The Future of Hard Copy Media

Image via Wikipedia

First Blockbuster went broke and closed, and now this.

Struggling British entertainment retailer HMV has sold its 121-store Canadian unit to Hilco UK, raising 2 million pounds ($3.2 million) to cut debt and help the firm stay in business.

The move by the 90-year-old firm to sell the Canadian business comes days after HMV’s shareholders backed the 53-million-pounds disposal of its Waterstone’s book chain to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut.

Earlier this month HMV, which has issued four profit warnings this year, secured its immediate future with a 220 million pounds refinancing deal that will effectively involve the British taxpayer taking a stake in the group.

“The board has fully explored the options available to it for HMV Canada, and believes that a sale to Hilco is the correct decision for the business at this time, whilst reducing the operating leverage in the continuing group,” said Chief Executive Simon Fox.

“The group is focusing on clear and tightly defined plans for transforming HMV into a broad-based entertainment business.”

(Article from Reuters)

I’m hoping this doesn’t mean that HMV is closing too. Although I do watch the occasional movie and tv show online, I still prefer having a hard copy and I usually buy them from HMV. Although things are looking up with the line about “transforming HMV into a broad-based entertainment business”. I’m guessing that means adding new products and services.

Cutting the Fat out of Social Networking

There is just too much social networking going on today. It all started with e-mail many, many years ago (seems just like yesterday) and then expanded into MySpace and now there are hundreds of sites devoted to social networking of some kind. There’s basic social networking like Twitter, check-in based sites like Foursquare, music sharing from Ping and blip.fm and photo sharing form Flickr. Anything you want to share with friends or total strangers, theres a site for it.

Of course how could I forget the one site at the top of the big pile of sites. Facebook. Facebook is every one of these sites combined into one. It started a lot like MySpace and then just started adding features until it reached where it is today. But has it gone too far? With Facebook you can share your thoughts, pictures, videos, what you’re watching on TV, what games you’re playing. There are thousands of web applications that are built into Facebook that do everything from tell your fortune to tell you which character you are most like from your favourite show. And now. You can tell people where you are and who you are with.

Thats quite a lot for one site isn’t it. Oh, did I mention there is a movie about Facebook? Thats right. Its called The Social Network and it is about the creation of Facebook. It really should be called Facebook: The Movie.

All this is becoming too much for me. It seems that every time I log into Facebook something has changed. Wether it’s a button has been moved or the whole layout has been changed (remember “old Facebook vs. new Facebook” and everyone preferred old Facebook). I don’t mind a change once in a while but it has reached a point where they are changing so often that they don’t even tell you that they have changed something. I remember when if someone did anything that somehow involved you on Facebook there was a section at the side that had every possible notification right there. Then they split them up so friend notifications were in one place and “likes” or “comments” were in another place and then photo notifications were in another place. I can’t even find notifications from applications any more (I’m not complaining. I hated getting Farmville requests as much as everyone else).

The problem is that it’s not simple any more. This is the main reason I use Twitter (I hear you all groaning). It is simple. I send a tweet thats 140 characters and thats it. I can send messages to people and I can still post photos and read what everyone else is doing. Thats all I need. I am fed up of people liking pages that are things they say they do which they are mostly lying about anyways, or things they should be doing instead of “liking” them on Facebook (“I think about you even when I don’t call you”. Just call him so I don’t have to read about it) or big posts about your achievements on Farmville of Mafia Wars.

If Facebook was just statuses, wall posts, messages, and photos like it used to be then I would be quite happy but there is just too much for me to keep up with.

Unfortunately like most of you, I am addicted to Facebook (although not as much as some people. You know who you are) and will continue to use it until most people stop using it and switch to Twitter.

Stories from Downtown

Here are a couple of incidents I observed today while I was downtown that I think are quite amusing. Most of them happened in HMV.

1. While in HMV there was a little boy with his dad. A Justin Bieber song started playing and I heard the kid say “Daddy, why is this song making my ears hurt?”. That kid is awesome. I felt like going up to the dad and saying how awesome his son is. (In a non creeper way)

2. There were three girls dressed like Taylor Swift (Nerdy glasses (same style and colour), blonde hair, that style of clothes) walking side by side through the Eaton Centre who walked up to a guy standing a few feet from me in HMV and said stuff (not sure, wasn’t really listening, I’m not that much of a creeper) words were exchanged and he ended up saying “I don’t like Taylor Swift” loudly enough for me to hear, to them and one (seemed to be his girlfriend) actually slapped him. It was hilarious. It was like a scene out of a movie. I tried so hard not to laugh out loud.

3. You know how when you were young your parents would come up with ways of not letting you have that toy you wanted without actually saying “No, you can’t have it”‘. There was a kid throwing a tantrum because his mom wouldn’t get him a game he “Really wanted”. She went through the usual things like “put it on your christmas list” which always worked on me. Then when he wouldn’t listen she used on I’ve never heard used and I think she was bluffing but it worked, she said “Fine, you can have it but we’re not going to the game if you get it and I know how much you want to go”. This made the kid go crazy because you could tell he wanted the video game but at the same time he wanted to go to the game equally as much. It was really funny seeing him trying to figure out if his mom was bluffing or if she really was going to not take him. She topped it off by saying “I’ll just phone dad and tell him to give away the tickets”. Sadly (in my opinion) he still considered getting the video game but it was funny to watch him thinking of the pros and cons. It was like his head was going to explode. You had to be there.

4. There was actually a huge line outside of the apple store today, of people waiting for the iPhone 4. No, they didn’t get a new shipment. These people were waiting in the hope that the truck would arrive so they might get one. I heard one of the store employees saying to one of the people asking about the iPhone 4 that if the truck didn’t arrive today that these people would be back tomorrow hoping the truck would show up. Nutters or what?

More of these will be posted when I see them. Try finding some yourself. Just listen to the people wherever you are. Don’t eavesdrop just don’t ignore whats going on around you. You might be surprised.

Foursquare for People Who Don’t Go Anywhere

There was a review of an App for the iphone during an episode of App Judgement called GetGlue. Some of you might know that I use this and some might not.  GetGlue is a lot like Foursquare but instead of checking in to places that you are at, you check in to things you are doing. This is mostly movie, music, games, and TV shows but there are also books and almost any other topics you can think of.

Here is the episode of App Judgement explaining GetGlue,

You should at least try it. If you do, add me, I’m WillPenman

The New Most Addicting Game Ever

I’ve been staying at a resort for the last few days and there is a lawn game that has been here that seems to draw a lot of attention. It is called “Ladder Golf”. It consists of two “ladders” and two sets of “bolos”

Ladders

Bolo

The way the game works is that you place the ladders a decent distance apart and then throw the bolos and try to get the bolo to land on one of the bars of the ladder. Each bar of the ladder has a different point value.

So far, after hanging around a bit, it seems like everyone is more interested in this game then every other game that is here.

To find out how to buy one or make your own just search “Ladder golf” on google. (or click the link)

Bixi Bikes Hit Toronto

I love biking and as such I love the idea of Bixi bikes. For those of you who don’t know what Bixi bikes are, they are a way to rent bikes without having to go to a store. Similar to Zipcar but with bikes instead of cars. All you have to do is walk up and insert your membership card grab a bike and you’re set. Just return it to the nearest Bixi bike rack when you’re done.

Sounds great right? Well just like everything else it has its flaws. The new Toronto Bixi “network” is limited to the extreme downtown core (spadina to jarvis, south of bloor) and there is a time limit of 30 minutes. After 30 minutes you will have to pay a late fee. Oh, did I mention it costs $95 for a full year. Well it says a full year. You can’t really ride a bike all year can you (I know some of you are saying “I can try”). You might as well buy a cheap bike and lock (and helmet) for slightly more and you can ride whenever you want for however long you want.

I’m hoping Bixi Bikes will expand to the rest of Toronto and then, with some luck, get cheaper. We can dream can’t we.

After Gentrification

Gentrification: The Game took place today (this afternoon if you want me to be specific). This is the second time I have played and this time was that much bette. The first time was a bit unorganized (it was the beta version after all) but this time was much more organized and efficiently run. Here are some pictures from the event. (click the image for full image)

This gentleman obviously gave this team luck. they won.

The Pedestrian Sunday organizer wasn’t happy with us.

Giving out flowers gave one team bonus points

Street art was another bonus

Making a speech to stop “the developers”

The “art critic” and “local billionaire” judged the art and speeches

The game was a lot of fun. To find out more visit http://www.atmosphereindustries.com or follow them on twitter (@atmospherei). or you can read my other posts on previous games and other stuff (just look, they’re around somewhere)

UPDATE: Spacing Radio has released a Summer Short about Gentrification

I Helped!

Remember this from back in March?

Yesterday, Atmosphere industries held a game in Kensington Market (in Toronto) called “Gentrification”. It is a game similar to Monopoly where players have to get properties and gain money. To find out more about Atmosphere Industries click here. Here are a few pictures i took during the game.

Well this article was in the Toronto Star yesterday (july 11th)

Welcome to gentrification, the game

In the past 10 years, the mechanics of gentrification have become so predictable and codified that the once-messy process of urban renewal is now as tidy and rule-based as a game of Risk or Mouse Trap.

Which helps explain why the Toronto-based artist collective Atmosphere Industries (www.atmosphereindustries.com) debuted Gentrification: The Game! at the Come Out & Play Festival in Brooklyn, N.Y., last month.

The game, created by Internet researcher Kate Raynes-Goldie, game enthusiast David Fono, architect Alex Raynes-Goldie and educational technologist Luke Walker, pits teams of “developers” against “locals” in a competition designed to contrast corporate and community-based approaches to urban development.

Fono describes the game as a mixture of live-action Monopoly and performance art, with Kate Raynes-Goldie amending that tagline to include “random acts of kindness plus public space hacking.”

But Fono has an even simpler explanation: “We’re interested in hipsters. That’s it in a nutshell.”

“Specifically how they think,” adds Walker, laughing.

During the game, participating hipsters “purchase” properties by photographing them. These businesses are then “improved” through various tactics including “Slightly Creepy But Wise Neighbourhood Guy Gives Impassioned, Poetic Speech” (that would be a “locals” trick) or “Hired Goons” (that would be a “developer” trick).

Anyone wandering through Park Slope on the afternoon of June 5 would have seen 30 Brooklynites scrambling to hand out flowers and organize spontaneous parades (with banners that read “Happy Neighbour Day!”)

Gentrification is part of a larger trend in location-based entertainment that has been variously described as interactive theatre, transmedia and alternate reality/locative/pervasive gaming. But whatever label Gentrification is given, it’s a winner, receiving Best Use of Technology and Best in Fest at the recent Come Out & Play Festival. These accolades helped convince the Hide and Seek Festival to invite Atmosphere Industries to replay the game in London’s South Bank neighbourhood today.

That the game has been successfully exported to other countries is proof not only of the universal nature of gentrification, but the fact that Gentrification’s gameplay can be absorbed quickly and is geographically flexible. And it turns out that the most nerve-racking aspect of organizing the game is not finding participants but trying to cross the U.S. border with a bag full of bells, noisemakers and party hats, along with a dozen protest signs with slogans like “Down With Frowns.”

Now the four are hoping that Toronto will serve as the next successful location for Gentrification, which will take place on July 25 as part of Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market.

While the group beta-tested Gentrification in Kensington Market in April of this year, the July event will mark its official Canadian debut. And just to be clear, Atmosphere Industries is not trying to scrub Kensington clean of its gritty, ramshackle charm. “We like it the way it is,” says Kate Raynes-Goldie. “We don’t want there to be a Starbucks there.”

But Fono acknowledges that the future of Kensington is precarious, since “gentrification is always a looming spectre.” That said, the group admits that Gentrification is designed to be fun, not preachy. “We didn’t really take a stance on whether gentrification is good or bad,” says Alex Raynes-Goldie. “We were pretty snarky toward both sides.”

The four are also realistic enough to acknowledge that a single game isn’t going to change the world. But convincing the public to make better use of their public spaces, and pushing people out of their comfort zones through games like Gentrification, can be good for both the city and the soul.

Or, as Fono puts it, “The larger philosophy behind these sorts of games is turning the everyday world into a playground and an adventure.”

I guess that makes me a beta-tester of this game. Sort of makes me feel like I’ve helped make something big.

Live From E3 (Pt.2)

One of the biggest anouncements so far at E3 has been that of the Nintendo 3DS. Thats right, 3Ds. No there isn’t three screens or anything like that. It is going to be able to play games with 3D graphics without the need for 3D glasses. That is the main feature that Nintendo is focusing on right now.

There have been many guessed as to what the 3DS will look like and so far the image from Nintendo has been this,

If this DS update is anything like all the lasts then it will definitely be worth buying.  So far all the DS updates/upgrades have included significant physical and software changes. Unlike Sony who has released four models of PSP and the only one with a really significant change was when they released the PSPGo. Just by looking at this picture, which isn’t the final model but it’s going to be close to this, there are going to be some great changes.

Here are the specs that were released at E3,

Size (when closed):

Approximately 5.3 inches wide, 2.9 inches long, 0.8 inches tall.

Weight:

Approximately 8 ounces.

Look:

Final design is TBA.

Top Screen:

3.53-inch widescreen LCD display, enabling 3D view without the need for special glasses; with 800×240 pixel resolution (400 pixels are allocated for each eye to enable 3D viewing).

Touch Screen:

3.02-inch LCD with 320×240 pixel resolution with a touch screen.

Cameras:

One inner camera and two outer cameras with 640×480 (0.3 Mega) pixel resolution.

Pre-Installed Software:

TBA

Nintendo 3DS Game Card:

2 GB Max. at launch.

Wireless Communication:

Can communicate in the 2.4 GHz band. Multiple Nintendo 3DS systems can connect via a local wireless connection to let users communicate or enjoy competitive game play. Systems also can connect to LAN access points to access the Internet and allow people to enjoy games with others. Will support IEEE 802.11 with enhanced security (WPA/WPA2). Nintendo 3DS hardware is designed so that even when not in use, it can automatically exchange data with other Nintendo 3DS systems or receive data via the Internet while in sleep mode.

Game Controls:
Touch screen, embedded microphone, A/B/X/Y face buttons, + Control Pad, L/R buttons, Start and Select buttons, “Slide Pad” that allows 360-degree analog input, one inner camera, two outer cameras, motion sensor and a gyro sensor.

Other Input Controls:
3D Depth Slider to adjust level of 3D effect (can be scaled back or turned off completely depending on the preference of the user), Home button to call system function, Wireless switch to turn off wireless communications (even during game play), Power button. The telescoping stylus is approximately 4 inches when fully extended.

Input/Output:
A port that accepts both Nintendo 3DS game cards and game cards for the Nintendo DS™ family of systems, an SD memory card slot, an AC adapter connector, a charging cradle terminal and a stereo headphone output jack.

Sound:
Stereo speakers positioned to the left and right of the top screen.

Battery:
Lithium ion battery details TBA.

Languages:
TBA

Parental Controls:
Parental controls similar to the Nintendo DSi system will be included.

It’s not too much but it’s better than nothing.

Live From E3 (Pt.1)

no I’m not actually there. I wish I was though cause it looks like there’s lots of great stuff being announced this year. Here’s the first part of a sort of summary of whats been going on.

The Force Unleashed II

I played the first one and I liked the story mode (campaign, whatever), it was amazing, but once you got passed that it got kind of boring. The PSP version had some more single player features that were fun but there still wasn’t much. I’m hoping that in #2 there will be a bit more to do once you are finished story mode so you will want to keep it for longer than a few weeks (days if you’re really good). I still want to play this though because if it is half as good as the first it will still be amazing.

Rock Band 3

Rock Band is always fun. It is one of those games that you can return to when you have nothing better to play. Rock Band 3 is going to add a keyboard peripheral (you can play the keyboard now) which could be good. It will also have 83 songs included and 1500 compatible songs (downloads, previous versions and track packs). The Rock Band website announced these tracks will be on Rock Band 3

2000s:

• Metric – “Combat Baby”
• Rilo Kiley – “Portions for Foxes”
• Them Crooked Vultures – “Dead End Friends”
• The Vines – “Get Free”
• The White Stripes – “The Hardest Button to Button”
• Phoenix – “Lasso”
• Ida Maria – “Oh My God”
• Juanes – “Me Enamora”

1990s:

• Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
• Stone Temple Pilots – “Plush”
• Smash Mouth – “Walkin’ on the Sun”
• Spacehog – “In the Meantime”

1980s:

• Dio – “Rainbow in the Dark”
• Huey Lewis and the News – “The Power of Love”
• Joan Jett – “I Love Rock and Roll”
• Night Ranger – “Sister Christian”
• Whitesnake – “Here I Go Again”
• The Cure – “Just Like Heaven”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”

1970s:

• Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”

1960s:

• Jimi Hendrix – “Crosstown Traffic”
• The Doors – “Break On Through”

there are also a few more in game features listed on the website.

Medal Of  Honor

Thats right, another one. I have nothing to say about this.