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Call of Duty Franchise Nets Over $3 Billion in Sales

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 08:23 PM PST

CoDMW2shotWith the release of Modern Warfare 2, the Call of Duty franchise has surpassed the $3 billion mark in worldwide sales. Netting over $550 million in its first five days, Modern Warfare 2 smashed all previous box office records and is now the benchmark for future releases.

The Call of Duty franchise has sold over 55 million copies of its games across platforms to date, and that number is only expected to rise with the holiday season upon us.

Even with the criticism leveled against Modern Warfare 2 because of the graphic nature of one of its levels, the game is being hailed by critics and will most definitely be in the running for game of the year.

The games are published and owned by Activision, and the two main developers have been Infinity Ward and Treyarch, but others have had a hand in some of the spin-off and hand-held versions of the games.

Psystar’s folly: 12 million clones per year by 2011

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 01:47 PM PST

psystar
We all know that Psystar is busy bleeding out in federal court, but that doesn’t mean the fun stops. We’ll be dissecting their glorious failure for quite some time. The most recent development: it seems their plan for taking a bite out of Apple’s sales was comically ambitious. How many clones do you think they sold in 2009? Somewhat under a thousand would be putting it kindly. And how many were they hoping to sell? Around a hundred times that.

This according to some recently released slides depicting Psystar’s pitch to venture capitalists — some of whom must have clearly wanted to be taken in, or else they would have called it the cock-and-bull story it certainly was. Now, to be fair, the 12m units figure cited in the headline was part of the “aggressive growth model.” 1.45m was the conservative estimate, which is technically not millions. For reference, Apple sold just over 10m Macs during 2009.

I suppose that these projections, which we may safely call optimistic, are based on geometric growth (unwarranted) from one year’s figures (essentially invent) and failed to take into account the patent illegality of their entire enterprise. Needless to say, these numbers were not met. Psystar sold a fraction of a fraction of what it promised investors, so even if it were to escape total destruction by Apple’s hands, it would simply be dismembered by its mysterious creditors.

I would have welcomed a Psystar laptop, the planned hardware which was to make up the bulk of their fantasy sales, since our own Psystar desktop worked perfectly well. For all I know, Biggs is still using it. I’m writing this on my MacBook Pro, but I know that I as well as many people I know would welcome a cheap, yet non-hackintosh, OS X laptop.

Oh well. This story held our interest because, deep within, we felt it betokened the inevitable confrontation between Apple lovers and the sternly limited Jobsian world they’ve come to live in. You can be sure that this isn’t the last we’ll hear from clone-makers, which seem, like domestic weeds, to continue to sprout in the areas you thought were clear and cultivated. In fact, the wild but unpredictable growth of dandelions like Psystar, PearC, and Power Computing (remember them?) will continue because, let’s be honest, if you could pay less for your Mac, you would. That’s called a market — and damn the EULAs.

Two more Family Guy Windows 7 commercials for you to enjoy

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 01:11 PM PST

Despite what the Internet said a few weeks ago, Microsoft tapped Family Guy to advertise Windows 7. The first one aired last weekend, but the video above and the one after the jump have just been posted to YouTube proving the partnership isn’t dead after all. Watch and enjoy, but don’t expect anything edgy and hip.

[via Gizmodo]

Steam has many deals for you to peruse

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 11:43 AM PST

l4d2sale

Interrupting your Thanksgiving Day weekend (and my Team Fortress 2 Sniper marathon) with a quick deal that will appeal to many of you (I should hope). You know Steam, right, Valve’s digital distribution deal? There’s a crazy, multi-day Black Friday sale going on right now that includes Left 4 Dead 2 at $37.99 (25 percent off the regular price) and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for $2.49 (75 percent off the regular price). A vanilla bullshit at Starbucks costs more than that.

Keep in mind that this is a multi-day sale. It started yesterday, and will continue for a few more days. My advice is to check the Steam site every morning for the next couple of days lest they sell, I don’t know, Half-Life Source for 75 cents or something.

