Features

• Chinese developers take a bite of the Apple

  If you've ever gone to Apple's mobile app store and purchased games like High Noon, Gamebox1 or Doodletruck, then you've downloaded an app from the burgeoning Chinese software development community.

• Cloud drives speech recognition forward for Microsoft

  For years, using voice recognition technology on phones or other devices has been a novelty -- something people try once but never again, usually because it works so poorly. But recent developments, including harnessing the computational power of the cloud, have made it more usable and will make it even better in the near future, according to Microsoft.

• Apple's switch to Sandy Bridge: Impact for gamers?

  Rumors suggest that Intel's forthcoming Sandy Bridge integrated CPU/graphics platform will find its way into the lower-end range of the next generation of MacBooks. Bearing in mind Apple's cozy relationship with Intel and its habit of adopting each new generation of Intel's processors, this would make a lot of sense.

• Hacker turns Kinect for Xbox 360 into Kinect for Linux PCs

  Well, that was fast. Do-it-yourself electronics kit maker and hobby retailer Adafruit recently announced that a hacker had won the company's Open Kinect Bounty. Spain-based hacker Hector Martin Cantero, who is known online as "marcan," released a proof-of-concept video Wednesday night showing the Kinect interfacing with his Linux-based laptop.

• 10 games you probably don't know about but should

  Sometimes we can't play everything. And sometimes we're too focused on Madden NFL this or Mass Effect that, missing more-intrepid games. What's a consumer to do?

• US to ban violent video games?

  Thank God Steve Jobs isn't on the Supreme Court.

• The technology behind games development

  Despite a lack of attention in past years, the Australian games development industry is increasingly punching above its weight and is contributing more to the economic prosperity of the country than its profile would suggest. According to the Game Developers’ Association of Australia (GDAA), the industry body responsible for growing the profile of the Australian interactive game industry, the sector is a dynamic and sophisticated one driven by strong creative and management talent, advanced technology, and 30 years’ games development experience.

• The world's worst game controller fails

  When it comes to game controllers, there’s a fine line between clever and stupid. For every good step forward in controller design, there are a dozen dead ends. Some devices may work very well, but are destined for the dustbin anyway. This slideshow is dedicated to those oddball controllers that set out earn our amazement but only aroused our amusement, instead.

• New Xbox 360 in development for two years

  It's smaller, shinier, and back in black: Microsoft's new Xbox 360 took many by surprise at last month's E3.

• Google and Zynga: 5 burning questions

  Popular social games like Farmville, Mafia Wars and Fishville may soon be available to Google users, if recent rumors turn out to be accurate. Google has reportedly invested between US$100 and $200 million in the social gaming company Zynga, and the search giant plans to make Zynga a major part of a Google-branded gaming platform called Google Games.

• Nintendo 3DS: The unanswered hardware questions

  The 3D consumer electronics trend reached a boiling point today when Nintendo announced the portable 3DS gaming device, a no-glasses 3D system promising simplicity and elegance for gamers seeking a 3D experience. After getting a hands on with the new gadget at E3, there is little doubt that the era of effective and sensible 3D has finally arrived.

• E3: Microsoft's hottest games and gear--have a look

  Microsoft took the wraps off Kinect (nee Project Natal) at E3 2010, promising an experience that will "bring living rooms to life in a social and accessible way."

• Star Wars video games: A visual history

  Star Wars is the most prolific franchise in gaming history. Its games -- 88 if you include each expansion and arcade game -- appear on every console and home computer and reach into every genre, from arcade shooter to strategy games.

• The evolution of video game media

  From jumper cards to hard disks, these are the cards, cartridges, and drives that have shaped the world of gaming.

• Zynga plus Yahoo equals life after Facebook

  It looks like Zynga, the casual online games developer known for its wildly popular farm simulations, ticking off Facebook, and alleged "lead generation" scams just added another lifeline to its list of audience-expanding deals by cozying up to Yahoo.