Nintendo's breakthrough pad uses wide-VGA display, report claims
The gamepad screen at the heart of the Wii U experience displays at a 854x480 resolution, according to new research and estimates.
Entertainment site Golgotron claims the Wii U controller screen displays at the wide-VGA display standard.
The factual basis to this claim is debatable. The resolution size was estimated after hi-res images of the controller were observed.
The controller screen was manually measured at 870 pixels wide – though it was believed that that errors were made in the calculation and a far more likely result is 854 pixels.
“854 x 480 is a very common widescreen resolution, and it’s within 2 per cent of our not-scientific-enough measurement,” the report read.
The Wii U controller demonstrated at E3 will not likely be the final version sent to retailers by the end of 2012.
The console itself displays TV content at 1080p.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...put-at-854x480 ...

Though others will be able to join in using a DS, 3DS or Wii controller
With Nintendo's Wii U still in the early stages of development every aspect is still open to change, but for the time being at least it looks as if each Wii U will only be able to use one new touch-screen controller.
"Our basic premise is that you can use one with a system," Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto told News.com.au. "If we got to an idea of having multiple (controllers) it might be just more convenient for people to use their Nintendo 3DS and have a way to connect that.
"That being said, we are doing research about if someone brings their controller to their friends house and they want to play together on Wii U to whether or not something like that would be possible."
Miyamoto also went on to claim that while the innovations introduced with the likes of Wii and DS have been widely replicated by rivals, the Wii U will be harder to copy.
"It might be more convenient for people if companies did do that because this system is going to make it easier for people to interact with game systems," he added.
"Because of the way we've designed the game system, where the controller is really just that — it does have a screen but it doesn't have a processor inside it.
"All of the processing is happening inside the hardware itself, and then the hardware is sending the information to the controller with incredibly low latency because of the wireless beam we're using. It would be very difficult for the other hardware systems to be able to implement this at this stage."

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/44808/Wii-...one-controller ...

New iOS 5 feature strikingly similar to rejected app
A University of Birmingham student said he was shocked to discover the similarity of the new Apple iOS 5 Wi-Fi Sync feature to his previously rejected application.
Greg Hughes Wi-Fi Sync application was rejected fro the iTunes App Store in May of last year according to a Register report. An Apple developer relations representative called to deliver the bad news, reportedly telling Hughes that the firm's engineers were 'impressed' by the app.
With his Wi-Fi Sync rejected on the basis of 'unspecified security concerns', Hughes went on to publish the app on jailbroken iPhone App store Cydia where it shifted more than 50,000 copies at$9.99 a time.
On Monday Apple unveiled iOS 5 with an identically named Wi-Fi Sync feature and a logo with a striking similarity to that of Hughes' Wi-Fi Sync icon.
Coincidence or rip-off? You decide.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/36471...-rip-off-claim ...

Third-parties in play with Nintendo for Wii U; Yarnton: ‘New console will grow market further’
Nintendo has its eye on an even bigger addressable audience of gamers with its new Wii U home console.
After courting new audiences for so long, the focus is back on a much-desired re-engaging of actual gamers alongside that skillful non-gamer push.
“Wii U pushes the boundary – it gives gamers a much deeper experience, but the control and touchscreen means we can widen the audience even more,” Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton told MCV. “With DS and Wii we expanded the audience; we changed perceptions about gaming.
“What we are now doing is looking to grow that further, but with power and graphics and a new controller, gamers get a deeper experience than ever before.”
And that’s good news for retail, said Yarnton: “We’re still growing the Wii audience. We are doing really good numbers in the UK at the moment – the price drop got people back in stores, and helped retail in a very challenged market.”
Unveiled at E3 this week and due out in 2012, Wii U is a new home console to go under the TV. It features HD graphics, online connectivity and an optical disc drive, keeping physical retail-sold games in the mix.
But the centrepiece is an innovative controller which mixes joypad, touchscreen and streaming technology. Games can be transferred from TV to handset.
Most telling: Nintendo didn’t announce many first-party games for the console, but third-party partners did in their droves. Core games including Batman: Arkham City (Warner), Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft), Darksiders II and Metro (THQ), Aliens (Sega), plus Namco Bandai and Tecmo Koei titles were all confirmed.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/44805/Wii-needed-this ...

