AllThingsD » E3

Timing of Microsoft's "Xbox 720” Hinted at in Lawsuit

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:08:15 +0000

Microsoft is not saying when it will be unveiling a new Xbox console, except to say that it won’t be at the E3 game conference next month.

Now there’s some additional information on timing, thanks to a lawsuit between Activision and some former employees.

According to confidential agreements unsealed in the court case, Microsoft’s next game console, which is referred to as the “Xbox 720,” could be released in time for the 2013 holiday season.

The Los Angeles Times originally posted the documents on Monday, but it was Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times who came up with the theory on the timing.

The lawsuit is a complicated tale, involving Activision’s insanely successful first-person shooter Call of Duty. Former Activision developers are claiming they are owed hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties and bonus payments. Activision is claiming breach of contract.

The documents, revealed last week, detail a high-profile deal between Bungie and Activision in 2010.

The 27-page agreement calls for Bungie to develop four “sci-fantasy, action shooter games,” code-named “Destiny,” released every other year, beginning in the fall of 2013, according to the Los Angeles Times. Additionally, Bungie agreed to put out four downloadable expansion packs code-named “Comet.”

Bungie is the developer behind the successful Halo franchise, but is not the developer behind Halo 4, which Microsoft is developing and releasing in November.

Here’s what Dudley is suggesting based on the contract language:

Microsoft hasn’t said when the next version of the Xbox will go on sale, but the Bungie contract suggests that it could happen in the 2013 holiday season, with “Destiny” as a key launch title. That would be similar to the way Halo was a cornerstone of the first Xbox launch in November 2001.

An Xbox spokesman declined to comment on this theory, and referred questions to Activision and Bungie.

The document also says the game is expected to be released for the PlayStation 3 successor in the fall of 2014.

The big caveat to all of this guesswork is that the document is now two years old, so timing could easily change. Additionally, the name “Xbox 720″ could just be a code name or placeholder. Of course, console makers keep the timing of their upcoming hardware close to their vests, so that consumers don’t hold off on making purchases.

In March, Microsoft’s Corporate Communications boss Frank Shaw told AllThingsD that consumers probably shouldn’t expect new hardware at the E3 game conference, or “anytime soon.”

“For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360,” he added.

Videogames Using the Power of Fans to Get a Kick Start

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:23 +0000

Videogames are fast becoming one of the most popular categories that are able to attract start-up capital from everyday people.

SFC / Shutterstock

With the rise of so-called “crowdfunding,” game makers are finding fans online who are willing to pledge a few bucks toward a game they’d like to see produced.

The primary site where these connections are being made is Kickstarter, a three-year old company. Since Kickstarter got off the ground, the games category has garnered $29 million in pledges, according to the New York Times. Other popular categories include film/video, music and design.

Further, it was reported that 854 game developers successfully reached their fundraising goals, raising an average of $29,409 apiece.

Most impressively, three game companies have raised more than $1.5 million each since the beginning of this year: Double Fine raised $3.3 million from 87,000 backers; Wasteland 2 raised $2.9 million; and Shadowrun Returns secured $1.8 million.

Another site, Gambitious, which will be exclusively dedicated to helping game companies raise money, is preparing to launch on June 5 in Los Angeles as part of E3, the industry’s big annual conference.

The shift to nontraditional fundraising is now even catching the eye of megapublishers like Electronic Arts. Last week, EA said developers who crowdsourced funding will be able to sell their games on Origin at no cost for three months.

Origin is the company’s online game store, which allows users to download PC games electronically and counts up to 12 million users worldwide.

“The public support for crowdfunding creative game ideas coming from small developers today is nothing short of phenomenal,” said David DeMartini, EA’s SVP of Origin, in a release. “It’s also incredibly healthy for the gaming industry. Gamers around the world deserve a chance to play every great new game.”

EA doesn’t disclose how much it charges because it says fees can vary, but through this program, developers will now receive 100 percent of sales during the 90-day window plus any pre-sales that are generated before the title officially launches, a spokesman confirmed.

It’s unclear whether crowdfunding is a fad and consumers will tire of it quickly, and to be clear, not every company that requests money is able to get it.

But it pairs nicely with a broader trend in the industry that AllThingsD’s Eric Johnson wrote about last week. He explained that game developers are increasingly finding it advantageous to stay small, rejecting the notion that productions need big budgets in order to create blockbusters.

The evolution has been aided by the rise of three new distribution platforms, Apple’s App Store, Facebook and Valve’s Steam Store (and to a lesser extent, EA’s Origin, which is catching up). With these digital platforms, developers can reach customers without having to package up their software and sell it at retail, saving thousands of dollars.

With the crowdfunding phenomenon completely under way, Videogame Analyst and Consultant Scott Steinberg saw the opportunity to write an e-book on the subject called “Crowdfunding Your Business: A How-To Guide.” In the recently released book, he argues that crowdfunding helps developers identify projects that consumers are willing to pay for, before they’ve wasted the money and time on developing them.

He writes that by “requesting feedback or recruiting help from public donors via open calls for assistance — you can gauge demand for and create bankable products from day one.”

No New Xbox "Anytime Soon," Says Microsoft

John Paczkowski — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:45:55 +0000

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is selling so well there’s no need for the company to release its successor this year.

The company confirmed today that it won’t be unveiling a new Xbox console at the E3 video game conference in June, and said consumers probably shouldn’t expect new hardware for quite a while.

“While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon,” Microsoft’s Corporate Communications boss Frank Shaw told AllThingsD. “For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360.”

And for good reason. Shaw notes that the past year has been the best ever for Xbox 360 — a year in which it outsold not just all other gaming consoles, but DVD players and digital media receivers as well.

With demand for the Xbox 360 that robust, Microsoft can take its time bringing a successor to market, milking another year of strong sales out of the 360, which is still riding an upswell of momentum thanks to its Kinect motion-sensor peripheral and a strong lineup of games.

No PS4 at E3. Really.

John Paczkowski — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:40:23 +0000

Evidently Sony’s PlayStation 4 rollout plan doesn’t include the 2012 E3 Gaming Expo.

Speaking to reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman Kaz Hirai reiterated Sony Computer Entertainment President Andrew House’s declaration that the company has no plans to unveil its new gaming console at E3 this summer.

“Andy is absolutely right in that we are not making any announcements at E3,” Hirai said. “I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that.”

Ten years? If Sony’s sticking to that cycle, we may not see the PS4 until 2016.

EA's Sims Social Comes to Life on Facebook

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:05:25 +0000

Electronic Arts is committed to driving a large percentage of its revenues from digital platforms over the next year.

Facebook is a big part of that, but as the seventh largest developer on the platform, and with only 12 percent as many active monthly users as Zynga, it has a long way to go.

It believes the solution is leaning on its deep catalog of brands — something Zynga and many others can’t compete with. So far, it’s launched Monopoly Millionaires, FIFA Superstars and Scrabble.

The next one, officially launching today, is The Sims Social.

Sims Social is a brand with a lot of history. It’s been played by 140 million fans in 22 languages in 60 countries around the world. To date, it has been available on the PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Wii and mobile.

Electronic Arts originally unveiled the game at E3 in June. To put the social game in context, I wrote at the time:

One of the most anticipated launches of the year is EA’s Battlefield 3, which is expected to go head to head with the seemingly unstoppable Call of Duty franchise. But at the company’s eardrum-splitting press conference in downtown Los Angeles, it also showed off The Sims, which is reflective of a wider trend in the industry to embrace other platforms.

With the launch of Sims on Facebook, EA is promising that your social life will never be the same. Given the game has the potential to create some very awkward moments with your friends and partners, that’s hardly an overstatement.

Players will be presented with challenges, such as forming romantic relationships, flirting, joking and getting married. They can build dream homes, take showers together, or play pranks or achieve goals, such as having 10 girls in the hot tub at the same time.

At E3, I wrote: “Who needs Battlefield 3 when you can begin World War 3 among your friends?”

There’s no requirement to “marry” your real-life wife or husband, or boyfriend or girlfriend, which could cause all sorts of real-life sparks to fly. If you can imagine slapping your husband (or the other woman) after reading about his latest accomplishments in his news feed, don’t worry, you can do that in the game, too.

EA is hoping the high intensity situations will lead to explosive growth.

The game, which is available in five languages, was technically launched today, but has been around in beta for awhile. It won the 2011 Best Browser Game Award at Gamescom in Germany this week, and it topped this week’s list of fastest-growing games by daily active users, according to InsideSocialGames.com. It has roughly 1.45 million daily active users on Facebook, gaining 2,287 percent compared to last week.

Sims Social will be free to play and will monetize both through virtual goods and in-game advertising, such as items from Dr Pepper, Dunkin’ Donuts and Toyota that can provide extra boosts and benefits when players need them.

This is not the first time the company has brought the PC game and console title to the Internet, but last time it failed.

John Buchanan, VP of Marketing at EA Play, said it’s been more than five years since that experiment and that this time they put in the time and energy to build something that both Sims fans and newcomers can enjoy.

