"Being game developers ourselves, we know how hard it is to get users to pay for a game they've never heard of," said Si Shen, co-founder and CEO of PapayaMobile, in a press statement. "It's even harder with more than 50 percent of Android apps being free, causing many users to basically ignore high quality games that have a download fee. With our new Android App of the Day program, developers can offer their apps at a discounted price, or even free for a day, allowing them to gain traction with users and get word-of-mouth exposure."

PapayaMobile hopes to become a destination mobile social network that serves games to its users, similar to Japan's Mobage Town. Android developers who enroll in the Free Android App Of The Day program by September 12 will be able to feature their apps for free. PapayaMobile expects that being featured at Free Android App Of The Day will generate anywhere from 10,000 to one million new downloads for featured games. 

Scoreloop is also the latest version of its Scoreloop SDK, which lets game developers integrate their apps with Scoreloop's mobile social gaming network. The discovery app is designed to address the broadly-perceived problem of finding new and interesting apps using only the Android Marketplace.The new version of the core Scoreloop SDK also includes new app discovery features. In particular, it includes an optional cross-promotion tab that Scoreloop's partners can opt to add into their games.

Buttonwood is a part of the service built specifically around preventing student loan defaults. The application includes a 3D virtual world where users learn and use financial literacy concepts like credit worthiness, applying for a loan, and interest rates. Over 2000 public schools in 47 states plan to use EverFi's platform. The company expects its reach to double in 2011. EverFi's solution is not free, but its use in public schools is funded by outside organizations that license its program.

"Littlest Pet Shop Online is all about providing girls with a place to bring their favourite Littlest Pet Shop pets to life online," said Stuart Lang, UK Marketing Director, in a press statement. "We’re excited Littlest Pet Shop fans have embraced and enjoy the game in North America, and are delighted to offer fans in the UK a new and exciting way to connect online with friends through their favourite pets too.”

A major feature is the Collect-A-Pets feature that encourages girls to collect as many virtual Littlest Pet Shop pets as she can. Players who complete certain in-game tasks unlock exclusive Reward Pets. Pets live in a virtual home that the player can decorate by spending Kibble Coins, the game's virtual currency. Players earn Kibble Coins for completing in-game goals like finding hidden objects or playing games. Kibble Coins can also be spent on customizing individual virtual pets. 

Littlest Pet Shop Online will launch with two islands, Waggington and Kittymore. Hasbro is also launching a new Littlest Pet Shop line of toys in retailers throughout Europe to coincide with the launch of the virtual world. Every toy will come with a virtual item code that unlocks free virtual goods in Littlest Pet Shop Online. The game will monetize through an optional premium subscription that offers players extra features. 

"We were excited to collaborate with Alloy in creating groundbreaking content that complemented our primary back-to-school digital efforts with a highly entertaining Web series in First Day," said Mark Snyder, Chief Marketing Officer for Kmart, in a press statement. "This project has strong appeal for teens and tweens, featuring a fun storyline that will resonate with our target audience and deliver through an ideal platform."

The campaign will extend beyond Meez's virtual world to its newsletters, community forums, and homepage. Meez users will be able to purchase virtual clothing for their avatars using designs from the clothing lines K-Mart is promoting through the First Day series: Selena Gomez for Dream Out Loud, Rebecca Bonbon, and Bongo. First Day will star Tracey Fairway from Make It or Break It and Elizabeth McLaughlin from Ugly Betty and The Clique.

Simutronics is a long-time developer of online text RPGs. The company has operated the MUD GemStone IV since 1988, which has earned "millions" for the company according to a Wired report. Simutronics also developed the middleware HeroEngine that will be used in upcoming games like Electronic Arts's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO. Simutronics's sister company Critical Thought Games develops the GeoDefense games for the iPhone. 

Fantasy University will be the work of roughly twenty developers. The game features artwork by Tracy Butler, artist of the Webcomic Lackadaisy Cats. Right now the Fantasy University closed beta is going through focus tests with users from different demographics, including the audience of female gamers in their 30s that drive most social games on Facebook. The tests are focusing on the game's tutorial and early levels. 

The game is currently in closed beta. Users will be able to purchase virtual goods to customize both their characters and their ships. There will also be virtual goods designed to help players advance in the game more quickly. Koei is publishing the game in the US largely to test Western reception of its freemium MMOs. If Uncharted Waters is successful, then more freemium Koei MMOs could follow. Koei plans to update Uncharted Waters with new content roughly once a year. 

[via Gamasutra]

"The most successful games have one thing in common: they bring people together. Whether a simple board game or a stunning 3D console game, games are always better when shared with family or friends," said Jason Citron, CEO of Aurora Feint, in a press statement. "Traditionally, multiplayer technology has been accessible only to top tier developers. It’s just too complicated and time consuming. So we invented PlayTime, which literally takes one day to integrate into a casual game."

While Apple's GameCenter will also offer real-time multiplayer, Apple's solution will require direct peer-to-peer connections between players. PlayTime's is designed to keep a game session going even if one player's connection drops. Drops that would end a multiplayer session conducted through Game Center, but PlayTime is designed to minimize the impact of AT&T connection drops. PlayTime can even let players continue play after a connection drop by substitute an AI opponent for the lost player. 

PlayTime is a one-day install SDK that Aurora Feint says will make real-time multiplayer and voice chat features available to small and independent developers who otherwise couldn't afford to implement those features. PlayTime is also fully compatible with Game Center, so developers can continue to implement OpenFeint alongside Apple's official game network. PlayTime can even leverage the Game Center account system, allowing it to share achievement and leaderboard data. 

OpenFeint currently supports over 37 million users across iOS and Android, connecting over 2800 games. PlayTime's SDK can easily transform any single-player casual game that supports high scores into a multiplayer game based on high score competition. PlayTime handles lobbies, matchmaking, and displaying progress counts to users as well as a synchronized event system that will help pass data between games.