"We mean you no harm" say hackers
Sony hackers LulzSec informed the NHS that the group had obtained a number of administrative passwords.
"We mean you no harm and only want to help you fix your tech issues," Lulz Security emailed the NHS.
In a reference to the coverage of the 15-year-old terminal cancer sufferer Alice's 'bucket list', LulzSec concluded: "We hope that little girls feasts on the bonres of many giving souls."
The Department of Health told the BBC that only a 'very small number of website administrators' were involved and that no patient information was exposed by the breach.
New York based bank Citigroup also reported a seperate data breach in which hackers had accessed credit card account numbers and contact details of 200,000 North American customers.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/36467...prove-security ...

A new report by the Entertainment Software Association, which runs E3, has shown a continued increase in the market share for digital software, alongside a slight market shrink and a rise in the adoption of casual gaming.

The report begins with a quote from ESA president and CEO Michael D Gallagher, setting the report's somewhat biased stall out early.

"It is critical that we support economic sectors that create jobs, develop innovative technologies and keep America competitive in the global marketplace," writes Gallagher.

"The video game industry is one of those important, high-tech economic drivers. Our industry generates over $25 billion in annual revenue, and directly and indirectly employs more than 120,000 people with an average salary for direct employees of $90,000."

The report shows the North American market has shrunk marginally, from $16 billion in 2009 to $15.9 billion in 2010, but last year $5.8 billion of that was made up of 'other delivery formats' as opposed to $5.4 billion in 2009. Those other formats include, not just digital downloads, but casual, social, mobile and subscription titles.

$2.94 billion was spent on peripherals in the territory last year, with a further $6.29 billion on hardware.

Much of the data suggests the market is broadening considerably, off-setting a reduced spend by core markets with increased penetration into demographics with more money but less time, who are more likely to indulge in Facebook Scrabble than Call of Duty deathmatch.

72 per cent of US households play games
The average age of a North American gamer is 37
In 2010, 29 per cent of North American gamers were over 50
58 per cent are male
55 per cent play games on phones or handhelds
The average adult gamer has played for more than 12 years
68 per cent of American parents believe "game play provides mental stimulation or education"
59 per cent believe "that computer and video games provide more physical activity now than five years ago"
98 per cent are confident that ESRB ratings are accurate
The trends in the report are continuing ones, but the data, sourced from NPD, reflects an increased importance being placed upon the digital market, thanks to an improved tracking of download titles. Nonetheless, a lack of input from leading online PC download service Steam means that there are certainly gaps in the figures, despite a conscious split of computer (PC) and video (all other) games in the paper.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...f-gaming-in-us ...

Nintendo share prices have continued to decline in the wake of the Wii U announcement earlier this week, diminishing by a further 4.7 per cent yesterday.

This follows a 5.7 per cent drop on the day immediately after the reveal of its new home console, which left Nintendo stock prices at their lowest in five years. While yesterday is yet to close in the US, current figures suggest a further decline of 3 to 4 per cent.

Nintendo itself claims to be flummoxed by its share slump, with CEO Satoru Iwata telling Reuters that "Honestly speaking, the reaction to (Tuesday's) presentation and what I heard from people I met and the mood of the convention did not chime at all with what happened in the stock market.

"It's very strange."

There is historical precedent for this, similar having occurred in the wake of the Wii's initial announcement, with Iwata claiming that in both cases it was a matter of observers not having used the new technology themselves.

"In the end, it is easy to get the mistaken impression that this is just a game console with a tablet. People who came to the presentation and tried it out have understood very well that it opens up a lot of new possibilities. But people who have not tried it will find it hard to believe that this controller will change things."

Multiple analysts have offered different takes on the prospects of the Wii U, although the response has been broadly positive, if cautious. Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management, told the Wall Street Journal that "The product itself is not bad," but Nintendo may have suffered because "market expectations had been far too high... "It is also a reflection of structural issues caused by a transformation within the market."

Meanwhile Panoptic Management Consultants analyst Asif Khan told Industry Gamers that the issue may be that "Put very simply, investors hate uncertainty. With the Wii U announcement, the investing community has no information on release dates, price, components, specs, and even some features seem up in the air."

He added that "I also think that the Wii U controller looks weird to someone who has not had a chance to play with it. Most investors have not had a chance to hold the device and the software demos were limited in their scope.

"This kind of negative response by investors is not shocking, and I have been viewing it as a buying opportunity for myself and clients."

The price of the Wii U has yet to be revealed, although Iwata has suggested it is likely to be in excess of ¥20,000 ($250/£150).

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...re-price-slide ...

