Spending on video games in the US jumped to a new April record as locked-down consumers sought refuge in play, industry figures released Friday showed.
A total of $1.5 billion was spent on video game hardware, software, accessories and game cards, eclipsing a previous April high of $1.2 billion spent in the US in 2008, according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.
April was the first full month of tight restrictions on people's movements in the US to prevent the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.
Sales of video game software alone climbed 55 percent to $662 million, a new record high for the month, according to NPD.
"Final Fantasy VII: Remake" was the top-selling game during the month, setting a new sales record for the blockbuster vide game franchise, Piscatella's analysis showed.
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" continued to be a hot seller, being the second most purchased title during April, followed by "Animal Crossing: New Horizons."
Animal Crossing has been the best-selling game for Nintendo Switch consoles during the past year, according to NPD.
In a sign that people stuck at home want to move a bit while sheltering-in-place, the latest edition of "Just Dance" from Ubisoft boogied its way onto the NPD list of top selling games.
US spending on video game hardware more than doubled to $420 million, the highest April total since 2008 and despite the fact that new PlayStation and Xbox consoles are due for release later this year.
Nintendo Switch was the most popular console among buyers.
"Year-to-date dollar sales of Nintendo Switch are the highest of any hardware platform in US history," Piscatella said in his analysis.
Meanwhile, sales of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were each up 160 percent from the same month last year, according to NPD.
The news comes with several big tech firms moving deeper into gaming.
Google recently launched its streaming game service Stadia, and the new Apple Arcade platform offers titles for iOS-powered devices.
Facebook last month launched a stand-alone app allowing users to create and watch livestreams of games.
Amazon this week released its first big-budget gam Crucible from its Amazon Game Studios.
Agence France-Presse
Sony has unveiled the technical specifications of its PlayStation 5, with the next-generation console to include 3D audio and backwards compatibility of at least 100 PS4 titles.
PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny gave a presentation which was streamed live on YouTube on Thursday (Manila time). It was originally intended for the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"We had a dream of what might be possible five years from now," said Cerny about 3D audio, which will make virtual raindrops sound like they are hitting different surfaces around the player.
"This is a journey we'll all be taking together over the next few years. Ultimately, we're committed to enabling everyone to experience that next level of realism," he added.
Watch it
Hideaki Nishino, PlayStation's senior vice president for platform planning and management, said in a blog post that PS5's new features "will allow developers to maximize their creativity, build expansive worlds and new play experiences in the games they design."
As for backwards compatibility, he wrote: "We recently took a look at the Top 100 PS4 titles as ranked by play time, and we're expecting almost all of them to be playable at launch on PS5. With more than 4,000 games published on PS4, we will continue the testing process and expand backwards compatibility coverage over time."
Despite the deep dive, Sony has yet to unveil images of the new console.
For now, here are the official specs of the PS5:
CPU
- x86-64-AMD Ryzen™ “Zen 2”
- 8 Cores / 16 Threads
- Variable frequency, up to 3.5 GHz
GPU
- AMD Radeon™ RDNA 2-based graphics engine
- Ray Tracing Acceleration
- Variable frequency, up to 2.23 GHz (10.3 TFLOPS)
SYSTEM MEMORY
- GDDR6 16GB
- 448GB/s Bandwidth
SSD
- 825GB
- 5.5GB/s Read Bandwidth (Raw)
PS5 GAME DISC
- Ultra HD Blu-ray™, up to 100GB/disc
VIDEO OUT
- Support of 4K 120Hz TVs, 8K TVs, VRR (specified by HDMI ver.2.1)
AUDIO
- “Tempest” 3D AudioTech
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA -- DataBlitz is the latest company to announce closures in Luzon amid the lockdown on the main island to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines.
On Wednesday, the local gaming store chain said all of its branches in Luzon will be closed until further notice.
Shops in Visayas and Mindanao remain open, except for Cagayan de Oro.
"Our thanks to everyone for your patience and kind understanding as we look forward to being of service to you again soon! Please to take care and keep safe!" it said in a Facebook post.
DataBlitz assured gaming enthusiasts that they can still place their orders via PIxelPlay on Lazada and Shopee.
Those who preordered the game "Animal Crossing," which will be released this Friday, are given two options: pick it up when the community quarantine is lifted and get a P500 gift certificate from DataBlitz for subsequent purchases; or cancel their purchase when the branch where they preordered reopens and get a refund.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
TOKYO - Japanese electronic device maker MinebeaMitsumi Inc. will shift part of its video game console production operation to Cambodia from China, a company spokesman told NNA on Tuesday, with the outcome of the United States-China trade row remaining uncertain.
The move by MinebeaMitsumi, a supplier to video game giant Nintendo Co., comes after the United States canceled last week its planned punitive tariffs on video game consoles, among other products, shipped from China.
MinebeaMitsumi will introduce upgrades to its plant located in a special economic zone in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, planning to have the assembly of video game consoles for export at full capacity from 2020.
Production has partially started already, the spokesman said, while declining to disclose the amount of investment or planned output capacity.
He said they plan to beef up production in Cambodia overall, where they currently make products such as ball bearings and LED backlights under its local arm, Minebea (Cambodia) Co., and expand the number of workers to 20,000 from 7,000 in the next few years.
Nintendo, which made up 16.4 percent of MinebeaMitsumi's sales in the fiscal year through March 2019, revealed in July its plan to shift part of its Switch console production from China to Vietnam.
