Apple – Sponsored by Microsoft Pie.

1160676 yummy apple pie Apple 8211 Sponsored by Microsoft Pie

Of course that isn't true, but it could be.  In the last few days Microsoft has released some very well received apps for iOS. It started with My Xbox Live and has seen Kinectimals and SkyDrive follow.

Microsoft have had other products on the platform. Photosynth, Tag and the very popular OneNote, which has also had a big update.

Should we be talking about Rewardification and Gamification?

Gamification 300x56 Should we be talking about Rewardification and Gamification

I have written a little about Gamification. I love the concept and have just been doing a little bit of it on my website - www.yars.co.uk. I have implemented very simple ideas like Achievements and Experience points for participation. I talk to many people about such things and they often come back with the same comments. Where is the game in that? Is that not just

Whilst Innovation may not be Dead, where is the Courage in the Games Industry?

8707 arcade cabnets Whilst Innovation may not be Dead where is the Courage in the Games Industry

People often ask where the innovation has gone in the games industry. I have been guilty of it on the past. In fact, this article was going to be titled with that exact question.

However, the more I drafted the piece and the more I thought about it, the more I realised that innovation is still alive and kicking in our industry, albeit sometimes quietly. What is missing now is courage.

When I first really got into games, everything seemed innovative. People were really beginning to understand what games could be. This was back in the Days of the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64. Read More ...

If anyone can set up a website and review games, is the traditional games press doomed?

1110330 new magazines If anyone can set up a website and review games is the traditional games press doomed

The Internet is saturated with sites and blogs that publish games news and reviews at a phenomenal rate. Within seconds of press releases being sent out, they appear on the Internet in a dozen different ways. Technologies such as Twitter and Facebook allow us to release snippets of information without even needing to write a full article. Games reviews get published on the Internet days, weeks or sometimes months before the traditional printed press have a chance to release theirs.

I spoke to one very unhappy staff writer recently, who was complaining that he needed to have reviews written for a magazine that was to be published in 2 months time. He could not convince his editor that it would be pointless releasing reviews of games 2 whole months after everybody else. Read More ...

Google Just Don’t get Social

Google have been playing with social networking for a while now. Wave, buzz and now Google+. Up until now they have failed to make any kind of impact, proving each time they just don’t understand what people want from social networking.

However, with the launch of Google+ it seems that they have gotten a bit more serious about the whole thing. You can’t move within google applications without some kind of new Google+ integration being announce. Up until now this has always been an extra feature, one that added value to any Google+ user. Read More ...