Google News Science & Technology

This was an emergency, completely last minute Objection. Usually the Objection series focuses on discussions around more serious gaming topics – this time I just wanted to vent a little. The topic? Australia’s 3DS launch line-up. My partner in rant-related crime? Vooks, who brings you the Nintendo Store update every week.

Let’s get to it.

MARK: So. The 3DS launch titles have been announced. Thoughts?

VOOKS: As expected… apart from the huge gaping hole that is the lack of Pilotwings Resort and Steel Diver! Alright so maybe I’m over dramatizing it, there is still upwards of 15+ games to play on day one.

However this sets an unhealthy precident for Nintendo – how can they not release Pilotwings at launch? It’s silly for two reasons – Pilotwings Resort is the ‘Wii Sports’ of the 3DS lineup, a game anyone can play. Nintendogs isn’t going to sell to (most of) the male crowd. The second reason is that it’s worrying that we’re getting game delays from day one – very worrying.

We know Nintendo is trying to give third parties time to shine, but some of the third party line up can’t shine. You can’t polish a turd as they say.

MARK: I think the strange thing is that Nintendo stated on the press release that only Super Street Fighter IV and the Nintendogs SKUs would definitely make launch.

I just got off the phone to confirm, but all the third party stuff that is guaranteed for the US market, we have no real idea at the moment when some of those titles will be released here. I think there’s a bit of an issue – if you’re going to region lock a console, you should be making sure that games are coming into the country! Otherwise savvy consumers will get grouchy.

VOOKS: Is it strange – or is it actually worrying that they don’t know? It’s Nintendo… and they’re launching a new console. If anyone should know it should be them!

I don’t think we should worry about the third party situation too much, retailers have a good selection for launch day. However, that being said, I do think we’ll see some fall through the cracks. Will we have every game that the US or UK get on day one? Probably not, but it’s just so surprising to see that the games we’re missing out on are Nintendo titles.

This whole situation is very worrying, if Nintendo are delaying (or can’t get) their own games out on time from day one, it won’t give buyers any sort of confidence that choosing to buy locally is the right choice. We got lucky on the Nintendo 3DS price, but delays from day one and the inability to import (at least from the US and Japan) – it’s worrying.

MARK: I think you’re right – third party support is strong. I suppose the real story is the lack of Nintendo games. There’s no Mario game, no Pilotwings, no Zelda, no Mario Kart. In short – no real reason for traditional Nintendo fans to pick up the console day one.

Traditionally, Nintendo games have been the big driver for Nintendo consoles, but it seems that this time round, Nintendo are convinced that the tech will sell itself – which it will, to begin with, but I wonder if we’ll see a big drop off once the early adopters get their 3DS fix.

Because not only is Pilotwings missing launch, according to the press release it’s missing the launch window entirely – which means we won’t see another Nintendo game on the 3DS until after June. That’s a helluva long wait from March.

MARK: I think you’re wrong on that point Mark, there’s no way Nintendo will wait until June to release those games. No one will stand for a three month delay on launch games – those games have to be coming soon after. Nintendo wouldn’t do that to us… right?

You are right though on the other point, Nintendo usually lets Mario or some other big named character sell the console. This time with the hardware being as different as it is they WILL let the whole ’3D wow’ aspect sell it for a while. The amount of included games and trinkets in the system out of the box too will help that.

Hopefully they avoid the mistakes of the Wii, where they left it too long and everyone got sick of the ‘Wii Sports machine’. That started the whole long running joke about the Wii collecting dust. Games came – just way too late and a lot of people got sick of waiting. The same thing is happening with Kinect as well.

I read this on NeoGAF and though it was apt: this whole Steel Diver and Pilotwings Resort at launch situation is a good microcosm of how Nintendo treats its various external regions. America gets both, Europe gets one, Australia gets zero.

Source http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/02/objection-nintendos-3ds-launch-line-up/

The second Google-branded smartphone is about to hit Australia as analysts predict the search giant's mobile platform will surpass iPhone sales in Australia within a few years.

The Google Nexus S, released in the US and Britain in December last year, will be sold in Australia "soon", according to Vodafone which has clinched a global distribution deal. Those interested in buying one are being asked to register their interest on Vodafone's website.

Meanwhile, Sony Ericsson confirmed it would be launching its Android-based Xperia Play - dubbed the "PlayStation Phone" - on February 13. Support for Android is exploding with new phones soon to be launched by Motorola, Samsung, HTC, LG and Acer.

The "PlayStation Phone" ... Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play.

The Nexus S, manufactured by Samsung, is the successor to the Nexus One, which launched around the world in early 2010 but only reached Australia in small quantities in July last year.

The Nexus S is the first Android phone with a built-in near-field communication (NFC) chip, which opens up a raft of new applications such as the ability to pay for items by swiping your phone on a shop scanner. NFC, which has only been running in limited trials in Australia, has been reported as a feature of the next iPhone model.

The device is manufactured by Samsung, whereas the Nexus One was built by HTC. It runs version 2.3 of Android (dubbed Gingerbread) and offers a 4-inch super AMOLED screen, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera for photos, front-facing VGA camera for video chat, 16GB of built-in storage and 512MB of internal memory.

Vodafone Australia did not reveal pricing or a firm sale date for the Nexus S, which is based on Samsung's Galaxy S.

Foad Fadaghi, telecommunications analyst at the Australian firm Telsyte, said he expected Google's Android platform to "match or exceed" iPhone sales in Australia by 2013.

