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Polaroid's One Step film camera relaunching in 2010, nostalgists unite to celebrate
Call us crazy, but we never had much faith in the power of The Impossible Project to bring back the legendary Polaroid instant-print film camera. Despite our doubts (and those of the world), that very group has evidently caused quite a stir in the offices of Summit Global, which has today announced that the film-based One Step Camera is on track for a mid-2010 release. The Impossible Project will be in charge of producing a limited number of Polaroid-branded color and B&W Instant Films along the way, and just in case film isn't really your bag, Summit is planning to issue a Polaroid TWO -- described as the "digital version of the traditional camera that produces instant digital photos" -- sometime next year. It's all about bringing sexy back, y'all.Read - Summit Global's releaseRead - The Impossible Project's release
Apple as "the world's most feminine brand"?
Fortune's Bridget Brennan has a bold statement: "Why doesn't Apple make remote controls? You ask: Why Apple? Because if any company could improve one of the world's most user-unfriendly electronic devices, it would be Apple. And then there's this: Apple just may be the world's most discreetly feminine brand." Oh man. We were with her right up until that last statement: remote controls are fairly user-unfriendly, and an Apple remote (other than, you know, the one already out there) would be a thing of beauty. But "the world's most discreetly feminine brand"? That opens up a whole can of nuts we probably don't want to open. But what the heck, snakes be damned, let's open it up. Brennan says that women drive the economy, by influencing 80% of all purchases, and 61% of all consumer electronics products. And she says Apple is doing great, because in a market that's "dude-driven" (her words, obviously), they've brought elegance and style to their products. She says that Apple products don't need manuals, and that Apple's face-to-face customer service is excellent. Which we mostly agree with (while even Apple fans have their issues with customer service, they do a relatively good job). But "feminine"? Do guys not like elegance and style in their products? Do they enjoy reading manuals, or using electronics that aren't user friendly? Apple is successful for these reasons, sure, but we don't quite see how that makes them "feminine." Brennan concludes by suggesting that "Apple's success [shows] when you make women happy, you make everybody happy." But we're pretty sure that, in Apple's case, it's actually the other way around.
Systemax relaunches Circuit City's website, this time with feeling
After shelling out some $6.5 million, you had to know that Systemax planned on doing something with Circuit City's trademarks and internet domain names. As of today, CircuitCity.com is back and better than ever, carrying on the legacy of a name that became synonymous with overpriced consumer electronics for nearly six decades. Of course, this doesn't mean that any Circuit City retail stores will be re-opening, but at least the brand is living on in the world wide web. The wonders of the internet: I Can Has Cheezburger?, Twitter and the continuation of an icon that would otherwise be six feet underground.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Hilco / Gordon Brothers acquires Polaroid brand, assets and dignity
After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (again) in December of last year, Polaroid may have just made its last shakeable memory. Today, the Federal Bankruptcy court for the district of Minnesota has approved a motion for "substantially all the assets of Polaroid, including the Polaroid brand, intellectual property, inventory and other assets," to be acquired by Hilco Consumer Capital and Gordon Brothers Brands. If those names sound familiar, have a cookie on us. You see, this very same joint venture picked up The Sharper Image around this time last year, and while it's still unclear what these suits plan to do with the 72 year-old name, we are told that it doesn't plan on shelving it anytime soon. In fact, it's hoping to "partner with a number of global institutions in the ongoing development of the Polaroid brand." Personally, we would've used "revival" rather than "development," but we'll refrain from bursting any bubbles here.
Systemax snaps up Circuit City's brand and domain name
Just like it did in January of last year, Systemax is snapping up leftovers from a now-defunct national consumer electronics retailer. As part of the post-bankruptcy proceedings, Circuit City Stores Incorporated recently closed a deal that'll net it $6.5 million. The price for the coinage? Systemax taking control of its trademarks and internet domain names. Circuit City stated in the filing that the sale of its intellectual property and internet assets would bring "significant recovery for the sellers' estates and creditors," and we're also told that Circuit City would be able to snag an unspecified share of sales from the brand name. Look out, Best Buy -- we hear Systemax has eyes for you, too.[Thanks, Sid]
Nintendo loses a little color
In one of its more mystifying announcements this year, Nintendo Europe sent out a press release saying it was dumping the famous red Nintendo logo, and replacing it with a ... serious, business-like gray version. Ugh.The press release, translated from German to English by Kotaku, didn't give a specific reason for the switch, merely requesting that, "In the event that you have not already done so, we would like to sincerely ask you to now only use the current, grey Nintendo logo." CasualGaming.biz contacted Nintendo UK, who not only confirmed the story was entirely true, but revealed that the change was officially made around two years ago. We missed that one, to be honest.This may seem like trivial news to some of you, but to a generation who grew up in a world where Nintendo was assuredly red and Sega always blue, this feels somewhat sad.
