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As part of his Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference speech, Microsoft chief exec Steve Ballmer has admitted that Windows Phone 7 is not flying off the shelves as fast as the firm would have hoped.

While still enthusiastically explaining how successful Microsoft is, there were concessions to its trailing position in the area. “We’ve gone from very small to small,” Ballmer reportedly said (though this actual line doesn’t appear to be in the keynote video).

Unsurprisingly, the recent deal with Nokia was held up as a huge advocacy of the system, He also pointed out that a year ago, Microsoft had no Windows Phone, but that in the last year it’s sold millions. Describing the market as “busy and competitive”, he admitted the firm “had a bit of work to do to break through.”

Snapping back into more typical corporate bravado, Ballmer went on to say according to its survey, nine out of ten users would recommend Windows Phone to a friend, and that 20,000 apps have been made available in eight months – claiming this represents a faster ramp up than either Android or iPhone.

This may be true, but it does seem to imply Microsoft would like us to believe its business in mobile phones started with Phone 7 last year, disregarding the less popular previous version Windows Mobile 6.5, and all the forerunners before it. That’s it’s prerogative of course, but the stat that stands in the wilderness somewhat, since Google and Apple don’t restart the clock each time they bring out a new version of their respective OS.

Comparing the launch of Phone 7 to the entire business models of rivals is arguable the same as comparing the launch of the Froyo update to the launch of the iPhone years before. In other words, not terribly representative of the full picture.

Ballmer added that Nokia was continuing to push Microsoft into wider geographical areas and to multiple price points. This would make sense, since these days Nokia’s real strength lies not in the smartphone market, but in the cheaper, feature phone market, which proportionally tend to do better in emerging markets – or weaker economies – around the world.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ballm...roubles/082246 ...

Video games have the most devoted following of any entertainment medium. Gamers queue for days to pick up new blockbusters at launch. They furiously defend their favourite games from criticism. And they don’t just want to talk with developers and publishers – they want to get involved.

Such passion is great for the industry. Word of mouth rallies fellow fans to support each new release and their feedback, both positive and negative, can be invaluable. But the ardour of the enthusiasts holds a greater potential.Rising Star’s head of digital communications Tristram Defries says: “Traditional marketing and PR is vital when releasing a game but you can’t communicate with people in the same way you can working with the gaming community. It’s the best way to learn what our potential market are looking for and what games we can bring to the UK.”

Activity through forums, Facebook, Twitter and even the consoles themselves creates a direct link from company to consumer. The trick is to ensure the link works both ways.“Gaming is built on a foundation of user interaction – when you perform an action, you expect a reaction,” says Daniel Maher, Xbox Live Editor for Microsoft Europe and co-host on Xbox Live show SentUAMessage. “That’s the principle we apply to Inside Xbox. Our fans aren’t the passive sort – when they’re not gaming, they’re constantly on the hunt for new information, or communicating with each other via Xbox Live and other social networks.”

SOCIAL LIFE

These networks have significantly expanded the scope of community management. No longer are firms dealing only with traditional message boards, which require time, money and maintenance to run. Instead the hard work is handled by Twitter and Facebook, making it easier to interact with millions at no extra cost. Except effort.


Nick Price, community manager at Hitman developer IO Interactive, adds: “Using tools that are free is obviously a bonus but we often look to deliver something extra like apps for Facebook. This can cost money, but it’s the same sort of investment as marketing. We see our community as a long-term investment.”

And crucially, it’s important to remember that the community has invested just as much emotion into games as the publishers.“We should always care what gamers think of the game they’ve bought,” says Codemasters’ digital marketing director Lizzie Wilding. “A lot of time, money and emotional vested interest goes into playing the game, and so to allow anyone to get involved with that through community and social media is very valuable.”

Maher warns that companies treating social media as free advertising are doing themselves a disservice: “If you’re planning to use it as a cheap substitute for a press release, ad banner or mini-site, the majority of gamers will cry foul pretty quickly and your stock among fans will plummet accordingly.”The emphasis, then, should be on actually socialising with the fans. In this way, a more personal bond can be developed – one that must be tended to on at least a daily basis.

