Sony sticks it to Microsoft with $399 PlayStation 4, and some wickedly funny jabs

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Sony scored some serious points in many corners of the video-game world tonight — making a series of statements (and jokes) designed to point out where its upcoming PlayStation 4 differs from Microsoft’s Xbox One, coming down on the side of faithful console gamers on many of the issues most important to them. See the… Read More…

Report: Xbox One to hit shelves in November 2013

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It looks like you’ll be able to buy an Xbox One this November. That’s what Rare development director Danny Issac just said during an interview with Geoff Keighley on the GameTrailers’ E3 pre-show. I guess Xbox One launches in November! Guy from Rare just said it on the pre-show during Kinect Sports Rivals demo. #GTE3 —… Read More…

Xbox One and PS4 will battle for gamers at E3 today

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It’s a big day for the video game industry down in Los Angeles, setting the stage for the next several years in the console business. Microsoft and Sony will be making dueling presentations at the E3 video-game convention, laying out their plans for their next-generation consoles, and trying to win over the traditional base of… Read More…

The next Xbox: What to expect from Microsoft’s new console

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Well, we’re almost there. In less than 24 hours, the tech world will be listening and watching in anticipation as Microsoft officially unveils the next generation of the Xbox. The console market has been struggling, but Microsoft — which has led in the U.S. in console sales for 28 consecutive months — is aiming to shake things up… Read More…

Sony teases PS4 hardware in new video, one day before Xbox launch

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Less than 24 hours before Microsoft reveals the new generation of Xbox, Sony has just posted a teaser video showing off aspects of the Playstation 4 console. But if you were looking for high-def pictures of the new console, you’ll be disappointed. The 39-second clip shows a blurry black box and quick glimpses of the console… Read More…

Amazon inks deal with Sony to stream FX shows ‘Justified,’ and ‘The Shield’

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Another day, another streaming deal for Amazon. The Seattle online giant just signed a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment for the rights to exclusively stream the popular FX show “Justified,” as well as the nonexclusive rights for “The Shield.” Episodes will be available online for Amazon Prime subscribers and others can watch episodes for $1.99 each…. Read More…

Watch: Jimmy Fallon, self-proclaimed gamer, plays poorly on PS4

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Ah, the perks of being a late night TV host. On his show Thursday night, Jimmy Fallon got a chance to demo Sony’s just-announced PS4 and played a little Killzone: Shadow Fall. “I’m very excited about this,” Fallon said. “I’m a gamer, I’m a geek.” Based on Fallon’s performance on the sticks, it sure didn’t… Read More…

Report: Microsoft to debut next-gen console in April after being “caught off guard” by Sony

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It looks like Microsoft’s turn to impress the gaming world may come in April. That’s according to a report from computerandvideogames.com, who spoke with an unnamed Sony official that said Wednesday’s PS4 unveiling ”caught Microsoft off-guard,” and that “we definitely ruffled some feathers.” Sources said that Microsoft is planning on hosting a one-off event in April… Read More…

Sony teaches us how to unveil a console without actually showing it

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Sony’s huge, hyped-up PS4 event in New York City concluded Wednesday evening after two hours of dazzling gameplay, awesome features and a sleek new touchpad controller. But we didn’t see the actual console. We didn’t hear a price. And we didn’t learn about a release date. Xbox’s Larry Hryb, a.k.a. Major Nelson, put it nicely:… Read More…

Ouch: Nintendo sold just 57,000 Wii U’s in January, report says

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Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told Reuters last month that the sales of the Wii U, which debuted Nov. 18, were “not bad.” Well, new numbers show that it’s worse than that. CNET is reporting that Nintendo sold just 57,000 Wii U’s last month, barely 20 percent of what Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (281,000) sold during the same time frame. That’s also… Read More…

WildTangent adding games to Sony smartphones and tablets

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For those that have Sony smartphones and tablets, playing WildTangent games just got easier. Redmond-based WildTangent is expanding its partnership with Sony Mobile Communications to allow owners of Sony’s new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z, to have access to the WildTangent mobile games service via the Sony Select discovery gaming app. “Sony knows gamers better than anyone… Read More…

It’s official: PlayStation is back atop the console market

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PlayStation is once again the king of the worldwide console market. Sony’s latest earnings report, issued Feb. 7, shows unit sales for the PlayStation home consoles (the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3) beating the competing machines from Nintendo and Microsoft for the title of best-selling home game console for the 2012 holiday shopping season. Combined… Read More…

Consumers spent $14.8B on video game content in 2012, down 9 percent from last year

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Just like the newspaper, book and movie industries, the latest numbers show the video game sector quickly moving to digital and away from physical forms of content. The NPD Group is out with its latest video game stats and total sales of physical video and PC software in the U.S. dropped 21 percent from 2011…. Read More…

Struggling Nintendo sells 3 million Wii U consoles, lowers forecasts again

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Nintendo’s quarterly numbers are out and the company managed to sell 3.06 million Wii U consoles worldwide during the holiday quarter, following the launch of the new console in November. Combined sales of the Wii and Wii U were about 5.3 million units in the quarter — together coming up short of Microsoft’s Xbox 360,… Read More…

Report: Chinese government could lift 12-year-old ban on video game hardware

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Execs at Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and maybe even Valve are licking their chops this morning at the latest news from China. China Daily is reporting that the Chinese government is in discussions to “opening up the game console market” to out-of-country companies. Since 2000, China has had a ban on the manufacture, sale and import… Read More…

Sony boss: We’ll let Microsoft unveil its console first, then make ours better

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While we don’t have exact release dates for next-generation consoles, we now know Sony’s PS4 will be released after Microsoft’s new Xbox. That’s at least according to Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai. IGN spotted the company’s boss in an article from The Times saying that “Why go first, when your competitors can look at your specifications… Read More…

Xbox 360 wins holiday season in U.S., marks two straight years atop market

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The Xbox 360 is champ once again. Microsoft’s console was the best-selling console in the United States last month, marking 24 consecutive months atop the video game market. NPD research firm released its monthly December’s statistics and the Xbox 360 sold 1.4 million units last month. Even though that led all consoles, it’s an 18… Read More…

Late at night in private club, Nintendo tries to win back the love of longtime fans

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The line out the door at this trendy venue wasn’t for a band — it was for Mario. Nintendo fans packed a rented space in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood Friday night for their first official date with Wii U, the next big thing from the iconic game company. The main attraction: Wii U’s motion-sensitive, touch-screen,… Read More…

PAX: Pirates, ninjas and what’s really happening in video games these days

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Did you know that Nintendo Wii games are 22 percent more likely to include ninjas than games on Sony’s PlayStation 3? Or that games on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 are 29.4 percent more likely to be about pirates? Those were a couple unexpected factoids from a panel at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle this weekend… Read More…

Sony hides PlayStation 3 sales data as profits fall

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Maybe I’m a nerd, but one of the things I look forward to each quarter is the release of Sony’s earnings, because they provide the final data point that we need to update the status of worldwide game console sales — showing how the PlayStation 3 stacks up against the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360…. Read More…