Hasta La Gadget!

As I’ve noted on SlashGear before, I have what some might call a gaming closet museum. Over the last couple of decades, I’ve collected consoles, handhelds, and popular games, and kept them on the ready in the event I want to go old school and power on my old Atari 2600 or check out an NES title.

I recently found myself bored and decided to break out some of those old hardware devices. And as I combed my way through all of those products, I couldn’t help but wonder: what if we had a single console to rule them all? A device that was universally supported and acted as the only console we needed for the generation.

The excitement was palpable. I started thinking up ways in which the console would work and the chances of every developer – from Nintendo to Electronic Arts – supporting it for the good of the community. Surely, it would be possible, right?

Then I started thinking about the reality of the gaming industry. We have three companies right now offering hardware, and not one of them looks to be willing to change their strategies. What’s worse, none of them like each other.

As if that’s not enough, we’ve come to a place in the gaming community where some people would just not play titles from their favored company on another console. Nintendo fans, for example, curse at the thought of being able to play their beloved Super Mario or The Legend of Zelda games on a console designed by another company.

But perhaps a universal console is where the industry should be headed. In a world where people have less money to spend, wouldn’t it be nice to pay for one $300 or $400 console, and not worry about buying two or three for that price? And by reducing hardware-acquisition costs, it’s possible that developers and publishers can make far more on the backside, since customers will have more to spend.

In a perfect world, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and perhaps other members of the gaming community would collaborate on the universal game console, offering up their own two cents on what should be included and what shouldn’t. The result? A device that would likely deliver high-quality graphics, unique concepts, and a design that would make people across the globe quite happy.

“Perhaps a universal console is where the industry should be headed.”

Combining the strengths of all gaming companies delivers the very best results, if you ask me.

But unfortunately, no one is asking me. The game industry has become big business. And whether we old school gamers, who desire the old days of innovation, like it or not, the chances of the industry changing are slim and none.

We’re stuck with multiple consoles, games that are exclusive to some products, and a community that can’t quite get itself to accept major change.

It’s unfortunate, isn’t it? I think a world where a universal game console was the norm would be a better place. But maybe I’m alone.

Let us know in the comments below how you would feel if a universal game console ever hit store shelves.

Will There One Day Be A Universal Game Console? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s been almost a year since Thrustmaster rolled out its first replica Ferrari 458 Italia racing wheel and pedal set for Xbox 360, and the company’s finally outed its successor: the Ferrari Vibration GT Cockpit 458 Italia Edition. Like its elder, the GT Cockpit has an 11.2-inch replica of the Ferrari 458 Italia’s steering wheel, with A,B, X and Y buttons in place of turn signals and an Engine Start button that’s actually a d-pad. It also sports brushed metal paddle shifters and 16-bit resolution to ensure a realistic digital driving experience. However, the new wheel is attached to a base sporting a pair of stamped steel pedals via an adjustable steering column. The whole thing has metal underpinnings and weighs 22 pounds to provide stability as you virtually race around Sebring or Laguna Seca. Plus, it’s foldable, so you can easily stow it out of the way when you’re not doing your best Stig impersonation.

In addition to the GT Cockpit, Thrustmaster has also outed the GPX LightBack Ferrari F1 Edition Gamepad. It largely looks like a standard corded 360 controller, with a Ferrari-style white and red paint job (replete with racing sponsor logos), backlit thumbsticks and two rows of LEDs at the top of the controller. The LEDs are programmed to provide visual indicators for engine speed or braking power, and the thumbsticks have been tweaked to be more precise than those on other available 360 gamepads. The F1 gamepad’s up for pre-order today for $49.99, and the GT Cockpit can be yours in September for $300. Wanna know more? Check out our hands (and feet)-on impressions after the break.

Continue reading Thrustmaster unveils Ferrari Vibration GT Cockpit 458 Italia Edition and Ferrari gamepad for Xbox 360, we go hands-on

Filed under: Gaming

Thrustmaster unveils Ferrari Vibration GT Cockpit 458 Italia Edition and Ferrari gamepad for Xbox 360, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It’s Gamescom week, and Electronic Arts has kicked things off by announcing Battlefield 3 Premium Edition. No, that isn’t a typo – Battlefield 3 is indeed getting a new edition, 10 months after release. As the name suggests, this new version of Battlefield 3 comes packed with a membership to Battlefield Premium, so if you’ve held out on buying Battlefield 3, this might be worth checking out.