Price says: “It’s important to constantly interact as that’s a part of human nature. We have to nurse our community, to ensure we have a steady and engaged fanbase, one which will share their excitement with a wider group.”

THE AMBASSADOR’S RECEPTION

Efficient community management can mold gamers into consumer ambassadors, fans that will readily promote and champion upcoming titles to their peers. These emissaries can often spread a publisher’s message to people that are beyond their reach, such as relatives and other non-gamers.

“People will always tell friends and family about a show they’ve seen, an album they’ve heard or a game they’ve played, and it’ll always have some degree of influence on their own purchasing decisions and those of whoever they decide to tell,” explains Maher.

“Consumer ‘ambassadors’ do precisely the same thing to a wider audience and they’re often already respected for their opinions based on the popularity of blogs, Twitter following, and so on.”

Sun adds: “The whole social networking experience has changed the users’ behaviour. Most internet users trust what is recommended by friends on Twitter and Facebook, rather than going to browse sites for find new information. If the ambassador is doing a good job, the audience would ask and consider their opinion more than the others.”

Defries agrees: “I think they can be very effective. There’s a big difference between us promoting a product and a consumer recommending it to acquaintances. At the heart of it there is an issue of trust – consumers are more inclined to follow a friend’s recommendation than a salesman’s.”

However, Maher observes that some consumer ambassadors do not bend as many ears as they would have you believe.

“Within gaming, I think there are very few people who could claim to wield such power, although various blog and fansite owners have convinced naive publishers they do,” he says. “They will have some impact on sales and downloads, but I don’t know how you measure the number of people directly ...

Future Publishing has closed its on-console PS3 video magazine FirstPlay to make way for a new, free show.

The new show – which is currently unnamed – will be free to eligible UK PSN account holders.

It will be ‘aligned with SCE UK’s Access to PlayStation community strategy,’ and will be reporting from the Access events. It will feature HD previews, interviews and cover upcoming PS3 games and Blu-ray films. Gamers will be able to download the show from PSN.

FirstPlay launched last year and its last episode was released on July 6th.

“We went a long way very quickly with FirstPlay and this new phase in our partnership with PlayStation will allow us to take HD video magazine content to the next level,” said Future’s entertainment group publisher Simon Maxwell.

“Production on the new show is well under way and editorial standards are impeccably high. We’re looking forward to providing SCE UK with top-quality video content for more PlayStation gamers than ever before.”

SCE UK’s marketing chief Alan Duncan adds: “This is a great content initiative which forms a key part of SCEUK’s strategy to reward and engage with our consumers in a more meaningful way.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/new-d...nounced/082248 ...

Indie developers can now submit games to IndieCity, a PC portal for selling indie games set up by Blitz Games.

No mainstream games are allowed.

Any developer can pop a game on IndieCity. A peer review process is designed to ensure the cream rises to the top.

If the community deems a game isn't indie, then it won't go on the system. So no FIFA, then.

"Long term I hope to create a destination that shows everyone the creativity and diversity of what gaming can do," project lead Chris Swan told Eurogamer.

"I'm not so keen on the recycled games you see in the mainstream these days. I want to see just how far you can push the boundaries of gaming. Whatever your niche, that's what we want to try and fulfil for you."

Developers determine how much a game costs, and 1200 have signed up so far. If you're a developer and you want to get your game on IndieCity, head here.

The Underground is a side of the site Swan describes as the Wild West of indie games.

"Absolutely anything goes. You don't have to have a finished game at this point. You can put up a one level demo, a half broken game, whatever you like."

The idea is developers will get a groundswell of fans early on, and then decide if they wish to finish their game.

"It's like what Notch did with Minecraft. It's the pay to finish model. You can start off and say, 'Is this working? Yeah, I've got some fans. People like it. I'll add another demo, another level to it and see how it grows.'"

Swan hopes IndieCity will uncover the next indie game developer superstar.

