Technomaly » Games

iPod touch – Games

sarin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:18:14 +0000

The new ipod touch has been updated to a higher level. If you have not seen the recent changes, take a quick look at this review article. Here we will talk about the ipod touch and some of the popular games that others are finding exciting to play.

The ipod touch is a great little device that can do more than just play games. It can play music and videos also. The small and thin outline that this ipod has is a marvelous way to take your games and other entertainment with you. You can share some games over the Wi-Fi connection that the ipod touch also has. This makes gaming twice as fun ! This device only weighs just over four ounces and is barely over a half inch in depth. It fits in many places even a cell phone will not. What are some of the games that the ipod touch has ?

One ipod touch game is Topple. Topple is similar to the old standby Tetris and involves stacking and balancing blocks. Topple has been called one of the most addicting games that the ipod has. Another is one of my favorites; “Pinball Dreaming”. You already know what this games does by its name, but it is a remastered version of the classic Amiga arcade simulation. This is another addicting game you will love to play. A very unique game is called Touchgrind. This is a game where you play skateboard but you use your finger on the screen of the ipod touch to pull off stunts and tricks. This game takes some skill and again, you will find yourself mesmerized with the fun this games brings.

“De Blob” is next on the list of popular games for the ipod touch. This is an action puzzle title that will allow you to explore and liberate a city from the evil monochromatic corporation that bans all color from life. This game is visually stunning and more than likely another candidate to steal your time. Another of my favorites is GTS World Racing. If you like racing cars, this game will become one of your favorites. This is a satisfying game of skill and is recommended for those who like the game called “Pole Position”. The graphics are superb in this game and you get your choice of 64 track layouts. With this particular game you can steer, brake and accelerate using the accelerometer. You just turn the ipod touch and you are driving the car. A very exciting game indeed.

Games on the ipod touch are available at the Apple “app store”. Some are cheap and some are not. Whatever you spend, you will have fun. Take a closer look at the new ipod because Apple has not only improved the features, but given the ipod a battery that will last up to six hours on video and 36 hours on audio. You will have hours and hours to play your games now.

Most Popular iPhone Game: Lucky WebOS, Android Still Missing

sarin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:26:27 +0000

The most popular iPhone game is finally available on the WebOS based Palm Pre and Palm Pre Plus running version 1.4.5. Angry Birds is considered as the most popular and highly addictive iPhone game, which still is missing from Android app store. I remember one of my readers commented that “Android Market has all the good apps which iPhone users can boast except Angry Birds”.

Palm Pre and Plam Pre Plus users can install the Angry Birds from the Palm App Catalog for only $2.

iPhone Tower Defense Game Alien Style

sarin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:24:55 +0000

Rednecks vs Aliens is the latest in tower defense game for iPhone with added Alien twist and extra fun. Currently available on iTunes the lite version offers 8 levels of the Rednecks Vs Aliens strategy game for free and the full version will cost you less than a dollar.

In the game you need to defend your farmhouse from waves of Alien invaders by Killing enemies with the Potato Gun, Lawnmower Blade Launcher, bottles of Mayonnaise, tornadoes, farts, shotguns, AK-47′s, mine traps (and much more). As you kill you will earn money and can buy upgrades for the hardware.

For 99 cents this game is the best in its category.

Click here to download the free version of Rednecks Vs Aliens.
Click here to get the full version from the iTunes app store.

Halo Reach Review

sarin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:42:39 +0000

Early trailers have depicted weary-eyed Spartans amidst a muted gray color palette and we’ve pulled off bloody stealth executions in the multiplayer beta. This already proves what Halo Reach would prove out to be. So go on and take your pick as there’s no shortage of indications that Reach will be a better experience than previous Halos.

So much of the discussion around Halo: Reach has been focused on the darkness of the game. But if there’s one thing we came away with after a recent hands-on outing with a few of the game’s early campaign missions, it’s that Reach while certainly dark in many respects, isn’t all doom and gloom.

Consider a few scenes from the play-through. In one tense shoot-out, the player popped out from behind cover in a last-ditch effort to kill a group of Elites that had drained nearly all of health. Only, the first thing you will see saw is a comically adorable ostrich native to the planet Reach staring blankly back. There’s nothing like the sudden appearance of a bird resembling Kevin from Up to break the tension. So it’s pretty fun.

Although Halo: Reach is darker than previous games, but every so often, you’ll find a reason to crack a smile, giggle to yourself, and remember that Bungie is a developer that knows how to have fun. The result, it seems, is a game of contrasts. Halo: Reach does more to mix things up and buck labels than previous games in the series, which is a trait that includes environments, pacing, and mood.

Nightfall is definitely one of the more subdued Halo missions to talk about. The mission kicks off with a select few members of Noble Team, the game’s central cast of Spartans to which you belong, prowling through the darkness exchanging communications chatter along the way. You mainly play alongside Jun, a soft-spoken sharpshooter who seems to prefer methodical approaches over going in guns blazing. With Reach being the first Halo game to show Spartans minus helmets, there’s clearly an effort on Bungie’s part to build and explore these Noble Team personalities.

The E3 demo, which ends with a flight combat sequence in which you’re piloting a ship called the Sabre in outer space, seemed an appropriate way to cap off the demo. The two missions preceding it did a good job of taking familiar Halo gameplay and mixing up the pacing enough to make it feel fresh, why not finish off with a glimpse of something entirely new? That was our hands on time in a nutshell, the contrast between the grim and the lighthearted, the new and old, the stealthy and the bombastic. We’ll see if the entire game maintains such variety when Halo: Reach is released on September 14.

Shoot Em’ Up and Relax

markracz — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:51:40 +0000

A group of scientists from the American Psychological Association recently announced that violent video games don’t cause violent behavior. We already knew that, but it’s always better when people with college degrees back us up. They gathered up a group of 118 teenagers ( I guess there were some precious Justin Bieber karaoke moments too) and observed that, for the vast majority, playing video games is pretty much safe. Gaming can negatively affect only those predisposed to violence in the first place due to the presence of personality traits such as “anger”, “depression”, “acting without thinking” and “typically breaking rules”. Also, it seems that playing video games actually has good effects, especially on kids and teenagers, solving some behavior problems and improving results in school tests (well, duh, you don’t become a level 90 shaman if you can’t mingle with the elves). So girls, feel free to flirt with gamers, they’re not sociopaths with a death wish (on a second thought, maybe you should avoid those living in the 2167 season of fantasy football).

Via:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20007328-17.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

3D Gaming Rules! But is it Worth the Price?

markracz — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:51:12 +0000

Earlier this year, a PS3 firmware update opened the way for 3D gaming using the Sony console. The problem is that you also need a 3D TV set to go with it, preferably one from the Sony Bravia Line. Be my guest if you want to be an early adopter and buy such a TV right away, but you’ll have to pay up to five grand to REALLY dodge a bullet while playing. As some market experts say, the prices will go down and eventually 3D gaming will go into mainstream and inside every gamer packed living room in the nation. We can expect also a change in the way games are designed because of the 3D factor, as developers got hooked on the technology. But the entire buy-o-rama of consoles, TV sets and games is dependent on the quality of entertainment they can offer to gamers; they might choose to lag an era behind and enjoy fine tuned gaming from three months ago.

Via: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Sonys-PS3-Can-Play-3-D—All-You-Need-Is-a-3-5K-TV-to-Go-With-It-70184.html

Flash Friday: Red Storm 2

Nick Upton — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:24:12 +0000

Mechs? Check. Guns? Check. Lasers? Check. Afternoon lost to a Flash game? Check.

I like working and doing productive things as much as the next person — that’s why I’ve been playing Red Storm 2: Survival all day.

It’s nothing complicated: you walk around with the WASD keys and blast stuff with the mouse. It gets a little depth from the leveling-up, RPG element, allowing you bigger weapons with each level. But mostly, you’ll be blowing stuff up and dodging bullets until you can buy a sweet new laser or missile launcher.

Three different mechs with multiple turrets and many weapons and upgrades give you the option for a slew of different setups, but I went right for lasers and stuck with it.

I’d tell you more, but if you managed to read beyond mechs and lasers, you’re a better person than I. So stop reading and start wasting time.

Go play Red Storm 2: Survival at Elite Games and get ready to trade some productivity for some much more satisfying explosions.

Play Songs From “Lost” in Rock Band

J. Matthew Zoss — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:21:03 +0000

What did you think of the Lost finale? Love it? Hate it? Didn’t watch it? The show is over, but that doesn’t mean that Lost doesn’t live on. Two tracks from the series are about to be added to Rock Band 2, courtesy of the Rock Band Network: Driveshaft’s “You All Everybody” and Geronimo Jackon’s “Dharma Lady.” If you’re a fan, you’ll probably recognize Driveshaft as Charlie’s band, and Geronimo Jackson is one of those “easter egg” in-jokes that appears throughout the show, a 1970s jam band with posters, shirts, and music that popped up in the background from time to time.

The Rock Band Network is a service that allows anyone to upload their own music to the Rock Band game and make it available for purchase. Anyone uploading music to Rock Band Network must have the original tracks, so you don’t have to worry that these are some fan-made covers. They’re the real-deal songs straight from the cast and crew of Lost.

Flash Friday: Dragon Age Journeys

Nick Upton — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:17:36 +0000

T to the G to I and the F — it’s Friday folks, finally.

