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Sony Entertainment Network and PlayStation Store add carrier billing for AT&T and T-Mobile
If you're stateside and still leery about using your credit card with Sony following 2011's hacking scandal, the company has a new way for you to pay: your cellphone bill. Following its UK debut, Boku carrier payment processing is on our shores now, allowing you to top-up your virtual wallet via, specifically, an AT&T or T-Mobile account. Oddly enough, these funds can only be used for purchases on the Sony Entertainment Network website and the PS3's PlayStation Store -- not the PS Vita's. We emailed to clarify this, but Sony only told us that it has "no plans to announce at this time."
Boku and PlayJam simplify payments on smart TVs, bring in mobile carrier billing
Smart TVs aren't new, but the platforms currently out have plenty of room for improvement. One example is when it's time to actually pay for goods or services via an app. While some have tried to fix it before, a new effort from Boku and PlayJam will reach further than one manufacturer's products in three countries. Launching in more than a dozen countries and on some of the biggest names in TVs, Boku mobile payments make it easier to buy games or upgrades by typing in your mobile number and replying Y to a text message. That way you can avoid the need to key in credit card details with a TV remote poorly suited to the task, or risk the info falling into the wrong hands. After that, the charge shows up on your next mobile phone bill like any other. It seems likely Boku will extend this beyond one partner in the future, and with PlayJam SDK already powering apps on Samsung, Panasonic, LGE, Vizio, Western Digital, Google TV and VESTEL devices you may see the option pop up sooner rather than later.
SWTOR allows some players to buy Cartel Coins by phone
If you have a cell phone and live in one of a select number of countries, you now have the option to purchase Star Wars: The Old Republic Cartel Coins with just a few button presses. BioWare announced that it's partnered up with BOKU to offer SMS billing for its premium currency. There are two important caveats to this, however. The first is that it applies only to those living in Germany, France, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil, Turkey, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Hungary, Spain, Australia, and The Netherlands. The second is that the one and only option is to buy 450 Cartel Coins at a time through this method. At least now some players have the option to hang up on their mothers because there's a currency emergency and a spiffy new outfit needs to be purchased.
CES 09: Game making made easy with Kodu
On stage, during this year's CES keynote, Microsoft' Robbie Bach announced the new game building playground that's coming to the Community Games channel later this year. It's called Kodu (formerly known as Boku) and allows anyone to pick up a 360 controller and build their own game. It's sorta like Little Big Planet, but more open, free and targeted towards all age groups. With a simplified control scheme, over 200 building block options and possibilities galore, Kodu is an interesting lil project. Though, from Bach's Kodu on-stage demo, we were quickly overwhelmed by the amount of menu navigation that was going on. It's supposed to be intuitive, but to us, it seems a bit overwhelming. We'll see.
Watch out Little Big Planet, here comes Microsoft's Boku
While the moniker of this webiste (as seen hanging ominously above) often causes readers to assume that we are a font of Microsoft biased gushing, we are, in fact, comprised of bloggers with a variety of gaming passions. As such, we have to admit that we're intrigued by the PS3 exclusive build-your-own-platformer Little Big Planet, yet woefully unable to afford the hardware necessary to play it. If you find yourself in the same position, you may find hope in Boku, a new programing tool from Microsoft. Boku allows users to create entire games using an entirely icon-driven system which can be controlled using only an Xbox 360 controller. In other words, Boku offers the promise of XNA (on which the tool is based) without the need for programming knowledge, allowing users of all ages to create their own games.Most impressive is that it appears Boku can be used to create all kinds of games, including overhead shooters, 2D action, and even 3D platforming. Check out a video of it in action after the break.The details of exactly how Boku will be released remain unclear, though it's expected launch in some form in 2009.
Boku, Microsoft's 'LittleBigPlanet' heading to 360, PC
Little Big Planet captured players' hearts and free time with its unmistakable mix of ingenuity and cute. Now it appears that Microsoft has its own plan to tap into players' creative wellspring with Boku, a new XNA project billed by The Seattle Times blog as a "visual programming language for kids." Hello World.Following a previous demonstration of the project in 2007, Boku was officially unveiled this week by project lead Matthew MacLaurin during Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. The effort looks to build upon Microsoft's ongoing work with the more complicated XNA Game Studio, allowing players to program their own games using a more inviting set of icon-driven instructions on either the PC or Xbox 360. Sort of makes us want to go back and revisit Carnage Heart. No official release date has been announced yet, though MacLaurin noted during his presentation that players will be able to start playing with Boku sometime "early next year." Until then, check out a video of it in motion after the break. [Via Gamasutra]
