I just can’t get this game out of my head…I’m practicing quater circles with my mouse….hitting the keyboard in chain combo fashion…tagging random people to start supercombos against babies…I can’t wait for this game!

Here’s some more wallpapers to ease the pain until it releases.:)

Updated iPad Wallpapers
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Full Collection

P.S What do you guys think about doing some PS3 and 360 themes? Yay? Nay? yanaynay?

For you iPhone owners (because there’s only 6 of you jk)……Street Fighter X Tekken Wallpapers! Enjoy!
Street Fighter X Tekken iPhone Wallpapers

There seenms to be a fighting game resurgence lately…..AND I’M loving it! I would say i’m a little torn if i’m favoring Tekken or Street Fighter….IF IT WAS TRUE! Street Fighter all the way. It’s my first love, and now you can have it on your desktop. Wallpapers for andoid, iphone, and ipad to follow over the next few days.

Click here to view Street Fighter X Tekken Desktop Wallpapers

Wowzers. I didn’t expect this from the Kane and Lynch 2 site. From a designer’s perspective, I’m gonna say whoever did this was either very brave or just insane. The use of video is cool, and may end up bringing players in, but I’m not sure if it captures the grity feel of the game. Users on the web may feel that it’s just crappy video (I could be wrong).

They definitely get the point across that they want you to download the demo “NOW” and they want you to preorder “NOW”, and the higher quality video embedded within the menu area itself is smart, as it pulls attention to the nontraditional menu itself, and almost forces the user to use it.

For those that like something a little more conventional, they were clever enough to embed a secondary tree like menu towards the bottom of the site.

I do think it’s kind of “odd” (not bad mind you) that there’s so many clean lines and  geometric based design for a game that’s supposed to be so gritty, but hey, it works. I would have loved to see them play around with digital artifacts and censor bars.

But anyways, it’s got pink. And pink in design is always cool. So there’s your inpsiration.

Kane & Lynch 2 :: Dog Days – KaneAndLynch.com

A lot of you were looking at me with a weird face when I said that you were going to learn variables in Flash. So here’s a more indepth explanation.

A variable is a symbol, or container, for another set of data. For instance, we can say the variable “myName” = Ryan Paul Thompson.

Do you remember when we started doing math in school? Once we got to Algebra, we started using variables. We would get problems such as “1 + b = 3″, and then we would be tasked with figuring out what “b” truly was (2 in this case).

Now in Actionscript 3, creating variables is a little bit different from in actionscript 2. We used to be able to get away with simply typing myname = “Simon Belmont”;

Not anymore. In actionscript 3we are REQUIRED to use the var keyword first.
Translation: Use var to tell flash, HEY!, I’m creating a variable!
example: var myVariable;
this creates a variable named “myVariable”

Next to note, is that you also have to define what KIND of variable this is, what is it’s data type. You can define a data type as a String, is it going to be Number, a boolean, etc.,etc.
Translation: You have to tell Flash what kind of data, the variable is representin.

example: var myWord:String = “Words flash will then remember, in the EXACT same way that you type them”;
This creates a variable named “myWord”, and flash understands that “myWord” is a “String” with a value of “Words flash will then remember, in the EXACT same way that you type them”

example: var myNumericalValue:Number = 7;
This creates a variable named “myNumericalValue” that has a value of 7. Notice that 7 did NOT have quotation marks around it.
The second you put quotation marks around 7, flash understands it as a String, as a word, and can’t use it to count.

What good are variables? Let’s say you’re filling out an form…there is a variable that holds your email address, and pushes that data to a database so you’re client can receive that information. When you receive emails that say “Hello, Mike”, it’s pulling your information from a database full of variables. When you play Modern Warfare 2, and youg et a headshot, there are variables holding how many points that it was worth, and then adds your points up to level you up. The uses for variables are endless, and will become more apparent the farther along we go.

So that’s variables in a quick down and dirty nutshell.In the next lesson we’ll go over the trace command, and you can start putting those variables to use.

Starcraft 2 isn’t the most visually impress site ever made, and to be honest, there’s nothing really flashy or bleeding edge about it. But it’s simple, and works really well.

1) They want to sell copies of the game. Home page offers multiple ways to purchase the game NOW, and doesn’t confuse the customer with other paths. Those options are the primary funnels they want you to go through. Notice how to even continue to the community site, you must click a much smaller and out of the way button on the top.

2) The “secondary” homepage is set up like a portal. One of Starcraft’s strengths has always been it’s community. And this design is set to capitalize on that strength.

3) This layout also enables easy updates (that can happen extremely often) and searchable content.

4) The design is consistent with the brand.

Overall, I like it. What do you think about it?

Thoughts from a social marketing perspective:
As of writing this, the fan page has 2,961 fans. It’ll be interesting to see how this grows, without have to split it’s audience between going to the game’s site vs the game’s “fanpage”. It’s also interesting to see how the views will compare between youtube and gametrailers.

I’m a little disappointed that the video itself is not AVAILABLE on the fanpage, youtube, or gamertrailers from Codemasters itself. Missing a huge opportunity in terms of possible embeds and monitoring user activity.

