Millions of people around the world have come to love Angry Birds since the first release in December 2009. It has only been about three months since the latest iteration of the popular series was released, Angry Birds Space, which broke records on both iOS and Android where it was downloaded over 50 million times within 35 days. The small Finnish company Rovio obviously smiled all the way to the bank, and as if that wasn’t good enough, they are lining up another title.

When we think of Finland, Formula 1 does spring to mind, having had so many brilliant drivers over the years. Heikki Kovalainen sports an Angry Birds helmet when driving his notoriously slow Caterham around the circuit these days and it has been reported in the past that Rovio was thinking of incorporating the F1 scene into Angry Birds although it is hard to imagine how that would be done exactly. Will we be firing birds into car windshields (not that an F1 car has one) in the hope of causing massive multi-pileup destruction? Who knows…

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The typical gamer’s console is not used all day, so they do not need to worry about power consumption, right? According to a study done at Carnegie Mellon University, it looks like game consoles waste a lot of energy when not used. It seems that the average user does not actually power down his console, instead leaving it in idle mode. Becauase of this, 68 percent of all games console energy consumed in 2010 was while the device was in idle mode.

The study focussed on US households, and it found that game consoles now contribute to 1% of all household energy usage, which is a 50 percent increase within a year. The primary reason for this high energy usage is that the average games console does not power down when unused – and if it is set to switch off automatically, the delay is very long. For example, the Xbox 360 only powers down after 1 hour in idle mode, but not while in game mode while paused.

The Playstation 3 does not power down by default, and requires the user to download a software update to make it power down automatically. “We demonstrate that the most effective energy-saving modification is incorporation of a default auto power down feature, which could reduce electricity consumption of game consoles by 75 percent (10 TWh reduction of electricity in 2010),” says the authors.

So users are recommended to switch on their console auto-download functions – you can read the full research document here.

It looks like the Angry Birds franchise really is unstoppable. After only 3 days, the latest version of Angry Birds has hit the 10 million downloads mark. To put that in context, the wildly popular original version of Angry Birds “only” did that in 10 days. It should be pointed out that this time round Rovio somehow managed to rollout Angry Birds Space to a whole bunch of platforms at once – iPhone, iPad, Android, PC and Mac.

If you have not yet tried Angry Birds Space, it is pretty easy to find it on whatever platform you are using, and Rovio makes it pretty easy to find with free versions available as well. The game follows up from the existing Angry Birds game, but this time round things like gravitational forces around planets make the game a whole lot more challenging.

Apple Appstore: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

Google Play: Android devices

Have you tried Angry Birds Space?

Only a few hours after its debut, Rovio’s Angry Birds Space, has reached the top of the App Store charts in more than 28 countries.

The app, that is now available for download in the App Store costs 0.99c for the iPhone and $2.99 for the iPad. The game itself features brand new birds and superpowers, improved detailed backgrounds, zero gravity space adventures and new in-app purchases.

The two iOS versions of the game are already overtaking a few other popular App Store properties including Draw Something by OMGPOP, the New York-based startup which social gaming giant Zynga announced it had acquired for $180 million this week and Apple’s own new photo editing and sharing tool iPhoto, which was released alongside the new iPad earlier this month.

The game, which was highly anticipated thanks to a smart marketing campaign by Rovio that included a video from NASA of flight engineer Don Pettit playing the game in space and a promotional campaign with WalMart, is now the No. 1 paid and No. 1 top grossing app in many countries including: the US, China, Germany, France, Indonesia, New Zealand, Russia, Columbia, Denmark, Norway, Mexico, India, Greece, Belgium, the UK, Spain and of course, Finland.

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Microsoft and LucasArts have collaborated to to announce “Kinect Star Wars” and the Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Kinect Star Wars” console bundle. The new console bundle features a distinct Star Wars styling with a gold Xbox controller which will enchant Star Wars fans.   Star Wars fans of all ages will soon be able to bring the Star Wars universe home and become part of the films like never before with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360.

