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The Nexus Telegraph: The impact of WildStar's new release window
It merited only a footnote when the business model was announced, and it was easy to miss for all of the screaming between players who refused to listen to the other sorts of players, but WildStar isn't aiming for a 2013 release any longer. Not that this is exactly a shock, of course; I said about a month ago that I would prefer to just be told that the game wouldn't release until 2014, which already looked to be the case. But there's something interesting to be unpacked with that almost offhand mention of the game's targeted release date, especially when you consider how many huge holes there are in our present knowledge of the game. We'll learn more at the end of the week as PAX Prime starts up, but I find myself filling in some blanks both in terms of upcoming revelations and what we've not been told yet.
Order your office supplies from Amazon, pick them up at Staples with upcoming lockers
Amazon lockers have been popping up at 7-eleven stores and UK retailers, but now they're arriving at what seems like a conflicted destination: bricks and mortar (and online) arch-competitor, Staples. The service allows shoppers who missed a delivery to head over to a locker and nab their packages using a 72-hour code, with the host retailer keeping a small fee in return. But there aren't too many items at Staples that you can't also find at Amazon, so we hope the office supply giant got a sweetheart deal. [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
Apple says goodbye to design firm that helped develop some Apple products
The New York Times reports that Apple and SurfaceInk have parted ways after the small Silicon Valley developer showed off a tablet design to some potential clients. Apple obviously didn't like one of its partners demonstrating a product that could become a competitive threat, so out the door they went. The Times quotes founder and Chief Executive Eric Bauswell as saying that SurfaceInk and Apple had "gone separate directions." SurfaceInk was founded in 1999, and has worked for Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Palm.
Lenovo says Apple is missing the boat to China
We've heard before that one of Apple's main areas of concern, as of late, is raising its quality in China, but here it is straight from the mouth of a competitor. During a recent dinner, Lenovo's founder allegedly said that his company was lucky that Apple hasn't stepped up in the Far East. "If Apple were to spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer as we do," he reportedly said, "we would be in trouble." A spokesman for the company later said that the remarks were taken out of their dinner table context. Apple replied by pointing out its upcoming Shanghai store opening and a few other initiatives that it's already begun in China. It's not news that Apple has to do better in China; in past earnings calls, Apple has said exactly that and pointed out that making headway in China is a large goal. It's very interesting to hear it from a competitor, though. That's almost confirmation that if Apple does what it's planning to and, in fact, does "spend the same effort on the Chinese consumer," then even well-heeled Chinese companies like Lenovo will end up running scared. [via MacStories]
Evernote's CEO: 5k new users a day, but retention is a problem
Mashable's Ben Parr sat down at CES with Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, which is not only a TUAW favorite, but acts as your "external brain," saving little clips and bits of information both collectible from and accessible by any device you happen to have with you. We love the app, and while it isn't a Mac exclusive, there are both Mac and iPhone versions, and apparently they're doing very well. Libin tells us in the video that not only are they picking up five thousand users a day (!), but over half of their two million users are using the iPhone app [iTunes link]. As Libin says, the app is "very good" -- it's easy to use (and free), the iPhone's camera makes picking up even real-life scraps of information super easy, and Evernote is designed to share information back to your Mac. Libin says that "most" of the iPhone users do access their information back on other PCs. Libin also talks about power users of the service -- there's one in the system that has over 80,000 notes, though due to privacy, Libin doesn't share what they're keeping in there. And apparently one issue they're dealing with is retention, even for people who have used the service. I can identify with that -- while Evernote is a great service, it's tough to remember that you can use it to remember things, and for that reason I think that even with two million users, it's still very underrated. Libin sounds like he's on top of things, though -- he promises that they're always working on not only helping users figure out how to use the service, but also in polishing it and making it even easier and simpler.