“It is an incredibly exciting time for us. You have the No. 1 PC franchise and the No. 1 social network. It’s really exciting. It’s a game that is going to revolutionize social gaming and the Sims,” he said.

To build this game, EA’s Play Label teamed up with Playfish, its social games division. This marks the first time for a massive collaboration between the two groups, said CJ Prober, VP of publishing at Playfish.

“We used everything that the Sims team knows about the game for the past 10 years, and what works and what the fans love, and Playfish brought everything it knows about social gaming. It was a truly collaborative effort.”

Prober said development doesn’t stop today. Up next will be a mobile component that will allow users to stay in touch with their Facebook experiences while on the go.

That’s a good idea. That way, you can get out of the hot tub quickly before you get into real hot water.

June Gloom Hits Videogame Industry

Tricia Duryee — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:43:48 +0000

The cloudy weather at E3 in Los Angeles last month should have been a sign of how videogame sales were faring.

A report released by the NPD Group found that total game sales from the retail channel, including hardware and software, totaled $1.03 billion, down 10 percent from June 2010.

All three sectors — hardware, software and accessories — recorded as well. Hardware was down nine percent, software was down 12 percent and accessories were down 11 percent.

The decreases were expected, since June can typically be slow as game developers wait to release big hit titles around the holiday period. Additionally, the makeup of the industry is changing.

The physical retail channel still generates the majority of industry sales, but there are a growing number of ways to play games, including mobile apps and downloadable content.

Earlier this week, the NPD Group reported that in the first quarter of the year, digital revenues totaled $1.85 billion.

In June, Take-Two Interactive had three of the top-selling games, including L.A. Noire in first place, Duke Nukem Forever in second and NBA 2K11 in seventh. Sony’s Infamous 2 placed third, and Disney’s LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean ranked fourth. Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda placed fifth with 283,000 units sold.

The Xbox 360 continues to be the best-selling console, selling more units in the U.S. than any other console for 12 of the past 13 months. In June it sold 507,000 units.

But it was the holiday season that Microsoft was most excited about in a statement issued to the press:

“The size of the Kinect games portfolio will triple by the end of the year and Xbox will bring new partnerships like UFC and Disney to the platform as well as blockbuster games, movies, music and TV together in one place. We expect Xbox 360 to maintain its lead and to be number one worldwide by the end of the year, selling more hardware units than PlayStation and Wii.”

Nintendo's Pop Fizzles After It Squashes Multiplatform Talk

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:23:17 +0000

Nintendo’s shares rose as much as 4.9 percent today after investors got their hopes up that the game company had changed its policy regarding developing games for mobile phones.

But no such luck. We won’t be seeing Super Mario Bros. on an iPhone or Android phone any time soon.

The speculation was triggered by the announcement that Pokemon was launching a game on the iPhone this summer, and Nintendo owns 32 percent of Pokemon.

But the stock lost nearly all of its gains after a Nintendo spokesperson clarified to Bloomberg that the company’s strategy to develop software only for its own hardware “hasn’t changed and won’t change.”

In June, Nintendo’s Global President Satoru Iwata was very clear about that policy in an interview with AllThingsD at E3.

The company may be experimenting with new hardware, like the new tablet-shaped controller for the upcoming Wii U, but it draws the line at leveraging emerging platforms, like mobile or social, or new business models, like free-to-play games.

“I’m not interested in offering software for free of charge,” Iwata said through a translator. “That’s because I myself am one of the game developers, who in the future wants to make efforts so the value of the software will be appreciated by the consumers.”

Iwata said the revenues that Zynga — and platform-makers like Facebook and Apple — are generating will not change his mind.

“If we are going to destroy the value of the game software — once we have done so, it’s a difficult job to recover from that situation,” he argued.

Nintendo traded 1.2 percent higher to close at 15,610 yen this morning on the Osaka Securities Exchange.

Nintendo's Iwata Won't Gamble on Free Games (Part 2)

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:30:34 +0000

Nintendo’s next game console is about offering new features, like surfing the Internet or watching a movie, so that more people want to buy the device.

But Nintendo draws the line at using emerging platforms, like mobile or social, or new business models, like free-to-play games, to attract a larger user base.

In an interview with Nintendo’s Global President Satoru Iwata at E3, he passionately explains why he will continue charging for games and is reluctant to get caught up in the social and mobile game frenzy that is fueling such companies as Zynga, or platform-makers like Facebook and Apple.

Yesterday, I posted the first part of the interview that covers his thoughts on the Wii U. Today’s section focuses on his opinions on emerging games platforms and other trends.

Here’s excerpts of the interview as conducted through an interpreter:

Over the years, there have been many references to the console wars between Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Are they still alive?

Often times, we have heard such terms as console wars, but we are actually always pushing ourselves and we are not engaged in such limited competition. For example, have we really been battling against only Sony and Microsoft?

With the Wii, Nintendo has been trying to expand the game population. … In that sense, I have said in interviews in the past, that we have been fighting against the indifference from consumers.

And also, as you know, videogames can be played many other ways today.

They are available on iPhone, iPad and Android, so today it does not make any sense to discuss console wars between the three platform holders. In fact, our thinking has always been in trying to grab the limited amount of spare time people have and always try to offer some unprecedented attraction to the consumer.

In February, you talked about how you disagreed with the emphasis of mobile and social games because they are free or 99 cents. But as mobile phones and Apple compete with Nintendo’s core business, which is casual gaming, would you consider a freemium model, where you’d monetize with virtual goods or advertising?

Nintendo has been a very unique company because it’s not just hardware, but also one of the major software publishers. Because it is in a unique position, it’s given us a unique advantage. We have no intention to provide a property to any other platforms, or making them available in a mode that does not require consumers to pay at all. Nintendo is a company, which is trying to maintain the overall value of video games.

Of course, if Nintendo asks consumers to pay more money than the other platforms, then it’s Nintendo’s mission to provide the added value for which the people are willing to pay. In order to do that, we must remain unique and cannot be reproduced somewhere else. Something new, something fun and some surprise.

If we were simply going to say OK, the only the way we could sell more products is by decreasing the price, then there wouldn’t be a bright future and the entire industry will fold. When we look at the entire system of freemium, it’s not always that everyone is happy with the offers. Actually, there’s only a limited number of people who are willing to pay and many others are not paying for game titles at all.

Nintendo is not interested.

If we are going to do something similar, we would come up with a completely unique environment.

Please clarify. You would come up with something completely unique that is free?

I’m not interested in offering software for free of charge. That’s because I myself am one of the game developers, who in the future wants to make efforts so the value of the software will be appreciated by the consumers.

But a lot of companies are making a lot of money on advertising and virtual goods inside of the games through microtransactions. It seems like the game quality can still remain high if the revenue comes in some other way.

It’s a little different. It’s not just the end result. We can’t simply compare the total revenue generated at the consequence of developing one thing. My point is about how we can keep the public’s perception of the software.

If we are going to destroy the value of the game software — once we have done so, it’s a difficult job to recover from that situation.

Yes, it is true. There are great examples of advertising and doing the microtranscactions, and several companies who have come up with that kind of system. But on the other hand, if you ask me, is this the system that can be sustatined for the long time? I don’t know the answer. And, my point is that I’m not willing to go that direction, as well.

But your competitiors will…

We have many challenges. Challenges to come up with new business models and challenges against emerging models, and above all, we have to do a better job to come up with unique and unprecedented ideas that have to be more attractive than other devices and companies.

Please understand. For Nintendo, the most important thing is to create something unique and unprecedented. Many people often try to find and compare a company to us. But we can do better. We can do more. But that’s not something Nintendo is interested in.

For example, when you asked me if I’m interested in this kind of system or that kind of system, I have to say, ‘No I’m not. No, I’m not interested.’ And, if we do something similar, we are going to come up with something completely different ourselves.

To clarify, when you said “this kind of system,” did you mean mobile and social games?

Yeah. To clarify, if you say mobile and social games, why don’t you do the same, I say because they are already doing it and we aren’t doing the same.

If you say freemium is somewhere you can spur new revenue, once again, the answer is the same. Just because many other people are thinking that way, we aren’t thinking that way.

Nintendo's Iwata Hopes the Wii U Will Steal Back Couch Time From the iPad (Part 1)

Tricia Duryee — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:00:48 +0000

Nintendo’s next console is not just about playing games, but will act as another screen in the living room that will compete against laptops, tablets and phones for a consumer’s spare time spent on the couch.

Here’s the first part of my interview with Nintendo’s Global President Satoru Iwata from E3, where he discusses — through an interpreter — the successor to the original Wii, called the Wii U.

He not only tells me that the devices have higher-end components, capable of displaying hardcore games, but that the controller’s 6.2-inch display will attract a very wide audience of people looking for a casual way to connect to the Internet.

Stay tuned for the second part of the interview, where Iwata explains why Nintendo will continue charging for its games and not get caught up in the the frenzy to release free-to-play games. (Update: Here is a link to the rest of the interview.)

