Another holiday, another abundance of awesome sales events up 'till the end of the month. If you're more of a mobile-minded, on-the-go gamer, then you may want to check out some of these iPhone and Android games from Namco Bandai, on sale starting today:
Android:
More Brain Exercise - $2.99 -> $1.49
TNA Wrestling Impact - $4.99 -> $2.49
Isaac Newton’s Gravity - $1.99 -> $0.99
Ms. PAC-MAN - $2.99 -> $1.49
Pac-Man - $2.99 -> $1.49
Pac-Man Championship Edition - $2.99 -> $1.49
Pool Pro Online 3 - $2.99 -> $1.49
iPad/iPhone
Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima - $1.99 -> $0.99
Buccaneer Blitz - $2.99 -> $0.99
Fossil Feast - $1.99 -> $0.99
House of Glass - $4.99 (in-app) -> $1.99 (in-app)
Isaac Newton’s Gravity (iPad) - $4.99 (in-app) -> $1.99 (in-app)
Isaac Newton’s Gravity (iPhone) - $2.99 (in-app) -> $0.99 (in-app)
Mishap - $4.99 -> $1.99
Mooniacs - $1.99 -> $0.99
More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima - $4.99 -> $1.99
More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima HD - $6.99 -> $2.99
Mr. Driller - $1.99 -> $0.99
Ms. Pac-Man - $4.99 -> $1.99
Pac-Man - $4.99 -> $1.99
Pole Position: Remix - $2.99 -> $0.99
Pool Pro Online 3 - $1.99 -> $0.99
Puzzle Quest 2 - $4.99 -> $1.99
Star Trigon - $1.99 -> $0.99
Stroke of Midnight - $4.99 (in-app) -> $1.99 (in-app)
Tamagotchi: 'Round the World - $4.99 -> $1.99
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
EA Defends Battlefield 3 Single-Player as a Way to "Train Up and Get Ready for Multiplayer"
In many first-person shooters, crafting a great multiplayer experience is something that's become more and more important. Eurogamer reports, however, that EA is taking that one step further by stating that Battlfield 3's criticized single-player campaign serves more as training for "new players ramp into the game," with "the game" referring to the multiplayer component of BF3.
Here's what EA executive Frank Gibeau had to say today during a conference call.
"We consider Battlefield an online service...The single play experience is important. It's a great way to get fans into the experience, have them train up and get ready for multiplayer. And a lot of fans just enjoy having that single player experience. So I think you have to have both."
"Clearly the multiplayer is the richer opportunity for us because of the services opportunity in keeping customers engaged 365 [days a year]. Fortunately, Battlefield, as a franchise, since the late '90s has been configured around multiplayer and I think that's why you're seeing such popularity around the design."
FPS games are my genre of choice. And while I'm certainly somewhat in the minority, I generally always look forward more to a shooter's single-player offering over its multiplayer. I value both SP and MP, but the idea that it's somehow less important to deliver a solid single-player campaign than the multiplayer is disconcerting.
Here's what EA executive Frank Gibeau had to say today during a conference call.
"We consider Battlefield an online service...The single play experience is important. It's a great way to get fans into the experience, have them train up and get ready for multiplayer. And a lot of fans just enjoy having that single player experience. So I think you have to have both."
"Clearly the multiplayer is the richer opportunity for us because of the services opportunity in keeping customers engaged 365 [days a year]. Fortunately, Battlefield, as a franchise, since the late '90s has been configured around multiplayer and I think that's why you're seeing such popularity around the design."
FPS games are my genre of choice. And while I'm certainly somewhat in the minority, I generally always look forward more to a shooter's single-player offering over its multiplayer. I value both SP and MP, but the idea that it's somehow less important to deliver a solid single-player campaign than the multiplayer is disconcerting.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
Simulator games, or "sims," are an exceptional common genre represented on the Facebook platform. Anything you can think of that could possibly make a sim game is probably out on the Facebook platform somewhere. Fancy starting a new religion? Check. How about running a town full of gnomes? Check. Becoming a millionaire from running a lemonade stand business? Check. The trouble with sim games, as it always is with Facebook games, is finding games that are actually any good. Here are eight that we love.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
The Sims Social
Electronic Arts' most popular franchise has finally come to Facebook and is close to knocking CityVille from its long-standing position at the number one slot. The Sims Social is ridiculously popular, with some 51 million people playing it, so a good chance some of your friends are already onboard. As the title suggests, it's a simplified version of the Sims, with less focus on the minutiae of daily life like going to work, eating and sleeping and more on the social aspects. To progress with the game, in fact to do pretty much anything, you're going to need a little help from your friends or your wallet. Want to make a new room? You'll need three of your friends to agree to help before you can build it. Want to buy a new bath? Well, you'll need a mountain of collectibles to install it. Best way to get those? Either wait endlessly for them to come up as random drops, buy them or rely on the kindness of your friends. As a long-time Sims fan I found this incredibly frustrating and would rather just play the Sims, but it's worth checking out.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
My Tribe
In Big Fish Games' My Tribe you take charge of a tribe of simple villagers living on a small island of your choosing. You can assign your tribe members jobs like fishing for food, building new structures and collecting materials to make them productive members of society. Your tribe members will slowly grow old and die, so it makes sense to have more babies to replace them -- just try not to think too hard about how everyone's related to each other when you do. Goodies like shells and stork feathers (which you need to make babies) appear randomly on the island and scouring the shores for them is a fun way to pass the time while you're waiting for other tasks to complete. As you play through the game you'll also get to place game machines that you can use to open up mini games (you get a certain amount of mini game plays free every day or can buy more with cash). My Tribe's a great little game in the same vein as Virtual Villagers... if you're into that kind of thing.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
Airport City
Can't afford a holiday this year? Not to worry, you can still the frenetic feel of traveling by playing an airport management sim instead-- no packing required. You get two sections of land to manage -- an airport part, and a city part. You use the city section for housing (which creates passengers) and shops (which create money). In the airport area you build hangers, buy planes and give permission for flights to land and take off on your runways. There are three currencies in the game -- passengers (you get them from houses), fuel (this recharges over time like energy does in other Facebook games) and gold (which you get from shops or from accepting flights). Although you level up fairly slowly, there's always something to do, as planes are constantly asking for permission to land and a steady stream of missions (mostly of the build x or collect x variety) will keep you busy. After a while it starts to ask you to hassle your friends or spend real cash, but so far -- quite a way in -- there are other ways round this to keep playing if you prefer.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
Dirty Dancing
With a remake of the 1987 film in the works (why? why??) and the fact that the Dirty Dancing Facebook fan page has 10 million fans, Lionsgate has decided that now is the perfect time to release a Facebook game based on the original movie. In this sim game, you get to run Kellerman's and try to make it into a successful resort. You buy attractions like dance floors, magicians and hotdog vendors to amuse your guests but the trick is that people will only spend money if they're part of a couple. To get them to hook up, you'll need to strategically drop 'romance waves' which bounce off decorations like topiary dogs, flower beds and duck ponds. You get romance waves from completing quests and by putting on dance shows. You can also buy watermelons which you can exchange for various special items or use to speed the action up. Despite its silly premise, it's actually a pretty solid game and rather addictive as Facebook sims go and is well worth a look if you like that kind of gameplay.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
The Sims Social
Electronic Arts' most popular franchise has finally come to Facebook and is close to knocking CityVille from its long-standing position at the number one slot. The Sims Social is ridiculously popular, with some 51 million people playing it, so a good chance some of your friends are already onboard. As the title suggests, it's a simplified version of the Sims, with less focus on the minutiae of daily life like going to work, eating and sleeping and more on the social aspects. To progress with the game, in fact to do pretty much anything, you're going to need a little help from your friends or your wallet. Want to make a new room? You'll need three of your friends to agree to help before you can build it. Want to buy a new bath? Well, you'll need a mountain of collectibles to install it. Best way to get those? Either wait endlessly for them to come up as random drops, buy them or rely on the kindness of your friends. As a long-time Sims fan I found this incredibly frustrating and would rather just play the Sims, but it's worth checking out.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
My Tribe
In Big Fish Games' My Tribe you take charge of a tribe of simple villagers living on a small island of your choosing. You can assign your tribe members jobs like fishing for food, building new structures and collecting materials to make them productive members of society. Your tribe members will slowly grow old and die, so it makes sense to have more babies to replace them -- just try not to think too hard about how everyone's related to each other when you do. Goodies like shells and stork feathers (which you need to make babies) appear randomly on the island and scouring the shores for them is a fun way to pass the time while you're waiting for other tasks to complete. As you play through the game you'll also get to place game machines that you can use to open up mini games (you get a certain amount of mini game plays free every day or can buy more with cash). My Tribe's a great little game in the same vein as Virtual Villagers... if you're into that kind of thing.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
Airport City
Can't afford a holiday this year? Not to worry, you can still the frenetic feel of traveling by playing an airport management sim instead-- no packing required. You get two sections of land to manage -- an airport part, and a city part. You use the city section for housing (which creates passengers) and shops (which create money). In the airport area you build hangers, buy planes and give permission for flights to land and take off on your runways. There are three currencies in the game -- passengers (you get them from houses), fuel (this recharges over time like energy does in other Facebook games) and gold (which you get from shops or from accepting flights). Although you level up fairly slowly, there's always something to do, as planes are constantly asking for permission to land and a steady stream of missions (mostly of the build x or collect x variety) will keep you busy. After a while it starts to ask you to hassle your friends or spend real cash, but so far -- quite a way in -- there are other ways round this to keep playing if you prefer.
Top 8 Facebook Sim Games
Dirty Dancing
With a remake of the 1987 film in the works (why? why??) and the fact that the Dirty Dancing Facebook fan page has 10 million fans, Lionsgate has decided that now is the perfect time to release a Facebook game based on the original movie. In this sim game, you get to run Kellerman's and try to make it into a successful resort. You buy attractions like dance floors, magicians and hotdog vendors to amuse your guests but the trick is that people will only spend money if they're part of a couple. To get them to hook up, you'll need to strategically drop 'romance waves' which bounce off decorations like topiary dogs, flower beds and duck ponds. You get romance waves from completing quests and by putting on dance shows. You can also buy watermelons which you can exchange for various special items or use to speed the action up. Despite its silly premise, it's actually a pretty solid game and rather addictive as Facebook sims go and is well worth a look if you like that kind of gameplay.
M-Rated Jaws Game on 3DS Has Gore, Killer Shark
Set 35 years after Spielberg's terrifying feature film, Jaws: Ultimate Predator looks to reintroduce the Great White aquatic assassin, and make a whole new generation of gamers afraid to ever go swimming. Seriously, I saw Jaws when I was about six years-old, and you can't pay me to go near water. I don't care how shallow it is; there's at least a 0.001% chance that there's a shark in there just waiting to bite my legs off. And I need those. For, you know, walking and "kicking it" and such.
