DCEmu Featured News Articles

Market research firm DFC Intelligence has suggested that Kinect will have a "negligible impact" on the Xbox 360's sales and that the console "has some good years left, but the platform is clearly on the downside of its lifecycle."

A monthly briefing by the company forecasts that the Wii and Xbox 360 will see a gradual slowdown in sales over the next two years, but with the PlayStation 3 enjoying an increase on a worldwide basis.

Although the briefing note is sceptical on the "overall vision for 3D in gaming", at least for systems which require glasses to be worn, greater concern is voiced over Microsoft's plans for the Xbox 360 and Kinect.

"Based on what we have seen, DFC continues to feel that Microsoft is going to struggle to expand beyond its core audience," said the briefing note.

"With Kinect, Microsoft is trying to follow after what has worked for other companies," said DFC. "There are numerous problems with this approach, but the biggest problem is Microsoft, at its core, is simply not an entertainment company."

"Almost every time Microsoft has tried to emulate successful entertainment products they have failed," said the company in a scathing attack. "With MSN and casual games Microsoft was able to attract a fairly large and diverse audience, but these products were free. We don’t know the price of the Kinect, but it is definitely not free."

The analysts did note however that the major exception to this supposed rule is Microsoft's efforts in PC gaming and the Xbox itself. Although they take time to criticise the acquisition of UK developer Rare.

"In its business software, Microsoft has been successful in analysing what works for users of other products and incrementally incorporating those features into Microsoft products. The problem is developing hit entertainment products simply does not follow that model."

"At the end of the day, we see Kinect has having some appeal to a well-heeled fitness audience. In terms of changing the overall videogame hardware platform market share we see it having a negligible impact," said DFC.

"The longer term issue facing the console manufacturers is that the business model of launching a new hardware system every five years simply no longer works," concludes the note.

"Products like Kinect and PlayStation Move are an attempt to get around this dilemma. Unfortunately, we think they are at best a temporary attempt to tackle a much larger strategic issue."

Both Sony and Microsoft have said that this generation of games consoles will remain on the market much longer than previous generations. Last week, Microsoft's Chris Lewis said that he believes Kinect can help the console remain relevant for another five years.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-its-lifecycle ...

Apple has been accused of violation of the Federal Communications Act, three counts of products liability related to negligence, defect in design and breach of implied warranty, intentional and negligent misrepresentation, fraud by concealment, unfair business practices and more. 'The iPhone 4 manifests design and manufacturing defects that were known to Defendants before it was released which were not disclosed to consumers, namely, a connection problem caused by the iPhone 4's antenna configuration that makes it difficult or impossible to maintain a connection to AT&T's network,' the California complaint reads.

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/0...one-4-Antennas ...

A serious design flaw or a big ball of nothing – however you view the Apple iPhone 4 antenna crisis, the good news for retailers is that rubber bands are suddenly in serious demand.
While the true extent of the iPhone 4’s reception issues are still yet to be fully explored, what we can be certain of is that using one of Apple’s £25 ‘bumper’ cases significantly lessens the issue of dropped reception when the phone is in a user’s hands.
Such is the demand for Apple’s case – which can only be purchased direct from the platform holder – that all colours aside from black currently have a three-week delay if ordered online.
So it’s no surprise to see other firms quickly moving to get their own ‘bumper’ designs onto the market.
The likes of Gear4 and Griffin had a range of iPhone 4 cases in O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores for the launch of the device last week, but the first alternative ‘bumpers’ to those offered by Apple are already being listed by some retailers.

Orange has placeholder listings for the Gear4 ‘Band’, though no release date has yet been announced. Higher-end solutions are now also being marketed. ElementCase is taking pre-orders on the Vapor4 – a laser engraved aluminium bumper with an inner ‘non-conductive’ lining. Prices start at $79.95.
Sellers are also quickly flooding eBay with a range of cheap bumper alternatives which can be had alongside the official options – if you’re willing to pay a premium price.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39837/iPhone-4s-bumper-payday ...

Mad Catz looks like it's set to once again flood stores with peripherals for Call of Duty.

A tweet from online retailer, Game Gears has revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops will get a total of NINE peripherals.

Although further details were not provided it was announced earlier this year that Mad Catz has extended its licensing agreement with Activision and will continue to make peripherals for the next Call of Duty game.

Judging from its Modern Warfare 2 offerings it doesn't take a genius to guess there will probably be combat controllers, throat mics and themed decals for your console of choice.

How very exciting!

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Mobile industry blogger Ricky Cadden - known as the Symbian Guru on his influential site - is giving up on Symbian and getting an Android handset.
He's explained why on the blog, and let Nokia and Symbian have it with both barrels in the process.
"I can’t continue to support a manufacturer who puts out such craptastic ‘flagships’ as the N97, and who expects me to use services that even most of Nokia’s own employees don’t use," he writes.
"I also can’t continue to support a mobile operating system platform that continually buries itself into oblivion by focusing on ‘openness’ while keeping a blind eye towards the obvious improvements that other open platforms have had for several iterations."
Cadden says that Nokia's N97 was the last straw, slating its buggy launch firmware and hardware issues.

