Blabbelon launches free voice chat for online gamers
If anyone can appreciate the quality of voice calls over the web done right, it’s gamers. That’s the bet that Blabbelon is making as it launches a free voice chat system for game fanatics. The service is based on Skype’s Silk voice-chat codec, which tries… Read More
Announcing DiscoveryBeat: an event on how to get your apps noticed in an age of noise
VentureBeat is throwing a new mini-conference and networking event, DiscoveryBeat.
DiscoveryBeat addresses one of the biggest conundrums for Silicon Valley’s most dynamic startups and developers: How to get your social game or mobile application noticed in an age of noise?
It will be held in the afternoon… Read More
Ubisoft on the making of James Cameron’s Avatar the Game (video)
Avatar the Game from Ubisoft is one of the major video game releases of the fall. Based on James Cameron’s Avatar movie, a sci-fi action film debuting on Dec. 18, the game has its own story about a battle between the corporate RDA and indigenous… Read More
How investigators tracked down a Modern Warfare 2 cyber pirate
The posting last Thursday on Craigslist was alarming. Someone was selling a Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundle, with both a console and a game, for $500. The problem was that Modern Warfare 2, one of the most anticipated games of the year, doesn’t officially… Read More
Graphics chip maker Nvidia rides on industry recovery
Graphics chip maker Nvidia reported good third fiscal quarter results thanks to the continuing recovery of the personal computer market. The company reported today that revenues came in at $903.2 million for its third fiscal quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $838.1 million. Earnings per… Read More
Activision Blizzard’s video game sales exceed estimates despite recession fears
Activision Blizzard, the largest independent maker of video games, announced that it had better-than-expected quarterly earnings for the third quarter. That’s a bit of a surprise since recession fears have dogged the company, as well as rumors that some of its games were not selling… Read More
Lawsuit alleges Offerpal co-founder was cheated out of ownership
Offerpal Media founder Anu Shukla was hit with a lawsuit this summer over alleged shenanigans over the company’s founding, VentureBeat has learned.
In August, Kevin Halpern filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Shukla. He alleges that he helped start the company in 2006 with Shukla… Read More
Spore Islands launches on Facebook as EA tries social games expansion
Rumors persist that Electronic Arts plans to buy social gaming startup PlayFish to break into the fast-growing market of Facebook games.
In the meantime, EA continues to expand into social games on its own. Today, it launched Spore Islands, a spin-off from the create-a-creature Spore game… Read More
Third quarter global game sales decline 6 percent
Global console video game unit sales declined about 6 percent compared to a year ago according to a measure of three key regional markets, a new report says.
Unit sales collectively fell in the U.S. and United Kingdom markets, while Japan saw an increase in the… Read More
Hell returns as id Software’s John Carmack builds Doom Classic for the iPhone
John Carmack is the programming wiz at id Software, the Mesquite, Texas-based company that pioneered the first-person shooter game genre that has generated billions of dollars in the game industry since 1993. Now Carmack has returned to the game that started it all: Doom. He… Read More
Ngmoco scores with iPhone games that charge per time played
With a new game, a new business model, and a new developer platform, iPhone game publisher Ngmoco has been able to land itself on the top of the AppStore charts.
Ngmoco’s Eliminate Pro shooting game moved to the No. 1 spot on Apple’s app download store… Read More
ReVolt makes long-lasting zinc air batteries rechargeable
ReVolt, a Swiss spinoff from a Norwegian research firm, promises to triple the driving range of electric cars while lowering costs and increasing battery reliability and safety.
These claims would be remarkable for any battery. What makes the company even more unique is that ReVolt is… Read More
In midst of offers debate, Offerpal names George Garrick as CEO
Updated
Offerpal Media has named George Garrick as chief executive. He replaces founder Anu Shukla, who has been in the midst of a fiery debate about the ethics of the business of offers, which are special ads that direct users to participate in a promotional deal… Read More
Video game creator Jace Hall tries hand at TV with ABC’s “V” remake
As the founder of Monolith Productions, videogame creator Jace Hall is the man behind such PC shooting titles as Blood, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, No One Lives Forever and TRON 2.0. These days, Hall heads up HD Films, which is still immersed in the videogame… Read More
Tired of benchmarks, Futuremark launches its own 3-D online game
Futuremark made a name for itself by creating benchmarks that measured exactly how fast a personal computer could run a game with rich 3-D graphics. Its benchmarks were the gold standard that helped game fanatics buy the computer that was a match for the best… Read More
Linden Lab launches enterprise version of Second Life virtual world
Second Life is going corporate. The virtual world already has more than 1,400 companies staging meetings and conferences inside its virtual landscapes. But Linden Lab is now taking Second Life into the companies themselves with an enterprise version of the virtual world that sits behind… Read More
World of Warcraft ordered to shut down in China again
The Chinese version of popular game World of Warcraft is a cash machine for its maker, Activision Blizzard. But the massively multiplayer online game’s fate is up in the air again.
A Chinese government agency, the General Administration of Press and Publication, has once again revoked… Read More
Offers controversy stirs reactions across social networking industry
A relatively obscure part of the social networking business has come into the limelight. It’s about special ads known as “offers” that are used to monetize free social games. These offers are like the ads that promise you a discount on your Amazon.com purchases if… Read More
Interview with Offerpal Media CEO Anu Shukla on the offer “scandal”
We interviewed Anu Shukla, chief executive of Offerpal about her views on the advertising offers that fuel the social gaming industry, which have been hit by controversy.
Here’s the context: Online social games are one of the hottest areas of our economy. Millions of users are… Read More
PlaySpan teams up with PayPal to make game payments easier
PlaySpan, a maker of virtual goods platforms for games, is launching a new way to pay for goods using eBay’s PayPal technology for electronic payments. The result will make it easier for consumers to pay for virtual goods — from better weapons to fancy clothing… Read More