In August, the Second Life community learned that the company responsible for their virtual world was planning to expand its universe. Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble has been vague, mentioning only that his company is working on a new mobile product separate from its pioneering project. Now we know more.
Even as investors reel from the stock-market roller coaster this week, Wall Street is moving on, with plenty of news on the way. Next week will bring headlines about retail and gaming earnings, as well as quarterly reports from News Corp., SodaStream and some newly public Chinese firms.
Electronic Arts is debuting EA SPORTS Season Ticket, an online subscription program that gives gamers a three-day jump on new sports titles, before they hit the stores. The hope is that a trial period will increase purchases, but some analysts are dubious.
U.S. gamers spent about the same amount of money on video games last year as they did in 2009, even as sales of consoles and other hardware took a plunge. Purchases of physical game discs slid 5%, in spite of the record-breaking success of "Call of Duty: Black Ops," but downloadable and social-network games made up the difference.
At least 5.2 million copies of Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Black Ops were illegally downloaded between its Nov. 9 release and the end of 2010. All told, more than 19 million people illegally downloaded five of the top-selling games of 2010. As broadband spreads, so does the piracy.
Stores sold 4% less video-game equipment -- including hardware, software and accessories -- in October compared to a year ago, according to research firm NPD Group. While players are spending more on the games themselves, they aren't shelling out for new consoles: Sales of those systems declined significantly.
In Electronic Arts' new Medal of Honor game, players can take on the role of the Taliban or U.S. soldiers. But the prospect of having players shoot Americans doesn't go over too well with a lot of people, including the folks running base stores.