History > 2007 > USA > Videogames (II)

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Microsoft Adds ESPN Programing to Xbox

November 5, 2007
Filed at 1:04 a.m. ET
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. has added college basketball and other ESPN programming to the growing lineup of video content available for download to its Xbox 360 video game console.

Microsoft and ESPN said people can purchase complete NCAA basketball and football games, the X Games sports competitions and programs like ESPN's ''Madden Nation,'' which chronicles a competition of ''Madden NFL'' video game players, from the Xbox Live Web site.

Xbox 360 users can buy commercial-free standard-definition versions of select NCAA games for $3, and high-definition versions for $4.50, within 48 hours of the game's conclusion. ESPN TV shows, like the other TV content on the Xbox Live download site, cost $2 for standard-definition and $3 for high-def versions.

As part of the agreement, ESPN is considering ways to incorporate the Xbox Live online gaming community into its telecasts. ESPN spokesman Paul Melvin said there are no firm plans for how this will be done.

The companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal when it was announced late Sunday.

Ross Honey, a senior director of the media and entertainment group at Microsoft, said action and horror movies are popular genres for the Xbox Live audience, as are ''edgier'' animated TV shows like ''South Park.''

''At the end of the day, most of our consumers are young males,'' Honey said. ''You have a perfect match here.''

ESPN already delivers live, streaming sports footage to customers of certain broadband Internet providers.

''Delivering content through Xbox 360 is another way that we can connect fans with the sports they have such passion for,'' said Matt Murphy, senior vice president of digital video distribution for Disney and ESPN Media Networks. ESPN is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

------

On the Net:

Xbox Live: http://www.xbox.com/live

ESPN: http://espn.go.com

Microsoft Adds ESPN Programing to Xbox, NYT, 5.11.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Microsoft-Xbox-ESPN.html

Nintendo to Boost Net Support for Wii

October 10, 2007
Filed at 9:16 a.m. ET
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The New York Times

CHIBA, Japan (AP) -- Nintendo hopes to give its popular Wii game console another boost by offering support services that make it easier to connect the machine to the Internet in Japan, the company's president said Wednesday.

A network connection not only allows people to download games but also play with others online, as well as see other content and information from the Net.

Nintendo will work with Japan's top telecommunications company, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., to provide network connection services in people's homes and technical support by phone, President Satoru Iwata said. More details will be disclosed later.

Nintendo Co., the Kyoto-based manufacturer of Pokemon and Super Mario games, has scored a hit with its $250 Wii, which comes with a wandlike remote controller for mimicking the motions of fishing, golfing and other activities.

Wii and Nintendo's DS handheld machine have succeeded in drawing newcomers, including women and the elderly, to games. But more work is needed so that effort doesn't run out of steam, Iwata told reporters at a hall in this Tokyo suburb.

''People tend to get bored, and the skeptics are asking whether it's just a one-time deal,'' he said. ''We must think of the next step.''

Competition also is heating up with rivals Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. ahead of the key Christmas shopping season. Both companies in recent months have announced price cuts for their consoles.

Iwata said only about 40 percent of Wii owners in Japan have the console connected to the Net. And more games will be available as downloads from the Internet, he said.

During a media event Wednesday, Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto appeared on stage to demonstrate the ''Wii Fit,'' a game planned for December, which allows players to weigh themselves, check their balance and play fitness games.

Nintendo has chosen a different strategy from Sony and Microsoft, with their more expensive machines, and has been trying to woo novices with brain teasers, sport games and virtual pets, instead of the usual shooters and role-playing games.

Since Wii went on sale late last year, Nintendo has shipped 9.3 million units around the world, with supplies barely keeping up with demand. By the end of this fiscal year in March 2008, Wii global shipments are expected to have reached 22.3 million.

So far, Sony's 5 million PlayStation 3s, which went on sale late last year in Japan and the U.S. and in March in Europe. Microsoft has sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 machines in the last two years.

    Nintendo to Boost Net Support for Wii, NYT, 10.10.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Japan-Nintendo.html

Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church

October 7, 2007
The New York Times
By MATT RICHTEL

First the percussive sounds of sniper fire and the thrill of the kill. Then the gospel of peace.

Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent video game Halo.

