Entertainment insiders, movers n shakers, and star gazers, Hollywood has caught the gaming and gambling bug, while some factions are pro, some con. The old guard is generally looking to protect their turf. Legal eagles and Hollywood movie moguls have been hitting the phones and using their political clout in attempt see things go their way. Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment may have deals with the likes of PartyGaming, but that doesn't mean they are a lock for Hollywood movie exchanges. Media Man and Gambling911 embed themselves in the action...
Hollywood's old guard movie studios are on the brink of winning their battle against the movie futures markets, with United States legislators likely to outlaw such trades within days.
At last count 6 Hollywood studios are pushing to see movie betting banned and canned (in the bin, not in the can)... in movie speak.
Currently movie futures contracts allow and facilitate speculators to bet on the box office success or failure of a particular film. The first of these new era contracts, for the Matt Dillon and Chris Brown flick Takers, was approved by the United States Federal regulator over a fortnight ago and the new Sylvester Stallone film The Expendables was due to be approved by the regulator. Sly "Rambo" Stallone is quietly fired up say insiders, but the old guard is looking to put ice on his fire. Stallone and mate, Arnie, have had a taste of the Hollywood - gaming connection previously with both the Rambo and The Terminator Hollywood slot games that are offered via PartyGaming, in play for free or play for money options. StudioCanal greenlighted Sly's PartyGaming deal a few years ago. Orion Pictures Corporation was originally behind The Terminator deal. Orion still operates today, but it is now an in-name-only subsidiary of MGM. They acquired Filmways and The Samuel Goldwyn Company, but they do not own Samuel Goldwyn Films. In the past years other entertainment brands such as Marvel Entertainment followed suit into gaming and gambling, usually with good to great success, by CryptoLogic had mixed results, with PartyGaming blitzing them for service, gameplay, credibility, affiliate program offerings and overall stability. Marvel best adapted to the igaming world say analysts.
Movie Slot Games: Movie Betting Next? Legal Eagles Fly...
The powerful Motion Picture Association of America has been lobbying lawmakers to outlaw movie futures, arguing the market would be easily manipulated and skew the public's perception of movies before they open. The association firms believes rival studios could potentially sabotage films by betting against them.
Trading would be based on the amount of money a movie takes in during its opening weekend. The exchange would set the initial odds for contracts, but those odds would change based on the bidding of investors. An investor who buys a contract with longer odds takes on greater risk and the potential to earn more money.
Example?...an "investor" may think a movie will make at least $75 million in its first weekend. The exchange finds an investor who thinks the movie will fall short of that mark and the two investors enter the contract together. When the movie receipts come in the one who is correct gets a % on top of their investment based on the odds received. The other loses their investment! It's put your money where your mouth is maties.
At the weekend, it emerged that a ban on movie futures is in an amendment to President Obama's financial reform Bill, which is likely to be passed by Congress. Two box office futures markets, the well publicized (thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, Gambling911 and Media Man) Trend Exchange and Cantor Exchange, had intended to launch "soon".
Last week, the mastermind or 'Evil Genius' if you will, behind Trend Exchange, Robert Swagger, vowed to launch to market even if the ban was passed and fight the Government in court on the grounds the regulator had already granted approval. But an MPAA spokesman said the ban makes it retrospective to June 1 - before the regulator issued the approval. Legal eagles best or worst nightmare... add it to the legal bill hey.
Academics, Professors And Smart Cookies Weight Into Debate...
Associate professor Barry Burgan, head of the business school at the Australia's University of Adelaide, advised a movie futures market would provide valuable information about which films were likely to succeed (or fail). "Only one out of a large number of films produce returns and if you can provide ways to predict that better you can improve the outcomes," he said. With his odds analysis, little wonder Hollywood old guard are not so keen.
