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Rubberbandits to feature in video game

February 21st, 2012 Posted in Games, Music No Comments

Blindboy Boat Club and Mr.Chrome, otherwise known as Limerick hip-hop act Rubberbandits, are to star in their own video game. The Revenge of Steven Forward will demo at the upcoming Games Fleadh in March and will be available on the Apple App Store and Android Market by the summer.

The boys have apparently written dialogue for the game and their music will be featured on some levels, which include scenes from Limerick streets and estates. It’s an Open Emotion creation – the people behind Mad Blocker Alpha (and guess what, they’re based in Limerick).

Source: Silicon Republic

Facebook Names Top Games of 2011

December 22nd, 2011 Posted in Facebook, Games, Social Media No Comments

Social gaming was a big trend in 2011 and we expect the market to continue to grow in 2012. Facebook, the biggest platform for social games, released its list of the most popular games of 2011.

Unlike most year-end lists, this one actually has quite a few surprises. We fully expected CityVille, Zynga’s hit social game, to top the list. Nope. According to Facebook’s measurements, that honor belongs to Gardens of Time.

In the update announcing the list, Facebook does say it is basing its ranking on “games that drew the most active users and received the highest user recommendations.”

That probably accounts for some of the discrepancies we found against other Facebook app data sources, like AppData.com. According to AppData, CityVille is the most popular game with 48.8 million monthly active users. Conversely, Gardens of Time ranks much further down the list with 8.5 million monthly active users.

Accounting questions aside, here are Facebook’s ten most popular games of 2011:

1. Gardens of Time (by Playdom)
2. The Sims Social (by EA)
3. Cityville (by Zynga)
3. DoubleDown Casino (by DoubleDown Entertainment)
4. Indiana Jones Adventure World (by Zynga)
5. Words With Friends (by Zynga)
6. Bingo Blitz (by Buffalo Studios)
7. Empires & Allies (by Zynga)
8. Slotomania-Slot Machines (by Playtika)
9. Diamond Dash (by wooga)

    If you plan on getting some work done over the Christmas don’t start playing any of these they are all highly addictive. What Facebook game got your attention this year? Let us know.

    (Source: Mashable)

    Top Apps of 2011

    December 14th, 2011 Posted in Apple, Apps, Games, Stats, Technology, trends No Comments

    Apple released the list of its most popular apps last Thursday. For the first time the list was separated into iPhone and iPad apps and featured 20 categories from Travel to Games. Here’s a roundup of what made the cut. If you don’t have them all, get them today, and you won’t be disappointed.

    1. Instagram. The most popular app ever to hit iOS, this quirky photo sharing app now has hit over 50 million users and will soon launch on Android platforms. Part of its popularity is due to the fact that it’s free, but it’s a great way to instantly share beautiful snapshots – and you’ll have great fun playing around with the filters.

    2. Djay. This incporates your iPod into a DJ’s mixing desk and allows you to mix between tracks, add audio effects, adjust tempos and more. It’s 99c for iPhones and $19.99 for iPads.

    3. Flipboard. Another freebie, this is a curation app that displays feeds from news sources and social networks in a magazine format. It’s been widely praised for its ease of use and beauty and was recently revamped, too.

    4. Angry Birds. Well, of course this highly addictive, bird flinging, pig hitting game would be in the top 10. If you own a smartphone and haven’t played it yet then you are a rarity. But be warned: once you start, it’s hard to stop.

    5. Garageband. This comes as standard with any iMac or Macbook but has now made its way into the world of apps too. Turn your iPhone or iPad into a collection of instruments and record your own music. You can mix up to 8 tracks and easily share you song.

    6. Skype. Call, video call and instant message anyone else on Skype for free. You can also call and text your non-Skype contacts for special rates. Good if you’re mindful of what your phone bill could be at the end of the month.

    7. Words with Friends. Alec Baldwin was recently thrown off a flight for refusing to stop playing this scrabble-like wordgame. More than 20 million people are playing online with friends, and it even includes a chat bubble for fighting talk.

    8. Find my friends. This is a handy (or stalker-ish, as some might argue) location app that allows you to easily locate your friends and family from your iPhone or iPad. You’ll never be stuck waiting for someone who’s running late again, and you won’t get caught stalking, either.

    9. Wikibot. This was named best reference app and it certainly makes it easy to read Wikipedia articles. It includes options such as tabbed browsing, a read-later queue and offline caching. It’s just $1.99 right now, too.

    10. The Daily. The first ever iPad-only newspaper, The Daily was launched by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp in February at a cost of $30 million. Content is released as a single update in the morning but breaking news is updated throughout the day.
    Source: Yahoo News

    Sim-ply addictive

    September 13th, 2011 Posted in Apps, Facebook, Games, Online No Comments

    Rushing to the nearest computer so you can plant crops and sell sheep will soon be a thing of the past. Instead, you’ll be rushing to catch up on what your Sim avatar is getting up to.