The latest iteration of the immensely popular space epic, Halo 3, was released nearly two weeks ago by Microsoft and has already passed $300 million in sales.

Those buying it must be 17 years old, given it is rated M for mature audiences. But that has not prevented leaders at churches and youth centers across Protestant denominations, including evangelical churches that have cautioned against violent entertainment, from holding heavily attended Halo nights and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles so dozens of teenagers can flock around big-screen televisions and shoot it out.

The alliance of popular culture and evangelism is challenging churches much as bingo games did in the 1960s. And the question fits into a rich debate about how far churches should go to reach young people.

Far from being defensive, church leaders who support Halo — despite its “thou shalt kill” credo — celebrate it as a modern and sometimes singularly effective tool. It is crucial, they say, to reach the elusive audience of boys and young men.

Witness the basement on a recent Sunday at the Colorado Community Church in the Englewood area of Denver, where Tim Foster, 12, and Chris Graham, 14, sat in front of three TVs, locked in violent virtual combat as they navigated on-screen characters through lethal gun bursts. Tim explained the game’s allure: “It’s just fun blowing people up.”

Once they come for the games, Gregg Barbour, the youth minister of the church said, they will stay for his Christian message. “We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell,” Mr. Barbour wrote in a letter to parents at the church.

But the question arises: What price to appear relevant? Some parents, religious ethicists and pastors say that Halo may succeed at attracting youths, but that it could have a corroding influence. In providing Halo, churches are permitting access to adult-themed material that young people cannot buy on their own.

“If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it,” said James Tonkowich, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a nonprofit group that assesses denominational policies. “My own take is you can do better than that.”

Daniel R. Heimbach, a professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, believes that churches should reject Halo, in part because it associates thrill and arousal with killing.

“To justify whatever killing is involved by saying that it’s just pixels involved is an illusion,” he said.

Focus on the Family, a large evangelical organization, said it was trying to balance the game’s violent nature with its popularity and the fact that churches are using it anyway. “Internally, we’re still trying to figure out what is our official view on it,” said Lisa Anderson, a spokeswoman for the group.

There is little doubting Halo’s cultural relevance. Even as video games have grown in popularity, the Halo series stands out. The first Halo and Halo 2 sold nearly 15 million copies combined. Microsoft says that Halo 3 “is on track to become the No. 1 gaming title of all time.”

Hundreds of churches use Halo games to connect with young people, said Lane Palmer, the youth ministry specialist at the Dare 2 Share Ministry, a nonprofit organization in Arvada, Colo., that helps churches on youth issues.

“It’s very pervasive,” Mr. Palmer said, more widespread on the coasts, less so in the South, where the Southern Baptist denomination takes a more cautious approach. The organization recently sent e-mail messages to 50,000 young people about how to share their faith using Halo 3. Among the tips: use the game’s themes as the basis for a discussion about good and evil.

At Sweetwater Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., Austin Brown, 16, said, “We play Halo, take a break and have something to eat, and have a lesson,” explaining that the pastor tried to draw parallels “between God and the devil.”

Players of Halo 3 control the fate of Master Chief, a tough marine armed to the teeth who battles opponents with missiles, lasers, guns that fire spikes, energy blasters and other fantastical weapons. They can also play in teams, something the churches say allows communication and fellowship opportunities.

Complicating the debate over the appropriateness of the game as a church recruiting tool are the plot’s apocalyptic and religious overtones. The hero’s chief antagonists belong to the Covenant, a fervent religious group that welcomes the destruction of Earth as the path to their ascension.

Microsoft said Halo 3 was a “space epic” that was not intended to make specific religious references or be more broadly allegorical. Advocates of using the game as a church recruiting tool say the religious overtones are sufficiently cartoonish and largely overlooked by players.

Martial images in literature or movies popular with religious people are not new. The popular “Left Behind” series of books — it also spawned a video game — dealt with the conflict preceding the second coming of Christ. Playing Halo is “no different than going on a camping trip,” said Kedrick Kenerly, founder of Christian Gamers Online, an Internet site whose central themes are video games and religion. “It’s a way to fellowship.”

Mr. Kenerly said the idea that Halo is inappropriately violent too strictly interpreted the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” “I’m not walking up to someone with a pistol and shooting them,” he said. “I’m shooting pixels on a screen.”

