Agence France-Presse (AFP) is reporting that, beginning in March of 2012, the Louvre in Paris, France will use 5,000 3DS hand-helds to guide its 8.5 million annual visitors through the 35,000 art objects on display. The hand-helds are being supplied by Nintendo as part of a new partnership between the company and the iconic museum.

The 3DS systems the museum will use let visitors locate themselves on the museum's grounds, select from themed tours tailored to both adults and children, and listen to commentary about exhibits in seven different languages.

According to Nintendo, its 3DS hand-held has managed to beat the first year sales of its predecessor, the Nintendo DS - and it managed to do this in the first eight-months of release. Of course, the top executives at Nintendo forget to mention that the Nintendo DS did not have a price cut in that first year of sales, nor did it cause investors in Nintendo to demand that the company do a course correction and consider releasing software on other competing platforms like iOS.

Microsoft has officially abandoned Zune, admitting publicly for the first time that production of the hardware has ceased. RIP, iPod wannabe. Microsoft said that Windows Phone will be where it puts all its attention on in that space and that Zune will live on as a brand. The Zune brand will live on as the face of Microsoft’s content sales services. It remains a mainstay in the Entertainment section of the Xbox dashboard, for example.

As we reported last week, GameStop has launched an iOS device trade-in program that allows consumers to trade in their old iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mini, Shuffle, or Nano devices for in-store credit. GameStop is not saying how much they'll pay for each system, but they are saying what condition it has to be in order for consumers to sell it to them. The company said that it will not accept iOS devices in with the following issues:

- iPod, iPhone or iPad devices with dents, severe scratches or personal engravings on the casing.

A new report by Newzoo, claims that consumer spending on games in the US by the end of this year will total $21.6 billion, slightly lower than spending in 2010. In 2012, Newzoo predicts slightly modest growth of the total US games market of 3 percent as online and mobile games continue to increase their share of the total market and console games spending stabilizes.

The results depicted in the infograph, are based on analysis of high-level data from the US National Gamers Surveys over the last three years. For the first time in 2011, mobile, online and download games will capture more than half of total consumer spending by Americans.

VentureBeat has released the fifth set of speakers for its third annual GamesBeat 2011 conference, which includes Neil Young, founder and CEO of Ngmoco; Andrej Naborgoj, CEO of Outfit 7, the maker of Talking Friends; and Jason Citron, chief executive of OpenFeint, which was recently acquired by Gree. GamesBeat 2011 conference takes place July 12-13 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

If you ask the average consumer they will tell you that getting something for free is never a bad thing. But if you ask Nintendo president Satoru Iwata he'll tell you that free games are destroying the industry. Speaking to Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD, Iwata said that the free-to-play business model devalues software.

"Nintendo is a company which is trying to maintain the overall value of video games," Satoru Iwata told the Wall Street Journal. "We have no intention to provide a property to any other platforms, or making them available in a mode that does not require consumers to pay at all. If we were simply going to say OK, the only the way we could sell more products is by decreasing the price, then there wouldn't be a bright future and the entire industry will fold."

Sony announced at its E3 press conference the name, price and mobile carrier associated with its latest hand-held. The name of the device formerly known as NGP is now PS Vita, and will retail for $249 for the Wi-Fi only version and $299 for its Wi-Fi 3G version. The one wrinkle for users is that Sony has decided to use AT&T in North America. It's only a wrinkle if you are concerned about data caps, of course.

AT&T has monthly limits to its mobile broadband, with tiered service plans offering only a few hundred megabytes to several gigabytes per month. While Sony says that using Vita via your plan is "free," one would assume that it counts against your data cap dictated by your subscription plan.

Fight, fight, fight. Apple has filed a lawsuit against Samsung claiming the technology used in its Galaxy tablet and smartphones is copied from Apple's iPhone and iPad technology. The company is also alleging that Samsung has infringed on the "style" and user interface of the iPhone and iPad. The Galaxy Tab, Galaxy S and Nexus S were specifically named.

"Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple's technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products," the lawsuit said.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told the BBC: "This kind of blatant copying is wrong."

Samsung said that its products are the result of research and development carried out by the company.

Apple and Google have stolen 8 percent of the overall video game market, according to analysis by Flurry, an analytics and recommendation service for mobile apps. The analysis is based on publicly available data as well as its own data. Apple and Google now have about 34 percent of the market revenue as well, says the research firm.

