Tag Archives | Gaming

Windows Phone 7: A Gamer’s Review

Posted by Jared Newman on November 1, 2010 at 8:20 am

Video games are supposed to be one of Windows Phone 7’s main attractions, and rightfully so; the Xbox is a rare success for Microsoft’s entertainment division, so it’s about time the brand moved off the television and on to mobile phones.

After spending some time with the Xbox Live feature of Windows Phone 7 on a pre-release  HTC Surround handset, my conclusion is similar to the general consensus on the entire OS: There is plenty of potential in this gaming platform, certainly enough to challenge Apple’s iPhone. But as it stands, the phone’s Xbox Live feature has too many drawbacks and missing features to be a major selling point for gamers when the first Windows Phone 7 models hit the US next week.

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320 GB Playstation 3 is the Classic Upsell

Posted by Jared Newman on October 28, 2010 at 1:58 pm

Sony’s getting creative with its Playstation 3 bundles, adding a 320 GB console for $350.

That’s $50 less than a console with the same size hard drive and the Playstation Move starter kit, which includes the camera, the motion controller wand and Sports Champions. It’s $50 more than Sony’s basic PS3 with 160 GB hard drive.

I’ve read the opinion that the $350 price point shows Sony’s willingness to subsidize the Playstation Move. On its own, the Move starter kit costs $100, so in essence, Sony is cutting the Move price in half when bundled with a $400 console. I think of it in a different, admittedly unsubstantiated way: Sony’s putting out the sans Move bundle mainly to lure people towards its new motion controller.

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The Playstation Phone, Pictured

Posted by Jared Newman on October 26, 2010 at 7:09 pm

Sony Ericsson’s Playstation Phone is looking pretty real in photos posted by Engadget. Josh Topolsky’s not saying how he got the photos, or whether he’s actually seen the device, but he assures that it’s an authentic prototype, with the final product potentially coming this year, or more likely in 2011.

As previously rumored, the Playstation Phone is an Android handset with game controls that slide out from the bottom side, kind of like the PSP Go. There’s a directional pad, face buttons and shoulder bumpers, plus a multi-touch track pad, which I’m guessing will act in place of analog thumbsticks. Specs include a 1 GHz Qualcomm processor, 512 MB of RAM, 1 GB of ROM, and a screen size of 3.7 to 4.1 inches.

The hardware looks pretty good, but hardware isn’t what will make or break the Playstation Phone. Software will be crucial, and we still don’t know much on that front.

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iPhones and iPads Get a DOS Emulator [Update: Gone]

Posted by Jared Newman on October 26, 2010 at 11:35 am

(Update: Word got around, I guess. iDOS is now gone from the App Store. Original post continues below.)

Either I’m dreaming, someone in Cupertino messed up, or Apple has seriously relaxed the rules of what flies in the iOS App Store. For $1, you can now download iDOS, a DOS emulator for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Touch Arcade broke the news earlier today, and I initially figured it was a fluke, like the accidental approval of a Nintendo emulator last year. But for now, the app is still available, and I just downloaded it directly on my iPhone and from within iTunes. iDos includes two games, Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug, plus its own virtual keyboard and keypad instead of the stock iOS inputs. I tried Dig Dug on an iPhone 3GS, and it’s a little slow, but I’m hoping for better results when I try it on the iPad later today.

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PSP Go Gets Price Cut, Still Pricey

Posted by Jared Newman on October 25, 2010 at 12:47 pm

A year after launching the ambitious but unsuccessful PSP Go, Sony has offered a price cut for the handheld gaming device.

The PSP Go now costs $200 instead of $250. That’s still $30 more expensive than the PSP-3000, which could probably use a price cut itself. Given the price of Sony Memory Sticks, the PSP Go no longer seems like a raw deal, but it’s still a tough sell compared to the $150 Nintendo DSi, or even the $229 iPod Touch.

The PSP Go is Sony’s attempt to get away from packaged media, thereby beating the used game market and piracy. Of course, those goals have nothing to do with what consumers want, and the Go’s perks over the PSP-3000 — a smaller, lighter build and and 16 GB of built-in memory — previously weren’t enough to justify a much higher price tag, lack of support for the physical UMD format and smaller downloadable game library. A $50 price cut might help.

