With over 50,000 games available on the iPhone, it’s hard
to pinpoint a single one as the iconic title of the platform. If you were going to do so, though, “Angry Birds” would make a strong case for the crown.
The title is addictive in its gameplay and is a regular presence in the Top selling app lists. Now, it’s expanding its reach to other platforms. Chillingo founder Joe Wee tells The Sun that the company is making versions of the game for the “Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and PS3.”
All in all, it was a mixed financial quarter for the folks at Activision. 
Earnings per share were higher than expected, but revenue fell short – which was somewhat shocking for a company that has a reputation for always meeting or beating the guidance it gives investors. The real story of yesterday’s earnings announcement, though, was the force that digital downloads have become for the company.
For the first time, Activsion’s revenue from digital sales topped that of retail sales, as “Modern Warfare 2” continued to flex is muscles.
Sezmi, a new TV service that has been competing with cable 
and satellite providers in the greater Los Angeles area since February is ready to expand its reach.
The company today announced it has now expanded to 36 U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington D.C. Customers willing to spend $299 upfront for hardware can receive over-the-air TV stations (their high-def main channels, plus their digital subchannels), Web video, on-demand content as well as 15 basic cable channels for just $19.99 per month. (Customers who just want local channels and Web content can pay $4.99 per month.)
“Madden” day is coming — and HR offices are bracing
themselves. The release of Electronic Arts’ most popular football franchise, which takes place on Tuesday Aug 10, always brings a surge of “sick days” from dedicated fans, who opt to stay home from work and play the day away.
The “Madden” franchise is, in many respects, EA’s crown jewel.
The concept behind Promini isn’t a complicated 
one, but it’s one that has worked well in other games. The game tries hard to capture the special qualities of Lumines, but never quite gets there. That’s due, in part, to the soundtrack, which doesn’t seem an integrated part of the game, and the control issues. It’s still tremendously entertaining, though, and the game play is very addicting.
With a wide variety of games, the Tickle Tap Toddler Pack does 
an excellent job of maintaining the attention span of young players while teaching them something in the process. None of the five games is a dud, but Sound Shaker and Sort Slider are the standouts. While there’s not a lot of educational value in Sound Shaker, it’s a fun game that will delight young ones with its silly noises. Sort Slider, meanwhile, teaches as it entertains. While other apps may only interest toddlers for a short while, the diversity of options here will keep them engaged for a long time.
While 3D TV is getting the lion’s share of the media spotlight these days, consumers are showing considerably more interest in Internet-enabled sets, according to new research from iSuppli.
Global shipments of IETVs (TVs with built-in Internet capability) will hit 27.7 million this year, says analyst Riddhi Patel. That’s nearly seven times the number of 3D sets expected to ship – and a 125 percent increase over the 2009 numbers.
AirAttack HD is the best air combat shooter in the 
App store. Anyone who enjoyed Capcom’s arcade standard “1942” (or any of its follow-ups) will instantly recognize its style and appreciate the similarities. Its eight missions will keep people entertained for a long time — and are different enough from each other to prevent any feelings of repetition. While sections are a bit overly difficult, the game lets you pick up from your last checkpoint, so there’s never a real penalty for losing.
It’s been a relatively quiet past few years for developers who focus 
on action games. Sales have been solid, while media hysteria about the genre has been, for the most part, muted. The heyday of finger-pointing and uninformed accusations could be about to resurface, though. While Jack Thompson is less a force of nature than he used to be (both legally and with mainstream outlets, who seem less inclined to put him on air), the elements of a perfect storm are brewing to put first-/third-person shooters back in an uncomfortable media spotlight.
While 2010 has been a bad year for video game 
software sales in general, it’s been particularly tough for some high-profile releases. Several titles that were expected to be big sellers — or at least impressive ones — have fallen flat, the victim of the economy, gamers’ continued interest with other titles or just plain old bad luck.
There’s still time to recover, of course — the year’s only half over. But while these six titles may have mostly met critical expectations, they still failed to set the sales charts ablaze.
Chris Morris: Journalist 