What Attach Rates Tell Us About Performance

Consider the following table detailing fictitiouse sales of consoles and games for them. The figures are completely made up.

If we just look at the absolute values, sales of GTA IV for Xbox (5,000) were greater than GTA IV for PS3 (4,000). Yay for Microsoft. However, the attach rate for GTA IV on Xbox 360 was 2.5% compared to an attach rate of 2.6% for PS3. This means that if Sony continue to sell the same number of consoles as Microsoft, they are expected to realise 5,333 sales, beating Microsoft's 5,000. Yay for Sony.

Attach Rate Biases

Attach rates are often skewed by the actions of early adopters, whose behaviour may not be respresentative of the general buying population. As the age of a console grows, this skew's influence will diminish.

Attach Rates Don't Tell The Whole Story

At face value, when comparing the performances of two platforms and their respective games sales, a higher attach rate would seem to be a good thing. However, this is not necessarily the case. A particular console would experience high attach rates for its games if its hardware sales were dying. After all, the attach rate only describes the ratio between console and game sales. The absolute values for those sales figures should also be considered.

For example, 2 sales of Xbox 360 in the whole of the Arctic Circle balanced against an average of 50 games per console equates to a staggeringly good attach rate of 50:1. But only 2 Xboxes were sold... Boo for Microsoft.

The moral of the story is that attach rate means nothing without a context. And that context is the number of hardware sales that were made.

And going back to the table above, Microsoft did actually sell more consoles and more games...

The numbers were fiction. Let it go.

Chinatown Wars Cheats 1

Chinatown Wars Weather Cheats

Hurricane: up, down, left, right, B, Y, R, L
Sunny: up, down, left, right, A, B, L, R
Rain: up, down, left, right, Y, A, L, R
Cloud: up, down, left, right, X, Y, L, R
Lots Of Rain: up, down, left, right, A, X, R, L

Chinatown Wars Health Cheats

Health: L, L, R, A, A, B, B, R
Armour: L, L, R, B, B, A, A, R

Chinatown Wars Miscellaneous Cheats

Wanted Level Up: L, L, R, Y, Y, X, X, R
Wanted Level Down: R, X, X, Y, Y, R, L, L
Weapons 1 (grenade, nightstick, pistol, minigun, assault, micro SMG, stubby shotgun): R, up, B, down, left, R, B, right
Weapons 2 (molotov, taser, dual pistols, flamethrower, carbine, SMG, dual-barrel): R, up, A, down, left, R, A, right
Weapons 3 (mine, chainsaw, revolver, flamethrower, carbine, SMG, dual-barrel): R, up, Y, down, left, R, Y, right
Weapons 4 (flashbang, bat, pistol, RPG, carbine, micro SMG, stubby shotgun): R, up, X, down, left, R, X, right

More Chinatown Wars Cheats.

The civil action relates to pending SEC charges that Take-Two had acted to falsify financial records as part of a stock option-backdating scheme. The SEC had claimed several years ago that Take-Two had backdated stock options that could be exercised at a strike price lower than where the stock was trading on the day the options were granted to its officers, directors, and key employees.

The litigation's precise wording is

during a seven year period, Take-Two defrauded investors by granting backdated, undisclosed "in the money" stock options to officers, directors, and key employees while failing to record required non-cash charges for option-related compensation expenses.

It is claimed that these fraudulant actions were committed 100 times since 1997.

Take-Two agreed to pay a $3.0 million settlement to the SEC "without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations."

The SEC made this announcement last Wednesday. Read the allegations in detail.

Leone Family Mafia

Featured in: GTA 3, GTA San Andreas, GTA: Advance, Liberty City Stories.

Known Members:
Salvatore Leone, Toni Cipriani, Luigi Goterelli, Joey Leone, Vincenzo "Lucky" Cilli, Micky Hamfists, Mike,  Massimo Torini.

Hangouts:
Salvatore's Gentlemen's Club, Cipriani's Restaurant, Sex Club 7, Joey's Garage.

Vehicles:
Leone Sentinel, Mafia Sentinel, Stretch.

Dress:
Suits.

Known Associates:
Maria La Torre, 8-Ball, Curly Bob, Misty, Ken Rosenberg.

Enemies:
Triads, Yakuza, Columbian Cartel.

Sindacco Family Mafia

Featured in: San Andreas, Liberty City Stories.

Known Members:
Paulie Sindacco, Johnny Sindacco.

Hangouts:
Paulie's Revue Bar, The Dolls House, Caligula's Casino

Vehicles:
Sindacco Argento

Dress:
Suits.

Known Associates:
JD O'Toole, Ken Rosenberg.

Enemies:
Leones, Forellis

Forelli Family Mafia

Featured in: GTA3, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories.

