video games

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Xbox Price Cut to Clear Way for New Model

Current model slashed $50; new version to offer larger hard drive

(Newser) - Microsoft is slashing the price of its Xbox 360 video game system to clear shelf space for a new model with a larger hard drive, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The long-rumored price reduction knocks $50 off the $350 price of the 20-gigabyte model. The new pricetag places the Xbox 360...

Video-Game Industry Scores Big-Name Composers

Established names drawn to new, lucrative branch of composition

(Newser) - Far from the shrill beeps of a decade ago, video-game music has come into its own with compositions approaching the maturity of film scores, BusinessWeek reports. A new wave of composers is putting time and effort into sophisticated soundtracks that mark the continuing expansion of video games as a form...

Finally, A PC Strategy Game That's A Console Winner
Finally, A PC Strategy Game That's A Console Winner
NEW RELEASE
Jul 3, 2008 6:10 PM CDT

Finally, A PC Strategy Game That's A Console Winner

Fast pace will attract new converts for Civilization Revolution , reviewer says

(Newser) - Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution could be the first winner among console versions of PC strategy games, Dylan Fawcett writes in USA Today. While it’s too simple for established fans, newcomers will like its fast pace. Negatives, including a confusing help menu and the strangely even matching of ancient and...

Metal Gear Solid 4 Is a Winner
 Metal Gear Solid 4 Is a Winner 
NEW RELEASE
Jun 27, 2008 7:11 PM CDT

Metal Gear Solid 4 Is a Winner

Final installment in popular series is visually amazing

(Newser) - If you’re a fan of Metal Gear Solid, you’ll love the fourth and final chapter, Marc Saltzman writes in USA Today; if you’re not, you might be bored stiff by the “cinematic sequences, confusing storylines and campy dialogue” of Guns of the Patriots. But don’t...

Grand Theft Auto Sex Scenes Fail to Excite

Lawsuit over hidden footage gets few takers

(Newser) - Moral outrage that sparked a class action lawsuit over the hidden sex scenes in the wildly popular Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has failed to translate into complaints, the New York Times reports. Despite the millions of copies of the game sold to date, only 2,676 offended owners have...

Rock Band Indeed: Beatles Pursuing Game Deals

Fab Four reps in talks with Guitar Hero and Rock Band makers

(Newser) - Representatives of the Beatles' companies are meeting with video-game outfits to hash out the rights for possible Beatles-themed games. The reps are holding discussions with the makers of Guitar Hero and of Rock Band, the Financial Times reports. Analysts say that a deal might lead to more licensing of Beatles...

Can Video Games Save the World?

Creators take aim at education in the gaming industry

(Newser) - A small group of educators and activists is championing the use of video games for more than just entertainment, the Washington Post reports. “I don't think games have to be fun,” one key organizer said. “I think games have to be engaging.” New titles in the...

Grand Theft Auto IV Marks the End for Next-Gen Gaming

Look for cheaper games with broader appeal in future, predicts writer

(Newser) - Low sales of Grand Theft Auto IV herald the end of next-gen gaming’s heyday, writes Wagner James Au on GigaOm. The game is selling poorly compared to the previous version, and it hasn’t improved sales of the next-gen Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. “The days when...

'Rock Band' Reinvents the Cover Band
 'Rock Band'  
 Reinvents the
 Cover Band 
OPINION
Jun 17, 2008 8:07 AM CDT

'Rock Band' Reinvents the Cover Band

Video game may spell end of bad cover acts

(Newser) - The hugely popular "Rock Band" is more than just a video game—it's a musical revolution, Brett McCallon writes in More Intelligent Life. The game, which expands "Guitar Hero" to two axes, a drum kit and a singer, finally realizes “the democratizing dreams of the punk movement....

Study: Video Game Addicts Aren't Nerds

'Problem gamers' may be unhealthy, but they're not lonely geeks

(Newser) - The stereotype of the hard-core gamer as a friendless geek may be as outdated as Pac-Man, Reuters reports. An Australian study looked at "problem gamers" who spent more than 50 hours a week playing and discovered that less than 1% had poor social skills. The findings contradict statements from...

