Virtual reality makes a comeback with Oculus Rift

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Virtual reality got a bad reputation in the early 1990s. Proponents overpromised and underdelivered, with crappy graphics and headache-inducing headgear — not to mention prices that were so stratospheric, there was no way anyone could afford to buy a system.

It was a technology that became an afterthought — until game design guru John Carmack took an interest, at least. During the E3 conference in June, Carmack showed off the Oculus Rift headset, a virtual reality device he helped to create using (no joke) Oakley ski goggles, duct tape, and spare miniaturized rocket parts he had lying around his shop.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

World of Warcraft subscriptions take a tumble

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Azeroth is a lot emptier these days.

World of Warcraft saw more than 1 million people cancel their subscriptions over the past three months, the game’s publisher revealed in its quarterly earnings statement. That’s one of the most dramatic drops in the game’s long history.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Rare Legend of Zelda cartridge is now the world’s most expensive video game

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Tom Curtin didn’t get what he was asking for one of the rarest video games ever found, but you won’t hear him complaining too much about that.

Earlier this week, Curtin launched an eBay auction for an exceptionally hard-to-find The Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge. The price? A whopping $150,000. That proved too steep, but a buyer quickly stepped forward and offered $55,000 — and just like that, there was a new record for the most expensive video game in the world.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

America’s Radio News Network: Aug. 2, 2012

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Every Thursday, I join Chris Salcedo and Lori Lundin on the mid-day edition of America’s Radio News Network to discuss trends and news in the technology and video game space. This week’s topics were Amazon’s increasing encroachment on Netflix territory, blocking Olympic spoilers and EA’s decision to take Star Wars: The Old Republic to a free-to-play model.

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Poor sales for gaming division plague Sony

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The length of this console life cycle continues to haunt Sony. The company saw a wider loss in its fiscal first quarter with poor PlayStation sales dragging the numbers down.

The games unit saw a notable decline in sales last quarter (from April 1 to June 30), selling 800,000 fewer hardware units and coming in at an operating loss of $45 million. Software sales were down as well. It was a discouraging performance for the division Sony is hoping will help guide the company out of its financial woes.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Zynga: The worst may be yet to come

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Last week was an ugly one for Zynga, but the company is likely to face some even rockier times, argues Chris Morris, with the coming expiration of a new round of employee stock options being the most looming hurdle.

Last week was an ugly one for Zynga. An earnings shortfall and reduced guidance for the coming fiscal year resulted in a 40 percent drop in the company’s stock, which brought out the doomsayers.

Those corporate obituaries are premature, but the company is likely to face some even rockier times before there’s much chance of things getting better.

Read more at Gamasutra