TechWeb - A Georgia man claims Microsoft improperly allowed his underage son to use his debit card to subscribe to the company’s Xbox Live gaming service.
BusinessWeek Online - Zooming around a sharp corner while playing Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed video game on my computer, I spun out of control, hit a guardrail, and sailed over a cliff to my doom. It’s an outcome that’s all too common now, but one that wasn’t even possible until Apple began using zippy Intel (NasdaqGS:INTC - News) processors in its computers, prompting EA (NasdaqGS:ERTS - News) to create versions of its games for the iMac.
AP - Leave it to the French to bring us the first parkour video game
AP - Video game consoles, which are increasingly being used to surf the Internet, aren’t generally equipped with antivirus protection like PCs.
Reuters - Singapore has banned a Microsoft Corp video game which contains a scene showing a human woman and an alien woman kissing and caressing each other, a local newspaper reported on Thursday. The Straits Times said “Mass Effect” — a highly anticipated futuristic space adventure game from Microsoft — was banned by Singapore’s Media Development Authority.
AP - U.S. sales of the PlayStation 3 more than doubled in the weeks after the company slashed the video game console’s price $100 and launched a low-end model, Sony Corp. CEO Howard Stringer told The Associated Press Wednesday.
Nintendo has said that WiiWare titles won\’t be capped at 40MB. They also confirmed that they are contemplating that developers will be able to release one game per month during the launch window in order for them to address potential volume issues. In regards to pricing Nintendo say they not revealed any details about who sets pricing for WiiWare titles. However they point out that the WiiWare service is to allow everyone access to fresh, new content at a low price.
The Infectus team has posted up a message that their mod works fine with the D2C Wii chipset and requires 13 wires which is inclusive of the gnd and vcc. They state that in the next few days, a new version of the programmer will be released for this functionality.
EA’s The Orange Box was the hot favorite to become the most critically hailed game of not only the year, but also of all time. However, Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy looks set to surpass even The Orange Box’s achievements. It has the highest average review score of the year with 97%, which beats fellow 2007 contenders Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (95), The Orange Box (96), Bioshock (96), Halo 3 (94) and Gears of War (94). This puts the title in contention for the
While Super Mario Galaxy may be achieving super high marks across a range of publications. Variety has stepped in to rain on the parade and suggest that the title actually highlights some severe weaknesses of the Wii. They conceede that the game features original levels, but the title makes poor use of motion sensing controls and the graphics can in no way come close to what beauty is to be found on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
MaxConsole reader Greg has mailed in to let us know that the new stand-alone Wii remote has hit his local Wal-Mart. It includes the new grip on the remote and is now boxed inside blister packaging.
According to reports, Wal-Mart has joined the likes of other retailers in severly cashing on a lack of Wii availability by selling the Wii basic unit with seven games for $677.
UK retailer Dixons has revealed that the DS is the only games console in their top 10 Xmas gifts. The DS places in at position number 8, while top spot goes to the Sakura Robot.
Latest figures for the week from Famitsu show the PS3 overtake the Wii and 360, following the launch of the new White PS3 and a price drop. The hardware sales are as follows: Nintendo DS - 82,000, PlayStation 3 - 56,000, PlayStation Portable - 55,000, Wii - 35,000, PlayStation 2 - 9,400, Xbox 360 - 7,000. Wii Play and Wii Sports sales have had a boost thanks to an advertising drive, both are back into the Top 10. The top 3 games are: 1. Mario Party DS (NDS, Nintendo) - 242,000 | NEW, 2. Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS3, Koei) - 176,000 | NEW, 3. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) - 78,000 | 335,000.
Sony has confirmed that all PlayStation 2 titles that support rumble and are compatible with PS3, will also rumble if you use the new DualShock 3 pad. It was previously reported that rumble wasn\’t enabled for PS2 games but PS3 firmware 2.0 has introduced the support.