That powerful console in your living room could be driving up your electric bill.
A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council specifically calls out the PS4, Xbox One and Wii U as huge energy consumers.
Gamers may not be buying a ton of games these days, but they’re sure gobbling up game systems.
Sales of video game hardware in March were up a massive 78 percent in March as compared to a year ago, according to The NPD Group. Console sales more than doubled as demand continues for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. That surge in hardware sales led to a 3 percent climb in overall sales versus March 2013.
As the video game industry says goodbye to one generation of hardware, it’s also saying goodbye to a number of high-profile names.
In the past several weeks, well-known, high-ranking executives at Microsoft’s Xbox division and Sony’s PlayStation unit—as well as other less familiar names—have announced their departure, and some analysts say these could reflect broader shifts in the industry.
Virtual reality just got a lot more real.
After months of whispers, Sony confirmed Tuesday evening that it’s working on a virtual reality headset for the PS4. And while it didn’t give any details regarding a release window or price, Sony’s entry into this market further raises the profile of so-called VR 2.0 devices, building on the momentum Oculus started with their anticipated Rift device.
Everyone’s a critic. And when the subject is next generation consoles, they’re especially ferocious.
Sometimes that’s legitimate. Sometimes, it’s user error. (And sometimes, it’s an odd mix of both.) Fixya has dug through over 40,000 complaints to determine the most common problems with each of the new machines on the market.
Roughly three months after the Xbox One hit stores, its price was cut.
On February 24, Microsoft lowered the retail price of its next generation console in the UK from £429.99 to £399.99, the equivalent of a $50 price cut in the U.S. At the same time, the company unveiled an upcoming Titanfall bundle in both regions, which includes a copy of the system’s most anticipated game at no additional charge.
The bundling of such a big game raised some eyebrows, but the UK cut really set gaming forums ablaze. Was Microsoft acknowledging weakness in Xbox One sales? Was it “pulling a Nintendo” to remain competitive? Was the company throwing in the towel?
Not at all, but it’s clear the company — and its flagship console — have their work cut out for them.
The PlayStation 4 is fast becoming a juggernaut.
In a statement early Tuesday, Sony announced that sales of their flagship next-gen console have topped 5.3 million units worldwide through February 8. That’s significantly ahead of schedule, as the company was predicting sales of 5 million by the end of March 2014.
The Xbox One might have won December, but the PS4 is winning the war.
According to brick and mortar retail tracker The NPD Group, both of Microsoft’s consoles outperformed Sony’s in the final month of 2013 in the U.S. Microsoft sold 908,000 Xbox Ones and 643,000 Xbox 360s in December, surpassing the totals for both the PS4 and PS3, though Sony did not provide specific numbers.