PS3 Overtakes Xbox 360 in Global Sales

Strategy Analytics claims that Sony’s PlayStation 3 has overtaken Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in terms of worldwide installed base. The company’s numbers include sales up until the end of 2010. Here are more details from Gamasutra:

According to the company’s data, the Nintendo Wii continues to enjoy the world’s largest install base with 75.5 million active units worldwide, but the active install base of PS3s reached 43.4 million at the close of 2010 versus Xbox 360’s 42.9.

There are a few things to keep in mind. In America, the Xbox 360 still has a healthy lead over PlayStation 3. Microsoft’s sales have been strong — perhaps surprisingly so — since the release of its Kinect motion controller. While this data set shows the PS3 taking the lead, the Xbox 360 arguably has more momentum.

What do you guys and dolls think of these numbers. Also, “Flame on!!!” and, “Fore!!!”

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PlayStation Games Hit Android Market

To prepare for the launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has added several PlayStation games to Google’s Android Market. Titles include Cool Boarders 2, Destruction Derby, Jumping Flash, MediEvil, and Syphon Filter.

Hopefully Sony will flood Android Market with quality games. The Android platform is a joke compared to iOS in terms of gaming. Great PlayStation games for Android will make the joke a little less funny.

Any of these PlayStation games for Android interest you?

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Mike Tyson Returns to Videogames

Are you ready to take on Mike Tyson in a videogame again? If you answered yes then you’ll want to check out Mike Tyson: Main Event for iOS. The game is like a simplified version of Punch-Out!! While I doubt it will be as engaging for a long period of time, it looks great for a quick fix and fighting a videogame version of Mike Tyson is always fun.

Also, check out the commercial for the game (posted above). It’s great to see that “Iron” Mike is in good shape again. I also love him in comedic bits. He’s fun in this commercial, though not quite as hilarious as when he made his Oscar picks or danced to Bobby Brown music.

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Amazon Android Kindle With a Dual-Mode Display?

Ars Technica brought up a fantastic idea for a Kindle-branded tablet from Amazon featuring Google Android — why not have it use a dual-mode display to make it suitable for reading and multimedia computing? It’s purely speculative at this point, but I completely agree that it would be fantastic for a Kindle Android tablet to use a dual-mode screen from Pixel Qi. Here’s a clip from Ars:

The Amazon tablet speculation has attracted criticism from some naysayers who don’t think that Amazon would settle for building a device with tablet-like battery life and crappy outdoor screen visibility. You can’t call it a Kindle if it’s only going to last for eight hours, right? I think the solution to that problem is simple: use a dual-mode display like the kind engineered by Pixel Qi.

The hypothetical Amazon tablet tablet could have a “Kindle” mode where the display gives you high-resolution sunlight-readable grayscale rendering. You could easily use it as either a tablet or an e-book reader. It’s still not going to deliver Kindle-length battery life, but it would be a pretty good compromise. I would want to buy a $250 Amazon tablet, and (if the enthusiasm for the Nook Color article means anything) there is a posse of like-minded readers who would too.

While no official announcement has been made, most pundits believe that an Amazon Android tablet is inevitable. The company is lining up services that would be perfect for its own tablet. The Amazon Android Appstore, Cloud Drive, and Cloud Player are nice on their own, but would be fantastic with tighter OS integration.

Last week I was pretty confident that Amazon would offer its own Android hardware by the end of the year. With the company’s recent moves, I’d actually be shocked if it didn’t happen. I’m also (not so) secretly hoping that this dream tablet would be available to Amazon Prime subscribers for free or with a steep discount. Prime subscribers are some of Amazon’s most frequent purchasers. Giving them another way to purchase goods seems like a good (and evil) idea.

Anyway, kindly let me know if you’d be interested in an Amazon Android Kindle with a dual-mode screen that allows for great book reading and multimedia.

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Coffee Talk #327: The Last Gen of Pure Gaming Portables?

Will the next generation of portable gaming systems be multifaceted devices? Or will a gaming-focused experience still dominate at the end of this decade? Is the future of portable gaming more…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Sin Cara debuting the day after WrestleMania, Angelina Jolie’s boobtastic comic book, or Stumptown’s Indonesia Sulawesi Toarco Peaberry, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Handheld gaming is at a crossroads. Largely due to the increased gaming capabilities of Apple iOS products, I don’t think it’s enough for a portable gaming system to be focused primarily on games. With that in mind, do you think that the Nintendo 3DS — which is almost all about gaming no matter what Nintendo claims — will be the last handheld system of its kind?

The original PlayStation Portable was, perhaps, ahead of its time. In addition to great games, it offered strong multimedia capabilities (music, movies, photos), web browsing, communication (Skype), and more. It’s too early to tell, but it looks like the upcoming NGP will bring it all together, offering gaming, social networking, streaming movies, Internet access, communications, and multimedia in a much tighter way than its predecessor.

Will the next generation of portable gaming systems be multifaceted devices? Or will a gaming-focused experience still dominate at the end of this decade? Is the future of portable gaming more NGP or more 3DS? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

Amazon Cloud Player Beats Apple and Google to the Punch

Amazon has launched a streaming music and an online storage service called Cloud Player and Cloud Drive, respectively. Cloud Drive allows users to store music and other files in the cloud (duh). Music can be streamed to any PC or Google Android phone via Cloud Player. The free version of Cloud Drive comes with 5GB of storage. Users can purchase additional space or purchase a digital album, which bumps their total to 20GB.

This is a bold and exciting move by Amazon. While the company’s MP3 store does well, it’s still way behind Apple iTunes. Offering cloud services (not to mention generally lower prices) could help attract more customers away from Apple. Both Apple and Google are known to be readying cloud-based music-services. Amazon has beaten its competitors to the punch and there’s always something to be said for being first.

Furthermore, Cloud Player looks like another facet of Amazon’s future Android strategy. Last week I speculated that Amazon will almost definitely have Amazon-branded phones and tablets running Google Android. Can you picture an Amazon Android phone with perfect integration of Amazon’s Android Appstore and Cloud Player? Wouldn’t a phone or tablet that offered simple purchasing of Amazon goods — both digital and physical — be a potentially huge moneymaker for the company? It seems so brilliant…and scary.

Let me know what you think of Amazon’s Cloud Player and Cloud Drive (please). Are they services you’d definitely use? Or does music in the cloud not interest you?

Chris Jericho Raises His Game on Dancing With the Stars

Last week Chris Jericho looked like one of the Village People on Dancing With the Stars. While I was impressed that he was even competing, it looked like his instructor was carrying him. This week he went from the cha-cha to the quick step…and didn’t look like one of the Village People. I was really impressed with his performance. Check out the clip above — especially around the 2:55 mark — and watch Jericho strut his stuff.

Amazon Android Appstore Offers Nifty “Test Drive” Feature

Amazon’s Android Appstore already offers a compelling alternative to the Google Android Market by giving away paid apps daily. Amazon’s Android Market competitor has gotten even more interesting with its “test drive” feature. This nifty bit of code allows you to try and experiment with an app from a PC using a virtual phone. Allowing users to tinker with possible purchases should lead to higher buy rates. At the very least, it keeps customers on the Amazon site, which can lead to all sorts of purchases.

If you have a chance, check out test drive on the Amazon Android Appstore. I think it’s a fantastic feature that further differentiates the Amazon Android Appstore from the Google Android Market. How about you?