Strategy Informer  

Microsoft's latest advertisement shows an average computer user, Jane, who wants to buy a 17' laptop. The commercial follows her as she discovers that Mac laptops are too expensive for her budget, then heads to Best Buy where she finds a PC that meets her specifications for $699.

The ad ends with Jane jumping in joy, but -understandably- Apple and its supporters are not as happy.

Business

The first details regarding Intel's upcoming Core i5 CPU has surfaced.

The Core i5 is based on a new socket design, socket LGA 1156, making them incompatible with current Core i7 X58 motherboards.

Set for release in October, the first Core i5 CPUs to hit the market will be a trio of quad-core processors and based on the Lynnfield core, using 45nm fabrication process. Core i5 CPUs support

Credit Suisse analyst, Koya Tabata, suggested that Nintendo has been able to cut the manufacturing costs of the Wii by 45 percent since its launch.

If this figure is correct, then Nintendo may be able to lower its popular console's price to stimulate demand outside of Europe and USA.

Wii is still dominating the home consoles market in the west, but it has been taking a dive in Japan for a

Electronic Arts and Crytek have announced the start of a free trial period for Crysis Wars, the multiplayer game for Crysis Warhead, the award-winning first-person shooter originally released last Autumn. Starting today, gamers can play all of Crysis Wars online for free including each of the game's three action-packed multiplayer modes and all 23 maps. The free trial period runs until Friday,

Nintendo still didn't reveal when will Wii MotionPlus hit the market, but it already is getting praised by the developers who tried it.

The latest praise comes from Thomas Singleton, producer of Electronic Arts' forthcoming Grand Slam Tennis, who was quoted saying: "It truly is giving you that one-to-one control movement of your arm motion and then mapping it directly to that one-to-one

Various sources are indicating that Midway's team of developers responsible for the company's most valued asset, the Mortal Kombat franchise, is currently in active discussions with other publishers to leave the Midway and create its own studio.

The team, comprised of around 50 developers, is said to be angered by Midway's decision not to pay them previously agreed-on Mortal Kombat vs. DC

The largest demographic in the PC gaming audience is females of age 25 and older, a new report by Nielsen media analysis group claimed; but there is a catch, as the report also confirmed that the most played PC game is still Solitaire.

The report revealed that mobile phones' share of the gaming market has been steadily increasing over the last few months, and that Xbox 360 as well as

"There was a sense that in some way movies were a higher art form and video games could aspire to be like them," says Dan Houser, vice president of creative at Rockstar and lead writer on GTA IV.

But that doesn't upset Houser who believes that this gives games designers more room for innovation and experimentation. "It's really fun at the moment because we're not in any Academy and the

Gamers who tried to play Gears Of War on their PCs yesterday were in for a big surprise as the (legitimately obtained) game refused to run.

As part of the game's protection, it checks a digital certificate each time the game launches. Apparently, the certificate was set to expired on January 28, 2009, less than 15 months after the its official launch on November 6, 2007.

As of now, the

A few months ago, rumors had it that EA was about to can the Need For Speed franchise, but today the giant publisher unveiled its plans to release 3 new Need For Speed titles over the next year.

"We recognize racing videogame fans are very passionate and unique - they want customized gameplay experiences. Whether it's more of a realistic driving game with accurate car physics or over-the-top