Sons Of Anarchy Creator Wants Rockstar To Handle Adaptation

Kurt Sutter has wanted to see a game made based on his biker drama Sons of Anarchy but he’s had difficultly getting network FX on board with the idea. So in lieu of formal talks, Sutter has reached out to the talented folks at Rockstar (developers of Grand Theft Auto IV and its expansion The Lost and The Damned) via Twitter.

“@RockstarGames you should make the SOA game,” Sutter wrote. “I know it’s an expensive/complicated process, but let’s chat, see if we can make it happen.”

Source: Twitter.com

Microsoft Touts Halo Numbers Ahead Of Halo 4 Release

Microsoft has revealed that the Halo franchise has generated nearly $3 billion in revenue since launch, with more than 46 million Halo games sold. Halo 2 generated $125 million in first day revenue while Halo 3 saw $170 million first day and Halo: Reach topped them all with $200 million.

Halo is a $3 billion blockbuster franchise which has shaped entertainment history and defined a generation of gamers,” said Microsoft’s Chris Lewis. “From the world’s first ever red-carpet premieres for a video game to sending a man strapped to a jet-pack 50-foot above London’s iconic skyline, Halo launches have continually broken the mold and we are back with a colossal bang for Halo 4, transforming a country on the biggest scale imaginable.”

EA’s Peter Moore Talks Used Games, Star Wars Going Free-to-Play

Many AAA game companies have come out and bashed used games as a method retailers use to get more life out of the products they sell. EA COO Peter Moore, however, sees opportunity in used games.

“Used games were a bigger issue for the industry – I wasn’t resigned to it, but I recognized that it was the right of gamers and the right of our retailer,” said Moore. “To be very fair, GameStop has always been very public about the fact that [they] keep the ecosystem moving with revenue that comes in, and it’s not like they go and take their game credit and go to McDonald’s and buy burgers. They re-up into new games.”

“Our job is to take that consumer and say, you’ve got a used game consumer and embrace that guy rather than shun him and say ‘no, not a penny of what we spent on this we get from you.’ It’s kept GameStop to be a thriving retailer unlike a lot of bricks and mortar. They’ve got 6,600 doors. I’m not sure they’re there without having a real digital strategy and a used games strategy.”

Moore also addressed the issue of switching Star Wars: The Old Republic from subscription-only to free-to-play. “As we get closer [to release], you realize the world is changing around you. We have to change accordingly,” he explained. “Now you’ve got a hybrid model, which is the way I like it, because I’d rather say ‘give me all you can eat for 15 bucks a month and I’ll play the game if you give me everything,’ which is still available. But this fall there will be, we open up the funnel at the top, look, come on in, there’s no cost to play, if you want to progress it gets better quickly.”

“Price was always the issue. You talk to people on their way out and say, can you tell me why you’re leaving [They say] ‘I just didn’t want to pay $15 a month. I felt kind of locked in. I love the game, but I’m locked in,’ and for a lot of people 15 bucks a month is a lot of money,” he added. “So when we looked at the data that was streaming out of it. It was very clear to us that if we could knock down that initial barrier to entry that is price, that we could blow out the funnel and instead of dealing with several hundred thousand people on a regular basis we could get into millions. That was the plan. The world moved very quickly around us, and we had to react.”

Source: Wired

Nexus 7 Selling Over 500k Per Month: Asus

Google has not publicly reported on the sales of its Nexus 7 tablet, even though it has been well received. However, Asustek indicates that the tablet is approaching the magical milestone of a million units per month.

Asustek CFO David Chang says that the company was selling 500,000 units a month initially when the Nexus 7 launched in July, bumped up to 600,000-700,000 in the following months. This would potentially make the device the most popular Android tablet on the planet, even more than the Kindle Fire HD and the Galaxy Tab.

Source: WSJ.com

Amazon Strikes Out At IPad Mini On Homepage

Amazon has used their front page to tout their own tablets over the range of iPad products. They claim 30 percent more pixels than iPad mini, the ability to watch HD movies, and dual stereo speakers.

The company is consciously leaving off certain features on the iPad that you won’t find on the Kindle Fire HD, including a rear-facing camera, a 64GB model, a 3G/4G LTE option and Apple’s lineup of 275,000 tablet-optimized apps. Kindle Fire HD retails for $199, whereas the iPad mini begins at $329 for the 16GB, Wi-Fi version.

Source: PCmag.com

Wikipad Launch Pushed Back

The Wikipad will not release in October as was originally planned. The gaming tablet is being pushed back for refinements, which could mean anything from a upgrade to the latest version of Android to perhaps an upgrade of the screen or processor in the face of heavy competition in the tablet sector.

“There is a last minute opportunity to enhance the Wikipad bundle as well as a minor refinement needed to ensure our first customers are completely satisfied with the Wikipad,” said the company in an official statement. “We have informed our retail partners about this delay. For those who pre-ordered the Wikipad at GameStop through today October 31, we will deliver the refined and upgraded bundles as well as a special bonus gift with the pre-order. We are in the final stage and will be announcing the new date soon.”

Twitter: 500 Million Tweets A Day

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has announced that the micro-blogging service is now processing half a billion tweets a day. Costolo revealed this at the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Engage conference in London, which is up from 400 million daily tweets that Twitter had publicized in June 2012.

Costolo also confirmed reports that Twitter is testing out “like” and star buttons to potentially replace the “favorite” tool the service has used for years. The company had previously declined to comment on the issue and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Costolo’s reported remarks in London.

Source: CNET.com

God Of War: Ascension Prepares For Glory With 300 Skin

Pre-orders of the Standard and Collector’s Editions of God of War: Ascension at GameStop will receive a multiplayer character skin in the form of King Leonidas. This will be the version of the historical figure from 300 played by Gerard Butler.

“Donning King Leonidas’s red cape, iconic helmet, and armor you will stand apart as one of the ultimate warriors of Sparta. King Leonidas also comes with his iconic spear, which has its own set of unique combat moves,” said Sony.

Pre-orders will also get a double-sided God of War: Ascension poster. God of War: Ascension will release March 12, 2013.