Investors won't be happy until Nintendo starts making iPhone games

Well, get to it, why dontcha? The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Nintendo investors are calling for the massive creator of Mario to make iPhone and Android games ... or else. With the drastic price cut of its flagship handheld system, the 3DS, in less than six months since its release, investors say that it's time Nintendo tries something new, regardless of what it's said in the past.

Recently, Pokemon Co. announced an iPhone game revolving around the ubiquitous pocket monsters, Pokemon Say Tap (pictured). It almost instantly saw the company's stock spike their highest in four months with the assumption that Nintendo might be getting into the mobile games business, according to the SF Chronicle. But the company quickly pointed out that this was not the case, and just as quickly those gains turned into losses.

"They just don't get it," MF Global FXA Securities Ltd. said in a sales note that day, according to the SF Chronicle. "Sell the stock, because a management once feted for creative out-of-box thinking have just shown how behind the times they are."

Nintendo has repeatedly affirmed that it will not develop games that do not use its hardware, which clearly has investors in a tizzy, as the company was recently forced to slash its profits forecast for 2011 by a whopping 82 percent. "Smart phones are the new battlefield for the gaming industry," Masamitsu Ohki, a fund manager at Stats Investment Management Co, told SF Chronicle. "Nintendo should try to either buy its way into this platform or develop something totally new."

But if the numbers--Apple is now the most valuable company in the world, while Zynga is poised to become the most valuable games company globally--weren't enough for Nintendo, will investor complaints be? Well, it looks like price cuts and apologies haven't worked to appease Nintendo's investors (nor has its announced intent on entering the digital goods space), so it appears as if the Mario maker doesn't have much of a choice. [Ed. Note: Remember kids, today's the last day to get your 3DS at the discounted price and with 20 free games at Wal-Mart. Don't walk, run!]

Infinity Blade 2 takes notes from Mafia Wars's playbook next year

Infinity Blade 2
Let's just hope that seven bucks it's asking for comes down by that time. Chair Entertainment, the creator of Infinity Blade and its critically-acclaimed sequel, has announced that an ambitious social update is coming to the game in 2012. The new social feature is known as Clash Mobs, and it call thousands of players together both in real-time and asynchronously to take down massive enemies. Sound familiar?

"Clash Mobs will appear in an update of the game and incorporate players from all over the world," Infinity Blade 2 lead designer Donald Mustard told Mashable. "Right now, you play the game by yourself, but Clash Mobs will let you partner with thousands of other players in real-time to help you reach a goal in the game."

The update, which is expected to land within the next six months, will reward all players that contribute to each massive battle with new weapons and experience points. "We want gaming apps to be a massive social event, and this will be a step in the right direction," Mustard said to Mashable. "The concept is already available on certain games such as Words With Friends, so we wanted to incorporate a social component to this role-play games, as well."

According to Mashable, Mustard said that these collaborative efforts could take upwards of 24 hours with thousands of friends and strangers alike lending their blades to the fight. Again, sound familiar? This all sounds like the boss battles common to Facebook role-playing games like Mafia Wars and its new mobile counterpart, though in real time rather than asynchronous play. Now, the biggest differential between the two is that hefty $6.99 price tag.

What do you think of hardcore-skewed games like Infinity Blade taking cues from more casual social games like Mafia Wars? Does this mark a trend, or is a game maker simply trying something new?

Bejeweled is new and improved on iOS, while Blitz goes solo for free

Your second life of destroying shiny gems to techno music is about to enter its next chapter. Social and casual game maker PopCap announced that it has re-released Bejeweled to the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch in a brand new, much-improved app. This new hotness is said to sport Retina Display graphics, new game modes including Zen Mode from Bejeweled 3 and more.

More like a Diamond Mine mode pulled right from Bejeweled 3 as well, personal leaderboards and support for multiple player profiles and several achievement badges with four levels each (bronze, silver, gold and platinum). However, there is one catch: You're going to have to download the game again for $.99, as this game is officially replacing Bejeweled 2 + Blitz on the App Store. We know, we were shocked too, but who are you kidding? You and I both know you're already in the App Store.

Besides, it's not as if PopCap didn't include two new play modes and high-resolution graphics or anything. As for the Facebook-connected Bejeweled Blitz? It's now a stand-alone freemium game on the App Store, meaning you can play the game for absolutely free, but you have the option to purchase additional power-ups to boost your ranking among friends. (However, we're guessing that this change will introduce the Hearts system to this version of the game, which is a bummer.) In short, it's just like the Facebook game, but in your phone. The future is awesome, we know. Both games are slowly rolling out today.

Are you down with buying another version of Bejeweled for your iOS device, given the new features introduced? Where do you play Bejeweled Blitz more: on your phone or on Facebook?

Diamond Dash rushes to blast back at Bejeweled Blitz on iPhone, iPad

Watch out, PopCap: It looks like someone is gunning for your best game. Berlin, Germany-based social games maker wooga announced at the Le Web Conference in Paris that its Facebook hit Diamond Dash has finally hit iPhones and iPads everywhere. (The keyword in that sentence is "iPad", folks.) Better yet, the Facebook-connected game--announced way back in July--is 100 percent free to play.

Through Facebook Connect, players can compete for dominance between their friends on weekly leaderboards on their iOS device, and the game will track their progress should they hop back in on Facebook. While the game is free to play, you'll be governed by that dastardly Heart system--just the way it is on Facebook. However, you can also dole Hearts to your friends like you do on Facebook. (Of course, you can buy more, too.)

