Infinity Blade

According to a new survey released by market research firm Interpret, one-time fans of portable gaming systems like the DS and PSP are ditching them in favor of smartphones like Apple's iPhone.

The news comes amid heightened rumors that Sony, and its joint mobile phone venture Sony Ericcson, is about to unveil an Android-based smartphone that'll integrate PSP game functionality.

"Gamers appear to be defecting from their handheld gaming devices to phones to
get their gaming kicks," says Interpret's report, which polled 9,000
U.S. consumers. "A full 27.2% of consumers who indicate that they play
games on their phones only (and not on the DS/PSP) actually own a DS or PSP, but do not actively

In this photo taken Dec. 7, 2010, Kelly Rummelhart and her son, Sawyer, 4, who unwittingly racked up nearly $70 in purchases on 'The Smurf's Village' game he played on her IPad, are seen in their home in Gridley, Calif.… Read more » - (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) NEW YORK - "The Smurfs' Village," a game for the iPhone and other Apple gadgets, was released a month ago and quickly became the highest-grossing application in the iTunes store. Yet it's free to download.

So where does the money come from? Kelly Rummelhart of Gridley, Calif., has part of the answer. Her 4-year-old son was using her iPad to play the game and racked up $66.88 in charges on her credit card without knowing what he was doing.

Rummelhart had no idea that it was possible to buy things - buy them with real money - inside the game. In this case, her son bought one bushel and 11 buckets of "Smurfberries," tokens that speed up gameplay.

"Really, my biggest concern was them

Try the free Tron Light Cycle webgame! >>

It seems everyone and their mother has recorded a kooky
version of the Super Mario Bros. theme song (on Tesla Coils, beatbox flute, two guitars, and even while blindfolded), but
few have tackled the awesome but obscure 'Song of Healing' from the N64 great
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

And no one has done it with as much style as wine glass
expert -- and clever filmmaker -- Sp0ntanious, who absolutely knocks it out of
the park:

Not sure what's more impressive: the actual playing of the
wine glasses, or the part where he adds/subtracts water from the glasses and
moves them around the screen. Or the fact that he chose the 'Song of Healing'
in the first place. Though Zelda nerds will

Competition could mean slimmer pickings for this guy TOKYO (Reuters) - Nintendo faces a tough battle to boost growth as rivals snatch the lead in motion-controlled gaming from the long-time world-beater, just as competition from smartphones and tablets batters
the handheld market.

Microsoft and Sony are enticing casual and core gamers with a new generation of console accessories, while Apple's iPad is flying off the
shelves.

Nintendo, which means "Leave luck to heaven," is the only major
player in the pre-holiday rush without a significant new hardware
product.

The company is betting on a glasses-free 3D-capable handheld game
player, the 3DS, to be launched in late February in Japan and in March
in the United States, but it no longer has the

Leading game publisher Ubisoft doesn't take piracy lightly.

Or quietly.

Anyone foolish enough to play an illegally pirated copy of
the company's newly released dance game, Michael Jackson: The Experience on the
Nintendo DS, will get a rude awakening, vuvuzela-style. Not only will the game
be unplayable, but the user will be greeted with the same droning horns that
drove soccer fans bonkers at the South African World Cup matches this past summer.

Behold the blaring footage as posted by Youtube user ctkxtreme:

Apparently, that's what happens when you pause the game.
Kind of catchy, actually, though I keep waiting for "Billie Jean" to
kick in.

[See also: Is Kinect the new Wii this holiday

Cataclysm: new races

Normal practice, when releasing an expansion for an online role-playing game, is to target it at veteran players, giving them new lands to explore, harder enemies to defeat, and new challenges to face -- and to steer
clear of messing too much with established world traditions.

But World of Warcraft isn't exactly a normal online role-playing game. And
its third expansion pack, Cataclysm, isn't a run-of-the-mill set of new
content, like prior expansions Wrath of the Lich King and Burning
Crusade. Instead, it unleashes an ancient evil upon the game's familiar
world -- largely unchanged for the six years since its launch --
shattering it beyond recognition.

Talk about a bold move. Boasting

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The new Lara Croft Lara Croft is, in some ways, the gaming equivalent of the Mustang. At her core, she rarely changes, but that doesn't stop fans from
getting all worked up when she gets a new look.

Square-Enix is hoping to shake things up in a more dramatic fashion with the series' next installment, dubbed simply "Tomb
Raider."

As always, Lara will have a slightly different appearance
(though almost certainly as curvaceous and prone to wearing skintight, skimpy
outfits), but this time we'll learn a bit more about how she became the icon
she is today.

"After a brutal storm destroys the boat she was
traveling on, a frightened young woman is left washed ashore on an unknown
beach. On her own but not