Is Nintendo Over?

via businessinsider.com

People are shocked that Nintendo is not going to have a press conference at the biggest video gaming show of the year, E3, in June.

"Wow. no nintendo press conference at this year's e3. that's ... ceding a lot of oxygen to the competition," Arthur Gies, a video game reviewer, tweeted yesterday.

It's surprising because Nintendo's sales figures for the Wii U were pretty disappointing.

"Now this is a bad earnings report," influential tech blogger John Gruber recently wrote. "Really hope Nintendo figures a way to pull itself out of this spiral."

The gaming company sold 3.45 million Wii U consoles by the end of March, missing its target of 4 million units. But it expects new games to increase the sales of the Wii U to 9 million this fiscal year...

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The 14 Weirdest Video Games Ever Created

via mashable.com

The world of video games is nothing short of creative. Starting back in the early 1980s, when graphics were limited, both developers and players had to use their imaginations to ensure enticing gameplay. And, as games have become more sophisticated, ideas about what games should be have become increasingly complex. Now, you can create just about anything.

With that said, many games have gone the route of completely weird, and even off-the-wall insane.

From their concept to their graphics to their gameplay, there are so many aspects of weird and quirky games that are indescribable. Here is a roundup of some of the weirdest games in history, starting all the way back with Atari. Some are incongruous, others are head-scratching, and still others may terrify you a bit. But all of these games are real, and really, really odd.

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Imaginative Game Concept Artworks

via stockvault.net

The art in games is incredibly impressive, with the goal frequently being to achieve real-life results. While computer generated art and graphics haven’t quite advanced to match the real world, the results are getting better and better and the talent in the industry is amazing.

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The Usability of Video Game Design

via speckyboy.com

About a year ago I wrote an article on the Usability of Résumé Design; a concept that, while well-received, garnered specific feedback from a few voices that I found particularly interesting. Summarized, the gist was that “he uses the word ‘usability’, but I don’t think that’s the right term in referring to a résumé”. Usability is a condition of anything we interact with: your faucet, a web site’s navigation, elevator buttons, a mobile app, or a toilet. Tangible or intangible, the most intuitive means of interacting with something to achieve the desired result is what it’s all about. In the case of a résumé, it’s making core information readily available and immediately visually scannable. In the case of, say, a video game, it’s…well, what is it all about? How does usability play a role in gaming?

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How to Make a Video Game | No Experience Necessary

via digitaltrends.com

Big name developers like Bungie, Irrational Games, and Treyarch have budgets reaching into the millions, as well as a staff of designers and programmers working around the clock to bring the next blockbuster to your doorstep. It’s an incredibly bustling market, one that frequently brings in more revenue than movies, and propels video games into the mainstream consciousness without ever batting an eye. Of course, that’s just one face of the video game industry.

We’ve seen a virtual barrage of indie games for consoles and mobile platforms in recent years, combating the staple franchises and old classics of yesteryear with innovative new concepts and ideas that breathe new life into a slumping industry that ebbs and flows like teenage emotions. Journey, the stunning adventure game for the PlayStation 3 from developer thatgamecompany, recently took home six out of 10 awards at the Game Developers Choice Awards in San Francisco. Other hit titles, like Bastion and Minecraft (which just hit the 10 million sold mark), continue to showcase just how powerful indie gaming has become in recent years.

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The Coming Golden Age For Mobile-Game Developers

via readwrite.com

Do you like video games? More to the point, do you like developing games and making money? Then here's some great news: The gaming boom that's been underway for the past few years is still picking up steam.

And the good times should keep rolling for years— at least, that is, through 2018 or so. But by that point you'll have had plenty of time to establish yourself, or even to have made your pile and retired.

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Microsoft's next Xbox will take over your TV, interact with your cable box

via theverge.com

Microsoft is investing in TV in a big way with its next Xbox console as part of a fight for the living room. Multiple sources familiar with the company's Xbox plans have revealed to The Verge that Microsoft will introduce a feature that lets its next-generation console take over a TV and set-top box in a similar way to Google TV. We understand that the next Xbox will require an online connection to use the entertainment services, allowing them to be always-on for streaming and access to TV signals.

