Social game maker 
Zynga’s much anticipated debut on Wall St. didn’t go quite as well as planned Friday.
The company finished the trading day at 9.50, 5 percent below its offering price – as investors, fearful of a new tech bubble, steered clear and analysts ripped the company on growth concerns.
Zynga’s debut 
on Wall Street Friday is the largest from a U.S. company since Google went public in 2004 — and it has been one of the most widely anticipated stock offerings of the year.
But if early trading is any indication, anticipation doesn’t translate into interest.
Chalk up 
another bragging right for Modern Warfare 3.
Fresh off becoming the fastest game to reach $1 billion, the latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise has been named the year’s top video game rental by film and game rental service Redbox, beating out dancers, zombies and Pixar.
As expected, 
social game maker Zynga will begin trading shares on Wall Street Friday, marking one of the video game industry’s biggest public offerings in years.
The company has priced shares at $10 each, the high end of its expected range and will offer 100 million shares to investors. That puts the company valuation at about $7 billion.
[Looking back 
at 2011, several analysts discuss the game industry’s best highlights last year with Gamasutra, from the mainstream’s acceptance of mobile gaming to subscription service risks paying off.]
Ask a gamer about the best thing to happen in the video game industry in 2011 and you’re likely to get a title as the answer. That’s natural, since players are generally more concerned about the final product than industry trends.
Ask a Wall Street analyst, though, and that’s not necessarily the first thing that springs to mind. So once again this year, we polled some of the highest profile and most respected industry analysts to get their thoughts about the most exuberant and disappointing events to happen in gaming this year.
A word of 
warning to pig farmers in Finland: Keep away from playgrounds.
After invading the worlds of apparel, stuffed animals and board games, Angry Birds are now adding playground equipment to their repertoire. Two Finnish towns — Rovaniemi and Espoo — will get the first products next year, with worldwide distribution planned at a later date.
Add Web 
television to awards season.
The International Academy of Web Television has announced nominees for the inaugural IAWTV awards, with Felicia Day’s “The Guild” and drama series “RCVR” topping the list.
Microsoft 
continues to roll out new entertainment offerings for the Xbox 360.
The second wave of content providers for the recent user interface revamp of Xbox Live has hit the console, bringing some familiar names. Starting today, U.S. users will be able to access content from ClearChannel’s streaming radio service iHeartRadio and Verizon FiOS customers will be able to access a limited selection of live channels.
Can’t make a 
call without digging into your smartphone’s contact list? As we all grow more and more reliant on technology to do the heavy lifting, Wang Feng is using more and more of his brain.
The 21-year-old winner of the 2011 World Memory Championships shattered his own record last week, recalling 300 of 400 spoken numbers. That’s over 100 more than he previously recalled.
In his latest IG 
column, veteran journo Chris Morris addresses the Xbox 720 rumormill and offers up advice for Microsoft’s next console.
As whispers of a looming next generation Xbox announcement grow to a fever pitch, it’s hard to open a browser window these days without encountering a screaming headline about the still unannounced system (which, more often than not, contradicts what another outlet is claiming).
While the truth about what Microsoft has in store will find its way to the light eventually – likely next year in some way at some point – there has been precious little discussion on what the system needs to do to ensure it matches (or betters) the success of the Xbox 360. With that in mind, we’ve got a few humble suggestions about what Microsoft should – and shouldn’t – do with its next generation console.
Chris Morris: Journalist 