Video Game Industry Thread: done for September, use the next thread

Warlock82

Well that's a shame. They do kind of have a lot of space devoted to CDs though. I hope DVDs don't get screwed in favor of Bluray. I noticed their last couple ads were unusually lacking in DVDs and pictured many blurays prominently, probably a subtle hint that they might start phasing them out soon

The Dude With Herpes

Most of the Best Buys near me could lose some DVD floor space and not miss anything for it. The one nearest to me has such a bloated DVD section that there's no way they could possibly sell any amount of that crap on a regular basis.

And they've been shrinking their CD sections constantly for years.

However, at the same time, of all the best buys near me, I can only think of one that has the CD/DVD sections even near the video game section to cut out space for Kinect. Most of them are literally on different sides of the store.

Warlock82

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

Most of the Best Buys near me could lose some DVD floor space and not miss anything for it. The one nearest to me has such a bloated DVD section that there's no way they could possibly sell any amount of that crap on a regular basis.

And they've been shrinking their CD sections constantly for years.

However, at the same time, of all the best buys near me, I can only think of one that has the CD/DVD sections even near the video game section to cut out space for Kinect. Most of them are literally on different sides of the store.

They would re-arrange a large portion of the store which would give them room most likely.

Anyways, I've noticed the Best Buy near here has been slowly absorbing the CD section with the movie section. New Releases are now taking up one of the previous CD shelves. I suspect to save space they'd end up essentially combining the two once they've reduced inventory.

Threepio

There used to be money in catalogue media. There is not, any longer. The money to be made in media remains in new releases. Those demos will absolutely make more profit for the stores than CDs because both Microsoft and Sony are paying large amounts PER STORE for the square footage. The vendor funding for those spaces will dwarf whatever margin might have been produced by those CDs.

Every inch of the store that you see, every inch of any flyer, and most of the space on the website is bought and paid for. If you get an email from a retailer about a pre-order program? It was paid for by the vendor. Midnight openings? Paid for. Free chotchkes? Paid for.

You won't see new release Blu-ray go anywhere for while as everyone's locked in a race to the bottom for volume; that volume justifies the ad spend for future titles.

The whole thing is insular to the point of ridicule, but money drives it every step of the way and nobody wants to get off the wagon. Why would we? It's paying a lot of salaries.

Henroid

I bet it's Ubisoft that's pushing out the TV ad tonight.

Darian

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

However, at the same time, of all the best buys near me, I can only think of one that has the CD/DVD sections even near the video game section to cut out space for Kinect. Most of them are literally on different sides of the store.

My local Best Buy has recently moved everything around - games are now right at the front, where CDs used to be.

Couscous

The announcement of annunciation?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation
Kaz to give birth to our savior!

Capt Howdy

Warlock82 wrote: »

Well that's a shame. They do kind of have a lot of space devoted to CDs though. I hope DVDs don't get screwed in favor of Bluray. I noticed their last couple ads were unusually lacking in DVDs and pictured many blurays prominently, probably a subtle hint that they might start phasing them out soon

They said CD and DVD for a reason. 8-) Blu-ray is taking that space.

Time to die DVD! Get your ass in the thrift shop with Beta and VHS. And 8 tracks.

Cameron_Talley

I guess I'll just have to buy my DVDs on Amazon, then, since It will be years before I get a Blu-Ray player...

Henroid

Best Buy is actually making a smart business move, I think. Music is still transitioning to being digital distribution for the most part, and someone has to start removing space that was once for CDs to make room for other products.

As for the DVD to Blu-Ray thing, I'm worried about how the jump is going to be handled. I think this past month has been the first batch of combo packs where both formats are packed in. One of these days, not soon, it'll be Blu-Ray exclusively. Question is, who gets to make the call on when to stop producing DVDs and switch to Blu-Ray?

Blue map

Does anyone know what the Summer of Arcade sales figures are?

Ketar

Henroid wrote: »

Best Buy is actually making a smart business move, I think. Music is still transitioning to being digital distribution for the most part, and someone has to start removing space that was once for CDs to make room for other products.

As for the DVD to Blu-Ray thing, I'm worried about how the jump is going to be handled. I think this past month has been the first batch of combo packs where both formats are packed in. One of these days, not soon, it'll be Blu-Ray exclusively. Question is, who gets to make the call on when to stop producing DVDs and switch to Blu-Ray?

Huh?

