My friend Kenny is stopping by on his way from Vegas to Northern California. Last weekend we played some Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Perhaps we can finish the game this weekend. After he goes, I’m going to play some Pokemon SoulSilver or Pokemon Pearl. I’ll pick up my shiny Raikou later today and start EV training him to become a fierce special sweeper.
How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?
The Mac App Store is live! Any of you play with it yet? What did you buy? Encounter any bugs? Share your Mac App Store experiences with the group (please)!
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer impressed the crowd during his CES 2011 keynote when he revealed that the company has sold eight-million units of Kinect for Xbox 360. The only problem is that’s not how many units were actually sold.
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, whether Steve Ballmer is ruining Microsoft, John Morrison upping his game’s physicality, or your favorite Entourage character, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer impressed the crowd during his CES 2011 keynote when he revealed that the company has sold eight-million units of Kinect for Xbox 360. The only problem is that’s not how many units were actually sold. Ballmer cited the “sold to retail” number — a term that’s being used more frequently by PR flaks and marketers.
It’s quite clever, though certainly disingenuous. More people know the difference between shipped and sold than ever before. More PR people are using “sold to retail” instead of “shipped” in their press releases. Internet reporters and bloggers are doing less fact checking (and less thinking, for that matter) in their race to get stories up as soon as possible. PR people know this and cleverly mask actual sales figures with sold-to-retail numbers.
Marketers and flaks are playing the press. Sure, some writers will verify whether touted numbers are shipped or sold, but it’s almost always too late. Hundreds of articles with inaccurate claims will have been posted by the time a verification email is received. Millions of readers will have been misinformed by the time a diligent journalist receives confirmation via phone.
I’ve covered games for a long time and have seen PR people manipulate journalists time and time again. The sold-to-retail gimmick is one of the smartest tactics I’ve seen in a long time. As a reader, do you trust the numbers issued by console manufacturers and game publishers? Do you suspect that most bloggers don’t bother to verify figures? Do you think PR people punk the press more often than not? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!
Earlier in the year a bunch of you made 2010 gaming resolutions. Did you follow through? How about for 2011? Will you join me in making a gaming resolution?
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, your holiday travel nightmares, why 49F feels like a sub-zero temperature in Los Angeles, or your new year’s eve party plans, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Earlier in the year a bunch of you made 2010 gaming resolutions. Did you follow through? How about for 2011? Will you join me in making a gaming resolution? I plan on giving casual games more time in 2011. It’ll be tough because I love traditional console games, but mobile and social gaming are becoming huge parts of the gaming market. It’s an important space to follow and with any luck playing more mobile/social games will help me make actually money in 2011 (a novel idea).
Heck, I’m going to get started now! I’ve just installed Lord of Ultima for Chrome OS. I’ll play some in my Chrome browser and my Google Chrome Cr-48.
How about you? Any 2011 gaming resolutions you’d like to share?
What games will you ring in the new year with? As for me, it’s the same setup as last week. My friend Kenny is in town and he’s a casual PS3 gamer. I figure we’ll play some X-Men Arcade and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on my Xbox 360. Plus, this will be a good excuse to download the Knives Chau DLC.
What’s on your new year’s weekend playlist?
2010 was a great year for gaming, so I’m sure that most of you have 2010 games that you haven’t gotten around to playing. What’s in your 2010 backlog? As for me…
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, Rupert Everett vs. Jennifer Aniston, the impact on Andy Pettitte’s probably retirement, or your favorite jelly/jam (the right answer is peach), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
2010 was a great year for gaming, so I’m sure that most of you have 2010 games that you haven’t gotten around to playing. What’s in your 2010 backlog? As for me, they’re mostly Wii games. I need to play more Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Epic Mickey. These games dazzled me at E3 2010, but I’ve been so busy with other things that they haven’t gottent the attention that they deserve.
How about you? What 2010 games are in your backlog?
I hope everyone had an excellent holiday. I’m still fighting off a Christmas cold, but I was thrilled to spend time with my family. Now let’s share stories of our holiday loot!
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, the pain of returning gifts, Kelly Osbourne fighting with her ex on Twitter, or airport delays, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I hope everyone had an excellent holiday. I’m still fighting off a Christmas cold, but I was thrilled to spend time with my family. Now let’s share stories of our holiday loot! What was the best gaming gift you received this year? How about non-gaming?
As for me, I didn’t get any gaming gifts. My brother picked me up some Rusty’s coffee (he lives in Hawaii), which is something I’ve wanted to try for years. It has been excellent so far, but it’s a darker roast than I’m used to. You know I geek out with my coffee, so you can imagine my excitement over brewing coffee from a fine Hawaiian roaster.
Now it’s your turn! I’m psyched to see what Santa and/or Hanukkah Harry got you this year!!!
After making some rounds in Orange County, I’ll be back in Los Angeles this weekend. My brother will be in town too and we’ll be playing some games together. He’s an old-school gamer and plays some PlayStation 3 games, but he’s not really a “hardcore” gamer anymore (whatever that means these days). I figure we’ll tackle some mindless old-schol beat-’em-ups like X-Men Arcade and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
How about you? What’s on your Christmas weekend playlist?
There were so many fantastic games in 2010 that some of them were bound to get less attention than they deserved. Are there any games that you loved this year that fit that description?
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, whether you got powers from the recent lunar eclipse, why the hell Manny Pacquiao is fighting Shane Mosley, or Cafecito Organico’s Guatemala El Carmen Estate, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
There were so many fantastic games in 2010 that some of them were bound to get less attention than they deserved. Are there any games that you loved this year that fit that description? 1Up.com’s Sam Kennedy, Gamasutra’s Christian Nutt, and GameFly Media’s (Shacknews) Garnett Lee share their sleeper hits of 2010. Watch the video above to see if any of your favorites made the list.
Naturally, I want your picks for 2010’s sleeper hits. Let me know what games you think should have gotten more love.
What was the biggest gaming news of the year? Find out what 1Up.com’s Sam Kennedy, Gamasutra’s Christian Nutt, and GameFly Media’s (Shacknews) Garnett Lee had to say on the matter.
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, CAA’s involvement with the formation of Respawn, Harmonix suing Viacom, or Larry Brown’s next coaching job, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
2010 was a truly fascinating year for the gaming world. There’s so much change in the air! 3D gaming, social gaming, motion controls, mobile gaming, developer consolidation, publisher power shifts, and more have changed and will continue to change the gaming landscape. What was the biggest gaming news of the year? Find out what 1Up.com’s Sam Kennedy, Gamasutra’s Christian Nutt, and GameFly Media’s (Shacknews) Garnett Lee had to say on the matter by watching the video above.
Naturally, I want to know what you thought was the biggest gaming news of 2010. Shout it out in the comments section (please)!
