BizSpots: Sony, Microsoft, PopCap, Conspiracy

PS3, PSP signed onto content delivery service; Xbox 360 peripheral now 180 euros; casual games invade corporate America; Wii, DS games spur publisher's growth.

Sony shares the Limelight
In 2005, Arizona-based content delivery service Limelight Networks helped establish Microsoft's Xbox Live by lending its technology to the online portal. Today, the company announced it would be extending similar services to Microsoft rival Sony Computer Entertainment. As part of the deal, Limelight's technology will power system software updates to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable in sizes of up to 150MB. In addition to Sony and Microsoft, Limelight powers many other online networks, including Valve's online gaming service Steam and News Corp.'s MySpace.

Microsoft knocks 20 euros off HD-DVD add-on
Efluxmedia today is reporting that Microsoft has announced a price cut in Europe for its Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on during consumer electronics trade show IFA in Germany. Previously retailing for 200 euros (about $272), the HD-DVD peripheral will now cost European 360 owners 180 euros (about $245). Efluxmedia did not mention when the new price would go into effect. In July, Microsoft cut the price of the high-definition media player in the US from $199 to $179, while in Japan, the add-on debuted at around $177.

PopCap Games finds one in four play at work
According to a recent survey conducted by casual game purveyor PopCap Games, 24 percent of white-collar workers admitted to playing casual games at work. This number increased to 35 percent at the senior executive level. Breaking down its statistics, PopCap noted that 14 percent claimed to have played during business meetings or conference calls, 61 percent played during lunch or official breaks, and 52 percent played during the work day when they needed a short break. The primary reason respondents cited for playing were stress relief, mental workouts, and memory strengthening. PopCap Games arrived at its numbers through an online sampling of 2,842 respondents.

Conspiracy revenues jump 128 percent
Conspiracy Entertainment has posted significant financial gains for the quarter ended June 30. The publisher/developer increased its quarterly revenue by 128 percent, from $360,032 to $819,330. Gross profits climbed 333 percent to $442,500, from $102,298. Unsurprisingly, the small-scale publisher attributed its success to Nintendo's platforms, citing flat-fee sales of $780,000 for Counter Force and Ninjabread Man on the Wii and Power Play Pool and Cocoto Kart Racing on the Nintendo DS.

64 Comments

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Sep 16, 2007 1:30 pm PT

    I hope download speeds increase on the PS3

  • lamprey263

    Posted Sep 6, 2007 2:38 pm PT

    @Agermemnon - you're right, Paramount did drop Blu-ray for HD-DVD, this fight is far from over, and even though Blu-ray is winning 2:1 in sales, that doesn't say much as either formats are barely selling in the first place; this is still anyone's fight

  • KnGGnK

    Posted Sep 6, 2007 2:36 pm PT

    homerj are you daft limelight is the same company that help make xbox live what it is now get the hell out of here with gimmick and "they slaya" i agree with you totally but what is a bigot

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Sep 6, 2007 8:03 am PT

    You know, I'd love to see an INDEPENDANT survey about casual gaming habits at work. As much as I love me some Bejeweled, Popcap ain't that reliable, due to their vested interests.

    And I sure as hell know that, if I were running a business, I wouldn't want my employees slacking off and playing games on work hours. >.>

  • saerath

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 6:57 pm PT

    Homerj, what are you talking about? there's a whole bunch of good PS3 games coming out. anyways, "They Slaya" is right

  • haesuse

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 2:07 pm PT

    man i was going to make a legit argument here, but fanboi's kill me! who cares ppl, more good things across the industry benefits us ALL. second of all, PSN is in its conception stages, and Home will make a lot of difference. now sony has always allowed 3rd party online interfaces and imo, they should keep it that way.

  • WSxRyden

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 1:00 pm PT

    I'm a "X-box"er. I love it. But I would be excited to see PS3 get a good running online service. If they got it running and made a game like Killzone or Haze multiplayer intensive, I would think about getting one. For now I just don't have the reason to fork out the extra dough it would take to get a ps3.