The functionality will work by taking a cable box signal and passing it through to the Xbox via HDMI, allowing Microsoft's console to overlay a UI and features on top of an existing TV channel or set-top box. We're told that this is a key part of the next-generation Xbox and that it will go a step further than Google's TV implementation thanks to Microsoft's partnerships with content providers. Extended support for various cable services will be rolled out gradually, but the basic functionality will be available at launch.

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50+ Epic Video Game History Facts You Probably Didn’t Know From Did You Know Gaming

via infinigeek.com

Some fun and useless facts about many of history's greatest video games.

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Xbox 720 unveiling pushed back to May 21, possibly due to always-on DRM snafu

via extremetech.com

The internet is up in arms over rumors that the next Xbox console will require an always-on connection. Imaginations are running wild, and we haven’t heard any official announcements from Microsoft. Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll be waiting even longer than we once thought. While the original plan was to announce the Xbox 360′s successor later this month, it now looks like it will be unveiled on May 21. Is the event being pushed back to give Microsoft time to remove the always-on DRM that is rumored to be employed by the Xbox 720?

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Infographic: Gaming Development Financial Realities

via blog.profitbricks.com

In honor of #GDC2013 going on this week in San Francisco, ProfitBricks is pleased to present this infographic, entitled “Gaming Development – The Financial Reality Behind Great Ideas.” People at the show are confirming what we already suspected: gaming is moving into the cloud. As thin clients in browsers, on laptops, or on mobile devices, continue to grow in popularity, they need a back-end to store data and process large environment mechanics, while the front end focuses on graphics and the human interactions.

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Disney Shuts Down LucasArts Just 154 Days After Acquiring It

via techcrunch.com

Pour one out for the Gold Guy tonight, my fellow gamers. A sage pillar of the industry has fallen.

Just 154 days after acquiring LucasArts as part of their larger, $4B acquisition of Lucasfilm, Disney has dissolved the classic video game development company.

Beginning today, Disney will continue to license out the LucasArts properties (namely Star Wars), but has ceased the development of all internal projects.

While the move was not unforeseen (the company’s last few games haven’t been very successful, and rumors of projects being shuttered have trickled in since the acquisition), that doesn’t make today’s news any less disheartening. A part of my childhood — a part of an entire generation of gamer’s collective childhood, really — goes down with LucasArts.

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Apple working on its own gamepad for iPhone and iPad

via digitaltrends.com

Apple has repeatedly claimed again and again during the company’s meteoric rise to consumer electronics dominance: It’s not making a video game console. Why should it? The iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and the iTunes App Store have fundamentally changed the nature of the video game business, making mobile gaming into a cultural and commercial force to be reckoned with. Mac sales even hit enough of a critical mass for Valve to bring Steam to Apple’s devices a couple of years back. Living room entertainment remains a quirky side project for the company, what with streaming gaming available by pairing the iPad and Apple TV, but it’s not a priority. Apple tried it once with the Pippin and failed, so why mess with success now?

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50 Most Realistic Minecraft Creations

via infinigeek.com

Minecraft gives truly endless possibilities in letting your creativity take over your gameplay. It’s unique in that way as you can, with only your mind and cubic blocks, create anything you like. Today we take a look at some of the most amazing realistic Minecraft creations: cities, houses, ships, castles, and a lot more different types of builds. The fact that these creations exist in the game help to explain why the game Minecraft has become such a breakout hit and adored by fans all over the internet. The world is your sandbox, and no where is this more true than in Minecraft. Prepare to be amazed by these epic examples of minecraft creation – and possibly be inspired to build your own! Enjoy!

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This Is The Future Of Gaming

via businessinsider.com

Earlier this month, the Bafta video game awards seemed to show an industry in rude health, with innovative indie titles sharing the honours with interesting mainstream success stories like Dishonored and Far Cry 3.

But with the cost of development rising, a new console generation on the horizon and radical new billing methods emerging (hello microtransactions!), this is also one of the most disruptive and unpredictable periods in the history of gaming.