So what are you going to do to kill time this weekend? I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, play this sweet Flash game again.

Flash games are seriously lacking in good RPGs and tactical games, but Dragon Age: Journeys does both near flawlessly.

The game launched in anticipation of Dragon Age: Origins and captures that gruesome, adult and sometimes challenging spirit of the game very well.

Basically, you’re some guy or girl on some fantasy quest — I don’t want to spoil it and couldn’t if I wanted to (I skipped all the story like a real man). And lo and behold some glowing badass attacks you and sends you fleeing to town.

From there, you have to assemble a party kill monsters and do quests until your strong enough to face the glowing badass again. The whole thing is a straight forward Mage, Rogue, Warrior fantasy game, but it’s executed very well.

The combat is incredibly fun, it’s set up on a tactical map. You have to move around to dodge arrow and long-range spells and keep in range of your healer. There are a ton of area-effect abilities and spells to keep you corralling the baddies and really thinking about strategy.

There are several different types of monsters to slay and tons of equipment to find and buy.

It’s not incredibly long, which is probably a good thing, but long enough to be engrossing. The first time I played it, I zoned out at work for two days to beat it — oops.

After beating it and completing achievements, you can unlock items for Dragon Age: Origins.

It also has the most depth I’ve experienced in a Flash game, not only does each class have it’s own play style and features, but each specialization does too. This means a ton of re-playability to play around with the sweetest spells and skills.

But hey, you’ve already wasted enough time reading this, go play Dragon Age: Journeys: now.

3D Nintendo DS Game Available This Week

J. Matthew Zoss — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:48:53 +0000

Not long ago, Nintendo announced a new 3D-enabled version of the Nintendo DS. While details on that upcoming system are still scarce, a new game may suggest how the glasses-free machine will work. A new game called Looksley’s Line Up has you searching for hidden objects in 3D dioramas and will be available this week through Nintendo’s downloadable store. The scenes don’t pop out of the screen but definitely have depth, achieved by overlaying images on the DS’s two screens. Check out the video for a pretty impressive demo.

Flash Friday: Crush The Castle!

Nick Upton — Fri, 14 May 2010 06:56:08 +0000

This may be the best Flash game ever, well at least the most satisfying one I have played in a very, very long time.

It’s simple, it’s fun, it’s sometimes a challenge and who can argue with crushing stuff with a catapult?

Here’s the premise: smash castles with rocks and bombs and get medals. I know, it’s my dream job too.

I didn’t play the original, only the player-made sequel, but it was fantastic.

At the beginning, you have a big map to conquer, and with each territory you crush, you get new ammo for your catapult. You start with a single or triple rock, go on to big rocks, little bombs then finally a single huge bomb.

And for you hardcore Flash gamers, don’t bother going for gold on every level with your crummy little rocks. Once you get the big bomb you can return to all those castles that robbed you of a perfect score and bomb the crap out of them.

I must say returning to the earlier levels with the big bomb made me giggle with glee.

Play Crush The Castle: Players Pack or the original Crush The Castle over at Armored Games.

Starcraft 2 Release Date: July 27th

Asterios Kokkinos — Sat, 08 May 2010 16:00:22 +0000

Come get some! The official release date for Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty has been announced, and it’s July 27th.

The first of a three part trilogy, Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty follows the Terrans as they, I don’t know, murder Protoss and Zerg forces or something. I could honestly give a rip about the plot – Jim Raynor, Sarah Kerrigan, Zeratul…just give me some siege tanks and I’ll be fine.

The game’s been in beta for a few months now, and just opened its beta to Mac, which is a wonderful way to whittle down my productivity even further. The original Starcraft sold 11 million copies, so we’ll see how far this new game goes.

I’ve been watching the Starcraft II battle reports for a few months now, and this really does like the perfect game. July 27th can’t arrive fast enough!

Source: PC Mag

Flash Friday: Dungeons & Dungeons

Nick Upton — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:03:22 +0000

Looking for a more adult flash game to get your kink on at work? Well look no further, this week’s Flash Friday game is Dungeons & Dungeons.

Think Castlevania, but instead of Simon whipping skeletons, you play the part of a dominatrix whipping perverts. It’s a good take on the side-scrolling action game with a good dose of hilarity.

As the game goes on, you collect special weapons that turn your slave into a flying machine (via a feather in his butt) or a giant yo-yo with your whip.

The best part is the sound from the bad guys. Every time you hit them they say something like “oh, yeah,” or “I like that.” It’s quite a classy game, and probably NSFW unless you turn the sound way down and make sure nobody is looking over your shoulder.

[Via Adult Swim]

Black Wii Coming May 9

J. Matthew Zoss — Wed, 05 May 2010 18:56:33 +0000

Do you have a Wii? You do, huh? Well, do you have a black one? No? Better get on that. Nintendo’s living room-dominating Wii will be available in black starting May 9. The new bundle will be priced at $200, the same price as the current white Wii. However, the new edition will come with both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, as well as a Wii Remote with the Wii Motion Plus add-on and Nunchuck. If you’re one of the nine people who doesn’t yet have a Wii, this is the bundle we’d recommend.

Super Mario Bros Remixed

J. Matthew Zoss — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:00:11 +0000

If you have fond memories of the NES, then this is the game for you. Indie game developer “Exploding Rabbit” has recreated Super Mario Bros with one important twist – you can play through it with characters from The Legend of Zelda, Contra, Castlevania, and Metroid.

In Super Mario Crossover, each character controls just like they do in their own game, so Bill from Contra can shoot in multiple directions, Link has both his sword and boomerang, etc. Each character feels pretty distinct – for example, Simon’s double jump is helpful, yet tricky to master. The music from each character’s game also appears – another great touch. In other words, you should totally check it out. It’s available to play here.

Flash Friday: Paper Warfare

Nick Upton — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:14:51 +0000

It’s Friday! You may as well stop working immediately and start playing video games — everyone knows you just stare at your computer clock until 5 p.m. anyway.

This week’s game is Paper Warfare.

Paper Warfare is a standard horizontal shooter, but unlike so many other flash shooters, the difficulty ramps up pretty quick, making for some intense shooter action early in the game. I know you don’t have time to play ALL day, so get to the action quick right?

You can choose from three different flying exo-suits and you get a new destructive weapon every level. And you’ll need all you can since the enemies come by the boatload.

Ikaruga fans, this is a flash game for you — the boss battles call for some extreme bullet dodging.

[Via Paper Warfare]

Boy Scouts Introduce Video Game Pin

J. Matthew Zoss — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:15:40 +0000

Despite what you may have heard, the Boy Scouts of America have NOT introduced a Video Game merit badge. They’ve introduced a video games belt loop and pin. There’s a difference, dammit! Regardless, I wish this had been around when I was in Boy Scouts, because I could have earned these awards easily. Check it out:

Belt Loop

Complete these three requirements:

Explain why it is important to have a rating system for video games. Check your video games to be sure they are right for your age.
With an adult, create a schedule for you to do things that includes your chores, homework, and video gaming. Do your best to follow this schedule.
Learn to play a new video game that is approved by your parent, guardian, or teacher.

Academics Pin

Earn the Video Games belt loop and complete five of the following requirements:

With your parents, create a plan to buy a video game that is right for your age group.
Compare two game systems (for example, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, and so on). Explain some of the differences between the two. List good reasons to purchase or use a game system.
Play a video game with family members in a family tournament.
Teach an adult or a friend how to play a video game.
List at least five tips that would help someone who was learning how to play your favorite video game.
Play an appropriate video game with a friend for one hour.
Play a video game that will help you practice your math, spelling, or another skill that helps you in your schoolwork.
Choose a game you might like to purchase. Compare the price for this game at three different stores. Decide which store has the best deal. In your decision, be sure to consider things like the store return policy and manufacturer’s warranty.
With an adult’s supervision, install a gaming system.

Easiest. Pin. Ever. Way to get with the times, BSA.

Source: BSA via Engadget

Xbox 360 Gets USB Support

J. Matthew Zoss — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:34:58 +0000

It’s almost hard to believe that a popular electronic device is just getting USB support in 2010, but it happens to be the case for the Xbox 360. The gaming console launched with available detachable hard drives, as well as more portable proprietary memory units. The memory units are being phased out, and a new update available now allows you to use standard flash drives to store game saves, profiles, videos or other content. Flash drives must be over 1GB, but storage size is limited to 16GB (even if your drive is larger than that). You can use two flash drives simultaneously, giving you up to 32 GB of hot-swappable additional memory for your console.

Image via Joystiq.

Crytek Engine Going Free For Developers

Nick Upton — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:08:27 +0000

The ultra-pretty engine behind the power-hungry Crysis is getting a free treatment for game developers.

The engine will surely rival the Unreal engine once it is actually released.

Cevat Yerli, the CEO behind the engine, said modders already have access to the engine as an extension to the game, but not the entire engine from the ground up.

He said the move goes well beyond a Crysis mod.

“Yes, but — to be frank — not as a mod. So far that’s what we’ve been offering for free, and it’s easy entry into the production environment. [But] we do want to make a standalone free platform that people can run independent of CryEngine that will also be up to speed with the latest engine.”

The engine could be the next step in amazing indie games, I cannot wait to see what inventive designers do with this — even though my junk PC will likely not run a single one.