Known Members:
Sonny Forelli, Georgio Forelli, Mike "Lips" Forelli, Franco Forelli, Harry, Lee.

Hangouts:
Marco's Bistro, Caligula's Casino

Vehicles:
Sentinel

Dress:
Suits.

Known Associates:
Ken Rosenberg.

Enemies:
Leones, Sindaccos.

Information:
Sonny Forelli - came to power at a young age and remained as head of the Forelli Crime Family until 1986 when he was killed by Tommy Vercetti.

Georgio Forelli - cross dressing cousin of Sonny. Was thought to be heading for a definite conviction in the 80's but the jury amazingly found him innocent of all charges.

Liberty City Triads

Featured in: GTA 3, Liberty City Stories.

Known Members:
"Chunky" Lee Chong

Hangouts:
Chinatown, Liberty City - Belly Up Fish Factory, Mr Wong's Laundrette.

Vehicles:
Mules advertising "Belly-Up" or "Mr Wong's Laundrette".

Dress:
Blue "Belly-Up" coveralls
Blue leisurewear with Triad logo in back.

Enemies:
Mafia

Information:
The Liberty City Triads were known to be involved in the distribution of SPANK.

The Mountain Cloud Boys

Featured in: GTA: San Andreas

Known Members:
Wu Zi Mu, Ran Fa Li (Red Gecko Tong), Little Lion, Guppy

Hangouts:
Betting shop in Chinatown, San Fierro.

Vehicles:
Elergy, Solair.

Dress:
All Black Suits.

Known Associates:
Carl Johnson

Enemies:
Da Nang Boys, Mafia.

Information:
The nearby "Blood Feather Clan" were completely wiped out by the Da Nang Boys.

Known Members:
Big Poppa, Freddy

Hangouts:
Normally North East Los Santos, around Las Colinas and Los Flores.

Vehicles:
Oceanic, Hermes, Glendale, Tornado.

Dress:
Mostly cheap casual clothing. Gangs show their allegiances by wearing their gangs' colour. The 'Vagos' colour is yellow which they usually wear as a bandana.

Known Associates:
Big Smoke

Enemies:
Grove Street Families, Ballas, Varrios, C.R.A.S.H.

Information:
Extremely dangerous mexican gang heavily. Involved in drugs and weapons trade.

Featured in: GTA: Vice City

Known Members:
Umberto Robina, Alberto Robina, Rico, Pepe.

Hangouts:
Robina's Cafe

Vehicles:
Cuban Hermes

Dress:
White Vest & Light Blue Jeans

Enemies:
Haitians.

Information:
Umberto Robina considers himself as a Cuban warlord. He projects an excessively macho image but his bravery has been questioned amongst the Cubans. He has never been personally implicated in a crime.

Hangouts:
Vice Point, Prawn Island.

Vehicles:
Gang Burrito

Dress:
Denim jacket and jeans over red or white T-shirt. Some have an image of a shark on their backs, while others have a dragon.

Here's a handy video to demonstrate how you can knock 7 bells out of someone.

GTA Fighting Basics

The first thing you'll need to do when fighting in GTA is target your opponent. You do this by pressing the left trigger whilst 'looking' at someone. The person closest to your line of view is locked and displays a target symbol.

A handy thing for you to be able to do in any fight is to hold up your guard and you can do this by holding down the left trigger and then holding down the 'A' button. Your guard stays up as long as you keep those two buttons down. You'll still get knocked around with your guard up, but the damage will be substantially less than if you just had your hands down.

Now the good bit: how to f*ck someone up! Kicking and punching are all controlled by the 'X', 'Y' and 'B' buttons and must be pressed whilst holding down the left trigger. Use 'X' to kick, 'Y' to throw a straight right cross and 'B' to throw a lightning left jab.

You'll have more success if you mix and match different combinations of techniques and remember to keep your guard up. Keeping your guard up after a combination is thrown is a good idea as there is often a pause that is interrupted unexpectedly by your opponent whacking you in the head.

GTA Fighting Tips

Yeah, you guessed it. Kick 'em in the 'nads. This technique is a real eye waterer and never fails to get the party started in the right mood. If you want to make a really good impression, you can even kick them when they're down too.

GTA Fighting Glossary

• Target your opponent: press the left trigger.
• Keep your guard up: hold down the left trigger + 'A' button.
• Right cross: left trigger + 'Y' button
• Left jab: left trigger + 'B'
• Kick: left trigger + 'X'

GTA 4: Niko's New Fighting Moves

Check out the:

• spinning backfist at 0.29
• roundhouse kick at 0.34

Note that this is just a basic intro to GTA fighting. Hold tight for the GTA 4 advanced fighting tutorial.