Pioneer CEO expects its flat-panel sales to prevail through economic downturn
While some boutique outfits are finding it hard to stay afloat during these cash-strapped times, many are faring just fine. At first glance, it's easy to say that Pioneer is certainly not one of those outfits with nothing to fret over, but according to Masao Kawabata, chairman and CEO of Pioneer North America, things aren't nearly as bad as they seem. In a recent interview, he explained that while he was saddened about the recent events surrounding Tweeter and Circuit City, he still felt that "strong relationships with independent channels" would spur sales. In fact, he noted that "premium products [read: Pioneer products] are not subject to too much of the ups and downs of the economy, and for those who can [afford] the very best they will go and shop for the very best." Make no mistake -- KURO flat-panels and Elite Blu-ray players aren't the cheapest on the block, but we're still hesitant to say they're recession proof.
Midway to can underperforming licensed titles
After trying to plug the many holes in its sinking ship with dollar bills, Midway has begun to frantically look about for anything to toss overboard in order to stay afloat. GI.biz reports that the company plans to rid itself of any future titles based on unspecified licensed properties, though the specific brands and number of games swamped in this latest act of desperation remain unknown.Interim CEO Matt Booty, who continues to steer the ship following the resignation of former CEO David Zucker, stresses that the company continues to evaluate its "involvement with underperforming projects" and focus on what it calls its "core properties." Even so, we've circled November 16 on our calendar, and will wait and see if Midway tries to drown the Man of Steel should next month's otherworldly slugfest with DC Comics not pan out.
NVIDIA rumored (again) to be renaming its GPU lineup in the name of simplicity
We won't even begin to suggest that NVIDIA is the only company out there with, shall we say, less than crystal clear naming schemes, but we're really hoping the latest whispers (which we've heard once before) about the outfit are true. TG Daily has it that undisclosed "industry sources" have suggested that the GPU maker will be dropping the 8000- and 9000-series names in an effort to simplify the model tags that appear on its products. Instead of breaking into the 10k+ club, the outfit will purportedly resort to using simple(r) letter prefixes to denote performance levels: "G" for baseline, "GS" and "GT" for mid-range and "GTX" for high-end. We're told that the new naming arrangement could be revealed officially as early as October 15th, but 'til then, we'd recommend doing some hefty research before buying something you only thought could run Crysis.[Via Electronista]
Microsoft slips to 3rd on "Top 100 Brands" list
Interbrand, the organization who rates and compares brand value, has released its Top 100 Brands of 2008 which included appearances from each of the hardware manufacturers. Microsoft has slipped to number three this year from second place in 2007 while gaming industry competitors Sony and Nintendo landed at 25 and 40 respectively.Of course Microsoft and Sony's brand value is spearheaded by other divisions within each company that is not related to the gaming industry. Microsoft's overall brand value is based primarily on software as well as its other divisions (including the entertainment division), Sony is based on electronic devices and its film/music holdings while Nintendo is based purely on its gaming divisions and license holdings (such as Pokemon).A few things to note when examining the list: Interbrand rates each company based on how valuable the brand is itself. The listings are not based on the financial worth of each company but on the strength of the brand name and loyalty.
Guitar Hero gets branded up
Activision has announced a whole slew of brands will be supporting the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour, from amps right on down to guitar strings. It's nothing new to us, considering the company did the same thing for previous Guitar Hero games, but the list for World Tour is kind of massive. It goes: Ampeg Audio-Technica EMG Pickups Ernie Ball Evans Drumheads Guitar Center Krank Amplification Mackie Marshall Orange County Drum & Percussion Pork Pie Percussion Regal Tip Sabian cymbals Vox Zildjian drumsticks Of course, with Rock Band tapping Fender for their guitar needs, and Gibson suing everyone on the planet, we wonder why Activision hasn't found another suitable Guitar manufacturer to feature in their game. May we suggest Ibanez? They make some nice guitars!%Gallery-23491%[Via Joystiq]
Man named Wii shares his tale
Even though MTV's story about New Yorker Wii Yatani will no doubt illicit numerous "lol, slow news day?" replies from hilarious internet japesters, we found it to be quite novel.Judging by his interview, Wii endured the same two problems that originally faced Nintendo's console when it was renamed: either people didn't know how to pronounce his name correctly, or they concocted the kind of puns about urine that should carry the death penalty (we're deadly serious).In the end, though, it all worked out. Nintendo coincidentally named its awesome console after Yatani, who promptly offered to become a spokesperson for the company (an offer that was declined), and who now has to endure a raft of new jokes from his friends. Jokes such as: "Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?"You probably had to be there.[Via Digg]
Sharper Image will continue to hawk crap, only as a brand
Sharper Image died an inglorious death in February and then went through some embarrassing death spasms, but it sounds like liquidators Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners have realized that there's still some value in the Sharper Image name -- they've just announced a plan to rent the name out to other companies looking to spruce up their knockoff crap. The idea is for the Sharper Image name to lend credibility to infomercial and catalog products, and there's even talk of wholesaling to Target and Best Buy, with the goal of reaching annual sales of $1B. That's a lot of air purifiers -- let's hope America's late-night TV shoppers think more highly of Sharper Image than pretty much everyone else we know.