There’s probably a million and one such deals online. I recommend you keep your eyes on a site like cheapassgamer.com for Black Friday/Cyber Sunday/Cyber Monday deals.

Back to sniping.


Square Enix boss claims console gaming on its last legs (and he’s right)

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 09:34 AM PST

snes

Yoichi Wada is the president and CEO of Square Enix. Square Enix is a very big video game developer and publisher, responsible for games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts. Hence, his words mean an awful lot. His latest words: console gaming, as we know it today, has only a few years left in it. The future? It’s all about the network, baby!~

The background: Yoichi Wada gave an interview to MCV, a British publication. Good on him. It’s not exactly a wide-ranging interview, instead strictly focusing on the future of video games. Considering his job title, you’d have to assume he knows what he’s talking about.

The big points: physical media (DVD-based games and the like) has no future, so you’d better be cool with things like Xbox Live, PSN, or Steam; 2005 will be seen as the year that everything changed, when console manufacturers changed their mentality from being primarily hardware/console-based to network-based (Xbox Live and eventually~! PSN); Final Fantasy XIV, which is an MMO, may well be more important for Square Enix than Final Fantasy XIII since it’s part of the "new wave" of online, social games.

OK!

Now that that’s out of that way, well, yeah, Wada is 100 percent correct. Console gaming, as we know it, or even used to know it, will die either with this generation or the next. Think of your Xbox 360 and PS3: they’re basically low-end PCs, especially in the 360’s case. (Though I think it’s safe to say that the PS3 has some life left in it, it’s just going to take someone with a lot of money to actually develop a game from the ground up for the system. I’m thinking God of War III will be that game.) Microsoft is most up-front about this: play with Twitter or Facebook! Watch Zune movies! Have a party with your friends! Oh, also, it can play video games, too!

The Xbox 360 came out four years ago. If it weren’t for Xbox Live, or the constant updates the system has seen via software updates (the NXE, Netflix streaming, Twitter/Facebook, etc.), we’d be clamoring for info about the next Xbox already. When was the last time you read so much as a thinly sourced rumor about the next Xbox?

In other words, we’re going to be with the current generation of consoles for a little while, which speaks to Wadas’ point: from 2005, the network matters just as much, if not more so, than the consoles themselves.

(Incidentally, I’m currently in the process of building a gaming/new main PC to replace a 3-year-old iMac for this very reason: why should I play Team Fortress 2 with, what, 15 other people on Xbox Live (versus the several thousand on the PC version), or play Fallout 3 with no access to mods?. I just bought this monitor, and will be adding components as the weeks go by. Any tips (GPUs, CPUs, motherboards, etc) would be greatly appreciated.)

And then there’s casual games! Not everyone has the time required to play "hardcore" games like Fallout 3 or Dragon Quest, so why not fire up a round of Wii Sports, kill off some steam, then go about your business? Needless to say, game publishers make a nice chunk of change on these "simple" games, being that they cost so little to develop, making them fairly important for the bottom line.

If you want to get crazy, then you can think of things like the OTOY and OnLive and Spawn Labs, which promise, to varying degrees, HD-level games over a broadband connection. How well that actually turns out in the real world, who knows, but you can be guys like Wada are paying attention.

I don’t know, this is all over the place. The gist of it is this: we need to recognize that game consoles are little more than dumbed down, low spec PCs. That’s not an insult, of course, just a statement on their underlying technology. Soon, if not already, it’s going to be less about the number of gigaflops the system can process than wether or not you can play Fun Simulator 2 with 87 of your Twitter friends.

You know what I mean, right? I don’t know, too much apple pie yesterday~!