  • TheSlaya

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 12:26 pm PT

    It's official. All fanboys are ignorant bigots. If it's good news for one opposing game company, you can never resist to to be a d*** and bash them for some trivial reason that has nothing to do with the article. If Sony is doing well in their electronics sales, so what? If nintendo is doing well with Wii sales, so what? Just congratulate them and leave. We're all gamers, why must we fight amongst ourselves on which console is better?

  • joeyfine

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 11:50 am PT

    Previously retailing for 200 euros (about $272), the HD-DVD peripheral will now cost European 360 owners 180 euros (about $245)


    thats alot of money for the add-on get cheaper HD-DVD!!!!!

  • Homerj

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 11:21 am PT

    Another gimick by Sony. Someone needs to clue the management of their entertainment division that video downloads and interconnectivity widgets are not selling their competitors' hardware....their GAMES are. Its probably too late for Sony anyway. Their dev kit is crippling the 3rd party developers....leading to even multiplatform titles being seriously delayed for the PS3. With only 2-3 major games anywhere on the horizon for PS3 (except for the multiplatform titles of this blockbuster fall season....remains to be seen if any of the PS3 versions will be completed in time for this holiday season)...and the length of development cycles (exacerbated by the current dev kit), we may be into the next generation before anything substantive software-wise is available for the PS3.

  • Agermemnon

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 10:06 am PT

    @senjutsu didnt paramount just drop blu-ray for hd-dvd ?

  • SqrLPeINgFrmTrE

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 9:57 am PT

    as stated previously, im a little bummed as well, as I expected to see some sort of conspiracy between microsoft and sony. : /

  • Pastehunter

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 8:55 am PT

    Man I wish that Sony will finally make a batter online service , especially for the sake of the PSP

  • DonutTrooper

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 8:55 am PT

    Nice thing MS cut the price in Europe, too. I just bought a $130 HD-DVD refurbished 360 player yesterday to compliment my PS3 and it works like a dream.

  • K1nG_Gr4H4m

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 8:46 am PT

    Nice stats PopCap. Nice to know a third of the suits play at work instead of working. My boss play Bioshock to relief stress. As for Limelight Networks, well not really a big news. Their technology is already used by dozens of content provider like msnbc. They just have a fat pipe (10Gbps) and 1000's of servers worldwide.

  • steven141

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 8:30 am PT

    things usually cost more in the uk because the pound is strong at the moment and so it is expensive to ship things into the uk

  • APOLLOCJD

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 8:03 am PT

    Delongman, not a chance, the XBL network is just to big even if PSN was better performing there are just to many more people playing on XBL. On top of that Microsoft creates revenue from their network which they can pump back into it to make it better, where as the PSN is a free network with a limited source of revenue through certain downloads.

  • DrMario57

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 8:01 am PT

    @ Williedude87
    No, either, ur not the only person (smilely face)

  • shadowhunter0

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 7:58 am PT

    im tired of hearing there is no good games on the ps3 that a long bull there r 11 games our right now that i like well like 2 play and the reason y im not playing right now is because i dont own a ps3 yet and it will be the first thing that i buy when i get a job and the limelight on the ps3 on the ps3 is sweet

  • tonka_92

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 7:10 am PT

    @ Williedude87
    No ur not the only person

  • Rob_101

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 6:58 am PT

    Omg Limelight is powering all that?! Thats pretty impressive...

  • ebookerd1

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 6:39 am PT

    I'm totally not affected by any of this. By the way what is Ninjabread Man???

  • foxracing1313

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 6:07 am PT

    you know the games people at work are playing are minesweeper/solitaire , heck someone im related to does it.

  • SoulKillah

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 4:39 am PT

    Limelight on PS3?? Sweet

  • NandoSupes

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 4:11 am PT

    I don't see anything wrong with the PSN as it is but,having a boost with Limelight won't hurt either.

  • jacob-goodlich

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 2:55 am PT

    i couldnt be stuffed reading this lol. anything good?

  • mashom

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 1:16 am PT

    Cut the Crap sony..

