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Console News is a News site for retro consoles modchips, game translations and rom hacks and homebrew and the latest in gadgets, Part of the
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
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January 27th, 2012, 02:10 Posted By: wraggster
Would you buy a GameGadget, a £100 handheld that resembles the bottom-half of a DS/3DS and downloads retro games from an online, platform-specific shop?It's been developed in the UK (but built overseas), and will be available to buy onGameGadget.net from 30th March. (Deals with physical shops and other online outlets are on-going.)The only problem is, we don't know which old tarts (affectionate slang for vintage games) will be available for the GameGadget, nor which publishers will support it.Mark Garrett, general manager of GameGadget distributor Blaze Europe, told Eurogamer his lips were sewn together by NDA contracts. "We're in communication with all the major publishers," was all Garrett could say.
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1/6 Sure, you can justify £100. What's she going to do, divorce you?
However, an announcement about publishers and games should be cleared "in the next week or so".Game pricing will be at the publisher's discretion. But the emphasis is on cheap, thanks to an "open source" emulation platform that requires "no further development" for a game to run on GameGadget.The hope is that publishers will see GameGadget as a hassle-free way of making some money from their back catalogues, rather than watch those games be shamelessly emulated online."It's a very low-cost, low investment vehicle for getting games onto a digital platform," Garrett assured us."Because there's no investment in bringing the games to the platform, we want the games to be as competitively priced as possible. As an estimate, we would want the games to start at £0 - there is an opportunity to offer free gaming - up to around the £1.49/£1.99 price-point for a single game," Garrett revealed."And then a bundle of games - maybe 10 or 15 games - for around the £10 price point. Those are the sort of recommendations we're making to publishers."Excluding a touch-screen in favour of "hard-buttons" means playing on GameGadget should feel like the real-retro-deal, Garrett explained to us.But for £100? I could buy a 3DS for little more, and my iPhone/Android device cost me nothing up front."Ultimately what we're looking to do is enable people to save money over the long-term by offering a more cost effective solution for obtaining more and more content."Mark Garrett, general manager, Blaze Europe
Isn't the GameGadget a bit expensive?"That's a matter of opinion, isn't it?" Garrett retorted. "It's all relative."I mean, iPhones are certainly not free! The bill that I get from Vodaphone every month is about £60 a month for my free iPhone."And although 3DSs cost £115, on average you're paying around £30 per game to get the most out of it."Garrett romped on: "Whereas the traditional model is that the hardware is loss-leading for these manufacturers, ultimately you end up paying for it through the software that you buy. What we want to do is provide a device that offers value for money, that's a good quality gaming device, and that has a digital download platform that offers value for money for games."Ultimately what we're looking to do is enable people to save money over the long-term by offering a more cost effective solution for obtaining more and more content."The GameGadget specs are: 433mhz dual core CPU, 64MB RAM / 2GB Flash RAM and a 3.5" LCD screen (320x240) that does the appropriate 16BIT colour. It has a Li-Ion rechargeable battery. Sounds like lion - maybe it should be roarchargeable.There's a d-pad, two shoulder buttons, four face buttons and start/select/reset buttons.There are stereo speaker, headphone and TV-out outputs. There's also a Micro-USB port, and the option of SD/SDHC additional storage.The GameGadget's dimensions are 140Wx75Hx16D (mm).
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...download-store
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January 27th, 2012, 01:42 Posted By: wraggster
Reports this morning – which it must be said remain totally unsubstantiated – claim that the Next Xbox could incorporate a new technology that blocks the use of pre-owned games on the console.
The gravity of this news, if true, would have industry-wide ramifications. The fallout for retail would be obvious, cutting off a major revenue stream.
But aside from my obvious retail-leaning tendencies, I for one believe that such a development would have disastrous consequences for the games market. Or at least for the Next Xbox.
We all know the arguments against pre-owned. The sale of a pre-owned game sees all profit land with the retailer, cutting publishers and developers out of the loop. For the content creators it is unfair, it is argued. And of course that point has credence.
But what I sometimes struggle to understand is how content makers remain blind to the effect that an end to pre-owned would have on their business.
