Gamertell

Not many attendees were impressed with this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). During an interview held Thursday, (July 17, 2008) Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s senior managing director and general manager of entertainment analysis and the development division, told MSNBC that even though many fans of long running Nintendo franchise games such as Mario, Zelda or even StarFox were upset he felt that E3 was no longer a place for those types of game.

Click through to find out what game companies thought of E3 2008…

MORE »

Game development news site Develop reported Monday (February 4, 2008) that Sony subsidiary SN Systems, which makes the development kits for all Sony consoles, slashed the price of their PSP kits in half.

Beyond just the price, all new PSP kits also now come with Turner, a performance optimizing program. The annual renewal fees for developers who have already bought the PSP tools have also been slashed in half.

By reducing its development costs, Sony is trying to…

MORE »

It’s refreshing to hear that there are gamers in the community using their gaming knowledge towards a positive, educational experience that benefits students.

That is what one teacher in Trenton, New Jersey did when he took his favorite pastime and created an after school program that challenged as well as exercised all the skills an average fifth grade student learned throughout their school year.

“I have been playing video games since I was four years old (so I guess that means 20 years now),“ said Giancarlos Alvarado, a Parker Elementary School fifth grade teacher and the founder of the Video Game Design Institute after school program, during an exclusive Gamertell interview. “I have owned most of the major video game systems with the Sega Saturn being my all time favorite!“

MORE »

Sony recently announced that it has reduced the price of the Playstation 3 development kit in an effort to stimulate growth in its gaming library. The kit, called the Reference Tool by Sony, will be available for $10,250 in North America, $8,600 in Japan and $11,250 in Europe. Sony will also begin to integrate additional tools into the kit such as the ProDG development suite by SN Systems. The reduction will almost halve the original cost of the kit and likely encourage smaller or budding developers to embrace the Playstation 3 and its powerful hardware.

The price cut marks a continuation of numerous price cuts involving the Playstation 3 that may be the forced outcome of Nintendo Wii’s overwhelming success. While Nintendo enjoys an extensive library of high-selling exclusives and a net gain per Wii sold, the Playstation 3’s lack of exclusive blockbusters leaves gamers flocking to the less expensive Xbox 360 for many multiplatform releases while leaving Sony to sell its failing console at a net loss.

Interest seems to be stirring, however. Sony recently reported increased sales in response to its new 40 GB Playstation 3. Retailing at $399, the new model finds itself $50 cheaper than the Xbox 360 Elite and only $50 more than the Xbox 360 Premium. Although the 40 GB model has fewer USB ports and no backwards compatibility with the expansive PS1 and PS2 libraries, it still offers Blue-Ray Disc playback. Considering the current prices of standalone Blue-Ray Disc players, the 40 GB model may be the value that casual gamers or movie fanatics have been waiting for.

Read [International Herald Tribune] Also Read [Information Week]

• Apple and a gaming console?
• Sony Pictures Entertainment titles “not available on Xbox 360”
• National Geographic explores the video game landscape