While Eminem’s Won’t Back Down featuring Pink is used for the ads of Call of Duty: Black Ops in America, publisher Square Enix (which is handling the duties for Activision) is going for something more regional in Japan. Appropriately or not, here’s the trailer with Namie Amuro’s ROCK U.
A long development cycle for L.A. Noire has left a lot of questions for the 1940’s crime drama. One thing has been answered by this trailer, though: it sure does look pretty.
In our nerd infused popular cultures, you almost don’t know the next time that something wacky like pirates or zombies will be added to a movie. In the case of The Warrior’s Way, we get to see a wacky combination of cowboys and ninjas in a surprisingly self-serious film.
O-Games announced an interesting contest for their game Superstars V8 Racing. Via in-game challenges for the $19.99 PSN title, users will be able to win a copy of Gran Turismo 5 whenever it ships.
Critics say that Superstars V8 Racing is a worthy investment and does more than just fill the void for all the racing fans waiting for the launch of Grand Turismo 5, said Greg Lanz, General Manager of O-Games, Inc. Beginning next week and for the next ten weeks, we’ll be challenging players of Superstars V8 Racing on PlayStation Network to various leaderboard competitions, and award winners a brand new copy of Gran Turismo 5. Superstars V8 Racing is the perfect game for racing fans to sharpen their skills as they wait for Gran Turismo 5, and what better way than to reward fans with a brand new copy of the game. Exactly when we can ship GT5 is anybody s guess, but rest assured, we will send out prizes whenever it hits retail shelves.
Weekly competitions will begin November 12, 2010, and all rules and regulations can be found on the Superstars V8 Racing Facebook page at facebook.com/superstarsv8racing.
Sony Computer Entertainment America and the NHL announced the launch of NHL GameCenter Live on the PS3. This allows subscribers to have access to hockey games in HD and makes the PS3 the first game console to stream live hockey games.
PlayStation Network has become an innovative and all-in-one destination for PS3 users to enjoy a comprehensive, customizable on-demand entertainment experience, said Peter Dille, senior vice president, marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA. The addition of streaming NHL content continues the expansion of our library of movies and TV shows, original programming, music, live sports and access to social networks. Through our partnership with the NHL, we are giving our customers another important choice to access and stream the content they want, when and how they want it.
NHL GameCenter Live also allows subscribers to watch full-length and condensed replays of the current season games up to 48 hours after they air in addition to live streaming. The service will also give unlimited access to over 500 classic games from NHL Vault.
In order to serve our fans, we are continuing to respond to the convergence of technology, media and consumer behavior, said Perry Cooper, NHL Senior Vice President of Digital Media. With today s announcement, we are able to deliver NHL GameCenter LIVE and NHL Vault to Sony’s extensive consumer base and significantly broaden the availability of our products to our fans across the world.
An annual subscription to NHL GameCenter Live costs $169, with the PS3 NHL application available for a one-time download cost of $9.99. PlayStation Plus subscribers can download the NHL GameCenter application for free.
According to 4mm, Def Jam Rapstar will see a 1.2 million British pound marketing campaign to make it a hit in the U.K. The campaign will run from November to early December to support the release on November 26.
TV ads will include spots on Sky Sports, Five, MTV, Comedy Central, Sky 1, and ITV, with internet ads on Facebook, YouTube, Google and Xbox Live. There will also be billboards and posters outside, radio ads and a 20-stop tour.
The Def Jam Rapstar campaign has been meticulously crafted in line with its triple-A status and is targeted to reach our core demographic of 16- to 24-year-olds, says 4mm Games European marketing director Gavin Shackell. Def Jam Rapstar is set to be a global phenomenon.
Source: MCV
The advertising campaign for Windows Phone 7 reportedly reached nine digits, but that is no guarantee of success. Market researchers reported that the first day of availability saw only 40,000 units of Windows Phone 7 sold.
By comparison, Google said that 200,000 Android phones were selling in any given day and Apple indicates that the iPhone sales rate is 270,000 a day. Still, a T-Mobile spokesperson said the Windows Phone 7 was “already receiving strong interest from our customers right out of the gate.”
Cote Collaborative strategist Michael Cote thinks that the timing, the lack of copy functions and the sheer number of models offered ultimately hurt the release. “Mondays aren’t great launch days. They poured all that cash into it but they lost track of the fact that Fridays or Saturdays are the best launch days,” said Cote. “In the phone world, our surveys show that there should be a choice between A or B [like one with a keyboard and one without].
It’s inexcusable that in the fourth quarter of 2010 you don’t have something as basic as cut and paste,” noted Cote.
Nielsen telecom analyst Roger Entner doesn’t think it’s over yet though. “It’s early in the game,” he said. “Not every product surges right out of the starting blocks. The first Android phone was not a big seller at T-Mobile. We’ll see what happens with Black Friday sales. They’ll probably cut prices like everyone else does. It’s the nature of the beast. The only one that doesn’t do promotions is Apple.”
Source: The Street
Activision has confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops generated $360 million on its first day of availability in the U.S. and U.K, with 5.6 million units sold within the first 24 hours. This number trounces the 4.7 million sold for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year.
“There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year’s five-day global sales record of$550 million,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard, Inc. “The game’s success underscores the pop culture appeal of the brand. Call of Duty: Black Ops is the finest game that Treyarch has ever made and raises the bar for online gameplay by delivering the deepest and most intense Call of Duty experience yet. The Call of Duty franchise has over 25 million players around the world that are engaged in billions of hours of online gameplay, and we are committed to supporting them with new content and features on a more frequent and regular basis.”
Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm have announced a new global publishing agreement for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The bulk of the publishing, marketing and distribution rights will be shifted from LucasArts to EA so they can be centralized for efficiency.
This comes at a time when some people both inside and out of the BioWare Austin studio that is making Star Wars: The Old Republic have cast doubt on its viability in the market. Terms of this agreement were not disclosed and Lucasfilm indicated they would still work with EA on design and marketing of the product.
Samsung today announced the launch of the Galaxy Tab from Verizon. The Tab features a seven-inch display, Android 2.2, and dual cameras for video chat, with free Wi-Fi and a $20 per month data plan from Verizon.
This is an incredible time in mobile technology, and as a company we re excited to add the Samsung Galaxy Tab to our portfolio, said Marni Walden, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. The Samsung Galaxy Tab brings together the reliability of Verizon Wireless 3G network and the power of Android 2.2 to deliver on our promise of providing consumers and business customers with a host of options to help manage their lives.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon is available for $599.99.
