If the Wii U controller isn’t already complex enough, Nintendo has revealed further information regarding the device’s capabilities. Tasks such as switching from the TV to the controller’s built-in touch-screen and interacting wirelessly via the cameras have already been confirmed, but now it is becoming an increasingly supreme tool for communication.

During the most recent investor conference, Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s fourth president, confirmed that NFC functionality would be featured on the device. For those who don’t know, NFC stands for Near Field Communication. NFC allows consumers around the world to complete tasks such as transactions, digital content exchange, and connecting electronic peripherals with one touch. In Nintendo’s case the NFC would allow wireless information to be distributed globally. Here’s what Iwata had to say:

“By installing this functionality, it will become possible to create cards and figurines that can electronically read and write data via noncontact NFC and to expand the new play format in the video game world. Adoption of this functionality will enable various other possibilities such as using it as a means of making micropayments.”

So the use of NFC in the Wii U controllers stills remain sporadically uncertain, but if we were to hazard a guess, the Wii U controller would be able to send and receive information to and from Wii U consoles and other controllers from near and far. Further details of the controller’s aptitudes are yet to be revealed, but expect to hear more from Nintendo in the coming months.

Source:

http://se7ens.in/z4lQ58

Posted in: Wii

Apple are renowned for their marvellous ability to produce new subsequential products with vast improvements in such little time. And allegedly, this seems to be the case once more. For those who possess the latest smart-phone from the California-based company, you won’t be at Apple’s latest stage of innovation for long.

9to5Mac, an Apple intel website, have reported that Foxconn, a Chinese manufacturing company, has made pre-production plans for the iPhone 5, with the possibility of a release for the Summer.9to5Mac’s source is an employee at Foxconn, and has suggested that Apple have yet to consummate the design for the iPhone 5.

Supposedly the prototypes that Foxconn have received all share a few things in common. Explicitly, their displays measure over four inches, trumping the iPhone 4 series’ 3.5 inch-screen. Similarly, the iPhone 5′s design resembles the iPhone 4′s, more so than the previous iPhone 3G models, the tear-drop. Despite this, the iPhone 5 will be differential in shape to the iPhone 4 models.

In other Apple news, recent sales figures from Apple proclaim that their Winter quarter was stellar. Apple’s net-profit totalled at $13.06 billion on revenues of $46.33 billion. The iPhone’s contribution came out as a staggering 37.04 million, the iPad at 15.43 million and Mac sales held an impressive 5.2 million; all in a matter of months.

Apple continue to impress, and continue to grow as a mega-tech company, but will the arrival of the iPhone 5 impress the skeptics, and meet fans’ expectations? What are your thoughts on Apple’s product delivery rate, and the news on the iPhone 5?

Source:

http://se7ens.in/wTUuA7

Posted in: Apple

After a long year of new titles coming out, the official sales figures for the 2011 marketing year have been released.

There are a few shockers on the list, like the 3DS topping both the 360 and the PS3 with 11.8 million units sold.

Another interesting note is that the PSP sold a measly 5.8 units this year, making it the lowest selling gaming hardware not released in 2011. Sony did see a small amount of interest in the PSP’s replacement, the PS Vita gaining half a million sales.

It also appears that the Xbox 360 has finally caught up to the PlayStation 3′s jump in sales over the holiday season, as both sold 11 million units last year.

It will be interesting to see how things turn out over the next year. With all of the talk of new systems on the horizon, many gamers may be holding off on purchasing a second or third system until they know more about what is coming.

If projections mean anything, Sony believes that the PS3 will see a spike in interest this year, stating that they see 15 million units being sold. They also feel strongly that the PS Vita got off to a rocky start and will see a significant gain in sales, though no official number has been quoted.

For those interested in the specifics, here is the complete list of sales by market:

Name-Total= US | EU | JP

3DS – 11.8  = 4.1 | 3.5| 4.3

360 – 11.0 = 7.3 | 3.7| 0.1

PS3 – 11.0 = 4.5 | 4.9 | 1.5

WII – 9.5 =4.5 | 4.0 | 0.9

NDS – 7.5 =3.8 | 3.0 | 0.7

PSP – 5.8 =1.4 | 2.3 | 2.1

PSV – 0.5 = 0 0 | 0 0 |0.5

Source:

http://se7ens.in/xLGlYH

Posted in: Gaming

Nintendo has officially announced plans for their Nintendo Network for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Company president, Satoru Iwata, confirmed the online networks are already in place and ready to go.

In an investor’s program earlier today, Iwata outlined the plans for the upcoming release.

Personal accounts will once again be offered, allowing multiple profiles for each console. This time, more than one online account can be used on a single Wii U. Both Sony and Microsoft have offered this ability on current generation systems.

