Can Google Compete With iTunes and Facebook?

Google already has its finger in dozens of pies. It rules the Internet advertising and search kingdoms, while competing in mobile operating systems, VoIP, social networking, and more. If the rumors are true then Google is about to go head-on with Facebook and iTunes with Google Me and Google Music, respectively.

Google has attempted two major social networking projects that never really went anywhere: Orkut and Google Buzz. While it’s still supporting Buzz, the company realizes that it has to do more. Will the third time be a charm with Google Me? Perhaps…but I seriously doubt it can put a significant dent in Facebook. Maybe being a strong number two — and serving tons of targeted ads — is more than enough for the company.

I believe Google has a slightly better opportunity with Google Music. Although iTunes is immensely popular thanks to millions of iPod and iPhone sales, Apple has never been good at leveraging cloud computing. Google, on the other hand, has been great at it. There are rumors that there’s a cloud-based iTunes in the works, but I wonder if Apple can pull it off. While Google has a ton of work to do in order to match the elegant iTunes experience, at the very least I expect it to get the cloud part right.

What do you guys and gals think? Can Google compete with Facebook and iTunes? Or are Google Me and Google Music destined to fail?

Apple Adamant That iPhone 4 Reception is a Software Issue

I know that Apple is all about manipulating the reality distortion field, but I don’t understand this press release that insists that the iPhone 4 reception issues are software related. Here’s part of the official explanation:

Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

I’ve seen too many tests that show that bandwidth drops with the so-called iPhone 4 death grip. It seems pretty clear that it’s a design problem that decreases reception for some, but certainly not all, users.

Am I missing something? I don’t understand what Apple is trying to do here. Am I interpreting the issue incorrectly? What’s the frequency Kenneth?

Coffee Talk #170: Your 2010 Videogame Backlog

In yesterday’s Coffee Talk, we discussed the games we loved in the first half of 2010. It really is remarkable that so many excellent games have been released already. The problem is that it’s really hard to play all the great ones. Today I want to know what awesome 2010 releases are in your gaming backlog.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Mel Gibson’s love of racial slurs, Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, or Steve Carell leaving The Office, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

In yesterday’s Coffee Talk, we discussed the games we loved in the first half of 2010. It really is remarkable that so many excellent games have been released already. The problem is that it’s really hard to play all the great ones. Today I want to know what awesome 2010 releases are in your gaming backlog.

My backlog is ridiculously high. I started a few of these games, but didn’t get very far. Some of them are still shrink wrapped. Here my list: BioShock 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mass Effect 2, God of War III, and MLB 10 The Show. Sadly, I don’t know when I’ll get to these fine titles. My weekend playlist is full and I promised a friend (and myself) that I’d get around to completing Blue Dragon this year. *sigh* Priorities.

Now it’s your turn! What 2010 game releases are in your backlog?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I have that awesome problem of having too many good games to play this weekend. If you’ve read my (not a) review of Hot Shots Tennis then you know that I’m loving the game. I’m going to play it more than I ought to this weekend. Last night I started LEGO Harry Potter and was totally charmed. I’ll definitely be spending more time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For more practical reasons, I should play Crackdown 2. I’ll spend some time with the game, but it’s going to lose time to the first two titles I mentioned.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

(Not a) Review of Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip

Last Saturday I spent two hours downloading Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip for Sony Playstation Portable. I was immensely annoyed that it took so long to download a relatively small amount of data. Five days later, I don’t regret the wait. This game has been a most pleasant surprise. Hot Shots Tennis for PSP is a cute combination of arcade sports and role playing that’s a tremendous value. If you find arcade sports remotely entertaining then I highly recommend this game.

Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip takes Clap Hanz (Hot Shots Golf) art style and combines it with RPG elements that reminded me of Mario Tennis: Power Tour for Game Boy Advance. You start off with a pair of players on a journey to spread joy to the world through the Love Tennis Club. The silly premise is just an excuse to travel to different locations, beat dozens of players, recruit new allies, and add a bit of story to the excellent gameplay.

As you travel from location to location, there are plenty of RPG trappings to enjoy in between matches. You’ll have to talk to different characters to gather information. There are simple fetch quests. There are plenty of hidden objects and characters to find. There are hundreds of rats to kill for experience points (okay, I made that last one up). Naturally, there are “boss fights” at the end of each level. Linking it all is a surprisingly deep and thoroughly fun tennis system.

As someone that has played hundreds of hours of actual tennis, I really appreciated the addictive gameplay and subtle nuances in Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip. The different play styles — baseline, net, and all-around — are distinct. The difference between players is really pronounced. Character stats can be manipulated through the use of different outfits, racquets, and accessories. The art is cute and the RPG elements are fun, but none of it would matter if the gameplay wasn’t any good. The tennis in this game is way more than good. It’s great.

Most of you know that I’m a big RPG fan. Some of you know that I dress far better than most game writers. With all of that in mind, you can understand why I enjoyed the game’s customization system. Some of the outfits are ridiculous — horse heads, stag beetle costumes, bikinis, ninja outfits, etc. While I enjoyed seeing my players look ridiculous on the court, I loved maxing out stats through outfits. I find accessorizing fun. Sue me.