A year ago, Flurry claimed that iOS devices garnered about 5 percent of the U.S. video game market from 2008 to 2009. Now with three iOS devices and millions of Android OS devices on the market, it is easy to see why these mobile devices grew as much as 8 percent in the 2009 to 2010 period.

"The magnitude of disruption is increasing, in particular within the portable gaming category," said Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry.

Indeed. Everyone's lunch is being eaten by mobile devices and software applications sold in various App Stores.

Apparently, a fair amount of Nintendo 3DS owners are claiming "black screen" crashes when using their freshly-purchased 3D hand-held. Nintendo has responded to these reports with some words of advice on how to deal with the problem:

"If anyone is experiencing any problems with their Nintendo 3DS console, we recommend that in the first instance they download and install the latest system update, now available online," read a Nintendo statement.

"If the problems still persist we recommend they contact their local Nintendo Customer Service centre to investigate the problem further."

The specific source of the problem remains unknown, and is not exclusive to any particular game or application.

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

Source: TVG

Nintendo claims that its first day sales of its new 3D hand-held - released Sunday - have exceeded expectations. Further, Nintendo says that the 3DS achieved the "highest ever" day-one US sales total of any Nintendo handheld released to date. While the company made this claim, it did not release actual numbers. Are they putting a brave face on 3DS first-day sales or did something amazing happen at retail?

We won't know until April 14, when first-week US sales figures will be released by NPD Group. Of course, since NPD does not share those numbers with the media anymore, we will have to rely on Nintendo to supply the final tally of those first day sales.

"Nintendo worked hard to get as much product as possible to retailers on day one to meet demand, and we will continue with these efforts moving forward," a Nintendo rep. told Eurogamer.

Reacting to Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata's comments at the Game Developers Conference this week, equity research analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities said that in the long term "Nintendo is doomed." He was referring to Nintendo's fight in the handheld space with Apple's iOS devices and Android based smart phones.

"Long-term, Nintendo is doomed," said Michael Pachter. "He’s under full frontal assault by Apple."

Others in the industry also had comments for Nintendo:

"He may be right, but then the 200 to 300 million people who play games on Facebook are wrong," said Jeff Brown, the VP of corporate communication for Electronic Arts. "Social gaming as a whole aggregates into a business that is undeniably big money. When it’s that big you are forced to pay attention."

Nintendo CEO and president Satoru Iwata took a shot at hand-held smartphone devices this week during a speech at GDC. Iwata said that smartphone manufacturers do not value video games as much as they should with many seeing the quantity of apps as more important than the quality.

"We want consumers to appreciate the premium value of software through our platforms. Although Microsoft and Sony are different to us, I believe we all share this idea 100 per cent. We demonstrate a high value of game software. “However, smartphones and social platforms are not at all like ours. These platforms have no motivation to maintain a high value of game software. For them, content is just created by someone else."

“Quantity is how they profit. The value of game software does not matter to them.”

He went on to say that the amount of games creates a higher risk of failure and puts developers' jobs on the line:

A survey conducted by Information Solutions Group and paid for by casual game publisher PopCap Games claims that one-third of adults in the United States and the United Kingdom identify themselves as "mobile phone gamers." The survey also found that among mobile phone gamers, the mobile phone is now the primary gaming device of choice, surpassing consoles and personal computers in less than two years. The survey also found that smartphone owners are the most avid consumers of mobile phone games. These and other purchase and consumption trends identified in the survey suggest growth in the mobile games sector that will continue for the foreseeable future.

Consumer electronics company LG has asked the International Trade Commission to block the sale of the PlayStation 3 console. The company is having a patent dispute with Sony over several Bravia television sets and Blu-Ray players that it claims infringe on four of its patents. The PS3 includes a Blu-Ray player, which is why LG has named it as one of the products it wants an injunction against.

LG has also filed a lawsuit against Sony in California, seeking unspecified damages. The court action is due to the ITC's inability to award cash damages.

Bloomberg reports that these patent infringement claims related to the PS3 revolve around "a way of dealing with multiple data streams, such as different camera angles, as well as a system to reproduce data that's stored on a read-only device."

Does Nintendo know something we don’t?

Despite a slew of eye specialists stating there’s no evidence that 3D imagery is harmful to young children, Nintendo continues to bang the “no 3D for the kiddies” drum.  In fact, at this weekend’s Nintendo World event, Nintendo only allowed small children to play its 3DS demos in 2D.  It enforced this rule by having parents mark their children with a Toad character sticker.  (AE: Um, okay...)

Nintendo CEO, Satoru Iwata addressed the 3DS warnings in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday.  As many of our readers have speculated, Nintendo’s simply covering its butt against potential lawsuits.

