Kano computer: Build a Raspberry Pi PC in 107 seconds

November 21st, 2013, 00:00 Posted By: wraggster

The Kano computer aims to make building a Raspberry Pi PC as simple as playing with Lego.
Boasting that the PC can be made in just 107 seconds, Kano says its project provides a plug-and-play learning environment aimed at children as young as eight, right up to adults who may find the Raspberry Pi on its own a little difficult to get up and running.
Kano is asking for $100,000 in funding on Kickstarter, with a kit available for a $99 pledge, or for a $199 “get one, give one” pledge funders are encouraged to get one for themselves and donate the other one to a sponsored child.
The box includes everything required to build a computer apart from a screen. This includes a Raspberry Pi, a case, wireless keyboard with trackpad, cables, Wi-Fi dongle, and a speaker.
The parts clip together like Lego and are all colour coded to make it easy to set up. It also comes with a SD card loaded with Kano OS, a highly customisable and easy to use Debain Linux distribution.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...seconds/032526

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EA: Used games are an important part of the industry

November 20th, 2013, 23:21 Posted By: wraggster

The industry’s pre-owned U-turn continues to gather pace.
Fresh after Sony’s admission yesterday that used games do not necessarily damage the industry’s “economy”, EA has now said that pre-owned games “are an important part of the industry”.
“The [next-gen] boxes have been designed so you can start to play the game while you’re downloading or so [by] the time it’s available midnight the game is ready to play, but the average consumer is still tends to want to grab something to play it immediately,” EA CFO and executive VP Blake Jorgensen told investors, as reported by Seeking Alpha. “So that downloading capability is still going to be based around bandwidth
“I also think that used games are an important part of the industry. People think about the price of a game based on the fact that they can still return that game and they need a physical disk to do that. And so that will probably keep the physical business around for some period of time as well.”
It all heralds a remarkable reversal from the days where the industry seemed to be rounding on pre-owned. The likes of Bethesda and Volition have publically come out either in favour of anti pre-owned measures or of finding a way to share their revenues, and of course Xbox One for a brief period looked to be directly assaulting the pre-owned market.
Those plans were famously scrapped and even the likes of EA’s Online Pass, a system that punished pre-owned buyers but was vigorously defended at the very highest level by EA execs, have even been abandoned.
MCV, of course, has always maintained that any attack on the pre-owned market would be hugely damaging to the overall industry.
The change of tact is likely based on two factors.
Firstly, proposals to block pre-owned were met with a huge consumer backlash. When you’re in the process of trying to convenience gamers to spend £400 on your new console, backlashes are not particularly the order of the day.
Secondly, while the digital future may certainly be approaching it’s being slowed by the world’s internet infrastructure. Put bluntly, for the time being at least publishers and platform holders still need physical product, and that in turn requires a healthy and functional games retail sector to provide it.
“Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have the ability through their life services to download full games day in day meaning when the games comes out,” Jorgensen added. “The biggest impediment still appears to be bandwidth coming into the house and while bandwidth speeds have improved dramatically over the last five years, unfortunately because the processing power of the new boxes is so high, the size of games have increased dramatically.
“And so all of the benefits that we got from faster bandwidth is probably eaten up by bigger games. To give you an example Battlefield, on a download into the new PlayStation still takes about six hours.
“We spend a lot of time looking at the record business and it’s surprising, but despite the fact that probably no one in this room has bought CD lately, there is [still] a lot of CDs being sold. And so I think there will be a physical business for a long period of time.
“And so you might still buy a physical disk but you might then extend the game play on that by ten months or 12 months based on digital extensions to it where all that comes via downloads and it’s coming as smaller pieces so you don’t have some of the big upfront client issues that you have with the physical product.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ea-us...dustry/0124604

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The truth behind next-gen demand

November 20th, 2013, 23:20 Posted By: wraggster

Pre-orders are sky high, but the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel reveals that the number of consumers eyeing Xbox One and PS4 is significantly higher.
MCV takes a closer look
Over the summer, consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel asked thousands of people about their intention to purchase Xbox One or PlayStation 4.
Out of its panel, only 4.3 per cent were interested in Xbox One, while 7.4 per cent expressed their intention to buy a PS4 (note, this data was compiled before Microsoft bundled FIFA 14 with its Xbox One pre-orders).
But the most fascinating statistic is that out of all those people who want to go next-gen, only 14 per cent have pre-ordered a console. That means there is a huge addressable audience (86 per cent) of undecided consumers, which highlights the true potential of these new consoles.
For those that have pre-ordered, GAME is the No.1 retailer with 23.8 per cent pre-ordering from its stores and a further 16.8 per cent ordering via GAME.co.uk.
Amazon is a close second, with 32.9 per cent of next-gen pre-orders. Supermarkets have started accepting pre-orders, accounting for 7.8 per cent of next-gen orders.
For customers that pre-order, the most important thing is to get their consoles on launch day, with 42.5 per cent of those surveyed that was one of the reasons they selected their store. Best price also factors quite highly, along with ‘because it’s my favourite games retailer’.
In contrast, customers that have not pre-ordered will choose based on who is offering the best price or the best bundles. Extras, such as clubcard points, are also a compelling reason for any consumers yet to put down money for a PS4 or Xbox One.



http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-t...demand/0124605

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Sainsbury's to cease online sales of games and consoles

November 20th, 2013, 23:07 Posted By: wraggster

Sainsbury's is to stop selling physical entertainment products online in favour of an entirely on-demand model.
The UK supermarket announced it is to halt sales of physical products across its Sainsbury's Entertainment website from March 2014.
As a result, Sainsbury's will cease online sales of physical products including video games and consoles, in addition to CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and books.
"We see that the online opportunity lies in digital products, with physical music, books, games and films sold in our stores," said a company spokesperson.
"This move is in line with wider industry trends towards on demand entertainment, and part of our focus on the fast-growing download and streaming market.
The supermarket says it will continue to fulfil pre-orders for products due to launch before March 15th, but no further orders will be accepted from the end of February.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sains...online/0124650

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Raspberry Pi Smart TV

November 20th, 2013, 22:58 Posted By: wraggster


[Tony] decided his “smart” LED TV wasn’t quite smart enough. So he stuffed a Raspberry Pi in it.
Upon opening the case of his 40″ Hisense Smart LED TV, he discovered that the logic board actually had two unused USB pads — what luck! He tapped off of them to get 5V @ 500mA to power the Pi… Later on he realized this wasn’t the ideal solution — when the TV turned off, it cut the Pi’s power too. So he pulled out his multimeter and probed the board, this time finding a 5V source that remained on while the unit was plugged in.
Next up was the placement of the Raspberry Pi. The included speakers on this particular TV weren’t that good, and since [Tony] uses a surround sound system anyway, he decided to make use of their space better. Cutting out the grill and removing the whole assembly left him with more than enough room to store the Pi and mount a 3D printed LAN and USB port cover!
He’s running Raspbmc which lends the TV tons of functionality. If you don’t mind voiding your warranty, this is a great hack!

http://hackaday.com/2013/11/20/raspberry-pi-smart-tv/

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PS Vita TV scores #3 on Japanese charts

November 20th, 2013, 22:00 Posted By: wraggster

The release of PS Vita TV has had a significant impact on the Japanese charts this week, entering at number three. The new add on also pushed the Sony handheld up to two and just a few precious sales away from beating the 3DS XL.

1. 3DS XL - 47,852 (Last week - 53,190)
2. PlayStation Vita - 46,350 (21,764)
3. PlayStation Vita TV - 42,172 (New)
4. 3DS - 22,250 (28,627)
5. Wii U - 15,906 (17,737)
6. PlayStation 3 - 12,019 (11,867)
7. PSP - 4,353 (4,010)
8. Wii - 518 (579)
9. Xbox 360 - 404 (346)

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The Next Generation Race is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

