In it's six year reign, the Apple iPhone has seen more than its fair share of challengers, usually described -- sometimes optimistically -- as iPhone Killers. We honor the phones that have fallen after battling with the iPhone, and see why it has finally met its match.

Remember the term iPhone Killer? It’s one that’s rarely used these days, but after the original Apple iPhone went on sale in 2007, it was used with reckless abandon to describe almost every competing smartphone subsequently released. The trouble was, none of the phones were even vaguely capable of striking down Apple’s hugely popular phone. The reason for their feebleness in the heat of battle wasn’t because they were technically inferior – often quite the opposite – it’s that they were fighting the wrong battle in the first place. The irony is, now that there really is an iPhone Killer available, nobody really uses the phrase anymore.

Most of you will already know the identity of the iPhone Killer, but we’re still going to save its reveal for the last minute, murder mystery style. Before the unmasking, here’s a look back at a few of the warriors – from the admirable to the pathetic – sent to strike down Apple’s all-powerful iPhone since its 2007 debut.

2007: Touch Pro and Prada

In 2007, the iPhone’s year of release, most of Apple’s rivals thought using a touchscreen – any touchscreen – was the key to success. HTC did it best with the beautifully styled HTC Touch, a smartphone that featured the TouchFLO UI, HTC’s precursor to Sense, but sadly it ran on Windows Mobile 6, which was hateful. The 2.8-inch screen was resistive too, which meant you had to press down on it with pressure, and it came with a little stylus to help press Win Mobile’s ridiculously minuscule buttons.

The only phone which came close to challenging the iPhone for popularity was the Nokia N95. Released before the iPhone (which is why it’s relegated to being an honorable mention), it had a 2.6-inch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, GPS, a cool dual-slide screen and the Symbian operating system. It was the smartphone to have at the time.

LG takes the crown for worst attempt with its overly flashy, terribly conceived attempt at iPhone killing, the KE850 Prada. Sure, it was attractive enough, but it was outrageously expensive, and had a painfully imprecise resistive screen and a stylus on a keychain. It, along with the Samsung Armani, ushered in a string of fashion phones too, none of which were any good at all.

2008: The G1 and the birth of Android

This was the first year Google came on the scene with Android, and it’s difficult not to see it’s first phone, the T-Mobile G1, without feeling nostalgic. It’s the little details that make it something of a classic, from the trackball below the screen to the scissor action to reveal the keyboard and of course, the Android operating system. Subsequently released without carrier branding as the HTC Dream, this is the one that started it all. If you’re wondering why the G1 didn’t kill the iPhone, it was Android’s age-old problem, it was just too geeky.

Elsewhere, manufacturers were struggling with Windows Mobile, on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and Samsung Omnia i900 for example, or weird modified feature phone systems, like the LG Voyager and Samsung Instinct. Again, they were relying on a touchscreen to attract punters. None were as bizarre as the Neonode N2 though, a tiny 2-inch screen phone with a modified version of Windows Mobile CE and a gesture control system to make up for the fact the whole thing was just too damn small.

Right at the end of 2008, Research in Motion gave us the BlackBerry Storm, with its SurePress (read: a button under the screen) 3.2-inch touchscreen and no Wi-Fi. It wasn’t a success.

2009: Droid and Palm Pre

Now, things start to get serious. Palm came back on the scene with the Pre, one of the better challengers of the year thanks to its innovative operating system, but a bungled international launch, questionable build quality, and limited public interest meant it never even had a chance to challenge Apple’s all conquering iPhone 3GS, released in June that year.

Just as 2009 was about to end, the Motorola Droid was released on Verizon and later internationally as the Milestone, along with Android 2.0. This pushed Android and Motorola into the limelight and thanks to a good product and an exciting ad campaign, the first Droid sold very well. But it still looked a bit old-fashioned next to the iPhone, as it combined its 3.7-inch touchscreen with a slide-out keyboard.

Less successful new phones include the flawed-but-attractive Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Toshiba’s TG01, the Nokia N97 and Sony Ericsson’s Satio, which took almost eight months to go on sale after its announcement, only to be withdrawn because of problems with its Symbian operating system.

2010: The Evo, Galaxy S, and Windows Phone 7

2010 was a massive year for mobile phones, but the Apple iPhone 4 stood resolute, with its impressive new design and high resolution Retina display. It was joined by a series of strong competitors such as the first Samsung Galaxy S, the Nokia N8 and the Google Nexus One. However, the HTC Evo 4G was the year’s most exciting new hardware, with its 4G WiMax connectivity, massive 4.3-inch screen, 1GHz processor and Android 2.1 OS, while Microsoft debuted the most exciting software – Windows Phone 7.

It was also a year of sequels and phones that began to blur into one. Devices such as the LG Prada 3.0, the Droid Incredible and Droid X, Palm Pre 2, and the BlackBerry Storm 2 weren’t bad phones (well, the Storm 2 was a bit) they were just faceless, and that was a big problem when trying to compete with the iPhone 4.

2011: Galaxy rises

Here’s where everything started to change and Apple only has itself to blame, thanks to the lackluster iPhone 4S – a great phone that looked identical to the iPhone 4 on the outside, at a time when the public was demanding innovation. Samsung swooped in with the Galaxy S2. Equipped with a dual-core processor, an unfeasibly thin chassis and a gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus screen, it was more exciting than any Samsung phone before it. HTC tried valiantly with the Sensation series, as did Motorola with the Razr, but this was the year when the fight for supremacy became a two horse race.