Let’s look at 2011. Starting with the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution on August 26th, a run of successive triple-A releases ran all the way through to November 18th. It went something like this:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Driver: San Francisco, Dead Island, Gears Of War 3, F1 2011, FIFA 12, Batman: Arkham City, Need for Speed: The Run, Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Modern Warfare 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Saints Row 3.
For a punter paying an average of £40 per title that represents an outlay of £560 over the course of a little under three months. That’s £187 per pay cheque. And that’s omitting a shed load of other releases that hit in the period.
Now, when mine and Mrs Ben’s wages are combined we represent something like the UK national average earning family. And I can tell you that there’s absolutely no way I could afford that outlay on games were I not able to offset the cost against trading-in my older titles. No way.
So I’m faced with the very real possibility that I could be priced out of my main habit and interest in the next generation.
So what can platform holders do to offset what I would see as the inevitable collapse of the software market whilst still maintaining a freeze on pre-owned? Well, lower game prices would seem the only option. That string of releases would be far more affordable at £25. Or even £30. But the chances of that happening? Zero.
And what of retail, which is struggling to survive in this current pre-owned rich environment? Lower public outlay can only ever mean one thing – higher prices to try and preserve margins. It becomes a self-perpetuating cycle that spells very bad news for the industry.
Of course, it could mean even worse news for Microsoft. Should Sony decide to not follow suit with anti pre-owned tech then that affords PS4 one hell of a USP over its rival. Although it would be one shared by Wii U, of course (we can safely say that Nintendo would not have the foresight to include such tech in its machine).
As I sit here I’m simply hoping that the reports aren’t true. I was interested to hear Microsoft’s response, which although “not commenting on rumour and speculation” was anything but a simply “we don’t comment on rumour and speculation”.
"As an innovator we're always thinking about what is next and how we can push the boundaries of technology like we did with Kinect,” a spokesperson told Kotaku.
“We believe the key to extending the lifespan of a console is not just about the console hardware, but about the games and entertainment experiences being delivered to consumers. Beyond that we don't comment on rumours or speculation."
These are dangerous times. The games industry is approaching a new generation of machines and the decision made by platform holders now will dictate how the sector fares in today’s connected, smartphone obsessed and cloud-hungry society. I just hope those decisions prove to be the right ones.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/opini...r-games/090322
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January 27th, 2012, 01:25 Posted By: wraggster
Modern Warfare 3 emerged triumphant, but it was EA that was last year’s real victor. MCV analyses the full 2011 GfK?Chart-Track charts to unearth the winners and losers in a challenging year for the boxed games market.
It was another year in which Call of Duty and FIFA take the top two places in the GfK Chart-Track Top 100. The two games between them accounted for 10 per cent of the 55m games sold last year.
ACTIVISION’s Modern Warfare 3 sold over 3.1m units, a mighty impressive figure but slightly less than the 3.26m games Black Ops sold the year before.
FIFA 12 meanwhile shifted 2.44m games, 50,000 more copies than its predecessor. ELECTRONIC?ARTS was the only publisher to have two games that sold over 1m units with its FPS Battlefield 3 (No.3) selling 1.3m copies since its October launch. As a result, EA was comfortably the biggest publisher of 2011, and in total had 20 games in the Top 100.
It is worth noting the phenomenal success for small publisher 505 GAMES. The company’s Zumba Fitness (No.4) shifted almost 1.2m games for the year and topped the Wii charts. The title benefited from a lack of new software during the summer and scored 13 weekly No.1s in the process.
In a clear sign of how important Q4 is to the UK games market, eight of the 2011 Top Ten were released during the final three months of the year. And 51 per cent of the UK trade’s annual revenue was generated during this period.
The only two games not to have been released during Q4 and still break the Top Ten is the aforementioned Zumba and ROCKSTAR’s L.A. Noire, which is also the highest charting new IP. The game was released in May.
Otherwise, there isn’t a great deal of new IP in this year’s chart - the notable exceptions being THQ’s Homefront at No.25, DEEP?SILVER’s Dead Island at No.31 and two Bethesda titles (Rage at No.33 and Brink at No.39).
