A Lego Mindstorms robotics kit controlled by an HTC Nexus One smartphone successfully untangled a Rubik's Cube puzzle in 12.5 seconds at this weeks ARM technical conference in Silicon Valley. The current 3x3x3 cube-solvers's 15-second average represents a substantial improvement over the 25-second solutions of an earlier version, which was powered by a circa-2006 Nokia N95 smartphone, thanks to a faster (1GHz) CPU, more RAM, and revamped cube-solving algorithms. ARM Engineer David Gilder, who created the robotic cube-solver, claims the current version's algorithms can handle cube complexities up to 100x100x100, assuming he build the mechanics. In terms of racing humans, Gilder says the Lego robotics kits can only manage around 1.5 moves per second, whereas human players can make between 5 and 6 moves per second, amazingly enough.

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/11...In-125-Seconds ...

Microsoft's reboot of its smartphone division seems to have suffered a major setback in its first real test, apparently selling only 40,000 Windows Phone 7 devices on the day of its release in the US - despite an estimated $100 million marketing budget.

That figure is spread across nine different models of smartphone supporting the new OS and architecture, between the two US carriers currently stocking the phone - At&T and T-Mobile.

The figure was reported by business site The Street, which cites its source as a 'market research firm' but does not give details. No international figures are available.

To put that figure into context, Apple claims that 270,000 iPhones are being sold each day, internationally, while Google puts the daily sales for its Android phones at around 200,000.

"It's early in the game," Nielsen telecom analyst Roger Entner told The Street. "Not every product surges right out of the starting blocks. The first Android phone was not a big seller at T-Mobile."

"We'll see what happens with Black Friday sales. They'll probably cut prices like everyone else does. It's the nature of the beast. The only one that doesn't do promotions is Apple."

However, many retailers and twitter users posting with the #WP7 hashtag were reporting sell-outs across the US and in other territories. Microsoft and the US carriers have declined to publish any official sales figures for the phones.

Windows Phone 7 offers customers integrated Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live support - a feature countered by Apple's Game Center feature.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ndows-7-phones ...

Blitz Games claims to be getting nearly twice as much out of Kinect as everyone else. Those games you see on the shelves today - they're using barely a third of what the new device can do.

"A lot of the games you're seeing are using 20 to 30 per cent of what Kinect's capable of," Blitz Games' Steve Stopps remarked to Eurogamer. "What we're doing is using probably 50 to 60 per cent.

"What most developers are starting to do now is they're realising that under the hood of what Kinect can do there's a whole world of potential we're only really just scratching."

The Kinect Sports and the Kinect Adventures and the Dance Centrals of the world are using Kinect in a very "obvious" way, Stopps declared. Yoostar 2, Blitz' game, adopts an "innovative" approach.

Yoostar 2 takes clips from famous films and puts you in them. For instance, Arnold Schwarzenegger telling the Police clerk "I'll be back": you'll watch the scene once and then Arnie will be cut out you will fill his shoes - Kinect removes you from your living room and places you in the scene in real-time.

This process was only possible on PC because Yoostar 1 shipped with a green screen. The PS3 Move version almost had to ship a green-screen, too - until Stopps and team worked out a clever get-around for the PlayStation Eye.

"You'll see a lot of the games coming out in the first generation aren't using much of the voice recognition technology," Stopps continued. "That will add a whole new layer to what people can do within a game and what people can engage with.

"You'll also find that every single game at the moment is a Kinect only game. There's a whole world of opportunities for games to use both controller and Kinect together to deliver a different experience.

"And the third thing," he added, "is the most important: it's the different design approach required to design a Kinect game. It's not necessarily a functionality that exists, it's designing a game with a Kinect mentality - approaching a game from an utterly different direction. You're trying to think of engaging ways to use the body and voice recognition to create immersive and fun gameplay."

When that potential is unlocked, Stopps is "100 per cent yes" convinced that Kinect can support core game experiences.

"Imagine playing something like Halo or like Call of Duty where you're holding a controller in your hand but if you want to look round a corner you actually move your head and the camera position changes," he dreamed. "Those kind of experiences you can create to blend the best of Kinect and the best of a controller."

Yoostar 2 will be released for Kinect and Move in Q1 2011 - "around 21st February," Stopps said. Johnny Minkley talked to Spock about it.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...cent-of-kinect ...

A Kinect Sports Facebook app that sorts times set in the main Xbox 360 game into online leagues has been released.

