Xbox 360 claims best attach rate for now
According to Gamasutra, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 currently has a higher attach rate (tie rate, attachment rate etc.) than the Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles. This metric measures, on average, the number of games sold per console. It’s obviously flawed for several reasons, for example because it means a boost in hardware sales could mean a lower tie rate for a period of time (and a boost in hardware sales is hardly a bad thing?)
Nevertheless, it is used in the industry as a measure of a console’s performance in the market overall. More interesting than the overall tie rate is the difference specifically in the sales of first and third-party games. Nintendo, for example, is expected to have a higher tie rate for 1st party games compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Overall, the PS3 console has an attach rate of 5.3, the Nintendo Wii has an attach rate of 5.5 and the Xbox 360’s rate stands at 6.6. For third party titles, the Xbox 360’s attach rate is 5.2, compared to the PS3’s 4.4 and Wii’s 3.1. As for first-party software, the Wii console has a tie rate of 2.4, compared to Xbox 360’s 1.4 and PS3’s 0.9.
The higher rate for first-party titles for the Wii is hardly surprising. Often cross-platform titles don’t debut on the Wii console because of the hardware limitations, but both the Microsoft and Sony consoles are free to fight over sales of a lot of the same game titles.
Samsung tops U.S. cellphone market
Research firm Strategy Analytics reported on Friday that Samsung has become the largest mobile phone vendor in the United States based on third quarter results. Despite global economic woes, the mobile phone market in the United States actually grew 6.2% from the same quarter of 2007, adding up to 47.4 million handsets in the quarter. South Korean consumer electronics vendor Samsung nabbed the largest share of the market at 22.4%.
Following Samsung (but still behind Motorola) was its rival also from South Korea, LG Electronics, which commanded an impressive 20.5% share of the U.S. market during the third quarter. In the previous year, Motorola had the top spot in the market with a 32.7% share, which fell dramatically to 21.1% in the same period of this year.
Motorola has warned that its fourth quarter results will also miss expectations, and that its mobile phone business will continue to weaken during the first half of 2009. Nokia took 8.4% of the U.S. market during the quarter which was up from levels seen earlier this year. Regardless, Nokia sells more handsets than Samsung, Motorola and LG Electronics combined globally, with a staggering 38% global market share.
Pioneer launches LX01BD Blu-ray home cinema system
Pioneer has introduced its new LX01BD Blu-ray Disc home cinema system, complimenting the HD video of Blu-ray with “exclusive audio technologies”. Sporting a distinctive and compact three-dimensional speaker design, it is ideal for Pioneer’s line up of Full HD Kuro televisions. The LX01BD incorporates a profile 1.1, BonusView Blu-ray Disc player that opens up a wide range of high definition entertainment options.
To provide lifelike motion picture, it provides HDMI Deep Colour support, which enables a wide range of colour tones and smooth transitions. The LX01BD has an integrated 5.1 channel amplifier and comes with compact dodecahedron technology derived satellite speakers that generate sound fields in all directions.
The LX01BD is capable of processing the latest audio formats DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD and will reproduce every note in high definition studio quality. Pioneer’s proprietary Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System (MCACC) analyzes the sound characteristics of the listening room and calibrates the system accordingly, while potential standing waves are effectively minimized, using Standing Wave Control.
Pioneer’s LX Series component/systems, are the perfect visual complement for the KURO Flat screen TVs. And that’s no different for the LX01BD, which shares the KURO plasma’s minimalist aesthetics, elegant lines and characteristic piano black finish. The system’s aluminium top plate makes a high-end statement and provides great durability.
VSO ConvertXtoDVD updated to v3.2.3.81
VSO Software’s DVD conversion tool has been updated yet again, with the latest version at v3.2.3.81. The update addresses a few bugs with the program. Two bugs concerning subtitles were fixed; one which led to no subtitle frames being encoded and another that produced incorrect data in IFO files if the subtitle files selected were longer than the duration of the video content. Additionally, support for .MTS files was added.
Here is the changelog that we got.
0002362: [Bug] No subtitle frames are encoded (wesson)
0002357: [Feature Request] add .MTS file extension support ( sony Sony HDR-TG3E )
0002213: [Bug] Wrong timer in VTS_0x_0.IFO when adding longer subtitles than movie duration (wesson)
0002353: [Bug] v3.2.2.78 ßeta: Access Violation when trying to access the Merge Window
postproc.dll removed as unused
new burning SDK 3.0.1
Nintendo shows off European console sales figures
According to Nintendo’s 2008 financial results briefing, the Wii gaming console was top seller in Europe, by far, for the year, shifting over 10.4 million units.
In second place was the Sony PlayStation 3 followed closely by the Microsoft Xbox 360.
