By Malathi Nayak

(Reuters) – Activision Blizzard, the biggest U.S. video game publisher by market capitalization aims to take its popular Call of Duty title as a free-to-play online game to China in a bid to expand its footprint in Asia.

Shares of Activision were up 3 percent at $12.34 in Tuesday morning trade on Nasdaq.

The video game publisher announced a partnership on Tuesday with Tencent Holdings Limited, an Internet and wireless services provider that will have an exclusive license to operate the war-simulation shooter game in China.

“We think China is one of the most exciting places in the world for us to grow our business and to develop innovative new games,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement.

In China, Tencent runs a successful tactical shooter game called CrossFire that rakes in $1 billion a year in revenue, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

“If cross fire can do $1 billion a year, Call of Duty with better graphics and better design is likely to approach that over time,” Pachter said. “It’s meaningful but it will take a while before that happens.”

San Francisco, July 2 (Reuters) – Sony Corp said on Monday it would buy the privately held California-based gaming firm Gaikai Inc for about $380 million as the money-losing electronics maker seeks to strengthen its online gaming services.

Founded in 2008, Gaikai, based in Aliso Viejo, California, is a cloud gaming firm that provides technology to stream video game content directly to any Internet-connected device. It competes with OnLive, another U.S. cloud gaming company.

A Sony spokesman said the deal was subject to regulatory approval and was expected to close by the end of August.

The $78.5 billion global video game industry is witnessing a shift from console-based games to online titles on Web-based devices.

Andrew House, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said in a statement that the acquisition would help Sony create a cloud gaming service “that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of Internet-connected devices.”

The Gaikai technology is expected to enhance Sony’s gaming console, the PlayStation, which connects to the Internet but also allows plays games on physical discs.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Zynga Inc unveiled interactive features and a gamers’ social network dubbed “Zynga with Friends” on Tuesday, as it aims to reduce its reliance on Facebook as a platform and seeks to connect hundreds of millions of its users across the Internet.

The company founded by Mark Pincus also plans to provide programming tools to help third-party developers devise online and mobile games based on its own software, to expand its slate of games beyond mainstays such as “Farmville” and “Mafia Wars” on Facebook Inc’s network.

“We’re opening our doors today and opening Zynga Partners for Mobile. We are inviting developers from all over the world to come and join our network,” said David Ko, chief mobile officer.

Zynga wants to create an ecosystem with “best-in-class mobile developers and best-in-class mobile games,” Ko said.

Investors worry about Zynga’s dependence on Facebook for a large chunk of revenue. On Tuesday, executives took the stage at their San Francisco headquarters to unveil a bevy of interactive features for its Zynga.com website, as it tries to develop a stand-alone network that can hook existing gamers.

The company is launching “Zynga with Friends” soon on the Internet and for mobile users, hoping to connect players across its entire game portfolio, which also includes “Cityville”.

Zynga General Manager Manuel Bronstein said the platform could have as many as 290 million users with some 2.8 billion daily social interactions eventually once its rolled out, but he did not specify a timeframe.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc Chief Executive Larry Page sat out his company’s annual shareholders’ meeting on Thursday due to an unspecified condition affecting his voice that will sideline him from speaking engagements for several weeks.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told shareholders at the company’s Mountain View headquarters that Page, who replaced Schmidt as CEO in April 2011, had “lost his voice” and would not be able to do any public speaking engagements for the time being.

Schmidt said Page continues to run the company, but that he will also not speak at the Google developer conference next week and at the company’s second-quarter earnings results next month.

A Google spokesman said Page has been “asked to rest,” but would not provide more details on his condition.

Page, along with co-founder Sergey Brin and Schmidt, control a majority of the Internet company through special shares that give them more voting power.

That capital structure, which has been emulated by the new generation of Web companies such as Facebook Inc and Zynga Inc, was also in the spotlight at Thursday’s meeting.

A Google proposed stock-split plan designed to preserve the Page and Brin’s majority control was passed with a majority of votes at the meeting.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot hopes Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U will be the first of a line-up of new consoles that will give the video game industry a boost and help reverse the French company’s waning fortunes.

Shares of Ubisoft, known for its “Assassins Creed” franchise and its “Just Dance” games, are down 20 percent from a year ago but up 8 percent since Jan 1.

Microsoft and Sony have not come out with a new hardware platform in at least six years, excluding the motion-sensing “Kinect” for the Xbox 360 console.

With Nintendo set to release the Wii U for the holidays, and Microsoft and Sony expected to follow suit in 2013, the industry could benefit via a major sales boost, Guillemot said.

“As soon as (consumers) see good quality products and good experiences that are coming that will bring the industry back to a huge growth, they come back and the share price goes up quickly,” Guillemot said.

He added, “I think very soon people will be confident in the potential of the video game industry and we will see a big increase in the value of the company.”

Ubisoft has made a bold bet on the first console from Nintendo in six years by launching eight new game titles for the Wii U. Some of the games exclusive to the Wii U include ZombiU, a zombie-themed game and the comedic Rabbids Lands featuring rambunctious creatures the company created.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – With its striking cityscapes and an eclectic offering of food, arts and culture, San Francisco captivates travelers and residents alike.