2012: A true iPhone equal arrives

That brings us to the denouement, and it has taken five years for someone to realize that to kill the iPhone you first needed an army, and only Samsung has managed to build one strong enough to take it on. Pockets of resistance have existed before, but only amongst the geeky, and it wasn’t until the Galaxy S3 was announced that the people had a champion. Samsung’s marketing machine has pushed the Galaxy S3 so effectively, often using extreme, rabble rousing techniques, it has been embraced by legions – in exactly the same way as the iPhone. Now, with an army behind it, the strength of the Galaxy S3’s hardware can finally be used to Samsung’s advantage.

So is the iPhone dead? No, of course not, but for the first time in five years, it has met its match.

What Double Fine Productions' Kinect Party lacks in traditional gameplay mechanics, it more than makes up for in frantic, all-ages fun.

If you own a Kinect, you’re certainly aware that Microsoft’s peripheral lacks a large selection of quality games that take good advantage of its three-dimensional, motion-sensitive camera system. This overall lack of utility is really unfortunate as the Kinect is an inarguably cool machine that just lacks a visionary developer capable of doing something novel with it. This is where, ostensibly, Double Fine Productions comes in, specifically with its latest release, the Xbox Live downloadable game, Kinect Party.

As a sequel to Double Fine Happy Action Theater, Kinect Party falls comfortably into the “casual games” genre, which is just as well because otherwise we wouldn’t have any idea how to describe it. See, Kinect Party isn’t really much of a game. We’ll explain what that means momentarily, and why it isn’t as much a problem as you’d imagine, but before you continue we need you all to ask yourselves one question which should be blatantly obvious: Do you have children?

If the answer is “no,” you may as well stop reading right here. If you have spawned however, read on. Kinect Party is going to be available as a free download from now until the end of the year, and in that light it may just be the best entertainment value to be found on the Xbox 360 this holiday season.

“Game” Play

When you first fire up Kinect Party, you’re not met with a title screen, nor an options menu, nor even a single a line of text asking you to press “Start.” Instead, you’re thrown directly into the action with no explanation of what you’re supposed to be doing, or any rationale for doing it. Luckily, while that would be detrimental in almost any other video game, that’s not really a problem here. As we mentioned earlier, Kinect Party isn’t a game in the traditional sense. It has no win conditions, no huge boss battles, and no real plot to speak of. Instead, what you’re given is a series of largely similar tasks set on top of increasingly quirky backgrounds that eventually double as some kind of virtual analogue for the standard photo booth. That likely sounds confusing, so let’s break things down to a more granular level.

If you have yet to play Double Fine Happy Action Theater or Kinect Party, it’s helpful to think of both as large mini-game collections. It’s even more helpful to think of them as collections of mini-games that, mechanically speaking, are wholly identical. Take for instance the giant monster-themed Kinect Party game. In this diversion you and up to five friends (or, we suppose, as many as you could fit within the Kinect’s camera sensor) take on the role of classic movie monsters. On your television screen your appearance doesn’t change, but all around you the game places objects such as buildings and swooping airplanes. Though you’re never directly told to flail your arms to destroy the objects this action seems second nature and players will instantaneously start swiping at the various debris in an effort to revel in bombastic destruction. After a few minutes a dapper, cartoonish gentleman will appear toward the bottom of the screen and begin a short countdown. Once he hits zero the Kinect snaps a picture of whatever is in its sights, and you’re offered the chance to share the resulting image on Facebook.

Sounds like a neat, short diversion, right? It is, but in experiencing this mini-game, you’ve effectively seen the entire scope of Kinect Party’s gameplay. Every single mini-game contained in this title is best completed by waving your arms frantically at objects that only exist within the processor of your Xbox 360. Unfortunately — and this may be the fault of the Kinect’s photosensitivity, as opposed to any flaw in Kinect Party itself — the required amount of arm flailing is largely arbitrary. At times you’ll swing your arm sharply and pop a bubble, and other times the same bubble will require a broad, slow swipe. As I type these words the index finger on my left hand is bruised and swelling to twice its size thanks to an unfortunate incident in which a bubble was placed over the arm of my couch and I slapped a wooden edge with considerable force. Call it a flaw in motion sensitive gaming as a whole if you’d like, but whatever the reason I’m in pain and not at all pleased about it.

Not that I’m going to hold it against Kinect Party though. After that accident I quickly got the hang of staying within the safe confines of the Kinect sensor, and can happily report that it’s the only injury I’ve suffered. What pains me more at this point is the lack of true substance within Kinect Party. Beyond the repetitive gameplay the only real offerings the game has are a handful of minor photo editing tricks and the aforementioned Facebook connectivity. Seriously, that’s it.

Normally this would be the point where the review ends with an appallingly low score and a warning to avoid the title altogether, but if we went in that direction we’d be completely missing the point of Kinect Party. This is a game that’s not designed to appeal to me, or you, or even the Internet masses. Kinect Party is undoubtedly aimed at the younger set.

Remember when you were a kid, like five or six years old, and you’d run down the stairs on Christmas morning, rip open all of your presents and spend the rest of the day not only playing with your new toys, but also the awesome packaging they all came in? That’s the joy of being a kid: You’re so young and naive that anything can be an infinitely entertaining diversion. That’s the prime audience for Kinect Party. Kids don’t care about things like replayability or per dollar entertainment value. Instead, kids will jump in front of the Kinect, see that they somehow managed to pick up a rad-looking pirate hat, and start laughing uncontrollably. They’ll leap around, swing their arms and yell for hours, completely content with a game that offers no real objectives aside from leaping, swinging their arms and making a huge spectacle of themselves. To a kid that sounds like heaven, and it would be worryingly cynical to judge Kinect Party using the same metric we use to grade games like Halo 4 or The Walking Dead.