With five dynamic modes – Jedi Destiny: Dark Side Rising, Podracing, Rancor Rampage, Galactic Dance Off and Duels of Fate – “Kinect Star Wars” makes it possible for Star Warsfans of all ages to delve into immersive Star Wars experiences. In addition to the previously announced Jedi, Podracing and Rancor modes, Xbox 360 and LucasArts have today unveiled new additions to the game, including:

New experiences within Jedi Destiny Mode, including:

Space battles: As you travel the Galaxy to face an evil that threatens to undermine the fabric of the Republic, you’ll engage with forces of the Empire in intense space battles

Speeder Bikes and Landspeeders: Pilot iconic Speeder Bikes and Landspeeders on your epic journey

New duels: Battle opponents like Count Dooku and Darth Vader on your journey to become a Jedi

New Duels of Fate mode, a battle-by-battle experience to sharpen your Jedi skills against the Dark Side

New Galactic Dance Off mode loaded with Star Wars-themed pop tunes where those still honing their Jedi skills can take a break to battle Darth Vader on the dance floor or bust a move “Solo style.”

Additionally, the Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Kinect Star Wars” console bundle will feature an exclusive C-3PO unlockable for Dance Mode. With these new reveals and the ability to play in 3D, “Kinect Star Wars” adds to the growing popularity of the family-friendly gaming portfolio for Kinect for Xbox 360. Both will both be available on April 3, 2012 in South Africa for a recommended retail price of R399 and R 4699 respectively.

Related: See our review of the Xbox Kinect here.

Those of us who like racing games all wish we can have that arcade type setup – you know, the massive flat screen, a racing seat, and of course the steering wheel and pedals. But then reality sets in – we realize we cannot have the racing seat and mounted steering wheels and pedals, because what do you do with it once you are done playing? Sure, if you have a massive bachelor pad it might be worth it, but for the rest of us, we are pretty much forced to stick to out gamepads.

The Wheel:

It is with this very market that Microsoft has gone and built the Speed Wheel – an accelerometer based steering wheel which you simply hold up to steer. There is no base to put on a table, and there is no pedals either. Now obviously die hard racing game fans might not like that, but in use I found the Speed Wheel great. When holding the Speed Wheel I was quite amazed at how well put together it is. It has some decent heft to it, without making it feel heavy – you will be holding it in the air after all. It is also well balanced, with the heavier internal components put in the bottom of the steering wheel, which does give it some center-weight. In the middle you will find the standard XBox silver button, and the back and start buttons. On the left hand side there is a D-pad, and on the right the X,Y,A,B keys. Quite simple. But the triggers on the rear is greatly improved over the standard game pad, with a lot more travel. But more on that later. The rest of this strange looking steering wheel is just as weird – there are some rings on the top of the steering wheel that can light up based on how much throttle or braking you do. So the harder you rev your car, the brigher they become. (more…)

Rockstar Games has announced that it will be delaying the release date of the third-shooter game Max Payne 3. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game will only be available for fans on 15th May in the U.S. and 18th May in Europe. There will be a further waiting period for the pc version when it hits shelves on the 29th May in the U.S. followed by the UK on the 1st June.

Speculations about the delayed release date suggest that Rockstar Games may be avoiding sharing the spotlight with the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3 that is set for release on March 6, around the date of Max Payne 3′s original release.

Yesterday Rockstar Games released a preview video for Max Payne 3, which received rave reviews from gamers on Twitter. The three-minute video shows off the game’s advanced design and technological features. The developers have said that this game will be very realistic, incorporating powerful storytelling and “precise and fluid gunplay.”

The preview video shows prospective gamers what it would be like to play the hero in Max Payne 3 with first-person precision targeting capabilities while Max’s full body is still visible.

Source: Mashable

As previously announced by Rockstar Games, a special anniversary edition of the popular Grand Theft Auto 3 game is now available for Android and iOS devices.

The anniversary edition similar to the now 10-year old original that is arguably considered the most influential games of all time, is optimized for touch-screen devices, with resizable custom controls. However,  there are two major improvements to the original version – they are autosave mode and mission retry which have been implemented to avoid users causing harm to their mobile devices out of pure frustration while playing.

The game is compatible with the iPhone 4S and 4, 4th generation iPod touch and iPad 1 and 2. Supported Android devices include HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R, T-Mobile G2x.

Supported Android tablets include the LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S.

The game is now available to download from the Android Market and iTunes Store.

source: Mashable