• TIGA are looking for a new Chief Executive. This could be a massively interesting and influential job. However at £60K PA it will probably appeal to someone at the end of their career who has made all their money.
• Xbox 360 outsells Playstation PS3 in Japan for a week. And this superiority is reflected in the software chart. Champagne time at Microsoft. Time to start to seriously worry about Sony.
  Nintendo DS – 78,599
  PSP – 59,714  
  Wii – 37,617
  Xbox 360 – 17,673
  PlayStation 3 – 17,434
  PlayStation 2 – 10,209
  Game Boy Advance SP – 206
  GameCube – 155
  Game Boy Micro – 113
• Sony giving up on cell? Not really. All this news says is that Sony are getting out of the business of processor design and manufacture. This is part of their current ongoing strategy of concentrating on core businesses.
  It does not mean that Sony have given up on Cell, or are going to stop using it. They still have to buy and use processors. PS4, if it ever comes out, will probably be Cell.
• Speed Racer from Warner Brothers. A lot more gaming will look like this in the future. Big media company, simultaneous game and film release featuring same stars and co promoted globally. They squeeze more turnover and profit out of their assets. Actors who learn to get the best out of themselves in games will be the new big earners.
• Xbox live 5th birthday. That’s a lot of catching up the other platform owners have to do. And continual improvements make it a moving target they are after. The original development of Xbox Live cost more than the development of the original Xbox. Microsoft knew where their priorities lay. And that vision will pay them back handsomely.
• Interesting game player stats from AOL. The headline being that only half of parents play video games with their kids. The problem is that all these figures are changing very rapidly as the Wii effect and publisher’s response to it take hold. We are at the beginning of a new age of publishing freedom, the only missing element is online distribution for consoles.
• Xbox live reaches 8 million users. And the last million only took just 4 months to acquire. How long to 80 million? This is the second Live story this week. Microsoft are making hay with the 360. It is a great console with a lot of great exclusive content and this fantastic USP. The further we get into this generation, the stronger that Microsoft look.
• Trouble at Atari. With the global media companies move into gaming the existing players will need to be profitable and well run just to survive. Infogrammes and Atari have a long history of bad news stories. With two year development times and ever increasing budgets it is nearly impossible to dig yourself out of a hole.

Interesting times. Please add any comments you may have.