November 20th, 2013, 21:59 Posted By: wraggster

Sony can take pride in the opening-day success of PS4, but the next gen has a long way to go before it proves itself
Sony is trumpeting the fact that its PlayStation 4 console has sold more than a million units since its Friday launch, and that's in the U.S. alone. This is no mean feat; when Dreamcast sold 300,000 units on its first day of availability in America back in 1999, it was heralded as an unprecedented triumph for video games: Proof that the medium had arrived and could finally sit at the big kids' table with film and music. And now here's Sony putting up a number more than three times as large.
But let's not get cocky. It's been seven years since the PlayStation 3 launched, marking the previous console generation's full arrival. Seven years! Eight since Xbox 360 kicked it off. That makes the previous hardware generation the longest in console history; most cycles last only about four years. Prior to the PS3-to-PS4 gap, the longest space between generations was the five years between the debut of the GameCube and Xbox (November 2000) and Xbox 360 (November 2005). Gamers as a whole -- at least the core gamers who lined up in droves to buy PS4 last week -- are a technology-obsessed bunch. With such a pent-up thirst to see some sort of advancement in the console space, it's hardly surprising PS4 sold so well out of the gate. The question, can Sony sustain a healthy pace? And how will Microsoft fare when Xbox One arrives in a few days?
The video games industry has always operated within steady, predictable rhythms. New hardware stimulates excitement; sales spike and build steadily for several years as a generation's install base grows and developers grow more comfortable working with it; after a while, profits stagnate as the machines age; and everyone begins bracing for the next wave of consoles. Repeat. And again.
But the new generation of consoles -- Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One -- don't seem to be holding to the new pattern. Sure, there's plenty of discussion about the machines, especially now that PS4 has launched, but the search engine volume for the consoles appears to be much lower than it was seven or eight years ago when the machine's predecessors came to market. Most forum discussions about Xbox One and PS4 prior to launch revolved around he-said-she-said debates about particulars like each machine's reported video output capabilities. Can the PS4 churn out 1080p graphics at 60 frames per second? Can the Xbox One? If so, why not?
"...awareness of the machines outside the core gaming demographic seems severely lacking... It's not excitement or eagerness I hear, but rather a mildly curious sense of befuddlement"

Generally absent amidst all of this raging number-counting is any real enthusiasm for the systems' launch lineups. With heavy hitters Watch_Dogs and Drive Club delayed, the machines are making their debut with libraries primarily consisting of shallow quickies and a pile of up-rezzed ports of current-gen titles (some of which suffer from severe frame rate and other technical issues compared to their current-gen counterparts; these will be patched, we're promised, but the fact that patches are necessary at all is a letdown). Only a handful of launch titles for either system seem likely to be greeted with universal enthusiasm and praise. Granted, this is usually the case for console launches, but 2013 feels like the first time the hardcore gaming fanbase -- outside the usual loyal platform defenders, of course -- has been willing to admit it.
Meanwhile, awareness of the machines outside the core gaming demographic seems severely lacking. Until PS4 launch reports began trickling into the news this past weekend, the mainstream press and public appeared blissfully unaware of the looming hardware launches. This is entirely anecdotal, I fully admit, but I've kept my ear to the ground, and conversations I've had with many others in the press and the industry corroborate my own experience. The general sentiment I've observed (as has been the case with a number of people I've spoken to) runs along the lines of, "Did I hear there was going to be another Xbox/PlayStation system soon?" It's not excitement or eagerness I hear, but rather a mildly curious sense of befuddlement -- the same befuddlement that the Wii U (which doesn't really factor into the next-gen race, by Nintendo's own design) seems to inspire, in fact.
I worry that the Wii U will prove to be the next generation's bellwether: A decent machine with a decent lineup that fails to inspire anyone outside its core fan base to jump in. Nintendo has been dealing with the reality of its worst first-year console sales ever with Wii U, and while some are quick to shrug it off a situation unique to Nintendo (what with the system's confusing name, confusing controller, and last-gen tech level) I don't think we can completely discount the possibility that PS4 and especially Xbox One -- with its equally ambiguous moniker -- won't find itself in a similar situation a year from now.
I don't doubt Xbox One will launch almost as strong as PlayStation 4. Again, core gamers have been champing at the bit for a new generation of hardware for several years; the previous generation lasted three or four years longer than most cycles, and the flaccid sales for games and machines of late has borne this out. But once the built-in audience have acquired their few million systems, do the next-gen consoles have legs?
The answer to that question remains every bit as hazy as it was when the new generation was first revealed earlier this year. The fundamental technical potential of the new consoles seems alarmingly vague, with visible but not shocking graphical improvements on offer... this, despite the fact that offering a new, more impressive visual experience has always been a basic part of the next-gen upgrade process. We could look at a Genesis and see its superiority to NES at a glance; we reeled at what a PlayStation could do compared to a Super NES; the Xbox 360's high-definition graphics left us stunned by how much sharper its visuals appeared compared to PlayStation 2. But does Knack really look that much better than Beyond? Is Killer Instinct's visual patina really so much more compelling than Grand Theft Auto V's?
"The next-gen's performance will tell us whether the medium as we know it can continue to carry on as it is or if it needs to be burned to the ground so the industry can start afresh"

