Offer creative game ideas

The Tokyo Game Show 2009 will be held from Sept. 24 to Sept. 27 in Chiba, Japan. The show management has invited gamers worldwide to offer their creative game ideas. The best ideas will be presented at the “Sense of Wonder Night 2009” (SOWN) during the show in cooperation with the International Game Developers Association Japan Chapter (IGDA Japan).

SOWN was held last year for its first time. The event aims to discover new game ideas that will catch people by surprise and give them a “Sense of Wonder” - a sense that something will change in their world - right at the instant of seeing or hearing the concept. It spotlights motivated game developers by providing them with an opportunity to present their ideas and prototypes.

Last year, 67 entries from 14 countries and regions were received with 11 titles selected for presentation, including 4 from outside Japan. Applications for presentations will be accepted through August 16. Innovative ideas are welcomed, regardless of the applicant’s amateur/professional status and nationality, and from both individuals and corporate bodies. Participate through http://tgs.cesa.or.jp/sown/en/.

What exactly is Recession Roadkill?

It was difficult enough to convince voice recognition systems to cope with words found in a dictionary. But SpinVox has found that it must add 2,000 new words and phrases each month to its American English language dictionary, or Voxgeist. This is required because the company's technology must be able to accurately convert voicemail messages to text in order to transmit them as SMS text messages, e-mails or blog posts. SpinVox claims that with the global economic downturn, people are getting especially creative.

Some of the new entries in the Voxgeist:

• LinkedIntimidation: When people are bombarded with networking invitations.

• Multislacking: Having two or more non-work related Web pages open on a work computer at one time.

• Recession Roadkill: A person who has been laid off because of the global downturn.

• Staycation: Vacation spent at home.

• Stressurized: combines stress and pressurized as people fear losing their jobs and feel they have to work harder.

Wedding gifts are for sharing

Consumer electronics are not only acceptable wedding gifts, they’re the gift of choice. This is according to the Retrevo Gadgetology study that reveals how people feel about giving and receiving consumer electronics (CE) such as digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players, or other gadgets as wedding gifts.

With 52 percent of respondents preferring CE wedding gifts, the category came in ahead of other, more traditional gift categories including large and small home furnishings, kitchen hardware and kitchen appliances. Both men and women who participated in the study listed a camcorder at the top of their CE wedding wish list. Digital cameras came in second. Surprisingly though, one gadget came in last — the MP3 player such as Apple’s iPod.

Why? Because wedding gifts are practical, coveted or sentimental items that the couple can share. Not only do most newlyweds already have an MP3 player, but it’s a gadget that tends to isolate the recipients rather than bring them together.

Start those marketing engines

Advertising has come a long way since the days of hand-lettered signs posted beside roadways. Now, one automobile brand is hoping to lure young people into spending hours with its new concept cars, because to know them is hopefully to love them.

“Volvo — The Game” is a racing simulator that features all of Volvo’s racing legends over the years and also introduces a new vehicle: The Volvo S60 Concept. Just download the game, select a one of six Volvos and race on one of the two highly authentic tracks. Volvo — The Game is the only racing sim in the world to feature the Chayka track outside Kiev in the Ukraine.

For the most authentic feel, Volvo — The Game should be played with a gaming wheel and pedals connected to the computer. However, it is also possible to operate the car via the PC’s keyboard or with a game-pad. The game offers a choice of skill levels, plus setting for graphics and sound. And since at its heart this racing sim is a marketing exercise, the Volvo S60 Concept, is available in two versions — “natural” and racing. Reviews rate the game 8 out of 10. Download it free from www.volvocars.com/intl/All-Cars-MY09/conceptcars/Pages/S60concept.aspx. It’s a 570 MB download so in Saudi Arabia the use of Download Accelerator (www.speedbit.com) is recommended.

Server market revenues crash

According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, factory revenue in the worldwide server market declined 24.5 percent year over year to $9.9 billion in the first quarter of 2009 (1Q09). This is the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue decline and the lowest quarterly server revenue since IDC began tracking the server market on a quarterly basis 12 years ago. Server unit shipments declined 26.5 percent year over year in 1Q09, accelerating from the 12 percent decline experienced in 4Q08 and representing the lowest quarterly server shipment total in five years and the largest ever year-over-year quarterly server unit decline.

Volume systems experienced the sharpest decline, with year-over-year revenue slipping 30.5 percent. Midrange enterprise demand weakened, with a year-over-year decline of 13.6 percent, and the slowdown extended to the high-end enterprise segment, as revenue declined 19.5 percent when compared to 1Q08. This is the second consecutive quarter and only the second time since 2002 that all three server segments have experienced a year-over-year revenue decline in the same quarter.

“Market conditions worsened in all geographic regions during the first quarter as customers of all types pulled back on both new strategic IT projects and ongoing infrastructure refresh initiatives,” said Matt Eastwood, group vice president of Enterprise Platforms at IDC. "Most enterprise organizations are deferring new IT procurements and instead focusing on extending server lifecycles and improving existing asset utilization. IDC believes that while these strategies are effective in the near term, server demand will begin to improve in the second half of the year as customers begin to rebuild their IT capabilities in advance of a meaningful economic recovery in 2010.”

HP and IBM jointly held the number one position in the worldwide server market in the first quarter, each with 29.3 percent share and IBM gaining 1.7 points of share and HP losing 0.7 points of share year over year. For IBM, this growth was driven by a solid performance in its System z and System p server businesses. Sun and Dell finished the quarter in a statistical tie for the number three market position with Dell's server revenue declining 31.2 percent year over year and capturing 11 percent share in 1Q09. Sun's server revenue declined 25.5 percent year over year, ending with 10.3 percent revenue share. Fujitsu/Fujitsu-Siemens maintained its fifth-place standing in terms of factory revenue, with 6.7 percent market share in the quarter.

Microsoft Windows server revenue was $3.7 billion in 1Q09 showing a 28.9 percent year-over-year decline and comprising 37.3 percent of all server revenue in the quarter. Linux server revenue comprised just 13.8 percent of server revenue in 1Q09, declining 24.8 percent year over year to $1.4 billion, its lowest revenue level in five years.