Xbox 360
Infendo’s most anticipated upcoming games
Here are the remaining 2007 games that have us giddy. There are easily several more we are each interested in, but these are the top three games that have us waiting in geek-like anticipation. Blake: Assasin’s Creed, Mario Galaxy, Disaster Day of Crisis Jack: Smash Bros. Brawl, Project H.A.M.M.E.R., Battalion Wars 2 David: Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Galaxy, Impossible Mission Scott: Super Mario...
The myth of the hardcore gamer
Ok, OK. There are certainly hardcore gamers out there, but there’s a point to made in here somewhere. The point is that for Nintendo, the phrase “hardcore gamer” is about as relevant to their bottom line as tube socks. Microsoft themed tube socks. It’s irrelevant to Nintendo because I seriously doubt Reggie or Miyamoto or Iwata sit around big stuffy conference rooms sweatin...
Developer finds developing a challenge on PS3, Xbox 360
In an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine, Rockstar’s Creative VP, Dan Houser: “To be honest with you we haven’t solved all those riddles yet.” The difficulties aren’t limited to working on Microsoft’s box, as Houser explains that “both have enormous challenges” and that “both have their own particular pleasures and pains”. And s...
Nintendo will win the console war, say Gamepro and IDC
Through a terrifyingly complex algorithm, Gamepro has reached the conclusion that the consoles that sell more units ultimately will have sold more units than others. Huh! This conclusion was reached via hard data and line graphs, so think twice before you question their logic. To me, predicting the Wii’s success this late in the game is like calling a horse race after one of the competitors ...
The Blue Ocean is deep
I worry this morning that the table has been set for a repeat of the early 1990’s. The industry is healthy, with two of the three console makers selling their wares briskly, and the slow trickle of software that was the first six months of the “next generation” is set to increase as we head into and out of the summer doldrums. Well, it’s set to increase in the Nintendo corn...
Video game consoles as media centers are a failed strategy
Information Arbitrage has a few questions this morning: The runaway success of the Wii, the introduction of AppleTV and the problems encountered by both Microsoft and Sony raises more than a few questions: Does the grand “media center” vision really have legs? Are the high-priced Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles viewed as inaccessible by the casual gamer? Can you get to 100 million in console...
There are still 50-person lines for the Wii
Via the NeoGAF forums: “Q1 is looking like the beginning of an up-cycle year,” said Billy Pidgeon, video game analyst, IDC. “There’s good software movement, but hardware is stalled a bit by short Wii supply and stagnant demand for 360 and PS3. I believe the Wii will continue strong growth although supply continues to be a problem,” Pidgeon said. “I’d like ...
Analyst: "Gaming has been a disastrous endeavor for Microsoft"
“Particularly from an investment perspective,” says Wall Streeter Roger Ehrenberg. Note, this doesn’t mean the Xbox has been a disaster for gamers — far from it (cough, cough Halo) — but Ehrenberg makes a strong case that the Xbox has failed investors by hemorrhaging Microsoft’s Home & Electronics profits. He also believes that when a console fails in Japan,...
Nintendo tops Japanese charts again (the world is not enough)
The Wii and its smaller but equally porcelain cousin the DS have done it again. They’ve risen against the odds that are stock shortages and confused gaming journalists unaccustomed to strange new technology, and have increased the number of units sold this week in Japan. Truly, our offspring will celebrate the success with the gift of drink and song whilst they waggle away with the Wiimote 2...
First four months in console sales
Good job by Kotaku. Better job by Nintendo.
Did Nintendo make things weird?
“What a weird era of gaming we’ve entered.” So begins IGN’s Mark Ryan’s latest blog entry. The post itself looks at how things have changed in this current generation of video gaming, all thanks to Nintendo. The same Nintendo that was once huffing and puffing in third place to the well-oiled Sony PlayStation mega-machine brand and slick newcomer Xbox is now defining w...
Current gen resembles Atari vs. Betamax
Information Arbitrage: I was trolling around YouTube and came upon three gaming commercials – one vintage ad for the Atari VCS 2600 (circa 1977), one current ad for the Wii and one new-ish ad for the PS3. After viewing them it hit me like a brick, and in a more intuitive way then I’ve written about previously: Nintendo has captured the imagination of families and casual gamers in a way...