Mobile Game Revenue To Top $11 Billion By 2015

Mobile game revenue is expected to nearly double by 2015, Juniper Research predicted today.

According to the market researcher, mobile game revenue topped $6 billion last year.

By 2015, Juniper predicts, that figure will be over $11 billion. However, the research firm noted that as time goes on, a shift will occur with revenue migrating from the "traditional pay-per-download model" to in-game purchases.

Juniper expects that by 2013, more revenue will be generated from in-game purchases than from actual downloads of mobile games. The research firm said "discoverability remains a problem for developers and publishers on some app stores," so offering a free title and then getting people to pay for more levels or virtual goods is becoming the more desired way to attract gamers and revenue.

It could be a smart move. Earlier this month, research firm In-Stat reported that virtual goods revenue is expected to reach $7.3 billion this year. In 2007, consumers spent just $2.1 billion on virtual goods. By 2014, the firm predicts, customers could spend more than $14 billion on in-game virtual goods. Although those figures include data from social-networking titles, in addition to mobile games, it effectively highlights the growth in this area.

Juniper also reported that although games are available on several different mobile platforms, "Apple's iPhone/App Store combination has set the benchmark, with a higher share of revenue for developers."


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Retailers Get Ready For Black Ops Midnight Release

The Nov. 9 release of Call of Duty: Black Ops has got retailers preparing for a midnight release tonight of what should be the biggest multi-platform game release of the year. Best Buy, Gamestop, Walmart, Toys R Us are among the nationwide stores taking part in the midnight release.

GameStop will be hosting midnight releases at 4,408 of its stores where you can enter the “going camo” face painting and Call of Duty trivia contests, and also get 250 PowerUp Rewards bonus points when purchasing within 48 hours of the launch. The game will be viewable at 9:30 PM. Find a Best Buy location here.

Best Buy will also be open in more locations than last year’s Call of Duty release (over 400 this year) and will be offering sales support and deals for customers interested in 3D gameplay. You can find a participating Best Buy using this link.

At Walmart 24 hour locations we hear that you can apparently get there at 9:30 pm to play the game (if lines permit) and you’ll can also get a special Black Ops Bandana as part of the release. Find a participating Walmart store here.

Call of Duty: Black Ops from Activision will sell in three different editions for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that include the Standard Edition for $59.99, the Hardened Edition for $79.99, and the Prestige Edition for $149.99.

‘Black Ops’ will also be available for Windows PC, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS, however, only in the Standard Edition.

Xbox 360 Update Taps ESPN, Zune Music

Xbox 360 owners who power up their consoles today will be greeted with the fall update to the console's Xbox Live service.

The update includes access to ESPN content. According to Microsoft, the ESPN offering will give people access to more than 3,500 live and on-demand sporting events a year. The ESPN integration also includes scoreboards, voice chat, and the ability to "predict the winner" of games.

Through Zune Music, people will be able to stream "millions of songs" from the Zune Marketplace, as long as they have a Zune Pass music subscription.

Microsoft also said it has streamlined Netflix search, improved quality in voice chat, and made a fix that makes it easier to access wireless networks. The ESPN content, Zune Music, and Netflix search require an Xbox Live Gold account.

This week is shaping up to be a big one for Microsoft. The fall update comes three days before the release of the highly anticipated Kinect motion-gaming peripheral. Kinect lets people control on-screen action with body movements alone. It will sell for $150.


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Major Fefresh Coming To Xbox.com

Xbox.com will get a major overhaul tomorrow that will deliver several new features, Microsoft announced today.

The updated site will offer a browser-based avatar-editing tool that lets users create virtual characters and preview their design before purchasing it. In addition, Microsoft plans to combine "messages, friend, and game requests" into a single pane to make it easier for folks to see what's happening in their gaming network.

The new Xbox.com will feature Web-based games that users can play with their Xbox Live friends, Microsoft said. The site will also include reports featuring information on what a person's family members are doing on Xbox Live. The site's marketplace will feature "more powerful search and more intuitive ways to browse and filter," according to the company.

Starting at 2 a.m. PDT tomorrow morning, Microsoft said, Xbox.com will be down "for a short period of time" to complete the implementation of the new features.


