console

The upcoming Wikipad tablet, first spotted back in January at CES, now has an official release date and price. The 10.1-inch Android handheld gaming system will be available for $499 on October 31. Starting September 7, the system will be available to preorder through game retailer GameStop, although the Wikipad is expected to be available through other retailers as well.

Wikipad is part of a growing trend of independently developed game consoles outside of the major Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft axis.… Read more

We still don't officially know when the Wii U arrives or how much it costs, but a substantial rumor emerged today concerning Video Product Distributors -- a wholesale media distribution company that works with companies such as Amazon and Newegg -- supposedly listing on its intranet three Wii U bundles along with a November 11 release date.

Video Product Distributors and Nintendo did not immediately reply to CNET's request for comment.

The purported Wii U bundles, with prices of $249, $299, and $349, came with no real description whatsoever on VPD's site. Instead, the listings contained ambiguous … Read more

GameStop is entering the end of an era.

The company told The Verge in an interview published recently that the PlayStation 2 is starting to be removed from store shelves to make room for the hardware that will be launching in the coming years.

"The PS2 is a unique one -- we still generate a whole lot of profit off PS2 sales, but we're going to keep PS2 where PS2 does sell, and we won't put it in stores where we see really lapsed sales," Mike Dzura, GameStop's senior vice president of store operations, told … Read more

Yesterday was your last chance to get in on the Kickstarter fundraising for Boxer8's Ouya. After 30 days and more than 63,000 backers, the Android-powered home gaming console pulled in a total of $8,596,475 ($99 of those from your correspondent).

As my colleague Michelle Starr reports from Australia, you can now visit the Ouya Web site to place a preorder for the console. The price is now $109, and it's due to ship in March 2013.

Regardless of your thoughts on Ouya's merits, the little console that seems like it maybe could has captured … Read more

Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's 3DS sales are going strong in the U.S., according to numbers the two companies released today.

The numbers, gathered by research company NPD Group, show Nintendo maintaining a 75 percent market share for portable hardware and Microsoft's Xbox holding onto the top spot for console sales.

This is Xbox's 18th consecutive month at No. 1, with its sales making up 47 percent of current-generation console sales, Jeff Meisner, editor of the Official Microsoft Blog posted today.

The sales equal 257,000 units sold in June with total retail spent on … Read more

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about how Ouya's dream of raising a million dollars on Kickstarter to bring a $99 console and open gaming platform to the people was well...ambitious, to say the least.

Actually, that wasn't even 24 hours ago, but already the public's desire for a hackable console has made it clear that Ouya's ambition must be pursued, nay fulfilled (by the promised March 2013 delivery date, hopefully). Within about eight hours, the $950,000 goal was met. And at last check, more than 20,000 people had pledged north of $2.5 million.… Read more

Hard-core gamers like a challenge. Just ask gaming business veteran Julie Uhrman.

Uhrman wants to disrupt the gaming industry with an affordable console called Ouya, a name she hopes will become the battle cry of game developers. Her company is soliciting developers to help build an open ecosystem of games on Android, essentially bringing the openness of mobile games back to the TV set.

"It's very ambitious -- it's hardware, it's software, it's building an ecosystem," Uhrman said.

But Uhrman said she believes her team has what it takes to challenge the status quo. … Read more

An Xbox isn't just an Xbox. In other words, it's good for more than just playing games, though obviously it has considerable acumen in that department.

It also makes a great Windows Media Center extender, which is awesome if you've paired your PC with one of the CableCard tuners I've mentioned here in the past.

And don't forget streaming: the Xbox gets its Roku on by pulling down Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, and other popular services. (Alas, you need an Xbox Live Gold subscription, which annoys me to no end, but that also enables … Read more

It wasn't that long ago that the Nintendo Wii was one of the most sought-after items on the planet. Especially around the holidays, when supply simply couldn't meet demand. The then-revolutionary game console was selling on eBay for double, triple, even quadruple its $249 list price.

Now you can get it for 80 bucks.

Specifically, GameStop has the refurbished Nintendo Wii console for $79.99, plus $4.99 for shipping (and not including sales tax, where applicable). That's the lowest price I've ever seen.

Of course, Nintendo's next-generation Wii U console is just around the corner, … Read more