Let’s get started by talking about the Wii U. What does it accomplish for the company?

We consider the Wii U the next step for the Wii … By that I mean, the mission this time is that we would like to transform the relationships between the family, the video game and the Internet into a new shape. Many things can be changed with the introduction of the Wii U into the household, especially how video games want to be played, how people are going to watch TV, and how the relationship with the Internet and family members will be changed.

The Wii U represents a big shift from casual and family-friendly gaming that Nintendo is known for to hardcore gaming and first-person shooters.

In the case of the original Wii, our intent was to extend the gaming population, but of course we needed to think about how we were going to motivate non-gamers to play with video games, so we came up with Wii Sports and Wii Fit, as well as how the Wii system was designed.

For example, in the case of our products, approximately 50 percent of our users are a female audience, the other platforms are around 30 percent.

So, the Wii has already achieved very impressive things, but there were two things we were not able to realize: We could not keep up with the hardcore gamers and the Wii original was not compatible with HDTVs.

This time around, Wii U is compatible with HDTV, so we now expect the Wii console to be as powerful as any other console and all the necessary buttons are there [Iwata holds the new controller and demonstrates its use].

When we approached the third-party publishers to tell them about the Wii U, all the publishers volunteered to make advancements in the field of shooting games that they are very good at. For example, ordinarily when you are playing a shooter type of game, your main TV screen is the battlefield; however, oftentimes you have to open a new window to select items or weapons or to see the entire map.

But you don’t have to do that anymore with Wii U because you’ll have a screen that will show you that information.

But this is just one of the roles. It will also have another mission, as well. By having another screen, we believe it will pave a new way in the opposite direction to attract the non-gamers today. It’s no denying that we’ve expanded the so-called gaming population, but there’s still a number of people that have yet to be interested in the Wii at all, even after we introduced them to such applications as Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

Even those people, we want them to utilize Wii U one way or another.

For example, there’s video chat or they may want to do Web browsing while watching the screen on the big TV and managing operations with the screen in your hands.

For the past decade or so, many attempts have been made to link the TV and the Internet, but so far, nothing has been popular. So, the PC is still the strongest device to take advantage of the Internet, and now increasingly smartphones and tablets.

The ordinary TV sets in the household are located 10 feet away from yourself, and so it’s not the optimal solution to see the small letters of the Internet. You may also have problems with inputing and browsing.

On the other hand, when you look at this controller, it’s one foot away from your eyes — it has almost the same distance of the PC and other smartphones. In other words, this device is capable of handling such activities for you to input the letters in the palm of your hands.

In the future, if the TV and Internet can be used together, the TV will have a remote with a screen — and it will look very similar to how the Wii U controller is today.

So, the Wii U is the TV remote of the future?

Yes.

While on one hand we are trying to reach out to the hardcore gamers, we are also trying to make something that can be used as the TV remote of the future. The point is we are trying to reach out to both directions at the same time with the Wii U.

So, do you see the audience continuing to be 50 percent women?

A number of the videogame genres will be for male audiences, and the male audiences will increase, but on the other hand, this device is capable of many other things. On this device you can see video streams of Netflix, or you can use in conjunction with the TV. Regardless of the gender, you may want to use it … Our hope is it will be equal number of males and females who will be interested in this device.

After you announced the Wii U, I wrote that you are competing for time spent on the living room couch — whether someone is using their laptop, or using a tablet to Skype, or playing a game on the phone. Is this a response to trying to take couch time back?

I think it’s an accurate and acute insight into the situation.

Our mission is to try to shorten the distance between people and gaming, and in order to do so we tried to remove any possible barriers. If you like to play console games, you have to do so on the TV and you have to change the TV’s input and other things. We wanted to remove even these barriers. One of the ways to take advantage of that is to get access to some game-related information [on the Wii U's tablet]. It’s competition for couch time.

Once again, even though, we used a system that caters to the needs of the most skillful players, we are also trying to reach out to the people who are not interested in video games.

I think that we have been able to reduce a number of issues with this.

Because the Wii U can always be on?

Yes.

Photo Credit: Nintendo.

Mind Candy's Moshi Monsters Roar to Life Through Toys "R" Us Deal

Tricia Duryee — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 02:01:58 +0000

Facing bankruptcy three years ago, Mind Candy bet its last remaining VC dollars on building a kid-friendly gaming platform.

Already, the idea is starting to pay off.

Since then, the company’s game network (plus aspiring social network) called Moshi Monsters has registered 50 million users, mostly between the ages of 6 and 12 years old, and is adding a new player every second. It’s also on pace to generate $100 million in gross retail sales this year.

At E3 last week, I caught up with Mind Candy’s CEO Michael Acton Smith to hear about how he believes he can leverage the company’s social game roots to build a Facebook alternative for kids under the age of 12 and create an entertainment brand worth billions.

Acton Smith’s ambitious plans include bringing the monsters and other characters from the online virtual world into the physical world.

Mind Candy, which is based in London and has offices in New York, plans to officially announce tomorrow the availability of plush stuffed toys and mini-figurines based on the characters from Moshi Monsters. The toys will be sold exclusively at Toys “R” Us online and in stores nationwide starting in July.

The launch of toys in the U.S. follows the popularity of Moshi Monster-branded toys, books, video games, trading cards and a magazine in the UK and Australia, where the game is more popular. Of the 50 million users, only 15 million are in the U.S. today.

Acton Smith’s ambitions are like Harry Potter or SpongeBob SquarePants on steroids.

In addition to toys, he says they are working on music, live tours, a Moshi film and a videogame for the Nintendo DS.

In the game, players choose from one of six virtual pet monsters to name and take care of. They also get to personal and decorate a page and can post notes to a friend’s pinboard, which is a lot like the wall in Facebook. Subscriptions cost $6 a month, but not all users pay.

The company, which has 50 employees, has raised $10 million in venture capital from Index Ventures and Accel Partners.

Here’s a video interview with Acton Smith from the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center at E3, where his Jimi Hendrix-type attire easily stood out from the rest of the hardcore gamers:

[ See post to watch video ]

Nintendo Shows Off Wii U's Online Gaming Features. They're Social!

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 03:01:58 +0000

Nintendo’s unveiling of the Wii U has been one of the big highlights of this year’s E3.

But a lot of the details were still unknown after Nintendo’s press conference yesterday, leaving a lot to the imagination on how a tablet-based game controller will change console gaming.

At a joint press conference between Nintendo and Ubisoft, a French-based games publisher, the two companies demonstrated how a touchscreen can be used to interact with a game on the TV and how it will be connected online to make the platform more social.

Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata kicked off the event by saying, “I have come here today to introduce you to the most important partner for Nintendo.”

Ubisoft presented two of the five games it has under development, including one of Ubisoft’s long-standing brands, Ghost Recon, and an all new first-person alien shooter called Killer Freaks from Outer Space. It also said Assassin’s Creed was coming.

For now, it appears the most obvious role for a touchscreen controller is to serve as a second window into the game.

In Ghost Recon, the player with the Wii U controller can fly a drone overhead to spot enemies and allies on the battlefield. In Killer Freaks, Ubisoft calls the alternate view “immersion controlling,” where you can move the tablet to the left and right to see from where the enemies are attacking.

Of course, if your arms or neck gets tired, you can revert back to normal game play using the buttons.

In addition to providing different views, the tablet can also enable new types of game play. In a demo in Killer Freaks, for example, they called the new approach a shooter vs. strategy game.

The player with the Wii U remote gets to be the strategist or mastermind behind the game, by picking and choosing where the monsters will attack.

The other players, who have only a normal Wii remote, will have to kill the aliens wherever they land.

Besides the console’s new remote, other big questions remain about how Wii U will connect to the Internet and offer digital and social components like those provided by Xbox Live and PlayStation’s network. Apple also announced today how its Apple TV product will connect to the iPad to create a gaming platform.

Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft, said in his opening remarks that he sees social gaming as the future.

As part of that, Ubisoft demonstrated how the tablet will allow users to be “always on” and create “persistent characters.”

For example, if the TV is off or you are watching a show, you can track friends and achievements in Ghost Recon and decide based on what the tablet is telling you when an appropriate time to join your friends online is.

“These are the two big game changers that we believe the tiny connected screen will bring to the gaming world,” said Hugues Ricour, Ubisoft’s senior producer.

Digital Game Revenues Hit $5.9 Billion in 2010

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:37:24 +0000

E3 is is like Disneyland with a flame thrower.

Put on a pair of 3-D glasses, listen to the bombs exploding in the distance, or stand in line for hours to get a glimpse of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.

Traditionally, the event has been all about videogame makers outdoing one another to ensure shelf space at the major retailers, like Target, Wal-Mart and GameStop. But increasingly the conversation is also about something that takes up absolutely no space at all: digital games.

Maybe to the surprise of many of the 45,000 people in attendance this week at E3, it’s the intangible stuff that’s driving much of the industry’s future.

