A new study from the Consumer Electronics Association indicates that there are many more women gamers in the 25-34 demographic than males, largely because of the popularity of the casual games market, with card games like solitaire (pictured) and puzzle games like Tetris.


One of the common statistics often cited by video game industry trade groups is that the average age of a gamer nowadays is around 30 years old. What you might not know, however, is that among game players between the ages of 25 and 34, women far outnumber men, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (as reported in The New York Times).

The CEA study found that 65 percent of women in the 25-34 age bracket play video games, while only 35 percent of men in that group said that they play video games. Apparently, the key factor involved with these findings is the increasing popularity of casual games, especially among women.

Women were found to be slightly less likely than men in the 25-34 bracket to play traditional console games on systems like the PlayStation 2 or Xbox, while they gravitated more heavily towards simple types of games like Tetris or other puzzle games and card games like solitaire. These casual titles are typically found on web portals like Yahoo!, AOL Games, PopCap Games, EA's Pogo.com and elsewhere.

Steve Koenig, a senior analyst at the Consumer Electronics Association, said that the CEA study did not specifically ask women why they preferred casual games, but he explained that unlike traditional console video games, casual titles are generally "nonviolent, and are not necessarily supercompetitive against other players."

Although most casual games are played online on the PC, the console hardware makers realize that there's much opportunity in catering to the casual market. Xbox Live Arcade already offers a number of simpler titles that may appeal to the casual crowd and Arcade's library is expected to grow throughout the year. When Sony launches its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Network Platform service, there's a good chance that they will offer casual titles for download as well.

And not only will Nintendo offer classic titles for download through the Revolution's virtual console, but they will also have original games and it wouldn't be surprising to see a number of casual offerings, especially from Nintendo. Of the three hardware makers Nintendo is the only company that has gone out of its way to create unique titles for "non-gamers" and gamers outside of the typical core market—e.g. Nintendogs and Brain Age. With games like these and the simple, intuitive Revolution control scheme, it's clear that Nintendo is looking to leverage the casual market.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=12424 ...

News from Sony

The E-Distribution Initiative (EDI) will provide an alternative publishing opportunity for the direct download of games and other content to the user.

The EDI will be managed by Sony Computer Entertainment's development and studio organizations in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia (collectively known as SCE Worldwide Studios).

Partnerships resulting from EDI will allow the developers' downloadable games to be published for individual purchase or subscription over SCE's direct distribution methods.

The EDI will review potential partnership opportunities on a case-by-case basis with our studios in North America, Europe, Japan and Asia, and will be designed to promote innovation in downloadable games and to benefit both the developer and SCE.

Is this Sonys way of getting new amateur developers onto their systems ? ...

Ewan Spence and The Podcast Network are letting PlayStation Portable owners hear the latest PSP news, game reviews and features about their device, on their device. “The PSP Show” is the latest podcast from The Podcast Network – the world’s first commercial network for Podcasting – and thanks to the PSP’s built in applications, anyone with a PSP can download it from the internet and listen to the latest weekly show.

“Providing people with information when they want it, no matter where they are in the world, is one of the key strengths of Podcasting,” says Ewan Spence, producer of The PSP Show. “Anyone can pick up the show on their home computer, or even download it to their iPod, but now PSP fans the world over don’t even need to put down their favourite console to find out all the latest news – they’re only a few buttons away from listening to the show.”

No stranger to the world of podcasting, Spence’s other shows include the long-running TPN Rock, and BAFTA nominated coverage of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Podcast Network itself has been at the forefront of commercial Podcasting since February 2005 and has almost 60 shows, all freely available, covering a wide range of topics and genres, including technology news, sports, death and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Each edition of The PSP Show can be found at http://psp.thepodcastnetwork.com/. You can listen to it from the web page, by saving the MP3 file to your computer, subscribing to the show via iTunes, or adding it to any Podcast downloading application.

The site linked has 2 podcasts on for you to try. ...

IGN's Nintendo editor is claiming that Metroid Prime 3 for Revolution will be "fully playable" at this year's E3.

Speaking on his blog comments page as part of a piece about how much he's looking forward to Too Human, Matt Casamassina said he expects it to be "one of, if not the must-have game of E3 2006".

Nintendo's yet to announce its E3 line-up - and frankly isn't expected to make it clear beforehand which Revolution games will be playable.

Revolution certainly will be there though, and Metroid Prime's known to be a favourite way of showing off how the freestyle controller works, with several journalists at last September's Tokyo Game Show given the chance to play a modified version of Metroid Prime 2 using the controller - although Nintendo chose not to offer that demo to other TGS attendees.

And of all the games mentioned in connection with the system, Metroid Prime was the only one to feature in tech demo form at last year's E3, back before we knew anything about the controller.

As we close in on this year's show, however, for now Nintendo's keeping schtum about Metroid Prime 3. "It's pure rumour and speculation - we haven't officially confirmed what Revolution titles will be playable at this year's E3," said a spokesperson this morning.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=63930 ...