[Via Develop Online]

Flash Friday: Red Remover

Nick Upton — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 06:04:13 +0000

Friday is here, that means you’re going to need some video games for the weekend!

This week’s game is Red Remover, it’s not new, it’s not heart pumping, but wow is it fun — and extremely addictive.

The clever puzzle flash game pits you against gravity. All you have to do is remove all the red blocks and circles; hence the name.

Sounds lame? Try it. I made the mistake of playing this at work once, and when I looked at the clock an hour had passed and I had nothing to show for it but a few less red on my screen.

The game is great fun, and the bonus mode and extras you can unlock will keep you coming back. Red Remover also has the best cookie support I’ve seen in a flash game. I come back and my saved game is right there waiting for me.

Check out Red Remover at The Game Homepage and say goodbye to a few hours.

Warhammer Online Zergs Subscriber Bank Accounts

Nick Upton — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:02:11 +0000

Whoops! Many players of Warhammer Online have been cleaned out by errant billing. And despite their promise of refunds, this spells big trouble for EA.

I’m not sure how many people were hit with the billing error, but I’m doubting that it really will be taken care of as quickly as they promise.

We have confirmed with our vendor that players who have been charged multiple times for their subscriptions should start seeing a reversal of charges within 24-36 hours.

We anticipate that once the charges have been reversed, any fees that have been incurred should be refunded as well.

Yeah, and I’m sure the banks will just say, “OK, sure! Here is your overdraft fee back!”

This whole mess could really hurt EA’s already less-than-sterling MMORPG record. More users from the anemic Warhammer Online could take to the hills — especially if they aren’t still playing hard.

Kotaku readers also left some insightful comments, notable that this could show people how much they are really paying to play a game — after already paying for it.

[Via Kotaku]

Modern Warfare 2’s Map Expansion: 1 Day, 1 Million Downloads

Asterios Kokkinos — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:00:28 +0000

The Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package is a set of 5 new multiplayer maps for the mega-hit game, and sells for$15. When I first heard about it, I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s a lot of scratch for a measly 5 maps.”

Apparently, I’m the only person on earth who thought that – the expansion was downloaded over one million times in the first 24 hours of it’s release. By the end of the week, it’d tacked on another 1.5 million downloads.

That’s 2.5 million people shelling out $15 bucks in the middle of a recession for a product that doesn’t really extend gameplay all that much? Wow, people sure are addicted to this thing. Here’s some stats:

Modern Warfare 2 has sold more than 15 million copies.
The MW2 expansion is, to date, the highest selling game ever on Xbox Live.
1.75 billion hours of gameplay have been logged, equaling roughly 200,000 years of not talking to girls.

Source & Photo Source: VentureBeat

Virtual Reality, Now With Real Life Neck Pain

Nick Upton — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:26:03 +0000

So when I think virtual reality, I think Lawnmower man, me in a sweet gyroscope shooting terrorists, aliens, hookers and adorable animals from the hip.

I never think I’d need to do neck exercises.

Gavan Woolery, who combined an Acer GD235HZ 3D monitor, a pair of shutter glasses, and a TrackIR 5 head-tracking system to build this rig that manages to make the helmet from Videodrome look comfortable. Of course, Woolery is completely up front that the rig is “not in any way designed to be practical.”

It looks like it works pretty slick, and if it were the size or weight of a bike helmet I would totally make one.

[Via Engadget]

Play Classic Arcade Games in Microsoft’s Game Room

J. Matthew Zoss — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 14:17:33 +0000

If you have an Xbox 360, chances are that you’ve already downloaded a game or two through Xbox Live Arcade. Microsoft has expanded on its library of classic arcade games with Game Room, a virtual arcade that lets you play your old favorites in a customizable arcade environment. Unlike other Xbox Live Arcade titles, Game Room gives you more than just the game itself – it offers up virtual arcade cabinets, as well as the sights and sounds of the video game parlors of yesteryear. You don’t even have to buy the individual games in Game Room if you don’t want to – you can keep it real and pay per play. What makes it even sweeter is that Game Room is playable on both your Xbox and your PC, so if you’re not a console owner you can still get in on the fun.

The Game Room download is free, but you’ll have to use real money to either purchase arcade machines to populate it (or use the aforementioned pay-per-play method). There’s a pretty extensive list of available games and the pricing is pretty reasonable, so if you’re into classic arcade games there will probably be something on the list worth springing for. 400 ($5) Microsoft points unlocks a purchased game for both Xbox and PC, 240 points unlocks it for a single platform, and 40 points will get you a single play. The full list of games available in Game Room is below:

Adventure
Armor Battle
Asteroids Deluxe
Astrosmash
Battlantis
Centipede
Combat
Crystal Castles
Finalizer
Football
Jungler
Lunar Lander
Millipede
Mountain Madness: Super Pro Skiing
Outlaw
RealSports Tennis
Red Baron
Road Fighter
Scramble
Sea Battle
Shao-Lin’s Road
Space Armada
Space Hawk
Star Raiders
Sub Hunt
Super Cobra
Tempest
Tutankham
Yars’ Revenge

Flash Friday: Robot Wants Kitty

J. Matthew Zoss — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:16:45 +0000

It’s Friday, and therefore it’s the perfect day to waste time. Today’s Flash Friday selection is Robot Wants Kitty, a surprisingly solid little platforming game in which you, the robot, try to find the Kitty that you want oh so much. You can see the Kitty right away, but you won’t be able to get to her until you find the right tools. This cute little game offers a surprisingly deep gameplay experience in the classic Metroid mold, and could take you as much as an hour to complete. Check it out, won’t you?

First iPad Games Leak Online

J. Matthew Zoss — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:16:27 +0000

Looking forward to the iPad? Apparently a number of iPhone game developers are. A number of “HD” or “XL” versions of existing iPhone/iPod games have been confirmed by the App Store. It’s safe to assume that these games will be merely higher-resolution versions of the games that will look better on the larger screen, but who cares? It’s news about an Apple product, so it’s clearly a big deal! Here’s a list of the games:

Ammoin HD
Azkend HD
Flight Control HD
Grind HD
HD Recovery
Labyrinth 2 HD
NBA Hotshot HD
Numba HD
Plants vs. Zombies HD
Sparkle HD
Worms HD

Looks like I’ll be buying Plants vs. Zombies for a third time.

Story and Image via CruchGear

Bulgarian Lawmaker Ousted Over Farmville

Nick Upton — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:07:20 +0000

A Bulgarian lawmaker is out of a job because of his Farmville obsession.

Dimitar Kerin was voted off a committee assignment by the Plovdiv City Council for his inability to stop tending his virtual crops on the Facebook game during meetings.

Kerin was not alone in his obsession among council members. Council chairman Ilko Iliev had previously warned several of them that the new wireless network and laptops provided to all 51 council members were not to be used for playing games on social media sites during budget meetings. Kerin was singled out for continuing to manage his farm and milk his cows despite Iliev’s warnings.

The body voted 20-19 to boot Kerin from the body, issuing a statement saying that he “needs more time for his virtual farm.”

[Via AOL News]

PlayStation 3 Losing Linux

J. Matthew Zoss — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:59:28 +0000

One of the PlayStation 3’s bragging points amongst the technorati was the fact that you could install other operating systems on the machine, usually Linux. The redesigned Ps3 Slim removed this ability, and now the original version is losing it as well. On April 1, PlayStation 3 firmware 3.21 will be available, and when installed it will remove the “Install Other OS” option for “security reasons.” Sure, you are free to not install the new firmware, but doing so may interfere with other functions, such as online gaming.

I personally never used the feature in question, but I know several people who did. I’ll be pouring out a 40 for fallen PS3 Linux on April Fool’s Day.

Story and Image Source: Engadget

Nintendo Announces 3D Gaming Handheld

J. Matthew Zoss — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:18:14 +0000

In a surprising move, Nintendo announced today that the company will be releasing a new handheld platform sometime before the end of March 2011. More information will be revealed in a few months at the annual Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), but we know the primary selling point of the system already: 3D gaming.

Currently called the “Nintendo 3DS” the new platform is an entirely new hardware line, although it will be backwards compatible with software from both the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi handhelds. Nintendo claims that 3D glasses will not be required to experience 3D on the device. Few other details have been revealed, other than that it will also feature two screens and both forward-facing and backwards-facing cameras like the DSi. Additional speculation about the device from tech site Engadget suggest that it may also have an iPod-like tilt sensor and higher resolution screens than previous DS systems.

After the success of Avatar and the advent of 3D televisions, it looks like 3D technology is here to stay. It’s unclear how Nintendo will offer up 3D without glasses, but their recent track record of innovation has earned them the benefit of the doubt for now. Let’s just hope this turns out better than the company’s previous attempt at 3D gaming, the Virtual Boy.

Source: BusinessWeek

Flash Friday: Plants vs. Zombies

Asterios Kokkinos — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:00:01 +0000

We’d be remiss if we didn’t tip our hats to the juggernaut of flash gaming, the one, the only, the indispensable…As tower defense games go, few are as deceptively simple yet maddeningly complex as Plants vs. Zombies. The concept is simple – an army of the undead inexorably marches towards your home. Your only defense? A pack of killer plants who are as adorable as they are deadly.

So, in gaming terms, the mobs are zombies and the towers are plants. There are tons of zombie types, and 49 plant types – each effective against a different zombie or in a different situation. The challenge comes in that you can only bring six different plants with you, so balancing our your clorophyllic arsenal becomes a major part of the gameplay.

