DCEmu Homebrew Emulation & Theme Park News
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by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:41- Categories:
- Apple iPhone
Taking phone photography seriously is certainly possible. Short of tacking on a slightly ludicrous add-on case, however, you're normally stuck with whatever lens the phone designer deems fit. Unless Apple uses technology from a very out-of-left-field patent application, that is. The invention would make an iPhone's back panel removable so that owners could swap out lenses like they would with a DSLR or amirrorless camera. Apple has even raised the possibility of a panel with two lenses built-in at opposite corners: to switch to a telephoto lens or a different filter, you'd only need to flip the panel around to use the additional glass. It's all quite wild, although it's for that reason that the patent might never get used. The company isn't a fan of replaceable parts, after all. But if the photographer for your future wedding shows up with nothing but an iPhone and a bag full of back plates, you'll know why -- even if you're still left scratching your head.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/14/a...ppable-lenses/ ...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:40- Categories:
- Windows Phone
Based on the amount of effort poured into iOS 6 in order to tailor it for users in China, one thing's obvious: it's a nation grasping for smartphones. Apple's seeing huge, huge upticks in spending from Chinese customers, and Nokia's sure hoping it sees similar. In the midst of untold turmoil, Nokia is sprinkling in a bit of positive news this morning -- news that the Lumia 900 is now shipping in China. The 900 marks the fifth Lumia smartphone to ship in the nation of 900 million mobile phone users, with white, black and cyan versions to choose from. Outside of the basic specifications, the Chinese 900 will also come preloaded with nation-specific apps such as Sina Weibo, QQ IM, Baidu Search and Alipay. Oh, and if a phone wasn't enough, the Nokia Reaction Bluetooth Headset is also launching there today, enabling you to finally make use of that NFC module. The Lumia 900 hardware will sell for RMB 4599 ($721) in Nokia's flagship store, Nokia brand stores and the nation's "top electronics chain stores."
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/14/n...dset-in-china/ ...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:38- Categories:
- DCEmu
Tokyo Jungle takes number one, Gundam Seed Battle Destiny boosts Vita sales
Sony platforms had the two highest entries in the Japanese charts this week, with Tokyo Jungle pushing Dragon Quest Monsters from the top spot.
Sony's PlayStation 3 title sold more than 110,000 units in its debut week, and, in an encouraging development for Vita software in the country, Namco Bandai's Gundam Seed Battle Destiny entered the charts in third place, selling 40,000 units.
The success of Gundam Seed Battle Destiny had a positive impact on sales of the Vita, nearly doubling last week's total to more than 13,000 units. However, the 3DS comfortably held the top spot despite a 40 per cent drop in unit sales.
The software top 20, covering June 4 to June 10, is listed below. Release date and life to date sales are in parentheses.
- [PS3] 01. Tokyo Jungle (Sony, 06.07.2012): 110,309
- [3DS] 02. Dragon Quest Monsters Terry's Wonderland 3D (Square Enix, 05.31.2012): 83,329 (596,512)
- [PSV] 03. Gundam Seed Battle Destiny (Namco Bandai, 06.07.2012): 40,297
- [PS3] 04. Dragon's Dogma (Capcom, 05.24.2012): 34,184 (419,208)
- [3DS] 05. Mario Tennis Open (Nintendo, 05.24.2012): 24,030 (167,154)
- [WII] 06. Mario Party 9 (Nintendo, 04.26.2012): 17,253 (417,643)
- [3DS] 07. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 05.24.2012): 9,390 (1,614,505)
- [PSP] 08. Storm Lover Kai!! (D3, 06.07.2012): 7,931
- [3DS] 09. Fire Emblem Awakening (Nintendo, 04.19.2012): 7,031 (408,030)
- [3DS] 10. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 12.01.2011): 6,743 (1,735,081)
- [3DS] 11. Monster Hunter 3G (Capcom, 12.10.2011): 6,146 (1,471,805)
- [3DS] 12. Guild 01 (Level-5, 05.31.2012): 5,297 (20,087)
- [PS3] 13. Fist of the North Star Pachislot (Sega, 05.31.2012): 4,880 (18,638)
- [WII] 14. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, 11.10.2010): 4,159 (957,445)
- [3DS] 15. Mario & Sonic at London Olympics (Nintendo, 03.01.2012): 3,888 (180,244)
- [WII] 16. Wii Party (Nintendo, 07.08.2010): 3,342 (2,361,947)
- [3DS] 17. Kid Icarus Uprising (Nintendo, 03.22.2012): 3,157 (287,709)
- [3DS] 18. Nintendogs + Cats (Nintendo, 02.26.2011): 2,568 (559,947)
- [3DS] 19. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd PSP the Best (Sony, 09.22.2011): 2,366 (263,502)
- [WII] 20. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, 04.10.2008): 2,264 (3,573,260)
The hardware chart, covering June 4 to June 10, is below. The previous week's sales are in parentheses.