Mr. Kenerly’s brother, Ken Kenerly, 43, is a pastor who recently started a church in Atlanta and previously started the Family Church in Albuquerque, N.M., where quarterly Halo nights were such a big social event that he had to rent additional big-screen TVs.

Ken Kenerly said he believed that the game could be useful in connecting to young people he once might have reached in more traditional ways, like playing sports. “There aren’t as many kids outdoors as indoors,” he said. “With gamers, how else can you get into their lives?”

John Robison, the current associate pastor at the 300-member Albuquerque church, said parents approached him and were concerned about the Halo games’ M rating. “We explain we’re using it as a tool to be relatable and relevant,” he said, “and most people get over it pretty quick.”

David Drexler, youth director at the 200-member nondenominational Country Bible Church in Ashby, Minn., said using Halo to recruit was “the most effective thing we’ve done.”

In rural Minnesota, Mr. Drexler said, the church needs something powerful to compete against the lure of less healthy behaviors. “We have to find something that these kids are interested in doing that doesn’t involve drugs or alcohol or premarital sex.” His congregation plans to double to eight its number of TVs, which would allow 32 players to compete at one time.

Among parents at the Colorado Community Church, Doug Graham, a pediatric oncologist with a 12-year-old son, said that he was not aware of the game’s M rating and that it gave him pause. He said he felt that parents should be actively involved in deciding whether minors play an M-rated game. “Every family should have a conversation about it,” he said.

Mr. Barbour, the youth pastor at the church, said the game had led to a number of internal discussions prompted by elders who complained about its violent content. Mr. Barbour recently met for several hours with the church’s pastor and successfully made his case that the game was a crucial recruiting tool.

In one letter to parents, Mr. Barbour wrote that God calls ministers to be “fishers of men.”

“Teens are our ‘fish,” he wrote. “So we’ve become creative in baiting our hooks.”

    Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church, NYT, 7.10.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/us/07halo.html?hp

Halo Games Maker to Be Independent of Microsoft

October 6, 2007
The New York Times
By MATT RICHTEL

Microsoft said yesterday that it was giving up its controlling ownership of Bungie Software, the video game subsidiary that developed the hugely popular Halo franchise, including its latest iteration, Halo 3.

Bungie, based in Kirkland, Wash., said it planned to return to its roots as an independent game studio, a move that eventually will cost Microsoft exclusive ties to one of the most successful and sought-after teams of game developers.

Harold Ryan, president and studio head of Bungie, said that he had been working for months on a plan to separate the studio from Microsoft, based in nearby Redmond, Wash. Mr. Ryan said that the companies had a good working relationship, but that developers at Bungie yearned to work for themselves, not a corporate owner.

“It’s an emotionally creative point of view,” he said of the decision to take the studio independent. “That’s the state we wanted to be in.”

Neither Mr. Ryan, nor Shane Kim, the head of Microsoft’s game studios, would discuss the financial terms. Microsoft originally acquired Bungie in 2000 for an undisclosed amount.

Bungie’s Halo games have been of singular significance to Microsoft in the development of its video game machine business.

Halo has been available exclusively on Microsoft’s Xbox video game consoles. That has meant the game’s popularity has helped drive consumers to the Xbox consoles rather than to competing systems made by Nintendo and Sony.

Microsoft said that since Halo 3 hit the market last week, it had rung up more than $300 million in sales. It has been selling at a faster pace than Halo and Halo 2, which combined sold nearly 15 million copies, Microsoft has said.

Mr. Kim said the separation furthered Microsoft’s aim of getting blockbuster hits for its consoles. “It was in our best interest to support Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots,” he said.

At least initially, important aspects of the relationship between Microsoft and Bungie will remain intact.

Mr. Ryan said that Bungie planned to continue to develop games exclusively for the Xbox platform. He said that at some point, Bungie would have the right to develop games for other platforms, but he declined to say when.

Bungie has 113 employees. Evan Wilson, a video game industry analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, said that leading employees of Bungie had bought out majority ownership from Microsoft. “Bungie and Microsoft clearly had different creative directions,” Mr. Wilson said.

He added, “Bungie lost some key employees over the years, which while not uncommon for studios, may be an indication of that.”