It said the decision to move production of the popular video game console was made to avoid future uncertainty, after opposing the U.S. tariffs in a joint statement released in June. (NNA/Kyodo)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
TOKYO - Sony Corp.'s PlayStation has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's best-selling home video game console, having sold 450.19 million units over 25 years, its game business unit said Tuesday.
The first PlayStation device was launched in December 1994, when Nintendo Co.'s Super Nintendo console was dominant in the home video game market, and quickly gained popularity due to its 3-D graphics and lineup of software titles.
Its producer Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC introduced the PlayStation 2 in March 2000 and sold more than 150 million units of the second-generation console worldwide, followed by the PlayStation 3 released in November 2006 which adopted the Blu-ray disc format.
With the latest PlayStation 4 console, the Japanese entertainment conglomerate established a subscription business model for video games, providing online games at a fixed charge for 36.9 million registered users.
The company plans to introduce the next-generation PlayStation 5 console in the year-end shopping season of 2020.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - Jon Jacobs was a financially struggling actor in real life but a wealthy trader in an online video game when he had his breakthrough: what if he could turn his virtual success into a steady stream of real dollars?
Jacobs, who mortgaged his home to start investing in virtual property, broke records when he sold his nightclub to other users in the multi-player online game Entropia Universe for $635,000 in 2010.
He makes tens of thousands of dollars each month from his other assets within the game, which allows players to explore a futuristic world and has an exchange rate pegged to the US dollar, meaning money can be taken in or out.
"I think that over the next decade we are going to see exponential growth in the trade of virtual goods," Jacobs told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone call from Los Angeles.
He is among a growing number of players globally spending on virtual goods within games that range in price from a few cents to thousands of dollars - fueling debate on what rights they hold over those digital assets.
The video games market is set to more than double in value to $300 billion by 2025, data and analysis company GlobalData estimates.
Much of the money is made through the sale of in-game virtual property ranging from weapons to outfits and even real estate - and that spending could reach $32 billion in 2020, according to data and research firm Statista.
"There is a shift in the gaming industry towards free-to-play games," said Tamara Slanova, co-founder of DMarket, a platform for game developers and players to sell virtual outfits or other cosmetic items known as 'skins'.
"So now the only way the game developers can earn money is by selling some in-game stuff, basically the outfits in the game or the skins for weapons in the game."
Nearly half of games include in-game purchase options, according to analysis by TIGA - the trade association representing Britain's game industry - of a sample of games released last year by British developers.
The average spend on Dmarket.com is usually only a few dollars, said Slanova, but it is not uncommon for purchases to run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
"Sometimes it's really astonishing how much real money people are eager to spend on some virtual stuff," added Slanova.
LICENSE TO PLAY?
While players may be willing to pay up for in-game extras, they have far fewer rights over such digital assets than they would for real-life purchases, said legal experts.
A minority of games allow players to freely buy, trade and sell virtual property, with some gamers making real-world fortunes as a result.
But in most games, users will not get any legal ownership rights over virtual property in return for their money, said Gaetano Dimita, a lecturer in international intellectual property law at Queen Mary University of London.
Instead, they are paying for a license which allows them to use the items within the game under terms dictated by the company, he said, with firms usually reserving the right to change, substitute, or withdraw access to virtual goods.
Players are often not allowed to sell or transfer items to other people, added Dimita, while if their account is suspended or the game shuts down they will see their access cut off.
Digital media like music and e-books are also typically sold through access licenses with similarly tight restrictions.
While full details are laid out in the terms of sale and user licence agreement, many players may not read through legal details often running to thousands of words in legal jargon, said law professor Aaron Perzanowski.
"There is a lot of room for improvement in helping consumers understand how they are investing their time and their money," said Perzanowski of Case Western Reserve University in the US city of Cleveland.
It has led to questions over whether buyers of in-game property or other virtual goods understand exactly what they are - and are not - getting in exchange for their money.
Up to half of people who click 'buy now' on a digital song, book or film wrongly believe they can lend it, give it away or re-sell it, found a 2017 study co-authored by Perzanowski, though he added that games players may be more savvy on average.
"Rights to virtual items are often set out within extensive end-user license terms which some players will not necessarily read upfront," said a TIGA spokesman in an emailed statement.
However, TIGA said that game makers would not want to risk driving players away by removing their virtual property.
"To remove access to purchases could result in very negative publicity which would harm the long-term value of the game."
LAW 'UNCLEAR'
As gaming continues to boom, some players, consumer rights groups and trading platforms are lobbying for players to get greater rights over their virtual goods.
"This demand is growing ... from people that really want to trade skins and to use them as their own property since they paid for it," said Slanova of DMarket.
Court cases have also sought to challenge the broad legal principle that digital items cannot be re-sold by buyers in the same way as physical goods like clothes, records and books, all of which have thriving secondhand markets.
A French court in September found users have the right to re-sell digital games bought through Steam, an online platform developed by US-based games firm Valve Corporation, in a case brought by consumer rights group UFC-Que Choisir.
Valve has said it will appeal the decision.
The developing law around digital rights means the situation is "not particularly clear", said Perzanowski, who added he expects to see more legal challenges in the future.
And the results of court cases over rights for virtual items such as games software will have impact far beyond online players looking to cash in on their digital swag, he said.
"Software is in everything now – it is in your kitchen appliances, it is in your car, it is in medical devices that are implanted in people's bodies," said Perzanowski.
"And all of these same arguments about whether or not you own and control the software are just as true when it comes to physical products that have software embedded into them," he added.
"The answers to these questions are going to have much, much broader implications over the next 10 to 20 years because software is being built into every product you can imagine."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
PARIS -- Gamers are counting down to Tuesday's launch of Google's feature-rich, on-demand offering Stadia. But is its bang as big as its much-advertised buck?
AFP had a chance to gain a first impression at the web behemoth's Paris office in advance of the launch as Google bids to raise the bar to new ultra high-definition heights in a gambit to win greater heft in a global video game industry worth an estimated $135 billion.
A screen problem forced the Google team to scale back resolution to high-definition television quality while sampling four of the 12 games that will be available at launch.
Notwithstanding the glitch, the graphic quality certainly stood out.
According to estimates by the US tech giant the computing power under the hood is ample enough to allow players not to worry about technical limitations of their own hardware causing lags or snaps in the action.
The depth of field, design finesse and color rendition all stood out for the showcasing of games from Mortal Kombat, Destiny 2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider as well as Gylt, an original production exclusively for Stadia from Spanish studio Tequila Works.
Image fluidity was also up to the mark. While Google's Chromecast Ultra device must be plugged into a TV for Stadia sessions, a custom Stadia controller connects via WiFi directly to Google servers where game software is hosted.
In essence, screens are just windows for viewing in-game activity being handled at data centers.
In usage terms, it's on par with using a home console in terms of seamless on-screen response to joystick movements -- although beyond that Stadia is touting much shorter boot-up times.
Whereas it can take some hours to install a purchased game on a console, Stadia gets to the starting line in seconds.
Even a small-scale test run using few servers could not erase all question marks, a key one being the quality and stability of the connection once there is the expected onrush of competitors firing up on November 18 and thereafter.
Does commute compute?
Another unknown is the extent to which one can play away from one's own home on a variety of media. Stadia is promising to allow gamers the possibility of starting off a session on one's television and then switching to a smartphone during, for example, a commute.
That functionality will not immediately be available although it may be possible to switch between media provided one uses a Google Pixel or a computer -- and connects using WiFi to make sure game play data moves quickly and reliably over the internet.
A roaming option is envisaged but when it will be available is not yet clear.
In addition, a corded connection is for the time being required to connect the controller to a computer or smartphone with TV gaming the only wireless option immediately.
Another issue with Stadia's current configuration is its limited catalogue. Just 12 games are available to date -- a drop in the ocean compared with PC or console title offerings.
A keen gamer seeking out very high graphic quality and almost no fluidity lag or downscaling will have to cough up for the privilege, with a 4K-capable TV, a top drawer smartphone and a high-speed internet connection.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Epic Games' launched a "Chapter 2" reboot of its battle royale smash hit Fortnite on Tuesday, as it bids to halt defections of gamers to mobile rivals Apex Legends and Call of Duty.
Fortnite has been down since Sunday giving players no option other than staring at a black screen after a season-ending in-game event where its original island was sucked into a black hole.
The new version of the game features 13 new locations, water gameplay where characters can swim, fish and ride motorboats; as well as new places to hide and a host of new avatars and guns.
Fortnite and its early rival Tencent-backed PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), popularized an arena-style battle royale survival concept where 100 gamers are dropped onto an island to fight each other to the death.
The games are free to download and play but users pay for upgrades, like the "skins" displayed on characters. Fortnite raked in $2.4 billion in revenue in 2018, more than any other single title, according to Nielsen data.
After the runaway successes of those games, gaming giant Electronic Arts launched the similarly-themed Apex Legends earlier this year.
The mobile version of Activision's long-running Call of Duty franchise was also launched on October 1, and has already racked up 125 million unique downloads and generated more than $28 million in gross player spending, according to app data website SensorTower.
Spending on Fortnite has fallen 23% since the launch of Call of Duty, the website's data also showed.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
CHIBA, Japan - The Tokyo Game Show opened on Thursday with enthusiasts testing how ultra-high-speed 5G mobile data networks will impact the gaming experience ahead of the technology's commercial rollout in Japan in 2020.
Game makers, related network developers, and esports promoters cite their sector as one which will benefit from next-generation wireless networks that are expected to allow players of increasingly popular online games to utilize faster downloads and smoother connections.
"5G technology featuring large capacity, high speed, low latency and allowance for simultaneous connection by multiple users will innovate the world of gaming," Hiroyuki Yoshida, director of major mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo Inc.'s consumer business department, told a crowd gathered at its booth at the annual extravaganza in Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo.
Docomo is allowing visitors to experience augmented reality game "Street Fighter V Arcade Edition," where users can watch battles between three-dimensional characters that are superimposed on their current physical location via their smartphone screens.
The carrier, which will start commercial 5G services in 2020 along with rivals KDDI Corp., SoftBank Corp. and Rakuten Inc., will also organize tournaments where up to 100 players can be simultaneously connected at the Makuhari Messe convention center.
The next-generation services can send and receive data around 100 times faster than current 4G technology. Smartphone users, for example, will be able to download a two-hour movie in just three seconds.
The technology is also expected to contribute to the expansion of cloud-based gaming on computers and smartphone connected to the internet that do not require users to purchase dedicated game consoles, such as Sony Corp. PlayStation or Nintendo Co.'s Switch devices.
Google LLC said in March it will launch its own cloud gaming service in 2019, while Apple Inc. is set to roll out new game subscription services, posing a major challenge to traditional game console makers.
Continuing the trend of recent years, the Tokyo Game Show also featured esports competitions on two big special stages each with 500-seat stadia for spectators. Organizers are hoping to entice more domestic players into the fast-growing competitive gaming market.
Esports is already popular in South Korea, the United States and Europe, but not so much in Japan where online competitive gaming is still at a relatively early stage.
