EA’s big shift toward treating games as services instead of packaged goods is going to mean restructuring this year.

Chief executive John Riccitiello said in today’s earnings call that there will be some layoffs as the company increases production of online, mobile, and social games. While EA beat earnings estimates for the quarter ending in March, its shares fell in after-hours trading by as much as 9.5 percent. The company has slipped nearly 20 percent since its last earnings call in February.

EA said in the statement that the move was being launched “to align the company’s cost structure with its ongoing digital transformation.” For some quick history: About a month ago, Derek Anderson reported that EA would be laying off 500+ employees, which came on the heels of its big Popcap acquisition, the departure of its CFO, and the ignominious title of being named “the worst company in America,” according to The Consumerist.

EA had denied reports of impending layoffs, and then qualified that by saying that the layoffs would only affect a relatively small portion of employees. In its investor conference call this afternoon, EA said that its restructuring would indeed in result layoffs. But the company is also hiring at the same time, so it expects to actually add 500 employees by the end of this fiscal year.

Riccitiello also said that the company will be investing $80 million in fourth-generation console games, and that this kind of next-gen console development would lead to even more investment in research and development.

He also teased the fact that the company plans to release a “big social title” this quarter. EA exec Peter Moore would not say what the game was, although some have speculated that the company is working on a new version of SimCity, possibly to be released on Facebook, as SimCity for PC will be arriving later this year.

The Sims, EA’s biggest social game to date, started out with a bang and grabbed the second spot in the most popular social games rankings behind CityVille. But its engagement has been declining of late and it now ranks behind King’s Bubble Witch Saga, Zynga Slingo and other games based on daily active usage.

Social gaming continues to be a smaller part of EA’s revenues. But EA made it clear on the call that this will be a bigger part of its strategy going forward. “Social is moving to a good place,” Riccitiello said.

The CEO also said that he thinks brands like The Sims, SimCity, and Bejeweled have withstood the test of time over the years. He said that the hockey-stick growth many gaming startups see is unsustainable. It may have been a veiled reference to Zynga’s recent deal to buy OMGPOP for $180 million in cash.

“We dont need to buy a brand to get whats hot this quarter,” Riccitiello said. Overall, this is a period of transition for EA, as it starts thinking about games as services.

For more, check out Kim-Mai’s initial coverage here, and EA’s statements here.

Disney and Japanese mobile gaming giant DeNA announced a new partnership this morning that will see their first jointly developed mobile social games launched on DeNA’s Mobage social gaming platform, beginning later this month.

The first title to arrive, “Disney Party,” was released on March 28th to the Mobage network in Japan, which serves a mobile gaming audience of over 35 million. On April 2nd, a second title will arrive in Japan called “Disney Fantasy Quest.” These two games will involve Disney’s own characters, but will be followed by a third, (yet to be named) card game battle that’s based on Marvel Comics characters.

The two companies aren’t only focused on Japan, despite DeNA’s Japanese roots – the plan is to make all three titles available worldwide. Localized versions of the two games will arrive both as smartphone apps as well as on Mobage’s non-Japanese networks: Mobage Global for North America and Europe, Mobage China, and Daum Mobage for South Korea. They will be the first three jointly developed titles released outside of Japan.

In addition, the new agreement will also see Disney and DeNA teaming up on other efforts, including Disney movies, Disney TV shows and smartphone apps. Disney Japan’s president said at a news conference that he hoped the unnamed Marvel Comics game would help raise awareness in Japan where the characters don’t have a built-in audience, ahead of the film which opens in August. (The Avengers, perhaps?)

DeNA has been doing well as of late. The company posted a strong third quarter in February, which saw net sales up by 16%, boosting its valuation to $4.8 billion. It’s now working on building up its presence in the U.S., Europe, China and South Korea – and this Disney deal will certainly help.

Android may be the most popular mobile browser, having today overtaken Opera, but when it comes to HTML5 performance, it looks like iOS is king. This at least according to a new report from spaceport.io, which claims to be the “first-ever report on the technology’s performance on top smartphone and tablet platforms”.

And it’s about time. With Facebook and major carriers and OEMs backing it, HTML5 has been gaining ground as a viable technology to support rich mobile apps on many of today’s most popular platforms. Interestingly, many had surmised that HTML5 might throw a wrench in Apple’s quest to become the dominant mobile platform, but spaceport’s “PerfMarks report” showed that iOS devices and browsers (iPhone, iPad, and Safari) outperformed its Android competitors across the board when it came to rendering movement on-screen.