- 1. 3DS: 64,875 (101,075)
- 2. PS3: 15,593 (14,799)
- 3. PSV: 13,383 (7,551)
- 4. PSP: 10,038 (10,547)
- 5. Wii: 6,029 (5,825)
- 6. PS2: 1,091 (1,106)
- 7. X360: 1,001 (2,719)
- 8. DSi LL: 615 (665)
- 9. DSi: 383 (379)
- http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...oftware-charts
...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:29- Categories:
- Android News,
- Xperia Play News,
- Apple iPhone,
- Windows Phone
Addressable market has grown to over 125 million people playing mobile games in the US and UK
PopCap Games
www.popcap.com
Smartphone gaming and tablet gaming is on the rise, as nearly half of all adults in the US and UK are now playing games on mobile, according to a new survey conducted by Information Solutions Group on behalf of PopCap. It is estimated that there is now an addressable market of more than 125 million people playing mobile games in the US and UK.
In fact, almost half (46 percent) of all video game time is spent on a mobile device, the survey indicated. Phones and computers were found to be the most common game devices (33 percent and 32 percent, respectively), whereas dedicated consoles were only at 18 percent.
"Mobile games continue to vie with social games as the hottest sector of the video game industry and that trend shows no sign of waning," stated Dennis Ryan, VP of Worldwide Publishing at PopCap. "Smartphone adoption continues apace and tablet adoption has added considerable fuel to the fire. Even more important, consumers are embracing the shift toward freemium games and other add-on game content purchases, driving the dramatic and rapid shift in the forms of monetization being used by developers and publishers."
Further data from the survey shows that more than 4 in 10 adults had played at least one mobile game in the past month, which is a sizable increase of 29 percent compared to a year ago. And tablets are generating lots of interest, as the iPad, Kindle and other tablet devices have brought approximately 11 million new mobile gamers into the fold in the past 12 months. 36 percent of mobile gamers now own a tablet and 74 percent of the tablet gamers did not play mobile games previously.
The free-to-play sector, as Ryan alluded to, is definitely helping to drive mobile. Among the reasons cited for the increase in mobile gameplay are the availability of more free games (70 percent), acquisition of a new phone with better gaming capabilities (47 percent) and purchase of a tablet (25 percent).
That said, spending data reveals that half (51 percent) of mobile gamers made mobile game-related purchases in the past year. 62 percent was directly for games, while four out of every ten dollars spent was for additional content and/or in-game currency. Interestingly, tablet gamers are more likely to spend, as mobile gamers who only play on a tablet spent 1.5 times more on games and game content than those who only play mobile games on a phone ($25.47 versus $16.68).
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...onsoles-survey
...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:27- Categories:
- PC News
Cevat Yerli boasts, "We're the only engine that is 100 percent real-time"
Crytek
www.crytek.com
Epic Games
www.epicgames.com
Unreal Engine 4 was showcased during last week's E3, and while what we saw was quite appealing, middleware rival Crytek has gone on record to say that Unreal Engine 4 is simply not impressive.
"CryEngine 3 already exists at the quality of Unreal Engine 4. It already exists for three years now. You can go back three years ago to the GDC videos. What we put out there is pretty much what Unreal Engine 4 put out now. And what many others are doing now too. We haven't really put out our latest stuff yet," Crytek managing director Cevat Yerli toldGamesBeat.
He continued, "Pretty soon you're going to see the next iteration of CryEngine, and I'm not putting a number behind it, just the next iteration of CryEngine. Very soon. But we already said, CryEngine 3 is next-gen ready since three years ago. We stand by that. If I look at what people call next-gen technology now, it's what we were seeing three years ago. We already had massive particle systems, we already had GPU rendering, all these things. Deferred shading. We had tessellation already since we shipped Crysis 2. We already had DX11. We didn't just talk it up as tech demos, we have games that are shipped and are doing it."
"We will, very soon, be able to render out film CG quality rendering in real-time. In the next two years"
Cevat Yerli
Yerli added that he believes Crytek still has an edge over the competition in terms of productivity and being able to do things in real-time.
