The race is on!!!!

The games consoles race is now in full swing now the PS3 has been released. The 3 consoles are now in direct competition, with World sales showing the figures. The Xbox 360, the first to be released has sold about 10.4 million consoles world wide. This is no surprise as it was the first to be released by about a year and it is a fantastic console. The Nintendo Wii, the second to be released has sold 5.1 million units. (This figure is from the end of 2006 and has risen drastically since then). The PS3 has sold 1.71 million units worldwide. It was released in America quite a while before it was released over here, which will have an effect. Some think the PS3 isnt as popular, partly due to its huge price (£425). Both the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii sold out on their release date, but the PS3 is still in stores nearly a week after its release date. I think Playstation and Sony need to have a think about how much money alot of their customers have. For other games console sales figures visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console_sales

Backwards Compatability

The PS3 is set for its European Launch this friday (23rd March). As with all new generation consoles, Playstation has released a list of the older games that will work on the new console, but will there actually be that many? With the launch of the Xbox 360 it was said that many Xbox games would work on it and a medium sized list of games was released. But when people got hold of the console and tried to play their older games, many on the list did'nt work. Only now are many of the games beginning to work, through downloads from Xbox Live. This annoyed many people, including myself. The Nintendo Wii on the other hand, appears to work for all Nintendo Gamecube games. In my opinion, the Wii basically has a Gamecube in it!!! It seems, from what has been said by SONY, that 1,700 games from the PS2 will work on the PS3. But will what happened to the 360 happen to the PS3? We will have to wait and see.

Computer Games 'stimulate learning'

Popular computer games could become part of the school curriculum after researchers have found they have educational value. The study showed that some simulation and adventure games like Sim City and RollerCoaster Tycoon help develop children's strategic thinking and planning skills. In these games, for example Roller Coaster Tycoon, the aim of the game is to create the most successful and efficient theme park possible. The investigation was done on 700 children aged 7 to 16 also found that children preferred to play games in pairs or small groups, increasing the childrens social skills. Titles used in the experiment include:-
-Age of Empires II
-Championship Manager
-City Traders
-F1 Championship Racing
-Freddi Fish
-Lego Alpha Team
-Legoland
-Micro Racers
-Putt-Putt Enters the Race
-RollerCoaster Tycoon
-Sim City 3000
-The Sims
-Worms United

BBCHDTV?

At the moment, there is alot of fuss about HDTV. Companys like Sky are pushing sales of their HDTV. But now the BBC has done a survey that shows overwhelming support for the companys HDTV channels to be available for all digital television platforms, including freeview. People want the same quality television as other people have and the BBC supports them. The BBC is airing new series Planet Earth in HD and they want this and other shows to be more widely available. Visit this link for more information...
http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?id=1655

Alot of fuss about nothing?

In recent years, big companys in film (Disney) and big companys in music (Universal) have been in uproar about film and music copying over the internet. These companies believe that sharing music and films over the internet is causing the industries major damage and they are attempting to stop it. Unfortunatly for them, there is not much about what they are doing that is actually illegal. Basically they are breaking copyright laws, but there isnt much these companies can do as copying and sharing over the internet has grown out of control. itunes, Limewire and Kazaa and among the top compaines involved. Companies like Universal are claiming that the music industry itself is in jepardy. But alot of people are saying these companies are making alot of fuss about nothing. Basically the same thing happened when VHS came out. Companies where in uproar saying that VHS would ruin the industry then, which it didnt. Sure people where taping off the television, but the companies where getting in on the profit too, by selling official videos. The same thing will happen now, people still buy official CD's and DVD's, so that they have a physical product, these companies are just worried there profit might dip like half a percent, I feel its a lot of fuss about nothing.