Business / Technology

Further evidence that video games have become an art form came today from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which announced that addition of ”Halo 2600″ and “Flower”  to its permanent collection.

They are the first games added to the national collection and both have Seattle ties.

Sony image of “Flower”

It’s expensive and not fully baked yet, but I fell for Sony’s PlayStation 4 after it carried me away on a gaming binge last week.

Normally I’m not a fan of flashing lights on a box below the TV set, but I love the LED light bar on top of Sony’s sleek new PlayStation 4 console.

RealNetworks has radically redesigned its venerable media player software in a bid to make it relevant and appealing in today’s era of connected mobile devices.

It took more than a decade, but Microsoft has finally consolidated its various digital music ventures under one roof, with a standard jukebox and streaming music service for the phone, PC and Xbox platforms.

NBC News today confirmed that it’s relocating its Redmond team — the remnants of MSNBC.com — from Microsoft’s campus to the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle.

Amazon.com may be preparing to release a new gadget to stream digital video content, posing a challenge to Roku, Apple TV and consoles such as the Xbox, PlayStation and Wii U.

The latest leak information about Microsoft’s next Xbox reveals a new disc handling system that could prevent the resale and sharing of game discs.

After a month on the wagon, I slipped off and used an assault rifle last week. It didn’t feel the same. The rifle was in a new episode of “Halo 4″ that Microsoft was previewing for reporters at its Kirkland game studio. I blasted away at aliens on the screen, then swapped the rifle for more…

LAS VEGAS — If the Kirkland-based Bluetooth trade group made a dime for every Bluetooth device shown at CES last week, the group could buy itself a skyscraper and a 787. Everywhere you looked were Bluetooth accessories, especially boomboxes that stream music from phones and PCs. Here’s a sample of the boomboxes I saw on the floor,…