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  • Disney Announces Mobile Game Apps

    Disney Announces Mobile Game Apps

    If you check out Apple’s App store or Google Play you will notice a striking lack of games from Disney. The company has come out with the hit Where’s my Water, but that was pretty recently, and it doesn’t include any classic Disney characters. This is surprising form a company that tries to have its brand involved in new media from the get go.

    That is about to change, however, as the company has partnered with DeNA to provide mobile social games starting later this month. So far the games are currently being released in Japan, but they have plans to make them available worldwide.

    The first game was Disney Party, released March 28 on the Mobage network in Japan, which serves an audience of over 35 million. A second game, Disney Fantasy Quest is set to be released April 2. The games feature Disney’s main characters, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and others.

    Disney Party is a social party-simulation game for mobile phones. Players organize parties and decorate their interiors with various “gifts” that will attract Disney characters. When the characters pay visits, players can greet or take photos with them.

    Disney Fantasy Quest is a card-collection game where players collect cards of popular characters from Mickey & Friends, princesses and other Disney series to compile “magic books” in a quest to make the world happier.

    The DeNA, Disney agreement will see the two teaming up in other efforts as well, including Disney movies, TV shows and smartphone apps.

    DeNA also has plans to release a Marvel based game ahead of the Avengers movie release this summer.

  • Facebook Gaining Traction in Japan

    Facebook Gaining Traction in Japan

    Since Facebook debuted in Japan in 2008, the social networking giant faced a few cultural obstacles in its bid for popularity, in a country where people are historically reluctant to share any sort of personal information on the internet. Still, new reports have shown that Facebook is gaining traction in Japan, and has beaten out homegrown rivals such as Mixi and DeNa.

    facebook japan

    Though, it would appear that the Japanese are letting go of some of their shyness, as Facebook had 13.5 million users in February, up from 6 million a year before. This puts the site at number one in that country for the first time, ahead of Mixi and Twitter.

    Arvind Rajan, Asia-Pacific managing director for LinkedIn, states that “Facebook didn’t have a lot of traction in Japan for the longest time – They really did turn the corner.” Linkedin entered the Japanese market last October, and seeks to achieve Facebook’s recent success.

    The issue of using ones real name online in Japan is a big deal. But, the country still warmed up to Facebook – Rajan ties the change in sensibility to the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. During the crisis and its aftermath, social networking sites such as Facebook helped families to locate each other and allowed people post and find reliable information. Rajan asserts, “the real-name case has been answered. People are getting it now.” The aforementioned is likely the first worthwhile utilization of Facebook I’ve ever encountered.

    Facebook’s real name policy also makes the site relevant in forging relationships between would-be business partners in Japan. Koki Shiraishi, a Tokyo analyst with Daiwa Securities Capital Markets, says that “people started to recognize it’s suited to business because it uses real names and is not anonymous – It’s a chicken-and-egg thing: If everyone starts using it, then more people start using it.”

    So, if more people start to use the chicken, more people will start to use the egg? In other words, Facebook is now popular in Japan.