Game On, finally

http://www.forbes.com/business/2006/10/17/nintendo-sony-xbox360-tech-media-cx_rr_1017games.html

Burlingame, Calif. - While videogamers spend the nights leading up to November dreaming of new consoles and games they'll soon be playing, the industry executives who cater to that crowd are losing sleep.  Come November, the game industry will finally wake up to a reality it has been alternately anticipating and dreading for quite some time.

This fall is when the next round of the videogame wars officially gets under way. Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT -news - people ) got a head start last year when it launched its Xbox 360 console; now Sony (nyse: SNE -news - people ) and Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY.PK -
news - people ) will finally roll out their next-generation competitors, the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. And for good measure, some software publishers will trot out some highly anticipated games as well: Microsoft will push its new locust-filled shooting game Gears of War, and Activision (nasdaq: ATVI – news - people ) plans to make another killing off World War II with Call of Duty 3.

All of these high-profile launches come wrapped around the holiday shopping season, creating a confluence of events that only happens once every half a decade in this business. The payoff could be huge: In 2011—the peak year of the coming console generation--gaming
products will generate $44 billion in revenue, according to DFC intelligence. How this fall's new products fare will go a long way toward making or breaking gaming companies' next five years.

Early signals indicate fall sales are better than expected and demand is strong. September data from NPD Group released last week showed 34% hardware revenue growth over last year, and 28% software growth.  Analysts were expecting growth of less than 20%. Even sales of soon-to-be outdated games, like those designed for Sony's PS2, shrunk far less than expected. The $777 million the industry raked in last month was the best September it has ever had, according to NPD. At the same time, stock prices
within the gaming sector have shot up an average of 31% in the last three months.

And consumers seem ready to upgrade to new gaming systems. When videogame retailer GameStop (nyse: GME -
news - people ) announced last week it would sell a few Wii and PS3 pre-orders through its stores, the slots were gone almost immediately.

But all of this good news should be taken with a grain of salt. The lackluster 2005 holiday season makes for easy-to-top comparisons. And while sold-out console pre-orders show at least some consumers are eager to buy, those dollars will be wasted if enough units
aren't made available to retailers in November and December. Here's how each of the major players stands today:

Sony
Some good news for beleaguered Sony: It seems like lots of people want the new PS3, even with a price tag that starts at $500. The bad news: It's unlikely to have enough to satisfy everyone. The company is only promising that 2 million units will hit U.S. stores by
the end of the year. (The rest of the world will see even less of the boxes.) Many of these will end up for sale to the highest bidder on eBay. Serious PlayStation fans will seek out those units, but moderate gamers could be turned off by the price. If a PS3 isn't available in stores, would-be console buyers could opt to put their dollars toward a Wii, a Microsoft Xbox 360, or even one of Apple Computer's
(nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) new iPods instead.

Nintendo
As the least-expensive new console, Nintendo's $250 Wii could appeal to non-traditional gamers as well as hardcore gamers who already own other consoles. Because Nintendo makes many of the software titles available for its systems, each Wii sale could rack up
more than $250 for the company. Susquehanna Financial estimates that for each Wii purchase, an average consumer will also buy more than three game titles.

Microsoft
If holiday shoppers decide to replace a PS3 gift with that of an Xbox 360, Microsoft could see higher than expected sales. As of September, Microsoft had already sold 2.7 million Xbox 360 units in the U.S. since its November 2005 launch. The company can expect to sell nearly 3.5 million more by the end of December, according to Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter. Microsoft's own Gears of War Xbox 360 game, due out on Nov. 12, is already the best-selling Xbox 360 game at Amazon.com (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) through pre-orders.

Electronic Arts
While EA (nasdaq: ERTS - news - people ) isn't launching any hotly anticipated new games on Wii or PS3--its full slate of top-selling sports titles will be well represented on both platforms--the company is making the most of its presence in the PC gaming arena. This strategy, which includes acquisitions of Swedish studio DICE--maker of the Battlefield PC games--and multi-player online gaming company Mythic, as well as the eventual launch of Will Wright's Spore in 2007, doesn't marry EA to the success or failure of any of the consoles. It does, however, allow Microsoft, Sony Computer Entertainment and Nintendo to profit on the backs of their own hardware platforms through software sales.

Activision
Other than Call of Duty 3--a World War II game taking place during the Normandy campaign, which already looks to be a best seller on all three platforms when it launches on Nov. 7--Activision is laying low during the holiday season. The company's sights are set on
late 2007 and 2008, which should include blockbuster games from franchises like James Bond, Shrek and Spiderman.

