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Nintendo sees next opportunity for Wii success in Latin America, Eastern Europe
"We will continue to sell the Wii," Nintendo America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime told investors today in a Q&A followup to the company's big Wii U event in New York City. "In the US, the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with the Wii." However, where Fils-Aime sees the most opportunity may not be where you expect. "I'm responsible for Canada, and Latin America as well," he said. "We think there's opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America." The Wii is currently offered by Nintendo in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe, but not Latin America. The Wii ranges from $140 to $250, depending on what it comes with. "You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that, candidly, we won't be able to reach with the Wii U. That's gonna continue to be an opportunity," he said. Fils-Aime and Nintendo also have their eyes on Eastern Europe. "On a global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it'll do well." He also stood behind the console continuing to sell in its currently available markets alongside the Wii U after the new console launches this November. "We do believe there's still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell the Wii side-by-side for some period of time." Unsurprisingly, he didn't say exactly how long Nintendo is planning that support, nor would he say if we should expect a price drop for the aging console, but if we had to guess, we'd say "The Wii will drop in price" and "soon."
Estonian Hackers target iTunes users in 'Clickjacking' ring
Wired has an interesting report on a clickjacking scheme that hijacked prominent websites including iTunes and the IRS. The scheme was run by six Estonians and one Russian operating out of Eastern Europe. The team created several fake companies, including a bogus advertising agency, which were paid for each click on an advertisement or a visit to a website. The criminals then setup a network of malware infected computers that hijacked internet links. The malware, called DNSChanger, would modify the DNS settings of infected computers and redirect them to a DNS server controlled by the criminals. This DNS server would then bring infected users to websites that would pay the suspects for each visit. Infected users visiting iTunes, for example, would be directed to www.idownload-store-music.com and the suspects would be paid for each visit. The malware infected 4 million computers worldwide and a half million in the US. The scheme was in operation for almost four years and netted the criminals over US$14 million before they were caught.
Nokia C3-01 Gold Edition gets blinged out with 1GHz processor and gold-plated bod
Searching for the perfect accessory to your gold lamé hot pants, gold tooth and gold pinky ring? Then look no further than the Nokia C3-01 Gold Edition. This hunk of sparkly splendor is basically a Series 40 C3-01 Touch-and-Type feature phone with a fancy 18 carat gold topcoat and an upgraded 1GHz processor. Less impressive on the inside, this gilded ringer is packing a quadband GSM radio, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 2.4-inch QVGA touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera and a microSD card slot. Since it's a made in Finland, it's got Nokia Messaging for email and IM, Nokia Communities for Facebook and Twitter, the new Nokia S40 browser and the Ovi Store, obvi. This ultimate feature phone is available primarily in Eastern Europe and the Middle East for a price of €220 ($320) -- but is there really a price on looking fresh?
Report: next-gen developers turn to outsourcing, immediate future is bleak
A new report published by Screen Digest exposes the growing trend of outsourcing game development to low-cost specialists in Eastern Europe and South Asia. The report estimates that 60% of game developers currently outsource their projects and predicts that these companies will spend $1.1 billion on outsourcing this year, with that figure rising to $2.5 billion by 2010. Outsourcing is typically used for art and animation, but the supply of capable providers is growing thin. According to the study, within the next few years, demand will exceed quality resources, forcing higher costs and fewer games. However, as new media companies gradually enter the market, the games industry will ultimately benefit.
