Corporate stuff

Spore, the new evolution game from Electronic Arts, has sold a million units since its September 7 launch, the publisher said Wednesday.

The sales figures are for copies of the game on the PC, the Mac, and the Nintendo DS.

The results are impressive and important for EA, especially given the heavy expectations that awaited the game, which was first announced in 2005 and was first expected in 2006, and also because the game has been beset by some controversy surrounding its DRM (digital rights management) restrictions.

And early indications from retailers around the country showed that the game was … Read more

Faced with growing criticism about the way its newly released game Spore is activated on computers, gaming publishing giant Electronic Arts did a little retooling of its own.

EA has increased the number of computers that can be loaded with the game to five from three, despite earlier precautions with its digital rights management (DRM) policy intended to reduce piracy of its copyrighted software.

Spore, released two weeks ago featuring unlikely creatures that can be tailored to the user's liking, has altered other DRM limitations embedded in the software, the company announced.

Frank Gibeau, EA Games Label president, said … Read more

After two weeks of running a series of ads with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates that left many people scratching their heads, Microsoft's latest spots take direct aim at the Apple ads that have turned Windows into a punch line.

"I'm a PC and I've been made into a stereotype," says Microsoft employee Sean Siller, who looks a whole lot like John Hodgman, the actor who plays the PC in Apple's ads.

The spot then goes on to have other people say that, they … Read more

Moments after Hewlett-Packard announced plans Monday to chop more than 24,000 jobs, Chief Executive Mark Hurd defended the company's purchase of EDS, saying it will help the company in the long term.

"The enterprise is big," Hurd said at a meeting with financial analysts. "It's attractive for us and it's heading our way."

As for the integration of EDS, Hurd noted that HP has a history of being able to digest large companies. HP announced plans in May to acquire the computer services firm for $13.9 billion. The deal closed in … Read more

Electronic Arts has abandoned its $2 billion bid to acquire rival game maker Take-Two Interactive Software, ending a seven-month takeover effort that turned hostile before the two companies entered private talks last month.

"After careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials provided by Take-Two Interactive Software, EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions with Take-Two," EA said in a statement Sunday.

The announcement brings to a close EA's long-running, but oft-rebuffed, effort to acquire Take-Two.

EA took its buyout offer public for the … Read more

Clarification: Story updated at 6:57 p.m. to clarify the difference between the Spore and iTunes models.

After years of anticipation, the coming-out party for Electronic Arts' new evolution game Spore seems to be getting rained out.

Spore was one of the most highly anticipated games in recent years, in part because it's the brainchild of Will Wright who, with The Sims, turned simple tasks like taking virtual trips to the bathroom into the best-selling PC game ever. Fans and EA alike had high hopes for Spore, a similarly quirky game that's based on evolutionary biology and … Read more

Sales of video game software and hardware in the U.S. rose 9 percent in August to $1.08 billion, the smallest monthly increase in more than two years, according to data released Thursday by market researcher NPD Group.

Hardware sales were up 3 percent to $395 million, led by handheld Nintendo DS, which sold 518,300 units. Nintendo's Wii came in second with 453,000 unit sales, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 claimed the third spot with 195,200 unit sales.

Software sales were up 13 percent to nearly $551 million, led by Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 09 … Read more

Those left scratching their heads after Microsoft's first new ad may find themselves just as itchy after the follow-up spot.

The second in Microsoft's series of new ads airs Thursday night, featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld moving in with a family of "real people" in order to connect with them. The humor seems slightly better to me, but the references to Microsoft's products remain tangential.

In this spot, whose plot appears taken from every sit-com ever made, the two displace a adolescent girl from her room. In an effort to get her room back, … Read more

Former MSN executive Joanne Bradford has landed at Yahoo, following a brief stint at Los Angeles-based ad agency SpotRunner.

Bradford, who left Microsoft in March, will occupy the newly created role of senior vice president for U.S. revenue and market development. In this newly crafted position, Bradford will oversee sales, market development, small business, and Yahoo's HotJobs site, reporting to Yahoo U.S. chief Hilary Schneider.

In the same press release announcing Bradford's hire, Yahoo noted that U.S. sales chief David Karnstedt will leave as of September 16. Yahoo said Karnstedt had resigned earlier this summer … Read more