Ryuta Kawashima, the researcher behind Nintendo’s Brain Age series of games for the DS portable system, would rather be working than enjoying $11 million in royalties he could have earned from his creations.

Instead, he used the proceeds to help fund $6.5 million in construction projects on Tohoku’s campus.”My hobby is work,” he said.

“Everyone in my family is mad at me but I tell them that if they want money, go out and earn it.”

Game researcher ducks millions in royalties - Video Game Feature - Yahoo! Video Games

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Tags: BrainAge, Nintendo DS, Charity

U.S. video game industry sales growth is expected to slow in 2008 as accelerated demand for software is tempered by a decline in hardware revenue, the Consumer Electronics Association said on Saturday.

Overall U.S. industry sales are seen rising to $17.9 billion in 2008, up 13 percent from an estimated $15.8 billion in 2007, the CEA said. That compares with a 22 percent increase from 2006 to 2007.

U.S. video game industry growth seen slowing: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

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Tags: VideoGames

Microsoft admits to having some trouble over the holidays with Xbox Live, the online service it offers for users of its Xbox 360 video game console. To make amends the company will offer Xbox Live users a free game from Xbox Live Arcade.

In a statement posted to the service, Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten said that the problems with Xbox Live downtime were caused by an influx of new users who had gotten an Xbox 360 over the holidays. It’s been a record-setting season for Xbox Live.

PC World - Microsoft Offers Free Game for Xbox Live Holiday problems

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Tags: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

Got your Wii yet?

If you answered no, head to the nearest GameStop ASAP because today only, you can purchase a Wii raincheck, which will guarantee you a Wii before Jan. 25, 2007. For the full price of $250, you get a nice DVD case with a special message that assures the recipient that his or her Wii is on the way.

Today’s the day for Wii rainchecks - Video Games - Man Zero - MLive.com

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Tags: Nintendo, Wii, Christmas

 A Thanksgiving day promotion resulted in an outage for Amazon.com.  The entire site, not just the promotion page, buckled under the pressure after offering 1,000 Xbox 360s for just $100.00.

Amazon ran a special promotion this week but under-estimated the demand for the product from users with fast connections. At exactly 2pm EST, the offer was open (an Xbox core system at less than half-price). Unfortunately for Amazon, so many people were waiting for the promotion that the entire Amazon website - not just the promotion page - sank without a trace from just before 2pm, to at least 2:12pm. The home page, the product pages, everything, were unavailable.

If you managed to get a Nintendo Wii this holiday season, make sure you warm up before playing it.  Wii gamers are reporting a more physical workout than they expected to get with the new console.  With some describing it as more vigorous than basketball.  But then that wouldn’t take much.

 …as players spend more time with the Wii, some are noticing that hours waving the game’s controller around can add up to fairly intense exertion — resulting in aches and pains common in more familiar forms of exercise. They’re reporting aching backs, sore shoulders — even something some have dubbed “Wii elbow.”

Nintendo says players who get aches and pains from playing the Wii may need to get more exercise.

 Doctors advice: Stretch out and be sure to take care of any injuries afterwards. “It’s just like athletic play,” says Lana Kang, an orthopedic hand surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

Sony Computer Entertainment has added support for RSS (really simple syndication) and Windows Media Audio files to its PlayStation Portable with a firmware update available starting today.

The RSS support appears as a button in the PSP’s network menu alongside the existing Internet browser and LocationFree Player icons. Users can add RSS feeds from Web sites they visit by clicking on the relevant RSS feed buttons or links and then check these feeds through the RSS Channel menu. Support for podcasts is also included.

The Windows Media Audio support allows playback of WMA files through the PSP’s music menu. Certain WMA files, including WMA9 Professional, WMA9 Lossless, and copyright-protected files like those available through commercial download services, are not supported.

Caution: Upgrading firmware will disable any homebrew apps that you might currently use.

Read more…

Several sites including Team Xbox and Xbox Scene are reporting stability problems with the new Xbox 360. Namely frequent crashes when playing games on or offline. Let’s just hope this problem is not as wide spread as it appears. My guess is forums are going to be dominated by people who are having problems, while people not having problems are currently playing their Xbox 360.

And so far problems are only being reported in forums and not actual news sources.

In other news research company iSuppli is reporting that Microsoft is losing $126 per Xbox 360. They also claim that the PS3 could cost Sony $600 per unit to produce. Stating the Cell processor will cost 50% more than the Xbox 360 processor.

UPDATE: CNN reports that Microsoft admits isolated problems with the Xbox 360.

O’Donnell urged anyone with Xbox problems to call 1-800-4myXbox or go to www.xbox.com. If the problems can’t be resolved immediately, Microsoft said it will pay to ship the console overnight to a repair center, overnight it back once it’s fixed, or ship a replacement.

It seems Western culture in creeping faster into China, including the art of suing. Parents of a 13 year old World of Warcraft player, said he died acting out a scene from the addictive game. They even have the help of the Chinese version of Jack Thompson, Zhang Chunliang, “a well-known activist whose campaign seeks to highlight the dangers of Internet addiction.”

Chunliang, who says he has talked to more than 60 parents whose children have become addicted to online gaming, is now set to file suit against Blizzard over the boy’s death.

While we occasionally hear of players that literally play for so long that their body shuts down, this is the first gaming related lawsuit from Asia.

Not only is there a Doom game for your cell phone, it is an RPG. Doom RPG is availble to download to your java enabled mobile phone. Now typically cell phone games are subpar at best. Let’s just hope ID doesn’t keep dragging down the Doom name with things like, gimmicky mobile games and crappy movies.

Doom RPG is a first-person turn-based role playing game set in the Doom universe. Developed specifically for your mobile device, you reprise the role of the Doom Marine made famous in the groundbreaking id Software titles Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3. Say goodbye to humdrum mobile gaming and prepare yourself for the return to Mars in a showdown with the legions of Hell!

Features:

* Smooth-scrolling 3D gameplay from a first person perspective
* A brutal aresenal of 9 weapons including old favorites like the Super Shotgun and BFG, and some cool weapons new to the Doom universe
* 10 action packed levels filled with dangerous monsters, incredible power-ups, and secret areas to explore
* Over 8 hours of engaging RPG gameplay
* A compelling story, scripted sequences, tons of characters, and interactive environments
* Sound effects and classic Doom music
* Save game feature allows you to quit at anytime and pick up later where you left off
* Collect UAC credits and use them to purchase items and ammunition
* Earn experience and gain levels to become stronger
* Purchase stat boosters such as strength and accuracy to customize your character
* Replay game levels as many times as you would like to build up your character’s abilities
* Full-screen rendering that matches the maximum resolution of your mobile device
* Supports a wide variety of carriers and cellphone devices