"I think the biggest difference here between the engines is still the productivity. We have invented, back in 2001, what we called 'what you see is what you play,' which is real-time editing of the game in the sandbox using the production tools. We did this in 2001, we put out a video at GDC 2001, and since then it's been the heart of our technology. That's something that even until today, our competitors, our main competitor, has still not 100 percent achieved. We're talking about 10 years later, still not achieved," he stated.
He added, "So in productivity and efficiency, it's something where we claim we're the fastest toolkit around. Because we're 100 percent real-time. We're the only engine that is 100 percent real-time. Look at our competitors and you will feel that every time they change a light or a shadow, it computes for hours. In our case, the lighting is real-time."
Elsewhere in the interview, Yerli also comments on just how far video game graphics have come. When asked about "Pixar quality" visuals in games, Yerli remarked, "I think we are going to be very close soon to rendering computer-generated (CG) film quality. I'm not necessarily pointing to Pixar. But we will, very soon, be able to render out film CG quality rendering in real-time. In the next two years."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-years-already
...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:22- Categories:
- Wii U News
Satoru Iwata admits that Nintendo almost did away with the touchscreen controller for Wii U
Nintendo
www.nintendo-europe.com
Nintendo almost dropped the touchscreen GamePad for the upcoming Wii U console due to cost issues. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told the UK Telegraphthat Nintendo struggled with the touchscreen to keep the system's overall price down to a manageable level.
"Sometime during that final discussion we almost gave up on the idea of the additional screen," Iwata said. "This was due to our concern over the expected high cost, it may not have been feasible to create this and sell it at a reasonable price point for the consumers."
He noted that Nintendo's competitors have already begun putting forth similar tablet concepts with Sony PlayStation Vita integration and Microsoft's Xbox SmartGlass.
"It's quicker than before. After our showing of motion control, it took three years for other companies to follow suit. But this time it's just one year after our proposal, even before we've released the actual product. I think that proves the great potential of what we showed last year," he said.
"However, I have to point out that there are essential differences between what we are doing and what other companies are doing. The main difference is that anyone who has a Wii U will be able to enjoy the two screen experience, while the other companies are saying its optional, but only if you have this device or that device."
Iwata also remarked to the Telegraph that he's not worried about the Wii being outclassed by the rumored Microsoft Durango or Sony PlayStation Orbis consoles.
"My impression is that the things that happened with Wii v 360 or Wii v PS3 won't happen again," he said. "If they decide to increase the spec numbers, will the consumers be able to realise the difference enough so that they can understand it's much superior to today's machine?"
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...blet-over-cost
...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:16- Categories:
- PS3 News
Advertising regulator the ASA has rejected complaints claiming that EA mis-sold Mass Effect 3 by deceiving players about the extent to which they could alter the game’s ending.
EA’s ad for the trilogy-ending RPG stated that “the decisions you make completely shape your experience and outcome”.
However, the game’s release was followed by an online outcry by some fans. They were unhappy that the ending, ultimately, was not determined by the player’s actions across the three titles and was instead dictated by the EMS (Effective Military Strength) amassed in the final game alone.
The ASA received three official complaints claiming that EA “misleadingly exaggerated the variety of outcomes available in the game and the differences between the outcomes”.
EA said in a statement defending the game that “they did not consider the "ending" experience of Mass Effect 3 (ME3) was limited to what appeared in the final cut scene, and that the consequences and implications of player's choices were actually presented during the last three to five hours of the game”.
It added that “almost every decision a player made in the game would impact the EMS score in some way, and they therefore considered that each decision would impact the player's experience during the last hours of the game”.
In a statement explaining its rejection of the three complaints, the ASA concluded: “We considered that the three choices at the end of the game were thematically quite different, and that the availability and effectiveness of those choices would be directly determined by a player's EMS score, which was calculated with reference to previous performance in the game(s).
“We also acknowledged that there appeared to be a large number of minor variations in the end stages of ME3, and that those were directly impacted by choices made by players earlier in the game(s).
“Whilst we acknowledged that the advertiser had placed particular emphasis on the role that player choices would play in determining the outcome of the game, we considered that most consumers would realise there would be a finite number of possible outcomes within the game and, because we considered that the advertiser had shown that players' previous choices and performance would impact on the ending of the game, we concluded that the ad was not misleading.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/asa-r...plaints/097922 ...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:15- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Those who are already writing Vita’s obituary are significantly jumping the gun, publisher Ubisoft has stated.
