ITV moves into social gaming

Broadcaster ITV is entering the multi-million-pound social gaming market with the release of Corrie Nation, a social networking game based on its flagship soap Coronation Street, writes Mad.co.uk.

Corrie Nation will release on ITV.com and Facebook on 1 November. The game will allow players to build, populate, manage and grow the virtual street and surrounding area in fictional Weatherfield.

It will debut with 60 characters from the soap, with a further 40 to be added later, which players can trade with each other. Ad opportunities will also be available to brands in and around the game.

The Nintendo Wii game, Michael Jackson: The Experience, is the only video game to be approved by Michael Jackson's estate, reports the Herald Sun.

The game was developed by gaming manufacturer Ubisoft and allows players to dance to Michael Jackson classics and be scored on performance.

More than 25 songs will be included in the game including the hits; Bad, Beat it, Black or white, Billie Jean, Don't stop till you get enough, Earth song, Smooth criminal, The girl is mine, They don't care about us, Who is it, Workin' day and night and many more.

OpenFeint, a cross-platform social gaming network familiar to iPhone types, will now be cropping up in games for Android mobile devices, states CVG.

The 37 million-player strong service provides an Xbox Live-like service to mobile games, with features like leaderboards, achievements, and 'friending'.

OpenFeint will debut in 20 new games to be released within the next month, "starting today with top 10 iOS hits including dot, Fruit Ninja, MiniSquadron, Super Slyder, The Moron Test, and Tic Tac Toe," explains a release.