"gaming" articles

I'm in San Jose busy preparing for tomorrow's Parks Associates workshop so I've missed all the live action in Austin. Many interesting articles based on various speeches and panels have been published by Gamasutra and other sites. One that caught my eye is on Min Kim's speech on the Free-to-Play market in the U.S. I've heard rumors about Nexon's U.S. revenue for a while now and Min Kim went on record to confirm that Nexon's 2007 revenue in the U.S. was indeed $30 million, compard to...

Parks Associates Study Outlines Strengths and Weaknesses in MMORPG Market... Massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) publishers may have to start giving away playing time to attract more players into online role-playing worlds, according to Parks Associates’ Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home II. This consumer study of 2,000+ U.S. Internet gamers found only power gamers are interested in subscribing to an MMORPG service, whereas social, dormant, and leisure...

The Los Angeles Times reports that the rumor is true: Sony will be offering movie downloads through the PlayStation3. The company said it would start selling and renting movies and TV shows through its PlayStation Network tonight. MGM, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Disney, Paramount, Turner Entertainment and of course Sony Pictures are making titles available. PlayStation 3 owners will be able to buy TV shows for $1.99 and up. They can also rent movies for...

Several publications have published stories speculating a $50 price cut for Xbox 360 in the U.S.(price cut already happened in New Zealand and Austrlia). Will such price cuts lead to a near-term sales boost? Our consumer data suggest there will be some impact. Microsoft definitely needs to stimulate consumer interest in its console. GTA IV didn't help much and there isn't a killer game, no pun intended, on the horizon. Our consumer data from Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home...

I was organizing some notes, and ran across this news from mid-April regarding Sony's plans to launch a premium video service through its PlayStation Network service (very much like the Xbox LIVE service for Xbox 360 users). Peter Dille, Senior Vice President for Marketing & PlayStation Network, writes in an April 15 blog entry on the PlayStation Blog where he confirmed that Sony would offer a video service through the Network. While short on specifics, Dille writes that...

Along with releasing results of a great first quarter for its gaming division ($32 million in revenue, up 33% YOY), Real Networks just announced its plans to spin off its expanding casual gaming business division. According to the announcement, the company "intends to separate its global casual games business into an independent company and distribute shares of the newly created games company to its shareholders. RealNetworks may precede the spin off with an initial public offering...

Depending on the news source, Grand Theft Auto IV is either the greatest thing to ever happen to gaming, or the surest sign yet that the world is already doomed. The reality is something in between: GTA is entertainment software that provides a lot of enjoyable gameplay and will hopefully make players think about the world we all live in. It will also help move a lot of game consoles for Microsoft and Sony ; for a long time to come. First of all, GTA is a game for people who...