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Droid X360 goes for the KIRF prize, antagonizes Microsoft, Motorola and Sony at the same time (video)
Can we establish a KIRF award for Most Likely to Invite Multiple Lawsuits? If so, Long Xun Software would have to claim the statuette for its Droid X360, at least if it dared set foot in the US. This prime example of keepin' it real fake is even more of a PS Vita clone than the Yinlips YDPG18, but goes the extra mile with a name that's likely to irk Microsoft, Motorola, Verizon and George Lucas all at once. That's even discounting the preloaded emulators for just about every pre-1999 Nintendo, Sega and Sony console. Inside, you'll at least find a device that's reasonably up to snuff: the 5-inch handheld is running Android 4.0 on a 1.5GHz single-core Quanzhi A10 processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built-in space, a 2-megapixel camera at the back and a VGA shooter at the front. If the almost gleeful amount of copyright and trademark violation isn't keeping you from wanting this award-winner, you'll have to ask Long Xun for pricing and availability.
AMD exec behind Wii and Xbox 360 graphics jumps the fence to NVIDIA
AMD has been suffering a conspicuous brain drain, with executives like ATI veteran Rick Bergman and CTO Eric Demers crossing over to tangentially or directly competitive companies like NVIDIA and Qualcomm. Chalk up another one for the list -- strategic development VP Bob Feldstein has bounded towards NVIDIA's (literally) greener pastures. The blow cuts deeper than usual through Feldstein's responsibility for graphics in most of the consoles from the past few years: he headed up work behind the Xenos chip in earlier Xbox 360s and the Hollywood core in the Wii, and he likely had some say in the Wii U's video hardware as well. While the staff shuffle won't directly affect AMD's Fusion processors or Radeon cards, it's hard to see much of a positive for AMD's future in video gaming, even in the light of rumors that the next PlayStation and Xbox might use some of Feldstein's work.
Nike+ Kinect Training arrives October 30th, looks to whip you into shape for $50
We caught a glimpse of that Nike+ Kinect Training had to offer back at E3. Now, we'll all be able to give it our best shot just before the holiday season. The Kinect exercise title for the Xbox 360 is set to hit shelves on October 30th and will carry a $49.99 price tag. Claiming to make us "athlete-fit", the software will offer constant tips on form and technique while monthly reports will display progress along the way. Still no word on companion apps for mobile platforms, but the kit is expected to play nice with Windows Phone devices at launch for session reminders and sharing achievements with training mates.
Ask Engadget: best Mac gamepad?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from is from Jaime, who's really just showing off about their new Retina MBP. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I recently bought a Retina MacBook Pro and started playing a bunch of games from Steam. I'm wondering if there's a gamepad I could use to play Portal or Left4Dead on a Mac, I grew up with a NES, so there's something about the form that feels natural to me. Thanks!" Okay, so for those of us who do tire of W-A-S-D, what's the best solution to game on a Mac? Is there a perfect device on the market, or should we all just hack an Xbox 360 controller to do the same job? It's a fun week, spread some fun in the comments.
Two Defiance videos emerge from SDCC
Two new videos about Defiance, the upcoming third-person shooter coupled with a television show, have emerged from San Diego Comic-Con 2012. While sometimes only snippets of videos highlighting key things get released, the first video actually serves folks who couldn't attend to the entire Defiance panel. During the 54-minute video, developers and actors of the Syfy and Trion collaboration discuss the game/television show combination and field questions from the audience. In the second video (which is much smaller by comparison at 13 minutes), Rob Hill, senior producer, and Grant Bowler, the actor who stars as the lead in both the game and the show, discuss the project further. They touch on the background of the post-apocalyptic world setting and discuss how the game and show will influence each other and evolve together. This video also shows game footage of vehicles and combat. The game, which begins before the show, will launch simultaneously on all three platforms: PC, XBox 360, and PS3. You can check out both videos after the break.
