These impressive numbers were revealed by the makers of the game in the form of a tweet:

10 in 10  Angry Birds Rio breaking all records. A massive thanks to all our fans!!!!

Not to sound negative, but this download count includes all the versions of Angry Birds Rio which includes the iOS version and the Android version. Android users had two places to download the physics based game from : Amazon AppStore and Android Market.

Rovio folks will obviously be pleased with all of this. This download count should give an enormous boost to the game developers and will serve as an essential push in the times to come. Another lesson that Rovio would have learned from these impressive numbers is that their audience wants them to bring something different as they did by rolling out Angry Birds Rio which is based on 20th Century Fox upcoming movie, Rio. Seeing this impressive count, one can imagine the app reach the 20M download count by the end of this week.

Also, as per previous reports, it seems like we shall soon be able to play Angry Birds on Facebook and Bing as well.

[via  CNET]

The announcement comes from Rovio CEO Mikael Hed, who said that Angry Birds will be landing on Facebook with a “completely new aspects to it that just haven’t been experienced in any other platform.”

Yes, this really is true because if you head over to the official Angry Birds page on Facebook, and if you like it, Rovio will keep you updated on all the latest developments regarding Angry Birds on Facebook.

So move over Zynga with your CityVille and FarmVille game domination on Facebook, as Angry Birds will definitely overtake other games, like it has on PSP & PS3, WP7 & Windows XP, iOS and soon on Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

The Nintendo 3DS will be priced at $249.99 in the US and will on March 27, while the Europeans will be getting it a few days earlier, on March 25th. However European pricing will be decided by retailers and according to various sources, the price in UK is likely to be £229.99, while the rest of Europe is looking at €249.99.

Nintendo has promised "30+" games to be available in the US during the launch window and more than 25 in Europe; however that window is across the actual launches in March and E3 in June. Some games for the Nintendo 3DS include Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D, Dead or Alive Dimensions, Rabbids 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, a new Paper Mario, and a compulsory Madden game. It has also been said that remakes of classic GameBoy and GameBoy Color titles will also be landing on the Nintendo 3DS.

EuroSport along with other partners will also be providing exclusive 3D video content on the Nintendo 3DS to consumers in Europe, and it looks like this deal is limited to Europe as of now. Let us see when such deals are extended for the American users.

Would you buy a Nintendo 3DS when recent report says that Sony is launching the next generation PlayStation Portable? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Via Engadget

Dubbed as Angry Birds HD Free, the new version is described as:

The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the green pigs who stole the Birds’ eggs. Use the unique destructive powers of the Angry Birds to lay waste to the pigs’ fortified castles.

Angry Birds HD Free features:

• 12 LEVELS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE FULL GAME
• 4 MINI EPISODES
• GAME CENTER SUPPORT
• LEADERBOARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Angry Birds HD Free features is all about physics-based demolition gameplay in a very challenging environment as well as lots of replay value. The 12 levels, set in 4 mini episodes, have been created specifically for Angry Birds HD Free. You will definitely have fun while trying to make it through each of the levels which will require utmost logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy.

So what are you waiting for! Head on down to the iTunes App Store and download Angry Birds HD Free for no cost at all.

Via iClarified

So what this exactly means that you must get your revenge against the green pigs which have stolen the innocent birds’ eggs by slingshotting birds into a plethora of pig hideouts that are increasingly fortified by the growing number of ice, wood and stone blocks.

It can be said without a doubt that Angry Birds has been a huge gaming sensation on iPhone and Android smartphones, only because of the fact that the gameplay is highly entertaining and addictive, however it remains to be seen whether or not Angry Birds receives that very type of response on the desktop platform.

Angry Birds for Windows 7 and Windows XP is currently available for a discounted price of $4.99, with the regular price being $9.99, and it can easily be downloaded from here.

Via Mashable

Excerpts from the Official Press Release given below:

Call of Duty®: Black Ops™ Surpasses $1 Billion in Sales Worldwide

Over 600 Million Hours Logged Playing Call of Duty: Black Ops, Game Continues to Set Entertainment Records

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Call of Duty: Black Ops continues to set sell-through records crossing the $1 billion mark in sales worldwide since its launch in November, according to internal Activision estimates.

In its first five days alone, the game sold more than $650 million worldwide, outpacing theatrical box office, book and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell through in dollars, according to internal Activision estimates and boxofficemojo.com.  The game exceeded Activision's previous five-day worldwide record of $550 million set by last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare® 2.

To date, more than 600 million hours have been logged playing Call of Duty: Black Ops since the game launched on November 9, 2010.  According to Microsoft, the average player logs on more than once a day and plays for more than one hour each time.  Over half of that time is spent playing online with and against friends, illustrating the unique social characteristics of the game.

Check out the full official Press Release here.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops is no doubt a spectacular game, and is bound to see more growth in sales as the holiday season has begun, nevertheless it can be said for sure that this game is definitely one of the best titles that Activision has rolled out as yet.