Screen door zombies can only be killed with poison gas emitting mushrooms, and the fast charging quarterback zombies need to be frozen before they mow down your entire garden. Tombstones create more zombies, but can only be destroyed with a single plant – a plant which becomes useless once the tombstones are gone, filling a valuable plant slot.

See what I mean about complex?

The game is also relentlessly fun, and is the fastest selling iPhone game of all time. Check it out at www.popcap.com/games/free/pvz.

Virtual Reality Sphere Not Cool, But Could Be

Nick Upton — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:15:14 +0000

Engadget got an awesome look at the inside of a virtual reality sphere.

They said it took some getting used to, and the graphics and aiming were off. So it’s not likely that you’ll be getting one of these for the basement soon, but pumping up the graphics and using real motion controls — like they hinted the military uses — and I would try it in the arcade.

[Via Engadget]

Batman Wins Bafta!

Asterios Kokkinos — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:00:15 +0000

The British Academy of Film & Television Arts awards (or “Baftas”) are like the UK’s Oscars & Emmy’s combined, at least as far as this American who’s never been across the pond can surmise. Something I was unaware of was that in addition to Baftas for Best Film or Best Actress in a Television Series, there’s an entire wing of Baftas devoted to video games. Pretty cool.

Here’s who won what for what at the 2010 Baftas:

Best Game: Arkham Asylum
Best Gameplay: Arkham Asylum
Gamer’s Choice: Call of Dury: Modern Warfare 2
Best Action – Uncharted 2
Best Family and Social – Wii Sports Resort
Best Sports – Fifa 10
Best Story and Character – Uncharted 2
Best Strategy – Empire: Total War
Best Best use of Audio – Uncharted 2
Best New Talent – Shrunk
Best Multiplayer – Left 4 Dead 2
Best Original Score – Uncharted 2
Best Handheld – LittleBigPlanet
Best Artistic Achievement – Flower
Best Use of Online – Fifa 10

Flash Friday: Robot Unicorn Attack

Nick Upton — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:36:51 +0000

It’s been a long week of surfing the internet and watching the clock, you deserve a little break from all that stress.

I’ve been working for hours to find you just the right flash game for this Friday. This week it is Robot Unicorn Attack from Adult Swim. It’s super simple, but incredibly addictive.

So if you’re stuck in a cubicle farm turn down the music (the soundtrack is ridiculous) and practice your alt+tab maneuver.

Guitar Game Features Actual Guitar, Posers Aghast

Asterios Kokkinos — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:52 +0000

Well, it’s only taken five years, but someone’s finally figured out that the best way to control a guitar-game would be to sell people an actual guitar.

Power Gig: Rise of the Six String hands players a game controller that’s a real guitar with a quarter inch pick up – meaning you’ll be able to plug it into an amp – and the guitars will come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Again, I have no idea why this took so long.

It’s still a follow the leader/simon says style of gameplay, meaning you’ll strum the right string to match up with the screen at the right time, but it’ll also give you the opportunity to hold down several strings at once and strum, creating what musicians call a “chord,” that you’ll then be able to play in front of real people who you’ll actually impress.

The game will also work with standard Guitar Hero and Rock Band controllers. It’s slated for release this fall on PS3 and XBox 360.

Source & Photo Source: PCWorld

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakenings Drops Today

Asterios Kokkinos — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:00:04 +0000

Today marks a full scale return to Ferelden as Dragon Age: Origins – Awakenings is released for PS3, XBox 360 & PC. Unlike the previous DLC released for the game, Awakenings is massive, raising the game’s level cap, introducing new characters, abilities and loot much while continuing the storyline after the fall of the archdemon.

Here’s some quick facts about what’s sure to be the internet’s next big obsession:

You’ll be able to import your character from the first game (of course)
The expansion serves up close to 70 new spells, abilities and skills, including two new specializations for each class.
Archers will now actually be able to inflict damage
Hundreds of new items with all new rune slots, properties and higher base stats
New companions
The ability to re-spec your companions (and yourself)

These cool new gameplay features are bolstered by the new storyline, which sees the Darkspawn (gulp) becoming intelligent. They’re apparently being spawned and rallied by a rumored-to-exist Darkspawn general, who’d probably love nothing more than to rip Ferelden apart.

Check it out, tell us what you think in the comments!

Modern Warfare 2 Hits 25 Million Unique Players

J. Matthew Zoss — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:49:54 +0000

There’s been a lot of bad news in the press lately regarding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 developers Infinity Ward and its parent company Activision. The founders of Infinity Ward have been fired for insubordination and are suing Activision, which is in turn suing them right back. It’s ugly. Then again, it’s to be expected in a way. The Call of Duty franchises is one of the most popular, profitable video game series in a long, long time, and when so much money is involved it’s only natural that there will be some disputes over who gets how much of it.

As an illustration of how popular the game is, Infinity Ward’s community manager Robert Bowling just revealed through his Twitter account that 25 million unique users have played Modern Warfare 2, making it one of the most popular online games of all time. That’s across all versions of the game (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC) and doesn’t necessarily mean that 25 million copies have been sold (gamers playing on a friend’s copy of the game would be counted as unique users). But no matter how you break it down, that’s a huge number and it’s no surprise that people are fighting over the money the game is bringing in.

Action Stations! Battlestar Galactica MMO Announced

Asterios Kokkinos — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:00:39 +0000

Set Condition One throughout the ship, because there’s a Battlestar Galactica MMO on dradis, weapons hot!

Well, that’s enough references only nerds will get. For the rest of you, the hit SyFy channel series Battlestar Galactica is about to see some new life, in the form of a web based MMO.

Details on the game are a little scarce, but here’s what we do know, based on an announcement at the 2010 Game Developers Conference:

Release date: August or September
No word on the exact chronology of the game, but they say they’re picking a moment in the series that’s “familiar to fans” – my guess is right before the Pegasus shows up
It will be free, though costumes, weapons and access to new levels will cost $$$
There will be both “space combat” and “exploration”

And that’s all we know for now – it’s maddeningly little, we know, but you’ll know more when we know more. So say we all!

Sony Unveils PlayStation Move

J. Matthew Zoss — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:31:28 +0000

Last summer, both Sony and Microsoft announced that their video game consoles would be updated with motion-sensing peripherals to help them compete against Nintendo’s widly popular Wii platform. Microsoft has been hyping its motion-sensing camera Project Natal ever since. On the other hand, Sony has been a lot quieter about it’s device – until now.

Officially named the PlayStation Move, Sony’s new motion-sensing controller looks a lot like the Nintendo Wii Remote, but with some key differences. The big ball you see on the end of the device is tracked by the PlayStation Eye camera (which is required for use). Just like the Wii Remote, the Move controller has an internal gyroscope, and between the two the Move is reported to be a much more accurate motion detector than the Wii Remote. A common issue when playing Wii games is when the Remote is pointed off screen, the Wii sensor bar becomes confused. Camera tracking eliminates this problem – even when the camera loses the Move, it’s programmed to extrapolate its position. That also means that someone walking between you and the camera won’t disrupt your game.

The Move also features a “subcontroller” similar to the Wii Remote Nunchuck. However, the subcontroller is wireless and (currently) doesn’t feature any motion detection features – it’s purely to add more traditional game controls like a directional pad. Both the subcontroller and the Move itself are powered by long-lasting lithium ion batteries – a huge improvement over the Wii’s fast-burning AA batteries.

If you’re not a big gamer, you may be wondering what all this means. In short, it can be summed up like this: All of the gesture-based games you’ve seen and experienced on the Wii are now available on a video game console with much better graphics and a Blu-ray player. Sony is betting that those facts will be a big enough draw to siphon off future sales from Nintendo.

The Move will be available this Fall in several different retail packages. Pricing details are scarce, but a kit containing the Move, the PlayStation Eye camera and an unnamed game will be available for under $100.

Flash Friday: Gemcraft

Asterios Kokkinos — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:00:09 +0000

Welcome to Flash Fridays, another of our new ongoing weekly topics designed to show you, the reader, what we writers love about the web. Flash Friday will be a look at some of our favorite flash games – a.k.a. the only games you can play on your work computer.

Unless, of course, you’re ballsy enough to have installed Command and Conquer 3 on your work PC, in which case, well done. Today’s Flash Friday game du jour? Gemcraft: Chapter Zero.

Gemcraft is, simply put, one of the best and most involving tower defense games ever devised. Instead of building standard towers like frost or stun with gold, you purchase gems with mana that you place within empty tower slots. Each gem has a different color representing an ability, and you never know what kind of gem you’re going to get.

Different colored gems can be combined to create hybrid powers, or similar colored gems can be combined to create harder hitting powers. The placement of your gems, deployment of your towers and expenditure of experience points on sub-powers make this a richly rewarding, epic flash game. I spent day after day playing this at work, and don’t regret a thing.

To play Gemcraft: Chapter Zero, click here.

Guitar Hero’s Hilarious Legal Problems

Asterios Kokkinos — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:00:45 +0000

Well, here’s a phrase I never thought I’d type: No Doubt is suing Activision, and Activision is suing No Doubt. This has apparently been going on for a few months, completely under my nose, and I apologize for not reporting this hilarious news sooner.