Spaceport is looking to add to the HTML5 consortium’s movement to establish a series of objective benchmarks for judging HTML5 game performance across mobile operating systems in hopes of creating industry standards and giving developers a reliable litmus for performance across platforms. The company tested each device’s ability to support HTML5 games by analyzing image movement capabilities, first and foremost, measuring the number of moving images on a screen at 30 frames per second — a comparable rate to the native experience.

Spaceport found that iOS devices like the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 scored very high, handling over 200 moving objects and over 300 moving objects, respectively. And to that point, the iPad 2 ranked as the top device for HTML5 games and apps performance, beating out all Android devices across the board.

According to the report, only the Android Galaxy Nexus was able to maintain more than one moving object on the screen (an average of about 100 images), while all other Android phones, like the Droid 2, for example, struggled to handle a single image at 30 frames-per-second. Unfortunately for Android, phones like the Droid 2 ranked below even the oldest iPhone tested, the 3GS, which handled 53 moving objects at 30 FPS.

What’s more, in spite of the powerful hardware many Android tablets are running, most performed poorly, although “the Galaxy Tab and Asus Eee Pad Transformer performed moderately well, but only with certain animation techniques, like css3dbackground and css2dimg.”

In all, the report concluded that both of the latest iterations of the two platforms, iOS 5.0 and Android 4.0 have “registered massive improvements,” 100 percent increases each, in image-movement capabilities since their last versions. And the bright side for Android, the report noted, is that Ice Cream Sandwich has made it a “much more viable environmnet for HTML5 development,” while Android 3.0 devices? Not so much.

“HTML5 is getting faster over time, as seen in the latest OS updates across Android and iOS. Although this is a welcome trend, there is still a long way to go,” says spaceport.io founder Ben Savage.

For more, check out spaceport.io at home here.

Yesterday, we took a look at the growing comfort consumers, specifically gamers, have with purchasing virtual goods and currency on the Web and mobile devices. Virtual goods are becoming a booming market thanks to the growing maturity of gaming platforms, free-to-play models and the profusion of mobile devices.

Today, international investment firm Digi-Capital published its in-depth review of the global gaming space, giving us a sense of the size, breadth, and activity of the very international gaming market last year that is contributing to the changing behavior around virtual commerce — as well as a glimpse into what we can expect from the industry over the course of 2012.

For starters, Digi-Capital found that gaming investment and M&A more than doubled in 2011, as private placements grew by 96 percent to $2 billion, the number of transactions increased by 67 percent to 152, and the average fundraising round increased by 17 percent to $13 million. When combined with the enormous IPOs of Zynga and Nexon, investment value nearly quadrupled. All in all, gaming M&A volume grew 88 percent to 113 transactions, value grew 160 percent to $3.4 billion, and the average M&A deal size grew 38 percent to $30.4 million.

In terms of which gaming sectors saw the most investment and M&A activity in 2011? Unsurprisingly, social and casual games took home the bacon, making up 57 percent of private investment and 45 percent of M&A activity. Digi-Capital believes that Zynga’s IPO was likely the “high water mark for Social Games 1.0,” as the crowded nature of the space will make it increasingly difficult for companies to sustain user acquisition and retention.

In analyzing global gaming in terms of total daily active users and individual game daily active users, the investment firm found that a small number of companies are delivering on the promise of maintaining (and growing) their user bases, specifically referencing Wooga and King.com. However, with the trend beginning in 2011, this year will likely see continued consolidating M&A activity in gaming.

Second to social and casual gaming in terms of transaction volume was social/mobile games, with 30 percent of private investment and 27 percent of M&A activity, although the value of private investment hasn’t really hit its full potential yet. Digi cited DeNA and Gree as two examples of how investment in social-mobile games can actually deliver ROI, with the former seeing more than $1.4 billion in revenues at a 50 percent operating margin, and the latter seeing equivalent revenues in the 12 months leading up to December 2011, with a 46 percent operating margin. Going forward, mobile-social and cross-platform games will continue to attract significant attention from both investors and potential acquirers.

And just as we wrote in April last year, large, profitable Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean gaming companies will continue to look for M&A opportunities in North America, as gaming continues to explode across Asia. The same will be true for some of the big American gaming companies, but both suffer from a lack of local knowledge, and cross-pollination.