According to a press invite received by a French Site nowherelese, PSP phone may be announced on 9th December in France. Sony Ericsson France will be hosting a party to give the PSP Phone a formal unveiling. The invite in French mentions Pierre Perron, who happens to be the Director General of Sony Ericsson France and will be hosting the party.

One more thing which is worth noticing is the invitation image shown above. Four buttons are identical to the ones found on PlayStation. Fifth one from extreme right is the phone icon and says to you that the invite is all about the PlayStation Phone.

The rumored specs sees the PlayStation Phone featuring a processor clocked 1 GHz , 512 MB of RAM, 1 GB of ROM and most importantly includes a multi-touch trackpad.

[via PhAndroid]

After you get the must have update, the first thing you would notice is a layout change of Xbox LIVE Dashboard, accompanied by a new font and color scheme.

Here's the official announcement:

On November 1, 2010, there will be a mandatory service update to Xbox LIVE. This update will both add new features to your service and also enhance the interface, navigation, and responsiveness of Xbox LIVE.

The word responsiveness is another reason to be excited for this updated as it means you will have a more responsive Xbox LIVE service.

I know you don't intend to skip this update but if you do so you won't be able to use Xbox Live service which means you won't be able to compete online. You don't need to do a lot to get the update. A notification will be sent your way and will request you to accept the offered update by using your Xbox 360 controller.

[via Engadget]

In reference to the documents in possession of  Australian Securities and Investment Commission, the year 2009/10 has been a year that Sony would want to forgot as soon as possible. Revenues have taken a huge dip from from $287 Million in 2009 to $241 in 2010. The profits figures don't paint a pretty picture either as they have slid down from $8.62 million to $3.8 million in 2010. These figures are enough to take your sleep away, won't you say?

As it happens quite often, when things are bad they stay bad, Sony Oz did made a smart move by introducing a Slim looking PS3 in Australia which were of low cost and had hopes of turning the tide for the gaming subsidiary. But clearly, that didn't happen.

What's more surprising here is the fact that Sony's Australia branch spent a huge sum of $5M for advertising their products which in the light of these figures clearly went in vain. The question is how will Sony Australia rise up from here? Do you see a ray of hope?

[via SmartHouse]

A gaming survey released by Kotaku stated that PSN now has more users online than Xbox Live which in comparison to PSN requires monthly or yearly subscriptions.The source also said that the announcement of these premium subscriptions will not in any way affect the free services already offered on PSN. Meaning that players who want to carry on playing for free on PSN can do so at their own free will.

So what is Sony offering premium users? VG247 further states that Premium Packages will include:

• One free PSN game every month! from a selection of 2-4 games.(each game costs around 10-15$)
• A streaming music application will be announced which can run in the background while players play games.
• Also the "Cross Game Voice Chat" Feature is rumored to be for everyone not only for Premium Users.

If the above rumors are true then its a shame for all the XBL players since they will have to pay for the online play no matter what while Playstation users can choose between a Premium Subscription and Free online play.

As far as reviews are concerned the game comes highly recommended by IGN (9.7/10) and Gameplanet (10/10).

The story is set in America, 1911. The Wild West is dying.

When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down the gang of criminals he once called friends. Experience an epic fight for survival across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico, as John struggles to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.

The wise-heads would definitely know where to get their hands on this one. For the rest of us, it's mostly the torrents.

That's all routine, however once he uploads his own track on PSN, he is soon joined by CEO Jack Tretton who is the Head of all things Playstation in America, for a race till death. This is where the trailer really gets interesting as both of them start trash talking with each other, and one of them wins (check out the trailers for the results).

And if your wondering where what Jack meant by "those tiny orange shorts", look no further.

A Swedish retail site has listed Project Natal on its page and they are asking for 1,499 SEK which is almost 200$. Previously it was rumored that Natal would sell for around 80$ without a game which costs around 60$.

Keep in mind that you can get a Wii console for 200$ on eBay and Wii games are cheaper compared to the ones available for Xbox360.  And honestly we dont see people lining up to buy a peripheral that costs as much as the console itself (arcade version of the console is for 200$), specially when 60% of the Xbox360's ever made have RROD'ed. It is hoped the Retailers made a mistake otherwise Microsoft is in for some serious trouble.

Microsoft also failed to sell their High Definition Disk Drive which was to be sold separately. It cost about 100$ and only added the ability to run HD-DVD's while Sony had already installed a high quality Blu-Ray Drive in the PS3. On the other hand Sony is planning to launch its own motion sensing peripheral called the PlayStation Move which clearly isn't a fan of Natal and its rumored to be released this September.

Sony, on the other hand, have confirmed that their "Move" wands will be available for less than 99$ without the Eye Toy. It remains to be seen which of these two motion sensing devices will succeed in gathering the masses.

