Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Bankruptcy, Business, Games, Midway Games, Mortal Kombat, Sumner Redstone, Time Warner, Video game
Time Warner is said to be preparing a bid for Midway Games, the creator of the “Mortal Kombat” video games. Midway filed for bankruptcy in February, two months after Sumner Redstone sold his 87% stake. “Mortal Kombat” has inspired two movies, both from Time Warner. (Iwantmedia 4/27, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=al5HLmOhfWOQ 4/24)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Computer, Gamer, Games, Keibi Technologies, NPD Group, The New York Times Company, Video game, Wall Street
Sales of video games, game hardware and accessories tumbled in March 17%, 18% and 15%, respectively, according to a study by NPD Group. The report connected the poor performances to the sluggish economy and the dearth of hot, new releases last month. 
ClipSyndicate/Bloomberg (4/17) , The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (4/17) , Reuters (4/17)
There are, or will be soon, more than 200 virtual worlds designed with the young computer user in mind up and running, according to industry leaders, which has prompted several companies to develop monitoring software to keep these gamers safe while online. Crisp Thinking, Keibi Technologies and eModeration are among the companies making inroads in this space. The New York Times (4/18)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Games, GameStop, Halo 2, NPD Group, Sims 2, United States, Video game, Wall Street Journal
In 2004, the year of Halo 2, The Sims 2 and GTO: San Andreas, the gaming industry made headlines for surpassing $10 billion in revenue – surpassing the movie industry for the first time. MTV was smart to join its wagon to this rising star. The company announced that its Rock Band franchise it produces with Harmonix and EA surpassed $1 billion in sales in North America since its release 15 months ago, per NPD Group. The game has become a cottage industry in itself introducing a number of firsts. For instance, it was the first music video game to offer weekly downloadable content; 614 songs are now available on disc or from the in-game music store. (Cynopsis 3/27)
GameStop reported a 22% increase in profit during the fourth quarter and expects the upward sales trend to continue in the current quarter. Chief Executive Officer Dan Demattio expects the video game sector to weather the recession and says the games retailer should be able to increase its share in the U.S. market going forward. The Wall Street Journal (3/27)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Browser Based, Casual game, Games, Mountain View, NeoEdge Network, Online game, Television, Video game
A study commissioned by NeoEdge Networks
, a Mountain View, CA-based casual gaming advertising network, says that video advertising within online games is more effective than TV advertising. Preliminary results of the study, which will conclude at the end of this month, seem to indicate online gaming audiences are more inclined to remember and positively percieve brands who experiment with pre, mid and post-roll video advertisements inside Web-based games. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/24/study-in-game-video-advertising-trumps-tv-advertising-in-effectiveness/ 3/24)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Console Platforms, Games, Halo 3, Los Angeles Times, Playstation 3, Shopping, Video game, Xbox 360
Game developers are maturing, which has prompted more support for creating games that children can enjoy, according to this analysis. “The cliche of game developers 20 years ago is that of socially inept young men who sleep under their desks,” said Billy Pidgeon, an analyst with IDC who worked as a game producer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “Many of those have now climbed out from under their desks and started families.” Los Angeles Times (3/23)
February sales of video games and related hardware and accessories showed a 10% gain compared with a year ago, although total sales were down slightly from a gain of 13% in January. “The Xbox 360 realized its biggest nonholiday sales month, save for September 2007, when the ‘Halo 3‘ [video game] release brought in a large group of new owners,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said. “Compared to last month [January], the PS3 realized the greatest month-over-month unit sales increase of all platforms.” InformationWeek (3/20) , Digital Trends (3/20)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Games, Adobe, One Tree Hill, Chad Michael Murray, Hilarie Burton, Sims 3, Peyton Sawyer, Tree Hill
Fans submitted more than five million entries to ESPN.com‘s 14th annual Men’s Tournament Challenge presented by State Farm and Sprint, surpassing last year’s record of 3.65 million entries by 37%. At the peak period, fans registered nearly 3,900 entries per minute or nearly 65 entries per second. ESPN is partnering with Adobe this year to offer an interactive PDF that automatically updates your brackets. (Cynopsis 3/20)
The CW has come up with a cool gaming-themed integration for the next episode of One Tree Hill. Next Monday EA‘s The Sims 3 will be seamlessly threaded throughout the storyline; the episode opens in an idealized Sims-style version of One Tree Hill then transitions into the real Tree Hill. As the episode plays out, “Simulated” versions of popular One Tree Hill characters are introduced and then morph into the real-life characters, including Dan (Paul Johannson), Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) and Peyton (Hilarie Burton). Following the episode, viewers can go to CW.com to download images of The Sims 3 versions of the characters. (Cynopsis 3/20)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Business, Casual game, Chats and Forums, Gamer, Games, Handheld Platforms, Mobile Phones, Video game
The gaming sector is on pace to reach $40 billion in annual revenue by 2012 on a global basis, in part because of the availability of mobile devices, network access and improved broadband speeds, according to TMNG. “The expansion of casual games, simpler user interfaces and the proliferation of innovative business models is broadening the gamer demographic. The timing is ripe for service providers to hedge the business cycle,” said TMNG Chairman and CEO Rich Nespola. InformationWeek (3/13)
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