Posted 09/09/09 at 07:02:53 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Microsoft announced Wednesday it will work in tandem with the largest British retail chain, Tesco, to offer DVD-like features with digitally downloaded movies as part of a new “virtual DVD” service. The service is scheduled to debut in the UK sometime this fall. The ingenious plan is to let British customers download special digital copies of “certain home video titles” bought from Tesco.

These special downloadable copies will include interactive content and bonus material, both of which are usually associated with movies distributed on physical media. To boot, the downloadable versions will also provide some network-dependant features, including auto-updated trailers, games, ringtones, MP3s, and movie viewing parties with online chat. Microsoft revealed in a press release that the service will be based on Silverlight technology.

The company had announced Tuesday that Silverlight 4, the next iteration of its Flash rival, will include PlayReady DRM, making it possible for retailers and movie studios to provide digital movie copies with much the same rich interactive experience as offered by DVD and Blu-ray titles. Microsoft also said that it does plan to offer its virtual DVD service elsewhere.

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Posted 07/16/09 at 10:11:02 AM by Paul Lilly

Apple's iTunes and other online music services might be all the rage, but don't go putting CDs into the same category as 8-track tapes. According to a new survey by The Music Ally Speakerbox, CDs are still the preferred medium.

The survey polled 1,000 people and found that a whopping 73 percent, or nearly three-quarters, preferred purchasing CDs rather than downloading their groovy tunes. And these aren't just older folk resisting change, either. The survey found that 66 percent of respondents between the age of 14 and 18 would rather buy a CD than shell out for an MP3 online.

"Music fans have spoken and digital is evidently not the clear cut replacement to the physical CD," said Tim Walker, chief executive of The Leading Question, the research division of music consultancy Musy Ally responsible for carrying out the survey.

Surprised by the results? Hit the jump and tell us which medium you prefer. 

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Posted 06/20/09 at 01:53:18 AM by Nathan Grayson

In what it claims is the “most thorough study [of its variety] to date,” videogame retailer GameStop has found that digital downloads – like those found on Steam, Impulse, Xbox Live Arcade and other such services – won’t be making any real waves until 2014. Er, what?
 
And even once the strange, mysterious stardate of 2014 brings widespread acceptance of things like “The Internet,” apparently only 25 percent of customers will “have access to the technology required to download full games.”  Also, the study found that, as of now, gamers are only willing to spend $39 per downloadable game, "so publishers will be less incentivized than some in the industry think."

So then, if this really was “the most thorough” study ever, we can assume it included PC gamers. Thus, we can conclude that we’re well within our rights asking the following question: “Are you kidding us, GameStop?” Look at Steam’s lineup, why don’t you? All those major game publishers are there for a reason. Hell, even consoles are beefing up their download services to include full, formerly retail-only games. And don’t even get us started on the iPhone’s app store.
 
All this? It’s happening right now. Five years is a long time, GameStop, and it already looks like you’re in your rocker, telling young whippersnapper download services to get off your lawn. Now just for fun, let's conduct a little study of our own: readers, how many games have you digitally purchased in the last month?

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Posted 01/30/09 at 09:06:54 PM by Nathan Grayson

PC gaming isn’t dead; it’s merely waiting for the day conditions are finally right for its return. Like Jesus! However, it looks like Our Lord and Savior (or incarnation of your particular religion’s greatest evil – you know, whichever) is posting a Craig’s List bulletin searching for a new pal for Friday night card games, because PC gaming’s “return” is nigh.
 
Finally, someone – in this case, fractiously monikered gaming blog Rock Paper Shotgun – has conducted a semi-official survey of PC gamers’ buying habits. The result? RPS discovered  that, of the 2,000 keyboard warriors interrogated, 93% have digitally purchased at least one PC game in the past 12 months, 71% bought more than four games digitally, and, through some flashy mathematics, that 47% of all PC purchases in 2008 were digital.
 
Assuming that RPS’ findings are more or less accurate, this means NPD’s figures would nearly need to be doubled before hitting the mark.
 
Like taking candy from a baby, eh, GameStop?

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Posted 01/11/09 at 05:00:03 PM by Justin Kerr

Ever since Amazon launched its music store back in September 2007, everyone assumed its discounted prices and DRM free catalog was a result of the music industries dissatisfaction with Apples dominance. With iTunes being the primary management software for the most popular MP3 player on the planet, Amazon knew it would need an edge to stay competitive. The 10 cent per track discount was a nice touch, but techies and audio enthusiasts alike were eager to switch if it meant we could free our music. Most of us assumed the DRM restrictions on iTunes would remain for the forcible future, but now that this has turned out not to be the case what else wasn’t true?

Well, according to unnamed sources cited by CNET, everybody selling downloadable music is also paying the same wholesale price. Though it has never been confirmed, many believe Apple makes but a few pennies per .99 cent download. If this is indeed true, anything else sold below this price might actually be a loss leader. Now with iTunes discounting its back catalog of tracks to a mere .69 cents, and at comparable bit rates, it’s well positioned to steal back business from Amazon. NPD senior industry analyst Russ Crupnick claims the two services don’t impact each other as much as we might think, but at the very least it certainly makes switching from iTunes to a separate web store much less desirable then it used to be.

Now that iTunes has gone DRM free, and has begun to discount its back catalog of tracks, can Amazon still compete?

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Posted 12/26/08 at 04:43:23 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Doubts have been cast on the success of the Blu-ray format ever since it debuted. Initially, the format appeared to be doomed due to a poor adoption rate, thanks mainly to a host of factors, including the PS3’s initial tribulations, popularity of the DVD format, and the steady rise in the popularity of digital downloads.

However, it soon appeared that the tide had turned as PS3’s sales picked up and the rival HD DVD format ran out of steam and met its sorry fate. The latest good news has come in the form of sales data released by research firm Futuresource, which indicates that Blu-ray sales during the ongoing holiday season have been promising.

Futuresource expects 2.5 million Blu-ray players will be sold next year in Europe. But all this good news might just mark the end of the format’s halcyon days. Has the Blu-ray flattered to deceive?

According to Cnet’s Don Reisinger, the Blu-ray will never scale the heights of popularity that the DVD has managed. Like numerous other pundits – bona fide and self-proclaimed – before him, Reisinger is convinced that digital downloads will eventually deliver the Blu-ray to its grave.

Another sinister portent for the Blu-ray format happens to be the grim sales picture of the PS3; strong sales of the console surely could have gone a long way in popularizing the format. I expect Blu-ray to share the same mediocre fortunes as the PS3 during the remainder of its lifetime.

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Posted 08/10/08 at 06:45:25 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Microsoft has always been an ardent proponent of digital distribution and now it’s this long held belief that is reflected in its recent decision to pull Microsoft Money off store shelves. It has decided that the financial software only be sold as an online download from here on. But the company isn’t in any hurry to renounce boxed software and realizes that an absolute transition to digital distribution will take some time.

A MS employee, Chris Jolley, told Cnet about MS Money sales trends that instigated the current move. About half of the total sales of the financial software in the last one year have been generated through the internet, according to Jolley.

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