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iTunes now number two US music retailer
Looks like there's something to this "downloading music" thing after all -- just eight months after topping Amazon, iTunes has now passed Best Buy to become the number two music retailer in the US. Apple says 50 million customers have bought over 4 billion songs, with 20 million sold on Christmas day alone. That leaves just Wal-Mart in first place, but with the percentage of digital music sales growing each quarter, ol' Wally may not be safe for long.
Nintendo: No demos required for Wii Ware titles
We've been annoyed with the Wii's lack of downloadable Virtual Console demos for quite a while now, so we probably shouldn't be too surprised that Nintendo has declared games in their upcoming Wii Ware service will not be required to have downloadable demos. Surprised isn't really the world ... slightly miffed is more like it.We're only slightly miffed because Nintendo hasn't quite banned demos from the service. In an interview with Newsweek's N'gai Croal, Nintendo of America director of project development Tom Prata said that "having demos [is] ... not a requirement from Nintendo." If we're reading that right, that means demos would be allowed on the service, but that they won't necessarily be available for every game.The decision to forgo a demo mandate was made, according to Prata, because demos are a "very costly type of endeavor" for a developer. That might be true in the short term, but overall we wonder if developer can afford not to have demos on a service like this. After all, Xbox Live Arcade has managed just fine by requiring developers to create those "expensive" demos -- in fact, by, early stats showed about 20 percent of XBLA demo players bought the full game, leading directly to increased revenue for all involved. Still, we guess giving developers more choice in these matters is usually a good thing. We just hope many developers will choose to help their customers and themselves by letting us try before we buy.
Sony touts 52 million PSN downloads
Boy, you guys must really hate going to your local game retailer. Sony today announced that it's PSN Online Store has racked up an impressive 52 million downloads since launching with the PS3 back in November '06 (and expanding to the PSP in November '07).For context, Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace reached to 50 million download milestone back in August '06, roughly five months faster than Sony's network (when staggered launch dates are taken into account). Sony's current mark of 2.9 million registered PSN users also pales in comparison to the 7 million Xbox Live users as of last September, though Microsoft's head start likely played a part in that lead.Still, Sony's online service is going in the right direction, growing from 6.6 million downloads in Dec. '07 to 7.9 million in Jan. '08. And with the PS3 starting to outsell the Xbox 360 in the American marketplace, could the much-predicted Sony turnaround finally be coming to pass?
HD movie downloads to trump Blu-ray / HD DVD? Not so fast.
We'll be the first to say we truly hope that HD downloads -- be it on one's computer or main HDTV -- take off, but we're not so certain the technology is poised to overtake either Blu-ray or HD DVD anytime soon. A opinionated piece over at Economist takes a look at the current state of the format war, and interestingly enough, even goes so far as to call both HD discs "interim solutions, if even that." Apparently, it expects both formats to soon be "eclipsed" by some alternative, most likely the instantly gratifying downloadable movie offered up by various carriers in the form of HD VOD. Of course, we also expect this outlet to gain traction once broadband speeds ratchet up across the nation, but our main beef with the article comes with the proclamation that "[HD DVD and Blu-ray] are marginally better than upscaled DVDs." We've expressed our true feelings about upconverting DVD players before, and quite frankly, unless one hooks up their high-definition movie player with composite cables, we simply can't see anyone not being able to tell the difference. [Image courtesy of GenerationMP3, thanks Paul F. and Daniel D.]
Calculating the Virtual Console's savings rate
Obviously, owning games on the Wii Virtual Console is a lot more convenient than having dozens of cartridges for a variety of classic systems laying around the house. But does it make fiscal sense as well as organizational sense? To find out, the folks at Vintage Computing & Gaming compared the price of current Virtual Console selections to the going rate for the same classic carts on eBay.The results, unsurprisingly, showed an average savings of about 50 percent over the eBay price across the VC library. Sure, you're paying a few extra dollars for ultra-common clunkers like Double Dribble, but you're saving nearly $200 on ultra-rare games like Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure. In fact, Turbo-Grafx fans can save roughly 75% buying their library on the Wii rather than eBay.Of course, as VC&G points out, games bought for the Virtual Console have functionally zero resale value, so those interested in collectability should shell out the extra money. Those interested in actually playing the games, however ...
