Football Gets Big

EA Sport's latest football-related communication campaign, called "How Big Can Football Get", aims to bring together football fans from around the world through the power of Twitter.

EA Sports has developed a new application, released on beta which uses data driven by an estimated two million Fifa10 games played each day, encouraging players to share their opinions, passions, and dedication for their team.

Fifa Earth uses data from Twitter, tapping into tweet mentioning keywords or hashtags such as goals, football, soccer and uses geotagging, to show how the world talks about and plays both real and virtual football. The application also aggregates game score from Fif10 matches, creating a live interactive competition. The better a user plays in Fifa10, the higher the team's ranking on Fifa Earth.

Via - Brand Republic

A Real Gaming Car

Citroen merged the real and virtual worlds at the Paris auto show last week when they unveiled their latest creation.

The "GTbyCITROËN" sportscar was the result of a partnership between the French auto manufacturer and Polyphony Digital Inc, the creators of the popular Gran Turismo series.

The exterior design of the car is a modern look at a racing coupe. The concept uses sharp body lines and dynamic shapes to communicate performance and speed. In the game version the car is powered by a zero emission fuel cell and electric drivetrain. There’s however, any further information on how the real prototype will be powered or whether it runs at all.

A great example of a brand willing to take a risk in further developing their name and reputation by embracing the gaming world and testing out how to potentially integrate it into product development.

For the official press release and more photos, please click here.

Via:PSFK, Jalopnik

Democratised Game Development

In a second attempt to tackle the likes of the PS3 and Nintendo Wii, Microsoft is set to take a leaf out of Facebook's open applications platform and YouTube's UGC strategy to turn the Xbox 360 brand into one that consumers associate with an innovative one.

Back in 2006, Microsoft launched the XNA platform without much success. Essentially, XNA provides a set of tools for consumers to create games for Xbox 360 and Zune platforms. At the time, the strategy didn’t yield much success. The new platform will be an extension of XNA, but provide a more comprehensive set of tools and marketing platform.

For a mere cost of $99 / year for membership, consumer developers can get access to the platform, as well as a share of the revenue generated by their development. To support the strategy, Microsoft will also be launching an online store later this year, specifically for user created Xbox 360 games.

Below's is an example of an XNA developed game.

Via: Trendhunter

More Ways To Get Fit While Gaming

The appeal of gaming is that it allows the players to temporarily escape into a make-believe world, where there are no real life consequences. But ever since the Wii Fit came on the scene towards the end of 2007, the line between real life and gaming has become increasingly blurrier.

Now, SecondLife has jumped on board with this trend and has launched a test phase for the SL-Fitness program. The company has set up prototype stationary bikes connected to computers to allow riders to explore the SecondLife world. Sensors on the bikes read the velocity of the turning wheels and the direction of the handlebars - allowing the avatar to interact with the virtual world. There is even an “ET button” that lets the rider take flight.

The first prototypes are based on conventional bike-type home-trainers, with more conversions and prototypes are in the pipeline.

Via:Trendhunter

PS3 Opens Up In-Game Advertising Platform

Sony has opened up its PlayStation 3 platform to allow brands to advertise on the medium in their bid to capitalise on the successes that Microsoft have achieved with their in-game advertising platform with the Xbox. The deal could be worth $100 million over three years to Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Video game marketer Electronic Arts, will be the first to take advantage of the PlayStation 3 platform via its EA Sports and real-life based EA brands. EA Sports games include Madden NFL football, NBA Live basketball, Nascar racing and NHL hockey. EA itself will run ads for The Need for Speed and Burnout.

The in-game advertising on PS3 can be updated and adjusted in real time. The advertising also enhances the gaming experience, according to one study. In-game ad firm Massive, conducted a survey on in-game ads among Xbox 360 clients and concluded that "an average of 70 percent of gamers agreed with statements that the dynamic in-game ads contributed to realism, fit the games in which they were served and looked cool."

Pricing for in-game advertising is based on a formula that entails ad size on screen, viewing time (minimum: two seconds) and angle view, in addition to a cost-per-thousand factor. A typical budget for one ad across several games would be in the high six figures.

In-game advertising is in a fledgling stage, generating $54 million in sales in 2006, per Parks Associates, Dallas, but could grow to $800 million by 2012.

Save The World With a Video Game?

Video games, as a communications platform and mainstream entertainment has come a long way since the days when Tetris and Pacman ruled the arcades in the 80's. Recently released gaming titles such as Halo 3 and GTA 4 have said to be more profitable than a lot of Hollywood movie releases today.

With this profit and attention, the opportunity to do something socially responsible with the medium has arrived. This year's Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge will represent the first time a game development category has been available during the Imagine Cup, a student competition requiring entrants to write and develop their own games.

This year, students will face the ultimate test of their creative and technical skills as they create a game that is not only entertaining but has a social message about creating a sustainable environment.

The theme of Imagine Cup 2008, “Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment,” is a challenge to top student technologists around the world to actively contribute to the mission of protecting our world for generations to come.

What a story it would be if the solution to some of the problems we face today are solved by some video game-loving students!

BP Brings Us A Green SimCity

Collaborating with BP, Electronic Arts will help develop the latest instalment of the hit SimCity computer game series. Called SimCity Societies, the city-building game aims to deal with the causes and consequences of global warming.

EA has announced that the game will also include 'climate education' through "low-carbon electricity choices and carbon emission monitoring" thanks to a partnership with 'green minded' alternative energy organisation BP. The goal, says EA, is to give players an "accurate" look at some of the causes and available solutions to the inconvenient truth of global warming.

BP has also launched a pretty microsite to provide more information on the collaborative effort.