My Xbox LIVE app adds iPad support in 1.6 update
One mobile pillar at a time, or so seems Microsoft's approach to support for My Xbox LIVE. The app, previously available as a remote control perk for Windows Phone, Android and iPhone users, has just seen a 1.6 update that brings with it bug fixes for iOS, but more importantly, finally welcomes iPad owners into the fold. Owners of that Apple-made slate will now be able to navigate through their console's stash of media, monitor recent activity and search for new content just like their smartphone-wielding counterparts. It's live on the App Store right now, so hit up the source and get to downloading if you care.
Xbox 360 Halo 4 bundle fights new enemies, packs familiar hardware on November 6th
It's widely considered a tradition: Microsoft readies a new Halo game, and a new Xbox 360 bundle swings by stores to mark the occasion. The Limited Edition Halo 4 Xbox 360 follows that pattern, with a special (if minor) twist. No one will be shocked by the new Halo-themed artwork or the inclusion of a Halo 4 copy in the 320GB system's box, but the ring of light on both the console and its two matching gamepads will drop the Xbox 360's green glow in favor of a distinctive bright blue. At $400, the console arriving November 6th will aim chiefly at the hardest of hardcore sci-fi shooter fans -- although murmurs of an upcoming successor console could make the Halo 4 pack an unofficial swan song for Microsoft's market dominator. Consider the stand-alone $60 special edition wireless controller for a less expensive way to say goodbye.
NPD: Nintendo 3DS sales hit 5 million in US, Xbox 360 still claims the console crown
The NPD Group's gaming figures for June have made the rounds, and both Microsoft as well as Nintendo have something to crow about, albeit for very different reasons. Nintendo is the most eager to prove itself and says that the 3DS has hit five million total sales in the US since it reached gamers' hands in the country. The tally doesn't compete with the heady numbers smartphone designers are used to, but it's a milestone for a handheld console whose prospects were dim until a sudden price cut fueled sales a year ago. Before Nintendo lets the 155,000 3DS units it sold in June get to its head, however, it's important to get context from Microsoft's own achievements: Redmond shipped 257,000 Xbox 360 units that month and has had the lead among all US consoles for the past year and a half. We're in the dark on Sony data, although it's important that just 90,000 Wii units traded hands in the same month -- as clear a sign as any that the Wii U can't come quickly enough for Satoru Iwata and company.
Editorial: Ouya's success is opportunity missed for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony
While today's videogames are bigger, flashier and more impressive than ever, it's hard not to think that the golden era of console gaming is behind us. Back in the late '80s and early-to-mid '90s, when a new console came out every couple of years to cut its predecessors off at the knees and brutally savage the bank accounts of the hardcore gamer who had to have them all, there was genuine excitement. Now, with modern consoles showing their age and throwing on more and more gimmicks like so much makeup to compensate, it's hard to really get properly enthused about any of them. Out of nowhere came Ouya and, based on the $2.6 million it raised in 24 hours alone, it's safe to say it has succeeded in renewing that excitement. That's a stark contrast to the general feeling of malaise at this year's E3. I'm excited too -- but cautiously so.
Pigs beware: Angry Birds Trilogy coming to 3DS, PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year
Despite already being a massive success story on the Android and iOS platforms, Rovio's clearly not planning on slowing down its Angry Birds adventure any time soon. Speaking to IGN earlier today, the company's Executive Vice President of Games, Petri Järvilehto, told the site that the Angry Birds Trilogy is headed -- in physical form, no less -- to the 3DS, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this holiday season. Sadly, Järvilehto didn't say how much we'll have to spend on the bird-slinging trilogy, or when exactly it'll be available at retail shops -- though he did say you should "think of the game as the ultimate collector's edition." The Trilogy's set to include the original Angry Birds title, Seasons and Rio, with the set expected to offer support for Kinect, Move and StreetPass on Nintendo's three-dimensional handheld.
