USATODAY.com - This year’s downscaled E3 video game expo drew about 4,500 gamemakers, analysts, retailers and journalists to L.A. last week - less than a tenth of E3’s size two years ago - even as the industry grew from $10.5 billion in 2005 to $18 billion in 2007.
PC Magazine - At the Gamefest 2008 Conference keynote Tuesday, Microsoft chief technology officer Chris Satchell revealed updated plans for the company’s XNA player-created games initiative.
PC Magazine - At the Gamefest 2008 event on Tuesday, Microsoft announced that all Games for Windows Live multiplayer features are now free.
Reuters - Microsoft Corp will turn to users of its Xbox 360 to create new video games and broaden the types of games available on its console, taking a page out of the strategy books of Facebook and YouTube.
TechWeb - InformationWeek - If it passes a peer review, the creator will receive up to 70% of the total revenue generated by the game.
NewsFactor - Nintendo’s Wii may be in the lead, but Sony is looking to reach the 150 million sales mark for its PlayStation 3 video-game console within the next few years.
Reuters - Video games sold in New York state must clearly label ratings for violent content under a law signed on Tuesday, which rights groups criticized as likely unconstitutional.
According to internet reports, Simon Jeffery of SEGA America has revealed that Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games has sold over 10 million copies globally on the Wii and DS platforms!
Spepaking in a recent interview, Nintendo\’s Saturo Iwata has admitted that there are flaws with the Wii\’s online friend system offerings but noted that Nintendo is working hard to fix the issues. Despite admitting it is not perfect, he said Friend Codes gives parents of new consumers piece of mind.
Bloomberg reports that Nintendo is facing a ban on sales of some of its controllers for the Wii and Gamecube after it lost a bid to overturn a $21 million infringement verdict.
Nintendo\’s Satoru Iwata has told Forbes that he is sorry about their E3 media briefings, particularly to those who were expecting Nintendo to show something about Super Mario or Legend of Zelda. He also mentioned that they are certainly not ignoring \’hardcore\’ gamers.
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has lavished praise on the new Wii MotionPlus by stating that if EA had to pick one thing they suffered from, then it would be the imprecise control on the Wii and this meant certain games were never going to perform so well on the system.
One gaming website is speculating that the \’technical issue\’ which is holding back Wipeout HD is the fact that Wipeout HD has the ability to cause seizures. They have sought opinion to report that games running at this speed and of this nature can cause disturbances to those suffering from epilepsy.
Peter Dille noted that people responded to GTA on the 360 as they did on the PS3 but it certainly did not rise the tide for the 360. Moreover, when Final Fantasy XIII is released you will have millions who played Final Fantasy on the Playstation series who will favor the PS3 and while MS spent loads of money to get it on their platfoms, it is on the PS3 too. He also advised us all to wait until the NPD numbers come out to see the value of a real exclusive title such as MGS and to see how it raised the bar for the PS3 over Xbox 360.
Sony\’s semi official blog that is threespeech has loads of shots from Gran Turismo TV. GT TV will broadcast full high-def content on demand, footage from racing events around the world, automobile news, and much more.