  • Delongman

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 1:14 am PT

    Will LimeLight work to surpass the power of XBL by aiding the PSN???

  • munsoned

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 12:21 am PT

    must be nice to get rich quik why cant i be a smart nerd=(

  • Williedude87

    Posted Sep 5, 2007 12:12 am PT

    Am I the only one that clicked on this news link, hoping to find some sort of conspiracy? I guess I'm just that tired.

  • Faelas

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 11:41 pm PT

    Hey blujetz! Sony patented the motion sensing technology way before Nintendo ever dreamt of it. There was actually a motion sensing control for the PS1! Search youtube if you doubt me.

  • scottyskater77

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 11:28 pm PT

    Sounds like a smart move. I don't know what the effects of this will be, or what it'll even mean for all of us, but I'm sure it'll bring good things.

  • blujetz1234

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 10:50 pm PT

    once again Sony is showing there ingenuity and originality by "borrowing" the technology behind Xbox Live like the motion control of the wii

  • FirstAlchemist1

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 10:15 pm PT

    what do they mean when they say their technology will power the updates. having trouble understanding dis 1

  • devilmaycry2020

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 9:55 pm PT

    The HD-DVD add-on it might be cheaper than most players in the market, but with a few more bucks you could get a better player and you will most likely buy the remote so there isn't much difference IMO, since it is not being supported by games developers i don't see the point of having it, ( well i guess it is better to have a choice in the matter). more choices more games more fun for us all

  • rahstar

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 8:57 pm PT

    This should help the ps3 out.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 8:48 pm PT

    20 euros is a decent drop. Wish they would do the same here...Even though ours was cheaper than the UK's to begin with.

  • Reetesh

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 8:13 pm PT

    Cool, this should really help in making those ultra slow updates download quciker

  • MuscleCarMan

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 7:50 pm PT

    lamprey263

    Sony doesn't need a content delivery service, they need content to deliver.

    yep they sure do

  • Agreb91

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 7:49 pm PT

    Just because Sony has a deal with Limelight Networks to help power the PlayStation Network downloads doesn't mean it has any more potential than Xbox Live already has.

  • therejectx

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 7:46 pm PT

    wow popcap

  • senjutsu

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 7:20 pm PT

    hd-dvd players are useless since it's loosing the war. You'll have no hd-dvd to play on your cool player...

    anyway, for the firmware updates, I don't care who is gonna be the host for the files. But this surely means that "home" will be downloadable from the sony servers then, since it'll surely take gigs of space.

  • greenpyro33

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 6:43 pm PT

    cool i guess

  • mark_unix posted Sep 4, 2007 6:32 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    mark_unix

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 6:32 pm PT (hide)

    whoo 20 euro's, it's Europe not America.
    20 euro's going to push 1 more HD-DVD player in Europe, Europeans don't give a crap about 20 or 100 euro's for that matter...

  • dewmandew7

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 6:21 pm PT

    @OnlyTBone

    They were talking about firmware updates, which are generally under 150 MB (though the Home update will probably be more). Well, I'm assuming you're a 360 owner, in which case you know nothing about system updates.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 6:00 pm PT

    ok...go sony

  • printice21

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 5:53 pm PT

    fraudbot

    tell me about it.....why am I still playing PS2 games on my PS3?

    I feel your pain!

  • RgvXavi

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 5:50 pm PT

    agree with Tbone: i get plenty more off of Live. the sht-e part is that it doesn't matter how big/small the download is Americans only get 8mbps in downstream. USA is 16th IN THE WORLD in broadband output. South Korean's can get DL speeds of up to 45mbps. so unless WE ALL do something about the technology mongers(ATT,Verizon, Baby Bell's) we are gonna get stuck with paying $40 for 6mbps. Halo 3 Sep. 25!!!!!!!!

  • OnlyTbone

    Posted Sep 4, 2007 5:40 pm PT

    its only 150 mb at a time.... i get downloads form live that are around 2 gigs at a time. like demos and stuff. 150 mb gets you a SD trailor

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