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In the gaming world exclusivities have become all but obsolete. So it should come as little surprise that analysts are stating the future of Epic’s gaming giant, Gears of War, will be bright on all fronts of the console war.

Analyst Michael Pachter, who is well known throughout the gaming industry for his insight to the future of gaming, has stated “we pretty much know that Gears of War 3 is probably gonna come out on PS3.”

Pachter is going off the idea that things today aren’t exactly exclusive, they’re only set aside for a set amount of time. If this holds true, PS3 gamers will get a chance to see just how much they’ve been missing.

As gamers of all three major systems, we welcome multiplatform any day. The console war is getting down to the point of ‘who’s system has the better technology’, and steering clear of ‘who has the better games’.

Either way this one ends up, Gears of War has cemented it’s p... More »  


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It's no secret that iPhone has turned the mobile phone industry on its head, sliding past its smartphone rivals with its sexy design. We know Apple has opened a new chapter in mobile technology, but the real story behind this is how the iPhone is quietly taking over pocket gaming.

Business Week has already pointed out what is clearly becoming a new player in the handheld market. Apple has set iPhone on the right track to contend with Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable as the definitive portable gaming platform new figures show. Sales of iPhone continue to increase with each passing month, not to mention downloads from the App Store.

Momentum behind iPhone can't be discredited either as developers both large and small are flocking to the system. It all points to the strong possibility that iPhone could become the leading device for handheld gaming in the coming years.

The argument isn't a new one, as we were one of the first to identify the pote... More »  


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It was only meant to be a prototype. But 40 years after the computer mouse first scrolled its way into the public consciousness, new touch-screen technology could be about to consign the mouse to the annals of history.

The computer mouse was the creation of Doug Engelbart and his team at the Stanford Research Institute in California, who needed a simple way of controlling their computers. The result was a carved wooden block mounted on wheels, with a long cable trailing out the back. One researcher nicknamed it a mouse, and the moniker stuck.

"We thought that when it had escaped out to the world it would have a more dignified name," said Mr Engelbart. "But it didn't."

The mouse made its debut at a presentation in San Francisco in 1968 to show off a working network computer system. Before the invention of the mouse, people working on computers used a light pen, similar to those wielded by radar operators during the war, to navigate around... More »  


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A British company may have won the contract to design and build the next-generation graphics processor for the PSP2. Imagination Technologies Group announced in a press release this week that the company has signed a license agreement with a new partner, “a major consumer electronics company.”

Industry sources say that the partner is almost certainly Sony, and that the SGX55x graphics chip will be used in the upcoming PSP2.

The secrecy on the part of Imagination Technologies makes sense, because Sony is understandably unwilling to announce its plans for a PSP successor just yet. Imagination's PowerVR MBX chip is already being used in the Apple iPhone, so Sony finds itself in good company with this manufacturer.

The SGX55x chip promises to be much more powerful than what is currently found in the PSP. At the moment, the PSP uses a... More »  


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Word on the street is that Imagination Technologies Group plc, licensor of graphics processor cores, has added Sony to its tally of international electronics systems company licensees.

Imagination (Kings Langley, England) announced Monday (Nov. 24) that it has signed a license agreement with a new partner, a major international consumer electronics company, for a forthcoming member of Imagination's POWERVR SGX graphics processor family.

There were no names and no values ascribed to the licensing but the hint that it is materially insignificant. As a publicly held company Imagination is under pressure to disclose events of material significance via one or more of the many regulatory news services.

According to sources today's announcement by Imagination is for an upgrade to the Sony PSP2 and the SGX core is expected to be the SGX55x.

In its press release Imagination said that it expects that this agreement will extend the reach of its ... More »  


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The new firmware update for the PS3 will be released today. Firmware v2.53 will contain many changes to your system settings. The full list of changes will be categorized under each of your XMB sections.

Users

* You now have an option to set the PS3 to turn off automatically after a background download or installation of content. This option is available when you turn off the system while content is being downloaded or installed.

Settings

* BD/DVD has been renamed to Video Settings
* Sequential Playback has been added as an option under Video Settings
* Divx VOD Registration Code has been added under System Settings
* Power Save Settings have been added as an option for the system and controllers. They can now be set to shut off after a certain period of time
* The method for connecting Bluetooth devices has been changed
* You can now choose German, French (Canada) and French (Switzerland) k... More »  


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Steve Demeter, a former banker who has created a game development house following the success of his first game called Trism.

The respective game earned the developer $250,000 in profits for just the first two months alone, as you'd expect, such figures and the democracy offered by the App Store has motivated him to pursue developing full-time.

To quote: It's also become a potential gold mine for entrepreneurs who create games for the device. Just ask Steve Demeter, developer of the popular puzzle game "Trism."

A former ATM software designer for a large bank, Demeter created "Trism" in his spare time and pitched it to Apple last spring. The company made the game available for download with the July launch of its App Store, an online provider of applications for its iPods and iPhones.

Priced at $5, "Trism" earned Demeter $250,000 in profits the first two months.

"It's done phenomenal business," said Demeter, 29, w... More »  


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The DS and PSP are last gen platforms – and the only true next-gen portable platform is the iPod Touch.

That was the message from Apple this week, as the company finally revealed its intentions to snaffle market share in the traditional gaming space – after years of fervent speculation about its plans.

Speaking exclusively to MCV, the company confessed that its new marketing campaign encourages consumers to buy iPod purely “to play our games” – and even marked the device out as a real threat to Nintendo and Sony’s handheld efforts.

Greg Joswiak, head of iPod and iPhone marketing told us: “It’s not just the screens that are superior to DS – it’s the graphics capability, the computing power and the App Store distribution model.

“I had an analyst tell me in September – and he was right – that the DS is the past of gaming devices, and iPod Touch is the future of gaming devices. It certainly has our competi... More »  


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