The big shocker in the 2008 numbers is the fact that Nintendo sold nearly as many DS units as Wii units. DS sales accounted for nearly triple the amount of PS3 units sold. Who would have thought that Nintendo would become a dominant force again?
Total U.S. hardware sales for 2008
Wii - 10,224,400 Nintendo DS - 9,951,500 Xbox … Read moreA new bill in Congress would add cigarette-like warning labels to video games. California Congressman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) introduced legislation that mandates all video games with an Electronics Software Ratings Board rating of Teen or higher to be sold with a health warning label.
The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers--to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products. They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile, research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American … Read more
Despite being a lot of fun, Guitar Hero is likely causing a generation of kids to not learn to play real instruments. I completely suck at playing the real guitar (I am a drummer and I practiced endlessly as a tween/teen) but the game makes you feel like you know what you are doing though you clearly cannot apply your game skills to the real world guitar.
With my limited guitar abilities (Black Flag, Black Sabbath and the Misfits) I found that Guitar Hero actually made my playing worse.
Fortunately, we'll soon have Disney Star Guitarist, which trains … Read more
The big challenge? Figuring out what can/should be taxed and what rules generally apply. The National Taxpayer Advocate suggested this week that the "IRS issue guidance addressing how taxpayers should report economic activities in virtual worlds."
"Economic activities in virtual worlds may present an emerging area of tax noncompliance, in part because the IRS has not provided guidance … Read more
Finally, we're seeing a bit of a fight from the Sony PR team in response to the brutal lambasting the PlayStation 3 has been taking for its poor showing against Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's Wii, as well as the fact that it costs more to make than it sells for.
Edge Online reports on a Sony press release called "Keeping Gaming and Entertainment Simple," in which the Japanese consumer electronics giant emphasizes out-of-the-box features of the game console:
Blu-ray functionality Built-in Wi-Fi Huge hard drives Free online gaming "Ten years of value with a … Read moreThe PlayStation 2 received 30.2 percent of all console-gaming minutes in 2008 (January to October), according to the Nielsen Media Research.
That statistic is a bit surprising, until you consider that Sony has sold more than 140 million PS2s since its launch. With the largest footprint, the PS2 should have the largest usage base.
Top Console Usage (by percent of minutes played) PlayStation 2 (30.2 percent) Xbox 360 (18.3 percent) Wii (13.5 percent) Xbox (9.1 percent) PlayStation 3 (7.7 percent) GameCube (4.4 percent) Other (16.9 percent)
Admittedly, these PS2 numbers are surprising … Read more
Nintendo announced in December that it was working with Japan's Dentsu to bring video to the Wii video game console. And not just any video, but cartoons and original programming. Strategically, this a great move--trying to get the Wii to become the center of the digital living room.
The Times Online reports "the Wiinoma channel is expected to deliver a family- oriented blizzard of cartoons, "brain-training" quizzes, cookery, educational and other lifestyle shows: all of it original content produced exclusively for Nintendo."
News of Nintendo's move into broadcasting is likely to fill executives of … Read more
Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece illustrating why the PS3 is floundering in the contest with Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360. PS3 sales are on the decline while the competition is rising at a dramatic rate.
So, what are some of the main issues with the PS3?
It's overpriced Microsoft dropped prices on the Xbox 360 to gain market share, and it worked. Sony is intent on becoming profitable (the right motive) but is doing so at the sake of building momentum. A console that starts at $400 (with only one controller and usually zero games) puts you over $500 before it's much fun.
According to the WSJ article, "U.S. sales of the PS3 fell 19 percent last month from a year earlier, while sales doubled for the Wii console and rose 8 percent for the Xbox 360, according to research firm NPD Group. Analysts say they expect PS3 sales for this month to be flat or lower than last year, while sales for its rivals are likely to rise." … Read more
Social games company Playfish just launched a new premium in-game ad campaign with Procter & Gamble and Herbal Essences via the Geo Challenge Facebook game in the UK.
In April Playfish launched in-game advertising with Google and in July launched in-game transactions with Paypal. The launch of this new premium game shows some of the advertising possibilities available during this economic downturn.
The upside? An audience that already likes the Geo Challenge game who are likely willing to experiment with this new module resulting in increased brand awareness. The downside? This doesn't seem easy to do as Playfish basically had to create a new game, which takes time and effort. … Read more
Xbox Fanboy reports that Microsoft's Xbox Live platform has seen some very large numbers for 2008, including growth in revenue and quality of the games available.
According to Microsoft's press release this growth seems completely true. The challenge is figuring just what these numbers mean:
1.25 billion Gamerscore unlocked to date. 100 million achievements earned to date. 60+ XBLA titles score 75 or higher on metacritic. Braid is highest rated XBLA game of all time. 110 million trial XBLA games have been downloaded to date. The Summer of Arcade saw a 58% increase in unique members purchasing … Read more
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