Sony?s PS4 exclusive shooter Killzone: Shadow Fall is performing much better than Xbox One?s Ryse, Forza 5 and Dead Rising 3,?a report from analyst Cowen & Co. has revealed.
The 2013 Cowen Video Game Odometer is based on an analysis of NPD sales data and Amazon.com best-seller data from past years, which the firm claims to give it 96 to 97 percent accuracy. Data has been monitored since E3 in June and is updated every few weeks.
Out of the top score of 100, Killzone: Shadow Fall is currently 30.3, which is pretty outstanding in terms of next-gen competition, however the same can?t be said for other PS4 exclusives like Knack and DriveClub, lagging behind with 7.7 and 3,0 respectively. To be fair, Sony is offering DriveClub free with a PS Plus purchase, so gamers won?t see the need to buy said title even if the PS Plus offering isn?t a complete version, and that must have played a role in its low preorder numbers.
According to the analyst firm, they are??very early in the pre-order cycle for most of the games we are tracking?.
Xbox One?s results were split, however none came remotely close to Killzone: Shadow Fall?s numbers. The highest is Forza 5 with a rank of 18.8, followed by Dead Rising 3 with 15 and Ryse 13.2.
But as expected, multiplatform titles are not only leading, but dominating the pack, with the usual suspects claiming top spots, and one big surprise: Ubisoft?s Watch Dogs.
Here?s the breakdown of the top three multiplatform titles:
Call of Duty: Ghosts: 73 ? (last year Black Ops 2 stood at 100).
CWRU grants Disease Diagnostic Group option on malaria diagnostic devicePublic release date: 30-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marv Kropko mrk107@case.edu 216-368-6890 Case Western Reserve University
University research spinoff also secures $250,000 for field-testing
CLEVELANDCase Western Reserve University has granted a two-year technology transfer option to a research spinoff company developing a hand-held device that diagnoses malaria more quickly, simply and affordably than existing methods.
Disease Diagnostic Group LLC, the startup formed last summer from biomedical engineering research at the university's School of Engineering, also raised $250,000 to "field-test" the device this fall in Peru. These research dollars have come from various sources, including the Coulter Foundation. The Case Coulter Translation Research Partnership provides research dollars primary focused on clinical translation for medical devices.
The option from the university's Technology Transfer Office allows the company time to evaluate its Rapid Assessment of Malaria (RAM) device as an important pre-licensing step toward commercialization.
"They will be employing a working prototype to conduct field studies this fall to validate their design and ease of operation," said Wayne Hawthorne, the university's senior licensing manager. "There is a big push worldwide to eradicate infectious diseases, such as malaria."
DDG's product detects a magnetic substance that malaria parasites release when digesting red blood cells. RAM's creators can provide a faster and more accurate diagnostic test than methods now commonly used. The device is designed to detect the disease in less than a minute using a drop of blood from a patient's fingertip.
Brian Grimberg, assistant professor of international health and DDG's co-founder, president and chief medical officer, said early diagnosis is vital in reducing malaria deaths because early treatment is nearly 100 percent effective. However, half of the estimated 500 million annual infections worldwide go undiagnosed, according to the World Health Organization.
Potential RAM customers, including the U.S. military, could use the device in areas with limited medical access, often in remote, disease-prone areas, Grimberg said.
"We think we have an opportunity to make a difference in millions of lives," said Grimberg, part of Case Western Reserve School of Medicine's Center for Global Health and Diseases. "We may be able to license the technology in about a year. What we have to do is take this device into the field for point-of-care diagnosis. We have to show that it works, so that we can seek World Health Organization approval."
"This project is an excellent example of the way in which translational research at CWRU can make a difference in patient care," said Colin Drummond, director of the Coulter-Case Translational Research partnership within the Department of Biomedical Engineering. "It has taken years of hard work by Dr. Grimberg for this technology to reach the point where it was positioned to be translated into the market. It has been rewarding for the Coulter program to play a part in the translational phase of the project."
John R. Lewandowski, a recent Case Western Reserve engineering and management graduate, is DDG's co-founder and chief executive officer. His brother, Mark Lewandowski, a sophomore computer science and accounting student at the university, is DDG's chief financial officer.
The university's Technology Transfer Office, which supports faculty and student intellectual property and commercialization, has guided DDG to an innovation network, including such organizations as BioEnterprise and JumpStart.
Working with the Center for Global Health and Diseases and the Department of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Case Western Reserve is committed to licensing its medical discoveries, such as the RAM device, in ways that promote access and affordability in developing countries. As a result, the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines recently ranked Case Western Reserve the No. 1 Global Health research university in the United States.
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CWRU grants Disease Diagnostic Group option on malaria diagnostic devicePublic release date: 30-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marv Kropko mrk107@case.edu 216-368-6890 Case Western Reserve University
University research spinoff also secures $250,000 for field-testing
CLEVELANDCase Western Reserve University has granted a two-year technology transfer option to a research spinoff company developing a hand-held device that diagnoses malaria more quickly, simply and affordably than existing methods.
