The $39 Experiment: Asking Random Companies for Free Stuff
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Where all stupid comes to congeal neatly in one handy tub.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Lets see how these stats pan out in a few years shall we?
International
Development Group's Q3 report on the future of the game industry has
been released, and Next-Gen has some exclusive highlights and stats.
2.2 million / 13.6 million
Development Group's Q3 report on the future of the game industry has
been released, and Next-Gen has some exclusive highlights and stats.
The full report details annual predicted hardware and software sales
across all formats in every major North American and Western European
territory through to the end of the decade, as well as average sales
prices and predicted sales of digital downloads.
IDG and
Next-Gen have collaborated to bring you a small portion of the detailed
report, with an emphasis here on Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 in the U.S. The
full report also covers handhelds and PC games in dozens of countries.
You can get more information, and order the report here.
image copyright IDG.
Xbox 360
"Sales
of Xbox 360 hardware have remained on a path to achieving an estimated
4.9 million units sold through in North America in 2006 – a
significant improvement over the original Xbox’s first full calendar
year of 3.4 million units.
However, sales still trail the PS2’s
impressive “GTA‐fueled” 6.1 million units in its first full calendar
year of 2001, and the system continues to be outsold on a monthly basis
by the PS2 today. The 2006 holiday season will prove particularly
important as the industry’s first live test of next‐ generation console
market share.
IDG does not anticipate a price reduction on the
core Xbox 360 hardware in 2006, but bundling at the retailer level
seems likely. Sales should also benefit from the constricted supply of
both PS3 and Wii. The installed base of the Xbox 360 is also projected
to lead all other next‐gen platforms until 2009."
ESTIMATED NORTH AMERICA HARDWARE SALES and INSTALLED BASE
2006
4.9 Million / 5.6 million
2007
6 Million / 11.6 million
2008
5.3 million / 16.9 million
2009
4.1 million / 21.1 million
2010
2.8 million / 23.9 million
PlayStation 3
"The PlayStation 3 launch
continues to weather difficult news however, such as the delay of the
European launch to Spring 2007 and a pre‐launch price reduction on PS3
hardware in the Japan market generally perceived to be reactive to
Japanese consumer sentiment. IDG has adjusted its forecast model to
account for the new launch statistics, and the ripple‐through effects
are substantial.
Sony may be unable to catch Microsoft’s
installed base lead from the Xbox 360 until 2010. For the industry as a
whole, however, the smaller launch inventory is not expected to
significantly impact total market size for 2006 or 2007, as spending
will likely just shift to substitute products.
From a market
share perspective, a more balanced market structure between the three
new consoles now seems even more probable. Publishers appear to have
adjusted their portfolios to minimize exposure from any individual
system (although Microsoft recently announced several 360‐exclusive
third party console titles).
IDG’s projections show that Sony will still “win” the race, as its brand remains strong
(particularly
so in several European markets). However, winning the race may only
mean being on the larger side of a 55/45 split, and will be a longer
and more difficult battle."
ESTIMATED NORTH AMERICA HARDWARE SALES and INSTALLED BASE
2006
0.9 Million / 0.9 million
2007
5.6 million / 6.5 million
2008
6.3 million / 12.7 million
2009
5.6 million / 18.4 million
2010
5.2 million / 23.5 million
Nintendo Wii
"Nintendo’s
confirmation of a global Wii launch in November/December and Sony’s
reduced launch quantities have given many observers an increased degree
of confidence in Wii’s prospects for 2006 and 2007. Nintendo certainly
stands to benefit from reduced PS3 inventories in North America and
Europe, and the reintroduction of the launch bundle makes Wii the only
self‐contained gaming gift option.
The bundling of Wii Sports
is likely to dampen initial software‐to‐hardware tie ratios however, at
least for early purchases. This is only an issue for third party
publishers, since Nintendo still benefits from the sale. IDG does not
expect the bundle to reduce the tie ratio by a full software unit as
many consumers can still be expected to purchase an initial library of
games – particularly given the system’s position as theleast expensive
of the three new platforms."
ESTIMATED NORTH AMERICA HARDWARE SALES and INSTALLED BASE
2006
1.1 Million / 1.1 million
2007
3.4 million / 4.5 million
2008
3.9 million / 8.4 million
2009
3.1 million / 11.4 million
2.2 million / 13.6 million
Monday, October 23, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
New blogging tool
Friday, October 13, 2006
Testing another insta blogger thingy...
PS3's Oblivion will come to Xbox 360 and PC too
As many of you well know, the PlayStation 3 will be getting an updated version of smash-hit RPG Oblivion,
heretofore only available on the Xbox 360 and PC. This announcement
prompted concern amongst PC and Xbox 360 loyalists who worried about
missing out on content exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version of the
game.
Bethesda says don't worry your pretty little heads about it. Asked
by IGN about the issue, Bethesda's Todd Howard replied, "We always aim
to have all our content available across all platforms, so that is our
goal."
Welcome to the new generation! So long as no single platform has a
major lead over the others, we can expect that most publishers will opt
to launch their games for all platforms, assuming there are no
technical limitations to doing so. Analyst consensus is that this
generation of the console wars will be far less lopsided than the era
in which the PlayStation 2 dominated. Publishers will naturally produce
products for the platforms on which gamers congregate.
To put it another way: if you see an exclusive, someone paid big money to obtain rights to that exclusive.
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Friday, October 06, 2006
Neat offices... and a break from youtube links :)
10 seeeeeriously cool workplaces
Physical space matters. It’s easier to be productive, creative and happy at work in a colourful, organic, playful environment than in a grey, linear, boring one.
And I’m not talking about the outside of the building. Many companies have buildings that are sleek, modern, architectural glass-steel-and-cement sculptures on the outside - and cubicle wastelands on the inside. These companies need to remember that most employees tend to work inside the building.
With that in mind, here’s some eye candy from 10 different innovative, well-designed workplaces.Test 3. It sort of sucks but is better than nothing I guess.
Tiny house sculpture
Artist Willard Wigan made a model of a house that fits on the head of a pin.Link'I spent 15 hours a day for seven weeks sculpting a minute piece of diamond. The beams are made out of floating fibres that you see in sunlight.
'To paint the house, I took the hair from a dead spider's legs and made a paintbrush. Then it was a case of being very patient and careful.'
Test number two!
IFComp '06 & More!
Posted by BMcC 5 hours ago
This just in from our man who likes Japan, Shih Tzu:
The 12th annual Interactive Fiction Competition started October 1st and runs until November 15th. The IFComp is a community-driven competition of homebrew text adventures in the style of the old Infocom games (think Zork).
Everyone is encouraged to download the games and rate as many as possible.
Also! Defcon has been reviewed by The Onion A.V. Club, “proving once again that they are totally deliciously indie.”
Thanks, Shih Tzu!
Testing a new pliugin thingy...
Trailer Park Boys movie release weekend - ZGeek:
Their big screen debut, The Big Dirty, hits theatres this weekend. In the meantime, for fans and those unfamiliar alike, here's an episode from seasons past.
Looks like it doesn''t link :(
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
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