Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Market research |
Founded | 1991 |
Founder | Ann Stephens |
Defunct | March 29, 2001 |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Products |
PC Data was an American market research and point of sale tracking firm founded in 1991 and based in Reston, Virginia. Its founder, Ann Stephens, had worked previously as the head researcher for the Software Publishers Association. Initially, the firm tracked only the United States' computer software market, [1] but later expanded to include hardware sales and, in 1999, Internet traffic. [1] [2] By 1996, The Washington Post described PC Data as "the preeminent tabulator of facts and figures of the monthly sales of consumer software in the United States". [1] Its coverage of the United States retail software sales market had grown to 80% by September 1998. [3]
In March 2001, The NPD Group purchased PC Data's point-of-sale research branch and merged it with its Intelect Market Tracking division. [4] [5] Following a legal settlement with the rival company Jupiter Media Matrix regarding patent infringement, PC Data ceased Internet traffic research and closed later in March. [6] [7] Firms NetValue and ComScore purchased the remainder of PC Data's Internet research branch. [7]
E-commerce is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. E-commerce is in turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry, and is the largest sector of the electronics industry.
Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Valve and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. Players assume the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who must escape the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is invaded by aliens. The gameplay consists of combat, exploration and puzzle-solving.
2003 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Final Fantasy X-2, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain. New intellectual properties included Beyond Good & Evil, Call of Duty, Manhunt, PlanetSide, True Crime: Streets of LA, and Viewtiful Joe.
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, and is the first handheld installment in the PlayStation line of consoles. As a seventh generation console, the PSP competed with the Nintendo DS.
Myst III: Exile is the third title in the Myst series of graphic adventure puzzle video games. While the preceding games in the series, Myst and Riven, were produced by Cyan Worlds and published by Brøderbund, Exile was developed by Presto Studios and published by Ubi Soft. The game was released on four compact discs for both Mac OS and Microsoft Windows on May 8, 2001; versions for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 were released in late 2002. A single-disc DVD version was later released for Windows and Mac OS.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 is a video game released in October 2001, and is the 8th installment of the Microsoft Flight Simulator video game series. A version called Professional Edition was released at the same time as standard edition that added two aircraft, a flight instructor feature, and an editor to create buildings and aircraft.
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is an expansion pack for the role-playing video game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. It adds a multi-level dungeon called Watcher's Keep to the game and completes the main plot. There are several new weapons, a higher level cap, a further refined Infinity graphics engine, and new class-related features and magical skills. The novelization of the game was written by Drew Karpyshyn and released in September 2001.
2005 saw the release of many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Resident Evil 4, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Mario Kart DS, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, alongside prominent new releases including Brain Age, F.E.A.R., Forza Motorsport, God of War, Guitar Hero, Nintendogs, Shadow of the Colossus, and Sniper Elite. The seventh generation of video game consoles also began with the launch of the Xbox 360, while the Nintendo DS launched in PAL regions.
Stronghold is a historical real-time strategy video game developed by Firefly Studios and published in 2001 by Take 2 Interactive and Gathering of Developers for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game focuses primarily on conquest and expansion through military pursuits but also has prominent economic and infrastructure development elements. There is both an economic and a military campaign to be played and both are discussed in the game manual. In the English version, the game takes place in Medieval Britain around the year 1066; however, since there is not always a time limit, scenarios can continue hundreds of years beyond that date.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a video game based on the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation television series. The game was developed by Radical Entertainment, published by Ubi Soft, and was released for the PC in 2003. It was also ported by EPCConnect, and published by Aspyr on the Macintosh.
The NPD Group, Inc. is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest market research company in the world, according to the independent AMA Gold Report Top 50 report. The NPD Group operates in 20 countries, across more than 20 industries.
2007 saw many sequels and prequels in video games. New intellectual properties included Assassin's Creed, BioShock, Crackdown, Crysis, Mass Effect, Portal, Rock Band, Skate, The Darkness, The Witcher, and Uncharted.
Comscore is an American media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises; media and advertising agencies; and publishers.
2008 has seen many sequels and prequels in video games. New intellectual properties include Army of Two, Dead Space, iRacing, Left 4 Dead, LittleBigPlanet, Mirror's Edge, Race Driver: Grid, and Spore.
Robert E. Lee: Civil War General is a 1996 computer wargame developed by Impressions Games and published by Sierra On-Line. Set during the American Civil War, it tasks the player with leading the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to victory against the Union Army of the Potomac. Impressions sought to make Civil War General accessible to wargame newcomers by streamlining its gameplay, and the Panzer General series was a reference point for its design and title.
Mario Kart Wii is a 2008 kart racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the sixth main entry in the Mario Kart series. Mario Kart Wii was released worldwide in April 2008.
The VGChartz Network is a network of five video game websites - VGChartz, gamrFeed, gamrReview, gamrTV and gamrConnect. VGChartz itself sits at the centre of the VGChartz Network and is a video game sales tracking website that provides weekly sales figures of console software and hardware by region. The site was launched in June 2005 and is owned by Brett Walton. Employing ten people, VGChartz provides tools for worldwide data analysis and regular worldwide written analysis of the data it provides.
Blue Coat Systems was a company that provided hardware, software, and services designed for cybersecurity and network management. In 2016, it was acquired by and folded into Symantec.
Pocket PC 2000 is the first member of the Windows Mobile family of mobile operating systems that was released on April 19, 2000, and was based on Windows CE 3.0. It is the successor to the operating system aboard Palm-size PCs. Backwards compatibility was retained with such Palm-size PC applications. Pocket PC 2000 was intended mainly for Pocket PC devices, however several Palm-size PC devices had the ability to be updated also. Further, several Pocket PC 2000 phones were released, however Microsoft's "Smartphone" hardware platform was not yet created. The only resolution supported by this release was 240 x 320 (QVGA). Removable storage card formats that were supported were CompactFlash and MultiMediaCard. At this time Pocket PC devices had not been standardized with a specific CPU architecture. As a result, Pocket PC 2000 was released on multiple CPU architectures; SH-3, MIPS, and ARM. Infrared (IR) File beaming capability was among the original hardware features.
Monopoly is a 1995 video game based on the board game Monopoly. Developed by Westwood Studios, published by Hasbro Electronic Entertainment and distributed by Virgin Interactive Entertainment. This title was one of many inspired by the property. It was later reissued in 1998 with a different box art.