Microsoft hopes to sell more Xbox 360 consoles in '08

Microsoft Corp expects to sell more Xbox 360 consoles in 2008 than in 2007, with Europe standing out as a key battleground for dominance in the $30 billion video game industry.

In Japan, where the Xbox 360 has far lagged Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii and Sony Corp's PlayStation 3, Microsoft expects recent and upcoming games from popular Japanese designers to boost sales.

"We will sell more consoles next year than this year," Jeff Bell, head of global marketing for Microsoft's games business, told Reuters in an interview.

"We don't want to trade places with anybody," Bell said.

He said that the Xbox 360 was strong in Britain and was gaining market share in France and Germany, but that Sony had also been lifted in Europe by a recent price cut for the PS3.

"Europe for us is still the swing," Bell said. "The biggest challenge is that Sony as a brand has had greater staying power than in other areas. Not just PlayStation 3, but Sony as a brand," Bell said.

Microsoft had seen some retailers sell out of its high-end Elite model of the Xbox 360, as well as of the Arcade version. In the United States, the Elite sells for $450 and the Arcade for $280, with a Pro model also offered at $350.

Microsoft sold nearly 3.4 million Xbox 360 units in the United States through the end of November, according to market research firm NPD. Worldwide, Microsoft has sold more than 13 million Xbox 360s since its Nov. 2005 launch.

Bell, a marketing executive at car maker Chrysler before joining Microsoft last year, said his auto experience came in useful when juggling different models of gaming hardware.

"From my prior perspective of dealing with 20 automobile models and 100 markets and dozens of variations, I don't think three (models) is a tremendous amount of complexity," Bell said.

"Is it perfect? No. Are we learning and adapting? Yes," Bell said.

Asked if Microsoft was benefiting from Nintendo's ongoing shortage of Wii machines, which cost $250, Bell said: "Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're lucky, and it's wonderful when you're both."

Bell also took a dig at Nintendo, referring to an industry perception that independent video game publishers have not enjoyed great success on the Wii so far, in part because Nintendo's own offerings are so strong.

"Clearly, we have a competitor where they win and no one else wins. That is not sustainable, it's never been sustainable," Bell said.

Nintendo's U.S. president, Reggie Fils-Aime, told Reuters earlier this week that perception was misguided, and he pointed to recent market data showing that 60 percent of Wii game sales in November came from outside publishers.

Bell also said Microsoft was sticking with the HD-DVD high-definition disc format that is a rival to Sony's Blu-ray technology used in the PlayStation 3.

"We don't have all our eggs in one basket but in classic Microsoft fashion we are committed to all those baskets," Bell said. "If you can find a partner in the HD-DVD alliance that would say anything other than Microsoft has been committed in good times and bad times, I would be surprised."

She writes fives languages in reverse order

Coimbatore, December 15 : A student of class 12 has developed a special ability to write in five languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and French, in reverse.

"I used to write with my left hand in childhood but, my mother asked me to write with the right hand. So, I started writing with that hand and quit writing with the left. It was on my friends' suggestion that I started writing again with my left hand. Later, they asked me to try writing in reverse. It was mirror writing. Soon, I developed speed and started writing in the other languages also," said Ancy Abraham.

While Ancy aspires to learn more languages, she says she intends to write two different languages with both hands simultaneously. She is eager to learn Kannada, Telugu and some foreign languages.

Many believe that the ability to write a script in reverse with ease is either inherited or caused by the development of typical language -related signals in the brain.

But according to neuro-surgeon, Dr. M. Natarajan, this activity comes with practice.

"There's generally no conflicting ideas developed inside the brain. It is by means of habit that they write left to right, right to left," said Dr. Natarajan.

Nevertheless, for Ancy, the fun doesn't stop here. She's determined to excel and is keen on setting a world record in mirror writing.

Mirror writing is formed by writing in the direction that is the reverse of the natural way for a given language, such that the result is the mirror image of normal writing. It appears normal when it is reflected in a mirror. (ANI)

I Know Who Killed Me Blu-ray Disc Review

Sometimes, when you hear a film is utter crap, you tend to do one of two things: avoid it altogether or see it out of morbid curiosity. When the opportunity arose to review walking drugstore Lindsay Lohan's universally reviled suspense thriller, I Know Who Killed Me, I first declined but soon changed my mind and decided to take on the task. I wanted to see if it truly was as bad as everyone said it was. A few days and 106 minutes later, I found that much to my surprise, it wasn't.

It was actually worse.

