A couple of days ago the folks over at Bungie Studios sent a little something out the doors. They released the final code for Halo 3 to go to manufacturing and reproduction.

Three years in the making by renowned developer Bungie Studios, Halo 3 is now finished and will begin its journey to store shelves around the world in less than four weeks. Halo 3, which has already set new records as the fastest pre-ordered game in history, has exceeded one million presales in North America alone. The title is set to shatter day-one entertainment sales records when it is released worldwide beginning Tuesday, September 25.

“This is a huge milestone for us and a big cause for celebration at Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios,” said Harold Ryan, Studio Head at Bungie Studios. “This is the game we’ve always wanted to make and certainly the best game our studio has developed. We can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on it on September 25.”

It’s pretty impressive to me to think they’re expecting single day sales records for this game in the stores in less than 4 weeks. I’ll be it’s a pretty impressive process to see these factories churn out millions of copies of this game ready to be put on store shelves. I’d like to see that on “How It’s Made”.

Oh yeah! If my boss is reading this. If I happen to call off of work on Wednesday, September 26th, it’s only a coincidence okay?

Source: Halo 3 Released to Manufacturing

In my post here on August 7th, I announced that b5media were looking for a new host for this blog, as I was planning to move along. Subsequently, an ad was placed on the Problogger job board.

There has been an excellent response and although it’s not my decision as to who the next person would be, I’m delighted to know the blog will be in good hands. And I have every expectation that it will flourish.

In that post back on August 7th I outlined what the blog had been intended to achieve when it was launched back in October last year, so I won’t go over that ground again.

I will repeat however my thanks to you and other readers and commenters for coming along with me on the journey, endeavouring to shine some light on the general field of how business works (and sometimes doesn’t) for business.

I’m conscious that there is a whole bunch of topics that need more attention, more elucidation and I leave it to my successor to deliver that.

As I mentioned on August 7th, I will still be blogging – and probably more so now – over at Thinking Home Business. And Rich Brooks and I will be blogging at Go Global New Media, the site we set up to draw ideas and discussion towards our session at BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas in November.

Without more ado, thank you. I look forward to seeing you around the blogosphere and I wish you every success in business and life!

An article by Dana Blankenhorn on ZDNet.com has an interesting question she’s posing. At least I think this is a question she’s posing. Her article actually states that Microsoft should be afraid of open-source software, but I’m not sure that’s actually the case.

What they may need to be concerned with is a change in the software and computer application industry space and adjust accordingly.

Instead of selling Windows for, say, $150, through an OEM, sell one year of it for $99. Require registration for updates, and then charge $75/year for maintenance, just like the anti-virals do.

The same thing with Office. Don’t sell it for $500. Sell it for $300, but for one year only. Then ask for another year of maintenance. Or, even better, get their credit card and charge $30/month for the whole shebang, Windows, Office and all.

Now you’ve got recurring revenue, you’re actually getting more than retail (because people keep PCs for three years, not two), and you’ve got constant access to the customer’s PC in order to provide the service that customer is paying for.

That does make sense to me, but I’m just not sure how many people would adjust to that model.

For example, I keep my computers for quite awhile without upgrading them completely. I upgrade to a new Windows version when they come out, which isn’t exactly regularly. I’ll upgrade my Office applications maybe every version, maybe skipping one. ( I LOVE OFFICE 2007). For each of these purchases I plop down a chunk of cash, consider it an investment and I’m done with it. I don’t really think about the purchase price anymore.

Read more

This week has just been crazy, and it looked a lot like the 5 weeks before this one and the week to come.

The problem this week is that I couldn’t squeeze into my calendar a seminar in my area that was going to be devoted to Microsoft’s new Windows Home Server.

Totally bummed I couldn’t fit it in, so now I’m trying to see if I notice any chatter about new details that may be available.

Has anyone heard anything?

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Tony Romo looks to pass the Cowboys to victory

Everyone is gaga over the NFC East.

The Squibster is not even sure how to spell gaga, let alone get excited over the NFC East.

Let’s break it down and see where they are headed.

The Cowboys led by Tony Romo, who is not dating Jessica Simpson, will be tough as usual, but it is still Tony Romo. Can’t help but feel he is a bit limited on the upside.

Tony Romo has given up holding for field goals, if not breaking into Journey karaoke tributes, which may have helped him put last season’s playoff nightmare behind him. But he’s riding a wave of hype and hope that has Dallas fans wondering if he’s the next Troy Aikman or Clint Longley. source

Can’t see the Cowboys winning Read more

In Japan, voice acting or seiyu (声优）work is big business. Many voice actors and actresses are regarded as shining idols in Japan. Houko Kuwashima, capable of doing voice acting for young boys, old men to kawaii girls and feminine women, is the voice role for Kasumi, again, in Dead or Alive Online (A DOA online game by Tecmo Japan and Shanda China). And yap, her singing is nice too. Check out her number in anime, Gundam Seed Destiny, below.

Pretty & Brainy 桑島 法子 via DOA Online

By 2010, China is set to become a $2.1 billion gaming powerhouse. But what do foreign gaming companies have to do to gain a foothold in China? Creativity or originality? GameSpot has the take.

There are many content regulations including points that are discouraged, such as violence, and those that are encouraged, such as promotion of Chinese culture, patriotism, and national ethics. Also, highly creative games and those that do not encourage addictive tendencies are favorable.

Milk the Chinese Gaming Cow via GameSpot

This week, the MySpace Fashion Channel was launched.  It’s one more sub-community MySpace has created (similar to MySpace Music and MySpace Movies), which will give users access to targeted information in a unique, interactive way.  This time, the target is people who like fashion and everything that goes with it.

In Style magazine, designers, celebrities and advertisers are quickly getting involved in what they expect will be a popular community of fashionistas and buyers.  I have to agree with them.  I think MySpace has a ready-made audience of users who will love the MySpace Fashion Channel, and the new sub-community will undoubtedly attract new users as well.  The only real question is what channel MySpace will launch next. Read more

In business communications, it’s always tempting to offer resolution to a problem, even if you don’t know whether it’s do-able.

Stop.

Nothing makes people angrier than empty promises that don’t materialize into anything. It destroys trust. It destroys your credibility.

You may have to deliver an unpleasant message. Don’t sugarcoat it with half-measures that aren’t guaranteed.

Be the bad guy. Deliver the message. Take your lumps.

Tags: business, communications, companies, workplace, integrity, trust, promises, messages, corporate

On September 6th last year, I uploaded a video I made over the course of a weekend called The Hubble Deep Field: The most important image ever taken.

Since that time, it has been viewed almost one million times (975,557 as of today). I have a post and video blog entry prepared for the one year anniversary that I’ll post next week. I wanted to write about it because making and posting that video to YouTube has dramatically changed my life in ways I never expected.

I know I’ve been saying this for a while, but I really do have another video almost finished that I want to post on the anniversary of the HDF video. Luckily I have the holiday weekend to get that accomplished.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen the video in a while, now, on this one year anniversary, is a good time to revisit it.

Thanks to everyone who’ve offered positive feedback and encouragement over the past year. It really makes it all worthwhile.

Technorati Tags: astronomy video, hubble deep field, hubble space telescope, YouTube