Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2015
The Industry Slumps and Droops in 2011 But Will it Crash
Much of what I write about video and computer game history runs into a certain gap in the mid-1980s, when the hobby simply disappeared from commercial viability for a few years. Consoles, games, magazines and entire companies vanished seemingly overnight, and it wasnt until Nintendo disguised its new console as a toy, thanks to R.O.B. the Robotic Operating Buddy, and sold millions of copies of Super Mario Bros. that most retailers realized there was still a hungry market out there.
Since that time, the industry has matured and stabilized, but it still has its ups and downs. Recent sales numbers in the game industry have been disappointing -- Julys sales (as reported by NPD) are the lowest year-to-year since July of 2006, and publicly-traded videogame-related stocks are being hit even harder than most by recent market volatility. (July is always a slow month in the industry; it wouldnt be fair to compare July 2011 to, say, December 2010, but a comparison to July five years ago is a fair and worrisome measure.)
Since that fabled 80s crash, weve become accustomed a certain cycle -- this recent drop in sales looks like what normally happens during a console transition to the next generation. Back in 2006, the XBox 360 was still finding its footing and the PS3 and Wii were due to come out for the holidays -- the industry always tends to slow down as gamers hold off buying new games and save up for a new console and all the games, controllers, memory cards, and other gewgaws that go with it.
But that cycle is not whats happening at the moment, which raises some interesting questions. Is there simply a five-year "newness" cycle, where excitement about a new platform drives a certain amount of excess purchasing, and then dies down slowly as time goes on, jumping back up when the novelty is restored? I know I personally tend to buy more games for a new console than for one Ive had for a while; Ill update games in favorite categories, and look forward to (ostensibly) improved sequels. Over time, once I have a library established, I will become more discriminating and patient, and begrudgingly recognize the launch lineups glaring weaknesses, but when a system is new and exciting I want to have something to play on it.
The recent drop in sales is being officially attributed in some quarters to a lack of new major titles, which can certainly have an impact -- conditions are expected to improve in the fall as big Christmas titles start to roll out. But even factoring that in, the numbers look significant at the moment, with a 17% drop in games and a 29% drop in hardware sales between July 2010 and July 2011. So there may also be a saturation factor involved here -- most of the people interested in a new console circa 2005/2006 have probably bought one.
So this sales slump appears to be genuine, and may have a real impact on the industry. I expect that some struggling companies may go under during the lean times ahead -- for example, THQ Interactive reported a quarterly loss of $0.94 per share in July, after a brief return to profitability in the previous two quarters, and may not be able to withstand a general market downturn. Some companies have faltered creatively in recent years, and the investment required to capitalize on the next console cycle is likely to be significant, as even Nintendo moves to the HD standard and the additional horsepower will require yet more development investment in audiovisuals.
But I dont think were headed for another crash -- while a shakeout may be due, and some belt-tightening is likely in order, and we may not see as many games released, or many creative risks being taken, I suspect that Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and the other majors will survive just fine, and that small niche publishers who know their audiences well will muddle through successfully as well. The video game audience of 2011 is much broader, and older, with deeper pockets than was the case in 1983. And small independent developers, as well as talent-rich but financially struggling companies like Double Fine, continue to surprise and delight us with small, inexpensive downloadable games that were not part of the picture in decades past.
As long as there is something of quality to play, I suspect we gamers will be ready to buy. And if the market slows down, Ill take the time to catch up on some old classics, always looking forward to whatever comes next.
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Since that time, the industry has matured and stabilized, but it still has its ups and downs. Recent sales numbers in the game industry have been disappointing -- Julys sales (as reported by NPD) are the lowest year-to-year since July of 2006, and publicly-traded videogame-related stocks are being hit even harder than most by recent market volatility. (July is always a slow month in the industry; it wouldnt be fair to compare July 2011 to, say, December 2010, but a comparison to July five years ago is a fair and worrisome measure.)
Since that fabled 80s crash, weve become accustomed a certain cycle -- this recent drop in sales looks like what normally happens during a console transition to the next generation. Back in 2006, the XBox 360 was still finding its footing and the PS3 and Wii were due to come out for the holidays -- the industry always tends to slow down as gamers hold off buying new games and save up for a new console and all the games, controllers, memory cards, and other gewgaws that go with it.
But that cycle is not whats happening at the moment, which raises some interesting questions. Is there simply a five-year "newness" cycle, where excitement about a new platform drives a certain amount of excess purchasing, and then dies down slowly as time goes on, jumping back up when the novelty is restored? I know I personally tend to buy more games for a new console than for one Ive had for a while; Ill update games in favorite categories, and look forward to (ostensibly) improved sequels. Over time, once I have a library established, I will become more discriminating and patient, and begrudgingly recognize the launch lineups glaring weaknesses, but when a system is new and exciting I want to have something to play on it.
The recent drop in sales is being officially attributed in some quarters to a lack of new major titles, which can certainly have an impact -- conditions are expected to improve in the fall as big Christmas titles start to roll out. But even factoring that in, the numbers look significant at the moment, with a 17% drop in games and a 29% drop in hardware sales between July 2010 and July 2011. So there may also be a saturation factor involved here -- most of the people interested in a new console circa 2005/2006 have probably bought one.
