LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In a move that helps publishers of online games and virtual worlds expand their reach while giving gamers a place to swap tips and strategy with each other, Sometrics (www.Sometrics.com) today launched GameCoins.com – the company’s first direct-to-consumer play.

Co-founder and CEO Ian Swanson will be unveiling GameCoins.com at the Montgomery Technology Conference, today at 5:45 p.m. in Santa Monica, Calif.

GameCoins.com serves as a community site for gamers, where members can meet new gaming friends and participate in forums and blogs to discuss the latest tips, trends and news about favorite games and virtual worlds, like War Rock, Sorority Life, IMVU and many more.

The community also serves as an online marketplace for virtual goods and currency. Gamers can transact using the Sometrics Offer Solution, completing advertiser offers to earn their favorite MMO, virtual world, and social games virtual currency and goods.

Publishers, in turn, are able to expand their reach to more gamers through the increased exposure this online community offers among people predisposed to be gaming enthusiasts.

“This is the first time we’re going to consumers directly with our virtual currency products,” said Swanson. “Until now, our solutions for earning that game’s virtual currency have lived within the individual games themselves. but with Game Coins we can broaden the reach for all the publishers and games that partner with us. It serves as a hub for consumers, to enable them to share their enthusiasm for a game with others and, while there, discover new games for themselves.”

“Sometrics has been a great partner over the past year and we are excited to be part of Game Coins,” said Bjorn Book-Larsson, COO/CTO of GamersFirst. “Game Coins helps market our massively multiplayer online games – like our first person shooter game, War Rock – to new gamers, while still providing added value to existing players. It’s an innovative way to enhance the entire gaming experience for the player and increase interaction across the board.”

Sometrics launched the industry’s first platform to manage virtual currency through offers, to help publishers manage all virtual currency monetization from multiple offer providers. Using Sometrics’ Offer Solution and Payment Manager, developers and publishers of online games and virtual worlds are able to see what’s going on across all offers and networks, see which audience demographics are responding to which offers, and direct traffic accordingly to optimize conversions and increase revenue.

On average, Sometrics partners have seen a 15 percent lift through optimizing third-party virtual currency offer providers and ad networks. Sometrics’ own offer solutions have a global reach with more than 4,000 ads across the network, and have achieved eCPMs as high as $700-$900. in the past 12 months, Sometrics has dispensed more than 1 trillion virtual currency credits to game users. Sometrics is now connected to more than 100 million game user accounts in 228 different countries.

To learn more about GameCoins.com, contact Jennifer Bartlett or Mickey Maher at demo@sometrics.com.

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About Sometrics

Sometrics (www.sometrics.com) pioneered social intelligence – combining deep, relevant social analytics with precision-targeted ad serving capabilities to help developers and brands monetize the social web. The company has adapted its advanced targeting and optimization expertise to give online game developers the first-ever full-service offer and payment management solution. Sometrics provides one place to manage everything – all the ads, all the offers, and all the offer networks – coupled with powerful analytics capabilities that help publishers/developers analyze all activity, down to detailed demographics. Sometrics has received funding from Steamboat Ventures, Greycroft Partners, AT&T and was the first recipient of capital from The Mail Room Fund, an investment consortium that combines big Hollywood (the William Morris Talent Agency) with Silicon Valley (Accel and Venrock). Sometrics is based in Los Angeles.

About GamersFirst

GamersFirst is the leading Free2Play® MMO game publisher in the Western hemisphere. Serving over 28 million players, GamersFirst.com is where gamers gather to decide the price of the games they love to play–even when that price is “free.” Powered by GamersFirst CONNECT, the end-to-end game publishing, game operations, rapid game deployment and game community platform made available to all of GamersFirst’s Development Partners, GamersFirst.com features the hit MMO RPG and MMO FPS games War Rock, Knight Online, Sword of the New World and the future hits Parabellum, Victory, GoGoRacer and Taikodom. Read more about the company at http://www.GamersFirst.com/corporate/ and find all of their games at http://www.GamersFirst.com.

if you’re interested in speaking with GamersFirst, please feel free to contact PR@GamersFirst.com or call (949) 295-9779.