    Halo Games Maker to Be Independent of Microsoft, NYT, 6.10.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/technology/06game.html

'Halo 3' Rings Up $300M in First Week

October 4, 2007
Filed at 7:10 p.m. ET
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The New York Times

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) -- Gamers around the globe dropped nearly $300 million on ''Halo 3'' in the week since the first-person shooter for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 console debuted, the company said Thursday.

Microsoft also said that in the week after the Sept. 25 launch, Xbox 360 console sales ''nearly tripled'' from the weekly average reported before the game hit store shelves, according to initial reports from retailers worldwide.

More than 2.7 million people have logged on to Microsoft's online service, Xbox Live, to collectively play 40 million hours of ''Halo 3'' with other gamers, Microsoft said.

''Halo 3,'' the much-anticipated last installment of a trilogy, was developed by Microsoft-owned Bungie Studios.

Microsoft said sales hit $170 million in the game's first 24 hours on sale in the U.S., surpassing ''Spider-Man 3,'' which grossed $151 million in its opening weekend. ''Halo 3'' sells for at least $60 a copy, while the average price of a movie ticket in 2006 was $6.55, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

Microsoft is also selling a version of ''Halo 3'' with a disk of bonus features for $70, and one packaged in a replica of protagonist Master Chief's helmet for $130.

    'Halo 3' Rings Up $300M in First Week, NYT, 4.10.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Microsoft-Halo-3-Sales.html

Gamers Spend About $170M on 'Halo 3'

September 27, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:30 p.m. ET
The New York Times

SEATTLE (AP) -- Video game enthusiasts in the United States plunked down about $170 million on copies of ''Halo 3'' in the 24 hours after the Xbox 360 game went on sale, Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday.

'''Halo 3' has become a pop-culture phenomenon,'' Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said in a statement.

The game, which was developed by Microsoft-owned Bungie Studios, completes the saga of helmet-clad Master Chief and his quest to save humankind from aliens.

Fans pre-ordered more than 1.7 million copies of the game, and more than 10,000 stores opened at midnight Monday to start selling, according to Microsoft. The much-anticipated launch was marred only slightly by reports that limited-edition packaging left scratches on game disks.

''The initial demand we've seen for 'Halo 3' has been astounding,'' Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy, said in a statement.

    Gamers Spend About $170M on 'Halo 3', NYT, 27.9.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Microsoft-Halo-Sales.html

Halo 3 Arrives,

Rewarding Gamers, and Microsoft

September 26, 2007
The New York Times
By SETH SCHIESEL

Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, is the richest man on earth. R. J. Bollard, a freshman at the University of Washington, said he would have 73 cents left in his bank account as of midnight. And that’s one reason Mr. Gates is likely to be the richest man on earth for quite a while.

Both were at a Best Buy store in Bellevue, Wash., on Monday night as the third installment of Halo, Microsoft’s hit video game series, went on sale at 12:01 a.m. yesterday. Just before that moment, Mr. Gates was hand-shaking his way down the line of customers. Among them was Mr. Bollard, 18, who said the 73 cents was all he would have left after buying the game.

Even before the doors opened, more than 1.7 million consumers had preordered the game, which is available in three versions priced from $60 to $130.

“I don’t know how I’m going to feed myself,” Mr. Bollard said.

The success of Halo 3 is critical for Microsoft, which has struggled to get its Xbox game players into homes around the world. While it is primarily a game machine, the Xbox 360 also plays DVDs and movies downloaded from the Internet. Microsoft views the game machine as an entry point into the home, where it may serve as an entertainment hub.

But the game machines have not been profitable.

Microsoft hopes that the new Halo futuristic shoot-’em-up game, which is exclusive to the Xbox 360, will persuade more consumers to choose its game machine over the PlayStation 3 from Sony or the Wii from Nintendo. Although the Xbox — and Halo 3 — appeals to hard-core gamers, Microsoft’s game machine has been outsold lately by the cheaper and less-powerful Wii.

Microsoft has sold nine million Xbox 360s since the introduction of the console in 2005. But Nintendo has sold just as many Wii machines since their debut late last year, largely because their simplicity appeals to a broader group of players. The PlayStation 3, which also was introduced in late 2006, has sold about four million units.