Where did we come from?  Why are we here?  Is it okay for my 6-year-old to play Nintendo 3DS?

These are the questions that have plagued mankind since the beginning of time (give or take).  While we don’t have a solid answer for the first two, a consensus seems to be forming on the third – yes, it’s fine.

In addition to several eye specialists who see nothing wrong with the kiddies using Nintendo’s 3D handheld, the American Optometric Association also chimed in on the 3DS concerns via press release:

Nintendo has been playing it very safe with the 3DS lately, publicly stating that kids under six shouldn’t view the 3D effects and providing parental controls that will lock the handheld in 2D-mode.

Is there really any danger to children’s eyesight though?  After all, we naturally view the world around us in three dimensions so what could the problem be?

Speaking to NPR, Ahna Girshick, a vision researcher at New York University, explains it thusly:

Gaming on the iPad and other tablets is the second most popular activity - right behind "surfing the Internet" - according to data released by entertainment market research firm Interpret. That data comes from Interpret’s quarterly New Media Measure study. The study tracks media behavior, device ownership, attitudes, and product consumption.

According to the study, 58 percent of tablet owners use the device for surfing the Internet. Gaming is the second most popular activity, with 52 percent of tablet owners using the device to play games. Active gamers are more likely to buy some type of tablet device in the next three months than the average consumers, the study found.

Ogmento, a company that sees the future of gaming rooted in "augmented reality," (games that combine the real word with virtual worlds) is shoring up its ranks with three video game industry veterans. The company announced today that it has hired three people that have collectively worked for such companies as Looking Glass, Pandemic, Sony Online, Electronic Arts Mobile, Alchemic Productions, and more. The three new hires are Rick Ernst, who will serve as lead game designer; Tim Hernandez, who has been named Director of Production; and James Chung who has signed on as the company's new Art Director.

Rick Ernst is a 15 year veteran of the video games industry having worked for such companies as Looking Glass, Pandemic and Sony Online, and independently as a contractor and consultant. He is also the co-founder of Alchemic Productions in Los Angeles, a production company that works with artists, film makers and authors.

Nintendo has been a master at reinventing the DS handheld, one way to extend the product’s lifecycle. Another way to lengthen the viability of a product is to find untapped markets for it, and this appears to be another road that the Japanese company is exploring.

Noting that the DS is already used in Japanese museums, art galleries and aquariums, Nintendo’s Shigeri Miyamoto discussed another pending use for the DS—Japanese classrooms. Miyamoto indicated that the compact game machine would serve as an educational aid and teaching tool when Nintendo rolls out DS systems in an unspecified amount of junior high and elementary schools early next year.
 

Is your handheld game system making you lonely?

Rika Kayama, a Japanese psychiatrist, thinks that it may be.

In an op-ed penned for a Japanese newspaper, Kayama claims that Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP are partially to blame for a sense of isolation experienced by some of her youthful patients. On that score, Kayama writes:

Today’s youth immerse themselves in worlds of their own right before our eyes, where they can live secluded from the rest of us. Feeding into these one person worlds, personal devices such as mobile phones and handheld game systems like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS come on to the market one after another.

The ‘make your own world anywhere’ idea has gone too far, to the point that even on the train one sees people shamelessly putting on makeup or eating cups of instant noodles as though the train carriage was their own room. …

I feel that an increasing number of people are coming to my office saying, ‘Even when I’m in a crowd I’m lonely.’ Even when they are at a popular singer’s concert or when reading a best-selling novel, these patients can’t feel any solidarity for those next to them or those reading the same book.

GP: Is Kayama onto something, or is she simply rehashing the old school notion that games are inherently isolating?

Via: What They Play

Reason Online has posted a fascinating look at what it calls The Top 10 Most Absurd Time Covers of The Past 40 Years.

While TIME's investigations into the occult, dirty words and obesity are among the topics making RO's list, we took note of the November 22, 1999 cover which addressed what some parents and teachers saw as a scourge at the time: Pokemon. Reason Online explains:

This Time cover story breathlessly warns that children are printing counterfeit cards, cheating friends and classmates, and even stabbing one another over Pokemon trading disputes. Time doesn’t dwell too long on any substantive data (there isn't any) that might show what sort of sustained violence and mayhem would make Pokemon an “addiction" (Time's word). Instead, it quickly cuts to what the authors see as the real dark heart of the Pokemon phenomenon: crass capitalism! ...

GP: Ten years on, the frenzy over Pokemon seems so silly...