As many of you already know, Battlefield Premium is a service that allows die-hard fans to get more out of Battlefield 3. Much like Call of Duty Elite, it gives access to all past, present, and future Battlefield 3 DLC, allowing players to get in on new DLC a couple weeks earlier before non-Premium members. There are other bonuses, such as exclusive weapons and dog tags, but the early access to DLC is the main draw of Battlefield Premium.

Battlefield Premium memberships run $50 a pop, but this Battlefield 3 Premium Edition is only going to cost $69.99 in the US, something that’s bound to make early Premium adopters angry. You’ve probably already figured out that Battlefield 3 Premium Edition comes with the currently available Back to Karkand and Close Quarters DLC packs (along with the upcoming Armored Kill, End Game, and Aftermath packs), but this edition also comes with a “Multiplayer Head Start Kit.” The kit includes 15 weapons, gadgets, and vehicle upgrades, so new players will be going into multiplayer with a little bit of an edge.

So there you have it, Battlefield 3 Premium Edition is a real thing, and it’s coming next month. Electronic Arts says the game is launching in the UK on September 13, which makes us think that it’ll be releasing in the US on September 11. That’s just a guess though, as we don’t have an official US release date just yet, so keep it tuned to SlashGear for more information!

Electronic Arts announces Battlefield 3 Premium Edition is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The games industry as a whole may be suffering from a decline, but don’t tell Microsoft that. According to NPD, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling console for the month of July, marking its 19th consecutive month at the top of the chart. That’s not all either, as total retail spend on Xbox 360 consoles, software, and accessories reached $218 million, more than what was spent on the on the PS3 and the Wii combined.

In all, 203,000 Xbox 360s were sold during the month of July, allowing the console to capture 49% market share for the month. This is the 17th consecutive month the Xbox 360 has enjoyed more than 40% market share, so it seems that the Xbox is flourishing while the rest of the industry is struggling a bit. Microsoft also mentions that six of the top ten July games appear on Xbox 360, but to be fair, they were all multi-platform titles.

The Xbox 360 got a huge boost in sales numbers around the time Kinect launched back in November 2010, and has been riding that boost ever since. It’s also available at a pretty reasonable price, and with Microsoft targeting families and casual gamers with Kinect, it has the perfect setup for stellar console sales. With most of Microsoft’s core audience already owning an Xbox 360 by the time 2011 rolled around, the company’s decision to begin targeting families and casuals was well-timed and helped the Xbox claim its spot at the top of the charts.

Microsoft is going to have a pretty big holiday season too, with the highly-anticipated Halo 4 hitting shelves in November. It’s also expecting games like Forza Horizon and Dance Central 3 to make strong showings this holiday season, so it looks like the Xbox 360 might remain the top-selling console for months to come. At the very least, it’s clear that the Xbox 360 is the console to beat in 2012.

[via Official Microsoft Blog]

Xbox 360 tops console sales charts once again in July is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft must sometimes feel like its lead in the game market is a Pyrrhic victory. The Xbox 360 once again topped the NPD Group’s hardware charts in July, claiming a near-majority 49 percent market share of consoles — but the 203,000 units sold were a steep drop from the 257,000 units that traded hands in June, and a far cry from the glory days that would have given a victory more meaning. Nintendo and Sony haven’t shared their own figures, although the analyst group notes that only Nintendo’s 3DS and DSi had any kind of increase in the month. The industry as a whole was unmistakably feeling the combined effects of the pre-holiday doldrums and a console generation that’s long in the tooth: hardware revenue was down 32 percent in the month to $150.7 million, while the games in question saw revenue dip 23 percent to $260.7 million. If you need a culprit, earlier reports for the second quarter had credited similar shifts to sales of physical game copies declining faster than digital sales could replace them. Hope remains in the usual fall spike; even so, the July figures suggest the big three platforms might be living on borrowed time.

Filed under: Gaming

NPD: Xbox 360 ruled a steadily declining video game empire in July originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Official Microsoft Blog, Joystiq  | Email this | Comments