Halo 3 might also help to restore the Xbox 360’s image, which was tarnished by serious design defects that caused as many as a third of the machines to suddenly stop working. Microsoft said it had corrected the problem and was fixing defective units at no charge.

For the serious gamer at least, all was forgiven yesterday morning. More than 10,000 stores across the country, many of them converted into miniature carnivals Monday night for fans awaiting the game, opened their doors to long lines of Halo fans who started camping out as early as Sunday afternoon.

Microsoft said it would not announce sales figures until today, but the new game has been expected to be the most lucrative introduction of any entertainment product. The previous game in the series, Halo 2, set a record for first-day sales in the entertainment and media industries when it brought in more than $125 million in the United States in its first 24 hours.

“In our first few hours on sale, all signs indicate that we will indeed have achieved the biggest entertainment retail day in history,” Microsoft said in a statement.

“This is the Mecca of the video game world right here, right now,” Carl Gunther, a 23-year-old marketing researcher from Brooklyn, said Monday night as he joined hundreds of other fans in a long line outside a Best Buy in Midtown Manhattan.

“Halo is the ‘Star Wars’ of this generation,” Mr. Gunther added. “Thirty years ago my father waited in line to see ‘Star Wars,’ and I know I’ll tell my kids I stood in line to buy Halo 3. It’s like saying you were at Woodstock or something.”

Microsoft’s shares rose yesterday by 1.7 percent, closing at $29.56, on the expectation of strong sales. The Halo franchise, which has sold more than 15 million copies since its introduction in 2001, has been Microsoft’s most successful foray into the entertainment business, anchoring the growth of the video game unit.

Sony of Japan, one of Microsoft’s main competitors in games, has struggled to provide comparably popular titles for its PlayStation 3 console. Games exclusively for the PlayStation 3 this holiday season include the fantasy diversions Lair and Heavenly Sword.

While Sony and Microsoft have focused mostly on young men, the core base of video game players, Nintendo of Japan has pursued a different strategy of appealing to broader demographic groups with easy-to-use products like its Wii console and DS (for dual screen) hand-held player. Super Mario Galaxy, potentially the Wii’s biggest seller of the year, is expected to be introduced in November.

Halo 3, a science-fiction game set in a future when humanity is battling for its survival against a hostile alien species, has generally received excellent reviews in game publications. The game has been produced in 17 languages and is being released in Europe today and in Japan tomorrow. One potential hiccup is that in some cases the packaging for the $70 version can scratch the game disc; Microsoft said yesterday that it would replace any unusable discs.

In Atlanta, an arc of young men lined a balcony at Lenox Square, the city’s biggest shopping mall, as they awaited the game’s debut at a GameStop store. Ari Velazquez and Dan Gibson, roommates at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said they had converted their apartment into a sort of high-tech video game cave, sealing windows with blankets and cardboard and stocking up on ramen noodles, chips and white-cheddar popcorn.

“We expect that, like, no one’s going to go to class tomorrow, and the teachers are going to know,” said Mr. Gibson, 20.

The narrative of the Halo series is fairly standard science-fiction fare. Halo 3 begins in the year 2552 and an alien alliance called the Covenant is continuing its quest to dominate the galaxy by activating immense ring-shaped doomsday devices called, unsurprisingly, Halos.

An interstellar commando known as Master Chief, controlled by the player, must stop them, not through negotiation but rather with an arsenal of high-powered weapons.

Halo 3 completes the saga, and the fate of Master Chief and the series’ other characters has been a subject of as much speculation among game players, as the eventual outcome of Harry Potter was among readers of fantasy fiction.

“We’ve been in Internet seclusion for like weeks,” to avoid any leaks about the game’s plot, Mr. Gibson said. Mr. Velazquez gestured toward the balcony in the Atlanta mall and added, “If I found out the ending of the game right now, you’re going to have to hold me back from jumping.”

Joseph Hunter, 19, a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, said the series has “sort of become an obsession” and said entire dormitories at Morehouse face off against one another in Halo combat.

Regarding Halo 3, he said, “I knew that if I didn’t have it, my life would be over.”

Halo 3 is rated M for mature, which means the game is not intended for sale to unaccompanied consumers under 17. Most customers in line appeared to be in their 20s and 30s, but there were also children accompanied by parents or other guardians.

