Gary's Blog

Just a place to find out what's on my mind, or what's occupying my time whilst I avoid actual "work."

 

VGN for December 16th, 2005

Video Game News:

Video Games in a slump, panic ensues...

Thu Dec 15,10:51 AM ET
 
NEW YORK - The video-game industry saw software sales decline from 2004 levels for a third straight month in November as the launch of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 console helped erode demand for existing titles.

U.S. video-game sales plunged 18 percent from last year to about $700 million in November, market research firm NPD Group said on Wednesday.

The overall results were buoyed somewhat by hardware sales, which gained 10 percent to about $456 million over November 2004. Including accessories, total industry sales slid 9 percent to reach $1.3 billion last month.

Analysts say the November figures are difficult to compare with the year-ago period, when blockbuster hits "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" and "Halo 2" drove a sharp rise in sales.

Still, last month's sales were almost twice those in October as the industry ramped up for the critical holiday spending season.

Much of the decline in software sales can be attributed to consumers holding out for the next wave of consoles, such as the late November debut of Xbox 360, said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter.

 

Xbox 360 launches in Japan

Tue Dec 13,12:23 PM ET
 

TOKYO (AFP) - Microsoft's chances of challenging Sony's dominance in the Japanese video-game market were left looking increasingly remote as surveys showed sales of the new Xbox 360 got off to a slow start.

Some 28 percent of Xbox 360 consoles on store shelves were sold in the first two days after its launch on Saturday, according to a survey by market research company Media Create, which declined to say how many outlets it polled.

Microsoft sold a total 41,817 consoles over the weekend in Japan, according to the consultancy firm's initial estimates.

Another survey from magazine publisher Enterbrain put Xbox 360 sales in the first two days at 62,135 units after a survey of 3,500 stores.

Nintendo makes news:

Nintendo To Displace Revolution???
A newly discovered patent shows how Reggie's porting claims may be substantiated...
Posted: 12:23 on 12 Dec 2005
By: Jon Wilcox

Despite the lack of figures it's been known for some time that the Revolution won't be powered to the levels of Xbox 360 or PlayStation3, but last weeks claims by Reggie Fils-Amis that third-party ports for the next-gen system "...can be as easy or as complex as a team wants it to be..." will have had many pondering as to how that can be accomplished.

A recent patent filed at the US Patent Office, number 6,971,957, describes how Nintendo aims to utilise Displacement Mapping techniques to cut down on the processing power required to generated high quality models. Displacement Mapping is a technique where a high-quality mesh physically transforms (displaces) a lower-quality object. Using the technique, a displacement map can be placed over a mesh of only a few hundred polygons and still look as comparable to a model consisting over thousands, even millions, of polygons. What this means in effect is that by using displacement mapping, Revolution games could look as good as Xbox 360/PlayStation3 titles without the need for high-powered processors such as CELL.

Techniques to create an illusion of depth such as Bump Mapping, have merely faked an impression of depth; what Displacement Mapping does is actually create that depth, and was a technique used WETA Digital to create the Cave Trolls in Lord of the Rings. The next-generation of systems will be the first to take advantage of the technique, with Microsoft filing for a similar patent with regards to the Xbox 360, so never mind this round of the console wars being the "HD-era", it could instead be the age of displacement.

Whether this patent is the smoking gun to Fils-Amis' claims will have to be seen when titles for the Revolution are unveiled in 2006, but it certainly continues to build up the intrigue around the next-gen system.

What I've been Playing:

Finished GUN!!

Far Cry:  Instincts

Beyond Good and Evil

Next week, my personal guide to last minute shoping for that gaming enthusiast in your life.

Anime News:

ANIME EXPLOSION: Pretty Cure Max Heart
Join us for our free, monthly showing of anime on the big screen!

When: Midnight, Friday, December 16th

Where: Loews Cineplex at Universal Studios Orlando

We will begin wrist banding at 10:30 pm at the table just inside the lobby.

Pretty Cure Max Heart
 
Join us to close out the year with this magic girl anime.  The Courageous Warriors of the Garden of Hope have come to ask the legendary warriors, Pretty Cure, to help defend the Garden's Diamond Line.  An evil witch plans to steal the Diamond Line to plunge all worlds into darkness and revive the Dark King.  Can Pretty Cure and the Warriors prevail?

Running Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Cya at the Movies

Uberbot party this Saturday!!

Funny google video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5430343841227974645&q=the+internet+is+for+porn

 

posted by: Gary1059 at 07:53 | link | comments |