Benjamin Nied - SlashGear

Author Archive for Benjamin Nied

Sony Prepares a Pink PSP, Too

Benjamin Nied, Aug 22nd 2006 Discuss [0]

It would seem the ever-elusive girl gamers are a very popular crowd over at Sony's camp these days. After yesterday's UK announcement regarding a pink PlayStation 2 (set to debut in November), they've followed up with a pink PlayStation Portable, meaning that now you have no excuse to buy your girlfriend her own video game system. Like the pink PS2, this is UK-only for now, but expect to see this come elsewhere should it prove popular enough. Read The Full Story

Miyamoto Comments on GC Remakes for Wii

Benjamin Nied, Aug 21st 2006 Discuss [0]

If you're planning on buying a Nintendo Wii when it hits later this year, you might want to hold up on buying all those Gamecube titles that you've always wanted. Mario creator and all-around Nintendo deity Shigeru Miyamoto has said that many of the Gamecube's more popular titles could see Wii re-releases that would add Wiimote support, among other things. Would be nice to see the first two Metroid Primes adopt the same control scheme as Metroid Prime 3, no? Read The Full Story

UK Braces for Pink PS2

Benjamin Nied, Aug 21st 2006 Discuss [0]

Alright Sony, enough with the insanity. As if all the issues surrounding their upcoming Playstation 3 console didn't already have us scratching our heads, looking for their logic, now they've decided that releasing a Playstation 2, in pink, during the same time that the PS3 is debuting it a good idea. Please Sony, show us what you've been drinking so we know that this isn't a random bout of dementia.

Read The Full Story

Microsoft: HD-DVD Not to be Used for Games

Benjamin Nied, Aug 18th 2006 Discuss [1]

While I thought Microsoft had settled this issue some time ago, apparently there's been abundant speculation that the upcoming external HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 might be used to play Xbox games in the future. Not wanting their users to get their hopes up about a feature that won't come to fruition (because they've never done that before), Microsoft has squashed the rumor, stating that the HD-DVD is for movies. No games. At all. Read The Full Story

Phantom Game Console Joins DNF, Vanishes

Benjamin Nied, Aug 17th 2006 Discuss [1]

Fianlly confirming what analysts have been predicting for a few years now, the company formerly known as Infinium Labs, Phantom Entertainment, has removed any and all references to their long-delayed Phantom Game Console from their site. The edits came with an announcement from Phantom that the Phantom Game Service will now be a normal Windows XP application and will deliver games over the Internet, a la Valve's Steam service. Read The Full Story

Wii to Feature Voice-Recognition?

Benjamin Nied, Aug 16th 2006 Discuss [0]

Chalk this up in the Rumor column for the time being, but the latest gossip making its way across the Web is that the Wii, which will already feature a built-in microphone on its "Wii-mote" controller, might also have some nifty voice-recognition features. While we're not entirely sure how this will translate to the games themselves, I for one don't see this technology being used too extensively in "normal" Wii games. Read The Full Story

Microsoft Opens XNA Tools to Everyone

Benjamin Nied, Aug 15th 2006 Discuss [2]

In a move that sure to please wanna-be game developers in every corner of America, Microsoft made a surprise announcement at yesterday's Gamefest conference by announcing the availability of XNA Game Studio Express, a free edition of the XNA Game Studios that will become available in beta form August 30th with the final version due out this winter. Additionally, by joining a "gamer's club" for a $99/year fee, homebrew developers can test and run their newly-created games on their Xboxes, without needing to hack the Xbox and break through its security features. Read The Full Story

Xbox 360 HD-DVD Drive: This Christmas for $200?

Benjamin Nied, Aug 14th 2006 Discuss [4]

All you high-definition fanatics out there, take note: we have it on good authority that the Xbox 360's long-awaited HD-DVD drive is right around the corner, set to ship this Christmas. More importantly, you won't need to trade essential body parts in order to afford one; the drive should run you early-adopters around $200 USD when it finally hits. Meaning that, rather than spending $500+ on a dedicated HD-DVD player, one could spent as much or slightly more and get the Xbox 360's gaming capabilities as well. Read The Full Story

Week in Review: July 17 – July 21, 2006

Benjamin Nied, Jul 22nd 2006 Discuss [0]

Just in case you missed all the awesome stories that we've brought to you this past week (and if you have, shame on you!), we at Slashgear bring you the Week in Review! Read The Full Story

Yahoo Releases DRM-Free Music Track

Benjamin Nied, Jul 21st 2006 Discuss [0]

Hoping that other music companies will follow its example, Yahoo! has released a $1.99, DRM-free, personalized version of Jessica Simpson's "A Public Affair." While the price of $1.99 is effectively double that of a comparable iTunes Music Store purchase, the Yahoo! track can be played on any MP3-capable music player, which sorta justifies the added cost. The company, regarding the new music track, has said the following:

"Dear digital consumer, even if you’re not into Jessica Simpson, and you’re not excited about spending $2 for a song, let me tell you, this is a bigger deal than you might think."

Read The Full Story

Radeon X1950 to Feature New Cooling System

Benjamin Nied, Jul 21st 2006 Discuss [0]

Apparently, people are sick and tired of the high-end ATI Radeon cards have small engines mounted as cooling systems, so ATI has set out to fix the problem. On the company's upcoming Radeon X1950 graphics processing unit, ATI will redesign the entire cooling apparatus in order to make it quieter without losing efficiency. As it stands now, the new card is due out next month, complete with DDR4 RAM and a dual-slot design (evil evil evil). No details on either price or what the new cooling system could look like, but if you're interested in one of the new cards, now is the time to start saving up; high-end Radeons are usually $500 or so. Time to choose between that and the PS3! [via Gizmodo]

Intel to Launch Quad-Core Chips This Year

Benjamin Nied, Jul 21st 2006 Discuss [0]

While this doesn't come as any great surprise (especially after AMD's post-Core 2 Duo "4x4" announcement), Intel has nonetheless announced the that a quad-core version of its Core 2 Duo desktop chips (dubbed Kentsfield), as well as a quad-core edition of the Xeon server CPUs (dubbed Clovertown), would be available as early as the end of this year. It seems somewhat weird to me to launch what is essentially a massively-upgraded Core 2 Duo (the new processors are two Conroe or Woodcrest dual-core processors on one chip) so soon after the line was just launched, but that's technology for ya. Start saving now, all ye interested parties; I guarantee that this processor won't be cheap. [via MacNN]