Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Games, Hardware, Microsoft, Percentage, Video game, XBox, Xbox 360, XBox Live
Microsoft
just announced sales of Xbox 360 consoles have passed the 30 million mark globally, up 28 percent over last year, which it claims is the highest percentage growth in hardware sales of any console so far in 2009. In addition, the Xbox LIVE community has grown to over 20 million users, coming from 26 countries. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/28/xbox-360-sales-top-30-million-with-20-million-live-subscribers/ 5/28)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Console Platforms, Games, New York, Nintendo, Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime, Video Games, Wii
Nintendo has some tricks up its sleeve, but adding voice services to its consoles is not among them, an executive said. “Telephony is not in our wheelhouse. It’s not something I anticipate us getting into,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, the head of Nintendo of America. But he added that Nintendo was considering adding Wi-Fi connectivity to its handheld games. The New York Times/Bits blog (5/26) , MocoNews.net (5/27)
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Filed under: GAMING
(Below) Syfy continues to be one of the most annoying rebrands, in my opinion. Not only is the shortening cartoonish, it does little to evoke science fiction in it’s alternative spelling. Big thumbs down on this one.
Sci Fi Channel, which is about to undergo a major rebranding and will be known as SyFy beginning in July, soon will launch four new casual massively multiplayer online games. The games will be housed at Game Center, a channel that was launched on the Scifi.com site earlier this year. Mediaweek (5/24)
Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Advertising, Apple, Business, EntertainmentWeekly, Games, Hearst Interactive Media, Time Inc, VoxPop
VoxPop.TV, a site where users can build their own games and make money on them through advertising, is bringing in $1.5 million in a new round of funding led by Hearst Interactive Media. Time Inc.’s Entertainment Weekly has used VoxPop’s platform to produce quizzes. (Iwantmedia 5/20, http://venturebeat.com/2009/05/19/voxpoptv-lands-15m-for-pop-culture-gaming/ 5/19)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Game Consoles Wars: Xbox 360 vs. PS3 vs. Wii, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo DSi, Playstation 3, Sony, Video game, Wii
Activision has introduced “Tony Hawk Ride,” a 3-D extreme sports game designed for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii systems that is based on the moves of the legendary skateboard pro and his mates. This version of the “Hawk” franchise also comes with a new peripheral: a motion-sensitive skateboard similar to the Wii Fit Balance Board. GameDaily BIZ (5/15) , Electronista (5/15)
Video game software sales slowed 23% in April compared with the same month in 2008, and video game hardware was down 8% for the period, according to a new study by NPD Group. Two bright spots, however, were the release of the Nintendo DSi portable gaming console and the price reduction on Sony’s PlayStation 2, the study noted. eWEEK.com (5/16)
The latest rumors surrounding the Zune are that Microsoft is developing a mobile-entertainment platform that will be part Xbox 360 and part Zune player, according to this report. If it pans out, the device apparently would have the same graphical interface as the New Xbox Experience. CNET/Crave (5/15)
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Filed under: GAMING
Activision Blizzard reported revenue of $981 million in the first three months of the year along with a tidy profit of $189 million, compared with $43 million in the year-earlier period. The company got strong performances from new versions of popular titles such as "Guitar Hero" and "Call of Duty," and Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick declared that video games are "in the best position of any industry that’s in media or leisure." The Wall Street Journal (5/8)
Nintendo said that this fall it will release in Japan updates of industry classics Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver so that they can be played by a new generation of gamers … on their DS consoles. The new versions will be dubbed "Pokemon Heart Gold" and "Soul Silver" and could, according to this report, come to North American shores in 2010. GameDaily BIZ (5/8)