So what happens next? After the awards, I sat down with four veteran developers who are also members of Bafta's video game committee, which oversees the organisation's gaming commitments: Harvey Elliott was a studio head at Electronic Arts before leaving to become MD of middleware specialist, Marmalde; Paulina Bozek, once the executive producer of Sony's SingStar series, now runs social games studio Inensu; Georg Backer is with Jonathan Ross's Hotsauce Interactive, after several years at Lionhead; and Andy Payne is MD of Mastertronic and chairman of industry trade body, UKIE.

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Razer Edge Pro review: can a tablet double as a gaming PC?

via engadget.com

Portable gaming isn't what it once was. Sure, you can still snag a handheld device from Sony or Nintendo, but today's video game industry is far more diverse. Gamers on the go have no shortage of hardware to pick from: tablets, smartphones, gaming laptops and purpose-built handhelds are redefining what a mobile gaming platform is. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan must have felt the winds of change blowing his way when he cooked up Project Fiona, now known as the Razer Edge. The company's marketing material frames the curious device as an all-in-one gaming arsenal; it's a tablet, says the product page, as well as a PC and console. Above all, it's modular, a souped-up tablet with a small collection of docks and cradles designed to scratch your gaming itch from all angles. All told, Razer calls it the most powerful tablet in the world. Kitted out with the specs of a mid-range gaming laptop, it may very well be that -- but we couldn't let the proclamation pass without giving it the once-over ourselves.

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EA announces 'Battlefield 4' with a 17-minute gameplay trailer

via theverge.com

The next entry in Electronic Arts' visually stunning Battlefield series is set to be released this fall for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. EA DICE announced Battlefield 4 alongside a 17-minute trailer that opens on a couple of soldiers listening to Bonnie Tyler's power ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and proceeds to showcase the cinematic setpiece moments that titles like Battlefield 3 and the Modern Warfare series have come to be known for. The first person shooter's gameplay doesn't appear to have changed much from the series' last entry, but it's hard to find many similarities to the 2002 title, Battlefield 1942, that started it off. The game will be available for $59.99...

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'Minecraft' developer's new game 'Scrolls' out in beta next month

via theverge.com

Minecraft developer Mojang is about to release its second computer game, Scrolls, a digital trading card game. As with Minecraft, Mojang will release Scrolls in beta, giving eager players an early look at the game. Polygon reports that the game will be available for purchase at a discounted rate for those interested in playing the title before it's completed. The game's early launch follows the massive success that Mojang achieved with Minecraft, which sold more than 4 million copies before the game was officially released. Scrolls will sell at a similar price to what Minecraft sold for during the phases of its release, beginning at about $13 and increasing to $26.95 today.

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New Xbox requires all games be installed, always connected to the net

via digitaltrends.com

One month after Sony announced the PlayStation 4—an announcement that didn’t actually include showing of the console itself—the next-generation of the video game industry is slowly springing to life. Big game studios and indie developers have been pushing high end game technology on PCs for a few years, but the mainstream commercial industry is revving its engines now with new games like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Thief announced each week.

The much rumored new Xbox from Microsoft, however, remains a mystery. The Durango, Xbox 720, or just plain Xbox as it’s sometimes called has yet to receive any type of official confirmation beyond game developers saying their work is coming to PlayStation 4 and “other next-gen consoles.” As time passes, more and more rumors spring up around the device. A new rumor - based on details from what’s purported to be the console’s software development kit – suggest the next Xbox will require players to install full games from discs to their hard drives.

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The Stories Behind The Names of 15 Gaming Brands You Know

via hongkiat.com

I’m an avid gamer, and I’ve devoted a bulk of my time in my bedroom playing games without giving a single thought to what goes behind the doors of the many players in the gaming industry, apart from what games they are releasing next. Inspired by earlier behind-the-name stories here on the site, this time we are going to look into the stories behind big names in the gaming industry.

Some of these names might not be familiar to you but their games were probably part of your childhood. Read on to find out how these brands in the gaming industry got their names.

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Android Video Game Console Ouya Will Also Let You Play Against Friends Online

via businessinsider.com

Android-based gaming console Ouya seems to be coming along nicely and will have multiplayer game support by year's end, reports Forbes.

During a South By Southwest panel in Austin today, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said the console would have support for streaming audio and video apps, but wouldn't say if big names like Hulu and Netflix were on board. Regardless, she hopes to be able to offer those services at launch.

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