Six million LittleBigPlanet user levels created; here are some of the best
Little Big Planet developer Media Molecule has announced via Twitter that six million user generated levels have now been created for its Playstation exclusive video game series.
LittleBigPlanet was a revelation among console games when the first instalment launched in 2008. Giving PS3 owners the tools to create and share their own levels, LBP had the potential to create a large, resilient community from the start. While some gamers may have found the creation aspect … Continue Reading
Playstation Vita and Nintendo 3DS batteries put through their paces – which was the winner?
Handheld gaming can be great fun, but not so much when your console battery dies mid-flight. A dedicated gamer who goes by the name “kurekureyon” has put both the Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita to the test this week, comparing their battery life to the PSP-3000 handheld.
The three systems were set to their highest brightness and highest volume, then left to run mid-game. The resulting film of the test has been shared on YouTube, … Continue Reading
Japanese PSP-to-Vita transfer program has limited support from major game publishers
Sony today revealed an initial list of retail PSP titles that will be transferable to Japanese Vita systems for a fee via a download program. However, the list covers less than half of the former Sony portable’s library of games, and leaves out many releases from some major Japanese publishers.
The Vita, which launches in Japan Dec. 17 and worldwide in early 2012, does not include a drive for the Universal Media Discs used to … Continue Reading
PlayStation Network to be down for scheduled maintenance for full day
Sony’s game division announced today that the PlayStation Network will undergo scheduled maintenance tomorrow for a full day.
As a result, the service will be down from 8am to 10pm PST on Nov. 17. According to Patrick Seybold, spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment America, users will be unable to use the PlayStation Store on their PS3s and PSPs. Account management and registration for PSN will also be down. Furthermore, sign-in from us.playstation.com will also be … Continue Reading
Apple and Android are now dominating mobile game market
The mobile game landscape has changed dramatically in the last couple of years, with Apple and Android games surpassing both Nintendo and Sony to claim leadership of the market.
According to mobile analytics firm Flurry and NPD data, iOS and Android had only 19 percent of the U.S. portable game market in 2009, compared to 11 percent for Sony’s PlayStation Portable and 70 percent for the Nintendo DS. In 2011, iOS and Android have 58 … Continue Reading
PlayStation Vita now set to launch in U.S. ‘early next year’
Sony’s upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld console will not see a release in the U.S. until 2012, after the company originally said the unit would be available by the holiday season 2011.
“I can confirm that PlayStation Vita will initially launch in Japan before the end of the year, followed by introductions in the U.S. and Europe early next year,” Dan Race, director of corporate communications for Sony Computer Entertainment America, told us via email.
Kazuo … Continue Reading
Sony loses money due to quake and PlayStation Network outage
Sony reported a $199 million loss in the first fiscal quarter ended June 30 because of problems including the Japan earthquake and the hacking of the PlayStation Network.
Like Nintendo last night, Sony also cut its profit forecast. Sony said it lost 15.5 billion yen ($199 million), compared with a profit of 25.7 billion a year earlier. The announcement shows how quickly things can change for dominant companies in industries with rapid changes and unforeseeable … Continue Reading
Hardcore iPhone game Infinity Blade lands on DeNA’s social gaming network
Japanese mobile games portal DeNA announced today it’s bringing the popular iPhone game Infinity Blade, one of the first mobile games geared toward hardcore gamers, to its mobile social network.
The game will be marketed as Infinity Blade X for Mobage. It will be free to play and supported by selling virtual goods in the game. Players can spend real-world dollars to buy better weapons, armor and spells that will help them progress through the … Continue Reading
This year’s top surprises at E3
With the video game industry’s largest trade show over, it’s time to wrap up some of the highlights. We’ll start with the biggest surprises that VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi and I saw at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Franchise reboots are as stylish as ever — Tomb Raider is the latest franchise to receive a fresh face, with a new take on the classic heroine — and it looks fantastic. The game puts players into the shoes … Continue Reading
One game, any device: Hideo Kojima's vision of a seamless gaming future
Hideo Kojima, who created the Metal Gear Solid game series, demonstrated the newest gaming feature from game maker Konami today: the ability to transfer save games between consoles and handheld gaming devices so you can continue your gaming experience on the fly. Kojima gave the demo at a pre-E3 event in San Francisco.
It’s part of Kojima’s vision of a future in gaming that is not segmented by multiple consoles — where the same game … Continue Reading
Sony's next-generation gaming handheld may be delayed due to Japan quake
Sony said today that its next-generation gaming handheld could be delayed beyond the end of this year because of disruptions to its supply chain as a result of the quake and tsunami in Japan.
Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America told Bloomberg that the PlayStation Portable’s successor, dubbed the NGP, may be delayed, arriving in just one region this year instead of all three regions at once. That’s not good for Sony because … Continue Reading
Sony throws the kitchen sink of gaming technology into NGP
With its new NGP portable entertainment gadget, Sony has stuck to its tried-and-true strategy of packing as much technology as it possibly can into a device.
From a quad-core processor to multiple motion sensors, the NGP, which Sony announced today, has more technology packed into it than any other gadget out there. That tells us a few things about its chances for success, its likely pricing, and where it’s going to fit in the market … Continue Reading
Sony makes a profit on games but PlayStation Portable is weak link
Sony made a slight profit in video games for the second fiscal quarter ended September 30, but its weakness in handheld gaming is dragging the overall business down.
The Networked Products and Services division (including games and PCs) posted sales of 369.1 billion yen, or $4.4 billion, up 5 percent from a year ago. It reported an operating profit of $84 million, compared with an operating loss of $732,000 a year ago. The division’s improving … Continue Reading
iPod Touch accounts for 38 percent of iPhone-compatible devices
Using a bit of clever math, app maker and market analyst firm Asymco has determined that about 38 percent of all 120 million reported iOS device sales are iPod Touches.
The company got the value by subtracting the 59.6 million iPhones and 3.2 million iPads sold through June (figures presented in Apple’s SEC filings) and the estimated July and August iPad and iPhone sales of 12 million — a combined 74.8M iPads and iPhones sold … Continue Reading
Report: U.S. video game sales rise in March, God of War III leads sales charts
Using a bit of clever math, app maker and market analyst firm Asymco has determined that about 38 percent of all 120 million reported iOS device sales are iPod Touches.
The company got the value by subtracting the 59.6 million iPhones and 3.2 million iPads sold through June (figures presented in Apple’s SEC filings) and the estimated July and August iPad and iPhone sales of 12 million — a combined 74.8M iPads and iPhones sold … Continue Reading