The Wii had its best month in April when 180,000 units were sold. Its rivals each sold in the vicinity of 90,000 each for the same period.
The data did show what has been clear in North America and Japan though, that the recent price cuts on the Xbox 360 have helped it to surpass the PS3 for September and October. The sales still pale in comparison to Wii sales however, which remain strong.
For the handheld race, the DS took a big lead over its rival, the Sony PSP. At its peak, in July, the DS sold 225,000 units while the PSP sold only 50,000 for the same period.
MySpace developing portable media player?
According to co-founder Chris DeWolfe, MySpace is considering producing its own portable media player, one that will match its extremely popular MySpace Music streaming service.
Although he would not commit to whether a device is in development, he did say it was very “possible.” For now however, the company wants to focus on its Music service which streams millions of songs, ad-subsidized of course, for free.
“If anything, we’ll be accretive to iPod sales,” DeWolfe said, speaking of the service’s linking to pay-for track. “Unless we develop a device,” he added however.
Apple’s focus however, has always been on sales of hardware and not so much on the sale of tracks or videos as the margins are very small. MySpace is interested in bringing more traffic to its pages for ad revenue.
“Little House on the Prairie” R-rated
Finnish Board of Film Classification has rated the DVD release of family drama series Little House on the Prairie banned for under 18 year-olds. The popular childrens television series got a red K-18 sticker which stands for: “The programme may be conveyed only to a person who has attained the age of 18.”
The marketing manager of Universal Pictures Finland Meri Suomela told Reuters that to save money they did not sumbit the series to the inspection. The film board charges two euros per minute for inspecting. It would have cost Universal over 18 000 euros (over $23 000) for the 202 episode series. If a film or tv-series goes uninspected it is distributed as “Unclassified. Only for persons over 18 years.”
Little House on the Prairie, which originally ran from 1974 to 1983, is shown by the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE on Sunday mornings.
YouTube to stream full major motion pictures?
According to unnamed entertainment executives talking to CNET, YouTube may be on the verge of streaming full-length major motion films on a new service.
The service would be very similar to the popular Hulu site and would let users watch ad-supported movies in a widescreen format. CNET is under the impression that YouTube is so far into negotiations that a formal launch could happen as soon as January.
The deal would mark a major turnaround for YouTube which has so far mostly refused to host video longer than a few minutes.
The service will most likely only be available via a PC web browser as most web video services insert ads using Flash which most video-enabled devices cannot load.
US Xbox 360 price cuts should be coming, says analyst
Just days after it was announced that Microsoft was slashing Xbox 360 prices across the board in Europe, leading simExchange analyst Jesse Divnich has reported that price cuts in the US are the “only feasible and economic option” if the 360 wants to combat the Sony PlayStation 3’s ongoing momentum in the console market.
“Whether there is an Xbox 360 shortage or not, it is clear that the PS3 has gained considerable ground on its rival,” he said, adding that the PS3’s price cuts and the victory of Blu-ray have added strong gains for the console. “Given these past two months and the momentum that the PS3 has gained, Microsoft must react quickly as the PS3’s momentum will only get stronger until Microsoft reacts.”
The new price cuts in Europe have made the console war much more competitive as the Xbox 360 Arcade is now cheaper than the rival Nintendo Wii and half the price of the PS3.
“In the short-term, Microsoft’s only feasible and economical option is to look at reducing its hardware price in North America to at least slow down the PS3’s momentum until it can implement more long-term solutions to winning the next-generation console war,” he finished.
Upon hearing the report, Microsoft VP of Interactive and Entertainment Chris Lewis added that the price cut would “open up the mass-market floodgates.”
“We enjoy 42 per cent of that revenue share Right now in this generation,” he detailed. “That’s a key milestone for us to have met and surpassed. We’re also attaching just a little bit over seven games for every console – considerably ahead of where we stand with our competition.”
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Apple denies Beatles deal with iTunes
Despite widespread rumors to the contrary, Apple has denied all claims that the Beatles catalog is set to be made available through the company’s iTunes platform. A spokesman even called the claim “unsubstantiated speculation.”
The rumors claimed that sources close to Sir Paul McCartney had confirmed that a deal had been made for the Beatles catalog to become available through iTunes in a “few months” but has so far been denied by EMI and Apple Corps, the Beatles’ own label.
The Beatles’ catalog, certain to be a gigantic hit when it becomes digital, has been delayed for years over a simple trademark dispute between Apple Inc. and the label Apple Corps.. The case was resolved in early 2007 and many had hoped that would be the last hurdle.
McCartney himself added fuel to the fire last year when he said in an interview that the catalog becoming digital was inevitable. “It’s down to fine-tuning, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be happening next year, 2008.”
