"It's crazy. It's a real Wild West out there, and it's a problem that we're trying to figure out."That description of the situation facing developers and publishers of mobile games and apps of all kinds comes from Marcos Sanchez, the vice president of global corporate communications at App Annie. Bringing order to the chaos surrounding user acquisition and discoverability is his company's primary mission; one that got two new tools this week.App Annie announced two new additions to its free product offerings, both designed to give mobile publishers more insight into how they spend their time and money promoting their games and apps. The first is Advertising Analytics, an upgrade to the company's existing Analytics platform that tracks advertising revenue and ad spend across the iOS, Google Play and Amazon app stores.Sanchez says that App Annie recognized the need for publishers to have easy access to that kind of information after discovering how much effort they were going to just to keep track of their advertising dollars.
Here at Gamezebo, we've been pretty open about our desire for better quality control on Steam. Early Access has helped turn the service into a figurative (and sometimes literal) trash dump for hacked together scams, inferior clones and just some downright awful products.Earth: Year 2066 was one such train wreck. Until a few hours ago, you could snag what Steam users described as an ugly, broken mess for $19.99. That's no longer possible, however, as Valve has removed the game from the Steam storefront.Of course it's possible you bought the game before realizing what a pile it was - especially since users are accusing the game's developer, Killing Day Studios, of deleting negative feedback on their Steam page and propping it up with lies written by puppet accounts. If that's the case, you can and should get your money back.
Remember Kentucky Route Zero? I sure hope so. It was our pick for 2013 Game of the Year, and not without good reason. That said, only the first two acts of five have been released, and considering the "it'll be ready when it's ready" response the studio has given for questions about Act III, it seemed like we might be waiting a while longer.Good news… we're not! Kentucky Route Zero Act III has now been released into the wild. If you already own the game on a season pass (and if you own the game, you absolutely do) you should be able to grab the game now. Steam buyers will receive it as an automatic update, while those who purchased through the Humble Store will need to tackle their download manually.But enough chatter - it's time to get a David Lynch kinda weird up in here.
When Flappy Bird took the world by storm earlier this year and the App Store was flooded with clones ranging from Flappy Bee to Flappy Miley Cyrus, it wasn't hard to see this as a fad that would eventually reach its breaking point. But still - even through that fog of copycats, I couldn't help but think that there was something ingenious about Flappy Bird's simple gameplay mechanic. Nolan Bushnell compared it to grunge rock; gaming stripped down to its most basic.It was only a matter of time until we saw that mechanic employed in more polished ways.Flappy Golf was really the first instance of "hey, you can do something neat with this!", but the Rovio-published RETRY - now live in Canada, Finland and Poland - is the best we've seen so far.
Indie RPGs aren't terribly uncommon nowadays. Neither are indie RPGs with a retro flair. But an indie RPG with a retro flair that's also set against a film noir backdrop?Ok, you've got my attention.Stepping into the shoes of a shamed police detective turned private eye, Pixel Noir will task players with finding clues, interrogating suspects, and - since it's also a JPRG at heart - engaging in turn-based battles with some unexpectedly gruesome foes. Pixel Noir definitely piqued my curiosity, but it also has me thinking out loud: Is film noir the next big trend in games? Pixel Noir's existence seems to have come along right at the same time as the sci-fi gumshoe adventure Last Life, and both seem to have timed nicely with the release of Third Eye Crime.Even Telltale's been getting in on the action with The Wolf Among Us.Pixel Noir will be wrapping up its Kickstarter later this week, and it could use your help to cross the finish line. Be sure to check out the official project page, and if you like what you see, send a pledge their way.
With the new Call of Duty announcement still hot off the presses (Kevin Spacey, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??), what better time is there to remember the long time ago of 2007 when CoD first became the defacto name for online shooters? That's right - the latest offer on Gamezebo Deals is for none other than Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.Normally available for $19.99, you can snag a Steam key for this "modern" classic for just $10. I haven't heard back from my mathematician yet, but if my amateur calculations are correct, that's a savings of 50%!Less talking, more buying. Then shooting.
As you can probably guess from the name (assuming you're well-steeped in literary horror), Mark of the Old Ones is a game that embraces the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. But after watching the trailer, I'm more inclined to think that the game was inspired by Wacky Wally - the classic wall-crawling octopus that came in a cereal box and lost his stickiness after his third attempt at adventure.It's a strange comparison, but bear with me. Or better yet, watch the Mark of the Old Ones Kickstarter video below to see the gameplay in action.
Love roguelikes? How about really really old school roguelikes? Yes? Good. Get ye butt to the App Store. Sword of Fargoal, a 1982 desktop classic resurrected by its original creator Jeff McCord, has dropped its price to $0 for the next three days. Why? Because Jeff McCord has something to celebrate.Sword of Fargoal 2 completed a successful Kickstarter campaign back in September 2012, with an estimated delivery date of May 2013. As is often the case though, the project became more time-consuming than the project creators had originally envisioned. But in an update to Kickstarter backers that went live this morning, McCord announced they've brought a new developer onto the team to help them see Sword of Fargoal 2 to completion: Anthony Salter. If that's a new name to you too, I suggest you join me in downloading the demo of his previous work, Inaria.There's still no specific launch date for Fargoal 2, but McCord & Co are trying their damnedest to get it out before the end of 2014. In the meantime, if you're looking for a little more of Jeff McCord handiwork, can I recommend Wizard Hex and Cargo Runners?