GameFly to launch 'Unlimited PC Play' download service, offer less incentive to leave the house

GameFly hasn't wasted any time jumping into the digital download waters after acquiring IGN's Direct2Drive platform a little over two months ago. Set to launch September 8th in beta form, its new "Unlimited PC Play" service will offer subscribers access to 100-plus downloadable PC and Mac titles, with hundreds more expected in time for the official end of year launch. Fans of the video game rental outfit's snail mail subscription service don't have to worry about a shift to digital only, as the company has no plans to abandon its "unique combination of console and digital PC game offerings." Interested in getting an early peek at the new platform? If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can look forward to a planned beta launch party next month, where access codes for the new, invite-only service will be distributed. The rest of you PC gaming warriors will just have to settle for a sign-up page at the source.
source: Engadget

Flame red Nintendo 3DS landing September 9th for $169.99

Nintendo announced Wednesday that it will launch a “flame red” version of its Nintendo 3DS on September 9th. The portable gaming system will launch in tandem with the new Star Fox 64 3D game and will be available for the new $169.99 price, which goes into effect on August 12th. "With major upcoming releases in the Star Fox, Pokémon and Mario series, in addition to downloadable offerings from Nintendo eShop, Nintendo Video and Netflix, the system offers new and fun experiences to owners on a daily basis,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said. Nintendo has sold 830,000 3DS units in the U.S. since its March 27th launch. Super Mario Land 3D is expected to hit store shelves in November and Mario Kart 7 will be available in December. Read on for the full press release.

ADDING MULTIMEDIA Nintendo Gets Fired up for the Holidays with New Flame Red Nintendo 3DS

New Color, New Price and Great Games Make Nintendo 3DS a Must-Have

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nintendo is making sure the holidays are hot this year with a new Flame Red version of its portable Nintendo 3DS™ system. The new color launches Sept. 9 alongside the new Star Fox 64™ 3D game, and comes on the heels of a new $169.99 suggested retail price, which goes into effect Aug. 12 in the United States. Flame Red joins Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue, so now shoppers have three distinct and fashionable colors to choose from.

"With a solid back-half game lineup, the Nintendo 3DS price drop is well timed to drive consumer interest and purchases through the holiday season."

"Nintendo 3DS is poised to be on fire for the holidays, with its new suggested retail price, great games and our new Flame Red color," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "With major upcoming releases in the Star Fox, Pokémon and Mario series, in addition to downloadable offerings from Nintendo eShop, Nintendo Video and Netflix, the system offers new and fun experiences to owners on a daily basis."

On the software side, third-party developers have lined up to deliver great new experiences that make use of the unique features of Nintendo 3DS.

"Nintendo 3DS is an amazing piece of technology that offers players incredible 3D games without the need for special glasses. Beyond that, it's an affordable dedicated gaming machine. Simply put, Nintendo 3DS is a fabulous device," said Laurent Detoc, President, North America, Ubisoft. "Ubisoft has been a big supporter of Nintendo 3DS since the beginning with eight Nintendo 3DS games released to date and another eight games coming out before the end of calendar year 2011."

Retailers are also anticipating a strong showing from Nintendo 3DS this holiday season.

"The new, lower Nintendo 3DS price combined with a hot new color and big-name games will entice even more Target guests to get their hands on this first-of-its-kind 3D gaming experience," said Nik Nayar, vice president of Merchandising, Target.

"GameStop customers were excited about the Nintendo 3DS launch, and this lower price point should spark additional demand," said GameStop President Tony Bartel. "With a solid back-half game lineup, the Nintendo 3DS price drop is well timed to drive consumer interest and purchases through the holiday season."

Nintendo is planning the release of two upcoming games starring its famous hero, Mario™, this holiday season. Super Mario™ 3D Land will launch in November, while Mario Kart™ 7 becomes available in December. Super Mario 3D Land is a new platforming game that takes full advantage of 3D graphics to deliver new puzzles, more precise jumping action and a remarkable new visual perspective on the Mushroom Kingdom. The game also marks the return of Mario's fan-favorite Tanooki Suit, which allows him to strike enemies with his tail and slowly descend after jumping. Mario Kart 7 is a new racing game that includes multiple characters from the Mushroom Kingdom, Kart customization and intense multiplayer action. Players can now race on land, sea and air, sail through the sky with the new hang glider feature and drive underwater in some stages. Both games are completely new and are designed specifically for the Nintendo 3DS system.

Since Nintendo 3DS launched in the United States on March 27, more than 830,000 units have been sold in the U.S. alone. Nintendo 3DS owners represent some of Nintendo's most loyal customers, and Nintendo is rewarding them for getting in on the action early with 20 free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop.
source: Boy Genius Report

Assassin's Creed Revelation Beta arrives on PlayStation Plus this September 3rd

Looking forward to Assassin's Creed Revelation? The beta will hit PlayStation Plus later this September 3rd, so you can start saving up your drool for that particular date. In the mean time, you might want to keep yourself occupied by playing the first Assassin's Creed just to relive all those moments and hone your killer instinct.