And as for the Symbian Foundation:
"The platform still languishes behind Android in simple features – being able to replace various pieces of the OS at the users’ whim, native threaded SMS/MMS, integrated IM, and a usable app marketplace, among others."
And as a parting shot:
"To Nokia, you guys are losing. Hard. Wake the hell up. Doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting different results is the definition of insanity... To Symbian, if you’d stop shouting about being open, you’d see that you’re losing too. Consumers are leaving and developers are staying away."
Cadden has been one of the most influential pro-Symbian (and pro-Nokia) voices on the blogosphere in recent years. His decision to switch is thus high-profile.
Bloggers with iPhone or Android tunnel vision are routinely rude about Symbian and Nokia. For one of their champions to follow suit could and should worry both.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/37686...an-for-Android ...

Just weeks after it made its debut in North America, Microsoft has announced that it has pulled the plug on its social-media orientated Kin mobile handset, meaning the European launch planned for later this year will not now happen.
All staff previously assigned to Kin development will not be shifted onto Windows Phone 7 duties, according to CNET.
“We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship Kin in Europe this fall as planned,” a statement confirmed.
“Additionally, we are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the US to sell current Kin phones.”
As a result, question marks now hang over the proposed software updates scheduled for the platform this summer. Handsets can now be grabbed for as little as half price from US carrier Verizon. Total sales of the handsets are though to number “significantly below” 10,000.

Big European question marks also hang over Microsoft’s MP3 device Zune, which continues to struggle to find traction in the US market.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39836/Micr...ll-time-on-Kin ...

Japanese publisher Square Enix has announced a brand new action title for the PSP called Lord of Arcana.
The title sees players being “plunged into the dark depths of the underworld to fight vast and powerful creatures of legend in their quest to obtain the power of Arcana”. Combat is said to be simple with a huge variety of enemy types.
Multiplayer is very much the focus with up to four gamers teaming up via an ad-hoc connection to tackle the title’s demons. Post-release DLC ha also been confirmed.
Square Enix’s VP of brands for the PAL region Larry Sparks stated: “With incredible visuals and non-stop action, mixed with great multiplayer co-op and creatures designed by a variety of world-famous illustrators, Lord of Arcana is not to be missed when it comes to the PSP system.”
A release date for the game has yet to be confirmed, though it has been confirmed for a European/PAL release.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39831/Squa...r-Hunter-rival ...

Mozilla has submitted its Firefox Home iPhone app to Apple for approval, the company has announced.
It's not a full browser like Opera Mini, which was released on the App Store earlier this year. Instead, Firefox Home acts as a bridge between Firefox on a user's home computer, and Safari on their iPhone.
It keeps a record of their desktop history, bookmarks and open tabs, synchronising wirelessly via the Firefox Sync service.
Users can then tap on any of those sites, tabs or bookmarks in the Firefox Home app to open them in Safari.
"Are you on the go all the time? Run to a meeting, or catch a cab to the airport without thinking twice. Just pull out your iPhone and access the list of tabs you just had open on your desktop," blogs Mozilla, with one possible use case.


So why not release a full browser, if Opera is allowed onto the App Store? It's all down to what Mozilla thinks Apple will allow.
"Our understanding of browsers in the iPhone App Store is that a ‘full' Web browser like Firefox that incorporates its own Web rendering and JavaScript engines would be prohibited," said Mozilla's Jay Sullivan in April.
Then, when Firefox Home was first shown off in late May, Mozilla referred to "devices or platforms where we're unable to provide the 'full' Firefox browser (either technically or due to policy)".

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/37684...itted-to-Apple ...

Shigeru Miyamoto has confessed that Nintendo's ageing line-up of mascots and franchises could use some fresh blood - and hinted that we might see new characters from the company next year.

"We need new game characters soon, maybe we can move forward on that next year," the designer and R&D chief told a stockholders' meeting in Japan this week, as reported by the Sankei Shinbun newspaper and 1UP.

Miyamoto had been asked what Nintendo's "next game" might be. His comment comes two weeks after Nintendo unveiled new Zelda, Mario, Kirby and Donkey Kong games at E3, even exhuming 8-bit hero Kid Icarus as a standard-bearer for 3DS.

GoldenEye and Golden Sun were among the other elderly (if much-loved) series whose return to Nintendo platforms was announced in LA two weeks ago, while Nintendo will be launching Pokemon Black and White for DS in Japan this year.

The last new character designs from Miyamoto's own pen - if you don't count virtual puppies or customisable Miis - were probably Captain Olimar and the Pikmin in 2001.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/mi...ters-next-year ...