I Know Who Killed Me is the tale of small town rich girl Aubrey Fleming (Lohan). Aubrey is a solid student, fledgling writer and a promising but unsure piano player who is abducted and tortured by a sadistic serial killer Aubrey. While the FBI, the local cops and Aubrey's parents (a seriously slumming Neal McDonough and Julia Ormond) look for the abducted young woman, Herr Serial Killer proceeds to torture Aubrey by removing sections of her skin, some fingers, her right forearm as well as one of her legs from the knee down.

But that doesn't stop Aubrey from escaping her captor. She is found on the side of the road and awakes a few days later on in the hospital. Only now, Aubrey thinks she is a low-class, foul-mouthed slut of a stripper (woo hoo!), one that always keeps her clothes on while performing (D'oh!), named Dakota Moss. Moss moves back into Aubrey's parent's house, proceeds to screw Aubrey's boyfriend while Mom is downstairs and swear up a blue streak around everyone, all while trying to find out who tortured her and killed "Aubrey."

Plain and simple, nothing in this film works, and there is plenty of blame to go around, starting with Jeffrey Hammond's collection of chicken scratch that passes for a screenplay. Hammond's first -- and pray, last -- script is filled with paper-thin characters that sprout dialogue that is the working definition of laughable, an overabundance of red herrings (any male character with more than two lines of dialogue is possibly the killer) and plot holes big enough to drive a couple of 18-wheeler trucks through...at the same time. (Exactly how does someone with an amputated arm and leg, and despite being strapped down onto a table, manage to escape from a basement?)

Chris Siverston's pompous direction does nothing to hide Hammond's screenplay deficiencies. In fact, it makes them all the more apparent. I know that when stuck with a terrible screenplay, chances are unless you're named Spielberg or Scorsese, there is nothing you can do to make it work. Even so, the former independent filmmaker's ham-fisted handling of the material attempts to deliver an atmosphere of mystery, suspense and eroticism, but fails miserably. Even worse is Siverston's overbearing, symbolic use of the colors blue and red, which is so continuous and obvious that I swear I saw another color after the film was over: purple, which was the color of my skull after being beaten with 106 long minutes of Symbolism for Simpletons.

Then there is the film's young star. As we all know, the TMZ.com poster child has had a rather rough time transitioning from teenager to young adult (yeah, right) and was reportedly whacked out of her mind on illegal substances when she worked on this film. I would venture to think that she was also stoned beyond measure at the time she read the screenplay. If she was indeed coked-up during filming, it shows in every scene she's in. Her glassy-eyed line readings are flat, and her strip club dancing scenes are as hysterically funny as her attempts at being a foul-mouthed bad girl. After seeing her comatose dual performance in this film, I would tend to think that all the hype about the young starlet in the past decade or so was the result of marketing by the Disney studios, the paparazzi and a well-endowed chest than it was actual talent.

Rock Band Review

As most of us know, the music-game genre has been practically monopolized by a certain guitar-wielding giant of a franchise. However, there is no "I" in "rock," a fact Harmonix is trying to prove with its latest creation, Rock Band. To be fair to snubbed bass players, Guitar Hero did have co-op and multiplayer modes, but the two instruments (lead and bass guitar) were played exactly the same. Yet Rock Band does its best to live up to its name, doubling up not only the guitar options, but also by adding vocals and drums. The addition of these two roles really gives Rock Band a unique shape, and it's the closest many of us will ever get to being part of an actual rock band.

You shouldn't be shocked or even slightly surprised by the fact that the guitar and bass are played almost exactly they way they were in Guitar Hero; after all, Harmonix did make Guitar Hero 1 and 2. Still, there's a reason those games were great, so these two instruments are as fun to rock with as always. The guitar that comes with Rock Band looks more realistic than other options out there, but it requires a slight adjustment in playing style. Fortunately, Harmonix made the money-wise decision to allow the use of Guitar Hero instruments with Rock Band, a fact that I took advantage of quite often, as I personally enjoyed using the more-familiar Guitar Hero axes.


Difficulty wise, Rock Band doesn't go overboard with cruelty, as its Expert difficulty is about level with the Hard mode from Guitar Hero 3. Keep in mind that that's just on average, though, because some songs are quite difficult (Green Grass and High Tides makes Freebird seem brief).

