The (slightly Late) Friday Funspot:

I could blame it on Rio, or the rain, or a bunch of other things, but I will blame it on being tired. What can I say, blogging is hard *grins*. But that just means you get an extra-special holiday weekend Funspot.

First up: The transition to an all-digital environment is picking up pace.

Saw this article in GamesIndustry, which states that analysts project that digital content sales in the US and EU (that is, full game downloads, DLC, and mobile game sales) grew 33% year over year, and is worth about $10 Billion annually. With the next-gen consoles looking more and more like the disc will only be needed to hold the data (as Durango, the next-gen Xbox looks to install games from the disc to the drive as part of an initial playing, I'd say it's very likely that we're headed to an all-digital marketplace within the next 5-10 years tops.

Second: Tomb Raider: Where being a great game may not be enough.

By all accounts, Tomb Raider is a great game, and a worthy reboot to the series. However, in this age of massive games and marketing campaigns, that's not enough to make a profit, at least so far.. Tomb Raider has sold about 3.4 million copies, and according to industry analysts, they need to sell something in the order of "5 to 10 million" to make a profit. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the linear progression of budgets for games is unsustainable and we've seen even rocks like EA and Square Enix take big hits lately. Where does it end?

Third up: Ouya arrives in June...

One of the big name kickstarter projects, the android-based games console Ouya has announced that it will sell for $99 in June when it's released. Also the first, unpolished units are heading to backers of the kickstarter now. Color me interested, but concerned. In an age where one of the major concerns of players is taking your game play anywhere, releasing a console who has one big selling point that you can play your mobile content on the TV screen seems, almost backwards at this point. But I'm rooting hard for it, more choice in the market is always good.

"Love Question Four......": KICKSTARTER ALERT!

Oh, and a special no-prize for anyone who recognizes where the title above comes from. Looks even with Hawken and MechWarrior Online chugging towards full releases, there's always more room for big f'n robots shooting each other with large caliber weaponry. At the recent Game Developers Conference, they showed off a game demo of Heavy Gear Assault, which, you guessed it, showed big f'n robots shooting each other with large caliber weaponry, in an arena environment. It looks like they're going to hit Kickstarter in April, with a goal of $800,000. The game will have a playable alpha phase open to Kickstarter backers, later this year. My advice? Budget for some stretch goals, developers. (and with all the kickstarted games looking to hit in the next 18 months, must invent a way to add an extra 8 hours or so to a single day)

And finally... Play Ball!

The 2013 major league baseball season begins with Opening Day on Monday. It's a crying shame that there aren't any new baseball games for 360 this year. No, I'm not ignoring MLB2K13, I'm just considering it warmed-up leftovers that were left in the fridge too long. Just think of it this way, despite the fact that one New York Yankee (A-Rod) makes more money then an entire team (the Houston Astros), both teams are tied in the standings.