passionate players investing more into their experience."
Farrell expressed THQ's willingness to experiment with new pricing models, citing MX vs ATV Alive as an example. Rather than selling a $59.99 game, THQ opted to sell the game for $39.99 with lots of optional content. "But what we found was unlike free to play, $39.99 just wasn't low enough to drive a big enough install base to push the level of DLC we had initially hoped for."
Not being tied to specific console opens up new possibilities for consumers as well. Farrell discussed the idea of playing variations of a game on multiple platforms. "You might primarily play a game on your PC, yet play subgames on your phone then share stats and improve your progress in the main game."
"Technology alone will not give a clear benefit to the consumer," Farrell cautions. "Cloud computing and data storage could potentially do a lot, but it's what we do with it as game designers and publishers that really matters most."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...r-cloud-gaming
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It looks like Apple's patent spat with Samsung has now reached the land of the rising sun. Reuters is reporting that Cupertino is taking the Korean manufacturer to court in Japan, over alleged patent violations pertaining to the iPhone and iPad. Japan's Kyodo news agency first reported the news, citing unnamed insiders who claim that Apple is looking to halt sales of Samsung's allegedly patent-infringingGalaxy S smartphones, while seeking ¥100 million (about $1.3 million) in damages. According to the sources, the first hearing was held in a Tokyo District Court on Wednesday, though a court spokesman would not comment on the pending case. Neither Samsung nor Apple have commented on the suit and details on the patents in question remain unclear, but we'll keep you posted as we find out more.

Update: Ryuji Yamada, CEO of Japanese provider NTT DoCoMo, is now saying that Apple's lawsuit will not have any effect on next month's Galaxy Tab launch. "We have heard from Samsung that there will beno obstruction to sales," Yamada confirmed.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/08/a...ad-patent-vio/ ...

We knew good and well it was coming, and come it has. Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play has made the natural GSM shift in the States in order to grace Ma Bell's airwaves, and despite the "4G" naming convention, this fellow will be topping out at HSPA+. In other words, LTE lovers will need to look elsewhere. This marks the first launch of a PlayStation-certified smartphone for AT&T, and given that it's been around the block a time or two, the carrier is (smartly) pricing it at just $49.99 on a two-year contract -- a buck-fifty less than what it launched for on Verizon Wireless. As we'd heard, it'll ship with Android 2.3.3, a 1GHz CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, a 4-inch display (854 x 480) and will arrive in an exclusive 'stealth blue' hue. AT&T customers will also be blessed with a gratis Multimedia Dock (DK300) and MC100 music cable, not to mention seven pre-loaded games at no charge. Full details on that are hosted up after the break, and interested consumers can line up to grab their own on September 18th.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/08/x...0-on-contract/ ...

Shiny, happy people staring at iPad 2s? Why, it must be the power of inductive charging, or just hyper-enthusiastic marketing. Revealed at CEDIA 2011, Dana Innovations' recently announced LaunchPort system takes the convenience of wireless charging and slaps it on your wall. Of course, there's the regular ol' option to have your Apple slab recharge from a flat top surface, but then you'll be missing out on the 360 degree pizzazz. The price of this fancy doesn't come cheap either, with both the wall- and base-mounted options costing $200 each, plus the $150 for the mandatory PowerShuttle sleeve and the $10 pre-order fee. Now, how badly do you need to show off that Jony Ive-designed tablet? Skip past the break to witness overacting at its finest.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/08/l...s-with-glee-v/ ...

ThatotherDev a Coder who has released homebrew for the PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and Windows has posted this news:

This is an updated version of Slime Roll.
Notable changes:
The red circles have been removed and replaced with blue ones that are of a consistent size.
If slime comes in contact with a blue circle then the blue circle becomes slime.
There is on screen text that tells you how many blue circles still exist.
When placing slime in the editor you no longer need to press and release the button for each piece of slime.
There is a limit to how closely you can place two pieces of slime together in the editor.
The same rules for placing slime in the editor also apply to the blue circles.
You can now delete whatever object you are pointing at in the editor (instead of only being able to delete the last thing spawned).
The X in the editor has been replaced with a proper reticule.
There is a slightly nicer title at the menu.
All on screen text fills the same percentage of the screen regardless of resolution.
I’ve fixed the problem where there would sometimes be inappropriate white pixels along the edges of circles.
gravity is slightly stronger.
PS3 controls:
Left analog stick = Move the camera
L1 and R1 = rotate the camera and the direction of gravity
L2 and R2 = zoom the camera in and out
X (in the editor) spawn a wall (hold and drag to scale)
Circle (in the editor) spawn a blue blob
Square (in the editor) spawn slime
Triangle (in the editor) remove whatever you are pointing at
Links:
Download the PS3 version ...

Yearning to relive the classics (Lunar Lander, anyone?) on your iPad, replete with that authentic arcade feel? It wasn't long ago that we reviewed ThinkGeek and Ion's formidable iCade, but at $100, it was -- and still is -- a pricey portion to stomach for an occasional retro gaming fix. Fast forward to the present, and Atari's paired with Discovery Bay Games to create their own official spin on an iPad arcade adapter, fittingly dubbed the Arcade Duo-Powered Joystick. Unlike the iCade, it doesn't use Bluetooth and requires no batteries -- you simply dock your iPad into its 30-pin connector. The joypad is specifically made to work with Atari's Greatest Hits app, and it's set to land in early October for a slightly more wallet-friendly price of $60. We were able to slam its controls a bit while playing through various levels of Major Havoc and the like, and you'll find our impressions after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/07/a...-icade-review/ ...

MCV laughed at the idea just last month, but if there’s one thing you know about Nintendo it’s that you never know what it will do next.
Scans of the latest issue of weekly Japanese games magazine Famitsu reveal that the rumoured second analogue stick add-on for 3DS is in fact very real.
The device, pictured, effectively cradles the entire unit and adds a second analogue control stick on the far right of the device. It also adds some quite substantial bulk to the unit.
Andrasang reports that it is called the ‘Expansion Slide Pad’. The second stick is actually smaller than the one already found on the unit.
Compatibility with Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3G has been confirmed, though it remains unclear whether the peripheral has been designed specifically for the popular action RPG series.
Monster Hunter supervisor Ryozo Tsujimoto says that the device “provides a good grip on the system”, describing it as “a secret weapon" which will allow you to play the game with the same feeling as playing Monster Hunter 3 on Wii”.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/3ds-p...is-real/084335
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