Is it finally time to admit that portable 3D gaming just doesn’t work?
If you’ve been following the gaming business over the last year, you know that the Nintendo 3DS, which allows gamers to play titles in 3D without the need for special glasses, has faced a difficult market. In the second quarter of this year, Nintendo sold just 710,000 3DS units worldwide. Even worse, it could only get 110,000 units into homes in the U.S.
When I look around the gaming industry right now, it’s tough to find any single company that really “gets” it. Nintendo has the Wii, which was performing well for quite some time, but that device’s popularity has started to wane. And the 3DS has pretty much disappointed everyone from Nintendo’s CEO Satoru Iwata to his company’s most ardent supporters.
Windows 8 is here, and it’s all eyes on Microsoft’s tablet strategy as the industry gages whether it’s game-on or game-over against Apple’s iPad might. You’d be forgiven for your skepticism, mind: Microsoft’s previous idea of finger-friendliness was to ratchet up the font size and hope for the best. Yet with this latest demonstration, Windows 8 has shown itself to be not just shaping up as a solid OS, but as a truly interesting alternative to the current tablet template.
As many of you know, I’ve often been critical on these pages of Apple’s inability to fully capitalize on the living room. I’m a firm believer that the company has a real opportunity to be a dominant force in home entertainment, and yet, it hasn’t done anything to prove that. So far, the Apple TV is the best offering it has, and most would agree, that that device is still just a “hobby.”
There are times when I sit here and see the latest reports on the news and scratch my head. That has happened quite often as of late as the growing number of reports and rumors come in on all the companies looking to buy streaming-video provider Hulu.
HTC just can’t catch a break with its US tablet plans. The HTC Flyer, when it launched as the EVO View 4G in the US, came with its most obvious component – the digital stylus that differentiated it from all the other Android tablets on the market – as an optional accessory. Now, AT&T has released the HTC Jetstream, a 10-inch Honeycomb model, and it’s time for another face-smack moment. The carrier is asking $699.99, and that’s with a two-year data agreement. It’s almost like AT&T doesn’t want the Jetstream to succeed.
In most markets it competes in, Apple easily defeats all others. In the mobile space, for example, the company’s iPhone 4 and iPad 2, are easily besting all others in total sales, due mainly to their strong features.
However, there is one space that Apple is lagging far behind: the living room. Currently, the company is trying to cement itself in the living room with the help of the Apple TV, a set-top box that, for years, has been called a hobby by Apple itself.
The last weekend was an adventure.
As I watched the news reports suggesting Hurricane Irene was on its way to my doorstep, I couldn’t help but think that it had little chance of affecting me. After all, I’ve never had to deal with a hurricane at any point in my life living here, and there was simply no reason to believe, I thought, that that would change.
I used to be the kind of guy who would yell at customer service representatives on the phone. I would call up my bank, or my airline, and scream at the person on the other end as if it were his fault that I had accidentally paid my electric bill too early, thus insuring the account had insufficient funds for the next 4 visits to Starbucks. I don’t think I ever ended one of those conversations without threatening to never, ever do business with that company again. I’m sure Delta was quaking in their boots thinking about losing the $389 in ticket sales I generate for them once a year. But somehow, they survived.
Much of the talk surrounding Steve Jobs’ decision to resign as CEO of Apple and assume the role of chairman of the company’s board of directors has centered on the iPhone maker’s financial performance and future in the mobile market.
To some extent, that’s understandable. Shareholders care more about Apple’s financial performance than anything else. And the only way for the company to maintain its strong financial picture is to continue to deliver outstanding mobile products, like the iPhone and iPad, that people actually want to buy.
If you’ve followed my work here, you know that I’ve been a little tough on Nintendo as of late, saying that the game company is in deep trouble, and by the look of things, doesn’t have a strategy in place to turn things around so quickly.
Over the last several weeks, I’ve received some e-mails from folks about Nintendo and my comments on the company. Those folks say that Nintendo will always be a hardware-focused firm, and the very thought of playing its titles on other consoles is a joke.
Down here in Texas, we invented the State Fair. That may not technically be true, but everything you know and love to hate about state fairs, we invented. The Corny Dog came from Texas (and yes, you’ve been spelling it wrong all this time). Put a stick in a hotdog, dip it in batter and fry it, and you’re halfway to Dallas. Fried butter? Suck it, Iowa. We’ve had fried butter in Texas for years. And fried beer. And deep fried frito pie, which is fritos topped with chili and cheese, somehow dipped in batter and deep fried into a mound of goodness. Take a whiff. Ahhhh . . . wait, don’t smell the air. We’re at Air Quality Level Orange down here, so maybe you should just look at the pretty pictures.
