N4G.com : News Feed : industrynews

I Don't Think You Understand How Cheap Blu-ray Really Is

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:31:48 GMT

Gizmodo - "The downward trajectory of Blu-ray player prices matches DVD almost to the dollar-actually, Blu-ray's cheaper. And that's not considering inflation, or that the best players do a whole lot more than Blu-ray."

P2P Case Ends in $16m Settlement

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:22:51 GMT

GN writes, "Cable company Comcast was slammed with a class-action lawsuit in 2007 for "restricting access to file-sharing protocols." Of the protocols restricted, the widely known BitTorrent and Gnutella were two of them. According to Ars Technica, Comcast is "on the verge of settling with irate customers."

Comcast proposed a $16 million settlement for users who experienced the restricted access, likely to avoid an arduous legal campaign..."

Nvidia's Fermi GPU gets cut back

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:16:10 GMT

Nvidia has had to cut back its Fermi GPU because of the chip's low wafer yields and its high heat output, if the latest reports are to believed.

Fermi has long been thought to be too hot to handle and Nvidia has now cut down the number of stream processors to 448 instead of the previous 512, and it has admitted that the GPU chip will be a 225 Watt part. Nvidia's own Fermi information pages still show it as having 512 SPs, but according to a recent PDF this is no longer the case.

Media Create hardware sales (12/14 - 12/20)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:11:50 GMT

Media Create has published the latest hardware sales figures from Japan. Find out how Final Fantasy XIII has impacted hardware sales.

Americas Preorder Charts - 19th Dec 09

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:42:33 GMT

VGChartz writes: "God of War III continues to lead the latest preorder chart with around 160,000 preorders. We still expect total preorders to top out at over 450,000 units and for God of War III to perform similarly to it's immediate predecessor. All of the games in the top 7 have a number of weeks to go until release and should see strong increases in preorders in the new year once the holiday season has finished and gamers start to look towards their next purchases."

10 things Microsoft did wrong in 2009

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:45:43 GMT

Betanews writes: "Earlier today, I posted "10 things Microsoft did right in 2009." I originally planned to post the did-wrong list tomorrow. But in view of today's news about Microsoft's out-going chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, I changed the timetable. Liddell's departure is one of the things Microsoft did wrong in 2009 (He will become CFO at GM)."

G4TV: Sessler's Soapbox: 2009 in Review

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:48:05 GMT

G4TV writes: "Well the end of the year is quickly approaching, so what better time to sit down with Adam Sessler and hear his opinion on the state of the gaming industry in 2009. Some publishers laughed, some cried, but all in all gamers had a great collection of masterfully crafted interactive entertainment to choose from this year. Check out what The Sess has to say about the past 12 months and let us know if you agree or disagree with him. Happy Holidays!"

'Secret MPs' Guitar Hero cabal' Revealed

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:52:31 GMT

CC: It seems that not all MP's hate videogames, as Labour's Tom Watson has revealed in the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine UK that he is part of a secret MP Guitar Hero cabal.

Famitsu software sales (12/14 - 12/20)

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:34:04 GMT

The latest software top ten sales estimates in Japan from Famitsu have been released. Final Fantasy XIII makes its first appearance on the charts.

THQ Bodyslams WWE for 8 More Years

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:54:02 GMT

DualShockers writes:
"Today, the WWE and THQ announced that they had reached an 8 year deal for giving THQ exclusive rights to all video games concering WWE. This is 3 years longer than the previous agreement THQ and WWE had before and starts January 1st, 2010. In addition to this announcement, the litigation between Jakks, WWE and THQ has come to a resolution which resulted in the 8 year deal, and THQ paying WWE 13.2 million dollars."

Sony London studio working on PS3 game?

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:36:59 GMT

Datascope(Job listing description):"PS3 Animator / Senior Animator
Sony are looking for a talented animator with vast games industry experience.
You must be self motivated and enthusiastic, possess good character and objects animation skills.
Work effectively to the highest quality under tight deadlines.