Media Man is currently seeking comment from Marvel Entertainment and New York based media entrepreneur, Mort Zuckerman. Zuckeman has previously pointed to online gaming and gambling as a way for U.S newspapers and mainstream media companies to stop their bleeding, following the adaption to a business model adopting to gaming, be it slots, poker, bingo, sports betting or a combination, following the UK media experience. In the meantime Australian newspapers and media firms, Daily Telegraph, and Fairfax Media (Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times, WA Today etc) keep ramping up their gaming, igaming and sports betting involvement.
Aussie casino king James Packer remains keen on his Premier Media Group stock. Premier Media Group also enjoys ties to the sports betting world via Fox Sports, and Packer mate Tom Cruise just happens to sometimes stay at Crown Casino and is featured in the PartyGaming title Mission: Impossible. Coincidence Not! Comon' James and Cruise, shake them up in Hollywood... I'm an investor (in Crown) you know. Got to keep the investors happen. Just don't tell us its impossible, and if need be, speak to Richard Branson who just launched Virgin Gaming, following his success of Virgin Casino (not available to Aussies or Yanks yet). PartyGaming is keen to ramp up more Hollywood involved (and do deals with Crown Limited). Last year PartyPoker referred online poker players to the Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne, Australia, and the promo worked a charm. We all made money right? Yep. Thanks in advance.
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Wrap Up...
The argements for and against the betting on film releases are many. It's fair to say that the legal eagles on both sides of the equations will pulling out all the stops to see the ideal outcomes for their prospective clients. Hollywood betting... good, bad or neutral? Tell us in the forum, and Tony Clifton and Howard Stern (King Of All Media), we invite your contribution... and everyone else. Your feedback will be taken on board by the powers that be at Gambling911 and Media Man, at a time when The Expendables look to kick booty, and Max Mad 4 is looking to weigh into the Hollywood betting wars. Would you bet against Stallone or Max Max!
Media Man and Gambling911 are website portals covering entertainment, gambling, gaming, sports, politics and much more. Punters, as always, know the odds and have fun.
*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a bakers dozen of sectors they cover.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
PartyCasino New Games: Rubiks Slot, Slotbox, Sands Of Fortune, Beat the Bank and more - March 2010
PartyGaming's PartyCasino.com Releases New Games
Rubiks Slot, Slotbox, Sands Of Fortune, Beat the Bank and more
Multi currency
Multi language
24/7/365 support
Multi-time award winning casino
Australian, European, South African, South African players welcome.
Up to $500 bonus for new players via PartyCasino.com
PartyGaming has also recently launched WPTCasino.com which also carries many new game titles and is currently offering up to $600 welcome bonus for new players.
Websites
PartyCasino.com
WPTCasino.com
WPT.com
PartyPoker.com
PartyBets.com
PartyBingo.com
PartyGammon.com
Rubiks Slot, Slotbox, Sands Of Fortune, Beat the Bank and more
Multi currency
Multi language
24/7/365 support
Multi-time award winning casino
Australian, European, South African, South African players welcome.
Up to $500 bonus for new players via PartyCasino.com
PartyGaming has also recently launched WPTCasino.com which also carries many new game titles and is currently offering up to $600 welcome bonus for new players.
Websites
PartyCasino.com
WPTCasino.com
WPT.com
PartyPoker.com
PartyBets.com
PartyBingo.com
PartyGammon.com
Saturday, March 27, 2010
PartyCasino delivers the best in online casino entertainment; Cleopatra, Rambo, Sinatra, Call Of Duty 4, Classic Slots, Marvel, Table Games and more
PartyCasino.com continues to deliver the best that the online gaming world has to offer.
The company is maintaining its top position in Asia Pacific and Europe and has released more world class slot games and "Avatar" type technology is on the way.
PartyGaming and in particular, its PartyCasino.com are on a roll.
Under the leadership of CEO Jim Ryan, PartyGaming is maintaining its darling status in the news media and gaming world. Quite an accomplishment since the days when they pulled out of the U.S market.
PartyGaming's leading brands, PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com continue to release new features that satisfy their existing clients, in addition to seeing new clients and partners come on board.