Crime Pays for Grand Theft Auto Maker

Game blows away sales records, jacks up profit forecasts

(Newser) - Profit forecasts have shot through the roof at Take-Two Interactive Software, thanks to the runaway success of Grand Theft Auto IV, reports MarketWatch. The company is boasting a $100 million second-quarter profit, up from a $50 million loss for the same period last year—even though the blockbuster game was...

Retired Justice Turns Video Game Designer

Day O'Connor's Our Courts aims to boost civics knowledge

(Newser) - Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor isn't taking it easy now that she's no longer writing decisions, Wired reports. The first woman to be appointed to the top court is leading a project to help young people learn more about their government through a video game. Our Courts, an...

In-Game Ads Coming to PS3
In-Game Ads Coming to PS3
Jun 4, 2008 3:14 PM CDT

In-Game Ads Coming to PS3

EA games expected on board with Sony; product placement to be updated via Web

(Newser) - Sony has struck a deal to bring in-game advertising to its PlayStation 3 console, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many games have already toyed with product placement and ads, but thanks to the deal with IGA Worldwide, those digital billboards can now be updated in real time. Electronic Arts will...

Online Gaming Boom Outpaces Real-Life Critiques
Online Gaming Boom Outpaces Real-Life Critiques
OPINION
May 31, 2008 1:14 PM CDT

Online Gaming Boom Outpaces Real-Life Critiques

Cultural attitude toward virtual world reflects antiquated view

(Newser) - The dizzying growth of the video game industry continues to alarm cultural Luddites, writes Tom Chatfield for the Prospect, but the critics are trapped in video gaming’s past. They haven't adjusted to the development of social, team-based gaming worlds, treating games “as an odd mix of the slightly...

Wii Fit Is Great for Couch Potatoes
Wii Fit Is Great for Couch Potatoes
product review
May 23, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

Wii Fit Is Great for Couch Potatoes

But more hard-core athletes should keep going to the gym

(Newser) - Nintendo's Wii Fit is great for fitness beginners who want to shed their couch-potato ways, but more experienced athletes will want to stick with the gym, writes Jinny Gunmundsen in USA Today. The game delivers a fun and inventive way to tone muscles, improve balance, and burn calories, but hard-core...

For Actor, Grand Theft Auto Doesn't Pay

Gaming companies refuse to dole out royalties

(Newser) - He has gained fame and exposure as the voice of sly Balkan criminal Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV. But actor Michael Hollick would rather see a royalty check from Rockstar Games, reports the New York Times. Though the game has raked in roughly $600 million so far, Hollick...

Sony Aims to Power Up Online Gaming
Sony Aims to Power Up Online Gaming
May 22, 2008 10:38 AM CDT

Sony Aims to Power Up Online Gaming

Games developer seeks to reach new markets with innovative scenarios

(Newser) - Sony is seeking to boost online gaming to the next level with a pair of new adventures in the pipeline. The company's 1999 EverQuest was the first massive online game to rocket to popularity, but rivals like World of Warcraft have since taken the lead. With spy shooter game The ...

Gyllenhaal Lands Lead in Prince of Persia

Will star in the film adaptation of the cult favorite video game

(Newser) - Jake Gyllenhaal has scored the lead in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a Jerry Bruckheimer adaptation of the popular video game, according to the Hollywood Reporter. In the blockbuster fantasy adventure, Gyllenhaal will play a 6th century Persian prince who, along with a feisty princess played by up-and-comer...

Japan's Arcades Fall Before Mighty Wii

Kids can easily replicate atmosphere at home—and portable players have role, too

(Newser) - Japan’s arcades are in trouble, Reuters reports. For years, they’ve been immune to the ravages plaguing arcades elsewhere, but the $6.9 billion industry has met its match in the Nintendo Wii. A new generation of game consoles, coupled with an explosion of high-end TVs, has made the...

Being Hated Is All But an Art for Uwe Boll

Blood, guts, and bad taste can't keep this director down

(Newser) - Uwe Boll is either the world’s worst filmmaker or its most-targeted whipping boy. Either way, the 42-year-old German, who bases his over-the-top gore films on video games, is unlikely to stop anytime soon. “The art form is, almost, in being hated,” one actor told the New York ...

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