You take a guitar and 26 monthes after you have a billion, congrats to Activision

Guitar Hero(R) Franchise Surpasses $1 Billion in North America in Record 26 Months, According to the NPD Group

Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATVI) today announced that the Guitar Hero(R) franchise has set an industry record, surpassing $1 billion in North American retail sales in just 26 months, according to The NPD Group.

Additionally, Guitar Hero(R) III: Legends of Rock(TM) was the #1 title in units and dollars for calendar year 2007, making it the #1 best-selling video game of all time in a single calendar year.

Since its initial release in fall 2005, the Guitar Hero franchise has sold in excess of 14 million units in North America alone, according to The NPD Group. In 10 weeks since the game’s launch, consumers have already downloaded more than five million songs.

“Guitar Hero is one of the biggest brands and one of the most powerful distribution platforms in all of entertainment today,” said Michael Griffith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Activision Publishing, Inc. “Guitar Hero’s popularity with broad audiences is a confirmation that video games have become a true mass medium.”

We just wonder if you can do the same with a drumset. This is certainly a prove if you have a great idea there’s no limits on the overhead.

Independent Data Reveals Nintendo Sales for 2007, Wii is a winner

Nintendo DS and Wii finished strong in 2007, commanding sales in the holiday shopping period and finishing the year as the two best-selling video game systems in the United States, according to new data just released by the independent NPD Group. Nintendo DS was the top-selling U.S. system of 2007, with nearly 8.5 million sold, including more than 4 million in November and December alone. Wii placed second, with nearly 6.3 million sold through the year, more than 2.3 million of which sold in the final two months.

“By the end of 2007 we were sold out of virtually all hardware, and much of our stock of software and accessories was sold out as well, thanks to the broad appeal of Wii and Nintendo DS to core gamers, women, families, grandparents – and seemingly everyone in between,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing. “And that momentum continues here in the early weeks of 2008.”

Some additional facts about Nintendo’s 2007 performance in the United States (note: All figures are from NPD):

• Nintendo accounted for 52 percent of all video game hardware systems sold in 2007 – more than all other manufacturers combined.
• Since their respective launches, Nintendo has sold more than 17.6 million Nintendo DS systems and nearly 7.4 million Wii systems in the United States alone.
• Wii Play, a collection of nine fun mini-games, finished 2007 with 4.1 million units sold.
• Super Mario Galaxy sold through more than 2.5 million copies since it launched on Nov. 12.
• The two games in the Brain Age series each sold about 1 million copies in 2007.
• Half of the top 30 best-selling games of 2007 were made for Nintendo systems, including Pokemon Pearl, Pokemon Diamond, Mario Party DS, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
• Nintendo continues to dominate the hand-held market: Of the top 30 best-selling portable games sold in 2007, 25 were made for Nintendo DS and another two were made for Game Boy Advance.
• Sales of Nintendo DS systems grew 60 percent over those from 2006.
• In 2007, the video game industry grew by 43 percent over 2006. Nintendo is responsible for 60 percent of that growth.

Guitar Hero and Call of Duty Ranks Activision #1 in U.S. for 2007

Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATVI) was the #1 U.S. console and handheld publisher for calendar 2007, according to The NPD Group. The company increased its market share for the year to a record 17.7%, a 7.2% increase over the same period last year. Additionally, Guitar Hero was the #1 best-selling franchise in the U.S. for the full calendar year and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which was released on October 28, was the #1 title across all platforms in both units and dollars, according to The NPD Group.

For the month of December, Guitar Hero(R) III: Legends of Rock and Call of Duty 4(TM): Modern Warfare(TM) were the #1 and #3 best-selling titles respectively in dollars across all platforms, according to The NPD Group.

Robert Kotick, Chairman and CEO, Activision, Inc., commented, “For the first time in our history, we were the #1 U.S. publisher for the calendar year. We are well on our way to delivering sixteen years of record revenue growth and by far our most profitable year ever.”

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $1.5 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.

MSI puts 1GB on a 8800GT VGA card aswell as a new “DisplayPort”

Best DisplayPort & 1GB Memory Solution
MSI NX8800GT DisplayPort Series - innovative & vigorous

MSI proudly unveils its latest MSI NX8800GT-PTD1GE Series graphics card, base on NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GT Series GPU, DisplayPort output capable and increase onboard graphics memory to 1GB(1024MB). After increasing the size of high speed graphics memory, MSI NX8800GT-PTD1GE Series makes your High-definition gaming experience unparalleled smooth than ever.