They have also built upon the world famous World Poker Tour brand with WPTCasino.com and WPTPoker.com, offering up to $600 bonus for new players.
Some of the key strengths of PartyGaming and its brands include:
Listed on the London Stock Exchange
Branded slot games that can be played for free or played for money. Rambo by StudioCanal, Sinatra by Frank Sinatra Enterprises, Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Cleopatra by IGT, Monopoly and Cluedo by Hasbro, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, The Naked Gun, Saturday Night Fever and High Noon by Paramount Pictures, Resident Evil by Capcom and Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four by Marvel Entertainment, Call Of Duty 4 by Activision, King Kong by Universal Studios, The Terminator and Gone With The Wind by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and so the list goes on. As Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee says, "Excelsior!".
PartyGaming also have their own in house game development team entitled 'The Games Studio', that works in collaboration with their business partners.
New technologies have enabled PartyCasino.com to offer "Live Dealer", in collaboration with EvolutionGaming and "Single Wallet" sees players only having to have one account with PartyGaming even if they choose to play a number of games in the portfolio, from slots, to poker, backgammon, sports betting, bingo et al.
The company has ramped up activities and campaigns across the global from Channel Five in Europe, to business deals with Dutch lottery operators and London Capital Group, PMU in France, all the way down to Australia where world class poker player, Stewart Scott is the regions brand ambassador for PartyPoker.com
Government b2b dealings - PartyGaming announced an exclusive, five-year agreement to provide an online gaming platform for poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Spil A/S (‘Danske Spil’). Danske Spil is controlled by the Danish Government. PartyGaming earlier this week announced a multi year deal with France gaming and racing operator Pari-Mutuel Urbain.
Industry Awards and Commendations: PartyGaming's PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com are multi-time award winners of the Media Man - Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory "Online Casino of the Month" and all entities have also won a range of annual awards handed out by the well respected eGaming Review.
Exclusives - branded slots, Live Dealer, PartyPoints, Palladium Lounge, Single Wallet and more.
For these reasons and more, if you like games, be it playing for free and fun or playing for money, PartyGaming more than likely has a game for you. Numerous multi language and multi currency options are also available, and the customer service is second to none. Don't just play the game, be the game and feel it at PartyCasino.com
PartyGaming Plc is the world’s leading listed online gaming company. The Group is a constituent of the FTSE 250 share index with its shares listed on The London Stock Exchange under the ticker: PRTY.
*The writer has a b2b relationship with PartyGaming and a number of its brands, as they do with dozens of companies in the gaming and igaming world.
The company is maintaining its top position in Asia Pacific and Europe and has released more world class slot games and "Avatar" type technology is on the way.
PartyGaming and in particular, its PartyCasino.com are on a roll.
Under the leadership of CEO Jim Ryan, PartyGaming is maintaining its darling status in the news media and gaming world. Quite an accomplishment since the days when they pulled out of the U.S market.
PartyGaming's leading brands, PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com continue to release new features that satisfy their existing clients, in addition to seeing new clients and partners come on board.
They have also built upon the world famous World Poker Tour brand with WPTCasino.com and WPTPoker.com, offering up to $600 bonus for new players.
Some of the key strengths of PartyGaming and its brands include:
Listed on the London Stock Exchange
Branded slot games that can be played for free or played for money. Rambo by StudioCanal, Sinatra by Frank Sinatra Enterprises, Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Cleopatra by IGT, Monopoly and Cluedo by Hasbro, Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, The Naked Gun, Saturday Night Fever and High Noon by Paramount Pictures, Resident Evil by Capcom and Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four by Marvel Entertainment, Call Of Duty 4 by Activision, King Kong by Universal Studios, The Terminator and Gone With The Wind by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and so the list goes on. As Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee says, "Excelsior!".
PartyGaming also have their own in house game development team entitled 'The Games Studio', that works in collaboration with their business partners.
New technologies have enabled PartyCasino.com to offer "Live Dealer", in collaboration with EvolutionGaming and "Single Wallet" sees players only having to have one account with PartyGaming even if they choose to play a number of games in the portfolio, from slots, to poker, backgammon, sports betting, bingo et al.
