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  • The most negative article you’ll read about Zynga today
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    • iOS
    The most negative article you’ll read about Zynga today

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    Over at Forbes, Dave Thier has written a negative article on Zynga entitled, "Why Zynga is Doomed."First of all, great article title. I'm jealous. Secondly, all is not doom and gloom in the world of Zynga. They just raised $1 billion and Mark Pincus and Zynga was on Rock Center with Brian Willams on NBC last night (for the 100 or so people who watch that TV show).But, Mr. Thier does raise one really good point about Zynga's future prospects.
  • IGT buys Double Down Interactive for $500 million in real money
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    IGT buys Double Down Interactive for $500 million in real money

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    IGT, a leading gaming (and by gaming, I really mean, gambling) company, has placed a huge bet that social games is the next frontier to the gaming business by acquiring Double Down Interactive for $500 million.Double Down Interactive is the developer of hugely successful DoubleDown Casino, which attracts 14 million daily active users (DAUs) and 4.7 million monthly active users (MAUs) month playing in their virtual slot machines for virtual money.
  • Monday Morning Quarterback: What Louis CK can teach us about selling games
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Monday Morning Quarterback: What Louis CK can teach us about selling games

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    In December, Louis CK (my favorite comedian right now, if you have never watched the TV show Louie, do it!), announced that he was going to break all rules for selling videos online and do his own thing.Against the better judgment of his friends and colleagues, he decided to produce his own video, sell it on his own web site at a fair price point of $5, and make it DRM-free (so once you buy it you own it).The result? Over $1 million in sales in just two weeks.What does this little digital distribution experiment mean for games? In my opinion, a whole lot!
  • Monday Morning Quarterback: Forget freemium, it’s all about gambling in 2012!
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    • iOS
    • PC
    Monday Morning Quarterback: Forget freemium, it’s all about gambling in 2012!

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    Internet gambling (and perhaps gaming companies) got a huge present from Santa over the Christmas weekend, in the form of a Justice Department ruling that may open the door to legalizing Internet gambling.The Justice Department issued a legal opinion that the Wire Act of 1961, prohibiting wagering on telecommunication systems that cross state and national borders, does not apply to states selling lottery tickets to its citizens to adults within its own borders. Internet gambling is not yet legal, but the door is open. If you don't think this has an impact on the world on online and social gaming, then you're betting on the wrong horse.
  • Let’s get married in Crime City!
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    • iOS
    Let’s get married in Crime City!

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    Forget Paris! The place to get engaged these days is in the social game Crime City, on Google+. According to Mashable, a character named "Mihai" purchased a virtual engagement ring (created by the game's developer, Funzio) which appeared in both his and his soon-to-be fiance's inventory, and then Mihai virtually proposed to Miruna. Of course, this could be just a clever publicity stunt for Funzio.
  • Just in on Mom-Comm: Fingerprint’s game games free (and educational)
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    • Android
    • iOS
    Just in on Mom-Comm: Fingerprint’s game games free (and educational)

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    There are two truisms about the iPhone, smart phones, and tablets. One, kids love them across all senses - touch, taste, sight, and sound. And two, everyone in the San Francisco Bay Area that works in high tech or games and has kids under the age of five, wants to fix this problem and create a kids app. Unfortunately, most education and apps for kids suck. When kids are not mindlessly playing Angry Birds because that is the only game their mothers know exists, they are getting very little back education-wise from their time on smart phones and tablets. It was then interesting for me to read in Techcrunch about San Francisco-based FingerPrint Digital, whose educational kids game apps and play network have been played for over 2 million minutes this month.
  • Older people pay, younger people play social games
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    • iOS
    Older people pay, younger people play social games

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    In a study where the results should be a forgone conclusion, Mocospace unveiled the results of the latest survey on just who is playing and paying to play social games. And the answer is . . . pretty obvious. More young people are playing social games, with 25- 35 group spending the most time playing social games. We don't care about those freeloaders! Who is paying for virtual items in social games? The answer is, older people. 50% of players 35 - 50 and 70% of all gamers 45 and older have bought virtual goods in social games, compared to only 10% of 18 - 25 year olds who have ever bought a virtual item in a game. This is an obvious result, since older people have more disposable income than youngsters. But here's another theory.
  • Monday Morning QB: The Curious Case of Zynga’s IPO
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    • iOS
    Monday Morning QB: The Curious Case of Zynga’s IPO

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    After months of hype and speculation, Zynga officially went public last Friday with a most curious offering. Zynga raised $1 billion in one day, for the biggest tech IPO in the US since Google raised $1.9 billion in 2004. Zynga started as a company 4 years ago and now has a valuation of $8.9 billion (for perspective, Electronic Arts is valued at $6.9 billion). That's the good news. The bad news is that Zynga priced its IPO at $10/share and ended the day at $9.50/share in what can best be described as a lackluster opening day. Which begs the question -- what happened on the road to IPOville?