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most out of a short stay in the city on the bay.

FRIDAY

6 p.m. – Start your visit with a meal at one of the city’s hot dinner spots, Zuni Cafe, a glass-enclosed space overlooking Market Street that offers Mediterranean-inspired dishes that change daily. Sample fresh local oysters at the downstairs bar or grab a table upstairs and try the signature roast chicken with bread salad.

8 p.m.- See what’s playing at the American Conservatory Theater, which puts on a mix of classical and new productions. After a show, head to the Prohibition-era inspired speakeasy Bourbon and Branch. Make an online reservation at www.bourbonandbranch.com to receive a password that you’ll need to walk through a nondescript door on 501 Jones Street.

Relax at a cozy booth and be transported to the 1920′s. The mixologists will answer questions or create new cocktails to suit your taste. For a more local experience, try the former beat bar Vesuvio Cafe in North Beach, or wander up Columbus Avenue and take a right on Stockton Street to Tony Niks, a hip, friendly neighborhood bar.

SATURDAY

SAN FRANCISCO, June 8 (Reuters) – With its striking cityscapes and an eclectic offering of food, arts and culture, San Francisco captivates travelers and residents alike.

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most out of a short stay in the city on the bay.

FRIDAY

6 p.m. – Start your visit with a meal at one of the city’s hot dinner spots, Zuni Cafe, a glass-enclosed space overlooking Market Street that offers Mediterranean-inspired dishes that change daily. Sample fresh local oysters at the downstairs bar or grab a table upstairs and try the signature roast chicken with bread salad.

8 p.m.- See what’s playing at the American Conservatory Theater, which puts on a mix of classical and new productions. After a show, head to the Prohibition-era inspired speakeasy Bourbon and Branch. Make an online reservation at www.bourbonandbranch.com to receive a password that you’ll need to walk through a nondescript door on 501 Jones Street.

Relax at a cozy booth and be transported to the 1920′s. The mixologists will answer questions or create new cocktails to suit your taste. For a more local experience, try the former beat bar Vesuvio Cafe in North Beach, or wander up Columbus Avenue and take a right on Stockton Street to Tony Niks, a hip, friendly neighborhood bar.

SATURDAY

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Nintendo’s new holiday-ready “Wii U” gaming console marks the biggest bet so far on a concept that two screens are better than one.

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo touted features at the industry’s biggest annual gathering this week that let gamers employ a separate display in tandem with their TVs. Publishers like Ubisoft are designing games that will make use of this second screen – like a companion display you can glance at while the main action proceeds on your TV.

The videogame industry is looking for ways to hold fickle gamers’ interest as its base is increasingly drawn toward more casual games on the Internet or on mobile devices such as Apple Inc’s iPad.

The jury is still out on whether the adoption of a second screen is enough to jumpstart a $78.5 billion videogame industry that saw U.S. hardware sales fall more than 30 percent in April, the latest reported month, according to NPD Research.

Nintendo, whose Wii U was the big unveil of the E3 expo, hopes the new “GamePad” controller with its own 6.2-inch touchscreen will be the differentiator against the Xbox and PlayStation. The Wii U represents the only significant new console until at least 2013 when Microsoft or Sony are expected to unveil new hardware.

It’s the Japanese console maker – which sent waves through the industry with the then-groundbreaking, motion-controlled Wii in 2006 – that may have the most at stake, as it tries to claw its way back up to the pinnacle while stemming heavy losses.

The supplementary screen concept had not been talk of E3 until this year. Using two screens to play a game is nothing new as PC gamers have been using an extra screen or two to chat and strategize for at least a decade.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Nintendo Co Ltd will launch a console with a dedicated “Super Mario” game title for the first time in 16 years, as the struggling Japanese company hopes the new Wii U will score the rave reviews that helped make its predecessor the world’s biggest gaming hit.

Nintendo, which was knocked off its perch at the pinnacle of gaming industry hardware by Microsoft’s Xbox in recent years, formally unveiled its distinctly white console on Tuesday, saying it will support two “GamePad” controllers designed to look and function like tablets.

The first console from Nintendo in six years will come with a social gaming network dubbed “Miiverse”. But it will need a vast library of software — including the star of its stable, Super Mario — to have any hope of matching the Wii’s success.

Nintendo needs to fend off upstart challengers like casual game makers and apps for mobile devices like Apple Inc’s iPad, which are making inroads into the $78 billion videogame market.

The decades-old “Super Mario” franchise features its namesake plumber traversing different adventure scenarios. It spearheaded Tuesday’s presentation of a plethora of games intended for the Wii U, including “NintendoLand”.

“Every time a new Nintendo home console is announced, we start hearing familiar feedback from long term fans: ‘Sounds great but you’ve got to have a Mario game,’” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told a packed theater at the E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles.

Analysts said Nintendo, which traces its origins back more than a century to the streets of Kyoto, badly needs a hit.