Conclusion

If you want a real, legitimate evaluation of Kinect Party, you won’t find it on the Internet. Nor will you find it in a gaming magazine, or by asking your coworkers. Instead, you’re going to have to set up a Kinect and plop a first grader in front of this title. They’ll tell you that the simple, instantly accessible gameplay Double Fine has infused Kinect Party with, coupled with the developer’s trademark whimsical, cartoonish art style makes Kinect Party an infinitely entertaining diversion. We have to assume that Double Fine realizes all of this, and has decided to offer Kinect Party as a free download from the Xbox Live Marketplace until the end of 2012 specifically so that parents who would otherwise be wary about blowing $60 on an untested franchise for their kids could instead feel good about giving their children a game that is both wholesome — you won’t find anything even remotely M-rated in Kinect Party — and witty, for the always attractive price of absolutely gratis.

I’d describe this as a canny marketing effort on the part of Double Fine, but in light of the game itself that seems way too cynical. Instead, this really feels like an effort by an established developer to simply do something nice for people. In that regard, we can’t not recommend Kinect Party. It’s not the best game you’ll play this year, and you may even injure yourself playing it, but if you’ve got rugrats running around, there are few video game offerings better suited for tuckering them out before bed time.

Score: 6/10

(This review was written using a downloadable Xbox 360 copy of Kinect Party provided by Double Fine Productions.)

Ever dreamed of throwing your own concert? Not if you don't have the tools to make sweet, sweet music. Today's DT Deals: $39 for eight music apps.

Thanks to YouTube, MySpace, Turntable.fm, SoundCloud and similar, just about anyone can share their music to the Internet world. If you’ve always wanted to mix your own songs but never figured out how, here’s an ultra-cool bundle to get you started. Today’s DT Deals, the Mac Ultimate Music Bundle, comes with eight awesome apps designed to help you do everything from record vocals, mix and synchronize volumes, amplify sound, and organize your iTunes library. Oh, and they’re all available for just $39 – a whopping 89 percent saving from its retail value of $355.

The deal lasts for another nine days, which is just enough time for you to create some New Year party tunes to impress the masses. Maybe you’ll be the next AVICII – it’s not your fault you were lacking the tools. With this DT Deal, now you have no excuse. 

A new report has said that HTC will cut its smartphone shipments for Q1 2013. HTC has also met with Microsoft to develop a larger device for its platform.

HTC is predicted to have a shaky start to the new year, but the manufacturer is reportedly in talks with Microsoft to bolster its Windows Phone 8 presence.

As industry big shots Samsung and Apple continue to dominate the smartphone market, a new report from DigiTimes reveals that HTC plans to cut its smartphone orders for the first quarter. The company has also slashed the development of new handset models, although the report did not go into further detail. HTC’s projected shipment growth for Q1 2013 has shrunk in half, decreasing from between 20 and 30 percent to the 10 to 15 percent range.

HTC has yet to comment on these numbers, but the company’s CEO Peter Chou recently met with Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer concerning its smartphones, Bloomberg reports. Chou sought to discuss the low screen resolution that pushed his company to scrap its plans for a larger smartphone using Microsoft’s mobile platform. HTC has envisioned a large screen smartphone similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Note brand, and this meeting between Chou and Ballmer is said to be on of several throughout the year.

Although the first quarter of 2013 doesn’t look to bright for HTC, the hardware manufacturer could prove to be particularly beneficial for Microsoft. HTC, which has received positive reviews for its past Windows Phone devices, could help Microsoft become a player in the mobile world, alongside Samsung and Apple.

“HTC is important to Microsoft because they put together one beautiful smartphone and when you have that kind of DNA, you have a company that can boost general acceptance and market share,” Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC, said to Bloomberg. “If you want bigger market share, getting multiple vendors is the name of the game.”

In turn, Microsoft is also putting a lot of stake in Nokia, since the company became a leading Windows partner last year in a move to expand its smartphone reach.

Although HTC’s previous Windows Phone models have received praise, a study has shown that Nokia’s Lumia 920 is the most popular Windows Phone 8 device. Mobile ad company Ad Duplex conducted a study in early December evaluating the popularity of each Windows Phone 8 handset. The data was broken down by individual device, and found that the Lumia 920 is the most widely used Windows Phone 8 smartphone. 

Nokia and Microsoft have just launched an update for Nokia's Lumia 920 and 820 handsets that will make improvements to Bluetooth and messaging among other features.

Owners of AT&T’s Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are in for a treat this week.  On Wednesday, Nokia and Microsoft began rolling out an update for both of Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 handsets.

The over-the-air update improves Bluetooth reliability and connectivity in addition to enhancing Nokia’s Messaging app. The update will also help the Lumia 920 and 820 start up faster and will improve the device’s battery management. According to Nokia, the software upgrade is only available for customers using AT&T and Canadian wireless provider Rogers. Windows Phone users on other carriers’ networks weren’t completely neglected – Nokia announced that it is “working with out operator partners in all regions to ensure the highest quality experience in every market.”

The company has not slated a specific launch window for this update across carriers, but Nokia said that it is “working closely with Microsoft…to deliver these updates to other markets in early February 2013.”

“Because we’re committed to providing a fantastic experience to our Lumia 920 and 820 customers, we are releasing a software update that brings a number of enhancements initially to the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 at AT&T in the United States and to the Lumia 920 at Rogers in Canada,” Nokia’s Jason Harris wrote in a company blog post.

The long-awaited update goes by the codename “Portico” and is particularly significant because Windows Phone users have experienced issues receiving updates in the past. With Windows 7.x, users found that many updates were delayed for months. According to Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows, some users were forced to install updates via PC with their phones tethered over Wi-Fi.

