NEWS: DIGEST
“Retailers haven’t quite grasped the potential of gaming- based porducts as yet but the appetite is there.” MCVlooks at the rise of merchandising p29
UK SOFTWARE SALES MONITOR Your weekly guide to the UK games software market
25 WEEKLY MARKET VALUE: £15.8m No. 1 10 5 0
The software market’s value rose by six per cent to £15.8m. Units saw a bigger increase of 15 per cent to 726,098. The start of the sales season at retailers such as GAME has been a key driver.
505 Games’ success continues as Zumba Fitness racks up its second week as the UK’s best-selling game. LEGO Star Wars III overtook Crysis 2, settling for No.2.
EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT...
What is GeoHot? More like who: George Hotz is a 21-year-old American man – known online as GeoHot – who was taken to court by Sony earlier this year. He breached the PS3’s security systems, allowing it to run homebrew content and pirated
games.Not only that, but he published the details of this hack – the PS3 root key – on his website.
Why?
Good question. Hotz has always said he is an advocate against mass piracy, but believes everyone has the right to unlock and hack a product once they have bought it. “My PS3 goal has been to provide users a legitimate path to homebrew,” he said on his blog. “If you have a problem with pirates, sue them. Don’t sue people who point out your shortcomings.”
10 April 22nd 2011 20 Week Ending April 16th 2011 15 £22.8m
891,130 Units
£14.9m
629,929 Units
£15.8m
726,098 Units
PRE-ORDERS TOP 10
MORTAL KOMBAT PS3, Warner Bros
2. MORTAL KOMBAT 360............................................................Warner Bros
3. L.A. NOIRE
PS3...................................................Rockstar Games
4. L.A. NOIRE
360...................................................Rockstar Games
5. PORTAL 2 PS3....................................................................................EA
6. PORTAL 2 360....................................................................................EA
Week Ending April 2nd
Week Ending April 9th
The Xbox 360 and PS3 SKUs of Michael Jackson: The Experienceare the only new entries in the Top 40, putting Ubi’s dance game back in the charts at No.15.
Week Ending April 16th
There are a number of big games arriving on shelves today (Friday, April 22nd) including EA/Valve’s Portal 2, Warner Bros’ Mortal Kombat, and Codies’ Operation Flashpoint: Red River.
7. OP FLASHPOINT: RED RIVER
360...........................................................Codemasters
8. BATTLEFIELD 3 – LIMITED EDITION PS3....................................................................................EA
9. SOCOM: SPECIAL FORCES
PS3...............................................................................Sony
10. BATTLEFIELD 3 – LIMITED EDITION 360....................................................................................EA
Week ending: April 16th 2011 Source:
SHOPTO.NET
Total UK Software Sales Source: UKIE/Chart-Track and Intent Media
GEOHOT
OK, so what happened in the courtroom? Legalities kicked off earlier this year when Sony slapped a temporary restraining order on Hotz. Sony claimed his actions violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Sony was later granted a list of all IP addresses of anyone who visited Hotz’ website over the past two years. The case took a number of other twists and turns along the way: Sony placed job ads for its anti-piracy team; internet group Anonymous brought down some Sony websites; and Hotz urged people to donate money towards his legal fees. He also released an anti-Sony rap video.
Sorry? An anti-Sony rap? Hotz uploaded a video of himself rapping about the
court case online. His lyrics even dared Sony to exhibit the video in the courtroom.
Did they? That isn’t clear, but the case was finally settled last week. An agreement between SCEA and Hotz saw him take a permanent injunction which
prevents him from hacking the PS3 in the future.
What else should I know? Hotz is also known for hacking the iPhone. He worked as an intern at Google, and has plans to build a 3D imaging device, inspired by the Princess Leia projection in Star Wars.
George ‘GeoHot’ Hotz reach a court settlement with Sony last week after he breached the PS3’s security systems
www.mcvuk.com
^
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84