Outside a Circuit City store in Miami on Monday night, Patty-Jo Toor, a nurse from Orlando, accompanied her son, Neil, 16, and two friends, Phillip Allanson, 15, and Alex Ferguson, also 15. She said the group had set up an Xbox 360 in their hotel room so the children could play all night after buying the game.

“All three of these kids got good grades in school, so I brought them here,” she said. “They are worth the drive.”

Naturally in this self-conscious media age, for some fans the lure of transient celebrity was perhaps as appealing as Halo 3 itself. Outside the Best Buy store in Manhattan, the first person in line, Uche Nwachukwu, a 28-year-old Web site designer from Staten Island, said he had been waiting since 6 p.m. Sunday.

“I camped out for Halo 2, and I camped out for the 360 itself, but I was always third in line or fifth in line,” he lamented Monday afternoon, standing by his red folding chair with a bag of Starburst candy on the seat. “This time I was determined to be first. I won’t lie to you, I wanted to be on TV and in the newspapers. I’ve slept about 20 minutes since I got here, but it’s been worth it.”

 

Rachel Pomerance in Atlanta, Geannina Munizaga in Miami and J. Michael Kennedy in Seattle contributed reporting.

    Halo 3 Arrives, Rewarding Gamers, and Microsoft, NYT, 26.9.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/technology/26halo.html

Microsoft "Halo 3"

wins high marks from reviewers

Mon Sep 24, 2007
3:28pm BST
Reuters
By Scott Hillis

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - "Halo 3", the highly anticipated video game from Microsoft Corp, won high praise on Sunday from game reviewers who gushed over the lush settings, cinematic feel and array of multiplayer features.

The game, the final chapter of a trilogy that began in 2001 with the launch of Microsoft's original Xbox, is a key part of the company's strategy to take a bigger share of the console gaming market from Sony Corp.

Gaming news Web site GameSpy gave "Halo 3" five stars, its highest ranking, saying it was so good that it was worth buying an Xbox 360 just to play it. The Xbox 360 costs $280 to $450, depending on features.

"Quite simply, 'Halo 3' is the reason the Xbox 360 exists," GameSpy said.

Since "Halo 3" is the game industry equivalent of a new "Harry Potter" book or "Star Wars" movie, few expected it to be a flop. Specialty gaming retail chain GameStop Corp said the title set a record for advance orders while Microsoft has said it expects initial demand to surpass that for 2004's "Halo 2", which racked up $125 million in its first 24 hours.

The game is set to go on sale on September 25.

Reviewers did voice a few complaints. Some said the game's graphics, while impressive, fell short of titles such as Take-Two Interactive Software's "BioShock" and "Gears of War", also from Microsoft. Others said the behavior of computer-controlled enemies wasn't very realistic.

"Will 'Halo 3' live up to the hype? No. There isn't perfection here. There isn't an absolute, please-all quality," said gaming blog Joystiq.com, though it added that the game was still a must-have.

Most critics said any shortcomings were more than made up for by unprecedented variety that includes a cooperative mode that allows four people to play together online, and editing tools to let gamers modify levels to compete against each other in "deathmatch" competitions.

Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of gaming magazine EGM, gave the game a perfect 10 rating.

"It's such a huge package. It's hard to imagine something gamers don't like here," Hsu said.

GameSpot, another top gaming news Web site, weighed in with a rating of 9.5, saying the new features refreshed the familiar feel of the "Halo" universe.

"When you roll all this stuff together ... it really feels like a dramatically different game, and a dramatically bigger game. It comes together in an amazing package that is definitely one of the year's best," GameSpot said.

    Microsoft "Halo 3" wins high marks from reviewers, R, 24.9.2007, http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN2322801820070924

Halo's mission: save Microsoft Xbox unit

Fri Sep 21, 2007
7:38am EDT
Reuters
By Daisuke Wakabayashi - Analysis

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The mission of Master Chief, the protagonist in the popular "Halo" trilogy of video games, is to save humanity from an army of aliens.

If that's not enough to thrust upon one person, he's got another task: rescue Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Xbox video game business from six years of losses and post its first-ever profit, and keep Wall Street off the backs of management.