The four-day game show is expected to draw over 250,000 visitors to see the 655 exhibitors, including 305 from some 40 countries, showcasing their latest products, according to organizers Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and Nikkei Business Publications Inc.
The event is open to the media and industry officials for the first two days and to the public for the remainder.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Gamers at the industry's biggest fair in Europe have taken aim at US President Donald Trump's assertions that violence in video games was partly to blame for recent mass shootings.
Experts and fans alike at the Gamescom trade fair in the German city of Cologne rejected the link between popular first-person shooter games and real-life massacres that have become tragically common especially in the United States.
"We must stop the glorification of violence in our society," Trump said after 31 people were killed in two separate back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month.
"This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace -- it is too easy for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence."
But Pascaline Lorentz, an expert on the sociology of video gaming, charged that "Donald Trump's argument is totally outdated".
"It has been more than 20 years since studies on violence in video games and films completely deconstructed this argument," she told AFP.
"These studies say that there is no causal link between violence in games and violent acts perpetrated by players."
The sociologist argued that playing violent video games is even a healthy way to let off steam.
"It feels good to let go of yourself," she said, adding that people need to "cry, scream, run or strike to bring out some negative emotions".
"What is dangerous is blocking the process of emotional and sensory balancing."
- Shoot'em up -
It's a sentiment shared by Celina Bausch, 22, who was waiting to try the latest version of the "Call of Duty" series on show at Gamescom.
"As a player, you're used to hearing this kind of criticism, but I don't really take notice as it's not serious," she said.
The goal of the gun-totting game is "not to kill" for the sake of killing, but to use tactics to progress through the levels, insisted another queuing fan, Tim Koehler, 21.
Julien Villedieu, from French gaming industry body SNJV, argued that given the diversity of types of games, "reducing video games to violence is a mistake".
The video gaming industry has long been accused of having a negative impact on the behavior of gamers, especially young people.
In the United States, the issue first came under the spotlight after the release of violent first-person shoot'em-up games "Wolfenstein 3D "(1992) and "Doom" (1993), which popularized the genre.
Criticism intensified after the murder of 12 pupils and one teacher during the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 in Colorado, committed by teenagers who were fans of Doom.
In comparison, shooting massacres are rare in South Korea or Japan, pioneers of the gaming industry where Nintendo, Sega and Sony originated. Both Asian nations spend more per capita on video games than the United States.
Koehler, the gamer, said he feels Trump's criticism of gaming aims to distract from liberal US gun laws and the right to bear arms, a cornerstone of the US Constitution.
"Video games are played all over the world, but the main shootings take place in the United States," he said.
"Maybe we should look at the problem differently."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
COLOGNE, Germany - Connected devices are challenging consoles at the world's largest online gaming fair, as hundreds of thousands of fans jostle to see top e-sports stars in action and give feedback that can decide whether a new release is a hit or a flop.
The gamescom fair in Cologne, Germany, opens to the general public on Wednesday after a series of sneak-peek events to whet the appetite of a rising generation of enthusiasts who spend more time on gaming than they do watching TV.
Stars of competitive online gaming, known as e-sports, are now making the kind of money earned by professional soccer or tennis players, with US teenager Kyle Giersdorf scooping $3 million at last month's Fortnite World Cup.
Organizers say this year's event will focus on cloud-based gaming, amid a trend towards using a range of connected devices and away from consoles such as the Sony Playstation or Microsoft Xbox.
"Cloud gaming is a very important trend - it's about being able to play the best, newest games on practically every device because the actual account is in the cloud," said gamescom's Felix Falk.
Independent developers will also be in the spotlight, added Falk.
Fans will get an up-close look at their heroes demonstrating forthcoming releases, with developers and industry analysts observing queues and interviewing visitors to assess which might turn out to be hits.
"This starts very early," said Jens Kosche, a developer at the German unit of Electronic Arts, which is behind games such as Anthem and Apex Legends.
"We show games to select players and they tell us what they think could be better, and what they like. With that feedback we can develop the game further."
There are an estimated 2.6 billion e-gamers worldwide who will spend some $148 billion on games and related products this year, according to research from Newzoo cited by Mirabaud Securities.
That figure is forecast to rise to $174 billion by 2021 as e-gaming gains in popularity thanks to faster mobile connectivity and the spread of technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
That makes online gaming – and following e-sports pros on social networks such as Amazon's streaming platform Twitch – a lucrative channel for advertisers and marketers as mainstays like TV stagnate. (Additional reporting and writing by Douglas Busvine, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Monday tied mass shootings that left 31 dead in 2 US cities over the weekend to hate, violent video games and mental illness.
But with 255 mass shooting events counted so far this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive, analysts say those factors don't explain all the violence.
Not all mass shooters show signs of mental health problems, or play violent video games, or have political grudges. But one factor is omnipresent: the ease of acquiring guns.
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES
"We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace," Trump said.
It's true that some recent mass shooters played violent video games obsessively.
Adam Lanza, who killed 26 schoolchildren and school employees at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, spent hours a day playing some of the most violent video games, including one called "School Shooting."
Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in 2018, reportedly played violent video games up to 15 hours a day.
But Chris Ferguson, a psychology professor at Stetson University who has studied the issue, says there is no causal link with real attacks.
Hundreds of millions of people around the world play first-person shooter games such as "Fortnite" and "Call of Duty," and do not turn into mass murderers.
"Violent video games do not contribute to mass shootings, not in whole, not in part," said Ferguson.
"It's probably actively causing harm to the extent it distracts people from real causes of violence," he said on Twitter.
The American Psychological Association has found a link between violent games and films and increased aggression among children, but says it is only one risk factor.
