Game

Gamevee puts gaming highlight reels in the cloud

Over the weekend I played with a very cool tool from video host GameVee. It's called Grab, and it will pull saved videos from the console hit Halo 3 and deliver them to the cloud where they can be replayed without the need of local hardware or Halo software.

Typically to watch these videos you must first find and download them through the in-game video browser, then run them in the game's replay engine. More importantly, gamers are only given a certain amount of space to host their videos, and can only share six at a time without … Read more

Why Xbox Live gaming should be free for all

Over the weekend, I spent some time playing online. I did so on Xbox Live and through games on both my PS3 and Wii. All the while, I was thinking about the one simple fact that kept sticking out in my head: for now at least, I can play online with my Wii and Playstation 3 and the experience is basically the same.

And considering Microsoft keeps losing ground to both Sony and Nintendo, why not find a new way to offer a more compelling alternative out of the company's most popular service?

Sure, it sounds radical and losing $50 per year from the millions of Xbox Live subscribers may be a major sticking point here, but it needs to be done. Microsoft's latest NPD numbers have been less than stellar and the Wii, DS, Playstation 3, and the PSP all sold better than the company's console in July. And if you want to compete in the hardware business, that's simply unacceptable.

To make matters worse, the big lead Microsoft had over Sony in the third-party sphere is practically eliminated and it doesn't look like Nintendo will slow down anytime soon, nor will the Xbox 360 become a force in Asia.

So what does Microsoft need to do to right the ship and really turn things around? Announce that all Xbox Live memberships will be free and all gamers can play online without a hitch. It's radical, for sure, but it's the best move Microsoft can make right now.… Read more

EA revises Take-Two acquisition offer, again

Spore isn't the only thing on Electronic Arts' mind. The company still wants Take-Two Interactive.

On Monday, CEO John Riccitiello sent an open letter to Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick saying that EA's existing offer to acquire the smaller game manufacturer for $25.74 per share would officially expire just before midnight Eastern time on Monday. It sounds like EA is simply losing patience.

"Given the passage of time, we have to validate the assumptions used in the model to support our offer price of $25.74 per share in cash," Riccitiello's letter read. "In … Read more

Are online advertisers disappointed in NBC's Olympic performance?

NBC President Jeff Zucker has been explaining to the U.S. public just how right the network was to not screen the Olympic opening ceremony live.

"There's no question we did the right thing in holding the opening ceremony to air in prime time on NBC that night," he said on CNBC's Squawk Box. "The excitement that built out of word of mouth that the opening ceremony was the most spectacular thing that people had seen, that China had wanted to make a statement and they made a statement and people wanted to see that.&… Read more

Running the show at EA Games

Electronic Arts, the world's largest video game publisher, announced Thursday that its long-awaited Spore had gone "gold."

The announcement means that the game, the latest from famous designer Will Wright, is finished and on its way to manufacturing for a September 7 release. It's a momentous step for EA given that it is probably the most anticipated video game of 2008, and one of the most important titles the company has worked on in years.

Last year, the company reorganized into four separate divisions, or labels: EA Games, EA Sports, EA Casual Entertainment, and The Sims, … Read more

Why the Wii is well-suited to video game violence

I wrote recently about the need for violent video games on the Nintendo Wii and, for clarity, the main point of my message is that the Wii is a great platform for a game that has physical interaction.

It could be where you can pull a street sign from the ground and shove it into your enemy's head, or it could be a cooking game where you have to assemble a Gordon Ramsay-esque 10-course meal. The point is, the Wii has unique features that are well suited to violent games.

As to whether or not game developers will make … Read more

Q&A: Will Wright talks 'Spore,' 'Sims,' science

His all-time favorite movie is 2001: A Space Odyssey and as a child, he aspired to be an astronaut so he can form colonies in space and help solve world overpopulation.

Now 48, Will Wright has yet to make it to the Milky Way, but he can take some pride in having created the best-selling PC game franchise of all time, The Sims. First released in 2000, the video game has sold over 100 million copies across the globe.

Developed at Maxis, which was co-founded by Wright and is now part of Electronic Arts, The Sims shot the American game designer to fame, earning him widespread recognition as one of the most important figures in the realm of video games.

Wright was in Singapore for the first time this week as part of a global promotional tour for EA's much-anticipated simulation game Spore, slated for mass release September 7.

During a game demo, he said the concept for Spore was spawned from a desire to encapsulate everything else that The Sims was unable to--leading to his initial moniker for the game, "SimsEverything."

His inspiration for the game also came from the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, an organization that aims to explore the origin of life and seek potential life-forms in the universe.

Wright explained that the fundamental concept behind entities such as SETI and the Drake Equation all seek to answer one simple question: "Is there somebody out there?" Developed by astrophysics professor Frank Drake, the Drake Equation attempts to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the galaxy.

With these in mind, Wright laid the foundation for Spore. Set in the backdrop of space galaxy, the game lets players develop civilizations and create species, allowing these creatures to evolve from a unicellular organism into intelligent social beings.

Described by Wright as a unique hybrid of single-player and massively multiplayer online games, Spore can be played as a standalone single-player game, as well as an online real-time strategy game where players can develop and share their own user-created content.

… Read more

What the Nintendo Wii is missing: violent video games

Finally, someone is wising up to the fact that the Nintendo Wii doesn't address the bloodlust of most gamers.

Fortunately, Sega is stepping up with a new game that brings a comic-book sense of ultra-violence to the Wii's motion control functionality. Madworld is a new game scheduled for 2009 that brings blood and gore into your Wii-world.

Why is this cool? Because the Wii offers a whole new way to engage with games and other humans, unlike traditional console games. The notion of grabbing things in the virtual world and using them as part of the game is … Read more

EA inks two partnership deals, including Epic Games

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--Electronic Arts announced partnership deals with two independent games companies Thursday, including Gears of War publisher Epic Games.

The news of the two new members of the EA Partners program, which also revolved around Japan's Grasshopper Manufacture, publisher of games like No More Heroes, was part of EA's annual Studio Showcase event here.

During just over an hour of announcements and presentations, EA showed off 17 games it didn't show at E3 last month, as well as unveiled the partnerships.

Grasshopper Manufacture will create an all-new action horror game for EA. It will be … Read more