games

You know a great interface when you see it: the “like” button on Facebook or the image boards on Pinterest. These are the designs that stick in our minds and change the way we interact not only with technology, but with each other. Mobile rewards platform Kiip has announced its second annual Build Fund to give independent mobile developers the tools they’ll need to build and market their apps and reward their users. Ten winners will receive $10,000 in cash, $5,000 in services, and mentorship from industry veterans at Facebook, Path, and other companies.

Read more

With the Super Bowl just days away, YouTube has announced that this year’s Ad Blitz will be bigger and better than ever, thanks to a partnership with Adweek and the introduction of new social gaming components, including a touchdown dance GIF generator and more.

Read more

Casual games network PlayJam has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $100,000 for the world’s most portable TV games console. GameStick has been in development for a little over a year and is expected to be ready for launch in April, but they need your help to make it happen.

Read more

Hey gamers! If you can tear yourselves away from Black Ops 2 for long enough, Hulu’s got an announcement we think you’re gonna like! On Friday, the video streaming site launched their very own Video Games hub at www.hulu.com/videogames, featuring game trailers, reviews and more.

Read more

With the launch of Windows 8 comes a new opportunity for developers to reach gamers on a whole new platform.  Today, cloud gaming service Agawi has hit the play button on its GameZen app to bring more than a thousand games, from casual to hardcore, to all Windows 8 devices.

Read more

Steam is a gaming app store for PC that allows you to download games from one of the biggest libraries on the web. The service started in 2003, and after a series of updates is now as smooth as the Apple App Store. A tip to The Verge about Steam’s new Android app and the various categories available hints that Steam may have intentions to get into more than just games at some point.

Read more

The battle for the crown of top social game maker is far from over. Zynga still holds a comfortable lead at 240,000,000 monthly active users, but each of their tentpole games face the threat of competitors every single day. One of those competitors is Electronic Arts, whose Sims Social game has proven to be a durable hit for the company. In the same vein, EA has recently released SimCity Social on Facebook. The game is the offspring of the famous SimCity franchise and while it may share much of the same genetic code, does it have the tools to succeed in this new social environment?

Read more

Fortune is reporting this morning that cloud-gaming company Gaikai may be looking for a buyer. The company, led by gaming veteran David Perry, has been a rival to OnLive and has produced a few interesting opportunities for gamers – including the offer to play World of Warcraft on Facebook. The company is reportedly hiring bankers and is looking for “in excess of $500 million”. The company has $45 million in funding.

Read more

Some bad news for Google’s emerging social network. Two major publishers of online games, Electronic Arts’ Popcap division and Germany’s Wooga, have announced that they are going to pull their games from Google+. The games have only been live on the network for less than a year but have been under-performing. This comes as a surprise when you consider that EA’s Bejeweled Blitz is one of the games being pulled – that title is a success on nearly every platform it touches.

Read more

The preliminary program for our Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit is announced.  Join us in San Francisco on June 26^th for panels, discussions, and networking with leaders in the mobile games space.  Early registration pricing is $299 and effective through today, April 18^th.

Read more