GameFly

Some Surface covers are splitting seams

CNET Update is counting the cracks:

Friday's tech news roundup looks at Priceline's biggest deal yet. It negotiated to buy rival travel website Kayak for $1.8 billion.

Microsoft is replacing broken Touch Covers for the Surface tablet. Some customers have reported seams splitting where the keyboard cover connects to the tablet.

Verizon plans to roll out 4G LTE to all of its coverage areas in the U.S. by mid-2013.

GameFly, the Netflix for video games, has launched an online shop for PC game downloads. Subscribers of GameFly have unlimited access to play hundreds of Windows games. … Read more

Tiny Wings 2 flaps into the App Store

Last year, Andreas Illiger's Tiny Wings came out of nowhere to challenge the likes of Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja for App Store dominance.

Since then, legions of fans have been waiting for the inevitable sequel -- and their patience has finally paid off. Tiny Wings 2.0 ($0.99) has arrived, but it's not exactly a sequel. Instead, it's an expanded version of the original -- and a free update for those who already own it.

The core game remains the same. An adorable little bird slowly propels himself across the hills and valleys of the … Read more

Three ways to save big on video games

Video games are an expensive hobby. A typical new release for a console like the PlayStation or Xbox costs about $60. That might not seem like a lot relative to the number of hours of entertainment you can reasonably expect from a game, but it's still a pretty big chunk of change.

For example, when LEGO Star Wars III and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean came out last year, they were priced at $49.99 apiece. My kids desperately wanted both.

Sorry, kiddos, but in my day we dropped a quarter in a slot and liked it. No way … Read more

GameFly prepping digital-download service

GameFly plans to launch a service that will allow customers to buy digital copies of video games and download them directly to their computers, the company announced today.

According to GameFly, its download service, which is slated to launch later this year, will offer over 1,500 games, and work on Windows PCs and Macs.

GameFly's decision to launch a digital-download service is an interesting one, considering its core business has historically been by-mail game rentals. But Sean Spector, the company's co-founder and senior vice president for business development and content, sees it as a natural extension of … Read more

Unable to beat Netflix, Blockbuster swats at GameFly

Blockbuster has decided to take on GameFly by offering over 3,000 video games in its By Mail offering.

According to Blockbuster, its mail service will now offer games for every major console, including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii, as well as titles from the original Xbox and the PlayStation 2. It was quick to point out that, unlike Netflix, it's the only company that delivers customers the option to rent movies, television shows, and games all in the same package.

The company isn't charging any more for the service by adding video games to … Read more

GamePie: GameFly's social Facebook application

GameFly has launched a new Facebook application, called GamePie, which allows gamers to share what they are currently playing; review and score video games that they have played in the past; and make a wish list of games that they want to play in the future. While GamePie does not feature any direct hook-ins to the GameFly service, it aims to build a better community around games and allow for better sharing and discovery.

During a walk through of the service with GameFly co-founder Sean Spector and product manager Jason Wade, they emphasized that this is not a money-making venture … Read more