DCEmu Featured News Articles

Pete Mander, a special effects artist from Ontario, Canada seems like he might have either had way too much time on his hands or just really enjoys Halo. Either way, this is one of those costumes that makes all of the cosplayers at a con feel like their best efforts just weren't quite up to par.

http://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/07...thers-To-Shame ...

Over $156 million were spent on Xbox 360 software during the month of May, upping the attach rate of games to Microsoft's console to 8.9.

Read Dead Redemption was the biggest title of the month, with over 945,000 units sold on the Xbox 360 compared to more than 567,000 on the PlayStation 3. THQ's UFC 2010 also sold better on 360, with Remedy's exclusive Alan Wake and EA's Xbox version of Skate 3 also charting in the top ten.

According to Microsoft, consumers spent $254 million on Xbox 360 hardware, software and peripherals during May. Looking forward, the company stated that retail is feeding back positive demand for the new slim Xbox 360 SKU.

"We are hearing great feedback from retailers that the new Xbox 360 250GB is experiencing unprecedented demand," said the company.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...0-games-in-may ...

Sony's PlayStation 3 enjoyed its tenth month of consecutive growth in May, according to US data from Sony.

Hardware sales were up 18 per cent compared to last May and revenues up 58 per cent, with Patrick Seybold, corporate communications boss, stating that inventory is beginning to improve after a number of months with supply issues.

"We are now beginning to experience greater availability of product and are looking forward to this fall’s most anticipated launch, PlayStation Move," he said in a statement.

Although sales continue to improve for Sony, overall revenues for all three home consoles were down 20 per cent in the US during May compared to last year due to lower prices on hardware.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ecutive-growth ...

Nintendo's DS console claimed over 86 per cent of the handheld hardware market in the US during the month of May.

The data comes from Nintendo, which sold over 383,000 units during the month, according to numbers from the NPD Group.

Hardware units sales for all three home consoles were flat for the month, but revenues were down 20 per cent due to lower prices. However, Wii sales still beat Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with over 334,000 units sold.

"These May results show that consumers are really responding to the value proposition of our new Wii configuration that now includes Wii Sports Resort and a Wii MotionPlus accessory," commented Cammie Dunaway, NOA executive vice president of Sales & Marketing.

"May also saw the launch of two great games: Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii and Picross 3D for Nintendo DS. They preface the steady drumbeat of big games for the second half of 2010 we announced at the E3 Expo that will keep fans engaged and having fun.."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...andheld-market ...

Sales in the US console business were down again in May to $823.5 million, a 5 per cent decrease on the previous year, according to data from the NPD Group.

Hardware took the biggest hit, down 20 per cent to $241.5 million, with software sales up 4 per cent to $466.3 million and accessories up 3 per cent to $115.7 million.

Unit sales of consoles were flat compared to last May, with revenues down due to the lower price of hardware, noted NPD. Nintendo DS had the best sales, with 383,700 units, followed by Wii sales of 334,800.

Microsoft sold a further 194,600 Xbox 360 units and Sony's PlayStation 3 154,500. The PSP sold 59,400 units.

As expected, Take-Two's Red Dead Redemption was the biggest game of the month, selling over 1.5 million copies and significantly better in Xbox 360 than PlayStation 3.

Take-Two's Ben Feder said earlier in the week the the game had "sucked the oxygen" out of the market, and NPD numbers seem to back that statement up. Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy 2, the second best seller of the month, sold 563,900 units during the month.

THQ's UFC 2010 managed 413,400 units on 360 and PS3, while Microsoft's Xbox 360 exclusive Alan Wake managed to break into the top ten at number eight.

Sales for the full year are down 10 per cent compared to 2009, with hardware down 20 per cent and software down 6 per cent - overall sales are $5.56 billion.

The full NPD data follows:

Hardware sales for May

01 Nintendo DS - 383,700
02 Wii - 334,800
03 Xbox 360 - 194,600
04 PlayStation 3 - 154,500
05 PSP - 59,400
Software sales for May

01 Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360) - 945,900
02 Red Dead Redemption (PlayStation3) - 567,100
03 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 563,900
04 UFC 2010: Undisputed (Xbox 360) - 221,100
05 UFC 2010: Undisputed (PlayStation 3) - 192,300
06 Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
07 New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
08 Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
09 Pokemon SoulSilver Version (DS)
10 Skate 3 (Xbox 360)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-again-in-may ...

