By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
I like most of Gameloft’s games, and now the French company has launched a new title on Yahoo Mobage, the PC-based social gaming platform from DeNA and Yahoo Japan. As the name suggests, Eco-Farm is a farming simulation. Eco-Farm is the localized version of Green Farm, a social game Gameloft...
CyberAgent‘s gaming subsidiary CyberX today announced that one of its hit social games on Mixi, Hoshizora Bar Town (Starry Sky Bar Town), has made its way to GREE for Japanese feature phones. As the name suggests, Hoshizora Bar Town is a “bar management simulation”: players set up...
Two investment-related news items from CyberAgent today: first, the decision to invest $120 million in startups in China and Taiwan and later the announcement to invest in Vietnam-based online shopping mall Vatgia.com. According to CyberAgent VC subsidiary CyberAgent Ventures, Vatgia.com is...
Tokyo-based Tonchidot today announced the release of Kamitsuku on GREE, a social game that lets the player take on the role of an apprentice on their way to become a “god”. Users compete with other players to create a powerful civilization from scratch. Tonchidot says that in the game...
In 2009, Tokyo-based PHIRIA DESIGN landed a surprise hit with the “Bijin Tokei” (hot girl clock) app, which shows random Japanese girls holding up a sign that displays the current time – and nothing else. The company launched Bijin Tokei on various platforms (i.e. the iPhone)...
Japan’s biggest business daily The Nikkei is reporting today that CyberAgent plans to step up their venture capital investment activities in Asia. Back in December last year, CyberAgent said it partnered up with DeNA and venture capital firm Japan Asia Investment (China) to invest a total of...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry