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Sony makes mobile gaming push with handheld Vita

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:21:17 GMT

Sony is intensifying its push in handheld gaming with a gadget aimed at hardcore players looking for something with a bit more punch than "Angry Birds," ''Words With Friends" and other smartphone pastimes.

The PlayStation Vita, already available in Japan, debuts in the U.S. and Europe on Wednesday. A basic, Wi-Fi version will retail at $250, while one that can access 3G cellular networks will go for $300 plus monthly service fees from AT&T.

Sony Corp. is promoting the device with a $50 million marketing blitz "everywhere gamers are and where the general population is," said Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. Tretton acknowledges it won't be an easy sell.

People have grown accustomed to playing games on handheld devices that also make phone calls, shoot videos, connect to the Internet, play songs and send text messages. The devices do practically everything but wash your socks. Why buy a gadget that does only one thing?

"Ultimately, if you consider yourself a gamer, you are going to find yourself migrating up the food chain to dedicated gaming consoles and the Vita," Tretton said. Don't tell that to Christian Thomas, a 20-year-old New York University student who tried out the Vita at a temporary lounge Sony set up to promote the system. At the "social club" in Manhattan's trendy Lower East Side, players were able to try out Vita before it goes on sale.

"I don't see myself carrying it around," Thomas said, while playing "Marvel Vs. Capcom 3." ''I'm content just picking up 'Bejeweled' on my iPhone."That's even though he called the Vita beautiful and said it's easily the best handheld gadget he's played with.

The Vita launch is an important one for Sony, although it likely won't be as big as the debut of a new gaming console. Sony has not announced the next PlayStation, but Nintendo Co. is planning to come out with its Wii U late in the year.

As a device, the Vita is sleek and powerful, melding the console-like controls that gamers are used to with touch screens common in mobile devices. Its dual analog sticks are a first for a handheld device and a must-have for shooter games played from a first-person perspective. Not only does the Vita's main screen respond to touch, but it also has a touch screen in the back that offers gamers an entirely new way of controlling gameplay.

The Vita has a 5-inch screen, front- and rear-facing cameras and a quad-core processor, which is used in the fastest tablet computers. The Vita also connects to the PlayStation 3, so players for the first time can play the same game regardless of whether they are using a console or a handheld system.

"It's a very good video game platform," said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Baird. That said, he believes the market has "largely moved beyond this type of experience.""I think the dedicated handheld game market is very challenging," he said. "The odds over the long term are stacked against the Vita."

Another handheld system, the Nintendo 3DS, has been a disappointment. The gadget, which lets players see 3-D images without special glasses, hasn't sold as well as expected and was one of the reasons Nintendo reported a net loss in the last nine months of 2011. Though the machine is starting to see sales pick up following a price cut, Nintendo last month lowered its forecast for 3DS sales.

Challenges aside, Sony hyped the launch of the Vita with a lavish party at Siren Studios in Hollywood last week. The likes of "Transformers" co-star Josh Duhamel and "The Hunger Games" actor Liam Hemsworth were in attendance. The gadget was passed around for all to try at the event, while Vita-related tweets were projected on a mammoth wall.

Elsewhere in the U.S., stores were planning midnight launch events, and the most dedicated PlayStation fans were expected to line up in anticipation. Though it may not amount to iPhone proportions, the Vita could become a hit with gamers who want to play shooters and other intense, high-end games that go beyond lunging cartoon birds at annoying green pigs. It may even give rival Nintendo a serious challenge.

Fynn Marselli, an 11-year-old who tried out the Vita at Sony's lounge, said he's now mulling the Vita after saving up to buy the Nintendo 3DS. He already has an older DS and an iPod Touch for games. With its touch screen and physical controllers, he said, the Vita is "pretty cool, a little bit of both."

"It's a little strange, using both the touch screen and controls," he said. "I have been playing with it for half an hour and I'm still figuring some things out."Because that doesn't usually happen, he said, "it's kind of fun. Finally something I don't pick up and know everything about."

As of December, Nintendo has sold more than 165 million of its handheld DS devices worldwide, including more than 15 million of the 3DS. Sony, meanwhile, has sold 75.5 million PlayStation Portable devices, the first version of which went on sale in 2005 in the U.S. and the year before in Japan. Sony plans to continue selling the Portable machine.

