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On this week’s podcast: Miguel Helft on Google’s victory over Viacom, family-friendly online multiplayer gaming and a look at new headphones.

On this week’s podcast: Miguel Helft on Google’s victory over Viacom, family-friendly online multiplayer gaming and a look at new headphones.

On this week’s podcast: Miguel Helft on Google’s victory over Viacom, family-friendly online multiplayer gaming and a look at new headphones.

Studio Ghibili, the popular Japanese animator, is going to try to make video games.

Should kids be allowed some freedom to experiment with things on their own and understand what’s right or wrong?

Youtube videos of talented artists mixed with nostalgic elements continue to entertain.

In November, Xbox users will be able to throw away their controllers and rely on Kinect and their bodies to have avatars move around the screen.

In November, Xbox users will be able to throw away their controllers and rely on Kinect and their bodies to have avatars move around the screen.

In November, Xbox users will be able to throw away their controllers and rely on Kinect and their bodies to have avatars move around the screen.

Today’s video games tap into who we are as people, and into the existing systems of our world. Kill Screen Magazine strives to explore these ideas of human behavior, aiming to reach a more mature demographic.

YouTube video half lives and Facebook half truths as well as Maker Faire and Googling yourself are on the reading list.

Yahoo and social games maker Zynga sign a partnership, bringing Zynga games to the Web portal.

Can we thank video games for the drop in crime?

An interesting mashup created by New York-based Honest Directors combines two very different worlds.

An Instructables member has found a practical use for an ancient video game system.

Measuring the apps market and video game use, Bill Gates on Apple and the Kindle in Target top the reading list.

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, Windows Phone 7

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

This summer, the iPhone and iPod touch will get an operating system update (iPhone OS 4.0) that will include a new service called the Game Center. The service will launch on the iPad this fall, too.

The Game Center will resemble Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network with leaderboards, matchmaking, achievements, friend lists and invitations to folks who make and play games.

Don’t brush this off as a minor item in Apple’s update notes; Steve Jobs included it as a major “tentpost” alongside multitasking and folders during the iPhone OS 4.0 announcement for a reason. It’s the biggest development in mobile gaming in several years, and we expect it will be a success with both game makers and game players.

Here are three reasons we believe the Game Center is a big deal. Do you agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments.

1. No One Has Pulled This Off Before (On Mobile)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 is the standard-bearer when it comes to social gaming services, along with its less popular Games for Windows Live network for PC gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 has the PlayStation Network, which is similar in functionality; it covers all the bases well enough but most gamers believe it’s not as well realized as Xbox Live. The popular PC game distribution service Steam (soon to hit Macs, too) also has the same features as Apple’s Game Center.

However, Game Center is likely to be the first successful service of its type on any mobile platform.

Sony’s PSP offers a watered-down version of the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Network that lacks some of those features, Nintendo’s DS lacks anything even remotely similar, and Microsoft — the current leader of online gaming services — doesn’t offer a portable gaming device yet. We say “yet” because Xbox Live integration of some kind will be a feature of the Windows Phone 7 platform that will launch later this year.

Third party networks like OpenFeint and Gameloft Live have attempted to do this on the iPhone OS before, but they only reached a small number of users. The fact that Apple’s Game Center is built into the iPhone OS 4.0 development tools will make it the de facto choice for iPhone OS game developers and players.

2. It’s Xbox Live for Mainstream Game Players

Game Center is also notable because it brings those social gaming tools to a new crowd of nontraditional and casual gamers. Microsoft has made some progress down that road itself; while Xbox Live was originally designed for hardcore competitive games like Halo, over the past couple years it has become a mainstay in family friendly casual games on the Xbox Live Arcade.

But the Xbox 360’s most significant successes are still in the realm of traditional gaming: fiercely competitive multiplayer matches, expensive and elaborate graphical presentations and complicated game play mechanics. The iPhone is home to games of both types, but it’s skewed towards titles that are light and not very time consuming; compared to the Xbox 360, it has more games like Plants and Zombies and fewer like Gears of War.

Gamers of that type aren’t as accustomed to these features. They’re more likely to play the Nintendo Wii than the Xbox 360, and the Wii’s online features are limited by comparison. We expect Game Center to be a hit with this crowd, though.

3. It Will Be Available to Small, Independent Game Makers

There’s a rigorous approval process to get a game on the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Network. Most small, garage-dwelling game developers can’t make the cut, and while the web and PCs offer independent developers ways to show off and monetize their work, there’s no unified social gaming system that they can use.

Apple’s Game Center is the first Xbox Live-like social gaming service available to any small team or individual that makes games out of passion. That means these features will be included in innovative new games from creative people who can afford to experiment. Expect surprising and fun applications and innovations that you haven’t seen on other gaming platforms.