The company has ramped up activities and campaigns across the global from Channel Five in Europe, to business deals with Dutch lottery operators and London Capital Group, PMU in France, all the way down to Australia where world class poker player, Stewart Scott is the regions brand ambassador for PartyPoker.com
Government b2b dealings - PartyGaming announced an exclusive, five-year agreement to provide an online gaming platform for poker and casino games in Denmark for Danske Spil A/S (‘Danske Spil’). Danske Spil is controlled by the Danish Government. PartyGaming earlier this week announced a multi year deal with France gaming and racing operator Pari-Mutuel Urbain.
Industry Awards and Commendations: PartyGaming's PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com are multi-time award winners of the Media Man - Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory "Online Casino of the Month" and all entities have also won a range of annual awards handed out by the well respected eGaming Review.
Exclusives - branded slots, Live Dealer, PartyPoints, Palladium Lounge, Single Wallet and more.
For these reasons and more, if you like games, be it playing for free and fun or playing for money, PartyGaming more than likely has a game for you. Numerous multi language and multi currency options are also available, and the customer service is second to none. Don't just play the game, be the game and feel it at PartyCasino.com
PartyGaming Plc is the world’s leading listed online gaming company. The Group is a constituent of the FTSE 250 share index with its shares listed on The London Stock Exchange under the ticker: PRTY.
*The writer has a b2b relationship with PartyGaming and a number of its brands, as they do with dozens of companies in the gaming and igaming world.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
PartyCasino Brings Back The Porsche Promotion!
PartyCasino Brings Back The Porsche Promotion!
Get Out Of My Dreams! Get Into My Car!
Gibraltar – 16th March 2010 – PartyCasino.com, the world’s largest online casino, is pleased to announce the return of its Porsche Promotion! If the Gold Mega Jackpot is won between 18th – 31st March 2010 the player who earns the most PartyPoints by playing the Gold Mega Jackpot games: The Godfather, Mega Fortune Wheel, Super Joker, Super Mystic, Super Fortune Wheel and Super Star wins the sports car!
There is a leaderboard running through PartyAccount and if the jackpot is won within two weeks one of PartyGaming’s Palladium Lounge VIP hosts will call with the news that the Porsche has been won. If the Gold Mega Jackpot is not won between 18th – 31st March cash prizes will be awarded to players 1st – 600th on the leaderboard with a total value of $80,000.* For more details and terms and conditions please see your individual PartyAccount.
Players ranked 1st – 5th will be rewarded as follows: 1st - $15,000, 2nd - $12,500, 3rd - $10,000, 4th - $7,500, 5th – 9th - $1,000. Hotspots for every 10 ranks between 10th and 300th pays $750 cash bonus. Hotspots for every 10 ranks between 310th and 600th pays $250 cash bonus.
A PartyCasino.com spokesman said: "The Porsche promotion is back and if someone doesn’t win a flashy car there is still going to be real cash rewards for customers! If the Gold Mega Jackpot doesn’t take your fancy then Colossal Cash, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry, currently stands at over $2.5 million – it really is a big one!"
At the start of 2010, PartyCasino.com launched the largest progressive seeded jackpot in the online gaming industry in the form of ‘The Big One’ and introduced classic slot Melon Madness. The Big One is structured as a five tiered pool. The highest tier - Colossal Cash - seeds at $1.5m, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry. Melon Madness is designed to be a classic 30 line video slot. Play is fast and the free spin feature is played in-reel.
PartyCasino.com now offers over 140 games, including 100 slots, and pays out easily over $10 million EVERY DAY to players. The world’s largest online casino continues to expand rapidly. The record Gold Mega Jackpot was hit with a fateful spin at 20.42ET on December 2nd 2009. The stake was $45 on popular PartyCasino.com Gold Mega Jackpot game, the Mega Fortune Wheel. The screen exploded with congratulations and colour as ‘gamago’ turned $45 into a record busting $4,978,336.62!
