37845589
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Sony during the Tokyo Game Show unveiled a new redesign for the PS3, offering a much slimmer hardware casing, but the company failed to lower prices on PS3 and that could come back to haunt Sony during this holiday season, argues Chris Morris. "New form factors are all well and good, but at this point in the game — and in the current economic climate — people are making decisions based on price," he says. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter agrees: "I think they're going to be caught flat footed when Microsoft does something like bundling Kinect with the Xbox for $200."
36197961
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Sony Computer Entertainment America boss Jack Tretton has come out swinging to defend the lackluster response the games industry has seen with the PS Vita. He deemed the sales level for the portable as "acceptable" so far, and he brushed off any notion that social and free-to-play games are putting huge pressure on the portable and dedicated consoles market. "I think the opportunity to be in the console business is greater than ever before," he told GamesIndustry International. "[Social and free-to-play] is a business I think a lot of companies are learning is difficult to sustain for the long term. It's an adjunct or it's an add-on, but it's not where gaming is headed. It's an additive diversion. There's a place for social and freemium, but it's not going to replace the business models that are out there."
31288347
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Video game publisher Electronic Arts has not only had to defend itself against "worst company in America" labels, but GamesIndustry International has revealed that EA's been receiving thousands of letters protesting the inclusion of same-sex relationship content in games like Mass Effect and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The campaign against EA appears to be led by Florida Family Association and the Family Research Council. The letters threaten to boycott purchase of EA games if the company won't remove the LGBT content, and many allege that EA was pressured by LGBT activists to include the content, which they say is forcing LGBT themes on children playing the games. "This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment," said Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications.
30938571
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Microsoft recently confirmed that it's not going to be talking at all about its next Xbox, codenamed Durango, at this year's E3, instead keeping the focus on Xbox 360. Forbes columnist Chris Morris explains that Microsoft likely doesn't have games to show for the system yet, and why should they take the focus off Xbox 360, which has a lot of momentum currently? Ultimately, though, the decision not to show the next system "could have a ripple effect on the rest of the industry," he says. And by pushing Durango's unveiling back a year, "Microsoft could find itself going head to head with Sony in a battle of features, even if the machines don't hit shelves at the same time."
30344617
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Game budgets continue to rise with each successive console generation, and with the Wii U launching later this year, the industry is on the cusp of yet another costly transition. Publishers started regularly charging $60 for games this generation, but that's a model that simply cannot survive, Nexon America CEO Daniel Kim told GamesIndustry International. "I think at some point the console makers have to make a decision about how closed or open they're going to be to the different models that are going to be emerging," Kim remarked. "Today it's free-to-play, and I'm convinced that that one is going to continue to flourish and expand into other genres and other categories, but there may be something else completely and entirely different that comes out that again changes the industry." He cautioned, "If your mind is just set on keeping the current model of buy a game for $60, play for 40 hours, buy another game for $60, play for 40 hours, that model I think is eventually going to change. It's going to have to change."
29326977
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Veteran games journalist Chris Morris returns, following his advice for Xbox 720 and for Sony's PS4, with an in-depth look at Nintendo's position in the marketplace and what strategy the house that Mario built needs to employ to win over both core and casual gaming audiences. Ultimately, Nintendo will need to pursue more than just games. "Bottom line: If the Wii U is to avoid the same dusty fate that many Wiis ultimately suffered, it's going to have to adopt that same Trojan Horse philosophy that has served Microsoft and Sony so well," he said.
28797873
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
It's an odd collaboration — KISS and Angry Birds — but according to KISS frontman Gene Simmons, his band is about to complete a deal with the mobile game blockbuster. Speaking to IndustryGamers, Simmons remarked that KISS is also in talks with PlayStation for a game. "We’re talking with Sony games now. We are really trying to take it in areas that haven’t been done before and have stayed out of the marketplace because the ideas simply weren’t exciting enough. So while the gaming world is waiting for the KISS games that are going to explode, we’re busy taking the brand to places where no band has gone before... We’re talking with Angry Birds, KISS and Angry Birds, which will become a deal," he said.
28284500
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
As a follow-up to his piece on Xbox 720, veteran games journalist Chris Morris has put together some thoughtful advice on what Sony needs to do (and needs to avoid) to ensure that the next generation PlayStation is a success. In particular, Morris notes that Sony must "look beyond games" to create a fully fledged entertainment hub: "Nintendo has been pretty adamant that it has little interest in content beyond games. Microsoft seems to be rushing to embrace the set top box world. Sony, though, seems a bit confused about what it wants..."
