Nintendo Goes Social With Miiverse

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Nintendo announced during their press conference that up to two Wii U GamePads will be usable on a single Wii U console. This is notable, since Nintendo only promised that one of the tablet controllers would be usable when they revealed the console.

There will also be a new social element called the Miiverse. Part of every Wii U consoles, it will showcase popular games, show what friends are doing and let gamers leave notes to each other via their ‘Mii’ personalities.

Continuing the social theme, New Super Mario Bros. U will allow players to leave notes in game and send text messages to each other. The game will allow for up to four simultaneous players at the same time.

Kindle Fire Interest Waning

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According to reports, global shipments for the Kindle Fire fell from 4.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 750,000 units last quarter. Satisfaction with the device has also dropped from 56 percent to 41 percent during the same time period.

A survey also showed a decline in interest, with only 8 percent indicating any interest in purchasing the Kindle Fire in the next 90 days. By contrast last November saw 22 percent of participants expressing interest in the device.

Source: AllThingsD

Eve Online Might Have Life For Decades To Come

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CCP is looking at the long term life of Eve Online and it’s companion shooter title Dust 514. With Eve Online nearly setting a record with subscriber numbers nine years after launching, they’re continuing to invest in the development of the game.

“We believe in making virtual worlds, and they don’t have a shelf life,” said producer Jon Lander. “We want this game to be around in 10, 20, 30 years. We want a Dust 10-year anniversary, and this universe is constantly growing.”

“We have three or four times as many people working on Eve today compared to launch,” noted Creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson. “The development team has grown along with the revenue. We’ve never scaled down or switched over to a live team or a skeleton team.”

Source: Massively

Samsung Looks To Game With Gaikai

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Samsung announced that it is beta testing Gaikai’s streaming service in July 2012. Owners of Samsung’s high-end Smart TVs will receive on-screen beta invites this month.

“When you talk about Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo the conversation now has to include Samsung. This is their gaming solution,” said Gaikai founder David Perry. “We were supposed to launch at E3 2013 but we’ve bought it forward and managed to get it working much faster than expected. The timing could not be better. As the consoles are reset to a zero audience, it’s a wonderful strategic move.”

Any PC controller with a USB connection will work with the service, and Samsung will also mail out their own peripherals. There’s a chance the down the road the service will come to smartphones and tablets.

“This is mass market,” said Perry. “This isn’t about trying to sell to someone who’s already bought two consoles, this is trying to open up the market. And they can add any other devices at anytime of they want to.”

“You’re making tablets, TVs, phones, but nothing participated in the biggest entertainment launch in history – Call of Duty,” argued Perry. “The movie Avatar works on everything you make, so you’re supporting the movie business but it’s the games business that’s creating these monster hits. You want to get the real state-of-the-art games running on your devices in the best possible quality and the only way you’re going to do that is through cloud gaming, there is no other way.”

Gaikai is clearly targeting early adopters who want to get in on next-generation graphics. “Someone said recently that in 2013 the graphics on tablets are going to be as good as the Xbox 360,” noted Perry. “My point there is the Xbox 360 is six years old. You’re telling me if I wait another 12 months I can be like it was six years ago? That’s not what I want to play. I want to play today’s hardware running the best new MMO or FPS on maximum settings, as good as the developer’s can make it look.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Microsoft’s SmartGlass Intertwines With Other Services

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Microsoft took the wraps off on their SmartGlass service during their E3 press conference. The cross-platform control and app feature is designed to work on Windows PCs, Windows Phone, and the Xbox 360 and will also have support for Android and iOS.

Using SmartGlass, users will be able to keep track of their movie progress in the cloud and resume it on numerous devices and also bring up extra information of anything you’re watching on screen. Users can also use a mobile device as a controller of sorts with the Xbox 360, using it to surf the web or as way to play certain games.

Expect SmartGlass to launch later in 2012.

TwitchTV Enables One-Click Streaming

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TwitchTV has announced that The Showdown Effect from Paradox Interactive will have simple in-game streaming to the site. This is the first company to sign up for integration enabling players to live stream their gameplay with a click of a button.

“We’ve seen explosive growth in the live broadcasting industry which is happening organically with gamers and strategically with publishers, both of which recognize that gaming has evolved into a spectator phenomenon,” said Emmett Shear, CEO of TwitchTV. “Enabling players to stream their games to TwitchTV with a quick click – such as what Paradox Interactive is doing with The Showdown Effect – opens the door even wider to potential streamers in the gaming community.”

“We wanted players to be able to easily broadcast The Showdown Effect directly from their computers since many of our games are already being streamed in a less turnkey manner,” said Fred Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. “The Showdown Effect is a multiplayer game inspired by 80’s and 90’s action movies and packed with weird and wild weapons from frying pans and broomsticks to light sabers and shotguns; it really lends itself to a spectator driven medium like TwitchTV.”

HTC Signs Up For PlayStation Mobile

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Sony recently announced a partnership with HTC to support PlayStation Mobile, which was renamed from PlayStation Suite. HTC will join the PlayStation Certified license program, with SCE Worldwide Studios providing development support for PlayStation compatible phones going forward.

“For more than 17 years, PlayStation has stood for everything gamers love – exhilarating experiences that transcend entertainment,” said Jack Tretton, CEO and President of SCEA. “When you play in our world, there are no limitations of the imagination.”

Minecraft Sells Over 2 Million On Xbox 360

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Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has set even more sales records. The $20 downloadable game has passed the 2 million sales mark, having released less than a month ago on May 9.

“I guess I can officially mention Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has crossed 2,000,000 in sales on XBLA!” said portfolio director for XBLA at Microsoft Game Studios, Chris Charla.

“Best selling XBLA game ever, in less than a month,” tweeted out Markus ‘Notch’ Persson.

Source: twitter.com

Aliens: Colonial Marines Collector’s Edition On Motion Sensor

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Sega has unveiled a Limited Edition for consumers that pre-order Aliens: Colonial Marines. It includes Aliens film icons Private Hudson, Corporal Hicks, Private Drake and Sergeant Apone for the multiplayer, more Marines character customization options and Ripley’s flamethrower

The Collector’s Edition will cost $99.99, and will come with everything that the Limited Edition has. It will also have a resin Powerloader statue, exclusive weapons like the Phase Plasma Rifle and Sonic Electronic Ball Breakers and exclusive level in the USMC Firing Range a USCM Dossier with mission briefing, USS Sephora schematic, Recruitment card, LV-426 recon photo, USCM iron-on badges, USCM graduation certificate and come in Xenomorph “Hive” packaging.

Android Fragmentation In Infographic Form

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OpenSignalMaps, which is an app that gauges local cell phone signal strength, recently studied its users to see just how much fragmentation there was when it comes to the number of device models.  The results are thus:

The number of different companies to make the devices is almost as large.

The different resolutions on the various devices is also staggering.

And finally API levels show the varied versions of Android that people are using.

Source: opensignalmaps.com