Andrew DeGraff and Bennett Slater have composed impressive maps for the original Star Wars trilogy: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. These have been on exhibit since Saturday, January 5 at Gallery 1988 Melrose in Los Angeles.
Source: SlashFilm.com
GameStop says that attach rates of DLC to games have gone up, as it is easier to sell than other game products. The DLC for Gears of War 3 was heavily promoted and got a 10 percent attach rate (better than the two percent for the first two games) and a good turn around considering 75 percent of GameStop’s Power Up Rewards members said they weren’t aware of the DLC before the game’s launch.
“Downloadable content is easier for us to sell compared to strategy guides or accessories,” GameStop’s director of retail digital distribution, Brad Schleisser said. “They’re games and our sales associates are gamers.”
Attach rates have increased steadily over the past year. For instance, 17 percent of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 players paid GameStop for Elite and 30 percent paid for Mass Effect 3‘s From Ashes.
Source: Destructoid
No matter how productive or not your college years were (or might be) this trailer for The Sims 3 University Life shows a pretty good approximation of the experience. This trailer is a great reminder of all those non-video game related moments of college.
Windows Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller announced at the 11th Annual J.P. Morgan Tech Forum at CES 2013 that Windows 8 has sold 60 million licenses to date. This total includes both upgrades and sales to OEMs for new devices.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of Windows 8 certified systems since general availability at the end of October. There are now more than 1,700 certified systems for Windows 8 and Windows RT,” posted Brandon LeBlanc. “This week we also highlighted strong growth in developers building for Windows 8. Since the opening of the Windows Store the number of apps has quadrupled and we passed the 100 million app download mark — just two months after general availability.”
Source: Blogs.Windows.com
Nvidia introduced Project Shield at CES, a new and potentially disruptive device in the portable games market. Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, however, isn’t exactly shaking in his boots over the potential rival to the PS Vita.
“I wasn’t as surprised as you might think,” said Hirai to PCWorld. “If you look back through the pages of history, there have been other attempts. It’s difficult to break into. I’ve managed this industry, so I know.”
As for the sales of the PS Vita, Hirai said, “I would say it’s at the low end of what we expected” to the Wall Street Journal, noting that he was looking at its prospects over a period of several years. “Long-term is what is important.”
GameStop announced that for the last nine weeks of 2012, the company saw sales of $2.88 billion, or 4.6 percent less than the same period of 2011. This marks the first year-over-year holiday sales decrease since GameStop merged with rival Electronics Boutique in 2005.
According to GameStop, the primary reason for the decrease was diminishing in-store traffic. Second-hand sales were down 15.6 percent, with the retailer noting fewer releases for 2012, while new game sales were down 5.1 percent and hardware numbers were down 2.7 percent.
Digital sales were up more than 40 percent for the holiday period, e-commerce sales rose 20.5 percent, and mobile brought in $76.5 million (though that is a small part of the overall pie for GameStop). The retailer said it did well by the Wii U launch, having sold 320,000 systems.
However, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter was far more bearish over this first holiday period for the Wii U. He said the Wii U moved 675,000 units at U.S. retail in its second month with a software attach rate around one per hardware unit.
Pachter described the launch numbers of the Wii U as underwhelming, blaming the softness of the market for Nintendo products for no small part of the gaming retail industry’s general malaise. He expects NPD decline of 11 percent in console software sales due to the Wii U’s underwhelming launch and fatigue with titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Halo 4.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz
Auroch Digital has announced that they will have to change the game Endgame: Syria in order to bring it to the iOS App Store. An App Store guideline preventing an app from targeting “a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity” means that some of the meaning and context will have to be removed from the game, already available on Android.
“We had hoped that Apple would be more nuanced in how they applied this rule but we got a bit worried when it had been in submission for around two weeks without a decision,” said game designer Tomas Rawlings. “We then figured that because of the controversy of using the gaming medium to cover an ongoing war meant passing the game had become an issue for them.”
“Our aim is to use games as a format to bring news to a new audience and submission processes such as this do make it a lot harder for us,” Rawlings added. “I get that Apple want to make sure really offensive titles don’t pass into their store, but ours is far from that.”
Razer announced at CES 2013 the Razer Edge, a gaming Windows 8 tablet. It comes in two models (one for $999 and another for $1,299, both coming early 2013) and will be compatible with a gamepad controller, a docking station to make it into a home console and a keyboard dock to make it function like a Windows 8 laptop.
“When we decided to design a tablet from the ground up, we did it to create a phenomenal experience for mobile gamers. By combining the best of PC and console gaming with Windows 8, we’ve created a true gaming tablet,” said Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. “Clearly, the critical acclaim and community support the Razer Edge has enjoyed suggests we hit the mark. Now, we get to celebrate the reality of what was formerly a dream with the audience for which this groundbreaking tablet was made.”
“Gamers are among the most demanding audience when it comes to processor performance. We’re happy to be working with Razer to satisfy those desires by helping build one of the most powerful tablets based on the 3rd gen Intel Core family of products,” said Brad Graff, Director of Customer Marketing, Mobile Communications Group at Intel. “The Razer Edge is a testament to what can be achieved with true innovation between industry-leading companies.”
Reports are that Apple is developing a low-cost version of the iPhone in order to compete with Samsung, LG and other manufacturers. Plans are to launch the device in the second half of 2013, using a polycarbonate plastic shell with a variety of parts from older iPhone models.
This new, cheaper iPhone will primarily be used to target the world’s developing mobile markets, particularly China, where iPhone models are consistently undercut by affordable Android handsets. Apple’s stock has fallen 25 percent since it reached an all-time closing high of $702.10 in September as investors worry competitors are gaining ground.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Microsoft has indicated that they have seen double-digit engagement results for the NUads experience on Xbox Live, with particularly positive results for interactive polls. The NUads were begun in the Fall 2012 in North America and the U.K., seeing participation from brands like Subway and Toyota.
“When we launched NUads, we redefined the 30-second spot,” said Ross Honey, general manager of Xbox Live Entertainment and Advertising. “These results show that NUads is a real breakthrough in TV advertising, and you can expect more investment from us when it comes to this new ad format and video advertising in general.”
Brands are pleased with the engagement that they get via polls or Xbox Kinect. Microsoft will be seeking out more media partners going forward for video advertising on Xbox Live.
“Consumers want a relevant and engaging experience when watching TV,” said Dionne Colvin, national media manager, Toyota Motor Sales USA. “NUads was a new format for our advertising, but we saw an opportunity to try something new, and the results exceeded our expectations.”
“We’re thrilled with the results of our first NUads experience,” said Kathleen Bell, director of Marketing, Subway Restaurants in Canada. “We’re always looking for new ways to engage with our fans and deliver a customized experience to them. Taking part in this exciting program has given us the ability to further target our audience and get real-time feedback from them through a new and interactive platform.”
