DCEmu Homebrew Emulation & Theme Park News
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by Published on July 13th, 2012 21:55- Categories:
- DCEmu
Toy retailers Hamleys and The Entertainer have both picked gadgets from LeapFrog and VTech as potential hits this Christmas.
It seems even children aren't immune from the tablet craze.
The Entertainer’s buying director Stuart Grant commented: “Interactive toys are very exciting for youngsters and stimulate their senses and imagination.
“They pick up new technology in a flash and love getting their hands on the grown-up gadgets.
“Parents have cottoned on to the idea that they can use their children’s appetite for technology to boost their learning, which is what makes the tablets so popular.”
Here's The Entertainer's top 13 products for Christmas:
- VTech Innotab (£84.99)
- Leapfrog LeapPad2 (£89.99)
- Moshi Monsters My Moshi Home (£39.99)
- Lalaloopsy Interactive Doll (£59.99)
- Furby (TBA)
- Crayola Glow Book (£28)
- Lego The Lord of the Rings The Battle of Helm’s Deep (£99.99)
- Hexbug Nano Hive Play Set (£25)
- The Amazing Spider-Man Dual Web Blaster (£23)
- Nerf Elite Hail-Fire (£44.99)
- Monsuno Core (£9)
- Words with Friends (£20)
- Ben 10 Omniverse Omnitrix Touch (£25)
Whilst Hamley's top ten list shapes up like this:
- Monster High Dolls (Mattel)
- Web Shooting Spider-Man (Hasbro)
- Moshi Monster App Monster (Vivid)
- Subbuteo (Paul Lamond)
- Innotab 2 (VTech)
- Nerf Elite Hail Fire (Hasbro)
- Barbie Train to Trot Tawny (Mattel)
- Master Moves Mickey (Mattel)
- The Lord of the Rings, The Battle of Helms Deep (Lego)
- LeapPad2 (LeapFrog)
- Cabbage Patch Kids (Jakks)
What do you think, does the trend towards computing for kids benefit IT retailers? Would most children rather have an iPad? Let us know.
http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...ristmas/028685 ...by Published on July 13th, 2012 21:50- Categories:
- PC News
A range of World of Warcraft Mega Bloks kits are due to hit retail next week.
Brick-building toy brand Mega Bloks has turned the popular MMO from Activision Blizzard into a series of toys including a Goblin Trike, Swift Wyvern, Goblin Zeppelin Ambush, Deathwing's Stormwind Assault (pictured above) and Demolisher Attack (pictured below).
Pete Fuller, UK marketing manager at Mega Bloks, told PCR's sister magazine ToyNews: "We are very excited about the launch of our new Mega Bloks World of Warcraft construction range next week, and we expect the range to do extremely well.
"We have really tried to capture the intricate detail of the characters and authenticity of the scenes from the game, which we hope will impress avid Warcraft fans and collectors across the globe, while at the same time we have bought to life a magical fantasy world that we believe will be equally as popular with kids”.
http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...a-bloks/028687 ...by Published on July 13th, 2012 21:47- Categories:
- DCEmu
Comet reckons the sadomasochistic sex book is making Amazon's device fly off shelves.
EL James' Fifty Shades of Grey has become a phenomenon amongst women. Last month, the 'mummy porn' novel passed theone million downloads mark last month – the first e-book to do so.
And now, electronics retailer Comet reckons the steamy series has increased sales in North England by 71 per cent, and 29 per cent in South England.
Jon Wiltshire, head of consumer electronics, Comet, said: "The Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon has swept the nation causing a dramatic increase in sales of Kindle e-readers in Comet stores and online.
"Our staff have reported an increase in women who have bought the device with many admitting it’s so they can read the saucy trilogy. I’m not sure whether that means that women in the North are more adventurous or more prudish as the beauty of a Kindle is that readers can hide exactly what they’re reading.
"Either way, we’ve seen a big jump in sales, which looks set to continue."
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...e-sales/018623 ...by Published on July 13th, 2012 00:27- Categories:
- PS3 News
Cloud gaming tech Gaikai should be added to the current generation of Sony consoles and PlayStation 4, David Perry has told Eurogamer.Perry, who has just sold Gaikai to Sony for $380 million, now works for the console maker, and he intends to have as much influence on the PS4 as possible."It's a given it should go across the current and next-generation hardware," Perry said in an interview at the Develop conference in Brighton."But it's a case of, we have to let them decide what they want to do. I don't want to put words in their mouth."We've been experimenting with every single platform. Set top boxes, TVs, mobile devices, tablets, everything. Will it work on consoles? The answer is: absolutely. We've done tests. It definitely works."Sony is rumoured to be preparing to launch PS4 in late 2013, with an announcement pegged for some time next year. Now Perry is on board, he is uniquely placed to play a crucial role in the development of the hardware."I'm going to get to see a console launch from the inside," he said. "I'm excited about that. I've never done that before."The PlayStation 4 is "very important", Perry said. "There's so much happening right now in the industry. The consoles, if done right, become the anchor. But they need to embrace all the changes in technologies that have been happening, and business models....They have to evolve. You can't just make the same console as last time. You have to build something that's revolutionary. That's what I will be pushing towards.
"They have to evolve. You can't just make the same console as last time. You have to build something that's revolutionary. That's what I will be pushing towards."Perry stressed that he will as best he can push Sony to make PS4 a game machine first and foremost - despite the current trend for consoles to feature more and more non-gaming applications."I'm certainly going to remind them what I feel about PlayStation. What I feel about PlayStation is, when I'm thinking of buying a game - I don't know how they've done it but the branding has somehow got me there - if I'm trying to find where the best version is, I just automatically go, well that would be the PlayStation version, right? I don't know, the branding worked on me."The amount of energy and money and branding and whatever they've done to get me there, don't lose that. That's so valuable. Don't lose that. Let's double down on that."But what influence will Perry have on the major decision makers within Sony?"The thing that's great with Sony is we're not way down the stack in some little sub sub sub of a sub sub company. PlayStation is insanely important to Sony and we're dealing with the top people in Sony for gaming."We'll be heard. It doesn't mean they're going to do what I say. Don't get me wrong. But I can at least be heard and I hope they like what I've got to say."With the ink still fresh on the contract between Gaikai and Sony Computer Entertainment, Perry is yet to discuss in detail how the gargantuan Japanese company intends to make use of its fancy new tech. In fact, after he's done with the Develop conference this week, Perry will work on a presentation he will then deliver to the top gaming executives at Sony detailing his ideas for Gaikai."Now the deal is done, only now are we going to start having those conversations on what Sony wants to do. What is their strategy? It's their company now so they have to decide what exactly they want to do. There are a lot of pieces to Sony. It's a big company. There is consumer electronics, DVD players and TVs. All of them can be impacted by this."So there are going to be a lot of discussions and a lot of meetings."Reports suggest Sony will use Gaikai to power backwards compatibility on PS3, enabling access to the huge back catalogue of PSone and PS2 games through streaming.Perry was unable to confirm details, but he did say he was excited about the impact of Gaikai on PlayStation. "I've been saying for quite some time now, how people plan their days around moving data around, like, I'm going to start five games downloading and I'll come back tomorrow."It's a really big boon for gamers because they'll be able to play pretty much everything that comes out with no effort."Given issues with latency and image quality associated with cloud gaming, one concern is that Gaikai will, in its current form, be unable to truly offer a PlayStation-level experience.Perry rejected this suggestion. "Can the games look ridiculously awesome? No question about it," he insisted. "To do it really really well, you need to stay on the track we were on, and our track was to make special hardware, like working with Nvidia and people like that."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-playstation-4by Published on July 13th, 2012 00:21- Categories:
- Nintendo 3DS News
Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed one way Nintendo is working to stop selling the 3DS at a loss, which it has since last year's price drop. "First of all to the 3DS XL, we will not be selling this at a loss," Iwata told the Independent. "We don't have a huge profit margin on it, we intend to sell it at a profit." He wasn't as forthcoming about the Wii U's pricing, of course. "As for Wii U we haven't even announced price so it's too early to comment."
He also had some thoughts on the future prospects of 3D. Though "3D is the normal state for human beings, it's how we see our environment," Iwata doesn't believe 3D television will really take off until it can work glasses-free. The 3DS was able to include 3D, he said, "because there are various circumstances on a handheld machine which make it possible. You have the screen and the console being one, normally you have almost constant distance between [the user] and the screen, so with the currently available technology it is possible to provide a high quality 3D experience without glasses. "
That said, 3D in video games had a "surprise effect" that Iwata admits is wearing off. "But I think it's an important element, it makes graphics more impactful, it proves a sense of immersion that 2D doesn't have, so I would say generally that 3D is better than 2D." Iwata added, "It's nice to have good graphics but not necessarily on their own, so I don't think we'll present [3D graphics] as one of the key features of our consoles but will probably stick with 3D as one of the minor elements of our consoles in the future. "
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/12/iw...minor-element/ ...by Published on July 13th, 2012 00:15- Categories:
- PC News
Can't help salivating over gaming setups with three screens? The Tech Report knows your hunger, and aims to satiate your cravings with a detailed look at the triple-display efforts of Gigabyte's GeForce GTX 680 OC and ASUS' Radeon HD 7970 DirectCU II Top. The high-end GPUs ran Battlefield 3, Arkham City, Rage and a few other games through the wringer -- competing on temperature, game performance, noise level and more -- outputting each title in a glorious extra-wide resolution, with a few quirks on the side. The Tech Report emerged from the gauntlet reluctant to relinquish its additional displays, extolling the trial as the first "next-generation gaming experience" they've had in a while. What's this mean for you? The author sums it up nicely: "In a few short years, surround gaming has gone from being somewhat of an exotic luxury to something far more attainable." If snagging a multi-panel gaming setup is your goal, venture on to the source below where an unabridged, 11-page breakdown awaits.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/t...ed-attainable/
...by Published on July 13th, 2012 00:14- Categories:
- Apple iPhone
Remember that tall, mostly aluminum 2012 iPhone shell that appeared to have leaked? It's back. This time, KitGuru has unearthed what it claims is a "test sample" with the glass front panel roughly intact. We've seen the darker steel sides, aluminum back and new dock connector before, but the front gives us a much better sense of how the finished product (if real) will turn out. Sitting next to an iPhone 4S, it's suggested that the new model would stuff in that bigger screen more through a better use of the available area -- there's much less blank space than on the iPhones we've known since 2007. While we still don't know for sure if the design shown here is close to what will go hand-in-hand with iOS 6 in the fall, we're starting to see enough smoke that there's bound to be a fire nearby.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/n...e-glass-front/ ...by Published on July 13th, 2012 00:11- Categories:
- PC News
For people out there doing actual work (like tech blogging, for instance), there's the need for a tablet like the GammaTech T7Q Windows slate, starting at $2,000. Standing out like an M9 tank among the daily driver tabs, the sealed magnesium unit meets military specs for environmental nasties -- while packing a 7-inch resistive-touch TFT WSVGA LCD, Intel Atom N2600 or N2800 processor, 5MP camera with geotagging, compass, gyroscope and an mSATA SSD. It can also be accessorized to the nines with items like RFID, magnetic stripe readers and GPS through an assortment of connectors and expansion slots. To top it off, there's three different lock-down methods for your your data: TPM1.2 security, built-in BIOS safeguards and a Kensington lock connector -- plus Computracing ability piled on, for good measure. Sure, this guy is intended for oil rigs and desert archaeological digs, but hauling one out at Starbucks might give you a whole new level of shabby-chic cred -- if you've got the cash.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/g...aunches-at-2k/
...by Published on July 13th, 2012 00:03- Categories:
- DCEmu
NPD's retail report shows physical software and hardware way down
The NPD Group's retail sales data report for the US games business did not paint a pretty picture for the month of June. The double-digit declines keep mounting as total game industry sales fell 29 percent to $699.8 million, while software sales (including PC) also dipped 27 percent to $362.8 million. Accessories was the only category to tick up slightly (4 percent) to $169.8 million.