Ubisoft was a key supporter of the handheld with three launch titles and at E3 showed off a Vita version of Assassin’s Creed III.
“It’s a really good platform and we’ve always liked it,” Ubisoft’s senior vice president of sales and marketing Tony Key told IGN.
“The way it’s designed, it’s a beautiful piece of hardware. It’s got cool features that you can’t get anywhere else. And Assassin’s Creed, we believe, is the right type of game for that system.
“It’s definitely too early to say that Vita’s not going to be a success.”
Key also claimed to be pleased that other big IP – most notably Call of Duty: Black Ops II – has been confirmed for the system.
“Assassin’s Creed III is not the only big Vita game coming this holiday, and I think that’s a good thing,” Key added.
“We’re actually very happy that there’s another big Vita game coming for Christmas from a competitor because we think that will raise all boats. It’s going to generate a lot of interest in the Vita this holiday season. Sony’s going to be spending a lot of money and resources to make sure that the Vita is there and it’s relevant and it’s doing well.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ubiso...ysayers/097929
...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:10- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Finnish mobile phone company Nokia has announced a fresh round of redundancies with some 10,000 workers facing the sack.
The move brings the total amount of staff laid off by the company since the appointment of current chief executive Stephen Elop in September 2010 to 40,000.
"These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia's long-term competitive strength," Elop stated.
“We do not make plans that may impact our employees lightly, and as a company we will work tirelessly to ensure that those at risk are offered the support, options and advice necessary to find new opportunities."
The company is also closing the last of its Finnish production plants, although it will continue to operate an R&D facility in its home country. R&D sites in Germany and Canada will close their doors, however.
Also closing is Nokia’s luxury handset maker Vertu, which produces flashy jewel-clad handsets costing as much as $300,000.
The net result of these moves – which are expected to be completed by the end of 2013 – is a core operating cost saving of around $3.8bn per year.
Nokia’s share price has tumbled by over 70 per cent since February 2011.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/nokia...00-jobs/097934 ...by Published on June 14th, 2012 23:07- Categories:
- Xbox 360 News
The vast German consumer and trade video game show Gamescom has not been shaken by Microsoft's decision to miss the 2012 event.
In a statement issued to MCV, organiser Koelnmesse says the event is still 'on track, demonstrating stability and growth despite the difficult market situation'.
Instead, the organisers say an increasingly diverse set of exhibitors, with less of the 'traditional' games industry on hand, is down to "a transitional year" in the industry.
Microsoft earlier today confirmed it would not be exhibiting at Gamescom, which is put together in association with German trade body BIU. Fellow BIU members Sega, THQ and Nintendo have also opted out of the show this year, but Microsoft is also missing Tokyo Game Show 2012.
But any cancellations from bigger companies have been offset by new attendance promised from 60 new exhibitors.
And that includes the backing of Samsung, which will exhibit at Gamescom this year. Samsung, in case you need reminding, is the biggest electronics manufacturer in the world.
Koelnmesse's statement said: "The games industry is evidently in a transitional year prior to the forthcoming next generation of consoles. Several companies have therefore opted to implement individual marketing measures this year. This is compounded by the publication of revenue figure of other companies as well as other firms with new products that are only scheduled to come into the shops after the 2012 Christmas trade.
"This correspondingly affects the participation in the trade show of individual companies in Cologne as well as in other places where games shows are held, such as Los Angeles or Tokyo."
Gamescom's organisers have, since the show's inception, strived to make its offering - which includes a business lounge for the trade and hugely popular halls for consumers - varied and representative of the total games market. That means PC and console games, online games and browser games, plus new spaces for social and mobile gaming added this year.
"This is having a favourable effect on the event," says Koelnmesse, and it has stats to prove it:
- The number of exhibitors so far is up 20 per cent year on year.
- 370 companies from more than 30 nations have confirmed their participation.
- There are 13 country-specific shared stands – including Hungary and Austria for the first time this year.
- The event floor space is up 15 per cent to 140,000 square metres
Gamescom has a dedicated press event on June 28th that will be livestreamed online, and which the organisers say will name even more new exhibitors.
And anyway, Koelnmesse added: "Even if Microsoft does not have a stand of its own this year, the gaming community can nevertheless look forward to Xbox 360 games and games developed by countless Microsoft partners at Gamescom."
Gamescom takes place from August 15th to 19th. The first day is for trade visitors and the show is open to consumers from August 16th.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/games...teps-in/097936 ...- Search DCEmu
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Catherine: Full Body’s English translation for the Vita