Why the lawsuit? Well, the members of No Doubt, who are unlockable characters in Guitar Hero 5, can be used to sing non-No Doubt songs, which is apparently some kind of art crime. So now, claiming they’re being used as “karaoke singers,” there’s a good old fashioned legal dust-up in the works.

Why is that so funny to me? I have no idea – perhaps it’s the thought of Gwen Stefani angrily singing Nirvana songs. Speaking of Nirvana, you can also use Kurt Cobain to sing anyone’s songs once you’ve unlocked him, which has led Courtney Love to freak out. Although, that’s not exactly hard, as she’s completely insane and loves to tweet.

Sounds like most celebs!

Source: GamePro

Photo Source: Google

All Hail The New King of Kong!

Asterios Kokkinos — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:00:59 +0000

The documentary King of Kong turned all of us onto the high-stakes world of live, competitive Donkey Kong, pitting “good guy” Boeing engineer Steve Wiebe against “bad guy” Billy Mitchell. Mitchell had taken the title from Wiebe with a score of 1,050,200 – a figure that had remained unchallenged for three years.

Until now. Meet plastic surgeon Hank Chien, who has been officially recognized by gaming authority Twin Galaxies as the newest all-time high scorer at the game, having racked up a dazzling 1,061,700 points!

That’s right – he’s come from out of nowhere and whizzed by both men, who are doubtlessly furious at the result. An interview on Twin Galaxies with Chien shows just how laid back the man is:

Like many others, I started playing Donkey Kong after watching The King of Kong documentary. Before then, I had only played one game of Donkey Kong in my entire life, and that that was in 2006. I remember not being able to pass the first board and thinking, ‘this game stinks’. The King of Kong piqued my interest in the game and after watching the documentary I started to play seriously in November 2008. Back then I wasn’t shooting for any world records; I was just playing for fun. I had no idea I could even reach the killscreen. What kept me interested was that I kept improving. Otherwise, I would have quit a long time ago.

Seriously? The guy didn’t start playing the game until he saw the documentary, and now he’s beaten both men in it? That’s some hardcore stuff right there. It’s like this man was born to game. Well, congratulations, and let’s all welcome our new King of Kong!

Source & Photo Source: Kotaku

Nintendo Enters The E-Book Game…Sortof

Asterios Kokkinos — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:00:02 +0000

Recently, Nintendo announced the launch of a new product, the DSi XL, a Nintendo DS that boasts a screen that’s 93% larger than the previous model. It’ll launch in late March, and with it comes some more fun news: one of the first carts for the new system will be an e-book.

To be fair, it’s 100 e-books crammed together onto one cart called “100 Classic Books,” which will include entries from Shakespeare and Dickens.

Does this mark the entrant of a new competitor to the e-book reading crown? Well, not exactly – Nintendo Marketing VP Cammie Dunaway has announced that the company “has no plans” to compete with the big boys like the Amazon Kindle or the soon to be released iPad. That, and the DSi XL won’t use the same “e-ink” display scheme as a lot of e-book readers, which would mean eyestrain enters into the equation.

Still, it’s pretty cool that Nintendo’s putting out a game that’s actually one hundred books. Now if only any of them were playable…two player WiFi The Tempest, anyone?

Source & Photo Source: Christian Science Monitor

Still Alive! Portal 2 Headed For Holiday Release

Asterios Kokkinos — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:00:21 +0000

I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.

As if the headline and magazine cover didn’t make this perfectly clear, Valve has announced that Portal 2 is heading for gamers this holiday season. To prepare the way for the release, several updates to Portal have been pushed through, including a new achievement, mysterious sound files, and the addition of a new ending, which is below:

What’s that robot saying at the end? Apparently, “Thank for you assuming the party escort submission position,” which is a reference to an earlier level (what it means still escapes me, as does a lot of what GLaDOS says).

Additionally, heading to the Aperture Science website plays an animated gif with a christmas-themed version of “Still Alive,” including a weighted companion cube in a Santa hat. It’s adorable.

For 12 pages of Portal 2 goodness, including information on new gameplay mechanics, twists and story points, check out this month’s Game Informer.

Source & Photo Source: VentureBeat

Rumor: Playstation Phone Finally On The Way

Asterios Kokkinos — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:20:27 +0000

Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that “people familiar with the matter” said that we’re going to see a Sony smartphone this year that doubles as a PSP, or PlayStation Portable, later this year.

I know what you’re thinking – didn’t they just launch another PSP? Well, they did, the PSP Go, which was launched not-too-long ago and we all wondered why we needed. Turns out, we didn’t, as if this rumor is true, it’ll be immediately replaced!

The second half of the rumor? The Wall Street Journal follows up by saying they’re going to release a device that “blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable, or PSP.” Sounds to me like Sony’s releasing some kind of tablet that’ll be immediately clobbered by the iPad! Great idea, Sony!

Why do other companies even bother? Remember all those supposed “iPod Killers” that were going to launch? Even when they were better, cheaper devices, people still chose the iPod for the street cred of it all. People are gonna wise up and stop caring about that now? Not likely.

Source: PCWorld

Photo Source: Slashgear

Steam Comes To Mac, Saves Us All

Asterios Kokkinos — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:00:25 +0000

God, Allah, Buddah, Nothing, whoever it is you may or may not worship – get down on your knees and thank them, because Steam’s coming to Mac! I never thought I would get to type that phrase!

How’d they make their announcement? With the leaks of 6 different teaser images to six different websites – here are the images:

That last image is my favorite. God I hate Dr. Breen, that quisling.

What games will make the jump with Steam? Well, from the looks of the campaign, Half Life, Team Fortress, Portal & Left 4 Dead will all be coming on board, which is more exciting to me than the discovery of cold fusion. As for the rest of the Steam library, we’re going to have to stay tuned, but honestly, if we could just get those four games, Mac gaming would be completely changed.

Source: CrunchGear

Photo Source: Joystiq

Final Fantasy: Now on the iPhone

Asterios Kokkinos — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:01:48 +0000

And a great horde of moogles and chocobos rejoiced, as their franchise, straight and true, landed on that most chosen of platforms!

Final Fantasy – specifically, Final Fantasy’s I and II – have arrived for the iPhone, greedily sucking apart whatever was left of your free time. The twin franchise leaders – the second of which is the actual Japanese Final Fantasy II and not the NES version of Final Fantasy II (which was really Final Fantasy IV) – are available now in the iTunes store for $8.99 each, a mere pittance when compared to the hours of fun they’ll bring!

And are the graphics updated? As Sarah Palin would say, You Betcha! They look to be the same or similar versions as to the ones released for PSP a few years ago. Check out these sweet screenshots Mashable pulled, and tell me with a straight face that this isn’t the most exciting thing to happen to the iPhone since 3g.

Source & Photo Source: Mashable

PS3 Trophy Restoration Madness

Asterios Kokkinos — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:16:14 +0000

So, yesterday the PS3 went through such a massive glitch that Sony warned users not to use their systems at all (the internet’s calling it “Apocalyps3″). The problem? Consoles incorrectly thought that 2010 was a leap year, so they rolled to February 29th instead of March 1st. That, plus computers, means that your hard earned trophies may be gone.

Don’t panic! Sony published information on a fix that should take care of things right away:

It is possible that some users who experienced the connection problems yesterday and tried unsuccessfully to access a game (online or offline) may find that trophy data for that title is no longer displayed. To resolve this issue, the user will need to re-access the game to reinstall the trophies, then exit the game and sync their trophy collection to the server in order to regain previous achievements.

There, internet, now you can stop panicking. Wait, what? The Christian Science Monitor’s reporting that it doesn’t always work? Oh Sony, how far one must fall to be outdone in customer service by Microsoft.

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Photo Source: Wired

Electric Cars To Sell Unused Energy Back Into Grid?

Asterios Kokkinos — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:00:36 +0000

I’m only writing about this because this story’s everywhere, but the National Science Foundation recently proposed an idea – what if electric cars could sell their extra unused energy back into the energy grid?

It’s a shift in perspective – as opposed to simply being energy consumers, plugging in and sucking energy down, they could plug in and resell stored energy, in essence becoming little mobile power storage units. And given that more and more hybrids are coming with solar panels installed, a car could conceivably be making you money while parked & plugged in under the hot sun.

So why haven’t we written about this yet? Because it’s ludicrously theoretical, that’s why. Before we start coming up for ways that electric cars can make their users money, why don’t we focus on the fact that almost nobody has an electric car?

This is the most cart-before-the-horse story circling the blogosphere right now, but hey, I guess if it inspires one idiot to buy an electric car assuming it’ll make them rich on energy production, it’ll all be worth it. Now get out there and buy electric cars before I come after you personally!

Source & Photo Source: PopSci

Street Fighter 4 Kicks Its Way Onto iPhone, iPod Touch

Asterios Kokkinos — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:00:29 +0000

Two new challengers approach! Fans of Ken, Ryu, Guile and the gang should be happy to hear that Capcom’s announced plans to release Street Fighter 4 on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Bluetooth will allow you to beat down your friends wirelessly, and Capcom’s press release promises “famous characters from the early entries of the series” as well as new fighters.

Like many of you, my first thought was to the controls of such a game, which Capcom assures us will work – a transparent, moveable d-pad and button set will be at your thumbs disposal, ready for all your fireballing and hundred hand slapping needs.