M-Rated Jaws Game on 3DS Has Gore, Killer Shark
Anyway, Jaws: Unleashed -- to reiterate, an M-rated Jaws game on the 3DS (the Wii iteration is rated "T for Teen," so pshhh to that) will allow players to chomp up swimmers and scuba divers, battle "armed civilians and deadly deep-sea bosses," and essentially re-terrorize Amity Island all over again, leading me to believe that they should really just shut that place down, as it might stop these kinds of things from happening. You'd think, huh? Maybe in a perfect world.
There's no official release date yet, but hey, it's a Jaws game that has a pretty good shot at making us forget about Jaws: Unleashed. Oops, I just remembered it. Well, there's a chance it'll be pretty good regardless.
M-Rated Jaws Game on 3DS Has Gore, Killer Shark
Anyway, Jaws: Unleashed -- to reiterate, an M-rated Jaws game on the 3DS (the Wii iteration is rated "T for Teen," so pshhh to that) will allow players to chomp up swimmers and scuba divers, battle "armed civilians and deadly deep-sea bosses," and essentially re-terrorize Amity Island all over again, leading me to believe that they should really just shut that place down, as it might stop these kinds of things from happening. You'd think, huh? Maybe in a perfect world.
There's no official release date yet, but hey, it's a Jaws game that has a pretty good shot at making us forget about Jaws: Unleashed. Oops, I just remembered it. Well, there's a chance it'll be pretty good regardless.
Review: Just Dance 3 (360)
Sometimes I wonder why I'm such a terrible dancer. I have rhythm. I'm not in bad shape. But dance games like Just Dance 3 remind me that it takes more than coordination and a love for catchy pop songs to effectively pop and lock. Fortunately, being good isn't a requirement for enjoying Just Dance 3; besides, the worse you are, the more fun it is for everyone watching you.
This is the first time the game's been made available on Xbox 360, but despite the Kinect's motion sensing controls, things feel pretty similar to previous Wii versions. You dance along with the same motion-capped silouhettes (though they look better than ever in HD). The tracklist (which you can check out most of here) offers a wide-range of catchy pop tunes. And although you're not holding a controller, the game only really seems to track your arm movements.
That last item is my biggest complaint with the game, and it's the same reason I never enjoyed Just Dance as much on Wii: even on the higher difficulty settings, just waving your arms around in a vague approximation of what's happening on-screen will register more perfect moves than giving the game an honest try with some active, sweaty dance moves. When it's easier to cheat and make broad arm movements to keep your score up, rather than to actually dance, what's the incentive to dancing?
In that sense, I prefer Dance Central 2. Harmonix's game feels like a full-body motion tracker; when I have one foot out of line, that game punishes me with a lower score. Just Dance just seems happy that I'm standing up in front of my TV. And the moves (and corresponding dance cards that tell you what to expect), are nowhere near as consistent or easy to anticipate as Dance Central's. That's partly because Just Dance's choeography is more varied, but it's also because the game doesn't telegraph your next move very well. In Dance Central, once you've got most of the moves down, you can glance at what's coming up next in preparation and know what to expect. In Just Dance, you're going to have to go through the song a time or two before you really know what's going on.
However, when I play Just Dance with multiple people, it approaches Rock Band levels of fun. The four-person choreography in certain songs, even if the scoring never feels entirely accurate, is an amazing way to loosen up a group. As long as you have the living room space and some willing friends, the familiar tracks and attractive visuals beat out Dance Central as a game to trot out at parties for your non-Kinect owning friends. It may not earn you a higher score, but dancing with other people just makes you more inclined to try and match what you see on-screen. And the lack of a controller makes you feel like everything you're doing corresponds one-for-one with what you see on-screen.
Review: Just Dance 3 (360/PS3)
I'm far less-inclined to play Just Dance on my own, and even the recording features, while nifty, don't feel quite as helpful for learning songs as Dance Central's tutorials. And I don't have any interest in recording my own dances to share with friends (though that option's there). But Just Dance's setlist presents the most fun and approachable of any other dance game today. And the multiplayer modes, especially the four-person independent choreography, is infectious (even if your actual moves and score aren't terribly important). While I think of Dance Central as a better video game (and Just Dance doesn't come close to matching the game's choreography tracking) I'd still rather play Just Dance whenever I have friends over.
This is the first time the game's been made available on Xbox 360, but despite the Kinect's motion sensing controls, things feel pretty similar to previous Wii versions. You dance along with the same motion-capped silouhettes (though they look better than ever in HD). The tracklist (which you can check out most of here) offers a wide-range of catchy pop tunes. And although you're not holding a controller, the game only really seems to track your arm movements.
That last item is my biggest complaint with the game, and it's the same reason I never enjoyed Just Dance as much on Wii: even on the higher difficulty settings, just waving your arms around in a vague approximation of what's happening on-screen will register more perfect moves than giving the game an honest try with some active, sweaty dance moves. When it's easier to cheat and make broad arm movements to keep your score up, rather than to actually dance, what's the incentive to dancing?
In that sense, I prefer Dance Central 2. Harmonix's game feels like a full-body motion tracker; when I have one foot out of line, that game punishes me with a lower score. Just Dance just seems happy that I'm standing up in front of my TV. And the moves (and corresponding dance cards that tell you what to expect), are nowhere near as consistent or easy to anticipate as Dance Central's. That's partly because Just Dance's choeography is more varied, but it's also because the game doesn't telegraph your next move very well. In Dance Central, once you've got most of the moves down, you can glance at what's coming up next in preparation and know what to expect. In Just Dance, you're going to have to go through the song a time or two before you really know what's going on.
However, when I play Just Dance with multiple people, it approaches Rock Band levels of fun. The four-person choreography in certain songs, even if the scoring never feels entirely accurate, is an amazing way to loosen up a group. As long as you have the living room space and some willing friends, the familiar tracks and attractive visuals beat out Dance Central as a game to trot out at parties for your non-Kinect owning friends. It may not earn you a higher score, but dancing with other people just makes you more inclined to try and match what you see on-screen. And the lack of a controller makes you feel like everything you're doing corresponds one-for-one with what you see on-screen.
Review: Just Dance 3 (360/PS3)
I'm far less-inclined to play Just Dance on my own, and even the recording features, while nifty, don't feel quite as helpful for learning songs as Dance Central's tutorials. And I don't have any interest in recording my own dances to share with friends (though that option's there). But Just Dance's setlist presents the most fun and approachable of any other dance game today. And the multiplayer modes, especially the four-person independent choreography, is infectious (even if your actual moves and score aren't terribly important). While I think of Dance Central as a better video game (and Just Dance doesn't come close to matching the game's choreography tracking) I'd still rather play Just Dance whenever I have friends over.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Somewhat Awesome Battlefield 3 Film
Sometimes it’s not enough to just play a game — you need to really experience it, to live it, to re-create it. This is where the Aussie film-making duo behind Somewhat Awesome Films, Rob Hardy and Jarrad Cody, step in.
The two friends from Adelaide began making short films to enter into competitions; over time they started combining their love for gaming and film-making by doing video reviews and fan films, the Battlefield 3 flick below being their latest short film.
The two friends from Adelaide began making short films to enter into competitions; over time they started combining their love for gaming and film-making by doing video reviews and fan films, the Battlefield 3 flick below being their latest short film.
It’s Boba Fett. As A Viking
Boba Fett is not a viking. He’s a bounty hunter. But if he were a viking, he’d not only wear something like this helmet, but also have a truly magnificent beard.
Etsy seller Paul McCue created this wonder, called it “steampunk”. I’ll call it “awesome” and leave it there.
McCue’s site also has steampunk takes on Stormtroppers and Darth Vadar as well as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
Etsy seller Paul McCue created this wonder, called it “steampunk”. I’ll call it “awesome” and leave it there.
McCue’s site also has steampunk takes on Stormtroppers and Darth Vadar as well as Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The Amazing Stories That Connect Batman: Arkham City To Arkham Asylum
At the end of 2009′s Batman: Arkham Asylum, all’s well: the Dark Knight’s triumphant, the Joker’s downed and Gotham City’s still a safe, intact place. How, then, do we get to the starting point of that game’s newly released sequel, where all the craziness of the asylum gets dropped smack dab into Batman’s stomping grounds?
Turns out there’s a new graphic novel that explains all of that. Out last week, the hardcover Batman: Arkham City collects the series that bridges the gap between Rocksteady’s two Batman games. It’s written by Paul Dini, who also penned the plots of those two games. Carlos D’Anda drew the comics and he’s also contributed design work for characters in both Bat-games, as well as DC Universe Online and Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters.
The Arkham City graphic novel — which also collects some of the digital-only short stories that weren’t available in print before — sets up a fair amount of the game’s plot points, so consider this a mild SPOILER WARNING for anything that follows.
Spoilers beyond this point…
The introductory beats of the game get laid down in the comics’ panels: Strange as master plotter, Bruce Wayne trying to counter in court of public opinion, Catwoman as a wild card. Folks who’ve played Arkham City already know that Batman’s alter-ego winds up in the game, but the comics show Bruce Wayne’s opposition to the creation of the Arkham City super-prison and has him confronting Hugo Strange and Mayor Quincy Sharpe, who was the former of Gotham City’s asylum for the criminally insane.
One other development that plays out explains how the Titan drug — a variant of the Venom steroid Bat-villain Bane uses to get freaky huge — gets to Gotham from the island where Arkham Asylum is. The story also shows how the drug’s use makes the already terrible level of crime in he city even worse. Ordinary thugs start becoming super-strong and this downturn in public safety fosters the willingness to wall off half the city and make it a habitat for psychopaths and killers.
The machinations that Hugo Strange orchestrates to get his plot into motion include psychologically manipulating Mayor Sharpe, whose personal history gets illuminated — and upending the balance of power in Gotham’s underworld. Batman knows there’s a scheme but doesn’t know who’s behind it. That brings up one important note about where the Arkham games sit as pieces of Batman fiction. They seem to live in their own little dimension, one that feels louder than the mainline DC Universe. So it’s one where Robin looks super-buff and Batman’s never me Hugo Strange before, despite the fact that’s he’s been around for more than 50 years as a villain.
