Links of the Day, 2/28/2009

Video Games

Nintendo's DSi will feature a camera and music playback, but that doesn't mean the company considers itself competitors to the iPhone or iPod, according to president Satoru Iwata. The next-generation handheld is scheduled to hit U.S. stores later this year, and has the potential to make as deep an impact as the original DS, if not deeper.
Undaunted, Sony's plans for its own handheld are becoming more apparent: Rumors are flying of a new God of War and the platform will also feature the Little Big Planet-derived rhythm game Patapon 2.

Apparently, relying on old, reliable franchises can pull you out of a rut: Tomb Raider: Underworld is being attributed for the 26% increase in Eidos' sales. Good news for Square Enix, which is continuing to pursue the European publisher. (Squeenix is apparently making the most of its own biggest franchise, with a Final Fantasy IV sequel reportedly on the way to WiiWare.)

Technology

The Kindle 2 has just come out, but rumors are already flying that the Kindle 3 may be released by Christmas. Amazon has backed off of the Kindle's text-to-speech format somewhat, saying it will let publsihers decide whether the Kindle will be able to read their books aloud. Kindle is worth keeping an eye on because it's bound to spawn a ton of imitators if it catches on – Heart has anlready announced its own E-reader – which ought to spawn a nice amount of tech jobs. (Some people, however, are afraid that the Kindle will have an iTunes-like monopoly on digital books if competitors don't arrive soon)

Publishing

If Paid Web Content is Dead, Are Newspapers?: A look at whether the rush to turn newspapers into subscription services will subsidize entire newsrooms. Defintiely something worth considering – perhaps newspapers are evolving too fast? The New York Times, meanwhile, seems to be turning to blogging to pull itself out of a rut, launching  experimental local content sites in some New Jersey and New York communities.

Economics/Geekonomics

The news is extremely bad, as usual: Goldman Sachs slashed its E&P forecast, Berkshire Hathaway admitted to having its worst year ever, General Electric has cut its dividend and Californial unemployment hit double digits. No wonder thrift stores are thriving. In light of all this, it's pretty shocking to hear that Yahoo paid $79 million to bankers last year when they were trying to avoid being taken over by Microsoft.

Social Networking

Defying the bad economy, however, Facebook is growing by five million users a week, with a million of those from America. A success like that in an environment like this is an impressive accomplishment indeed.
– Bonnie