PartyGaming Plc is the world’s leading listed online gaming company. The Group is a constituent of the FTSE 250 share index and the FTSE4Good Index Series, which measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. PartyGaming’s shares are listed on The London Stock Exchange under the ticker: PRTY
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Get Out Of My Dreams! Get Into My Car!
Gibraltar – 16th March 2010 – PartyCasino.com, the world’s largest online casino, is pleased to announce the return of its Porsche Promotion! If the Gold Mega Jackpot is won between 18th – 31st March 2010 the player who earns the most PartyPoints by playing the Gold Mega Jackpot games: The Godfather, Mega Fortune Wheel, Super Joker, Super Mystic, Super Fortune Wheel and Super Star wins the sports car!
There is a leaderboard running through PartyAccount and if the jackpot is won within two weeks one of PartyGaming’s Palladium Lounge VIP hosts will call with the news that the Porsche has been won. If the Gold Mega Jackpot is not won between 18th – 31st March cash prizes will be awarded to players 1st – 600th on the leaderboard with a total value of $80,000.* For more details and terms and conditions please see your individual PartyAccount.
Players ranked 1st – 5th will be rewarded as follows: 1st - $15,000, 2nd - $12,500, 3rd - $10,000, 4th - $7,500, 5th – 9th - $1,000. Hotspots for every 10 ranks between 10th and 300th pays $750 cash bonus. Hotspots for every 10 ranks between 310th and 600th pays $250 cash bonus.
A PartyCasino.com spokesman said: "The Porsche promotion is back and if someone doesn’t win a flashy car there is still going to be real cash rewards for customers! If the Gold Mega Jackpot doesn’t take your fancy then Colossal Cash, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry, currently stands at over $2.5 million – it really is a big one!"
At the start of 2010, PartyCasino.com launched the largest progressive seeded jackpot in the online gaming industry in the form of ‘The Big One’ and introduced classic slot Melon Madness. The Big One is structured as a five tiered pool. The highest tier - Colossal Cash - seeds at $1.5m, the biggest online jackpot seed in the industry. Melon Madness is designed to be a classic 30 line video slot. Play is fast and the free spin feature is played in-reel.
PartyCasino.com now offers over 140 games, including 100 slots, and pays out easily over $10 million EVERY DAY to players. The world’s largest online casino continues to expand rapidly. The record Gold Mega Jackpot was hit with a fateful spin at 20.42ET on December 2nd 2009. The stake was $45 on popular PartyCasino.com Gold Mega Jackpot game, the Mega Fortune Wheel. The screen exploded with congratulations and colour as ‘gamago’ turned $45 into a record busting $4,978,336.62!
PartyGaming Plc is the world’s leading listed online gaming company. The Group is a constituent of the FTSE 250 share index and the FTSE4Good Index Series, which measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. PartyGaming’s shares are listed on The London Stock Exchange under the ticker: PRTY
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Porsche
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PartyGaming
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Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Aussies won't pay for online news; More willing to pay for online games and movies, by Greg Tingle - 3rd March 2010
Nearly two thirds of Australians would not consider paying for online newspapers, however one in two people would pay for online movies, according to research from Nielsen.
Media Man's in-house research via their network of 20 plus websites across a dozen industry verticals, has found that many web surfers are prepared to pay for online games, if value for money is perceived. Website visitors usually first choose the "play for free" option, then roughly half later move onto "play for money" games.
Blockbuster movies themed games, the type put out by Party's 'The Games Studio', generally blitz the competition, something that Richard Branson's Virgin Games has picked up on. Like many of us these days, Virgin's interested in suitable investors to get things to the next level in a number of strategic geo markets.
Virgin Games in conjunction with GDI (Game Domain International) have eyed Australia and the U.S with their A World Of My Own venture, which also features movie and comic book themes, however Virgin and AWOMO don't accept Aussie's at the time of publishing. Virgin does currently provide a broadband and mobile phone service to Aussie's.
