Wii Widens Lead

Bloomberg is reporting that Nintendo's Wii is outselling Sony's PS3 at a ratio of 5:1, undermining Sony's ability to recoup investments in the machine.

Wii Appeal

Hot on the heels of Reuters, arch-rival Bloomberg emotes on third-party developers scrambling to play catchup on the Wii, now that it has proven itself as a viable revenue generator!

Bloomberg outlines the wake-up call that major publishers and developers received when they belatedly discovered that the Wii would probably sell like hotcakes - their tardiness is deplorable in the wake of Nintendo's DS success! The report doesn't cover particularly new ground, as we’ve seen analysts warn publishers about not jumping on the Wii early on, reported on particular companies cashing in on their early Wii investments and witnessed major publishers shift resources to Wii.

But it’s nevertheless interesting to see how the wait-and-see strategy can come back to bite you.

“Those companies [who waited on Wii development] are backtracking,'' Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Anthony Gikas told Bloomberg. “They're going to need to get their best-branded product on that platform. That will take a good nine to 12 months.''

Ubisoft is one company in particular that saw the potential of the Wii very early on. The Paris-based company released big Wii sellers such as Rayman Raving Rabbids and Red Steel at the console’s launch.

“It's not really a bet anymore,'' Ubisoft marketing VP Tony Key told Bloomberg. “It's a viable system that's going to make us money.''

Wii titles helped drive Ubisoft's December quarter sales up 24 percent to $405 million. Wii games accounted for 21 percent of sales during that quarter.

Other companies that invested in the Wii early on include THQ and Midway. Activision plans to release six Wii games this year.

Meanwhile, companies such as Electronic Arts have acknowledged the Wii’s viability, even recently purchasing a studio that would develop Wii games exclusively. Take-Two plans to bring three games to the Wii this year, including the expectedly ultra-violent Manhunt 2.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime is undoubtedly pleased that third party publishers are giving the Wii some attention, even though some of that attention is coming slightly late.

He recently told Newsweek that getting more third parties on board with Wii development is still a major focus for Nintendo, whose previous Nintendo 64 and Gamecube saw flagging third party support.

Reuters Second Life

Reuters, the global news agency, has launched a virtual bureau in Second Life, to cover events and business from within the online simulation game. I first learnt of this strategic partnership whilst listening to Today on BBC Radio Four.

The office will be staffed by Reuters media correspondent Adam Pasick, known as Adam Reuters within Second Life, who will report to players within the game as well as being Reuters' Second Life expert.

"In Second Life, we're making Reuters part of a new generation," said Tom Glocer, Reuters CEO. "We're playing an active role in this community by bringing the outside world into Second Life and vice versa."

Second Life has over 600,000 users worldwide and is looking to open a UK office.

Will Bloomberg follow in Reuters steps?

Crossed Widget Wires

It's almost a decade since I first worked for Reuters*, that wire service of wire services. And Reuters released a useful Mac OS X Widget (download page) today! Neat gift, huh?

The Reuters Widget gives you access to news and information directly on your dashboard.

Forget the hassle of searching for articles - let Reuters bring them to you. The Reuters Widget updates information as soon as stories break.

You can display up to ten of the top headlines from your favorite Reuters news channels - including Top News, Business News, Technology, and Oddly Enough, among others.

However, there was considerable confusion amongst Mac Users (myself included) as to why it wasn't playing nice with Dashboard? Disaster was averted when it came to light that the widget is intended for use with Yahoo! Widget Engine.

Please ask, nicely, Reuters' developers if they would kindly write a self-updating Dashboard edition too? Based on Web Kit technologies, Dashboard Widgets are created using a mix of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Deliciously simple. Thanks.

Bloomberg isn't it time you supported us too? I'd be more than happy to offer my coding services!

*Disclaimer. I left the company in January 2000 and very briefly returned to the fold, Reuters Knowledge, in 2003.

