Apple Could Put the Final Nail in Nintendo’s Coffin

By Sam Mattera

The last six years have been terrible for Nintendo’s (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY ) shareholders. After peaking in 2007 with a market cap near $85 billion, Nintendo has steadily collapsed and has now lost over 76% of its value over the last five years.

Unfortunately, this could be the beginning of the end for the once iconic video game company. Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL ) coming entrance into the video game market, a fairly likely possibility, could signal the end of Nintendo.

Nintendo’s business model is becoming obsolete
Ironically enough, Apple and Nintendo have similar business philosophies. Both believe in marrying hardware with software, and maintaining strong control over their devices. Consumers buy Apple devices to get access to their operating systems (iOS, Mac OS); likewise, gamers buy Nintendo’s consoles to play Nintendo’s games.

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Wii U getting price cut September 20

By Eddie Makuch,

32GB model dropping to $300 effective next month in US and Europe; Wii U Basic model will be phased out; Wind Waker HD bundle revealed.

The Wii U is getting a price cut on September 20.

Nintendo announced today that the struggling system will drop to $300 for the 32GB version in the United States and Europe. The $250 8GB Wii U Basic model will be phased out.

In addition to the price cut, there will be a new Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD Wii U bundle, which will debut on September 20.

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How Nintendo Can Win E3

By Steve Peterson

Is there really such a thing as ‘winning’ E3? There is the external victory of being the thing most talked about in the mass media, in the game media, and on social media. Those are really three different audiences: The broadest possible audience of anyone who sees, hears or reads news; the audience of gamers who are always interested in game news, and hardcore Nintendo fans. Then there’s victory internally for Nintendo, by whatever standards it chooses to set. Ultimately, it’s the votes cast by consumers in the form of spending that counts.

Nintendo is heading into this E3 in a difficult position. Sales of hardware and software have not been meeting the company’s projections. CEO Satoru Iwata has gone on record that he intends to deliver a billion yen in profits for Nintendo this fiscal year, and implied that he may step down if that’s not achieved. This puts Nintendo in a difficult position for marketing strategy, since any marketing spending has to return a profit within the fiscal year. No long-term brand-building here; Nintendo will be looking for marketing efforts that can produce solid short-term results.


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The Key Split Between Sony’s PS4 And Microsoft’s Next Xbox Is Starting To Emerge

By Kristin Ambrosino

From the cover of Cosmopolitan Magazine, to Elle UK, and now V Magazine, Miley Cyrus has taken her sexy body to great heights.

Cyrus has definitely moved on from her Hannah Montana days, and it is clear to see from her revealing photo shoot for the cover of V Magazine. According to UPI.com, Cyrus showed off her perfect abs, slim legs, and a spikey pink hairdo for renowned photography Mario Testino, who shot her tri-fold cover.

On the inside of V, Cyrus shows off her sculpted backbones. According to US Weekly on one shot on the inside cover, Cyrus sits on the floor in all leather with a crop top that reveals some major underboob. It is clear to see that Cyrus’ look has evolved over the years.

In the magazine, Cyrus also opens up about her speculated relationship with her hoPaul Tassi

For the past console generation, the so-called “rivalry” between the PS3 and the Xbox 360 has been something of an unnecessary feud. Both consoles occupied the exact same space in the video game scene, and often felt like copies of one another. While the Wii was trying to innovate with its motion controls, the 360 and PS3 were firmly fixed on a more traditional evolution of gaming, with regular controllers and better graphics.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Jerry Seinfeld might say. Both systems created great games and most would say ended up being better consoles than the Wii in the end. It’s just that more often than not, they simply seemed redundant. Third party games looked identical across the systems, and really, there were only a handful of truly fantastic exclusive series on either side. It was like trying to choose between Pokemon Red and Blue at a certain point. Two sides of the same coin.


