Atari 2600 35 Years Later

it launched in the U.S. in October 1977 -- and 35 years is a long, long time.And while Atari supported the 2600 into the '90s, for most consumers the system's life effectively crashed to an anticlimactic end in 1983 when Warner (who owned Atari at the time) reported that its games division had overextended itself and lost billions of dollars. The U.S. video game industry reeled from those losses and didn't recover until Nintendo performed triage a few years later with the NES -- the system that a large percentage of 1UP readers regard as their entry into the medium.

The simple fact is that 35 years is a long time in video game terms, and while the average age of gamers continues to rise, today's "core" gamer tends to have gotten into gaming well after the 2600's heyday. Many contemporary game fanatics, weaned on post-PlayStation 3D visuals, can barely stomach the comparatively primitive visuals of NES and Genesis games; for them, Atari 2600's minimalist blocks and bleeps are so far removed from their expectations for video games that they may as well be cave paintings.

And yet, regressive as the 2600 may appear to the modern eye, video games would exist as they do today without the influence of that console. The 2600 didn't really do anything first, but it did it better, and it created an industry in the process. The 2600 helped transform games from a novel amusement into a creative medium: A financial juggernaut. And while the system had its failings, both technical and corporate, it taught its successors both what to do and what not to do. And for millions of kids -- now grown adults who perhaps no longer respond to Internet solicitations for their memories of video games -- it opened a world of imagination, entertainment, and even addiction.

Maybe most gamers don't see Atari 2600 as the baseline of video games the way they did back in the NES and even PlayStation days, but the system's impact has in no way diminished over time. The 2600 remains as important today as it was in the days when it ruled the living room and school kids replaced "a partridge in a pear tree" with "a cartridge for Atari" when they sang "The 12 Days of Christmas."by 1up

Microsoft compares Next Halo to Call of Duty

Gamers have long drawn comparisons between chart-topping shooter franchises Halo and Call of Duty, but now Microsoft has commented on the similarities. Speaking to GameSpot, Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor said such comparisons are "reasonable," Halo 4's new loadout system. Ultimately, though, he said Halo is different than Call of Duty because it does not favor the player with the "bigger gun."
"Halo 4's loadout system frequently, and sort of appropriately, gets compared to other FPS games, including Call of Duty and others. And definitely, in terms of how much effect the progression system has on your player, that's a reasonable sort of comparison," O'Connor said.
"I think the real difference is that Halo is built on a notion of really balanced gameplay. I love Black Ops, for example, and in Black Ops I'm always trying to get to a weapon; my eyes are always on that prize. And it will be a very, very powerful weapon," O'Connor added. "Halo is really more about survival encounters, rather than getting the drop on someone or winning through having a bigger gun. And also using the things you've learned on the battlefield. So while you are able to unlock weapons and abilities that do modify your baseline traits [in Halo 4], they're, bluntly, not as powerful and not as game changing. They're about subtly and their about style ultimately."
Players will be able to decide for themselves this November. Halo 4 arrives on November 6.by eddie makuch 

No Far Cry 3 on Nintendo's Wii U

Following the publication of this story, a Ubisoft representative confirmed to GameSpot that Far Cry 3 will not be available for the Wii U because the system was not considered at the onset of development.
"We will not be releasing Far Cry 3 on Wii U," reads a line from the statement. "The game has been in development for more than two years and at the time Wii U had not been considered."

Far Cry 3 is the latest AAA title to skip the Wii U. An Ubisoft representative has told CVG that Ubisoft's December-dated first-person shooter is not planned for Nintendo's first high-definition console

Ubisoft did not provide the site a rationale as to why Far Cry 3 is bypassing the Wii U, and the company had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment at press time.
Ubisoft is one of Nintendo's most prolific partners for the Wii U at launch. The French publisher is bringing a host of games to the console, including Assassin's Creed III, ZombiU, Just Dance 4, Rayman Legends, Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth, and Rabbids Land.
Other big-name games skipping the Wii U include Resident Evil 6 and Dead Space 3. Additionally, just last week, Fallout and Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda said it presently has no plans for the Wii U.
The Wii U is due out on November 18 in North America beginning at $299.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Top Selling Console

Fears of video games sales slumping due to the lack of new consoles, Microsoft’s (MSFT) seven-year-old Xbox 360 continues to be the No.1 selling console in the U.S. for the 20th consecutive month, according to NPD Group. The data reveals 193,000 Xbox 360 systems were sold in August giving Microsoft’s console a lofty 48% share of the U.S. console gaming market. In addition to holding the top spot for hardware, five out of the top-10 selling games in the U.S. last month were Xbox 360 titles: Call of Duty: Black Ops, Darksiders II, NCAA Football 13, Sleeping Dogs, and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. NPD gathers that retail spending on the Xbox 360 topped out at $196 million and expects this holiday’s strong lineup of titles including Halo 4, Forza Horizon, Dance Central 3, Fable: The Journey, Kinect Sesame Street TV, Kinect Nat Geo TV and enhancement features such as SmartGlass to keep the Xbox 360 as the frontrunner for the current console generation.