Gamers spend most gaming time online via Xbox 360
According to a new NPD report, gamers spend the most time online via the Xbox 360 compared to rival consoles, averaging 7.3 hours per week.
PC gamers came in second at 6.6 hours per week, and the PS3 came third at 5.8 hours per week.
Overall, hours spent weekly on online games has increased 10 percent year-on-year, from 7.3 hours in 2008 to 8 hours in 2009.
Additionally, 20 percent of all games bought by online gamers were digital downloads, up from 19 percent in 2008.
Adds NPD Group industry analyst Anita Frazier: “The installed base of video game systems continues to grow, the platforms available to play games continue to expand and the options for content acquisition have never been greater, especially online. And yet, effective monetization of many forms of online gaming continues to be a topic of much debate and discussion within the industry.”
The data was collected from 18,872 online gamers.
Global Gaming Factory tried to buy Mininova, as well
Last year, The Pirate Bay infamously got “purchased” by little known company Global Gaming Factory for $7.8 million, however the deal never went through.
It appears, (via TF), that GGF had an even more ambitious offer in the works, 20 million euro for giant torrent indexer Mininova.
Today, it was revealed, from sources close to GGF and Mininova including CEO Hans Pandeya, that a deal was set in place for “no less than 20 million euros,” but fell through when Mininova lost its court appeal in the case brought against it by anti-piracy agency BREIN.
“I’m going to buy Mininova too and eliminate all the competition,” Pandeya had told one-time partner Wayne Rosso before the appeal fell through. Clearly however, Pandeya could not have afforded Mininova, as he couldn’t afford Pirate Bay.
Component makers deny iPad delay rumors
A couple of days ago we reported that iPad manufacturer Foxconn was having an “unspecified production problem,” and there might be shortages of the tablet in March.
The report came from an investor note by Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, who said Apple was hoping to ship 1 million, but might only have 300,000 available by launch in late March. Misek even said launch could be pushed back until mid-April, until 1 million units were available.
Today, Taiwanese component makers have denied those rumors, saying their supplies are on schedule.
“Our supplies are on schedule and Foxconn should be able to ship 600,000-700,000 iPads in March and one million units in April,” reads the Digitimes report.
They also do not expect Apple to delay the launch.
Topeka, Kansas gets renamed ‘Google, Kansas’
Topeka, Kansas mayor Bill Bunten has announced today that the city will temporarily be renamed Google, in an effort to get the search giant to bring their proposed 1000Mbit free Internet to the city, via the “Fiber for Communities” program.
“It’s just fun. We’re having a good time of it,” says Bunten. “There’s a lot of good things that are going on in our city.”
Cities were given a March 26th deadline to explain to Google why they are interested in the broadband, and Google will then choose a couple of cities for the pilot project, with no more than 500,000 in population total.
When asked if they would make the name permanent if Google invested in them, Bunten laughed.
“Oh, heavens no, Topeka? We are very proud of our city and Topeka is an Indian word which means ‘a good place to grow potatoes.’ We’re not going to change that.”
RealNetworks settles with Hollywood studios over RealDVD ripping software
RealNetworks has announced that they have settled their outstanding lawsuits with the major Hollywood studios over their Real DVD ripping software, effectively killing the product off after making just 2700 sales.
Additionally, Real will pay $4.5 million to pay off the legal costs of the litigation.
“We are pleased to put this litigation behind us,” adds Bob Kimball, president and acting CEO for Real. “This is another step toward fulfilling our commitment to simplify our company and focus on our core businesses. Until this dispute, Real had always enjoyed a productive working relationship with Hollywood. With this litigation resolved, I hope that in the future we can find mutually beneficial ways to use Real technology to bring Hollywood’s great work to consumers.”
The settlement also terms a permanent injunction that will block RealDVD and similar technologies forever from sale in the US or abroad.
The $30 USD software application allowed users to make a copy of their DVDs and it play it back on their PCs, allowing for, what Real thought, were legal backups. Clearly, Hollywood did not agree, despite the fact that Real’s backups also included DRM to stop sharing of the backups.
