"Asteroids" lands at Universal (Reuters)
Reuters - Universal Pictures has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game "Asteroids."
In China, Games Get Serious (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - When Sohu.com, a leading Web portal in China, announced plans last year to spin off its fast-growing online games business, investors balked.
AP - Chima Simone couldn't think of a better place to spend the recession than the "Big Brother" house.
Is it All or Nothing for Game Releases in 2009? (PC World)
PC World - Eidos life president Ian Livingstone has declared it's "all or nothing for new releases in 2009," painting either a blithely Machiavellian or cynically gloomy picture of the video games industry this year, depending on your vantage.
Blizzard Kills StarCraft II LAN Support (PC World)
PC World - Upcoming real-time strategy Windows game StarCraft II will ship without Local Area Network multiplayer support in an effort to combat piracy, says Blizzard, in an official statement sure to annoy if not outright confound series fans the world round.
Sony Patents PS2 Software Emulation, Already Offers It (PC World)
PC World - When it comes to the PlayStation 3, it's apparently easy to confuse the game blogs. They've picked up on an incidental story by a tech site that communicates in fragments concerning Sony's recent filing to patent emulation of its legacy PS2 Emotion Engine vis-a-vis its "cell" processor. The cell processor, you'll recall, is the cerebral cortex of the PS3's multi-processing brainpan.
New Harry Potter ships for Mac, other platforms (Macworld.com)
Macworld.com - Electronic Arts (EA) on Tuesday announced the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a video game based on the upcoming movie. It debuts simultaneously on multiple platforms including the Mac. It costs $30.
AFP - South Korea's normally publicity-shy intelligence agency is creating a stir among liberal groups with a "spot the spy" flash video game offering a variety of prizes.
PSP Game Players May Be Able To Phone Home (NewsFactor)
NewsFactor - In a move to compete with Apple's iPhone and iPod, Sony may develop a hybrid cell phone-video game handheld with the PlayStation Portable device at its core.
Sony May Finally be Revving up a PlayStation Phone (PC World)
PC World - The Sony rumor that just won't die has reared its potentially beautiful head again: a PSP phone may be in the works. The latest back room rumblings come courtesy of Japan's Nikkei Business Daily, which says Sony is about to open up a new department that will explore a "cell phone-game gear hybrid," according to Reuters. Sony's secret department could begin work as early as July, and so far the PlayStation maker is declining to comment on the rumors.
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Price Drops This Fall? (PC World)
PC World - When it comes to console price drops, especially when it involves the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, most of the rumors have gotten it wrong, so echoing another one's a bit like strapping yourself to the mast of the Titanic. We know Sony and Microsoft will, but the when's about as accessible as a crystal ball locked in a safe sheathed in cement at the bottom of a well.
Reuters - More than a million French users of Microsoft's Xbox 360 will be able to watch films on demand, premium drama and soccer from Canal Plus on their games console thanks to a deal between Microsoft and the pay-TV group.
AFP - Sony Corp. remained tight-lipped over reports that it may combine its PlayStation Portable game console with a mobile telephone into a new gadget to challenge rival Apple's iPhone.
Former law student gets life in PlayStation murder (AP)
AP - A former criminal law student has been sentenced to life in a California prison for killing one man and wounding two others in a dispute over a Sony PlayStation console.
Rumor: PlayStation 3 Update Coming Pre-Holidays, 'Huge Overhaul' (PC World)
PC World - An undisclosed source has apparently told VG247 that Sony's PlayStation 3 is in for a radical interface overhaul in an upcoming pre-holiday firmware update. PS3 Firmware 3.0 (v2.8 was just released--see pic above) will be "a completely new system," writes the site, citing its source as calling the update "a huge overhaul," comparable to Microsoft's New Xbox Experience "in some respects."
iPhone 3GS Chews Through PlayStation, Game Boy Games (PC World)
PC World - Just what your brand new iPhone 3GS needs--Cloud Strife's super-deformed spike-do bristling at hundreds of frames per second. PlayStation emulation amped up to supersonic? Oh yes you can, writes Engadget, and with Game Boy Advance stuff too. All you need is a pre-jailbreak hack called psx4iphone, which you can request a copy of here, and one of Apple's newly supercharged iPhone 3GS's (check out our review) and you're in business.
New loop library recreates classic 8-bit sounds (Macworld.com)
Macworld.com - Musicians using GarageBand, Logic and other loop-based apps with a bent towards the fuzzy sound of 8-bit computers and video game consoles have a new tool in their arsenal, thanks to Sony Creative Software: 8-Bit Weapon: A Chiptune Odyssey. The new loop and sample package costs $40.
Reuters - Videogames were once blamed for rising obesity rates but are now being championed by the medical industry and for use by government departments for their health benefits.