Sometrics Launches GameCoins.com – Connecting Players to Online Games through Interactive Community and Virtual Goods …

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Think Brett Favre’s interception against the Saints was costly? That’s nothing compared to the 7,564,382 picks Favre threw in “Madden NFL 10.” How do I know the exact number of interceptions a polygonal quarterback threw in a video game? EA Sports revealed at Tuesday night’s Season Opener event in San Francisco that they have become the big Brother of sports video game companies, tracking every move, every play call, and unfortunately for Favre, every interception that happens online (and have been since Madden NFL 2004). And with 76-percent of “Madden” users now connected (out of 6 million copies sold), Favre’s bad throws start to add up fast. to count all of these statistics, EA even has a dedicated team of employees tracking this user data and they are actually incorporating their findings to help gameplay designers shape the direction of “Madden NFL 11.”

And some of the findings are staggering.

The average length of a “Madden NFL 10″ game is 63 minutes, but only 17 minutes of this time is spent actually playing the game. the other 46 minutes are spent on things like calling plays, setting up audibles, making substitutions, and watching replays. Another crazy stat thrown out at the event is the fact that while most team playbooks offer an average of 330 plays, the average gamer only uses 13 plays per game.

That is why the tag line for this year’s game is “‘Madden NFL 11′: Simpler. quicker. Deeper,” as EA Sports is looking to not only speed up the time it takes to complete a game, but make the experience geared more toward how people are actually playing “Madden” online according to this user data they’ve compiled.

“Our online base, our online connected rate continues to rise dramatically,” explains “Madden” executive producer Jeremy Strauser. “We’re able to now bring a tremendous amount of data in on real-time usage, real-time gameplay, in terms of reports from our connected user base.

“We’re bringing in over 173 million data reports ever single day with ‘Madden,’” adds Strauser. “We’re able to take this real-time data, confirm what’s working, what’s not working, and make changes to the game real-time while it’s consumed.”

One example of how this quick-fix ability is a gameplay tweak from last year. When “Madden NFL 10″ first shipped, EA started tracking Hit Stick tackles. while 1,135,443,163 were attempted, an astounding 518,959,818 were actually completed, for a success rate of 46-percent. Hit Stick tackles were meant to be a high risk/high reward type feature where gamers whiff and pay the price, but by making 46-percent of these tackles, the high risk part of the equation was almost nullified. so EA Sports went in and made a gameplay change through an online update about a month into the season, and the Hit Stick success rate plummeted down to the levels the game designers originally intended.

As for Favre and his 7 million interceptions? At least now we know that the data is going to good use as one man’s mistake could lead to a more refined passing experience in “Madden NFL 11.” but just like the Favre retirement watch in real life, we’ll just have to wait and see to find out how this one eventually plays out.

Until then, be mindful that everything you do online in “Madden” is being tracked. think about that next time you go high-stepping down the field only to fumble at the 1. Someone at EA tracked your mistake … and is probably still laughing.

'Madden' is watching

The closest gamestop i live by is 45 minutes away, i do have an edge card and was wondering if i could use it online to buy games.

Can you use your Game-Stop edge card online to buy videogames?

By BEN CHARNY

U.S. retail sales of videogames and consoles fell 13% to $1.17 billion in January, underscoring comments from game publishers who have recently warned business was sluggish.

Data from research firm NPD Group confirms the industry is off to a slow start for the year. it also lends weight to conservative 2010 outlooks provided earlier in the week by Electronic Arts inc. and Activision Blizzard inc. both told investors during conference calls after their earnings that 2010 videogame sales would likely be flat or drop compared to last year.

Industry insiders blamed the disappointing January sales on consumer fatigue following the holiday shopping season and shortages of Nintendo Co.’s motion-controlled Wii videogame console.

