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Amazon's Double-Helix Acquisition Hints At Gaming Console

Posted by timothy on from the networks-need-nodes dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "A more prominent role in video-game development could prove the latest territory on Amazon's 'attempt to conquer' list. Yes, there's already Amazon Game Studios, which produces smaller games such as Air Patriots (a tower-defense title), but that evidently wasn't enough — Amazon has acquired Double Helix, most notably the developer behind Killer Instinct and other big-action games for PCs and consoles. Amazon confirmed the deal to multiple media outlets, suggesting that it would use Double Helix's developers and intellectual property 'as part of our ongoing commitment to build innovative games for customers.' Why would Amazon want to bulk out its game-creation abilities? Rumors have floated for the past couple weeks (hat tip to Gamespot) that the company is hard at work on an Android-based gaming console that will retail for below $300. Over the past year, it's also hired gaming luminaries such as Halo author Eric Nylund, which it probably wouldn't have done without something big — or at least interesting — in the works. Amazon would doubtlessly position such a device (if it actually becomes a reality) as the low-cost alternative to Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. But even the cheapest console won't sell without some killer games to attract customers — and that's where Double Helix might come in. ... With Nintendo flagging, there's potentially an opening for a third console ecosystem to take hold."

3 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So, about Beta by dmbasso · · Score: 3, Funny

    <blink>FUCK BETA</blink>

    Where's the blink tag when we need it...

    For those building slashdot alternatives, I suggest the name "backlashdot".
    No slash in the name, but the logo can be \.

    --
    `echo $[0x853204FA81]|tr 0-9 ionbsdeaml`@gmail.com
  2. They're designing Amazon Beta by Antipater · · Score: 5, Funny

    Amazon's redesigning their site. They're removing the whole shopping functionality. beta.amazon.com will simply show you pictures of things you might want to buy, one at a time with blinding whitespace surrounding all the pictures. You can't actually buy them, though.

    --
    Everything is better with chainsaws.
  3. Re:I'm switching to Lynx. by sunderland56 · · Score: 2, Funny

    From a productivity standpoint,

    If you're interested in productivity, you won't visit slashdot, beta or classic.