Hopefully Windows users will see this change with Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 platform. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that AT&T is the first to launch this “Portico” update, seeing that the Lumia 920 is currently exclusive to the carrier.

Nintendo 3DS role-playing game fans rejoice: More than fifteen years after the game's original release on Sega Saturn, Atlus is bringing Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers to the United States.

The world of video games has changed since the mid-1990s. Back then an adult-oriented, anime-inflected role-playing game like Shin Megami Tensei had no chance of getting a release in the west. Offshoots like the original Persona made it over in highly-edited forms, but more obscure spin-offs like Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers for Sega Saturn had no chance whatsoever. Not so in the world of 2012!

Atlus is bringing the Nintendo 3DS remake of Soul Hackers to the US next year. The company made an announcement on Twitter along with an English trailer for the game.

That Atlus is localizing the game for 3DS is a testament to how popular the Shin Megami Tensei games have become in the US thanks to Persona 3, Persona 4: The Golden, and Persona 4: Arena. It’s consistently brought out the series over the past few years, including releases like Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor for Nintendo DS, but this is the first remake of an older title to make the trip to our shores.

Soul Hackers is also a strange game for today’s world. The game is a story about jumping into a fictional MMO called Paradigm X to save people’s souls trapped therein. Back when the game was made in 1997, actual people hadn’t started dying from overplaying MMOs. If nothing else, it will make for some fascinating cultural perspective.

A new report has indicated that Apple is planning its second iPad Mini, and data has shown that the iPhone is the most popular choice for business users.

As 2012 comes to an end, we’re beginning to get an idea of what’s to come for Apple’s recently released tablets and smartphones. Two new reports have put Apple’s iPad Mini and iPhone 5 into perspective for 2013.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is reportedly accelerating its plans for a second-generation iPad Mini, CNET reports. A research note from RBC Capital Markets analyst Doug Freedman shared this news, although his memo did not specify when Apple would consider launching the device.

“iPad Mini Gen-2: Apple’s gen-2 iPad mini is getting pulled-in, and is likely to have several new suppliers, the TXN gaining content,” Freedman’s notes read.

This isn’t the first time rumors have surfaced about a second-generation iPad Mini. Although the 7.9-inch slate was just released in October, rumors have indicated that its successor will feature Apple’s Retina Display technology. Earlier in December, supply chain sources allegedly told DigiTimes that Apple plans to enhance the resolution of its next miniature iPad.

These unnamed sources have not confirmed that this refers to Retina Display, but market observers have reportedly told the website that the second iPad Mini will be based on previous generations of the full-sized iPad.

As for the iPhone 5, recent data shows that Apple’s latest smartphone has gained traction among business users. Email account manager Intermedia has revealed that Apple’s iPhone accounts for 68.2 percent of smartphone activations by medium and small businesses from September through November. The company collected this data from the 500,000 premium hosted accounts that it oversees, according to Apple Insider.

Phones based on Google’s Android software came in second at 25.1 percent, and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry came in third at 4.1 percent. Windows Phone placed last, accounting for only 2.6 percent of smartphones recently activated by business users. Apple’s prominence in this sector of the mobile market doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Although Android comprises most of the general market share, its fragmented operating system doesn’t prove to be a good choice for business users. Apple’s iPhone, on the other hand, features a platform that is more secure and seamless than its Google competitor.

It’s also worth noting that the iPad completely dominates the mobile business market when it comes to tablets. Apple’s slate accounts for 92.6 percent of recently activated accounts according to Intermedia.

Finland's Rovio isn't a one trick pony. Angry Birds was successful, but so were Angry Birds: Star Wars and Bad Piggies! Spin-off success is one thing, but Rovio does see its future in developing new intellectual properties.

Rovio went from a small, but surviving mobile game developer in Finland to one of the most valuable independent studios in the entire video game industry over the past three years and it’s all thanks to a bunch of creepy little birds and pigs. Angry Birds started as a popular iPhone game and ballooned into a global brand spawning not just myriad video game spinoffs, but toy lines and even theme parks. Rovio’s not getting out of the Angry Birds business any time soon, but the company has said that it plans to focus on new intellectual properties going forward.

“We have a huge amount of incredibly great Angry Birds things lined up for the future,” Rovio executive vice president Petri Jarvilehto told Edge Magazine in a recent interview, “But at the same time, we feel that the time is pretty much right to introduce new IPs and keep pushing into other directions as well. We are certainly targeting much bigger games. We’ve managed to achieve some pretty awesome things, and at the same time we feel like we need to push this to the next level.”

Easier said than done. Rovio successfully broadened the Angry Birds empire earlier this year by releasing the spinoff game Bad Piggies, but its one attempt at starting up a wholly new franchise was a failure. Rovio released Amazing Alex in July, and while the game hit the top spot on the iOS App Store’s best-selling apps list within eight hours of release, it trailed off badly afterwards. Amazing Alex was the 99^th top-grossing app in the iOS store three weeks after release, and it’s trailed off even further since. It’s currently the 228^th top-selling paid app in the US App Store according to App Data.

That isn’t bad for your average mobile developer, but for the company behind Angry Birds, it’s not exactly par. Then again, Amazing Alex wasn’t exactly a Rovio original either. The game is actually a rebranding of the game Casey’s Contraptions, developed by Snappy Touch and Mystery Coconut, which Rovio purchased the rights for in May 2012. Rovio hasn’t developed its own original intellectual property since making its line of Bounce titles for Nokia’s line of phones in 2008.

The Angry Birds business is just getting bigger. Rovio announced just last week that it’s creating an Angry Birds movie for release in 2016. Whether or not the brand can survive without being bolstered by a second success is a question the Finnish studio needs an answer for soon.

After months of waiting, fans of quirky PlayStation Network hit Tokyo Jungle are now able to enjoy the downloadable game on their Vita handhelds.

We’re big fans of the PlayStation Network’s Tokyo Jungle. How can you not be? This is a game that for that less than the price of a hamburger allows you to experience the struggles of a plucky Pomeranian (and dozens of other animals) amongst the ruins of a mysteriously post-apocalyptic Japanese metropolis. If you’ve never fled for your tiny doggy life from a pack of anachronistic yet inarguably ravenous velociraptors, then you truly haven’t lived.

That’s why it came as such great news when Sony announced that the game would feature Remote Play functionality via its Vita handheld. Visions of lying in bed, two rooms away from the nearest PlayStation 3, while still being able to enjoy Tokyo Jungle’s endearing weirdness danced in our heads as we reported the news, but since that story was published in September we’ve heard nothing of this mysterious patch that was supposed to make our dreams a reality. At least, that was the case until this morning.

As of this very minute, if you fire up your PlayStation 3 copy of Tokyo Jungle, the game will download a relatively small update that finally implements Remote Play. It’s a free update, and the only real caveat we can see from our cursory tests so far is that enjoying the game via the Internet is generally too full of lag to provide a proper gaming experience. These findings are backed by a Twitter message from Sony’s president of worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida. “Remote Play over Internet is not recommended due to latency and video bandwidth. Please try Tokyo Jungle Remote Play at home,” Yoshida writes.

That said, if your PlayStation 3 and Vita are on the same Wi-Fi network Tokyo Jungle runs flawlessly. We’ve yet to see any slowdown or frame rate issues in this mode, and while some have reported odd networking hiccups, our experience so far has been pristine. Assuming you have the proper hardware we can’t recommend Tokyo Jungle enough, especially now that you can enjoy its charms anywhere in your home. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a mean old Golden Retriever to assassinate and our adorably colorful puppy boots are almost out of armor. Such is life in the ruins of Tokyo.

After two days of enraged fans complaining about the current, arguably unfinished state of developer Hammerpoint Interactive's open-world zombie title The War Z, Valve Software has pulled the game from Steam and is now offering refunds to any who purchased the title.

When Hammerpoint Interactive first announced The War Z, the open-world zombie survival game was largely seen as a corporate attempt to ape the success of DayZ, a massively popular free modification for ArmA2 (which is currently being retooled for retail release). Still, despite this cynical portrait of the game’s creation, fans of ravenous undead hordes were willing to give the title a shot. You can never have too many zombie games, right?

Unfortunately, when it debuted on Valve Software’s ubiquitous downloadable software distribution service Steam, the game was met with a chorus of protestation. Fans claimed that Hammerpoint Interactive had balatantly lied about a number of the game’s features, including the size of the game world, skills available within the game and the availability of private servers. The game’s vocal detractors claimed that the game was in an obviously unfinished state, and that the developer had been lying to everyone by stating that it was actively ready for retail release.

In turn, the developers shot back by stating that “93 percent” of its customers like the game — though it offered no real evidence to back its claims. “As soon as we’ve announced game — we’ve received our share of hate from some of the DayZ fans accusing us of just ripping off DayZ concept to make a quick money,” Hammerpoint head Sergey Titov told Kotaku. “While over time, especially after game have been launched publicly players been able to see that those two designs are pretty different, there’re still DayZ fanboys out there who just can’t accept fact that similar concept doesn’t mean being copycat… Interesting fact – only around 30% of our player base we have right now actually played DayZ. And 15% of our players never heard of DayZ before they started playing The War Z. This confirms that we’ve been able to attract new players to the survival/zombie war genre of the game.”

While we’re sure that blaming fans of a competing, preceding product seemed like a good idea at the time, Titov is likely now wishing this entire issue would simply go away. As of this morning Valve Software removed the $15 The War Z from Steam. When questioned about the decision, the company offered apologies to all users who felt betrayed by Hammerpoint.

“From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam,” Valve told Kotaku. “We apologize for this and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build. Those who purchase the game and wish to continue playing it via Steam may do so.” Further, Valve wishes to make amends and is now offering refunds via the Steam support page to any players who purchased The War Z and feel that it hasn’t lived up to the expectations created by Hammerpoint’s pre-release claims.

Given that the official website for The War Z describes the title as “the best Zombie Game you will ever play,” it’s sad to see it miss the mark by such a huge margin. Then again, it does go a long way in supporting the theory that The War Z was created as a slap-dash effort to capitalize on the success of DayZ. Of course, Sergey Titov would likely argue that point, but in the end his company’s reputation has been tarnished by these events and it seems unlikely that the satisfied 93 percent of customers he cited will be able to shift public opinion of the game back toward the positive end of the spectrum.

Shortly after Google and NORAD decided to part ways, Google announced its own app to track Santa on Christmas Eve.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has partnered with Google the past five years to help kids track Santa. This year, however, NORAD announced it would be working with Bing and Microsoft. Not one to be left in the dust, Google announced its own Santa-tracking strategy on Wednesday that will supposedly rival NORAD’s. In years past, NORAD has been the best way to track Santa, but Google hopes to change that. 

Available on Android devices, as well as online, the app goes live at 2 a.m. PST on Christmas Eve on Google Maps and Google Earth. There’s a brand new extension on Google Chrome as well. According to Eric Bidelman, a Google Chrome developer, you’ll be able to use the extension to follow the countdown to Santa’s departure before he takes off on Christmas Eve. Users can also play around with Santa’s blimp, elf bus, and write message on a frosty browser window. 

“While we’ve been tracking Santa since 2004 with Google Earth, this year a team of dedicated Google Maps engineers built a new route algorithm to chart Santa’s journey around the world on Christmas Eve,” Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth, said in an Official Google Blog post. “On his sleigh, arguably the fastest airborne vehicle in the world, Santa whips from city to city delivering presents to millions of homes.”

Google Maps will also be posting updates on Santa’s location on its Google+, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. 

Nintendo TVii hits the Wii U on Thursday, unifying some of the console's entertainment apps and live television into a single service. Given the shaky performance of the Wii U's operating system and apps so far, though, is Nintendo's system seller ready?

Fire up those Wii U’s and get ready to enjoy another major system update, Nintendo fans. The House of Mario will deliver another upgrade to its latest home console on Thursday, but rather than a humdrum update that only strengthens firmware stability this update will introduce one of the Wii U’s signature apps. Nintendo TVii will be available for download free of charge starting Thursday, December 20.

“You’ll never look at your TV the same way again,” boasts Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime in the company’s press release, “Wii U owners have already experienced the transformative effect that the GamePad has on gameplay and social interaction. Nintendo TVii shows how the integrated second screen of the GamePad can also transform and enhance the TV viewing experience.”

It hasn’t been clear precisely how Nintendo TVii will enhance watching television, though. Nintendo first demoed the app during a presentation in September, showing how the app would integrate a Wii U owner’s Hulu Plus, Netflix, and even live television subscriptions into one menu. He example given then was how, if someone wanted to watch the ABC show Modern Family, searching it on Nintendo TVii would show viewing options on Hulu, ABC’s website, and live television simultaneously. Users could set up personalized accounts built around the shows they like, their own library of TiVo recorded programming, and even let them make comments about the shows on Miiverse, Nintendo’s social network, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

Only some of these features will be available this week, though. Netflix won’t be integrated into Nintendo TVii until later in 2013. TiVo support has also been delayed into next year, and Nintendo hasn’t been forthcoming about future support for other DVR services. The company name dropped Comcast cable as a live television format that’s supported by Nintendo TVii, but not Comcast’s DVR or on-demand services.

A limited feature set isn’t the only challenge facing Nintendo TVii. The app’s feature set is appealing in theory, but it won’t be clear until its available whether or not it suffers from the same sluggish performance problems that plague Nintendo’s other entertainment apps, not to mention the Wii U operating system. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has already publicly apologized for the Wii U’s poor functionality out of the box. If Nintendo TVii is going to be the system-selling application Nintendo wants to be, it has to work a whole lot better than the console’s other features.

Evernote launched its brand new, rebuilt Food 2.0 app that's now a pocket-sized, all-in-one tool for amateur critics and cooks like.

Evernote Food has released a new update that’s full features to aid you in your quest to become master critic of restaurants around the globe.

Evernote Food’s first iOS app allowed users capture the afterthoughts of a meal in a section called “My Meals,” but at the time that was the only feature available on the app. What Evernote says was sorely missing from the app was “inspiration,” or a way to help users find and try out new recipes for themselves or find a new restaurant. Thus, Evernote has overhauled its iOS app, which starting today includes the introduction of Evernote Food’s first iPad app.

Evernote is calling the update Evernote Food 2.0, and with new features like saving recipes, discovering new restaurants, and adding extra metadata to the places you eat at.

We got an early look at the new Evernote Food, and off the bat you’ll be glad to know that its iPhone app takes after Evernote’s own native app. The file-like tab interface that was heralded with the redesigned Evernote redesign last month undoubtedly inspired Evernote Food’s design, which makes for an app that’s a cinche to navigate.

There are four different tabs now – three more have been added since Evernote Food 1.0:

My Meals

Originally My Meals was the lone core feature that Evernote Food 1.0 sported since its inception last year. This tab has been given a face lift to make way for cleaner and crisper navigation. Everything from Evernote Food 1.0 remains in 2.0. You can add the location of the restaurant, take pictures, and add tags and notes. The update however takes the features a step further: Any data that you add to capture the memory of your meal will be used to later to help you find other types of similar meals that you’ve eaten in the past. So if you open up a meal that you’ve eaten, you’ll see a section titled, “Related Notes,” which uses“relatedness” criteria including cuisine, ingredients, titles, and other data.

Restaurants

Foursquare isn’t the only one in the mobile restaurant discovery sector. Albeit a very stripped down version of a venue discovery feature, the “Restaurants” tab helps its users to find new types of restaurants based on certain keywords and the location, much like what Foursquare used to look like when it just started pivoting to becoming a social venue discovery app. Evernote Food users can save restaurants, which can be used as a restaurant-to-do list, or view your history of the places where you’ve already eaten and recorded on Evernote Food.

My Cookbook

Half of Evernote Food is catered toward the critics and eaters, while the other half best suits the amateur (or professional) chefs among us. Starting with “My Cookbook,” you’ll find all of the recipes that you’ve saved using Evernote’s Web Clipper and Evernote Food. Evernote wants this section to be your all-in-one virtual cookbook companion, and everything you need to help make that happen really is in this tab. A neat feature about Evernote Food in My Cookbook is the app’s ability to distinguish recipe from all other types of notes that you have saved on Evernote’s native and desktop app. So if you’ve got your work notes, to-do-list, and other types of documents stashed together with recipes, Evernote Food will be able to recognize the recipes automatically and store it in the Cookbook section. And if you’re looking to hop on over to the grocery store, you’ll be glad to know that the app automatically syncs everything you’ve saved so you can grab your iPhone and shop for the necessary ingredients.

Explore Recipes

The final section is Explore Recipes, which can be used to search and discover new recipes published by bloggers from around the Web. If you click on a recipe here, you’ll be directed to the corresponding blog’s website. Users can “clip” their favorite recipes from here and save them to their Cookbook for later perusal.

Evernote is building a one-app-fits-all mobile toolkit that will undoubtedly please foodies. 

For the tablet users among us, you can check out a video of Evernote Food’s new iPad app in action below:

When the sequel to X-Men: First Class hits theaters the world's most lovable adamantium-clawed antihero will once again be portrayed by Hugh Jackman.

Over the past decade of films based on Marvel Comics’ superheroes, there’s been one constant that we’ve come to rely on: Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. Through good films (X2) and bad (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) Jackman has been the cornerstone of the cinematic team of mutants, and though X-Men: First Class and its imminent sequel largely ignore the X-Men films that preceded them it seems that 20th Century Fox just can’t imagine a better actor to portray the scrappy Canadian known alternately as Logan, Wolverine and Weapon X.

X-Men: Days of Future Past director Bryan Singer confirmed Jackman’s inclusion in the film’s cast via Twitter last night. “I would officially like to welcome @RealHughJackman to the cast of  # XmenDays of Future Past. Very excited! More to come…” Singer wrote.

While Singer offered no further information on Jackman’s character or how he would be used in the film, this makes perfect sense. Jackman will be appearing as Wolverine in director James Mangold’s upcoming The Wolverine, a film that explores the character’s backstory, specifically the extended period of time he spent in Japan, learning the code of the samurai and stabbing a frankly massive number of ninjas with his shiny metal claws. In keeping with Marvel Comics tradition, Fox has always made a notable effort to tie their comic book films together, so Jackman’s ongoing portrayal of Wolverine in the Marvel cinematic universe provides viewers with a sense of familiarity. Plus, Jackman has been quite good in the role since he first popped his claws in 2000′s X-Men.

Those of you who fondly remember the unexpectedly excellent X-Men: First Class will recall that Jackman did play a role in that film, albeit a short cameo. As the sequel is based on the X-Men: Days of Future Past storyline, a comic book tale that heavily features a futuristic incarnation of Wolverine, it’s probably safe to assume that Jackman’s role will be greatly expanded. Whether the film will include an homage to the iconic image of Wolverine’s metal skeleton floating in a vat of nutrients remains to be seen, but we’d like to assume that Singer would realize the importance of that scene, and make every effort to include it as an indicator of how dark the film’s future timeline has become. Futher, we’re willing to award Singer double points if he also includes the scene where the elderly iteration of Wolverine is vaporized by a giant Sentinel robot.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is scheduled to hit theaters at some point during 2014, most likely in the Summer. As a result you can probably expect a slow trickle of specific plot details to emerge over the course of the next year and a half. Given the objective quality of X-Men: First Class and the number of returning cast members (including Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence), all indications to date seem to suggest that X-Men: Days of Future Past will be a quality film, and for Singer’s sake we hope so. The comic book source material is one of the most beloved story lines in Marvel Comics history, and if Singer delivers anything less than an excellent adventure he’s undoubtedly going to be savaged by rabid comic book geeks.

Still need a couple extra gifts to wrap up your holiday shopping? Here are five techie stocking-stuffer-sized gifts for the computer geek in your life.

It’s that time of year again. If you’ve already taken care of the bigger ticket items on your shopping list, the next step is to get down to the smaller, stocking-sized gifts to add a little extra delight to your Christmas, belated-Chanukah, or Festivus. You may be wondering what to give the computer geek in your life, but no need to fret. Grab a stocking and stuff it with these five gifts that will surely please the techie in your family.

Funky flash drive

What computer geek wouldn’t love a fun flash drive in their stocking? After all, you can never have too much data storage, right? We’re especially fond of the MIMOBOT designer USB flash drives. These whimsical devices are designed in the likeness of characters from Star Wars, DC Universe, Hello Kitty, Transformers, and more. That said, a MIMOBOT drive is more than “just looks.” These high-quality USB flash drives range in size from 8GB to 32GB, and come with unique content such as screensavers and wallpaper. Drives range from $20 to $70, depending on the capacity.

Of note, if you’re on the West Coast, it’s a bit too late to receive these on time for Christmas, but those on the East Coast can still order by today to receive it in time for Christmas. Check out the shipping dates for more info.

Handy computer mouse

A mouse is always a welcome gift for hardcore computer users. After all, even if the mouse is not needed right away, it’s always nice to have a spare on hand in the dreaded event that one stops working. Not sure which mouse to get for your loved one? Try the Manhattan Stealth Touch Mouse ($45 at Best Buy), the Microsoft Sculpt Touch Mouse ($30 at Amazon), or if you want something with a unique design, check out the Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 Studio Series Artist Edition ($25 at Amazon).

High-Quality Compact Speakers

Want to really make the recipient of your gift happy? Consider buying them a set of compact computer speakers. After all, let’s face it; the ones that come pre-packaged with computers are often woefully inadequate when it comes to sound quality. One great option is the Edifier MP250 Sound To Go All-in-One Micro Speaker ($51 at Amazon). If you are on a smaller budget, the Sony SRS-A3 External PC Speakers offer excellent audio sound for just $30 (and free shipping).

Fashionable Key Caps

If you want to really wow that computer geek on your list, you should definitely consider buying key caps that instantly jazz up laptop keyboards. One notable product is the classy-looking cherry wood keypads from Lazerwood. Cut precisely to fit upon your keys without inhibiting their function, the wood pieces are lined with a thin adhesive back that firmly holds to the keys. Easy to apply and to remove, these key caps add a unique and sophisticated look to any MacBook Pro. The keys are compatible with any MacBook Pro model after 2008.

iTunes gift card

Looking for a stocking stuffer that will certainly please any technophile?  Buy an iTunes Gift Card. Available in a variety of amounts, from $15 to $100, iTunes gift cards can be used to download apps, music, movies, TV shows, and more. Truly something for everyone!

Do you have a favorite stocking stuffer for the computer geek in your life? Let us know in the comments below.

Capcom has had to downgrade its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending in March due to the disappointing sales of Resident Evil 6. The sequel is just the most recent in a string of high profile failures for a company in dire need of renewal.

Not for the first time and likely not for the last time, Capcom has had to downgrade its financial forecast for the financial year that ends on March 31, 2013. The delay of Monster Hunter 4, the latest sequel in the evergreen role-playing game that’s kept Capcom’s domestic business in Japan so healthy over the last decade, is in part responsible for the company’s downgraded expectations, but it wasn’t the primary offender. Resident Evil 6 is the real reason behind Capcom’s lowered expectations.

“Sales of the major new title Resident Evil 6 were initially strong, but subsequently weakened,” reads Capcom’s advisory to investors, “As a result, sales for this title are certain to fall short of the plan.”

Capcom’s expectations for Resident Evil 6 were certainly ambitious. At the beginning of the fiscal year, Capcom expected the latest entry in its long-running horror series to sell 7 million copies, more than three times the sales expectations for its closest expected bestseller, DmC: Devil May Cry. The expectation wasn’t unwarranted, however. Resident Evil 5 sold 5 million copies during its first two months of availability in 2009, a sell-through rate of 100 percent of the companies first shipment of the game.

Capcom crowed that it had shipped 4.5 million copies of Resident Evil 6 in October, but from the sound of things the company has struggled to translate those sales to retail outlets into actual game sales.

The publisher has over-promised and under-delivered on global sales forecasts in the past. In fiscal 2010, Capcom predicted that it would sell 2.2 million copies of Lost Planet 2, but the game sold so poorly that it was forced to downgrade its profit forecast by 41 percent. The year before, Capcom’s financial performance predicted 1.5 million in sales for Bionic Commando and 2 million copies for Dark Void, which in reality sold just 700,000 and 520,000 copies as a result. Capcom blamed the performance of those titles on handing new intellectual properties to Western developers (GRIN and Airtight Games respectively), swearing that only established franchises would be developed by non-Capcom studios in the future.

The risks of releasing didn’t damn those games, though. Resident Evil 6 is a sequel to one of the most successful franchises in video game history. Capcom needs to recognize that its every one of its major failures in recent years was caused by marketing-focused development. Capcom shifted away from taking creative risks like funding internal studios like Clover (Viewtiful Joe, Okami) during the past console generation and invested instead in trying to cater to establish tastes. As a result it drove away its best creators and was left with half-baked sequels to moldering IPs. It’s maintained a stable domestic business in Japan with portable games like Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney, but its international business continues to decline.

Capcom’s current plans are to expand even further into the international market. That’s all well and good, but unless Capcom can recapture the creative spirit that defined the company in the years before this console generation, it will continue to watch its games fail, just like Resident Evil 6.

Electronic Arts and Maxis explained that the new SimCity would need a persistent Internet connection almost immediately after the game was announced, but it's only now becoming clear how restrictive that will be.

Electronic Arts said from the start that SimCity, the upcoming sequel to Will Wright’s seminal city building game, needs a persistent Internet connection to play. With just months to go before the game’s spring release, though, it’s becoming clearer just how stringent that online connection will be. Developer Maxis has confirmed that players won’t even be able to save their game without being connected to the developer’s servers.

Members of SimCity’s development team engaged in a question and answer session about the game on Reddit last Sunday. One player concerned about the connection restrictions asked what would happen if they abruptly lost their connection mid-game. “What will happen to the game if I am playing and lose my Internet connection—Will the game still be playable and update the servers when my Internet connection resumes or will it pause and wait for the connection?” asked Reddit user human-error.

Maxis responded that players who lose their connection mid-game will be allowed “to play for as long as we can preserve your game state” a period that will “likely be minutes.”

Put another way, if a user is playing SimCity using an unstable web connection, they are at risk from losing progress in the game simply because their connection dropped out.

In March, Maxis’ Stone Librande said that SimCity needed a constant Internet connection due to multiplayer features of the game, in particular the global Sim economy that reflects every player’s city. The rigid nature of the persistent connection, to the extent that the game can’t be saved if the player loses their Internet connection, suggests that EA is also trying to prevent SimCity from being pirated.

Piracy is no laughing matter for Electronic Arts. To put things in perspective: The video game industry generated $50 billion in revenue worldwide in 2011. PC gaming in particular was responsible for a significant chunk of that revenue, more than $18 billion to be precise. Electronic Arts is a leader in the field, developing games to pull revenue from both the console and PC space. Battlefield 3, Crysis 3, Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age III—Most of its marquee titles are meant for both the living room and the PC monitor gamer.

SimCity on the other hand is a PC-only title, and even though sales are expected to be good, Electronic Arts doesn’t want any revenue to slip through the cracks. A Cowen & Company analyst pegs SimCity’s retail sales at around 500,000 copies this spring in addition to digital sales through EA’s Origin and other outlets like Steam. If EA isn’t careful, though, it will alienate players enough with these restrictions that they’ll simply seek out readily available older editions of SimCity to play, meaning less revenue for EA in the short term and a missed opportunity to re-establish a major PC brand.