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The Room Holds One Maddeningly Fun Puzzle After Another January 21, 2013 
Sometimes thousands of user reviewers really get it right: The Room has nearly 100,000 reviews in the App Store with an average ranking of 5 out of 5 stars, which is a feat that grabbed my attention. Hence, I promptly downloaded The Room. But what is The Room? It's a moody, atmospheric mystery puzzle game set inside of a room, set inside of a safe, set inside of a pointy box inside the safe, and so on and so forth.
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Game Devs Jailed for 'Shooting' Greek Military Bases Out on Bail January 16, 2013 
Video games strive to be realistic, but this was probably too real. Two game developers from the Czech Republic were released on bail after being jailed for taking photos and videos of military bases and installations in Greece. The duo, Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar, work for Bohemia Interactive. They reportedly were arrested in September after capturing images that local authorities deemed sensitive.
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Disney Takes Video Games to 'Infinity' - and Beyond? January 15, 2013 
Disney caught the attention of the console video gaming universe on Tuesday with the launch of "Disney Infinity." The new initiative combines collectible real-world action figures with onscreen gaming, following the lead of Activision's cross-platform "Skylanders" franchise.
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Google's Schmidt Touches Down in North Korea January 08, 2013 
Flanked by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Google chairman Eric Schmidt arrived Monday in North Korea. Richardson, who also is a former UN ambassador, has characterized the trip as a "private humanitarian mission" -- a far more hospitable description than ones coming from the U.S. State Department and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who described the delegation as "useful idiots."
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Nvidia Rocks the Gaming Establishment January 08, 2013 
Nvidia came out Monday with a handful of announcements expanding its presence in the gaming world well beyond the graphics processing units for which it's best known. Taking the stage at CES 2013, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang introduced Project Shield, a prototype handheld gaming console with a high-definition screen, as well as the Nvidia Grid Cloud Gaming Platform.
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Hundreds Uses Basic Physics to Grow Puzzling Circles of Delight January 07, 2013 
It's not so often that I notice a newly released game or app rocket to a high-profile position in the iTunes App Store, but Hundreds, a puzzle game, seemingly debuted in the App Store as an Editor's Choice for the iPad version. Supposedly, the game is designed for people ages 2 to 222, so I figured it ought to work for a guy whose fingers are slow and mind only incrementally faster.
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Zynga Gets Rid of Some of Its Dogs January 02, 2013 
Zynga has closed down 11 of its social games this week, including PetVille, Mafia Wars 2, Vampire Wars and Mafia Wars Shakedown. Some of the titles were completely shut down, while others were pulled from app stores or simply stopped accepting new players.
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Ouya Comes Out of the Gate Running December 29, 2012 
The gaming revolution has begun. Ouya, a startup that launched with the outsized goal of challenging the big three gaming platforms of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, reported on Friday that it had shipped 1,200 consoles to developers. The Android-based product is a deceptively simple-looking cube the size of a coffee mug, which is meant to hook up to a television set.
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Fans Willing to Pony Up for M&M's Tasty Advergame December 17, 2012 
Those delectable M&M's characters seen in commercials are making their way to the iPhone. An advergame app titled "M&M's Brand Chocolate Factory" recently became available on iTunes for $0.99. While many M&M's commercials involve the six characters in social situations trying to avoid being eaten, the new game has the group -- and all M&M's -- in peril of being dropped into hot milk chocolate.
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Video Game Market Sees Pallid November December 10, 2012 
Video games, often a hot seller during the holiday season, are seeing softer sales this year. That's according to data released by NPD Group that shows video game sales down 11 percent for the month of November, compared to sales figures from the same period last year. Sales for November totaled $2.55 billion in the video game category, which is down from $2.87 billion for the month of November 2011.
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Zynga Hitches Its Wagon to Online Gambling December 06, 2012
Social game developer Zynga has taken a step toward another type of gaming, having filed preparatory paperwork in Nevada to offer real-money gambling games in the United States, according to reports. The Nevada Gaming Control Board confirmed that Zynga filed an application Tuesday for a preliminary finding of suitability to hold a gaming license in the state.
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Zynga Plays TV Everywhere Platform With Synacor Deal December 05, 2012
Zynga signed a deal with TV Everywhere provider Synacor that gives Zynga currency in pay-TV and high-speed Internet consumer bundles. The move puts Zynga games seamlessly on all screens for more stickiness potential. Synacor works with multichannel video programming distributors, including cable and tecom companies, to package multi-platform options.
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Facebook Breakup Puts Zynga in DangerVille November 30, 2012 
The relationship between Facebook and Zynga got even more complicated this week as the pair agreed to new partnership terms that free both from constraints under the prior deal. Zynga's stock took a hit because the new deal allows Facebook to develop its own games. The success of each company has long been tied to the other.
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Xbox SmartGlass: Not Quite the One, But Worth a Date or Two November 26, 2012 
I've been watching Microsoft's Xbox 360 transformation from online gaming console to living room media center for years, so when Microsoft's Xbox SmartGlass app showed up earlier this month, I had to give it a whirl. My personal Xbox 360 use is fairly limited to playing a few games here and there as well as assisting small children as they attempt to play games.
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Wii U's Off to a Wobbly Start November 20, 2012 
The Wii U's launch has not been without its bumps in the road, to put it kindly. There were reports of users waiting hours to download and install a very large -- said to be 5 GB -- mandatory firmware update. For some, the wait seemed endless, and they powered off the system before the download was complete. When they powered on again, some found their consoles bricked.
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Wii U Wii U Rock You November 16, 2012 
Nintendo's next-generation video game console system, the Wii U, will arrive at stores on Sunday and is expected to sell out quickly. This could leave many holiday shoppers unable to find one as Nintendo will be unable to meet the demand. In many ways this is a replay of the 2006 launch of the Nintendo Wii, which was a smash hit -- so much so that it took years for supply to reach demand.
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Exec Shuffle Could Put the Zip Back Into Zynga November 15, 2012
Zynga's chief financial officer is departing for Facebook, yet another blow to the social game-maker, which has been languishing for months and recently trimmed its 2012 outlook. The departure of CFO Dave Wehner apparently set into motion a number of changes in the company's executive ranks.
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Nvidia's Ginormous Gift to Linux Gamers November 15, 2012 
What a difference a year makes. It used to be that gaming was Linux's "Achilles' heel" of sorts, cited by more than a few enthusiasts as justification for their reluctance to switch away from Windows. Fast forward to today, and gaming may well be the focus of more Linux-centered excitement than any other area. How did we get from point A to point B, you may ask?
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The Magical Xbox Tablet November 12, 2012 
One of the most interesting rumors floating around last week was that Microsoft was working on a small form factor tablet that will be focused on gaming and branded Xbox. This could be a very interesting tablet, especially coupled with the initial success of the Surface tablet. This is becoming a family.
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Elite SEALs Reprimanded for Consulting on Video Game November 09, 2012 
Seven members of SEAL Team 6, the U.S. Navy's elite unit whose accomplishments include the killing of Osama bin Laden, reportedly have been disciplined for providing input for a video game. Another four are under investigation for similar alleged violations. All are on active duty.
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