"We expect Android will have a market share of 18 per cent by the end of this year," he said.

"Nexus S represents even further improvements of the Android platform with version 2.3. It addresses the top end aspirational market and is suitable for existing Android users wanting an upgrade."

But Fadaghi said he expected most of the growth in the Android platform would come from cheaper mid-range handsets sold on pre-paid SIMs.

Mark Novosel, telco analyst at research firm IDC, said the Nexus S, being a Google-branded phone, would receive software updates faster and offer a "pure Android experience" without other vendors' custom user interfaces.

But the Android phone Novosel is most excited about is the LG Optimus 2X.

"Being the first dual-core processor smartphone, its extremely responsive and the screen has a wide viewing angle and very vibrant colours," said Novosel.

"LG's Optimus Black will also be one to watch, its slimmer, lighter and promises outstanding outdoor visibility with an extremely bright screen."

Novosel said he expected Android to become the number one smartphone operating system in Australia by the middle of this year, but in terms of a vendor-by-vendor comparison Apple would likely remain in first place.

Google has added new features to Android in recent weeks to help it catch up with iPhone, including an Android Market web store that can be accessed from PCs and in-app purchasing, allowing app developers to sell new content and upgrades from within their apps.

But this move suffered a slight setback after security firm Sophos warned that the Android Market website could be used to install malware on users' phones.

Source http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/androids-attack-google-nexus-s-to-hit-australia-20110208-1aknf.html

Local law firm Piper Alderman today claimed to have collected the details of some 9,000 customers who were interested in taking part in a class action lawsuit against mobile telco VHA over its troubled Vodafone network hiccups over the past few months.

The firm only called for registrations of interest early last week, in the wake of enduring public interest in VHA’s problems, spurred by online forums such as Vodafail.com. Since that time, the company has apologised several times over the problems and committed to upgrading its Vodafone network and targeting trouble spots.

But class action veteran Piper Alderman seems determined to push ahead.

“To date, approximately 9,000 Vodafone customers have registered their interest,” it stated in an update to its web site today. “In the next five to ten business days, we will be sending group members a request for further information relating to their specific circumstances. Upon receipt of this information, we will process it and take the matter forward.”

In addition, the firm may extend the action to customers of VHA’s ’3′ brand.

“Due to the number of enquiries we have received from 3 customers, we will investigate potential claims against 3. When we ask you for further information, we will ask you to identify yourself as either a 3 customer or a Vodafone customer,” Piper Alderman wrote.

One key issue in the firm’s prosecution of its case against VHA will be obtaining what the legal profession refers to as ‘litigation funding’. On its site, Piper Alderman noted it would need to apply for such funding, which would be used to fund the legal costs of taking a case to court. Such funds are often reimbursed by the target of a lawsuit in the case that the prosecution is awarded what the court calls “costs”.

“Usually, upon a successful outcome, the litigation funder will be entitled to reimbursement of the legal fees it has paid plus a percentage of any compensation to which group members are entitled,” wrote the firm. “This commission is usually in the range of 25 to 40 percent of that compensation If litigation funding is obtained successfully, you will be asked to enter into a litigation funding agreement with the funder.”

Ultimately, the firm noted the entire process could take between 12 to 24 months to achieve a result.

VHA has previously indicated it was aware of the potential lawsuit. “The most important thing we can do is to remain focused on improving our customers’ experience of our network, and keep working with our customers, individually, to understand their experience, resolve it and make it up to them,” a spokesperson said late last month.

“There’s no higher priority than making sure customers are happy with their service and I am very sorry that some have not been happy recently. We are also in contact with the ACCC and other consumer groups to advise them of what we are doing to improve network performance and service to our customers, and are keeping our customers across changes through our website.”

Source http://delimiter.com.au/2011/01/05/9000-get-on-the-vodafone-class-action-bus/

The federal government has sent a clear message on media classification: it wants a big rethink.

As a row over access to violent video games continues, the government on Tuesday made two major announcements on the appointment of a new deputy director of classification and senior classifier.

Lesley O'Brien has been appointed deputy director and Greg Scott will be the senior classifier, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said.

Mr O'Connor also announced five new appointments to general positions on the board, describing the changes as a process of renewal.

"From early next year, the classification board will undergo a period of renewal," Mr O'Connor said in a statement.

"Refreshing the board is a healthy thing for classification decision-making in this country."

The other major news on the classification front came from Attorney-General Robert McClelland.

Mr McClelland has ordered a year-long review of the classification system to be run by the law reform commission.

The draft terms of reference for the review suggest the classification categories themselves may be changed.

The review is set to look at a host of issues including the impact of classifications on the community and the government's desire for a strong content and distribution industry.

Mr O'Connor said that when the classification scheme began, content and the way it was delivered to consumers were relatively static.

"Today, films can be watched in a cinema, on DVD, on TV or downloaded," he said.

"Many video games include significant film segments to tell stories, and some films have interactive content."

Comments on the terms of reference will be taken until January 28, with a full report from the commission due on December 9 next year.

The announcements come amidst a long and, at times, loud debate about the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games that are banned from Australian stores but are widely available elsewhere.

This month, the nation's attorneys-general decided to draw up guidelines for the possible creation of an R18+ classification, a decision which angered many family and Christian groups.

Source http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/r18-just-one-piece-of-puzzle-20101221-193pc.html