28097132
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
A study performed by North Dakota State University (commissioned by PopCap) found that cheating in gaming can result in being 3.5 times more likely to cheat at everyday things in the real world. Polling a total of over 1,200 adults in the US and UK, researchers were able to find that just under half of all cheaters in social gaming admit to cheating at things in the real world. Surprisingly, almost half (49%) of those that admitted to cheating in a game admitted to cheating in a relationship. Other breaches in life included 51% admitting to parking in a handicap space without proper tags, 53% admitting to cheating on tests in school and 43% admitting to taking magazines from waiting rooms.
28054910
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
iPad rumors have been running rampant, but most expect a major update from Apple sometime this year. When the iPad 3 launches, it's likely to bring with it a much higher resolution screen and a far more powerful quad-core processor. This could mean great things for game companies. “Tablets are turning out to be great gaming devices, and I am very surprised there isn't more game development geared specifically for tablets. I think the iPad 3 could help accelerate that trend with higher end specs," noted RW Baird analyst Colin Sebastian. "If the publishers provide software support on the core level and a standardized controller is introduced, the iPad and other Apple offerings could definitely expand the gaming market and possibly take share from Microsoft and Sony,” added Ted Pollak with Jon Peddie Research.
27893162
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Earlier this week Vox Media revealed that it's planning a major games website and the company poached some of the best editors in the business, including Kotaku's Brian Crecente and Joystiq's Chris Grant. Both former EICs spoke about the opportunity to shake up the media. "There are outlets that are losing traction or losing credibility or losing their sheen, and we'd like to be there to pick it up. Sometimes it helps to be the new kid on the block because you don't have any baggage," Grant told IndustryGamers. "Being in a place where I'm covering something that's going from being pop culture to being mainstream, I think it's an incredibly exciting time right now," added Crecente. "I think that anybody who covers this industry has the chance to be like the writers of Rolling Stone back when music was rock and roll and the other forms of music were blowing up. It's hard for me to turn my back on that."
27374844
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Angry Birds has turned into a global phenomenon with over 500 million downloads on mobile devices, but is Rovio's success with the hit title going to last? Henk Rogers, manager of The Tetris Company, says no. Referring to Tetris' longevity by comparison, he commented, "Again I like to compare it to a sport, in the beginning it's an activity, like golf was an activity, then it became a sport. I think once people have played it more than 20 or 25 years you can say it's here to stay, it's a sport, it's no longer a fad. Angry Birds is cute and everybody plays it for a while but they get burned out and move on and they will play another game." Ultimately, Rogers believes Angry Birds will fade away, so he'd "rather have the goose that lays the golden egg."
27350826
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Amazon's entry into the tablets market has gone probably even better than they expected. And now the Kindle Fire is quickly becoming a viable games platform. Developers have come out in force to lavish praise on the Fire for its price and ease of use. “People are fired up about Fire because they know it's part of a service they already use and trust,” said Josh Tsui, president of Robomodo. “It becomes effortless to buy and use because it does not make them break their usual buying patterns. It enhances it.” Added Igor Pusenjak, president of Lima Sky: “In many ways, the best thing about Fire is that you barely feel it's an Android device. Amazon built its own closed-system OS on top of Android."
27012162
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Xbox 360 just came off a record November, with more than 1.7 million units sold in the US, but behind closed doors Microsoft is planning its next move for the successor to the popular console. Plenty of Xbox 720 rumors have surfaced in recent months, but veteran games journalist Chris Morris has filtered through them to provide a realistic take on what Microsoft should and shouldn't do with Xbox 360's successor. In particular, he notes that Microsoft should adopt the Blu-ray format from Sony. "A DVD drive as a medium for storing larger and larger games is outdated – and it steps on the toes of a system that bills itself as the high definition leader," Morris writes. "Microsoft resisted the move to Blu-ray this generation without any ill effects. It even survived picking the losing side in the format battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD, but it can't rely on the DVD to take it into the next generation."
26558952
submission
donniebaseball23 writes:
Video game consoles today are facing increasing pressure from other platforms, like smartphones, tablets and browser or social gaming on the PC. On top of that, they've become prohibitively expensive to manufacture. Can the dedicated console really survive? Richard Garriott, veteran designer behind Ultima, says no. "I think we might get one more generation, might, but I think fundamentally they're doomed," he told IndustryGamers. "I think fundamentally the power that you can carry with you in a portable is really swamping what we've thought of as a console."
