Online gaming in top spot

Playing games online is still a more popular activity in the US than watching short video clips or visiting social networking sites, says the Casual Gaming Market Update report from Parks Associates, according to WebPro News.

Thirty-four percent of US adult Internet users play online games weekly, compared with 29% who watch short online videos and 19% who visit social networking sites.

"Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities," said James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates.

Sony Computer Entertainment communication's chief Dave Karraker said an independent PlayStation 3 "stress test" was performed, which put the console through triple-digit hours of operation in various adverse conditions that no gamer would endure, reports Daily Tech.

The test, conducted by PS3 Vault, is titled: "How to kill a PS3 Console" and sends the machine into zero degree temperatures and sauna-level heat for over four days at a time.

The first test environment was the typical family room - the place nearly all gamers will be using their PlayStation 3 consoles - where the machine ran for a continuous 108 hours with a mix of Blu-ray Disc movie playback and video gaming. The only recorded anomaly was a "slight vibration coming from the tray area, which lasted approximately 20 seconds".

Game developer Electronic Arts has axed plans to release its games for OS X on the same day as its Windows releases, reports VNUNet.

A company spokesperson says rather than releasing Mac titles in sync with its PC counterparts, the strategy will be to get the release "as close as possible". Both Madden 08 and Tiger Woods 08 and will now be available to Mac users before the end of October. The Windows version of the Football game was released on 14 August and the golf game is slated for release 28 August.

Four other titles originally slated for release in July, including "Battlefield 2142", "Need for Speed Carbon", and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", have all shipped to retailers and should be on shelves soon, said the spokesperson.