Giving up on conquering WoW
Backhand of Justice has an interesting post up about something we've considered for a long time: who will overtake World of Warcraft. Way back before this year started, game developers were challenged to come up with an MMO that could take on WoW's influence and popularity, and while there have certainly been some interesting MMOs announced and released (Star Wars: The Old Republic, which isn't out yet, and Aion, which is, are probably most in the forefront at the moment), it just hasn't happened. WoW is still the juggernaut it's been for almost the full five years, and with Cataclysm coming in 2010, that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. So now, two months from the end of 2009, let's just say it: it's not possible. World of Warcraft is an aberration, an extremely well-made game that happened to be in just the right time and place (the casual game explosion, the adoption of MMOs and subscription model gaming, the "mainstreaming" of fantasy/sci-fi geekiness) to become an uber megahit. In short, game developers simply can't recreate WoW, at least not on purpose. As BoJ says, that doesn't mean they can't try -- there are certainly lots of original and interesting games and MMOs out there, and it's completely possible to be an MMO that isn't WoW-sized and be successful. But as for the actual question of beating WoW and its worldwide audience, game developers have pretty much moved on.
Fighting sockpuppet reviews on the App Store
In this modern age of information, it's easier than ever to see what people think of a product, whether it be a new lawnmower, a console game, or an App Store app. But it's also easier than ever to try and tweak public opinion, and while there are many official avenues that will accept anonymous opinions, there aren't so many that will help you weed out the legit from the not-so-much. App Store reviews have been controversial from the beginning -- while they can be helpful for buyers, you often have no idea just who's leaving comments or what their real agenda is. Njection, the makers of Nmobile (which we played with a while ago) are having a huge problem with what they're calling "sockpuppet" reviews on the App Store. Someone (they believe this person is in cahoots with their competitor) is posting bad reviews on their app and trying to trash them and their product elsewhere (including in a comment here on TUAW). And unfortunately, as they say, they don't really have much recourse against this behavior -- they've appealed to Apple, who've replied that they'll leave comments up, unless they're offensive or extremely false. Apple's own guidelines for reviewing apps asks that the reviewers deal with apps on their own merit rather than attacking competitors, but that seems to be more of a recommendation than a firm rule. Njection says the comments have kept consumers from trying out their apps, though it seems difficult to actually track how many people haven't tried your app (and why). It'll be interesting to see if Apple makes other changes to the review system if this sort of thing rears its ugly head more often. At this point, it seems devs just have to deal with it by doing damage control when necessary and making their app good enough that "sockpuppeting" doesn't strongly affect public opinion.
WoW's "worthy competitors"
The Houston Chronicle has a short piece up about what they call WoW's two competitors: Lord of the Rings Online and Guild Wars. Interesting choices -- LotRO is, obviously, an MMO based on Tolkien's famous books, and Guild Wars is actually not an MMO in the traditional sense at all -- there's no monthly fee, and the whole thing works a lot more like Battle.net does, where you can play a hero both in a solo game and in an online environment (not surprising, considering the developers used to work for Blizzard).While both games are reviewed well, neither of them quite matches up to our favorite game. But as I'm sure lots of you know (I'm guessing that most of you have played either one or both-- I've only played Guild Wars), each game does have some elements that could give WoW a run for its money. Most interesting, LotRO is planning to put player housing in a future patch, and Guild Wars, on its latest product page, advertises "no loot stealing, spawn camping, and endless travel."So while these aren't really "competitors" in the grander sense of player numbers (I'd say WoW's biggest competitor this holiday season might actually be Halo 3), they are definitely biting at WoW's heels in terms of features, and specifically targeting WoW's players with promises of what we've wanted for a long time. Other game companies are clearly getting better at figuring out how to attract the audience that World of Warcraft did, so it seems Blizzard's biggest challenge, from patch 2.2 to Wrath of the Lich King, will be to try and stay ahead of the curve of newer games and their new features.[ via WorldofWar.net ]
E3: What lies beyond WoW?
We'll be making an appearance at E3 next week, and we hope to find more about the future of WoW there. However, for anyone interested in life beyond Azeroth, there's a whole host of other MMORPGs currently in development -- from Hello Kitty to post-apocalyptic sci-fi -- and our mothership Joystiq's taken a look at them all.Whether any of these games will prove a WoW-killer is debatable. Would you give up your level 60 epic-clad character to try out a new MMO? If not, have some comfort in the fact that several of these games will be free to play -- either permanently, or they'll use in-game currency sales as revenue -- so you might be able to keep up two at once.