Disease Diagnostic Group LLC, the startup formed last summer from biomedical engineering research at the university's School of Engineering, also raised $250,000 to "field-test" the device this fall in Peru. These research dollars have come from various sources, including the Coulter Foundation. The Case Coulter Translation Research Partnership provides research dollars primary focused on clinical translation for medical devices.
The option from the university's Technology Transfer Office allows the company time to evaluate its Rapid Assessment of Malaria (RAM) device as an important pre-licensing step toward commercialization.
"They will be employing a working prototype to conduct field studies this fall to validate their design and ease of operation," said Wayne Hawthorne, the university's senior licensing manager. "There is a big push worldwide to eradicate infectious diseases, such as malaria."
DDG's product detects a magnetic substance that malaria parasites release when digesting red blood cells. RAM's creators can provide a faster and more accurate diagnostic test than methods now commonly used. The device is designed to detect the disease in less than a minute using a drop of blood from a patient's fingertip.
Brian Grimberg, assistant professor of international health and DDG's co-founder, president and chief medical officer, said early diagnosis is vital in reducing malaria deaths because early treatment is nearly 100 percent effective. However, half of the estimated 500 million annual infections worldwide go undiagnosed, according to the World Health Organization.
Potential RAM customers, including the U.S. military, could use the device in areas with limited medical access, often in remote, disease-prone areas, Grimberg said.
"We think we have an opportunity to make a difference in millions of lives," said Grimberg, part of Case Western Reserve School of Medicine's Center for Global Health and Diseases. "We may be able to license the technology in about a year. What we have to do is take this device into the field for point-of-care diagnosis. We have to show that it works, so that we can seek World Health Organization approval."
"This project is an excellent example of the way in which translational research at CWRU can make a difference in patient care," said Colin Drummond, director of the Coulter-Case Translational Research partnership within the Department of Biomedical Engineering. "It has taken years of hard work by Dr. Grimberg for this technology to reach the point where it was positioned to be translated into the market. It has been rewarding for the Coulter program to play a part in the translational phase of the project."
John R. Lewandowski, a recent Case Western Reserve engineering and management graduate, is DDG's co-founder and chief executive officer. His brother, Mark Lewandowski, a sophomore computer science and accounting student at the university, is DDG's chief financial officer.
The university's Technology Transfer Office, which supports faculty and student intellectual property and commercialization, has guided DDG to an innovation network, including such organizations as BioEnterprise and JumpStart.
Working with the Center for Global Health and Diseases and the Department of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Case Western Reserve is committed to licensing its medical discoveries, such as the RAM device, in ways that promote access and affordability in developing countries. As a result, the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines recently ranked Case Western Reserve the No. 1 Global Health research university in the United States.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
DES MOINES, IOWA ? Newark Mayor Cory Booker will not be making an appearance in Iowa next month.
The University of Iowa?s website says that the Democratic candidate for Senate from New Jersey will be giving a lecture on the Iowa City campus on Aug. 29. But Booker campaign spokesman Kevin Griffis says Monday that Booker will not give the speech.
Griffis says the speech was scheduled before the special Senate election was called in New Jersey. He says they had since cancelled the event, but there had been some kind of miscommunication.
The potential of a Booker visit to Iowa drew attention because of the state?s presidential caucuses, which prompt speculation about politicians who schedule events in Iowa.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is paying $410 million in civil penalties and disgorged profits to settle federal allegations of manipulation in electricity markets, regulators said Tuesday.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) will pay $410 million in civil penalties and disgorged profits to settle federal allegations of manipulation in electricity markets, regulators said Tuesday.
About 70 percent of the settlement is headed for federal coffers, and the rest to ratepayers in California and the Midwest, where regulators said the New York financial giant?s commodities trading arm allegedly misrepresented prices of electricity contracts.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission?s allegations originally came to light in May when the New York Times reported on a leaked government document, which detailed allegations of manipulation in bidding and offering activities between September 2010 and November 2012.
In a consent agreement with Houston-based JP Morgan Ventures Energy Corp., FERC said it had investigated bids developed by bank employee Francis Dunleavy, who supervised two others, Andrew Kittell and John Bartholomew, in Houston.
FERC didn?t charge the three Houston-based employees, who were confident ?that if the commission were to make any finding that they had engaged in any misconduct, they were fully prepared to defend and prove the legality of their conduct in court,? said William Scherman, an attorney at New York-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, in a statement.
?We are pleased to put the matter behind us, and due to reserves previously set aside, the settlement will not have a material impact on earnings,? said Greg Hassell, a Houston-based spokesman for the bank.