The iPhone OS is a frontier environment where you never know what the next gaming hit will be. We’ve never seen these social features exist in a frontier like that before, so it will be interesting to see what people will do with them.

For more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: achievements, apple, gaming, gaming center, ipad, iphone, iphone os 4.0, iPod Touch, online gaming, video games, XBox live

In Patrick Jean’s latest short film, the City of New York is transformed into a pixelated nightmare, worthy of Atari and Nintendo fans everywhere

The weekly tech news podcast covers the iPad and PopCap Games executives on gaming over social networks and new platforms.

The weekly tech news podcast covers the iPad and PopCap Games executives on gaming over social networks and new platforms.

The weekly tech news podcast covers the iPad and PopCap Games executives on gaming over social networks and new platforms.

The weekly tech news podcast covers the iPad and PopCap Games executives on gaming over social networks and new platforms.

The weekly tech news podcast covers the iPad and PopCap Games executives on gaming over social networks and new platforms.

This just in from the “Strange Bedfellows” department: apparently Nintendo has enlisted the help of Google to create a Wii game where players compete to guess the most popular search terms.

The game, entitled Ando Kensaku, will be out in Japan on April 29 and won’t likely see much of a release elsewhere given its quirkiness. The screenshot above gives you an idea of the cutesy avatar style of the title, featuring 14 mini-games where several players can choose from a multiple choice search term spread.

Who knew SEO could be fodder for a casual Wii game? Anyone else have a hankering for a special Web Nerd U.S. Edition of this thing?

For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: Ando Kensaku, games, Google, Nintendo, Search, SEO, video games, Wii

This just in from the “Strange Bedfellows” department: apparently Nintendo has enlisted the help of Google to create a Wii game where players compete to guess the most popular search terms.

The game, entitled Ando Kensaku, will be out in Japan on April 29 and won’t likely see much of a release elsewhere given its quirkiness. The screenshot above gives you an idea of the cutesy avatar style of the title, featuring 14 mini-games where several players can choose from a multiple choice search term spread.

Who knew SEO could be fodder for a casual Wii game? Anyone else have a hankering for a special Web Nerd U.S. Edition of this thing?

For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

Tags: Ando Kensaku, games, Google, Nintendo, Search, SEO, video games, Wii

Fans of Aerosmith or rhythm games in general may enjoy drummer Joey Kramer’s iPhone app Hit Hard, which anyone who’s played Tap Tap Revenge will be familiar with. Similarly to the way the latter and many other rhythm games work, notes descend toward a timeline and points are scored by tapping the appropriate drums on beat with the music.

The game features five levels at increasing beats per minute (bpm), each with an easy, medium, and hard difficulty setting. The audio is comprised of original beats created and recorded by Kramer himself. Completing a level on any difficulty nets you an audio message from Joey reflecting on your performance, and after completing all the levels players can submit their scores to the High Score Contest leaderboard for a chance to win monthly prizes.

There’s also a freestyle mode (pictured above right) where you can bang the virtual skins to your heart’s content, similar to a handful of one-off instrument apps like Drum Meister. Overall Hit Hard is an easy-to-use rhythm game meets lightweight freestyle finger drum app for a reasonable $1.99, which nets Aerosmith and Joey Kramer fans a chance to compete for bragging rights and enter the monthly special prize contest.

What’s your favorite music app for the iPhone?

For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: Aerosmith, drums, games, Hit Hard, iphone, iphone apps, Mobile 2.0, music, tap tap revenge, video games

Fans of Aerosmith or rhythm games in general may enjoy drummer Joey Kramer’s iPhone app Hit Hard, which anyone who’s played Tap Tap Revenge will be familiar with. Similarly to the way the latter and many other rhythm games work, notes descend toward a timeline and points are scored by tapping the appropriate drums on beat with the music.

The game features five levels at increasing beats per minute (bpm), each with an easy, medium, and hard difficulty setting. The audio is comprised of original beats created and recorded by Kramer himself. Completing a level on any difficulty nets you an audio message from Joey reflecting on your performance, and after completing all the levels players can submit their scores to the High Score Contest leaderboard for a chance to win monthly prizes.

There’s also a freestyle mode (pictured above right) where you can bang the virtual skins to your heart’s content, similar to a handful of one-off instrument apps like Drum Meister. Overall Hit Hard is an easy-to-use rhythm game meets lightweight freestyle finger drum app for a reasonable $1.99, which nets Aerosmith and Joey Kramer fans a chance to compete for bragging rights and enter the monthly special prize contest.

What’s your favorite music app for the iPhone?

For more entertainment coverage, follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Tags: Aerosmith, drums, games, Hit Hard, iphone, iphone apps, Mobile 2.0, music, tap tap revenge, video games