Wedbush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has publicly apologized for saying that Sony was "ripping off the consumer" by setting a $249 price point on the PSP Go. The eminently quotable Pachter made the damning comment about the new handheld last week during an E3 segment of Bonus Round.

Apparently thinking better of his words in the interim, Pachter penned an apology yesterday as he debuted a new monthly column for IndustryGamers:

I sincerely regret the choice of words... where I said that Sony is "ripping off" the consumer by pricing the PSP Go at $249.99. I made a poor choice of words, and I do NOT think that Sony is doing anything nefarious in choosing their pricing strategy.

 

The company has the right to price its products at a point that they think is competitive, and has no obligation to sell products at lower than a competitive price. They have been subsidizing purchases of the PS3 since launch, to the tune of 22 million sold at a loss of $100 or more apiece (on average), so if they are able to make a profit on the PSP Go, more power to them. They are pricing at a point that positions the PSP Go competitively with the iPod Touch, and the PSP Go arguably has much more value than the Apple product. Notwithstanding my view that the price point is too high to generate more than a few million units sold, I really think my comment was unfair, and would appreciate your allowing me to clear the air...

GP: Pachter is a straight shooter and, apology notwithstanding, I believe he was speaking from the heart when he made his original comment. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that there were a few angry phone calls from Sony HQ to Pachter between the airing of the "rip off" remark and yesterday's mea culpa.

But the fact is, Pachter got it right. Why does the PSP Go, which does away with the UMD drive assembly, cost $80 more than the current PSP-3000? There's no good reason, and gamers knew that even before Pachter spoke out. From the moment it was announced at E3, the PSP Go's $249 price point went over like the proverbial lead balloon.

Nor do I think much of the PS3 justification floated by Pachter in his retraction. Sony is losing money on the PS3, certainly, but that's no excuse to try to make a few million back by skinning consumers with the PSP Go. Personally, I love my PS3. But if Sony overdid the hardware, over-estimated their market and totally screwed up the worldwide launch, that's on them.

For an industry that's supposed to be all about fun, the video game biz is tightly managed from a P.R. standpoint. Not too many people speak their mind publicly or wander too far off message.

That's why we enjoy Mike Pachter, who tracks the industry for Wedbush-Morgan. The guy may not always be right, but he always says what he thinks.

And when Pachter says the $249 PSP Go announced at E3 is "ripping off the consumer," we must agree. The analyst, who was otherwise complimentary toward Sony's E3 presentation, slammed PSP Go pricing to host Geoff Keighley on an E3 edition of Bonus Round:

$249 is too much. Period... The [current] $169 PSP-3000 is a profitable device - the disc assembly, for a UMD, costs more than 16 gigs of flash does. So this new device doesn't cost them as much to make as the PSP-3000 and they jack the price up $80...

 

I'm sorry to say it. I don't want to get bad fan mail from the Sony fanboys, but... They're ripping off the consumer until they sell a couple million and if consumers don't buy it then the price is going to come down... they're making a lot more money on the PSP Go than the PSP-3000. And the PSP Go helps them because there's no piracy...

Maybe I like Pachter because his take on the PSP Go echoes my own. Here's what I tweeted about the system during Sony's E3 press conference last week:

Kaz [Hirai] is holding up PSP Go, but sez PSP 3000 won't go away...

Kaz PSP Go $249... Too much. Sense Me feature will match ur PSP music to ur mood. Um, thank you, no...

 

[Jack] Tretton: Resident Evil Portable. Let's hope that's a working title. LBP for PSP looks sweet. Crowd not really into PSP news, tho.

Via: Joystiq

Gaming while driving will earn you a ticket in Honolulu soon.

The Star-Times reports that on Thursday Mayor Mufi Hannemann will sign into law a bill that bans the use of all portable electronic devices by motorists. The measure, recently passed by City Council, contains an exception for hands-free devices.

Earlier this year Mayor Hannemann, acting on the advice of his police chief, vetoed a similar bill which would have made texting - but not general mobile phone use - illegal while driving.

A Michigan State Senator has proposed legislation that would ban texting or playing video games while driving, reports ClickOn Detroit.

Sen. Buzz Thomas (D), the sponsor of the measure, said:

There is no need to be sending a text while driving your car, it’s one of the most dangerous things a driver can do. If it’s really that important, pull over and send your message, or just wait until you get to where you are going.

 

This is the second session in which I have introduced this bill, and hopefully we can all realize the urgency and just get this passed.

If the bill becomes law, violations would carry a $100 fine.