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COD: Black Ops Preorders Higher Than MW2

Call of Duty: Black Ops, the latest title in the venerable Call of Duty franchise, has hit higher preorder levels than its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Gamestop announced yesterday.

"GameStop is tracking to all-time, record reservations on Call of Duty: Black Ops," GameStop senior vice president of merchandising, Bob McKenzie said in a statement. "We are ahead of where we were with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year, which previously set the industry standard."

If Call of Duty: Black Ops stays on its course and potentially outsells Modern Warfare 2, it would be an impressive feat.

Modern Warfare 2 was called the "biggest entertainment launch in history" after it launched last November. In just its first five days of availability, it generated approximately $550 million in revenue, Activision said at the time.

Earlier this year, Guinness World Records announced that Modern Warfare 2 generated $401.6 million in its first day of availability, making it the biggest launch in the history of the gaming business. It supplanted Grand Theft Auto IV, which generated $310 million on its launch day.

Call of Duty: Black Ops, which is being developed by Treyarch, not Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward, is scheduled to launch on November 9 for all three consoles, the PC, and the Nintendo DS.


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Analyst: 3DS U.S. Launch In April, To Cost $250

Nintendo says it will release its 3DS portable gaming device to U.S. and Europe in March, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter isn't convinced.

Speaking in an interview with gaming blog Joystiq, Pachter said that based on "how Nintendo does things," he doesn't believe it's "remotely possible they're launching [the 3DS in the] first half of March."

"I'm getting it gets delayed until April in Europe and U.S.," Pachter said.
Pachter also isn't convinced that the 3DS, which allows gamers to play in 3D without requiring 3D glasses, will be sold in the U.S. and Europe for the $300 price tag Nintendo plans for the Japanese market. In fact, he believes Nintendo will charge $50 less for the device in Western markets.

"I know people who haven't played a handheld in forever--I'm talking guys who play Halo and Call of Duty 24/7 and nothing else--and they all want one," Pachter told Joystiq. "I think Nintendo will charge $250 and people will pay it."

Pachter said Nintendo will likely sell 3DS titles for $34.99.

So far, Nintendo has been relatively tight-lipped on key details about the U.S. and Europe 3DS launch. The company announced yesterday that the device will be available at the end of February in Japan for $300, and it plans to launch it in the U.S. and European markets in March. It didn't provide an exact release date or a launch price.


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Black Ops Zombies: Confirmed!

Well, the long, long wait is finally over for many Zombie-mode fans around the globe. Today, in CVG’s sneak peak at Black Ops’ Strategy Guide, they discovered a rather interesting tagline.

“a complete walkthrough to the gritty Cold War-era Campaign mode, tips and tricks to rank up in Multiplayer, how to excel in Co-Op, or fight back the relentless Nazi Zombie horde” – BradyGames Black Ops Strategy Guide

So, from this statement, we are able to glean two important bits of information. First, the traditional Nazi Zombie mode is returning, where players fight off an endless horde of undead while trying to frantically repair windows and openings into their safehouse. Secondly, we are able to see that Nazi Zombies is not the exclusive co-op mode. The tagline clearly reads co-op OR Nazi Zombies. Exact details on that, of course, are not confirmed just yet but hopefully we will see more info on that in the GameTrailers TV spotlight on Black Ops.

Also mentioned in the strategy guide are “tactics for every type of Co-Op, Team-Based, and Head-to-Head play mode,” seeming to indicate that there is more than one game type in Co-Op mode.

Mark Lamia speaks to Edge Magazine

You didn’t think the Zombie news stopped there, did you? Mark Lamia, Studio Head at Treyarch, spoke to Edge magazine and had this to say, concerning Zombies:
“We continued to evolve [Nazi Zombies] after World At War – there was a dialogue going on with some of our hardcore community, and we were able to interact with the community and evolve – we did that with our zombie lore.” – Mark Lamia, Studio Head, Treyarch

So, as you can see, it definitely seems like it isn’t a plain old rehash of Nazi Zombie mode. That much is fairly obvious, the real question is what changes and reinventions have Treyarch created for this time around?

We’d love to hear from you, and get your opinions on this big development. Discussion is just heating up over at the forums, and we’d love to see you stop by and join in. Jump straight to that discussion here, or leave us a note in the comments!