Nintendo has again been named as the least environmentally friendly electronics company, scoring a dismal 1.8 out of ten in a report by campaign group Greenpeace.

The company actually receives positive remarks for the DSi's low power AC adaptor which adheres to the Energy Star programme and disclosing details of carbon dioxide emissions and chemicals management.

However, Greenpeace pulled the company up on failing to disclose details of its commitment to reducing greenhouse gasses, no timeline to eliminate the use of PVC in its products and no details of e-waste policies.

Scoring marginally better was Microsoft with 2.9 out of ten, but again offering no commitment to phasing out PVC, and less clarity on the phase out of hazardous substances. Although it does not adhere to the Energy Star standard for games consoles, Greenpeace did highlight that the Xbox 360 S uses 50 per cent less energy than the original Xbox launched in 2005.

Apple was marked 4.9 out of ten, with praise from Greenpeace for a majority of PVC products and for lobbying the European Union for a ban on PVC. E-waste and clarity on the phase out of toxic chemicals were a negative.

Sony also scored well for products that are partially free of PVC, although Greenpeace said it would like to see this expanded to include more hardware devices. Awarding Sony a 5.1 out of ten, the report noted that 10 per cent of all plastics used in the 2008 financial year were recycled. 5 per cent of all PCs sold between January and March 2010 conform to the Energy Star standard.

Elsewhere in the report, Nokia was the highest scoring company with 7.5 out of ten and Sony Ericsson just behind with 6.9 out of ten.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...enpeace-report ...

There have been numerous reasons why the White iPhone 4 may be delayed with one reason being the color mismatch between the home button and the body. Well this time there is another reason. A source has told CultofMac that the reason for the delay is a light leakage issue caused by the case being clear. Light from the case leaks into pictures taken by the back and front camera on the White iPhone 4 causing distorted pictures. This problem is non-existent on the Black iPhone 4 because of its already black case so Apple has been looking for a solution to this problem thus the delay of the White iPhone 4 till spring of next year.

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/1...e-4-Is-Delayed ...

It's hard to believe that what we're looking at is real -- but we assure you, the picture above is in fact the PlayStation Phone you've long been waiting for. As we reported back in August, the device you see is headed into the market soon, likely boasting Android 3.0 (aka Gingerbread), along with a custom Sony Marketplace which will allow you to purchase and download games designed for the new platform. The device snapped up top (and in our gallery below) is sporting a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 (a chip similar to the one found in the G2, but 200MHz faster), 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and the screen is in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches. Looking almost identical to the mockup we hit you with this summer, the handset does indeed have a long touchpad in the center which is apparently multitouch, and you can see in the photos that it's still bearing those familiar PlayStation shoulder buttons. For Sony buffs, you'll be interested to know that there's no Memory Stick slot here, but there is support for microSD cards.

The particular model in these shots is still in prototyping mode. As such, the unit doesn't have a custom skin (not even SE's Timescape design seen on the Xperia devices), and is said to be rather buggy. We're digging into more facts as we speak, but it's likely that much of what we reported earlier is still accurate, and though the device could still be headed for a 2010 release, 2011 is looking much more realistic. Still, there's a lot of time between now and the holidays... so keep your fingers crossed!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/26/t...station-phone/ ...

Curious where Palm model number P102UNA -- the North American UMTS variant of the Pre 2 -- might be headed? Since Bell and Telus rolled out their HSPA networks, Canada's become far more averse to CDMA than the US has, so it makes sense that they'd be getting Palm's latest handset in a GSM flavor, not a CDMA one (à la Verizon). To that end, MobileSyrup's managed to score some shots of a Rogers-branded Pre 2 strutting its stuff, though they don't have a date or price -- and Palm's official line is still "in the coming months." Anyone out there planning on moving to France to get it sooner?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/p...s-in-the-wild/ ...

Moving from regular SIMs to micro SIMs for the iPad and iPhone 4 was a fairly user-hostile move on Apple's part, seeing how it made moving between an iPhone and virtually any other GSM device quite a bit more difficult; the official explanation (for the iPhone 4, anyway) was that there simply wasn't room for a regular SIM, but that seems unlikely considering that you're only saving 10mm of length, 3mm of width, and 0mm of thickness. A more plausible scenario is that Apple viewed micro SIMs as a way to get ahead of the industry curve a bit and make it unpleasant for users to try to share an iPhone line with other devices, a concept that gets at the core of Apple's mantra of owning the entire ecosystem from end to end.