The Entertainment Software Association, which organized the 17th annual event, released results of a study saying that the format and demographic make-up of gaming are changing.

It said that purchases of digital full games, digital add-on content, mobile apps, subscriptions and social network gaming accounted for 24 percent of game sales in 2010, generating $5.9 billion in revenue.

Other findings:

The average game player is 37 years old, while the average game purchaser is 41 years old;
Sixty-five percent of gamers play games with other gamers in person;
Fifty-five percent of gamers play games on their phones or handheld devices;
Consumers spent $25.1 billion on game content, hardware and accessories in 2010.
Forty-two percent of gamers are women, and women 18 or older make up more than one-third of gamers.

Forget About 99 Cents, What If You Could Rent Mobile Games for 25 Cents?

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:13:45 +0000

T-Mobile USA is teaming up with WildTangent to test out a Netflix-like model for renting mobile games on Android smartphones.

Instead of having to purchase a game without knowing if it’s any good, users will have the ability to rent the game for a day. The fee can then be applied to the full purchase price if you choose to buy.

The games service is launching later this year with several unnamed developers on both Android-powered smartphones and tablets.

T-Mobile, which is attending E3 for the first time ever this week, will market and promote the app among its current subscribers, and will embed it on new Android devices going forward. It will also enable carrier billing for making purchases inside the app.

Matt Shea, WildTangent’s EVP of product development, tells me that it’s a lot like their PC games service, which allows people to play online and social games through a subscription plus advertising model.

Users can either buy or subscribe to a set number of “WildCoins,” a virtual currency within the service that’s used for both in-game items and rentals. Additionally, users will have the option of watching short advertisements for free game sessions and in-game items.

It’s a model that attracts 20 million monthly active users on the PC, and has benefited greatly from being embedded on new computers.

Shea makes the claim that this is not another app store.

“We have no interest in being an app store,” he said. “We see an opportunity that addresses the challenges of discoverability inside a cluttered and overly sourced app store with poor advertising choices.”

As for how much games will cost to rent, there’s a range of prices depending on how much the game costs. But packages of coins can cost anywhere from $3.99 to $9.99 a month, and a one-day rental fee could cost about 25 cents.

No Hacks to Report at Xbox, But Microsoft Isn't Letting Its Guard Down

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:30:36 +0000

Sony’s been hacked, Nintendo’s been hacked. Is Xbox next?

That’s what I asked Marc Whitten, the corporate VP of Xbox Live at E3 today, following recent attacks on his two closest competitors.

Only days after Sony turned its PlayStation Network back on after an attack forced it offline for three weeks, Nintendo reported that its U.S Web site had been hacked but that no company or customer information was compromised.

Whitten feels bad for Sony.

“It’s not great for the industry. It’s a rough and tumble world out there. We take it really seriously. We take privacy and security and cheating and hacking all very seriously. It’s been a high priority for us,” he said.

But when asked point blank whether Xbox had been subjected to any attacks, Whitten fudged his answer a little bit.

He was clear in saying that there was nothing unusual to report to customers.

“We continue to take it really seriously,” he said, but added that my question was “weird.”

A spokesperson intervened to clarify — or at least try to. He said in order “to protect the integrity of the system, we don’t share information because we want to keep it secure.”

In the meantime, if there are any remaining concerns, vigilance is the answer.

“It’s always been a top priority for us,” Whitten said. “Every time we see things — not just because it’s Sony in the videogame space — we try to do post-mortem. That’s part of the learning cycle.”

He said it also serves as a reminder to consumers to “practice safe hygiene on the Internet,” by not using the same username and password for all of your accounts. “One of the things it reminds us of, is that there’s nothing inherently special about Sony.”

Three Key Takeaways From Nintendo's Wii U (Plus Photos!)

Tricia Duryee — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:34:14 +0000

Nintendo unveiled its next-generation console this morning at E3, shocking the industry with the first tablet-sized controller for gaming in the home.

The Japanese-based games company has revolutionized the market before, and after today’s announcement, it’s obvious that it wants to do it again.

Nintendo did not offer any details on price or timing–other than that it will come out next year. But in the presentation this morning and in a hands-on briefing for media following the announcement, we got a good look at some of the Wii U’s capabilities and how it could change the way we play games in front of the TV.

As the major implications of the device are processed over the next year, here are the three major takeaways from today’s announcement:

1. The Wii U marks the entrance of Nintendo into hardcore games:

Up until now, Nintendo has served a family-friendly niche with games like Super Mario Bros. and Zelda. But going forward, it’s branching into its competitors’ territory by making the Wii U hardware capable of supporting HD graphics and hardcore game play.

During the press conference, game publishers said they would support this move by developing hardcore games for the Wii U.

John Riccitiello, the CEO of Electronic Arts, said over the years he’s made several appearances on stage at E3 to support his partners, but this was the first time he has ever done it for Nintendo. “Imagine a shooter like Battlefield with jaw-dropping graphics brought to you on a Nintendo system with a break-through controller,” he said.

Here’s a look at the quality of graphics on the TV:

The Wii U controller also has high-end graphics, too:

2. The Wii U will compete for the iPad’s time:

In many ways, Nintendo is not just competing against Microsoft’s Xbox or Sony’s PlayStation, but any device that people are using in the home while sitting on the couch. The Wii U also offers a competitive response to Apple’s iPad.

The Wii U has a 6.2-inch touchscreen display and a forward-facing camera, and will be used for more than a remote to the videogame console. For instance, users can browse the Internet, draw sketches on the screen with a stylus, play standalone games like Othello, view photos and participate in video chat.

It can also be used with the Wii Fit’s balance board to weigh yourself without ever having to turn on the TV.

Nintendo said the controller is not designed to leave the home and therefore, we surmise, they don’t intend for it to compete against its own portable 3DS gaming device.

Nintendo demonstrates how the Wii U is used for Web browsing:

3. Nintendo won’t stop here. You can bet there will also be a digital strategy:

To be sure, today’s sneak peek was only a glimpse into the future.

Nintendo touched on the hardware capabilities of the Wii U and how it will interact with the Internet, but from what we are hearing separately, there will be a strong digital component.

Riccitiello alluded to it on stage. “We are changing games from a thing that you buy to a place that you go,” he said. “Nintendo’s next platform has deeper online capabilities. This is an unprecedented partnership between EA and Nintendo.”

For perspective, the Wii U tablet is about the same size as an open 3DS:

E3: Nintendo Unveils the Wii U With Tablet-Style Controller

Tricia Duryee — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:41:20 +0000

When Nintendo released the Wii, it revolutionized the gaming industry by giving the world a new way to play games with motion and gestures.

Today, it wants to change gaming again by introducing a new console called the Wii U.

The Wii U comes with a touchscreen, tablet-style controller that looks like a mix between clunky handheld gaming systems, like the 3DS, and Apple’s iPad in terms of functionality.

Nintendo did not say when the console will be released or how much it will cost.

In the time since the Wii hit the market more than six years ago, Nintendo has sold more than 47 million consoles in the U.S., making it one of the best-selling videogame systems of all time.

But since then, Xbox and Sony have both brought motion-controlled gaming to the next level with the Kinect and Move, respectively, and sales of Nintendo’s latest handheld gaming device, the 3DS, have failed to impress.

This morning at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, Nintendo is hosting a press conference to announce its plans for regaining its gaming throne in the living rooms around the world. The press conference takes place on the official opening day of E3, the annual event the videogame industry uses to announce its plans for the coming year.

Follow the live blog here for all the details:

8:49 am: Thanks for tuning in. We have another 10 minutes or so before things kick off.

I’m excited about this announcement. Nintendo has a way of shaking things up in the industry, and I’ve seen more than my share of first-person shooters already this week.

Whether the E3 crowd wants to admit it or not, there are more people out there who enjoy playing games–it’s about fun.

8:55 am: Nintendo is entertaining the crowd with trivia on the big screen. What was the first Super NES game to feature Donkey Kong?

9:05 am: Whoa, I didn’t even notice this until now, but in the very front of the auditorium, there’s a full orchestra. Very classy. Looks and sounds like we are about to begin.

9:09 am: We are listening to a full orchestra and choir with scenes from Zelda, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, playing on the big screen.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Zelda, has just come on stage.

He’s bringing a translator on stage to help him out.

Last year was the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., this year it’s Zelda’s turn.

Both the games and the music have evolved along with the consoles. He’s been listening to the music for a while now at his office, but to hear it in a hall like this is amazing.

Since we have the full orchestra, why not hear the music live?

First, a chime for getting a prize.

Next, the noise for getting an item.

Now a longer melody from a fairy’s fountain.

9:15 am: To celebrate the anniversary, they are releasing a game for all of the company’s hardware.

Nintendo’s eShop just launched yesterday on the 3DS, but today, you can download the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

Next weekend, there will be a 3-D version for the 3DS.

There will also be a free version of Zelda: Four Swords for the DSi, and a version called Skyward Sword for the Wii. Special for the launch of the game will be a gold remote!