NPD said sales of videogame software dropped 12% from the same month a year earlier to $597 million, which is much worse than analysts expected.

The fall came despite continued growth in sales of Activision Blizzard’s latest “Call of Duty” game, which was released in November and was the fourth-biggest seller in January. Nintendo’s “New Super Mario Bros Wii” topped the sales list with 656,700 units.

Videogame console revenue fell 21% to $353 million, with much of the fall attributable to a dropoff in the Wii, which shipped 31% fewer units in January. Nintendo Executive Vice President Cammie Dunaway attributed the fall to shortages of the device following record-setting December sales. she added the shortages may last through March.

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 consoles each did better than they had a year earlier, NPD reported, but fell short of analysts’ expectations.

PlayStation 3 sales rose about 35%, with sales of the console continuing to benefit from a price cut in September, said Sony Senior Vice President Peter Dille. But the new demand has led to shortage of the console that could last through March. “There’s a lot of pent-up demand,” mr. Dille said. Xbox 360 sales rose a more modest 7%.

Accessories saw a 2% revenue increase.

Write to Ben Charny at ben.charny@dowjones.com

U.S. Videogame Sales Turn Sluggish

Gaming, Entertainment, startups Gregory T. Huang 3/9/10

This week is nuts for videogame companies: the annual Game Developers Conference starts today in San Francisco.

Z2Live, a Seattle-based social mobile gaming startup, kicked off what is sure to be a busy news week for local companies by making a couple of notable announcements. First, it unveiled a “voice chat” feature for games on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad—this will let players talk to their friends while they’re playing a mobile game. (I haven’t seen the demo yet, but it sounds like it could be interesting.)

Second, the company has hired Lou Fasulo, the former head of publishing for Sonic Boom and senior exec at Vivendi Universal Games and AT&T Wireless. Fasulo will oversee Z2Live’s development of what it calls a “next-generation mobile game community,” which it plans to open in the next two months.

Z2Live’s CEO and co-founder David Bluhm calls Fasulo “one of the best business minds in mobile gaming.” (Bluhm also told me recently that he thinks the term “mobile gaming” will soon be redundant.)

The company’s core technology is a software platform for developing multiplayer social games on mobile devices. its gaming canvas runs the gamut from simple casual games like Solitaire to complex multiplayer games like call of Duty. but Z2Live’s real value is not just in the “plumbing” to allow multiplayer gaming to happen, but potentially in the deeper understanding of gaming communities—things like how to grow a community, how to encourage more social interactions, which metrics to track, which game mechanics developers should focus on, and, of course, how to make money from all of this.

“In theory, this could change the trajectory of game community growth—making sure the game itself is designed with the community in mind from the start,” Bluhm told me last month in an exclusive interview.

Stay tuned for more news from other local game companies.

Gregory T. Huang is the Editor of Xconomy Seattle. You can e-mail him at gthuang@xconomy.com or call 206-624-2249.

Z2Live Rolls Out Voice Chat for iPhone Games, Announces New Mobile Game Community

by MICHAEL TUNISON / IRON MAN 2 / LINKS / MOVIES / PANDORA / VIDEO GAMES

this entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Feature. you can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. you can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Quick & Edgy: Say Goodbye to Dorks (For Now)

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Sony is involved in a pair of intriguing products: first, a phone that could download and play PlayStation games, as well as an iPad-like tablet device. the entire story is written in the so-called “voice of God”: no sourcing, except for an unknown number of people “familiar with the matter”. but there is a respectable amount of detail, including a ship date for the phone (2010) as well as details of the Sony internal reorganization that resulted in the project’s inception.

PCMag.com’s phone analyst Sascha Segan tends to dismiss unsourced stories – which, unfortunately, are both the genesis of scoops as well as rumors that are later proven to be unfounded. In the WSJ’s case, the paper’ is banking on its reputation. Personally, a phone that plays first-generation PlayStation games seems perfectly reasonable, given the processor limitations of the first-generation console. after all, the PlayStation debuted in 1994. Sony reportedly would team up with Sony Ericsson, the existing joint venture between Sony and Ericsson.