Next up, Nintendo will be taking a page from their competition by offering “digitally distributed packaged software.” This will allow users to purchase full games at their leisure, without ever leaving the comforts of their own homes. One limitation being looked into is the potential storage limitations with the use of memory cards. My only question is why not ditch the memory cards for a larger sized internal hard drive? If they already are speculating this may be a problem, why let it happen?

Finally, downloadable content will be available for purchase. In the past Nintendo players have been left out to dry, so to speak, when it comes to extra content offered for other systems; these days are over. The first content available for users will be a new song pack for Square’s Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, which is a “rhythm-based” game. About time Nintendo, about time.

Iwata closed the program stating: “Whether it’s our first-party titles or third parties’ titles, for a number of games, we will actively attempt to achieve compatibility so that our consumers can enjoy our online services that we will deploy under the name of the Nintendo Network.”

Will this be enough to edge out the competition or does this still fall shy of next generation standards? All of these features are offered currently on another console and may be already outdated technology. I would like to see Nintendo offer up some new ideas in the industry and set the standard, instead of follow suit.

Source:

http://se7ens.in/wEiGlt

Posted in: Gaming, Wii

2012 hasn’t had the brightest of starts with tech events after Microsoft stated that they plan to drop out of the CES as of next year, plus declaring that their own MIX, a gathering for web developers and designers, is incapable of running independently. And now this; Blizzard has proclaimed that there will not be a Blizzcon event in 2012.

Blizzcon is an annual convention held to celebrate Blizzard’s three most successful franchises: Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft. However Blizzard hasn’t left fans “empty handed” so to speak. A spin-off, Blizzard.net World Championship will be held this year in Blizzcon’s absence. The World Championship is a global eSports event, which will feature some of the mightiest pro-gaming footage. The event will be held in Asia near the end of 2012, and will host the World of Warcraft arena and Starcraft II World championships.

The reason behind Blizzcon’s shortcoming is that they have too much on their plate, i.e. their schedule is jam-packed. The hassle of setting up a major event was just too much for Blizzard, if you want to see the new releases out on time, anyway. Blizzard said they are focusing on having Diablo 3, World of Warcraft: The Mists of Pandaria and Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm out on schedule, and the convention would just delay their projects.

Blizzcon has been an annual appearance every year since 2007 so it will be a minor shock to the system for some die-hard fans. Blizzcon has been running since 2005, held in California, after skipping a year in 2006 the event took place once more in 2007 and has been running yearly ever since. However, it will make its return in 2013, Blizzard announced. Further news concerning the Blizzard.net World Championships and Blizzcon will be posted by Blizzard in the coming months.

Source:

http://se7ens.in/wnAEPX

Posted in: Gaming, PC

We’ve all had suspicions regarding the Wii U’s 2012 début, but today the speculations have all but been set in stone.  Satoru Iwata, 4th president of Nintendo, announced that the Wii U should be lining the shelves of Europe, North America, Japan and Australia by the end of the year.

Making the console available for the holiday season comes as no surprise when it’s considered Nintendo have just gone through a loss period for the first time in 25 years.  To put this in real terms, Nintendo lost around $3billion in sales from the holiday period 2010 compared to the same time in 2011.  With so many potential sales lost last year it’s no wonder that Nintendo are stepping up their game to  make the Wii U the must have gadget of 2012.

So for all of you Nintendo fans this is great news!  If all goes to plan, and if Nintendo want to keep themselves an economically viable company, having a new console under your tree is a plausible reality.  With their slash in retail price of the 3DS to recuperate lost sales chances are they’re not going to make the same mistake twice.  If they’re willing to gamble the popularity of the product and overprice it before it hits the shelves then so be it, but I can envision a fairer priced console than first expected.

How do you feel about the matter?  Will you be willing to fork out hundreds of your hard earned cash for a ‘next gen’ Nintendo system these holidays?  Also how will this effect Microsoft and Sony’s development of their consoles?  It’s seemingly an impossibility for them to grasp this years holiday market with their consoles, but I’ll bet my two front teeth they won’t be willing to allow Nintendo to ravage their sales for two years running.  I feel we’ll definitely be seeing Nintendo’s console counterparts hit the shelves by 2013.

Posted in: Wii

Today, Insomniac’s CEO and front man Ted Price confirmed that Resistance 3 was the end of the series.

While this comes as a surprise to many fans of the series, Price stated that the company is now fully invested in their future, which apparently means ending one of their most lucrative series.

The move was made so that the company could focus on their new four player cooperative game, Overstrike, which was announced last year. In addition, Insomniac has recently started up a new division on the company: Insomniac Click, which focuses on “social games.”