Henroid

Iron Man 2 and some other film that came out are coming out in some sort of combo DVD + Blu-Ray packs. Saw the Iron Man 2 ones at Wal-Mart. It's still out as just DVD as well. Just noting the transition for what format is standard has started.

Santa Claustrophobia

cooljammer00 wrote: »

CDs, maybe. But removing the DVD/Blu-Ray racks?

What difference does it make, their in-store selection is shit anyway. Anybody who gives a damn buys from Amazon or something.

Henroid

Doesn't Best Buy also do that thing every other retail store does where you can order things on the site to be delivered to your local store and you pick it up?

I imagine they'll be pushing that on customers looking for movies from here on.

The Dude With Herpes

yeah, site to store is actually great. I use it all the time for all sorts of stores.

I don't want to waste my time driving around hoping a store has something in stock when I can just buy it and have it waiting for me in the store within an hour, assuming they have it. And if they don't most of the time it takes a day, max, for them to get it. And I'm not just talking about Best Buy. Pretty much any store with an online presence does that these days.

It's great.

Dritz

Henroid wrote: »

Iron Man 2 and some other film that came out are coming out in some sort of combo DVD + Blu-Ray packs. Saw the Iron Man 2 ones at Wal-Mart. It's still out as just DVD as well. Just noting the transition for what format is standard has started.

Disney's been doing it for years and there are a couple others here and there. Thank god because getting the digital copies onto various devices is a pain.

amnesiasoft

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

I don't want to waste my time driving around hoping a store has something in stock when I can just buy it and have it waiting for me in the store within an hour, assuming they have it. And if they don't most of the time it takes a day, max, for them to get it. And I'm not just talking about Best Buy. Pretty much any store with an online presence does that these days.

I stick to home delivery. It's less work.

The Dude With Herpes

amnesiasoft wrote: »

The Dude With Herpes wrote: »

I don't want to waste my time driving around hoping a store has something in stock when I can just buy it and have it waiting for me in the store within an hour, assuming they have it. And if they don't most of the time it takes a day, max, for them to get it. And I'm not just talking about Best Buy. Pretty much any store with an online presence does that these days.

I stick to home delivery. It's less work.

Maybe if you have competent delivery services/drivers in your area.

A quick drive to the store is far less work than dealing with some dumbass customer service rep for UPS/Fedex/Ontrac who typically tell me to call amazon/gamestop/newegg/etc, who usually say "uh, no, call the delivery company".

I still get plenty of things delivered, don't get me wrong. But if I want something now, I'll do site to store.

Beltaine

My local Best Buy has a HUGE GINOURMOUS anime DVD section.

They can't make THAT many sales from that section to justify it being so huge.

I almost always browse just to make note of what looks cool and come home and order it on the cheap online elsewhere.

Couscous

Welcome to the Jungle, we got fun and game, we got anything you want.
http://gizmodo.com/5655371/exclusive-first-photo-of-jungle-panasonics-portable-online-gaming-system

This is Jungle. It's the first portable gaming console designed exclusively for online gaming and MMORPGs. And it's from the company who gave us the 3DO nearly 20 years ago.

Sure, the PSP and Nintendo DS have online multiplayer gaming, but it's not the core of what they do. That's why Jungle seems more like a tiny PC, with a full QWERTY keyboard and a touchpad along with the d-pad and shoulder buttons you'd expect in a tiny gaming console—so you can take online games from the PC with you.

In case you're not getting it, let me spell out the potential of this device: It could enable MMORPG addicts leave their apartments for the first time in years. So get ready to see that cousin of yours. Might want to have some sunscreen waiting for him.

The Jungle looks like almost like the original Game Boy Advance, but bulkier and more rugged, designed to withstand a hail of gunfire. And turned into a clamshell. It is not a dainty device. The heft is cradling a high definition screen so good, a test gamer who got to see it at PAX told us, "The screen resolution is bananas. Everyone was freaking out about it." It's not confirmed what kind of guts are powering it, but it follows that the silicon's gotta be substantial to push decent-looking games on that kind of screen. (And push video out through the HDMI port that the device is rumored to have.) Wi-Fi is obvious, but if it's going to be truly play anywhere, it's hopefully got some kind of 3G powers too.

Also unconfirmed, we hear that Jungle runs a Linux OS. Which could make content tricky, since it means games will have to be ported over—you won't be able to just load up World of Warcraft and be on your way, goldfarming while you're in line at Starbucks, since WoW doesn't run on Linux. It's gonna require partnerships and ports, to say the least, and this thing is going to live and die on the content it's got. Or, it's gotta run games in a browser.