Miyamoto says there will also be symphony concerts held around the world to play the original Zelda soundtrack in the Fall. More later on the specific dates. There are also CDs coming of the music.

9:19 am: For the last 25 years, the series has been supported by an incredibly large team, Miyamoto says. Within Nintendo, there are 200 people who have worked on the series.

Miyamoto says several of the people are here today that have worked on the project.

And, of course, he’d like to thank the fans for playing.

Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata comes on stage.

He says they have been working hard to expand the number of people playing games, but as an industry we haven’t achieved yet a game platform that is equally satisfying for everyone.

This is what we want to create with our new platform.

How?

Two words: Deeper and wider.

He says that they can appeal to a wider audience than even the Wii accomplished. The full details are coming later this morning for the Wii. (The audience says boo, hiss….They don’t want to wait!)

“I think the new platform takes a major step in hitting our goal,” he says, but what about now?

The new Wii is for next year, and they have a bunch of new experiences to roll out for the 3DS, which hasn’t been doing so well, partly because of the lack of games to play.

9:27 am: Welcome to the stage Reggie Fils-Aime.

He asks: Is it possible to deliver something for everyone?

In the same way that’s the goal of the new Wii, this is the goal for the 3DS, he says. We are about to get a sneak peek of new games that will be in 3-D. Although they will only be in 2-D for us in the audience.

First game is Mario Kart.

That will be coming in time for the holidays.

Next game is StarFox 64. In the game, you can either use buttons, or you can turn and tilt the 3DS to navigate through the world.

Additionally, you will be able to use the forward-facing camera to see the face of the friends you are playing and how they are reacting to the game play in real-time.

It arrives this September.

Next up, an all-new Super Mario 3-D that’s been created from scratch for the 3DS. Fils-Aime says, “If it’s true that software sells hardware, it’s also true that Mario has sold a lot of hardware.”

It looks like an all-new Mario, but with plenty of mushrooms and monsters to battle.

The game will hit the market by the end of the year, but oddly no promise of it coming out in time for the holidays.

9:35 am: Another new game is Kid Icarus: Uprising, a fantasy-style game coming soon.

This game will use augmented reality cards to conduct battles.

Next game is Luigi’s Mansion 2. They promise the lovable Italian still has his vacuum to suck up ghosts. It’s not a simple revision, it’s a new game that makes use of 3-D and several new mansions.

9:39 am: Now we are switching gears to see third-party games for the 3DS. In a quick video montage, we see Resident Evil by Capcom, Driver Renegade by Ubisoft, Pac-man by Namco Bandai and many others.

Fils-Aime says that the new browser and eShop downloads that came out this week allow you to get new games. A Virtual Console also allows you to download classic games. For a limited time, they’ll be giving out 3D Excitebike, a super retro title.

But even bigger news: For the first time ever, Pokemon will spring to life in 3-D. The games will come with enhanced Pokedex.

I’m not too familiar with these games, except that I know it’s an essential game that kids play around the world.

Fils-Aime says there’s one more order of business left today.

A proper introduction to a new gaming companion. The name Wii made sense once we started to say it a lot and realized it was all about “we.”

So, today, welcome to the Wii U.

It’s about a system we will all enjoy together and is tailor made for you. (Other word associations: unique, utopia?)

9:46 am: They’ve just unveiled what the new controller looks like, and it’s a tablet!

Use it to draw and sketch with a stylus, or use it to play Othello with a friend, like an iPad.

Use it to play golf. Place it on the floor to see where your ball is lying in the sand trap, and hit it out with the controller in your hand.

Connect a gun accessory to it, to see your target more clearly.

This is wild.

Now we are seeing how you can video conference call with it, like Skype.

The tablet can also be used as a big touch pad remote control for your TV. You can swipe photos off the tablet to land on your TV screen.

9:49 am: The audience goes wild.

The Wii U is like the iPad tied to your TV. The touchscreen has a 6.2 inch display.

The device can also be used without the TV. For example, you can weigh yourself on the Wii Fit Scale just by holding the tablet.

The tablet itself has a gyroscope, a speaker, a microphone and many buttons found commonly on a typical console controller.

But it’s not a portable video game machine, even though it shares some characteristics. In other words, they don’t see it cannibalizing the 3DS.

9:53 am: The Wii U will have a strong connection to the Internet, including browsing the Web on your TV and video conferencing.

But what we haven’t seen a lot of yet is how it will be incorporated into games.

The answer isn’t clear.

We are hearing that there won’t be a shortage of ideas, and that it could be used for numerous ways to play.

There’s a whole interview with Miyamoto at www.E3.Nintendo.com on all the ideas he has on how he believes the new platform could be used.

To kick things off, they are promising there will be Super Smash Bros. for both Wii U and 3DS.

Of course, this is a product for the future. But here in LA, there is software for all of us to test today.

Not sure when Wii U will be released, or what the price point will be.

9:58 am: There will be a handful of interactive demonstrations on the show floor at E3 to show off the system’s capabilities.

10:00 am: Fils-Aime is back on stage to give us a few ideas of the games. There will be Super Mario Me. If you have the new controller, you’ll have a birds-eye view of the birds that are catching you, but you can still play if you have a regular Wii remote.

“What I just described is prototypes, they are not actual games, but one game I can tell you we’ll publish is a new installment of the Lego series called City Stories.”

He says developers around the world see the vast use cases of the Wii U. A bunch of interviews now are playing on the big screen of major game makers, like EA, Ubisoft and Disney.

They are saying that Nintendo has heard the voice of the hardcore game player, who will now be able to play titles, such as DarkSiders, Assassin’s Creed and Ghost Recon, on the Wii U.

10:07 am: If other consoles added motion-controlled gaming to expand its user base to more casual gamers, this appears to be Nintendo’s attempt to attract the hardcore gaming audience.

In a video demonstration, I’m seeing explosions, blood, guts, blasts and lots of shooting and killing.

That’s in stark contrast to the orchestra music we heard from Zelda that welcomed us to the press conference.

10:09 am: EA joins Nintendo on stage. Here comes John Riccitiello, the CEO of Electronic Arts.

“Over the years I’ve made several appearances with our console partnerships, but never before with Nintendo. Nintendo’s new console will have great HD graphics….Imagine a shooter like Battlefield with jaw-dropping graphics brought to you on a Nintendo system with a break-through controller.”

Finally, he says, imagine EA content on a console that can be expanded to mobile and the Web.

“We are changing games from a thing that you buy to a place that you go. Nintendo’s next platform has deeper online capabilities and this is an unprecedented partnership between EA and Nintendo.”

10:12 am: Fils-Aime is back on stage.

The Wii changed gaming, and last year you found out that glasses-free gaming could change 3-D gaming. Now there’s Wii U, a second window into the world of gaming.

If you are here on site, he says you can have hands-on with key new 3DS games. And, then there’s eight new Wii U experiences in the convention center.

10:14 am: For more information, you can check www.e3.nintendo.com.

Let the exploration begin and enjoy the show.

That’s it for the live blog. As a member of the press, I’ll be getting a special hands-on session immediately following the keynote, so stayed tune for pictures and video.

Sony Unveils Vita Gaming Device at E3; Will Launch This Year for $249

Tricia Duryee — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:13:51 +0000

It has been a rough couple of months for Sony and the PlayStation, with the PlayStation Network targeted by several successful hacks.

But the company went a long way toward repairing its reputation tonight by generating excitement around several new products, including the new PlayStation Portable device it’s calling “Vita.”

Sony’s President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Jack Tretton apologized briefly for the inconvenience that the hacks caused to customers, retailers and publishers, before turning the focus of the presentation to the PlayStation’s future.

In front of 6,000 people at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on the the eve of E3, Tretton said this year’s line-up includes tons of 3-D games and new titles for its motion-controlled accessory called the Sony Move.

And most importantly, it announced the Vita–previously known as the NGP or PlayStation Portable, which will be released in time for the holidays. The Wi-Fi only version will cost $249, while the AT&T-connected 3G version will cost $299 (not including data plans).

5:15 pm: Get ready. Here we go. They’ve asked the audience to put on their 3-D glasses and turn off their cellphones.

They started off by buttering us up with a plethora of food trucks outside and beer. Not a bad option. But little do they know that we’d all prefer outlets.

BTW, blogging and 3-D glasses don’t mix!

5:19 pm: We are kicking off the show with a montage of 3-D games. But surely, not all of these will end up in 3-D, right?

If Sony’s banking on a 3-D gaming strategy, a lot of people are going to have to buy new TVs. Well, I guess they can hope….

Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment comes on stage, remarking that there are so many people in the crowd. He says it’s 6,000 people here!

This isn’t the first time I came on stage with an elephant in the room, he says. Yes, he’s referring to the hack.

He says this is the first time he can address it directly. “To our third-party publishing partners, you have been with us for years, and I know that it’s been costly for you. We wouldn’t be where we are today.

