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Hello Denuo friends and Happy 2012!

This month’s issue will get your new year off on the right foot with a look at gaming’s influence on health platforms and their subsequent influence on your waistline. We’ll also get a glimpse at what’s to come in 2012 with a few gaming trends and prognostications.

Xbox Live’s ‘Metro’ dashboard update debuted last month to great fanfare, but not all of the platform’s 44MM users were thrilled with the change.  Speaking of thrilling, though The Last of Us currently isn’t more than a trailer, press release, and screen grabs, the amount of buzz around this new title has gamers on edge. What can marketers learn about bringing new IP to market from Naughty Dog’s latest?  Lastly, while Humble Indie Bundle 4 may be over, we’re already looking forward to their next release; not only to play awesome indie games, but also to do our part for charities. Download PLAYED now!

We know it’s been a while since we last posted with Denuo’s usual gaming goodness, but never fear because we’re back with a new look and all the same smarts, insights, and trends you expect from our group of misfits.

The December issue includes our annual Holiday Gift Guide/Wishlist, with great gift ideas for all the gamers on your nice list. We’re also celebrating Xbox’s 10th Anniversary with an infographical look back at some of Microsoft’s best in the world of gaming advertising. Speaking of gaming ads, Activision made entertainment history once again this year and delivered another campaign that caught more than just core gamers’ attention – how are their tactics influencing their competitors? Download it here!

Once again, the PLAYED crew tore through the Electronic Entertainment Expo in a whirlwind of meetings, presentations and, of course, the best games.  After catching our breath and gathering our thoughts, we all agreed that this year’s show felt a little different from previous E3 events.

Included in our E3 recap is a look at how publishers are starting the promotional machine further and further out, leaving less gaming for players to do on the showfloor and a deeper focus on 2012′s big-budget releases.  We also analyze the “Big Three’s” (Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony) big steps to connect accessible gamers with core gamers through new technology and systems.  Finally, we check out how games built for the elementary school-age crowd held sway at the show, and non-endemic brands’ attempts to fit in with the game-centric crowds.  Download it here!

No April fooling, this issue of PLAYED comes screaming into spring with a heaping helping of insight and info that would make even the angriest of birds grin.

This month, we look at the exponential growth of the Angry Birds franchise and what it means for mobile gaming developers across the industry. Also, we see what lessons can be learned from the recent hiatus of the Guitar Hero brand which, until now, was one of the most popular gaming series in the world. Coming out of the annual Game Developer Conference, we analyze the growing debate over the value of social games, both to users and developers trying to decipher its success. Finally, we examine the trend of “gaming the system,” or exploiting a program to gain an edge. As our marketing programs become more interactive, is this something we should be aware of and how can we utilize this behavior for more interesting participation?

Denuo’s PLAYED staffers are romantics through and through.  That said, instead of a bundle of roses, we crafted this sweet-smelling bouquet of gaming insights and news, gently placed around titles involving science-fiction terror, Russian stacking dolls, and 3D tech, delivered straight into the palm of your hand.  You can feel the love, can’t you?

In this month’s issue, we look beyond the third dimension of Nintendo’s new 3DS handheld.  While everyone is agog over glasses-less 3D, the handheld brings even more functionality to the social and casual game spaces than first thought.  On the mobile gaming side, we check out the big, exclusive steps that Google’s Android mobile OS platform has taken to move into gamers’ hearts and minds.  Meanwhile, we examine Facebook’s virtual currency market shake-up with the rollout of Facebook Credits and its effects on the social gaming space, and wrap things up with a couple Denuologists weighing in on EA’s marketing effort for their latest hit, Dead Space 2.