The screen and processor point to something pricey, as high as $400 depending on what other capabilities it has, but it won't sell unless it's around $200 or lower—which is where a carrier partnership, delivering 3G and subsidized pricing would make pricing interesting.

It would take a slightly crazy company to launch something this ballsy—a not-twee, dedicated online gaming machine in a world where you can play a damn good rendition Street Fighter IV on an iPhone—so it's being designed by Panasonic Cloud Entertainment, a tiny(ish) startup company uber-Japanese mega-corporation Panasonic's planted in Silicon Valley. But if online gaming titan Zynga and its ripoffwares can emerge as its own juggernaut from under the teet of Facebook, maybe this thing can work too. Depending on how much it costs and what kind of games it's got, anyway.

Personally, I'd love to play some Team Fortress 2 while sitting in the park, watching dogs bounce themselves stupid in the dogrun.

It is fucking doomed.

Cade

*Snort*

Henroid

Dritz wrote: »

Henroid wrote: »

Iron Man 2 and some other film that came out are coming out in some sort of combo DVD + Blu-Ray packs. Saw the Iron Man 2 ones at Wal-Mart. It's still out as just DVD as well. Just noting the transition for what format is standard has started.

Disney's been doing it for years and there are a couple others here and there. Thank god because getting the digital copies onto various devices is a pain.

But Disney hasn't been making a point of it on television ads. At least, not 'til Beauty and the Beast stuff started recently. That ad, and the Iron Man 2 one, are REALLY pushing the point that you can get the DVD and Blu-Ray at the same time.

cooljammer00

Was that the thing?

Couscous

Cade wrote: »

*Snort*

Let anybody who thinks this will do well speak now or forever hold his peace.

Spoit

Henroid wrote: »

Doesn't Best Buy also do that thing every other retail store does where you can order things on the site to be delivered to your local store and you pick it up?

I imagine they'll be pushing that on customers looking for movies from here on.

I thought that that worked by them just grabbing it off the shelf and holding it for you, not actually shipping it to the stores?

The Wolfman

They better release another picture, with something else to give a better sense of scale. Because from what I can see from that picture, that "keyboard" looks like they're made up of tic-tacs. That have been cut in half. I wouldn't want to type 2 words on that thing, much less play an actual MMO.

Couscous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtsq99DPSoQ&feature=player_embedded
Come on.

ProtoSound

Couscous wrote: »

Cade wrote: »

*Snort*

Let anybody who thinks this will do well speak now or forever hold his peace.

I'll wait and see for the software lineup before I'll make a call.

Henroid

Adding my annotations. Watch for the colored text!

Couscous wrote: »

Welcome to the Jungle, we got fun and game, we got anything you want.
http://gizmodo.com/5655371/exclusive-first-photo-of-jungle-panasonics-portable-online-gaming-system

This is Jungle. It's the first portable gaming console designed exclusively for online gaming and MMORPGs. And it's from the company who gave us the 3DO nearly 20 years ago (DOOMED).

Sure, the PSP and Nintendo DS have online multiplayer gaming, but it's not the core of what they do. That's why Jungle seems more like a tiny PC, with a full QWERTY keyboard and a touchpad (DOOMED) along with the d-pad and shoulder buttons (AWKWARD) you'd expect in a tiny gaming console—so you can take online games from the PC with you.

In case you're not getting it, let me spell out the potential of this device: It could enable MMORPG addicts leave their apartments for the first time in years (this actually sounds alright). So get ready to see that cousin of yours. Might want to have some sunscreen waiting for him. (DOOMED)

The Jungle looks like almost like the original Game Boy Advance (the fuck?), but bulkier and more rugged, designed to withstand a hail of gunfire. And turned into a clamshell. It is not a dainty device. The heft is cradling a high definition screen so good, a test gamer who got to see it at PAX told us, "The screen resolution is bananas. Everyone was freaking out about it." (fishing for the best compliment to the system says I) It's not confirmed what kind of guts are powering it, but it follows that the silicon's gotta be substantial to push decent-looking games on that kind of screen. (And push video out through the HDMI port that the device is rumored to have.) Wi-Fi is obvious, but if it's going to be truly play anywhere, it's hopefully got some kind of 3G powers too.