The question remains: will the iPod Touch or iPhone’s touch sensors be adequate to handle the game’s furious combos? The games I’ve always played on the systems have required a touch or two to execute simple commands, not the d-pad sweeps and combination taps of the classic fighter.

Still, the allure of carrying around Chun-Li or Cami in your pocket may prove irresistible to gamers – stay tuned for the official release date and price.

Source & Photo Source: Macworld

A Bunch Of Facts About Final Fantasy XIII

Asterios Kokkinos — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:00:07 +0000

PCWorld ran a pretty excellent story today on the facts and fictions of the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII, the 13th installment in a series which has sold over 97 million copies worldwide. Sure, you could read their entire article (hard work? snooooooze) or read my synthesis of said article into easy to swallow bullet points:

It’s due out for the XBOX 360 and the PS3 on March 9th. Also there will probably be some kind of midnight launch where you can dress up like a dork.
Yuji Abe, Final Fantasy XIII battle director, states that Square Enix has no plans for DLC at this time. He then got back into his battle tank and headed to battle island, ready as always to direct more battles.
The XBOX 360 version will span across 3 discs. To be fair, the last disc is just the game with 978 hours of director’s commentary.
The game will apparently run in a native 720p instead of native 1080p, which has already lead to multiple mass suicides.
Finally, though the article goes to great lengths to say that the XBOX & PS3 versions are both great, it sounds like the PS3’s going to have somewhat better looking cutscenes as they’ll be run off Blu-Ray instead of compressed DVD video. If you’re lucky enough to own both a PS3 and an XBOX 360, then shut up, man, just shut up and enjoy your goddamn life.

Source & Photo Source: PCWorld

Dreams Do Come True: Starcraft II Closed Beta Begins

Asterios Kokkinos — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:00:51 +0000

12 years. 12 long years since we last journeyed with Raynor & Kerrigan, flew battlecruisers and carriers, and fought alongside Zeratul and Tassadar against hordes of Zerglings…

My friends, our long wait approaches its end, as Blizzard announces its launching of a closed beta to Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. The release launch target is for the middle of this year.

What’s with the delay? Well, considering how hard everyone at Blizzard’s working on Cataclysm, the major expansion to the the monumental cash cow World of Warcraft, some delay is understandable. That, and they claim they want to make sure the game is “good” (I would buy ten copies of this game even if it were shitty), but to think – if you played the original Starcraft as a teenager, there’s a good chance you’re a college graduate by now. And if you were a 35 year old power gamer, you’re now almost fifty.

That’s a long long time. But from all the playtest footage, it looks like we’re in store for an amazing game.

Source & Photo Source: VentureBeat

Aussie Lawmaker: Gamers More Dangerous Than Bikers

Nick Upton — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:17:43 +0000

Image credit: Gadgetreview.com

If you’ve ever played an online video game, you’ve likely seen the power games have to turn a mostly normal person into a screaming vulgar weirdo, but could gamers really be dangerous?

One Australian lawmaker says they are, even saying they are more dangerous than the violent biker gangs he fought to break up in his past. One must note that they call bikers bikies in Australia, so how bad could they be?

South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has been fighting to keep Australia from adopting an adult rating for video games; which he says would leave the door open to stores selling more gore, and adult situations simply because they have an adult rating.

He said that because of his stalwart position against violent or adult video games, gamers have been staking out his house and one left a note under his door.

He didn’t say what the note said, but it prompted him to declare gamers more dangerous than bikers.

“I feel that my family and I are more at risk from gamers than we are from the outlaw motorcycle gangs who also hate me and are running a candidate against me,” he said on ABC TV’s Good Game.

“The outlaw motorcycle gangs haven’t been hanging around my doorstop at 2am. A gamer has.”

Oh I wish I knew what that note said.

[ Via News.com]

Bejeweled Sells Its 50 Millionth Copy

Asterios Kokkinos — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:00:44 +0000

Bejeweled, a game synonymous with wasted time, has just hit its 50-millionth download!

PopCap’s apparently made over three hundred million dollars off a game that’s as simple as it looks – line up three jewels, repeat – and has had the game downloaded over 350 million times, a record that the company states puts it in the top ten sold games of all time.

The question, though, is whether or not they can continue to sell a copy of the flagship title every 4.3 seconds – most games these days are free. Bejeweled Blitz! popped up on Facebook a while ago, offering users free one minute challenge games, and with the average Popcap game running at seven bucks a pop, one wonders if they can stay afloat.

Right now, a friend’s across the table from me playing an iPhone game called “Tap Tap Revenge Three” – a free game, which she insists she’ll never purchase. I was recently addicted to a game called “Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures,” and regularly play the free flash games on the site “Casual Collective.” In my entire digital life, I believe I’ve only purchased games online twice, and never for much money.

Hulu’s free. Facebook’s free. Gmail’s free. What’s gonna happen to PopCap?

Nintendo History, in Keychain Form

J. Matthew Zoss — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:00:40 +0000

I think we’ve reached the point where it’s socially acceptable to accessorize with video game stuff. At least, that’s what I like to tell myself. The TakaraTomy corporation seems to think so too. The company is launching a new line of keychains that celebrate an important milestone in the history of Nintendo: Game & Watch. These small LCD handhelds were each an individual game as well as a clock, hence the name. If you take a close look at a Game & Watch unit, you can see hints of Nintendo products to come.

The keychain recreations will feature solar-powered clocks, but no playable game, which is a total drag. However, they look cool and will be available for the reasonable price of around $11 this March.

Story and Image Via Kotaku.

Online Gaming Revenue To Hit $5 Billion Dollars, Wasted Lives

Asterios Kokkinos — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:39:12 +0000

Market research firm Pike & Fischer reports that online games like World of Warcraft and Everquest hit $2.8 in subscription revenue in 2009, and will hit $5 billion by 2015. Additionally, the gamer audience, which is currently 19.4 million, will hit 44.5 million by the end of 2014.

That’s. Insane. 44.5 million people hunting orcs, or beholders, or whatever the hell it is you hunt in Everquest? That’s more players than some countries have citizens!

I’ve stayed far, far away from MMORPGS like World of Warcraft and Dungeons & Dragons Online for my entire life, fearing for the safety of my free time and sanity. That, and they’re expensive – $12 a month? Who am I, Rich Uncle Pennybags?

Speaking of subscription fees, Pike & Fischer predicts those will drop pretty significantly – from an average of $12 a month in 2009 to $9.50 in 2014. Well, if I’m going to throw my whole life away in a fictional land called Azeroth I may as well save money while doing it.

Source: WebProNews

Photo Source: Blizzard.com

Plants vs. Zombies. 9 Days. $1 Million Dollars.

Asterios Kokkinos — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:00:35 +0000

If you haven’t heard of Plants vs. Zombies then you may not be as big a dork as you think. The “killer” app (sorry) has been a PopCap hit for quite some time, eating into worktime productivity like so much rotting flesh. Now, you can take the plant on zombie carnage on the road with the $2.99 release on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

And, this just in: the game’s sold over three hundred thousand copies in its first nine days, a number that PopCap says is an iPhone record.

The game itself is as addictive as chlorophyll – it’s a tower defense game in which you plant a garden of friendly yet deadly plants to mow down an ever growing horde of zombies. Pea shooters, potato mines, cherry bombs and 42 other plant types take on an equally diverse array of zombies, like the “newspaper” zombie (a zombie holding a newspaper which acts as a somewhat effective shield), the “conehead zombie” (who wears a traffic cone atop his head) and the Zomboni (a zombie driving a zamboni) are just a few of the wave after wave of monsters y ou’ll face.

Enough talk. Try it yourself!

Source & Photo Source: Mashable

US Army Trains With SimCity Baghdad

Asterios Kokkinos — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:00:11 +0000

Looking to train against a counterinsurgency? You might want to follow in the footsteps of the US Army and try “SimUrban,” a.k.a., “SimCity Baghdad.” It’s a counterinsurgency simulator that places less of a focus on shooting the enemy and more of a focus on restoring power, water, schools and roads to a frustrated population.

Instead of facing tornadoes, hurricanes or giant metal spider attacks, you’ll have to deal with suicide bombers, corrupt officials and insurgent enclaves. Pretty cool!

The game’s design was chronicled in last month’s issue of The Atlantic. From the article: “The worst student so far ended up with 70 percent of the town against him…he thought the only way to increase civil security was to go bust down people’s doors,” said Randall Hill, the game’s creator. A version for Afghanistan will be out in a few months. Hopefully, all our future wars will have some flavor of SimCity attached to them!

Source & Image Source: Kotaku

Steampunk Game Boy Makes 80s Kids Feel Really Old

Geoffrey Golden — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:49:27 +0000

It feels like it’s been a long time since Nintendo dropped the “Game Boy” line in favor of the multi-screened DS, but still… it hasn’t been this long.

Check out this detailed hack by Thretris, which takes the classic Game Boy, released in 1989, and adds a whole bunch of sprockets, gears and gold paint. The result is a Victorian-looking portable gaming system for steampunk folks. It’s what Jules Verne’s Game Boy would look like, though thankfully he never had one. Otherwise, instead of writing science fiction novels, he would have obsessed over beating Bugs Bunny’s Crazy Castle. In that alternative universe, Jules Verne and I have a lot in common. (In case you’re wondering, it’s Earth-8456.)

