Anime/Manga
Yoshitoshi ABe, creator of Serial Experiments Lain, has self-published his new manga via iTunes in 20 countries. Pochiyama at the Pharmacy includes both Japanese and English dialogue in one edition uses Ubiquitous Entertainment’s multilingual comic viewer software for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch devices, which may become a very viable option for people looking to crack the pro market in the future.
Video Games
Norwegian-based company Funcom is riding high on the success of its Age of Conan game, which has given the company second quarter revenues of $13 million. The company’s gradual worldwide distribution is a big key to its success – they plan to enter Russian, Polish and Asian markets by the end of next year. Remember, thinking global does not begin and end with the U.S. and Japan.
While publishing as a whole has been on a downward spiral lately, video game magazines are undergoing new growth. Future Publishing has reported sales increases for its magazines devoted to all three major gaming platforms, Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox.
Technology
Even the biggest of the big boys can screw up sometimes. The key to staying big is learning to handle the screwups with grace. Netflix recently experienced a major service disruption, and is now giving affected customers a 15% credit on their accounts.
The major players in the Web industry have come together to form The Harmony Project, which will create a universal standard for ECMA Script, which will be the basis for JavaScript. Given how universal JavaScript is nowadays, this will have a major effect on the development of future Web apps.
Publishing
And the news from the newspaper industry just continues to be bad: Gannett, publishers of USA Today, said it is laying off 600 staffers and eliminating 1,000 jobs. The lesson to be learned here: Even though you’ve secured a post at one of the biggest-name companies in your industry, don’t think that means you’re necessarily set for life. Sudden change could come to anyone.