"Halo 3" hits stores on Tuesday and Microsoft projects first-day sales of the game to eclipse the $125 million mark set by its predecessor, saying it will be the biggest opening for any entertainment product ever.

The last two "Halo" installments sold a combined 14.8 million units at more than $50 a game, turning the original Xbox into a must-have machine for many gamers and making the game extremely profitable.

This is a make-or-break year for the Xbox business. It has lost roughly $5 billion since Microsoft entered the video game console business in 2001 as a way to stem the rise of Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) PlayStation game console.

The Xbox 360, the successor to the original Xbox, made its debut about a year ahead of other next-generation game consoles, building a lead over Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) hugely popular Wii with an installed base of more than 11.6 million units.

"This is certainly a huge game for Microsoft in order to maintain the momentum with the Xbox 360 having the lead over Sony," said Alan Davis, analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co.

Anyone who wants to play "Halo 3," a futuristic shooter game featuring a space marine called Master Chief fighting an alien army called the Covenant, will have to buy an Xbox 360, since Microsoft makes the software only for its own machine.

Microsoft hopes that is just the incentive shoppers need ahead of the holiday season.

"We are in the stage of the console life cycle where content becomes king and people are going to buy the platform that has the games they want," Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, told investors at the company's analyst meeting in July.

"We feel like that (Halo) gives us a significant leg up and really will help drive the business."

Microsoft projects the entertainment and devices division, home to the Xbox video game console and loss-making Zune digital music player, to post a profit in the 2008 fiscal year ending in June after last year's $1.9 billion loss.

It expects segment revenue to increase between 10 percent and 19 percent this year from last year's $6.08 billion, 12 percent of Microsoft's total revenue of $51 billion.

WINDOW TO CONSUMERS

Like most console makers, Microsoft loses money on the sales of the Xbox 360 with the goal of making it back and then some over the life of the product with software sales.

It is a business model accepted by investors, but Microsoft introduced an unexpected loss in fiscal 2007 when it took a $1.06 billion charge to fix problems with the Xbox 360.

That loss strengthened the argument made by some investors who think Microsoft should stay out of consumer businesses such as the Zune and Xbox and focus on its profit-rich core software products such as its Windows operating system and Office suite.

Microsoft argues the Xbox and Zune are important in a world where people consume content in new and different ways.

The Xbox 360 is central to Microsoft's strategy of "connected entertainment," a vision of a world where people can consume the media they want any place, any time and on any device.

"The market is not a patient place and it's not very patient with Microsoft in this respect," said Morningstar analyst Toan Tran. "It's going to be an important milestone for the game division to finally turn a profit this year."

Since Microsoft officially entered the game business in November 2001 with the North American release of the Xbox, Microsoft shares have fallen 16 percent. During that period, the Nasdaq has risen 40 percent.

"Halo 3" is expected to play a big part in improving Microsoft's bottom line, because it is a "first party" title -- a game developed by Microsoft's own game maker not another publisher such as Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research)

Microsoft can make about $10 to $12 per game from "third party" titles, but "first party" games such as "Halo 3" and "Gears of War" -- a popular shooter game released by Microsoft last year -- can bring in several times that amount.

    Halo's mission: save Microsoft Xbox unit, R, 21.9.2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN2025729720070921

Sony Delays 'Home' Virtual World for PS3

September 20, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:51 a.m. ET
The New York Times

CHIBA, Japan (AP) -- In yet another embarrassing delay for Sony, the company is delaying the launch of its ''Home'' virtual world for the PlayStation 3, initially planned for later this year, until next spring.

The announcement Thursday came from Kazuo Hirai in his first major public appearance as the new chief executive of Sony Corp.'s video game business, Sony Computer Entertainment.

''We wanted to wait until we could offer what would be totally satisfying for consumers,'' Hirai said in a keynote speech at the Tokyo Game Show, an annual event where game machines and new software are shown.

''Home'' is a real-time interactive online world much like Linden Lab's ''Second Life'' and other so-called ''metaverse,'' except it's designed for PlayStation 3, Sony's newest home console.

Millions of people now enter ''Second Life'' on personal computers, moving avatars -- or computer graphics images of themselves -- in a virtual universe.

Major companies are also setting up shop in ''Second Life,'' and analysts see great potential for such virtual worlds as a communication tool and real-life business.