Recording breaking Nintendo 3DS, beats itself and rivals

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:41:57 GMT

News that the Nintendo 3DS is breaking its own records is one thing but the fact that is overpowering its rivals when it comes to sales is an achievement to be proud of, and we aim to find out the details and what make this console better than expected.

Recent news reveals that 3DS has topped the five million mark in Japanese sales and this information is documented in an article on Andriasang with charts showing the sales figures for the Game Boy Advance, the Wii, the DS and 3DS. The headline says 3DS fastest system ever to 5 million, beating its predecessors and Game Boy Advance and DS to the sales mark which is highlighted since it February 26 release last year, which is a record for Japanese hardware sales. People who have recently bought a 3DS were quite skeptical of it during its initial release although many feel that recent figures show this is due to the games getting better and the drop in price.

Some comments question whether this would have been at all possible if the price was not reduced and CVG talk about the Nintendo 3DS being the fastest console to do this well in Japan. Information from Media Create shows data of the five million figure being an actual sell-through of sales from retailers to customers and there are more on plans to launch a new side-scrolling 2D Mario title during the company’s next fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.

This information on a new Mario comes from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, and in a post last month, we let our readers in on further excitement in regards to Nintendo 3DS game demos that can be tested before they go on the market. The opportunity to try out demos just weeks before the actual games release is welcomed by gamers along with the suggestion of older titles have a similar try before you buy option through the eShop. This might not seem like a new idea when you look at what Sony and Microsoft have been doing for a while now, but in light of a recent record-breaking announcement, this could add to Nintendo’s popularity.

Apparently, Nintendo sold $11 million in downloads from the eShop taking into account what was thought of as a dire year for the 3DS and TG Daily has apprehended this information from analyst group Fade LLC, which tracks the digital content market. When it comes to online connectivity, Nintendo is at the back of the queue when this topic has been discussed but it seems like they are progressively become part of that conversation especially with add-on game content including non-gaming apps and full titles.
The Wii has adapted a downloadable platform over the years but the concept wasn’t originally designed for this where as the 3DS has been ready made to cooperate with downloads, the most successful is the re-released version of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, which was originally released on Nintendo’s Game Boy Color. In an article on Entertainment Focus, they write about Nintendo and a partnership with the multi award winning Aardman Animations, the creators of Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit. Offering 3DS owners brand new 3D SpotPass content free, users will be able to obtain exclusive clips featuring Shaun the Sheep available from the 7th March showing 15 3D clips.

In other related news, VideoGamer has more on a nintendogs and cats demo coming to 3DS free from this Thursday, which is a great opportunity to see if the demo can capture your attention, especially if you have never experienced this game before. What do you think of the increasing popularity of the Nintendo 3DS?

Sony PlayStation Vita handheld games console

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:33:52 GMT

When the Sony PlayStation Vita arrives in North America on February 22nd, it'll face stiff competition. Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have become powerful, cheap and ubiquitous. And with great, inexpensive games readily available on a device that you're already carrying every day, is there any reason to spend upwards of $250 on a piece of dedicated gaming hardware like the PlayStation Vita?

I didn’t think so, until I spent some quality time with the PlayStation Vita. Let me tell you why it changed my mind.

Superb Design
At just over 7-inches wide and 3-inches tall, it’s impossible for anyone to mistake the PlayStation Vita for anything other than a handheld gaming machine. Despite its size the device is actually surprisingly light, thanks to a reinforced plastic chassis that’s difficult to bend or flex. It feels solid, and is comfortable to hold for extended play sessions. Our 3G-capable Vita ($300 at time of review) clocked in at just under 10 ounces, making it comfortable for daily carry.The $250 Wi-Fi-only model is lighter still, at 9 oz.

Despite its sleek profile and light weight you’ll likely want to avoid slipping the Vita into your pocket, thanks to the twin analog thumbsticks flanking the 5-inch OLED screen. They jut out about half an inch from the front of the device. Having access to two thumbsticks for analog control (as opposed to the squat Nintendo 3DS Circle Pad, or the flat analog nub on the Sony PSP) makes it possible for Vita developers to publish 3D games with complex controls. But the hardware itself is unwieldy. Unless you purchase a protective sleeve for the Vita (sold separately) you’ll want to carry the device in a purse or satchel to avoid potential damage to the thumbsticks.