Also unconfirmed, we hear that Jungle runs a Linux OS. Which could make content tricky, since it means games will have to be ported over—you won't be able to just load up World of Warcraft and be on your way, goldfarming while you're in line at Starbucks, since WoW doesn't run on Linux (DOOMED). It's gonna require partnerships and ports, to say the least, and this thing is going to live and die on the content it's got. Or, it's gotta run games in a browser.

The screen and processor point to something pricey, as high as $400 (DOOMED, get a netbook) depending on what other capabilities it has, but it won't sell unless it's around $200 or lower—which is where a carrier partnership, delivering 3G and subsidized pricing would make pricing interesting.

It would take a slightly crazy company to launch something this ballsy—a not-twee, dedicated online gaming machine in a world where you can play a damn good rendition Street Fighter IV on an iPhone—so it's being designed by Panasonic Cloud Entertainment, a tiny(ish) startup company uber-Japanese mega-corporation Panasonic's planted in Silicon Valley. But if online gaming titan Zynga and its ripoffwares can emerge as its own juggernaut from under the teet of Facebook, maybe this thing can work too. Depending on how much it costs and what kind of games it's got, anyway.

Personally, I'd love to play some Team Fortress 2 while sitting in the park, watching dogs bounce themselves stupid in the dogrun.

It is fucking doomed.

Couscous

The Wolfman wrote: »

They better release another picture, with something else to give a better sense of scale. Because from what I can see from that picture, that "keyboard" looks like they're made up of tic-tacs. That have been cut in half. I wouldn't want to type 2 words on that thing, much less play an actual MMO.

It looks like a chiclet keyboard.

Outside of maybe two people, who the fuck wants to play MMOs on a handheld?

Dox the PI

It doesn't run wow?

Who the hell is going to buy it then?

Maddoc

Nobody is going to buy a portable gaming device with a paid G3 plan, and then also pay on top of that to play MMOs with dual analog sticks and a very tiny keyboard.

Not to mention someone needs to convince enough companies that this is somehow a good idea, for them to port their software over.

cooljammer00

If it can't run Jungler, I'll be pissed.

Henroid

The Linux thing is funny as fuck to me. What that tells me is that both Apple and Microsoft turned away from the idea, but the guys behind this were so dedicated that they had to have something.

Edit - And really, Apple wouldn't do it unless it was a device they're making so forget them anyway; MS though, that's where the hurt comes. As noted, it's the compatibility thing.

The Wolfman

Well according to that video, I guess their "killer app" is a Battlestar Galactica MMO.

Uh... yeah...

Henroid

The Wolfman wrote: »

Well according to that video, I guess their "killer app" is a Battlestar Galactica MMO.

Uh... yeah...

Oh my God, for serious? I didn't know they were making that.

Wish I could see the video, sounds like I'm missing out!

Couscous

Panasonic just felt the need to fail again at making a decent gaming platform.

Couscous

http://kotaku.com/5655580/the-jungle-the-official-info-on-panasonics-new-online-handheld

Panasonic's new portable online games machine, The Jungle, is out of the bag and now 100% official. What's the company line on the handheld designed exclusively for online gaming and MMORPGs?

The Jungle's official web site calls it a "new mobile device concept designed specifically for online gamers," a "mean little machine features a kick ass display, touch pad, keyboard, and other gaming controls," they claim.

What's it for? Well, The Jungle will someday be able to play a mix of "content" and "experiences." In real world speak, that means The Jungle will at least be compatible with the browser-based MMO from SyFy and BigPoint, Battlestar Galactica Online. The new platform's web site also makes a couple references to free-to-play browser game RuneScape as well, so don't be surprised if Jagex's fantasy MMORPG announced at some point.

The Jungle's creators say they're "working with leading online game developers to create some exciting new content." Sure sounds like The Jungle will be able to play many browser-based MMOs and may have the ability to serve as your on-the-go Farmville player, but probably isn't up to the task of running World of Warcraft remotely.

The platform holder is also working with video game web site Machinima.com on a "hilarious" new show call Online Underground, which looks to feature the platform's cartoon mascots delivering "news and information in the world of online gaming."

No date has been specified for The Jungle.

*Points* HA HA

http://welcometo.thejungle.com/

Henroid

Another problem with this is mixed messaging / purpose. They tout the MMO's-on-the-move thing, which can be achieved with laptops (maybe even netbooks), but then the device is built to play like regular handheld games, only it's clunky as hell.