Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Analyst: Mass Effect 2 outsold everything else 6-to-1 in Jan.]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/09/analyst-mass-effect-2-outsold-everything-else-6-to-1/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/09/analyst-mass-effect-2-outsold-everything-else-6-to-1/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/09/analyst-mass-effect-2-outsold-everything-else-6-to-1/#commentsIf you bought Mass Effect 2 and you like being on the winning "team" when it comes to game trends, high five. According to DFC Intelligence, BioWare's latest spacefaring adventure sold an estimated 1.1 million copies (of the Xbox 360 version) in January -- six times the sales of any other game. Estimating game sales based on GamerDNA activity, DFC also believes that there was a significant uptick in play of Mass Effect as well, "likely supported by the ability to transfer a save file from a completed Mass Effect game into Mass Effect 2 where several key player decisions in the first game could be carried over into the second game."

The other leading Xbox 360 sellers in DFC's estimate include Darksiders (150,000), Bayonetta (170,000) and Army of Two: The 40th Day (175,000) -- with Dark Void somewhat of a surprise bomb (22,000).

JoystiqAnalyst: Mass Effect 2 outsold everything else 6-to-1 in Jan. originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>analystArmy-of-Two-The-40th-Daybayonettabiowaredarksiders-wrath-of-wardfc-intelligenceeaElectronic-Artsgamerdnamass-effect-2MicrosoftsalesXbox-360Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Crispy Gamer editorial staff laid off, CEO resigns in protest]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/21/crispy-gamer-editorial-staff-laid-off-ceo-resigns-in-protest/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/21/crispy-gamer-editorial-staff-laid-off-ceo-resigns-in-protest/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/21/crispy-gamer-editorial-staff-laid-off-ceo-resigns-in-protest/#commentsJust one month after purchasing GamerDNA, the promising stat-driven video game community site, Crispy Gamer has laid off its entire editorial staff, on the authority of the company's board of directors. We're told Chris Heldman, the CEO, former head of media entertainment at Google and co-founder of Crispy Gamer, has resigned in protest. Last September, Crispy's other co-founder, John Keefer, left to join the editorial staff of the influential GamePolitics blog.

The staff was told that they'll be paid for the month, but their termination is effective immediately, leading us to believe the site is going on a similarly immediate hiatus. Editorial staff affected include former Joystiq writer Kyle Orland, along with Scott Jones, John Teti, Evan Narcisse, James Fudge, Ryan Kuo, Managing Editor Elise Vogel, and Chief Marketing Officer Anne Mischler.

Writing about his sale of the company to Crispy Gamer just last month, GamerDNA CEO Jon Radoff said that the site "has very ambitious plans to build a media company around the gaming market." Today's news would seem to indicate that however ambitious those plans are, they no longer include an editorial component. We've reached out to both Radoff and Heldman and will update this post when we learn more.

Update: Jon Radoff told us, "I just heard it for the first time from you. And just got another call from another journalist a minute ago. I'm afraid I don't know anything about the situation -- if true, it's surprising and unfortunate." Indeed.

Update 2: Mr. Keefer wrote in to clarify some of the editorial positions and to let us know that Mr. James Fudge was also laid off. He also had this personal response to add: "It's hard to see a dream die, especially one you put your heart and soul into. The site was created for the readers and to give them an alternative voice, to dig deeper than many of the sites out there and to make readers think about what they play and why they play. Personally, I had a lot of fun in the process. Thanks to all the people that read the site and became part of the growing community."

JoystiqCrispy Gamer editorial staff laid off, CEO resigns in protest originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Chris-HeldmanCrispy-GamerGamerDNAindustrylayoffsThu, 21 Jan 2010 17:35:00 EST<![CDATA[Crispy Gamer buys GamerDNA]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/17/crispy-gamer-buys-gamerdna/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/17/crispy-gamer-buys-gamerdna/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/17/crispy-gamer-buys-gamerdna/#comments It looks like Crispy Gamer's review of GamerDNA -- following the partnership announced back in February, known as the "Try It" period -- has come back and the verdict is: Buy It. Mass High Tech Business News reports that the Cambridge-based GamerDNA has "found a buyer" in NY-based game site, Crispy Gamer, but will "continue to exist as a separate entity." GamerDNA CEO Jon Radoff writes that the social-networking-slash-data-driven gaming site he founded two and a half years ago has "merged" with Crispy Gamer and the serial entrepreneur won't be sticking around long. "I'll help out Chris Heldman (the CEO of Crispy Gamer) for a little bit to make sure things go smoothly -- but I'm an entrepreneur, and I'll start something new in 2010," Radoff says.

This follows last week's news that GameSpot would partner with GamerDNA-competitor Raptr. If that sounds like a partnership that may have forced Radoff's hand in selling the company, we'd be inclined to agree; GamerDNA cut its staff nearly in half back in October, and Radoff writes that "it didn't make sense for us to 'go it alone' in the market any longer." While Crispy Gamer is no GameSpot, Radoff says that the site "has very ambitious plans to build a media company around the gaming market." We're hoping to finally get used to that name by the time those plans come to fruition.

[Via @eliciab35]

JoystiqCrispy Gamer buys GamerDNA originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>acquisitionCrispy-GamerGamerDNAMicrosoftNintendoWiiXbox-360Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Modern Warfare 2 dominates November gameplay on 360]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/09/modern-warfare-2-dominates-november-gameplay-on-360/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/09/modern-warfare-2-dominates-november-gameplay-on-360/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/09/modern-warfare-2-dominates-november-gameplay-on-360/#comments Using GamerDNA results as a guideline, DFC Intelligence charted the popularity of 360 games last month, and there are some interesting revelations. For one: Every person alive or dead, including the author of this post, is playing Modern Warfare 2 as we speak. Okay, so that's a slight exaggeration but it was very popular, with somewhere between 22 and 17 percent of GamerDNA's Xbox 360-playing subjects playing the game throughout all of November.