Sega: No plans for Virtua Fighter 5 PS3 patch
As of late, Sega hasn't been very kind to PS3 owning fighting fans. First, Sega spurned online support for the PS3 version of Virtua Fighter 5, instead offering full online play for the game's Xbox 360 version. More recently, however, Sega released a patch for the 360 title that improved several aspects of play, both online and offline. Do you think Sega would finally throw us PS3 VF5 owners bone? No and probably not ever, according to Sega's Jay Boor. He told PS3 Fanboy, "at this time SEGA has no plans to release a patch for the PS3 version of Virtua Fighter 5."Sure, a few of you may look at that and still hold onto the possibility, but we're finally closing the door on any hope that the PS3 version will ever get any future improvements, let alone online play. Oh well, there's always the inevitable sequel, right?
Ad-supported streaming to trump download-to-own content in 2008?
It's a notion that may surprise some folks at first listen, but truthfully, it tends to make sense. Download-to-own video didn't see stellar growth in 2007, and according to a number of industry execs on a panel at CES, content guardians distributors could be opting for ad-supported streaming to pull in revenue. According to Fox's Dan Fawcett, he thinks that "people like to watch on an impulse," and furthermore, he stated that these same folks "want to watch for free because they can get content for free via piracy." Granted, we'd say that's a fairly bold assertion to make, but it's not really that hard to understand why unattractive DRM-laced programming -- you know, the kind that can only be played back on certain players and whatnot -- isn't being accepted with open arms.
Netflix to loosen restrictions on internet viewing option
Granted, there are some out there who've been dodging the whole "limitation" aspect of Netflix's Watch Instantly feature for a good while, but for the honest, upstanding citizens abiding by the rules, things are (seemingly) about to change for the better. According to a recent report from the AP, Netflix is gearing up to banish the time limits for online streaming on all but its el cheapo $4.99 plan, meaning that subscribers to every other plan will be able to watch online content as much as they'd like. In case you haven't connected the dots quite yet, it's being suggested that the move will be made to fend off the looming competition from Cupertino, and while this would undoubtedly increase costs, it doesn't seem as if the firm plans on hiking rates (at least initially) to compensate. Now that's a change we can live with.
Complete DS game downloads headed to Nintendo's Wii
Just a few months ago, we received word that DS demo downloads would be headed to the Wii, but if recent comments made by the Big N's own Reggie Fils-Aime are to be believed, entire games are also on the horizon. According to the New York Times, Reggie noted that "complete games as well as game samplers will be able to be downloaded into the Wii using its broadband connection, and then transferred wirelessly to the DS." Sadly, no definitive time frame for the service was revealed, but you can color us all kinds of intrigued.[Via PCWorld]
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 43
Warriors of the Lost Empire trailer (12.5MB) Also featured: Alien vs. Predator, Ratchet and Clank, Time Crisis 4, Jack Thompson talks violence and gaming
SLusic.com: a guide to music in Second Life
I was wondering when something like this would happen, and here it is: SLusic.com is a website that boasts a ton of features for fans of live music in Second Life. It's professional-looking site, with easy navigation and a ton of handy links along the top to help you with searching for activities revolving around your favorite musician. Included in these links are Videos, Charts, Events, Blogs, Photos, etc.An intriguing feature to this site is the ability to listen to music, right there on the front page, which is arranged according to who's on the Top 10 Charts. There's also a Downloads section, where you can purchase music at the by-now standard iTunes price of US$0.99 per song. This is an excellent companion to the other SL-supporting, resident-run sites out there, and I have to thank Hollywood Ron of the Flektor Development Blog for the tip. There is more going on in Second Life than the mainstream media gives it credit for; go check this stuff out![Thanks, Ron!]
