Fallout has established something of a tradition at this point using songs from the early part of the 20th century contrasted with the post-apocalyptic distopia of the future. Fallout: New Vegas continues the tradition with this TV spot, with the song Orange Colored Sky from Nat King Cole.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=QfVYZTx6AAI
If it wasn’t already clear what the audience for the Kinect is, this ad cements it. People of all backgrounds are shown playing with the Kinect emphasizing its intuitive nature quite clever.
To quote the description of the video, A musical journey into the world of fast, that tugs at the heartstrings while juking you out of your seat. Featuring Slim Chin, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, the adiZero Rose, the Beast, one cheetah and a solid gold jet ski.
{video link marked as “private”}
Knowledge Networks reported today that 21 percent of viewers aged 13 to 54 watch TV programs or movies using a game console system at least once a month, using discs or via the internet. In the report, titled “Over-the-Top TV: A Complete Video Landscape,” it is noted that DVDs are still the medium of choice for alternate-to-telecast TV content used at least once a month to watch movie or TV content by 62 percent of viewers aged 13-54, followed by DVR with about half as much usage and streaming through a PC.
“The challenge to stakeholders in this space is to move into new digital formats while still leveraging existing technologies; videogame systems are proving to be an important transitional device in this space,” says David Tice, Vice President and Group Account Director at Knowledge Networks.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is the third home console entry in the Assassin’s Creed series, and Ubisoft hopes it will be the largest yet. They announced that the game has not only gotten more pre-orders than any previous Assassin’s Creed game, it’s more than any game in Ubisoft history.
“Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is being heralded by the press as a single and multiplayer experience unlike any other,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. “As evidenced by the record number of pre-orders and the success of the multiplayer beta, consumers can t wait to get their hands on Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, and we re looking forward to delivering them an experience they’ll never forget.”
The pre-order campaign was likely helped by pre-order exclusive multiplayer characters Harlequin and Officer. However, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey reservedly says, “…pre-order trends are not necessarily indicative of ultimate sell through success as game quality remains uncertain.”
Still, Hickey notes that Ubisoft is going all-in with the game’s marketing campaign. He says the promotional efforts for Assassin s Creed Brotherhood from Ubisoft “is one of the biggest marketing investments in the Company’s history.”
Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}
Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Live Silver service will be renamed Xbox Live Free. There are no indications that anything about the free service has changed other than the name.
Simultaneously, the official website Xbox.com {link no longer active} has seen a major redesign. The official website now calls attention to entertainment options on the Xbox 360, Xbox Avatars and, primarily, Kinect and games for Kinect.
It all seems to be part of a larger push by Microsoft to capture more of the casual, mainstream crowd.
Apple recently revealed that the rumored MacBook Air revision is true, and it combines features of the iPad. It has no optical drive, an SSD hard drive and uses built-in flash storage from 64GB and 28GB on the 11-inch model and 128GB and 256GB on the 13-inch model, which offer 1366 x 768 and 1440 x 900 resolution LED backlit displays, respectively.
The models use an NVIDIA s GeForce 320M, with the smaller model getting a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, and the larger getting a 1.86GHz. The new MacBook Air is 0.3cm thick at its thinnest point and 1.7cm at its thickest, with both models sporting a pair of two USB 2.0 ports and a mini DisplayPort; the 13-inch model also gets a SD card reader.
The larger model has seven hours of battery life compared to five hours for the smaller; both claim 30 hours of standby time. The 11-inch model is priced at $999 and $1,199 for the 64GB and 128GB versions and the 13-inch model is priced at $1,299 and $1,599 for 128GB and 256GB versions, respectively.
Available in multiple colors.Nintendo has finally confirmed the FlingSmash bundle which was recently revealed by a retail listing. The game, originally expected to release over the Summer, will be bundled with the Wii RemotePlus and be available November 7 for $49.99.
The Wii RemotePlus, which has Wii MotionPlus functionality built into a Wii Remote, will also be available separately. It will also be available November 7 for only $39.99.
In New Zealand, 1500 film workers protested outside a meeting of an actors union in Wellington related to The Hobbit films. The mood was so tense that the meeting was abandoned and another one in Auckland was cancelled.
After local and international actors unions pushed for a boycott of the production for The Hobbit, Warner Bros. threatened to move the production to the now available lots used to produce Harry Potter in the U.K. While the unions have retreated from that position, the future is still murky for the production of the films.
”The lifting of the blacklist on The Hobbit does nothing to help the films stay in New Zealand,” said director Peter Jackson. ”Next week Warners are coming down to NZ to make arrangements to move the production offshore.”
While Jackson has fought to keep the films in his homeland of New Zealand, he says that the actions of the unions, ”had undermined Warner Bros’s confidence in New Zealand as a stable employment environment and they are now very concerned about the security of their $500 million investment.”
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Nintendo has confirmed that the U.S. is getting a Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Wii bundle. Costing $199.99, the red console will come with a red Wii RemotePlus, a red Nunchuk, Wii Sports, New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Unlike the European version of this bundle, there are no games pre-downloaded onto the Wii. It will release on November 7.