Lessons learned in virtual worlds
Nic Mitham from K Zero is going to offer up the key things he's learned about virtual worlds in the last 18 months. But who is Nic Mitham, you wonder, and what is K Zero? Mitham describes himself as a "one time corporate strategist, ad man and analyst. Now spreading the metaverse word." K Zero describes itself as a virtual worlds consultancy, 'specialists in connecting real world brands and companies with the residents and environments of virtual worlds.' Mitham's most recent blog post, '50 lessons I've learned in virtual worlds' is an introduction to his upcoming series of reflections on the unpredictable nature of the metaverse. The series of posts will be a look back at what Mitham's seen in the 18 months he's been immersed in the virtual. It's chiefly aimed at those interested in doing business in virtual worlds. Mitham writes,"The point to getting my 50 lessons 'out there' is to attempt to ensure mistakes made by companies along the way are not repeated by others and also to hopefully assist new companies in this space get traction as quickly as possible, because that's in the interest of everyone."That's not to say that only biz types will get something from his blog; the series of insights is likely to have some significance to the people who populate the virtual worlds already in existence, and those who will flock to the birth of new worlds in the future.
GuildCafe calls out for DIY event planners [UPDATED]
The true strength of any successful MMO is its player community -- they're the folks who create mods, organize events, cheer/protest loudly whenever something changes that they like/dislike. In that vein, GuildCafe has sent out a call for players who already are, or would like to create and run Guild Wars events events for any and all MMOs, like tournaments, contests, or even (most ambitiously) an ARG.GuildCafe promises to support this endeavor by providing experienced staffers to help plan and effect events, as well as to publicize and sponsor said events. This is a great way to both maintain and strengthen the GW community, and at the same time promote GuildCafe's brand recognition. Everybody wins![UPDATED: changed 'Guild Wars events' to reflect that this offer is open to any and all MMOs -- Thanks, Sam!]
Starz drops $25 million on new logo, marketing initiative
They never said change was easy -- nor inexpensive, apparently. Announced today, Starz has decided to undertake its "largest long-term brand investment since 2002," freeing itself of $25 million in order to spark up a new brand and marketing initiative. Users will start seeing an all new logo, fresh on-air look and an "integrated advertising campaign on-air and online." As expected, the new identity -- part of the "Are You Ready?" initiative -- will be ran across the company's six SD and four HD channels, and Starz is slated to run TV spots with the new logo starting on April 7th (while the online portion launches on April 14th). Hope it's worth it.
Capcom secures MotoGP franchise across all platforms
With some 15 different titles in the works, we'd assumed that the forces of Capcom had enough on their hands to not go looking for other things to keep them busy. That's what we get for assuming, as the company has announced that it's secured the exclusive rights to publish games and peripherals based on the MotoGP license. The winds of change began to blow last year, as Capcom sewed up Sony platform rights to the motorcycle sport in 2007. However, this new deal does everything but say 'yoink!' to longtime series publisher THQ, pulling rights to all things MotoGP beneath the Capcom umbrella for the next five years, with this year's annual update already planned for release on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, and mobile phones. Now all that remains to be seen is who will handle development -- franchise vet Climax Group or series newcomers Milestone, who helmed last year's PS2 version for Capcom. There's really only one way to settle this...Thunderdome!
GDC08: Building brands in virtual worlds
We've seen a lot of interesting things at the Worlds in Motion Summit which took place at GDC earlier this week, we found this post-mortum of Scion's virtual campaign in There.com fascinating. While we tune out commercials and skim over print advertisements as much as anyone, but well thought-out interactive advertisements in virtual worlds still feel novel and interesting. (Well, okay, some of them aren't.) So what made Scion's campaign stand out? Read on for an analysis.%Gallery-16584%
Mio Technology and Navman brands merge
The GPS marketplace just whittled off another name. Mio and Navman are merging brands under the Navman Mio nameplate. Mio Navman, however, will continue as a brand in the UK, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand. Both are already subsidiaries of Mitac which acquired Navman back in February. The move is said to merge the hardware competency of Mio with the software expertise of Navman. 'Twas just an inevitability, really.Update: Jeebus, had it backwards. Long live Mio!
Sony: October strong month for "PlayStation brand"
Some companies would get discouraged after having their three systems come in fourth, fifth and sixth (out of six systems total) in the latest NPD sales report. Not Sony, though. According to a press release issued by the company, October was actually a great month for the "PlayStation brand." Some Sony-penned reasons why (and why we're not exactly that impressed with them): Overall sales for the brand (PSP, PS2 and PS3 hardware and software) were up 39% since last October to $353.4 million (not bad... considering the PS3 wasn't out last October) PSP sales were up 120% year-over-year from last October (amazing what a price drop and redesign will do) The PS2 is still chugging along and "remains the best-selling gaming platform ever released" (that's right... none of the other systems have yet caught up to its five-year, 100-million-unit head start). As for the PS3, Sony seems to be maintaining its message of "just wait until next month." According to the release, internal tracking puts sales of the system up 192% in the two weeks since the price drop, with 100,000 systems sold in the last week alone. Good news for Sony, surely, but not as good for the 121,000 people who bought the system at a higher price just last month. Sorry, fellas.