As the title implies, the Victorian Game Boy makes me feel pretty old. I was a little kid when I begged for a Game Boy to be my only Christmas present ever. Now I’m an adult and the Game Boy is so old, it’s being made to look like a Victorian gadget. What’s next? A steam powered Teddy Ruxbin? Well, I suppose my old pet rock actually could have been invented in the stone age.

Source: Dvice

Photo Source: Techfemina

PS3 Hacked, Kind Of

Nick Upton — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:44:57 +0000

George “Geohot” Hotz, who gained hacker fame for creating an easy to install iPhone jailbreak app, has done it again.

I have read/write access to the entire system memory, and HV level access to the processor. In other words, I have hacked the PS3.

Huzzah! We can play pirated games, make our own games, use the PS3 to wash our car and make sandwiches!

OK, maybe not, Hotz is still in the early stages of the actual hack and he goes into great detail about what he is doing and what he cannot do.

You can read the incredibly technical Geohot Blog, but he made a specific point in later posts that his site was for research only and will not feature an exploit kit like he did for the iPhone.

Despite the fact that we can’t download a PS3 Homebrew app yet, the hack is a real breakthrough. It took a staggering 3 Years, 2 Months and 11 days from the launch of the PS3 to hack it. Hackers jailbroke the Nexus One before it was even released.

I am eagerly awaiting more developments, even if I’m too scared to use most of these type of exploits on my precious, precious gadgets.

[Image Via On The Playstation 3]

Mass Effect 2 Tackles Tricky Science Of Dark Energy

Nick Upton — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:38:06 +0000

Tackling the concept of dark energy is pretty difficult, but that doesn’t keep video game makers from cutting some corners and trying.

Bioware, the maker of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, has turned the typical fantasy magic into science fiction by creating something that resembles dark energy.

Even though physicists told Scientific American that the science in Mass Effect is pretty far off, they appreciate the ideas and the interest in science in general.

“I sort of like the idea of having people who could sense [dark energy] and manipulate it,” Davis says. In fact, “one of the reasons we’re studying it is to find some way to manipulate it.” One of the roles of video games and science fiction is to stretch what we know by using our imagination, she adds.

“It’s a fun idea,” Carroll says, adding that introducing gamers to even the concept of dark energy is a step in the right direction. “Someone might hear that term as part of a game and then hear it again in a more scientific context, and that might help them ultimately gain a better understanding of what it is. There’s a tremendous untapped potential in games for incorporating cool science.”

Science fiction and its affect on culture, technology and the world in general has been a topic of conversation for hundreds of years via authors like H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov and in mainstream movies since Metropolis. Scientists even say Star Trek inspired them to pursue teleportation and force field technology.

So even though the science in Mass Effect 2 is far from the mysterious universal force of dark matter, it might inspire some young whippersnapper to pursue science and make breakthroughs in real science.

[Via SciAm Image via Bioware]

I Knew It! Gamers Have Bigger Brains!

J. Matthew Zoss — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:32:11 +0000

Space Fortress, the video game created for the University of Illinois study.

All this time, I guess I’ve been studying. According to a new study, games have specific brain structures that are larger than non-gamers, and the size of these structures is directly related to success at certain tasks. The study, conducted at the University of Illinois and published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, used a specifically designed video game called “Space Fortress” to measure activity in specific areas of the brain. Researchers found that expert gamers in general had larger “nucleus accumbens” than non-gamers, and that those with larger nucleus accumbens performed better at the tasks assigned to them in the study.

While you could easily sum up the findings by saying that gamers are better at games than non-gamers, the study obviously has a more detailed explanation. According to PhysOrg.com, the study “adds to the evidence that specific parts of the striatum, a collection of distinctive tissues tucked deep inside the cerebral cortex, profoundly influence a person’s ability to refine his or her motor skills, learn new procedures, develop useful strategies and adapt to a quickly changing environment.”

In other words, playing a game has a measurable affect on learning. No wonder that I am such a geinius… er, genius.

Source: PhysOrg.com

Mega Man’s Newest Enemy: Illiteracy Man!

Geoffrey Golden — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:00:30 +0000

Are you skilled at collecting E-Tanks and blasting evil robots, but not so skilled at reading English? Forget adult learning schools. Let Mega Man and the Master Robots teach you the ABC’s in this funny children’s book parody from Destructoid. A is for Air Man, B is for Bomb Man, C is for Could This BE Any More Awesome Man? The rhymes are funny, the illustrations are adorable… I wish this was how I learned the alphabet.

Oh, and remember everybody, T is for Ten. As in Mega Man 10, coming to all consoles March of this year. In your quest to defeat Dr. Wiley, you will kill many, many brain cells. (Perhaps you’ll even unlearn your ABCs.)

Fan Made Mega Man Film Coming ‘Very Soon’

Nex — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:42:26 +0000

Eddie Lebron is a man. A man who loves a man. A man who loves a man named Mega Man.

Instead of shacking up Brokeback-style in the mountains of Wyoming, Mr. Lebron has opted to immortalize his little blue paramour via the most traditional of means: A feature length, home made film.

The most impressive bit is that the flick proudly wears its low budget, fan made aesthetic like a certificate of authenticity turned medal of honor, and yet still manages to look way more respectful of its source material than any of Hollywood’s attempts at turning a beloved video game into a film.

Of course, I’m basing all of that on the surprisingly awesome trailer and the newly released Sneak Preview, but, according to Lebron, we don’t have much longer to wait to catch the film in its entirety.

“The next big question is: when will it be released? The film shall be released online 2 weeks after the premiere. Well, when will the premiere be? I don’t want to say officially when it will but I do have a specific time frame in mind and it’s soon … very soon,” Lebron writes in a recent blog entry. “Without giving too much, the film will be premiered before the summer.”

Using only their minds, our crack team of mathemagicians crunched the numbers, and assuming Mr. Lebron’s film can avoid any crippling delays, we have, at maximum, a six month wait ahead of us; An almost insignificant time frame if Lebron can deliver on his hype.

(Image: Capcom)

One Earth is the TV Show That You Play

J. Matthew Zoss — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:03:42 +0000

There have been plenty of video games based on TV shows. There have been a handful of TV shows based on video games. Never before has someone attempted a project that’s both a TV show and a video game at the same time. NBC’s SyFy network is teaming up with game developer Trion World Network to create “One Earth,” a video game and television series with a symbiotic relationship. Trion is developing the One World MMORPG (that’s Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game for you non-gamers), and what happens in the world of the game will influence the direction of the show, which will air on SyFy.

Obviously, this is a really ambitious project and I can see a lot of things that could potentially go wrong. But it’s also one of the most interesting and direct efforts the television industry has made in reaching out to the gaming audience. I’m very curious to see how this one works out. For more information, check out the video below. Warning: prepare for one of the most annoying narrator voices ever.

One Earth

Video Game God Ralph Baer Is Smarter Than You

Nick Upton — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:59:39 +0000

So I’ve played Simon Says, Pong and Duck Hunt, and hundreds of stupid Internet games for a good portion of my life.

Little did I know that the same person was responsible for just about every facet of gaming there ever will be: Ralph Baer.

I took some time and watched this great interview with Baer, who described his many, many groundbreaking inventions. (It’s 17 minutes, but well worth a lunch break.)

Baer, a German Jew who escaped the country before the Nazi’s came to power, began his career as a radio technician. But after working with military intelligence, earning a bachelors of science and a few stints as a designer, he started his own company with defense-electronics in mind.

While he was working on defense applications, he took a noted detour and created the first video game console. He then added a light gun to the console and whipped up a little game called Simon.

If that weren’t enough, Baer also designed a way for people to play games, such as his Pong, through cable lines. Nobody, sadly, thought much of it and decided not to buy his invention, delaying console-to-console gaming by decades.

He created a number of other toys, gadgets and gizmos up until his retirement in 1987.

In 2006, Baer was awarded the National Medal of Technology by George W. Bush for his work on video games.

Is Baer the government’s answer to keeping intelligent, technology-savvy people from doing anything productive? Probably not, but he is truly a genius who was decades ahead of his time and we can thank him for basically inventing video games — despite the fact that our thumbs, brains and time is hurting.

It’s a wonder that he ever existed, let alone is still kicking. Nobody in the sphere of video games comes close to his level of genius.

Netflix Comes to Nintendo Wii

J. Matthew Zoss — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:58:11 +0000

Image credit: Gadgetreview.com

There’s no question that Nintendo’s Wii console is one of the hottest tech items of the last several years. But I think it’s fair to say that a huge percentage of the consoles are doing little more than gathering dust right now. Fortunately, that little white box hooked up to your TV is about to get more useful. Like the Xbox 360 and the PS3 before it, the Wii will soon add Netflix streaming to its functionality.

For those of you without a Netflix account, the service offers online streaming videos in addition to mailed DVDs. These movie can be viewed on your computer or your television if you have a streaming-capable device hooked up. When the service is added to Wii consoles in the spring, it will require that a special Netflix streaming disc be inserted into the Wii drive and that the user has a valid Netflix account. Because the Wii is the only one of the three current game consoles that doesn’t support HD, streamed videos will be standard definition only. Still, even with a few limitations, anything that adds new functionality to the Wii will just help you justify the purchase to your spouse, who told you that you didn’t really need that thing in the first place.

Via New York Times.