Going forward, Digi-Capital expects online and mobile games to significantly contribute to the growth of the international gaming market, with the total market reaching an estimated $82 billion by 2015, and online and mobile games taking 50 percent of that revenue. (Interestingly, it expects the pure console sector to be “flat to down” over that time.) What’s more, the report forecasts that Asia and Europe will take 87 percent of the revenues for online and mobile games, with China leading at 36 percent, followed by Europe at 20 percent, South Korea at 12 percent, and Japan at 10 percent.

However, while online and mobile games are growing their scale and share of the overall market, consumer markets are expected to continue to fragment, and profitable business models will become harder to come by. Over the course of the next year, gaming companies will have to develop multiple development platforms, instead of relying on one hit game, and find multiple platform and geographical distributors. Relying solely on Facebook won’t cut it for long. Rapid, low-cost game development and redevelopment cycles, fast failure, strong analytics, and true scalability will continually become more significant as the industry matures.

That being said, Digi-Capital found that there is more demand for investment among high-growth gaming companies than there is supply, as “outside major investment deals, online and mobile games companies still find it challenging to find high quality investors, and traditional VCs are becoming increasingly selective.” The current trend among VCs, the report finds, is to go after later-stage deals, but there’s potential to change as the market changes and more people flock to mobile and social games.

All in all, it seems there are plenty of potential growth and consolidation opportunities across the gaming sectors, but there’s no doubt that mobile-social, online, and cross-platform games will continue to explode over the course of the coming year, and we can expect M&A and investment activity to increase as social gaming works toward consolidation and more mobile gaming companies rise into the spotlight.

For more, check out Digi-Capital’s report here.

Excerpt image from MaxUpdates.tv

Play Web-based Games By means of Using The Java Programming Language

Article by Noblitt Debro

Nowadays, on-line primarily based games are ever so popular. A few web pages use it to permit folks have interaction with their web pages and make it extra fun whilst others use it for pure gaming.

On-line video games basically paintings on Java programming language and also are one of the vital standard systems to create such online games and websites. Java is mainly associated with C++. However, the Java programming language is way more effective than the complex C++ language.

Java is also one of the extensively used programming languages to develop websites. It’s because the builders assume that the internet is now becoming interactive and the Java software is the very best method for other people to interact within the internet. And, it seems that the Java developers were right. Other folks are actually using Java programming on a regular basis throughout the internet.

Unfastened on-line video games are very talked-about today, so, on-line games developers have developed a new way to create their games. Java programming language proved to be very promising relating to developing on-line games. This may be a good way to promote games over the internet. By means of using the Java programming language, people can now play part of the specific sport and believe purchasing it if they like it.

With the Java generation, many people can now have get admission to to loose on-line games.

First of all, Java become highly regarded while a specific web browser supported Java to be incorporated in their browsers. Most people use Java thru applets which can be supported by most browsers today.

Making a game by way of using a Java programming language may require you to have no less than a bit of of data in regards to the Java programming language. You can attend programming schools and take a Java programming language route if you would like to understand how to create Java programs.

You should believe that making a Java on-line game would require some time sooner than you master it. Lately, you’ll be able to see different video games evolved in the Java programming language. So, in case you are taking into consideration putting a Java sport on your site, you will have to imagine hiring a Java programmer to do the job for you. A Java sport for your web page will create internet traffic for your website. And, as a result of Java games are amusing to play with, you can in point of fact ensure that folks will all the time come again to consult with your website online and eventually buy some of your games.

There’s a lot of Java games web site in the internet as of late and more Java video games are being launched everyday. Java games are simple and fun to play with and it is usually a great way to calm down after surfing the web or operating for hours in entrance of your computer.

There are different Java games available. You’ll be able to choose from action games, puzzle video games, card games, and other genres that appeals to you. There also are multiplayer Java games that you can play with people all over the world who’s recently online.

There are also gambling web pages that uses Java programming language to increase their online gambling websites. From pokers to roulettes you’re going to see that most of these gambling site will require you to have the contemporary Java software put in to your pc to let you have the ability to get right of entry to their site or play and bet of their games.

Java multiplayer games are nice for socializing and chatting with folks from different portions of the world. If you wish to play Java games, all you need to do is move on your favourite seek engine and kind in the key phrases that you are searching for in a loose online Java games.

