Jun 03

Babycastles brings its indie arcade action to The Engadget Show (video)

Posted in: developer, engadget show, EngadgetShow, Games, gaming, Today's Chili, video, video games, VideoGames

The shuttering of New York’s Chinatown Fair back in March marked the end of an era for the city — a last vestige of a time when social gaming meant more than just logging on to Xbox Live. The arcade experience hasn’t completely disappeared form the metropolitan map, however — in recent years, a new crop of venues have remixed the concept of yesterday’s arcades, places like Brooklyn’s Barcade, a shrine to 80s gaming machines that does brisk business serving spirits to Williamsburg’s 21 and up crowd. Launched in Ridgewood, Queens by game developers Kunal Gupta and Syed Salahuddin, Babycastles takes the re-invention a step further, offering up something between an arcade space and an art gallery.

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Babycastles brings its indie arcade action to The Engadget Show (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 02

Sony NGP may become ‘PS Vita,’ give us 100 percent of our RDI of handheld gaming

Posted in: e3, gaming, playstation, psp, sony, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames

If you’re like us, you’ve been spending most of your time in the lead up to E3 scouring the source code of gaming company sites searching for clues about next week’s announcements. We happened to miss Sony’s “Vita” namedrop in the code of a post about the “future of handhelds,” but one reader managed to catch it before the company removed it completely. The inclusion of the name is the latest in a series of slip ups that lend credence to the notion that the decidedly generic Next Generation Portable title isn’t the official name for the company’s less investment heavy handheld. There’s certainly the possibility that Sony was using the name PS Vita while developing the device internally, though mentions seem to be popping up more and more as we push closer to the big event. Either way, we’re certain to get a big dose of vitamin Sony in a matter of days.

Sony NGP may become ‘PS Vita,’ give us 100 percent of our RDI of handheld gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Engadget Spanish, Joystiq  |  sourceSony  | Email this | Comments

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May 30

NGP to be less ‘investment heavy,’ more ‘affordable’

Posted in: gaming, playstation, sony, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames
After years of losses in its PS3 division, it’s no surprise that Sony’s not attempting a fiscal encore. Just the opposite, in fact. Massaru Kato, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer, stated recently that the upcoming NGP handheld won’t be as “investment heavy” as previous platforms. What does this mean? Sony probably won’t pour cash into developing new semiconductors just for its new handheld, and will instead opt to build NGP hardware with off-the-shelf and readily available components. This could translate to competitive pricing versus Nintendo’s 3DS (we hope), but it’s all quiet on the pricing front at Sony HQ. That’s liable to change at E3 next week, but regardless we’d rather not have to wait four years just to hear Yoshida’s good news again.

NGP to be less ‘investment heavy,’ more ‘affordable’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 18:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 28

PlayStation announces official wireless cans for PS3, stereo frags coming September

Posted in: Games, gaming, headphones, headset, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, sound, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames, Wireless
Perhaps Sony deemed the Ultimate Weapon too powerful (or too expensive) for PlayStation 3 owners, but these new wireless cans ought to keep your ears warm, at the very least. The new official PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset features 7.1 virtual surround sound, a retractable, mutable microphone, and standard embedded volume controls. These proprietary sound-muffs connect via USB dongle, and push headset related status updates (that’s your battery status) directly to your TV screen; if you’re into that sort of thing. Sony-approved hearing will set you back $100 starting this September.

PlayStation announces official wireless cans for PS3, stereo frags coming September originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 May 2011 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 26

Chinese prisoners forced to produce virtual gold, real profits for their guards

Posted in: chinese, gaming, Online, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames, web

The virtual goods economy of massively multiplayer online games may be thriving, but it’s also stimulating an undesirable side-effect: exploitation. A former detainee at a prison in Heilongjiang province, China, has told the Guardian about how he was habitually forced into playing MMOs like World of Warcraft for the collection of loot, which the prison guards would then resell online for as much as ¥6,000 ($924) per day. Such totals would be the product of up to 300 inmates working 12-hour daily shifts, though predictably they saw none of the profits themselves. The unnamed source was at a “re-education through labor” camp where the usual toil would involve actual, rather than virtual, mining. The profitability of the online market has seemingly inspired prison bosses to move with the times, however, with business being so brisk that the computers “were never turned off.” A Chinese government edict from 2009 is supposed to have introduced a requirement that online currencies only be traded by licensed entities, but it’s believed that the practice of using prisoners in this fashion continues unabated.

Chinese prisoners forced to produce virtual gold, real profits for their guards originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 05:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 23

Sony announces PSP Remaster collection for PS3

Posted in: blu-ray, Games, ps3, psp, sony, Today's Chili, video games

The HD collections of past game series have proved popular for Sony. But it looks like the raiding of back catalogs isn’t just going to stop with consoles games, Sony is now looking to its handheld titles for new releases. A new range entitles the PSP Remaster collection will bring exiting PSP titles to the […]

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May 12

NaClBox brings DOS-based gaming to Chrome along with sweet, sweet nostalgia

Posted in: gaming, Retro, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames
Now that Angry Birds has come to Chrome, none of us have any reason to leave the house. But if you like your games closer to 1fps, NaClBox may be more your speed. The Chrome-only emulator revives such DOS-based classics as The Secret of Monkey Island , Falcon 3.0, and Alone In the Dark. Most are demos, meant to show off the browser’s Native Client potential and tug the heartstrings of retro-gamers. And we’ll admit getting a little misty at stepping back into the blocky shoes of Guybrush Threepwood — but maybe even more so at the bleepy-bloopy Soundblaster-era soundrack.

NaClBox brings DOS-based gaming to Chrome along with sweet, sweet nostalgia originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 18:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 07

Smithsonian announces titles for Art of Video Games exhibit, snubs Mario Paint

Posted in: Games, gaming, plans, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames
GoldenEye 007 is certainly a fun way to waste your childhood…but is it art? According to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, yes. The game was one of 80 selected for an upcoming exhibit, The Art of Video Games, and the the venerable museum drew on fan expertise, using online voting to winnow the field of 240 nominees. The selections span the last four decades (!) of gaming, from the days of the Atari VCS and ColecoVision all the way to today’s modern time-sinks like Portal and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The exhibit won’t open until next spring, but in the meantime check out the source link to argue about who got left out.

Smithsonian announces titles for Art of Video Games exhibit, snubs Mario Paint originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 May 2011 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 04

How to Hack Your Kinect [How To]

Posted in: Games, kinect, Microsoft, Today's Chili, top, video games, xbox, xbox 360

When the Kinect first launched last November, gamers were (to put it charitably) a bit skeptical. Here was a device with incredible technological potential, and the most impressive game that came out with it was a dance simulator. More »

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May 03

Nintendo Switches 3DS Marketing Plan

Posted in: 3ds, nintendo, Today's Chili, video games
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Nintendo 3DS has seen weak sales since it has been released. While Nintendo has admitted that the sales are lack luster, they still have a few tricks up their sleeve. Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi says its marketing will be revamped for the failing console.

As of now, the 3DS has only sold 3.4 million units. Nintendo had plans to sell at least 4 million units by the end of the fiscal year. However, it is clear that the current plan is not working. Nintendo did not say what the next step of action will be.

Nintendo also has a Wii successor in the works that will be released next year. It could cut the lifespan of the 3DS short if Nintendo can improve its sales. 

Via Hot Hardware

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