Posts for 'Contest' Category

Ever since Sony announced that rumble support would once again grace the innards of its official PlayStation 3 controller, gamers seem to have been waiting an age for the mighty DualShock 3 (DS3) to arrive – and, depending on where you live in the world, some gamers are still waiting. However, gaming and peripheral specialist NYKO Technologies has duly come to the rescue and beaten Sony at its own game by releasing the Zero PS3 wireless controller across all regions.

The NYKO Zero PS3 comes in three flavours (black, white and grey) and is supplied with a USB Bluetooth dongle, a rechargeable NiMH battery, an extremely long USB cable, and a useful AA battery compartment for the use of conventional batteries.

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 Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service has always been entirely free of charge, but the company will soon introduce a pay-to-play service for some games, it announced at Game Developers Conference.

"Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay And Play" will let users subscribe on a game-by-game basis to certain titles. Nintendo project leader Takashi Aoyama announced the service at GDC, but did not say what upcoming games would require payment for the service, or how much they would cost.

To avoid customer confusion, Pay-And-Play games will have a red icon on the game's box that reads Pay And Play, in place of the traditional blue Wi-Fi Connection icon, which will only be used for games that are free to play.

This is a pretty big change for Nintendo, who has always been adamant about wanting online gameplay to be free. While this might attract more developers to the service with a new revenue stream, it also might confuse consumers -- and be a hassle if the payment system isn't easy. You'll use Wii Points to pay for the online gaming, so it should be interesting to see if this extends to the DS Lite or if it's just restricted to Wii.

Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) on Thursday outlined new community features for its popular Xbox Live platform and XNA Game Studios development kit at this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Microsoft's John Schappert, VP of platform technologies, said the company needs to "unlock the potential" of the thousands of independent developers who make games on XNA and then introduced Satchell, who officially revealed Xbox Live: Community Games where developers can create, submit, review and play independently developed games with limited management from Microsoft.

"We need to put power in the hands of the community," Satchell said. "We'll do that by democratizing the development process."

Although Satchell provided the audience a look at some games up and ready to play as a free trial, he provided no information on prices or the interface for Community Games.

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I really like Electronic Arts' "Battlefield" games, although I have to admit that I'm a little intimidated when it comes to playing with strangers over the Internet. I suspect a lot of gamers secretly feel the same way; it's fun to go to war by yourself, but who wants to go online just to be called a girlie-man by some hyper-aggressive 10-year-old?

That's why I welcome the fresh approach that EA is taking with its forthcoming "Battlefield Heroes." First, it's appealingly cartoony, closer to Valve's "Team Fortress" than Microsoft's grittier "Halo 3." Second, EA promises it will be easy to pick up and play, and that gamers of equal skill levels will be matched up to ensure fairer competition.

Most important, EA will be offering "Battlefield Heroes" free. It's the company's first experiment in its new "Play 4 Free" business model, in which the company hopes to make money through advertising and online sales of new gear, like armor and weapons.

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CHESTER, W. Va., Jan 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MTR Gaming Group, Inc. (NasdaqGS:MNTG) today announced that its President and Chief Executive Officer, Edson R. (Ted) Arneault, will present at the Sidoti & Company, LLC Fifth Annual Palm Beach Conference on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 11:35 am ET. The Conference is taking place at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. The presentation will not be webcast, however, the slides used for this presentation will be available beginning January 22, 2008, on the "Investor Relations" section of MTR's website at www.mtrgaming.com.

About MTR Gaming Group

MTR Gaming Group, Inc., through subsidiaries, owns and operates the Mountaineer Casino, Resort & Racetrack in Chester, WV; Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie, PA; Scioto Downs in Columbus, OH; Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel in Las Vegas, NV (under contract for sale); and the Ramada Inn and Speedway Casino in North Las Vegas, NV (under contract for sale). The Company also owns a 90% interest in Jackson Trotting Association, LLC, which operates Jackson Harness Raceway in Jackson, MI, and a 50% interest in the North Metro Harness Initiative, LLC, which is developing a harness racetrack and card room 30 miles north of downtown Minneapolis. MTR is included on the Russell 2000(R: 45.90, -0.10, -0.21%) and Russell(R: 45.90, -0.10, -0.21%) 3000 Indexes. For more information, please visit www.mtrgaming.com.