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by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:43- Categories:
- DCEmu
Piper Jaffray study finds that younger gamers are gravitating more and more towards mobile
A new study from analyst firm Piper Jaffray, looking into high school gaming behaviors, provides some insight into what could possibly be driving the gaming world towards social and mobile enterprise. Polling 5,600 teenagers, the study found that kids simply want to feel connected while playing games, notably with friends. Adding to the rise of the social gaming platform, many teenagers stated that traditional games lacked any sort of social feature to keep them engaged.
In fact, 65.9 percent polled stated that they were losing interest in playing traditional video games, up from 63.5 percent last year. While that might look bad for the console gaming world, these same teenagers said they were open to gaming on mobile devices; a staggering 66.2 percent polled in the affirmative, up from 34.4 percent this time last year.
"While a console refresh in 2013 or 2014 will breathe new life into the industry, the new systems will face unprecedented competition from tablets, smartphones, and connected TVs. We expect growing middle classes and rising Internet penetration rates in emerging markets, particularly Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia-Pacific to partially offset competition from tablets and smartphones," reads the report.
That unprecedented competition is also going to come from social gaming sites, such as Facebook. Polls indicated that 25.3 percent of teenagers are actively playing on such sites. While the total is down from 25.9 percent last year, it is still an increase from fall 2011's recorded number. Surprisingly, 92.8 percent of teens said they would not partake in any purchasing of virtual goods, an increase from 80.5 percent in fall 2011.
Online services and downloading seem to be on the rise, even for traditional consoles. Of those polled, over 53 percent said they would be fine with downloading a full game to their console, while 36.1 percent said they would be interested in a service such as OnLive. Both questions saw a major rise from last year, increasing 27.1 percent and 15.2 percent in 18 months, respectively.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...es-finds-study
...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:41- Categories:
- PS3 News
Digital Foundry assesses the extraordinary rumours surrounding the next-gen Sony console.
It's shaping up to be one of the most extraordinary tech stories of the year. If the rumours are true, Sony is leaving its Cell architecture behind, instead working closely with AMD on its next-generation PlayStation.
Last week, the story took on a new dimension with Kotaku posting a major scoop: the machine is codenamed Orbis, and furthering the previous rumour, does indeed sport both main processor and graphics core from AMD. Since Kotaku's exclusive, information has started to leak from other sources - according to VG247, the new console is set for a Christmas 2013 release, so directly head-to-head with the debut of the next-gen Xbox.
"The race is on. With PlayStation Orbis, Sony is looking to meet Microsoft head-on with a Q4 2013 release."
Meanwhile, PlayStation Orbis sketches leak, suggesting a touchscreen/camera combination is part of the proposition, while the codename appears to resolve successfully on Sony's developer portal in the same way that Vita codenames also link through to the site - which is IP white-listed by the way in case you're wondering why you can't get any further.
The evidence such as it is all seems to suggest that the next-generation PlayStation will be arriving more quickly than we imagined, and its hardware make-up signifies a radical departure from the spirit of the designs conjured up during the Ken Kuturagi era.
It's the rumoured choice of CPU from AMD that has surprised many. With PlayStation 3, Sony continued its traditions of bespoke architecture by helping to create the Cell - a central processing core surrounded by eight satellite co-processors (one of which is deactivated to improve chip yields, another of which was blocked off from developers and used for security). Processing performance on the SPU remains absolutely out of this world, and many argue that it's the defining characteristic of the hardware in its first-party exclusive titles enjoying technological advantages over their Xbox 360 counterparts. Unfortunately, SPU coding has proved challenging for many third party games developers, despite the best efforts of Sony's engineering teams in providing robust libraries that allow for advanced features to be almost literally dropped into existing code.
There's also the inconvenient truth that a lot of SPU power was spent on tasks that are typically associated with the graphics chip - in effect, the power of the Cell was often being used to make up for a shortfall in the capabilities of the PS3's RSX. The notion of moving GPU tasks onto the main processor worked for PlayStation 3 but it's somewhat at odds with the way technology is developing generally - the rise of DirectCompute and OpenCL is all about offloading tasks uniquely suited to the massively parallel architecture found in GPUs and freeing up more CPU time, a complete reverse on Sony's strategy with PS3.
