march-2012
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March NPD: Mass Effect 3 tops sales, year-over-year decline continues
The sales figures for March have arrived, and despite several major, AAA releases, software and hardware sales were still down compared to March of 2011, continuing the year-over-year declines seen in both January and February.Total industry sales during March brought in $1.10 billion, 25 percent less than the same period in 2011. Breaking that total down further, hardware sales accounted for $323.5 million (down 35 percent) while non-PC software sales contributed $553.1 million (down 25 percent) and accessories chipped in $222.5 million (down eight percent).March marked the Xbox 360's thirteenth consecutive month of accounting for over 40 percent of total console sales, selling 371,000 units. It was also the console's fifteenth month as best selling console, and eighth month as best selling overall hardware platform.Predictably, Mass Effect 3 topped sales charts for the period, selling twice as well as Mass Effect 2 did during its January launch in 2010. [Update: It sold 943K on Xbox 360 alone, according to Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg.] BioWare's podium-finish was accompanied by two comparatively less expected releases, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and MLB 12: The Show. As per usual, head on past the break for the list of March's top ten best selling titles.
March 2012 Apple Event Metaliveblog: Welcoming our new iPad overlords
Welcome to our March 2012 Apple Event Metaliveblog. Today, we'll be covering an event expected to introduce the next generation of iPad hardware. What else is on offer? Apple TV? iWork 12? We don't know. Join us as we discover along with you! Want to chat with other TUAW readers during the event? Join us in the #tuaw chatroom on irc.freenode.net. Kevin Avila (eddienull) will be moderating.
15" ultrathin Mac laptop rumored for early next year
When first we heard whispers of a lean & lithe Air-like 15" Mac laptop, it seemed possible that we'd see them in stores before the end of this year. That may not happen, but according to Digitimes' reports from the supplier chain, the first bits and pieces for such a machine may already be shipping to Apple in small quantities. The story suggests that the ultralight 15" portable (we still think it will be called a MacBook Pro, not an Air, but obviously it could go either way) would be ready for "mass shipment" in March of 2012. Plenty of current MacBook Pro owners who are longing for the portability of the Air but who still need the screen real estate of a larger form factor machine would probably trade some storage space and an optical drive for a speedy SSD and a lighter overall load. Since Apple's current MacBook Air models (now making up more than a quarter of all Mac laptop shipments) are already taking the wind out of the ultrabook order count, it wouldn't be surprising to see this hypothetical new machine launch with a lot of fanfare. The current MacBook Pro line was last refreshed on October 24, which would put a March reboot at the five-month mark; not so tight, especially considering that the October updates were not much more than a speed & spec bump. It's expected that the full-size MacBook Pro models will move to Intel's delayed Ivy Bridge architecture sometime next year. [via Mac Rumors]