As with any great portable game, Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip is fun for two minutes or two hours. Even though I beat the game’s story mode last night, I know that I’ll be playing it for dozens of hours in the future. Maxing out the various characters, trying out new outfit combinations, and playing multiplayer matches (ad hoc only) with friends will definitely be part of my gaming future.

Best of all, Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip is pretty cheap, with an MSRP of $19.99. Again, if you dig arcade sports titles like Hot Shots Golf and Mario Tennis then I highly recommend this game. It offers a tremendous amount of fun for a relatively low price. Going into the game, I knew I’d like it, but I was surprised that I ended up loving it.

NPD Console Sales Figures Top 10 Games of May 2010

Here are NPD Group’s console software sales figures for May 2010. There were a lot of great releases in May, which is traditionally a slow month for the business. Some of your favorites made the list and there were a few surprises as well. Let’s check out the digits!

  1. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360): 945,900
  2. Red Dead Redemption (PS3): 567,100
  3. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii): 563,000
  4. UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360): 221,100
  5. UFC 2010: Undisputed (PS3): 192,300
  6. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Wii)
  7. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
  8. Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
  9. Pokemon SoulSilver (Nintendo DS)
  10. Skate 3 (Xbox 360)

Perhaps it’s just me, but I’m used to seeing more Nintendo games in the top 10. Ha! Obviously Red Dead Redemption was May’s killer title. UFC 2010 did well, which shouldn’t be a surprise. I was happy to see games like Alan Wake and Skate 3 on the list; they didn’t get as much hype and commercial time as some of May’s other titles, but they did well. Naturally, Nintendo continued to do well with Mario and Pokemon.

Anything on May’s list surprise you?

NPD Hardware Sales Figures for May 2010

NPD Group released its console sales data for May 2010. The gaming industry is still in a year-over-year decline, but will May’s console hardware sales help the business bust out of the slump? Let’s check out the numbers:

  • Nintendo DS: 383,700
  • Nintendo Wii: 334,800
  • Xbox 360: 194,600
  • PlayStation 3: 154,500
  • PlayStation Portable: 59,400

The Wii and Xbox 360 are up from April, but the rest of the systems are down. For the Nintendo DS, the difference isn’t that big of a deal since it’s trouncing the competition and continues to sell extremely well. Sony was slightly down and put up decent numbers, but not enough to compete with the Xbox 360. With a lot of gamers excited about the 360 hardware refresh, I’d be surprised if the gap didn’t widen in May.

Any thoughts on these lovely numbers? Uh…fore?!? Ha!

Speculation: CDMA iPhone 4 Ready, Verizon Yet to Sign

Here’s an interesting piece of speculation by The Loop. Jim Dalrymple believes that Apple has a CDMA iPhone 4 ready to go, but Verizon has yet to sign on the dotted line. His speculation follows the Bloomberg report that Verizon will start selling the iPhone 4 in January 2011.

Apple already has a Verizon compatible iPhone. It’s not that they have to rush around Apple HQ and start building the thing for a January launch with Verizon — it’s already there and being perfected all the time.

Here’s where my thoughts differ a little bit from Bloomberg. I don’t believe a deal has been finalized with Verizon. It’s reasonable to assume that the two companies are in negotiations and the Bloomberg article is just another negotiating tactic, but I don’t think a deal has been signed.

On one hand, you’re probably thinking that Verizon would be nuts not to make a deal for the most popular consumer smartphone on the market. On the other hand, Verizon is used to dictating terms and Apple is in an extremely powerful negotiating position. In case you have three hands, consider that Sprint — also a CDMA carrier — is desperate for new customers and Apple could dictate more favorable terms with it than Verizon.

I would love for Sprint to get the iPhone 4 over Verizon. On a personal level, it would be more affordable. From a verbal entertainer’s standpoint, it would make the market far more interesting. Despite the iPhone’s immense popularity, Verizon still has more customers than AT&T. Sprint is a distant third, but could conceivably close the gap in a very short time with the iPhone 4. It would just be fascinating to watch.

While I’m at it, here’s a poll for you:

[poll id=”57″]

Source via BoyGeniusReport

Future Heavy Rain Chronicles Delayed Due to Playstation Move

Millions of Heavy Rain fans were psyched to learn that the game will be patched to support Playstation Move. Unfortunately, motion-control support will come at the expense of original content. Instead of creating more Heavy Rain Chronicles, Quantic Dream was told to prioritize Move support. Quantic Dream founder and co-CEO David Cage told NowGamer:

We proposed three episodes about one hour long and being focused on the background of the main characters. I thought fans would really enjoy these episodes because they explained many aspects of HR and why characters are who they are. Unfortunately, Sony preferred to ask us to focus on Move to support the device rather than on creating new content.

Move support for Heavy Rain is important and I totally understand why Sony would want that over new content. It absolutely makes sense from a business perspective. As a huge fan of the game and Quantic Dream, I’m bummed that the company has put original content on the back burner.

How do you feel about this move? Would you rather have new chapters in Heavy Rain? Or are you more interested in PlayStation Move support?

Source