Just what can you expect from the beta? Here is a quick rundown, and bear in mind that this is far from a comprehensive list. There are nine characters in total which are available in the beta, and all of them are unlocked right from the get go so you need not worry about fighting your way through levels before your hard work is rewarded.

Most of them share the same overall behavior, but it is nice to see the developer put in some extra work to make sure their animation sequence is unique to the character, while their set of abilities are customizable. Among the characters you can choose from include The Sentinel, The Vanguard, The Guardian, The Vizier, The Thespian, The Deacon, The Bombardier, The Trickster and The Champion.

As with the characters, three maps are available from the get go, fully unlocked for you to enjoy. You can immerse yourself in a quartet of modes – with two of them being returning favorites from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, while another two are totally new modes that were specially conjured after listening to player feedback. We're talking about Wanted, Manhunt, Deathmatch, and Artifact Assault, where the latter two are new.
source: Ubergizmo

Sifteo Cubes up for pre-order tonight, gaming gets tangibly-cute this September

Want a game for the tabletop with on-screen pop, and a sprinkle of adorable? Sifteo is officially set to get your gears going when its interactive Cubes, up for pre-order by the end of today, ship out in September. If you'll recall, the MIT-rooted project uses blocks equipped with 1.5-inch displays to create a variety of gaming environments mixing touch, motion and on-display content. Also announced is a bundled "Creativity Kit," which enables you to make your own games on the fly. It was was briefly available to early adopters in January for $99.99, and now $149.99 gets everyone in on some good times. You'll receive a triplet of the oh-so-cute Cubes, a charging hub and a 2.4 Ghz wireless USB adapter for connectivity, as well as transferring Sifteo store apps purchased on your computer. Interest piqued? You'll find details in the PR just past the break -- unless you're a square, that is.

Press Release:
SIFTEO ANNOUNCES UPCOMING AVAILABILITY OF SIFTEO CUBES, THE INTELLIGENT PLAY™ PLATFORM

Sifteo Cubes Enable Truly Hands-On Interactions to Promote Creative Play and Foster Development of Key Thinking Skills for Inquisitive Kids and Imaginative Adults

San Francisco, August 11th, 2011 – Sifteo Inc today announced the upcoming general availability of its Sifteo cubes to U.S. and Canadian customers. Sifteo cubes are motion-aware 1.5-inch blocks with full-color screens that wirelessly connect with a personal computer during play to create unique interactions when shaken, tilted, rotated and neighbored next to one another. With Sifteo cubes, the company is pioneering the concept of Intelligent Play™, an evolution of entertainment and learning that combines familiar physical interactions, innovative technology and engaging titles, opening the door to new fun and social play experiences.

Sifteo has also announced the availability of the Sifteo Creativity Kit™, which is included with the purchase of every Sifteo Pack. The Sifteo Creativity Kit enables Sifteo users to customize an endless array of gameplay experiences for themselves and others using their Sifteo cubes. The Sifteo Creativity Kit lets users easily create a range of mini-games tailored to their unique interests, from learning foreign languages and ordering chemical elements by atomic weight, to word play games and number puzzles.

"Sifteo cubes are the first platform to deliver truly hands-on play, combining the latest in embedded computing and sensing technology with a timeless play style," said co-founder and CEO Jeevan Kalanithi. "We were inspired by great classic games such as Sudoku, Tetris and dominoes when we set out to create the next generation of enriching, innovative and fun games for everyone."

The highly anticipated Sifteo cubes were first previewed in prototype form at the TED Conference in February 2009 (https://sifteo.com/ted_2009) by David Merrill, Sifteo co-founder and President. After debuting the product at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the company launched an Early Access program last January, resulting in several design awards and critical praise from enthusiasts and influencers alike. The company has since improved the gameplay experience, developed the Sifteo Creativity Kit, and forged partnerships with leading game and interface designers such as Scott Kim, Tyler Hinman and Stimulant, a San Francisco-based interaction design consultancy.

Parents and educators have also hailed Sifteo as a compelling education platform that promotes learning while having fun. Sifteo cubes and games encourage the development of core thinking skills - for example:

· Spatial Reasoning: Understand relationships between objects in terms of distance and orientation

· Strategy and Planning: Hone higher-level thinking and problem solving skills

· Patterns and Perception: Sort and classify items to understand trends and develop hypotheses

· Cooperation and Collaboration: Build and refine social skills to solve problems with other people

"Sifteo has designed an educational play platform that relates extraordinarily well to children of all ages," said Dr. Victoria Matthews, founder and former director of the Montessori School of Ojai, California. "There is no limit to how parents and educators can use Sifteo cubes to combine fun and learning in a unique way that engages today's digital kid."

A software development kit (SDK) will be available at launch, giving developers the freedom to create interactive games and applications for their Sifteo cubes. Game programmers, interface designers and hobbyist developers can utilize the Sifteo SDK to imagine and build new interactions that bridge physical objects and digital content, and they can soon share their creations online through the Sifteo store.

