Nintendo has refused to attribute low sales of Wii and DS games solely to piracy.

In a recent investor call, CEO Satoru Iwata explained, "I do not think we should attribute bad software sales solely to piracy.

"Even with piracy, as long as we can create products which can attract attention from many consumers and which can greatly entertain them, that software can make it to the number one position of the hit software sales chart.

"So, we would like to consider it from both perspectives simultaneously. It is true there is always the influence of piracy, but it is important for us to increase the number of our consumers who are willing to shell out their money to purchase our products."

Maybe he's onto something. The phenomenal Super Mario Galaxy 2 shifted 4.09 million copies in its first five weeks on sale. Pokémon Black/White, which recently secured a perfect 40/40 from Famitsu, is rapidly approaching a similar figure in Japan alone.

Then again, maybe he's not. The excellent Metroid: Other M failed to trouble the UK all formats top 10 when it launched last month.

Iwata went on to re-emphasise that Nintendo will be making new efforts to tackle piracy on its forthcoming handheld, the 3DS.

"Of course, as a responsibility of the platform holder, we will tackle piracy. For example, when we launch new hardware, such as Nintendo 3DS, it is a good opportunity to beef up the countermeasures, and we are actually working on that now."

The 3DS launches in Japan on 26th February 2011 before heading to Europe and the USA shortly thereafter.

Nintendo's next big releases include Donkey Kong Country Returns, arriving on Wii on 3rd December, and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS a week later.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ind-poor-sales ...

Shigeru Miyamoto has explained that the evolution of technology is what kept Mario fresh. Had videogames been a stationary medium like books, then Mario would have departed a long time ago.

"I'm always asked how I make the Mario series, but it's like we're thinking the games up on the run. I can only answer that each time is different, so I don't know," Miyamoto told famed Japanese copywriter - and one-time Nintendo employee (and inventor of the name Game Boy) - Shigesato Itoi (an interview conducted in place of Iwata Asks).

"Looking back, what's been easy about making the Mario games is that they could naturally change along with the progress of technology. For example, when you make live action SFX movies and as special effects technology advances, then you have new methods at your disposal.

"In the same way, as technology advances, the Mario games change, too. On the contrary, books have basically always been made the same way. If it had been necessary to keep making Mario games in the same way like that, we couldn't have done it. In that way, making the Mario games has been easy.

"But the technology changes, so we just have to adjust to that. And as technology changes, so does what you want to do.

"If it weren't for that," he added, "I don't think I could have stuck with it this far."

Itoi and Miyamoto talked at length about the nature of ideas and inspiration. The hope was that Itoi could help Miyamoto put into words how he created an icon like Mario. The interview marked the moustached plumber's 25th birthday.

One recurring theme was simplicity, something Miyamoto teaches young Nintendo game designers who provide needless explanations of tiny details. Miyamoto himself was taught this lesson - at least in part - by the technology restrains of the NES.

"We were making the software for the NES system back then, so there were also capacity limits," Miyamoto recalled. "Having said that, however, even when we are facing such limitations as capacity constraints, if anything bothers me, I would really apply myself to it. For example, deciding to have Mario enter a Warp Pipe from the top. Having him cross in front of it from the side wouldn't work.

"I thought it was strange how Mario was already standing there underground when that level begins. Why is Mario, who just passed in front of a castle, standing underground? I couldn't fit in a sequence showing him falling underground, so I decided to have him just plop down from the top of the screen, and-surprisingly-that was just fine. If someone had said, 'You should provide a little more detail here,' it would have turned out differently.

"The restrictions were often a big help. Players were able to imagine the details that weren't put in."

Other interesting tid-bits were Miyamoto remembering a discussion with "my master" Gunpei Yokoi, who in a meeting told the Mario-maker "you're pretty negative." "That really shocked me," Miyamoto said.

"But I wasn't intending to be negative," he added. "I thought about what he might mean and realized that when I think about something, I have a tendency first to draw up a list of what can't be done. For example, when it comes to what can and can't be done with the NES system, it was really important for me to know a lot about what can't be done

"So when I think about something, I draw up a list of everything that won't work. If there's an idea according to which doing one thing means something else won't work, I focus on what won't work. Certainly, that is negative. So which is better, negative or positive? Well, both are important, they need to coexist.

"Someone who only sees the positive is just a blind optimist," he declared.

"And while it's important to know the negative, someone who only talks about what's negative is just a pessimist."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...pt-mario-fresh ...

Mozilla has released the first beta of its Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo. The browser is based on the Firefox 4 core and should be released in the same time frame as the big brother. The mobile browser includes Firefox Sync, a cloud feature that enables users to sync browsing history, passwords, form-fill data and bookmarks, as well as open tabs."
Android news site Androinica also mentions the release, and provides a small tutorial on installing beta apps for Android.

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/...-Android-Maemo ...