You gave us shelf space when there was no PlayStation brand, and now we see it exceeding last year’s numbers. Last week’s sales numbers are up 27 percent year over year.

To our consumers: Without you there is no Playstation. I’d like to apologize for any anxiety we’ve caused you….It is you that causes us to be humbled and amazed by the commitment you have to the brand. Network connectivity is at 90 percent compared to before the outage.

For those of you who left, or never joined, the next 90 minutes will hopefully convince you otherwise.”

5:25 pm: Tretton says they are going to work extra hard to make the PlayStation Network as valuable as possible.

As part of that, it will be adding Cinema Now to give access to the latest TV shows and movies.

5:27 pm: Tretton leaves the stage so we can start the party. First game to be shown off is Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

Right about now, I’m realizing this is the fourth press conference I’ve been to today, and the umpteenth game preview. How many more can stand out, or impress? This is totally every videogame consumer’s E3 dilemma.

This is another first-person shooter, where you are walking around hallways and down the deck of a big ship.

And, a fight scene just ended in a grenade blast. The ship has sprung a leak, and water is pouring in. But the fight continues.

He’s now underwater trying frantically to find a way out before his oxygen is all gone.

You’ll have to buy the game to find out what happens next!

The game will be out June 28, and there’s a tie-in with Subway. With your next sandwich, you’ll get a free early sneak peek.

What’s this? Another version of Uncharted 3 will be available in 3-D. Not sure if it’s the same version, or a special copy. This isn’t a live demo, just a video, so it’s hard to tell how it will look once it’s released.

It’s coming much later in November.

5:37 pm: Insomniac Games is now on stage to show off Resistance 3, which is about a bleak existence.

Put on your glasses, this one is also in 3-D! (Have I mentioned that blogging is difficult with glasses on?)

With 3-D, you have three layers of depth perception. First, you notice rain drops are hitting your camera lens, then you notice how your gun protrudes out in front of you, and finally, you see the target you are shooting.

The game is gritty and grimy. Not a lot of light filters in through the gloomy clouds. It’s not pretty, but it’s realistic.

5:41 pm: Tretton is back on stage to say that their commitment to 3-D is unwavering, and that they believe that gamers can spur broader adoption of the technology.

Lots of good prices and games coming to the console, he says.

Content is a barrier, but so is price.

“We are making the entrance into 3-D more affordable for everyone,” he says.

They are launching two new hardware products, including a PlayStation-branded 24-inch display. It’s perfect for bedrooms and dorm rooms, he says. What’s really amazing is that two people will be able to play the game at once, by seeing two different screens, rather than a split screen.

This is really cool, but it’s completely unclear how this works.

The monitor will come with a pair of 3-D glasses and a six-foot hdmi core and Resistance 3. The bundle will cost $499.

A pair of standalone 3-D glasses will cost $69.99.

5:47 pm: Kobe Bryant comes on stage to show off 2K Sport’s new Sony Move game.

He takes the controller away to show the demonstrator how it’s done.

The ball is stripped from him, and then he fouls the Heat. Kobe says: “Man, this game is a little too realistic.”

He shoots, he scores!

He gives the game some serious props, saying it’s “frighteningly” accurate. He says that you can play the triangle offense better in the game than the Lakers did all year.

5:52 pm: Kobe leaves the stage. Now here’s another new Sony Move title called Medieval Moves.

6:06 pm: Sorry about that folks, but I lost Internet access for a little bit. Now I’m back.

I’m afraid I missed a few titles, including Little Big Planet, Sly Cooper and Infamous 2.

Now we are getting a peak at Dust 514, a space galaxy title.

Dust 514 is an exclusive to the PlayStation platform.

6:10 pm: Up next is Bioshock, a fantasy-looking game with a first-person shooter.

The creator of Bioshock is now on stage, telling a story about how he said some unfavorable things about Sony’s Move to the press because he makes core games–not family-friendly casual titles.

Sony called him to change his mind and make him a believer.

And, it worked. He says there will eventually be a Bioshock title using the Sony Move.

In the meantime, he says they are even more interested in the NGP, the new Sony PlayStation portable.

6:14 pm: Tretton is back on stage to announce a new partnership with THQ, which includes exclusive content from Saints Row coming out November 15.

Another exclusive is with Star Trek, which will be a Move title. A special Star Trek Move controller will also be released with the controller to replicate the phaser.

6:16 pm: We are now 75 minutes into the 90-minute press conference. I’ll expect more talk of the NGP any second.

We’re waiting to hear about its release date and price and whether it will make it out in time for the holidays. Previously, it was rumored to be delayed because of the devastating earthquake in Japan.

Tretton interjects that three more exclusives are coming from EA: SSX, the snowboarding title; Need for Speed: The Run; and Battlefield 3, which will include extra exclusive content that can only fit on the blueray disc.

6:19 pm: And, here we go, what we were waiting for: more information on the NGP.

Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony’s consumer products and services group, takes the stage to tell us all about it.

The original PlayStation portable came out in 2004. The question is, how do we deliver a PlayStation experience to a wider audience?

The answer is something he’s calling PlayStation Suite, which will allow non-PlayStation devices to play PlayStation content, including a ton of certified Android phones and tablets.

The NGP provides the next generation of portable gaming that allows you to play games with a number of new methods, like dual cameras and touchpads.

What it’s officially being called is Vita.

The device has a five-inch screen, front and rear touch pads, and front and rear cameras, allowing for augmented reality. The device will have both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi-plus-3G models for on-the-go gaming.

“Of course, having such a set of features requires the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network. We are partnering with AT&T.”

The AT&T announcement garners serious laughs from the crowd.

A social network will come with the PlayStation Vita called Near, which will allow you to connect with friends and post game scores.

6:28 pm: Now time for a demo of the NGP–I mean Vita!

They are running through a short section of Uncharted 2, a game we saw demo’d earlier for the PlayStation. The device’s touchscreen allows you to punch the enemy. It can also be tilted so that the player can drop across the screen. However, where it makes sense, players can continue to use the same Sony PlayStation buttons they are used to from the console.

The game allows a player to swipe and tap the screen, where they’d normally have to memorize and execute a lot of quick button taps on a controller.

It’s an interesting combination of what you see on the iPhone and the typical PlayStation game pad.

Not sure how many titles there will be to begin with, or how much the Vita will cost or when it will be released.

More demos are occurring for now. The latest is Ruin, which is only a working title at this point.

6:36 pm: An interesting aspect of Ruin is that people will be able to put down their Vita, and pick up their game play exactly where they left off on the PlayStation 3.

The game play is stored in the cloud, and the exact same game will be available on both the Vita and PlayStation 3.

6:40 pm: Another game from ModNation Racers allows users to build their own track using the touchscreen to drop trees and houses where you want them.

Additionally, Vita players will have access to all the user-generated tracks created from day one.

6:43 pm: A few more details on Vita, which still sounds far off. An exec is saying that many of the PlayStation Vita titles will be tied to the PlayStation 3 through three methods: Cloud saves, online competition and content sharing.

6:47 pm: One more title is StreetFighter from Capcom, which was announced last year. Today, they are announcing that they are also going to have a StreetFighter X Tekken version for Vita.

They have a real-life demo of the game, which really has the crowd excited.

6:52 pm: One thing that’s very noticeable even from the audience is the size of the Vita, which looks a little awkward to hold with just one hand. It’s a serious piece of machinery. You almost wonder why they didn’t skip directly to making a tablet form factor.

We’re watching a short video on all the content coming to the Vita. There are tennis games, street fighting, mazes and much more.

Now here’s the real fine print:

The device will be available starting by the holiday season.

The Wi-Fi-only model will cost $249, and the 3G plus Wi-Fi model will cost $299. (No details on AT&T 3G pricing plans).

The PlayStation Vita will be on display tonight for everyone to play for themselves.

Tretton comes back on stage to wrap things up: “As you can see, the depth and breadth of content like never before…By adding 3-D, PlayStation Move and Vita, we offer the best entertainment around. We hope you are as excited as we are about what’s to come.”

Next up lots of demos and unnamed musical guests.

Now the stage is lifting up in the background to reveal a bunch of drummers and a DJ.

I guess the party has just begun.

That’s it for the live blog. Thanks for sticking around!

Who Needs War? Sparks Will Fly in EA's New Sims Game for Facebook.

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:18:56 +0000

E3 is typically reserved for announcing blockbuster, mega-million-dollar game titles, but in this case, Electronic Arts is showing its full range of capabilities by not only unveiling its response to Activision’s Call of Duty, but also by bringing one of its biggest brands to Facebook: The Sims.

One of the most anticipated launches of the year is EA’s Battlefield 3, which is expected to go head to head with the seemingly unstoppable Call of Duty franchise.

But at the company’s eardrum-splitting press conference in downtown Los Angeles, it also showed off The Sims, which is reflective of a wider trend in the industry to embrace other platforms.

In addition to Battlefield 3 and The Sims, EA screened the latest Mass Effect 3, the upcoming Need for Speed (including foot races for the first time!), and, of course, Star Wars, its highly anticipated massive online multi-player game.

