By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
Last year, CyberAgent (its investment subsidiary CyberAgent Ventures, to be more precise) launched Startups2010, a program that was supposed to identify promising tech startups in Japan (report on Asiajin – actually the company started in 2009). And now CyberAgent has announced it’s...
One of Japan’s most famous boy bands, 14-member all-male pop dance group Exile, served as an inspiration for a new social game that just landed on GREE. Dubbed Ex-Samurai Senzoku, the game lets players team up with a samurai (an Exile member in avatar form) and conquer towns in medieval Japan...
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...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry