How iPads are revolutionising social games

Tablet games such as Slamjet Stadium show us laughter can help overcome complex rule systems and open up multiplayer"Rule-breaking is creative," Alistair Aitcheson says in his presentation to the audience at GameHorizon. "Laughter trumps fairness." It's this theory of schadenfreude he has come to the conference to discuss: how pitting us against each other can strengthen friendships, and brin

Starcraft II and the bad boy of pro-gaming

The short and sharp career of Greg 'Idra' Fields, videogaming genius and part-time offensive loutOne day videogames will be an Olympic event. The games that will be played probably don't exist yet, but their predecessors do – and prime among them is Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft II.This strategy game is one of the major factors behind the rising global popularity of competitive videog

UK top 20 video games chart

Metro: Last Light nukes the opposition, knocking Dead Island: Riptide off the top spotUKIE Games Charts © compiled by GfK Chart-Track*Games*Xbox*Wii*PlayStationguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Xbox 720: five key points about Microsoft's new generation

Microsoft is unveiling its new console in Seattle on Tuesday. So what can we expect from the long-awaited Xbox 360 successor?Sony's cards are on the table, now it's Microsoft's turn to show its hand. After the controversial introduction of the PlayStation 4 in February, Tuesday will see the unveiling of the next Xbox machine, which still doesn't have a name – although Infinity is a frontrunne

Press Start: EA has no Wii U games, Activision market share grows, and more

Plus, how console is still a big deal in the global games market, the rise of 'neuro-gaming' and Nintendo's forthcoming announcementsA selection of links, hand-picked by the Guardian games writers.EA Has No Games in Development For Nintendo's Wii U | KotakuLess than two years after vowing to deliver on an "unprecedented partnership" with Nintendo, gaming giant EA is quiet on the Wii U fr

Chatterbox: Monday

The place to talk about games and other things that matterHey, Monday, when did you get here?*GamesKeith Stuartguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Metro: Last Light – review

A post-apocalyptic Moscow metro system is a great setting for some serious gunplayThe original Metro 2033 was a sleeper hit, earning praise for its sharp blend of tense, post-apocalyptic terror and superb action long after its release. No surprise though, as the Metro games are far deeper than even hardened players might expect from a first-person shooter.Based on the novels of Russian aut

Persona 4 Arena – review

This Japanese 2D fighting game sequel is very different from its predecessor but just as impressive_Persona 4 Arena's_ brand of 2D fighting is, at first glance, a far cry from its brilliant RPG forebear. Once players spend time with this intricately balanced and beautifully animated beat-'em-up though, they will discover it is every bit as deep and involving as its predecessor._Arena_ sees

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move – review

The fifth instalment of the series brings path-building puzzles galore, if you can stand the fiddly bitsNintendo has created something of a stealth franchise with the _Mario vs Donkey Kong_ series – this is, almost unbelievably, the fifth entry. _Minis on the Move_ shifts attention away from puzzle-platforming to the path-building brainteaser.Essentially an inverted tower-defence game, cle

Moshi Monsters' founder: the shift to mobile caught us by surprise

With a dip in desktop users, Moshi is racing to keep kids entertained on tablets and mobiles. By Jemima KissLondon-based Mind Candy was stalling five years ago, but took a punt on an idea for a social networking game site for children.By 2013, the children's game network had become ubiquitous at every supermarket checkout and at every toy store - a runaway brand extension success.Founde

The Realm, Kickstarter and the joy and fear of game development

Atomhawk is a UK art studio currently Kickstarting the beautiful adventure game, The Realm. Here, studio director Cumron Ashtiani tells us about the process and offers advice to developers considering the crowd-funding gambleNow reaching the end of its Kickstarter appeal, Atomhawk's The Realm, is a visually stunning adventure game, set in a future England now re-taken by nature. A young girl

Writing is history? How video is changing games journalism

With E3 rapidly approaching, how is video reporting evolving the concept of industry coverage? And what are the new possibilities beyond developer interviews and trailers?There's this observation I keep boring other journalists with at the moment. When I went to my first E3 in 2000, magazines were still the dominant format for games coverage. Sure, there were websites emerging, but they were

Jemima Kiss discovers TuneIn app, a gateway to the world’s radio stations

On this week's edition Guardian digital correspondent Jemima Kiss talks to Kristin George from TuneIn about their app that is fast becoming the portal to the world's radio and on-demand audio and why they are excited about streaming the New Orleans Jazz fest live and becoming the default audio player for leading car manufacturers.Moshi Monsters is a sensation with kids around the world and at

Chatterbox: Friday

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt's Friday.*GamesKeith Stuartguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Apple sells 50 billionth app

From Angry Birds to Summly, smartphones and tablets have accelerated a huge business that began just five years agoNobody knows which was the first app to be downloaded from Apple's iPhone App Store on 11 July 2008, but the total number of downloads passed 50bn on Wednesday, signifying the rapid growth of a business created by the explosive spread of smartphones over the past five years.Th

Chatterbox: Thursday

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt's Thursday.*GamesKeith Stuartguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Gran Turismo 6 - video

Sony has announced the latest title in the 70-million selling Gran Turismo series – and here's the enticing trailer

Gran Turismo 6 announced for PS3 this autum

Sony has revealed details of its latest Gran Turismo instalment during an event at Silverstone. 1200 cars set to feature as well as 33 circuitsSony has officially announced Gran Turismo 6, the latest title in the company's long-running and hugely successful driving simulation series. During an event held at Silverstone on Wednesday, Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of the series and CEO of deve

Top 10 games that should be movies – and their ideal directors

John Carpenter says he'd love to adapt the survival horror title – and surely there's room for Skyrim, Far Cry or Uncharted"I would love to make Dead Space, I'll tell you that right now," said John Carpenter last week, adding the celebrated director, expert moustache cultivator and avid gamer to the the swelling ranks of reputable film-makers (ie those whose names aren't spelled "Paul WS Ande

Chatterbox: Wednesday

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt's Wednesday.*GamesKeith Stuartguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Star Trek – review

Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Namco Bandai, cert: 16, out nowCarving out a niche for itself between the two blockbuster movies, _Star Trek_ follows up on the fate of the vagabond Vulcans, now missing one home planet, while reintroducing the reptillian Gorn aliens into the rebooted canon.The game benefits from voicing by the films' cast and from their likenesses, but that, sadly, is where the praise e

Puzzle & Dragons made $113m in April as developer GungHo's market cap rivals Nintendo's

Japanese firm's puzzle-RPG is generating $3.8m of daily revenues and putting rivals in the shadeFinnish developer Supercell made waves in the mobile games industry in April when it claimed its Hay Day and Clash of Clans games made $179m of revenues in the first quarter of 2013.Now even that achievement has been put in the shade by Japanese developer GungHo, whose Puzzle & Dragons mobile ga

Guacamelee – review

PS3 PS Vita; Drinkbox; £10Remember Super Metroid? Indie developer Drinkbox certainly does, but with their latest PSN title they've decided that what Nintendo's classic really needed was fewer bounty hunters and space pirates, and a whole lot more sombreros.Guacamelee follows the adventures of barrel-chested agave farmer Juan as he attempts to rescue the daughter of "El Presidente" from the

Press Start: Bioshock Infinite sells 3.7m, Danny Bilson on the fall of THQ and more

Plus, Cliff Bleszinski on next-gen and the similarity between voting and freedom in gamesA selection of links, hand-picked by the Guardian games writers.Bioshock Infinite hits 3.7 million sales | GamesIndustry.bizIn an investor conference call today, Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick announced that BioShock Infinite shipped 3.7 million units to date, with Borderlands 2 moving mor

Chatterbox: Tuesday

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt's Tuesday.*GamesKeith Stuartguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

UK top 20 video games chart

Dead Island: Riptide holds on to the top spot for a third week, as The Walking Dead boxed version debuts at number nineUKIE Games Charts© compiled by GfK Chart-Track*Games*Xbox*PlayStation*Wiiguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Chatterbox: Monday

The place to talk about games and other things that matterAh, it's Monday again. How was your weekend?*GamesKeith Stuartguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Mars: War Logs – review

PC, Focus Interactive, cert: 16Launched with little fanfare, _Mars: War Logs_ is big on ideas and ambition. Sadly, though, those ambitions are outstripped by an inability to make good on them. Which is disappointing, since what's here has all the makings of a great RPG. Despite casting players into another civil war on the red planet – something of a cliche now – its lore is well developed, w

Star Command – review

iOSStar Command (War Balloon, iOS, £1.50) owes a great deal to a certain space-bound TV and film franchise, so the timing of its release doesn't seem altogether an accident on the part of the developers.It's a game of two parts – _Star Command_ involves building and equipping an intergalactic vessel, and filling it with crew members. The staff wear vaguely familiar red, yellow and blue tun

Persona 4 Arena – review

Xbox 360, PS3, Zen United, cert: 12_Persona 4 Arena_'s brand of 2D fighting is, at first glance, a far cry from its brilliant RPG forebear. Once players spend time with this intricately balanced and beautifully animated beat 'em up, though, they'll discover it's every bit as involving as its predecessor. _Arena_'s incredibly deep story mode sees lead Yu Narukami drawn into another mystery in