These comics bolster the world-building that happens in the game. D’Anda’s art traffics in bloated muscles and exaggerated warped expressions, but he keeps those tendencies under control when drawing “normal”-looking people like Commisioner Gordon. You’ll see gameplay mechanics and gadgets referenced in the hardcover — like detective vision and the explosive gel — along with landmarks from the game like the Sionis Industries (itself a reference to Roman Sionis, the Bat-nemesis known as crime boss Black Mask). The origins of the Tyger private plice force who hunt Batman and others in the game.
In one chilling sequence, Dini shows how minor-league criminals don’t want to get sent to Arkham City, knowing that they won’t last long in its only-the-strong-survive ecosystem. Another unique element of the Arkham City comics is how they get inside Joker’s head. Hearing the Joker’s thoughts is a rare thing in most modern comics, made more rare by the clown’s sickness. Dini’s writing a Joker at a low ebb, but one who uses his sickness to synthesize more Titan. Wondering why the Clown Prince of Crime has some of the game’s strongest thugs? They’re made from his blood. Literally.
Other questions that you might have while playing the game get answered in the digital shorts. If you want to know why Riddler’s roaming free, where the Tyger soldiers’ blind obedience comes form and just how slick the game’s version of Robin, then the reasons are in these pages.
In short, the Arkham City hardcover sets the table for the grand feast that the game delivers. For an iteration of Batman that’s pinged from comics to games and now back again, the work here represents a good example of how the two mediums can interlock.
Turns out there’s a new graphic novel that explains all of that. Out last week, the hardcover Batman: Arkham City collects the series that bridges the gap between Rocksteady’s two Batman games. It’s written by Paul Dini, who also penned the plots of those two games. Carlos D’Anda drew the comics and he’s also contributed design work for characters in both Bat-games, as well as DC Universe Online and Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters.
The Arkham City graphic novel — which also collects some of the digital-only short stories that weren’t available in print before — sets up a fair amount of the game’s plot points, so consider this a mild SPOILER WARNING for anything that follows.
Spoilers beyond this point…
The introductory beats of the game get laid down in the comics’ panels: Strange as master plotter, Bruce Wayne trying to counter in court of public opinion, Catwoman as a wild card. Folks who’ve played Arkham City already know that Batman’s alter-ego winds up in the game, but the comics show Bruce Wayne’s opposition to the creation of the Arkham City super-prison and has him confronting Hugo Strange and Mayor Quincy Sharpe, who was the former of Gotham City’s asylum for the criminally insane.
One other development that plays out explains how the Titan drug — a variant of the Venom steroid Bat-villain Bane uses to get freaky huge — gets to Gotham from the island where Arkham Asylum is. The story also shows how the drug’s use makes the already terrible level of crime in he city even worse. Ordinary thugs start becoming super-strong and this downturn in public safety fosters the willingness to wall off half the city and make it a habitat for psychopaths and killers.
The machinations that Hugo Strange orchestrates to get his plot into motion include psychologically manipulating Mayor Sharpe, whose personal history gets illuminated — and upending the balance of power in Gotham’s underworld. Batman knows there’s a scheme but doesn’t know who’s behind it. That brings up one important note about where the Arkham games sit as pieces of Batman fiction. They seem to live in their own little dimension, one that feels louder than the mainline DC Universe. So it’s one where Robin looks super-buff and Batman’s never me Hugo Strange before, despite the fact that’s he’s been around for more than 50 years as a villain.
These comics bolster the world-building that happens in the game. D’Anda’s art traffics in bloated muscles and exaggerated warped expressions, but he keeps those tendencies under control when drawing “normal”-looking people like Commisioner Gordon. You’ll see gameplay mechanics and gadgets referenced in the hardcover — like detective vision and the explosive gel — along with landmarks from the game like the Sionis Industries (itself a reference to Roman Sionis, the Bat-nemesis known as crime boss Black Mask). The origins of the Tyger private plice force who hunt Batman and others in the game.
In one chilling sequence, Dini shows how minor-league criminals don’t want to get sent to Arkham City, knowing that they won’t last long in its only-the-strong-survive ecosystem. Another unique element of the Arkham City comics is how they get inside Joker’s head. Hearing the Joker’s thoughts is a rare thing in most modern comics, made more rare by the clown’s sickness. Dini’s writing a Joker at a low ebb, but one who uses his sickness to synthesize more Titan. Wondering why the Clown Prince of Crime has some of the game’s strongest thugs? They’re made from his blood. Literally.
Other questions that you might have while playing the game get answered in the digital shorts. If you want to know why Riddler’s roaming free, where the Tyger soldiers’ blind obedience comes form and just how slick the game’s version of Robin, then the reasons are in these pages.
In short, the Arkham City hardcover sets the table for the grand feast that the game delivers. For an iteration of Batman that’s pinged from comics to games and now back again, the work here represents a good example of how the two mediums can interlock.
Skylanders’ Launch Event Was One Big Pajama Party
Activision kicked off the launch of their toy-laden action brawler Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure with a pajama party in New York.
Festivities included facepainting, colouring inside and outside of the lines and some life-sized Skylanders.
Festivities included facepainting, colouring inside and outside of the lines and some life-sized Skylanders.
Check Out The First Pages Of DC Comics’s Fury Of The Firestorm #2
We like comics around here and have a first look at a new one — and hopefully a good one — for you. This is Fury of the Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #2 from DC Comics, which picks up with two high school students dealing with the fact they’ve not just turned into two nuclear-powered heroes but have merged into an even more brutish one.
The comic is written by Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone, drawn by Yldiray Cinar. It’ll be out this month. Enjoy the preview.
I like good Firestorm comics and enjoyed a lot of John Ostrander’s run in the 80s. Are you reading the new one? What do you want out of Firestorm?
The comic is written by Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone, drawn by Yldiray Cinar. It’ll be out this month. Enjoy the preview.
I like good Firestorm comics and enjoyed a lot of John Ostrander’s run in the 80s. Are you reading the new one? What do you want out of Firestorm?
3DS Monster Hunter Trailer Has Some Bite To It
Here’s a new trailer for Monster Hunter Tri 3G, which shows off some intense battles with the wide variety of monsters you will face. The trailer starts off calmly, showing some exploration and cut-scenes, but quickly comes to life with soaring music and high-action combat sequences.
It’s an exciting trailer, I will say, and the graphics look very nice. Good work, Capcom! I’m curious about how it looks running on the system with the 3D slider all the way up, because the effects could potentially be a little dizzying.
Regardless, the video displays some diverse combat, a plethora of big weapons and a host of different environments to play and fight in. A quick reminder that this is all single player footage, because the game will not have online gameplay.
The Wii version of Monster Hunter Tri was very successful, so this game should be looking to build off that. It is slated for release on December 10 in Japan, with no release dates announced for other regions.
It’s an exciting trailer, I will say, and the graphics look very nice. Good work, Capcom! I’m curious about how it looks running on the system with the 3D slider all the way up, because the effects could potentially be a little dizzying.
Regardless, the video displays some diverse combat, a plethora of big weapons and a host of different environments to play and fight in. A quick reminder that this is all single player footage, because the game will not have online gameplay.
The Wii version of Monster Hunter Tri was very successful, so this game should be looking to build off that. It is slated for release on December 10 in Japan, with no release dates announced for other regions.
Watch The Diablo III Cinematic: ‘The Black Soulstone’
In addition to the announcement that Diablo III would be free for all World of Warcraft subscribers with an annual pass, Blizzard showed off a cinematic from the game, titled “The Black Soulstone”.
In it, the character Leah (voiced by FemShep herself, Jennifer Hale), narrates, reading through her uncle’s books, trying to figure out what it is that she’s missing. Suddenly, she awakens in a hellish throneroom, where she faces off against a giant demon. “You thought you were so clever,” said the demon. “One by one, our bretheren fell into our trap. But not me. I defy you! I know the Black Soulstone is the key, and it shall be mine!”
The demon then makes a bunch of apocalyptic promises, and things get very “Lord of the Rings march of the forces of Sauron”-y. Woah, man.
In it, the character Leah (voiced by FemShep herself, Jennifer Hale), narrates, reading through her uncle’s books, trying to figure out what it is that she’s missing. Suddenly, she awakens in a hellish throneroom, where she faces off against a giant demon. “You thought you were so clever,” said the demon. “One by one, our bretheren fell into our trap. But not me. I defy you! I know the Black Soulstone is the key, and it shall be mine!”
The demon then makes a bunch of apocalyptic promises, and things get very “Lord of the Rings march of the forces of Sauron”-y. Woah, man.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Weapon gallery
I have got something on my mind for a long time now and as the title indicates I've been thinking of a weapon gallery. This may have been in some games that I have not played or I simply have not heard about it.
What do I mean by weapon gallery? I'm going to pick Modern Warfare 2 as an example. It does not matter what you think of the game, it's simply to illustrate an example, and MW2 is rich on weapon customization. Imagine a white room whit a white table in the middle of it. In this room you would be able to manage all you weapons and gadgets. You would be able hand up weapons on walls and customize this as you please. You can pick down any weapon of your choice and you would be able to pick apart the weapon and attach attachment to it. When I say pick apart the weapon I mean in great detail, as in you are cleaning a weapon. You wouldn't get all the weapons at once, but unlocking them through either single or multiplayer.
And maybe after you have played around with your weapons, dis-ambled them and such you could try them out in the shooting range.
I'm not sure if you are able to picture this as I picture it. I'm going to give another example. If you have seen the recent movie "Kick Ass" you know that Big Daddy got a room full of weapons. This should give you a more clear idea about what I'm talking about.
And with the newly released Playstation Move and the upcoming Microsoft Kinect I think those two products would greatly enhance a such experience.
This is a geek idea I'm hoping some developer will realize one day. Hope you got the idea and let me know your thoughts, and let's have a discussion in the comment section.
What do I mean by weapon gallery? I'm going to pick Modern Warfare 2 as an example. It does not matter what you think of the game, it's simply to illustrate an example, and MW2 is rich on weapon customization. Imagine a white room whit a white table in the middle of it. In this room you would be able to manage all you weapons and gadgets. You would be able hand up weapons on walls and customize this as you please. You can pick down any weapon of your choice and you would be able to pick apart the weapon and attach attachment to it. When I say pick apart the weapon I mean in great detail, as in you are cleaning a weapon. You wouldn't get all the weapons at once, but unlocking them through either single or multiplayer.
And maybe after you have played around with your weapons, dis-ambled them and such you could try them out in the shooting range.
I'm not sure if you are able to picture this as I picture it. I'm going to give another example. If you have seen the recent movie "Kick Ass" you know that Big Daddy got a room full of weapons. This should give you a more clear idea about what I'm talking about.
And with the newly released Playstation Move and the upcoming Microsoft Kinect I think those two products would greatly enhance a such experience.