"The exotic, vision-driven hardware that characterised the Kuturagi era is over. Sony's strategy is to buy in the best tech and to concentrate its resources on superior game creation tools."
There is interesting talk in VG247's story about abandoned work on a next-generation Cell processor running with 24 SPU co-processors - a route that would have potentially made backwards compatibility with PS3 an option for the new hardware. Unfortunately it would also have increased the issues developers have had with SPU programming, particularly when it comes to scheduling/coordinating tasks. Running six SPUs effectively in parallel took time even for first party Sony developers (check out all the unused SPU time in Killzone 2) so the notion of handling 24 simultaneously would be even more problematic for those less au fait with the architecture.
Backing away from Cell may well surprise or even upset some, but it's entirely in keeping with a firm looking to extract maximum performance from its overall silicon budget - and it's exactly the same strategy the firm employed for PlayStation Vita, licensing established technology from the best in the business and concentrating its own efforts on superior development tools. Some may lament that the era of exotic, vision-driven hardware from Sony that characterised the Kuturagi era is over, but it's safe to say that a combination of non-standard, challenging architecture and lacking devtools contributed significantly to the PS3's uncertain early start.
PS4 represents the ability for Sony to hit the ground running from day one: AMD has proven that it can deliver in terms of both CPU and GPU design, plus the company has unrivalled experience in combining both into a single chip. While it's unlikely to happen at launch, the ability to consolidate hardware like this is immensely valuable in reducing costs at a later stage in the console's lifecycle - something that Microsoft has already achieved with its slimline 360S, and a strategy that Sony itself employed in the past with PlayStation 2.
This approach has already yielded dividends with PlayStation Vita, where Sony's focus on creating ...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:35- Categories:
- Xbox 360 News
Microsoft has laid out its cinema, TV and radio campaign for its new kids game – Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure.
The 360 title is being backed by cinema ads that will reach 1.3m people, plus there’ll be postcards in foyers.
Further activity has been booked on TV channels, with competitions placed in kids magazines. That’s on top of radio and online promotions.
“This is a compelling and highly recognisable IP – no other game contains multiple worlds of the Pixar universe,” the game’s product manager Laura Disney told MCV. “Also, there are few competitive titles in the children’s space on Kinect.”
The game lets players become a unique Pixar character and take part in adventures across five different worlds, which include Toy Story, Cars, Ratatouille, The Incredibles and Up.
Kinect Rush is out now.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/kinec...-people/093895 ...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:33- Categories:
- DCEmu
Specialist retail giant GameStop says the UK has already helped grow its worldwide digital empire.
The company launched GameStop.co.uk in July, which included a games download service. The site quickly won over consumers with aggressive price cuts and temporary deals.
GameStop is keen to build on the success it has seen in the UK market, which helped the retailer generate $70.6m in Europe during its last quarter.
“The UK is a new component of our global digital strategy,” a GameStop spokesperson told MCV.
“Its unique offerings contributed to an increase in online transactions
across our global e-commerce network.”
Last week, GameStop International’s executive VP Mike Mauler stated in an investors’ briefing that the firm is “focused entirely on competing digitally in the UK”, having closed all UK and Ireland stores in the last nine months.
However, reports suggest the firm is still interested in GAME Group.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/games...success/093896 ...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:30- Categories:
- Xbox 360 News
Namco Bandai has announced an interesting launch exclusive with Amazon for upcoming RPG The Witcher 2.
The online retail giant has confirmed that its entire Xbox 360 launch stock of the The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition has been signed by members of the CD Projekt development team.
“Over the last few days, they have found the time to pass thousands of inlays around the office but once the launch allocation is gone, it’s gone,” Amazon said.
“Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity! These are not printed signatures. Orders made after the launch allocation runs out won’t receive a signed copy.”
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/amazo...box-360/093899
...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:27
The Grand Theft Auto series has been selected to feature in a new exhibition at the Victoria And Albert Museum in London.