Sony declined to confirm the story. “As already announced, Sony (including SCE) and Sony Ericsson have been strengthening their collaboration in the networked mobile space. however, it is not our strategy to discuss future products or business plan before we make a formal announcement. any media report that suggests details of the product or business is based on speculation.”

Consider that “DOOM,” basically the first mass-market first-person-shooter, debuted a year earlier in 1993. That game has been ported a number of different platforms, including the Android mobile-phone operating system. could a 3D game like the original “Metal Gear: Solid” be ported to a phone? I can’t see why not.

However, as the WSJ points out, Sony’s portable game player, the PSP go, has struggled both critically, and in the sales market, of late. asking buyers to repurchase a PlayStation game in yet another format smacks of a George Lucas-style re-re-reissue of the Star Wars trilogy.

Sony has already shipped a solid, inexpensive e-reader, so an extension into a more full-featured model doesn’t seem that far-fetched, either. but Sony also has lingering issues associated with its DRM scandals of a few years ago, which continues to tarnish its reputation.

Sony Calls PlayStation Phone 'Speculation' | PC Magazine Middle …

despite being a three-system game, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins had much clearer platform differentiation between console and PC SKUs than most modern games do — and online producer Fernando Melo tells Gamasutra that effort has “really paid off” in the game’s commercial success.

“When we originally started talking about Origins before it came out, there were a lot of questions about, ‘Is the PC market dead?’” Melo recalled.

But despite those concerns, the PC version of the game “is doing really, really well,” he said, adding, “It was really a surprise.”

“I think the market was always there,” Melo said. “Perhaps the idea of taking a console game and porting it back to PC wasn’t working, but something like this — which was built first for a PC audience — I think thats really paid off.”

Of course, that applies to console platforms as well, Melo stressed. “We invested quite a lot of time making sure that it made for a good console game as well, as opposed to just doing a port,” he noted, “because the same is true both ways.”

Melo said digital distribution was also a key factor in the game’s success on the PC. “That has helped quite a bit,” he said. “Its done very well on there.”

That claim is supported by statements made by EA in its recent quarterly financial results. The publisher said its digital distribution business grew 30 percent year-over-year to reach a high of $152 million for the quarter.

But perhaps more than any of those factors, Melo believes Dragon Age’s success was driven by the core philosophy of the development team.

“We always felt very strongly about this kind of game, and I think we were going to make it regardless,” he recently told Gamasutra. “What this has shown is that people love great story; people love good games of any fashion. It’s really helping the team to validate that, yes, this is something people want.”

• Related news:
• Dragon Age Producer: Expansion Strategy Driven by Fans
• Dragon Age: Origins Sells in 3.2 Million Units
• Mass Effect 2 Sells in 2 Million Units

Dragon Age Producer: Dedicating Resources to Distinguishing PC, Console Versions ‘Paid Off’

[ Image courtesy of Gamespot ]As far back as people can remember, video games have often been something where you push a button, get from point A to point B, are set in a fictional world where at the end of the day, you save the world, save the girl, etc. When the technology of video games evolved, so did the process of telling a story, basically to the point where some of them felt like more a movie than just pushing buttons to jump onto blocks and collection out of this world items.

In the case of “Heavy Rain,” you can ask if this is a video game in the “traditional” sense or if it is a movie that just happens to be interactive. I think it’s the latter, that is reminding of those “Choose your own Adventure” books. If you are looking for a “traditional” video game where you can jump around, shoot at things, throw magic spells, etc., this will not be your cup of tea. what “Heavy Rain” is though is a vehicle that uses some of the most amazing technology in video games to deliver one solid storytelling experience.