For Xbox this morning, a wider audience meant announcing a ton of Kinect titles, and for EA this afternoon, it meant announcing the release of its very popular Sims franchise on Facebook.

Sims Social is building off a brand that’s played by 140 million fans in 22 languages in 60 countries around the world. To date, it has been available on the PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Wii and mobile. Now you can play with your friends on Facebook, too.

Players will be presented with challenges, such as forming romantic relationships, flirting, joking and getting married. In this case, they’ll have the chance to play with Facebook friends, causing all sorts of real-life sparks to fly. For example, players will have the chance at participating in a royal wedding, to build a dream home or take a shower with their lover. In addition, they will be able to play pranks or achieve goals, such as having 10 girls in the hot tub at the same time.

Who needs Battlefield 3 when you can begin World War 3 among your friends, right?

The game is expected to launch “soon” in five languages with a mobile companion app coming later. “It’s about playing with life and the unpredictability of life,” said Jeff Karp, Executive Vice President of the EA Play Label.

The game will be free to play and users will be given the option of paying for virtual goods, such as clothes for your avatar and items for your home.

At E3, Xbox Lets Kinect Lead the Charge on Gaming, Live TV Ambitions

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:27:37 +0000

Microsoft is at E3 today in Los Angeles to tell us how it expects the Xbox to turn from a gaming console into an entertainment hub in the living room.

Microsoft’s announcement is going head to head with Apple’s iCloud strategy being unveiled simultaneously at WWDC in San Francisco.

Follow our live blog here to find out how Xbox will be the centerpiece of Microsoft’s entertainment strategy.

9:29 am: Five minute warning, everyone. Get in your seats. The show is about to begin.

I’ve been hearing about Apple’s line for its announcement at WWDC all morning. Microsoft had a fairly impressive line snaking around the block as well.

9:31 am: Here we go! The concert hall is packed, and the front of the room has several large screens. A man on stage is playing a game, where he’s navigating under water.

9:33 am: We can all sense that something huge will happen. The entire theater is shaking from all the bass in the game that’s being generated from a submarine under water.

There are some pretty intense battle scenes going on. Microsoft may be going up against Apple’s news today, but it still knows its primary audience: Hardcore gamers.

Right about now, I’m probably supposed to be saying something about how great all the graphics are. It’s true. They are amazing. Battleships are blowing up, blood is splattering on the screen, and you can see the wreckage of a major city in the background.

Folks, that’s the new Call of Duty.

9:41 am: Don Matrick from Xbox Entertainment steps on stage. “Thank you for making last year the biggest year in Xbox history. This is an incredible time in history.”

Technology is the way we play, interact and have fun. Families and friends are flocking to this kind of entertainment.

He says they are going to show off new Kinect titles, new game titles and the big one we’ve been waiting for–a new way to enjoy TV.

9:44 am: First, we’ll hear and see a lot more new game titles. First up is Tomb Raider.

All of these demos appear to be live with a couple of players down in the front of the stage playing what we are seeing up on the big screen.

This one has a main female character, which is pretty rare. Lots of high-pitched screeches as she stumbles around in a cave and gets hit by falling rocks. So typical of women to be gasping and screeching, right?

9:49 am: Next up, Peter Moore from EA Sports.

He’s here to say that four of its Sport titles will be Kinect-enabled. They are only naming three of them for now. There will be FIFA, Madden and sorry, I missed the last one.

Moore says that in addition to using Kinect to play games hands free, you will also be able to use voice commands to call plays from the line.

Beyond sports, other games will also be supporting Kinect, including Mass Effect 3. Up until now, most Kinect games have mostly included two genres: family-friendly titles and dancing games. By making Mass Effect 3 Kinect enabled, players will be able to use their voices to control game play.

In a demo, they show how a player reads subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Voice commands can also be used in combat, by saying things like “move up” and “take cover.”

Those commands get a round of applause from the audience.

9:56 am: No live demo of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, but a short video plays, showing off the graphics and precision gaming.

Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot enters the stage. Looks like we’ll be getting a demo after all.

Kinect will enable players to gesture and create and build a gun, picking and choosing components to build the ultimate fighting device by using a combination of waving your hands in the air and voice recognition.

The player demonstrates how you can even pretend to hold the gun with your hand and shoot the weapon.

The audience collectively gasps.

All future titles in the Tom Clancy franchise will leverage Kinect, Guillemot says.

10:02 am: Taking the stage is Marc Whitten from Xbox Live.

He says they are introducing an innovative new way to experience entertainment using your voice.

He says the new Xbox gives you access to 11 million songs, games and videos, including movies, sports and TV shows.

Everything is controlled by your voice and gestures.

We’ll increase the number of partnerships by a factor of ten. The content will increase from hundreds of thousands to millions.

A new partner is YouTube.

He says the next big challenge is discovery. With millions of pieces of content available, can you find it?

Whitten said that Bing is coming to Xbox, which will search Hulu Plus, Netflix and other marketplaces to find exactly what you are looking for.

Simply say “Xbox Lego,” and a list of all the Lego games pops up. Say “Xbox X-Men,” and both games and movies will appear on the screen.

10:06 am: Central to the vision is TV, Whitten says.

He’s announcing that Live TV is coming to Xbox as they sign on with partners around the world. Partners listed are in the U.K. and Australia. Sounds like nothing yet in the U.S.

The new Xbox experience is coming in the Fall.

10:07 am: The tagline for this is letting the technology get out of the way.

Another live TV partnership is with Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In addition to watching the games live, you’ll be able to get additional information on the side of the screen, including fighting and match history of the fighters.

10:10 am: Phil Spencer of Microsoft Studios enters the stage.

He says they are leading the way of changing the definition of entertainment. At the core, it will always be about games that you can’t find anywhere else. “We deliver better entertainment for everyone,” he says.

The next few announcements are EXCLUSIVES to Xbox, meaning that no other console will have these games. So, maybe the console wars are still alive and well, eh?

The first exclusive is Gears of War 3.

Guest appearance from rapper Ice-T, who comes on stage to help show off the game.

Ice-T had definitely played this game before.

Ice-T says he has a gift for us. He’s decided to reunite his rock band to because the game is so awesome.

10:22 am: Next exclusive is Forza Motorsport 4, a new racing game.

Lots of beautiful photos of red race cars, but no live demo. So not much to say about that one.

Next up is Fable: The Journey.

Another video, but instead of blood and guts, this is a little more fantasy-like with horse-drawn carriages and pretty blue skies.

But, as with any good game, there’s darkness, too. The end is coming, and you must escape on the carriage. A player is demonstrating how you use Kinect to ride the horses and attack enemies using beams of light.

Amazing how many games are trying to use Kinect. Looks like there will be a big learning curve. To start a fire, the player had to rub his hands together. Other motions control other movements, but it’s unclear how you would know what to do.

10:28 am: Xbox’s Spencer comes back on stage.

This year he says Minecraft, an indie hit, is making its console debut on Xbox 360 and Kinect.

So far, 10 million Kinect devices have been sold, but with all these new games, you can imagine that will rise.

Spencer announces a partnership with Disney, building off Kinect’s reputation as a family friendly extension to the console. With Kinect you can experience Disney attractions, including a game called “Peter Pan’s Flight.”

Two kids come on stage to demonstrate flying through the air to collect coins.

10:32 am: Sorry, folks, I just finally got my photo feed up and running. The picture above is a demonstration of how Kinect is being used to build weapons in Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon.

10:33 am: Next game title being showed off is Kinect Star Wars–to major applause in the audience. That’s obviously a huge cult classic.

In a demonstration, a player uses his whole body to fight with a light saber, lift things and throw them off the side of a building. Leaning forward allows you to propel.

The one downside of having no controller in your hand is that there’s no haptic feedback to let you know that you’ve made contact with the enemy. A controller actually allows you to feel more connected to the game.

10:37 am: Next family friendly game is “Once
Upon a Monster,” a Sesame Street title. Very cute fantasy land with Cookie Monster and Elmo.

10:39 am: Kudo Tsunoda says it’s been two years since they’ve announced Kinect, and now today they are announcing Kinect Fun Labs, which will fuel the next wave of Kinect-enabled gaming on the console.

One way to use Kinect is to create your avatar instead of creating one by navigating an endless list of menus. After taking two pictures, it captures your finer facial features and clothing and replicates you instantly.

Another new feature is Kinect with finger tracking, which allows you to draw in 3-D. That’s sort of hard to explain with words, but it was pretty cool.

10:46 am: Another new feature allows you to scan in real objects, like a stuffed animal. You scan the front of the animal and the back, and then presto! the stuffed animal is now on the screen. Other examples allow you to scan in your skateboard and skate in a virtual world.

Kinect Fun Labs is live today.

10:49 am: Another new title, Kinect Sports Season 2, which will have six new sports, like skiing, golf and tennis. There will also be new Kinect gestures and voice controls.