THQ
With sales up 106% this September over last, and a stock price at its highest point ever, THQ (NASDAQ: THQI - news - people ) has thus far weathered the console transition well. But most of its recent success is related to one original title, the gritty, Grand Theft Auto-style game Saints Row. It's unclear if a return to franchises like WWE, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Sopranos will keep the   company in a winning position throughout the holiday season and beyond.

Take-Two Interactive Software
Amid lots of bad news--ratings controversies, lawsuits, options probes and earnings report delays--Take-Two (nasdaq: TTWO - news - people ) managed to run its stock up 75% since July. The company has still not reported its third-quarter earnings, causing industry speculation that the company could face delisting from the NASDAQ or consider a buyout. But new games are on the way, including the controversial Bully on Oct. 17. The game, which depicts violent strategies for revenge on school bullies, was reviewed Friday by a circuit court judge in Florida, who deemed it acceptable material for those under 18.
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[PogoWolf]

 What about MTV?  GH2 is going to make a KILLING this holiday season.

 

EA Responds To Micropayment Talk

EA Responds To Micropayment Talk

Tuesday October 17, 2006 5:17 PM EDT

 

Recently, EA announced that they would be providing game content for micropayments, much to the chagrin of gamers. Desructoid spoke with EA rep David Tinson to ask a few questions about the micropayments. Of course, he was unapologetic, even said that EA was doing gamers a favor.

 

 

[PogoWolf]

Everyone knows that EA will jump on any band wagon that’ll make them money.

 

New top educational game named.

Making History Video Game Named Top Educational Technology by Technology & Learning Magazine
Yahoo! News Tue, 17 Oct 2006 5:00 AM PDT Newburyport, MA

Continuing its path as a game-changer in modern education, the MAKING HISTORY® video game has been selected as one of the outstanding educational technology products of 2006.

No crash course here

No crash course here
San Diego Union-Tribune Tue, 17 Oct 2006 1:38 AM PDT Oct. 17 (UNION-TRIBUNE):

Stephanie Ott had just taken the ride of her life without leaving her seat. The San Diego police recruit was one of the first to train on a new driving simulator that helps police through real-life driving situations without risking injury. Ott, 24, grew up on video game systems like PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox, so she wasn't expecting much of a thrill from this one.

Video Game Service Launches New 'Friends' Promotion

PRESS RELEASE: Goozex – Video Game Service Launches New Promotion for Friend Referrals
gamesindustry.biz Tue, 17 Oct 2006 1:29 AM PDT COLLEGE PARK, MD

Goozex, Inc. today launched a new promotion, “Friends of Goozex,” to coincide with the addition of a new friend referral website upgrade.

NEC to Ship HD DVD, Blu-ray Dual Format Chip

NEC to Ship HD DVD, Blu-ray Dual Format Chip
OCT 11, 2006 12:55:49 PM View/Add Comments (1) Permalink
NEC Electronics, a Japanese producer of chips, on Tuesday said it has built a dual-format chip capable of playing discs in both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray next-generation DVD formats—an announcement that could help put an end to the war between the two rivals over which will be adopted by the masses, Reuters reports. Combined with the appropriate optical pickup technology—which doesn’t currently exist—the chip could be used in affordable players that will be able to read both HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats.
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Kinda makes it worthless to get the external 360 HD player.. or the PS3, now eh?

Nintendo Panties!!?!

More Nintendo Panties!

Finally, a pair of underpants that reveal what we already knew: a woman's genitalia is just an NES controller, ready to be fiddled with and pounded and flung angrily across the room in frustration. Florian Eckhardt
Nintendo Controller Panties [Aeropause]

Blam it on the Game: The Terrell Owens Story.

As you might have heard, Terrel Ownens may or may not have tried to kill himself by overdoseing on pain killers.

Since everyone else seems to think that Video games are training people to do abnormal actions, then T.O. might have been playing WAY to much Dr. Mario.

I can see the headline
TO's Family to sue Nintendo, makers of that drug pushing game 'Dr. Mario' for TO's possible suicide.

You read it here first!!!

"We'll Own The Earth Like We Own The DS." - Sony

Jack Tretton On The PSP: "We'll Own The Earth Like We Own The DS."

