-
November 24, 2010
Finally, some numbers on Kinect sales have been released and, in blackjack terms: winner, winner, chicken dinner! The Xbox Kinect sold 1 million units within the first 10 days of the release, and, at this rate, is expected to sell around 5 million units by the end of the year (an absolutely stunning figure for only one month and a half although, I do suppose it helps that the holidays are just around the corner).
According to a survey on BlackFriday.com, the Kinect was revealed to be the second most sought after purchase for this upcoming Black Friday, only falling short to Apple's fabled iPad. Store after store are finding a need to reorder shipments of the Kinect after
-
November 24, 2010
Virtual property with a high marked up price
Back in the year 2009, Jon Jacobs set a world record by making the biggest online purchase. A space station in the online sci-fi game Entropia Universe....this month, someone broke that record with the same game.
In a click of a button, John Foma Kalun, purchased a mall, a stadium, a club, and a number of bio-domes (not the Pauly Shore movie) in the game for the mere price of $335,000. You're probably scratching your head on why would people do such things and spend so much of their earned income for a game
-
November 23, 2010
Games - Harry Potter's latest installment!
As of November 16, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Party 1) video game will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, Windows PC, and mobile devices, just in time for the film premiere this upcoming Thursday. According to EA's official press release, the game will feature plays on the run from Death Eaters on a mission to destroy all of Voldemort's Horcruxes, all while facing dangerous magical creatures and the forces of evil.
"There's no doubt that this
-
November 18, 2010
Going used, is it a problem or not?
Danny Bilson is the Vice President of core gaming at THQ. THQ has been around since 1989 and some of the popular franchises are Red Faction, Saints Rows and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw. In an interview Bilson was making comments about the next steps for THQ. Ever since he left EA to join THQ in 2008 the company has taken a new turn. For example, Bilson discussed that games need to made as if they were going to be a hits. When Darksiders 1 came out In January 2010, there was already a green light for Darksiders 2. The biggest thing Bilson wants to do is have a blockbuster title per quarter over the next two and half years.
I thought it was interesting listening to a business man talk about what a video game/publisher company needs to do. The most interesting thing Bilson talked about was the problems in the gaming industry. Bilson was asked, "What a big problem with the video game industry?"Â He responded USED GAMES. I've thought about this myself,
-
November 17, 2010
Games and News: Vanquish
I personally do not like playing third game shooters, but I might have to make an exception about Platinum Game's "Vanquish"Â. Vanquish takes place in the near future where the planet's human population has exploded so rapidly that nations of people around the globe are fighting for the scarce available resources.
To sum up the plot line for those who do not care, it's the Cold War in the future. The United States of America has attempted to alleviate its own energy problems by launching a space station harboring a solar energy-driven generator to provide them with an alternative source of fuel from the sun. However, the government of
-
November 12, 2010
Games - Japan's COD: Black Ops to be censored.
Black Ops in Japan will be different. The game was retouched to tone down torture and graphic violence but also some additional details. Square Enix (yes, that company that invented characters like FFX-2's Thief Rikku, another excuse for this blogger to go to anime conventions), who publishes COD games in Japan, has removed the swastikas from the flags in the game's "zombie mode"Â and were instead replaced by the iron cross in all console versions except their subtitled versions.
The reason for the change was because of the difference in culture. A counterclockwise version of the swastika in Japan is known as a manj,
-
October 30, 2010
Console News - PSP to be combined with Smartphone
Ever since smart phones have come out, it seems most of the apps offered through the iTunes store or Android markets are games. People have the ability to play Doom on their Droid X or Super Monkey Ball on their Iphones. Looking back, making games applications on phones was the first step to something unique and cool. There have been rumors going around about Sony coming out with a cell phone. Guess what, it's TRUE! It has been confirmed that Sony will be releasing a Playstation cell phone in the future.
The phone codename is Zeus and was last seen running Android 2.0 OS. Sony has been quite about this project and
-
October 28, 2010
NBA JAM not downloadable but a physical video game!
With NBA Jam already released on disc for the Wii, the PS3 and Xbox versions that were originally to be original downloadable content for delayed NBA Elite 11, will be now be a retailÂÂdisc release according to an EA Sports representative. EA Sports President Peter Moore stated that EA is going to ship NBA Jam as a standalone product in time for the holidays. This was sort of hinted at as Gamefly recently listed the game for a November launch which knowing Gamefly's rental service meant it was going to be a physical product.
Jen Riley of EA Sports Vancouver had this to say:
"The fact that retailers are showing the box is -
October 27, 2010
Games - EA embraces Mixed Martial Arts and trying to get you to enjoy it also
UFC and mix martial arts have been around for a few years. I mean if you go on to YouTube and type in MMA you will find some old highlights that people don't know even exist. Ever since UFC got their new president, Dana White, mix martial arts has been on the map. We always here about there pay per views, TV shows on spike and now video games.
EA sports MMA video game might help the MMA community instead of hurting it like the last few games made. No offense to the creators of Tapout, but the world just wasn't ready to play a MMA game. UFC Undisputed did a good job with creating a career mode that fans would love. After all these years
-
October 26, 2010
Industry News - Trading in Games Got Harder
With the age of DLC on every modern console threatening the used game dealers such as Gamestop, Game Crazy, and Play N Trade, the dealers will have to comply with a recent federal law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that software publishers can stop buyers from reselling their software to others, which differs from rulings in which software can be sold again under a "first sale"Â doctrine.
According to Anthony Reese of the University of California-Irvine, the first sale doctrine is responsible for the bulk of public access via the existence of stores that sell used materials like books, records, and videos. He added in that this ruling can be used in other courts and impact their sight over other business types such as eBay and stores like Gamestop.
To put in an example, around thirty percent of Gamestop's profits are in used games. Add in the domino effect, Gamestop claims that it will impact their