But could they be trying to take that concept another step further? GigaOM is reporting a rumor today that Apple is working tightly with security firm Gemalto -- you know, the SIM guys -- to integrate software-reconfigurable SIMs right into European iPhones that would be activated on the carrier of your choice using an App Store download. Why European models? Multiple carriers offer the iPhone in a number of European countries, so distribution is a bit more complicated there than it is in the US, though it's a reasonable leap to suggest that the same integrated SIMs would be use on new North American iPhones as well. From Apple's perspective, it's a win-win: trying to use your iPhone line with another device would be akin to pulling teeth, and more importantly, Apple wouldn't need to worry about bundling carrier-specific SIMs with devices. In fact, the move would make Apple's (and the consumer's) interactions with the carrier entirely virtual, all the way from manufacture to activation. Seems like the plan would require an extraordinary amount of buy-in from carriers who've become increasingly suspicious of Apple's goals lately -- but then again, they managed to get carriers to suddenly and rapidly deploy micro SIMs en masse, and if anyone could pull this off, it'd be Steve's boys and girls.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/a...r-next-iphone/ ...

A bumper crop of circumstantial evidence surrounding the Android-based PlayStation Phone is starting to come together today -- when it rains, it pours, as they say -- and one particularly interesting thread suggests that the ecosystem surrounding the device might be called "Z-System." An astute tipster notes that the term appears in the upper left of one of our shots, which maps to a domain -- z-system.com, naturally -- that's owned by Sony Ericsson. Turns out the company also holds trademarks for Z-System in the US and Benelux trademark offices (among others, presumably) that were filed (and approved) this year, and the filing category includes "software for interacting or playing with electronic or video games," not hardware, so that strongly suggests we're looking at a platform here. We suppose it's possible that this specific device will be called Z-System, but we're going to float the theory that its actually underlying gaming platform that'll bear that name -- possibly a premium game store and set of software libraries that together will earn a device the Z-System badge. As we already saw with the BlackPad / SurfBook / PlayBook fiasco, trademarks don't mean much until a device is actually announced -- but it's something to keep an eye on.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/27/s...ming-platform/ ...

You can try four new games for free on the PlayStation Store today.

These are the new Need for Speed game Hot Pursuit from Criterion; hack-and-slash Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage from Tecmo Koei; strange action adventure starring a big monster as your friend Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom; and on-rails PlayStation Move shooter Time Crisis: Razing Storm.

There are various Halloween celebrations doing the rounds, too. LittleBigPlanet offers a free Halloween mask, Guitar Hero offers three songs from the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Red Dead Redemption gets the Undead Nightmare add-on.

Super Street Fighter IV welcomes an Ultra Challenges pack as well.

Keep an eye on the European PlayStation blog for the PSP Digital Comic Store update plus any PlayStation Home and SingStar gubbins.

Special Offers (available until 10th November)

PS3: Voodoo Dice (was £7.99/€9.99 now £5.49/€6.99)
PS3: Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom: Booster Pack (was £3.49/€3.99 now £0.79/€0.99)
PS3: Cuboid: Level Editor (was £3.19/€3.99 now £0.79/€0.99)
PS3: Cuboid: Booster Pack (was £2.39/€2.99 now £0.79/€0.99)
PSP: Dissidia: Final Fantasy (was £19.99/€24.99 now £15.99/€19.99)
PSP: James Cameron's Avatar: The Game (was £23.99/€29.99 now £15.99/€19.99)
Minis: Alien Zombie Death! (was £2.49/€2.99 now £1.74/€1.99)
Minis: Supermarket Mania (was £3.99/€4.99 now £2.49/€2.99)
PS3 Demos

Time Crisis: Razing Storm
Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage
PS3 Game Content

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (£7.99/€9.99) (20 per cent off for PS Plus subs)
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Collection (£15.99/€19.99) (contains Undead Nightmare pack, Legends and Killers pack, Liars and Cheats pack)
The Sims 3: Online Pass (£7.99/€9.99)
LittleBigPlanet: Halloween Mask (free for one week only)
Dead Rising 2: Sports Fan Skill Pack (£1.59/€1.99)
Super Street Fighter IV: Ultra Challengers Pack 1 (£3.19/€3.99)
PAIN: I, Probot Pinball Level Pack (£1.59/€1.99), Souxxie Character (£0.79/€0.99)
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock: The Rocky Horror Picture Show Track Pack (£4.39/€5.49), Soundgarden invididual songs
Rock Band Network: 'Cheat On The Church' by Graveyard BBQ (£0.99/€1.49), 'Chiron Beta Prime' by Jonathan Coulton (£0.99/€1.49), 'How We'd Look On Paper' by The Main Drag (£0.59/€0.79), 'Life Unworthy Of Life' by Warpath (£0.59/€0.79), 'Rip'Er' by Lead the Dead (£0.59/€0.79)
PSone Games

