MediaFile

Sony’s PS3 draws men to malls

Sony’s new PlayStation 3 video game console is bringing more married couples together this holiday shopping season — Just not for the reasons one would expect.   “We are interviewing shoppers and a lot of husbands said they will shop with wives because they are concerned about crime and violence surrounding the PlayStation 3,” Britt Beemer, founder of America’s Research Group, told Reuters.   The PS3 debuted on Nov. 17 to big U.S. crowds eager to be among the first to put their hands on the long-awaited and very limited supplies of new machines from the world’s leading console maker. The launch was marred by violence when bandits shot a man waiting in line at a Connecticut Wal-Mart after he refused to hand over his cash.

Following the shooting, Sony issued a statement calling the attack an isolated incident.

“There are two or three times more men out today,” said Beemer, whose firm specializes in consumer behavior marketing.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; Photo by Reuters)  

PS3 ads got you confused? Please, tell a friend

                                                 Do Sony’s chess billboard ads for the newly launched PlayStation 3 console – the ones that feature a beheaded king – leave you stumped?

You aren’t the only one, so during this week’s blizzard of launch-related Sony executive interviews we asked Jack Tretton, co-chief operating officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America to enlighten us.   Confused? You’re supposed to be, Tretton said: “A lot of initial ads are designed to make people ask, ‘What’s up with that?’”

The consensus among fans: Mission accomplished.   The PS3 chess ad is the ultimate check mate, the ultimate game over statement, he said. “It’s hard-core game on. Game over.”   Globally, Sony has shipped 106 million+ PlayStation 2 units so far, nabbing 70 percent of the of the worldwide console market. But does that mean Sony is destined to inherit the throne in its three-way console war with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii?

Tretton doesn’t agree with analysts who predict that Sony will retain the crown but lose its iron grip over its domain.

The consensus: Until it is game over, game on!  

Queuing for fun, profit — and burritos!

Video game fans by the thousands have mobbed stores from New York to Los Angeles — all for a chance be among the first in the U.S. to snatch Sony’s long-awaited, $600 PlayStation 3 console.

This year’s crowds are among the biggest yet to camp out ahead of a video game console launch, reflecting the industry’s growing impact and enthusiasts’ desire to make a quick buck on eBay. Systems are already being auctioned for nearly triple the retail price.

At San Francisco’s Metreon, home to the Sony Style retail store and site of the West Coast PS3 launch party, 750 people formed lines that stretched for blocks. Sony handed out burritos to the devotees, some of whom camped out for days ahead of the launch. A PlayStation spokeswoman hinted that that wasn’t the best of it: “Let’s just say everybody’s going to go home happy.”

San Francisco college student Joshua Motta, who was No. 2 in line at the Metreon party, said he’s debating whether to keep his PS3: “I could go to Best Buy to sell it. But I’m worried about getting jumped.”

Mark MacDonald, director of Gamevideos.com, predicted an even bigger mob for Sunday’s launch of Nintendo’s Wii console — which costs $250 and comes with a pair of one-hand controllers that lets gamers simulate on-screen action, whether it’s making racing school buses summersault off ramps or wielding a sword.

Let the battle begin.

Click here for Reuters’ coverage of the scene. YouTube videos from the Japan PS3, where things got out of hand can be found here.

Kiss me, you bully!

“Grand Theft Auto” video game maker Rockstar is breaking new ground with boy-on-boy kissing its new schoolyard brawling title “Bully.”

While not the first game to include same-sex make out sessions, Bully is in the vanguard of titles tackling the subject matter.

It’s a risky bet for the Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.-owned studio known for its violent and wildly popular games — and for failing to disclose an explicit heterosexual sex scene in “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.” 

Readers of GayGamer.net – which bills itself a site “for boys who like boys who like joysticks” – have been bullish on “Bully.”

In the game, 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins, the main character, can be made to smooch other boys at his fictional boarding school. 

A blond schoolboy in the game uses this pick-up line on Jimmy: ”I’m hot. You’re hot. Let’s make out.”

Not one to be outdone, Jimmy’s sweet nothings to the blond include: ”You’re incredible. Come here.” and  ”You smell real good.”

Team Korea back on top after World Cyber Games

Team Korea overcame rivals from more than 70 countries to reclaim the Grand Champion title at this year’s World Cyber Games, which wrapped on Sunday in Monza, Italy.

Medalists for Team Korea, which regained the crown after four years, took home nearly a quarter of the $462,000 total prize money up for grabs.

Team Korea won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal. Russia nabbed second place with one gold, a silver and a bronze. Germany placed third. Teams from Canada, China, Poland and the United States tied for fourth.

Team USA’s Wesley “TTR Ch0mpr” Cwiklo, 17, of Camarillo, California, snagged the gold and the Grand Champion title for ”Project Gotham Racing 3″ on the Xbox 360. He was the youngest member of Team USA and the sole medal winner for the defending U.S. team, reaping $15,000 in prize money.

The 2007 WCG finals will be held in Seattle.

Read Reuters full story about the action in Italy.

(Photos: Reuters (top) and World Cyber Games handout (bottom))

Who would Tiger play?

Not himself, at least not in the Electronic Arts video game that carries his name.

“I never play as me. I always create my character. I have one dude who’s all buffed, I have another one who is all fat,” Tiger Woods told Reuters at the Hollywood debut of “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07″.

Woods, who put himself in a motion capture suit to update his swing for the new game, said golfers who want to play better in the real world could benefit from the game’s realistic courses, tournament situations and by assessing the actual swings of PGA players.

