PAX: ‘Pitch Your Game Idea’ 2012 (Full Video)

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One of my favorite sessions each year at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle is the “Pitch Your Game Idea” session, also known as the American Idol of Video Games, in which avid gamers, um, pitch their game ideas to a panel of industry insiders. It’s a not-very-serious, often funny and occasionally insightful look at… Read More…

It’s official: Mobile gamers outnumber the console ‘core’

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It’s no secret that the rise of the iPhone, Android and other mobile devices have shifted the attention of gamers away from traditional game consoles in the living room. But the mobile gaming phenomenon just reached a notable milestone in the United States. Numbers out today from the NPD Group research firm show that people… Read More…

Windows 8 Sneak Peek: Microsoft’s ‘Adera’ game aims to redefine Xbox Live

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It’s Myst meets Lost meets Lara Croft on Windows 8 — with a virtual reality twist. That’s one way to wrap your head around “Adera,” a hidden-object mystery game that will unfold like a television show on Microsoft’s new operating system, in a series of episodes across multiple seasons. Part of a portfolio of games being… Read More…

Post-PAX tradition: Selling all that ‘free’ stuff online

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The annual Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle is a fascinating study in the laws of supply and demand. Passes to the three-day event traditionally sell out quickly, creating a secondary online market of real and counterfeit passes to the show. During the conference, you can gauge the changes of success for an upcoming game based… 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…

Stunt: Nintendo to honor Kirby with bubble gum record try

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Believe it or not, Nintendo’s little Kirby character is 20 years old this year. (He doesn’t look a day over 2 to us.) To commemorate his birthday, and drum up a little attention for an upcoming Kirby anniversary title for Nintendo Wii, the company this weekend will attempt to break the world record for “the… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Duxter is a LinkedIn for your gamer life

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Hard-core gamers are a different breed. So, it makes some sense that they need their own social network. Duxter, which recently relocated from Los Angeles to Seattle, is hoping to be  that place where gamers of all stripes hang out. Even better, users of Duxter earn rewards — known as Duckets — that they can spend… Read More…

PopCap Games cuts 50 staffers as it grapples with ‘completely different world’

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Just over a year after Electronic Arts agreed to pay up to $1.3 billion for PopCap Games, the maker of Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled is cutting staff and considering other cost-cutting moves such as the closure of its Dublin, Ireland office. About 50 people are losing their jobs, with most of the cuts occurring… Read More…

PopCap: Plants vs. Zombies sequel in the works for 2013

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A sequel to the hit Plants vs. Zombies game will be released by late spring 2013, PopCap Games announced this morning. As the company puts it in a news release, the follow-up is “germinating and advancing with rigor.” The game will have a “bevy of new features, settings, and situations,” PopCap says, but beyond that, details… Read More…

GameKlip: Android meets PS3 with new video game accessory from UW student

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The idea of using a PlayStation 3 controller to play games on an Android device isn’t new. For some gamers it’s superior to using on-screen controls. But a 23-year-old University of Washington student named Ryan French has figured out a way to improve the experience. His product is called the GameKlip, and it has been getting… Read More…

Facebook tests UK gambling in possible preview for US

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The characters are cuddly, but don’t let those wobbly eyes fool you — the stakes in this Facebook game are very real. It’s called Bingo Friendzy, and it’s the first game on Facebook to let players win (and lose) real money. It launched this week exclusively in the UK, where online gambling is already a… Read More…

Microsoft ends work on ‘Flight’ in blow to games group

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Well, that didn’t last long. Microsoft confirmed today that it has ended development of Microsoft Flight, the “freemium” PC title that the company launched less than six months ago as a follow-up to its discontinued Flight Simulator franchise. We were impressed by our time with the game, but it apparently didn’t catch on with a wide… Read More…

Video: Double Down rains cash on Casual Connect crowd

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Lots of speakers aim to give their audience valuable takeaways, but Double Down Interactive’s Glenn Walcott took that concept very literally at the Casual Connect conference in Seattle today. As he wrapped up his speech this afternoon at Benaroya Hall, the Double Down exec gestured to the sky. Suddenly $1,000 in dollar bills started raining… Read More…

Apple TV outsells Xbox 360 in latest quarter, still a ‘hobby’

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Apple sold 1.3 million Apple TV devices during the June quarter, an increase of 170 percent over the same quarter a year ago. That still qualifies as a “hobby,” according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who disclosed the number in response to an analyst’s question on the company’s earnings conference call. But here’s an interesting… Read More…

Facebook expects to see more ‘core’ video games

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Facebook may be known for Zynga’s FarmVille and other laid-back games, but there’s a big opportunity for third-party developers to make more titles on Facebook that appeal to “core” gamers — the types of people who might have traditionally spent most of their time using living room consoles. “With the improvements in 3D technology, and… Read More…

Photos: Geek burlesque reveals the sexy side of video games

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What says “Seattle” better than videogame-themed burlesque? Not much. Friday night at the Theatre Off Jackson, Seattlelites were treated to the “nerdlesque” show, JOYstick. The two-hour, sold-out show was exploding with videogame references, from the drink menu featuring cocktails inspired by God of War and Donkey Kong, to the hilariously entertaining emcee who began the… Read More…

Seattle game firm says rival stole its monsters, and more

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Runic Games, an independent Seattle game studio that makes the Torchlight action role-playing games, says a company in China has copied monsters, sound effects, scenes and much more for its own game, Armed Heroes Online, for iPhone and iPad. The dispute has played out so far in a series of tweets and forum posts involving… Read More…

Xbox 360 marks 18 months atop U.S. console market

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Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sold 257,000 units in the U.S. in June, topping Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii for the 18th consecutive month, according to NPD Group research cited by the Redmond company. That translates into 47 percent market share among current-generation consoles. The latest numbers were down considerably from the 507,000 Xbox 360 units… Read More…

Victory for swordsmanship: Clang gets $525k on Kickstarter

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Clang, the sword-fighting video game project led by sci-fi author Neal Stephenson, surpassed its $500,000 goal on Kickstarter over the weekend and has now raised more than $526,000 as the crowdsourced funding campaign draws to a close. It’s the latest in a series of high-profile game projects funded through Kickstarter. The project by Stephenson’s Subutai Corp…. Read More…