According to Price, Insomniac Click will be something of emphasis for the company in the future. Whether this will hamper the company’s ability to produce quality console titles for the PlayStation 3 or 4 can only be speculated, but will the CEO pushing a division of the company, it would seem this would be the case.

Overstrike is slated for release next year, but with this new development fans of Insomniac may see the game a little sooner.

Source:

http://se7ens.in/zPSoFA

Posted in: Gaming, Playstation

News, or better yet speculation, has been pouring in regarding Microsoft’s next Xbox console. Earlier in the day, you may have seen details on the graphics capabilities being revealed, or even the upgrade to Blu-Ray discs. Now, sources have told Kotaku that the console may not play used games.

Microsoft intends to implement some sort of system to prevent users from playing used games. Not much is known about that system or any concrete evidence behind the claim, but we can look at all of the possibilites.

Online passes are already being utilized for current games such as Battlefield 3 and LA Noire. If you are not familiar with the tactic, an actual subscription code is needed to play the game’s online matchmaking systems. If that code is missing, say from a used copy, you will need to pay for a new online pass. Other speculation also includes the linking of each game to one specific gamertag. As of now, these don’t seem like possibilities due to the fact that not every user has an online account, only time will tell the actual intent and depth of this rumor.

Many gamers rely on used games as their primary form of purchase due to ever increasing costs. Some consumers who have siblings and friends with the same console even share the same game or pass it on when they lose interest. What about companies like Gamefly who make their profits on sharing games? Are all of these methods a thing of the past?

Sources:

http://se7ens.in/vZX46G

http://se7ens.in/wfiNOw

Thanks go to Rally for the news.

Posted in: Gaming, Xbox

On January 19th Apple released an update to the acclaimed IBooks app, which would bring textbooks to the IPad with publishers including Houghton Miffin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill and Pearson on board. These textbooks will included 3D objects, videos, diagrams and photos all relating to the course, this can take a huge load off of students hands and have everything they need on one device. These textbooks never have to be returned and can be bought for 14.99 or less. This brings a whole new light to students, they can now study, write papers and do research all from one device.

But with these innovation comes a detrimental downside, because these text books are created and carefully organized there is no way off changing the font or font size because it will completely scatter all the information in the text book. Another issue that comes with these textbooks are that because of all the fancy additions like the 3D objects, photos, diagrams etc this can easily throw a student off if a professor asks the class to turn to page 54 there is a chance that the student using the textbooks on their IPad will be on a different page 54 than the classmates using the 5 pound textbooks. Another inconvenience is the size of the textbook files, most IPad users have their music, movies, papers and so on, on their IPad leaving minimal room for additional files. At almost 1 gigabyte per file these text books can easily take up massive amounts of space so having a 4 courses a semester and have a textbook for each of those will not be ethical for the typical IPad user.Apple has also only made the textbooks available in the United State as of now, leaving the rest of the world to stick with their 5 pound textbooks. Apple has made a new market with adding textbooks to eReaders the only issue is whether it will last?

Submitted by ODonnell

Source:

http://se7ens.in/yWN0Sq

Posted in: Apple

PlayStation may be adding two more titles to it’s list of exclusives in the near future if the rumors are true.

Now if anyone has been following either one of these titles, you would know rumors about them are vast and abundant. Actually earlier in the day another rumor had poked it’s head up over a possible accidental reveal of God of War 4 in a video showcasing The Tester 3 at Santa Monica studio, later to be shut down by  Playstation  Network Executive Producer, Kevin Furuichi.  Syphon Filter has been popping up in the news from time to time for years now, most recently stating a possible PS Vita release.

According to the UK-based PLAY, both titles will be released this year following an official reveal next month as commented in their latest feature of  ”10 Games That Will Be Announced This Year.” PLAY said, “As far as our spies tell us, Syphon Filter 4 will be announced and released during 2012 – they’re not often wrong either…” with regards to the upcoming Syphon Filter reveal.

Recently, Sony’s Santa Monica’s branch has reportedly listed a job for an online developer. This may mean that along side the legendary gameplay of Krato’s, players can be looking forward to an action packed online experience. Unlike the last rumor about Santa Monica, Sony cannot deny this.

With two more exclusives joining the shelves for Sony, is it enough to draw an audience to the system that is said to be the end of the life for current generation consoles? More and more installments of older games have been released and it seems that companies are trying to target players with titles they already knew and love. Can we expect to see any new platform exclusives for Sony or is it already too late in the console life for developers to spend the time and money on something with so little life left?  Although these, and a few others, have been personally tempting, I am holding back with the hopes of next generation in the near future.

Sources:

http://se7ens.in/wDaKrX

http://se7ens.in/zReOQ7

Posted in: Gaming, Playstation