The survey findings from a global pond showed just 4% of Australians had paid for online news content with 68% unlikely to do so in the future.
A further 78% said they would not pay for internet-only news sources.
The findings come as publishers increasingly explore online pay walls to sure up revenue streams as newspaper print readership continues to fall dramatically.
Newspapers and website portals have been ramping up gaming and gambling offers over the past 12 months. Sports betting on the horse racing, NRL, AFL, UFC, boxing and special events like the Olympics and Australian political elections have been extremely popular.
Consumers are much more willing to pay for online entertainment content, including movies (51%), books (49%), professionally produced video including current TV shows (46%) and music (44%).
However, a smaller percentage of people said they were willing to pay for newspapers (28%), internet-only news sources (21%) radio (11%) and blogs (9%).
Over the past 12 months Media Man has found that between 4 to 5% of online visitors will play games with approximately 50% of them later becoming "play for money" customers.
James Packer's Crown Casino is exploring igaming b2b deals. Earlier this year operators such as PartyGaming's PartyPoker offered satallite qualifiers to Crown's Aussie Millions Poker Championship.
A third of people said they would accept more ads online to support content costs but 75% objected to combining online ads with paid for content.
The survey polled 500 people in Australia.
This news comes as News Corp's Rupert Murdoch is seriously considering suing Google, largely over Google's "grabbing" of News Limited content, some of which ends up in the Google search engine results and via the Google News service.
Media Man observing and analyzing the merging of the entertainment, media and gaming industries, has recently relaunched http://www.australiansportsentertainment.com
The clear trend is that customers want to interact and be entertained and informed, either for free or at a price, if they feel they are getting value. Strong brands are leveraging off their trust and relationship with their audience. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts attached to websites give punters extra value and enjoyment.
Iconic brands and entities such as Monopoly (Hasbro), Rambo (StudioCanal), Top Gun (Paramount Pictures), James Bond, Tomb Raider (Eidos Interactive), Andre The Giant, UFC, Iron-Man (Marvel), KISS and Wheel Of Fortune (Sony and FremantleMedia) are among those that most consumers instantly recognize. Web surfers generally enjoy the option of reading about their "hero", then having the option to watch multimedia and then play its game title, be it for free or for a moderate charge.
Fairfax Media recently inked a "white label" deal on a games portfolio and News Limited continues to make noise and revenue with its Fox Sports betting options.
The Asia Pacific region remains attractive to many strong igaming companies, even though some say there is significant "grey area" within the territory. Bullish firms will see that as a positive, as the gaming and igaming sector has never been one for cowards.
The late news... Media Man has just been awarded the Hitwise Australia top ten award (#8 in the Entertainment - Personalities sector). Note, it's the entertainment - celeb sector (not the gambling sector Senator Conroy and friends).
Finally, a few apt words of wisdom from media barons in the know...
"Internet is like electricity" (James Packer)
"Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow" (Rupert Murdoch).
"In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who
learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed" (Charles Darwin)
*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911
*The writer owns shares in Crown Casino
*The writer has b2b dealings with a number of PartyGaming and Virgin brands
*Greg Tingle is the founder and director of Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company.
Website Network
Media Man International
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Media Man Australia
Casino News Media
Casino News Media.net
Global Gaming Directory
Global Gaming Directory.net
Australian Sports Entertainment
Sports Entertainment News
Media Man's in-house research via their network of 20 plus websites across a dozen industry verticals, has found that many web surfers are prepared to pay for online games, if value for money is perceived. Website visitors usually first choose the "play for free" option, then roughly half later move onto "play for money" games.
Blockbuster movies themed games, the type put out by Party's 'The Games Studio', generally blitz the competition, something that Richard Branson's Virgin Games has picked up on. Like many of us these days, Virgin's interested in suitable investors to get things to the next level in a number of strategic geo markets.