MENTAL ILLNESS
Trump also tied shootings to "mentally disturbed individuals" who should not have access to firearms.
"Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger -- not the gun," he said.
There is a link in some cases.
Marine Corps veteran Ian David Long, 28, who killed 12 at a country music bar in California in November last year, was believed to have post-traumatic stress disorder.
Twenty-four-year-old Connor Betts, who killed nine on Sunday at a bar in Ohio, reportedly showed dangerous tendencies while in high school.
And Cruz, the Florida high school attacker, had a history of mental health problems.
"On the face of it, somebody that goes out and massacres a bunch of strangers, that's not the act of a healthy mind," Jeffrey Swanson, a professor in psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine, told AFP.
Yet, he said, there are 10 million Americans with serious mental illnesses "and the overwhelming majority of them do not engage in violent behavior."
Most mass shooters, he said, "do not have the serious identifiable mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, that impairs the brain's ability to reason or see reality, or bipolar disorder."
DIVISIVE POLITICS AND THE INTERNET
Some attacks are also linked to divisive politics, which play out online, especially on the 8chan website.
Like two earlier mass murderers, the man who killed 22 at a Walmart in Texas on Saturday, identified in media reports as 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, released a "manifesto" on 8chan attacking the "Hispanic invasion" from Mexico, echoing Trump's own political rhetoric.
According to journalist Robert Evans, writing on of Bellingcat, 8chan has turned mass shootings into a video-game-like competition, where body counts are referred to as "high scores."
"The act of massacring innocents has been gamified," he wrote on Sunday.
AVAILABILITY OF GUNS
Still, one common thread in all the attacks is the ease of obtaining weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Stephen Paddock, who massacred 58 people and wounded hundreds attending a concert in Las Vegas in 2017, was not apparently mentally ill, ideologically motivated, or a video gamer. He launched his attack using two dozen weapons, mostly AR-15-type assault rifles.
Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at a Pennsylvania synagogue last October, carried 4 guns in his attack and legally owned 21.
And Betts had an assault rifle he ordered online from Texas, equipped with a 100-round drum magazine.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES -- Microsoft on Sunday gave the world a first glimpse of a powerful next-generation Xbox gaming console that it aims to release late next year.
Xbox head Phil Spencer pulled back the curtain on "Project Scarlett," the creation of a successor to the Xbox One that will give game makers "the power they need to bring their creative visions to life."
No pricing plans for the new console were revealed at a gala event ahead of the opening of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game industry gathering.
The new Xbox was promised to be released in time for the Christmas holiday shopping season in 2020.
"For us, the console is vital and central to our experience," Spencer said during a media event that showcased 60 new games for Xbox.
Xbox battles in the console gaming arena with Sony, which is working on a new generation PlayStation.
The commitment to consoles by longtime contenders in the market comes with the rise of video games hosted as subscription services streamed Netflix-style from data centers in the internet cloud.
Xbox said at the E3 event that it is adding the ability for players to stream games in their libraries for play on mobile devices with Game Pass subscriptions.
"We will bring Xbox to the cloud with Project and console streaming," Spencer said. "Where you play is entirely your choice, you decide."
The new service will be previewed later this year, according to Microsoft.
Heads in the cloud
The E3 opens with gamers gradually moving away from traditional console play and Google seeking to capitalize on that trend with a new Stadia service allowing people to play cloud-powered games on any connected device.
Adapting to the new trends will be critical for contenders in the massive video game industry, which last year generated more than $135 billion globally, and $43.4 billion in the United States.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, which runs E3, more than 164 million adults in the United States play video games, and three out of four US households have at least one video game player.
"This right now is the single most creative and energizing time in gaming history," Spencer said. "In under two decades, the number of players in the world has more than tripled; now more than two billion of us play games."
Games on smartphones have accounted for a lot of that growth.
Microsoft also announced the launch of a beta version of an Xbox Game Pass that lets people using computers powered by the latest Windows software access a library of more than 100 video games.
Included in the line-up is the entire "Master Chief" collection of the popular "Halo" science fiction shooter franchise on Xbox. The Game Pass for PC will be priced at $9.99 monthly.
A new "Ultimate" game pass lets players combine access to console and personal computer titles for $14.99 monthly.
"Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is off the charts as a consumer value proposition," said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella. "And, the sheer number and scale of games coming to Xbox Game Pass on Day One is very impressive."
Star shine
A highlight of the show was an appearance by actor Keanu Reeves, who was greeted with a standing ovation and shouts of adoration by a packed audience in the Microsoft Theater downtown.
A character in a coming "Cyberpunk 2077" video game is modeled on the looks, voice and body-motion of Reeves, who starred in "Matrix" and "John Wick" films.
The action game is set in a troubled future where humans are enhanced with technology.
"The feeling of being there, of walking the street of the future, is really going to be breathtaking," Reeves said of the game, which is set for release in April for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles as well as personal computers.
"Overall, I thought it a great showing, particularly as we head into next generation consoles in 2020," analyst Piscatella said of the Xbox E3 event.
"There was a lot to like here, especially from a services perspective, that puts Microsoft in great position going forward."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BARCELONA -- Smartphone makers hope video games will help them stand out in a crowded market with dwindling sales, but analysts warn that handsets don't have the power or the screen size to lure hardcore players.
Video games on smartphones have taken off in recent years and accounted for nearly half of the global video game market in 2018, according to a report from French telecoms research group Idate.
"Most analysts predict the mobile game industry is moving towards a focus on casual players. 'Hardcore' gamers that care about displays would probably much rather play on a dedicated portable console," said Fitch Solutions analyst Cristina Liberal.
