2008
Latest
Eidos holding out for better PS3 install base
Eidos, publisher of all things Tomb Raider and Hitman, is taking a wait and see approach to the PS3. Eidos says they will not release major titles on the PS3 until 2008 because the amount of people who own a PS3 doesn't make the cost of manufacturing for the console worth their time.Eidos CEO Jane Cavanagh says, "We believe that PlayStation 3 will be a successful platform, and are developing technology and products for this console ... we do not believe that the installed base will be high enough until the second half of our 2008 financial year, most of our major product releases on the PlayStation 3 platform are not scheduled before that date." Coincidentally, Cavanagh spoke of digital distribution increasing their opportunities for profit the same day we received a release stating that Steam is increasing their line of Eidos games for sale.Considering Hitman releases on a two year cycle, the next edition in the saga wouldn't occur until 2008 anyway. We also don't plan to see the next part of the Tomb Raider: Legend story until 2008 also. If PlayStation 3 owners really want to play Legend and Blood Money, they can always just get the PS2 versions.
Follow Up: Hillary-as-Big-Brother authored on a Mac
"Hi. I'm Phil. I did it. And I'm proud of it...I made the 'Vote Different' ad," said Philip de Vellis on this recent Huffington Post writeup. A "proud Democrat" and Obama supporter, deVellis authored the Hillary-as-Big-Brother ad on his personal Macintosh, uploaded it to YouTube and passed the link around to some blogs. de Vellis has now resigned from his job with Blue State Digital, a firm that has provided technology to several campaigns including Obama's. de Vellis does not specify which software he used, but iMovie and Final Cut are obvious candidates. He said he spent just one Sunday afternoon putting the ad together.
Best Buy informs pre-orders no Metroid 3 till 2008?
Best Buy sent out letters (example above with identifiers removed) to those who pre-ordered Metroid Prime 3: Corruption informing them the status of their pre-order has changed. The pre-order release date is now 12/31/2007. Does Best Buy know something that the rest of us don't, or are they just hedging their bets and protecting themselves by giving an outrageous date? All we know at this point is Metroid is not a Q2 release and it's already been said that the game will be "perfect" at release. Nintendo does not comment on rumors and speculation. Best Buy currently has 3/15/2007 as the release date on their website, other major retailers in the U.S. and gaming sites are still using 6/1/2007 or later as their placeholder date. We raise one eyebrow and now seek signs of a 2007 Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. Brawl release.[Thanks Zac]
DS Daily: The democratic process
Well, it looks like the next Presidential campaign is already well under way in the good ol' U.S. of A., so it must be time for us to ask a preliminary election question: how big is the issue of videogame legislation to you? For those of you who will be voting, is this one of of your major issues when evaluating candidates? In a time of war, this may seem like a small issue to some, but it's one that affects us pretty much every day. So, what we want to know is how you feel about candidates who support heavier regulation of video game content?
Obama: 'Stop playing GameBoy'
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is fired up to win this election like it's 1999. Stopping in Texas, Obama spoke to a group of youths about recruiting their friends for his campaign and said, "I want you to tell them, 'It's time for you to turn off the TV and stop playing GameBoy' ... We've got work to do."A good first step is for Obama's speech writer to learn this is the 2008 election. If we're going to be hip and cool, let's learn what the kids are actually playing. Words to use in the future are: Wii, PlayStation, Xbox, DS -- and N-Gage.[Thanks Obo]
Chinese manufacturers prepared to switch from DVD to EVD in '08
Chinese engineers have been working on homegrown disc format EVD since 2003 with little to show for it, but today 20 firms -- representing 97 percent of the DVD manufacturers in the country -- displayed 80 players and announced plans to switch from DVD to the new format exclusively by 2008. EVD joins VMD as a low cost alternative to Blu-ray and HD DVD, using conventional red lasers combined with advanced compression technology to put high definition movies on discs. This "Red-ray" HD approach promises to support resolutions up to 1080p without a need to increase disc capacity significantly, and will allow them to launch with players at the same price as current DVD -only models. EVD is just one of several recent Chinese initiatives to decrease reliance on outside standards and licenses, but is doubtful to catch on elsewhere. That's really too bad, because with players priced at only $87, we're interested in the group's ideas and would like to subscribe to their newsletter. Additionally, the format's backers plan to sell movies at download-and-burn kiosks and allow users to rip movies to their hard drive -- no hacking necessary. Read - China firms unveil new video playersRead - EVD Substituting DVD Basically in 2008
Sony, Ericsson aim for TV on mobiles by 2008
While Sony's been dealing with exploding batteries, PS3 craziness and now a recall for some Cyber-shot cams, the Japanese behemoth's handset division is trying to expand into the mobile television sector by partnering with Ericsson. Already the two form a significant presence in cellphones with the Sony Ericsson brand, and they hope to continue that with television as well. Per Nordlof, Ericsson's director of Product Strategy, said at a press conference in Stockholm on Thursday that a third of the world's mobile phone users will be watching TV on their handsets on a regular basis by 2008 -- something the folks at Qualcomm and others are thinking, too, with MediaFLO and the like. According to The Associated Press, the corporate duo is also working on a way to send clips from your living room's TV directly to a handset. Of course, if you don't want to wait until 2008, you could just buy a Slingbox or a Sony LVTV Box right now for the same effect. Read - ReutersRead - The Associated Press
Motorola chairman predicts ultra-cheap mobiles by '08
$15 contract-free cellphones might just be a reality by 2008. David Brown, Chairman of the Board for Motorola's British outpost, delivered the good news during a speech to the UK's Institute of Engineering and Technology, saying that agreements with suppliers are largely to thank for the development. Of course, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves -- 2008 is still a little ways off yet -- but coming from the company that brings us the ultra-low-cost (yet still reasonably fashionable) MOTOFONE, we'd like to believe the statement carries some weight. If it all goes down, Mr. Brown believes it'll lead to another 100 million people investing in their first cellphone each and every year, and if that's not motivation for the manufacturers to make it a reality, we don't know what is.
802.11n getting prelim certification in March 2007
Starting in March 2007 the Wi-Fi Alliance will start certifying next-gen WiFi products, which puts us at ease a little bit. As CNET reports, the ultimate goal is, of course, to make sure that all the prelim 802.11n stuff out there plays nice with each other, which currently can mess up existing legit WiFi networks. For those of you who haven't been keeping score at home, 802.11n has been fraught with total confusion since the beginning. Back in May 2006, the IEEE rejected the first 802.11n draft by a wide margin, failing to garner a simple majority, let alone the required 75 percent supermajority. Later that month, Glenn Fleishman at Wi-Fi Net News told us that Task Group N received around 12,000 comments on the proposed draft -- compared to the 2,000-some that most drafts generate -- which is another very bad sign. Unfortunately though, it still looks like the real deal officially official final ratification won't be done until 2008. The short version? Just to be safe, stick with your current WiFi setup until there's a new man in the White House, ok? [Via Wi-Fi Net News]