Indeed, analysts had previously said if the bank was hit with even a large fine, it would be pocket change for the $2.4 trillion financial services player.
Collin Eaton covers banking, finance and securities for the Houston Business Journal. For his breaking stories and industry insights, follow him on Twitter.
Women?s Wear Daily (WWD) is the daily media of record for senior executives in the global women's and men's fashion, retail and beauty communities and the consumer media that cover the market.
Wal-Mart has a reputation to protect: Its legendary, bare-knuckled labor tactics.
That's why the world?s largest retailer has threatened to scrap at least three of six stores planned for the nation?s capital if the city signs into law a bill requiring big-box stores to pay workers at least $12.50 an hour. Six other retailers have jumped on board, sending a letter to D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray that warned, ?Any future plans for retail expansion in the city must be revisited.?
It?s a showdown labor experts predict will be repeated in other cities, as cash-strapped municipalities try to pare back public assistance for the working poor and large retailers look to America?s cities for future growth.
Proponents of the wage bill, formally called the Large Retailer Accountability Act, call Wal-Mart a bully.
?They are known to be quite resolute, willing to take local losses in order to maintain a reputation,? said Gary Burtless, labor economist at the Brookings Institution. ?It would be a huge blow to that negotiating stance if they ceded to demands from the District of Columbia.?
Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research agreed: ?If they?re seen to just be making idle threats after they?ve built up such a reputation, that would be a huge cost to them.?
Robin Sherk, Kantar Retail?s director of Retail Insights, offered an alternative for Wal-Mart -- that it offer grocery delivery service operating out of a suburban base, or downsize its planned Supercenters so its store footprints fall below the 75,000-square-foot threshold stipulated by the bill. Walmart Neighborhood Markets average about 38,000 square feet.
?Wal-Mart definitely views the urban environment as a growth area,? Sherk said. ?I don?t think they?ll give up on D.C. ... They?ll evaluate other options.?
Retail and labor experts agree that the chain will walk away, taking a loss if necessary, on some or all of its planned stores if the wage bill prevails.
This prospect strikes fear in the heart of local developers, who were counting on Wal-Mart?s draw as an anchor tenant to attract other stores and financing.
Developer Gary Rappaport told the Washington Post, ?If there?s not a Wal-Mart at Skyland (Town Center), then Skyland is not able to go forward at this time.?
Wal-Mart said that in addition to abandoning the three projects still in the planning stage, it ?will start to review the financial and legal implications on the three stores already under construction.?
Typically, a store would be locked into a lease agreement once lenders come on board and construction begins. Getting out of that could be expensive for Wal-Mart at this stage ? two of the stores were scheduled to open this fall ? but developers could be left holding the bag if they were so eager to get Wal-Mart on board that they wrote an option to terminate into their contracts.
?When you?re trying to attract a retailer like Wal-Mart, you do a lot of unconventional things,? Maloney said. ?You will need to stretch a bit.?
City administrators have been trying to get Skyland off the ground for more than two decades now, and the prospect of another setback frustrates Victor Hoskins, deputy mayor for planning and economic development. Washington, D.C. has invested between $25 million and $30 million in the project.
Hoskins said other big-box chains were considering abandoning D.C. for the suburbs if the mayor signs the bill. ?We?ve heard from a couple of large format retailers," he said. "They?re concerned.?
Hoskins argued that the jobs and sales tax revenue big-box retailers would bring are something the city can?t afford to lose, but supporters of the wage bill charge that big-box stores like Wal-Mart inflict hidden costs on taxpayers and municipalities.
?We want to make sure we don?t allow large retailers to come in and pay poverty wages ? which basically is going to compel this government to pick up all the social costs,? said Vincent Orange, Washington, D.C. council member at large. ?I know that the wage Wal-Mart wants to pay will continue to have D.C. residents seeking public assistance in a number of ways.?
Wal-Mart says its average non-supervisory worker pay is nearly $12 an hour, but since that doesn?t include part-time or temp workers, critics call the number inflated. In 2011, research company IBISWorld estimated that Walmart sales associates earned an average of $8.81 an hour, and department managers earned an average of $11.22 an hour.
Orange pointed to a report issued in May by the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which said every Wal-Mart Supercenter ?may cost taxpayers about one million dollars in higher usage of public-assistance programs? by workers and their families.
Burtless, the Brookings labor economist, concurred: ?As a nation, we?ve expanded programs that provide income supplements to low-wage workers ... It does work to the benefit of Wal-Mart as well as other low-wage companies in the U.S.?
Despite retailers? protestations, experts predict that the pull of the market will eventually be too much to resist.
?For [Wal-Mart] to continue to grow in America, it needs to grow in urban areas,? including Northeastern and Midwestern cities with strong pro-union roots, said Paul Osterman, professor of human resources and management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ?That?s why these fights are so bitter.?
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Public release date: 30-Jul-2013
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