Kinect PlayFit launches for Xbox Live, tracks all of the calories you burn playing 'Star Wars'
Get fit playing "Star Wars?" That's the dream, isn't it? Microsoft is looking to make that dream a reality with its Kinect PlayFit, a new fitness dashboard for the Xbox Live that helps users track burned calories across Kinect titles like "Dance Central 2," "Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012" and, yes, "Kinect Star Wars." The dashboard features "social motivation," including rankings, leaderboards and community integration. PlayFit is launching today as a free download for all US-based Xbox Live members. It'll be hitting areas outside the US later this week, so everyone can break a sweat in a galaxy far, far away.
OUYA's Android-based, hackable game console now official: we chat with designer Yves Behar (update: funded)
A handful of details briefly slipped out about the project earlier, but now it's here: the OUYA, an attempt not just to delve into the cutthroat world of TV game consoles but to try and shift the goal posts. At its heart, the design sounds more like a smartphone than a gaming rig with a quad-core Tegra 3 and 8GB of storage running Android 4.0. The upscale, RF wireless gamepad's standout is a built-in trackpad for playing mobile games alongside the familiar sticks and buttons -- clever, though not entirely new. But with completely open hardware and software, an emphasis on free-to-play gaming and an all-important $99 price, the system is a gamble by a handful of game industry luminaries that at least a subset of players are frustrated with the status quo enough to want a real break. Read on for the full details, including a Kickstarter project as well as added details from our chat with OUYA (and Jambox) designer Yves Behar.
Engadget emblem in Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor makes uncontrollable VTs more stylish
Fans of the Steel Battalion series will remember fondly showing off that massive, 40 button controller to their friends and, for a time, feeling like the most hardcore gamer on the planet. Those days are sadly gone, that amazing controller not compatible with the Xbox 360, but of course these days you are the controller. Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is the latest, Kinect-powered entry to the series and if you look around you'll find the above, your very own Engadget logo that you can plaster all over your Vertical Tank. While we've had limited time with the game, we have to echo the sentiment of our friends over at Joystiq who conclude that the controls are, well, broken to put it mildly. But hey, dig that logo!%Gallery-159880%
The Soapbox: League of Legends is the new World of Warcraft
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Every now and then, a game comes out of nowhere with such incredible financial success that it causes the games industry to completely lose perspective. All it takes is one game to start raking in the millions for developers, publishers and investors to stumble around with dollar signs in their eyes for years to come. Innovation grinds to a halt and everyone starts blindly copying whichever game just hit the jackpot. It's like some huge industry-wide superstition takes over and convinces people that if they do the same dance the same way, it'll rain again. World of Warcraft has consistently had this effect since shortly after its launch in 2004. To this day, several studios per year excitedly announce yet another fantasy MMO that lifts its entire feature set and every gameplay mechanic wholesale from World of Warcraft as if it were a model for automatic success. The same thing is happening again in online gaming today, not from MMOs but from MOBAs, a new genre based on the competitive gaming classic DotA. Developers are still chasing the massive money made by yet another hugely successful game, and this time it's League of Legends.
Microsoft catches a break: ITC remands Motorola case, Xbox 360 dodges at least a 2012 ban
Things were looking grim for gaming in April, when the International Trade Commission decided that the Xbox 360 violated Motorola patents and the console's US future was in doubt. The agency hasn't necessarily reversed its decision, but it just gave Microsoft a significant (and possibly permanent) reprieve. The Commission has remanded Motorola's case back to the Administrative Law Judge that gave the initial ruling, which very nearly restarts the clock: a new ruling won't come for months, and the usual review process guarantees even more of a delay even if the decision once more works in Motorola's favor. Patent suit watcher Florian Mueller is now confident that the Xbox 360 won't face any real risk of a ban in 2012, at a minimum. If the new decision doesn't clear Microsoft outright, it still pushes any ruling past a Microsoft lawsuit's trial in mid-November, when Motorola might be blocked from attempting any ban using its standards-based patents. We've rarely seen a majority or total reversal of this kind of ITC patent dispute before it reaches the appeals stage, but there's a distinct chance of that flip happening here -- especially as the ITC is using Apple's successful dismissal of an S3 Graphics victory as the judge's new template.
