Is the video game exercise trend getting overloaded or just starting?
In video games, Nintendo starts the trends and then the copycats pile in. At some point, gamers get jaded and the trend collapses.
Nintendo made the exercise-gaming trend into a phenomenon with Wii Fit, which has sold more than 10 million copies since its launch a year ago. That’s more copies than the original Halo. Now other companies are piling into the exercise game craze as couch potatoes get off the couch. Sega announced Daisy Fuentes… Continue Reading
Sega shows off next big Olympics game, targets Wii and DSi
Sean Ratcliffe, vice president of marketing at Sega of America (pictured below), talked with us about Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, the sequel of a massively popular game which sold 10 million copies.
Sega collaborated on the game with with Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto. The game will ship on the new Wii and Nintendo DS ahead of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
VentureBeat: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Summer Games sold over… Continue Reading
Sega’s 2009 survival strategy: Publish mature-rated Wii titles and exploit Sonic brand
Sega hasn’t had the easiest time lately. Its parent company, Sega Sammy Holdings, is laying off 560 people — 18 percent of its work force — and is closing 110 arcades in Japan. But the company says it has a strategy to distinguish itself as a smaller publisher among the industry’s giants.
One of the main pillars of this plan is Mad World, a comic-style black-and-white game with lots of red blood. Rated M for mature… Continue Reading
Mario and Sonic teaming up again on the Winter Olympics
Nintendo and Sega are teaming up again to bring the Mario and Sonic characters back together in a Nintendo Wii game based on the upcoming Winter Olympics.
That’s a big deal, since the one-time rivals are collaborating on a title whose earlier version, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, sold more than 10 million copies (more than $50 million at retail) worldwide, thanks to its timing ahead of the Beijing Summer Olympics. The new title,… Continue Reading
Roundup: IBM’s good fourth quarter, more inauguration coverage, possible trouble for Intel
IBM had a good fourth quarter — The now-diversified hardware maker posted net income of $4.4 billion for last quarter, up 12 percent from Q4 of 2007. Revenue decreased just 1 percent after adjusting for currency changes. The company expects its software, services and finance businesses to fair well in the coming year. More on CNET.
President Barack Obama’s inauguration causes web traffic spike — Web infrastructure company Akamai reported millions going online looking for news coverage of… Continue Reading
Dean’s top ten family games of 2008
As always, my other top-ten games lists were chock full of the violent fare that I enjoy. But family games are big in my house too, so here’s my list of the best family games of 2008:
1. Wii Fit (Nintendo Wii) Nintendo. May 2008. Yes, this game made multiple lists, but for a good reason. It’s fun. Itgot gamers off their couches and running around in circles, jumping up and down, and trying to keep their… Continue Reading
The ten most-anticipated video games of 2009
With the new year approaching, there’s no time like the present to look ahead to what is shaping up to be another record-breaking year in the videogame business. While many big games have yet to be officially confirmed or even announced, especially from Nintendo’s tight-lipped camp, there are enough console games out there to compile this top ten list. I’m leaving out downloadable games – Take 2 Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and… Continue Reading
Game industry maverick Bernie Stolar: unplugged and worried about crappy games
Bernie Stolar, former games evangelist at Google and a veteran of many game companies, is one of those unfiltered loose cannons. He had a fireside chat on Friday with Forbes writer Mary Jane Irwin at the SD Forum games conference at Microsoft’s office in Mountain View, Calif. Stolar has been around the block. He joked about being the old guy of the game industry. But he has played a key role at Atari, Sony, Sega,… Continue Reading
Q&A: an interview with Sega’s Simon Jeffery on monkeying around with iPhone games and the Wii
Simon Jeffery is the president of Sega of America. He joined the U.S. arm of the Japanese publisher, famous for games such as Sonic the Hedgehog, in 2005 to recruit U.S. and European game developers to work with Sega on both original games and to Westernize its portfolio. Before joining Sega, Jeffery was the president of LucasArts from 2000 to 2003. We spoke about how the Japanese company is doing at its “Westernization” strategy and… Continue Reading
Nintendo sales chief Cammie Dunaway on the quest for a broader game market
Hardcore gamers threw a fit when Nintendo didn’t talk much about hardcore games at its E3 press conference in Los Angeles. But the company has bigger fish to fry, as its choice of executives suggests. Cammie Dunaway joined Nintendo of America in November 2007 as executive vice president of sales and marketing. She led off the Nintendo press conference at E3 with a chat about breaking her wrist while snowboarding and a demo of the… Continue Reading
E3 trendspotting: the triumph of music
LOS ANGELES — I just came back from the “Rock Band 2″ party at the E3 video game show. Inside the Orpheum theater, The Who belted out 40-year-old songs to the delight of the crowd of game executives and journalists. The event was the most exciting so far in a dull conference that has proved, in most respects, to be a shadow of its former glory.
As lead singer Roger Daltrey exhorted the crowd to belt… Continue Reading
3DV fleshes out gesture-based gaming plans, hires North American chief
Inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s clever wand-like game controller, gesture-recognition start-ups are coming out of the woodwork. Israel’s 3DV Systems is one of the contenders and it is showing more of its cards.
The Yokne’am, Israel company said it plans to launch a low-cost gesture-recognition camera for game purposes in 2009. And it has hired a well-known video game veteran as its general manager for the North American market. Charles Bellfield, the new hire, has worked… Continue Reading
WWDC live blogging: Next up, games on the iPhone with Sega’s Super Monkey Ball and more
Apple’s first guest on stage today at the WWDC conference is Ethan Einhorn from Sega to talk about an iPhone game: Super Monkey Ball. He says Sega created four stages from scratch in a few weeks. Now it’s cleared through 110 stages.
The game uses the iPhone as a kind of slate with tilt control. You move the iPhone horizontally, up and down, to control a rolling ball. You knock things down and roll the ball… Continue Reading