Realistically speaking, the new consoles don't offer a significant leap over current high-end PCs, especially if they can't even output in true high-definition reliably. And in a couple of years, today's "high-end" PCs will be decidedly middle-tier, with the new high-end leaving consoles in the dust. Cost arguments (i.e. "PCs cost more") grow increasingly irrelevant as the price of decking out a self-built PC with power to rival the new consoles constantly decreases. Most of the industry's truly inventive creations come from small, independent studios and don't require top-of-the-line gear anyway -- and most of them are only on PC.
In fairness, horsepower isn't really the point of the next generation. PS4 and Xbox One offer more impressive graphics than their predecessors, sure, but not wildly more impressive. The heart of the next-gen packages they offer lies in their more intangible capabilities: Instant streaming, sharing, a true set-top box. Those are much harder points to communicate than obviously stunning visuals -- and unfortunately, developers have largely hit a wall on just how good they can make things look without breaking the bank. Instead, Sony and Microsoft have to sell the general public on supplemental features. That is, things like social media integration... which their PCs smart phone apps can already do.
I can't help but feel those shiny new black boxes are being forced to play catch-upwith fundamental features offered by a device they carry with them daily. It's not just portable consoles that are being challenged by mobile platforms. Even more alarmingly, both Microsoft and Sony seem to be banking on significant improvements to America's network infrastructure happening in short order: Microsoft aims to "upgrade" Xbox One on the fly with cloud co-processing, while Sony hopes to stream game libraries through its partnership with Gaikai.
This seems like a dangerous state of affairs all around. A highly respected Microsoft analyst and insider views the Xbox division -- along with Bing -- as a major drag on the company's profits and strongly recommends the company's next CEO spin it off or shut it down entirely. Failure could be even more devastating for PlayStation 4, however; Sony's computer entertainment division was the most profitable portion of the company in 2011, but barely registered in the black in 2012. If PS4 launches as poorly as its predecessor did, it could scuttle Sony's profits across the board.
Amidst all the hype and excitement of the impending console launches, it's hard to find a word of caution. Game enthusiasts, regardless of their feelings on the companies or products involved, want both consoles to succeed; the next-gen's performance will tell us whether the medium as we know it can continue to carry on as it is or if it needs to be burned to the ground so the industry can start afresh. But that's precisely the problem: Enthusiasts care, as this weekend's numbers bore out, but does anyone else? How these consoles fare beyond the initial holiday rush, once the core is satisfied, will help determine the future of the industry at large.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-not-a-sprint

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EA's Star Wars game deal lasts a decade

November 20th, 2013, 20:51 Posted By: wraggster

That "multi-year" Star Wars game deal EA signed with Disney in fact lasts a decade, EA has revealed.Any chance Obsidian Entertainment had of making Knights of the Old Republic 3 - a game once in pre-production there - must surely now have passed. EA may miraculously decide to pay Obsidian to make the game rather than series creator BioWare, but, well, that's neverreally going to happen.The only Star Wars project EA has revealed so far - beyond the ongoing development of MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic - is DICE Los Angeles' Battlefront reboot. But we do know Dead Space studio Visceral, and BioWare, will also make Star Wars games.
Fortunately it sounds like none of EA's new Star Wars games will be movie tie-ins aping the new Star Wars films, the first of which appears December 2015, directed by JJ Abrams."We've done movie games over the years and we wanted to make sure that we weren't doing a movie game - i.e. a game based on the movie," EA's chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said at a UBS conference (transcript by Seeking Alpha)."The beauty of the Star Wars franchise is that it's so broad and so deep you don't have to do a movie game - you can do a game that's very focused on the world that's been created around Star Wars."We had a long relationship obviously with Lucas on the original Star Wars, and when Disney took over Lucas they really wanted to maintain a video game business around Star Wars. They felt it was very valuable and a lot of people loved the games historically. And so they came to us because of our partnership, and they knew that we could help them develop really great games, and we struck what we believe is a fantastic deal, which allows us to be able to build games in many different genres across multiple types of platforms over 10 years."We'll try to align those with the marketing power Disney has so it will get aligned with timings around the movies, but it won't necessarily be aligned with the movie."Jorgensen said DICE's Battlefront already had "a lot of people very excited". It's due some time in the summer of 2015.Jorgensen also talked a bit about the failure of Star Wars: The Old Republic, EA's most expensive - but far from most successful - game."Yes the original expectations obviously were very, very large," he said, "and obviously the multiplayer MMO world has - the popularly has come down over time and we tried to restructure the Star Wars business to better match the economics."It's a great business that's very repeatable," he added. "We brought the economics in line so it's a profitable business for us."...And as the Star Wars franchises start to grow with Disney's investment, we'll continue to see more excitement around that game as well as the other games that we'll start to produce."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...lasts-a-decade