Augmented Reality Check

Asterios Kokkinos — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:33:51 +0000

Everyone’s buzzing about augmented reality, which is popularly defined as overlaying digital data on a physical space. The above picture is from Best Buy’s augmented reality campaign – aiming a smartphone with an IR scanner at a circulars nets you a 3d image of the product in question. So, in other words, the first widely popular augmented reality campaign is designed to sell us expensive print cartridges.

That’s the opposite of what augmented reality should be – it was supposed to be cool. Robocop style heads up displays or handheld projectors dispersing three dimensional holographic scanning fields. When we imagine the interaction of real time data on a physical space, we want this:

That’s right, Terminator! You steal that motorcycle! Augmented Reality is supposed to provide us with important real time data related to the physical world, not the quickest place to find a Fresca.

Once again, it’s Google to the rescue. They recently filed the patent for this little number:

This is what I’m talking about! A personal, Dragon Ball Z style eye scanner providing me important real-time information, like if the person I’m talking to has an elevated pulse (a.k.a., they’re lying), or whether I have an email. Good job, Google. The future can’t get here soon enough.

Create Digital Graffiti With WiiSpray

J. Matthew Zoss — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:39:58 +0000

I’m a huge game, but I spend very little time with the Wii. With a few exceptions, I just don’t think most of the games released for it are very interesting. On the other hand, the Wii has produced a lot of interesting experiments that aren’t (yet) possible on other gaming platforms. The latest one to catch my eye is WiiSpray, the graffiti program created by German students Martin Lihs and Frank Matuse. By plugging the Wii Remote into a spraycan-shaped peripheral, users can create virtual tagging projects that can be saved and re-edited later. It’s pretty cool stuff, as you can see in the videos below. It would be hard to call this a legitimate video game, rather an interactive art program. I’d love to give it a try, but I’m fairly confident that will never happen. The Wii software market has been softening up for months now, so an experimental program like this is going to have a hard time attracting a publisher.

Wii Spray Stencil – Beta from Martin Lihs on Vimeo.

School Teaches Through Videogames, Twentysomethings Furious

Asterios Kokkinos — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:47:46 +0000

NYC’s “Quest To Learn” school has achieved a goal only dreamed of by kids – they teach lessons entirely through videogames.

The class of 72 sixth graders were assembled by the Institute of Play, a nonprofit collaboration of learning experts and game designers. Quest to Learn’s got five subjects: Codeworlds (math/English), Being, Space and Place (social studies/English), The Way Things Work (math/science), Sports for the Mind (game design), and Wellness (health/PE) – beats the hell out of the three R’s.

The plan is for this class to attend Quest to Learn all the way through high school graduation, which is astonishing. Imagine SAT prep, in videogame form! I hope it’s like Half Life 2, and you beat wrong answers with crowbars.

Source & Photo Source: PopSci.com

LEGO Universe Playable — And Fun — At CES

Nick Upton — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:06:33 +0000

I got a chance to take Lego Universe for a spin at the Consumer Electronics Show, and I must say, LEGO’s attempt at an MMO was already well polished and a lot of fun.

Basically, it’s an MMO like any other but with a few features taken from the previous LEGO games. The combat, for instance, is quick and click happy, just like the console games. I got to run around killing LEGO robots with a LEGO spear — with a small set of move combinations.

Players also collect LEGO pieces like the console games, but these pieces all add up to the end game fun of building your own LEGO creations.

While the game certainly seems to be tailored toward the casual gamer, there are deeper game play options. LEGO volunteers said there would be group dynamics and quests that would require more than one person. One also said there would be a “way to tailor your game play.” That cryptic quote came when I asked about classes in LEGO Universe, so it seems there will be additional powers, but no definite word has been released on those thus far.

There is certainly experience, which grants more health at the very least. But what else the experience unlocked is unclear.

Speaking of the end game, one of the volunteers was tinkering with the LEGO Digital Designer which will be featured prominently in the end game.

There will be a little plot of land at the end and places to share your creations. I asked if it would be possible to drive your creations around, and a volunteer said that while there would be small interactive features in those plots but nothing major.

The volunteer did say there would be races and modular sets to find to compete with other players.

I personally cannot wait to get a further look at the game and waited in a long line to get a free LEGO man and sign up for the beta test.

LEGO Universe is still in family and friends alpha testing, but expect to hear more about it in the future.

Lite Brite Re-Imagined At CES 2010

Nick Upton — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:14:57 +0000

Remember Lite Brite?! Me too; all those tiny pieces to swallow, those bulbs that burn out and are too expensive to replace and those great colors.

OK, so Lite Brite was fun, but it was high time for an upgrade. That’s where Hi-Tec Art’s new design comes in.

Instead of pegs sticking into a lit board, the design offers a thin pad of foam over a 5 watt current. Each of the little LEDs have a pair of prongs that stick through and light up. An addition over the old school Lite Brite is the bendable light wires that Hi-Tec artists can wrap around the diodes — like in the picture.

The offering was one of the few young-kid gadgets, but the fun danger factor is still there for the kids since the prongs at the base of the LEDs is pretty sharp.

Go forth kids and swallow those LEDs and stab your finger — for America!

Peregrine Gaming Glove Demoed By Pro Gamers At CES 2010

Nick Upton — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:55:35 +0000

I got a chance to peek at the Peregrine Gaming Glove at the Consumer Electronics Show, it looks pretty sweet for serious gaming.

Basically, as the video shows, you can bind any keystroke to a spot on the glove. Touch the thumb to the second knuckle on your ring finger and you can switch weapon sets. Touch again at the tip of the pointer finger, and toss a grenade.

It looks to be especially useful in games with a lot of abilities like the one demoed. I think it would be perfect for FPSs though. Hypothetically, if someone were not sober and playing Modern Warfare 2 in the dark it could be difficult to call in that airstrike without throwing a grenade on accident — hypothetically of course.

The pro gamer also mentioned the glove’s use for feature-heavy programs like Photoshop — especially for artists. Finding Shift+Ctrl+Y (I don’t know, I just crop stuff) is annoying and navigating through the menus while trying to use a stylus pad takes the artist out of the creative moment.

The glove is only available for preorders right now, and at $130 it’s sure to price out all but hardcore gamers and maybe the occasional artist or graphic designer.

3-D 3-D Gaming Playable At CES 2010

Nick Upton — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:51:09 +0000

Got a chance to goof around with 3-D games, in 3-D omg!

I was surprised how sleek it looks. I really thought it would give me a headache or seizure or just blow my head up, luckily it didn’t. It did add another dimension to the game (pun intended). It really puts you into the action better than just 3-D on a 2-D screen can.

I cannot wait until this is tweaked and ready for a commercial sale.

Stephen King Spookily Launches “Dark Tower” Video Game

Asterios Kokkinos — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:22:07 +0000

The Dark Tower, a techno-fantasy series Stephen King’s been writing since the 70’s, has a new chapter in Discordia, an epic online flash game available at StephenKing.com. The game’s original press release was a little dull, so I’ve jazzed it up a bit. Enjoy:

—

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Subj: Stephen King Launches Creepy New Game Packed With Maximum Spooks

Happy New Fear, boils and ghouls! Stephen King here with a new online video game that’s truly a…killer app! In Discordia: Boo! Edition, you’ll follow a terrifying demon-wolf as he extracts one hundred gallons of blood from people in small New England towns. I hope you like that creepy clown from IT, because he’s your partner! 50 levels of murderous chills and thrills await you – unless, of course, you’re too scared to play it!

Because I am! I’m just hired to write press releases – this game’s so scary that if I played this game, I’d poop myself! Sorry to use such…foul language but I’m a little…tired this morning! Oh no, I heard a creepy noise! (*Sounds of glass breaking*) (*Sounds of man jumping through window*)”

Why a press release would include sound effects I’ll never know.

Who Says Print is Dead? World Of WarCraft Has It’s Own Magazine!

J. Matthew Zoss — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:02:22 +0000

Image provided by Future Publications US.

I’m a big gamer, but when you start talking about World of WarCraft, my eyes tend to roll back in my head and I zone out like you’re talking about sports. That said, I wish my favorite game franchises got the type of support that WoW does. The World of WarCraft magazine was announced some time ago, but now we’ve had a chance to take a look at it, and it’s pretty damn cool. Each issue is 148 pages and completely ad-free, thanks to a subscription-only model ($40 for four issues, $70 for eight). Publisher Future US has an interactive preview of the first issue online, and it’s undeniably sweet. I’m sure there will be some designers who have never played a minute of WoW picking this one up just for the art.

Street Fighter Cosplay: Because Photos Of Real Life Chun-Li Are Always Welcome

Asterios Kokkinos — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 06:34:35 +0000

This is what happens when no girls write for a website – I get to go crazy and, with impunity, run photo after photo of women dressed up as Chun-Li from the Street Figher Series. Also, Cami, to whom I am fairly indifferent. I guess what I’m saying is: I’m sorry.

I’m sorry that we live in a world where girls dressed up as Street Fighter characters aren’t considered high art. Perhaps someday, if we all work hard enough, girls dressed up as Street Fighter characters will get the mainstream artistic respect they deserve. But until then, all we can do is click again and again on photo after photo of girls dressed up as Chun-Li, hoping that somehow, we’ll make a difference.

You may say that I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.

Source: Caveman Circus