Video Games

In what is arguably its first meaningful sortie against the boxes beneath your living room TV, games developer Valve has fully released Steam Big Picture, a version of its popular games distribution platform Steam optimized for enormous televisions and navigation by a game pad.  Read More

Gaming used to have a sharp divide. The most advanced titles were on PCs and home consoles. Portable systems were limited to scaled-down games. That line has been blurred. Apple's iPhone and iPad have led this transition, offering a library of games that competes with both home and portable consoles. Which of these games stand out? Read on, as we break down the all-time best iOS games.  Read More

Of all the ways to catastrophically break a Sega Rally Championship Arcade cabinet, Artica's hack at Portuguese hackathon Codebits earlier this month must surely go down as the most creative. With the addition of an Arduino board and an XBee RF module, the cabinet was made to race two camera-equipped radio-control trucks around the floor at Codebits VI.  Read More

In the wake of last week’s launch of the Wii U, Nintendo has announced a redesigned version of its predecessor. After several rumors of a "Wii Mini" leaked online, the company has now confirmed that a more compact Wii will be launching this year. Set to hit store shelves in Canada in time for the holidays, the Wii Mini boasts a smaller size, lower price, and sturdier design, but also sees a couple of Wii features omitted.  Read More

One of my most painful (but at the same time wickedly amusing) memories relating to the Guitar Hero and Rock Band gaming boom a few years ago was when a high-scoring king of the button/paddle guitar controller tried to show me how easy it was to play a real guitar. He soon learned that playing a real instrument can be very tough at the beginning, so much so that many would-be axe gods give up before the calluses have even had a chance to form. GuitarBots from Ovelin is a new online learning system that combines challenge and reward computer-based gaming and a real instrument to take string pickers from the tentative first steps right through to more advanced soloing and rhythm play ... and it looks like a whole lot of fun, too.  Read More

From its inception there has been a lot to like about the Assassin’s Creed series. The game has always delivered jaw dropping visuals, some very cool acrobatic moves and those delightfully enjoyable sneaky kills on unsuspecting individuals. These ingredients are yet again featured in the latest installment, a game that takes the series to a new environment, as you explore the political machinations of revolutionary colonial America. Gizmag reviews the Xbox 360 version of Assassin's Creed III.  Read More

Next time your hands are feeling sore following a particularly grueling gaming session, spare a thought for the digits of Okan Kaya, who just broken the Guinness World Record for longest gaming session with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, reaching over 121 hours of solid gameplay and counting.  Read More

Nintendo's Wii U is now just days away from its November 18th release date (Nov. 20 in the UK), and if you're going to all the trouble of purchasing a Wii U right away, you'll also want to pick up a game or two so you get the most out of your shiny new console. The good news is that over 20 games for the system will hit store shelves on the exact same day. The bad news is that many of these titles don't take advantage of the Wii U's capabilities, and most are direct ports that do little more than turn that fancy touchscreen controller into a map or inventory screen. There are a few potential gems among these, however, and we're here to tell you which games could make the Wii U worth picking up on day one.  Read More

Sony's downward spiral isn't being helped by its PlayStation Vita portable game console, which is being pulverized by its primary competitor, the Nintendo 3DS, in the electronic giants' homeland. Last week the Vita sold just 4,201 units while the Nintendo 3DS sold 187,077.  Read More