This can be an incontrovertible fact that video games are made to be a laugh and enjoyable. Alternatively, you should also believe the truth that a few Java games available within the internet may also be violent or offensive to a few people. Because of this you should imagine taking a closer take a look at the overview first before playing. Through doing this you’ll be able to be certain that that you’re going to be enjoying your gaming revel in through Java games.

So, in case you are searching for an approach to go the time or you need a break from your paintings, and there is no video games put in for your pc, you’ll be able to at all times get entry to the internet and play Java video games online.

Six months ago, Brass Monkey had built and released some well-developed software development kits (SDKs) for Android, iOS, and beyond that, simply put, enabled gamers to turn their mobile devices into remote controllers, with support for Flash, Unity3D, and desktop games and apps. The Brass Monkey team, CEO Chris Allen tells us, believed that bringing the functionality of a Wii controller to smart devices was something gamers could get excited about — but, at the time, they were missing one important piece. Support that would allow gamers to play on the browser. So they went about acq-hiring Emotely and its Founder and CEO Francois Laberge, bringing him on as CTO.

Laberge, through Emotely, had developed the necessary tech to convert smartphones into controllers and run games on the browser using HTML5 for both interface and communication layer (with HTTP and WebSockets), all of which brought an essential component to Brass Monkey’s existing products.

Fast forward to today, and Brass Monkey has a free app for iOS that allows you to run one of seven killer games through your browser. In other words, it really turns Chrome, Safari, and Firefox into video game consoles that work in tandem with the app on your iPhone to turn it into your controller. Really, any screen with a web browser becomes your display.

And for developers, Brass Monkey offers SDKs that enable them to create games for the browser that have features similar to Xbox, PS3, Wii, etc. using familiar tools for web games, like HTML5, Unity, and/or Flash. Of course, it may sound a bit complicated — and this is the one problem these guys are going to run up against, the “huh?” factor — but it’s really not.

You launch your app, the browser recognizes your phone, and then you get to choose from seven games, like Monkey Golf (move your phone back and forth to putt), Monkey Volleyball, there are racing games, zombie shooters, etc. The app takes you through the setup, and you can be playing in a couple of minutes with a good WiFi connection.

I’ve messed around with it a bit, and a few of the games are still pretty glitchy, but granted my graphics card isn’t exactly high caliber. If you’re having problems, close all your tabs and other applications if you have to, and the games should work smoothly. One of the games, Gnop Gnop, even has support for multiplayer.

Brass Monkey also recently added a virtual currency model into the app with its latest release, which came out while the team was showing off their wares at CES. This allows users to purchase a whole mess of Brass Coins via in-app purchases, which they can then use to buy games on the site. The startup has also recently begun to ramp up their effort to bring on third-party developers to build games for its web console, and is offering a rev share for all in-app purchases from their games.

All in all, this is an extremely appealing concept. I’m not exactly the world’s most avid gamer, but this is something I can get addicted to, especially as I’m usually only feet away from my smartphone and a web-connected apparatus or doohickey of some kind. (I have a sneaking suspicion I’m not the only one.) Yes, it’s still a work in progress, so don’t go in with a rigid frame of mind, but this is awesome stuff. Just ask Joypad, who are onto the same idea, with more of a focus on the iPad.

Converting smartphones into controllers for browser games is an idea that has intrigued investors as well, as Brass Monkey is today announcing that it has raised $750K in seed financing from a host of angel investors, including Co-founder of Kima Ventures, Jeremie Berrebi, David Beyer, CEO of Chart.io, Founder and Managing Director of Boston Seed Capital Nicole Stata, and more. (See the full roster on AngelList.) The CEO tells me that the team has already begun raising its series A, too, and is already in talks with some big venture firms.

The Boston-based Brass Monkey was also a 2010 finalist in MassChallenge, a competition and networking organization for startups.

For more, check out Brass Monkey at home here, or watch the video below. Let us know what you think.

SharkLaser writes “Minecraft, the most widely known and best selling indie game in the history, is now finished. Minecraft creator Notch tweeted yesterday that Minecraft has gone gold and will be released at the end of the week at the first Minecon, a gathering of Minecraft fans. So far over 4 million people have bought the game, generating over 50 million dollars in revenue. Minecraft has also had a rapid modding community around the game, developing gems like the Millenaire mod, Builders and Tornadoes. Minecraft also brought back the interest in voxel based engines, introducing games like Ace of Spades (build, make tunnels, capture the flag FPS) and Voxatron [note: you might want to turn down your volume for this video]. It also opened up many ways for new indie developers, as Minecraft showed development can be funded solely by making something new and giving out early access to the game for those who are interested in the project. The upcoming Steam-like IndieCity-platform will also employ similar feature where, in addition to normal indie game store, players can look at unfinished projects and choose to support their development.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Java Mobile Phone Games: Best of 2006!

