Xbox One leading best seller chart at Amazon after Microsofts Uturn

Gaming enthusiasts were outraged by the strict limitations that Microsoft planned to enforce on the Xbox One. Amid a fury of negative feedback, the tech giant did a complete 180 – they announced yesterday that users will no longer have to establish an online connection every 24 hours to play games, and that trading disks with friends will be as hassle free as ever.

Perhaps the Microsoft retreat wasn’t sparked by the backlash of unhappy customers, but rather the fear of having no customers at all. Last week, Amazon ran a poll on their Facebook page which pitted the Xbox One against the PlayStation 4, and not surprisingly, the Sony console won in a landslide.

The poll was eventually taken down by Amazon, but at last glance, the final tally was 38,984 for the PlayStation 4 and 2,162 for the Xbox One. Gamers who visited Amazon’s Best Sellers list could draw a similar conclusion, seeing as the Sony system had solidified its position in first place. 

Following the Microsoft retreat, a huge debate ensued. Some users insisted that Microsoft’s reversal was too little too late, while others hopped right back on the Xbox One bandwagon. As a result, it became extremely difficult to assess whether Microsoft’s attempt at damage control was a success or a failure.

Currently, according to the Amazon Best Sellers list, the Xbox One has now surged into first place. If you look closely, you’ll see that the Microsoft console atop the leaderboards is the “Day One Edition”; a version that had already sold out for PlayStation 4 fanatics. Also worth noting is the fact that Sony's console has four different listings in the top ten -- the standard edition plus three bundles -- while the Xbox One has a single one.

That said, a similar response from game enthusiasts has been seen across Europe. Amazon UK shows that both consoles are pretty much even, with the Xbox One holding a slight 2.3% advantage in sales.

Regardless of who wins this horse race, the excitement surrounding the next-generation consoles is unbelievable, and probably pleases both Sony and Microsoft. After all, any publicity is good publicity.

Ketu Patel, head of video games at Amazon UK, added, “It will be fascinating to see how the battle between the two console giants develops over the coming months – the fight for who’s going to be the must-have Christmas present is only just beginning."

[Source: techspot]

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OnLive cloud gaming comes to UK

22 September 2011 Last updated at 14:27 GMT OnLive said it would be making 150 games available for its UK launch. OnLive, the cloud based video game service, has launched in the UK.

The system, which went live in the United States last year, allows users to play games without owning a traditional console.

Instead, the applications are all run on remote servers with the video streamed across the internet.

Run in conjunction with BT, OnLive requires a broadband connection faster than 1Mbps and works on PC, Macs, Tablets and net connected TV's.

Because the system uses video streaming and players effectively remote control their game, bandwidth is a crucial issue.

Speaking to BBC News, OnLive's chief executive Steve Perlman said that the project had overcome numerous hurdles during its decade-long development.

"The first thing we had to do was come up with a new form of video compression," he said.

"We had to deal with the internet not working, the time delays that occur with different communication methods [e.g. wifi, broadband]."

Mr Perlman said that they had managed to get the limits down to 1Mbps for a tablet device, but a large screen HD TV would need a minimum of 5Mbps.

OnLive games can be played on a ranges of devices, including tablets.

Because the game is a video stream, rather than a direct link to the TV or monitor from hardware in the home, there are limitations on the resolutions it can display.

However, it allows games not designed for certain platforms, such as Windows PCs or Macs, to be played on those machines.

Gamers without a computer or connected TV can use an OnLive "micro console" to access the system. The box plugs into the back of a conventional television.

Cloud gaming

The games themselves are hosted on cloud servers. In Europe, these are based in London, Luxembourg, and Brussels.

Currently OnLive offers around 150 titles, but said it planned to expand that.

Joe Martin, Games Editor at Bit Gamer, told BBC News that OnLive posed a threat to both retail and hardware manufacturers.

"At present the threat is small, but it will grow. In fact the only drawback I can see is in terms of visual compression, which has been sacrificed to remove lag," said Mr Martin.

"From what I can see, the system works and it's not just retailers and console manufacturers who are going to be threatened. It's hardware firms like nVidia and ATI and every gaming platform," he added.

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Cooler Master Storm: Spawn Gaming Mouse

The local distributor of Cooler Master sent me a couple of their PC accessories a week ago, including one of the CM Storm gaming mouse.

With a suggested retail price of Php1,500, the Cooler Master Spawn is somewhat on the affordable side.

It’s appropriately sized (not too small or large on the hands; it’s for right-handed people, btw) — a bit stout, very light, extremely responsive and comes in a simple yet ergonomic design.

The red body with black accent gives it a cool and neat look. The thumb-pad is made of soft, perforated rubber (same with the pinky-pad) while the left & right mouse buttons are also similar, although on the smooth side with a matte finish that helps prevent the surface to become slippery especially when you have oily or sweaty palms.

What I really appreciate about the mouse buttons is that all seven (7) of them are very functional right out of the box — the side buttons, just above the thumb-pad, are for forward and back shortcuts (useful for web browsing); the smaller set of buttons on top, just beside the mouse-scroller, are for controlling the speed of the mouse pointer; and the scroller-button locks in page scrolling.

The Cooler Master Spawn boasts of a high-performance 3500 DPI laser sensor, an on-board Sentinel-X 32KB which stores shortcut/macro assignments (so you can instantly use it whichever laptop or PC you plug the mouse into) and a micro-switch that promises a minimum of 5 million clicks before the mouse suffers some mechanical issues.

The design and form-factor of the Spawn follows a claw-grip position — palms spread wide enough not to strain too quickly and shaped just right to comfortably rest all five fingers of your hands.

Been using this mouse with my daily doses of Starcraft 2 and DOTA and been liking it a lot. It’s a wired mouse so you need to plug it in to one of the USB ports (no need for batteries) in your laptop or PC. For a price tag of Php1,500, this one is pretty reasonable.

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