While playing golf you can change your club by using you voice, and use your body to line up the putt.

In the demo of football, you actually have to run in place to the end zone and say things, like “hike” to get the play started.

10:52 am: By far and away, Kinect Sports was one of the most popular titles because it came packaged with the Kinect.

The other really popular title has a sequel as well: “Dance Central 2,” which will have the ability to let two people dance at the same time.

Xbox’s Mattrick is back on stage. “With the power of Xbox and the simplicity of Kinect, it will change living room entertainment forever.”

He says that living rooms will be turned into sports arenas, race tracks and other innovative new experiences.

“Combine all we offer with great partners and a growing audience, Xbox is poised to have another record-breaking year,” he says.

He hopes it will go from a best-seller in the U.S. to a global leader.

10:57 am: Things are wrapping up with a sneak peek of yet another game.

10:58 am: That’s all, folks. Xbox press conference is now done.

We’ll have follow-up today or tomorrow on what all the announcements mean for the industry, but right now, the live TV announcements are a little thin for it to be considered a global leader.

Justin.tv Broadcasts Gamers' Every Move on TwitchTV

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:00:57 +0000

An online TV station is launching today to broadcast people playing video games live over the Internet.

It may be a small niche, but it’s a highly profitable one.

TwitchTV is being unveiled today at E3 by Justin.tv, the San Francisco company, which has spent the better part of the past five years building out a live video platform on the Web.

Today’s launch represents the first time it has split off some of its content into an independent brand.

TwitchTV will serve as a meeting place for hardcore gamers who want to watch professional and celebrity players play games live, much how sports fanatics want to watch a basketball or football game live on ESPN.

The video is captured from the TV screen and often accompanied by play-by-play narration.

Justin.tv’s CEO Michael Seibel said “e-sports” has been surprisingly successful since they started playing it six months ago. ”It has become a good portion of our revenues,” he said. “It’s been a cash driver from the get-go. Gaming content monetizes really well.”

Every month, TwitchTV is generating roughly 3.2 million unique visits, 4.5 hours of video per person and more than 45 million total video views. Today, the most popular game being played is StarCraft II.

“We have good relationships with the game publishers,” said Emmett Shear, Justin.tv’s co-founder and CTO. “We’ve noticed that they are hyper-engaged in e-sports. We’ve been talking to studios to make games better for e-sports, by developing features that make better observer modes.”

Both the company and the professional game players are making money on broadcasting games live. Similar to live sports on TV, which have commercials, so does e-sports. Justin.tv is also experimenting with a subscription model, where fans will pay $5 a month or $25 for a season pass.

Also meddling in the space is Los Angeles-based Machinima, which racks up half a billion page views on YouTube in one month.

Surprise! Facebook Credits and Apple's iTunes Play Nice With Each Other.

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:12:53 +0000

Facebook has Credits, Apple has iTunes, and then there’s the plethora of points and coins found on the major consoles and online services.

For game players, it’s the equivalent of traveling in Europe before the Euro.

Even if you are playing the same game by the same company, players must buy a different set of currencies when moving between Facebook, iTunes and the consoles. The hurdle is significant given that the free-to-play model is considered a good chunk of the industry’s future.

But there are signs that a pact is forming, even if it’s at a very unofficial level.

Chris Early, Ubisoft’s VP of Digital Publishing, told me the night before E3 kicks off that both Facebook and Apple have agreed to honor currency purchased on each other’s platforms for the same game. The one condition is that it costs the same for the consumer on every platform.

Early said we’ll likely see this first for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, which he tells me is being released over the next years on multiple platforms, including Facebook, mobile, console and the Internet.

The new pact means that if a customer purchased $20 worth of Ghost Recon Credits on Facebook, Facebook would still earn its 30 percent cut of the revenue, but players would be able to access the points in the Ghost Recon game on Apple devices. The reverse is true as well. Ghost Recon does not yet support micropayments on the console, so it would not use credits purchased elsewhere.

Early said Ubisoft will be responsible for managing a player’s current balance across all the platforms.

A Hint at What's to Come at This Week's E3

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:22:52 +0000

E3 is the adrenalin-powered, Red Bull-infused, brain-thumping event of the year for the videogame industry.

At the three-day show, which unofficially kicks off tomorrow and ends Thursday, hardcore gamers will get a preview of all the big-budget productions that will be released in time for the holidays.

But this year, in addition to the regular dose of blood and guts and first-person shooters, expect the videogame industry’s softer side to be on display.

Game companies are starting to recognize that in order to attract larger audiences, they need to appeal to a broader set of people.

The trend is being fueled by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, which will be looking for ways to extend the life cycle of the major game consoles, all of which are about five years old now. The shift is also gaining acceptance as big companies are finding large audiences on digital platforms, like the Internet and Facebook.

Ubisoft’s SVP of Sales and Marketing, Tony Key, said they are pushing three things this year at E3: core, casual and online.

It will be talking about a wide range of games, including several Facebook games in the works, hardcore titles like the latest Assassin’s Creed, and casual titles like Rocksmith, which allows players to connect a real guitar to a videogame console to learn how to play the instrument. ”Online is just another point of excitement for the business–it’s just another platform,” he said. “I think this is the best E3 for publishers, like Ubisoft, to showcase how they are viewing the space and what the right strategies are at the moment.”

But while more traditional publishers will be announcing digital strategies, there are some purists in attendance, too. In fact, a contingency of more alternative companies at E3 are jokingly calling themselves “That Other Platform.”

In a message sent to reporters, the companies write:

You’ve been to all the press conferences. Now, please join us as we celebrate:

the one that DOESN’T have an army of PR people and a $50 million marketing budget.
the one that DOES have an installed base of greater than 1.5 billion.
the one that DOES have the world’s best developers.

All jokes aside, the show would not be complete without some hardcore talk. Here’s what to expect on the hardware side of the business:

Nintendo will unveil its new Wii console on Tuesday.
Plenty of new games for Nintendo’s recently released 3DS, a handheld game player, which has been slow to take off.
Microsoft and Sony’s respective motion-controlled systems, the Kinect and Move.
Sony’s new NGP, which is its latest handheld gaming device coming soon.

This year’s E3, short for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is the 17th annual event thrown by the Entertainment Software Association, which is dedicated to companies that publish games and develop video game consoles. This year, the association said it is expecting 45,000 attendees and 250 exhibitors at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

One of the companies that will be a prime example of shifting its focus from a hardcore audience to an entertainment focus is Microsoft’s Xbox.

It has sold more than 53 million Xbox 360 consoles and has more than 30 million Xbox LIVE members who access content digitally over the Internet. It has also sold more than 10 million Kinects to date.

Tomorrow at the company’s early morning press conference, it will discuss how its not just a gaming device, but an entertainment hub for your living room.

Already, 40 percent of all Xbox activity is non-game with video with video consumption hitting an average of 30 hours a month per Xbox.

As the console makers run out of new reasons for strict gamers to buy them, diversification is key.

In advance of its press conference tomorrow, Microsoft provide this chart from NPD to show the trend lines for consoles during their lifespan (and how Xbox is doing relatively well because of its focus on entertainment):

Nintendo Drops Wii Price In Advance of New Hardware Release

Tricia Duryee — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:45:25 +0000

Nintendo is slashing the price of the Wii by up to $50 starting May 15, reports Gamasutra. The console will now cost $150 for a package that includes one remote and a copy of Mario Kart with steering wheel accessory. Some games will also be cheaper at $20 apiece. It was expected that Nintendo would cut the price of the Wii in order to energize weak sales ahead of a Wii successor, which will launch in 2012. This is only the second price drop for the system, which originally launched in 2006 at $250. Nintendo plans to announce specifications of the new system at E3 Expo in June.

Nintendo Net Drops 66 Percent

Daisuke Wakabayashi — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:43:22 +0000

Nintendo Co. said Monday full-year net profit was down for the second straight year, damped by sluggish sales of its DS handheld game device and Wii home console.

The Japanese videogame maker said its net profit for the fiscal year ended March 31 was ¥77.62 billion ($944.5 million), down 66 percent from the year-earlier ¥228.64 billion. Revenue was down 29 percent to ¥1.014 trillion while operating profit was off 52 percent to ¥171.08 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast a net profit of ¥142.41 billion and revenue of ¥1.079.

Nintendo also said it plans in 2012 to launch a home console to replace the Wii, which has sold 86 million units since its 2006 debut. The company said it plans to show a working model at June’s E3 Expo in Los Angeles.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

Nintendo Set to Launch New HD Gaming Console?

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:50:21 +0000

Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. in HD? Maybe, if rumors are correct about the company working on a new gaming console. Game Informer reports that an announcement could come as soon as E3, the big gaming conference in June. While it wasn’t expected, a new console would give Nintendo a shot at increasing revenues as sales of its very successful Wii diminish, and would provide it an opportunity to have hardware more on par with Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox. A key feature would be a high-definition display. A spokesperson declined to comment on rumors or speculation.

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