katmai - Unplugged, Unmatched, Unleashed

Question marks are hanging over the US mortgage market

Shares in New Century Financial, one of the biggest sub-prime lenders in the US, have been suspended amid fears that the firm may be heading for bankruptcy.Sub-prime lenders provide money to clients with a poor credit history, charging higher rates of interest because of the greater risks [...]

First-ever high-definition episode of animated comedy to be available free over Xbox Live Marketplace for a limited time; uncensored episodes to follow next week.
Starting tomorrow and for a limited time, Xbox Live members will be able to get lowbrow humor in high definition for free. Microsoft and Comedy Central today announced that starting tomorrow, Xbox [...]

Study: US game-console ownership rising rapidly
US gaming households increase almost 20 percent since 2004 to 45.7 million, says Nielsen Wireless and Interactive Services.Media research company Nielsen released a study Monday showing that the number of US households supplementing their televisions with video game consoles has risen more than 18 percent since 2004.
The study, detailed in [...]

Sony exec was placed in new role due to his refusing to inform CEO Howard Stringer about crucial PS3 decisions, reports the newspaper.Sony Computer Entertainment chairman and chief executive Ken Kutaragi was slammed with more criticism today, this time from Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer himself. This comes just three months after an article in [...]

Four more for Euro VC
This week sees the release of Streets of Rage for the Nintendo Wii’s download centre.Last week, Europeans got access to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Wii’s Virtual Console. This week four more titles have been released, including Sega’s Streets of Rage, for European Wii owners.
Streets of Rage [...]

Worms burrowing into XBL
Team 17’s wriggly critters infesting Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday; strategy/action blend to cost $10.
It wasn’t a question of if, but rather, when. The Xbox Live Arcade version of Worms is finally squirming onto the Xbox 360 next Wednesday. The game was officially announced in late January, along with a slate of [...]

10tacle gets Ready 2 Rumble
Multinational publisher picks up comical boxing license; fighting specialists AKI developing first R2R game for “various videogame platforms.”When the Sega Dreamcast launched in 1999, one of the must-have titles for the console was Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, a humorous look at the sport of boxing. The game later made its way [...]

Anaconda goes, like, So Blonde
German company announces new adventure written by Broken Sword author Steve Ince.
Dtp Entertaiment will be releasing a new title called So Blonde through its Anaconda label. The PC adventure game is being developed by French team Wizarbox, with the story written by Steve Ince. The focus of So Blonde is a [...]

GDC 07: Games need to get serious
Developing serious games is crucial to the survival of the industry, believes Square Enix exec Ichiro Otobe.
SAN FRANCISCO–Serious games will be instrumental in expanding the audience and profile of the games industry and allowing the new media to gain widespread acceptance, Square Enix chief strategist Ichiro Otobe believes.Otobe told [...]

Lego goes MMO
NetDevil, toy company team up to build massively multiplayer online “gaming experience”; details yet to be announced.
 

Lego my MMO!
One of the simplest toys of all time has found a profitable home in one of the most technologically advanced areas of entertainment. Lego building blocks have parlayed their appeal into video games, with the [...]