New data released today by the NPD Group found that during its product launch, Microsoft’s Zune handheld media player debut at the number two sport among portable media players, based on sales. According to the stats, the Zune grabbed 9 percent of sales for the week ending November 18; to that point, the Zune would have been on the market four days: it’s official launch was November 14, 2006.
Tag Archive: launch
Wii to Launch at GameStop, Toys ‘R’ Us
Nintendo announced today that it has selected retailers GameStop and Toys ‘R’ Us to host launch events for its new Wii video game console on November 19th. Both chains have already run through their alottments of pre-orders for the new consoles, in which eager customers were able to reserve a system in advance of the Wii’s official launch. Toys ‘R’ Us’s flagship store in New York City’s Times Square will host an official launch event, as will GameStop’s Universal CityWalk location in Los Angeles.
Toshiba Holds HD DVD Players until April
Toshiba announced today that it is delaying the launch of its first HD DVD next-generation DVD players until mid-April, to coincide with the availability of the first movies in HD DVD format. Toshiba did not give precise availability dates, but Toshiba spokesperson Junko Furuta said the company is working with studios and retailers to work out launch dates.
Last week, Warner Bros. announced its first HD DVD movie titles would be available April 18 rather than in sync with Toshiba’s’s planned March 28 HD DVD player launch. Furuta said Toshiba has begun taking pre-orders for D DVD players in 40 major U.S. cities; Toshiba’s HD-XA1 and HD-A1 players carry suggested prices of $799 and $499, respectively.
Gizmondo Surfaces in North America
The long delayed Gizmondo portable gaming system and its kiosk marketing initiateive crept into select North American retail outlets over the weekend, generating what developer Tiger Telematics called
Nintendo Revolution to Launch Summer 2006?
“A solid indication of the timeline for the launch of Nintendo’s next home console has emerged from memory firm MoSys Inc, which has revealed that it will supply memory for the system, with “mid-2006″ touted as the launch date.
MoSys previously provided the 1T-SRAM memory technology used by NEC for the GameCube’s memory, and speaking in a live conference call following the announcement of the firm’s Q1 earnings, CEO and CFO Mark Voll said that it would again be fulfilling this role for Revolution.”
Read more at Gamesindustry.biz
Half a Million DS Units Sold in Europe
“More than 500,000 Nintendo DS consoles have been sold in Europe since launch, according to the latest figures released by Nintendo, with Super Mario 64 DS the best-selling game across the territory.
The new handheld, which features dual touch screens and wireless multiplayer gaming, was rolled out on March 11. By Easter Sunday, consumers had snapped up 77 per cent of the units allocated to stores for launch. ”
Read more at Gamesindustry.biz
XM Radio Launches Another Satellite
Liftoff occurred on February 28 at 10:51 pm EST off the Sea Launch Odyssey Launch Platform in open waters of the Pacific Ocean on the equator. The XM-3 satellite was inserted into a geosynchronoustransfer orbit, on its way to an orbital location for routine testing prior to placement in its final orbital position at 85 degrees West Longitude. A ground station in South Africa acquired thespacecraft’s first signal an hour after liftoff, as planned.
Built by Boeing Satellite Systems, the XM-3 satellite is a Boeing 702 spacecraft, one of the most powerful satellites built today, designed to provide 18 kilowatts of total power at beginning of life. Like its sister spacecraft, XM-1 and XM-2 – also launched by Sea Launch – XM-3 will transmit more than 150 channels of digital-quality music, news, sports, talk, comedy and children’s programming to subscribers nationwide.
Xbox 2 To Be Released In Late October
“While internet news sources today have reported that Microsoft is readying to launch its next generation Xbox hardware in America and Europe in the fourth quarter of this year, Eurogamer has learnt that the specific timing for the machine’s roll-out is late October or early November, and merely weeks after the US launch. The exact date is yet to be solidified.
Speaking under conditions of strict anonymity, senior American and British development, publishing and retail sources have confirmed the launch window in the past weeks.”
Read more at Gamesindustry.biz
Found VIA Gizmodo
Europe Gets DS Launch Date
Nintendo will have 15 games available at the launch including Super Mario 64 DS and Rayman DS.
“More than 120 games are in development for the new console, Nintendo has said.
The DS is backwards compatible with the Game Boy Advance, allowing the earlier machine’s back catalogue of 700 games to be played.
Additionally, a short-range wireless link for multiplayer gaming is built in to the DS, with a “download play” option which allows a group to play against each other, even if just one person owns a copy.”
Source: BBC News
Found VIA Gizmodo
Microsoft Downplays Sony Portable
“Nintendo’s dominance of the handheld market makes Sony’s launch “like developing your own little operating system and saying, ‘Well, I’m going to challenge Windows’,” Moore told questioners at a Halo 2 Backstage Pass event in Seattle late last week, according to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach was less dismissive of the system, but he argued that the launch was largely irrelevant to the Xbox business. “I think, in general, it’s different than our [console] business,” he told the audience.”