BETHESDA enjoyed a strong year during 2011, breaking into the Top Ten publishers at No.10. Aside from the two new IPs mentioned above, the firm’s biggest hit was Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The acclaimed action RPG sold 1.14m games last year, proving to the industry that you can come out during the same week as Call of Duty and prosper.
LEGO developer TRAVELLER’S?TALES had five games in the Top 100. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean was the top seller at No.14.
Meanwhile, the dance craze continues in the charts. Just Dance 3 from UBISOFT was the biggest selling dance title, and sold over 900,000 units last year.
UK games market in 2011
The tough economy combined with the late stage in the console cycle took its toll on the boxed games market. The combined software, hardware and accessories markets generated £2.52bn, a 13 per cent drop over 2010.
The software market dipped seven per cent year-on-year to £1.42bn (although it was down 12 per cent in units). EA sold the most games, with Xbox 360 the the No.1 console in terms of software market share.
The accessories market was down 17 per cent year-on-year to £453m (or 13 per cent down to 22.4m units). Motion controllers accounted for 11 per cent of the accessories market in 2011 (units) and a huge 27 per cent by revenue.
A clear sign of the industry’s position in the console cycle is the hardware figures, down 19.3 per cent to £646m, and that’s despite the arrival of Nintendo 3DS.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-u...-charts/090333
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January 27th, 2012, 01:22 Posted By: wraggster
Mario Kart 7 is once again the Japanese all-formats number one, reclaiming top spot from Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Masou Kishin II.
In a slow week for sales - Mario Kart 7's sales actually fell by a third - the highest new entry is Sega's 3DS title Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure, which isdue in the west next month. D3 Publisher achieves that rarest of feats - a top ten slot for an Xbox 360 game - with Onechanbara Z Kagura at number five.
Other new entries include Namco Bandai's Heroes Phantasia at number 6, and another 3DS game, Konami's Beyond The Labyrinth, at number eight.
On the hardware front, 3DS was once again the week's best-selling system of the week with 80,960 units sold. Sales of PlayStation Vita fell to 15,219, a drop of 17 per cent.
01. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 3DS)
02. Rhythm Thief (Sega, 3DS)
03. Monster Hunter Tri G (Capcom, 3DS)
04. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 3DS)
05. Onechanbara Z Kagura (D3 Publisher, Xbox 360)
06. Heroes Phantasia (Namco Bandai, PSP)
07. Inazuma Eleven Go (Level-5, 3DS)
08. Beyond The Labyrinth (Konami, 3DS)
09. Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Masou Kishin II (Namco Bandai, PSP)
10. Musou Orochi 2 (Tecmo Koei, PS3)
http://www.edge-online.com/news/mari...n-chart-summit
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January 27th, 2012, 01:15 Posted By: wraggster
The ZX81 Museum was set-up to preserve and showcase a private collection of original Sinclair branded ZX81 hardware, software and literature. The museum has since expanded to include ZX81 software from other publishers of the time and a variety of other ZX81 peripherals and reference books. The collection dates from 1981 to 1983 and features the complete Sinclair-branded software series. The activities of the museum are regularly reported via Twitter, along with updates from the ever growing ZX81 fanbase. There is even a YouTube channel for the diehard 8-bit fans out there, of which there seems to be many!"This was one of the first computers I ever used; I suspect it's still buried in some deep stratum in my dad's basement. As is often the case, the old advertisements are great.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/1...-zx81-lives-on
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January 27th, 2012, 01:10 Posted By: wraggster
An Italian researcher with a penchant for retro games — or perhaps just looking for an excuse to play games in the name of science! — has used computational complexity theory to decide, once and for all, just how hard video games are. In a truly epic undertaking, Giovanni Viglietta of the University of Pisa has worked out the theoretical difficulty of 13 old games, including Pac-Man, Doom, Lemmings, Prince of Persia, and Boulder Dash. Pac-Man, with its traversal of space, is NP-hard. Doom, on the other hand, is PSPACE-hard.
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/0...man-is-np-hard
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January 26th, 2012, 03:38 Posted By: wraggster
We rubbed our eyes a little when they first landed on this fine looking specimen, just to make sure they weren't deceiving us. But no, this really does appear to be a new handheld Neo Geo. We've seen SNK make inspired controllers, bring its catalog to other platforms and even make handhelds before, but nothing like this. The iPhone-esque body and 4.3 inch screen house a D-pad, shoulder and front buttons while hiding 2GB of storage inside -- pre-loaded with 20 classic titles (yes Fatal Fury and League Bowling included, and all in English). There's also an SD slot which we really really hope is for more games, as well as an AV output for some good old big-screen action. Famicon Plaza claims it's a licensed product not yet in full production, so there's no whiff of availability just now. When it does finally land, we hope it's not at a 2012 equivalent of grandad's $600+ price tag.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/s...dern-handheld/
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January 26th, 2012, 03:20 Posted By: wraggster
Up from 256.8 million in 2011.
Internet connectivity via TV and other electronics has been growing in recent years, and now analyst NPD In-Stat says the transition from standard household consumer electronics (CE) to become 'connected devices' will continue to grow in the next five years.
Key devices leading the movement include digital TVs, game consoles, satellite set top boxes and Blu-ray players. Connected devices are expected to hit 1.34 billion in 2016, compared to 256.8 million last year, according to the report.
Potentially these devices provide even wider reach for existing apps and the potential for new creative ideas that utilise the unique capabilities of the different form factors.
Norm Bogen, VP of Research, said: "CE is no longer about ‘dumb’ devices that exist at the edge of the network to provide specific functions, but rather about ‘intelligent’ devices at the edge of the network that can connect consumers to new stores of content and engage them in new digital experiences.
"This simple fact is having a profound impact on the development of the digital media and entertainment industry, which clings to the old practices of using networks to control the user viewing experience."
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...by-2016/016819
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January 25th, 2012, 02:49 Posted By: wraggster
Amazon has a load of deals on games lined up for today. First up, Dead Island is the deal of the day and will no doubt quickly shamble off the shelves at only $25. Today's Lightning Deals are all game-themed as well, with the current deal being LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean on the DS for $15. As of this writing, the deal has about an hour to go.
Find a list of the remaining deals' start times (and our best guesses as to what the deals actually are) after the break.- 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT - "A multiplayer Dance-Fitness game for Wii that gives players a great full body workout in a fun dance class environment!" (Zumba Fitness? No, probably ExerBeat.)
- 2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT - "Enjoy the biggest game release of all time." (Statistically, this one has to be Modern Warfare 3.)
- 6:00pm ET / 3:00pm PT - "Enjoy this Wii fitness game with your entire family!" (Wii Fit Plus? Jumpstart Get Moving Family Fitness Wii? It does have "family" right there in the title.)
- 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT - "Rock out with your own guitar." (Rocksmith.)
- 11:00pm ET / 8:00pm PT - "'I Gotta Feeling' ...this game will make you move." (The Black Eyed Peas Experience.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref...A1LGO6JZOUVKPJ
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January 25th, 2012, 02:39 Posted By: wraggster
Though widely considered tired and played-out, the World War II sub-genre is ripe for a comeback, so says Alien vs Predator developer Rebellion.While discussing its forthcoming Sniper Elite V2 project with GamerZines, senior producer Steve Hart argued that the more contemporary settings favoured by the likes of Battlefield 3, Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3 are themselves becoming increasingly stale."I think the market is ready for World War II," he said."You've seen the extra press the likes of Red Orchestra 2 have gotten because all of a sudden WWII is a breath of fresh air whereas modern conflicts perhaps aren't."Hart went on to offer his opinion on why FPS developers had recently chosen to abandon the time period in favour of modern conflicts."I wouldn't say developers moved on, instead they gave it the respect it needed and said 'Right, we've done that to death, let's go look at something else.'"It just so happens that our timing for a World War II game is better than others out there, and gamers are ready for that now. Even better for us is that we're coming out before perhaps another Call of Duty set during World War II, as I'm sure we'll be seeing another one of those at some point."The sequel to the solid 2005 shooter is due out later this year.Rebellion isn't the only studio hoping gamers can stomach a return to WWII. Black creator Stuart Black is currently developing Enemy Front at City Interactive, also planned for a 2012 release.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...r-wwii-revival
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