Hasta La Gadget!

Angry Birds is one of the most popular mobile game franchises of all time. There have been several games launched in the series and until the Angry Birds Go racing game landed, most of the apps had the same basic game play. A new Angry Birds game had been teased with the tagline “The Most Epic Soft Launch Ever.”

It appears that the word “Epic” was a hint at the next game. Reports have surfaced along with some screen shots that call the new game Angry Birds Epic. The game is rumored to be a narrative, turn-based strategy RPG. If that is accurate, it will be a big change from its traditional game play.

The game will be free to play and will be supported via in-game purchases. Screenshots tease “epic” upgrades that involve upgrades for your characters and more. Those weapons and upgrades are tipped to be items that the player crafts in the game. Unsurprisingly, to speed up the crafting process, gamers are said to be able to purchase the upgrades in the game with real money.

Angry Birds Epic will land first in Australia and Canada. There’s no word on exactly when it will be released.

[AngryBirdsNest via NDTV]

The “soft” in Microsoft isn’t what it used to be. A score ago, the company was certain the software-licensing business was the one it wanted to be in — Apple decided to hold its cards a lot closer to the chest, and it cost the company dearly for years. Meanwhile, Microsoft made a lot of cash with Windows, and it still does. But the tide is turning. Two of the last three Windows operating systems haven’t generated the kind of crazed mindshare that a company needs to remain relevant over the long haul, and at some point, one has to wonder if Microsoft will be able to inject a bit of life into its stodgy, outmoded self by grabbing the reins on the hardware side.

In fact, that’s exactly what Microsoft wondered, as it casually announced a plan in June of 2012 to affront scores of OEM partners with its Surface initiative. In an instant, Microsoft dove headfirst into the hardware game, and regardless of how it wanted the public to perceive the move, the truth was impossible to hide: this was Microsoft telling Acer, ASUS, Dell, Lenovo and the rest that it could no longer trust their design chops to keep its revenue on the up and up.

In February of 2011, well before it transformed the Surface from a big-ass table into a slate that almost no one wants to buy (Microsoft’s words, not mine), the company managed to procure a huge ally on the mobile front. The Nokia / Microsoft alliance was monumental. This was Nokia’s formidable hardware being exclusively used to push Microsoft’s fledgling Windows Phone OS. At once, Nokia loyalists found hope, and those praying for a coalition with Android were dismayed. Little did we know: that partnership marked the end of the original Microsoft, the end of the original Nokia and, in my estimation, a complete rerouting of the Windows roadmap. This week’s acquisition simply makes it all the more official.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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With so many products available, it seems that Samsung is just taking a “spray and pray” approach to its product strategy. But there are actually a number of reasons why Samsung wants, and is able, to ship such a huge …

It was close to a year ago when Capcom, Namco Bandai and SEGA announced they would be teaming up to work on its Project X Zone Nintendo 3DS game. And after several months of development time, publisher Namco Bandai has announced the game will be made available on the 3DS on June 25th in North America.

Project X Zone will star Namco Bandai, SEGA and Capcom characters in a strategy RPG. The inclusion of characters from each developer’s roster is explained the in game’s story, which revolves around a stolen ancient treasure known as the Portalstone. The game’s roster will include stars of such franchise’s as Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Tekken, Rival Schools and Mega Man X. Yes – we know the majority of these franchises are from Capcom’s stable of titles, but we’re sure we’ll hear about more stars from Namco Bandai and SEGA’s camp when we get closer to Project X Zone’s release date. Until then, keep your Nintendo 3DS fully charged to prepare yourself for the moment this interesting looking mashup RPG game releases.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Black Ops 2 Uprising Map Pack Marks The Return Of The Replacers, Pay Women To Play Video Games With You In China,

The CE pricing war just got really real. Gregg Steinhafel, Target‘s chairman, president and CEO, just announced a move that’ll undoubtedly get the attention of Amazon. And while we’re at it, the attention of Walmart, Sears, Best Buy, and practically every other major brick-and-mortar retailer that it competes with. Following Best Buy’s move — which saw the retailer price match Amazon during the holiday 2012 shopping season — Target is taking it one step further by announcing that it’ll match Amazon’s prices year round. Naturally, the goal here is to put a stop to “showrooming,” a term that describes the act of using B&M stores simply to ogle products before buying them for less online.

Details on how it’ll all work out, including an official start date, remain under wraps, but we’re told that if a customer “buys a qualifying item at Target and then finds an identical item for less in the following week’s Target circular or within seven days on either Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com and Toysrus.com, Target will match the price.” It’s not at all unreasonable to assume that Wally World and the like will end up following suit, but a part of us worries that this may end up having the opposite effect — if Amazon’s pricing begin to float higher in order to meet somewhere in the middle with B&M retailers, consumers will end up with fewer options when it comes to saving.

Filed under: Misc

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Source: Marketwatch, CNBC