Games

Video game console makers have tended to operate on approximately five-year cycles. That is, the manufacturers generally wait about five years between new consoles, give or take a year.

For example, Sony's PlayStation 2 was released in 2000 and its PlayStation 3 in 2006. Microsoft's original Xbox came out in 2001 and its Xbox 360 in 2005. And Nintendo's GameCube first launched in 2001, and its Wii hit store shelves in 2006.

But with the release of the so-called next generation of consoles--with the 2005 release of the Xbox 360 and the 2006 release of the Wii … Read more

With the release Monday of Wii Fit, the exercise game that some video game analysts have predicted could become one of the best-selling titles of all time, it was Nintendo's turn to dominate headlines related to the so-called next generation of consoles.

The "next-gen" era began in November 2005 when Microsoft launched its Xbox 360 and then really kicked into gear a year later when Sony and Nintendo pulled back the wraps on the PlayStation 3 and Wii, respectively.

Being big business--video game sales in the U.S. alone in 2007 were $9.5 billion--everyone has been … Read more

For those of us eagerly awaiting the release of Spore, from The Sims creator Will Wright and his Maxis studio, Tuesday was a day for whetting the appetite.

That's because Maxis, an Electronic Arts studio, released a little crumb for us, a video from the cell-stage of Spore.

The game, as you may already know, is an evolution game: It tasks players with growing their characters from little spore-level creatures step-by-step up the ladder to the tribe level and then on to cities, whole civilizations, and eventually on to the galactic level.

And it's clear that one of … Read more

"If you don't clean up your room today, you're going to be in trouble," yells Dad.

"I don't want to," retorts the rebellious teen. "I don't have to."

The day ends, and the next day, Dad says, "This time I really mean it. Clean up your room today, or there's going to be hell to pay."

This is exactly what the dynamic between Electronic Arts and Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two feels like: EA yells, "We're offering to buy you, but you have to … Read more

Update at 3:30 p.m. PDT: This post has been modified to reflect the public release by NPD of its April video game industry sales figures.

Nintendo's Wii was the best-selling next-generation video game console in April, research firm NPD Group said Thursday afternoon.

Nintendo had earlier put out its own release citing NPD's numbers.

According to NPD, the Wii outsold Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 in April. The Wii sold 714,000 Wiis during the month, bringing its total sales in the United States since the Wii's launch in late 2006 … Read more

Microsoft said on Wednesday that its Xbox 360 has become the first next-generation video game console to hit 10 million units sold in the United States.

Further, said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, that milestone has historically been reached by the eventual best-seller of each previous console generation, a fact that Microsoft will certainly be using to bolster suggestions that the Xbox 360 will eventually prevail sales-wise over Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.

Of course, Sony has been the winner of the two previous generations, with the original PlayStation and … Read more

NeoEdge, a casual-games-based ad network company whose chairman is Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, launched on Wednesday a system designed to make it easy for Web sites to add a widget that links to its library of games.

The company, which previously built a system that "wraps" ads around casual games like Diner Dash, is now attempting to leverage the huge popularity of such titles by making it simple for any Web site to use its widget and become a front end to its more than 400 games.

Casual games--which can be played in a short period of time … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--If ever there was pressure, it falls on the shoulders of development teams trying to follow up a smash hit with a sequel.

That's the position that the folks at Epic Games find themselves in right now as they put the finishing touches on their forthcoming video game, Gears of War 2. And that's because the original Gears of War sold more than 5 million copies, becoming one of the most successful titles for Microsoft's next-generation video game console.

On Tuesday, Gears of War 2 was one of the featured games at the Microsoft Games Studio Spring Showcase … Read more

In a few minutes, I'll be heading over to Dogpatch Studios in San Francisco for what seems to be an annual showcase of new Xbox 360 games from Microsoft Game Studios (MGS).

I'll have more on this later on Tuesday, but for now, I'll give a brief peek of what I'm expecting to find when I get there.

The gorilla in the room, as it were, is surely going to be Gears of War 2, developed by Epic Games for MGS and the sequel to one of the biggest games in Xbox 360 history.

"Attendees … Read more