Missile Command (£3.99/€4.99)
Minis

Boom Beats (£2.49/€2.99)
PSP Games

PES 2011 (£23.99/€29.99)
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (£15.99/€19.99)
PSP Game Content

LittleBigPlanet PSP: KillZone Costume Pack (£0.79/€0.99)

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...sn-store-today ...

You can try four new games for free on the PlayStation Store today.

These are the new Need for Speed game Hot Pursuit from Criterion; hack-and-slash Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage from Tecmo Koei; strange action adventure starring a big monster as your friend Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom; and on-rails PlayStation Move shooter Time Crisis: Razing Storm.

There are various Halloween celebrations doing the rounds, too. LittleBigPlanet offers a free Halloween mask, Guitar Hero offers three songs from the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Red Dead Redemption gets the Undead Nightmare add-on.

Super Street Fighter IV welcomes an Ultra Challenges pack as well.

Keep an eye on the European PlayStation blog for the PSP Digital Comic Store update plus any PlayStation Home and SingStar gubbins.

Special Offers (available until 10th November)

PS3: Voodoo Dice (was £7.99/€9.99 now £5.49/€6.99)
PS3: Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom: Booster Pack (was £3.49/€3.99 now £0.79/€0.99)
PS3: Cuboid: Level Editor (was £3.19/€3.99 now £0.79/€0.99)
PS3: Cuboid: Booster Pack (was £2.39/€2.99 now £0.79/€0.99)
PSP: Dissidia: Final Fantasy (was £19.99/€24.99 now £15.99/€19.99)
PSP: James Cameron's Avatar: The Game (was £23.99/€29.99 now £15.99/€19.99)
Minis: Alien Zombie Death! (was £2.49/€2.99 now £1.74/€1.99)
Minis: Supermarket Mania (was £3.99/€4.99 now £2.49/€2.99)
PS3 Demos

Time Crisis: Razing Storm
Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage
PS3 Game Content

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (£7.99/€9.99) (20 per cent off for PS Plus subs)
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Collection (£15.99/€19.99) (contains Undead Nightmare pack, Legends and Killers pack, Liars and Cheats pack)
The Sims 3: Online Pass (£7.99/€9.99)
LittleBigPlanet: Halloween Mask (free for one week only)
Dead Rising 2: Sports Fan Skill Pack (£1.59/€1.99)
Super Street Fighter IV: Ultra Challengers Pack 1 (£3.19/€3.99)
PAIN: I, Probot Pinball Level Pack (£1.59/€1.99), Souxxie Character (£0.79/€0.99)
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock: The Rocky Horror Picture Show Track Pack (£4.39/€5.49), Soundgarden invididual songs
Rock Band Network: 'Cheat On The Church' by Graveyard BBQ (£0.99/€1.49), 'Chiron Beta Prime' by Jonathan Coulton (£0.99/€1.49), 'How We'd Look On Paper' by The Main Drag (£0.59/€0.79), 'Life Unworthy Of Life' by Warpath (£0.59/€0.79), 'Rip'Er' by Lead the Dead (£0.59/€0.79)
PSone Games

Missile Command (£3.99/€4.99)
Minis

Boom Beats (£2.49/€2.99)
PSP Games

PES 2011 (£23.99/€29.99)
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (£15.99/€19.99)
PSP Game Content

LittleBigPlanet PSP: KillZone Costume Pack (£0.79/€0.99)

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...sn-store-today ...

Nottingham's fifth annual GameCity festival gets under way today and runs until Saturday, 30th October.

Various venues across the city will host talks and presentations about videogames. Plus, there will be art exhibitions, tea parties, recitals, big-screen outdoor gaming sessions, LEGO, zombies and lots more. They're weird around those parts.

Highlights include Jonathan Blow talking about how he made Braid and then showing new game The Witness. Nick Burton from Rare will be there talking about the imminent Kinect Sports, too.

There's plenty more besides, including games Crysis 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and LEGO Universe.

Eurogamer's Wesley Yin-Poole will be there talking and taking notes.

A full schedule with pictures for light readers can be found on the GameCity website. Most of the festival is free, incidentally.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ival-this-week ...