- Apple make very significant trademark filing. Extending cover to: “hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer gamesâ€. This will come as no surprise to regular readers here.
- EA creates new studio to tap into social networking. Once again regular readers will appreciate the significance here. Social networking and gaming are converging and EA are going to make money out of it. You really can’t fault the way that EA is being morphed into a forward looking publisher, they are doing all the right things. This is a big positive change from the EA of old. No wonder they think they can get to $6 billion turnover by 2011.
- Microsoft will “own” the GTA IV launch. According to one of their top executives. And I believe him. This is going to be one of the decisive moments in the console war for this generation and Microsoft should win it convincingly. Now we hear that the 360 version will have exclusive multiplayer elements. Sony can’t be happy.
- Microsoft buy cellular phone software company. So it doesn’t take Einstein to figure out which way Zune is going. We are headed towards the integrated pocket device and Microsoft are going to make one.
- Yahoo rejects Microsoft advance. Which is pretty stupid. Yahoo have been going downhill for ages and there doesn’t seem to be anything that will stop the slide. Combined with Microsoft and re-energised they might be able to take on Google. Might. This rebuff leaves plenty of money in the Microsoft coffers for the purchase of Sega.
- Atari continue their slide into the abyss. Even if they were healthy, and they are very far from being so, they are just too small to survive in a market which has ever increasing benefits of scale. Their only hope is that they get bought. Infogrames has stripped them of their IP in previous support operations so the only thing of value that is left is their excellent North American distribution system.
- Valve reveal their reasoning behind Steamworks being free to developers. And it’s nice that they are so open about it, so everyone knows where they stand.
- And finally a little gem. Wii games get significantly lower average review scores than HD console games. It’s simple really, too many publishers put shovelware on Wii. And Nintendo let them.
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To be honest, I think Mattrick has put a little spin on the announcement regarding “unique” and “exclusive” for Grand Theft Auto. He’s previously mentioned the Microsoft XBox 360 version of GTA IV will have a “unique” multiplayer experience. What does that mean? Unique to XBox Live? Because Rock* have confirmed both formats are multiplayer. All I’m aware of is exclusive downloadable “episodes” (single player missions I presume) for the XBox 360 version.
Mattrick chose his words very cleverly with regard GTA IV.
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Yes. I read what Mattrick said and what Rockstar said very carefully. And the two statements are perfectly compatible with each other. Both platforms are going to get multiplayer, it is just that Microsoft are going to get more. As you say this is going to be something they have come up with for Live.
Whatever, Microsoft are trying to spin the GTA IV launch their way. Though I hear rumours that pre orders are favouring PS3 two to one.
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I had a different reaction to Microsoft’s comments about the GTA IV launch. I sense that Microsoft is a bit desperate for a “victory” of some sort with GTA because of the growing momentum of the PS3. I suspect that if the Xbox 360 could not score a knock-out victory against the PS3 in 2007 (when the PS3 had little to offer) then no single game is going to be able to deliver a “decisive” victory to the 360 in 2008 now that the PS3 is starting to deliver.
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Hi Evan. It is interesting that currently there are very few 360s in the shops. Microsoft completely underestimated demand and everywhere is sold out. I hope they get it sorted by the GTA IV launch.
I think Microsoft have a few cards up their sleeves and a few tens of millions of dollars of budget to spend on GTA IV. It was a key Sony franchise and Microsoft want to win as much of it over to them as possible.
I also think that Microsoft are going to get very agressive on price and I see a Halo 3 bundle coming soon. If these coincide with the GTA IV launch it would shake the market up.
And yes, the PS3 is looking a bit more solid now.
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Microsoft are certainly in an advantageous position for pricing their hardware, although do gamers look at the long term regarding their console? The PS2 is still selling massively given it’s age. The PS3 supposedly has a 10 year cycle whereas the follow up to the XBox 360 is due around 2010 according to analysts.
It will be a hard choice for gamers tbh. Buy an XBox 360 now at a cheaper price and upgrade in 2010, or buy a PS3 and upgrade in approx 10 years (if Sony are telling the truth).
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Hello Bruce. Your points are good. I am hoping that the growing strength of the PS3 will encourage Microsoft to be more creative going forward. Tactical moves, such as price reductions and bundles, are helpful, but it seems that Microsoft needs something more dramatic and exciting than that in 2008. Of course, the good news for Microsoft is that it has the cash to make some interesting moves — it should be a fun year.