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Google offers 'sneak peek' of Glass development kit

November 20th, 2013, 00:46 Posted By: wraggster

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Pre-owned is not necessarily the evil force some believe, Sony admits

November 20th, 2013, 00:41 Posted By: wraggster

Sony has admitted that there is a strong argument for claiming that pre-owned games do not detract from the health of games development.
“I’ve seen data that the vast majority of used sales go immediately into additional purchases, that they are not somehow being extracted from the overall game economy,” Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House toldGameInformer.
“Those folks have a very strong influence. Their opinions really count, and they translate into a broader audience purchasing more games.
“I take what I hope is a balanced view on that, and it’s the balanced view that any platform holder needs to take. What I mean by that is the balance between understanding very strong concerns of folks whose lifeblood is creating great content (and making sure there is recompense for that) and the other school of thought that it’s a way for the most committed consumers to enjoy a broader range of content than they would if used games did not exist.
“As with many of the debates, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Our approach is, therefore, to balance those two constituencies.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/pre-o...admits/0124513

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UK retail ready for 'biggest console launch ever'

November 20th, 2013, 00:40 Posted By: wraggster

High Street and online retail giants are braced for the launch of Xbox One.
Leading retailers have told MCV that they are preparing mass midnight openings and special events to herald the launch of Microsoft’s new console on November 22nd.
“We can’t wait for Xbox One,” said Ian Chambers, GAME’s chief digital officer. “We’ve seen huge demand in every channel and for everything we’re doing – pre-orders, lock-ins, store engagement and social activity. There really is a lot of excitement out there. We are looking forward to what will be the biggest console launch ever.”
Robert Lindsay, MD of Games Centre, added: “Our pre-orders have increased over the past few weeks. It still has a little catching up to do. I’d be surprised if sales aren’t up with the PS4 within the next twelve months.
“We’re planning midnight launches through all of our Games Centre stores, trade in incentives and in-store competitions.”
And it’s not just specialist retailers who can’t wait to get the Xbox One on their shelves, as the UK’s supermarket giants are also preparing special events.
“From what we have seen so far the Xbox One will be amazing. We can’t wait for November 22nd to arrive and to see customers with their consoles,” said Craig Thirkell, Asda’s head of video games.
Meanwhile, The Hut Group is preparing several marketing initiatives for the arrival of the machine.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/uk-re...h-ever/0124514

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Valve To Demo Prototype VR Headset, "Steam to Support and Promote VR Games"

November 20th, 2013, 00:36 Posted By: wraggster

The itinerary for Steam Dev Days 2014 lists two talks by Valve's internal virtual and augmented reality researchers, Michael Abrash and Joe Ludwig. Abrash's talk, titled 'What VR Could, Should, and Almost Certainly Will Be within Two Years' willfeature a demonstration of Valve's secret prototype VR headset that is 'capable of stunning experiences.' Ludwig's talk 'Virtual Reality and Steam' will discuss how Valve will be adapting Steam to VR to 'support and promote Virtual Reality games.' Rift inventor and Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey will also be taking to the stage at Steam Dev Days to speak on best-practice for VR development."There's a hint that they might be showing off a head mounted display featuring a low persistence display, which would be great news for those of us that get the urge to hurl when playing Doom on a conventional display. If you missed it you might want to check out the slides and notes (PDF) from Michael Abrash's GDC2013 talk on VR.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/1...omote-vr-games

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TVs and Projectors Site Updated

November 19th, 2013, 11:21 Posted By: wraggster

Ive just created some new pages for our TVs and Projectors site, the site that brings you the latest new releases in the Television, Media Streaming, Projectors and DVD/BluRay Players.
Heres some of the new pages which are automatically updated:

