This Week in the Business_ 'Social and Freemium is Not Where Gaming is Headed.'

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Social and freemium is not where gaming is headed.”—Jack Tretton, head of SCEA, talking about Sony’s rough times H25 and how the console business will be better than ever(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); QUOTE | “Madden did not have the level of innovation that some of our other franchises have had.”—Andrew Wilson, head of EA Sports, talking about why Madden 13 represents a significant improvement in the franchise QUOTE | “I can’t recall a time when there’s been less general enthusiasm for the arrival of the next generation of console hardware.”—Johnny Minkley, games writer and broadcaster, talking about why better technology doesn’t necessarily mean better games QUOTE | “Innovation is a 50/50 chance of flushing that money down the toilet, which is why all the big console games have 2, 3 or 4 after the title.”—Alex Seropian, co-founder of Bungie, talking about why innovation is easier on mobile hardware QUOTE | “It’s time to let those 150 game designers off their leashes to roam free.”—Steve Peterson, West Coast Editor for GamesIndustry International, talking about Zynga’s problems and how they might solve them STAT | 20%—Amount that game h25 com สล็อต​ industry retail sales dropped during July in the US, versus July h25 com เข้าสู่ระบบ​ of last year; the combined total of software, hardware and accessories was $548.4 million QUOTE | “What Steam actually does well isn’t necessarily selling software.”—Rob Fahey, veteran game journalist, talking about how Steam may be threatened by Microsoft’s Windows 8 store QUOTE | “They focus on the visual stuff at the beginning and then build the gameplay on top of that.”—Capcom director Hideaki Itsuno, talking about how Western developers start designing a game, where at Capcom Japan they start with the game design QUOTE | “Nobody plays League of Legends just because it’s free… They play it because it’s a compelling game with a great roster of characters.”—Chris Enock, senior marketing director for Riot Games, talking about how they promote the game QUOTE | “I believe tablets to a large degree will replace laptops in the home in the next few years.”—Jens Begemann, CEO of social game company Wooga, talking about how gaming hardware is changing STAT | $1.6 billion—Amount of consumer spending expected in 2016 on games from smart TVs; the current amount is only $88 million for the year STAT | $609 million—Amount of revenue that Japanese mobile social game company DeNA took in during the quarter ended in June, up 37% over last June; net profit was $131 million, as Rage of Bahamut took the #1 slot on Android and iOS STAT | $400 million—Amount that Angry Birds merchandise will make for licensee Commonwealth Toy & Novelty in 2012, which is double the sales of Angry Birds merchandise from last year QUOTE | “We’re now… creating mobile games, with an emphasis on micro-transaction games and freemium games.”—Greg Canessa, VP of Activision Mobile, talking about Activision’s plans for heavy investments in mobile games This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International (Image from Shutterstock)