"These sales figures represent new physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories, which account for roughly 50-60% of the total consumer spend on games. When you consider our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales such as used and rentals at $170MM, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including microtransactions, subscriptions, mobile apps and the consumer spend on social network games at $491MM, we would estimate the total consumer spend in June to be $1.36B," NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier said.
"Our final assessment of the consumer spend on these areas outside of new physical retail sales will be reported in September in our Q2 Games Market Dynamics: U.S. report."
Frazier also noted that Nintendo's been doing very well with its 3DS, even better than the DS at the same point in its cycle.
"The 3DS is still up nearly 25% over where the NDS was in a similar point in time after release to market, and has topped portable hardware unit sales for the last 11 months. I am excited by the content that is coming to market later this year, and to watch what impact that will have on hardware sales," she said.
A light release schedule certainly didn't help the industry with its summer doldrums. The top selling games were Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (which sold 450,000 units across all platforms), Ghost Recon: Future Solider, Diablo III and Max Payne 3. Most analysts believe the industry will break out of its slump in the fall when a heavy slate of triple-A products are scheduled to hit stores.
As for why Batman came out on top, Frazier commented, "Batman may be on consumers' minds with Batman: Arkham City also ranking sixth, and with the latest movie, Dark Knight Rises, debuting later in July."
On software weakness overall she added: "In the first half of 2012, there were 34% less new software SKUs compared to last year. On an average SKU basis, they generated 4% less units, but 2% more dollars on average. This shows that while new launch performance is relatively stable, it is the sheer reduction in the number of launches that is contributing to the overall softness we are seeing in software so far in 2012. The decrease in new launch volume accounts for 41% of the net unit decline and 47% of the net dollar decline from first half of 2011."
Here are the top 10 games for June:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...us-during-june ...by Published on July 13th, 2012 00:01- Categories:
- Android News
Industry veteran Mark Friedler sees the console business being "unleashed and democratized"
A freight train plowed into the console games business on July 11th, forever changing the console games landscape, unleashing user democracy and elevating Kickstarter to the new kingmaker of the games business. Of course, I'm talking about Yves Behar'sOuya Android-powered game console which has raised over $4 million in the first 48 hours.
I was blown away by the conversation with Behar during the GamesBeat/MobileBeat conference in San Francisco where he said the game console will be rebooted.
I believe this announcement will go down in history as something as big as the launch of the iPhone five years ago. The amazing outpouring of 25,000 pre-orders of the console in 24 hours shows gamers want the TV experience to be democratized.
I spoke with Brian Fargo of InXile (who raised $900,000 for Wasteland 2 on Kickstarter in March) and he believes customers are frustrated with traditional game publishers and are demanding more creative products instead of the endless sequels released by the leaders. In 48 hours, the console business has been turned on its head by a sub $100 open console whose mission is to make games less expensive and free to play. It is the Apple 1984 commercial equivalent to the games business () - their revolutionary sounding Kickstarter description is below.
"The immediate loser in this battle will be Nintendo that has failed to create a meaningful online business"
Mark Friedler
Let's open this sucker up! It's time we brought back innovation, experimentation, and creativity to the big screen. Let's make the games less expensive to make, and less expensive to buy. With all our technological advancements, shouldn't costs be going down? Gaming could be cheaper!
We're handing the reins over to the developer with only one condition: at least some gameplay has to be free. We borrowed the free-to-play model from games like League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, Triple Town, and many others. Developers can offer a free demo with a full-game upgrade, in-game items or powers, or ask you to subscribe.
The Ouya can be seen as a descendant of the Sega Dreamcast and much malignedPhantom console whose vision of a download only game console was debuted at E3 in 2004 - I was a member of the advisory board of the company whose vision was accurate to where the industry was going but failed to execute on delivering the product.
Ouya has taken advantage of the perfect storm of excellent design, a stable and free Android OS, a shift of developers from console to mobile and tablet development and the winning business model of freemium and free-to-play gaming.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-big-as-iphone
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