The purchase by China's biggest gaming group Tencent of a majority stake in Finnish mobile game maker Supercell in 2016 highlights the growing focus on the mobile video game market, she added.
Smartphone video game competitions are now held, especially in China where Tencent launched its widely popular mobile strategy game "Honor of Kings" in 2015.
And popular games such as "Clash of Clans" and its successor "Clash Royale", which were developed by Supercell, are now a regular part of the esports scene where they can be played on mobile phones.
Esports is a form of competitive video gaming with multiple players battling against each other usually in teams, often in matches that are streamed live to throngs of fans.
'KEY ELEMENT'
"Video games are inevitably a key element in the conception of smartphones," said Thomas Husson, a consumer devices analyst at research firm Forrester as the Mobile World Congress trade fair was underway this week in Barcelona.
They require devices with "high level of performance" and low latency, or response times, to work well, he added.
Honor, a sub-brand in Chinese telecoms giant Huawei's smartphone portfolio, highlighted the advantages of its new View 20 model for video game players such as a large screen and cooling system when it was presented at the end of 2018 in Paris.
South Korea's Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone seller, in 2016 introduced a gameboard that could be paired with its Galaxy S8 flagship phone for gaming.
"Video games are very important for us," a Samsung spokesman said, adding the company prefers to make handsets that "respond to many different needs" instead of a model dedicated to a specific use such as gaming.
FEW DEDICATED DEVICES
While gaming is taken into account by handset makers when they design their devices, few have moved to make specialized models for video games.
This contrasts with computer makers who have put out many models aimed at video game players which are often more expensive and much more powerful.
Xiaomi, Asus and ZTE have phones geared towards gaming but often the difference with their other devices is negligible.
"The only differentiation factor is to modify settings, like display or battery usage. Mobile game developers prefer to focus on 'casual' gamers that don't require extra features, and generate more cash," said Liberal.
Most mobile games do not need high powered devices to work well so the incentive to come out with a device geared specifically to gaming is low.
Husson said video gaming helps underpin smartphone sales "but not to the point where it could compensate for the decline in sales" of handsets.
"If there was a real demand for smartphones specifically for gaming, we would have already seen them, therefore it is not really the case. What could possibly change things are flexible screens, which open up new possibilities," he added.
Samsung and Huawei have both unveiled in recent days new smartphone models featuring screens that can fold open like a tablet and others firms are expected to follow their example.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES -- Console makers long at the center of the video game universe are adapting to an exploding constellation of ways to play, with the cloud looming on the horizon.
Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony remained stars, with rival Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch gaming hardware respectively, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show floor that opened in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
But the premier industry gathering was very much focused on games themselves, and the idea they can be played as a service hosted in the internet cloud using an array of devices from smartphones to personal computers.
The annual E3 event "occurs against a backdrop of disruption in the console market," according to IHS Markit games technology research director Piers Harding-Rolls.
"As the market becomes more digitally enabled and service based, console companies and publishers are starting to map out their longer-term strategies including the building out of subscription cloud gaming services," Harding-Rolls told AFP.
Companies interested in cloud gaming see it as a way to reach broader audiences, adding to console businesses instead of taking away from them, according to the analyst.
"I see consoles being around or the foreseeable future," Harding-Rolls said.
Shifting terrain
But the competitive landscape will tilt away from console-market leading PlayStation to terrain more favorable to Xbox, he reasoned.
Microsoft has built a powerful platform for hosting computing in the internet cloud, making such service a thriving part of its business.
“We commit and harness the full breadth of our resources at Microsoft to deliver on the future of play," Xbox team leader Phil Spencer said at an E3 briefing.
The Redmond, Washington-based technology veteran has also invested heavily in machine learning, naming its Cortana digital assistant after an artificial intelligence character in blockbuster Xbox video game "Halo."
Spencer also said that Microsoft is working on a cloud service for streaming console-quality games to internet-linked devices.
"If you agree that the eventual future of games consumption is through cloud gaming services, then those companies with a strong position in cloud are likely to be best placed to benefit from the transition," Harding-Rolls said.
"In this context, Microsoft's cloud division gives the company a natural advantage when trying to build a profitable business."
Sony and Microsoft have each put out word they are working on next-generation consoles, but planned capabilities have yet to be revealed.
PlayStation 4 has dominated the current console generation, briskly outselling Xbox One.
But if the video game world shifts to Microsoft's strengths, its new competition in play could become cloud and AI titans such as Amazon, Google, Tencent, and Alibaba, according to Harding-Rolls.
Learning from mobile
The video game industry is seeing its biggest investment ever, with the three big consoles "very healthy," according to Electronic Software Association chief executive Michael Gallagher.
The ESA trade group organizes E3, with 60,000 industry insiders and gamers from some 100 countries expected to attend the three-day gathering.
Video game industry revenue worldwide tallied about $116 billion last year, according to the ESA.
Console makers have been taking lessons from mobile games, building online communities of players who provide feedback; stream play; subscribe to services, and spend money on digital content such as dance moves or funky clothing for characters.
"Mobile has been a fantastic growth point for the industry," Gallagher said.
Console video game titan Bethesda is unabashedly bridging the divide between console and mobile play with versions of blockbusters "Fallout" and "Elder Scrolls" for play on smartphones or tablets.
"I can't wait to play it," Gallagher said of "Elder Scrolls: Blades" that will be available free for iPhones or Android-powered mobile devices when it is released later this year.
Another sign of console-quality play making its way to mobile devices came in the form of telecom giant AT&T showing off ultra high-speed 5G wireless data capabilities on the E3 show floor.
