Video Games, Tablet Computer | featured news

New research shows that tablets have made big inroads against traditional gaming platforms among U.S. adults who play video games. For marketers, the research brings good news in the form of an acceptance to seeing advertising within video games—as long as the games themselves are free—and a willingness to see familiar brand names and products within games.

Here's the scenario: You were the lucky recipient of a new Apple iPad this holiday season, and you're slightly overwhelmed by the 275,000 app choices (not including the thousands of universal apps that are compatible with iPhone, iPod, and iPad) in the iTunes Store.

Nintendo's Wii U hits stores this weekend, testing the videogame giant's strategy of pushing pricey hardware in a videogame market increasingly geared toward mobile gadgets.

Video game retailer GameStop has announced plans to release its own Android tablet next year. The tablet is expected to come with some games preinstalled and will likely offer some game titles that are unique to the device. Games will be streamed to the tablet from a cloud, with titles expected to include some popular console games as well as mobile gaming titles.

Game company Nintendo denied reports that it was preparing apps for Android and iOS devices, telling Bloomberg that it was not changing its policy to develop software only for its own gaming devices. Pokemon, an independent Nintendo affiliate, is developing software for Apple and Google and this summer will release a game for those companies related to its popular series.

Safely and properly e-cycling your old, unused consoles, smartphones, tablets, and laptops is easier than you think, and you can actually save money.

"The Smurfs' Village," a game for the iPhone and other Apple gadgets, was released a month ago and quickly became the highest-grossing application in the iTunes store. Yet it's free to download.So where does the money come from? Kelly Rummelhart of Gridley, Calif., has part of the answer. Her 4-year-old son was using her iPad to play the game and racked up $66.88 in charges on her credit card without knowing what he was doing.