Epic Games: Infinity Blade on iOS more profitable by the pound than any other game we've made
Traditional console makers have often sworn up and down that mobile doesn't make money for game development. That might still be true for some developers, but you'll get a very different answer if you ask Epic Games. Co-founders Tim Sweeney and Mark Rein have collectively described the currently iOS-only, Chair-developed Infinity Blade as the "most profitable game we've ever made" when considering the amount of money and time invested relative to the money coming back. Yes, that includes even the Gears of War series, which most consider Epic's primary cash cow. Sweeney, like his long-time competitor Johh Carmack at id Software, is also taken aback by the power stuffed inside the latest generation of mobile devices -- a 2012 iPad is nearer the performance of a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, he tells Gamasutra, and the pace is only picking up. Even more insights await in the interview with Sweeney; click below if you want a hint of what one of gaming's pioneers has to say about where your tablets, phones and (yes) PCs are going.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 $99 on-contract deal expands to Best Buy, Gamestop
The Xbox 360 pilot program's breaking out of its Microsoft Store-only confines and heading to more ubiquitous electronics retailers Best Buy and GameStop starting today. If you'll remember, Redmond intro'd this subsidized plan last month, giving prospective buyers within reach of one of its 16 participating locations the ability to purchase a 4GB version of the console for $99 with a two-year commitment. In exchange for those contract chains, gamers forking over the $15 monthly fee not only get the privilege of owning the console at a discounted, upfront cost, but also Gold level membership to Xbox Live. We'd caution you to think twice and do some hard math before you hand over the plastic, though. Tempting as that low-price barrier to entry is -- in total, a $460 value -- you might be better off grabbing this console outright at $420 or less.
Final Fantasy XI's fifth expansion, Seekers of Adoulin, announced
Final Fantasy XI players have been waiting and hoping for a new expansion for more than half a decade now. All of those hopes have come true at last with the announcement of Seekers of Adoulin, a new expansion taking players to the far western shores of Vana'diel. Seekers of Adoulin promises players new areas, new adventures, and of course new jobs. The only known new job at this time is Geomancer, which appears to be a support-style mage job with a variety of enfeebling and buffing abilities. Notably, its buffs appear to be centered on specific locations, and its enfeebling effects cannot be resisted by enemies, a trait that would make the job extremely powerful in the current environment. A short trailer has also been released with the announcement. Curiously, the official site does not list the PlayStation 2 among the expansion's supported platforms. That shouldn't stop longtime players on every system from regarding the new trailer with excitement -- it's the cap to an announcement that's been a very long time coming indeed. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Microsoft releases SmartGlass SDK to developers
Pumped to use Microsoft's upcoming Surface and Windows Phone 8 devices to help you bolster your gamerscore? Sit tight -- SmartGlass development starts now. Microsoft is now making the Xbox SmartGlass Software Development Kit available to partners with agreements to develop content for the Xbox 360. Approved developers can download the SDK from the Microsoft Game Developer Network, replete with a SmartGlass JavaScript library, the Xbox SmartGlass Studio and a sample application. Redmond hopes the SDK will give developers a head start on building applications for the technology before it launches later this year. Of course, if you can't wait to see what developers are cooking up, you can always just check out our hands-on again.
Datel wireless controllers borked by Xbox 360 update, patch coming soon
Woke up to a buggy Datel wireless controller? Don't worry, you didn't overdo that Street Fighter session last night. A June 20th Xbox update has caused issues with some of the company's controllers including the TurboFire 2 and Wildfire 2. Microsoft's support site claimed the controller maker had posted a fix, although currently there's only a note saying that a patch is "still being tested." It also advises to check regularly, so feel free to click the source links below as often as you want for more info.
