LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Apparently, 68% growth just isn't good enough, so investors sold shares of the video game software makers Friday.
Research firm NPD triggered Friday's sell-off with a report that said the U.S. video game sector grew 47% in April, compared with the same month last year, to $1.23 billion, with software up 68% and hardware up 26%.
The data sent shares of Electronic Arts down 3.8%, Activision down 1.6%, Take-Two Interactive Software down 1% and Midway down 1.4%. THQ bucked the trend, with its shares rising 1%. The overall market finished little changed.
But the disappointment should pass, with Wednesday's massively anticipated release of Nintendo's fitness-themed game "Wii Fit." It is already sold out on Amazon.com.
That's why for May, "We look for a 160%-plus increase in software sales and a 100% increase in hardware sales," Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell said.
The family-friendly Wii, as per usual, dominated hardware in April with 714,000 units sold, nearly twice as many as the combined sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 (188,000) and Sony's PlayStation 3 (187,000).
Sales of the PS3 and Xbox fell from the month before, a surprising development given that "Grand Theft Auto IV," available only on those platforms, was by far the biggest-selling game in April.
NPD said consumers snapped up 1.85 million units of the raunchy game in April even though it wasn't released until the penultimate day of the month. The second-best-selling game in April, with 1.1 million games sold, was "Mario Kart Wii."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Saturday, 31 May 2008
Richard Hammond talks about depression
'Top Gear' star Richard Hammond has revealed that he has suffered from depression since being involved in a high-speed car smash in 2006.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the television presenter said: "I damaged all the complicated bits of the brain to do with processing and emotional control."
"[I was] prey to every single emotion that swept over me and I couldn't deal with it. I had to relearn things from scratch."
Hammond also said: "I'll still have a week when I'm freaking out about something and I'll realise it's because I'm encountering a new emotional state and I have to evolve a new strategy to cope with it."
"My memory is a lot better but the other day I forgot the PIN numbers to all my cards. All of them. Completely gone."
The star suffered a "significant" brain injury in September 2006 when the jet-powered dragster he was driving went off a track and crashed at a speed of 288mph.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the television presenter said: "I damaged all the complicated bits of the brain to do with processing and emotional control."
"[I was] prey to every single emotion that swept over me and I couldn't deal with it. I had to relearn things from scratch."
Hammond also said: "I'll still have a week when I'm freaking out about something and I'll realise it's because I'm encountering a new emotional state and I have to evolve a new strategy to cope with it."
"My memory is a lot better but the other day I forgot the PIN numbers to all my cards. All of them. Completely gone."
The star suffered a "significant" brain injury in September 2006 when the jet-powered dragster he was driving went off a track and crashed at a speed of 288mph.
Review : k.d. lang at Aotea Centre
There is a paucity of quality female vocalists in the music charts today. While Britney and Beyonce break out their booty to make a buck, one woman stands alone.Canadian k.d. lang, now 46, performed the final date of her Australasian tour in Auckland to a near sell-out crowd.Devoting more than half of the 90-minute set to new material from her latest album, Watershed, a barefooted lang enraptured the audience with her remarkable vocal range.Pitch-perfect and soulful, Upstream, Thread and Coming Home saw her conquer early nerves and open up to the crowd.It was four songs in before lang finally had a chat, thanking the "good people of Auckland" and reminding them of the merchandise on offer in the foyer. But she needn't have worried.A delve into her classic 1992 album Ingenue brought Wash me Clean and Miss Chatelaine out from the archives, but the pinnacle of the show was still to come.Having introduced her outstanding five-piece band to the audience, lang paid tribute to Canadian songwriter Jane Siberry, whose work, The Valley, lang covered on 2004 album Hymns of the 49th Parallel. Her rendition was nothing short of magnificent, as the vocal swung from powerful to delicate.
A standing ovation 12 songs into the show was a fitting tribute.Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, also from Hymns, was next. And although the odd note was a bit ropey, at this point she could easily be forgiven.Familiar favourite Constant Craving picked up the pace, and a humorous, hillbilly acoustic number, Pay Dirt, got a few laughs, as did Jealous Dog, summing up "life as k.d. lang". The singer also displayed her newly acquired banjo skills.But momentum was lost with a couple of low-key encores. Tony Bennett's A Kiss to Build a Dream On and Shadow and the Frame, from Watershed, didn't overly stretch lang, and after 19 songs it was over.Whether you know of lang as a lesbian, a gay activist, an animal rights campaigner or a pro-Tibet protester, at the end of the day, who cares? She is one of the few artists whose live performances outshine her recorded studio work, and for that she should be celebrated. In one word ... genius.
A standing ovation 12 songs into the show was a fitting tribute.Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, also from Hymns, was next. And although the odd note was a bit ropey, at this point she could easily be forgiven.Familiar favourite Constant Craving picked up the pace, and a humorous, hillbilly acoustic number, Pay Dirt, got a few laughs, as did Jealous Dog, summing up "life as k.d. lang". The singer also displayed her newly acquired banjo skills.But momentum was lost with a couple of low-key encores. Tony Bennett's A Kiss to Build a Dream On and Shadow and the Frame, from Watershed, didn't overly stretch lang, and after 19 songs it was over.Whether you know of lang as a lesbian, a gay activist, an animal rights campaigner or a pro-Tibet protester, at the end of the day, who cares? She is one of the few artists whose live performances outshine her recorded studio work, and for that she should be celebrated. In one word ... genius.
