Hoecs Games

Oliver Marks of Znet writes: "Sony, putting aside the human toll of massive restructuring, is a fascinating example of the carnage happening in the business world today, and the stifling of innovation in large companies. Today’s multinational conglomerate had humble origins in post WWII Japan: Masaru Ibuka started a radio repair shop in a bombed-out building in Tokyo, and was joined by his colleague Akio Morita a year later.

These two innovators built Japan’s first tape recorder and went on to experiment with transistors, a new invention at the time. The resulting transistor radios and subsequent creativity produced an explosion of consumer and professional products synonymous with quality. It’s hard to overstate how innovative the company was in its youth: even the name Sony - a made up word which could be copyrighted and was one of the first global consumer brands - was hugely controversial in Japan, where it was unheard of not to have a company name in Kanji, and wildly creative and attention getting in the western world.

So how did this creative dynamo deteriorate into the opaque bureaucracy that is Sony today - a company which is ubiquitous on the planet but unfocused compared to for example Apple, who claimed the next generation of personal audio - and the massively lucrative content market - after Sony’s hugely successful WalkMan?"

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Gameplayer Writes:

One thing about the PlayStation 3 is that it’s a bit lifeless. Its user interface is cold, sterile and lacking in character. It’s utilitarian and in many ways sucks much of the fun out of being a gamer. On top of this, Sony has been quite slow to implement features from its competitors that are, quite frankly, absolutely necessary if you wish to foster any kind of warmth or loyalty from your customers.

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engadgetHD:The success of DVD is the kind that consumer electronics manufactures dreamed of, and now after two years after the introduction of Blu-ray, it appears to be gaining steam even faster — and during the worst economic crisis of our time. According to Richard Greenfield of Pali Capital, in two years there were about 1.2 million DVD players sold, whereas Blu-ray stand-alone player sales are estimated to be at 2.5 million — no this doesn’t include PS3s which are expected to be at 8 million. Of course choosing between a $129 DVD upconverter and a $199 Blu-ray player isn’t that hard of a choice, but paying 30 percent more for a movie is. The news here isn’t bad for Blu-ray either as it has managed to almost double its market share of the top 20 titles in the past six months. We have a feeling the members on the panel at the BDA press conference this Thursday at 7pm EST — which we’ll be covering live — will have a few things to smile about.

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To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: About Glasses…

I had the pleasure of hanging out at a Best Buy for an hour and a half or so today while they car guys installed a hands-free telephone dealio into my uber-wagon. I eventually meandered over to the game section and then over to where they had Rock Band set up.

Man those drums were beat to hell, as in the top layer was missing from one and hanging by a thread on another. I didn’t even realize that the Rock Band drum pads had layers. They still seemed to work fine, which says something I suppose.

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Gamer.Blorge:

"In 2008 we saw hit titles such as God of War: Chains of Olympus and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, which both sold phenomenally. It looks as though the PSP will have another great year with a brand new title that is very Gears of War-like for the handheld.

There is a small title that slipped under most people’s radar that looks very promising for the PSP. The game has gameplay mechanics like a cover system similar to that of Gears of War. The game that I am referring to is Resistance: Retribution. This title for the handheld slipped by us at E3 with very little coverage despite looking pretty good for a PSP title."

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What began as a rumour last month now seems to have escalated into full-blown fact; several sites, and sources, are reporting that Ziff Davis have sold the 1UP network to competitors Hearst.

Hearst - who own UGO, many of the nation’s biggest newspapers along with ownership stakes in ESPN and the History Channel - will however only be taking ownership of the network’s online presence.

According to sources at GameSetWatch, this means long-running print magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly won’t be along for the ride (though What They Play, run by former 1UP man John Davison, say further details will be disclosed tomorrow). This will be the last month the magazine is published, bringing to an end nearly two decades of independent, influential games editorial.

If this pans out - as seems likely - RIP, games magazines.

Ziff Davis Gets Out Of The Game: Sells 1UP Digital Net To Hearst; Shutters EGM Mag [socialmedian, reprinted from paidcontent.org]
Magweasel Extra: EGM Reportedly Closing, Sorrow Ensues [GameSetWatch]

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Gamespot:"With Microsoft touting the Xbox 360’s 28-million-unit worldwide sales milestone, Sony has responded by saying that sales of its PlayStation 3 also increased. Speaking with GameSpot, a Sony Computer Entertainment America rep said that the console sold 40 percent more units in the US and Canada than the year prior.

Sales of the console more than doubled during the holiday season, rising 130 percent during the last 10 weeks of 2008. The spike came as a result of the introduction of the new $399 80GB model in late August, followed by the $499 160GB variant–bundled with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune–in November."

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Resolution speaks to project leader Carlos Montero about the upcoming Half-Life remake:

‘Carlos is one of the many professional games developers involved in the Black Mesa project, and is currently working on upcoming XBox360 and PC title Champions Online. "In a professional, funded team," Carlos explains, "you can see a ton of work done in a very short time, by a team who can dedicate all of their time to something. On a mod team, that’s just not how it works." It’s understandable. The team all have day jobs as well, which - as expected - take priority. "Slow and steady wins the race," Carlos muses. "While sometimes we can pull together and do something quickly, we have to depend on our steady progress over time, and take note of and rejoice smaller milestones."’

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The official Prototype web site has exciting news. It has a new countdown clock! As you can see, there’s not much of a wait, but what does Activision have planned for Prototype?

Just before the holidays, the developer of Prototype, Radical Entertainment, hinted that we may see the action adventure game sooner than its planned. “We’ll see you real soon,” read the Christmas card.

Well, we’ll be seeing what’s news with Prototype in just a matter of days at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this week. Keep your eyes peeled.

Prototype [Official Site]

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What They Play writes: "Media business website paidcontent.org posted a story this morning with the headline "Ziff Davis sells 1UP digital network to Hearst, shutters EGM" but has since removed the piece from its website. The original content of the text is still visible using an RSS reader, and it stated:

Looking to conserve its resources for its PC Mag Digital business, Ziff Davis Media has sold off the 1UP Digital Network, its collection of video game sites, to Hearst Corp., which will fold it into the UGO Entertainment division, the companies said. In conjunction with the sale, the related print mag Electronic Gaming Monthly will publish its last issue this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed."

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