Quote:Last month Microsoft issued a statement saying that it expected to sell one million Gears of War units by year's end, but it seems they have underestimated the title's popularity. In its 6 weeks since launch Epic's gritty action game has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide (1 million in the US alone), becoming the fastest- selling next-generation game of 2006.
Quote:In addition to being the must-have video game of the holiday season, "Gears of War" continues to rage on the Xbox Live battlefield as well, with more than 1 million unique gamers engaging in 10 million online gameplay sessions and unlocking an impressive 7 million achievements. On top of being the No. 1 title on Xbox Live, "Gears of War" has driven new members to the network; paid registrations per day have skyrocketed more than 50 percent since the game's launch.
New IPs can sell.
In unrelated news, Viva Pinata sold a paltry 40,000 units in its first week. Yikes.
I never even realized this, because I did not combine all known data in all possible configurations! This odd little song is in a LOT of games! I'd heard it before in a few of them but never put 2 and 2 together to realize I'd heard it before! Let the search continue!
Fortunately, it won't kill us, but it may disrupt some electrical systems, like satellites or maybe Ontario could get another solar blackout (I use "black" figuratively because a lot of crazy electrical activity happened that day). Sounds like fun! Too bad I'm too close to the equator to see the auroras that'll emerge from this...
does it come out today? IGN lists today as the release date but neither Gamestop or EBGames says anything about it and Gamestop hasn't called me to say that it's in. just wondering if anybody knows anything about it.
Quote:"At a NASDAQ event in London, chief financial officer Chris Liddell reiterated Microsoft's forecast for 10 million consoles by the end of the Christmas season. "
...
"Reaching the 10 million goal is just now a matter of sales: about a week ago the company shipped its ten millionth console. And from the looks of things, hitting the mark may not be that difficult."
Their original estimates were to have 10 million sold to consumers by the time the competition launched...looks like they missed that by a bit. Good sales in any case.
Xbox 360 sold 511,000 units in N.A. according to NPD. They're on track to sell even more in December.[Link]
I saw this on a "future tech" style show some time ago. Looks like it's finally been approved for actual use.
Read the article, but here's a basic run down. This device concentrates strong light that is "longer than x-rays but shorter than microwaves" (which is great, that only leaves a MASSIVE area of the spectrum, including visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet, that it could be within, below visible is not cancer causing, at a short point above visible, it starts becoming a risk).
Basically, it's for breaking up crowds. You shine this beam at them and it causes pain to the skin, but due to the fact it doesn't penetrate, that's ALL it does. It also is not in the visible wavelength so it won't blind people. So, severe sunburns at worst, but the pain gets people scattering pretty quickly. Apparently it turns people into basic instinct machines. No matter how bad arse you imagine yourself to be, no matter how noble. Even if you are trying to save children and you know they will die if you don't run in there and do it, this WILL make you abandon any scruples you ever had to make the pain stop as soon as possible, meaning even the most religious of zealots will RUN when the thing is turned on. Nothing like pain to expose our animal selves eh? :D
Anyway, yeah I'm all in favor of using force when it is immediately needed to end a riot, self defense and defense of others. This is basically far more effective tear gas and pellet guns. This is as close to a phaser set to stun (or... run! HILARITY! IT RHYMED WITH THE WORD STUN AND THAT IS FUNNY TO ME!) as they are going to get. At the same time, there's no such thing as a "perfect" nonlethal weapon. Let's say some elderly or otherwise very weak people get caught up in this. Maybe for them a heavy sunburn may be too much for their body to handle. "Wrong place at the wrong time" sure, but still it's a possible scenario... At any rate, that said this may be the best we've got for the moment.
I just hope it doesn't fall into the wrong hands... I'd hate to see it used to "extract information", or to just plain hurt people for enjoyment. Imagine some very mean spirited kids running around after making their own from a kit 20 years from now and riding around town hurting people with it.