New research claims that consumers consider physical product to be more important in games than in newspapers, films or music.
A survey of over 1,000 people by research firm Ipsos MediaCT found that 64 per cent preferred physical discs for their games over digital copies.
Newspapers followed closely with 63 per cent opting for hard copies. Conversely music and film were considerably lower, with a respective 45 and 51 per cent shunning digital.
“I believe the preference for physical discs amongst next gen gamers reflects the potential value they derive from the pre-owned market, which is holding up the preference for physical – this is unlike the music and film markets,” said Ipsos MediaCT director Ian Bramley.
“Physical games discs have a long and well-established history, which is a deep mindset to change – particularly when gamers build a physical collection as they fear losing digital versions. And in-store browsing is also important to buyers.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39857/64-p...scs-to-digital ...

Bulletstorm developer, People Can Fly has questioned whether players actually give a monkey's about graphics any more.

Speaking to CVG, founder Adrian Chmielarz said he doesn't really care about video game visuals that much - so it's really lucky that his shooter looks fantastically good.

"The thing is, we really do not care that much," he said of game graphics. "When you take a look at the visual quality of Gears - the density of detail, so to speak - in my opinion, it kills Modern Warfare easily. But, Modern Warfare is 60 frames-per-second, and composition of the scene in Modern Warfare is really, really good. It's excellent.

"I think right now so long as the game has a minimum level of quality, which is for us and everyone who wants to matter in this business is really high, do players really care? Seriously, if it really looks good, do we need to join race?

He added: "If people say our game looks better than another game, we will be happy, but that's not our goal. We just want to invite you on an adventure."

Bulletstorm, in case you missed it, is a Cliff Bleszinski-produced shooter in which you can impale people on giant, spike wielding plants, slide kick bizarre-looking guards, and in which a man can exclaim, "You scared the dick off me!" when he feels like it.

Cliffy B recently stuck up a six minute walkthrough video of the game in action. Watch it.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Apple has issued an open letter to iPhone 4 owners in an effort to explain the reported problems with the handset's antenna design and signal reception.
The company says the cause is "both simple and surprising" - the formula it uses to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is "totally wrong". Here's the letter in full:
Dear iPhone 4 Users,
The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product launch in Apple’s history. It has been judged by reviewers around the world to be the best smartphone ever, and users have told us that they love it. So we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them. Here is what we have learned.

To start with, gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones. But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way which covers the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band. This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have accused the iPhone 4 of having a faulty antenna design.
At the same time, we continue to read articles and receive hundreds of emails from users saying that iPhone 4 reception is better than the iPhone 3GS. They are delighted. This matches our own experience and testing. What can explain all of this?
We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.
Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.
To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.
We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.
We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same— the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologise for any anxiety we may have caused.
As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.
We hope you love the iPhone 4 as much as we do.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/37707...-antenna-issue ...

Via http://www.scenebeta.com/noticia/the...ebrew-showcase

This is the third edition of this homage for coders in which SceneBeta.com distribute more than 3000€ in cash prizes, and also 4GB pendrives and trophies. If you are a coder, your homebrew can take part of the Scenery Beta and you can win one of the prizes.

The last year more than 80 homebrews where presented in PSP, NDS, Wii and PC platforms. In 2010 we will also accept homebrews for Android and iOS.

Scenery Beta 2010 is not a competition, it is just a festival (similar to cinema festivals) which not only pay tribute to all those great coders who make the scene bigger and bigger, but also make the rest of us enjoy with new games and applications for our favourite consoles and terminals.

And we also want to award to the users who help us to spread the original Scenery Beta article: you can win one 4GB pendrive and a T-Shirt if you create an article about the Scenery Beta in your blog or website. Here are the details.

Thank you to all the coders who help the Scene growing. We hope that all of you (and all the Scene lovers) enjoy this little homage.

You can post here if you have any doubt about it, I will try to answer ASAP.



Enjoy. ...