By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
That was quick: Dwango today announced they will close Nicoga, a casual gaming service built on top of their super-popular video sharing platform Nico Nico Douga. Nicoga was started in September 2010 and will cease to exist on April 27 this year. Nicoga is still accessible through Nico Nico...
In Japan, it’s no secret that Dwango is the quirkiest web company of them all (among those listed, for sure), and it even shows when it comes to investor relations. The Nico Nico Douga operator regularly posts PR company videos in the IR section of the website, and while the general tone is...
Dwango has inked a deal with Paypal Japan that allows users of Nico Nico Douga to pay their monthly subscription fees via Paypal. So far, Nico Nico users were just able to choose between payment via credit cards or the monthly cell phone bill. Obviously, the motivation for Dwango here is to make it...
Both DeNA (Mobage) and GREE had tremendous success in attracting users via TV commercial campaigns, and now Dwango is trying to do copy this formula with popular video sharing service Nico Nico Douga. Here are some of the TV commercials, for which Dwango hired J-Pop mega-star Gackt (and which are...
Dwango apparently thinks that its hit video platform Nico Nico Douga could also make money through social games. Starting today, the site will have a special section called Nico Nico Applications. Users can initially choose between 10 different titles, i.e. one from Bandai, one from Sega-Sammy, and...
Offered by Dwango, Nico Nico Douga is, without a doubt, the craziest video platform in Japan. It’s competing with YouTube in Japan and actually generates revenue. But what exactly is Nico Nico Douga: One of the most spectacular success stories in the Asian web market is currently being...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry