Gaming

A new report from app monetization company W3i says users 47 percent of the revenue earned from in-app purchases falls in the range of $9.99 to $19.99, somewhat disrupting the theory that a constant stream of tiny "microtransactions" is a viable profit model for mobile video games.

The "freemium" profit model has been immensely popular among mobile video game companies. It has been shown that mobile games earn more money when they are given away for free, but contain add-ons available only through in-game purchases.

A port of the incredibly popular indie sandbox survival game Minecraft will soon be available for the Raspberry Pi, and if that news isn’t enough to get you excited, the price might -- it will be entirely free.

Minecraft: Pi Edition (a port of Minecraft: Pocket Edition) was officially unveiled at Minecon in Paris, and offers a revised feature set and support for several programming languages, so users can code directly into the game. According to Minecraft publisher Mojang, users will be able to "start by building structures in the traditional Minecraft way, but once you’ve got to grips with the in-game features, there’s opportunity to break open the code and use programming language to manipulate things in the game world. You’ll be learning new skills through Minecraft".

For many of us Nintendo represents our youth, but the company has stubbornly stuck around from those heady days of the 80s and even has managed to keep relevant while others like Atari and Sega have faded from sight. In fact, the Nintendo Wii still continues to be a popular console worldwide and now the company has outed the new Wii U and, with this console, Nintendo wants to compete with Xbox for control of your living room.

Over the past few days we have seen announcements from Netflix. Amazon Video and Hulu that each makes services available for the Wii U. Now, on Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, YouTube has decided to jump on the bandwagon as well.

Some computer games require you to be connected to the Internet at all times to play them. While that sounds reasonable for online multiplayer games such as World of Warcraft or Team Fortress 2, it doesn't make sense for single-player games that you play on your own. Always-On DRM limits access to the purchased game due to that requirement.

Not only is it necessary to have an Internet connection to play the game, which means no playing in situations where you do not or where unreliable, it also means that you rely on the game company server to be online as well.

It's not exactly a secret that Microsoft wants everyone to have an Xbox or that the company just recently released it's very first tablet in the form of the Surface RT, with a Windows 8 Pro model coming soon. But, would Microsoft actually consider combining these two seemingly different platforms?

Some people seem to think that may happen, but I want to talk the company down from the ledge and say "Please abandon this silly idea" before it becomes the biggest blunder since Bob. In fact, I would love to scream at the company NO! It would be a terrible and costly stumble by the Redmond, Wash. folks.

If you’re the creative type then the idea of designing your own games can seem appealing. For a moment or two, anyway, until you began to think about exactly how many technical challenges you’d need to overcome in order to make this dream a reality.

You don’t have to handle everything on your own, though. Spring is a capable, versatile and open-source 3D RTS engine that can take care of many of the low-level gaming tasks, leaving you to get on with the more important design decisions.

Valve has announced the launch of its Steam for Linux client as a limited access beta. Testers of the invite-only service were chosen from a large pool of applicants (over 60,000 people applied within the first week), with priority given to experienced Linux users.

Initially only available for Ubuntu 12.04+, with more distros to be added in the future, the beta client gives testers access to the free-to-play Team Fortress 2, as well as two dozen additional Steam titles, including Serious Sam 3: BFE, Trine 2, World of Goo, and Darwinia. The beta also includes the Big Picture mode, which allows Steam to be viewed on a TV and interacted with using a game controller.

Two weeks ago Microsoft announced Xbox SmartGlass with app availability on major platforms. Following the initial release, the company introduced an updated version of Xbox SmartGlass for the iPhone and iPad.

Just like with other platforms, Xbox SmartGlass 2.0 for iOS allows Apple-branded smartphones and tablets to connect and interact with an Xbox 360 console. The app can remotely control the game console, using the touchscreen interface, allowing one to resume, rewind or advance content like videos and music.

Halo 4, the latest milestone edition in Microsoft's most iconic video game franchise, launches at 12:01am on November 6.

It's been eleven years since the original Halo: Combat Evolved was released, and though there have been a couple of noteworthy titles launched recently, it's been five years since the last "numbered" Halo (Halo 3, that is) was released.

If you’re a keen gamer, looking for new challenges, then of course there are plenty of free offerings available online. But which sites or services are the best for you? It might take a while to find out.

And so it could be easier to install JogoBox, a single tool which makes it easy to find and play thousands of free games, no registration required.

Today, Intel subsidiary Havok, an early Windows Phone supporter, announced its complete technology suite will be available to Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 game developers later in the year. Havok's middleware powers a tremendous number of the most popular video games.

Last June, Valve CEO Gabe Newell famously said Windows 8 would be "a catastrophe" for the PC industry, with specifically catastrophic results for the PC gaming industry. Blizzard's Executive Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo added to Newell's comment, saying Windows 8 was "not awesome for Blizzard, either." Shortly thereafter, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson expressed worry that a "locked down" Windows 8 would be "very very bad for Indie games and competition in general."

It’s fair to say Valve’s boss Gabe Newell isn’t a fan of Windows 8. In fact, the ex-Microsoft man called the new OS a "catastrophe for everyone in the PC space" and, just in case that doesn't make his views clear enough, Valve announced shortly afterwards that it would be working on bringing Steam, its hugely popular games distribution platform, to Linux. A move that prompted me to ask the seemingly unthinkable: Will Windows 8 make Linux the new gaming OS?

I guess we’ll find out the answer to that question soon enough because Windows 8 is now here and, it seems, the Linux version of Steam won’t be too far behind it.

Last Friday, Valve put out an open request for experienced Linux users to apply for the chance to install and test its new Steam for Linux client, stating that it would be notifying successful participants this week, and kicking off the limited beta shortly afterwards.

Rovio, the Finnish mobile gaming company, has been on a roll lately with Bad Piggies rocketing to the number one spot in app stores and the teaser videos for the upcoming Angry Birds Star Wars game getting widespread attention. Now the company has quietly pushed out an October holiday update for the "Seasons" franchise that is aptly named "Haunted Hogs".

The update, which began rolling out this morning for Android users, is a rather major update as opposed to the usual simple addition of a new level or two. This one actually not only changes the game icon, but reworks many of the insides of the game as well. Aside from the icon, you will immediately notice that the years (2011, 2012, etc.) have been replaced by Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wants 2012 to be "the most epic year" for the company determined to make a splash in October with the launch of Windows 8, Surface, and Windows Phone 8 all within a few days of one another.

To complete the package, Microsoft has announced a major update for the Xbox dashboard, the launch of Xbox SmartGlass, and a cheaper Xbox 360 console.

Video game accessory company PowerA on Tuesday announced the retail availability of Moga, the company's dual analog game controller for Android 2.3+ handsets. The device will be available for $49.99 through major retailers and national wireless carrier T-Mobile beginning on October 21.

Last year, I said the time was right for an Android-based video game console, but not much has been done to bring my assertion into reality. Moga doesn't bring us any closer to a traditional video game console powered by Android.