Akihabara News have released another of their Magazines for the PSP detailing all the latest Gadget News from Asia

Download Here --> http://www.akihabaranews.com/news-11...Volume+24.html ...

Stewie2280 has released a fantastic Model pack for the 3rd Person Homebrew FPS Game Iris, heres what he posted:

I have created a Iris Model Pack with a whopping 21 models. this has taken a long time to construct.
All of these models are converted by myself

The models include:
Alien
Blade
Ripper
Tankrat
Dragon Rider
Nemesiss
Hydralisk
Megaman
Bass/Forte
Zero
Hayden
Starfox
Eva Untit 01
DDZ
Forgotten One
CyberDemon 2000
Marine
Rhino
Knight
Evil Knight
Slith

Some models can chug a bit i do not know a way to fix this. Instructions and Credits are included in the readme. I probelly wont make anymore model packs im way to busy.

my other alias is beserker 2280 on other places so if oyu see someone with that name saying that they made this it is me

Thats about It bye

Download it and Give Feedback Here --> http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=22731 ...

Article from PSP3D:

Gary13579 has just released the demo of the PSP2IRC project, which allows you to login to IRC (Internet Chat Relay) via the PSPs web browser (rather than a seperate homebrew).

To use it yourself now, start your web browser on the PSP, and type psp2irc.psp-hacks.com in the address bar. In this demo version, there is only one server accessible through PSP2IRC, but in the future, when the project is complete and the source is released to the public, you will have the capability to go on IRC servers of your own choosing. ...

News from PSPFanboy

Everyone knows advertising is biased. If the whole point of creating an advert for a product is to drum up hype (and therefore sales), then chances are companies will try their darndest to make sure their baby’s put in the best light possible. There are laws that protect consumers from outright fabrication, but what if the ad is only sort of telling a fib?

Case in point: Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell Essentials ad. The advert was called to 1UP’s attention, and things at first glance do look dubious indeed. The statement “One of the best games on the PSP” made by GameSpy was culled, they discovered, from a preview the gaming website did months before the game was released. While said preview was indeed hopeful of the game’s kick-assery, it instead was given a swift kick in the ass by their later review.

The article states that no response has yet been received from either Ubisoft or GameSpy about the ad. We’re guessing this’ll be one of those “oops” things; someone’ll get smacked on the wrist and the ad will disappear with reputation and advertising relationship intact. What’s your take on this? Do you think Ubisoft’s gone too far, or do you think what they did is justifiable? ...

Article from Skatter tech

Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a very popular device and has sold a few million units, but when compared to Apple’s iPod, the PSP lacks storage space. Luckily, the PSP has a built in WiFi card to make up for this disadvantage. With a few simple steps, all of which are included in this tutorial, anyone can stream any non-copyright music from their iTunes library to their PSP. To get started, you will need to have the following:

PSP With Firmware v2.60
Networked XP Home/Pro Comp.
WiFi (802.11b) Network Router
Apple iTunes v6.0.4 Installed
Songs in iTunes Music Library
At Least 1 Playlist With Music
The 5-Step Setup Procedure:

1) Download iTunes-PSP-Server.exe and save it to your desktop.
2) Disable any firewalls and/or keep port 8080 open.
3) Launch iTunes and then click on the iTunes-PSP-Server after.
4) In IE/Firefox open the page “http://localhost:8080″
5) Setup is complete if an “iTunes RSS Server” page appeared.

If the iTunes RSS Server page didn’t appear make sure your firewall has authorized “iTunes-PSP-Server.exe” to access the internet completely. You may also want to add a rule into your firewall to keep port 8080 open. The “black box” is the server, DO NOT close it.

Before going any further make sure you know the IP address of the machine running iTunes and the iTunes-PSP-Server. To find you Local Area Network (LAN) IP go to Start -> Control Panel -> Network Connections -> Click on your Network Card -> Support Tab. Your local IP address should look something like this “192.168.1.xxx”. Another method is to go to Start -> Run… -> type “cmd” hit enter -> type “ipconfig” in the window. Your IP Address should be displayed there. Once the 5-Step Procedure is complete and you have found your Local IP Address, proceed to the next step.

The PSP Setup Procedure:

1) Turn on your PSP and go to Network -> Internet Browser.
2) Enter “http://IPAddress:8080″ into the Address area.
3) When iTunes RSS Server appears add it to your bookmarks.
4) Now click on any orange RSS icon and “Add This Channel”.
5) Close Internet Browser and go to Network -> RSS Channel.
6) Select a playlist you added and YOUR’RE DONE!!!

This tutorial only demonstrated how to access your iTunes Library over a Local Area WiFi network. If you wish to access your iTunes Library music from any “HotSpot” or external location, you will need to forward port 8080 in your router to allow your Local IP to be accessible externally.

Other Notes: To close the iTunes-PSP-Server just select the black window and press CTRL+Shift+C and it should close. If you update your iTunes library once the serve has already been started, selected “Reload Library” on the webpage in your PSP browser. The server can only stream non-copyright protected MP3 and AAC files. (no video support yet) ...