Hasta La Gadget!

This week we’ve been following along with the release of the Sony PlayStation 4 and even stopped by the event to see what all the hype was about. One of the biggest questions that continues to appear is “will the PlayStation 4 play used games?” The answer seems to be yes – from what we’ve heard and what both Eurogamer and Engadget (amongst others) have heard, used games will function on the PlayStation 4. The question that’s not been answered in any real way is: “what happens if I want to sell my PlayStation 4 games?”

It’s ben confirmed several times over that games will be able to be purchased in physical form as well as digitally – both for some titles, in some cases. This means that there will, indeed, be opportunities for people to have a disk (Blu-Ray, as it were), play it, then pass it on to someone else with their own PlayStation 4 console. But a question remains surrounding licensing. While every major game console today (pre-PS4 and Xbox 720) is able to swap games and consoles without trouble, rumors and tips leading up to this generation’s inability to play games that weren’t licensed specifically to them continues to linger.

On the other hand, it would appear that each instance of an answer from Sony thus far has been traced back to Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s head of Worldwide Studios. Saying in one instance that “[used] PS4 games will work on [the] hardware” (via Engadget) and in another that “used games work on PS4″ (via Eurogamer), in both cases Yoshida was unable to clarify further.

What may be happening is that Sony is still in negotiations with game companies to decide whether they’re going to implement disk/console tying or not. Another possibility is that none of this used game selling/buying and using business is complicated at all, but simply that at this stage in the development of the PlayStation 4, Sony’s representation simply can’t legally comment on it.

Have a peek at the timeline below for more information on the PlayStation 4 – and peek at our ever-growing PlayStation 4 tag portal as well!

PlayStation 4 used games policy: yes and no is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You’ve blasted your way through the 20 games that come built into the Neo Geo X, so what’s next? Last month, rumors the handheld had been discontinued suggested that was your lot, but the truth was less worrying: the limited edition Gold bundle run had come to an end. Now, Tommo Inc has detailed the first of five additional game cartridges for the portable. Neo Geo X Classics: Volume I will add 15 titles for you to wear your thumbs down on, including Metal Slug 2, King of Fighters ’96 and Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves. The cart is due to hit North America in April for an unspecified price, and those that pick one up will get a “Rocket” high-speed data transfer and charging cable gratis, as well as the Neo Geo X System Update 1.0, which we expect to hear more details on shortly. A travel case for the handheld is also in development, and is expected to be released the same month. Hit up the PR to see the full games list for Volume I, although chances are, some of you are playing them already.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

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Gamers have probably known for some time now playing video games on their smartphones is a much easier and sometimes more rewarding experience than lugging around a dedicated handheld gaming device like the PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS. Part of the convenience also stems from our smartphone devices being with us at all times.

A new report published by research firms IDC and App Annie confirm what we’ve known for years as consumer spending on gaming applications on Apple’s App Store and Google Play have surpassed game spending on dedicated handheld gaming devices. Spending on dedicated handheld gaming devices tended to occur during certain seasons as 60 percent of Q4 spending occurred in December, which probably means they were given as holiday presents. On the other side of the spectrum, spending on iOS and Android was reported to be more evenly distributed throughout the year.

Unfortunately for both Nintendo and Sony, this report is only the start of what may come for the handheld gaming industry as more people can be found playing a quick game on their smartphone than a PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Dolphin Nintendo Wii, GameCube Emulator Running On Android, Sega Launches Kingdom Conquest II ,

Google hasn’t always been known for making breathtaking hardware, but today’s announcement of the Chromebook Pixel — arguably one of the best-looking laptops ever made, if nothing else — means that may no longer be the case.

Still, you can’t be blamed for being wary of shelling out a decent chunk of money on Google’s first foray into laptops, let alone a Chromebook of all things, so here’s a preliminary look at how the Chromebook Pixel stacks up against two prominent rivals in the computing space: the stock version of Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air and Microsoft’s Surface Pro.

*Note that we compared the base MBA and the surface Pro with upgraded storage, to establish a better baseline in terms of comparing more similar price points and spec load-outs. 

Versus the 13-inch MacBook Air

Compared to the base 13-inch MacBook Air, Google’s Pixel has a lot of similarities. It’s priced around the same, but actually comes in as more expensive that the OS X ultraportable, at $1299 and $1449 for options with Wi-Fi only, and Wi-Fi + LTE networking. What does the Pixel offer to justify the extra cost? It does have a denser display, with 239 ppi on a nearly 13-inch display. And that screen is touch sensitive, which isn’t something Apple can claim. But until now, it hasn’t shown off much about how touch might work with ChromeOS, though it has reportedly been “optimized” for finger-based input.

Another place where the Chromebook Pixel falls short of its competition is in local storage. 32GB on the Wi-Fi model and 64GB on the LTE version is tiny compared to the MacBook Air, which is already pushing it with 128GB. LTE is nice to have, but, with the prevalence of hotspots and modems, arguably less important than more offline-accessible storage space.

The Chromebook Pixel is very much aimed at the same market as the MacBook Air, with Google stressing that it’s an upscale device. But despite what looks to be a beautiful screen, this arrives with an even more experimental, touch-enabled version of an OS that has yet to prove itself with general consumers, meaning that the reasons to opt for Google’s brave new laptop over the Air perhaps aren’t as apparent as Google would’ve hoped.

Versus the 128GB Surface Pro

I can’t help but think about the Chromebook Pixel in relation to something like the Surface Pro, another premium computing device from a company that has historically shied away from making its own computers. Granted, the differences in execution between the two are pretty staggering, but it’s hard not to look at both devices as fresh steps into a market increasingly driven by novel hardware.

The Pixel certainly has the Surface Pro beat when it comes to sheer screen size and resolution (it has a 12.85″ display running at 2560 x 1700, compared to the Pro’s 10.6″ panel running at 1920 x 1080), but the Surface Pro seems to sport better touch support with its included stylus and Wacom digitizer. It’s too early to say whether or not one device has a definitive advantage of the other because of their seemingly similar processors (though the Pixel could squeak by because of its slightly quicker chipset), but we’ll return to that once we get our hands on a review unit.

Again, the Pixel may fall flat with its paltry 32GB of internal storage (though folks who spring for the LTE model will have around 64GB to play with). Sure, having a terabyte of cloud storage is neat, but those in need of real speed will prefer the Pro’s SSDs and memory card slot.

The other big question mark here is Chrome OS itself. The Chromebook is a very handsome little machine that seems to have some horsepower under the hood to boot, but I’m curious whether or not people will choose to plunk down upwards of $1299 for a computer that exists outside of the two entrenched environments that have dominated consumer computing. Windows 8 isn’t a shining star yet either, but it’s far from a company’s side project.

In the end…

While the Air and Surface Pro have their share of advantages, it’s still a little too early to write the Chromebook Pixel off completely. It may just be the right computer at the right time to give Chrome OS the boost it really needs, but for now Google needs to make a better case for why people should spend $1299 on a computer that hinges on the cloud instead of, you know, anything else.

If you don’t want to read a piece about the horrid state of our society, please go no further. Apparently companies are throwing traditional in-person interviews out the window in favor of Twitterviews: Twitter. Interviews. More »