This is a geek idea I'm hoping some developer will realize one day. Hope you got the idea and let me know your thoughts, and let's have a discussion in the comment section.
Who Needs Blu-Ray? How About Those You'd Screw Over From That Decision, MS?
I came home to see a very interesting article on N4G today. The topic: “MS: Who Needs Blu-Ray?” The title alone was a shock to me, given that there was the European Blu-Ray Disc Association that was telling Microsoft that they were welcome to join the ranks, and publishers like Capcom, Take Two, and Mercury Stream have expressed concerns about the format that the 360 has right now. According to UK Xbox boss Stephen McGill, in an interview to CVG:
I think people may have spoken about [Xbox's lack of a Blu-ray drive] originally, but that's long gone…I think people now recognise [sic] what a smart decision it was to keep the pricing low, and actually Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format. People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming, so we offer full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming instantly, no download, no delay. So, who needs Blu-ray?"
Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that lack of space does not necessarily equal a bad game. We’ve seen that some games CAN and DO get away with being able to only use a set amount of space. However, with that being said, it’s becoming a rare instance where one good game on the 360 can fit on one DVD-9. Take Final Fantasy 13, which while not a great game is one that I think provides a good bit of enjoyment, for instance. It’s on three discs on the 360, and the developers said they had to cut so much out of the game that they could’ve made another game out of what they cut. One must wonder why Square Enix continues to bend over backwards for Microsoft and why they continue to be allowed to get away with it by the media, but I digress.
The outcry from developers and publishers over this should be enough for Microsoft to rethink their position. Sadly, though, it is just the opposite. This goes in turn with their XBOX Live service. People would like it to be free (and why shouldn’t it be), or at least have a model like PSN now. Yet, Microsoft raises the price by 10 bucks without any justification given. Then both Square Enix and Valve both express concerns about the closed nature of Xbox live itself. SE wants people to be able to play FF14 without needing Gold to play, while Valve wants cross-platform multiplayer play. Instead of giving either of the two companies, both of which have been extremely friendly to MS, they stand firm to keep Live the “train wreck” that Valve claimed it was.
And now we have come to this. Again, the Blu Ray debate rears its ugly head, and of course MS is going to be as stubborn as ever, and of course the most rabid of fanboys will condone THIS, too (why?). MS claims that this is because they think the future is digital distribution, but if it is, then why is MS only letting us use the hard drives THEY want us to use for the 360. The PS3 is ten times better in this regard, and will always be until MS stops this stubbornness.
I have a theory, however, as to why MS will not adopt Blu-Ray, and this will sound fanboyish of me, so I do apologize in advance, but please indulge with me for just a moment because I believe it’s worth thinking about. If MS adopts Blu-Ray for the 360, then they would give the keys to multiplatform developers to use the PS3’s full power in this regard. The DVD9 can hold about 9 GBs of info, give or take a few decimal points. Nine times three, the three being the amount of discs that we could assume one developer can use for a game before running into royalty fees, is 27, so 27 GBs of data total for a game dev to use for the 360 without it being a pain in the arse. Compare that to 50GB for a dual-layer PS3 game like MGS4 was. It’s not even a contest. So, in order to make a great multiplatform game that will sell on both platforms, you would need to develop up to 27 GBs of data (again, give or take a few), because if you want to use the full 50GBs that the PS3 gives you and still keep the two versions equal (because we all KNOW MS will bitch if the PS3 version is better than theirs), they would need to pay up. This means that to avoid royalty fees and to please MS, they would need to cut stuff out of BOTH versions. Furthermore, the hardware specs of the 360 could easily handle the DVD9. Now, imagine if they were to adopt Blu-Ray. The full specs for the PS3 would be allowed to be used since all 50GBs can be used. There is no guarantee that the 360 hardware can handle the Blu-Ray format without at least some problems (but please don’t use that as an excuse for why MS is off the hook here, because we don’t know either way), so there could clearly be cases for the PS3 to be the system of choice for multiplatform games, something MS cannot allow to have happen right now since they got little to show out of their first parties (what little of them there ARE, anyway).
So not adopting any other format would incidentally tie developer’s hands up in the details. Because some people still view the 360 as the console of choice for multiplatform games (though the amount of people who still think that are dwindling), developers will be quick to do what MS wants them to do.
In other words, this is another perfect way for MS to screw over the other two game platforms for their own benefit (something in which MS has proven to us by past actions that they have no problem doing).
However, with how Capcom and Take-Two are beginning to show MS that they aren’t too happy about them biting the hand that feeds them (and MS seems all willing to bite many hands, as they have with SE and Valve), and with how EA seems to really like supporting the PS3 over the 360, it seems like MS is starting to side with the minority here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this would be MS “jumping the shark” (thank you, Sean J. Connolly, for giving us THAT overused, clichéd line, by the way) in the eyes of other devs.
And if my theory is completely false, as I undoubtedly will get from people who won’t like that theory, then please inform me and everyone else just what the reason actually IS. Because I, and so many other gamers, am really sick and tired of this line (or any variation of it). How many more times will we hear the same old same old out of MS when it comes to them providing anything that people are actually asking for. They’ve ignored us when we asked for something else other than Live and Achievements that’s their own innovation, they’ve ignored us when we asked for more first party games and enough with the buying out of DLC and third party exclusives, they’ve ignored us when we asked them to make Live more accessible and more competitive with PSN (face it, folks, it ISN’T competitive with PSN right now, as Live only has a bunch of features that are pretty much useless to the core gamer), and now they’re ignoring us (AGAIN) about adopting SOMETHING to give these developers a bit of a BREAK with creating their games.
Someone on another message board said a line that I will never forget about Blu-Ray about two years ago, and though I believe he was just flame baiting me, I think it’s perfect to bring up for this blog. He said, and I swear I’m not making this up, “Blu-Ray isn’t necessary. Developers are lazy.” I will never know where he came up with that backwards logic or how he came to that conclusion, but perhaps MS seemed to listen to him and not everyone else. Or perhaps they are listening to the most rabid of their fanboys and no one else. I don’t know if my theory is actually correct or not (but seriously, how else can we explain this issue at this point since they seem to be ignoring EVERYONE and ignoring all the evidence that says that Blu-Ray IS necessary). Blu-Ray IS necessary and developers are NOT lazy at ALL for wanting to use a higher capacity format to make a bigger game for all of us to enjoy. Seriously, do you really think a developer WANTS to cut out huge portions of their games? I believe they think that if not wanting to cut stuff out of their games is being “lazy”, then they would rather be the laziest
I think people may have spoken about [Xbox's lack of a Blu-ray drive] originally, but that's long gone…I think people now recognise [sic] what a smart decision it was to keep the pricing low, and actually Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format. People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming, so we offer full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming instantly, no download, no delay. So, who needs Blu-ray?"
Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that lack of space does not necessarily equal a bad game. We’ve seen that some games CAN and DO get away with being able to only use a set amount of space. However, with that being said, it’s becoming a rare instance where one good game on the 360 can fit on one DVD-9. Take Final Fantasy 13, which while not a great game is one that I think provides a good bit of enjoyment, for instance. It’s on three discs on the 360, and the developers said they had to cut so much out of the game that they could’ve made another game out of what they cut. One must wonder why Square Enix continues to bend over backwards for Microsoft and why they continue to be allowed to get away with it by the media, but I digress.
The outcry from developers and publishers over this should be enough for Microsoft to rethink their position. Sadly, though, it is just the opposite. This goes in turn with their XBOX Live service. People would like it to be free (and why shouldn’t it be), or at least have a model like PSN now. Yet, Microsoft raises the price by 10 bucks without any justification given. Then both Square Enix and Valve both express concerns about the closed nature of Xbox live itself. SE wants people to be able to play FF14 without needing Gold to play, while Valve wants cross-platform multiplayer play. Instead of giving either of the two companies, both of which have been extremely friendly to MS, they stand firm to keep Live the “train wreck” that Valve claimed it was.
And now we have come to this. Again, the Blu Ray debate rears its ugly head, and of course MS is going to be as stubborn as ever, and of course the most rabid of fanboys will condone THIS, too (why?). MS claims that this is because they think the future is digital distribution, but if it is, then why is MS only letting us use the hard drives THEY want us to use for the 360. The PS3 is ten times better in this regard, and will always be until MS stops this stubbornness.
I have a theory, however, as to why MS will not adopt Blu-Ray, and this will sound fanboyish of me, so I do apologize in advance, but please indulge with me for just a moment because I believe it’s worth thinking about. If MS adopts Blu-Ray for the 360, then they would give the keys to multiplatform developers to use the PS3’s full power in this regard. The DVD9 can hold about 9 GBs of info, give or take a few decimal points. Nine times three, the three being the amount of discs that we could assume one developer can use for a game before running into royalty fees, is 27, so 27 GBs of data total for a game dev to use for the 360 without it being a pain in the arse. Compare that to 50GB for a dual-layer PS3 game like MGS4 was. It’s not even a contest. So, in order to make a great multiplatform game that will sell on both platforms, you would need to develop up to 27 GBs of data (again, give or take a few), because if you want to use the full 50GBs that the PS3 gives you and still keep the two versions equal (because we all KNOW MS will bitch if the PS3 version is better than theirs), they would need to pay up. This means that to avoid royalty fees and to please MS, they would need to cut stuff out of BOTH versions. Furthermore, the hardware specs of the 360 could easily handle the DVD9. Now, imagine if they were to adopt Blu-Ray. The full specs for the PS3 would be allowed to be used since all 50GBs can be used. There is no guarantee that the 360 hardware can handle the Blu-Ray format without at least some problems (but please don’t use that as an excuse for why MS is off the hook here, because we don’t know either way), so there could clearly be cases for the PS3 to be the system of choice for multiplatform games, something MS cannot allow to have happen right now since they got little to show out of their first parties (what little of them there ARE, anyway).
So not adopting any other format would incidentally tie developer’s hands up in the details. Because some people still view the 360 as the console of choice for multiplatform games (though the amount of people who still think that are dwindling), developers will be quick to do what MS wants them to do.
In other words, this is another perfect way for MS to screw over the other two game platforms for their own benefit (something in which MS has proven to us by past actions that they have no problem doing).
However, with how Capcom and Take-Two are beginning to show MS that they aren’t too happy about them biting the hand that feeds them (and MS seems all willing to bite many hands, as they have with SE and Valve), and with how EA seems to really like supporting the PS3 over the 360, it seems like MS is starting to side with the minority here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this would be MS “jumping the shark” (thank you, Sean J. Connolly, for giving us THAT overused, clichéd line, by the way) in the eyes of other devs.