BestSelling TVs and Projectors in the UK

BestSelling TV Accessories UK
BestSelling AV Recievers UK
BestSelling Blueray Recorders & Players UK
BestSelling DVD Recorders & Players UK
BestSelling DVD VCR Combination UK
BestSelling HD DVD Player UK
BestSelling HomeCinema System UK
BestSelling Media Streaming Device
BestSelling Portable DVD UK
BestSelling Projectors UK
BestSelling Satellite Dishes UK
BestSelling Home Cinema Speakers UK
BestSelling Set Top Box UK
BestSelling Video Player UK
BestSelling TV UK

Newly Released TVs and Projectors in the UK

Newly Released Projectors UK
Newly Released TV UK
Newly Released Home and Cinema Accessories UK

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NPD October: Overall growth led by Grand Theft Auto V, Pokemon X & Y

November 18th, 2013, 23:56 Posted By: wraggster

The NPD Group's monthly US retail report has been released, showing overall growth for a third consecutive month thanks to the performances of the latest Grand Theft Auto and Pokemon titles.
Total spend for October hit $791.1m, an increase of 5 per cent year-on year. The positive results is largely due to a 10 per cent YOY increase in the software category, which worked out to be $495.1m of the period's total amount earned.
NPD indicated that GTA V and its near 1.1m sales had some impact on the positive results, but the handheld sector and Pokemon X & Y were given the lion-share of the credit for the increases.
Hardware saw an 8 per cent decline to $171.m, though portable systems actually saw an increase for the first time since early last year.
The 3DS ended up on top of the category for the sixth month in a row, while Xbox 360 retook the top console spot back from PS3 following last month's dethroning.
Accessories hardly moved from their finish in 2012, showing a one per cent increase between the two periods. That's almost entirely due to the massive spike in sales the category saw last year on the back of the Skylanders franchise.
To sum up, it was a good month for the industry and more good times are likely ahead with the next-gen console launches entering the equation beginning next month.
“Growth in video game software sales over the last few months has reversed negative year-to-date trends caused by declines seen earlier in the year with video game software sales currently flat to last year,” NPD Group’s Liam Callahan said.
“With the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One, we hope to see positive trends over November and December which would lead to an increase in software sales for the year.”
Here's your top software products across all platforms:

1. Grand Theft Auto 5 (PS3, Xbox 360)
2. Pokémon X (3DS)
3. Pokémon Y (3DS)
4. Battlefield 4 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
5. Batman: Arkham Origins (PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360)
6. Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag (PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360)
7. NBA 2K14 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
8. Skylanders Swap Force (3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360)
9. Lego Marvel Super Heroes (3DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360)
10. WWE 2K14 (PS3, Xbox 360)

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Raspberry Pi reaches 2 million sold

November 18th, 2013, 23:49 Posted By: wraggster

The innovative, credit-card size computer Raspberry Pi has now sold 2 million units.
The Raspberry Pi was created with a goal of promoting computer science education across the world. The Raspberry Pi Foundation began taking orders at the end of February, 2012, and had sold 1 million units "almost exactly" a year later.
Now, substantially less than one year after that, the device has reached 2 million sold.
"We calculated that we might, if we were lucky, reach the second million around January 2014, or slightly afterwards - we were confident we'd get there by the end of February 2014," a post on the Raspberry Pi blog stated. "So it was a bit of a shock at the end of last week when we got the latest sales figures and discovered that the 2,000,000th Raspberry Pi was sold in the last week of October.
"We don't know who owns it - if you bought one between October 24 and October 31st, it might be yours."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...2-million-sold

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Ubisoft explains why launch games underwhelm

November 18th, 2013, 23:16 Posted By: wraggster

Tony Key also notes that the $100 price difference between Xbox One and PS4 won't matter, and he expects installed base to quickly double last gen
[h=3]Ubisoft[/h]ubisoft.com


