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GameStop Mobile launches as AT&T virtual carrier, gives us rare bring-your-own GSM in US

# 2012-05-18 13:11:00, Engadget
Here's an expansion of mobile competition in the US that comes out of left field, even for us: GameStop as a cellular provider. GameStop Mobile, as it's called, is that rare bird of an AT&T-based MVNO that relies on a bring-your-own-device strategy. As long as your hardware works on AT&T's 850MHz ...

GameStop To Sell SIM Cards

# 2012-05-18 11:39:48, TechCrunch
GameStop is hurting. Same store sales fell 5%-11% and revenue was down 17% to $2 billion. Profit fell to $72.5 million. Arguably, those are still huge numbers and presumably a new console refresh should push the company out of the doldrums. But what the company has just launched - a new MVNO called GameStop Mobile - is almost inexplicable...

Microsoft offers free Xbox 360 to PC buyers

# 2012-05-18 10:10:28, BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech
Microsoft is looking to bolster sales of Windows-powered computers this summer by offering students a free Xbox 360 video game console with a qualifying PC purchase. Beginning on May 18th in Canada and on May 20th in the United States, students who purchase a PC for at least $599 CAD in Canada or $...

Infinity Blade: Dungeons gameplay revealed

# 2012-05-18 03:30:00, TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Our friends at Joystiq have procured the first gameplay footage of Epic's followup to the popular Infinity Blade series, called Infinity Blade: Dungeons, and you can get a look at it below. As you can see, it's set in the same world as the first two games, but features a completely different ta...

Diablo III Gets Women Off, While Men Play with Themselves [Nsfw]

# 2012-05-17 21:30:00, Gizmodo
Absoloo, the French e-retailer of XXX items, has come out with a generous offer to accompany the recent release of Blizzard Entertainment's fantasy game Diablo III. More

Sony opens up PSN to digital download pre-orders

# 2012-05-17 18:47:00, Engadget
Pre-orders are nothing new in the realm of video gaming -- they're the requisite hype before the release day-storm. On the digital download front, however, that anticipatory frenzy hasn't gotten much major industry support, until now. Sony, purveyor of all things PlayStation, has just tossed a bone...

Steam remote downloads exit beta, make impatience an option for everyone

# 2012-05-16 23:47:00, Engadget
That was quick. Just two weeks after Valve posted a new Steam beta that allows remote game downloads, it now has a truly polished release for everyone. Both Mac and Windows gamers can now queue up demos and full games, whether it's from a browser at work or from the Steam mobile app. Appropriately...

Toyota turns to Nintendo DS as in-car GPS remote, won't guide you to Princess Peach

# 2012-05-16 22:55:00, Engadget
Let's say you liked adding GPS to your Nintendo DS. How about adding a Nintendo DS to your GPS? Toyota is trying just that through a new Smart Navi GPS unit in its Estima Hybrid minivan that will let passengers control the mapping system. Load up the Bluetooth-equipped Kuruma de DS cartridge and y...

How Many Daily Downloads Does It Take To Reach The Top Of The App Store? [Updated]

# 2012-05-16 09:01:22, TechCrunch
It's hard to underestimate how important ranking in Apple's top 25 in the iTunes store is for mobile app developers. After all, the top 25 is what one of the most important app discovery mechanisms for iOS users. But how many downloads does it take to make it into the top 25? Mobile analytics firm D...

This Won’t End Well: Toyota Connects With Nintendo DS For In-Car Navigation Interface

# 2012-05-16 08:31:46, TechCrunch
For some inexplicable reason, Nintendo and Toyota have teamed up to turn the Nintendo DS into a navigational remote control, thereby allowing drivers (although I hope passengers do most of the fiddling) to set their routes using their game consoles. The service, called Kuruma de DS lets you see map...

iMore lists the best free iPad games

# 2012-05-16 06:30:00, TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog
My son is home sick today, but instead of staring at the TV he's poking at some strategy games on the iPad. As luck would have it, iMore published an extensive list of free iPad games, broken down by category. There are some easy hits, like Angry Birds Free, but also some little gems like Win...

Ogmento Lets You Shoot Like Jordan Or Fire Like A Tank Commander Thanks To Augmented Reality

# 2012-05-15 10:09:37, TechCrunch
Ogmento is a gaming company dedicated to the creation of high-quality augmented reality games. Although AR games aren't that rare - the 3DS does a few quite well and there are a number available on mobile phones - Ogmento is focusing on higher-end experiences. The demo above shows how they're able t...

Yer A Wizard, Reader: Kickstarter Game Uses A Real “Magic” Wand

# 2012-05-15 09:43:49, TechCrunch
If you've ever wanted to swing a magic wand around and make things happen (besides encouraging the cool kids to give you a swirly, that is), here's your chance. A new game on Kickstarter called Incantor promises some real-live olde timey majicke fun for your iPhone. Built by a Rhode Island company,...

Analyst fears video game industry may hit six-year low

# 2012-05-14 17:45:44, BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech
NPD Group last week announced that video games sales for the month of April were down 26% and software sales plummeted from $630.4 million to $307.2 million, representing a 42% decline from April 2011. The numbers shocked industry analysts, who predicted a maximum software decline of 27%. The only s...

Zynga Picks Up Mobile Gaming Startup Wild Needle In A Talent Deal

# 2012-05-13 22:06:52, TechCrunch
Zynga has done a small acquisition of Wild Needle, a female-focused casual games company that was backed by Playdom co-founder Rick Thompson. Wild Needle was raising funding back in late 2010 to build casual, mobile games for women and closed a round with Thompson and Shasta Ventures. They didn't ...

