Video Games
The music game trend took a new turn when MTV Games announced that it will develop a game based around the music of the Beatles. No word yet whether this will be an edition of Rock Band or an entirely new game.
Also taking a new turn was the saga of the Ghostbusters game, which was dropped by Activision and has been picked up by Atari. The former console maker has also signed a deal with Universal to develop games based on the Chronicles of Riddick movie franchise. More cross-platform multimedia marketing, a trend that shows no signs of going away.
Good news and bad news for Nintendo: Its half-year profits are up by 34 percent, but its full-year profit forecast has been cut by 16 percent because of the strong yen. Nintendo also raised its sales forecasts for the Wii, from 26.5 million units to a new expectation of 27.5 million for the financial year – greater than the current lifetime total for either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.
The hottest up-and-coming gaming platform, however, continues to be mobile devices: Square Enix will be releasing a Final Fantasy-related game for the iPhone. Look for other major game developers to be announcing phone projects in the future.
Technology
Phones are making news in other areas. Wal-Mart created a stir by announcing it will sell the Googlephone for thirty dollars less than T-Mobile outlets. Motorola has said it will be focusing on the next-generation Android operating system for its phones in the future, but the first ones to utilize the software will not appear until the 2009 holiday season.
A Harvard law school professor is claiming that the law that the RIAA uses to prosecute music downloaders is criminal rather than civil in nature and may be unconstitutional. If he's proven right, that will have a huge, huge impact on future cases for not only music downloads, but also all types of file sharing.
Rumor has it that Yahoo and AOL are in due diligence talks in preparation for a merger, although spokespersons from inside the organizations are debunking this. The companies have been said to be combining forces for awhile, so this is worth keeping a close eye on.
Publishing
Another major publisher is slashing its budget – this time it's Conde Nast, which is cutting five percent of its magazine staff and may fold the men's edition of Vogue. And the sad tidings from this particular segment of the industry continue . . .
– Bonnie