iPhone & Android Dents Portable Gaming Industry

Two years ago, I wrote about the looming death of portable gaming devices... seems like it happened sooner than we thought. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal covered Nintendo's revamped 3DS handeld gaming device - which Nintendo is hoping will revive their declining gaming platform and business:

"The Japanese company also reported its first interim net loss in seven years, hurt by weakening overseas sales and the strength of the yen. First-half revenue fell 34% to 363.16 billion yen ($4.44 billion) from a year ago."

While the Nintendo 3DS may be a great device (to be determined).... the fact of the matter is that improved hardware won't solve Nintendo's problem. Asking consumers to buy a handheld device, carry that device, and individually buy game titles (at $29 / disc) is unreasonable.

Consumers already carry iPhone's, iPod Touches, and Android Devices - and those platforms now have large libraries of gaming content. The games are far cheaper (free to $9.99) and wildly popular: 14/15 top grossing iPhone apps are games.

We have learned that with Apple and Android - and to a lesser degree Znyga, LOLapps, etc - consumers value gameplay and social more than game graphics and flashiness.

Can the Apple iTV Bridge Family Room & Web? I'll Bet So.

Fascinating chart on AlleyInsider this week noting that, for the first time ever, pay TV has lost subscribers. A little earlier in the week, the NYTimes argued that TV is changing (web, applications, on-demand) but paid television still rules the livingroom.

I shared the NYTimes article on Facebook with the following the note: "We will break our dependence. But - it will still likely include paywalls... but rather than for cable - it will be for content."

And that's why I believe the forthcoming Apple iTV is important to the TV / Web transition. First, it's at the right price: supposedly $99. And knowing Apple, it be designed simply enough that connecting the device to the TV and the web will be easy as 1. 2. 3. Until now, consumers had two options - both of which disqualified the above points (price and simplicity):

1. Buy a mini-computer (ie Mac Mini or Dell Zino) and connect it to the TV. Plus: full operating system and highly customizable. Con: very expensive (~$500-$1,000), complicated and techy.

2. Purchase a brand new, web-enabled TV OR a gaming device. Pro: out of the box usage. Con: expensive and limited / poor experience, content selection, etc.

If the rumors are right - Apple can change this with:

- a $99 price point (fraction of any other reasonable alternative)

- an iOS interface that tens of millions of users are familiar (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad)

- simple integration and web browsing (try using the web on XBox or PS3 - it's *very* limited)

- and an unmatched catalog of content and applications (not to mention developers - which is more important)

Suddenly web browsing, iTunes, Pandora, Netflix streaming, MLB At Bat, etc are all imaginable. And its a more natural solution - at least in the short term - than through the television manufacturer, the gaming devices, etc.

Doodle Jump Goes Retina on iPhone 4

No real news here - unless you are a huge Doodle Jump fan (one of the highest selling iphone apps of all time - and one of the biggest time sinks of all time). Yesterday Doodle Jump released the newest version of their app such that it is compatible with iPhone 4 and the retina display. That's the news - which is not why I am writing this... Rather, I was struck by how crisp and clear the imagery is. For iPhone 4 users (and to a lesser extent iPad users), graphics and web browsing looks great - thanks in part to apple and in part to designers / developers.

This is the welcome screen from the new Doodle Jump game - it's gorgeous. And you're probably not viewing it on an iPhone 4 screen. Its like looking at a zoomed in adobe illustrator font vs. a non-true-type font.

It is also interesting how developers are now using retina display optimized graphics as a selling point.

Twitter's Earlybird Launches Madden 11 for $39.99 on Buy.com; Sells Out But Doesn't Translate to Twitter Followers

Yesterday was the launch of Madden NFL 11 (coverage here). Yesterday was also my first purchase through Twitter's Earlybird. Earlybird had a big offer on the new Madden NFL 11 video game - it normally retails for $59.99 but was sold through Buy.com (sans @Earlybird) for $39.99.

Considering the savings and the timing - it was a compelling offer... and it sold out after three offer releases over a two hour period.

Interestingly, the promotion did not lead to a significant increase in Twitter followers for Buy.com (@buy_com). Despite the offers buzz, Buy.com only gained ~300 Twitter followers. Ultimately, I imagine that they are valuing the promotion in part to increased social buzz / presence (as I imagine most purchasers were like me: in and out with only a discounted video game).

Zynga's Frontierville: 0.45 DAU / MAU (50% Better than #2 Farmville)

When Zynga launched Treasure Isle, I wrote about the economies of scale that enabled them to drive nearly 17,000,000 monthly active users in the game's first 18 days... staggering figures. Zynga's latest game, Frontierville, is now 19 days old, and also seeing meteoric growth. In their first 18 days, Frontierville has markedly fewer monthly actives than Treasure Isle did... but it is worth noting that virality on Facebook has gotten more challenging over the last few weeks (it is always a moving target). Whereas Treasure Isle had 17m monthly uniques, Frontierville has 12m:

12m uniques in a partial month is large by any measure ... in fact, it puts Frontierville at #20 on the largest Facebook games list (behind other Zynga properties like: Farmville #1, Texas Holdem Poker #2, Treasure Isle #3, Cafe World #4, Mafia Wars #7, Petville #13, Fishville #17):