The year 2006 was an amazing year for mobile gaming fanatics as the gaming industry came up with few amazing games that had a heady mix of action-adventures to puzzlers to racers to just about everything! These latest mobile phone games developed by companies like Player One, Real, Gameloft, Glu, Digital Chocolate, THQ Wireless amongst others are selling like hotcakes in the market! People used to download free Java games till few years back but nowadays Mobile Games are mainly sold through Network Carriers/Operators portals.

With Java games going out of vogue these high octane games have started tempting the gaming community to come out and enjoy thrills dished out by them! These latest mobile phone games use platforms and technologies like Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian OS, Macromedia’s Flash Lite, DoCoMo’s DoJa, Sun’s J2ME that have limited these exciting games to high end handsets only.

Few of the best games that won over people in UK are Tornado Mania, Stranded, NFS Carbon and host of other games. The original concept Tornado Mania of controlling a Tornado to wreck havoc on the city made it instant success with all of us, the slowly unfolding plot of Stranded, inspired from Channel 4’s Lost, kept us all hanging on the tenterhooks of excitement unparalleled. NFS Carbon is a hardcore urban racing game with full of ‘twists’ and turns with steep ravines adding an extra bit of excitement for the gamer!

These are just to name a few of the mobile games who finished the year on the pinnacle but there were others like Asphalt 3: Street Rules, 2006 Real Football, Mafia Wars Yakuza, Turbo Camels: Circus Extreme were few other games that enthralled us during the year that just went by. With games like Voodoo Kart, Age of Heroes III – Orc’s Retribution, America’s Army: Special Operations, Rodland and many others set to invade our mobile phones, the year 2007 is looking good!

Java Games for Your Cell Phone

Are you one of those people who get tired when standing in queue? Can’t stop multitasking no matter what you do? Maybe you need to download some games for your cell phone. Java games are based on a very skinny programming language, and have surprisingly great functionality even on a limited tool like your cellphone.

Today’s cell phones are multifunctional organizational tools, you can use them to entertain yourself, and you can personalize them as a fashion or personal style statement. But a lot of people just don’t give a hoot about anything but games.

What’s your personality in games? Action, puzzles, racing, sports? Do you like cerebral entertainment, or do you prefer first-person shooters?

Action Games

Ghost Force, Alien Unleashed, Conflict Vietnam, Predator these are just a few of the action games you can pick up for your cell phone. It’s not going to look as good as it does on your flat-screen games-enhanced system at home, but you’ll find that many of the functions you’re used to having are there, like AI and full missions. The best news: If you’re nostalgic for some of the original games, fully-functional java game versions may be available for you to download.

Online Play with Java Games

Prefer playing against real opponents? You can do that. With games like Badaz Poker and Blackjack, you have the option of playing your cell phone java games online or offline, and you can even engage in tournament play and chat with your opponents. Watch for more of this sort of game in the future.

Racing Games

Have you ever wanted to see if you could beat Lance Armstrong? Well, you can try it now from your own armchair. With games like Tour de France and Extreme Motorbike, you can race around the track or the course while you’re standing still. Or you can try some Race2Kill and drive the way you’ve always wanted to drive in rush hour with guns, bottle rockets, and flamethrowers. Onscreen, at least, you can finally take out your fellow drivers while you’re showing them your exhaust. With cell phone java games, you can dream wherever you are, without actually hurting anyone.

Adventure Games

You prefer your games with a little princess, a little sword? Try some of the great adventure games available for your cell phone. With java games like The Black Citadel, the classic Baldur’s Gate, or Pirates, you’ll never be caught with empty time on your hands. In fact, you might find your hands itching to play your new java game instead of whatever you’re supposed to be doing.

Sports Games

With games like Dream Team Soccer or Smash and Ace (a tennis game), you can play your favorite sports while standing in queue at the grocery or just whenever. If you want to be laid-back, consider Darts and Drinks; feeling a little violent, try Ko Kickboxing. Or you can try a little sports fishing, with Shark Hunt.

Future Trends

Java games on cell phones are a new trend. Watch for more games with more functions, especially online functionality, coming in the near future.