Microsoft's E3 Xbox stage.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

CNET conducted a poll earlier this week asking readers which company–Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony–had the most impressive announcements at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.

More than 10,000 people responded. More than 51.9 percent of the respondents stated Microsoft bested its competitors. Thirty-four percent of those who answered the poll stated Sony had the best announcements. Nintendo finished last, with just 5.6 percent of respondents saying it had the best E3. Ironically, the fourth option–”None of them–they were all yawners”–beat out Nintendo, with 8.4 percent of the vote.

It’s a well-deserved victory for Microsoft. At this year’s event, the company announced a new, expanded Xbox Live offering for the console, including a new video store with 1080p content. The Xbox 360 will also sport Facebook and Twitter integration.

Those announcements, however, paled in comparison to what came next. Microsoft will be offering full-game downloads on Xbox Live. On top of that, Halo:ODST, Left4Dead 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Forza Motorsport 3 will all be exclusive on the console. And in what might have shaken Sony’s world more than any other announcement, Hideo Kojima took the stage, announcing that he is bringing his wildly popular Metal Gear Solid series to the Xbox 360 with Metal Gear Solid Rising.

All that’s great. But Microsoft’s biggest announcement was Project Natal. Taking Nintendo’s motion control to a whole new level, Project Natal allows you to control on-screen action without a controller. It senses motion, sound, and 3D movement. Want to throw a pitch? Move your arm like a pitcher, and the game will throw the ball. Want to kick a soccer ball? Swing your foot forward, and the Xbox 360 will take care of the rest. It’s like the Wiimote, but without the controller–and cooler.

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source The Digital Home

Ah, the good ol' days of Tetris.

(Credit: The Tetris Company)

On Saturday, Tetris, the famous falling-blocks puzzle game, turns 25.

Tetris was created by Russian programmer Alexey Pajitnov in June 1984. He’d an immense love for puzzles, and he felt compelled to create a game that granted players to arrange distinctive puzzle pieces along the bottom of a field or “matrix.” Pajitnov selected the name Tetris by combining the words “tetromino” and “tennis.”

The game was first made available on the IBM computer. It swiftly enjoyed popularity and was ported to a variety of other platforms. In 1987, it became a major hit in the United States.

But it wasn’t until Nintendo released its version of Tetris for the Game Boy in 1989 that Tetris reached critical mass. According to The Tetris Co., the Game Boy version of Tetris sold more than 35 million duplicates.

Pajitnov made very tiny money from his popular game during that time. Prior to the release of Tetris on the Game Boy, a series of legal disputes ensued over who really owned Tetris. Atari Games, the former Soviet Union government, and Nintendo all fought in court over the rights to the title.

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source The Digital Home