    The Sims Social is EA’s latest version of the hugely popular Sims franchise, and has taken over Facebook as the latest addictive game. Just one week after its release, it had 4.6 million players logging in every day, making it the tenth most popular game on Facebook.

    In just two weeks it has now eclipsed eight games above it (which include Empires and Allies, Texas Hold ‘Em, and of course, Farmville) and is officially the second most popular, after Cityville.

    It’s proved more successful than Farmville not only because of its addictive qualities, but because there are no penalities for infrequent check-ins and nothing happens if you stop playing – your Sims remain just as you left them.

    The Sims Social currently has around 9.3 million players per day, so it could soon claim the top spot from the king of online games, Cityville, which has 14 million log-ins per day.

    Source: Mashable

    Angry Birds in Real Life

    June 23rd, 2011 Posted in Apps, Games, Mobile No Comments

    T-mobile are on to another winner with their latest ad, in which they recreate the phenomenon that is Angry Birds in real life.

    They took to a square in Barcelona and set up a life-size model of the game. Passers-by were then given the chance to play using a smart phone (T-mobile’s latest, of course) to launch the huge inflatable birds through the air.

    The real-life version even had exploding pigs and the authentic soundtrack.

    If you’re not content to just watch the ad or download the app, then serious addicts can also get a board game version by UNO for $10.Or a plush toy. Or a t-shirt. Or a an iPhone case….

    (We did say serious addict.)

    For more T-mobile fun, see their royal wedding spoof from April this year.

    Source: Digital Buzz

    Great ‘Think Pig’ campaign by RSPCA & Nixon McInnes

    May 13th, 2011 Posted in Apps, Campaign, Case Study, Charity, Facebook, Games, Online Game, Public Relations, Social Network No Comments

    The RSPCA along with Nixon McInnes have created a great campaign around the new voluntary code of practice for the labelling of pork and pork products. They wanted to find a new way to provide families and young urban professionals with welfare information and shopping advice.  The objectives were to increase consumer awareness of the welfare issues for farmed pigs, and educate consumers about labels that point to higher welfare.

    It all sounds fairly conventional so far, but the approach taken was anything but. Having originally intended to create a blog, they soon abandoned that idea and developed an interactive Facebook game on the theme of pig welfare instead. Players make words by moving pigs with letters on their backs into the slots on the top of the screen. Fun pig facts also help players learn to learn more about the animals and their welfare. The game was paired with a Facebook page dedicated to the campaign as well as advertisements and a ‘twibbon’ campaign.

    Within two months the game had been played by 5,684 people and the campaign page had gained 1,601 ‘likes’. As intended, the game acted as a stepping stone to the real welfare message as 2,543 click-throughs to the page came from the game. It’s even more proof that social media is an excellent way of engaging with your target audience and getting your message out there.

    Source: Nixon McInnes

    8 new Online Platforms taking the world by Storm

    May 9th, 2011 Posted in Apps, Digital comms, Games, Internet, Social Media, Social Network, Social Platforms, Social Tools, Technology No Comments

    1. Refynr - Refynr is a free tool launched late last year that filters out the tweets you’d rather skip. It’s great for those who are following lots of people and have overloaded twitter streams as a result. Instead of unfollowing, Refynr will find pre-defined topics you’re interested in and saves tweets with that theme for you to read at your leisure.

    2. Triberr - Triberr is a small network of twitter users whos members retweet links from each others’ RSS feeds. It’s presently in beta and is invitation only, but is a great tool for gaining extra coverage. ‘Tribe leaders’ select members to join their ‘tribe’ (each tribe has a common interest, for example, web developers and designers), so when you publish a blog post it will automatically be retweeted by all members of the tribe. They’re staggered too so that no tweet is overshadowed by another.

    3. Empire Avenue - This is a hybird of sorts between an online game and a social network. When you join, you connect your social networking accounts and activity on each one is scored to give you a share price. From there, you invest in other Avenue profiles by buying their shares with virtual currency. It’s more for fun than networking – unless you’re super competitive, of course. Try it out here.

    4. MapBox - This open source site allows users to create their own bespoke maps and integrate them into any website or mobile application. It’s very useful for visualising location-based data such as election results, census data or even geographical events. Try it here.

    5. Panabee - Great if you’re about to launch a website, Panabee lets you input your desired domain name into a search bar and in return will give you suggestions based on what’s available. The focus is on brainstorming rather than availability, however. Some of the techniques it uses inlcudes finding related terms, translatiing words, creating variations and displaying related comments from Twitter and Facebook.

