Gaming / Gaming & Entertainment

  1. Reports: Microsoft plans cheaper, disc-free, white Xbox Ones in 2014 [updated]

    Plus plenty more semi-reliable rumors regarding Microsoft's plans.

  2. AMD (almost) rolls out Mantle, its high performance alternative to Direct3D and OpenGL

    Battlefield 4 framerates boosted by as much as 58 percent in CPU-bound situations.

  3. Massive Open Lab gets volunteers to beat computers in designing RNA

    Gamers' designs turned into real molecules, and work better than computers'.

  4. Zynga spends $527 million on Clumsy Ninja maker amid heavy job cuts

    Ailing social gaming giant still losing money but beating expectations.

  5. Nintendo offers a vague, confusing, unfocused vision for its future

    Smartphones, platform unification, and "health" all feature in turnaround plan.

  6. Slimmer, lighter PlayStation Vita redesign coming to the UK

    £180 for the Brits, but no word on further Western release.

  7. Angry Birds website defaced following reports it enables government spying

    Iconic image on homepage changed to "Spying Birds," includes NSA logo.

  8. Nintendo execs take salary cuts amid slow Wii U sales

    Decent 3DS performance isn't enough to prevent continued profit declines.

  9. PlayStation Plus not required to play Elder Scrolls Online on PS4

    But Xbox One owners will need XBL Gold on top of game's $15/month fee.

  10. Nintendo game demos on your phone? Not so fast, company says

    Big N denies mobile minigames despite hints of a smartphone move.

  11. After $100,000 bid, 3 more rare Nintendo World Championship carts surface [updated]

    Hoax bid drives real interest in one of the rarest games ever made.

  12. Microsoft buys Gears of War franchise from Epic Games

    Gears producer Rod Fergusson to helm series at newcomer Black Tusk Studios.

  1. Chess 2 impressions: An enchanting new twist on an ancient game

    New rules are intriguing, but the Ouya-exclusive conversion is a mess.

  2. Streaming comes to Steam: run on your gaming rig, play on your laptop

    Windows-based streaming could round out your SteamOS library

  3. Nintendo World Championship cart attracts suspiciously high auction price

    High bids approach a record $100,000 price, but there's reason for skepticism.

  4. Court overturns $11 million judgment for original Madden creator

    Judge says there was "no legal basis" for original jury award.

  5. Unknown issue locks BT Internet customers out of their Ubisoft games

    Neither side seems to knows who's to blame in DRM-related glitch.

  6. Microsoft reports 3.9 million Xbox One shipments in 2013

    Aging Xbox 360 still shows signs of life with 3.5 million shipments.

  7. SteamOS beta adds legacy BIOS, official dual-boot support

    Valve's beta software adds features already popular in the modding community.

  8. Electronic Arts also paying YouTubers to promote games

    Company insists disclosure is required, but not all videos seem to have it.

  9. AMD’s quarterly profit shows it’s the real winner of the game console wars

    Selling chips to all three console makers is apparently good for the bottom line.

  10. Stealth marketing: Microsoft paying YouTubers for Xbox One mentions [updated]

    Machinima campaign offered undisclosed money to videos promoting new console.

  11. What’s in a common dictionary name: King’s tenuous “Candy” trademark

    Candy Crush Saga maker has an uphill battle to defend its published mark.

  12. DayZ Early Access impressions: Surviving in the land of glitches

    There's a compelling PvP experience hiding somewhere underneath all those bugs.

  1. Ars readers donated over $23,000 in the 2013 Ars Charity Drive

    Since 2007, Ars readers have given over $140,000.

  2. When it comes to video games, difficulty is the point—not the problem

    The journey of discovery and mastery balanced between frustration and simplicity.

  3. Anchorman 2 was Paramount’s final release on 35mm film

    The studio is the first major one to go all-digital, and all the others will follow.

  4. Nintendo president hints at exploring smartphone gaming support [updated]

    Iwata says "new business structure" may be in order as Wii U, 3DS falter.

  5. Wii U sees rare negative sales trend in second holiday season

    Sales momentum for Nintendo's latest console is going in the wrong direction.

  6. Nintendo slashes Wii U sales projections, predicts loss

    Nintendo now hopes to ship just one-third of its original console target.

  7. Report: Valve has “no current plans” to release its own VR headset

    Instead, company plans to "continue to work with Oculus" on the Rift.

  8. Analysis: Why SteamOS probably won’t cause a PC gaming revolution

    Valve lacks many compelling reasons for Windows gamers to make the switch.

  9. Broken Age: Act One review: Not quite kick-finished

    $3.3M crowdfunded game has heart and humor, just not an ending.

  10. FXX app to stream all The Simpsons seasons, including the 9 good ones

    Simpsons-specific streaming app will be available only to FXX cable subscribers.

  11. EA explains why offline SimCity took so long

    Engineer says severing server connection will take over six months of work.

  12. Valve’s SteamVR is Steam—for your head-mounted display

    Company will also demo its own prototype head-mounted display this week.