Thoughts from a gamer perspective:
Looks BADASS. I’m really hoping I can drift underneath a trailer and live out my Fast and Furious fantasies.

Social Media and Marketing with Gaming's Victoria Young

I met Victoria Young a little over a year ago in working on the social media and digital campaigns for King of Fighters XII and Muramasa. I was quickly impressed by her ability to create order out of chaos, and soak up information like a sponge. I don’t think there was one conference regarding Social Media in the Los Angeles area that she missed out on, or one article that slid by without her reading it.

I hope that Victoria represents a new type of marketer, especially for the video game industry. One that truly tries to understand her customers, and realizes the power that Social Media wields, and when it’s NOT the best tool to use as well.

Ryan: What was your experience like at Disney Interactive Studios?

Victoria Young: It’s always interesting to work for the Goliaths of the world because you get a lot of insight into how a company that big functions. Disney Interactive has so many components that all fit together like clockwork to put out all the products for each quarter. You get to see the level of attention to detail that Disney has for the branding of its products, the messaging, and quality control. For instance, the shade of blue has to be a specific shade for the front of box of a game or it can’t go to print. The artists, brand managers, and PR people have to really be aware of all branding guidelines and craft all messaging very carefully. They are conservative for a reason and the time and money that goes into each of the products is clear when you see it on the shelf next to some other products.

Ryan: What were some of your responsibilities over at Ignition Entertainment?

Victoria Young: Ignition Entertainment is on the opposite end of the spectrum from Disney Interactive Studios–I really wanted to experience both worlds, huge company and start-up. Since Ignition is a very young company with few employees in the LA offices, everyone does a little bit of everything. While at Disney, everyone has a very specific role, from the moment I started at Ignition, I was immediately thrust into two non-specific, all-encompassing roles in Channel Marketing and Social Media. Social media has been my main focus, which is great because it basically is an integral part to every other department: channel/retail marketing, brand marketing, and PR. I essentially created all of the social media pages for Ignition and promoted them creatively and strategically so that we could find and engage all of the fans that we did have out there.

Ryan: Since you’ve started working at Ignition, what games have you helped to market and promote, digitally?

Victoria Young: My favorite titles thus far have been King of Fighters and Muramasa. I had the most creative freedom while brainstorming and executing for these campaigns. We had great engagement levels with the campaigns we ran for these two games, like King of Fighters Throwdown Thursdays, the Muramasa/Justin.TV livestreaming gameplay event, and our fan art contests. It’s so rewarding and such a blast to see fans enjoying the opportunity to participate and to see their enthusiasm.

Ryan: How much did you dread me calling for our Social Media strategy meetings ?

Victoria Young: I actually assign a special, horrible sounding ringtone for your number so I know when to not pick up my phone. JUST KIDDING! Brainstorms with creative, open-minded people such a yourself are part of what kick start great ideas and make this job so much fun.

Ryan: What digital tactics do you feel are sometimes overlooked, when we (as an industry) start putting together social media strategies and tactics?

Victoria Young: I know a lot of people say this, but a lot of companies and brands forget that the essence of social media is SOCIAL. Some bigger names and brands can get away with being a relatively neutral newstream of events and updates, but most brands need to really inject some personality and life into their campaigns. People want news, yeah that’s great, but at the end of the day if they don’t feel like there is a person behind that Twitter account, they won’t want to engage and interact. Also, I think it is critical that social media strategies tie in directly with long-term brand strategies and goals. Quick campaigns aren’t going to truly help you build value unless you have the goal of creating long-term relationships out of them.

Ryan: What’s your stance on community management and brand management?

Victoria Young: People are very nervous about putting their brands out on social media sometimes, and in a way it is like public speaking or something where you really put yourself out there. But at the end of the day, if you’ve got a great brand, a quality product, and a professional, savvy community manager, there is no fire that can’t be put out. If the manager understands the brand and properly communicates it, you can really get an extremely active and enthusiastic community going. Give the community what they need and want in terms of interaction, content, and creativity…as long as you stick to these basics, your community will thrive.

Ryan: Thank you for your time, Victoria. I can’t wait to see what you work on next.

You can contact Victoria here -> @victoria_young

Ok kids gather round. This weeks flash/actionscript homework is a simple banner ad.
I want each of you to create a banner ad in flash for one of the following Television shows.

Arrested Development
Chapelle Show
WWE Raw
Oprah
Captain Planet

Here are the specs

300px height x 250px width
“Background” color MUST change from #FFFFFF to #333333 at some point in the movie.
Have at least one movieclip, where the insance name ends in “_mc”
Have one movieclip that is off the stage, that is placed on the stage by actionscript when the movie actually runs
At Least one object must be tweened. This does not have to be in terms of location (moving across the screen). You can tween alpha, brightness, tint, etc. (look at your properties panel after you create your movie clip and click it).
FPS must be 30
No more than 25 seconds.
File Size can NOT exceed 80k. (figure it out)

There can be pictures, or there can be words, all of that is up to you. This banner does NOT need a button, but if you feel up to the challenge, make a button that will send people to a site about the show you choose for brownie points.

And if you have any questions, drop them in the comments below, or email me.Good luck!