StrayBoots CEO Discusses Making $12 Per Game, And It’s Only On SMS!

# 2012-05-13 14:00:02, TechCrunch
Very rarely do we see gaming startups launch on the rather limited platform of SMS. Mobile games are all about the graphics, the functionality, and the ability to leverage the very best of technology through an app. But StrayBoots, a real-world scavenger hunt via text, has managed to generate $200,0...

Angry Birds follow-up dubbed ‘Amazing Alex’

# 2012-05-11 14:45:16, BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech
Rovio earlier this week confirmed that it bought the IP for the game Casey’s Contraptions. The company’s founder and CEO Mikael Hed revealed to Finnish TV channel Yle on Friday that the game will have an educational element and revolve around Alex, a curious young boy who loves to build things. ...

Gamification: Insights And Emerging Trends

# 2012-05-11 11:53:28, TechCrunch
I have been active in the field of gamification for the past couple of years, working with companies like Badgeville, HealthTap, Gigya, Basis and others on leveraging game mechanics for end user behavior measurement, scoring and shaping. Last week, I participated on an investor panel of at VatorSpl...

This Is What Developing For Android Looks Like

# 2012-05-11 11:17:17, TechCrunch
You know how many Android developers complain about fragmentation? Yeah, this is what fragmentation looks like. Animoca, a Hong Kong mobile app developer that has seen more than 70 million downloads, says it does quality assurance testing with about 400 Android devices. Again, that's testing with ...

Zynga’s Next Cash Cow? FarmVille Sequel Spotted Under The Name “Big Harvest”

# 2012-05-11 06:44:00, TechCrunch
Is this Zynga's next cash cow? It looks like Farmville 2.0 is already in beta testing under the name 'Big Harvest' in the Philippines, a tipster tells us. As you can see, the game is way more three-dimensional, the crops are really lush and the graphics are just of a different quality level. There...

Here’s How Nexon Has Quietly Outperformed Zynga Since Both Of Their IPOs Last Year

# 2012-05-11 06:11:28, TechCrunch
Here in these parts, we may write a tad too much about our Silicon Valley gaming brethren like San Francisco's Zynga and Redwood Shores' Electronic Arts. But there's actually a company that's worth quite a bit more and has outperformed both since its IPO last December. It's Nexon, a free-to-play ga...

Halfbrick’s iOS Hit ‘Jetpack Joyride’ Touches Down On Facebook

# 2012-05-11 04:20:31, TechCrunch
Here's a little something to file away for when your weekend gets dull -- the Australian devs at Halfbrick have brought their premier flying-around-and-dodging-things game to its new home away from iOS. Starting today, users looking to waste a few minutes playing Jetpack Joyride don't need to look...

Nintendo to pull the plug on 3D TV service in Japan

# 2012-05-11 04:19:00, Engadget
If you were still holding out for those 3D-erific videos of cute dogs and sumo wrestlers for your American 3DS via Nintendo's "Itsu no Ma ni Terebi" service, bad news just got badder. In short, it's not coming. Ever. In fact, worse than that, the service will take its last look at the rising sun o...

Game developer looks to bridge genre and platform gaps

# 2012-05-11 02:00:17, BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech
Two of the most popular genres in the gaming industry are massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) and first-person-shooters (FPS). Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, the world’s most popular MMORPG, features some 10 million subscribers, while Activision’s Call of Duty FPS franchise...

‘Wolfenstein 3D’ free on the iPhone, iPad and on the Web

# 2012-05-10 13:45:39, BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the iconic Wolfenstein 3D video game, id Software has created a free browser version of the game that includes three episodes and 30 levels. The game is also being offered in Apple’s App Store for free for a limited time on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch...

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed III gameplay trailer released [video]

# 2012-05-10 11:35:24, BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech
Ubisoft on Wednesday released the trailer for the latest installment of its Assassin’s Creed franchise. Unlike its predecessors, which took place during the Italian Renaissance, Assassin’s Creed III will take place during the American Revolution and feature a new protagonist named Connor Kenway....

Nintendo DSi drops to $100, DSi XL drops to $130 on May 20th

# 2012-05-10 08:15:00, Engadget
Three-dimensional gaming not your thing? Then Nintendo's latest price drop might just grab you. It's cast an eye over the rest of its portable gaming family and decided to cut the cost on both the DSi (down to $100) and the hulking DSi XL (dropped to $130). These new prices will kick off on May 20...

Astronut for iPad available, use iPhone as controller

# 2012-05-10 07:00:00, TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog
If you enjoy casual games and have both an iPhone and an iPad, then you'll want to check out Astronut from The Iconfactory. The planet hopping game has been available on the iPhone for a few years, but an updated iPhone and a new iPad version now lets you use your the iPad for the game and the ...

Rovio confirms life after Angry Birds

# 2012-05-10 04:40:20, BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech
Rovio on Wednesday announced that its immensely popular Angry Birds franchise had reached 1 billion downloads, and the Finnish game developer celebrated the achievement with a short video that concluded with a teaser of the company’s new upcoming game. Rovio has now confirmed that bought the IP fo...

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 review round-up: 'just get here if you can'

# 2012-05-10 03:50:00, Engadget
While the world still waits for the GTX 680 to reach Newegg, NVIDIA has pushed ahead with the next card down in its stack: the $399 GTX 670. This more affordable option keeps most of the main Kepler credentials intact, but it necessarily makes a few compromises on the computational side, with fewe...