Gaming Archives - Page 6 of 25

Angry Birds Landing On Roku

Sometime this summer, Roku intends to refresh their digital streamer hardware lineup… while simultaneously expanding the platform to support casual gaming. And their first partner is Rovio, a heavyweight in the space and creator of the immensely popular Angry Birds franchise. From the joint press release:

Roku will offer Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio video games; launch an Angry Birds video channel featuring Angry Birds animated shorts; and sell Angry Birds merchandise-all via the Roku Channel Store. The announcement today also marks Roku’s expansion of its successful Internet TV platform to include casual games.

Roku goes on to say they’re lining up additional gaming partners. Yet I wonder if anyone cares? For adults, I see casual gaming as a possibly nice-to-have enhancement (assuming Roku releases a quality remote control)… rather than a selling point that actually moves units. For example, it’s not clear to me that TiVo or Verizon have seen much success with similar television-based casual gaming initiatives. And while I loved Peggle on my iPhone, it just didn’t translate to the big screen via my Xbox 360. Perhaps there’s a market here for the younger crowd. Unless they all have iPhone Touches or pocketable Nintendo units.

Verizon FiOS TV Headed To Roku & PS3?

The GigaOm crew attended a FiOS TV briefing… where they received a demo of Verizon’s FlexView video-on-demand service running on a Roku streamer. I can’t say I’m surprised, as Verizon made their intentions to break free of the set-top box clear back at CES. In fact, they demo-ed live television on an iPad and Samsung … Read more

$0.99 Big Fish iPad Games for Mother’s Day

If you’re addicted to iPad games, you can’t do better than the deal Big Fish Games is running for Mother’s Day. Games that usually range $6.99-$9.99 are only $0.99 (on iPad or iPhone) through Sunday. Most of them are some variant of the Hidden Object/Puzzle and Adventure Quest genre – good for your own leisure … Read more

Sony PlayStation Network Still Down, No End In Sight

As the story goes, Sony voluntarily brought down the PlayStation Network last Wednesday in reaction to a security breach:

An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services.

Unfortunately, no one knows when the PSN will be up once again and Sony’s not saying. In fact, their most recent blog update doesn’t provide much hope of a timely resolution:

We are working around the clock to bring [the PSN] back online. Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure.

Wow, rebuilding the network on the fly? I wouldn’t be surprised if PSN is down a few more days…

Sony Disables PlayStation Network After Security Breach

Sites and services go down all the time. Just ask Amazon. And all their customers. But they weren’t the only ones to suffer a massive outage this week, as Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) has been offline for several days now. After a long period of silence, Sony has finally provided some situational insight: An external … Read more

Atari’s Greatest Hits for the iPad Not So Great

Atari is perhaps one of the most nostalgic brands out of the 1970s and 80s, but just because something was good thirty years ago doesn’t mean it holds up well in the present. In a fit of enthusiasm, I purchased the entire Atari’s Greatest Hits game pack for the iPad this week and set about … Read more

The Case For Kinect?

Well, that didn’t last long… After only about a month with my (second) PS3, I went ahead and unloaded the Sony platform to a work buddy. While I appreciate the physical hardware, if not the UI and online gaming, after playing through Uncharted 2 I just didn’t have much use for the console. I thought I’d put the Blu-ray player to use, but I’ve got several good looking online HD video sources/devices available to me. Yeah, not as high quality as BRD. But good enough as I no longer hoard physical media.

Despite plans to the contrary, I sold my previous Xbox 360 to Gamestop last month when they ran a generous trade-in offer. So I’m currently consoleless, for the first time in forever, and contemplating a new 360 purchase. After all, my Xbox Live subscription is good for about another year and I’d be effectively upgrading RRoD-prone hardware to more modern (and cabinet friendly) construction. The question is, do I pick up a Kinect bundle?

Kinect is Microsoft’s take on the motion control craze. However, it utilizes decidedly more sophisticated (camera) technology than what Nintendo and Sony offer. And supposedly it’s selling like hotcakes. Yet I’m not sure I’d maximize its potential. Isn’t the point of video gaming to sprawl out on the couch and minimize physical exertion? If I really wanted to move, I’d hit the gym or take it outdoors.

I solicited some community feedback on Twitter. Based on the responses, as we have no children in the house and given the current gaming lineup, it seems like I can pass on Kinect. For now. Disagree?

OnLive Gaming Coming To Vizio HDTVs

We haven’t spent much time discussing the new OnLive gaming service, as I’ve had difficult time seeing how a micro-gaming console ($100) could find momentum situated somewhere between casual smartphone or iPad gaming and the Xbox/PS3 contingent. However, as OnLive’s game library is streamed from the cloud, integrating into the upcoming connected Vizio VIA Plus HDTV line … Read more