British Design 1948 - 2012: Innovation In The Modern Age showcases numerous high points of post-war British design, spanning the period between the 1948 Olympics in London and this summer's games, which will also be held in the city.
The exhibition, which opened on March 31 and runs until the close of the Olympics on August 12, features a commemorative video chronicling the history of Rockstar's series. Tickets cost £13.50; for more, follow the source link below.
Source: V&A
http://www.edge-online.com/news/see-gta-va ...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:25- Categories:
- PS3 News
Jennifer Hale, voice of the female Commander Shepherd in theMass Effect series, has spoken for the first time about the furore surrounding the ending to Mass Effect 3.
Since the release last month of the final part of Bioware's sci-fi trilogy, the internet has been awash with ill-feeling over the apparently lacklustre end to the game. A campaign to pressure BioWare into changing the ending drew support from thousands of fans, raising $80,000 for gaming charity Child's Play. In an interview on Tuesday, Hale broke her silence on the matter.
"I was surprised about the level of passion about the ending," she said. "But there's something really great about that, too: It says people are invested and they really care and they don't want to let go, which is awesome because I don't, either."
Hale says she knows nothing of what's coming in the new content that BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka says will address people's complaints over the game's ending. She hasn't been contacted by the team, hasn't had a recording session, or been given any indication that she will be needed for this new content.
However, she would be happy to oblige in the case that changes. Hale admits that regardless of whether she utters another word as FemShep again, she's pretending there's going to be more Mass Effect ahead because "I prefer to live in denial about it because it makes me too sad.
"I have mixed feelings about [the prospect of a new ending]," she admits. "I really respect the team and what they did and how hard they worked. And endings are hard! They're cutting new ground; the players are so involved in this game that to come up with an ending to something everyone's got their hand in is a huge challenge.
"So maybe it's going to take a little work to get everything sorted in a way that's going to make everybody happy."
When asked if she had any idea how developer Bioware might respond if fans don't care for the second stab at the ending, Hale laughed and said: "I don't know. Thank God I'm not a writer!"
http://www.edge-online.com/news/jenn...ffect-3-ending ...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:23- Categories:
- PC News
It's been almost four years since Diablo 3 was announced, and its development began years earlier. Its predecessors helped define the action RPG genre, so anticipation is high among fans of the franchise. The game has undergone closed beta testing since September, and a lot has changed since then. Now that Blizzard has settled on May 15th as a release date, we thought this would be a good time to take a look at the state of the game as it currently exists. These two videos show actual gameplay of the various classes, explain the skill and rune systems, take a look at the auction house, and go over many of the other changes since the beginning of development. (Click to play the first video, and the second one will play automagically after the first one ends.)
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/0...eta-two-videos ...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:21- Categories:
- Windows Phone
MrSeb, zachareye, and others wrote in with several reviews of the Nokia Lumia 900. Starting things off, Extreme Tech asks if the Lumia redefines the smartphone; BGR chimes in declaring the phone "terrific". Ars Technica, on the other hand, isn't quite so enthusiastic, especially about the camera optics. Anandtech joins Ars in not being particularly enthused. It looks like most reviewers are happy with the UI, but not so enthused about the hardware (low display resolution for one). Signs point to an OK handset, but nothing spectacular.
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/...ia-900-reviews ...by Published on April 4th, 2012 22:15- Categories:
- Playstation Vita News
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Mozilla join list of supporters for event
The prize pool for the upcoming UK game development competition GameHack has risen to £15,000.
Prizes for the two-day Tiga-run event, which has developers create an original game in 24 hours, include a PlayStation Vita development kit, a sound mix day at Pinewood Studios, a professional license for Marmalade and £3,000.
Cateogories for the event include best cross-platform application, best use of mobile, HTML5, Flash and a games trailer challenge.
As well as revealing a larger prize pool, the trade body also announced Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Mozilla as supporters of the event.
“We're passionate about engaging with the game developer community to better understand what they want from the web,” said Mozilla technical evangelist Rob Hawkes.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...rises-to-15000
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