This amazing quote is from Jack Tretton, Sony's VP:

"[Nintendo and their DS] are appealing to the same audience that Game Boy has always appealed to. And if you look at the adoption rate of the DS over the first 17 months, not only does it trail the PSP but it also trails their other platforms ... They're potentially losing some of their core audience and they're not really expanding beyond that, and we think we're expanding into a completely new audience as we did with PlayStation ... we'll dip down to the younger consumer eventually, and we'll ultimately appeal to that vastly Earth wide audience we carved out with the original PlayStation."

Now personally I would like to know what this guy is smoking and where can I get some? it's must be some good stuff!! *sigh* Jack, I'm sorry man, but your really must be a mushroom.. kept in the dark and feed some really good shit. The DS is appealing to a hell of a lot more people then just those that liked the orginal gameboy. There's so many GOOD games for people that are into games, and those that arn't. MUCH more so then the PSP, which so far, has had crap and/or mediocre games. Over the last 17 months the adoption rate of the DS has tripled. PSP sales have fallen. Even though the adoption of the DS has been kinda slow in comparison to the gameboy, it still blows the walls of the PSP.

as for the playstation.. you've got to give credit where credit is due, jackass. It's NOT the hardware that push's a platform into the hands of everyone on earth, it's the GAMES. The PS1 was in everyone's home for ONE game that you didn't even make!!! (FF7)

Wii Launched!!!

Wii Launched!
Well we didn't launch, but the Wii will November 19th. 2 days AFTER the PS3 is slated to be released [I'll believe it when I see it] with a $250 price tag [which is about $50 more then I expected] I specs aren't too shabby, will they beat a 360/PS3? oh no, plenty of power to run good game? yep.

I might add the specs here, but honestly, there's about 50 billion gaming sites with the specs already posted no need to waste your time here.

The interesting question is will Nintendo hurt themselves by releasing the Wii 2 days after the PS3 launch? And what about the no DVD playback?

Pricing:
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I don't think the $250 really is a bad price point, and it's more marketing then anything. If the Wii was released for $199.99, people would think it's a toy and the perceived value of the console would drop in favor to the 360 or the PS3. If the price was too high, then people would think that it's not worth the money. Nintendo REALLY could have hurt themselves by pricing the Wii to low.

However, here comes another marketing trend that's getting annoying as hell for the consumer. Spending ~$300 on a game machine, and then needing to turn around and spend another ~$300 on add-on's and Accessories. Nintendo is a perfect example of this marketing scheme. (I use Scheme, because that's what it is. strategy just sounds better to most people) You buy a Wii for $250. Which includes one controller.. and no one wants to sit at home and play with their Wii by themselves. SO you need an extra controller. great! that's going to set you back another ~$60 bucks and that's JUST for the 'nunchuck' controller, nothing about the other standard Wii controller. OUCH! Hell the Wireless adapter for the Xbox 360 is $100. for a SMALL little wireless controller.

Launch Date:
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SOMEONE at Nintendo was a genius for picking this date. think about it, with Sony 1/2ing the starting shipments of the PS3, causing limited quantities and will start a 'panic' attack in the Sony FanBoys. Because of this I predict the ~400,000 units will be sold almost instantanicly. So what's a person to do, walking into a store looking to pick up the PS3, and there are none, but plenty of $250 Wii's? You're going to get a Wii.. and extra controllers, and more games for the same price as the PS3.

Marketing:
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Another 'problem' that has been floating about is the whole 'Innovation' thing between Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. First off, There is NOTHING Innovative about the 360 or the PS3. They are the same tried and true more power console system. Whoopie-shit. the Graphics get better, the audio gets better, the processors get more powerful, the memory tacked on in the megabytes.. and the games are still shit.

The Wii really is the only thing that is 'innovative' this time around in the game wars and that gives Nintendo an edge in the market. Look at the E3 2006 coverage, granted Sony showed the same show two years in a row, but the Nintendo booth was hopping the whole week. There seems to be more talk and excitement about the Wii then with any of the other systems. Will the 'Wiimote' be weird to work with at first? yep, but then again, that's why there's the backwards compatibility with the gamecube controllers, and the new Wii console controllers.

DVD Playback:
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I'm tossed on this one, some specs say the Wii DOES have DVD support whileothers state it doesn't. I'm going to argue the point that it doesn't have DVDplayback support. Why should it? You've got a PS1, PS2, Xbox, Xbox360, a computer AND most likely a DVD player, why in the hell would you needanother one, and why should Nintendo jack up the price on a feature yourlikely never to use?

I'm sure there will be more to come, remember I told you back in March, that you needed to watch out for Nintendo this round of combat. ;)

Until then, keep you head out of your ass
-- The PogoWolf