Week in Review: Gaming News

March 19, 2010 - By Erin Stuelke

March 19, 2010 – Lots of interesting topics in the gaming world this week.  I’d like to point out a few that will make you wish you were at home caressing your Xbox controller instead of being stuck at work.

• Streaming Video Games!? Love streaming your favorite movies and television shows on Netflix and Hulu?  Starting on June 17th, OnLive will launch their own Netflix-like service for video games, bringing games directly to your PC, Mac or TV.  The company promises to deliver the latest content, like Mass Effect 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2.  The service will cost $14.95 a month, but the first 25,000 gamers to pre-register will get 3 months free.

Is that the only interesting gaming news from this week? Of course it isn’t. There was also iPhone action, Microsoft drama, dragons, war, and signs of a change in royal power.

• Xbox360 Games on Your iPhone!? PC World reports Novell will be demoing software next Monday that will facilitate porting Xbox360 games to the iPhone.  Like the article said, we’re not talking about Halo.  But this sounds promising, giving smartphone users hope there will be more than just Peggle to waste time while waiting at the bus stop.  But then again, Peggle is pretty awesome.

• And Speaking of Microsoft… The Escapist reports rumors of a slimmer Xbox360, citing allegedly leaked photos showing a smaller motherboard design and an all-in-one CPU/GPU chip.  And PC World reports rumors of Microsoft readying the Xbox for USB storage.  They speculate the move is in response to Datel’s anti-competitive lawsuit against Microsoft.  If these rumors pan out, the Xbox360 just became more versatile in the market.

• Dragon Age: Origins Expansion Pack Released! EA/Bioware’s fantasy RPG Dragon Age: Origins now has even more content to add on to the already dense release.  You can purchase it at any gaming retailer or download it on Steam.

• The war against DRM still continues. Valve co-founder Gabe Newell spoke out against DRM at the recent Game Developers Choice awards, saying that it devalues games and garners unnecessary negativity.  Personally, I think Steam is a great compromise between gamer and developer when it comes to ensuring digital rights without putting too much restraint on the consumer.

• Nintendo is losing its “King Of The Mountain” status. First, Sony announces its own version of the motion controller and, now, Microsoft’s Xbox360 outsold the Wii this past February.  This marks the first time in 2 years that Microsoft earned the top spot in monthly sales, as reported by the NPD consumer market analyst group.  Or maybe everyone already has a Wii and now they’re rounding out their console collections?

• Nintendo even admits it’s bad at hardcore gaming. But most of the hardcore gamers already knew that.  The Escapist reports Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime “said while hardcore appeal is neither Nintendo’s primary focus nor skill, they do want to host titles that can appeal to the hardcore crowd, and rely on third-party developers to support that demographic.”

Happy gaming this weekend!