Sony officials have shown the demonstration video of ''Home'' with much fanfare on various occasions, promising new kinds of businesses, such as advertising and electronic shopping, as well as games.

The product's delay is the latest trouble Sony has had with the PlayStation3, whose European launch had to be postponed for several months due to production problems.

Hirai, named in November as president to replace Ken Kutaragi, the ''father of the PlayStation,'' sounded apologetic in several places during his speech, acknowledging that the PlayStation 3 had failed to live up to the company's sales targets.

He promised to listen more to complaints and suggestions from game software creators and game fans to improve the PlayStation 3 business.

''The results we have produced so far have been unfortunate,'' he said at Makuhari Messe hall of the more than 5 million global sales for the PlayStation 3, which went on sale late last year in Japan and the U.S. and in March in Europe.

Sony once dominated the gaming industry with PlayStation 2, predecessor for the PS3, but now faces intense competition from Microsoft Corp., which has sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 machines in the last two years, and from Nintendo Co.'s popular Wii, which has sold 9.3 million units since late last year.

Hirai showed a new remote controller for the PlayStation 3, ''Dualshock 3,'' that will vibrate along with games such as the shock of impact of a sword hitting an object or a race car swerving. Old games will require downloaded upgrades.

The controller goes on sale in November in Japan and next spring in the U.S. and Europe, he said.

Hirai said the core strategy would be to position the PlayStation 3 as a game machine as well as a way to view high-definition Blu-ray video discs.

''We must get back to the basics,'' Hirai said.

Hirai, who formerly headed Sony's North American gaming business, has fueled some expectations about a new strategy at the electronics maker.

The departure of Kutaragi, an icon among gamers, marked the end of an era at Sony when it dominated the video game industry with its flagship PlayStation.

Hirai became president in December but also became chief executive in June. Kutaragi remains honorary chairman at Sony's gaming unit.

    Sony Delays 'Home' Virtual World for PS3, NYT, 20.9.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Japan-Sony.html

Video games sales up 46% in August

14 septembre 2007
USA Today
By Scott Hillis

SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. sales of video games and hardware jumped 46% in August from a year earlier, with Microsoft seeing sales of its Xbox 360 console shoot up after a price cut.

The top game was Electronic Arts's Madden NFL 08 for the Xbox 360, which sold 897,000 units, according to data from market research firm NPD released Thursday.

Nintendo's Wii console held onto its title as the most popular piece of hardware, selling nearly 404,000 units, almost as much as the Xbox 360 and Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 combined.

"It really goes back to our story of the different audience we are tring to pursue," said George Harrison, head of marketing for Nintendo of America. "While Microsoft and Sony are focusing on the hardcore gamer, we are trying to focus on what we call the expanded audience."

At $250, the Wii is the cheapest new console on the market, and its unique motion-sensing controller and emphasis on new kinds of games are attracting new players from outside the traditional young male audience.

However, Wii sales fell 5% from July and sales of Sony's PS3 also fell, by almost 18%, to 131,000 units.

Meanwhile, Microsoft sold almost 277,000 Xbox 360 units in August, up 63% from July. In early August, Microsoft cut prices on the Xbox line, knocking $50 off the most popular model, down to $350.

That followed a move the previous month by Sony to chop $100 off the price of the PS3, making that machine cost $500.

Despite its powerful processors and high-definition Blu-ray DVD drive, the PS3 has struggled in the United States due to its high price and relative lack of hit games.

Sony noted PS3 sales had climbed 61% over the two months since the price cut. In August, the company also sold more than 200,000 units of the PlayStation 2, an older console that is enjoying a surprisingly long life due to its low price and huge library of games.

"We're very optimistic about all our consoles as we head into the fall and holiday months," Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said in a statement.

On the software front, Madden for the PlayStation 2 took the number-two slot on the month's list of best-sellers, while the PS3 version came in at number four.

Take-Two Interactive Software's BioShock for the Xbox 360 was the number-three game, selling 491,000 copies despite launching late in the month.

Nintendo had four games in the top 10, including Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Mario Strikers: Charged.

Activision's Guitar Hero franchise rounded out the top 10 with Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, both for the PS2.

    Video games sales up 46% in August, UT, 14.9.2007, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-09-14-game-sales-august_N.htm