Wizards, Witches & Wallets

Almost forgot to pre-order Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The buzz suggests that J.K. Rowling's sixth entry in the Potter phenomenon could become the fastest-selling book release of all time. Scholastic Inc., the Potter books' American publisher, reports shipping 10.8 million copies of "Half-Blood Prince," the largest release in history. And booksellers Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble have accepted pre-orders in the millions for the hardcover book and its audio version, performed by actor Alan Dale.

According to The Sunday Times, the BBC failed to secure the lucrative audio book rights for this and the final book. Bloomsbury have retained the mellifluous tones of Stephen Fry for the UK market. In the summer of 1999 I briefly met Stephen Fry as I disembarked from a train at Paddington Station. He was most genial and wished me all the best with a job interview at Bloomberg.

Hm, I'm reminded of a Daily Mail editorial that criticized the abundance of Star Wars merchandise! The opposite page showcased a Harry Potter shop window display that equaled, if not surpassed, George Lucas' licensing ambitions.

A Design For Life

Of all the next generation games consoles launched at E3. PlayStation 3 is a paragon of form and function. From the smooth eye candy curves to Mata font (used in the Spider-Man movie franchise), the new machine is a sociological statement that underscores Sony's dominance of the console market.

Earlier today I attended The Grand Opening of the Alphinbrook Unit at Lucerne House. The event was presided over by corporate dignitaries and the Mayor of Exeter. The media arrived, late in the day, so Dad and I had no opportunity to make their acquaintance! "Hi, I'm John. I used to work at Reuters and was recently approached by Bloomberg. However, due to personal reasons..."

Laguna chic

The North American release of Sony's PSP will indeed be a blockbuster package. The PSP Value Pack contains an unprecedented added-value package of accessories and entertainment content, including 32MB Memory Stick Duo, headphones with remote control, battery pack, AC adaptor, soft case and cleaning cloth, movie/music/game video sampler UMD disc including multiple non-interactive game demos, and for the first one million PSP Value Packs shipped, a special UMD video release of the feature film Spider-Man 2 from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

In light of shipping to Japanese and North American markets sans chip capacity. The highly anticipated European PSP launch remains unclear according to Bloomberg (a world class financial news service). Although I'm eager to get my hands on a PlayStation Portable, the 'quality control' problems - from stuck buttons to dead pixels - are an area of concern for a high value product and it's preferable to see these resolved in a timely fashion.

Sony is a vertically integrated global company and can leverage a formidable hardware (electronics) and software (film, music and television) portfolio. Clearly the PlayStation is now an integral part of their business model, which has suffered a fall in profitability with the success of online and a decline in offline markets. The masstige brand is being repositioned as a digital lifestyle product - a concept pioneered by and synonymous with Apple. PSX (DESR-7000) and PSP may intimate Sony's plans for PS3. Doubtlessly there will be future interoperability between the portable and home consoles. Think of the Mac mini and iPod as a good analogy.

Old Year's Night

Tonight's post is a 'review lite' of the year.

This week's 'flying visit' to East Anglia, home of my Father's family, has left me emotionally 'jet lagged'! Had a fantastic time (tinged with the bittersweet) indulging in retail therapy. Colchester's pace of life is exaggerated by its London commuter belt status. And now I can't wait for 2005 to arrive!

Most of my time has been centered around very serious personal matters. However, highlights of 2004 include (but are not limited to):

*Writing for Inside Mac Games
*Launching Nick Smith's site and blog
*Being featured in Bournemouth University's Alumni Association magazine The Talbot
*Alias magazine
*Classic arcade gaming
*Gmail
*Blogger
*Google AdSense
*Adding new affiliates to my site
*Saying farewell to Friends - could comedy BE funnier?

Looking towards 2005. Bloomberg beckons and Apple may finally launch the missing piece in its 'i' strategy, the 'headless pizza box' iMac, and secure the home Media Centre/Server crown once and for all. I'll be keeping a space underneath my Plasma in eager anticipation of MacWorld - San Francisco.

O Come All Ye Faithful

I identified a bug whereby in some situations magnetiX would not quit correctly. Jan Schliemann was able to replicate this and issued a very prompt fix. You can download version 1.0.1 now.

Better get back to reading The Bloomberg Way in preparation for my writing test in the New Year.