But enough about the axes; the drums and vocals are what make Rock Band special. The drums are realistic and play just how you think they would in a game like this: four drums correspond to the green, yellow, red and blue buttons on the guitars, and a drum pedal serves the role of the orange note. Drum sessions range from easy beats to Tom Sawyer nightmares, and overall the drums take some time to get used to, mostly because they're more difficult to play than is really necessary. In addition, the drumsticks are fragile, so taking it easy on the equipment is definitely advised. The hardest part about drum playing, though, is probably the exhaustion you'll feel from playing them. Tired feet and sore wrists are common, and you'll likely not want to play the drums on higher floors or late at night, as they can get quite noisy.

Bruckheimer confirms Prince of Persia movie; Newell as director

With hits such as Top Gun, Bad Boys, Con Air, and widely praised Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy safely tucked under his belt, mega movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer seems to be gearing up to hit it big once more. He has finally confirmed the movie version of the popular video game from Ubisoft Entertainment, Prince of Persia.

During the mini press conference at the bash of his latest movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Bruckhemier revealed that he hoped to get the ball rolling on the movie adaptation of the Prince of Persia. He didn't give out a specific date.

Although the Prince of Persia movie sounds promising given Bruckheimer's numerous box office hits, gamers remain silent about the planned movie's success. A lot of gamers have been frustrated before with past less-than-stellar video game adaptations. But Bruckheimer manages to keep the faith, confident that Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell will bring something special to the Prince of Persia movie adaptation with his inventive and ingenious flair.

Nintendo Calls Wii Sales 'Fantastic'

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - A top Nintendo Co. executive said holiday sales of the Wii game consoles have gotten off to a ``fantastic start'' but warned Tuesday that Wiis would be scarce through the end of the year.

Nintendo sold 350,000 Wiis in the U.S. last week, when many stores were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, compared with 300,000 the previous week in the U.S.

It was unclear if last week's sales broke a Nintendo record. During one eight-day period in late November 2006, when the Wii debuted, consumers throughout the U.S., Canada and Latin America purchased more than 600,000 units sold.

The company is on track to sell 17.5 million Wiis in the fiscal year ending March 31. Last fall, Nintendo executives predicted they would sell 14.5 million Wiis.

They were producing roughly 1.2 million units per month at the time.

Nintendo has ramped up production to about 1.8 million per month, but its manufacturers cannot increase production again, said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, who spent Friday and Saturday spot-checking Wii supplies at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co., GameStop Corp., Target Corp. and Toys ``R'' Us Inc. stores in Erie, Pa., and Redmond, Wash.

``I couldn't find a single Wii system on the shelves - literally as I was walking into a Wal-Mart at 11 a.m., someone was walking out with the last one,'' Fils-Aime said in an interview at the company's new Redwood City office. ``Consumers are buying every game we can put into the system.''

Fils-Aime predicted a new sales record the week before Christmas, despite being ``very concerned'' about the U.S. economy and the rising price of gasoline. About 40 percent of Wii sales have been in North America and Latin America, while 35 percent were in Asia, primarily Japan, and the rest came from Europe and the Middle East.

He dismissed speculation online that the Kyoto, Japan-based company - maker of Pokemon and Super Mario games - is deliberately constraining supply of the $250 console to generate buzz.

``A shortage benefits no one,'' he said. ``We're disappointed. This was all about how we didn't accurately estimate demand. We need to be more bullish about the potential for the Wii.''

Unlike consoles with joysticks that players operate with their thumbs, the Wii responds to the user moving a wand-like wireless controller strapped to a wrist.

Wii games including tennis and bowling appeal to children, parents, hardcore gamers and even senior citizens.

Sony Corp.'s top-line PlayStation model, with an 80-gigabyte hard drive, costs $499 in the U.S., down from the original price of $599. A new low-end model with a 40-gigabyte drive will go on sale Nov. 2 for $399.

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 costs $350 in the U.S.

The Wii has been a tremendous boost for Nintendo.

In the quarter ended Sept. 30, it more than doubled its sales to $6.1 billion from a year earlier, when the Wii had not yet launched.

Nintendo has sold 5.5 million Wiis in the U.S. since the console went on sale.

(This version CORRECTS comparison data, which is for broader geographic region than the U.S.)

Nintendo, Nokia and Motorola flunk the Green test

Nintendo, Nokia and Motorola have flunked a 'toxic test' conducted by the quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics.

The latest edition of the mag assessed for the first time TVs and the rapidly growing games consoles market and even the mobile market for their environmental credentials.

While Nintendo completely failed to show any environmental credentials, Microsoft and Philips did a little better.

The Greener Electronics Guide is a way of getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste with an aim to make manufacturers get rid of harmful chemicals in their products.

The purpose of this guide is to see an end to the stories of unprotected child labourers scavenging mountains of cast-off gadgets created by society's gizmo-loving ways.

The guide ranked companies according to their policies and practices on toxic chemicals and takeback. Along with mobile phone and personal computer companies, the biggest makers of TVs and games consoles were also added.

Old TVs are a large part of e-waste and the games console market is one of the fastest growing in consumer electronics.

Nintendo has the dubious honour of being the first company to score 0/10 in the guide. Microsoft did little better, scoring only 2.7. Philips is the lowest TV-maker scoring only 2.

The companies are new to the Guide and thus have plenty of room for improvement.

Sony Ericsson is heading the ranking, and has taken over number one spot from Nokia while Samsung and Sony have zoomed to now occupy second and third positions.

Nokia and Motorola have each had a penalty point deducted after it was found that their claims of global takeback were not being matched by actual practice.

The implementation of product takeback programmes in six countries where Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson claim, on their websites, to operate product takeback programmes, was tested.

Nokia representatives in the Philippines, Thailand, Argentina, Russia and India were not informed about their companies' own programmes and in many cases provided misleading information.

Motorola staff in the Philippines, Thailand and India were unable to direct customers to collection points in their respective countries.

Therefore, Nokia falls from top position to ninth and Motorola drops from ninth position to fourteenth.

"Companies shouldn't be under any illusions that we won't check up on their claims of green greatness," commented Iza Kruszewska, toxics campaigner at Greenpeace International. Companies making the most progress with new products without the worst toxic chemicals are now ranking higher than companies who have only committed to remove them in the future.

Toshiba has laptops free of toxic chemicals like vinyl plastic (PVC) and has reduced the use of brominated flame retardants (BFRs).

Apple's score improves slightly due to new iMacs reducing the use of PVC and BFRs.

All new mobiles from Sony Ericsson and Nokia have been free of PVC since the end of 2006. The guide focuses on toxic chemicals and takeback policy because of the rapid growth in quantities of toxic e-waste being dumped in developing countries like China and India.

However, Nintendo's Wii console appears to be more energy efficient compared to the Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation, energy use is not yet covered in the ranking.

Many companies have made big strides to improve their products and recycling schemes since the introduction of the guide.

But no company has so far succeeded in offering an entire range of products free of the worst toxic chemicals or a comprehensive, free, global takeback scheme to ensure responsible recycling.

Nintendo's Wii console bags Pocket-lint's 'gadget of the year' award

London, November 26: Nintendo's groundbreaking Wii console was declared the gadget of the year at technology website Pocket-lint.co.uk's annual Gadget Awards recently.

The best-selling games machine beating off competition from Apple's much-hyped iPhone and Nokia's N95 mobile.

It also won the award for best console, beating Sony's Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.

Apple's iPhone won the Best Smartphone award. However, the company's iPod Touch lost out to the lesser known Archos 605 Wi-Fi in the best mp3 player category.

According to the Mirror, the Awards were judged by a panel of top tech journalists.

The winners at the Pocket Lint Awards 2007 were:

Best Gadget - Nintendo Wii

Best MP3 Player - Archos 605 Wi-Fi

Best Headphones - Sennheiser PXC450

Best DAB radio - Pure Evoke - 1S

Best Console - Nintendo Wii

Best Smartphone - Apple iPhone

Best Mobile Phone - Nokia N95

Best Mobile Phone Accessory - Jawbone Bluetooth headset

Best Satnav - Navman S901

Best Car Gadget - Griffing itrip auto

Best Compact Digital Camera - Fuji FinePix Z5fd

Best DLSR Digital Camera - Canon EOS 40D DSLR digital camera

Best Printer - Kodak Easyshare 5300 All In One Printer

Best Laptop - Sony VAOI TX11N - ultraslim

Best VoIP Accessory - Philips VOIP841

Best TV - Pioneer Kuro

Best Home Cinema Accessory - Apple TV

Best Console Game - Gears of War, Xbox

Best Sports and fitness gadget - Timex iControl

Best Green Gadget - usbcell

Singapore lifts ban on Microsoft video game - paper

Singapore, November 16: Singapore has lifted a ban on a Microsoft Corp. video game that contains a scene showing a human woman and an alien woman kissing and caressing, a local newspaper reported Saturday.

The Strait Times said Mass Effect would instead be sold with an M18 label, meaning it can't be bought by anybody under the age of 18.

Mass Effect is the first video game to be given a rating in the country, and follows a public outcry over the ban. It effectively fast tracks a new ratings system that was due to come into effect in January, the paper said.

A similar move was made for the movie Lust, Caution, which was released uncut with a R21 age restriction after first being shown in a censored form.

Sony PS3 weekly U.S. sales double after price cut

Tokyo, November 16: U.S. sales of Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 (PS3) more than doubled in the weeks following a price cut and the launch of a lower-priced version, the company said Friday, in a sign of changing fortunes for the game console.

Sony said it sold about 75,000 PS3 consoles in the week of October 29 in the United States, and more than 100,000 in the following week, compared with weekly sales of 30,000 to 40,000 before.

Sony cut the U.S. price of its PS3 with an 80-gigabyte hard disk drive by 17 percent to $499 in mid-October. It started selling a new model with a 40-GB hard drive on Nov. 2 for $399 in an effort to ignite demand ahead of the crucial holiday season.

Sony, locked in battle with Microsoft Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd in the global videogame market, suffered a slow start for the PS3 after its launch a year ago because of high prices and a scarcity of strong game titles.

Nintendo sold 519,000 units of the Wii in the United States in October, while Microsoft sold 366,000 Xbox 360 consoles and Sony sold 121,000 of its PS3 machines, data from market research firm NPD showed on Thursday.

Playing games reduces tension in the workplace

London, November 7: Canadian scientists have found that playing computer games that encourages a positive attitude may be helpful in releasing tension in the workplace. Mark Baldwin and colleagues at McGill University in Montreal asked call centre workers to play a very simple game for five minutes before they started work.

All that the participants had to do was to find, as quickly as possible, an image of a single smiling face in an array of 16 photos, the rest of which showed a frowning face.

It was found that people who had played the game produced 17 per cent less of the stress hormone cortisol after their shift than employees who did not play the game. "Just 5 minutes of game-play per day had a significant effect," New Scientist magazine quoted Baldwin as saying.

He believes that the reduction in tension might have occurred probably because the participants were disengaged from stress while dismissing the negative, frowning images in the game.

Hackers Unlock `Manhunt 2' Video Game

NEW YORK (AP) - Hackers have unlocked violent content that was censored by the publisher of the game ``Manhunt 2'' to give it a marketable rating, the company confirmed Thursday.

The game, initially given an ``Adults Only'' rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, went on sale in the U.S. on Wednesday with a ``Mature'' rating, after being modified. Most stores refuse to carry ``Adults Only'' games; Mature means a game is intended for player 17 or older.

Game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. and the studio that designed the game, Rockstar Games, have long been at the center of the debate over video game violence and children.

Two years ago, a hacker uncovered a hidden sex scene in their game ``Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.''

In ``Manhunt 2,'' the player takes the role of a man who escapes from an insane asylum and goes on a killing spree.

Take-Two edited parts of the game, including blurring some of the most gruesome killing scenes, to get the less restrictive rating.

Hackers defeated that blurring on the version of the game for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Portable. The game is also available for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii systems, and those versions do not appear to have been hacked.

The hack does not roll back all the changes that enabled the game to qualify for the ``Mature'' rating, and it requires some technical expertise and a PSP unit that is itself hacked to accept modified software.

But Common Sense Media, a San Francisco nonprofit that advises parents about entertainment that may be inappropriate for children, Thursday asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into the ratings process, now funded and governed by an industry association. The process lacks basic transparency, Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer said in a statement.

``We believe that families and all consumers should have an assurance from game publishers and the game ratings board that the content being advertised is the same as the content being sold,'' Steyer said.

In the Grand Theft Auto incident, the ratings board changed the game's rating from ``Mature'' to ``Adults Only'' and retailers pulled it off shelves.

Since then, the board has required that publishers submit even hidden content for review, and Take-Two spokesman Ed Nebb said the publisher had followed that requirement for ``Manhunt 2.''

It is unclear whether the private, nonprofit ratings board considered the hidden material in assigning the ``M'' rating to ``Manhunt 2.''

Board spokesman Eliot Mizrachi said only that it is aware of the hacking issue and is looking into it.

Both the revised and original versions of ``Manhunt 2'' were banned by the American ratings board's British counterpart.

``I stand behind the game and the ESRB ratings process,'' Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a statement. ``It is unfortunately the case that no one in the entertainment software industry is immune from hacking. We hope that consumers will not engage in hacking or download illegally modified copies of our games.''

On the Net: