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High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle 
The Last Moments Of GAME 
How Bad User Interfaces Are Ruining Video Games And Other Wonderful Things 
She Tried To Make Good Video Games For Girls, Whatever That Meant 
The Story Of Doodle Jump: Brotherly Love And Digital Snacks Toshiba’s got a $US10,000 TV at the big Consumer Electronics Show that can display glasses-free 3D — a la the Nintendo 3DS — for up to nine people, though four’s optimal. Engadget says it’ll be out by the end of March.
In 2009, Sony and Toshiba are to begin mass production of the 45nm version of the Cell processor used in the PlayStation 3, reports Engadget.
The smaller processor uses around 40% less power than the current 65nm chip and generates proportionally less heat. It also costs substantially less to manufacture.
It would be lovely to think that Sony will pass these savings on to the consumer, but given the less than stellar sales of the PS3 we may just see a smaller, more slimline incarnation of the console at a similar price point.
Sony and Toshiba to begin mass producing 45nm cell processor in 2009 [Engadget]
With HD DVD done and dusted, you’d think Sony would have time to chill out, max and relax. Nope! The U.S. government is investigating Sony and other companies that developed Blu-ray (Samsung, Sharp, Hitachi, Nokia, Panasonic, among others) for patent infringement. The investigation kicked off due to a compliant by senior citizen Gertrude Neumark Rothschild who claimed that Blu-ray infringed on one of her patents and will focus on “certain short-wavelength light emitting diodes, laser diodes, and products containing same”. Rothschild isn’t just some old lady, she’s some old lady who’s a Professor Emeritus at Columbia University and has done pivotal research into blue and violet LEDs. This could get interesting. Then again, it could get really, really boring. Who knows! Gov’t Investigating [GameSpot via Shack News Thanks, John!][Pic]
Man, losing is hard. Not only that, it’s expensive. Back in February, Toshiba pulled the plug on its HD DVD, thereby ending the format war. That, along with the falling price of flash memory chips, means that profits are expected to drop 125 billion yen, compared to the 137.4 billion yen profit it recorded last year. The decision to stop making HD DVD players alone will cost Toshiba 65 billion yen. That’s $US 666 million dollars. 666? That’s certainly an omen! HD DVD Defeat [BBC]
With retailers slashing Xbox 360 HD DVD Player prices, now is a good time to pick one up! (Thinking of doing that myself.) But what about those who paid full price? They must be kinda bummed out. Or worse yet, those who paid full price for a lot of HD DVD stuff. Those like this poor bastard. Why Me [Danny Choo]
Think that Toshiba’s killing off HD DVD means curtains for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 HD DVD player? Probably! For those who cannot put one and one together, Xbox Japan is here for you. To be vague. And evasive. Regarding Toshiba’s decision to kill off its HD format, the console’s PR mouthpiece says this about the future of its Xbox 360 HD DVD player: It’s something we will examine from now, and there’s nothing to announce at the moment.
To hold you over, let’s take a look back at happier, more carefree times. You know, when HD DVD was among the living and Peter Moore wore green shirts.
Xbox Japan on HD DVD [Game Watch Impress][Images: Getty]
Gaming’s biggest diversion of the last year has finally come to an end. Today, after the stock markets in Tokyo and Osaka closed, Toshiba announced that HD DVD was no more. The company will cease developing, manufacturing and marketing HD DVD players and recorders. Yes, the format war is finally over, and Sony’s Blu-ray has emerged victorious. From the press release: Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.
This decision will not impact on Toshiba’s commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organisation with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries. Hit the jump for the full press release:
Well, I guess we can’t blame the domination of the Blu-ray format on everyone’s (least) favorite superstore, at least according to some sources: Toshiba is supposedly conceding defeat and withdrawing from the next gen DVD market. It should be noted that Toshiba has not made any official comment. A number of Kotakuites have sent us the Japanese source NHK and Reuters articles that are brief and to the point, citing an (anonymous) internal Toshiba source: Toshiba’s been losing the war and is giving up, with official details to follow later.
When Australian news outlet Smarthouse wrote of a new Xbox 360 model, one that comes with an HD-DVD player built in from Toshiba, many of you responded positively. Some couldn’t see the point. How does Toshiba feel about the rumor? It’s denying it. Kind of. In a roundabout way. Maybe. According to gadget and breast enthusiast mag Stuff—the UK edition—a Toshiba spokesperson says “It’s got nothing to do with us. But we know Microsoft doesn’t want to include the HD DVD drive so as not to limit the user’s experience.” At least that’s what the Yahoo! News UK edition says the spokesperson said.
The official Stuff site’s version of the story, one that looks to have been properly copy edited, quotes the Toshiba rep differently. In this version of the half-denial, the PR mouth spewed “Toshiba has no comment to make on this matter. The Xbox 360 is not a Toshiba product.”
Indeed. Hardly reads like a solid denial either way, does it? It’s just a volleying of the rumour back to Microsoft’s side of the court who most likely won’t confirm such a product’s existence until it’s been on store shelves for at least a day or two.
What’s that thing about Microsoft rumours again?