The Vita sports plenty of other input options, including a directional pad, four face buttons, Start and Select buttons, and a PlayStation button that you can tap at any time to jump back to the Vita Home screen. Inside the Vita are a triple-axis accelerometer and gyroscope and a triple-axis electronic compass, along with a GPS radio (in 3G-enabled Vita units only). Along the top of the chassis you’ll find left and right trigger buttons flanking volume controls on the right and the power button on the left, as well as two flimsy plastic covers in the middle that conceal a slot for your Vita cards (more on those later) and a mysterious “Accessories Terminal” for connecting peripheral devices, none of which were announced at time of publication. In addition, 3G Vita owners will find their SIM card slot nestled on the left side of the unit beneath a black plastic cover.

Rounding out the unit are a headphone/microphone jack, a “multiuse connector” port and memory card slot along the bottom of the chassis. The multiuse connector port resembles nothing so much as a malformed USB jack, and as of publication it’s only use was as a port for plugging in the PlayStation Vita proprietary charger. The charger itself comes in three parts: a generic North American 2-pin power cord, a Playstation-branded USB cable with a proprietary pin configuration that matches the Vita’s multiuse connector port, and an AC adapter with a USB port to unite the two. It’s a bit much to carry just to keep your Vita charged, but you can use the Vita-to-USB cable to connect the device directly to your PC. From there you can transfer photos, movies, music and applications between the Vita and your PC via the PlayStation Content Manager Assistant application (more on that later) or trickle charge the Vita’s battery via USB (as long as the Vita is not in active use).

But enough about ports, let’s talk about the screen. The capacitive 5-inch OLED touchscreen that dominates the Vita is big, beautiful and multitouch-capable. It’s bright enough that most games and movies are playable even in direct sunlight. The excellent viewing angle makes it easy to see what’s going on even at extreme angles, and the glossy finish doesn’t pick up fingerprints or smudge easily. With a resolution of 960-by-544 pixels it’s not quite as sharp as an iPhone 4S display, but it’s the best screen we’ve ever seen in a dedicated gaming handheld (trumping both the Nintendo 3DS and the PSP) and colorful games like Lumines and WipeOut 2048 look fantastic.

What is the best time to buy a video game console?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:18:33 GMT

Technological advances are taking place at a blistering pace with smart phones and tablet PCs constantly evolving. While the video game industry does not ship out its hardware at the same rate as Apple does with its products, video game consoles usually represent a significant investment for the consumer.

The PlayStation 3 cost over Rs. 40,000 when it was first released in Pakistan and the current price is still around the Rs. 30,000 mark. This is strange because if one was to purchase the same console from abroad it would cost them significantly less with the Xbox 360 retailing for $200 and the PlayStation 3 costing around the $300 mark. Also one can expect the next generation consoles to cost a fair bit of money as well, seeing how each console is sure to have frighteningly high levels of demand.

Let us start things off with the current generation of consoles and when one should buy them. The answer is simple: Now! There has never been a better time to own a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360. The amount of content, in terms of games, is enough to keep one happy for a considerable amount of time. Titles such as Killzone 2 and 3, Halo Reach, the Gears of War and Uncharted trilogies, etc are all available and ready for gamers to play without the wait that the rest of the world had to endure. Also gamers will know which games are genuinely great and which are a waste of time and money because they will not be caught up in all the hype that surrounds a newly released game.

Prices are also more competitive and affordable, especially if one can find a way to get them from abroad. While that option may not be open to many, it is still the best way to get one’s hands on an affordable console. So in terms of content available, now is the best time to get a video game console and enjoy it until the next generation has had time to settle itself.

Xbox 720 preventing used games from playing would be 'fantastic' for gaming industry

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:21:50 GMT

A little over a week ago, it was rumored that the next-gen Xbox could contain technology to prevent used games from being played on the console. Despite it being only a rumor, gamers took to the internet to voice their displeasure.

But while gamers and average consumers are displeased with the latest rumors, developers and publishers seem to be pleased with the idea. One developer in particular, Jameson Durall of Volition, voiced his approval of such technology that would prevent pre-owned games from playing on the Xbox 720, going so far as to say it would be a "fantastic change" for the gaming industry. Durall wrote: "There’s another big rumor about the next Xbox console that could really start to shake things up…it won’t play used games at all!"

Although he recognized consumers would be upset "at first", Durall went on to reason that they will "grow to understand why" and that not being able to play used games "won't kill them.""Personally I think this would be a fantastic change for our business and even though the consumers would be up in arms about it at first…they will grow to understand why and that it won’t kill them."Durall even went so far as to offer ideas as to how Microsoft could implement this idea, and to a certain extent already have.