Pricing and Availability

The Sifteo Pack includes three Sifteo cubes, a Sifteo charging dock and a USB radio link which wirelessly connects the cubes to any Windows or Mac computer, enabling users to download and play the latest Sifteo games. The Sifteo Pack, priced at $149, and additional Sifteo cubes, priced at $45 each, are available for U.S. and Canadian customers to pre-order at Sifteo's website (www.sifteo.com) and will begin shipping to customers in September 2011. The Sifteo store contains a collection of fun, social and engaging titles across a spectrum of arcade, strategy, language and puzzle games, priced at $5 or less.

How To Play with Sifteo Cubes

To play with Sifteo cubes, users first install Siftrunner (Sifteo's desktop application) on an internet-connected computer, then buy and download games and apps from Sifteo's store. A USB wireless link connects Siftrunner with Sifteo cubes during play. For best performance, users should play within a few feet of the USB wireless link. In optimal conditions, the range may extend up to 20 feet.

About Sifteo

Sifteo Inc is building the world's first platform for Intelligent Play. Sifteo has designed Sifteo cubes, a next-generation play system consisting of physical blocks with full color graphics that sense each other and their motion. Sifteo is dedicated to producing applications and games for adults and children, encouraging development of key thinking skills through fun, engaging and social games. Sifteo is located in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit Sifteo at https://www.sifteo.com/.
source: Engadget

PS3 firmware update v3.70 adds auto-save cloud storage for subscribers, updates XMB and 3D support

As if saving your PS3 games to the cloud wasn't convenient enough, Sony's gone and automated the process for PlayStation Plus subscribers. The v3.70 software update offers an automatic sync option for trophies and game save states, giving members exclusive access to their gaming goods wherever they go. The firmware also packs a few additional features for non-paid users, adding a recommendation function to items in the PlayStation store, and a new "TV / Video Services" XMB category for Netflix, Hulu PLUS and VUDU apps. Sony's also thrown in a few 3D tweaks, with MPO format compatibility for photos, and support for Java-based special features and DTS-HD MA and DTS-HD HR audio output for 3D Bluray movie playback. Although the gaming giant hasn't announced an official date for the release, expect it to hit your home console soon.
source: Engadget

Flame Red Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo will launch a Flame Red version of their Nintendo 3DS handheld console on September 9th, 2011. The new colored system will be accompanied by a new Star Fox 64 3D title, keeping both Cosmo Black and Aqua Blue colors company. The Flame Red Nintendo 3DS retails for $169.99 in the United States.
source: TechFresh

SteelSeries Sensei gaming mouse gets announced

A few days back we reported that SteelSeries had announced a new gaming mouse that was designed for the World of Warcraft gamer in mind. If you're not a fan of World of Warcraft or if perhaps the design isn't to your liking, SteelSeries has just announced another gaming mouse, the Sensei.

The Sensei, if you're wondering why it looks so familiar, it's because it's actually the successor to the SteelSeries Xai gaming mouse that was released last year. Keeping to its predecessor's design, the Sensei is pretty sleek and clean looking, keeping things simple but presumably functional.

It comes with a brand new metal surface, customizable lighting and a new 32 bit ARM processor, which SteelSeries is claiming is as fast as the 1994 Pentium processors. It will also be able to reach up to 11,400 DCPI which feels like overkill, but I'm guessing that hardcore gamers will probably appreciate it more.

As usual with most gaming mice, the SteelSeries Sensei will not come cheap and will cost you $90. If you have the funds necessary for the purchase, the Sensei will be available come this September.
source: Ubergizmo

Walmart, Target jump the gun on Nintendo 3DS price drops

Can't wait for August 12th for Nintendo's 3DS price drop to take effect? Good news, neither could two giant retailers, apparently. Walmart reportedly got the ball rolling yesterday, cutting the asking price down from $250 to $170 in-store, and Target quickly followed suit - the price is still listed as $250 on both sites for the moment. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata acknowledged late last month that the drops, officially scheduled for August 12th, were due to concerns from retailers and game designers. As Joystiq points out, those who buy the console before the switchover is official will likely be able to take advantage of the price drop and Nintendo's offer of free games for early adopters. Score.
source: Engadget

Nintendo opens 5,000 free WiFi hotspots across the pond, connects your 3DS to The Cloud

Still fuming over that 3DS price drop despite the Big N's conciliatory make-goods? If you happen to be a resident gamer in the UK, tack some 5,000 free WiFi hotspots onto the company's apology. According to a report from International Business Times, the service, backed by BSkyB-controlled The Cloud, goes live today, bringing users access to all the console's usual online features and should come in handy when in-game DLC becomes available later this year. No doubt the move from Nintendo's British outfit is intended to add a little purchase incentive to the DS' underwhelming successor, as well as boosting the gaming giant's own declining earnings. No matter, with twenty free games and gratis WiFi - it's looking good to be an early adopter.
source: Engadget