Super-fast internet service is seen as key to rich, seamless game play.
"Exponential increases in computing power, storage and speed will lead to the streaming of realistic, systemic, densely populated and persistent game worlds to any screen," said Yves Guillemot, chief executive of French video game powerhouse Ubisoft.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Apple Inc has blocked the plans of the biggest distributor of PC-based video games to extend its reach into iPhones, according to the game distributor, a sign that Apple is serious about protecting its ability to take a cut of digital purchases made inside games on its mobile devices.
Steam, the dominant online store for downloaded games played on Windows PCs, had planned to release a free mobile phone app called Steam Link so that gamers could continue playing on their mobile phones while away from their desktop machines. But Apple has rejected the app, blocking its release, according to a statement from Steam's parent company, the Bellevue, Washington-based Valve Corp.
"The team here spent many hours on this project and the approval process, so we're clearly disappointed," Valve spokesman Doug Lombardi said in a statement to Reuters. "But we hope Apple will reconsider in the future."
Apple did not immediately return a request for comment. The magazine Variety earlier reported Steam's rejection from the App Store.
Bob O'Donnell, chief of TECHnalysis Research, said Apple's move to block Steam could hurt it with users between 18 and 24 years old, more than half of whom have iPhones, according to his research.
"What they're doing is denying iPhone owners access to the most important gaming ecosystem there is," he said. "Given that the younger demographic skews toward iPhones, it seems particularly damaging."
Steam did not give a precise reason for the App Store denials, saying only that Apple cited "business conflicts with app guidelines." But the conflict likely centers on what are known as in-app purchases or micro-transactions, in which gamers can spend small sums of money inside games to buy tokens, extra lives or others so-called digital goods.
Lombardi said Steam disabled purchasing its iOS app but did not elaborate on how the change was made.
Apple takes a 30 percent cut of such purchases made within apps distributed through its App Store. Analysts believe those purchases are among the primary drivers of revenue in Apple's services business, which includes the App Store, iCloud and Apple Music.
In Apple's most recent quarter, services revenue hit $9.1 billion, beating Wall Street expectations and providing a bright spot for revenue growth as the smartphone market matures.
Steam, however, also offers purchases within games distributed through its platform and also takes a cut of those purchases. Apple's App Store guidelines ban such a store-within-a-store unless the purchases flow the Apple's infrastructure and pay Apple's cut.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WUHU/SHANGHAI - In an industrial park on the edge of Shanghai, a dozen Chinese teenagers are taking a break from battling digital armies to focus on their yoga.
They are members of EDG, one of China's top electronic sports teams, who spend 6 days a week in a military-style training compound to become world beaters in video games.
EDG's players - when not doing yoga to stay limber - spend most of their time at the camp wielding virtual weaponry playing multi-player battle games like "League of Legends" or Tencent Holdings Ltd's popular "Honour of Kings".
The team's top players can rake in up to 30 million yuan ($4.54 million) a year each from tournament prize money, commercial endorsements and payments from avid fans who spend hours watching them play online.
China's craze for e-sports is being propelled by the country's booming video game market, the world's largest and one that is expected to register $27.5 billion in sales this year, according to the gaming consultancy Newzoo.
Game developers like Tencent and NetEase Inc, and others like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, are competing to market video games, fill stadiums with fans and sell broadcast rights to the matches.
"We have found the fastest-growing and biggest demand is in e-sports, and we are following that trend," said Wang Guan, general manager of e-sports at Alisports, an Alibaba subsidiary.
Cities around the country are looking to cash in on the market's fast growth with video game theme-parks and e-sports venues. Some universities are even rolling out gaming degrees.
Alisports, which organizes the World Electronic Sports Games, successfully lobbied the Olympic Council of Asia to include e-sports at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The extent of the e-gaming boom was on display in Beijing in November at the world final of League of Legends, with a prize of over $4 million at stake.
A crowd of more than 40,000 people packed into the city's Olympic Bird's Nest stadium to watch the South Korean gaming stars Faker and CuVee go head to head.
The raucous crowd, a bigger turnout than most local soccer games, underlined how popular gaming as a hobby and spectator sport has become in China.
Jiang Ping, 17, a university student in Beijing, paid 4,000 yuan to watch the final with his aunt. They were lucky: tickets sold on the grey market reportedly rose to more than 20 times the original price due to high demand.
"When I started playing this game five years ago, there weren't that many people," Jiang said. "Now the numbers are huge, and even the game itself is now owned by a Chinese firm, Tencent."
Tencent owns the League of Legends developer Riot Games.
TENCENT OR DIE
The city of Wuhu, a backwater 3 hours away from Shanghai, is a symbol of China's gaming potential - as well as its risks.
Many local governments have been seeking to develop more specialised industries, and Wuhu has targeted e-sports. In May, the city signed a deal with Tencent to build an e-sports university and a stadium for events. Other cities, like Zhongxian in the municipality of Chongqing, are also building facilities to profit from the e-sports boom.
Some industry participants, however, are already worried about a bubble forming, and rising debt levels as local governments jump into e-sports investment.
"Maybe some of the developers don't have pure intentions, they are just using e-sports as an excuse to get land at a cheap price from local government," said Tao Junyin, marketing director of VSPN, a leading e-sports content company.
Han Li, manager of Wuhu's e-sports association, said the city had discussed ideas including an e-sports-themed hotpot restaurant, bar and cinema, in addition to the gaming school and arena.
Ultimately, though, China's gaming giants are the ones calling the shots, he said.