Virgin Games in conjunction with GDI (Game Domain International) have eyed Australia and the U.S with their A World Of My Own venture, which also features movie and comic book themes, however Virgin and AWOMO don't accept Aussie's at the time of publishing. Virgin does currently provide a broadband and mobile phone service to Aussie's.
The survey findings from a global pond showed just 4% of Australians had paid for online news content with 68% unlikely to do so in the future.
A further 78% said they would not pay for internet-only news sources.
The findings come as publishers increasingly explore online pay walls to sure up revenue streams as newspaper print readership continues to fall dramatically.
Newspapers and website portals have been ramping up gaming and gambling offers over the past 12 months. Sports betting on the horse racing, NRL, AFL, UFC, boxing and special events like the Olympics and Australian political elections have been extremely popular.
Consumers are much more willing to pay for online entertainment content, including movies (51%), books (49%), professionally produced video including current TV shows (46%) and music (44%).
However, a smaller percentage of people said they were willing to pay for newspapers (28%), internet-only news sources (21%) radio (11%) and blogs (9%).
Over the past 12 months Media Man has found that between 4 to 5% of online visitors will play games with approximately 50% of them later becoming "play for money" customers.
James Packer's Crown Casino is exploring igaming b2b deals. Earlier this year operators such as PartyGaming's PartyPoker offered satallite qualifiers to Crown's Aussie Millions Poker Championship.
A third of people said they would accept more ads online to support content costs but 75% objected to combining online ads with paid for content.
The survey polled 500 people in Australia.
This news comes as News Corp's Rupert Murdoch is seriously considering suing Google, largely over Google's "grabbing" of News Limited content, some of which ends up in the Google search engine results and via the Google News service.
Media Man observing and analyzing the merging of the entertainment, media and gaming industries, has recently relaunched http://www.australiansportsentertainment.com
The clear trend is that customers want to interact and be entertained and informed, either for free or at a price, if they feel they are getting value. Strong brands are leveraging off their trust and relationship with their audience. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts attached to websites give punters extra value and enjoyment.
Iconic brands and entities such as Monopoly (Hasbro), Rambo (StudioCanal), Top Gun (Paramount Pictures), James Bond, Tomb Raider (Eidos Interactive), Andre The Giant, UFC, Iron-Man (Marvel), KISS and Wheel Of Fortune (Sony and FremantleMedia) are among those that most consumers instantly recognize. Web surfers generally enjoy the option of reading about their "hero", then having the option to watch multimedia and then play its game title, be it for free or for a moderate charge.
Fairfax Media recently inked a "white label" deal on a games portfolio and News Limited continues to make noise and revenue with its Fox Sports betting options.
The Asia Pacific region remains attractive to many strong igaming companies, even though some say there is significant "grey area" within the territory. Bullish firms will see that as a positive, as the gaming and igaming sector has never been one for cowards.
The late news... Media Man has just been awarded the Hitwise Australia top ten award (#8 in the Entertainment - Personalities sector). Note, it's the entertainment - celeb sector (not the gambling sector Senator Conroy and friends).
Finally, a few apt words of wisdom from media barons in the know...
"Internet is like electricity" (James Packer)
"Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow" (Rupert Murdoch).
"In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who
learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed" (Charles Darwin)
*The writer is a special contributor for Gambling911
*The writer owns shares in Crown Casino
*The writer has b2b dealings with a number of PartyGaming and Virgin brands
*Greg Tingle is the founder and director of Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company.
Website Network
Media Man International
Media Man
Media Man Australia
Casino News Media
Casino News Media.net
Global Gaming Directory
Global Gaming Directory.net
Australian Sports Entertainment
Sports Entertainment News
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Virgin Casino Introduces Major New Games for February
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 18th February 2010 - Virgin Casino, part of the leading online gaming company - Virgin Games, has today announced that it is launching six new games in February from three leading games producers - Cryptologic, Dynamite Idea and VS Gaming. Amongst the new games are three major titles - King Kong, Call of Duty and Thor - all developed by Cryptologic.