This time the Prince will not only be able to wield reigns of time, but also the powers of nature, combining the timeless fan favorite game play with added perks.

This time the story is that the Prince lands at his brother’s kingdom following his adventure in Azad, and finds the royal palace under siege from a mighty army bent on its destruction. When the decision is made to use the ancient power of the Sand in a desperate gamble to save the kingdom from total annihilation, the Prince will embark on an epic adventure in which he will learn to bear the mantle of true leadership, and discover that great power often comes with a great cost.

For all those who want to grab a piece of this, we are sure the LazyPirate can help them out.

Mod Nations was shown to the public in last years E3, many touted it as the kart racing's Little Big Planet (which is the youtube of the gaming world), with the ability to create your own tracks, karts, character models and share them with the world the game was looking great.

Then came the beta it offered only a couple of tracks, but gave the ability to download community made tracks, models and karts from the net and within a weeks time there were literally thousands of them online.

Having personally played the beta for weeks I can safely say that if  your a casual gamer looking to have a great time with your friends online (upto 7 of them) this just might be the game for you. Also the game is a PSN title which means that you can share it with your friends, and dont have to pay more than 15$ for it.

[via Playstation Blog]

Out of the 2 games that have been released in the series only the original Fable made its way on to the PC while Fable 2 was exclusive to the Xbox360 also Microsoft has made no indications that the third installment will be appearing on the PC.

As E3 is next month video game giants are building more and more hype around their games/projects in order to expand their fan base. Seems as if everyday some very interesting information regarding a certain popular title is "leaked" on the internet.

Whether this is a new type of marketing campaign or just a plain coincidence is up to you guys to decide. The box art image has been taken off the official site and the spokesman at Microsoft Studios had this to say:

We have not made any official announcements beyond 'Fable III' for Xbox 360 at this time," Also added "as it[information] becomes available.

I for one hope that the game gets a PC release so fans have a choice to enjoy the game on better frames and have an option for better, sharper visuals as well. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

This year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo Japnese gaming giant Nintendo is expected to announce its latest venture into the portable gaming market. Although much of the details regarding 3DS have yet to come to light, the following is expected.

• There will be no need to 3d glasses to enjoy the 3d effects of this console.
• Backward compatibility for DS and DSi titles.
• A high resolution screen (upto 720p).
• It will have two screens like the previous portables, with the ability to convert both of them into one giant screen.
• Will have motion sensing technology incorporated into it.
• Will have touch screen (which is obvious because we cant play DS titles without a touch screen duh).
• Will incorporate 2 cameras.

In the portable gaming market Nintendo is definitely not a new comer since it once held up to 90% if the markets share. But it remains to be seen whether this pimped out portable device is worth the hype.

Maybe Nintendo feels that its time they moved on from producing games that target a younger audience, maybe not. I still remember how analysts bashed the Wii yet it managed to be the top selling console for the last 2-3 years beating Xbox360 and PS3. May be this console is headed for the same fate...who knows.

Personally I think they made a first person shooter out of Gears of War with a hint of Duke Nukem and Serious Sam. After watching the trailer its obvious that Epic is in love with big guns and buffed up guys and they have not let this fetish fade away in this new title.

Visually the game looks good but not downright awesome if compared to some of the other games that have been released recently. According to the creators the game features a system which awards you points on the basis of your cruelty. Simply put, you will earn more points if you kill the enemy in the most gruesome fashion possible i.e dont just take a head shot, kick him on to the huge cactus and watch him suffer for a while and then blowup his nuts.

Bulletstorm is expected to be released in the first half of 2011 on the PC, PS3 & Xbox 360 and will have an 18+ rating.

All that has changed now, as promised by Valve, Steam is now available for Mac users. Although not all the titles of the service have made the transition, yet, but Valve has provided a long list of currently available games for steam which you will be able to see below. In addition to that all those Mac users who will fire up steam on their Mac before 24th of May will get a free digital copy of the Portal.

Sadly for now, Portal is the only Valve developed game available on steam, which means all of you who are itching to play Team Fortress 2 on their Mac will have to wait till Valve announces a release date for some of their other major titles.

Another important piece of information released by Valve is that, if you already have an account on Steam and have purchased a game through that account for your PC, then you can also get a digital copy of that game for Mac too considering its released for the platform right now or at some point in the future.

The full list of games on Steam that have made the transition can be viewed at SteamPowered, bear in mind Valve will add more titles to the service with time. The Steam client for Mac can be downloaded at this link.

Since the prospects of the South Korean review board reviewing all the games were not so bright, the Californians had no other  option but to detach the games from the Android Market or otherwise face the music of no Android Market at all. South Korean users are the unlucky ones to be affected by this move. However it is not all bad news for the Android lovers, they can always download games from third-party sources.

However the South Korean definitely need to have a second look at their policy in the light of the growing demand and love for Google's open source mobile platform.

[via Android Central]