Kinect Hot Gift Item, Says Break

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Break Media today released results of a survey saying that personal electronics, gift cards, video games and DVDs were among the most popular items for gifts this holiday season. Walmart, Best Buy and Target were named as the top three physical retail stores, and Amazon and Best Buy as the top two online destinations.

The iPad was the electronic gadget men wanted most (18 percent), followed by the iPhone (16 percent) and 3DTV (15 percent). Kinect for Xbox 360 was men s top video game item (29 percent), though Sony shouldn’t feel to bad since both the PS3 and PlayStation Move were tied for second with 17 percent.

Source: Home Media Magazine

Harmonix Wants To Support Local Record Stores

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Harmonix today announced an initiative to support local record stores. On November 26, those that buy a record or CD at a participating record store will receive a token good for the download of The Doors Roadhouse Blues for play in Rock Band 3.

Black Friday is also Record Store Day; a list of participating stores can be found at recordstoreday.com. Harmonix says it wants to keep things analog AND digital.

PSA: Ubisoft Grows Mo’s, Raises Money For Cancer

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Cancer facts:

·         1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime

·         1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime

The Mo, slang for moustache, and November come together each year for Movember.  This Movember some brave gents at Ubisoft decided to donate their faces to raising awareness about cancers that affect men.  Their commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of November, which has generated lots of conversation, controversy and laughter. The Ubisoft teams have already collected close to $20,000 for the Movember Foundation and they’re ranked among the top fundraising teams nationally.

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1  clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month.  The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men.  Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.

The money raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others, through the world’s most promising prostate cancer research and LIVESTRONG’s programs that support young adults and their families battling and surviving cancer.

You can check out how the Ubisoft team is tracking by visiting their Mospace. See all global Ubisoft teams here: http://us.movember.com/mospace/network/view/id/17436

Or donate to your favorite Ubisoft office below:

San Francisco: http://us.movember.com/mospace/705680/

Montreal: http://us.movember.com/mospace/74042/

Vancouver: http://us.movember.com/mospace/22603/

Quebec: http://us.movember.com/mospace/215661/

France: http://us.movember.com/mospace/749386/

Gamers Still Buying Console Games In-Spite Of New Trends, Finds Survey

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A Cowen & Company survey indicates that only about five percent of people bought fewer console games as a result of games on mobile, online, social or F2P titles, a good indication for console game publishers. Non-console owners indicate that they’d be more interested in a PS3 or Xbox 360 if the systems were on average $30 less.

“We believe that the hardware manufacturers have left unit sales on the table by not reducing price points from $199 to $179 and $299 to $249 for the applicable consoles, and that doing so would have driven a more significant boost to hardware sales than the release (for Microsoft and Sony) of new motion-sensing peripherals, read the report. “We view continued stubbornly high hardware price points as one of the key factors dragging down software sales.”

While non-console owners had a tepid response to new motion-sensing peripherals, there were positive indicators for makers of downloadable content. 76 percent of online console gamers had bought some form of DLC in the past year, with 46 percent spending over $20.

“The results of our Fall 2010 Videogame Survey do not change our view that high-quality games for the core gamer remain the best investment for videogame publishers despite changes to the structure of the videogame industry,” concluded the report.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

UDraw Draws People Together For The Holidays

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The holiday season is a big consumption period for everything, but it is especially true for family products. THQ is rather proud of its uDraw GameTablet for doing just that, having been praised by parenting publications and being in the top ten Wii titles on Amazon.

“Nothing is more important than fostering creative expression and freedom, and uDraw makes it possible to explore your artistic side through your Wii video game console,” said Martin Good, Executive Vice President of THQ’s Kids, Family, Casual Games and Global Online Services. “Especially at the holidays, we all want to find affordable gifts that the entire family can enjoy together, which is exactly what the uDraw is designed to be.”

The uDraw GameTablet, which includes the uDraw Studio game, retails for $69.99, while Pictionary and Dood’s Big Adventure retail separately for $29.99.

Sony Ericsson CEO Open To PlayStation Phone

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Rumors have been rampant that Sony Ericsson has been working on a PlayStation branded smartphone since images of the supposed device were posted on Engadget. For his part, Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg doesn’t seem to be against such an idea.

“There’s a lot of smoke, and I tell you there must be a fire somewhere,” said Nordberg. “Sony has an extremely strong offering in the gaming market, and that’s very interesting.”

With the Android market getting more and more crowded, the PlayStation branding might help serve as a differentiator. “Sony is of course a very strong brand, and why shouldn’t we use that ” Mr. Nordberg asked. “Gaming, including content, is a very interesting proposition.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

Kevin Butler Pimps PS3 Blu-Ray

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In the style of last year’s PS3 is $299 ad, Kevin Butler is promoting the gaming system for its Blu-ray capabilities. The Gift Giving Guru takes up this charge with all the flair we’ve come to expect.

Sub-Zero: Stone Cold Assassin

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While there’s been a good amount of media floating around for the new Mortal Kombat game, there hasn’t been an over abundance of gameplay shown. That changes here, as we see that fighting is a mix of classic Mortal Kombat moves with a new combo system.

Old Navy Launching Virtual Store Experience

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CrowdStar and Sibblingz have announced that they have launched an in-game Old Navy branded virtual store called It Girl just in time for Black Friday. The game lets players shop a virtual Old Navy store and get items for themselves or their Facebook friends.

“Old Navy is excited to work with It Girl this holiday season,” said Amy Curtis-McIntyre, senior vice president, marketing, Old Navy. “We hope our customers will have fun playing in the virtual Old Navy as much as they do shopping in our brick-n-mortar stores.”

“It will be interesting to see the real world Black Friday go head-to-head with the virtual one within It Girl,” says Niren Hiro, CEO of CrowdStar. “We applaud Old Navy for pioneering a new way for retailers to connect with consumers.”