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 »
Microsoft once had a near monopoly on Web browsers with Explorer, so it comes almost as a shock to find that the Web browser most used to access Bruceongames is Firefox 3 and that even the undermarketed Chrome has made a significant impact.
When it comes to search Google always had the majority of the market but MSN now seems to have slipped away to nearly nothing. It doesn’t bring many people here.
You can forgive the above because Microsoft, famously, misunderstood the internet so came to it late. Operating systems are different though, Microsoft have owned this sector since MSDOS. But even here there are massive cracks appearing. By far the fastest growing section of the PC industry is Netbooks.
And the Linux derived Ubuntu has become a great success. Microsoft have fought back by bringing XP from the grave. But they are imposing stupid maximum system specifications that attempt to defy Moore’s law.
Andrew Weymes (aka MrWeymes) says Nintendo obviously went in another direction, deviating from what gamers expect from a next generation console.
I'm sure most gamers assumed that every 5 or 6 years, we would get an upgrade of our current console with a slightly reworked controller, better graphics, and more features such as online capabilities, and Blu Ray.
Sony, and Microsoft knew what was expected of them, and delivered. I don't think that many people thought that the Nintendo "Revolution" (as was the Wii's code name) wouldn't have a standard controller, but in fact make use of motion controls, and that it would have a small emphasis on graphics.
Technically, both the Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3 are superior machines. Both support HD resolutions up to 1080p, both have a more robust online community, both are able to rip music off of CDs, both are able to play DVDs, and the Playstation 3 is able to play Blu Rays.
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 »
Ninety per cent of the young people who seek treatment for compulsive computer gaming are not addicted.
So says Keith Bakker the founder and head of Europe's first and only clinic to treat gaming addicts.
The Smith & Jones Centre in Amsterdam, has treated hundreds of young gamers since the clinic opened in 2006. But the clinic is changing its treatment as it realises that compulsive gaming is a social rather than a psychological problem.
Using traditional abstinence-based treatment models the clinic has had very high success rate treating people who also show other addictive behaviours such as drug taking and excessive drinking.
But Mr Bakker believes that this kind of cross-addiction affects only 10% of gamers. For the other 90% who may spend four hours a day or more playing games such as World of Warcraft, he no longer thinks addiction counselling is the way to treat these people.
In attendance at the Sony Computer Entertainment Staff Annual Briefing held yesterday in London, an anonymous source going by the alias of ‘Legends’ has just tipped us off on all manner of huge PlayStation news. We must make it clear that D+PAD weren’t in attendance, but we have no reason to doubt the validity of Legends’ claims.
Price cuts coming in March, PS3 performing better in Europe than 360
Our source tells us that SCEE President David Reeves took to the stage to discuss the current economic climate and how it shouldn’t affect PlayStation business, though was quick to mention that SCEE will be getting more competitive on price from March 2009 onwards. Our guess is that we’ll be seeing price cuts to PS3 around Easter to tie in with the release of Killzone 2…
Reeves then went on to say that the PS3 has a bigger install base than the 360 in PAL territories, and that the install base gap will significantly increase ... More »
2K Boston Assistant Producer Keith Shetler shared the following via PS Blog today:
Hey there! What’s that you say? You love challenging gameplay... and failed underwater utopias?
Then prepare to experience the world of Rapture like never before with the BioShock PS3 Challenge Rooms Add-On Content pack available tomorrow, November 20, for $9.99 only on the PlayStation Network.
I’m Keith Shetler, Assistant Producer at 2K Boston, and I’m very excited to introduce two new play modes with this DLC pack: New Game Plus and Challenge Rooms. Both add new twists to the game millions already love!
New Game Plus allows you to start a new supercharged playthrough of BioShock. Ready for this? You begin the game with any weapons, abilities, and inventory that you collected during a previous playthrough. Always wish you could obliterate Dr. Steinman with your uber grenade launcher? Now you can!
There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model.
Even worse, the PS3 didn't initially have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multiplatform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the Xbox 360.
Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape. As of August 2008, a new "bargain" PS3 is available with a larger, 80GB hard drive, and a "deluxe" model is due in November, doubling the capacity to 160GB.
Both, however, lack backward compatibility with PS2 games and do not come with flash card readers. If those features are a must, it might be best to pick up the 80GB "Metal Gear" bundle version on eBay w... More »
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