Music education app WildChords set for expansion as Ovelin raises $1.4 million in seed funding
True Ventures the biggest backer
Staff
Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
About When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.
Articles by Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
Mobile payment specialist Bango unveils Facebook as latest partner
But details kept under wraps
Nokia to axe 4,000 manufacturing jobs across Hungary, Mexico and Finland in 2012
Direct assembly positions to move to Asia
Share of US smartphone and tablet owners downloading games more than doubles in last 3 years, reports Park Associates
Up from 8% to 18% in 2011
Users engage more with play if achievements have economic value, reckons Beintoo CEO Tormarcho
Let users decide how they should be rewarded
Unity enabled games bound for smart TVs as firm links up with LG
Gyroscopic motion controller equipped
24MAS makes freemium splash on iOS with launch of Kimi Räikkönen's IceOne Racing
Backed up by US and EU marketing push
DeNA's sales climb 16% to $445 million in Q3 2011 as social giant touts overseas expansion
But net income falls 26% to $78 million
Zynga guilty of cloning and 'choking out the competition', claims former studio engineer
Social studio's practices branded 'creepy'
Cross promotion platform Chartboost hits 1 billion ad impressions in 9 months
Network looking to expand in Europe, Asia
Pixel Story disappears from App Store in US and UK amid Clonegate furore
But Tiny Tower rival remains in Europe
Remedy's $1 million Death Rally success example of revenue console devs can accrue on iOS, reckons analyst
High launch price and IAPs win the day
Spry Fox's Edery slams 6waves Lolapps 'disingenuous defence' over Triple Town clone case
'Additional facts' to surface at trial
The PG.biz Hot Five: NimbleBit rules out legal action against Zynga, Dent dishes dirt on contract law's dirty underbelly and Clonegate reaches fever pitch
Last week's top five stories
PSN rebranded Sony Entertainment Network ahead of PS Vita's debut
Sony aims for global integration
Post-earnout, two Gameview co-founders leave the DeNA-owned studio
Pastures new with pockets full
6waves Lolapps' Rex Ng denies breaking NDA over Spry Fox's Triple Town
Allegations 'unjustified and plainly not true'
Kindle Fire owners 29% more likely to shop through Amazon.com, reckons ChangeWave
In the funnel
Gene Simmons talks up Rovio collaboration for KISS Angry Birds
Doing what they did with Hello Kitty
Inneractive reveals massive growth in its mobile advertising during 2011
711% growth in clicks
Google reveals Bouncer scanner system has reduced malicious software on Android Market by 40%
Robot is fighting back
Scribblenauts Remix reaches million paid iOS downloads
Puts out Valentine's-themed update to celebrate
Meet Pocket Gamer at Casual Connect in Hamburg
Party on down at the PG Mobile Mixer
Tag Games reveals cross-platform development, analytics and account management suite
moFlow, moConnect and moMetrics mobilised
GREE readies for global platform launch announcing 20 international partnerships
Including Microsoft and Amazon
MobileBits adds content to 50,000-strong SoulCraft beta
Looking good on Tegra
IndieCade 2012 open for submissions ahead of October festival
12 teams to be chosen for awards
Ngmoco's Ben Cousins to keynote F2P Summit
Ex-EA Easy man giving a history lesson on free-to-play
Chillingo, Glu and Rovio among 110-strong list of buyers attending Game Connection America 2012
Nintendo, SCEE, Sega and Square Enix also there
Free-hotspot.com provides free 3DS wi-fi at restaurants and hotels across Europe
McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Subway
Monster Hunter goes social mobile in Japan thanks to DeNA's Mobage
Popular franchise turns to card battle format
Steam companion app now available on iOS and Android
Store and community access for all account holders
DeNA partners with Baidu to bring Mobage to Android in China
Dedicated Mobage section in the Yi Store
Digital Harmony's Keren Kang on starting a mobile tech company but finding fun with games
Flower child approach to real-time multiplayer
Miniclip launches physics puzzler Fragger on Android exclusively through GetJar
After 100 million plays on iOS and the web
Samsung under investigation by EU Commission for not sharing essential telecom patents
A result of ongoing Apple action
Submissions open for YetiZen's second Game Pitch competition at GDC 2012
Deadline for applications 26 Feb
Google reminds developers that physical Menu button has been dropped from Android devices
Assume tablets and phones are now button free
Court upholds German Galaxy Tab 10.1 injunction, but it's not the big win Apple wanted
Local victory, not European precedent
PerBlue's location-based title Parallel Kingdom surpasses million player milestone
Everyone gets free golden in-game trophy
NPD Group predicts massive surge in tablet market - 383 million units annually by 2017
Driven by emerging markets
Buffalo Studios copies NimbleBit, pens open letter criticising Zynga of cloning Bingo Blitz
Clonegate rolls on
Amazon's focus on content sees Kindle Fire users download 2.5x more paid apps than Galaxy Tab users, reckons Flurry
Surge sees Amazon's Apple-like focus on content pay off
Spry Fox suing 6waves Lolapps over copyright infringement
Yeti Town inspired by Triple Town?
CRO Martin Koppel on taking Fortumo's 61 country-strong carrier billing SDK global
Up to 9x better conversion rate than credit cards
Google reportedly green lights Motorola patent assault against iPhone 4S and iCloud
Six patents allegedly infringed
Nintendo forced to learn 'bitter lesson' from 3DS's slow start, admits CEO Iwata
Year-end sales are 'critical'
Motorola Mobility posts $285 million loss in FY2011 as Xoom shipments nudge 1 million
But smartphones up in Q4 2011
Valve unveils digital storefront app for Steam on iOS and Android
Platform launches in beta form
Spacetime Studios announces Vampire game Dark Legends
Due for Q1 2012 launch