Durall wasn't totally oblivious to the potential hazards of a system that was completely free of any used games. He admitted it would have "faults that would have to be ironed out", naming game rental as one of those areas.

The problem Duvall is referring to is the age-old argument that only retailers profit from used game sales, with the developers are publishers seeing no revenue from the secondhand sales. In fact, Durall addressed the issue earlier in his post, writing:

Obviously this is a very slippery slope for developers, publishers, and retailers alike. There's really no simple answer without upsetting someone. If you ban pre-owned games you are hurting consumers. If you allow pre-owned games then the developers and publishers get shafted. Right now, things like DLC and online passes are the route many publishers like EA have chosen to go, but even then many are upset with the feeling they are being gypped content that is already on the disc but locked. The general consumer feeling is that if it's on the disc at launch it should be made available for when its purchased at full price.

Perhaps another strong argument against the whole online pass is that video games are the only industry to do this. When someone buys a used car the company doesn't see any of the profits. If a friend of mine burns a CD, the record label doesn't see any profit. Arguments for both sides can be made and there is no clear answer as to what should be done. But I can tell you what shouldn't be done; that is to not prevent users from playing pre-owned games on the Xbox 720. That will do nothing but alienate your fanbase, especially if other consoles include the ability to play used games. Heed this warning Microsoft: don't be the deciding factor in all of this.

Sega launches wee-ly good games console in Japan

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:09:31 GMT

A new computer game could soon be coming to a men's bathroom near you after Tokyo games computer company Sega launched its latest console, the 'Toylet'. The Sonic the Hedgehog creator has developed the new urinal-based games machine for bars around Japan, encouraging men to play a series of mini-games while urinating.

With a screen mounted at eye-level above the urinal, the traditional games controller is abandoned with gamers instead using their urine to play by directing their stream onto a pressure sensor. There are five games to choose from on the £1,266 machine; from the simple 'Mannekin Pis' where players have to see how hard they can urinate to the slightly more difficult 'Graffiti Eraser' which requires an image to be cleaned with a water hose.

The motivation behind the games machine is ultimately to encourage toilet-goers to view adverts on the screen, however, with Sega believing that men will pay more attention if there is a game involved. In 2001 Sega abandoned the traditional games console market to focus its enterprise on games developing and the arcade industry.

Game consoles stolen from Bay Harbor Islands home

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:38:45 GMT

A thief stole an Xbox 360 console, an iPod touch, a digital camera, a Nintendo Wii console, a Nintendo Wii remote control, Nintendo and Xbox games, a video camera and iPod mini speakers from a home between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Dec. 29 in the 1000 block of 92nd Street.

MIAMI BEACH
A thief stole household goods from a store in the 2300 block of Collins Avenue about 12:35 p.m. Jan. 4. The stolen property was valued at $163.

A thief broke into a car and stole an iPod and the faceplate of the car’s stereo between midnight and 6:30 a.m. Dec. 28 in the 900 block of Bay Drive.

A thief stole a car’s tag between noon Dec. 24 and noon Jan. 4 in the 1100 block of Washington Avenue.

A thief stole a kitchen scale valued at $40 between 10:30 a.m. Dec. 10 and 6 p.m. Dec. 12 from an apartment in the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.

A thief stole a Netgear router, a computer monitor and a desktop computer between 9:30 p.m. Jan. 3 and 7 a.m. Jan. 4 from a business in the 500 block of Washington Avenue.

NORTH MIAMI
A burglar removed the screen of a home’s front window and threw a rock, breaking the window, about 6 p.m. Dec. 18 in the 1000 block of Northwest 124th Street.

A thief stole a cellphone and a GPS unit from inside a car parked in the 12600 block of Northeast Sixth Avenue about 2:40 p.m. Dec. 17.

EL PORTAL
A thief stole food, office files and an HP scanner between 3:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Jan. 7 from a church in the 8500 block of Biscayne Boulevard.

NORTH MIAMI BEACH
A thief stole a refrigerator, stove burner plates and blinds from a home for sale between noon Dec. 1 and 10 a.m. Jan. 5 in the 16900 block of West Dixie Highway.

A thief stole an engagement diamond ring, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an external hard drive and a Netbook computer from a home between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6 in the 1700 block of Northeast 171st Street.