Asked if he succumbed to the temptation to improve his virtual likeness, Woods smiled and quipped: “Bigger, more buff and more cut. That’s always the goal for every dude.”

The PGA’s No. 1 and top-earning player said he’s getting a kick out of next-generation console technology advancements that make crowds more realistic.

“It’s terrible when you hit somebody in real golf because you see them go down and you feel so bad. But in video game golf it’s the funniest thing to see them go down.”

Asked if Woods and EA include a rude spectator to increase crowd realism in the new game, he said, “No, we don’t. That might be the next level.”

“Madden” curse strikes again?

It looks like the infamous “Madden curse” has claimed another victim. Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander broke his foot in Sunday’s game against the New York Giants and will be warming the benches for at least two weeks.

Alexander, last season’s NFL MVP and cover athlete for “Madden NFL 07″, joins a growing list of players who have been injured or had a dismal season after having their likeness on the cover of the best-selling football game from Electronic Arts Inc.

Athletes poo-poo the curse, which some say has taken over where the so-called “Sports Illustrated jinx” left off.

Here’s a quote from Alexander, which was attributed to an August story in USA Today: “The way I look at it, if I was going to get hurt this year, being on the cover had nothing to do with it,” he said. “So if I was going to be hurt, I’d rather be on the cover than not on it.”

Here’s a list of prior “cursed” ”Madden” cover players, from an August 27 report in the Los Angeles Times:

2001: Eddie George of the Tennessee Titans, which went to the  Super Bowl the previous season but lost, bobbled a pass in a playoff game against Baltimore. The pass was intercepted by a Baltimore defender and returned for a touchdown. The Titans lost.   2002: Quarterback Daunte Culpepper sat out five games because of injury, and his Minnesota Vikings finished 5-11.    2003: Running back Marshall Faulk suffered an ankle injury and failed to rush for 1,000 yards, and his St. Louis Rams finished 7-9, after having gone to the Super Bowl the previous season.    2004: Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick broke his leg the day after the video game hit stores and ended up playing only five games.   2005: Linebacker Ray Lewis sat out a game because of injury, ended his season without a single interception, and his Baltimore Ravens failed to make the playoffs.    2006: Donovan McNabb, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, sat out the last seven games due to injury. The Eagles lost five of them and failed to make the playoffs.

Don’t hate me, I “work” for a living

Dave Geffon, 24, “works” about 50 hours per week and expects to pull in between $40,000 to $60,000 this year — playing video games.

The Austin, Texas-based professional gamer is one of 12 members of Team USA, which will face off against 700 elite players from 70 countries at the World Cyber Games Grand Final in Monza, Italy, in October.

“I just fell into it,” said Geffon, who said his gaming team’s Las Vegas win gave him an “amazing sense of accomplishment.”

Members of Team USA took home a combined purse of $75,000+ from the U.S. Final that wrapped in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The team will be the defending Grand Champion at the 2006 world competition in Italy.

Madison Ave.-type seeks young, big-spending gamer for trist

The sought-after but notoriously hard-to-reach young male audience is the backbone of the $28.5 billion global video game industry — whose membership is more diverse, more social and more likely to be big spenders than commonly assumed according to a new survey.

By all accounts, it’s shaping up to be a match made in heaven. If you need convincing, check out this post on Coke’s new ad, our EA in-game advertising story, and this popular American Express “Roddick vs. PONG” TV commercial (play the related game here).      The Ziff Davis Game Group of San Francisco offers the following stats from its Digital Gaming in America 2006 survey:

• Out of 113 million U.S. households, 83.7 million have at least one console or computer gamer — up almost 10 percent from last year. Of those gaming households, 21.4 million have at least one “core” gamer, defined as a player who bought 4 or more games in the last 6 months and plays 10-plus hours per week.
• The average age of PC gamers is 32 and the average console gamer is 27. Forty-eight percent of all PC gamers are female, while 41 percent of all console gamers are female.
• Average household income for PC gamers is $85,262 and $85,511 for console gamers. 
• Core gamers, on average, said they bought 10 video games and spent $199 on their habit in the prior six months.
• But there’s more. During the same time period, they also spent $708 on clothing, $231 on athletic shoes and $117 on DVDs. Additionally, they reported plans to spend $1,085 on consumer electronics in the next six months. 
• And in a stereotype-busting discovery…Gamers were most likely to describe themselves as adventurous, funny, competitive and intelligent. They were least likely to say they were a loner, reserved, a geek or tech-savvy.

So go ahead and fire up that copy of “Madden 07.” 

If anyone gives you grief, you can remind them that you’re probably richer, funnier and smarter than they are. 

Coke turns the table on bad guys

A new Coke ad doesn’t just teach the world to sing, it shows how to commit random acts of kindness and senseless beauty.

Video game fans are buzzing this month over an animated Coca-Cola commercial set in gritty, urban streets. Clearly, the aesthetic is straight outta the controversial video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” which was briefly pulled from store shelves due to an illicit, hidden sex scene dubbed “hot coffee.” 

While players can take the game’s main character on missions involving drive-by shootings or robberies, the Coke-drinking star of the commercial chooses the high road — foiling a purse snatching, returning a bag of money dropped by a armored car driver and dropping a wad of cash into the open guitar case of a street performer.

Lest anyone forget the cheerful history of Coke’s advertising, here’s a retrospective from the Library of Congress of 50 years of Coke commercials for the brown, fizzy beverage. Check out the 1970s era-defining Hilltop ad.

Some things never change. The latest video-game ad also ends on a chorus. “Give a little love and it all comes back to you.” La-la-la-la-la.

Representatives from Coca-Cola were not immediately available for comment.