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Sony unveils PlayStation 4 game console with shoot-’em-up game

The new console faces stiff competition from casual gamers who play games on their cell phones and online, as well as criticism from those who say video game violence is the cause of massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Sony unveiled the long-awaited update of PlayStation Wednesday — by ignoring critics of video game violence and touting the latest glitz and graphics of the shoot-’em-up classic “Killzone.”

The company unwrapped PlayStation 4, the first revamp of the popular gaming machine in seven years, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown.

“The stakes are high for what we are about to show you,” said Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment.

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PlayStation 4 may not be the gaming powerhouse we’ve been expecting

Sony (SNE) is scheduled to announce its next-generation PlayStation 4 console at a press conference in New York City on February 20th. Recent rumors have pegged the system as a gaming powerhouse with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and 1080p HD resolution in 3D at 60 fps, however this may not be what the company is aiming for. According to a report from the Nikkei, Sony hopes the Playstation 4 will act more as a home entertainment “nerve center” than a dedicated gaming system. An unnamed company executive reportedly said that the console’s main selling point won’t be its high-end specs, but rather the new styles of play it will introduce and its ability to connect and share to mobile devices. The PlayStation 4 is rumored to launch in October and could cost more than $400.

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The War Z pulled from Steam, Valve calls release ‘a mistake’

by Erik Johnson

After a launch marred by a string of controversy, The War Z has been completely blocked from purchase on Steam.

While the game remains listed on the PC digital distribution hub, you can no longer buy it. Valve has decided to offer a refund for any customers who felt they were mislead by the current state of the game.

“From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam,” a Valve rep told Kotaku. “We apologize for this and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build.”


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Virtual reality makes a comeback with Oculus Rift

By Chris Morris

Virtual reality got a bad reputation in the early 1990s. Proponents overpromised and underdelivered, with crummy graphics and headache-inducing headgear — not to mention prices that were so stratospheric, there was no way anyone could afford to buy a system.

It was a technology that became an afterthought — until game design guru John Carmack took an interest, at least. During the E3 conference in June, Carmack showed off the Oculus Rift headset, a virtual reality device he helped to create using (no joke) Oakley ski goggles, duct tape, and spare miniaturized rocket parts he had lying around his shop.
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10 Video Game Firsts

By Gordon Cameron

First job, first kiss, first pet — firsts are a big part of life, and so it is with games.

From MMOs to Madden, from sophisticated CG cinematics to gritty shooters, gaming’s biggest franchises, genres, and techniques all had to get started somewhere. Journey back in time with us as we excavate the obscure origins of the gaming world we take for granted today.

First 3D shooter: Wolfenstein 3D

Conventional wisdom holds that the first true first-person shooter — combining texture-mapped 3D graphics, a first-person perspective, and arcade-quick shooter action — was id Software’s seminal hit, Wolfenstein 3D. And, as it happens, conventional wisdom is mostly correct. Sort of.

Shortly before the release of Wolfenstein 3D (which is itself based on the classic 8-bit adventure Castle Wolfenstein), id took a dry run at the same technology with 1992’s Catacomb 3D, a fantasy shooter in which gamers battled enemy goblins with an arsenal of fireballs. All the pieces of the genre were already more or less in place, but Catacomb lacks the visible firearm and ammunition counter that make Wolfenstein seem so familiar to today’s Call of Duty devotees.
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Rare Nintendo cartridge sells for $12,000

By Chris Morris

When it comes to collecting video games, JJ Hendricks knows his stuff.

Earlier this week, he completed a two-year quest to obtain one of the rarest of Nintendo cartridges in existence, shelling out over $12,000 to do so. But the story of how he finally got the collectible is even more fascinating than object itself.

At stake was a Nintendo PowerFest ’94 cartridge for the Super Nintendo, which was created specifically for a video game competition Nintendo held in the mid-90s across the U.S. and Canada. The cartridge contains tournament versions of three SNES games — Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Kart and Ken Griffey, Jr. Baseball. A mere 32 were made, and while they were all supposed to be recycled after the tournament, it didn’t work out that way.
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