Video Professor responds to Scamville article

Recently TechCrunch wrote an interesting investigative report called “Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem of Hell,” which pointed out the questionable practice of allowing users to opt-in to special offers in order to earn in-game currency from titles made by social game developers like Zynga and Playfish. In that article, the author categorized the Video Professor products as particularly scam-my. The special offers would often have “fine print” or would have charges that consumers might not know about until after the transaction was complete.

Other web sites, like Business Insider, referenced that article, and cited other sources for facts, saying that Video Professor in particular was an out and out scam. Video Professor, in case you don’t know, is a series of educational CD-ROMs that claims to teach its users techniques to master certain programs like Excel, operating systems like Windows XP or online services like eBay. Certainly the offers as detailed in all of these reports are questionable, but Video Professor is feeling a bit battered and bruised.

A recent exchange of emails with its Vice President of Public Affairs, Brian Olson, pointed out one truth: the company was never given the opportunity to defend itself or to explain its products, services and business practices. In fact, the company was met with either silence or out and out hostility from most journalists. According to Olson, one nameless editor offered the following response to an inquiry on presenting the company’s side of the story:

“It’s a huge fucking scam. And you know it.”

Ouch. Considering that the use of its name (and other offers) could have ruined Playfish’s chances to be acquired by EA - a deal which was finalized earlier this week - and the fact that Zynga’s CEO indirectly mentioned these deals in a recent blog post (and a video making the rounds on YouTube), we thought it would be fair to give the company a chance to defend itself. The company at least deserves some credit for trying to address all the talk about its products being a rip-off to consumers. First a response to the allegation that its dealings with Zynga and Playfish were shady:

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EA, Dr Pepper team up

Electronic Arts and Dr Pepper have entered a multimillion-dollar marketing agreement that brings original content to Dr Pepper consumers via EA’s portfolio of games. Gaming fans will have access to exclusive premium content on select EA titles throughout 2010 with codes found on more than 500 million Dr Pepper products.

The deal will see both companies work together on co-branded retail initiatives to gameplay enhancing items for many 2010 titles - and all this stuff will be available only to Dr Pepper fans. The Sims 3 is the first title to participate in this campaign beginning early next year and will allow gamers to experience a variety of original content. For example, codes from specially marked Dr Pepper packages will unlock exclusive premium downloadable content that may include beach party items or all the elements needed for a tailgate party..

Additional details of the relationship will be announced in the future.

Blu-Ray not being adopted by consumers, says survey

A recent poll by Harris Interactive reveals that, while Blu-Ray may have been proclaimed the winner last year in the high definition format wars, it’s not being adopted by rank and file consumers. Meanwhile, High Definition television sets are being embraced by Americans across the line. According to the data, nearly half of American households are now using high definition televisions, but only 11 percent own a HD enabled media device and only 7 percent own a Blu-Ray player.

The price of Blu-Ray players isn’t helping matters any: the number of Blu-Ray owners is likely to remain flat due of price and competition from other High Definition technologies. The purchase of both HD players are up ever so slightly from 2008 - 3 percent for Blu-ray and 5 percent for HD players. Perhaps Microsoft gave up a little too soon when it discontinued its HD hard drive add-on for Xbox 360? Blu-Ray also is facing some stiff competition from high definition content on cable, satellite, and the internet.

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Prototype tops GameFly’s most popular list

Online game rental company GameFly has released its lists of the most popular games for the week ending June 8, 2009, revealing that many of the games announced last week at E3 are getting a decent amount of buzz. The GameFly Top 10 List reflects gamers’ choice from more than 6,000 titles for the Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PSP consoles. It obviously doesn’t represent games that players are renting, but what “they want to play.” These lists are purely anecdotal, because we don’t know how the information is gathered from users. The most popular across all platforms can be found below:

Most Popular Games Cross-Platform:

1 Prototype PS3, Xbox 360 Action Adventure Activision
2 Red Faction: Guerilla PS3, Xbox 360 Shooter THQ
3 Infamous PS3 Action Adventure Sony Computer Entertainment
4 Ghostbusters PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PS2 Action Adventure Atari
5 UFC 2009 Undisputed PS3, Xbox 360 Fighting THQ
6 X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition PS3, Xbox 360 Action Adventure Activision
7 Modern Warfare 2 PS3, Xbox 360, DS Shooter Activision
8 Left 4 Dead 2 Xbox 360 Shooter Electronic Arts
9 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP Games, PS2 Sports Electronic Arts
10 Assassin’s Creed 2 PS3, Xbox 360, DS Action Adventure Ubisoft

For platform, genre and ratings specific lists, hit the jump.

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Netflix Survey: Wii Streaming Service

A Netflix survey being present to some subscribers of the popular “by mail and Internet” DVD rental service may indicate some future plans of the service on platforms other than the Xbox 360, reports Joystiq. The survey asks participants to read a description of a Netflix product and to answer questions about it.

 That product consist of “Netflix Instant Streaming Disc” that users would put into their Wii, enabling them to stream an entertainment selection from its library of 12,000 titles. The disc would apparently have to be inserted in the Wii to use the service, but all the functionalities associated with Netflix streaming solution would apply: rewind, pause, fast forward, etc.

If nothing else the survey proves that Netflix would love to be able to break into the lucrative Wii space, but it doesn’t mean that the idea is a lock either… and if Netflix “is” considering streaming content via the Wii, what of the PS3? Wouldn’t that be an easier platform to get into to? We think yes, but there’s no survey for that.

There’s one other thing the survey proves: The Xbox 360 deal Netflix has going has certainly kept the company in the black in the early part of 2009. More deals mean more money.

My Dinner With Halpin

A fireside chat with Entertainment Consumer Association president Hal Halpin.

In July 2006, Hal Halpin founded the Entertainment Consumer Association, an advocacy group to champion consumer rights and issues. Since that time, the organization has done its part to give gamers a voice on a variety of issues and has gone out of its way to highlight — and with the help of its members — defeat unconstitutional state and federal anti-consumer legislation all over the United States.

But the waters have become a whole lot murkier since 2006; study after study attempts to pin the ill behavior of a small segment of society on video games, the video game industry’s trade associations have lost their way and a brave new world of uncertainty awaits publishers and developers in Washington. Halpin has his work cut out for him.

With these challenges in mind, we talk to the ECA president about what the road ahead looks like. Our conversation after the break.

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E3 Expo 2009 Lets Fans In

According to Level Up, the Electronic Entertainment Expo will take place in the first week of June and that - for the first time in the event’s history - will be open to the public at large. Given the success of shows like E For All, and the Penny Arcade Expo, and the myriad of complaints surrounding the exclusion of non-media types, the ESA has finally given in and will let the average Joe Gamer in.

But not everyone will be able to attend because the ESA plans to cap attendance to around 40,000. What we do not know is how -the folks that have to work the show will be given inside access, but one would imagine that the ESA will offer a setup much like Games Convention where private press areas offer a sanctuary of sorts from the masses.

E3 Expo 2009 will be held in Los Angeles, opening on Tuesday June 2nd to the media, with the show opening up to consumers on Friday June 5th and Saturday June 6th. The press events will - as usual - take place in the early parts of the show. Will this move help restore the E3 Expo to its former glory? I think so, and I think if the ESA puts the show together properly that it will be better than it has been in the last year. Look for a full official announcement from the ESA tomorrow morning.

Source: Level Up