Apple is reportedly working behind the scenes to address scratching and cracking of the iPhone's glass back panel by certain third-party cases. This 'Glassgate' story got rolling with a report in the gdgt newsletter by Ryan Block, who says he spoke with sources inside and outside of Apple about this issue, but was unable to get an official Apple comment. Block writes: 'Apple has apparently found that non-bumper style cases — specifically those that slide onto the iPhone 4, which are occasionally prone to particulate matter getting caught between the rear of the phone and the case — can cause unexpected scratching that could quickly develop into full-on cracking or even much larger fracturing of the entire rear pane of glass. To put it another way: Apple is afraid you might buy a standard slide-on iPhone case, put it on your phone, and then discover the next time you take it off that the entire back of your device has been shattered by no fault of your own.' Apple is said to be taking it seriously, looking to avoid the sort of backlash it got when reports surfaced over the summer that the iPhone 4's antennas didn't work correctly when users gripped the phones in a certain (and quite natural) way.

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/1...hone-Glassgate ...

suraj.sun sends this quote from Engadget about U-verse subscribers soon gaining the ability to use an Xbox 360 as a set-top box:
"A so-called Wired Release will roll out to AT&T U-verse customers next Sunday, and it'll bring the long awaited feature with it (though you'll have to wait until November 7th for that particular aspect). This means an AT&T U-verse customer's Xbox 360 will have a Dashboard app, and when launched, it'll let it function exactly like any other U-verse set-top. The only major catch is that it can't be the only set-top — you'll need at least one DVR at another TV in the house to enjoy one of the four HD streams that could be funneled into your home."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/1...se-Set-Top-Box ...

A week after PlayStation celebrated its 15th Anniversary, we're mixing nostalgia with the modern day and deciding once and for all what PlayStation exclusives you should have had on your shelf at some point to get the best out of Sony's consoles.

Here are our picks for the best of the best across all three consoles:

1. Metal Gear Solid
This is Solid Snake before the 28 hour cut-scenes, the unwieldy socio-political storylines and the never-ending endings.

Even if you've been a fan of Hideo Kojima's sneak and peak series right up to Guns of the Patriots, the original Metal Gear has to be considered the best in the series for propelling Kojima and his mullet-wearing shadowed stalker into PlayStation stardom.

The fact that Kojima stuck a level from the original Metal Gear into Guns of the Patriots and fans lapped it up - smooth, pixelated faces and all - just goes to show how much the original Metal Gear means to PlayStation users.

Rich gameplay, an engrossing story and bosses that have become infamous kicked off one of gaming's biggest franchises.

2.Uncharted 2
The first game set up the play and the second scored one of the most spectacular gaming touchdowns in history. What other game gives you scenes as massive and as epic as that first train level?

Slowly and strenuously fighting gravity, Drake jumps from one seat to the next as his particular carriage is unfortunately hanging off a cliff face. Public transport; what can you do?

But it's not just the massive set-pieces that keep the player in control, it's the range of personalities that are brought to life with impeccable acting and real character development.

Sure when you've got your mates round you're playing it for the gun-slinging Indiana-esque action adventure. But you're really keeping one eye on that love triangle aren't you? Thought so.

3.God of War Collection
You think Uncharted 2 was epic? Who told you that? Uncharted 2 is about as epic as Question Time in comparison to the day-to-day life of the mighty Kratos.

In fact, if we were to squeeze any game into a time-capsule to show future generations just how in your face, over the top epic "that old-timer tech" used to be, it'd be a God of War title. Scrap that, it'd be all of them.

Put aside the rip-your-head-off-and-throw-it-down-a-volcano violence (which we love by the way) and you've still got a game that somehow manages to serve up and adventure on a scale like no other.

We're not ones for hyperbole (ahem) but the game begins with a cut-scene that would make any top-paid Hollywood animator green and it certainly caused our mouths the drop an inch or two.

It's one thing to see beautifully rendered, incredibly detailed Titans of giant proportions scaling a cliff-face, it's something else entirely to find that your adventure begins on one of the Titans itself.

A platforming slash-em-up on a massive stone bloke? You won't see anything even close to it in any other game.

OK so maybe we've cheated by going for the God of War Collection but if you can have all three why on Earth wouldn't you?

4.ICO
Let's put the smoking guns and decapitated heads to one side now (maybe on the bedside table for later).

These days, with all the "FPS this" and "Punch him in the face that" it can be hard to find some real heart in the world's gaming output.

In fact if we were to even mention the word "tenderness" you might feel a strong urge to slap us really hard in the head. That's why a game like ICO deserves a place on the PlayStation's best of album.

Not only was it a great puzzler but it managed to completely step aside from the rock 'em sock 'em rut that so many games fall into and replaced the massive action hero with a small boy dragging a princess by the hand to keep her out of harms way.

You can hire the best writers, craft the perfect soundtrack, spend hours getting the perfect shot and you still won't invoke the same feeling of attachment in an audience that Sony managed with the simple gesture of holding a hand.