"For many indie developers that's what they want to do," Swan said. "Not those who believe Notch is now a sell-out. They perhaps aren't quite so keen on that.

"You don't have to be poor to be an indie developer. That's a fallacy. You don't have to be living in squalor just because you're an indie dev.

"We want to create a place where these indie devs can make a living from making their own games."

When IndieCity launches for gamers, they'll get their own personalised homepage based on what games they and their friends like.

You'll get badges, achievements and points as you use the site, for example for writing a helpful review or retweeting a developer's Tweet about their game. The creators are working on a system that will let you use points to get a discount on game purchases, too.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...o-submit-games ...

Speaking to Develop Online, Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida said that the gaming megalith sees value in the continuously expanding world of indie development, and that supporting those developers is the key to industry growth.

"We have to support those smaller teams," he said. "Without doing so, the whole industry will stall, in terms of innovation." Yoshida thinks Sony's forthcoming PS Vita will serve as a good platform for indie developers currently subsisting in the mobile-phone universe, citing the handheld's capacitive touch-screen and AR capabilities as an entry-level gateway for development on the platform.

He also added that the Vita's development kit has been specifically engineered with affordability in mind, and that the system is "small and light and easy for developers to handle." With smartphones gobbling up increasingly larger slices of the mobile gaming pie, Sony seems to be positioning itself as the indie-friendly option for mobile developers looking to enter the world of dedicated gaming devices.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/11/so...-says-yoshida/ ...

Nintendo has today delivered news that the anticipated 3DS video download service will go live for Europe on July 13 - and then mysteriously pulled it.

There are headlines for the press release on our RSS feed and even still on the official site's news headline ticker, but clicking through to it (at the time of writing) just kicks out a 404 error.

Regardless, July 13 - this Wednesday - is the day UK and Euro 3DS owners will be able to download the Nintendo Video application from the eShop where they'll find region-specific video content (which we believe you can have your 3DS download automatically, but you can't keep it permanently). That is, of course, if the now-pulled press release was accurate.

There's currently no word on when the service will launch in US although we expect it will be soon.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ed-for-europe/ ...

Maybe you're one of the lucky few who have plenty of space where 65-inch televisions are barely big enough to outfit your palatial estate. If so, we hate you (not really). Or perhaps you're like us at Engadget HQ where our city apartments are barely big enough for our Nabaztags. If so, Nyko has a $29 device coming August 23 called the Zoom that'll attach to your Kinect sensor to reduce the amount of flail-space required by about 40 percent. That translates to just four feet of distance from your Kinect. How does it do it? With lenses that refocus the sensors, so it has no power requirements. Call them glasses for your Kinect without the jabs from your classmates because they can't see you playing Kinect Adventures anyway, trooper.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/10/n...m-on-august-2/ ...

So much for not keeping pace, huh? We heard back in June of last year that Microsoft had blown through 150 million Windows 7 licenses, and just a few months later, it had surpassed 240 million. At this year's Worldwide Partner Conference, head honcho Steve Ballmer took great pleasure in announcing that said figure has now swollen to beyond 400 million in under two years. Not surprisingly, that makes Win7 the fastest-selling operating system in history, and Tami Reller -- corporate vice president and chief financial officer of Windows and Windows Live -- made clear that it's "the path to Windows 8." The outfit also announced that 100 million copies of Office 2010 have flown off the shelves since launch, and while no one really came out and said it, we're counting on seeing a Windows 8 build at the BUILD event this fall. Head on past the break for a whole heaping of (deserved) self-congratulations.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/11/m...-7-licenses-s/ ...

Ready for a newly refined recipe for the next flavor of iOS? After dropping iOS 5 beta 2 on us on June 24th, Apple has now unleashed beta 3, meaning those with sensitive taste buds (and developer accounts) can start sniffing and sussing out what's changed. Of note seem to be a bevy of toggles controlling location services in detail, while there's also a new switch for voice roaming in settings. From what we're seeing not a lot has changed visually anywhere outside of the gears icon, but don't let that stop you from grabbing this savory download.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/11/i...s-and-toggles/ ...