Sony claims the Playstation 3 provides more value than any other console. Does it?
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Much has been said about Phil Schiller's keynote address at Macworld on Tuesday, where he announced that Apple has finally struck deals with all the major music labels, making songs sold via the iTunes Store free of digital rights management.
The crowd in attendance cheered joyfully when it heard the news, and millions of people across the globe were excited to finally know that all that crazy Apple copyright protection was finally behind them. Even Apple was excited to announce it, and the new pricing model--$0.69 and $1.29, depending on the song--seems to suit its fancy.
For years, we've been hearing about Apple's desire to make iTunes DRM-free. Steve Jobs even wrote a letter detailing his belief that DRM is bad for all of us--record labels included. And now, after years of waiting, Jobs and his minions have finally achieved their goal of eliminating it.
Does that necessarily mean that it's good for Apple, though? I don't think there's a simple answer.
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Can the Wii be beaten if 50 percent of the UK has or plans to own a Wii in 2009?
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EPISODE 45 |
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After all the hoopla surrounding Steve Jobs' absence from Apple's last Macworld keynote subsided, it was finally time for us all to tune into Phil Schiller's remarks about the future of his company.
Speculation abounded over what Schiller would announce. A new Mac Mini? An updated Apple TV? We didn't know, but many of us were sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to find out.
And then we did. And it was a snoozefest.
Sure, it's nice to see that iTunes has finally gone DRM-free, even though Amazon.com did so last year, and the updated 17-inch MacBook Pro looks nice, even though the battery isn't removable--a major blunder, since the advertised 8 hours of battery life will probably never happen, and serial travelers require the use of multiple batteries.
But what else came out of Tuesday's announcement? An update to iLife is nice, and iMovie's new features make it a more capable video-editing alternative, but beyond that, Schiller's keynote speech was rife with details and demos that bored those who were looking for major updates.
Realizing that, is it time for Apple to finally put an end to its strategy of holding major events to unveil product updates?
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Another boring Apple press event is in the can. Can we please get rid of those, Apple?
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(Credit: Nintendo of America)If 2008 was the Year of Gaming, 2009 will be just the opposite. At least, that's what Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux said he believes in a recent interview with the BBC.
Speaking to reporters, Molyneux said he thinks 2009's upcoming game releases are "all looking a bit dry...All the triple-A titles came out this Christmas, and while there is stuff in 2010 we can look forward to, off the top of my head, I cannot think of anything next year that really excites me."
Off the top of my head, I can think of a few upcoming games that excite me: Halo 3: ODST Killzone 2, Halo Wars, BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams, and Resident Evil 5. But besides those, after looking at the upcoming release calendars for the three major consoles, as well as the Nintendo DS and Sony's PlayStation Portable, I have to agree with Molyneux.
But maybe my skepticism is rooted in the fact that 2008 was such a great year for gaming. It was the year that was headlined by a slew of great titles, such as Fable 2, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and Grand Theft Auto IV. Most importantly, it was the year that saw gaming increase in popularity by an astounding rate.
In comparison, 2009 is shaping up to be an incredibly dull year for gaming.
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Steve Jobs has finally spoken up about his health, and it's about time.
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The best-selling game of all time
(Credit: Nintendo)VGChartz released internal data Saturday claiming that Wii Sports, Nintendo's sports title that comes bundled with each Wii outside of South Korea and Japan, is the world's best-selling game.
According to the report, VGChartz software data for the week ending December 27, 2008, found that Wii Sports "has now passed sales of Super Mario Bros. at 40.24 million units, making it the best-selling video game of all time. The game...reached that milestone after 110 weeks of sales."
To be honest, I'm upset that this day has come. I was sure it would happen eventually, but I never believed that it would happen so soon and at the hands of a game like Wii Sports.
The title held by Nintendo's great Super Mario Bros. has been vanquished by Wii Sports and there's really nothing we can do about it. But does being the best-selling game of all time make it the best?
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Is it really necessary to unlock me?
(Credit: James Martin/CNET Networks)Gadget blogs were going crazy Thursday over a new application called Yellowsn0w that helps iPhone 3G owners unlock their device. The app is still in beta and, according to both Crunchgear and Gizmodo, neither one was able to get it to work properly.
I'm not quite sure why anyone cares. Sure, it's nice to say you unlocked a device that's not meant to be unlocked, but it just made so much more sense to me last year when the iPhone didn't have native apps. Today, browsing is faster thanks to 3G, more capable thanks to additional business features, and more useful thanks to the App Store. What possible reason would people have to unlock it now?
AT&T, right? I don't buy the logic. I'm not going to say AT&T is a great carrier--it isn't--but given the option of switching to T-Mobile, a carrier that offers even less service across the country or staying put, I don't see the logic in unlocking the iPhone and changing carriers. After all, if you were really unhappy with AT&T in the first place, why buy the iPhone?
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