Rovio on Wednesday announced that its Angry Birds franchise has surpassed one billion downloads across Android, iOS, Windows and Mac OS X, with 350 million downloads having been served in 2012 alone. The latest Birds installment, Angry Birds Space, was downloaded more than 10 million time in less than three days and a whopping 50 million times in 35 days, making it the fastest growing mobile game of all time. The immensely popular franchise generated $106 million for the company in 2011 and drew in 200 mil...

Sony is aiming to launch its next-generation PlayStation video game console ahead of rival Microsoft, a recent report claims. Microsoft’s next Xbox console — which could be an ARM-based “Xbox lite” that will launch ahead of a true Xbox 360 successor that will be released some time later — is widely expected to hit store shelves for the holidays in 2013. According to an unnamed source speaking with VG247, Sony plans to launch its PlayStation 4 console before Microsoft’s next Xbox m...

Wealthy smartphone users are more likely to own an Apple iPhone and less likely to play games or post on Twitter than average users. According to research from The Luxury Institute, 62% of U.S. consumers earning at least $150,000 per year own a smartphone. 45% of people falling to that category own an iPhone, 35% use an Android-powered device and 25% have a BlackBerry. More than 80% of wealthy smartphone owners download mobile apps, with the most popular categories being weather (63%), news (51%), travel (42%...

The next generation PlayStation has reportedly been code-named “Orbis,” and it will feature an anti-used game system and offer no backward compatibility with PlayStation 3 games, Kotaku reported on Wednesday. According to multiple unnamed sources, Orbis will have some kind of measure built into the console that will prevent it from playing used games. Users will be able to buy new games for the system on Blu-ray disc or as a PlayStation Network download, and if a user chooses to buy a disc, it wi...

Microsoft first discussed its “three screens and a cloud” gaming strategy in 2009, describing a scenario that could carry a single video game across a TV screen, a PC and a smartphone. Now, nearly three years later, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II counts itself among the first games to showcase this exciting integration. Owners of an Xbox 360 and a Windows Phone will be able to start a game on one device, pause, and pick up on the other device exactly where they left off. “One of the cool t...

Microsoft’s next-generation video game and home entertainment console may use online downloads and a swappable solid state card port of some kind in place of a traditional disc drive. The news comes from British gaming magazine MCV, which cites an unnamed person who claims to have obtained the information directly from Microsoft. The Xbox 360 already supports digital content distribution models and it is expected that Microsoft will continue to increase its focus on non-physical media. At the same time...

One of the most beloved video games in history has been refreshed in a new mashup that gaming fans of all shapes and sizes need to download immediately. The title is “Mari0″ and simply stated, it’s Super Mario Brothers meets Portal. Game developer Maurice Guegan is the man behind Mari0, and he built the title from the ground up. It features a start to finish recreation of Nintendo’s original Super Mario Brothers game, adds a portal gun that shoots portals through which Mario can trav...

Apple may be working on an overhaul of its iTunes Store and App Store, according to 9to5Mac. Due to growing competition from music streaming services like Spotify and the growing popularity of Amazon’s online music store, the redesign of the iTunes Store is considered “a top priority for Apple.” The Cupertino-based company is looking to simplify the service and deliver a more user-friendly interface than the one afforded by its current design. The redesign will reportedly simplify content discov...

Rovio on Friday teased the next frontier for the company’s massive Angry Birds franchise. The fourth major Birds release will be called “Angry Birds Space” and is scheduled to land on mobile devices on March 22nd. In the newest edition, users will be flinging birds on zero gravity planets with new gameplay features such as slow-motion and lightspeed destruction, according to Yahoo Games. ”We think fans are really going to love it because we’ve already gotten amazing feedback ...

HTC will be one of the first companies outside of Sony to receive PlayStation certification for its mobile devices, according to Pocket-lint. The announcement is expected later this year and devices with PlayStation certification could possibly debut at this month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Sony announced that its PlayStation certification program would launch on non-Sony devices at last year’s launch of the PlayStation Vita in Japan. The program gives smartphone and tablet owners acce...

The video game industry capped off a rough year in the United States with a horrible holiday month that saw sales plummet year-over-year across all categories. Market research firm The NPD Group recently released its sales estimates for December 2011 and the full year, and neither set of figures paints a pretty picture. Last month, total industry sales plummeted to $3.99 billion, down 21% from $5.07 billion in December 2010. Hardware sales dropped 28% to $1.32 billion in December, and software sales were down...

When it comes to mobile gaming, no one does it better than Gameloft. The French company is known for its visually stunning and in-depth game-play, having repeatedly raised the bar for mobile gaming throughout the years. Gameloft’s paid games range from $0.99 to $6.99, however, from December 29th through January 5th all of the company’s paid games can be had for $0.99. There is no catch and no gimmick; all games means all games, including the newly released first-person shooter Modern Combat 3:...

Sony recently published a list of the games that will be available when its brand new PlayStation Vita portable gaming console finally makes its debut on February 22nd in the United States. The $250 console, which we enjoyed during our initial hands-on during E3 2011, will launch alongside exciting titles such as Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Dungeon Hunter Alliance, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 and more. Sony will also offer a 4GB memory card for just $19.99, or users can opt to spe...

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that last week marked the Xbox 360′s best ever week of sales. The company sold more than 960,000 Xbox 360 consoles and more than 750,000 Kinect controllers last week. Microsoft also confirmed that more than 800,000 of the consoles it sold last week were purchased on Black Friday alone. ”We have seen tremendous excitement from customers for our hot holiday gaming offers,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of Home Entertainment at B...