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News tagged ‘Nintendo’
Amazon Working On Competitor To Apple’s TV Set-Top Box
Bloomberg Businessweek that Amazon is working on a set-top box to stream video content over the Internet via its Instant Video and Amazon Prime services.
The box will compete with similar products like the Roku and the Apple TV, as well with a more versatile devices such as Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox that have moved into the streaming video field in recent years. The report notes:
Apple Locking Screenshots For Apps Submitted For Approval
Yesterday Apple announced on its Developer Portal that appscreenshots will be locked in iTunes Connect after the app has been approved.
“Beginning January 9, app screenshots will be locked in iTunes Connect once your app has been approved. New screenshots may be uploaded when you submit a binary for an update to an existing app or a new app”.
Adults and children prefer iPad to other devices
According to a research conducted by Nielsen in the United States, over the course of the next 6 months, consumers between the age of 6 to 12 years are interested in buying iOS products form Apple. New Nintendo Wii U took the second place on popularity, but rated behind the iPad. However, iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad Mini entered the top 5 most popular products for this age group.
Apple working on physical game controller for iPads and other iOS devices
AnandTech's Anand Lal Shimpi reports Apple is working on its own physical controller to similarly enhance gameplay on its iPad and other mobile devices. He has been made aware of "an internal Apple project to bring a physical controller to market."
Regardless, Lal Shimpi believes such devices may soon be a necessary accompaniment for hardcore mobile gamers, especially as smartphones and tablets come close to equaling the performance of existing game consoles.
More than anything, kids want Apple's iPad, iPod touch & iPhone for Christmas
In October research company Nielsen conducted a new survey among 3,000 U.S. children at the age from 6 to 12 ahead of 2011 holiday season, and found out that the iPad is the most-wanted gift for kids, while the iPod touch ranks second and the iPhone comes in third. 44 percent of kids are interested in getting an iPad, 30 percent want an iPod touch, while 27 percent prefer to get an iPhone.
Apple's popularity among children is likely driven by gaming, as the most popular applications on iOS have consistently been games since the App Store first debuted. The iOS lineup beat out a number of popular gaming machines in the survey, including the Nintendo 3DS, Kinect for Xbox 360, and the Sony PlayStation 3.
The iPad dominates among teenagers: 24 percent of those polled said they are interested in buying an iPad in the next six months. Apple's iPhone is in the seventh place with 15 percent, while iPod touch is in twelfth with 8 percent.
Android And iOS Account For 58% of Portable Gaming Revenue in U.S.
Flurry, mobile analytics firm, that portable gaming has seen a continuous shift from dedicated gaming devices to smartphones and other multifunctional devices.
Investors Want Nintendo To Develop Titles for iOS Devices
According to Bloomberg’s , Nintendo’s investors are urging the company to produce titles for iOS devices. Alternatively, Tokyo-based Stats Investment Management Co considers that Nintendo should try to either develop something absolutely new or buy its way into smartphone market. Bloomberg wrote:
iPad Is Taking Console’s Share On The Gaming Market
It is well known that iPad is a fine gaming device. And it looks like Apple is going to improve iPad’s entertainment capabilities as it is a new trend nowadays. Some well-known publishers pay most attention to gaming aspect of the iPad as consumers gradually lose interest in gaming on traditional consoles. Console’s long upgrade cycle, expensive software and hardware for them and allure of touch gaming devices are main contributing factors to the decline of the console business. Recently The Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello IndustryGamers:
Nintendo of America president: Apple is a serious threat for us
In a recent interview to Forbes the president of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime shared his thoughts on Apple. He said that iPod and iPhone are perceived as devices for casual games in most cases and that Apple is a serious threat for his company.
“Do I think that in the near term they can hurt us more than Microsoft? Absolutely.”
Apple event live blog (finished)
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Patent suit challenges motion-based input with Apple's iPhone 4
A new lawsuit takes aim at the accelerometer- and gyroscope-powered abilities of Apple's iPhone 4, alleging that the interactive, three-dimensional input methods are in violation of a U.S. patent. The lawsuit, filed this week by Triton Tech of Texas, names both Apple and Nintendo as defendants. Triton is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 5,181,181, entitled "Computer Apparatus Input Device for Three-Dimensional Information."
That patent describes a handheld device that includes multiple accelerometers and angular rate sensors for detecting positioning and motion. By interpreting acceleration, velocity and relative position of the device, it can allow users to interact with a computer or other device with six degrees of motion in a three-dimensional space.
Triton's lawsuit only specifically singles out the iPhone 4 from Apple as an infringing device, though it implies that other devices could be in violation. Apple's iPod touch and iPad also include accelerometers that are used for input.
New iPhone's Gyroscope Was Added for Gaming
When Gizmodo showed new iPhone's prototype most of us stopped expecting from Jobs anything shocking on WWDC 2010. But he amazed us, and not only with new display's resolution, FaceTime function and 802.11n support, but also with gyroscope. Many developers instantly realized - this is a new breakthrough.
While conventional accelerometer measures linear acceleration as a change of direction apart a change in velocity, a gyroscope measures angular acceleration, or in other words, a change in both direction and velocity at the same time. Thus the device can sense its rotation while ignoring hand jitters and linear movements, which is impossible for accelerometer.
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Nintendo president called Apple its enemy
Recently UK Times published a report about Nintendo's current situation. The company's president Satoru Iwata said that he had already won the war with Sony and now it is Apple's turn. Satoru called it Nintendo's "enemy of the future".
The war with Sony was ended after last holiday season, when Wii had outsold Sony Playstation by almost double, though this year the sales of Nintendo's device in the first quarter were down 21% in compare to the first quarter of 2009.
So now the competition is held between Nintendo DS and Apple's iPod touch and iPhone platform. The latter has advantage of relatively low prices for games (moreover, some of them are even free). There are also studies, that reveal that people who like to play would rather carry an iPhone than a DS.
Apple Hired Games Manager For App Store
Recently Apple has hired new global editorial games manager for iTunes App Store. His name is Matt Cassamassina and he has over 13 years experience of games reviewing.
Matt started his game career with the launch of N64.com. Later this resource was bought by IGN, where he continued to work. In the gaming industry he is known as the expert and information source about Nintendo.
After his appointment he wrote in his blog:
"I will be leading the charge for games on the App Store, so whether you browse through iTunes, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, the games content you see will be handpicked and organized by me and my team. I couldn’t be happier."
Matt Cassamassina will start his work in Apple at the beginning of May.
App Store games became very popular since the release of iPod Touch. Profit from game creating and selling it on iTunes attracted many single developers which lead to a success of the iPhone and iPod Touch as handheld gaming devices. The popularity of App Store games is even frightening for Sony and Nintendo that are now looking forward to create something innovative in the gaming industry.
iPhone is getting higher gaming revenue
There are 30,000 games on the iPhone and this number is growing. People pay for games, but exactly how much do they pay? A new report from mobile app analytics company Flurry gives some impressive numbers. Flurry estimates that users spent $500 million on games in the US AppStore during 2009. This is up from $115 million in 2008. Compared to the overall U.S. console and portable video game market, the iPhone/iPod Touch now represents 5% of total video game sales. In just the portable videogame market, the numbers are even more exciting - Apple has 19% of portable games revenue.
The numbers are especially painful for Sony who had four times as much revenue as Apple in 2008 which dropped to just over half of Apple's revenue in 2009. With the iPad coming soon the iPhone OS will grab even more of that Portable Gaming revenue.