5.Final Fantasy VII
This is the game that put RPG's on the mainstream map. Final Fantasy VII will stick out in the minds of anyone who was a PlayStation gamer back in the 90s (Oh how we miss the 90s).

June 1997 to be precise, a time when you didn't even have to have played Final Fantasy VII to know what it was all about. It was on shelves, on pages and on the lips of everyone with the same kinds of words being thrown about in every case.

One of the best graphical achievements of its time, Final Fantasy VII hit gamers with multi-pronged pleasure adding an in-depth, grown-up narrative to engrossing RPG mechanics with spectacular spell-augmented combat.

While the JRPG genre might be waning somewhat these days, if you're still a die-hard genre defender, Final Fantasy VII is probably you main inspiration. Fight on brother.

6.LittleBigPlanet
It's a platforming game with a potentially infinite number of levels and the most user-friendly development tool ever, inspiring some of the greatest examples of creativity in the video games industry today.

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Consumer electronics trailblazer Apple is set to become an even more powerful player in the technology industry, according to PCR's survey of key retailers across the UK.
When asked if Apple will become a much more dominant force, 68 per cent of respondents said yes, while 22 per cent said no, and 10 per cent were not sure.
Having grown to almost monopolise the MP3 player market, successfully opening up the tablet sector to the mass consumer market, and currently driving widespread HTML5 adoption, Apple certainly has a track record in market dominance in certain sectors.
However while recent products such as the iPad have clearly been a success, there is discord as to whether it, and the tablet market it is paving the way for, will in some way cannibalise the PC market.
What do you think? Will Apple grow to be even more prevalent in the technology space? Is this a good thing? Post your comments below.

This research is based in a targeted survey of 250 key chains, independents, and supermarkets across the UK.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/34864...over-the-world ...

US retail chain GameStop believes Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops is on target to be its all-time most pre-ordered title.

"GameStop is tracking to all-time, record reservations on Call of Duty: Black Ops," claimed merchandising SVP Bob McKenzie.

"We are ahead of where we were with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year, which previously set the industry standard."

McKenzie revealed this whilst announcing a prize sweepstake for anyone pre-ordering the title from GameStop.

Activision itself has similar expectancies for the seventh of the main Call of Duty games, in August revealing that it is the publisher's biggest-ever investment.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-cod-black-ops ...

News via http://www.goatstorepublishing.com/n...amcast-Part-2/

On Monday, I started explaining why GSP focused on the Dreamcast, but I actually focused very little on our own personal reasons for liking the console, and instead focused a lot about what I feel sets the Dreamcast apart. And that was the fact that the Dreamcast was a console made by an arcade manufacturer, and a lot of the properties that Sega pushed to sell the console were arcade properties.

As you may have already guessed, that arcade focus played a large part in why I really loved the console, but we'll get to that in a bit. The thing is, when I first was getting into the console, it wasn't something that actively played into my decision.

Before I get into the full story, it's worth noting that I'm a notoriously late console adapter. When I was young and the NES had just come out, I begged my dad to get one, but he said that we already had an Atari 2600, they were the same thing, and the games for the 2600 were cheaper anyway. He would take me around to rummage sales, where I would often find games for a quarter that I would take home and play. And I really grew in an appreciation for those titles, as well as learned to try to take advantage of how games are made to find exploits to score higher.

I did get a NES, but I got it in late 1989, about the same time that I remember seeing stuff for the Genesis. but now what attracted me to the NES was part of what I found from owning the 2600 -- there were a ton of cheap, older games. I could pick up 10 used games for the same cost as one new one. I was similarly late to the party with the SNES, Jaguar and N64. And, even later for the Genesis, Saturn, Playstation, PS2 and GameCube. But, there was one console that basically bucked the trend... the Dreamcast.

It wasn't like I got a Dreamcast immediately on 9/9/99, but I was fascinated by it like no console that I could remember. In some ways, I was equally fascinated by the Jaguar, but I couldn't actually find one, so I don't count it. Regardless, I talked with all my friends who had picked one up, and the more that I heard about it, the more fascinated by it that I was. The more I heard, the more that I wanted to get one as soon as I could.

And I did. Thanks to some money for my birthday, I picked one up in the middle of February 2000, just five months after it was released, and years earlier than any other console that I had ever owned.

What made the Dreamcast such an attraction to me that I, for the only time in my life, decided to pick up the console when it was practically new?

The Dreamcast's graphics were mind blowing. Although the PS1, Saturn and N64 had all come before it and been out for a while, these systems often disguised the fact they weren't able to handle overly intense graphical experiences by adding tons of fog or ending up with characters or objects that were either not very detailed or moved poorly (and sometimes, both). The Dreamcast changed all of that - the graphics were crisp, clear and moved fluidly at all times. For the first time, you might catch a glimpse of NFL2K on a screen and actually think it was a real football game on TV. It was a huge jump in clarity, and I thought that it would (and thnk that it did) lead to 3D games that weren't unfairly shackled by technology.

Much more here --> http://www.goatstorepublishing.com/n...amcast-Part-2/ ...