Also somewhat surprising is just how well Borderlands - which, let's be honest, didn't have the biggest marketing push - did, handily holding on to second place until the release of Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassin's Creed 2. Admittedly this list doesn't reflect the time spent by those who aren't online, but do you seriously care about those commoners anyway?

JoystiqModern Warfare 2 dominates November gameplay on 360 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisiondfc-intelligenceGamerDNAinfinity-wardMicrosoftmodern-warfare-2Xbox-360xbox-liveWed, 09 Dec 2009 14:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Tweetmygaming.com tracks the Twitterverse of gaming]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/tweetmygaming-com-tracks-the-twitterverse-of-gaming/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/tweetmygaming-com-tracks-the-twitterverse-of-gaming/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/tweetmygaming-com-tracks-the-twitterverse-of-gaming/#comments
Last week GamerDNA launched TweetMyGaming.com, a Twitter stat tracking site covering games. Using fancy mathematicals and internet juice, TweetMyGaming follows the 140-character conversations in the Twitterverse in real-time.

Tweets and play patterns are graphed by the site, with the percentages on the homepage displaying the daily increase or decrease of tweets for that particular game. The "attention numbers" found on specific game pages are based off gamerDNA data. We're definitely curious to see how the site evolves, not to mention that we love statisticals.

JoystiqTweetmygaming.com tracks the Twitterverse of gaming originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gamer-dnagamerdnatweettweetmygamingtweetmygaming.comtwitterWed, 10 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EST<![CDATA[GamerDNA's Left 4 Dead stats reveal power of Steam sales, promotions]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/18/gamerdnas-left-4-dead-stats-reveal-power-of-steam-sales-promot/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/18/gamerdnas-left-4-dead-stats-reveal-power-of-steam-sales-promot/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/18/gamerdnas-left-4-dead-stats-reveal-power-of-steam-sales-promot/#comments
Left 4 Dead on PC appears to receive a shot of zombie reanimation every time Valve's Steam service does a promotion, according to proprietary Xbox Live and PC GamerDNA statistics. The chart above, which is calculated based on "equal percentages of Xbox and PC users," shows that engagement on both platforms was almost equal for three months after release. The PC receives its first major bump during Steam's 50 percent off sale in February. Both platforms received a boost with the release of the free Survival Pack, but then engagement spiked dramatically during Steam's "Freaky Free Friday" promotion and stayed strong.

Sam Houston, community manager at GamerDNA, tells us that typically the engagement graphs for games "start high and just drop off." He notes that Steam sales and promotions can obviously give a shot of adrenaline to a game's engagement. He questions, "Could Microsoft do something like that? Then it would appeal to both platforms pretty highly. But, you know, Valve owns Steam and the game, so they have more flexibility."

JoystiqGamerDNA's Left 4 Dead stats reveal power of Steam sales, promotions originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 May 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gamer-dnagamerDNAl4dleft-4-deadMicrosoftsam-houstonsteamvalveXbox-360Mon, 18 May 2009 17:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Gears of War 2: Players' gaming habits get statistical]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/23/gears-of-war-2-players-gaming-habits-get-statistical/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/23/gears-of-war-2-players-gaming-habits-get-statistical/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/23/gears-of-war-2-players-gaming-habits-get-statistical/#commentsFiled under: ,


Gamasutra with data compiled from GamerDNA's 150,000 Xbox Live members have focused their analytical powers on Gears of War 2, gamers' playing habits and how much DLC affects gameplay. Their analysis of the gaming data shows that more gamers (74%) tried the original Gears after the first two months post launch than Gears 2 (43.4%) during the same period. We also learn that DLC has what they call a "diminishing return", meaning that the spike in player activity after DLC releases slowly trickles back to normal levels.

Make the jump to view even more Gears 2 stats and figures (including a pie chart!) all while pondering whether or not the recent title update will get you back into the mix or if you've permanently shelved Gears.

JoystiqGears of War 2: Players' gaming habits get statistical originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>epicepic-gamesgamerdnagears-of-war-2gow2Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Bolster your Twitter followers with the video game industry directory]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/11/bolster-your-twitter-followers-with-the-video-game-industry-dire/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/11/bolster-your-twitter-followers-with-the-video-game-industry-dire/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/11/bolster-your-twitter-followers-with-the-video-game-industry-dire/#commentsFiled under:


Sam Houston knows more about social networking in gaming communities than the rest of us combined. After all, he is the community manager for GamerDNA, a sort of ludological Facebook (only without the near-constant application invitations). So when Houston called out the gaming industry last summer for failing to use common social networking tools to keep in touch with their customers, they took it to heart, and joined the Twitter ranks en masse.

Earlier today, Houston compiled a directory of gaming industry moguls who tweet with alarming frequency. If you've ever wondered about the daily exploits of folks like @djaffe and @fourzerotwo, but never been interested to read more than 140 characters about said exploits, you might want to check it out. Then again, you may just use this new information to further stalk @majornelson. We can't really condone that type of behavior.

JoystiqBolster your Twitter followers with the video game industry directory originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>directorygamerdnasam-houstontwitterSun, 11 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST