Nintendo says nine-month profit up nearly 25%, lifted by strong titles

TOKYO, Japan — Nintendo said Thursday its net profit jumped nearly 25 percent for the nine months to December, riding out the crucial holiday season thanks to blockbuster game titles for its popular Switch console.

The Kyoto-based games giant said its bottom-line profit rose 24.9 percent to 168.8 billion yen ($1.6 billion) for the April-December period on sales of 997.3 billion yen, up 16.4 percent.

"During the holiday season, software was a great driver of hardware sales," the firm said in a statement.

For the year to March, it maintained its optimistic annual targets, expecting a net profit of 165 billion yen, up more than 18 percent from the previous fiscal year.

Its annual sales target also remained unchanged at 1.2 trillion yen.

Nintendo's latest portable console the Switch has become a huge global seller, helped by the release of innovative, family-friendly titles that have wowed critics and gamers alike.

Nintendo shares soared more than 15 percent in January on expectations that sales were solid for the Christmas shopping season.

source: philstar.com

Microsoft says game over for Xbox 360

Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it would stop production of its popular Xbox 360 video game console, which helped the company gain a firm foothold in the market.

More than 80 million units of the console have been sold since it was launched in 2005.

Xbox 360 also introduced Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing game device. It was the company’s primary gaming console, until it launched the Xbox One in 2013.

The Xbox 360 launched with a number of popular video games including Activision Blizzard Inc’s “Call of Duty 2″ and Electronic Arts Inc’s “Need for Speed: Most Wanted”.

Microsoft said in a blog post it would continue to sell existing inventory of the consoles, and that it would continue to provide customer support.

The company’s Xbox Live network, which allows online multi-player gaming, will continue to be available for the Xbox 360.

Sales of older-generation consoles, such as the Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3, have been declining as consumers shift to newer versions of the consoles from the companies.

“While we’ve had an amazing run, the realities of manufacturing a product over a decade old are starting to creep up on us,” said Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Xbox division.

The company has also introduced the ability for users to play games launched for the Xbox 360 on its latest console. Microsoft currently offers over 100 video game titles as a part of its “backward compatibility” feature.

source: interaksyon.com

Sony cuts prices for PlayStation 4

TOKYO — Sony Corp said it was cutting the price of its PlayStation 4 videogame console to around $350 from $400 to boost sales ahead of the year-end holiday season.

Thursday’s announcement follows similar price cuts of the console in Asia, including its home market Japan, and adds pressure on rival Microsoft Corp, whose Xbox One system has lagged the PlayStation 4 in global sales.

Videogames, along with sensors, have helped lead a turnaround at Sony which is still struggling with weak smartphone and TV sales.

In July, Sony raised its full-year operating income forecast for its game and network services division to 60 billion yen ($501.3 million) from a previous 40 billion yen, due to solid PlayStation demand.

source: interaksyon.com

Ouya scores Xiaomi partnership to take games to China

SAN FRANCISCO — U.S video game service Ouya is turning to Asia to capture the growth that has eluded the startup on its own home turf.

The Santa Monica, California-based firm has partnered with Xiaomi Inc to take its games to Chinese living rooms via the smartphone maker’s new streaming boxes and “smart” TVs, an Ouya executive and a source at Xiaomi close to the deal told Reuters.

Xiaomi, which in three years became China’s top smartphone seller ahead of Apple Inc and Samsung, harbors ambitions beyond mobile gadgets. Last year, it expanded into the TV and set-top box business with its “MiBox” and “MiTV.”

Ouya Chief Executive Julie Uhrman said details are still getting hashed out but it’s likely Ouya will get a dedicated channel on Xiaomi software installed on those devices, on which gamers can shop for and download a selection of its independently developed games later this year, Uhrman said.

Xiaomi will likely commit to marketing Ouya games, she said.

“For the likes of Xiaomi’s MiTV, its set-top boxes and other Android set-top boxes that are entering the market, this could be a turning point..in bringing great content and developers to gamers and into a region that they have never had access to before,” Uhrman told Reuters.

Ouya, which raised funds on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, began selling a $99 game console based on Google Inc’s Android software last year. But sales were disappointing.

This year, Ouya started marketing its software as an app through which developers sell games on other hardware makers’ devices. But the company, which has over 40,000 developers and more than 900 games on its platform, has sealed few partnerships, such as with Mad Catz Interactive Inc to stream games onto its M.O.J.O console.

Whether the Chinese take to gaming on TVs remains to be seen. But its deal with Xiaomi, which models itself on Apple, hands the startup a chance to distribute its content in a fast-growing video game market.

Unlike games on Apple and Google mobile devices, games developed for Ouya are designed to work on TV sets with controllers, similar to the Xbox and Playstation. Ouya and Xiaomi are discussing launch titles and marketing now, Uhrman added. The developers, Ouya and Xiaomi will share revenue, she said without elaborating.

China is the world’s third biggest gaming market, where revenues grew by more than a third to nearly $14 billion last year. The government’s move in January to allow Microsoft, Sony Corp and Nintendo Co to sell consoles has re-kindled interest in gaming hardware.

Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp for instance has tied up with game developer The9 to release the “Fun Box” console.

“The whole industry is still in a very early development stage,” Uhrman said. “There is an opportunity for both” Xiaomi and Ouya.

source: interaksyon.com

Sony’s PS4 tops Xbox One as gamers’ holiday choice: poll

SAN FRANCISCO — More U.S. shoppers prefer Sony Corp’s upcoming PlayStation 4 than Microsoft Corp’s Xbox One, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, as the industry’s two leading videogame console makers prepare to do battle this holiday season.

Asked about their interest in dedicated game devices, 26 percent of 1,297 people surveyed online last week say they are likely to purchase the new PlayStation 4 when available, versus 15 percent opting for the Xbox One.

The rift widens among those below the age of 40. Of that group of 408 people, 41 percent picked Sony’s PS4 versus 27 percent for Microsoft’s Xbox One, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from Sept 23 to Sept 27.

Though based on a limited sample, the results potentially point to a lopsided battle during the crucial holiday season, with Microsoft and Sony hoping to get their newest consoles into U.S. households. Apart from games, they act as conduits for living-room entertainment, from TV shows to music.

Microsoft came under fire from gamers after initially saying it would set restrictions on used games, and require an Internet connection to play. After a flurry of complaints, the company reversed its policies in June. In contrast, Sony has consistently touted support for used games and offline gameplay at industry events. And the PS4 comes $100 cheaper.

Sony said at video game industry trade show in Germany that it had received more than 1 million pre-orders for its upcoming console, while Microsoft has revealed only that preorders for the Xbox One exceeded those of its predecessor, the 360, eight years ago.

Microsoft “couldn’t make up their mind and Sony hadn’t wavered from the beginning,” said 26-year-old gamer Christopher Turner from Salem, Alabama, who intends to spend his cash on the PS4. “The PlayStation 4 is for both hardcore and casual gamers.”

But 56-year-old participant Jon Leigh, who plays six to 10 hours of video games a week and lives in Harlan, Kentucky, thinks the Microsoft controversy won’t sway Xbox fans.

“People who use Microsoft products will continue to use them, he said. Leigh will go with the Xbox One because of its upgraded “Kinect” motion sensor, and because he’s more familiar with the Xbox than the PlayStation.

The $399 PS4 and $499 Xbox One represent the first major upgrades of mainstream gaming hardware in years, setting game developers scrambling to put out new releases that take advantage of better graphics and faster processors.

They are scheduled to hit store shelves from mid-November, about a year after Nintendo’s slow-selling Wii U. Of the 1,297 respondents, only 3 percent said they now played games on the Wii U, versus 20 percent on the Xbox 360, 20 percent on computers, and 18 percent on Sony’s PlayStation 3.

Reversing the tide

More broadly, the shrinking videogames industry hopes the advent of the two new game consoles can breathe fresh life into a sector battered by the proliferation of free games on mobile devices and PCs, as well as on social networks like Facebook Inc’s.

Indeed, 64 percent of total respondents said they would not buy any new game hardware at all this season, when posed with choices ranging from the Xbox and PS4 to Nintendo’s 2DS and Valve’s Steam Box.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll underscored strong interest in Activision Blizzard Inc’s “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” slated for November, which will try and take on Take-Two Interactive Software’s mega-hit, “Grand Theft Auto V.”

GTA V, the latest in the critically acclaimed series that helped ignite a nationwide debate about violence in the media, became the fastest game to hit the $1 billion sales-mark, just three days after sales began on Sept 17.

About a quarter of 715 participants who owned gaming devices said they were likely to buy GTA V, while 22 percent said they would pick up a copy of “Ghosts,” the latest from Activision’s money-spinning Call of Duty franchise.

Analysts say GTA V, which won rave reviews, benefited from pent-up demand as the first major game from the franchise in five years. In contrast, Activision spits out a new Call of Duty game annually. Last year’s “Call Of Duty: Black Ops II” raked in $500 million on its first day.

Ubisoft’s historical action-game “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” came in third place in the poll with 19 percent expressing interest. Electronic Arts’ “Madden NFL 25″ and shooter “Battlefield 4″ were the participants’ fourth and fifth choices, respectively.

source: interaksyon.com

Videogame console icon turns mobile play god

SAN FRANCISCO — Videogame industry legend Peter Molyneux says the time is right for people to play God on smartphones.

The former Lionhead Studio chief and Microsoft Game Studios executive has teamed with Japan-based DeNA to get his latest project — GODUS — on the array of mobile devices powered by Android or Apple software.

“There is something incredible happening on these devices,” Molyneux said while hefting a smartphone in one hand. “This is where the home of gaming should really exist.”

Molyneux, whose background in the computer game industry stretches back to the early 1980s, left Microsoft Studios last year and founded startup 22Cans.

He revealed his latest project, which 22Cans is building and DeNA will distribute, the same week that Microsoft unveiled a new Xbox One console designed to be at the heart of home entertainment in the Internet Age.

“When I decided to leave Microsoft and come to this space, the first thing I had to do is think in a completely different way,” Molyneux said of the shift to play on smartphones and tablets.

“Console games are the equivalent of making films, whereas mobile is much more like television soap operas,” he continued.

“In one you design for a defined time spent sitting, while in the other you design to keep the person coming back to see what happens next.”

GODUS puts a mobile Internet spin on a “God game” genre pioneered by Molyneux decades ago.

Players can shape and mold their in-game worlds with brushes, taps or strokes of touchscreens.

“At the heart of the genre is the ability of people to create and engage with their own unique world; being able to feel like this world is yours and that what you do in this world has amazing effects,” Molyneux said.

The more players get inhabitants to believe in his or her godliness, the more powerful they become.

GODUS also allows players to direct their wrath in the form of tornadoes, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions at the followers of rival gods in battles for dominion, according to Molyneux.

“You can take some of your precious followers into these battles; that is more edge-of-the-seat stuff,” he said.

Victory is rewarded with more followers or personalized gifts, such as additional powers or in-world items.

When GODUS is released later this year, it will be free to play, with revenue based on in-game sales of virtual items or abilities.

Molyneux praised mobile devices for the intimacy of touchscreens and rapid-fire innovation compared to years-long cycles for generations of videogame console hardware that put space between players and television screens.

“I would give up the big screen forever as long as I could keep touch,” Molyneux said as he sculpted landscape in GODUS with light strokes of his smartphone screen.

“It destroys this barrier between the audience and the gaming experience.”

Microsoft and Sony are set to release new-generation videogame consoles later this year. Nintendo launched a Wii U console last year that featured a tablet-style second screen, but sales have been dismal.