During the months walking up to a console launch, there's a great unspoken truth the press, publishers and gamers all choose to conveniently ignore: The first batch of games are going to be pretty bad.
Sure, there might be an occasional standout, but the majority of the titles people heap with praise and say they can't wait to try are titles that will mostly be forgotten before the following holiday. Even installments of well-known franchises are generally just graphically enhanced versions of what we already know.
Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft, knows this better than anyone - and says there's actually a good reason launch lineups inevitably get middling reviews.
"Right now, all publishers are transitioning their development resources," he says. "For a game like Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, most of the sales are still going to be on current generation platforms. We can't make a version for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One that's so wildly different that we can't market them together. So, for now, developers and designers are focused on making a game that works really well on all of the systems - but as we transition resources to the next gen, it's going to be more difficult to do that because the power of these machines is going to allow so much more creativity."
New franchises that are part of a system launch, meanwhile, can have rocky starts since specs don't get locked down until the last minute, giving them very little time to adequately polish the game.
"We can't make a version for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One that's so wildly different that we can't market them together"

That's part of the reason Ubisoft decided to opt for a last-minute delay of Watch Dogs, arguably one of the most anticipated launch titles of both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
"It's heartbreaking to be so coveted for launch and not be able to deliver it at launch, but from a business perspective, it's not a difficult decision to make," says Key. "Watch Dogs is designed to be a long-term brand for Ubisoft. We won't launch it until we know it's equaling the vision it can achieve. ... We're playing the long game - and as a company, we know how important it is to get it right."
Ultimately, he says, pushing back the game will result in more sales than the publisher would otherwise have seen.
Ubisoft, not surprisingly, is all-in on the next generation systems. The company has a long history of being an early, avid supporter of new technology - and has never been shy about giving its opinion.
Key has a few noteworthy ones on the PS4/Xbox One battle. For instance, that $100 price difference? He doesn't expect it to make any difference to players, as long as both consoles can show players why their systems are worth the price.
The only way it will become an issue, he says, is if the PS4 begins to look demonstrably better than the Xbox One.
And while there has certainly been a fair bit of attention paid to the social aspects of the machines, Key says he still thinks they're being undervalued.
"Think about all the things we've learned socially since the last consoles launched seven years ago," he says. "Facebook was still at Harvard. Smartphones were in their infancy. All these changes that occurred were factored into not only this hardware, but into the games as well. ... You'll see over the next year or so how consumers drive innovation on that as people begin sharing things we completely didn't expect. I think it will be the wild card in the future of these systems."
In part because of this, he disagrees with critics who believe this generation of consoles will fall short of the sales numbers we've seen this time around.
"Our feeling is the installed base of these machines will be much faster to take hold than previous generations. In the first couple of years, we expect double the installed based of previous generations"

"Our feeling is the installed base of these machines will be much faster to take hold than previous generations," he says. "In the first couple of years, we expect double the installed based of previous generations. ... The reason why is: the last cycle was longer, so there's a lot of pent up demand."
There's demand on the developer side, too, he says - as the horsepower fueling the new consoles gives game makers the chance to do things they haven't been able to dream about previously. And, he says, those great strides aren't too far away.
"There's so much more under the hood," says Key. "Give them just a little more time and you're going to see the difference start to build. The amount of innovation that's going to occur around these machines is really going to inspire the category.
"That's what we need: We need to bring excitement back to this industry."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...mes-underwhelm

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Exclusive games 'most important' when choosing a console, says survey

November 18th, 2013, 22:56 Posted By: wraggster

The most important factor to consider when choosing a console is its exclusive games, according to a new survey.
The survey, given to GamesIndustry, polled over 2450 people who attended the Eurogamer Expo in September, asking them what they considered was the crucial aspect that would help them decide which next-gen console to buy.
<figure style='font: 14px/23.79px "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; border: 0px currentColor; width: 460px; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; white-space: normal; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;' class="responsive single-article__canvas single-article__canvas--full zoomhover" title="" data-media992="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3113/image_311333_460.jpg" data-media768="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3113/image_311333_700.jpg" data-media480="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3113/image_311333_480.jpg" data-media="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3113/image_311333_320.jpg"></figure>The largest proportion of those surveyed, 34 per cent, replied that exclusive games were the most important factor, with a further 21 per cent stating it was the second most important.
Closely following behind was the price of the console, which 29% of those polled suggested was the key for them.
Other answers included brand loyalty (11%), owning the same hardware as friends (10%), DRM policies (8%) and online services such as Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus (6%), with only 2% saying they were most concerned with which console worked best as a media hub.
The PlayStation 4 launched last week in America with a number of exclusive games, including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack and Resogun.
The Xbox One exclusives planned for launch on November 22 includeForza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3, Ryse and Killer Instinct.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...e-says-survey/