24 Hours of Leopard: Stacks
Feature: Stacks, which are what Apple is calling clickable icons on the Dock that fold out to show other clickable icons.How it works: It's actually an updated implementation of the old "Piles" idea, in that you can have one icon that gives you access to lots of different things. But Apple's Stacks fill another role-- they get icons off of the Desktop for good, and down into the Dock without looking cluttered. For years and years, almost every Desktop on every computer ever has had icons all over it, from apps to various downloads to whatever ended up there. But Leopard is different-- all of its icons aren't spread on the Desktop, they're piled into the Dock. Click them, and they span across the Desktop (or line up in a grid, if you're boring), click them again and they disappear. That's the real innovation here-- now, finally, you can work your way down to a completely empty, icon-free desktop.Oh, and I should also mention that Stacks aren't just static. Leopard comes with two stacks-- Documents and Downloads, and the Downloads stack will automatically fill out with anything you download from Safari, Mail, or iChat. No more downloading random files to the Desktop and using Expose to let you go find it. Now, just click open the Stack, and get access to everything you need without ever leaving the window you're working in.Who will use it: Everybody! And Windows users in 2010, too, since it's almost guaranteed that Microsoft is already working on a way to get this into Windows 7.
Amazon launches DRM-free "Amazon MP3" music downloads
If you're into DRM-free music, you have a reason to get pretty excited today. As speculated, Amazon has launched the public beta of its new digital music portal called Amazon MP3, which will feature two million songs from 180,000 artists and 20,000 labels, all without the painful and annoying restrictions of DRM. The press release claims that the site, which will include EMI and Universal tracks (take that, Jobs), will make separate songs available for $.89 or $.99, and boasts that all of the "top 100" tracks will be priced at the former, lower amount. Albums will range in cost from $5.99 to $9.99, with the best selling albums coming in at $8.99. Of course, since there's no DRM, users are free to throw the 256Kbps MP3s on any player they like, as well as burn CDs, copy to MiniDisc, and dump to 8-track.
Macgamefiles gets a redesign, gives devs more power
Inside Mac Games reports that their sister site, Macgamefiles.com, has received a complete site redesign, its first since the site started up seven years ago. In addition to a whole new look, the site's got some extra new features, too, including lots of new Developer features-- devs can now have control over their own files, and check download statistics, as well as a few other profile-related features.It'd be a real stretch to call the Mac games scene bourgeoning-- a few almost on-time releases from EA does not a market make. But kudos to Macgamefiles for serving up games and demos as long as they have. And giving developers that much more control over how their games are listed and presented is definitely an admirable move as well.
Universal and Rhapsody launch DRM-free partnership "test"
Rhapsody America (the new Real / MTV partnership) wasn't the only thing that Real had up its sleeve today. Hot on the heels of the Universal snubbing of iTunes, and consequent announcement that the company would begin selling music via other outlets, comes today's news that the Rhapsody / Universal Music partnership has officially launched, at least in a limited "test" form, with the aim of selling UMG's catalog of thousands of tracks -- sans DRM -- via the Real Rhapsody service, charging $.89 per song for subscribers and $.99 for non-subscribers. Currently, only a select group of artists are up for grabs, including 50 Cent, Amy Winehouse, The Pussycat Dolls, The Police and Johnny Cash, though the plan is to make Universal's entire catalog available in the future. This announcement makes what we all knew was coming now abundantly clear -- the gloves have come off.
