Are Video Games Recession Proof? (World of Warcraft Version)

Sean Ludwig — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:18:17 -0500

Blizzard Entertainment’s release last week of Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion pack to popular PC game World of Warcraft, might make one ask “What financial crisis?”

The markets look ugly, but Blizzard still broke the one-day sales record for a PC game by selling more than 2.8 million copies of new WoW expansion, according to a release by Blizzard. The game retails for $40, which multiplied by copies sold equals about $112 million.

Even Gazillionaires Get Stuck Behind the Velvet Rope

Sean Ludwig — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:26:15 -0500

You’d think that Family Guy creator and burgeoning media mogul Seth MacFarlane would be able to go anywhere and do anything. After all, as we explained in our November cover story, he recently inked a record $100 million production deal with Fox and a groundbreaking deal with Google.

But apparently it can be tough to be the face (and voice) behind the animation.

Fake New York Times Prank: Unfunny Farce or Innovative Inspirational Tool?

Sean Ludwig — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:36:35 -0500

Yesterday morning, notorious liberal pranksters The Yes Men took spoofing to new heights by distributing 1.2 million fake issues of the New York Times dated July 4, 2009. Papers with the large bold headline “Iraq War Ends” were distributed at major New York gathering places like Union Square and Penn Station.

Comment on Node ant

Sean Ludwig — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:26:36 -0400

I agree with statement because when online video has too many ads, people don't want to watch it. Hulu's approach works especially well because as a Hulu user, I don't get fed up when I have to watch a targeted 30-second ad for every 13-15 minutes of high-quality video. I've been telling my friends since Hulu's launch that this model is the future.

The Beatles Join MTV’s Digital Empire

Sean Ludwig — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:20:29 -0400

MTV is on a roll. Just days after announcing a fresh new music video web site comes news that MTV Networks will license songs from the Beatles for an upcoming video game from Harmonix, the makers of Rock Band.

MTV Finally Returns to the Music Video Business

Sean Ludwig — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:52:27 -0400

Yesterday MTV launched MTVmusic.com, its first serious iteration of a full-fledged music-video site. It’s been a long time coming. For years, former MTV fans have complained about modern MTV’s glaring lack of music videos. This new venture falls under the same strategy that we discussed in our November issue, in which MTV is throwing a lot of ideas at the Web wall and keeping whatever sticks.

Could Service Innovation Help Lead America Out of the Financial Crisis?

Sean Ludwig — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:11:18 -0400

Let’s face it: in these violently turbulent times, we all want to know what’s next. Kaihan Krippendorff, who currently consults for Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Wal-Mart, says service innovation will be an important factor in turning around burned businesses.

Comment on Node ant

Sean Ludwig — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:11:41 -0400

Nice going Todd Basche. You earned that impressive cash flow. So simple, so easy. Really, why didn't someone else think of it first?

Comment on Node ant

Sean Ludwig — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:12:43 -0400

I've seen every episode of Mad Men and 30 Rock and felt they were both extremely worthy of their awards. But alas, they aren't entertaining crime procedurals or medical melodramas, so how could they ever hope to get big ratings?

Also, several old episodes of 30 Rock are available to watch for free on Hulu, if you're interested.

Cloud Computing Goes Cucku

Sean Ludwig — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:33:30 -0400

Four years ago, a nasty virus infected my hard drive. Windows essentially just froze and never thawed. After a few days of trying to fix it with no success, I realized I would have to reformat my computer. I had no backups, and I lost 20 gigs of music and a year’s worth of documents. These were the days before cloud computing, where you can easily store all of your documents on someone else’s server.