xbox

Over the weekend, I spent some time playing online. I did so on Xbox Live and through games on both my PS3 and Wii. All the while, I was thinking about the one simple fact that kept sticking out in my head: for now at least, I can play online with my Wii and Playstation 3 and the experience is basically the same.

And considering Microsoft keeps losing ground to both Sony and Nintendo, why not find a new way to offer a more compelling alternative out of the company's most popular service?

Sure, it sounds radical and losing $50 per year from the millions of Xbox Live subscribers may be a major sticking point here, but it needs to be done. Microsoft's latest NPD numbers have been less than stellar and the Wii, DS, Playstation 3, and the PSP all sold better than the company's console in July. And if you want to compete in the hardware business, that's simply unacceptable.

To make matters worse, the big lead Microsoft had over Sony in the third-party sphere is practically eliminated and it doesn't look like Nintendo will slow down anytime soon, nor will the Xbox 360 become a force in Asia.

So what does Microsoft need to do to right the ship and really turn things around? Announce that all Xbox Live memberships will be free and all gamers can play online without a hitch. It's radical, for sure, but it's the best move Microsoft can make right now.… Read more

Veronica's back with us today as we record from the New Media Expo in Las Vegas. We talk about the woes of the modern Web, and specifically Netflix's problems on the back-end. Also there's some news about Windows 7, or at least news about when more news will be coming. And thankfully the IOC backed down on the DMCA takedown notice. That and some more hilarious e-mails.

Netflix may lose $1.8M to $3.6M in revenue per day over outage http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9676

10 … Read more

As always, when video game industry research firm The NPD Group puts out its monthly numbers, each of the big hardware companies--Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony--find their own unique positive spin, regardless what the numbers show.

But with the July numbers, which were released Thursday, there's little question that Nintendo gets the biggest bragging rights.

That's because, according to NPD, Nintendo's DS handheld gaming machine and its Wii console far outsold any competition from Sony or Microsoft.

NPD reported that the DS sold 608,400 units in July, while the Wii moved 555,000 machines. No other gaming … Read more

Over the past week, Nintendo and Microsoft have been trading barbs over which console--the Xbox 360 or Wii--holds the top spot for the most third-party games sold.

Nintendo was the first to "set the record straight" and released data from NPD that the company claimed showed that the Wii has sold more games than any other console when first-party and third-party titles are factored in. After hearing doubts over the inclusion of first-party titles, Nintendo then released a graph showing sales of only third-party titles, which it once again, compiled from NPD source data.

"I actually think that given the number of comments made from industry executives at E3 (or thereabouts) about how they didn't put enough resources against development of Wii games that the industry has realized that the old adage of 'only first-party games sell on Nintendo systems' is absolutely incorrect. I think you're right that the data will cause a few eyebrows to lift," NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier said in defense of the figures.

But Microsoft was suspect of the data and decided to release its own figures obtained from NPD to "clear the air." In its study, Microsoft claims "total third-party sales for the Xbox 360 since launch is currently 67,929,999 units, followed by the Wii at 33,394,311 units, and the PlayStation 3 at 19,976,325 units.

"Third-party sales for the Xbox 360 since the launch of the Wii and PS3 is 54,065,728 units, still almost double the Wii's 33,394,311 units."

On top of that, the company claims that it's actually selling more third-party titles per console sold than Nintendo, which it believes, shows its success in the space.

"No matter how you slice it, the Wii third-party game story is not a pretty one," David Dennis, group manager of corporate PR at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, said in response to his company's report.

So which company is right? Well, it looks like they're both right in their own special way.… Read more

The video game industry had better thank its lucky stars that hard-core gamers do what they do.

According to a report issued Monday morning by industry analyst firm, The NPD Group, the most active group of players, which it termed "extreme gamers," devote more than a full-time job's work week to their avocation. But they don't get insurance benefits for their efforts.

Rather, NPD's "Games Segmentation 2008" report explained, extreme gamers put in an average of 45 hours a week playing games, and, even better--for the video game industry's coffers--bought a whopping 24 titles in the last three months.

True, these committed gamers make up just 3 percent of the 174 million that NPD said play on PCs or Macs or dedicated video game machines. Still, that means 5.22 million people out there are putting in serious amounts of time gaming away. And if you stop and think about the dollars they're spending, if they're buying 24 games every three months, it's kind of breathtaking.

The NPD report identified seven different segments of gamers, including our extreme friends. The others include 9 percent who are "avid PC gamers," 17 percent who are console gamers, 14 percent who are online PC gamers, 15 percent who are offline PC gamers, 22 percent who are "young heavy gamers" and 20 percent who are "secondary" gamers. … Read more

We got a chance to sit down with the new Prince of Persia game from Ubisoft Montreal last night at the company's New York showcase. And now we have a much better idea of what we can expect this time around, including the story of the game and the role our new female companion Elika will play.

First off, you can forget most of what you already know about the Prince of Persia series. It was made very clear to us that this new Prince game is a huge departure from what we're used to. Most apparent is the brand new art style in the game. We don't want to call it cel-shaded, but it definitely borrows a few components from that technique. Up close, the details on the Prince and Elika are astonishing, as are those in the enormous environments you'll be playing inside.… Read more

IBM is cutting pay for workers at chip manufacturing plants in New York and Vermont. This comes on the heels of job cuts at the Vermont facility.

Some shift workers at IBM's semiconductor plant in Essex Junction, Vt., will see net pay reductions of up to 10 percent in early 2009, said Jeff Couture, an IBM spokesperson.

In effect, a 20 percent premium for shift workers is being eliminated, according to Couture. To mitigate employee earnings losses, IBM is making a one-time base pay increase, he added. However, even with this increase, the "net for employees will range … Read more

Over at our sister site, Gamespot, Wednesday, the eagle-eyed Guy Cocker noticed that Rockstar Games has officially announced its mega-hit, Grand Theft Auto IV, is coming to the PC.

Originally available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the game, which had sold more than 8.5 million copies through early June, will be available on PCs--though not Macs, apparently--on November 18 in North America and on November 21 in Europe.

This is a big move for Rockstar Games because it opens up GTA IV to an even bigger audience than could already play it. And that likely means many more … Read more

Check out the latest Digital Home video where I ask a simple question: is killing avatars OK?