Flickr

Last.fm Garners Nearly 1 Million New Subscriptions Through Xbox Live

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 08:45 AM PST

lastfmxboxLast Tuesday, Xbox announced that it would integrate Twitter, Facebook, Zune video compatibility, and Last.fm into its Live services. The software update was free, and has thus far been a success. We recently reported that over 2 million Xbox live subscribers used the Facebook feature from their consoles in the first week. Equally as impressive, is the fact that last.fm has netted nearly 1 million new subscribers from the partnership. Since the introduction of the service, last.fm has seen a record number of new subscribers in a 24 hour period and Live users have streamed over 120 million minutes worth of music to their consoles.

As with most services on Xbox Live, only Gold subscribers get access to the streaming capabilities of last.fm. Since only paying users get access to the service, it seems probable that Microsoft and last.fm are involved in some sort of revenue-sharing agreement, although neither company will comment on this postulation. Either way, this partnership seems to be a great move by both parties. Microsoft adds more features, while last.fm has increased its (potential) userbase.

I have yet to use this service on my 360, but I’m sure many of you have. Sound off in comments and let us know what you think of the latest integration.


Makibishi: Cool interactive Ninja comic game for the iPhone

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 07:40 AM PST

There are more than 100,000 approved apps in the App Store now, making it harder and harder to spot the really good ones. One of these apps that don't get enough airtime (and that I viewed a demo of recently) is called Makibishi Comic (iTunes link) and is offered by Tokyo-based GungHo Works (it's available in Japanese and English).


Friday Giveaway: Nixon Newton Watch

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 07:14 AM PST

newtonblacksmOur buddies at Watchismo are offering a Nixon Newton Watch to one lucky commenter. You have your pick of the litter and you’ll be the most stylish fellow on your cellblock when you pull this watch out of wherever you hid it from the screws!

The Nixon normally costs $98 but for you, my friend, it’s free. Simply comment below and we’ll pick one winner at random on Monday.

They made a King of Fighters live-action movie and the trailer looks terrible

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 06:19 AM PST

king_of_fighters_movie
Since the 1990s, 2D fighting game series King of Fighters has always been the (smaller), and some hardcore gamers say better, counterpart to Streetfighter. Streetfighter saw not one but two live-action movies based on the thin story lines of the games, and now someone in Hollywood decided it’s time for a King of Fighters movie. And does it surprise anybody the promo trailer that was just released looks horrendous?

Official plot:
The last surviving descendants of three legendary clans are continuously transported to other dimensions to test their martial arts skills against an evil force that seeks to invade and infect the real world.

The movie (whose official site doesn’t work for me) is scheduled for release next year in the US and this is a one-minute promo trailer that features the music from Dark Knight of all movies. Maggie Q (the evil woman in Die Hard 4) plays Mai Shiranui.

Via Worst Previews

Deal Report: Sound off on great deals you spotted this weekend

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 06:18 AM PST


View CrunchGear Deals in a larger map

Hey, Bargain Hunters, what did you turn up? Report here which stores have the best deals and who actually has inventory. Don’t forget to add city and state info and we can add points to a Google Map this weekend.

Don’t forget to check out our Black Friday deals on CrunchGear.


CrunchDeals: Half-off Roku’s HD-XR

Posted: 27 Nov 2009 05:53 AM PST


Stop! Turn that car around! Roku is selling the HD-XR for half-off. There’s no reason to go to the store!

The Roku is one of my favorite living room devices and it just got better. Now it’s $64.99 plus shipping and lets you watch Netflix, Amazon, and MLB content along with Facebook and Blip.tv videos. Good, good stuff.

Click through to figure out how to get the deal.

The Roku HD-XR Player retails for $129.99, but will be available for just $64.99 (plus FREE SHIPPING) on our Black Friday website when it opens on Friday morning. Details on how the offer will work are below:

1. Go to http://blackfriday.roku.com starting at 11:00AM Eastern Standard Time (8:00AM Pacific Standard Time) Friday morning.
2. Follow the instructions and enter the code "hdxrsteal" at checkout. The code can be applied to one Roku HD-XR Player.
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