The premise of “Heavy Rain” is that in the city of Philadelphia, there have been a series of murders in which young boys are being drowned and each time are left with an origami. Dubbed the Origami Killer, the latest victim is the son of an architect. the architect, Ethan Mars is just a simple man. He is not a cop, not a super soldier who moonlights as someone saving people from burning buildings. Just a man who has lost his son and is put to through a series of tests all to answer the question, “How fare are you prepared to save someone you love?” I’m sure it’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves. how far would you go to save a loved one? It’s in “Heavy Rain” where you can control just exactly how far you are willing to go. the gaming aspect of “Heavy Rain” comes in a series of “quick-time events” where you have to make a decision in a short amount of time and each and every single decision comes into play. this is where the reminder of the “Choose your own Adventure” books comes into play. Do you choose to go down path A or path B? there are some moments though where it may not seem like if you do or don’t do this, there won’t be a consequence, however as the story of “Heavy Rain” unfolds, you will quickly see that doing or not doing certain things can come with an actual consequence. Here’s an example, if you were caught in what is obviously a crime scene, but you know you had nothing to do with it, wouldn’t you make sure your prints weren’t on anything so that you aren’t considered a suspect? It’s this structure that has often been considered “ambitious” because well it is. the creators of “Heavy Rain” have made a fantastic effort of making it truly feel that your decisions matter. It’s been said (and I couldn’t verify it for myself when I did a first playthrough) that if a character in “Heavy Rain” dies, you do not get an undo. they are removed from the story for good and the overall story accounts for this. this creates a great level of replay value because after one playthrough, you want to see how the story could’ve ended had someone not died.

“Heavy Rain” has been in development for a long time. it was first announced in 2006 utilizing technology which at the time, a lot of people hailed as remarkable in the realm of creating facial expressions that had only been mostly seen in feature-length movies. It’s funny if you think about how far the technology and visuals have evolved in video games, yet it’s only so recent that some developers seem to be able to dig deeper into motion capture technology to create faces that can display emotions. since the initial announcement of the game in 2006 and at the time, it’s remarkable technical demo, “Heavy Rain” has been given the proper polish and finish and I have to say it’s one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen. Sure there aren’t a lot of pretty and vivid colors, but the world and characters all come to life because everything is alive. you see it in loading screen moments where you get a close-up shot of a face of a character. the movements of the eyebrows, the cheeks, all of those subtle movements are those little touches that have set “Heavy Rain” apart from a lot of other video games. it would not surprise me one bit if at the end of the year, “Heavy Rain” is praised and awarded with honors if not for overall game experience, sure as hell for the technical marvel that it is.

If you have a PlayStation 3, you owe it to yourself to invest at least one playthrough of “Heavy Rain.” you get such an engaging storytelling experience, that is real. You’re not traveling to some mystical world where dragons and magic spells are your bread and butter. this is your personal trip through a psychological crime-noir thriller that invokes emotion. for one of the year’s most anticipated games, “Heavy Rain” has delivered.

Note: the structure of “Heavy Rain” is set up in a way that a lot of decisions, pivotal or minor can affect the outcome of the story. who lives, who survives, all shapes the outcome of the story. this review was written up having completed one playthrough in which the identity of the Origami Killer was revealed and no one died.

Critiqulous: Game Review: "Heavy Rain"

Cross platform play between PC and Xbox 360 games has been few and far between in the last few years, but is Microsoft getting ready to make that happen more frequently? our sister site Engadget points over to a recent demo shown on YouTube where a simple casual platformer game is seen being played on a Windows Phone series 7 prototype phone, a PC and an Xbox 360. The demo states the game can be saved on one platform and then played again with the same saved data on either one of the other platforms.

While this demo is pretty impressive it’s another thing entirely for game developers to get excited by this prospect. again only a tiny amount of PC games have been made to play online with their Xbox 360 counterparts (Shadowrun, Lost Planet Colonies and Universe at War: Earth Assault) and that tech has been in place for about three years now.

Cross platform play demos on PC, mobile phone and Xbox 360