"Tencent has a controlling power in the whole industry, so we have to find a way to work with Tencent. You either die or you go Tencent," he said.
Tencent declined to comment.
SOCIALIST VALUES
Local gamers also face tougher regulation than peers in the United States, South Korea or Japan, with a recent government push to emphasize "core socialist values" in entertainment products including songs, online streaming and video games.
This year, Tencent limited the time children could play its popular Honour of Kings game after coming under fire over gaming addiction. In November it said it would bring the top-selling game "Playerunknown's Battleground" to China, but would tweak the game to fit with "socialist core values".
Tencent's main local rival, NetEase, has already embedded banners with patriotic slogans into one of its popular battlefield games to head off official criticism.
"In China, you have to follow the government's decree," said Tao of VSPN. "But you can always make moderations to the games so that it will pass the censor."
Nonetheless, China's youth seem enthralled, prompting some universities to start offfering e-sports degrees, from professional gaming to e-sports commentating and graphic design.
Liu Xuefeng, a freshman from Anhui province, applied for a gaming degree program in the western city of Chengdu - despite facing push-back from his concerned parents.
"I am very interested in this program, and they couldn't stop me, so they had to cave in the end," he said, adding that he wanted to be an e-sports commentator. "There is great potential in the development of the gaming business."
The allure of becoming the next big gaming star is already sparking fierce competition to get into the market, said David Ng, head of Super Generation Investment, which owns the EDG e-sports team.
"Sometimes we will have a thousand application letters in our mail box to join our team on a single day."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WASHINGTON - Microsoft on Sunday unveiled Xbox One X -- billing it as the most powerful video console ever made, and escalating a battle with market king PlayStation.
The $499 product was built with the muscle for seamless play on ultra-high definition 4K televisions and will be available worldwide on November 7, according to Xbox team leader Phil Spencer.
He introduced the much anticipated Xbox One X, called Scorpio during development, at a Microsoft event ahead of the official opening of the major Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.
Aiming at the hearts of gamers, Microsoft also showed off 42 coming games, with 22 titles being tailored for exclusive play on Xbox One consoles.
Independent publishers tend to make blockbuster titles available for play on Xbox, PlayStation and personal computer hardware in an effort to sell creations to as broad an audience as possible.
Keenly-anticipated new games shown off here include a new installment of "Assassin's Creed" from France-based Ubisoft, intended to reboot the long-running franchise by taking players back to the "origins" of the storyline in ancient Egypt.
Game play on 4K screens, whether they be televisions or personal computer monitors, is expected to be among themes at E3 this week. Enabling ultra-rich visuals also tunes into the budding trend toward virtual reality games.
SWITCH SUPPLIES TIGHT
Sony PlayStation 4 has dominated the latest generation of consoles, outselling Xbox One by 2-to-1, according to industry trackers.
PS4 consoles from the outset could power virtual reality, and Sony sells head gear for those experiences.
PlayStation has also become the prime driver of revenue and profit at Japan-based entertainment giant Sony, according to executives.
“We are selling every single one we can make,” Sony Interactive Entertainment worldwide studios chairman Shawn Layden said of PS4.
Nintendo's recently-launched Switch has been a winner, with fans snapping up the console and a "Legend of Zelda" game that has become a must-play title for fans.
Demand for Switch consoles has been so intense since its launch early this year that the consoles are tough to find in stores and Nintendo has reportedly doubled production.
Switch launched at the start of March and some 2.74 million were sold by the end of that month, according to Nintendo.
Hot Switch sales also boosted shares of the Japanese company, which ran into a tough patch after it failed to build on the popularity of the first generation of Wii consoles.
PS4 and Xbox One are both performing better in the market that their respective predecessors, and Nintendo “is back in a big way” with Switch, according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.
Sony has sold close to 60 million PS4 consoles and will reveal its latest innovations and offerings at a press event on Monday, according to executives.
"We are in the 4K world already," Layden told AFP. "That is what the future of gaming is going to look like."
OLD GAMES MADE NEW
Microsoft is also courting players by working to make more popular games from earlier Xbox console versions playable on its latest hardware.
Microsoft also just launched a subscription service for Xbox, letting players pay a monthly fee for access to a videogames library for its console.
Sony makes a library of videogames available as part of a subscription service for PlayStation consoles.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft on Wednesday launched a subscription service for Xbox, letting players pay a monthly fee for access to a library of videogames for its console.
People who already subscribe to an Xbox Gold service can pay an extra $10 monthly for the new "Game Pass," which will be available at the same cost to console users with Live accounts in any of 31 markets around the world at the start of June, according to product marketing director Parimal Deshpande.
"At launch and beyond, our goal is to make sure there are great games to play for all gamers," Deshpande said in a blog post.
Microsoft revealed plans for the Game Pass earlier this year and tested it with users who were part of in an "insider" program.
The subscription service, using the Netflix model of monthly subscriptions for instant online access, will offer some 100 games that can be played on Xbox One or prior-generation Xbox 360 consoles, according to Deshpande.
People will be enticed to try to Game Pass with 14-day free trials.
Players subscribing to the service will be able to download games to consoles for optimal performance and be offered discounts to buy them for keeps.
Games in the opening line-up included "Halo 5: Guardians," "Bioshock," and "Borderlands."
A YouTube video about the service had logged more than 278,000 views within 24 hours of being posted.
Markets where Xbox Game Pass is launching included Australia, Britain, France, Hong Kong, India, and North America.
Sony makes a library of videogames available as part of a subscription service for PlayStation consoles, the latest generation of which has outsold Xbox One by about 2-to-1 according to market trackers.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
