Microsoft Promises Not To Forget Core Gamer

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The Kinect is an appeal to the more casual audience with its motion sensing capabilities.  That said, Xbox Live Studios president Jerry Johnson thinks that the core audience are still the most important advocates for the platform.

“I know there’s a lot of controversy over, are you turning your back on the core gamer Are you just focused on the Wii bunch? My answer to that is an emphatic no,” said Johnson. “The reason I say that is because I realize that Live was built on the back of the core gamer. It was built to benefit the core gamer, and it was built solely focused on the core gamer when it was originally launched.”

“We also know that is our best advocate to continue to grow our user base and grow the engagement with Live, he added.

Source: Eurogamer

Global Game Industry Estimated At Over $100 Billion

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According to Avista Partners’ Paul Heydon, the total value of all public game companies is $105 billion. He said that the whole worth of the industry under accounted for the online sector.

He put the entirety of the PC and console gaming industry (excluding Nintendo) at $33.22 billion, and Nintendo at $34.96 billion. Online, meanwhile, makes up about $23 billion and mobile makes up a little over $8 billion.

Heydon says that the virtual world economy is comprised of 260 dedicated companies covering both casual and hardcore, generating over $13.8 billion in annual revenue. Of these companies, 44 were public, but most are based out of Asia and only two came from the West.

Online game companies were predicted to get over $900 million in investments for 2010 and have acquisition deals over $2 billion. He said that online games had eaten into the share of traditional game companies, resulting in $55.3 billion of lost value since 2007.

Source: Avista Partners

3D TVs Don’t Interest Brits – Survey

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A survey by Deloitte says that only two percent of British consumers are looking to buy a 3D TV in the next year – not a great sign for 3D gaming. Users also showed little inclination towards Internet-enabled televisions and cable/satellite PVRs, a tendency that increased the older the respondent got.

“It is remarkable how conservative people’s predictions for their own technology spending habits over the coming year were,” Deloitte media director Paul Lee said. “They didn t have to commit to buying anything during the research and yet still predicted very little spend on TV products moving forward. Belts have tightened after the economic downturn and with little understanding of what lies ahead, consumers are still being cautious.”

Rock Band PR Firm Settles With FTC

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Reverb Communications has settled a lawsuit with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC was contending that Reverb posted consumer reviews on the iTunes App Store, which would classify as deceptive advertising practices.

“Companies, including public relations firms involved in online marketing need to abide by long-held principles of truth in advertising,” said Mary Engle, Director of the FTC s Division of Advertising Practices. “Advertisers should not pass themselves off as ordinary consumers touting a product, and endorsers should make it clear when they have financial connections to sellers.”

Reverb will remove the offending reviews from the App Store and will be required to disclose all professional links before making more endorsements. Notably, Reverb serves as the PR agency for Harmonix and the Rock Band franchise.

iPod Nano Sans Click Wheel Rumored

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It is strongly believed that Apple will unveil a new iPod Touch with a forward-facing camera for FaceTime during a September press conference. However, analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. thinks a new iPod Nano design could be in the cards as well.

It is thought that this new iPod Nano would include many of the same hardware elements of the iPhone 4, such as a faster processor, retina display and FaceTime video conferencing. Interestingly, it could be that this iPod Nano will ship without the traditional click wheel.

Source: SFGate {link no longer active}

SCE Euro Boss Talks Move Expectations

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Microsoft is expecting an almost immediate boost for the Xbox 360 from the Kinect motion sensing camera. By contrast for Sony, they’re taking a much more long-tail view for how the Move will affect the PS3.

“Exactly as with EyeToy in the PS2 days, it’s a product that needs to be sampled. You need to get your hands on it. You need to understand it. You need to try it,” says SCE U.K. president Ray Maguire. “Am I expecting a massive day one? Not particularly. We didn’t with EyeToy, either. It went on to be massively successful. As people saw the value when they tried it they told their friends. Their friends bought it. They told their friends. Word of mouth grew the marketplace. That’s what I expect from Move as well.”

“When we see people sampling it the outcome is everyone’s delighted by the experience. That’s the most important thing. The creativity in terms of the games being created for it, already show a marked difference from the genres we had in the EyeToy space, he continued. It’s not only about the keepy-uppy and the wishy-washy. We’re starting to think about Move and how you use that in games like LittleBigPlanet or Killzone, some major games. With that attitude it starts becoming less of a novelty and more of just another way of enjoying the games we all know and love.”

Source: Eurogamer

DJ Hero 2 ‘Name That Mix’ Challenge

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Activision announced that they are launching a “Name That Mix” challenge on the DJ Hero Facebook page. From now until September 20, fans will compete to win prizes and determine which songs are used to comprise certain mashups. It’s an interesting and fun way to promote the game.

“The individual songs that have been mixed into the DJ Hero 2 soundtrack have been viewed online more than 1.5 billion times, which really speaks volumes to both the size and scope of our music,” said Dan Neil, Music Director, FreeStyleGames.  “Working with some of the best DJs in the world, we were able to take this amazing collection of the biggest pop, hip-hop and dance hits, and with some turntable magic, craft the best soundtrack in entertainment.”

“If you simply listened to all these songs we’ve handpicked to include in the game, you would recognize what an amazing soundtrack they would make,” said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs, Activision.  “But when you hear them after the FreeStyleGames DJs give them the exclusive DJ Hero mix treatment, you understand why we think DJ Hero 2 offers an unprecedented music experience.”

DJ Hero 2 will have over 100 tracks, including Eminem’s Not Afraid, Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, David Guetta’s Memories featuring Kid Cudi, and Lil’ Wayne’s Lollipop featuring Static Major. For more information about the “Name That Mix” challenge please visit facebook.com/djhero.