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Analysts: games industry to overtake music industry
In its annual report covering various entertainment industries, consulting group PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts the video game spending to overtake music spending as early as this year.The report, covering 2007 through 2011, predicts the video game industry will grow globally at an annual rate of 9.1 percent, from $37.5 billion this year to $48.9 billion in 2011. While the analysis speaks well for the games industry, it also highlights the decline in the music industry. As Ars Technica points out, should EMI's sales from their DRM-free iTunes catalog outpaces their losses in CD sales, the rest of the industry could follow suit.In-game advertising will grow at an enormous rate, according to the report, predicting a jump from $80 million in 2006 to $950 million in 2011.
Electronic Arts mixes on iTunes
Electronic Arts sent out a press release to let us know that "music from all EA games -- past and present -- [is] now available." After hearing this, our racing hearts rushed to the online store to download the soundtrack to Pinball Construction Set, only to find ourselves feeling empty when we learned that "all EA games" means a select few top-sellers from 2003 and beyond. Damn you, sensationalized headline of broken promises! The selected soundtracks, from such usual suspects such as the EA Sports franchises, are compiled as iMixes for those wishing to download the soundtrack as it appears in the title (direct link). As for us, we've heard every track from Madden NFL 2007 at least a few dozen times just from playing the game, so we'll probably pass on that one. Snoop Dogg's "exclusive remix" of The Doors' "Riders on the Storm" is also now available (direct link), having appeared in Need for Speed Underground (though conspicuously absent from the NFSU iMix). Some titles, especially those with original scores, are not found on iTunes, instead available via EA's own website. There isn't much to offer yet, but it could show promise if EA continues to update it.
What if the next PSP doesn't support UMD?
Lately there have been rumblings that Sony will release another version of the PSP. Some say it may include a hard drive, an i-Tunes like downloadable games solution or even two analog sticks. These all sound like great additions to Sony's console if they're included, but if they do go all download with their next gen PSP what happens to UMD? I would personally prefer a downloadable solution as opposed to UMD (assuming the PSP gets a hard drive). Being able to download new PSP games from a PS3, computer or in store kiosk would not just add convenience, but would also reduce load times on the system. This would be important since one of the main gripes about the PSP is in fact the load times. Also, a gamer wouldn't have to swap a physical disc should they choose during their train ride to play a different game. The only issue with no UMD on the next PSP would only occur if there wasn't any kind of UMD slot on the system. For even if the PSP2 didn't manufacture new games on a UMD, Sony has a heritage in gaming when it comes to backwards compatibility. This would be even worse if Nintendo's next system played both DS and Gameboy games. It would have the potential to alienate the millions of current PSP owners and that's something Sony can not afford to have happen. Of course what should occur and what will occur can be very different things. Do you want the PSP2 to just use UMD again or would you like it to try either a cartridge or downloadable solution? Would you buy the next PSP if it didn't have a UMD slot at all?
Xbox Live usage jumps 80 percent since Gears of War
Since November 7 there has been an 80 percent increase in the number of Xbox Live users, according to broadband usage monitoring company Sandvine Incorporated. What's interesting is that November 7 is also the day Gears of War started showing up in retail outlets. The traffic spike, they claim, is similar to what the company noted when Halo 2 was released in 2004.If we recall, Gears of War came with a 48-hour trial of Xbox Live Gold. What isn't clear from Sandvine's analysis, as reported by ars technica and others, is to what extent this spike is solely from redeemed trials and what was the retention rate for those that tried XBL Gold. That's a statistic, however, we won't officially know until Microsoft decides to gloat. Throw us some numbers, Major Nelson!Also revealed by Sandvine, Apple's iTunes service garnered a 140-percent surge in traffic; the culprit is suspected to be their recently-unveiled movie download service.
Mad World: Gears ad propels song to #1 on iTunes
It appears the Gears of War "Mad World" advertisement has done more than just augment sales of the game. The somber 2001 Gary Jules and Michael Andrews cover of Mad World, originally released by Tears for Fears in 1982, hit number one on the iTunes top sales charts yesterday, according to fan site Gearheads of War. As of this writing, the song is number 12 (direct link) on the iTunes charts. The only other prominent placement of the song currently is an episode of CSI that premiered in late September. Did a gaming commercial really have that much influence on download sales? The use of licensed songs in video games has a long background, with many unknown bands seeing spikes in record sales due to their placement in games such as Madden NFL. How might this coerce music industry big wigs to court game developers into using their songs? Recorded for the mind-screwing film Donnie Darko, the cover of Mad World was the 2003 UK Christmas number one single. In a sad twist of irony, the Tears for Fears song never hit number one. But no worries, they did pretty well for themselves.[Via Gaming Bits]
