Gaming

Microsoft claims its Xbox 360 promises an all new gaming experience, but the company has ensured that the sound will remain the same by re-upping its deal with Fonix Speech for voice recognition technology. Fonix already provides the voice recognition for Xbox games such as the Tom Clancy series inc...

E3 is the conference to go to if you are into gaming. Computer games, console games, even phone games are here, and the show is all about demos and entertainment. No place else in the world lets you try out not-yet-released titles, see characters and equipment that only exist in the virtual gaming...

Not to be left out of the furious technology tussle that has Sony and Microsoft gaming over their next-generation consoles, Nintendo touted the deep game support and backward compatibility of its own Revolution console this week. While Microsoft and Sony have touted improved power and graphics in th...

Following a week of Microsoft-MTV multimedia blitz on the next-generation Xbox 360 gaming console, Sony today sought the spotlight for its competing PlayStation 3 in advance of the E3 Conference in Los Angeles this week. Sony exposed more of the new machine -- powered by the "Cell" processor designe...

America Online today invited developers to build AOL Instant Messenger or its ICQ instant messaging service right into their games. The company released AOL Messaging Software Development Kit (SDK), which contains the tools necessary to do so. AOL last week announced it would start offering free Web...

The very first thought that crossed my mind when I saw the new Xbox was that this is probably what would have resulted if the rumored merger between Sony and Apple had been successful. It borrows heavily from design elements common in the most aggressive products from both companies and seems to mis...

Microsoft has partnered with Samsung Electronics in a high-definition technology alliance intended to take gaming to the next level. Microsoft announced Samsung as its worldwide marketing partner for the next-generation Xbox yesterday. The Xbox/Samsung HDTV combination is designed to deliver the mo...

Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) figures if people like to watch classic movies and old "Seinfeld" episodes, they will also be interested in discontinued, out-of-date video games, including arcade and classic console hits. The media giant, a division of Time Warner, said its GameTap games-on-demand ...

Japanese electronics giant Sony readied for its U.S. launch of the handheld, multimedia PlayStation Portable with hopes for the same type of fast sellout the new gaming and entertainment device had in Japan. However, there are still PSPs on store shelves after nearly two weeks since the U.S. game wa...

Fans of "Halo 2" -- and there are many -- will soon have the chance to wander new realms. Bungie.Net, the Internet home for Bungie Studios, which developed Halo, announced it will release nine new multiplayer map packs for the game. Bungie will release four of the maps at the end of April for online...

Just days after the hugely successful North America release of its PlayStation Portable (PSP), Sony was dealt a blow by a U.S. federal court, which ordered the company to stop selling PlayStations and to pay US$90.7 million to Immersion Corp. in a patent infringement suit. Immersion filed suit in 20...

OPINION

Computer Gaming Taking Center Stage

With last week's release of the Sony PSP in the U.S. market stealing the spotlight from the ("old-news") Apple iPod and details of the XBox likely to emerge at the upcoming E3 gaming conference, it is time to take a real look at how gaming is driving the future of PC technology and entertainment. Pe...

PRODUCT REVIEW

PSP: Great for Gaming, Mediocre for Multimedia

The ample media coverage of the U.S. release of Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) makes two things clear: It's a great gaming machine but not a great convergence device; and Sony operates a fabulous buzz machine. The PSP will go on sale Thursday at US$250, and demand is so high that Sony's initial ...

Nintendo is looking to revisit its GameBoy days, when the Japanese company was practically the only player in the mobile hand-held market, by including WiFi wireless capabilities in both its next-generation Revolution console and its DS, a dual-screen handheld gaming device. Nintendo President Sator...

Last week was a busy week. It started with the Intel Developer Forum and ended with an American Press Institute roundtable on the future of media. We'll cover the second event another week because there were two things I saw while at the Intel event that I believe are potentially market breakers.

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