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38 per cent of US toddlers mobile-savvy, up from ten per cent in 2011

by Phil Tottman

Young children spend twice as much time using a screen as they do reading a book.

Ownership of tablets has increased from eight per cent to 40 per cent within families with children eight and under in just two years, reports Common Sense Media.

This has increased children’s access to connected devices in the US from 52 per cent to 75 per cent.

The average amount of time kids spend using a mobile device has tripled from five to 15 minutes a day, with 38 per cent of infants under two having used a device, compared to ten per cent in 2011.

The constant access to connected devices could prove to be dangerous as a previous report from BullGuard revealed one in ten parents have had to deal with offspring being bullied while surfing the internet.

Amazingly, time spent watching TV and DVDs or using a computer or games console has decreased by over half an hour a day – although TV still accounts for half of all screen time.

Screen media far surpasses time spend reading a book, with children under two spending way more than double the time watching TV than the traditional method of entertainment and education.

James Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, commented: “The media children consume can have a profound impact on their learning, social development, and behavior.

“The only way to maximise the positive impact – and minimise the negative – is to have an accurate understanding of the role it plays in their lives. These kids are true digital natives.”（source：mobile-ent）

2）Smartphone sales pass 250M in Q3, and Samsung’s grew twice as fast as Apple’s

John Koetsier

Global smartphone sales passed a quarter of a billion units for the first time ever this past quarter, and Samsung accounted for a staggering 88.4 million of them.

“Samsung grew 55 percent annually and shipped a record 88.4 million smartphones worldwide, capturing a record 35 percent marketshare in Q3 2013,” Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said. “Apple grew just 26 percent annually during Q3 2013, which is around half the overall smartphone industry average of 45 percent.”

Sixty percent of all phones sold worldwide were smartphones, a new high.

While Apple grew slowly, Chinese star Huawei grew even faster than Samsung — though mostly in China, and to a lesser extent in developed markets such as Europe or the U.S.

“Huawei was a star performer as global shipments grew 67 percent annually to 12.7 million units in Q3 2013,” Woody Oh, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.

“Huawei captured 5 percent marketshare and became the world’s third largest smartphone vendor.”（source：venturebeat）

3）Apple’s record quarter in education: iPad has 94% of tablet market

John Koetsier

Apple had its best quarter ever in education, CEO Tim Cook said today on the company’s quarterly earnings call. That includes the companies highest sales ever, and a 94 percent tablet market share for iPad.

“We had over a billion dollars in revenues for the first time ever,” Cook said. “Macs were up 8 percent — while the PC market was down 12 percent — and iPad sales were up 22 percent.”

Apple sold 14.1 million iPads in the last quarter, plus 33.8 million iPhones, and reported revenue of $37.5 billion. The company also reported income of $171 billion for its fiscal 2013 full year, with $37.5 billion in profits.

The biggest news regarding tablets, education, and Apple, of course, is the Los Angeles Unified school district, where Apple and administrators have entered into a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars to supply every student with an iPad.（source：venturebeat）

4）New survey sheds light on how UK devs feel about piracy

By Mike Rose

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An overwhelming number of game developers in the UK are adapting their games and business models to best deal with piracy, according to a new survey.

UK trade body TIGA asked game studios for their thoughts on piracy issues, and found that 87 percent of those surveyed believe that adopting new business models that better combat piracy is favorable to introducing stricter enforcement.

Although 57 percent of those surveyed said that piracy is having an effect on their businesses, 73 percent of overall respondents disagreed that those people found to be illegally downloading games should have their internet connections slowed or cut off.

This follows reports over the last few months that UK broadband providers have been collating information on illegal downloaders, with the potential for throttling connections for those found to be committing piracy.

40 percent of those surveyed did, however, believe that educating consumers on the effects of piracy on UK games businesses is still important.

Notably, 37 percent of respondents said that they don’t believe piracy will be an issue anymore in five years’ time, thanks in part to business models like the free-to-play model, and requiring online security checks for games or apps every few days.（source：gamasutra）

5）Eastern advance: Gamevil sets sights on Southeast Asia with M&A push

by Keith Andrew

As western developers look to make their mark in the east, one outfit already based in the region is also attempting to spread its wings, with Korean developer Gamevil adding to its recent spate of M&A deals.

The company has just announced an equity investment in GMT Soft – an affiliate of a Thai publisher its already worked with, CMT Thai – in order to strengthen its hand in Thailand and Southeast Asia.

The deal comes just weeks after Gamevil acquired Korean rival Com2us, which itself was quickly followed by investments in two further outfits, Everple and DBROS.

Asian eye

“Through the investment, Gamevil looks to capitalise on the high growth potential of the emerging Southeast Asian market,” detailed the company in a statement.

“Interestingly enough, Gamevil has been experiencing its largest growth in Southeast Asia. Games such as Fishing Superstars, Monster Warlord, Dark Avenger, and Punch Hero have been doing particularly well in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore, having hit box office scores in each country.

“Going forward, a wider range of games will be tailored to fit the local taste through localiaed marketing efforts and live servicing.”

The GMT Soft investment – figures not disclosed – would appear to form part of the firm’s $130 million strong M&A warchest, unveiled back in June, with the company having claimed future investments and buyouts would serve as steps along the way to becoming the “top mobile games publisher in the world.”（source：pocketgamer）

50 Easy Steps to Indie Success

by Tanya Short

As the director of Kitfox Games, I have read dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of articles claiming they will assist my 4-person team in making “a successful indie game.” New articles come out every day, all with helpful advice for me and my team. Some were linked to me by personal friends, family, colleagues, or industry mentors.

I like to think these people were well-intentioned.