Tech-leading DisplayPort interface natively built-in
MSI NX8800GT-PTD1GE Series has the next generation I/O interface - DisplayPort, which is dedicated for extra high resolution flat-panel displays and also has audio signal integrated in. In order to make the signal cable as less as possible, DisplayPort protocol further pull in the auxiliary channel which can let other peripherals such as USB HUB, webcam and touch screen device share the very same cable with video/audio signal. This design makes PC connectivity even more extended and convenient at the same time.

Unequalled playing experience in HD resolution gaming
Just because of plenty of memory space for GPU utilized as frame buffer, more texture resource can be read and written without extra latency. This makes PC gaming in extremely high-definition possible.

“You can expect that there will be more high resolution flat-panel, DisplayPort capable display devices hit the market in year 2008,” said Vincent Lai, director of MSI’s Global Marketing Group. “At that time, most graphics cards in the market will not bring the scene into full play at a reasonable frame rate. So, if you want a smart buy for HD gaming/movie playback and also with DisplayPort supported, MSI NX8800GT-PTD1GE Series is definitely your choice only.”

MSI unique X-type Fan-pipe provides ZALMAN-beating level thermal efficiency
In order to give power users more privilege on over-clocking and advanced tweaking, MSI NX8800GT-PTD1GE Series loads with MSI’s 1-slot, dual-pipe high efficient thermal solution - X-type Fan-pipe. With this single slot fan which can lower the GPU temperature to 60?.( as the ambiance temperature at 25?, GPU fully loaded ) MSI X-type Fan-pipe is the most amazing thermal solution which cooling capability is very close to ZALMAN VF1000 Series, 2-slot Fan-pipe for MSI most high-end Zilent Series graphics card.

ALIENWARE REDEFINES PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN WITH POWERFUL NEW Area-51 m15x 15.4-inch NOTEBOOK

PC-maker wonders if the world is ready for the intimidating ingenuity and onslaught of awesomeness surrounding the Area-51 m15x

When it comes to mobile performance, Alienware® – the leading manufacturer of high-performance desktop, notebook and entertainment systems – is blazing new frontiers. The company introduces the Area-51® m15x, a revolutionary addition to the 15.4-inch notebook class and a fitting addition to Alienware’s award-winning systems. Available with a range of Intel® Core™ 2 Duo or Core 2 Extreme mobile processors and loaded with the world’s fastest notebook GPU, the NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX, every detail of the Area-51 m15x was scrutinized for improved performance and usability, from the motherboard all the way down to the port trimmings.

The Area-51 m15x dominates the competition by featuring:

• Intel Core 2 Extreme mobile processor power, enabling users to run the latest games and power-hungry applications like post-production video software and music encoding programs at full speed for optimum productivity.
• Cutting-edge graphics delivered by an NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX GPU, fully primed for the new wave of DirectX® 10-fueled games.
• Alienware’s BinaryGFX technology, which provides the flexibility of switching between integrated and high-performance graphics cards.
• Advanced user controls through the Alienware Command Center, including the AlienFX® lighting and the AlienFusion power management system.
• Smart Bay technology giving users on-the-fly customization capabilities with a hot-swappable optical drive, second hard drive and backup battery.

“The advanced speed and energy efficiency of our entire line of Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme mobile processors are perfectly suited for the varied needs of Area-51 m15x users,” said Erik Reid, Director of Marketing, Mobile Platforms Group for Intel. “Owners of Alienware’s latest notebook have the confidence of knowing they can rely on awesome application speed in addition to smarter battery performance and the other advantages that come from the Intel Core microarchitecture.”

“With NVIDIA’s most powerful notebook GPU, the GeForce 8800M GTX, Alienware has unleashed a new generation of high-performance notebooks that blow away most desktop PCs,” said Rene Haas, general manager of the notebook GPU business at NVIDIA. “With these elite machines, Alienware customers will get an absolutely astounding visual experience with the new era of DirectX 10 games, high-definition movies, and Windows Vista applications, whether at home or on the road.“

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