iPhone leads smartphone gaming

Mobile app discovery specialist Mplayit has published statistics that place iPhone comfortably ahead of its rivals when it comes to gaming, says Pocket Gamer.

According to the firm's figures - based on traffic generated from its Facebook app store - games make up just 20% of the 130 000-plus iPhone apps on the Mplayit network, yet account for almost 50% of the format's traffic. In comparison, 30% of Mplayit's BlackBerry users browse games, Android is even further behind at 20%.

"iPhone developers are driving this phenomenon, putting out simply fantastic games that get people excited," Michael Powers, founder and CEO of Mplayit, commented.

Microsoft plans to discontinue support for playing original Xbox games on its online service, reports CNET News.

In a blog posting, Microsoft's Marc Whitten said that after 15 April, users of the Xbox Live service will no longer be able to play titles like Halo 2 that were created for the first Xbox console.

"This isn't a decision we made lightly, but after careful consideration, it is clear this will provide the greatest benefit to the Xbox Live community," Whitten said. "And as we look down the road, we'll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360.”

Video game sales have reported a fall in the world's largest markets last year, states Top News.

The data from market researchers NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, and Enterbrain reports that net unit sales in the UK, Japan, and the US were 379.3 million in 2009, lowered 8% from the year before.

One of the big reasons for the plunge in sales is cited to be that many people have yet to ditch PlayStation 2, a gaming system that entered the market in 2000, which signifies that consumers aren't purchasing releases for new gaming systems such as the Wii, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.