Warren Eloff, Product Manager at Virgin Casino, commented:
"We're really thrilled to be offering such great titles from these leading online game developers as we believe they will greatly enhance both choice and player experience for Virgin Casino customers, making it one of the most exciting online casinos around. Call of Duty 4 is one of the most popular video games ever created and I've no doubt it will be a big hit with our players, as will the other new games."
Virgin Games will be launching new games throughout February with Cryptologic's Call of Duty launching on the 17th and Thor following soon.
Both King Kong and Call of Duty 4 are 25 payline slots where players can unlock multiple bonus rounds and win both free spins and mystery cash prizes. Call of Duty 4 has a particularly exciting bonus round which transports players to treacherous hotspots around the globe to take on a rogue enemy group threatening world peace. Players must shoot down as many soldiers as possible to win free games and cash prizes and get the chance to win up to 5,000 times their bet.
Also to be launched in February are Aces High and SpinWin, both by Dynamite Idea and Sportswheel by VS Gaming.
Founded in 2004, Virgin Casino has over 100,000,000 players and 103 casino games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Casino seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. These new games add to a growing selection that can be found at Virgin Casino from games producers including WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Fremantle, Endemol, Dynamite Idea, VS Gaming and Ash Gaming.
To play these exciting new games visit VirginGames.com
About Virgin Games:
Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:
- Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a jackpot value of over GBP 1,500,000
- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of poker games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.
Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory
Website
VirginGames.com
Profiles
King Kong
Thor
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Virgin Bingo
Cryptologic
WagerWorks
FremantleMedia
Richard Branson
Website Network
Media Man
Global Gaming Directory
Casino News Media
Global Gaming Directory.net
Casino News Media.net
Hollywood Slot Games
Multi Currency Casino
American Casino News
American Gaming News
Marvel Slots Online
Warren Eloff, Product Manager at Virgin Casino, commented:
"We're really thrilled to be offering such great titles from these leading online game developers as we believe they will greatly enhance both choice and player experience for Virgin Casino customers, making it one of the most exciting online casinos around. Call of Duty 4 is one of the most popular video games ever created and I've no doubt it will be a big hit with our players, as will the other new games."
Virgin Games will be launching new games throughout February with Cryptologic's Call of Duty launching on the 17th and Thor following soon.
Both King Kong and Call of Duty 4 are 25 payline slots where players can unlock multiple bonus rounds and win both free spins and mystery cash prizes. Call of Duty 4 has a particularly exciting bonus round which transports players to treacherous hotspots around the globe to take on a rogue enemy group threatening world peace. Players must shoot down as many soldiers as possible to win free games and cash prizes and get the chance to win up to 5,000 times their bet.
Also to be launched in February are Aces High and SpinWin, both by Dynamite Idea and Sportswheel by VS Gaming.
Founded in 2004, Virgin Casino has over 100,000,000 players and 103 casino games on its site. Through the introduction of a custom built Virgin Games platform in 2008, Virgin Casino seeks to provide its players with the widest possible choice of casino games. These new games add to a growing selection that can be found at Virgin Casino from games producers including WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Fremantle, Endemol, Dynamite Idea, VS Gaming and Ash Gaming.
To play these exciting new games visit VirginGames.com
About Virgin Games:
Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings:
- Virgin Casino, offers content from a range of games suppliers including WagerWorks, Cryptologic, Freemantle and Ash Gaming, bringing consumers classic casino games like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Rubik's, X-Factor and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a jackpot value of over GBP 1,500,000
- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of poker games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.
Sorry, no U.S or Australian players. See World Casino Directory
Website
VirginGames.com
Profiles
King Kong
Thor
Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Virgin Bingo
Cryptologic
WagerWorks
FremantleMedia
Richard Branson
Website Network
Media Man
Global Gaming Directory
Casino News Media
Global Gaming Directory.net
Casino News Media.net
Hollywood Slot Games
Multi Currency Casino
American Casino News
American Gaming News
Marvel Slots Online
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