Wooga also promises players that the game, which is available in nine languages, will be updated frequently with new content. Diamond Dash hits the App Store the same day as its main competitor, Bejeweled Blitz, relaunches as an independent freemium game. While Diamond Dash is beating Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook in monthly players, according to AppData, the alternative gem crusher has some catching up to do on mobile devices. And the fact that it's first to officially hit the iPad certainly helps.


Click here to download Diamond Dash on the App Store for Free Now >

Do you prefer Diamond Dash or Bejeweled Blitz for your shiny smashing fix? Does the fact that the former is on iPad first sway you at all?

PopCap feels the power of 'free,' more freemium games incoming

Perhaps "PopCap feels the power of Facebook" is more like it. During an interview with PocketGamer.biz, PopCap senior director of mobile product and business strategy Giordano Contestabile revealed that the Bejeweled Blitz creator has plenty more plans for freemium mobile games. That's especially since its recent Plants vs Zombies freemium-inspired update.

"While we typically don't disclose much about our future plans, I can say that you're in for a lot of surprises for us in the coming months, and that in-app transactions and the freemium model are going to feature prominently," Contestabile told PocketGamer.biz. The PopCap exec believes that the play first, (maybe) pay later model of mobile games will likely take over.

"I think that, one year from now, 95 percent or more of iOS game downloads might come from freemium games, and 80 percent or more of the revenue could be associated with them," Contestabile told the website. "The freemium model is extremely powerful because it allows developers to reach the biggest possible audience, and it allows players to choose if and how to pay for content, after having tried it out."

While Contestabile did say that there's still a place for premium game experiences, or pay-to-play games, that approach is losing its luster for most games. It wouldn't be terribly inaccurate to call this "The Facebook Effect." The fact that companies like Zynga and EA (which now owns PopCap) have made serious dough with free-to-play Facebook games has certainly had a visible impact on mobile gaming, which has a distribution model fairly similar to social networks. Almost Free is here to stay, and it looks like PopCap wants to lead the charge.

Are you excited to hear that more free-to-play games are coming from PopCap? Which property do you hope gets the free treatment next, or are you hoping for more original games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Gree's OpenFeint hires ex-Glu Mobile exec, more social games coming?

The mobile social game wars are heating up, as OpenFeint just took on former Glu Mobile executive Sarah Thompson (pictured) as its director of developer relations, SocialTimes reports. In other words, OpenFeint, owned by Japanese mobile social gaming powerhouse Gree, hired Thomson to strategically acquire build relationships with independent developers.

Namely, SocialTimes's Azam Khan guesses those developers will be primarily social and mobile social game creators, given Thomson's past exploits in the industry with Glu Mobile and IUGO Entertainment before that. And frankly, we couldn't agree more. Considering OpenFeint is a social network for mobile games at heart, and Gree's existing status, it simply makes sense.

"OpenFeint is going through an exciting phase of growth right now and Sarah is exactly the kind of person we need to keep up the momentum," OpenFeint SVP Marketing and Developer Relations Eros Resmini said in a release. "Sarah's deep history in mobile gaming paired with her connections to the developer community made her a great fit for OpenFeint."

We can't help but recall what just went down between OpenFeint and Gree: The former's co-founder and CEO Jason Citron resigned, and Gree CFO Naoki Aoyagi took his place. (Though, VentureBeat reckons the move was less ... cut-and-dry.) But back to Gree and OpenFeint's future plans, the simple fact is mobile social games are growing at an exponential rate on iOS and Android devices.

"I've always admired OpenFeint for its constant innovation in the mobile gaming space," Thomson said in a release. "As the company continues to change with the market, I'm excited to help OpenFeint continue growing." And we think we have an idea of just where Thomson would like to go. It starts with an "S" and--oh, forget it. You get the point already.

Do you think this puts OpenFeint in a better place to compete with opponents like DeNA and Zynga in mobile games? Don't you wish you could have rockin' tattoos and a big time exec gig? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments

Zynga Mobile Chief: Mobile is a 'new social gaming frontier'

Everyone else is right there with ya, big red. During an interview with The Guardian, Zynga Mobile SVP David Ko said, "We believe that mobile represents a new social gaming frontier. We've always said we want Zynga to be the best content creators in the world, and we are platform agnostic." More and more Zynga fans expect to play its games on their phones and tablets, which wasn't exactly where CEO Mark Pincus's heart was many moons ago.

Regardless of whether Zynga has been creating mobile games since Zynga Poker hit iOS devices in 2008, it was only the advent of Facebook Connect that motivated the company to dig deeper into the platform. From that we got games like FarmVille and CityVille Hometown, neither of which are feature-complete versions of their Facebook counterparts. (The latter of which is a different game entirely.)

Now, The Guardian reports that Zynga is looking to take advantage of mobile devices' key features like cameras and accelerometers in future games. And tablets appear to be a big deal in Zynga HQ--Ko told The Guardian the company was "very bullish" on the idea. And HTML5, the emergent web coding language that's been touted as the proverbial messiah for cross-platform social gaming, is something Ko admits the company is interested in.

"HTML5 is interesting, although I do feel it is early," Ko told The Guardian. "With those acquisitions, you can see into our thinking in this area a little bit." (Ko there is referring to companies like Newtoy and Dextrose.) Zynga already released one game through HTML5: Mafia Wars Atlantic City.

However, HTML5 games have yet to achieve the complexity of, say, Hanging With Friends, which Zynga just released on Android devices. Regardless, all eyes--including Zynga's--are on those 4-inch screens that rarely leave your side. And with companies as unlikely as Capcom making buku bucks on mobile games, you can bet Zynga is a' hustlin'.

Are you waiting for more mobile games from Zynga? What would you like to see the developer do next on smartphones? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment