Adala blog

Wildly popular 'Guitar Hero' game gets the ax

NEW YORK – These days, guns are more popular than guitars, at least when it comes to video games. The company behind "Guitar Hero" said Wednesday that it is pulling the plug on one of the most influential video titles of the new century.

Activision Blizzard Inc., which also produces the "Call of Duty" series, is ending the "Guitar Hero" franchise after a run of nearly six years.

The move follows Viacom Inc.'s decision in November to sell its money-losing unit behind the "Rock Band" video games. Harmonix was sold to an investment firm for an undisclosed sum. Harmonix, incidentally, was behind the first "Guitar Hero" game.

Game industry analysts have long lamented the "weakness in the music genre," as they call it — that is, the inability of the games' makers to drum up demand for the products after a surge in popularity in the mid-2000s. Music games are often more expensive than your typical shoot-em up game because they require guitars, microphones and other musical instruments. While extra songs can be purchased for download, this isn't enough to keep the games profitable.

Activision's shares tumbled after the announcement, but investors were more concerned with the disappointing financial forecast from the company than the demise of "Guitar Hero." As far as investors go, discontinuing an unprofitable product isn't the end of the world, even if "Guitar Hero" fans disagree.

The company did better than expected in the fourth quarter, which ended in December, but that was already expected. After all, it launched "Call of Duty: Black Ops" in November.

That game, which is mostly set during the Vietnam War, made $1 billion in just six weeks in stores.

Activision said Wednesday it lost $233 million, or 20 cents per share in the latest quarter, compared with a loss of $286 million, or 23 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Net revenue fell to $1.43 billion from $1.56 billion.

Its adjusted earnings of 53 cents per share beat analysts' expectations of 51 cents, according to FactSet.

Revenue that's been adjusted to account for games with online components was $2.55 billion, up slightly from $2.50 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast $2.25 billion.

For the current quarter, which ends in March, Activision forecast adjusted earnings of 7 cents per share, and revenue of $640 million. Analysts are looking for earnings of 10 cents per share on higher revenue of $771 million. The company's forecast includes restructuring costs of 2 cents to 3 cents per share.

Shares of Activision, which is based in Santa Monica, Calif., tumbled 94 cents, or 8 percent, to $10.75 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed down 19 cents at $11.69.

Processed, Fatty Foods May Dumb Down Your Kids: Study

MONDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Feeding children lots of fatty, sugary and processed foods may lower their IQ, while a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients appears to boost it, British researchers say.

This is particularly true during the first three years of life when the brain is developing rapidly, the study authors explained. They speculate that good nutrition may promote brain growth and cognitive development.

"We have found some evidence to suggest that a diet associated with increasing consumption of foods that are high in fat, sugar and processed foods in early childhood is associated with small reductions in IQ in later childhood," said lead researcher Kate Northstone, a research fellow in the department of social medicine at the University of Bristol.

A more health-conscious diet was associated with small increases in IQ, she said.

Children should be encouraged to eat healthy foods from an early age, she said. "We know this is important for physical growth and development, but it may also be important for mental ability," she added.

For the study, published online Feb. 7 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Northstone's team collected data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children on 3,966 children born in 1991 and 1992.

The children's parents had answered questions about their kids' diets at age 3, 4, 7 and 8.5 years. The children's IQs were measured using the standard Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children when they were 8.5 years old.

The researchers identified three basic diets: "processed," crammed with fats, sugar and convenience foods; a "traditional" diet high in meats and vegetables; and a "health conscious" diet with lots of fruit, vegetables, salads, fish, rice and pasta.

Children who ate a diet high in processed foods at age 3 had a lower IQ at 8.5 years than kids with a healthy diet. For every one point increase in processed foods consumption, they lost 1.67 points in IQ. Conversely, every one point increase in healthy eating translated into a 1.2 point increase in IQ, the researchers found.

The key seemed to be the diet at age 3, since diet at 4 and 7 seemed to have no effect on IQ, the research team noted. However, to truly understand the effect of diet on children's intelligence, further studies are needed, they said.

Commenting on the study, Samantha Heller, a dietitian, nutritionist and exercise physiologist in Fairfield, Conn., said that "most of us do not realize that the foods we eat have direct consequences on brain growth, function and performance."

When a child's diet consists primarily of high-calorie foods that are low in the nutrients they need (such as healthy fats, vitamins and minerals), their brains don't get the compounds necessary to develop and function properly, Heller said. "This can have a series of deleterious effects, including decreased cognitive ability, poor behavior and social skills," she said.

"Fast and junk food seem like an easy and affordable option for busy parents, but defaulting to high-fat, high-sugar, high-calorie foods is putting their children's health and future at risk," Heller said.

Cooking easy, healthy meals for the family will give "children's brains a boost in essential nutrients needed for healthy development and improved cognitive skills," she added.

More information

For more information on healthful eating for kids, visit theU.S. Department of Agriculture.

Tablet-Aimed Android 3.0 Supports 3-D, Dual-Core Chips

Google's Android 3.0, code-named Honeycomb, will not only help developers adapt their applications for larger screen sizes, but also support multi-core processor architecture, 3-D graphics, and more.

The search giant announced on its Android developer blog Wednesday that the 3.0 software development kit with non-final application program interfaces and a system image is available for software designers to test their existing applications for the tablet form factor and familiarize themselves with the user interface.

Optimized for Tablets

New features of the 3.0 user interface include a system bar at the bottom of the screen for quick access to notifications, system status, and soft navigation; an action bar for application control; a redesigned touchscreen keyboard optimized for fast and accurate text entry; and improvements to the browser and camera.

An "incognito" mode allows anonymous browsing, while bookmarks and history are presented in a single view. The camera application allows better control of exposure, zoom and flash, while the gallery presents album views in full-screen mode.

Although some manufacturers, such as Dell and Samsung, created tablets running Android 2.1 or 2.2, which was intended for smartphones, Honeycomb is the first to be optimized for larger screens. Motorola pointedly said last September that it would not release a tablet until Android had a suitable operating system and, true to its word, released the Xoom tablet running Honeycomb at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. The Xoom will be available beginning Feb. 17 via Verizon Wireless.

The Xoom sports a dual-core processor, and Honeycomb is optimized to run on single- or dual-core processors, wrote Zavier Ducrohet, Google's Android SDK tech lead, on the developers blog. He also wrote, "A new property-based animation framework lets developers add great visual effects to their apps." To shift 2-D apps into 3D mode, "A built-in GL renderer lets developers request hardware acceleration of common 2-D apps, across the entire app or only in specific activities of views."

Renderscript, a new 3-D graphics engine, will help add rich 3-D scenes.

New Connectivity, Business Features

Honeycomb will also allow for new connectivity via Bluetooth A2DP and HSP for audio streaming and headset control. Enhancements for business users include new administrative policies for password expiration and encrypted storage.

Devices powered by Honeycomb will have to compete with the new version of Apple's popular iPad, which is likely to be announced in the next few weeks for spring release.

"Sounds like Google has a great eye for new features that should appeal to consumers and developers," said Charles King, principal analyst of Pund-IT. "If Apple doesn't provide similar capabilities, they could find themselves slipping further behind."

Google warned developers not to jump the gun by trying to publish apps developed through the platform preview on the Android Market before the final SDK is released in the coming weeks.

Cuche wins maiden Chamonix downhill

CHAMONIX, France (AFP) – Swiss veteran Didier Cuche boosted his world championship title hopes after claiming a second consecutive downhill victory on the World Cup here at Chamonix on Saturday.

Italian Dominik Paris finished second with Austrian Klaus Kroll in third.

At 36 years old, Cuche became the oldest winner of a World Cup downhill last week when he tamed the treacherous Streif downhill at the Austrian resort of Kitzbuhel to beat American Bode Miller by almost a second.

A week on, and with uncertainty about retirement hovering, Cuche showed he still has plenty to offer with another near flawless performance to claim his first win on the prestigious 'Verte des Houches' run.

The last time a Swiss won a men's downhill race in this area was in 1975 when Walter Vesti led a Swiss podium sweep at nearby Megeve.

However Cuche ended that victory drought to join the likes of Hermann Maier, Stephan Eberharter and Kjetil Andre Amodt in winning Chamonix's famous 'Kandahar' downhill.

He said the secret to his success was staying consistent all the way down the 3.37km long gliders' course.

"I've been very consistent from (the) top to (the) bottom, but that's what is getting more and more difficult," said Cuche, who now counts nine downhill wins and 16 overall in the series in his 16-year career.

"Although you can't compare the two runs, I was equally consistent in Kitzbuhel last week. Today (Saturday), I really felt I had a great race.

"It's so hard to be consistent, but I raced the way I wanted to... it was close to perfection."

Cuche, who said he was still uncertain about continuing his career next season, was quick to applaud one of his potential heirs.

Paris, 22, was first to start and took a leaf out of the Swiss veteran's book with a flowing run which left him with a surprise time of 1min 59.58sec.

It was three seconds faster than the best training time set on Friday by Kroll, and had Cuche and the rest of the field wondering how best to plan their race strategy.

"He shocked a lot of people," Cuche admitted later.

Several more fancied racers failed to dislodge the Italian, with only Kroll, who started with bib 21, getting close when he finished provisional second at 0.21 behind Paris.

In the end the Italian had to step down for Cuche, but was as happy as though he had won the race.

"I didn't really expect to be sitting here today," said Paris, who is in his second year on the World Cup.

"When you start on the World Cup it's all about trying to perfect your technique on the different courses and trying to get to know how to approach them rather than getting the best times.

"You look at the more experienced guys and how they race, and that's how we progress. It's a long process which can take years, so I'm extremely happy and proud of my achievement."

A delay of around 20 minutes preceded Kroll and then Cuche's run, after Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis had to be airlifted to hospital following a heavy crash three-quarters of the way into his run.

However Cuche looked on course for victory from the word go.

He shaved nearly half a second off Paris's time by the second time check and gave the thousands of fans plenty of reason to cheer with a gliding master class which, in turn, saw him extend his lead in the World Cup downhill standings.

Kroll is one of the Austrians expected to stop Cuche taking a maiden world downhill title in Germany in a fortnight's time, and admitted it won't be easy.

"It was important for me to do well today, but Didier has shown he's in great form," said the Austrian, who beat Cuche into second at Wengen two weeks ago.

"But we have a strong team and we won't be giving anything away in the final races of the season."

Stocks trade flat after mixed earnings reports

NEW YORK – Stock indexes were flat in midday trading Thursday after a surprise jump in applications for unemployment benefits and mixed earnings reports from large U.S. companies.

First-time applications for unemployment rose to 454,000, the highest level since late October. Economists had expected the number to rise to 407,000. Snowstorms in some parts of the country forced companies to lay off workers, economists said.

Caterpillar Inc. rose 0.8 percent after its fourth-quarter profit quadrupled on strong global demand for mining and construction equipment. Time Warner Cable Inc. gained 2 percent after raising its dividend thanks to a 22 percent jump in income last quarter.

AT&T Inc. fell 3 percent, the largest drop in the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones industrial average. The company reported that new wireless contracts fell to the lowest level in more than five years.

Procter & Gamble Co., the maker of consumer products like Tide detergent, fell 2.9 percent after it failed to meet analyst's expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 2 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 11,987. The index broke through the 12,000 mark yesterday for the first time since June 2008 before slipping in the late afternoon.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 was flat at 1,296. The last time the index closed above 1,300 was Aug. 28, 2008.

The Nasdaq composite gained 9, or 0.3 percent, to 2,748.

A government-appointed panel said Thursday that the financial crisis could have been avoided if Wall Street executives and government officials had properly managed risks. The panel said that the Bush and Clinton administrations, the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner share responsibility for allowing the crisis to happen. The panel's conclusions had been leaked ahead of its formal report and were widely expected on Wall Street.

After the market closed Wednesday, Netflix Inc. reported that its subscriber base rose above 20 million customers. The stock jumped 14 percent to $208. Netflix has quadrupled over the last 12 months.

Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. will report earnings after the market closes.

Bond prices fell slightly, sending yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.44 percent from 3.41 percent late Wednesday.