Developed by Rare and Nzime, the Kinect Sports Facebook app uses your Xbox Live gamertag to compare your results with those of friends and randoms in Kinect Sports leagues.

You can join a weekly international league, create your own league and watch videos of your performances uploaded from Kinect Sports.

Leagues are automatically updated. Coming soon is the ability to see your complete personal stats and records (event-specific or all-in).

Kinect Sports released on Wednesday alongside Kinect itself. Johnny Minkley awarded it 7/10 for Eurogamer.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...k-app-launched ...

Call of Duty: Black Ops sold 5.6 million copies in the US and UK combined - in one day. That's more than Modern Warfare 2's opening record of 4.7 million copies.

Those sales generated $360 million for Activision. Modern Warfare 2 only made $310 million, scoff.

"There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year's five-day global sales record of $550 million," commented Activision's Bobby Kotick.

"The game's success underscores the pop culture appeal of the brand. Call of Duty: Black Ops is the finest game that Treyarch has ever made and raises the bar for online gameplay by delivering the deepest and most intense Call of Duty experience yet.

"The Call of Duty franchise has over 25 million players around the world that are engaged in billions of hours of online gameplay, and we are committed to supporting them with new content and features on a more frequent and regular basis."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-sales-records ...

It's going to be a great month of Xbox Live Marketplace downloads in November.

We'll be all over the Halo Reach: Noble Map pack on November 30, and the re-release of Dreamcast classic Crazy Taxi on November 24.

But there's also open world madness in the new Crackdown 2 Deluge Pack DLC, and Mafia 2 gets its 'Joe's Adventures' mission pack on November 23.

Below is the full list, and head through to Major Nelson for details of Gold membership deals and an ESPN-related contest.

Xbox LIVE Arcade:

November 17: Alien Breed 3: Descent, 800 Microsoft Points
November 24: Crazy Taxi, 800 Microsoft Points

Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week** :

Week of November 22: Save 50% on Hasbro Family Game Night titles:
Connect 4X4, 400 Microsoft Points
Jenga, 400 Microsoft Points
Pictureka, 400 Microsoft Points
Sorry! Sliders, 400 Microsoft Points
Boggle, 400 Microsoft Points
Sorry!, 400 Microsoft Points
Battleship, 400 Microsoft Points
Connect 4, 400 Microsoft Points
Scrabble, 400 Microsoft Points
Yahtzee, 400 Microsoft Points

**Special pricing available for Xbox LIVE Gold Members

Xbox Games On Demand:
November 23: Alan Wake

Xbox LIVE Avatar Marketplace:
November 16: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
November 18: Mafia II

Xbox Game Add-Ons:
November 16: Crackdown 2 The Deluge Pack, 560 Microsoft Points
November 17: Space Invaders: Infinity Gene Add-on , 240 Microsoft Points
November 23: Mafia II Joe's Adventures, 800 Microsoft Points
November 23: 3D Ultra MiniGolf Adventures 2: Fairy Tales Map Pack, 240 Microsoft Points
November 30: Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack, 800 Microsoft Points

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

THQ president Brian Farrell thinks the $59.99 asking price for games is "keeping people out," and plans to explore cheaper price points in a move that he says is "the way games are gonna go".

"What we're thinking about the business is we're turning it on its head a little bit," said Farrell at the BMO Capital Markets conference this week (via Gamasutra). "It's not, 'how high a price can we get', but 'how many users',"

"If you can capture everyone under that economic curve, that's where you can make the most money," he explained, adding that he believes the $59.99 price of games is "keeping people out".

"When we launched [MX vs. ATV] at $59.99, we'd do some units, and then when we brought the price down to the mass market-friendly price of $39.99, it would just pop,"

Thus Farrell hopes that launching at a lower price point from the start would garner a larger install base to which he can flog large amounts of DLC content.

"So the thinking this time is, let's initially launch at $39.99 -- it's a very robust game, very high quality, so this is not about trying to get a secondary title out.

"It's an AAA title, at that price point, but then with a series of DLC so people can extend their experience. We think this is the future of gaming. We think that's the way games are gonna go in the long term."

What do you think?

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

The Nintendo Wii has become the fastest selling console in Australia, claiming a two million installed base in 47 months.
According to IGN, the previous record holder was Nintendo's DS which sold the same amount of hardware in 52 months.
The Nintendo Wii is available as a black sku in Australia and comes bundled with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, priced at AUS $299.95.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/41771/Wii-...les-Down-Under ...