Prior to Nintendo's E3 conference, a number of names floated around for the home console which would be unveiled. Project Cafe, of course, was the development codename for the device. A few ideas were suggested for what the final title would be, including the peculiar but interesting concept that the system itself might just be called "Nintendo". Nobody guessed at "Wii U". Nintendo, unlike its gaming rivals, seems to retain the capability to play its cards close to its chest.

By christening the device using the Wii branding, Nintendo returns to a strategy abandoned long ago. This is the first Nintendo home console to be branded as a continuation of its successor since the venerable Super NES.

Actually, had the company decided to give its older fans a grin of recognition by unveiling a platform called the "Super Wii", it might have been a better move. At least then we'd have avoided the confusion that followed in the wake of the Wii U announcement, which left many observers confused about what was actually being unveiled - with the idea that this was a new controller for the Wii rather than a brand new console being a popular misconception.

At this stage, a few days after the conference and with tons of explanatory coverage appearing across the Web, anyone who frequents gaming sites and is still purporting to be confused over this issue is obviously simply being obtuse. Yet we can't dismiss the confusion that was evident across social networks and comment threads during the conference itself. Many perfectly earnest and intelligent people simply didn't get what Nintendo was trying to tell them - and these are people who are into gaming. What's going to happen when Nintendo tries to explain Wii U to its broader audience?

Part of the problem was that the announcement itself was poorly designed and executed. In their haste to show off the flexibility of the controller, the team writing the scripts failed to set out the basis of what they were presenting from the outset, and then proceeded to bounce around between features and concepts like a giddy child at a birthday party. Contrasted with the measured, explanatory tone of the original Wiimote unveiling at TGS many moons ago, this frenetic and unfocused presentation did its subject few favours.

That, however, is a temporary setback at best. It's just one presentation - an important one, of course, but there'll be plenty more public outings for the Wii U and plenty of chances for the company to get its story straight and its explanations rehearsed, focus tested and rehearsed again. The Wii U desperately needed an elevator pitch this week, and Nintendo didn't seem to have one - but I don't doubt that the company is busy thinking of one right now.

What's more worrying, though, is the second source of confusion - the name. Certainly, some of the audience weren't sure if this was an upgrade to the Wii or a whole new console because the presentation was a bit slapdash - but that idea was reinforced and expanded by the fact that the branding is essentially the same as the previous console.

It's easy to see why Nintendo decided to do that, of course. The Wii is the best-selling home console of the generation, and it doesn't want to abandon the value it's built up in the brand. Throwing away the GameCube branding was easy, but dumping "Wii" would be painful, perhaps even wasteful.

Yet there's a problem with this decision making process - and with the thinking behind it. It's perfectly illustrated by something I've experienced personally a couple of times in the past few weeks, buying new software for my 3DS. I'm not sure when it started, but of late, retailers in Japan have started asking "are you sure you have a 3DS?" when you buy a game for the system. I've heard similar reports from the UK and elsewhere.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...eft-blog-entry ...

Sony deputy president and PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai has claimed that online hacks pose a risk to society itself.

In an interview with the Guardian, Hirai said of the recent PSN security crisis that: "this isn't something that is a Microsoft issue or a Sony issue or limited to one or two companies. This is actually a lot bigger than that."

Observing that the likes of the FBI had also seen recent online security breaches, he felt that "It's large enough to the extent that we're talking about any and all companies, organisations and entities that deal in the online space – which is pretty much everyone at this stage, isn't it?

"It's a threat, not just to Sony or a couple of other companies, but to the very fabric of society. Therefore it requires individuals and companies to be very vigilant, which goes without saying, and we need help from various government, various enforcement agencies and legislation in certain instances as well. And this needs to be a worldwide effort."

Hirai also disputed that Sony had unnecessarily bided its timed before revealing the nature of the PSN outage to its users. "You can't just go out there and drop a statement like that without being able to answer some fundamental questions... So I don't think we "waited" a week. I think it took a week to make sure that we had, at least what we thought was enough information that was credible at the time before we made any announcements."

He claimed that the person or persons behind the PSN hack had not yet been identified, but that Sony was working with the FBI and other law organisations in the hope of tracking down the culprit.

In response to whether he believed smartphones and tablets posed a threat to the upcoming PSVita, Hirai argued that "We're catering to a completely different market," and that the PlayStation Suite for Android was Sony's answer to the rise of phone-based gaming.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ric-of-society ...