Click for full size

The most impressive aspect of Frontierville's success is their DAU (daily active users)... a metric that better indicates engagement and retention than monthly uniques. Frontierville is #6 on Facebook by their DAU count (5.3m) and just behind Texas Holdem Poker, Cafe World and Treasure Isle (Farmville and Blackberry are #1 and #2 are orders of magnitude greater: ~20m and 10m respectively):

And when you compare the daily active users to the monthly active users (DAU / MAU) - you get a direct measurement of daily engagement with a game. The DAU / MAU metric is a critical factor as it defines engagement / retention ... and in turn helps drive virality (invites, feed posting, etc) and revenue (whether virtual goods, offers or ads).

And this is where Frontierville really shines: of any game, it has the highest DAU/MAU rate at 45%. To put that in perspective, Farmville is #2 and is 30%. Obviously Frontierville's rates are inflated because they are only 2/3rds through with the month - but even significant discounts over the next 10 days would result in leading rates.

Data and charts are from AppData - the best source for app metrics

Frontierville.com: A Strange Redirect to Facebook App

Earlier this week Zynga launched their newest game Frontierville - it already has 1.3m monthly actives and 450k fans. While Frontierville's gameplay inherits many of the best practices of its siblings, its domain behavior doesn't. Zynga has made an effort to instill their own branding across the properties and place games at their own domain - like Farmville.com (screenshot at bottom). Frontierville.com however behaves differently. Rather than its own domain and embedded gameplay, it uses a frame to display the Facebook application page while maintaining the frontierville.com domain. The page itself is grayed out - but still active (showing your Facebook data and playing the Frontierville music). The page isn't actionable... but when clicked (anywhere) you are directed to the actual game and application page: http://apps.facebook.com/frontierville/

Here is Farmville.com:

Live Streaming: Dogpatch Labs + Wild Pockets 2010 Game Jam

Tonight Dogpatch Labs is hosting Wild Pocket's Bay Area Game Jam Workshop. Wild Pockets is one of the several new Dogpatch Labs residents moving in on May 1. Tonight's workshop is being streamed live via Ustream (embedded below) and starts at 6:30pm pst. It will be followed by a Dogpatch Labs Social Gaming evening complete with pizza and keg:

Stream videos at Ustream

Game Mechanics, Badges & eBay Feedback Ratings

Thanks to the success of Foursquare, Booyah / MyTown and Zynga, "game mechanics", "badges" and "leaderboards" have become cornerstones of any web marketer's dialect and user-acquisition strategy. What these three companies have done so well is figure out how to apply game mechanics to the core experience... in a way that is fun, on-brand and - most importantly - adds value to the users. As an example, anyone can add badges or leaderboards to their product - but if it is merely a front-end layer, it won't stick. And as more companies race to understand and apply game mechanics, differentiation and core integration becomes even more important. Not to take anything away from Foursquare or Zynga - who I have great respect for - game mechanics are not new concepts. Mainstays like eBay and Amazon have been applying game mechanics to their core businesses for years.

One of the great examples is eBay's seller rating system... which is represented by stars.

It does several things well:

1. Clarity: it clearly and obviously conveys reputation

2. Persistence: it travels alongside the username throughout the entire eBay experience

3. Value-Add: the reputation system adds value to the buyer and to the seller

4. Incents Behavior: sellers fight very hard to foster their reputation and earn new stars. It also fosters communication between buyers & sellers.

5. Drives Activity / Engagement: there are gaps between each 'reward' that drive activity and excitement. But the goal is transparent and well-defined.

6. Marketing Opportunities: for eBay marketers, it is an opportunity to engage customer segments. Your first star, for instance, is welcomed with a congratulations email and certificate.

7. Scarcity: the higher level stars are earned by a select few (1,000,000 ratings!). For them, it is a badge of honor that extends on AND off eBay.

In summary: think about how game mechanics apply to your core product and brand... and how it adds value to your users. Game mechanics are powerful only if fully weaved in to consumer experience and mentality.

For fun: check out the Wikipedia page of Foursquare's badge list.

Zynga's Treasure Isle: Economies of Scale in a Social World

There are two camps in the world of social gaming:- One side thinks that it has been won outright by Zynga - The other side believes that we are in the early innings of a nine-inning game No matter where you fall on this spectrum, it is clear that Zynga benefits greatly from their massive userbase (which they worked hard to amass). It is also clear that this is a major competitive advantage precisely because it is a tremendous lever to launch new titles.

Ever watched a popular television show or event and seen the constant reminder of an upcoming show on that same network? This is more powerful because it is in-browser, social and can be cleverly incentivized / connected.

Proof: Zynga's newest title Treasure Isle is days old (launched April 6). It now has roughly 17m monthly actives and 7m daily actives. Not only does that make Treasure Isle the fastest growing Facebook App, it makes it the 16th biggest game on Facebook ... in a matter of days.

It of course helps that Treasure Isle is very well done - a generational improvement over Farmville and Cafe World. But, as many developers know well, audience collection is often tougher than building the game. Zynga has done both: