Apple to offer iPhone 4 users free cases

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Chris Morris

Stung by ongoing media criticism and consumer complaints over the iPhone 4’s antenna, Apple has announced it will offer a free case to the more than 3 million people who have bought the device since its launch three weeks ago – and anyone who buys one for the next two-and-a-half months.

Users who have already purchased a bumper or case for the device will receive refunds – and the free case offer will extend to anyone who buys an iPhone 4 through Sept. 30. It also is offering a full refund for people who return their iPhone within 30 days of purchase, waving the restocking fee.

Hardware’s up, but game sales plunge in June

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Chris Morris

June was another crummy month for video game sales – just like pretty much every other month this year. But, on the upside, a clearance sale on existing Xbox 360 hardware bumped hardware sales into positive territory.

Total sales for the industry came in at $1.1 billion, 6 percent behind last year’s pace, according to The NPD Group. Software sales, which are the number most people pay the closest attention to, were down 15 percent though, while hardware sales increased 5 percent.

Microsoft’s great experiment ends

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Chris Morris

When Microsoft announced plans to bring the TV game show “1 vs. 100” to the gaming space two years ago, a lot of people rolled their eyes and groaned a little bit. Not me. I thought it was one of the company’s most interesting announcements of that particular E3.

The game was the centerpiece of an experiment called Xbox Live Primetime – a scheduled series of interactive games that represented the video game industry’s first serious foray into the turf dominated by TV. It was a hit, even setting a Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous contestants in a game show – 114,000. Now it’s dead.

Apple to address iPhone 4 issues Friday

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Chris Morris

The iPhone launch might have been the biggest in Apple’s history, but it has also been marred by numerous complaints about the device’s antenna. Now, Apple appears ready to discuss consumer concerns and perhaps announce what it plans to do to address those issues.

The Cupertino-based company will hold a press conference Friday at 10am. It has declined to give details about who will speak or what will be addressed.

New Activision Publishing CEO may have best resume of all time

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Chris Morris

Today’s appointment of Eric Hirshberg as CEO of Activision Publishing rounds out a nine-month search by the company and will fill the hole left by the promotion of Mike Griffith earlier this year.

Activision’s excited about the move for a number of reasons, but gamers should be excited because Eric Hirshberg might have the coolest freakin’ resume of all time.

Epic Mickey gets a comic book

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Chris Morris

Disney’s reintroduction of Mickey Mouse to the video game world is expanding into other mediums.

Beyond the work he is doing on “Epic Mickey,” developer Warren Spector is working on a comic book adaptation of the Wasteland world where the game is set. Comic and sci-fi superstar Peter David is assisting on the book (and likely doing most of the writing).

Blizzard reverses itself – flame wars continue

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Chris Morris

So much for that idea.

Facing an onslaught of negative feedback from players, Blizzard Entertainment has reversed its decision to require users to use their real names in forum postings. Since announcing the new policy earlier this week, fans of Blizzard games have complained loudly, pointing out that they enjoy the company’s products because it represents an imaginary world in which they can escape reality.

First impressions: Hulu Plus

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Chris Morris

Hulu is finally expanding beyond your PC’s monitor, but if you want to take advantage of the service, it’s going to cost you. For the past week, we’ve been running Hulu Plus, the site’s subscription service, through its paces as it ramps up for a broad launch. And we’ve come to a few preliminary conclusions.

We say preliminary since this is a service that’s still in beta – and there’s still time to improve some of the bugs. On the whole, though, Hulu Plus is a content-packed service that gets a lot of things right. And its portability, especially via the iPad, is a welcome and long overdue feature that might be enough to get some people to pony up the $10 monthly charge. It’s far from perfect, though, and there are a few stumbling blocks that could keep others sitting on the fence even after Hulu opens the service up to everyone.

“Civilization” studio lays off 20

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Chris Morris

Significant staff cuts have hit Firaxis Studios, the home of gaming legend Sid Meier and developer of the forthcoming “Civilization V”. The studio has laid off 20 developers as part of what parent company Take Two Interactive Software calls a “realignment of development resources at the studio”.

That works out to roughly 15 percent of the company’s employees, if recent staffing estimates are correct. The company says the layoffs will not affect ongoing development of “Civ 5” or the upcoming “Civ” Facebook game.

Product sales outpace subscription fees on Xbox Live

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Chris Morris

Microsoft has always led the video game pack when it comes to online integration of its console services. But it recently turned a particularly impressive corner.

For the year ending June 30, sales of online products, such as movies, TV shows and downloadable game levels, were higher than revenue generated by subscription fees. Together, the company estimates that revenue for the Xbox Live service topped $1 billion.

Chris Morris: Journalist

Category Archives: Variety – Technotainment