And if my theory is completely false, as I undoubtedly will get from people who won’t like that theory, then please inform me and everyone else just what the reason actually IS. Because I, and so many other gamers, am really sick and tired of this line (or any variation of it). How many more times will we hear the same old same old out of MS when it comes to them providing anything that people are actually asking for. They’ve ignored us when we asked for something else other than Live and Achievements that’s their own innovation, they’ve ignored us when we asked for more first party games and enough with the buying out of DLC and third party exclusives, they’ve ignored us when we asked them to make Live more accessible and more competitive with PSN (face it, folks, it ISN’T competitive with PSN right now, as Live only has a bunch of features that are pretty much useless to the core gamer), and now they’re ignoring us (AGAIN) about adopting SOMETHING to give these developers a bit of a BREAK with creating their games.
Someone on another message board said a line that I will never forget about Blu-Ray about two years ago, and though I believe he was just flame baiting me, I think it’s perfect to bring up for this blog. He said, and I swear I’m not making this up, “Blu-Ray isn’t necessary. Developers are lazy.” I will never know where he came up with that backwards logic or how he came to that conclusion, but perhaps MS seemed to listen to him and not everyone else. Or perhaps they are listening to the most rabid of their fanboys and no one else. I don’t know if my theory is actually correct or not (but seriously, how else can we explain this issue at this point since they seem to be ignoring EVERYONE and ignoring all the evidence that says that Blu-Ray IS necessary). Blu-Ray IS necessary and developers are NOT lazy at ALL for wanting to use a higher capacity format to make a bigger game for all of us to enjoy. Seriously, do you really think a developer WANTS to cut out huge portions of their games? I believe they think that if not wanting to cut stuff out of their games is being “lazy”, then they would rather be the laziest
Friday, October 21, 2011
Hackers Call Us Noobs?
Hackers, they tourmented us countless times in Call Of Duty, Halo, Battlefield, and most other FPS. Though i am mostly going to talk about the biggest problem which is in Call Of Duty Mw2/Black Ops...
Hackers... with their Aimbots, Hacked Ranks, God like health. They think they are better than us legit players who work hard getting our ranks, getting better at the game, and having an all around fun time. It's like they cry because they can't get any better that they resort to hacks so they can get their revenge.
It's not that they can't get better it's that they're just sore losers that can't take a loss like a good player.
Hacking is not as big of a deal right now in Call of Duty: Black Ops but it is in Modern Warfare 2. But that does not mean it won't get to the point where you will want to break your game in half. Seriously I think hackers need to get a reality check, have a Dr.Phil moment and wonder why they are doing it in the first place.
Hacking in call of duty modern warfare 2 is so big now you cannot get into a game without them unless you are in a private match. Start a match and you will start dieing endlessly. Infinite Ammo is another problem they can Noobtube nonstop or blow you away with their AA12 this is so jacked up.
Want to know whats the thing i hate the most about Hacking?
Trash talkers, they talk big and Call us Noobs. They talk alot of smack always trying to make them selves sound better than us.
Me: What the *#@% was that?
Hacker: It's My Godly Skills.
Really? Skills? No way since when was downloading some hacking program skills?
I want to hear what you have to say on this topic, This is my first blog so i would like to know what I've done wrong. :)
Hackers... with their Aimbots, Hacked Ranks, God like health. They think they are better than us legit players who work hard getting our ranks, getting better at the game, and having an all around fun time. It's like they cry because they can't get any better that they resort to hacks so they can get their revenge.
It's not that they can't get better it's that they're just sore losers that can't take a loss like a good player.
Hacking is not as big of a deal right now in Call of Duty: Black Ops but it is in Modern Warfare 2. But that does not mean it won't get to the point where you will want to break your game in half. Seriously I think hackers need to get a reality check, have a Dr.Phil moment and wonder why they are doing it in the first place.
Hacking in call of duty modern warfare 2 is so big now you cannot get into a game without them unless you are in a private match. Start a match and you will start dieing endlessly. Infinite Ammo is another problem they can Noobtube nonstop or blow you away with their AA12 this is so jacked up.
Want to know whats the thing i hate the most about Hacking?
Trash talkers, they talk big and Call us Noobs. They talk alot of smack always trying to make them selves sound better than us.
Me: What the *#@% was that?
Hacker: It's My Godly Skills.
Really? Skills? No way since when was downloading some hacking program skills?
I want to hear what you have to say on this topic, This is my first blog so i would like to know what I've done wrong. :)
Random Rant about: Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3, and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Okay. So let me start off first by saying that this is not a troll blog aimed at the Xbox or it's games. This is just a collection of my thoughts on these specific games, and my worries about them. Computers are limited in the amount of power they can put out. This is a given. A computer cannot run anything that requires more power/hardware than it has available. The Xbox, Playstation, and Wii are all just computers specialized for the purpose of gaming. This leads to the question of what are the developers going to do with these games to make them run on the Xbox360?
Gears of War 3
When Gears of War 2 came out any one who did research, and was able to suffer past the innumerable Rick-rolls, probably found the article where Cliff B. talked about how Gears 2 was going to be the best looking game on the Xbox360,. He said that the pushed the Xbox to it's limits and that visually Gears 2 was going to be the best the Xbox would ever get. Bold words. And while Gears 2 did look exceptionally good this leads to the question of; are they going to be able to improve the graphics for Gears 3? Or is Gears 3 going to run the same Graphics engine and are they just going to try and improve the story? With the statement that Gears 2 pushed the xbox to the limit how are they going to improve Gears 3?
Mass Effect 3
When Mass Effect 2 was first showcased at E3 it pushed the Xbox further than it could handle causing a majority of the Demo Xboxs to overheat and power down. Mass Effect 2 was downgraded to make it operate without melting the Xbox, and even then it still suffered terrible load times and frame rate drops. Now Bioware has developed a new, more powerful engine, the Mass Effect 3 engine. If Mass Effect 2 caused problems with the Xbox running the ME2 engine what are they going to do with the ME3? Are they going to run ME3 using the ME2 engine?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Going back once a gain to the previous game, Oblivion, we realize that Oblivion suffered terrible frame rate drops, texture pop-ins, lag, screen tearing, and distance issues on the xbox360 (I'm not sure if this was prevalent only to Xbox, I didn't have the PS3 version for long enough to do a full battery of tests, but I know it's not a problem on a high end computer). Oblivion pushed Xbox relentlessly and the overall performance of the game suffered for it. The screen shots (Gameinformer magazine) for Skyrim look amazing, but this leads to the question of what are they going to do with the Xbox version. Maybe the new engine they made will help the issues, but I'm curious to see how they combat the problems that hurt oblivion.
These three games all pushed the Xbox to it's limit and a little further, and all of them suffered for it. With direct squeals coming out and no new Xbox on the horizon it leads me to wonder how they are going to try and improve upon their previous efforts. Everyone wants new better graphics and the "professional" reviewing sites are quick to jump on established games that don't show improvements in graphics and performance. With these games coming out and their prequels reaching the limit of the Xbox's power it may be time for Microsoft to release an new console to compete. There may not be another Zynga game in which Energy is more important than in Adventure World. Every switch thrown, every puzzle solved and beastie whacked costs you the Facebook game juice. Players often find themselves without Energy minutes into an Expedition. But this isn't the time for whining--it's time to show you the value of upgrading your Tools and how to do it.
Tools: The Game Changer
If you noticed, each piece of debris and monster has a life bar, and normally take multiple hits with your Whip or Machete to whittle down. This, of course, quickly becomes a waste in later Expeditions purely due to the amount of obstacles in your path. But increasing the amount of damage your various Tools inflict against said baddies could considerably reduce the Energy spend in-game.
For instance, say a Snake has three hit points and is Level 5. Since monsters can hit back in this game, it could take three to five Energy before an enemy goes down. Now, imagine if you had upgraded your Whip to Level 2. Offing that Snake would take just two to four Energy with a beefier Whip. The same situation applies to Tools like the Machete.
Adventure World Tool Shop inside
And Now For Your How-To
Adventure World Tool Shop outsideUpgrading your Tools in Adventure World is simple. All you need to do is head back to Base Camp from an Expedition, and look for a makeshift hut that should already be in place in your headquarters. When you click on the Tool Shop, a window will appear featuring all the Tools you've found thus far on your journeys. Click on the Tool you wish to upgrade.
Once you click on a Tool to upgrade, you'll notice that each Tool costs Coins to upgrade. That's it--no asking friends to help you out with materials or farming certain crops for special items. Just the goods you find during your travels in search of El Dorado. However, Coins are actually quite rare in this game, so you'll need to save and spend wisely.
When you have enough Coins for an upgrade, just click on the appropriate icon to pay up. Tool upgrades are also level-locked, meaning you must reach a certain level for most Tools before being able to upgrade them using Coins. If you're feeling impatient, you could always unlock access to those higher level Tools early using Adventure Cash.
Just One Small Catch...
However, some Tool upgrades do require an extra boost: your Tool Shop. Yes, the building itself can be upgraded, too. And this time, you will need items from your friends. (Just think of how things work in CityVille.) Luckily, you only have to do this about twice to unlock access to all of the game's Tools. Then, it's back onto leveling up to access new upgrades for Coins.
Adventure World Tool Shop Upgrade
Upgraded Tools are hands-down the way to go, if you want to save precious Energy for the good stuff, that is. You know, exploring ... uncovering the secrets of El Dorado? That kind of stuff. Your wallet might thank us later.
Click here to find all of our Adventure World Tips in one spot >
[Source: Zynga]
Have you upgraded your Tools in Adventure World yet? What other Energy-saving tips might you have for your fellow adventurers? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Gears of War 3
When Gears of War 2 came out any one who did research, and was able to suffer past the innumerable Rick-rolls, probably found the article where Cliff B. talked about how Gears 2 was going to be the best looking game on the Xbox360,. He said that the pushed the Xbox to it's limits and that visually Gears 2 was going to be the best the Xbox would ever get. Bold words. And while Gears 2 did look exceptionally good this leads to the question of; are they going to be able to improve the graphics for Gears 3? Or is Gears 3 going to run the same Graphics engine and are they just going to try and improve the story? With the statement that Gears 2 pushed the xbox to the limit how are they going to improve Gears 3?
Mass Effect 3
When Mass Effect 2 was first showcased at E3 it pushed the Xbox further than it could handle causing a majority of the Demo Xboxs to overheat and power down. Mass Effect 2 was downgraded to make it operate without melting the Xbox, and even then it still suffered terrible load times and frame rate drops. Now Bioware has developed a new, more powerful engine, the Mass Effect 3 engine. If Mass Effect 2 caused problems with the Xbox running the ME2 engine what are they going to do with the ME3? Are they going to run ME3 using the ME2 engine?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Going back once a gain to the previous game, Oblivion, we realize that Oblivion suffered terrible frame rate drops, texture pop-ins, lag, screen tearing, and distance issues on the xbox360 (I'm not sure if this was prevalent only to Xbox, I didn't have the PS3 version for long enough to do a full battery of tests, but I know it's not a problem on a high end computer). Oblivion pushed Xbox relentlessly and the overall performance of the game suffered for it. The screen shots (Gameinformer magazine) for Skyrim look amazing, but this leads to the question of what are they going to do with the Xbox version. Maybe the new engine they made will help the issues, but I'm curious to see how they combat the problems that hurt oblivion.
These three games all pushed the Xbox to it's limit and a little further, and all of them suffered for it. With direct squeals coming out and no new Xbox on the horizon it leads me to wonder how they are going to try and improve upon their previous efforts. Everyone wants new better graphics and the "professional" reviewing sites are quick to jump on established games that don't show improvements in graphics and performance. With these games coming out and their prequels reaching the limit of the Xbox's power it may be time for Microsoft to release an new console to compete. There may not be another Zynga game in which Energy is more important than in Adventure World. Every switch thrown, every puzzle solved and beastie whacked costs you the Facebook game juice. Players often find themselves without Energy minutes into an Expedition. But this isn't the time for whining--it's time to show you the value of upgrading your Tools and how to do it.
Tools: The Game Changer
If you noticed, each piece of debris and monster has a life bar, and normally take multiple hits with your Whip or Machete to whittle down. This, of course, quickly becomes a waste in later Expeditions purely due to the amount of obstacles in your path. But increasing the amount of damage your various Tools inflict against said baddies could considerably reduce the Energy spend in-game.
For instance, say a Snake has three hit points and is Level 5. Since monsters can hit back in this game, it could take three to five Energy before an enemy goes down. Now, imagine if you had upgraded your Whip to Level 2. Offing that Snake would take just two to four Energy with a beefier Whip. The same situation applies to Tools like the Machete.
Adventure World Tool Shop inside
And Now For Your How-To
Adventure World Tool Shop outsideUpgrading your Tools in Adventure World is simple. All you need to do is head back to Base Camp from an Expedition, and look for a makeshift hut that should already be in place in your headquarters. When you click on the Tool Shop, a window will appear featuring all the Tools you've found thus far on your journeys. Click on the Tool you wish to upgrade.
Once you click on a Tool to upgrade, you'll notice that each Tool costs Coins to upgrade. That's it--no asking friends to help you out with materials or farming certain crops for special items. Just the goods you find during your travels in search of El Dorado. However, Coins are actually quite rare in this game, so you'll need to save and spend wisely.
When you have enough Coins for an upgrade, just click on the appropriate icon to pay up. Tool upgrades are also level-locked, meaning you must reach a certain level for most Tools before being able to upgrade them using Coins. If you're feeling impatient, you could always unlock access to those higher level Tools early using Adventure Cash.
Just One Small Catch...
However, some Tool upgrades do require an extra boost: your Tool Shop. Yes, the building itself can be upgraded, too. And this time, you will need items from your friends. (Just think of how things work in CityVille.) Luckily, you only have to do this about twice to unlock access to all of the game's Tools. Then, it's back onto leveling up to access new upgrades for Coins.
Adventure World Tool Shop Upgrade
Upgraded Tools are hands-down the way to go, if you want to save precious Energy for the good stuff, that is. You know, exploring ... uncovering the secrets of El Dorado? That kind of stuff. Your wallet might thank us later.
Click here to find all of our Adventure World Tips in one spot >
[Source: Zynga]
Have you upgraded your Tools in Adventure World yet? What other Energy-saving tips might you have for your fellow adventurers? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Thursday, October 20, 2011
In Defense of Campers
This is a response to a blog about Multiplayer Shooter tips.
My argument is for people afraid to camp or associate camping with a bad playstyle. My advice is: CAMP! Don't listen to the whiners who have to use your playstyle as a scapegoat for his loss-- chances are he is just sore because he ran into a room unprepared or actually expected you to be on the other side of the map as he attempted to infiltrate your objective.
Too many players play aggressively and think they can run from one side of the map to the other and mow down everybody. They become predictable. So what better way to deal with them then simply aim your gun at the door they are likely heading to, and blast them as they run in?
A good player ought to be using the arsenal of tactical nades, smokes, teamwork anyway that the game ought to give players.
I do not see any game where camping has been a problem to the point that a camper is unbeatable.
People use COD as a camper's game. However, you have kill cams, flash, smoke and stun nades that show even the direction of a player's position, UAVs, Blackbirds, motion sensors, deep impact bullets... what more do you need?
Too many times people blame deaths attributed to campers when they are simply defending/playing cautiously. And there is nothing wrong with that.
On one end of the extreme you have run and gunners and on the other end campers. Yet nobody yells at a run and gunner. Why? Because chances are, if you die by a run and gunner, you too were run and gunning. And blaming a run and gunner when you are doing the same comes off as hypocritical. But dying to somebody who used a totally different end of the extreme? Well of course, if he is lying in wait and surprises your momentum, of course you are going to blame him!
Do anything within the rulebook to win. If you are a poor camper or a poor run and gunner who just mindlessly runs around that is when I have a problem.
As for objective games, one can argue campers rack up killstreaks to protect objectives in COD. And one can also say that this is a design flaw. A more better system would definitely be a "Point Streak" system for objective modes.
But as you can see, a game like COD offers a good amount of counter-camping methods and anything that inherently promotes camping (silencers, motion sensors, claymores, ghost perk, etc) has a counter to it: motion sensors, hacker, blackbird, etc.
Speaking of design flaws, In other games like Killzone my problem with campers comes from the design of the marksmen class. I do not think Killzone 3 promotes fluidity like K2 did. Too many snipers simply cloak and do NOTHING towards objectives, nor are they equipped with team-helping abilities, etc. In Killzone 2 a sniper had no assault rifle, and had a spot and scan to help teammates. In K3, a sniper is pretty much disjointed from the team. In a game like Killzone 3 you are given abilities TO camp with the marksmen class-- the best assault rifle with invisibility for permanent use if using the secondary machine pistol.
Now I said do anything to win, but Marksmen do nothing towards objective games (unless they are defending a room) and in Guerilla Warfare they ruin games because a full team of snipers has no counter (Play a clan match in certain maps to see what I mean)
As for Battlefield, never really had an issue with campers in this game, everything flows dynamically as it should, and you are given tools for countering too (motion sensors, grenade launchers, etc)
And in the case of Halo, while there is no effective way to deal with a camper programmed into the game, I've generally found that campers haven't been given specific advantages to camp, and if something like invisibility were to be chosen as a armor ability it'd be countered with the annoying scrambler-- and I know this is in Killzone 3 as well, however, it's actually an optional ability that some gamers do not choose to upgrade to because it gives away the position of a sniper. It's too bad because it's the one team-oriented ability of a marksmen class in Killzone 3 yet it's still not used properly or at all in some cases because people wisely choose to be completely invisible and have that element of total surprise.
MAG is perhaps one of the few games campers have never ever been an issue. It's simply the design of the game.
So perhaps it depends on the experience and design of the game. For the most part however, campers have rarely been a problem for me, unless the design of the game didn't allow for a good set of tools (flash nades, motion sensors, etc) to counter a camper who was actually given camping-promoting tools by design (invisibility).
Even when campers have existed in games I've never felt prone to blame them in the long run-- sure, an immediate wave of anger places the blame on the enemy strategy, a teammate, lag, etc., but I never hold it against them for long simply because I readjust.
Campers will always exist. And while some camping (camping for kills in objective games, camping and not doing an effective job, etc) is counter-productive, I find that most GOOD players stop complaining about use the tools of a game to their advantage to outsmart campers. So long as a game supports those tools I do not see an issue with campers.
My argument is for people afraid to camp or associate camping with a bad playstyle. My advice is: CAMP! Don't listen to the whiners who have to use your playstyle as a scapegoat for his loss-- chances are he is just sore because he ran into a room unprepared or actually expected you to be on the other side of the map as he attempted to infiltrate your objective.
Too many players play aggressively and think they can run from one side of the map to the other and mow down everybody. They become predictable. So what better way to deal with them then simply aim your gun at the door they are likely heading to, and blast them as they run in?
A good player ought to be using the arsenal of tactical nades, smokes, teamwork anyway that the game ought to give players.
I do not see any game where camping has been a problem to the point that a camper is unbeatable.
People use COD as a camper's game. However, you have kill cams, flash, smoke and stun nades that show even the direction of a player's position, UAVs, Blackbirds, motion sensors, deep impact bullets... what more do you need?
Too many times people blame deaths attributed to campers when they are simply defending/playing cautiously. And there is nothing wrong with that.
On one end of the extreme you have run and gunners and on the other end campers. Yet nobody yells at a run and gunner. Why? Because chances are, if you die by a run and gunner, you too were run and gunning. And blaming a run and gunner when you are doing the same comes off as hypocritical. But dying to somebody who used a totally different end of the extreme? Well of course, if he is lying in wait and surprises your momentum, of course you are going to blame him!
Do anything within the rulebook to win. If you are a poor camper or a poor run and gunner who just mindlessly runs around that is when I have a problem.
As for objective games, one can argue campers rack up killstreaks to protect objectives in COD. And one can also say that this is a design flaw. A more better system would definitely be a "Point Streak" system for objective modes.
But as you can see, a game like COD offers a good amount of counter-camping methods and anything that inherently promotes camping (silencers, motion sensors, claymores, ghost perk, etc) has a counter to it: motion sensors, hacker, blackbird, etc.
Speaking of design flaws, In other games like Killzone my problem with campers comes from the design of the marksmen class. I do not think Killzone 3 promotes fluidity like K2 did. Too many snipers simply cloak and do NOTHING towards objectives, nor are they equipped with team-helping abilities, etc. In Killzone 2 a sniper had no assault rifle, and had a spot and scan to help teammates. In K3, a sniper is pretty much disjointed from the team. In a game like Killzone 3 you are given abilities TO camp with the marksmen class-- the best assault rifle with invisibility for permanent use if using the secondary machine pistol.
Now I said do anything to win, but Marksmen do nothing towards objective games (unless they are defending a room) and in Guerilla Warfare they ruin games because a full team of snipers has no counter (Play a clan match in certain maps to see what I mean)
As for Battlefield, never really had an issue with campers in this game, everything flows dynamically as it should, and you are given tools for countering too (motion sensors, grenade launchers, etc)
And in the case of Halo, while there is no effective way to deal with a camper programmed into the game, I've generally found that campers haven't been given specific advantages to camp, and if something like invisibility were to be chosen as a armor ability it'd be countered with the annoying scrambler-- and I know this is in Killzone 3 as well, however, it's actually an optional ability that some gamers do not choose to upgrade to because it gives away the position of a sniper. It's too bad because it's the one team-oriented ability of a marksmen class in Killzone 3 yet it's still not used properly or at all in some cases because people wisely choose to be completely invisible and have that element of total surprise.
MAG is perhaps one of the few games campers have never ever been an issue. It's simply the design of the game.
So perhaps it depends on the experience and design of the game. For the most part however, campers have rarely been a problem for me, unless the design of the game didn't allow for a good set of tools (flash nades, motion sensors, etc) to counter a camper who was actually given camping-promoting tools by design (invisibility).
Even when campers have existed in games I've never felt prone to blame them in the long run-- sure, an immediate wave of anger places the blame on the enemy strategy, a teammate, lag, etc., but I never hold it against them for long simply because I readjust.
Campers will always exist. And while some camping (camping for kills in objective games, camping and not doing an effective job, etc) is counter-productive, I find that most GOOD players stop complaining about use the tools of a game to their advantage to outsmart campers. So long as a game supports those tools I do not see an issue with campers.
Can Video Games help cure cancer?
Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably in your body, causing interference to your body's tissues. Doctors give you chemotherapy which destroys the cancer cells at the unfortunate cost of your immune system also taking it's toll. Organic food, veggies, and fruits destroy cancer cells also, with out having a toll on your immune system however there is still one more key ingredient to curing this Awful disease. Living a positive life.
It has been proven that Cancer can cause depression which is one of the many negative things it feeds on to become stronger, but what many don't know is that there have been cases where people have defeated Cancer by simply enjoying life. According to cancer-free-for-life.com, "The act of laughter can lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, and provide an always needed boost to the immune system to curing cancer with laughter." Now that's just one example of how living positive helps. I have a cousin who had not walked in a while due to his cancer. I brought my Bro's Xbox 360 to his house connect it to another room and before our eyes he stood up walked to the other room with a smile on his face and started playing. At that moment I knew entertainment can help cure diseases such as cancer. I can't remember the last time I saw him smile but I know Video games brought joy to his life. So now we are watching movies, playing xbox 360 games with him and treating him like a normal teen again and he is slowly and surly loving life a little more every day. Love thoughts can Cure Cancer. So now I ask you, can video games help cure cancer?
It has been proven that Cancer can cause depression which is one of the many negative things it feeds on to become stronger, but what many don't know is that there have been cases where people have defeated Cancer by simply enjoying life. According to cancer-free-for-life.com, "The act of laughter can lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, and provide an always needed boost to the immune system to curing cancer with laughter." Now that's just one example of how living positive helps. I have a cousin who had not walked in a while due to his cancer. I brought my Bro's Xbox 360 to his house connect it to another room and before our eyes he stood up walked to the other room with a smile on his face and started playing. At that moment I knew entertainment can help cure diseases such as cancer. I can't remember the last time I saw him smile but I know Video games brought joy to his life. So now we are watching movies, playing xbox 360 games with him and treating him like a normal teen again and he is slowly and surly loving life a little more every day. Love thoughts can Cure Cancer. So now I ask you, can video games help cure cancer?
Soft Power of Chinese Culture in MMOs
Nowadays, video games have become a dominating entertainment medium. The industry alone creates tens of billions dollars for other industries, every year. Like other pop culture staples, people have noticed the influence of games on the movie and music genres. Let’s take a deeper look at the cultural influence of video games.
“Soft Power” has become more and more apparent. Through Hollywood movies, America exports its culture and ideology to every corner of our planet, making the western culture continue to be the mainstream culture of the world. In the 1980s, Japan started to challenge the leadership of the America, both economically and culturally. Animation and video gaming not only brought Japan enormous financial benefits, but also introduced Japan’s exotic culture to the audiences from other nations.
Samurais, Ninjas, Sushi - those once alien words have become familiar to the western population. It is the first time that a non-western culture has generated such a wide cultural influence in these modern times.
After Japan, the Chinese game industry started to emerge. With the growth of their economy and technology, China has already started to influence the world with her “soft power”. Following Japan’s model, China’s game companies began to make their debut in the international market. Although the Chinese game developers are the smaller newcomers of the industry, they have jumped at the chance to make online games. TQ Digital Entertainment earned its reputation with its own MMORPG, Conquer Online. Everyday, hundreds of thousands of players around the world are exploring the mythological world of ancient China, and experiencing the vivid Chinese culture in the game. In the world of CO, players can customize their characters with traditional Chinese costumes, practice various Chinese ancient weapons, battle with demons in Chinese myths and even perform traditional Chinese dancing!
The game also hosts a string of special events, all in the theme of Chinese traditional festivals, from Chinese Valentine’s Day to the Spring Festival. These special quests and elaborate background introductions provide the education of Chinese culture and traditions to non-Chinese players. Western festivals such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween are widely known by Chinese people, and now, Western players can celebrate the exotic Chinese festivals in the virtual world! We can expect there will be more and more Chinese games entering the global market, so does that mean there will also be a rise in the number of Chinese culture groupies?
In conclusion, games have become an influential medium for cultural exchange. As more and more game developers from different parts of the world enter the blooming industry, players have the opportunity to experience different cultures, and at the same time enjoy more terrific games!
“Soft Power” has become more and more apparent. Through Hollywood movies, America exports its culture and ideology to every corner of our planet, making the western culture continue to be the mainstream culture of the world. In the 1980s, Japan started to challenge the leadership of the America, both economically and culturally. Animation and video gaming not only brought Japan enormous financial benefits, but also introduced Japan’s exotic culture to the audiences from other nations.
Samurais, Ninjas, Sushi - those once alien words have become familiar to the western population. It is the first time that a non-western culture has generated such a wide cultural influence in these modern times.
After Japan, the Chinese game industry started to emerge. With the growth of their economy and technology, China has already started to influence the world with her “soft power”. Following Japan’s model, China’s game companies began to make their debut in the international market. Although the Chinese game developers are the smaller newcomers of the industry, they have jumped at the chance to make online games. TQ Digital Entertainment earned its reputation with its own MMORPG, Conquer Online. Everyday, hundreds of thousands of players around the world are exploring the mythological world of ancient China, and experiencing the vivid Chinese culture in the game. In the world of CO, players can customize their characters with traditional Chinese costumes, practice various Chinese ancient weapons, battle with demons in Chinese myths and even perform traditional Chinese dancing!
The game also hosts a string of special events, all in the theme of Chinese traditional festivals, from Chinese Valentine’s Day to the Spring Festival. These special quests and elaborate background introductions provide the education of Chinese culture and traditions to non-Chinese players. Western festivals such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween are widely known by Chinese people, and now, Western players can celebrate the exotic Chinese festivals in the virtual world! We can expect there will be more and more Chinese games entering the global market, so does that mean there will also be a rise in the number of Chinese culture groupies?
In conclusion, games have become an influential medium for cultural exchange. As more and more game developers from different parts of the world enter the blooming industry, players have the opportunity to experience different cultures, and at the same time enjoy more terrific games!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
My problem with Open World/Sandbox games.
Within each generation of consoles there has always been that recurring trend. We gamers are constantly being told by developers that their game will have us immersed. As technology improved, one of the biggest ways that this was displayed was by giving us an open world/sandbox game; and with good reason.
Open World games gave players a nonlinear way of approaching missions. They gave players a sense of freedom and diversity. In this current generation however, I am starting to get a little burned out from these games due to a number of problems that kinda haven't been solved yet. RPG games are excluded in this discussion due to the level of complexity and interaction.
Problem #1: Repetitiveness
At some point during the game you just get tired of seeing the same things within the environment or when you just feel like you are doing that same thing over and over again. That's because you ARE doing the same thing over and over again! That deja vu factor becomes REALLY annoying after a while.
Notable examples include Assassins Creed, Red Faction Guerilla
Problem #2: The world and environments are boring
I understand the desire for us gamers to have our breath taken away by certain structures in video games. That shock and awe when we are brought into these creative worlds. However, if we have a beautiful world being brought upon us then there needs to be something to do right?
My most recent example of this is L.A. Noire. Don't get me wrong this game did some groundbreaking things in technology with the facial expressions. I never really seen any game like L.A. Noire mainly because of the genre. Unfortunately, the recreation of 1947 Los Angeles isn't too exciting. Yes there are landmarks and film reels to see and cars to collect. However, the world just gets boring after a while. After the first 2 hours I just decided to let my partner drive to the next area for the rest of the game.
Problem #3 Balance
All open world games have some kind of theme to go along with it. It may be a game mechanic or setting that defines that theme. Sometimes developers focus too much on one area to the point where they ignore other important aspects of the game. After a while, these problems can stand out just as much the main thing the developers were focusing on to make the game addicting.
Notable Example: I have to say Prototype. The ONLY thing fun about this game were the powers you were given and the way I could move around the city. Running up buildings and gliding never gets old. But, that's where my fun stops. The visuals and graphics aren't really appealing and the scenery in general is dull and never changes. I also felt like the challenges were a chore so I would never do them. Some of the missions were pretty cool but given Prototypes concept; I think it wouldve been a better game if it were linear.
Problem #4 Tedious sidequest or collectibles
This is mainly for trophy and achievement whores. I don't really qualify in that department but there are some games where things seemed fun to the point where I would try to finish a certain number of sidequest/challenges or even complete them all. But sometimes it feels like it just drags on to the point where you just give up and don't even bother for a while with those sidequest/challenges. You simply burn out.
Notable Examples: Assassins Creed series, Infamous 1 sidemissions, Any game that throws in racing missions as a challenge or side mission.
Now here are some games in this current gen that I think addresses the problems above quite well.
Infamous 2: This game improves on all aspects of the first one by giving us more powers, giving us more variety in missions, and constantly rewarding the players with new powers as they progress through the game.
Red Dead Redemption: Not only the world of Red Dead Redemption was huge; There was also alot to do in the midst of this old western story. There were bounties, poker, and other activities that made sense within the theme of this game and supported the main story to a certain extent.
Just Cause 2: This is personally my favorite sandbox game. This game is HUGE and delivers us an island with scenery such as snow capped mountains, a desert, a dense populated financial city, district, beaches, and a floating gentlemans club. It also helps that there are alot of weapons and vehicles to keep the players perception fresh and interested throughout the entire game.
Now I simply think developers can solve this problem. It could be budgeting issues or even laziness. But I do know for a fact that these problems can and will be solved eventually. What do you guys think?