    6. Pulse - this is a simple content management system designed for small websites. It provides an easy to use backend so that you can make edits to your site directly from a browser – all you have to do is define the ‘blocks’ you wish to be editable. Some features include integrating photo galleries and blogs, translation and rebranding with company logos and colours. Try it here.

    7.  Streamie - Streamie is a browser-based Twitter client that updates in real time. It’s a ‘minimalist’ application that uses URL shortening and quick image uploading and is available through your browser with no need to install anything. It also boasts a ‘convsersation’ button to show context of tweets, and a picture preview facility.

    8. Spreaker - Spreaker is an audio platform that allows anyone to create, broadcast and share a personal radio show across the web. It’s similar to Audioboo but offers a web-based mixing console, a music and sound effects library and most importantly, the ability to broadcast live through a widget which can be embedded across websites, social networks and blogs.

    Source: OneForty, Paratus

    The Volkswagen Passat LinkedIn Challenge

    May 9th, 2011 Posted in Advertising, Apps, Games, LinkedIn, Online Game, Online Games, Social Media, Social Network, Viral No Comments

    The people at Volkswagen have long been pros at creating great viral ads; in February there was ‘The Force’ commercial, last year they gave us ‘The Fast Lane’, and let’s not forget the ‘Un-pimp Your Ride’ series a few years ago. This time however, they’ve moved onto social networks with the Volkwagen Passat LinkedIn Challenge.

    The campaign is currently running in the Netherlands and is called ‘LinkedOut’. It’s an app and is based on the idea that the new Passat is as full of features as your LinkedIn profile is full of information. To be in with a chance of winning the car, LinkedIn users must challenge their friends, the objective being to have the strongest profile in the country.

    Points are awarded for education, experience, recommendations and connections. The more points you get, the bigger your head gets (literally!), until one person is declared ‘out’ and the other ‘in’.

    The game makes great use of the LinkedIn API and is the first branded LinkedIn game to reach the market. Watch a fun demo of the game here.

    Source: Viral Blog

    Chromaroma: Gamifying London’s Underground

    April 26th, 2011 Posted in Games, Online Game, Online Games, Virtual No Comments

    Chromaroma is a cool new role-playing game is taking the streets of London by storm – or more specifically, the public transport system. Described as an automated version of Foursquare, the game is played out as commuters travel the city with their Oyster Cards.

    Using data stored on the card, points are amassed with every journey taken via the Tube, bus, or Boris Bikes, as well as undertaking missions as a team or as an individual. Extra points are awarded for travelling outside rush hour or for getting off a stop early and walking. The overall objective is to ‘win’ stations.

    Produced by Mudlark and launched last November, the game currently has around 3,000 users. The makers hope to conisder sponsorship opportunities in the not-too-distant future and possibly expand it to other European cities.

    Source: Digital Buzz

    Game on with Tourism Ireland on Facebook

    March 29th, 2011 Posted in Facebook, Games, Social Media, Social Platforms No Comments

    This St Patrick’s Day, Tourism Ireland launched a social game called Ireland Town on Facebook. The game brings the holiday experience to life for Facebook fans across the world and provides another valuable platform to promote the island of Ireland overseas.

    Tourism Ireland is the first national tourism board in the world to launch a social game, they claim. With the game Tourism Ireland taps into the huge popularity of games like FarmVille and CityVille – 24% of all people on the internet in the US and UK play social games at least once a week.

    Ireland Town will sit on ten of Tourism Ireland’s Facebook pages, including Great Britain, the US, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Nordic Region, Canada and the Netherlands.

    In Ireland Town, Facebook fans are invited to create their own idyllic town in Ireland, with the help of ‘tour guide’ Sally. They can then explore iconic sites and visitor attractions around the island, completing various challenges in order to progress to the next level of the game; these challenges reflect the huge variety of things to see and do on a holiday in Ireland.

    With 32 destinations and nine different tasks to be completed at each, it is an opportunity to get fans interacting with Ireland in a fun and memorable way.

    Fans can progress faster through the game if they sign up their Facebook friends to also join in the fun. For the fans who make it through all of the tasks, there is the chance to win a ‘real world’ prize of a holiday to Ireland.

    Tourism Ireland will be driving interest in the game through a major advertising campaign, which includes targeted Facebook advertising; PR will also play an important role, particularly in terms of the game ‘going viral’.

    You can take a look at social game Ireland Town and let us know if you feel that the 100,000 extra fans will be achieved.

    We like the Ireland Town attempt, but we like their blog Discover Ireland maybe even more, as a long term solution to drive brand and business objectives.

    The most ground-breaking full year social programme in tourism we have seen so far is definitely the one of Tourism Tuscany. But Tourism Ireland are on the right track.

    (Source: viralblog.com)

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