“Seven years it has taken us to get to the next Xbox and PlayStation, but in that time every three months there is a revision of this technology,” Molyneux said of the smartphone in his hand.

“This device is creating millions of new consumers enjoying games every day, and that is why the opportunities are massive.”

Molyneux said that veteran game industry giants understand the potential of mobile games but equated the firms to “supertankers” that take a while to change direction and remain anchored in the practice of selling game software disks.

“They all, Microsoft included, mistakenly thought that mobile games were just another iteration of Facebook games,” Molyneux said. “These games are more than that.”

Mobile games are on the verge of becoming hobbies, with people playing for free but investing in items, accessories or experiences that expand on their passions, according to the videogame wizard.

“Mobile is about designing a game around engagement instead of spectacle,” said DeNA West chief Clive Downie.

“You are designing something that has to engage people every day versus a packaged entity for a $60 price,” he continued. “That is something the Activisions and the Electronic Arts of the world don’t have.”

source: interaksyon.com

Microsoft unveils Xbox One with Spielberg, Activision tie-up

EDMOND, Washington — Microsoft Corp gave the world a first look at its new Xbox One on Tuesday, announcing that its first gaming console in eight years will come with exclusive video and software content, including a “Halo” series produced by Steven Spielberg.

The Xbox One, which will be available later this year at a price to be announced, will also be the first platform to release the next installment in Activision Blizzard Inc’s blockbuster shooter franchise, “Call of Duty”.

Microsoft hopes its third-generation console will attract video game fans who are increasingly sampling games on mobile devices, while also becoming a hub for living room entertainment.

The console took four years to develop and will launch worldwide “later this year,” games unit chief Don Mattrick told reporters at an event at the software company’s campus near Seattle, without providing details on timing or pricing.

The device’s launch came after months of intense speculation on industry blogs about what new features it might sport.

The new device interacts with a television, responds to voice and gesture commands, and includes Skype video calling, 15 exclusive game titles and original programming content.

The Xbox One will chiefly compete with Nintendo Co’s new Wii U and Sony Corp’s forthcoming PlayStation 4 for a bigger slice of the $65 billion-a-year computer game market.

Lion’s share

Console gaming still takes the lion’s share of a growing gaming market – about 42 percent of the $65 billion world market, according to Microsoft. But playing games on smartphones and tablets, or as an offshoot to online social networks, is gaining ground fast.

The world’s largest software company also sees the Xbox One as a broader strategic piece in the battle with Apple Inc, Google Inc and others to control consumer entertainment in the age of tablets and smartphones.

To that end, Microsoft presented the new box as more than just a video game console.

Acclaimed movie maker Steven Spielberg will be executive-producing a television series based on Microsoft’s blockbuster sci-fi game “Halo” for the Xbox One, the company said.

The new console will offer exclusive National Football League content and eight new game franchises, executives said.

Activision Blizzard Inc will launch “Call of Duty: Ghosts” later in 2013, first for the Xbox.

The device will have 8 gigabytes of memory, with an updated controller and new-generation Kinect sensor that communicates a user’s voice and gesture commands to the console. The technology is built on the Xbox operating system and the kernel of Windows software to handle Internet-based content.

Moreover, the device will let users store entertainment content, including movies, games and music, on cloud servers, the company said.

Despite its strong brand and ‘cool’ factor, the Xbox itself is not a key financial factor for the world’s largest software maker. Its Entertainment & Devices unit is set to break $10 billion in sales for the first time this year, but that’s half the sales of its Windows unit, and a lot less profitable, averaging less than 15 percent margin compared to 60 percent or higher for Windows or Office.

The company has more than 46 million members who subscribe to its online gaming and digital entertainment service Xbox Live, but that’s still a fraction of the people who pay for its software.

Microsoft’s stock was up slightly at $35.02 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.

source: interaksyon.com