Transmission 0.8 released with selective file downloads, UI changes and much more
You TUAW readers have spoken loud and clear: Transmission is your favorite BitTorrent client. If you're nodding your head right now, you'll be happy to know that v0.8 of the cross-platform app has gone official, ushering in a boatload of new features and fixes for all OSes it works on, as well as some great Mac-only goodies. Before we get to the new stuff, however, I have to echo a warning on the main Transmission page: if you're in the middle of any downloads right now, finish them before upgrading; you could lose data if you jump the gun.That said, let's talk about the shiny new changes. First up, here are the new feature highlights that everyone can enjoy: Ability to selectively download and prioritize files Torrent file creation Speed and CPU load improvements Better rechecking of torrents that have many files And here are the new goodies just for Mac OS X users: Overlay when dragging torrent files, URLs, and data files onto window Ability to set an amount of time to consider a transfer stalled More progress bar colors Various smaller interface improvements Italian, Korean, and Russian translations More details and screenshots are available at the Transmission site, and be sure to swing by the Transmission donation page to show the development crew some love.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Mac 101: Easy Downloads
I mentioned simple Safari downloads in my recent iPhone ringtones post. Several readers contacted me asking if I could give a step-by-step description how to do this trick. The problem with downloading audio and video through Safari is that if you paste the link directly into the Address bar, the resources load into the Safari window. They don't download directly to disk. The easiest way to handle this is by right-clicking (control-clicking) a music or video link and selecting Download Linked File from the pop-up menu. However if you get your URL outside Safari and don't have a link to right-click, that method won't work. In the ringtones example, the URL was copied from a text file. To download a URL directly then, go into Safari and select Window -> Downloads. The Downloads windows open. Select it and paste your URL (Edit -> Paste or just type Command-V). The download begins immediately without having to open the file in an intermediate window and then save to disk. This trick has been tested with Safari 3, and several people have told me that it works for them in Safari 2. Let me know in the comments how it works for you. I tried it out in Firefox and can confirm it does not work there.
Xtorrent 1.1 beta 1 released with major new features
Dave Watanabe has released v1.1 beta of Xtorrent, his excellent BitTorrent client. With this major x.1 release, Watanabe has included some significant new features like individual file selection, file prioritization, individual file completion status, and improved privacy options. Watanabe has updated Xtorrent's UI to help bring some of these features directly to the user, and I'm also noticing what I think are a couple of new preferences, such as the ability to individually toggle whether audio and/or video are added to iTunes after being completely downloaded. The new features are definitely welcome, and Watanabe is optimistic about some planned features down the road. After trying far too many Mac OS X BitTorrent clients, I finally decided on Xtorrent and have been a happy owner. A base single user license costs $24, with the option to purchase lifetime upgrades for only $9 more.
TUAW Tip: Safari's reset button
Brandon sent us a great tip that I should have known was in Safari, but that I hadn't found yet. For you paranoids out there, the Safari 3 beta offers an easy way to clean up every single thing you've ever done, including the history, passwords, cookies, and even favicons and Autofill text. Under the Edit menu, there's a "Reset Safari" option which reveals a checklist that lets you hit the reset button on your browser. Firefox users like myself will notice that this was "gently lifted" from the Clear Private Data function under FF's Tools menu.And it's not just for paranoid browsers out there-- the blogging engine here at TUAW, Blogsmith, is a great program but sometimes hiccups when the cache gets overwritten or pushed out of sync. When it does, the Reset options let me flush the cache in just a few clicks without losing any of my browser windows. If you ever run across a browser-based application that's not doing what you want, this is definitely an alternative to try before actually restarting the browser.
Revolutionary: Respectable Specs
Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities. Nintendo still hasn't confirmed any of the technical specs of the Wii hardware in detail, and we wouldn't recommend you hold your breath until they do. They don't want people making assumptions of what the system can or can't do based on arbitrary numbers and jargon. We do know that the Wii is much more than "two Gamecubes taped together." In addition to the revolutionary controllers, we get integrated Wi-Fi, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 48 MB more RAM, internal flash storage, an SD card slot, full-sized DVD disc capacity, and a new operating system and GUI that brings us software like Mii Channel, Photo Channel, Forecast Channel, and Internet Channel. Wii Shop and Virtual Console could not have been done on Gamecube, and with support for component output reintegrated, we can enjoy our old and new games in glorious 480p. That's a pretty long list of upgrades over the Gamecube, and it's in a smaller, more attractive package.