So, having read all of this, what’s my plan to succeed? Follow my lead:

1、Okay. Obviously the best thing you can do is FINISH YOUR GAME.

2、But wait, don’t ACTUALLY finish it! I hope your game isn’t done yet! You’re supposed to start marketing first!

3、So how do you market? You need a hook. I hope you weren’t planning on just making a good game! Don’t be ridiculous! You’ll need a unique tagline that’s more interesting than the other 1000 emails in a stranger’s inbox.

4、Now that you have a hook, the best way to get your hook out there? Presskit(). No, this part isn’t a joke. Do it.

5、Then contact the press! Here’s some checklists on who to contact and how. You’ll probably need “at least 6 months worth of one person working full time”

6、And aside from actual journalists, “take social networking sites very seriously.”

7、Even reddit. Or maybe especially reddit.

8、But advertisements? Definitely “don’t spend money on traditional marketing and customer acquisition.”

9、But you don’t want to disappoint anyone. “Be realistic about what you can do.” So, mobile games are easier to make, right? Right. Let’s be realistic.

10、Except “a lot of people never pay anything on the App Store”

11、And “most apps fail commercially”. Probably because the mobile scene is “completely commoditised”.

12、But don’t go console. “Chances are you won’t be able to quit your day job by releasing a game on XBLIG.” “The vast majority of games on [Xbox 360] make … less than $1000”.

13、And putting your game on Ouya might just be worth it … but maybe not.

14、So, PC! Just make sure you’re on Steam, or else. You’ll need press first if you go traditional, and going Greenlight means community management.

15、Plus, if you’re on PC you can maybe get hundreds of thousands of sales through bundles! But even bundle salespeople say to use bundles only “during the long-tail period of your game’s lifespan”.

16、Does your game design have multiplayer? Incorporate multiplayer “to create long term value for players”.

17、Try to speak “to a wider audience”.

18、No, wait, find a “small niche long-abandoned”.

19、、But did you want to make money? Free to play is “the only way to make money in video games”. In fact, “freemium will dominate. You can’t beat free.”

20、No, wait, that’s Evil Game Design. Almost as evil as those coercive, greedy pay-2-play techniques.

21、But whatever you do, don’t make money your number 1 priority. It’s, like, ironic.

22、In fact, indie heroes try their “utmost hardest to ignore any commercial pressures that may arise”.

23、Besides, when failure can be “one of the happiest and most satisfying times of [your] life”, why not do away with the word failure entirely and “redefine success”?

24、And if you DO make money, feel bad about it! You’re probably “after weak people in vulnerable states.”

25、In fact, “Not all games can be free-to-play.” So… figure it out yourself. You’re probably doing it wrong anyway.

26、And remember those journalists you talked to? They’re not interested in free to play.

27、Just remember, “there’s nothing wrong with people wanting to play your game for years.” No need to get defensive or anything.

28、Besides, premium games get pirated like crazy. Might even turn your most successful game into your “least profitable.”

29、But hey, pirating can “make an indie game into a success”!

30、In fact, if it’s premium, maybe start selling your game as soon as it’s in alpha.

31、Wait, isn’t this the same as a Minimum Viable Product from business? No, that can’t be the same thing. Never mind.

32、No wait, in games, it’s called a demo. “There is simply no excuse for failing to have a demo at an early stage.”

33、Or you can just give away some for free, as a gift.

34、No, wait, game demos halve your sales.

35、And if your demo’s good, someone might clone it faster than you finish it.

36、You still need money? You could do a Kickstarter. Everyone loves crowdfunding.

37、But don’t ask for high numbers. You shouldn’t actually need money.

38、And be careful about using stretch goals. Never stretch goals.

39、Unless you’re famous already. Then stretch the goals.

40、Just remember if you get too much money, the internet will turn against you.

41、And maybe “the Kickstarter bubble is strained to breaking point”…

42、But you can avoid crowdfunding nonsense altogether if you build in metrics to track your monetisation and get those DARPUs sky-high! They say “your game has to fit a ‘million dollar+ formula’”

43、Actually, “there is no single right answer or standard model” in business intelligence, so just get used to flailing about with your metrics. After all, Ultima Online used metrics. Are you better than Ultima Online?

44、But metrics alone can’t save your monetisation.

45、So, I hope you haven’t been specialising too narrowly, because you’ll have to be a master of everything. Programming, business development, marketing, art, design, production.

46、And not just game stuff. You’ll need cinematography too. “The worst thing you can do is make a bad trailer and deliver something that’s not the same level of quality as your game.”

47、Well, maybe you don’t need to track your schedule and budget. You might as well take your time and deliver when you’re done, since quality is what matters.

48、So just make an awesome game! Get really good review scores!

49、But reviews won’t matter. In fact, “making a good game doesn’t guarantee you anything” You’ll still flop. And that’s okay!

50、On second thought, don’t worry too much about the design. You probably suck at it anyway.

So! Have you made a million dollars and won IGF yet? Ha! No, me neither.

Of course, the real lesson to take from this is what we all knew already: every game is different.

Advice is often given by genuine experts in their field, and yet it still might not apply to what you’re doing when taken literally. Unless this guru is specifically playing your game, and has a telepathic connection to every niche of your platform, and can look into the future to see what will happen when your game releases, any insight naturally comes with caveats. Some advice has timeless common sense behind the words. Most doesn’t.

My team and I will make mistakes, but we’ll learn from them, and if asked, we’ll give others advice based on what succeeded and what failed. Hopefully they won’t take that advice at face value and will interpret it carefully for their own game, team, goals, and situation.

As long as we keep creating, you and me, we’ll be all right.(source:gamasutra)