New ‘Splinter Cell’ title will include Ubisoft ‘always connected’ DRM, as well
Last month we reported that Ubisoft had begun implementing a new DRM scheme into their PC games, making it so gamers must be always connected to the Internet, or not be able to play the game. If you are ever disconnected from the Internet, you are forced back to the main menu, losing any progress you made between save points.
Today, Softpedia is reporting that the DRM scheme has been confirmed for Splinter Cell: Conviction, Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic, Assassin’s Creed 2, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and the all new Ghost Recon games.
Says an Ubisoft rep: “It’s hard for us to say, yes, from now until the day that we all die all of our games are going to include this but most will.”
I can only imagine how many would-be buyers are going to be pushed to the cracked, pirated versions that Ubisoft is so desperately trying to curb.
Chrome takes more browser market share from IE, FF
BusinessInsider has posted their latest “Chart of the day,” and today’s shows how quickly Google’s Chrome browser is taking market share from rivals Internet Explorer and Firefox.
The fast, popular browser, which has been out for 18 months and has no marketing campaign, has taken about 7 percent of the market, according to new StatCounter figures, taking share from its rivals.
In terms of growth, Chrome has grown from 4 percent in September to its current figure, while IE fell from 58 percent to 55 percent and FF fell from 31 and fractions to 31.
Safari continues to grow as well (slowly), at the expense of Opera and IE.
Apple store employees to start iPad sales training on March 10th
The Examiner has reported today, and confirmed that Apple store employees will receive the iPad tablet for sales training starting March 10th.
The report says the date is confirmed by a manager in SoCal that wishes to remain anonymous.
Although the rest of the facts are not confirmed, the anticipated release date is set for March 26th, with 3G versions not available until mid-April at the least.
Commercials for the device will begin airing nationwide on March 15th, with e-reader capabilities being “emphasized.”
Additionally, anyone who camps outside Apple Stores for the launch with receive “a special gift,” although it is unclear whether that will be a gift card, a free e-book or something else.
Judge tosses out Windows XP downgrading suit
In February 2009, LA resident Emma Alvarado filed a lawsuit against Microsoft accusing the software giant of profiting from consumers downgrading from Windows Vista back to XP.
Alvarado’s complaint says Microsoft forced customers to first purchase the new operating system, before they could downgrade to the operating system they really wanted, XP.
The case was tossed out this week.
Writes U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman: “Nowhere does she allege that she paid to downgrade or that she did not receive a copy of Vista when she freely chose to purchase her new computer with that software. That she chose to downgrade to XP without extra cost does not demonstrate that Microsoft retained a benefit without giving value. Nor does the fact that she chooses to use only one version nullify the fact that Microsoft gave her value for the bargain.” If anything, “it appears that Plaintiff obtained two versions of Microsoft’s operating software for the price of one,” Pechman continued.
“We’re pleased the Court agreed that Plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a viable claim and dismissed it in its entirety,” Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz responded.
Alvarado claimed she had to pay a $59.25 fee to downgrade from Vista to XP, although Microsoft does not charge such fees. Those fees are imposed by computer makers, such as Lenovo, which charged Alvarado for the downgrade. Lenovo was not named in the suit.
Viacom pulls popular shows from Hulu
Hulu, one of the most popular online video streaming sites in the United States, had some bad news to note today, reporting that Viacom has pulled two of its most popular shows, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.”
“The Daily Show” is the third most-watched show on the site, and Colbert’s show usually ranks in the top 7.
Viacom does say that they will not be completely getting out of the streaming business, however.
Reads the press release:
Comedy Central has made “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” available to consumers through Hulu since June 2008. Although that agreement has concluded, full-length episodes of each show will remain available at TheDailyShow.com and ColbertNation.com, respectively.
Hulu was one of the many digital distribution partners we’ve worked with over the past few years to add new outlets for our valuable and powerful content and to help drive the businesses of our partners. We had a great experience with Hulu, and we hope to work with its team again in the future.
Hulu has around 44 million monthly visitors.