Last week we gave Steven Beall a platform and he ranted about Microsoft's Kinect. CVG reader Matt Brown (dubplate240) also mourned the loss of some old friends.

This week James Ward gives his two cents about developers' attitudes towards the PSP in issue 134 of PSM3 while Jonnty Higham makes a simple request...

PORTABLE PASSION
love my PSP. I think it's a marvellous bit of kit and completely undervalued and underrated by a lot of people. When Peace Walker came along, PSP went up further in my estimation.


It's wonderfully addictive and I must have played it more than a lot of my fully fledged PS3 games - and I'm not even close to stopping.

I think it was a masterstroke to put PW onto the PSP, as I'm sure I wouldn't have put anywhere near as much time into it if I was sat in front of my TV.

The little screen just seems to suck me in and, with a pair of headphones, I get totally immersed in the experience. Those hand-drawn cut scenes are just outstanding, and I love micro-managing my ever expanding military outfit.

It's those RPG elements that just get me hooked, coming away from a mission finding your Gustav Rocket Launcher is now a four-star, lean-mean-tank-killingmachine is very rewarding.

I was initially worried when it was first released, with a heavy emphasis on co-op play, as I thought this was going to be mandatory.

Thankfully, I got through the main campaign on my own with just the right amount of challenge from the excellent bosses.

What frustrates me about the PSP - as highlighted by Peace Walker - is the lack of AAA games. If developers really took the time they could make some fantastic titles, some fully fledged games.

Too many PSP games just seem like throw-away spin-offs. The problem is that a lot of developers don't take it seriously enough. Maybe Peace Walker will make people sit up and take notice and want to make PSP games that are just as good!

PSM3 responds: It's good to hear someone sticking up for PSP. Peace Walker is, arguably, the best portable game ever - and so ideally structured for handheld play, that a HD PS3 version, as some demanded, would be missing the point.

Sony's PSP strategy has been hit and miss - they've had great ideas, such as Wi-Fi and direct PSN access for game downloads, but they're too fiddly, or poorly implemented.

Piracy has killed the software market, too. We're almost certain to see a PSP2 next year, so let's pray they get that right from the off.


CVG says: We agree with James, the PSP is a great handheld with life left in it, so it's a shame it's being somewhat ignored. As he's highlighted, games like Peace Walker and both God of War: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta are proof of that.

The PSP is particularly well-suited for RPG games so it's a shame Square Enix has thrown its catalog of Final Fantasy remakes exclusively on the Nintendo DS.

However, when all is said and done, it's about doing what's necessary to guarantee the health of your product and ultimately make money. Unfortunately the PSP install base is much smaller than that of the DS and piracy is rampant. Let's hope Sony has better fortunes with the PSP2.

GIVE US HITMAN
Eidos' best franchise is the Hitman series. Forget Just Cause, Kane & Lynch and even the Lara Croft games: Agent 47's adventures produce some of the best experiences you're ever likely to have on a PlayStation.

Big baldy has yet to receive an outing on PS3 - my question is, what's taking so long? I want to get the thrill of following a target through the chaos of Mardi Gras; I want to experience the excitement of putting together my W2000 sniper rifle with the intent of calmly head-shotting my would-be victims; I want to feel the adrenaline pump as I try to be a silent assassin.

Blood Money left us with an exceptional ending. Agent 47 wasn't actually betrayed. It was just a ruse so that he could take out the head honcho of the Franchise at his 'funeral'. Diana works for the royal
family! C'mon! How could you not love that ending? Now


Now just think what they could do on the PS3. Get it together, Eidos, and make a new Hitman game.

PSM3 responds: We agree. Hitman is Eidos' best property, but since Blood Money, developer IO have churned out two mediocre Kane & Lynch games and Mini Ninjas.

Hitman 5 was tipped for this year, but went quiet. Expectations are so high, we hope the delay is born of IO's perfectionism, not struggles with PS3 - which sealed the fate of fellow PS2 gods Pandemic and Free Radical. Still, we're bracing for good news soon.

CVG says: The developer's work on the Kane & Lynch franchise doesn't exactly inspire us to champion a new Hitman, but after that brief recap how could we say no - we're with you Jonny.

One minor issue though; we're pretty sure Eidos (now owned by Square Enix) also has the Soul Reaver franchise, and if it's a choice between Agent 47 and Raziel - we're backing the vampire-turned-wraith all the way.

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