Nickelodeon's AddictingGames, the source of free online games and the youth-gaming Web site, will extend to the iPhone this month with the launch of several games and a cross-promotion publishing network for iPhone game developers called the AddictingGames iNetwork. Games based on properties from Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and other divisions of MTV Networks will also be part of the AddictingGames iNetwork. The first AddictingGames available on the iPhone include: "iParkinglot," based on the popular "Parking It" game series on AddictingGames.com; "50 States," a geography duel; and the strategy game "World Wars." AddictingGames is part of the Nickelodeon ...

Welcome to the FanTrust guide to digital success – Setting Your Digital Resolutions for 2009. December is traditionally a time for reflection and goal-setting, both personal and professional. Though you know what it takes to reach your goals for, say, losing weight (less eggnog, more yoga) or having fun (more eggnog, less yoga) –what if you’re venturing into uncharted business terrain? Every Thursday and Monday for the next two weeks,  we’ll walk you through short, simple exercises – complete with case studies and success stories – intended to spark transformation in your company or division with overall corporate and business goals; ...

People crave community. We are social creatures. Today, we are social networking creatures. We do loads of things communally. We edit content communally on Wikipedia and we play multiplayer online role-playing games with a global community of “friends”. One of the most fascinating talks I attended last winter was at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco (read prior FanTrust blog coverage here) -- on the topic of How Wikipedia is Like a Multiplayer Game: it is addictive to its core community, has its own system of guilds and includes a crazy cast of real-life ...

Business models for virtual worlds and casual games are converging. As I mentioned in the blog “Money, Money, Money, Money”, players of the virtual worlds Second Life and Habbo Hotel are encouraged at every turn to purchase virtual goods in order to pimp their islands and their bedrooms. In Nexon's Maple Story, fans can purchase Minicooper cars for their avatar to drive. In the first few months, Nexon sold 120K cars for $10 each - $1.2 million in sales. ...

What is the changing face of gamers? If yesterday’s sweet spot used to be the geeky, single, 18-34 year old male with disposable income who played increasingly complex games on average 30-hours per week, then today’s demographic looks like the polar opposite: grandmotherly pensioners and pre-tweens snacking on casual portal games. From the very old to the very young, these “bookend” generations are changing the face of gaming and the business models at its core. There are all kinds of strange signs that gaming is changing. With the recent release of ...