MCV has been lead to believe that reports citing a $149 RRP (£103)
for Microsoft’s Project Natal are accurate.
The number was
reported on Edge Online this afternoon, which credtited the information to a ‘trusted
source’. Edge also claims that natal will be bundled with the Xbox 360
Arcade for $299 (£207).
The numbers
are far in excess of what MCV had benn lead to believe late last year when we reported that the
device would retail for around £50, suggesting that there has been a
change of strategy at Microsoft.
In addition to all of this, CVG
has it on good authority that Microsoft has now decided on the final
branding for Natal, with a key retail partner having been already given
the nod to get to work on POS for carrying the still secret name –
which, incidentally, is set to be revealed at E3.
SEATTLE — Apple Inc shot
past Microsoft Corp as the world's biggest tech company based on market
value on Wednesday, the latest milestone in the resurgence of the maker
of the iPhone, which nearly went out of business in the 1990s. Apple's
shares rose as much 2.8 percent on Nasdaq on Wednesday, as Microsoft
shares floundered, briefly pushing its market value above $229 billion,
ahead of its longtime rival.
Both stocks ended down after a
late-day sell-off, but Apple emerged ahead with a market value of about
$222 billion, compared with Microsoft's $219 billion, according to
Reuters data. Apple shares closed down 0.4 percent at $244.11 on
Nasdaq, while Microsoft fell 4 percent to a seven-month low of $25.01. Shares of Apple are worth more than 10 times what they were 10 years
ago, as it has profited from revolutionizing consumer electronic... Read more »
Research firm makes predictions based on PS3's recent global market
share increase to 31%
Sony has been riding the momentum train ever since last Fall when the
Slim PS3 was released onto the market with a reduced price of $299.
Everything from the great Kevin Butler commercials to the stellar
software line up of titles such as Uncharted 2 and God of War 3 has only
further proven that Sony is here to stay. So it should come as no
surprise that the PS3's market share has been increasing steadily as it
closes in on Microsoft's console share.
A recent report by Strategy Analytics has shown that PS3 global
market share has increased to 31% in the first quarter of 2010. The
latest report from the research firm also foresees that the PS3's global
shares this year will reach 14 million with Nintendo at 17.5 million
and the Xbox 360 at 10... Read more »
Everyone knows that the three big players in gaming hardware: Nintendo,
Sony, and Microsoft, all go about exclusives differently. In addition
to gradual changes in the way each hardware company acquires or
cultivates exclusives, the landscape of the industry has been changing
rapidly with once "loyal” companies like Bungie and Insomniac Games both
signing major third-party deals that will have each appearing on
multiple platforms for the first time. Bungie’s deal is long term and
will have them publishing a new IP across multiple platforms for the
next ten years. Insomniac’s deal is much shorter and only for one title.
This short-term deal has us wondering if they’ll be available to
develop a second title for other platforms.
The reason for the
curiosity should be obvious to those following Sony Computer
Entertainment. Sony’s strategy with exclusives has been both successful
and economica... Read more »
Things are happening quickly in this industry and competition is
becoming stiff. Games are becoming more expensive to develop and
independent studios, big and small are looking for partners to help fund
their "big” projects while retaining the Intellectual Property and at
the same time reach a wider audience.
There will be a lot of surprises in the future, and many third party
titles gamers thought would have remained exclusive will eventually end
up going multiplatform. Think Mass Effect, Splinter Cell: Conviction
and even Gears of War. Just like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid
amongst others did, they too will find their way on other consoles.
THQ has just announced the creation of a new Partners Program dubbed
THQ Partners, which operates the same as EA Partners: forge
relationships with developers to fund and publish their products. It’s a
s... Read more »
