by Yukari Iwatani Kane, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Videogame publishers, pushing to expand their businesses, are making games that target girls and women a new industry battleground.
This holiday season, more games than ever are being geared toward female players. Electronic Arts Inc. is releasing the latest installment of its “Littlest Pet Shop” game for young girls and introducing a series of fashion-themed games called “Charm Girls Club” for older girls later this month.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
U.S. sales of video game hardware, software and accessories were down 23 percent in May to $863.3 million, according to market research firm NPD. It was the first month with sales under $1 billion since August 2007.
US consumers are more likely to have played video games over the last six months than gone out to see a movie, though neither activity is as popular as listening to music.
by Todd Bishop, Co-Founder and Managing Editor, TechFlash
The Xbox 360’s exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV add-on, “The Lost and Damned,” debuted yesterday to generally positive reviews. That’s good news for Microsoft–especially considering how much the company paid for rights to the extra downloadable episode. Seth Schiesel’s New York Times review gives you a good sense of what $25 million buys a console company these days.
Jenova Chen and thatgamecompany have created a delightful videogame-meets-art title. After playing Flower to completion on the PS3, we can confirm that they have given us another game to talk about, puzzle over, and enjoy.
The media, hungry for stories, is way too quick to link gaming with violent crimes. But the data indicate that, if anything, the opposite is true: Crime has gone down during the recent explosion in videogames. Of course, none of this stops the press from piling on, and the gaming press from piling on the pile-on.
by Richard Wray and Jonathan Franklin, Communications Editor and Blogger, respectively, The Guardian
A new generation of designers and developers is putting the social element back into videogames, using online networks such as Facebook as platforms to turn people from across the world into poker aces, boffins and the proud and sometimes obsessive owners of virtual pets.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Take-Two Interactive Software, the publisher of the often controversial Grand Theft Auto, has provided guidance for its fiscal first quarter ending in January and–basically–for much of the rest of 2009 that is dramatically lower than expectations. Begs the question: What would Niko do?
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Is Electronic Arts producing games that people just don’t want to play? Because they’re sure not buying them. Countless analysts are downgrading the stock–and while many are convinced the slowdown is just EA’s problem and not prevalent in the industry, skeptics attribute most of it to the economy. Which all begs the question: Is the company vulnerable to a takeover?
by Verne Kopytoff, Staff Writer, San Francisco Chronicle
Rather than wasting their time, children who gab on Facebook or play online games are gaining valuable social skills and learning some technology basics, according to a study to be released today.
by Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Comments from Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post this morning are affecting the outlook for videogame stocks. Post cites data that indicate a drop in consumer spending in November–and he states that even though Merrill’s overall thesis is that the videogame category will remain strong, pricing pressure and the reality of the unfolding economic downturn dictate a more cautious view.
The Thukrals wanted their son, Dhruv, to go into nanotechnology. So when he told them he’d rather be a video game developer he might as well have said he wanted to join the circus. “Are you serious?” they asked.
Jack Thompson is a master of self-promotion. The Florida resident has made a career out of talking to anyone who will listen about the evils of video gaming, the violent ideas and passions that gaming puts into the minds and hearts of children, and the soulless industry that cranks out these terrible games.
Parents of videogaming children, take heart: Your kid is not destined to become an anti-social hermit who lives at home until he’s 35. In fact, a new study shows that all that game time could actually be making him a better citizen.
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