Jan Garbarek and Gary Peacock
Artist: Jan Garbarek and Gary Peacock
Genre(s):
Jazz
New Age
Discography:
Voice From The Past - Paradigm
Year: 1982
Tracks: 6
December Poems
Year: 1979
Tracks: 6
Q&A with Screen Actors Guild head Alan Rosenberg
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg was elected as head of the nation's largest performers' union in 2005 on a pledge to take a tougher stance in labor talks than his immediate predecessor.
He played a crucial role in rallying actors to support writers who went on strike for 14 weeks until February, bringing much of television production to a standstill and derailing numerous films.
Now he is presiding over SAG's first film and prime-time television contract talks since taking over the powerful labor group that represents about 120,000 actors.
Rosenberg, who plays lawyers on television shows like "L.A. Law" and is married to "CSI" star Marg Helgenberger, spoke to Reuters on Tuesday night just after the studios broke off those negotiations and accused the union of unreasonable demands, stoking fears of further labor unrest.
Q: How would you characterize what happened at the bargaining table?
A: "It was ... our intention to carry these negotiations through to their conclusion, and I felt we were making progress, and I believe this interruption will make it more difficult to reach an agreement, although I'm still optimistic."
Q: You say there are one or two issues in the recent contract deals with writers and directors that are particular sticking points for your members. What are those?
A: "The unfettered use of clips from motion pictures and television shows is a real problem ... . They (studios) want to be able to take clips from raw product and use it whenever they want on the Internet without getting our consent and without compensating us very much. ... Writers and directors don't have those concerns.
He played a crucial role in rallying actors to support writers who went on strike for 14 weeks until February, bringing much of television production to a standstill and derailing numerous films.
Now he is presiding over SAG's first film and prime-time television contract talks since taking over the powerful labor group that represents about 120,000 actors.
Rosenberg, who plays lawyers on television shows like "L.A. Law" and is married to "CSI" star Marg Helgenberger, spoke to Reuters on Tuesday night just after the studios broke off those negotiations and accused the union of unreasonable demands, stoking fears of further labor unrest.
Q: How would you characterize what happened at the bargaining table?
A: "It was ... our intention to carry these negotiations through to their conclusion, and I felt we were making progress, and I believe this interruption will make it more difficult to reach an agreement, although I'm still optimistic."
Q: You say there are one or two issues in the recent contract deals with writers and directors that are particular sticking points for your members. What are those?
A: "The unfettered use of clips from motion pictures and television shows is a real problem ... . They (studios) want to be able to take clips from raw product and use it whenever they want on the Internet without getting our consent and without compensating us very much. ... Writers and directors don't have those concerns.
Mustaine's coffee club for those about to stick the kettle on
Certain things are very heavy metal: leather vests, gargoyles and swords amongst them. Large and mulleted men sweating over electric guitars are also very heavy metal.
Something that is not very heavy metal is fine coffee. Delicately ground and roasted coffee, straight from the greatest plantations in the world.
Put another way, when we hear the name Megadeth, espresso is not the first word to come to mind.
Yet Megadeth's own Dave Mustaine does not seem to share our conviction. Mustaine believes metal-heads love coffee. So much so, in fact, that he's started a business to sell it to them.
For just $19.99 (£10) a month subscribers to Dave Mustaine's Monthly Coffee Crew, receive specialty brews personally selected by Megadeth's frontman. He needs good coffee, he explains, because "I like pushing life to the red-line, like a[n] SR-71 Blackbird [jet plane]."
The current pick is a "Peruvian blend", in either normal or dark roast. "This is my favourite coffee SO FAR," Mustaine explains, "until I can decide on which coffee to bring you next! This PERUVIAN coffee was so pleasing to taste and had the right boost I needed in the morning for me to prepare for another day of shredding!"
Since even heavy metal guitarists need to sleep soundly at night, the former Metallica member has also endorsed a decaf line. "Now, when I am still working late at night in the studio and craving some java, this is what I have bubbling in the cauldron." A cauldron! That's more like it! Because a Megadeth member won't settle for a measly French press!
And while some would assume that the lead singer of Megadeth might be in favour of, say, mega death, rest assured: Dave Mustaine loves the planet. All his coffees are certified fair trade and organic.
See Also
Christensen says Ledger was 'enigmatic'
Model Helena Christensen has spoken about the loss her friend Heath Ledger, who was found dead at his New York apartment on 22 January.
Speaking at the Y-3 fashion show in New York, the model told People magazine that she has "only good memories" of Ledger.
Christensen said that she had been travelling to visit Ledger when news of his death broke.
Speaking about how she is coping since his death, she said: "Time passes. It's doesn't make it easier, but you try to do the best you can. When you have a child, they kind of bring you back to the moment in a really comforting way."
"Losing any friend is horrific, but he just has this thing about him - this special, enigmatic thing that I have never met in anyone before."
She also said: "That's what all of his friends are saying. They are totally devastated by losing someone who gave them so much. He gave everyone so much."
Speaking at the Y-3 fashion show in New York, the model told People magazine that she has "only good memories" of Ledger.
Christensen said that she had been travelling to visit Ledger when news of his death broke.
Speaking about how she is coping since his death, she said: "Time passes. It's doesn't make it easier, but you try to do the best you can. When you have a child, they kind of bring you back to the moment in a really comforting way."
"Losing any friend is horrific, but he just has this thing about him - this special, enigmatic thing that I have never met in anyone before."
She also said: "That's what all of his friends are saying. They are totally devastated by losing someone who gave them so much. He gave everyone so much."
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