As the technology and approach of gaming evolves one thing has stayed the same, advertisements suck. Sure ads aren't as ... uh ... flashy as they once were, but they still take up the pages our favorite magazines and disturb our search for news on our favorite websites.Next-Gen.biz has taken a look at the evolution of game ads from the last three decades, including: the simplistic approach of the 80s, the radical colors of the 90s and the boring screenshot montages of the current generation.
While not Xbox specific, the feature teaches us a little about the evolution of marketing for games and how the new generation is breaking the mold wit Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) while still phoning in traditional advertisements. A worthy read for those looking for some gaming business knowledge.
The NY Times reports that Microsoft is ending its partnership with IBM to found it's own chip design lab to work on chips for a planned third generation Xbox:
With Sony and Nintendo's next-gen efforts still yet to launch, Microsoft is already talking about the next next-gen. In an interview with Kikizo, the always quotable Chris Lewis, head of Xbox Europe, confirmed that preliminary work has begun on the third generation Xbox:
Xboxic has compiled a list of original Xbox "gems" in need of a next-gen sequel, including Phantom Dust, Jet Set Radio Future, Breakdown, Unreal Championship 2, and Burnout: Revenge. They also judge the probability that each game will come to pass. My addition would be Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, an innovative third-person shooter that will unfortunately never get the update it deserves due to inexplicably poor sales (we'll have to settle for Stranglehold from the same development team).