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PS4, Xbox One to double sales of predecessors in early years, expects Ubi exec

November 18th, 2013, 22:45 Posted By: wraggster

Xbox One and PS4 sales will double that of their predecessors in their first couple of years on sale, expects a Ubisoft exec.
Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at the publisher, argues that the unusually long lifecycle of the previous generation has driven consumer anticipation.
<figure style='font: 14px/23.79px "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; border: 0px currentColor; width: 460px; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; white-space: normal; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;' class="responsive single-article__canvas single-article__canvas--full zoomhover" title="" data-media992="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3115/image_311584_460.jpg" data-media768="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3115/image_311584_700.jpg" data-media480="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3115/image_311584_480.jpg" data-media="http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/dir_3115/image_311584_320.jpg"></figure>"Our feeling is the installed base of these machines will be much faster to take hold than previous generations," Key said to Games Industry.
"In the first couple of years, we expect double the installed bases of previous generations. ... The reason why is: the last cycle was longer, so there's a lot of pent up demand," he added.
Key believes the the arrival of the new consoles and the boost in performance they bring will drive much-needed developer innovation.
"There's so much more under the hood," he commented. "Give them just a little more time and you're going to see the difference start to build. The amount of innovation that's going to occur around these machines is really going to inspire the category. That's what we need: We need to bring excitement back to this industry."
John Riccitiello, the former CEO of Electronic Arts, has also expressed confidence in the Xbox One and PS4 consoles surpassing the reach of their predecessors. Riccitiello suggests that the rise of fast broadband internet and its deep integration in the new consoles, combined with seamless user interfaces is what will help propel Sony and Microsoft's new machines above their older counterparts.
Meanwhile Microsoft has somewhat ambitiously suggested that the new consoles could attain a combined lifetime installed user base of over 1 billion units - more than three times as large as the last generation.
Sony has reported sales of 1 million PS4s in its first 24 hours on sale in North America and Canada, where it launched on November 15. The console launches in EU on November 29.
Microsoft's Xbox One launch is set for this Friday, November 22, 2013 in 13 markets.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ects-ubi-exec/

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UK chart: Lego blocked from top spot by COD

November 18th, 2013, 22:09 Posted By: wraggster

Lego Marvel Superheroes has been held back from the UK all-format chart top spot by Call of Duty: Ghosts.Sales of Activision's shooter were down 76 per cent from last week's debut, but that was still enough to secure first place for a second week running.That's not to say Lego Marvel sold poorly - far from it. The Avengers-infused adventure earned the series its best launch sales since 2008's Lego Indiana Jones.Other debuts this week fared less well - PS3 platformer Ratchet & Clank Nexus turned up in 21st place, while the retail edition of XCOM expandalone Enemy Unknown charted in 25th.FIFA 14 was third this week, Assassin's Creed 4 was fourth and Battlefield 4 was fifth.GTA5, Minecraft, Skylanders, Batman Arkham Oranges and the latest Professor Layton puzzler rounded out the top 10.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...op-spot-by-cod

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Battery Backup for RasPi Keeps Your Data Safe

November 18th, 2013, 01:54 Posted By: wraggster


We’ve all raised a clench fist in anger over lost data, and it’s usually the result of unjustified optimism and lack of planning. [George] shared his solution that prepares for the worst: a circuit that provides backup power to a RasPi and its hard drives. [George's] Pi setup runs as both an Apple Time Machine server and a website backup server, and a power outage could corrupt the data stored on the Pi’s attached hard drives.
Rather than turn to commercial solutions, however, [George] wanted to take advantage of the Pi’s low power consumption and create an inexpensive custom circuit that would safely and automatically power down the devices upon loss of power. To detect a power failure, the build connects one of the Pi’s GPIOs to an opto-isolator, which—through a zener diode—connects to the 12V wall adapter: though [George] welcomes suggestions for alternative methods of safely identifying a mains power loss. The rest of the circuit serves as a trickle charger for the two attached 9V batteries and as a regulator to supply the correct voltage to the RasPi. Power MOSFETs connected to a GPIO handle the delayed power off.
You can view (and edit!) the circuit online here and find the relevant source code on [George's] website. If you want to build your own RasPi file server, try cramming all the parts into an old optical drive enclosure.

http://hackaday.com/2013/11/17/batte...our-data-safe/

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