Anime/Manga

Viz has joined the parade of online content distributors, saying they will offer streaming video of two popular shojo animes, Honey & Clover and Nana. It's actually surprising that they're late to the party and being rather cautious with this, given the booming popularity of Crunchyroll (which will be streaming the entire series of Code Geass) and Funimation's big-time entry into the streaming arena. They did score one big online offering, though – they will be posting Rumiko Takahashi's new manga, Rin-Ne, in English on a special Web site simultaneously with the Japanese release. (Make your "Hope they have a lot of bandwidth, because that thing is going to go on forever" jokes now).

Video Games

Target has started a new game reservation policy under which shoppers can pay $1 to hold a copy of a popular title and then get a $5 store gift card when they pick the game up. Sounds like a blatant attempt to cut into the business of GameStop, which has been doing quite well, thank you, with the pre-reserve system for some time now. So-called big-box retailers have definitely been trying to crash the electronics party for awhile now – they definitely seem to do good business with families whose kids are crying for the latest Pokemon game – but they're going to have to work harder than that if they want to win the loyalty of the harcore gamers, who are looking for selection and service (and trade-in options), not gift cards.

Speaking of GameStop, CEO Dan DeMatteo has slammed the PS2 price cut,  saying it was "not worth doing." He also said that the Wii and PS3 are going to have to look at price cuts in the future in order to stay competitive - he said the PS3's $399 price tag, especially, is "an issue in this economy" and they're going to have to slice that by $100 in order for it to be effective. His points are most definitely valid. We've been scratching our heads over the PS2 price cut since it was announced (guess it's too late now to assume it was an April Fool) and Sony's refusal to lower the PS3 price tag is equally baffling in light of the fact that the Xbox 360 drop pretty much put that console on the map in this country. I wouldn't count the PS3 out exactly yet, if you're a game developer, but if they fail to heed DeMatteo's advice, consider it shaky.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, Activision Blizzard is continuing to rake in the dough . The company is set to outdo its $860 million net revenue target in the March quarter. They aren't offering any specific games as the reason, but it's easy to see why: They have a diverse lineup of games for both console and online play that hits a variety of different audiences (hardcore gamers, casual gamers, families, etc.). Oh, and they also have a little thing in its lineup called Guitar Hero – maybe you've heard of it?  (Meanwhile, Square Enix seems to have taken a lesson from the success of A/B's Call of Duty and has announced a World War II game , Order of War).

It appears that the super-troubled Midway is finally up for sale with a $30 million price tag. What will get very interesting is if the Mortal Kombat team, which had made overtures toward breaking away and forming their own studio, buys Midway out instead. Stay tuned, this one could get even more interesting - as if it hasn't been enough of a soap opera already.

Social Networking

Twitter is in talks with some of the major Internet players right now, but the service wants distribution deals, not a buyout. I think the founders of the service realize they have a very, very good thing going right now (they added five million users in March alone) and they want to hold onto it, especially since it appears they're getting more and more indespensible, for both purely social and business use.

Facebook rejects funding at $4 billion valuation: The company says it may not need it, which seems to point to all those rumors about them being in trouble if they continue to grow being just that, rumors. It's rather puzzling news, though, and it bears watching what happens to the company in the near future – we may see an about-face on this decision not too long down the line. 

You may not have heard of Nning, but this company's products are the building blocks of most major social networks, and they have 1,000 clients and counting. A great example of a behind-the-scenes success story – and hey, they even power networks that can help you land your next job! 

Majority of marketers use social media: Eighty-eight percent of them are using social media to market their businesses, but 72% have only been doing so for a few months or less. Bottom line, this sector of the industry has just discovered a gold mine, and they're using it for everything it's worth. This is worth noting both for those looking to get into marketing (definitely don't neglect Facebook as a source of publicity!) and for people who plan a career in social media (a whole new audience!) 

Technology 

Nokia's net profit fell an astonishing 90 percent this past quarter, which definitely explains those rumors that they're about to make the move into netbooks. Given that the smartphone wars are probably going to get even more bloody, it makes sense for them to seek to reverse their fortunes in more uncharted territory. Of course, the way that netbooks are taking off, we may have an equally bloody netbook war a little way down the line.

Radio Shack now accepting old device trade-ins - It's not being done at all their stores yet, but a good chunk of them. Looks like someone else is modeling themselves on GameStop (see the Target item above). Radio Shack, which has been rather shaky of late, is probably looking to fortify themselves so they don't end up going the Circuit City route, and if you're going to imitate someone, imitating a leader in a related field is the thing to do.

Sun and IBM may reopen talks about the latter acquiring the former, as long as IBM shows a real commitment to a deal. (Sounds more like a marriage than a merger). Given the Wall Street-shaking tremors that resulted from the last attempt, hopefully it goes through this time. Besides, a merger is the best thing to assure the futures of these pioneers in the industry, both of whom seemed to get swept aside in a Wintel world.  

NBC Rewind, the network's streaming service, has hit one billion full episode streams. This, combined with CBS's March Madness hit, is an indication that conventional broadcasting is taking streaming very, very seriously. It's far beyond a fad now, it's rapidly becoming a part of mainstream culture. If you plan to get into producing TV programming, keep in mind that you're working with not only the big-screen living room TV, but also the small screen (laptops) and maybe even the tiny screen (smartphones).    

Job Market

Lessons Learned From a Young Professional: An excellent piece about the importance of networking, mentoring and building a personal brand in overall career success. This expounds on a lot of things we've talked about on this blog, and it's worth reading for anyone at any stage of their career. 

Publishing

Newsroom employment drops to lowest level since '78; A sad symptom of the contraction in the newspaper industry, that's for sure, and the news isn't geting any better - Gannett's quarterly earnings are down again, and even the country's biggest newsprint manufactuer has filed for bankruptcy. But there are encouraging signs here and there – Philadelphia residents turned to Philly.com, the online version of the Philadelphia Inquirer, when beloved baseball announcer Harry Kalas passed away this week, a sign that online newspapers may be eking out a place in people's consciousness. And analysts are hotly debating the topic of Pay for Play, meaning subscription-only news services, a topic that's not about to go away any time soon as the industry struggles to make a transition to a new way of doing things.

Borders overhauls board of directors: The company is going back on its earlier decision on a stock split. Given that book sales fell more than 10 percent in February, the company is justified in trying to salvage itself any way it can. One interesting move it's making: An emphasis on an old-fashioned mail-order book club, perhaps trading on people's unwillingness to drive to the store, and perhaps be tempted to spend more than they planned, in this economy. 

- Bonnie