So this sales slump appears to be genuine, and may have a real impact on the industry. I expect that some struggling companies may go under during the lean times ahead -- for example, THQ Interactive reported a quarterly loss of $0.94 per share in July, after a brief return to profitability in the previous two quarters, and may not be able to withstand a general market downturn. Some companies have faltered creatively in recent years, and the investment required to capitalize on the next console cycle is likely to be significant, as even Nintendo moves to the HD standard and the additional horsepower will require yet more development investment in audiovisuals.
But I dont think were headed for another crash -- while a shakeout may be due, and some belt-tightening is likely in order, and we may not see as many games released, or many creative risks being taken, I suspect that Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and the other majors will survive just fine, and that small niche publishers who know their audiences well will muddle through successfully as well. The video game audience of 2011 is much broader, and older, with deeper pockets than was the case in 1983. And small independent developers, as well as talent-rich but financially struggling companies like Double Fine, continue to surprise and delight us with small, inexpensive downloadable games that were not part of the picture in decades past.
As long as there is something of quality to play, I suspect we gamers will be ready to buy. And if the market slows down, Ill take the time to catch up on some old classics, always looking forward to whatever comes next.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
The Sorcerer and the White Snake Movie 2011 With English Subtitles
Plot: Description: Action director Ching Siu-Tung helms this fantasy film based on an old Chinese legend about an
herbalist who falls in love with a thousand-year-old White Snake disguised as a woman. Jet Li stars as a sorcerer who
discovers her true identity and battles to save the mans soul.
Related Posts :
Download The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GoTY Edition ...
File: The.Sorcerer.and.the.White.Snake.2011.480p.BRRip.X viD.AC3-NYDIC.avi
Size: 1557305344 bytes (1.45 GiB), duration: 01:42:08, avg.bitrate: 2033 kb/s
Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5:1, 448 kb/s
Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 720x304, 24.00 fps(r)
Download :
http://www.fileserve.com/file/K4U8AdP
Download Counter Strike Source v1 0 0 69 2011 MULTI
Year:2011 | PC Game | Eng, Rus | Developer: Valve | Publisher: Valve | 2.28 GB
Genre: Action
As in the original version of the game, Counter-Strike: Source team confront each other counter-terrorism (CT, SWAT) team and the terrorists (T) in a series of rounds.
Each round is won by performing a specific mission (such as disruption bomb or rescuing hostages) or after the destruction of all members of the opposing team.
Gameplay is similar to that in Counter-Strike. Most of the weapons are also identical to the weapons in Counter-Strike 1.6, except for the shield, which was available counter-terrorists. In buying rounds later became a place automatically in the early rounds and the purchase of new weapons. The cartridges are now free, just give full ammo when buying weapons, they also can be refilled after returning to the place of purchase.
Extras. Information:
The assembly is recorded in DVD-5 (auto-installer), so you can record on DVD-ROM, run and automatically prompted to install the game.
The traditional setting is also stored (Setup.exe).
After installation is recommended to run the updater!
FAQ:
Q: How come the other servers?
A: In the game choose to start the game>> Internet>> update it. Then select the server you like. Also, it is recommended to remove the checkmark from simplified. the list. Enjoy the game.
In: Change the name?
A: There are two options: a) Do you have a desktop shortcut should be Change Nick-Name - run it. If you are for any reason on the desktop you do not have this shortcut, go to the game installation folder which contains the file UltimateNameChanger.exe - run it. b) In a game in the console (press tilde "~") to enter setname "your nickname";
Q: Why does the updater updated for so long?
A: The refresh rate depends on several parameters: a) The amount of updates (updates can take several hundreds of megabytes), and b) the number of simultaneously "Update" players (speed host updates 512 KB / sec, which means that if both are updated every 5 players, then everyone will have the speed of ~ 100 kB / sec, etc. ...); c) Other problems with the network / internet as you do so at the host and updates.
Q: How do I update the game?
A: You have a desktop shortcut should be Update Counter-Strike Source - run it ... after a few seconds / minutes you have the latest version of the game. If you are for any reason on the desktop you do not have this shortcut, go to the folder to install the game. This folder contains a file Css_Updater.exe - run it.
Q: How do I enable the console?
A: Settings -> Keyboard -> Advanced -> tick "Enable console development." The console game is called in the key tilde (~, E).
Q: When connecting to a server it says "steam validation rejected" and would not let me, what is it?
A: You are trying to connect to license server, this is impossible.
Q: When I issue "no permissions to run cstrike", for that error?
A: You need to turn off Steam before running pirated games Valve.
Q: When I try to connect to the server writes to me "you are working in unsafe mode" and does not let that be done?
A: You need to turn off Steam before running pirated games Valve.
System requirements:
OS: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7
Processor: Pentium 1.7 GHz or equivalent Athlon
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Hard disk: at least 5 GB of free hard disk space
Video: DirectX 8-compatible
Sound: DirectX-compatible sound card
Download :
http://www.filesonic.com/file/Kk3JVGd/Counter-Strike.Source.v1.0.0.69.part1.rar
http://www.filesonic.com/file/VqpeTBq/Counter-Strike.Source.v1.0.0.69.part2.rar
http://www.filesonic.com/file/hj8HS32/Counter-Strike.Source.v1.0.0.69.part3.rar
http://www.filesonic.com/file/IDR31dc/Counter-Strike.Source.v1.0.0.69.part4.rar
http://www.filesonic.com/file/nh2xUxj/Counter-Strike.Source.v1.0.0.69.part5.rar
http://www.filesonic.com/file/hj8HSvD/Counter-Strike.Source.v1.0.0.69.part6.rar
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