PocketGamer.biz Week That Was: Apple unveils iOS 8, Quiz RPG gains on Puzzle & Dragons, and the PG E3 Party Guide is live
The past 7 days in bite-sized portions
In a handful of hours, a lonely and rather empty part of Los Angeles will play host to thousands of industry attendees - and tens of millions of industry dollars - as E3 once again rolls into town.
Whether or not E3 is a "mobile" show in your opinion or whether you view it as a playground for the console boys, it's still an amazing time to get swept up in the enthusiasm for games which brought many of us into our respective lines of work however many years ago.
It's also a time to glance around at the strangers you'll pass in the halls - some obsessively checking their 3DS for StreetPasses while others tap away on any number of mobile games. Heck, you'll probably even see a handful of Vitas out in the wild.
As you pass these players, take a second to appreciate what they're doing. Don't judge them if they're playing a game or platform you might not care for, take an honest moment to look at the enthusiasm and concentration on their faces as they enjoy whatever media it is they're consuming.
That look, that moment, and that portability is - after all - the very lifeblood of our industry, and it's a wonderful thing.
E3 & PG Connects- E3 is only a weekend away! If you’ll be in town, be sure to stop by our party on Wednesday 11 June. Looking for more parties? Check out our Ultimate E3 2014 party guide!
- PG Connects is coming to Helsinki on June 16, and we've finalised our schedule which includes talks from Supercell CEO Illka Paananen and representatives from King, Nordeus, Rovio, and Wargaming (among many, many others).
- We also shed some light on a few of our speakers, namely Small Giant Games' Timo Soininen, AppLift's Jean-Philippe Decka, and London-based writer and consultant Owen Faraday.
- Ready to buy a ticket? It’s a great chance to meet the global games industry, so click here!
- During Apple’s WWDC Keynote, the Cupertino giant unveiled a new Metal graphics API and Swift programming language.
- COPPA compliance outfit AgeCheq announced a free SDK for Unity developers.
- Speaking of Unity, it selected République dev Camouflaj to star in its first Video Developer Profile.
- Marmalade, meanwhile, announced that its cross-platform SDK would now be free.
- And our exclusive weekly look at the UK App Store charts showed that Blek battled back, while Battleheart bashed its way in.
- Our Mobile Gaming mavens pondered whether there's room in a F2P designer's toolbox for an energy-based economy.
- And in a quarter without any major releases, Nintendo saw its sales passed by King.
- Meanwhile, our Charticle looked at the global performance of Gumi's F2P JRPG Brave Frontier.
- Lina Chan, co-founder of Nix Hydra, outlined how her studio's $5 million funding windfall will enable it to create games that girls want to play.
- While Core tablet dev Super Evil Megacorp's CEO Bo Daly said, "you can't compromise between midcore and core games".
- Reflecting on WWDC, our own Jon Jordan noted that Apple;s garden is certainly blooming - but its walls are getting higher.
- AdventureQuest Worlds creator Adam Bohn detailed how Artix Entertainment is finding its feet on Mobile.
- fofofum's Ian Atkinson laid out the critical questions you need to ask before you build or buy a mobile game backend.
- TreSensa CEO Rob Grossberg outlined how a recent hook up with Fortumo will help devs monetise unbanked players in emerging markets.
- And NativeX's Ryan Weber laid out the terms of an advertising technology "deathmatch" between network, mediation, and exchange.
- Apple's Tim Cook announced several upcoming changes to the App Store in iOS 8 which'll reshape the way players discover games.
- Dethroning Puzzle & Dragons in Japan is no easy task, but Colopl's Quiz RPG - and its 26+ million downloads - might just pull it off.
- And you might have heard that InMobi recently broke up with the banner ad - we've got the details on the split here.
- First things first - looking for a programming job in London? CSR Dev NaturalMotion is hiring.
- Royal Revolt dev Flaregames raised $12.2 million to build up its F2P portfolio.
- And core tablet dev Super Evil Megacorp announced $11.6 million in funding - along with investor Kristian Segerstrale as its COO.
- Meanwhile, Nexon picked up a "killer core" title from New York-based startup Turbo.
- Finally, Flexion raised $2.5 million to expand its "off-Google Play" app distribution.