Your showreel needs to demonstrate versatility and depth in a variety of animation styles. Experience in hand animation for a non realistic game would be an advantage.

Creativity plus strong technical and artistic skills are vital. A good working knowledge of Maya, Photoshop data export to game engine is also essential.

Requirements:
Animate characters and objects for a stylised unrealistic game.
Ensure all animation is delivered on time and is of the required style.
Manage a small animation group."

Ubisoft want to crack Japanese Market with major RPG

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:52:08 GMT

CC: Ubisoft are planning to break into the Japanese games market according to executive director Alain Corre.

Microsoft loses patent appeal; Word and Office to be barred from sale starting January 11

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:05:30 GMT

It's getting closer and closer to check-writing time for Steve Ballmer, as the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit has just upheld a decision that would see Microsoft Word and Office banned from sale starting January 11.

NVIDIA 3D-Vision: Blu-Ray, Cameras, Projectors, HDTVs

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:57:25 GMT

Benchmark Reviews tested the NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision Gaming Kit when it originally launched back in January, 2009. Comprising a set of battery-powered LCD shutter glasses, the infrared emitter to drive them, and special 120Hz refresh-rate monitors, it enabled high-quality 3D gaming with hundreds of games, as long as you had a sufficiently powerful NVIDIA video card.

In 2010, NVIDIA is planning to extend their 3D Vision technology into still photos, the web experience, gaming laptops, and upcoming 3D televisions. Benchmark Reviews recently attended an NVIDIA one-on-one briefing on these new technologies, which will be formally announced at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.

SCEA CEO Jack Tretton on Sales

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:34:32 GMT

Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Jack Tretton weighs in on company sales and the outlook for company growth in 2010. " Amazing show it's difficult to exceed expectations beyond the high hopes that we had that we sold. Over 440000. Units in the Black Friday week alone up 90% from November of last year so we couldn't be -- were selling every unit we can manufacture."

Mininova loses two thirds of its traffic after going legal

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:38:39 GMT

Traffic is down 66% in the week since Mininova deleted more than a million torrents and went legal.

Mininova, once the most popular torrent site on the web, has seen a monumental drop in traffic since it went legal last week. Without the lure of pirated movies, albums and software, folks are turning elsewhere for their torrent fix.

Dragon Quest IX Ships Over 4 Million

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:46:01 GMT

Square Enix announced today that Dragon Quest IX had shipped more than 4 million units since it was released on the Nintendo DS.

Photos of Blizzard Headquarters from the inside [Pics]

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:32:47 GMT

Ever wonder what the inside of a dream gaming job look like? Well, it's basically what you probably already imagined. A workplace filled with toys, whiteboards that aren't used for productivity, video games, and overall awesomeness. Check out all 106 pics of photos from Blizzard HQ.

Billionaire buys up 11% of Take-Two

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:09:42 GMT

"Carl Icahn increases stake in Grand Theft Auto publisher; news of his interest boosts share price more than 11%, sparks speculation of shareholder revolt.

When a group of angry shareholders led by Strauss Zelnick overthrew the Take-Two board of directors and installed a new executive team with Zelnick as chairman in March 2007, the publisher's stock was trading for more than $21. Yesterday, Take-Two stock closed at $8.25, and some analysts suspect Zelnick might himself be the target of an investor uprising."

Free wi-fi coming to a McDonald's near you... again

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:37:27 GMT

McDonald's is going to slash their usage charges for wi-fi access to the low, low price of absolutely free. McDonald's restaurants currently charge $2.95 for two hours of wireless Internet access, fries, and a coke (fries and coke not included).

What's interesting about this news is that McDonald's had offered free wi-fi in the past, back in 2008 to be more specific. It was only after they saw how much people "abused" it by hanging out and not buying anything that they decided to start charging for access.