games

Breakthrough: Order Pizza Hut from your Xbox

It's well-known that pizza helps gamers' concentration. It allows them to shoot more accurately and endure more obdurately.

Pizza and gaming go together like fish and chips in England or plates and large portions in America.

Previously, though, whenever gamers had to order pizza, their concentration was destroyed. They had to use ancient machines, like their phones and laptops, to get that pepperoni knocking on their apartment door. In the name of progress, Pizza Hut and Microsoft decided to get together in a darkened room and chew over a new salvation.

Please, without letting go of your controls, welcome the Pizza Hut Xbox app. … Read more

Gran Turismo 6 rumors rev up

Vroom vroom! PlayStation gamers should get ready to rev up their racing rigs as it appears Gran Turismo 6 might be coming later this year.

Following last week's discovery of Newegg's nondescript placeholder for Gran Turismo 6, Italian retailer Multiplayer put up a very revealing listing for the unannounced racing game on its Web site. Surprisingly, the page hosts a never before seen image of what could be GT6's box art as well as a November 28 release date. Keep in mind these details could be exclusive to Europe and the North America version may differ. … Read more

Listen to the bell tower version of the 'Game of Thrones' theme

Last week, lucky University of Wisconsin-Madison students (and staff) had a chance to hear the "Game of Thrones" theme song in a performance style uncommon to this century -- through the expertise of a carillonneur commanding the sheer musical might of 56 bells. … Read more

Why eye doctors may soon prescribe Tetris

For the roughly three percent of the population that suffers from amblyopia, or "lazy eye," the best current treatment option -- covering the stronger eye to force the weaker one into better behavior -- works only some of the time in kids and has been totally ineffective in adults.

Now researchers out of McGill University in Montreal say that playing Tetris may ultimately treat the disorder in adults because the puzzle video game trains the eyes to work together as information is distributed across them in a complementary fashion.

"The key to improving vision for adults, who … Read more

Typing Trainer 8.0 Review

Learning to type is one thing, but typing well is another. Typing Trainer by TypingMaster helps you brush up on your typing skills with quick exercises and games, but it also studies your typing techniques to make specific recommendations to help you improve them. With games, tests, and reviews, Typing Trainer has plenty of features to offer even as your speed and skills improve. You can configure Typing Trainer for a huge range of languages and different keyboard styles, too. Typing Trainer 8.0 is freeware that is ready for Windows 8.

Typing Trainer opens with a full-screen user interface. … Read more

Traffic Jam Free 1.6.8 Review

With a number of puzzle games available for Android, finding one that sets itself apart may be a difficult task. Traffic Jam Free, while having an original concept and playing style, is too simple to entertain users for long periods of time.

Download and installation of Traffic Jam Free completed quickly via the Google Play store. At startup, the program immediately opens up to the game screen and lacks any instructions or tutorials. It did not appear that technical support was available either. This meant trial and error was needed to figure out the gameplay and controls. The game is … Read more

Art reveals the lengthy history of video game controllers

The next time you mash buttons on a video game controller, keep in mind that there's more than half a century of innovation behind the venerable input device.

To remind you of this fact, Pop Chart Lab's eye-catching poster, titled "The Evolution of Video Game Controllers," sheds light on the incredible technological progression of controller hardware. You'll probably never again see more joysticks, knobs, and buttons in one place -- well, unless you're hanging around CNET producer Stephen Beacham's retro video game console patch bay.… Read more

Xbox again reigns supreme in U.S. console market

Another month, another victory for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Research firm NPD released its monthly game industry sales figures yesterday, revealing that, for the 27th consecutive month, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling console in March, beating out Nintendo's Wii U and Sony's PlayStation 3. According to Microsoft, it sold 261,000 units Xbox 360 units in the U.S. in March. Total consumer spending on all Xbox-related hardware, software, and accessories hit $402 million.

Once again, though, the game industry overall had a down month in March, generating just $992.5 million in physical sales. During the … Read more

As Nintendo's Fils-Aime touts 3DS, he sidesteps Wii U's woes

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime was more than willing to talk about his company's mobile device, the 3DS, in a recent interview. But when it came to the Wii U, he was reportedly awfully quiet.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview published Wednesday, Fils-Aime said that 3DS game sales in the U.S. have "surpass[ed] 20 million units" since the portable's launch in 2011. He was even more excited to point out that digital sales for the platform have accounted for 11 percent of all 3DS software sales.

"So far in 2013 … Read more

Girl Scouts to award badge for video game development

While camping, gardening, and public speaking are important to being a stand-up scout, the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles has decided that video game development should also be included as a prestigious badge.

The Girl Scouts has teamed up with Women in Games International to create the new badge, according to GirlGamer. The aim is to get the scouts interested in engineering and software development. The badge will be part of the Girl Scout's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curriculum.

"Our ultimate goal is to create a STEM-aligned video game badge for the Girl Scouts of … Read more