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Drivers’ Ed at Home

Posted by Robin Raskin on October 22, 2010 at 2:51 pm

3D PC driving simulation gameLast Gadget Standing nominee: SimuRide Home Edition

Price: $75

Normally we want to focus on the gadget, not the software, but this one is worth knowing about. Teaching someone to drive a car ranks right up there with the Cyclone on the fear factor. The SimuRide Home Edition (SIMHE1) is a 3D PC driving simulation game (software CD) for beginner drivers. Used with any PC steering wheel device, beginner drivers can practice parallel parking, merging, passing, and other maneuvers in preparation for their driver’s license, featuring error alerts and reporting.

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Games for Windows: Buy in Browser, With Real Money

Posted by Jared Newman on October 22, 2010 at 9:23 am

Microsoft will do away with one of its biggest roadblocks to selling PC games by adding purchases directly from the web browser.

Currently, you have to download the clumsily-named Games for Windows – LIVE software to buy games from Microsoft. CNet reports that a new site will launch on November 15, called Games for Windows Marketplace, that lets people buy games without extra software.

Games for Windows – LIVE will still be used for large game files, but Xbox’s group project manager Peter Orullian told CNET that the software will “morph into a tool [consumers] might use for different reasons.” I’d like to see a way to manage friends lists and other online activity. You can’t do that in the existing software.

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Way Cool: Sierra Adventure Games as iPad Web Apps

Posted by Jared Newman on October 20, 2010 at 1:30 pm

Classic point-and-click adventure games seem like a natural fit for tablets, and especially the iPad, but right now there aren’t many of them, besides The Secret of Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky and Myst.

Martin Kool, who runs the adventure gaming site Sarien.net, plans to change that, without Apple’s approval. TouchArcade’s Eli Hodapp reports that Kool will bring classic Sierra point-and-clicks like Space Quest to the iPad, using HTML and CSS. You’ll be able to add the games as icons on the home screen, no hacking or jailbreaking required. Kool is putting the final touches on a bunch of games, and plans to have them ready within a month.

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An Indie Developer Makes a Kindle Game

Posted by Jared Newman on October 19, 2010 at 10:47 pm

Games for Amazon’s Kindle e-reader are trickling in. First came a pair of word games from Amazon itself, then came Solitaire and Scrabble from megapublisher Electronic Arts. Now, Spry Fox is stepping in with Triple Town, supposedly the first Kindle game from an independent studio.

Triple Town is a “match-three” game similar to Bejeweled, requiring the player to shuffle icons into rows of three or more. The twist is that each successful combo creates elements of a city, such as cathedrals and castles, which increase your score at the end of the game. Meanwhile, enemy icons can block you from making combinations.

Sure, Triple Town isn’t terribly innovative, but it’s definitely a sign of evolution for Kindle games. On any other platform, Triple Town would be another match-three game. On Kindle, it’s pretty unique. And that’s the point.

In a blog post, Spry Fox Chief Executive David Edery explained that Kindle gaming seemed like an untapped market. All of his developer pals either had no plans to create games for the device, or didn’t even know they could. He guessed that the Kindle has at least 2 million potential customers (Amazon doesn’t disclose sales figures), all of whom are inclined to spend lots of money on digital content, as demonstrated with e-books.

The question is whether a significant number of those customers view the Kindle as a device for anything besides reading. EA’s presence suggests that there’s a market, but Triple Town is the true test. If one indie game developer can make money on Kindle, expect lots of others to follow. I’ll be interested to see how this turns out.

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Is Kinect for Xbox 360 Sold Out? Don’t Buy That

Posted by Jared Newman on October 18, 2010 at 9:47 am

Sold out products make a company look good, so it’s no surprise that Microsoft is boasting about Kinect for Xbox 360’s supposedly limited availability.

In a press release announcing Kinect’s launch titles, Microsoft says pre-orders for the motion-sensing camera are “rapidly selling out.” Larry Hryb, director of programming for Xbox Live, wrote on his blog that “if you have not placed your order yet you may want to take care of that.”

I wouldn’t bother heeding his advice, at least if you live in the United States. Come November 4, I have a feeling you’ll be able to walk into a games retailer, see Kinect for yourself and make an informed decision on whether to buy. No need to rush.

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