A thief stole a MacBok laptop computer, the laptop’s charger, and jewelry from a residence in the 1200 block of Northeast 180th Street between 10:30 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. Jan. 6.

SUNNY ISLES BEACH
A vandal drew graffiti inside a public restroom between 3 p.m. Jan. 2 and 7:30 a.m. Jan. 3 in the 17200 block of Collins Avenue.

A thief stole a car registration decal between Nov. 11 and Jan. 2 in the 400 block of Poinciana Island Drive.

A thief stole a cellphone and car keys about 10 a.m. Dec. 19 in the 16800 block of Collins Avenue.

Nintendo’s Upcoming Wii U Game Console Includes a Touchscreen Controller (Watch Video)

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:41:36 GMT

No, I’m not at CES this season (despite being registered – I’m quite bitter) – but the news keeps flowing in, and it seems Nintendo will launch a new Wii system later this year. The new system, Wii U, includes a touchscreen controller! The controller gives players a second screen as well as a second way to play video games. Nintendo says it will share more details about the system, including information about the games in development, at the E3 Expo in June.

Tablets are the new game consoles, and other game industry predictions for 2012

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:43:02 GMT

Guest Commentary: The video game industry is changing like never before. Here are my best attempts at peering into the crystal ball for 2012:

Prediction #1: Tablets are the new game consoles
Tablets and smartphones are already becoming the mass market console gaming platform of choice. I personally play more core games on my iPad than I do on my console. I played a lot of the Batman Arkham City Lockdown game and was blown away at the graphics and fun multi-touch gameplay. The new generation of kids will largely skip consoles as their go-to video game consumer experience and head right towards Android and iOS devices. In the traditional gaming space, look for continued declines in the category of revenue and shipments.

Prediction #2: Amazon builds The Game Cloud
Amazon’s EC2 and cloud services already power much of the social gaming industry. Their Kindle Fire is already looking like the #2 player behind Apple in the tablet space. Along with being the largest e-commerce player in the world, why not connect the dots with a cloud-based gaming service that provides open APIs for game developers to hook into their stack as well as streaming services? You can imagine an expanded notion of what Amazon has done with their Kindle app — making it cross platform and dabbling in HTML 5. Imagine building your game once and hooking into services like distributed entitlements, game state support, etc? For example, if players are on the bus using their Kindle Fire, they can save their gameplay and then pick up where they left off at work via Facebook on their laptop.

Prediction #3: Casual is back on the social graph
We already saw genre diversification for social games between 2010 and 2011. Now about half of the social games are casual versus Ville’s. Look for new types of takes on the traditional game mechanics to explode onto the social gaming scene in 2012. One can merely point to the Hidden Object Games, Gardens of Time or King.com’s Bubble Witch Saga, as successful recent examples.

Prediction #4: New entrants in mobile and social
Yes, there is much more competition in mobile and social. But, we have seen examples of relatively new companies rocketing to the top of the most popular application charts. Recent examples are the meteoric rise of Wooga and the recent success of King.com that have both made the Facebook Top Ten Game List as measured by daily active users.

Prediction #5: More market consolidation
There will be increasing social and mobile gaming consolidation. Recent gaming IPOs such as Zynga and Nexon have raised billions of dollars so they’ve got money to spend. Existing players like Disney and Electronic Arts have already made huge plays as well. Look for continued acquisitions by both new and established players as they look to expand market share in the white hot social and mobile gaming spaces. There will be at least two $500M+ acquisitions in 2012.

Is This the End for Portable Gaming Consoles?

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:40:27 GMT

The Sony Vita has met with disappointing sales numbers according to Forbes contributor, Tero Kuittinen. This underscores deeper problems with portable gaming, Kuittinen argues: I very much agree. I’ve argued in the past that Nintendo should get into the mobile app business since they have no intention of making their own phone. This was met with much controversy in the comments.

But really, how much life is left in mobile gaming? The smartphone is the future of mobile innovation. As these phones get better, faster, and more powerful and as touchscreen technology improves, how long will it be before mobile phone games become better and cheaper than Nintendo and Sony portable console games?

Likewise, the mobile app market dwarfs the market for portable console games. Of course, this may be like the death of the desktop PC – an occasion that hasn’t happened in spite of predictions, the rise of the tablet, and the drop in price of the laptop. Maybe portable consoles will simply have to stay cheap to compete.