Most people know MTV from their cable channels and awards shows, but the company is gradually becoming a major player in the multibillion-dollar video gaming industry. The company’s “Rock Band” game is a huge seller this holiday season, and MTV’s most profitable video game title to date.
But MTV is not stopping there. The company recently signed a deal with film and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer to create and develop original action-based video games under the MTV brand. Bruckheimer is best known for cinema blockbusters such as Black Hawk Down, National Treasure, and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.
Bruckheimer’s television résumé is also impressive, including hits such as Cold Case and CSI. And while the exact format of the games to be produced has not been revealed, Businessweek.com is reporting that the development deal between MTV and Bruckheimer will be a true collaboration.
While the idea of creating video games that rival feature films is not new, Bruckheimer is probably the biggest Hollywood player to commit to producing games on such a large-scale. Van Toffler, the MTV network president said, “There’s a huge intersection between the fans of Bruckheimer films, our audience and gamers…”
Bruckheimer is said to be setting up a game “incubation” studio, in collaboration with video game designers, graphic artists and writers to develop new titles for MTV games. According to the Business Week story, Bruckheimer’s gaming studio will be involved in all phases of game development, from original concept to distribution and marketing deals, giving the filmmaker a great deal of creative freedom in producing and marketing the games.
More and more, Hollywood is looking to the video game medium as a way to either resell already successful film titles, or to develop new properties. MTV’s deal with Jerry Bruckheimer is a high profile example of Hollywood’s new willingness to expand beyond the film screen and create titles that are specifically designed to be games.
Although Bruckheimer’s record in both film and television is certainly impressive, the verdict remains out on the question of his ability to deliver the goods as a videogame creator. Critics point out that the video game medium is unlike either film or television, and the high degree of interactivity requires a different aesthetic and storyline to be successful.
But if the MTV/Bruckheimer video game venture is successful, you can bet it won’t be long until other top Hollywood names are signing on to create original video games for a wide variety of platforms.
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Since a few years ago, games have been a billion dollar industry that everyone just wants to have a piece of earning. The word “gamer” is not just for nerds, but also for professionals with skills. Some even make so much money as a gamer that they quit their regular daytime jobs and concentrate on playing games. These gamers earn through tournaments, products testing or even endorsements if they have become popular gamers in the US.
If you love playing games, now is the moment to earn a little bit of something from your expertise. There are online games where when you win, you don’t only win on bragging rights but you are actually awarded with money or something else.
Moola.com – a website that combines casual gaming, social networking and $10 million in prize money. Unfortunately, there could only be a few casual gamers who can reach this feat since as you move up, you knock out other players in the competition. Challenge one another in these games, and collect your earning each time you defeat your opponent. You start the game by owning one cent and it doubles every time you win. If you win 30 straight games, you’ll win $10 million in cold cash.
iWon.com – this site has so many games, and you’ll find yourself actually hooked up with many of them. Even though they don’t issue money, points you earn from their website could be converted into a ticket where you can earn so many prizes. When you first visit the website, you’ll have an invitation to spin the wheel five times, and matching combinations will give you a free gift but no cash.
Wipido.com – for hardcore gamers, here’s your site. Although the concept is a little bit shady, this is what you could do: Create a gamer profile and play your favorite games. They will provide you with a tool by which you can record your game and later upload it. Based on the betting system, you’ll be able to win hard cold cash. They don’t recommend any particular game but I think any PC game would be perfect for in game recording.
Kickplay.com – as of this writing, this website is still in Alpha version so it’s still young and could possibly have holes in it. However for a casual gamer it doesn’t really matter. There are lots of games to be enjoyed and they can be fully personalized by uploading your own picture. Sounds can also be customized when you upload your preferred sound or you can just get one from their extensive library of games. Although players don’t earn anything in this game except for killing time by banging your head with the stick or get your face appear in the solitaire card. Developers on the other hand will have the chance of sharing the site earnings with the owner.
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The last Thanksgiving weekend was the biggest sales day ever in the history of Nintendo America. Between the 18th and 24th of November, approximately 653,000 Nintendo DS’s flew off the shelves of American retailers. Additionally, Nintendo estimates that more than 350,000 new Wii consoles were sold in the same time span.
It’s been clear for a long time that Nintendo has been on a roll; the introduction of the company’s new Wii console was a giant step forward for the video game manufacturer. But even considering the recent success of Nintendo in retail sales, the Thanksgiving week figures are beyond what anyone could have predicted.
For example, the Nintendo DS set an all-time sales record this Thanksgiving, surpassing its previous high mark of just over 600,000 units sold. This last high point for the DS took place during Thanksgiving weekend of 2005.
The Wii has now reached sales of over 5 million units in the United States, and achieved this feat in less time than any rival video game console or system ever produced. Even more remarkably, the Wii reached sales topping the 5 million mark in just shy of 12 months from its initial release.
But everyone is not a happy about the recent Nintendo sales juggernaut. Of course, the Wii’s tremendous popularity has cut into the profit margin of their largest competitors: Microsoft and Sony. But it is not only this loss of revenue that has some competitors complaining.
Rumors have been circulating for some time that Nintendo has been “managing supply” in order to generate an artificially inflated demand for the Wii. Industry insiders have wondered if it is even possible for a video game system to sell more than 5 million units within a year’s time — it certainly has never happened before, even with the uber-popular Sony PlayStation, or the Microsoft Xbox, whose sales figures pale in comparison to the Wii’s recent all-out attack on the market.
But Nintendo dismisses allegations of “managing supply” or other unscrupulous methods to artificially generate demand for though Wii. In response to the rumors, Nintendo President Reggie Filsaime was quoted by PC World.com as saying, “A shortage benefits no one… we didn’t accurately estimate demand.”
But no matter how Nintendo is achieving the current tremendous demand for the Wii, one thing is for certain: we can expect to see a lot more of these units sold throughout the holiday season. And more than likely, demand for the Wii will continue to outpace the available supply of the units through January of 2008 and perhaps even into the spring.
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