http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson RSS Feed for Inq Col Rob Watson en-us Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:01:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20091120_Bare_Knuckles___A_half-billion_reasons_to_marvel_at_MW2.html As expected, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is kicking the competition all over the place, and by competition we mean everything, not just games. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20091106_Bare_Knuckles___Modern_Warfare_might_mop_up_the_competition.html As I mentioned in my Modern Warfare 2 pick, the game will probably dominate most sales charts for the next couple of months. If anyone needed further proof, how about the remarks of GameStop's executive vice president for merchandising and marketing, Tony Bartel? http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20091023_Bare_Knuckles___A_first_for_the_Sony_console_.html A topsy-turvy September Sony may be onto something (finally) with its September price drop for its PlayStation 3 game system. The standard measure of all things fun, NPD Group, announced the PS3 beat both the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 in unit sales for the month. It is the first time Sony's game console has accomplished this feat. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20091009_Bare_Knuckles___Financially_successful__but_hardly_cutting-edge.html Nintendo is weathering the economic downturn a bit better than most companies selling video games and systems. Like many other companies, Nintendo took a bath in the second quarter, April to July this year, with profits declining 60 percent on revenues that were down 40 percent. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20090925_Bare_Knuckles___Cop_or_not__who_could_resist_Wii_Bowling_.html It's time to weigh in on an item that broke this week about a drug bust in which the suspect's Wii (insert childish laughter here) was the big story. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20090911_Bare_Knuckles___For_Sega__however__future_wasn_t_dreamy.html This week marked a momentous occasion in gaming for me and I am sure for many others as well. Wednesday was the 10th anniversary of the release of Sega Dreamcast. Yes, yes, I know. It got whupped in a very short amount of time by the success of PlayStation 2, but that is the last time I can remember getting so excited about the debut of a new console. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20090828_Bare_Knuckles___A_virtual_football__Put_away_the_china.html The last time we chatted, I wrote that somewhere in Nintendo's lair of mass mind control, "evil" scientists were patenting a game controller based on horse riding. It would look sort of like one of those bouncy balls we used to ride back in the day, but you would also have a game controller in your hand. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/5951142.html http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20070126_Bare_Knuckles____Wow__sales_for_WoW_add-on_.html In what can be viewed only as a storm of epic proportions, game developer Blizzard announced that 2.4 million members of its eight-million-strong World of Warcraft user base put up their rubies, gold coins, and other means of purchase to buy the new Burning Crusade expansion pack. In the first day! http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/rob_watson/20070112_inq_weekend_WK-BARE.html Sony PlayStations in the classroom? What a novel idea. The game consoles would not be added to schoolrooms so kids could show off their latest Mortal Kombat moves; they can do that in the schoolyard. But to, gasp, learn stuff! Actually, this isn't so novel. The History Channel is using game engines to supplement programs, the armed forces use video games to teach tactics, and many schools use PC games to trick kids into actually retaining something. Sneaky. This is worth mentioning because British developer Relentless Software fine-tuned its popular quiz game, Buzz, in a collaboration with the Department for Education and Skills in Britain. The result is a 5,000-question game based on school curriculum. Think kids won't want to post the highest score on this game, too?