Video game consoles left running round-the-clock can send your annual electricity bill soaring. That's probably no surprise for most gamers. But the Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based conservation group, has conducted a study of gaming machine energy use to raise awareness among gamers and pressure manufacturers into making more energy-efficient machines.
The NRDC's study found that Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii machines in the U.S. use about as much electricity in a year as every home in San Diego combined. Much of the energy comes from machines that are left on, but not in use, the NRDC said.
Of the three consoles, Sony's PS3 was the biggest energy hog, followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360. Nintendo's Wii is by far the most energy efficient-and even uses less electricity than its predecessor, GameCube.
To quote: With more efficient devices and by utilizing existing power-saving features, consumers ... More »
For gamers, the new year usually begins after mid-November and this year’s no different; pretty much all major console exclusives have been released.
So, this is the first time that we can actually look back at 2008 and see which console had the best exclusives for the year - the PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii.
To do this, I decided to tally up the Metascore ratings (as of 11/20) for what are arguably the top ten exclusives for each console. Games that are available on PC and only one console are on the list as well (World of Goo and Left 4 Dead are two examples). So let’s dive right in to those potentially forum-rioting numbers:
Nintendo Wii: 1. No More Heroes - 83%
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 94%
3. Mario Kart Wii - 82%
4. Wii Fit - 80%
5. Wario Land: Shake it! - 78%
6. Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility - 64%
7. World of Goo - 95%
8. Wii Music - 63%
9. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the N... More »
More than a week ago, GamingConfidential reported that a Microsoft customer service representative foresaw an outbreak of the Red Ring of Death (RROD) issue once the New Xbox Experience becomes available.
While most scoffed at the idea, the prediction held true and MS service lines are white hot with calls from angry customers.
"I hate what the company did this year," says the rep. "They released the New Xbox Experience a few days after the extended warranty period ended for most users and it's tough to explain that to raging callers. How do you say that MS just screwed them all?"
He adds "our bosses really fed us to the lions this time. We're getting everything from crying kids to death threats from angry adults. It's an orgy, I tell ya."
The rep ended the short chat by lamenting how Xbox 360 owners are blaming the update for even the most far-fetched issues. An example, he says, is a call from a 32-year old man claiming that his ho... More »
It’s a great time to be a Street Fighter! It’s with great pleasure that I announce that HD Remix will arrive on the PlayStation Network real soon! Now you have the chance to debate which legs are more appealing, the turkey leg you’re about to have or the ones on Chun-Li.
Here are the details:
Release date: November 25, 2008 (I know, finally, right?)
Price: You’ve heard it here first! Only $14.99!
Trophies: Not at launch
Online Play: Of course
Graphics: 1080p baby
Gameplay: Two types – Original and Rebalanced
Here are some videos that will get you hyped for the game and will make you say, “Put him in a body bag!”
But wait, there’s more! Exclusive to the PlayStation Network, fans will have the opportunity to download the Street Fighter Underground Remi... More »
The new version of YDL was released. I think the most important new feature is that you can now use the memory of the RSX-GPU as a swap partition.
You should notice a great increase of speed while using linux.
The free version can be downloaded in four weeks. For now only owners of YDL.net Enhanced Accounts can access YDL 6.1.
Press Release: AUSTIN, Texas - 19 November 2008 - From the show floor of SuperComputing 2008, booth #1915, Fixstars today released Yellow Dog Linux v6.1 for Apple G4/G5, Sony PLAYSTATION3, PowerStation, and IBM Power Systems. Built upon the CentOS foundation, a derivative of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, YDL v6.1 offers several end-user and development tool improvements over the previous v6.0.
"This marks the final release of Yellow Dog Linux by Terra Soft and the first by Fixstars," states Owen Stampflee, Fixstars Solutions' Director of Engineering, "In my five years with Terra Soft we have made incremental impro... More »
Per Grace Chen (Senior Manager, PlayStation Store) today:
Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the PlayStation Store weekly update.
Add-on Game Content
LittleBigPlanet Sack in the Box Costume (free)
A community costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04 MB
LittleBigPlanet LocoRoco Costumes ($2.99)
A costume kit for SackBoy! Contains 5 different costumes.
File size: 1.04 MB
BioShock PS3 Challenge Rooms ($9.99)
Experience the intense, terrifying world of Rapture like never before with the all-new PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive Add-On Game Content featuring three unique Challenge Rooms and some very cool extras. In “A Shocking Turn of Events,” rescue a trapped Little Sister in a disturbing carnival in Rapture. In “The I in Team”, defeat a Big Daddy using only your wits. In “Worlds of Hurt” plow through eight rooms filled with the worst Rapture has to offer.
File size: 402 MB... More »