Open World games gave players a nonlinear way of approaching missions. They gave players a sense of freedom and diversity. In this current generation however, I am starting to get a little burned out from these games due to a number of problems that kinda haven't been solved yet. RPG games are excluded in this discussion due to the level of complexity and interaction.
Problem #1: Repetitiveness
At some point during the game you just get tired of seeing the same things within the environment or when you just feel like you are doing that same thing over and over again. That's because you ARE doing the same thing over and over again! That deja vu factor becomes REALLY annoying after a while.
Notable examples include Assassins Creed, Red Faction Guerilla
Problem #2: The world and environments are boring
I understand the desire for us gamers to have our breath taken away by certain structures in video games. That shock and awe when we are brought into these creative worlds. However, if we have a beautiful world being brought upon us then there needs to be something to do right?
My most recent example of this is L.A. Noire. Don't get me wrong this game did some groundbreaking things in technology with the facial expressions. I never really seen any game like L.A. Noire mainly because of the genre. Unfortunately, the recreation of 1947 Los Angeles isn't too exciting. Yes there are landmarks and film reels to see and cars to collect. However, the world just gets boring after a while. After the first 2 hours I just decided to let my partner drive to the next area for the rest of the game.
Problem #3 Balance
All open world games have some kind of theme to go along with it. It may be a game mechanic or setting that defines that theme. Sometimes developers focus too much on one area to the point where they ignore other important aspects of the game. After a while, these problems can stand out just as much the main thing the developers were focusing on to make the game addicting.
Notable Example: I have to say Prototype. The ONLY thing fun about this game were the powers you were given and the way I could move around the city. Running up buildings and gliding never gets old. But, that's where my fun stops. The visuals and graphics aren't really appealing and the scenery in general is dull and never changes. I also felt like the challenges were a chore so I would never do them. Some of the missions were pretty cool but given Prototypes concept; I think it wouldve been a better game if it were linear.
Problem #4 Tedious sidequest or collectibles
This is mainly for trophy and achievement whores. I don't really qualify in that department but there are some games where things seemed fun to the point where I would try to finish a certain number of sidequest/challenges or even complete them all. But sometimes it feels like it just drags on to the point where you just give up and don't even bother for a while with those sidequest/challenges. You simply burn out.
Notable Examples: Assassins Creed series, Infamous 1 sidemissions, Any game that throws in racing missions as a challenge or side mission.
Now here are some games in this current gen that I think addresses the problems above quite well.
Infamous 2: This game improves on all aspects of the first one by giving us more powers, giving us more variety in missions, and constantly rewarding the players with new powers as they progress through the game.
Red Dead Redemption: Not only the world of Red Dead Redemption was huge; There was also alot to do in the midst of this old western story. There were bounties, poker, and other activities that made sense within the theme of this game and supported the main story to a certain extent.
Just Cause 2: This is personally my favorite sandbox game. This game is HUGE and delivers us an island with scenery such as snow capped mountains, a desert, a dense populated financial city, district, beaches, and a floating gentlemans club. It also helps that there are alot of weapons and vehicles to keep the players perception fresh and interested throughout the entire game.
Now I simply think developers can solve this problem. It could be budgeting issues or even laziness. But I do know for a fact that these problems can and will be solved eventually. What do you guys think?
Looking back in history (Ridge Racer Type 4)
RIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER EVERYBODY!
Hell yeah Riiiiidge Racer!
When you were a 10 or 11 year old kid and put your disc in your beautiful PSone, you only wanted a few things: Fun, a challenge, some nice sounds and good GFX.
Ridge Racer Type 4 for me was this experience.
It is amazing how in its time a game with 32mb or something around that much of GFX Ram felt like the most realistic game. For a kid it had the best graphics ever. Before playing this game again after so many years, my first thought was this is the wrong game. The game I remembered looked way better, but I knew this is the same game. The colors were exiting, the sounds were cool, and the graphics were phenomenal. Yeah, for a kid they were like that. Still to this day when I compare it to its time it feels the same way. I was playing the game and noticed the greatness of the Ridge Racer series in less than a minute. I in fact can totally understand Kaz's famous quote. If I was there I would get up and cheer the hell out of that quote. Ridge Racer, at least back in the day, did what it was supposed to do. BE FUN. I could sit down and play the game all day long and never get tired. Soundtracks were fabulous and unforgettable (Just like Bayonetta).
Nowadays you don't find many fun games anymore, maybe we as gamers have way too high expectations, but this is how it is now. I just wish we could get back to roots and make more games like Bayonetta, LBP, castle crashers, etc….Everything is so serious this generation that I barely ever go back to my games, not even MGS4 (I played MGS3 5 times and PO 3 times).
Looking back sometimes is sad, I could never imagine disliking a Final Fantasy game so much like XIII. We have lost something in between the 6th and 7th generation and I believe Jack and Dexter are also one reason for the whole thing. I mean come on; R&C has nothing on Jack and Dexter. What happened to Call Of Duty? I loved that game. What happened?
But for now, to celebrate the good old times, I'm playing Ridge Racer Type 4. I recommend you do too if you are one of the few gamers who haven't played this jewel. Go and buy it. You can still find it lying around somewhere waiting to be discovered by somebody who will love it.
Hell yeah Riiiiidge Racer!
When you were a 10 or 11 year old kid and put your disc in your beautiful PSone, you only wanted a few things: Fun, a challenge, some nice sounds and good GFX.
Ridge Racer Type 4 for me was this experience.
It is amazing how in its time a game with 32mb or something around that much of GFX Ram felt like the most realistic game. For a kid it had the best graphics ever. Before playing this game again after so many years, my first thought was this is the wrong game. The game I remembered looked way better, but I knew this is the same game. The colors were exiting, the sounds were cool, and the graphics were phenomenal. Yeah, for a kid they were like that. Still to this day when I compare it to its time it feels the same way. I was playing the game and noticed the greatness of the Ridge Racer series in less than a minute. I in fact can totally understand Kaz's famous quote. If I was there I would get up and cheer the hell out of that quote. Ridge Racer, at least back in the day, did what it was supposed to do. BE FUN. I could sit down and play the game all day long and never get tired. Soundtracks were fabulous and unforgettable (Just like Bayonetta).
Nowadays you don't find many fun games anymore, maybe we as gamers have way too high expectations, but this is how it is now. I just wish we could get back to roots and make more games like Bayonetta, LBP, castle crashers, etc….Everything is so serious this generation that I barely ever go back to my games, not even MGS4 (I played MGS3 5 times and PO 3 times).
Looking back sometimes is sad, I could never imagine disliking a Final Fantasy game so much like XIII. We have lost something in between the 6th and 7th generation and I believe Jack and Dexter are also one reason for the whole thing. I mean come on; R&C has nothing on Jack and Dexter. What happened to Call Of Duty? I loved that game. What happened?
But for now, to celebrate the good old times, I'm playing Ridge Racer Type 4. I recommend you do too if you are one of the few gamers who haven't played this jewel. Go and buy it. You can still find it lying around somewhere waiting to be discovered by somebody who will love it.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Angry Birds for PC
Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:
* angry birds for pc
* activate free angry birds for pc
* angry birds FLASH SCAM
* angry-birds-online scam
* free angry birds games full version for window xp
*
- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:
* angry birds for pc
* activate free angry birds for pc
* angry birds FLASH SCAM
* angry-birds-online scam
* free angry birds games full version for window xp
*
- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Phineas And Ferb 3D Game – Disney XD Games 63
New Disney Game – Phineas and Ferb
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Have Fun!
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Have Fun!
Play the Scary Maze Game With Your Friends!
Have you ever played the Scary Maze Game 8 now? If not, brotha you haven’t lived!!! This maze game is the most awesome game on earth! But in order to play it you MUST have a partner in the room with you. So go find a friend, co-hort, or even an enemy – it doesn’t matter! Then match your wits and your mouse skills with the game and see if you’re awesome enough to win the BIG prize at the end!
Chinese Couple Sells All Three Kids to Play Online Games
A young Chinese couple has sold all three of their children in exchange for money to play online Nick jr games at Internet cafes, reports a southern Chinese newspaper.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
Official Pokemon Game Coming To Smartphones
The Pokemon Company is set to bring an official Pokemon Online game to smartphone devices, marking the first time that an official Nintendo-copyrighted app will be available on the iOS and Android.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia
Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
8 Game Case Mistakes
Whenever people go to buy a new game one of the first things they look at is the back of the game case. Why do we look at it? The pictures and the description can tell us if its going to be a game we'd like or not. But sometimes these descriptions and pictures are wrong. Here's my list of the top 8 mistakes on video game cases. Why 8? Because 5 is to few and 10 is to overused.
8. Description: Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes.
The description on the back of the box reads "Two of the greatest games of all time, Metal Gear Solid 1 and Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty are fused together to form the Nintendo gamecube classic Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes" From reading that description it would be safe to assume that both MGS1 and MGS2 are in the case but its actually just MGS 1 with MGS 2 graphics and controls. While its directly wrong it is misleading. And that's why it gets spot 8.
7. "...they will find you, and you will die...": Vampire Rain
Very few people have heard of this game, and with good reason. It was terrible. It tried to combine the sneaking action of MGS or Socom with a vampire story. The result was unpleasant. The quote, which appears quite boldly on the cover of the game, was actually part of a larger quote by Adam Sessler (Xplay) bashing the games poor stealth mechanic. In his original quote (which I couldn't find) he said something along the lines of: no matter how stealthy you are they will find you and you will die, its terrible. For taking a negative quote and making it sound positive they get spot 7.
6. Bastilla on Ratakaa: Star wars The Knights of the Old Republic
Anyone who's played this game knows what I'm talking about here. But for those of you who haven't here you go. Bastilla get captured and you lose her for half the game. When you finally get her back (presuming you do it right) you begin the final level of the game. However the picture on the back of the box shows Bastilla standing with you in front of the Temple of Ratakaa (the 2nd to last level). Before you comment, No. There is no time to take Bastilla to the Temple of Ratakaa after you get her back. As soon as you get her a scripted series of events happens taking you into the final level.
5. Krea's right hand: Star Wars The Knights of the Old Republic 2 The Sith Lords.
I don't like reusing the same game multiple times, but when a game messes up like this it's hard not to. In the game (early on) one of your characters (Krea) gets her right hand chopped off. On the back of the box it shows her holding a lightsaber in her right hand. While this could have been an earlier picture she didn't get a lightsaber to later in the game and before the game she had an entirely different wardrobe.
4. Right Handed Link: Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
It's a little known fact that Link is in fact left handed. However on the Back of the Twighlight Princess case it shows a right handed Link. The official reasoning for this (and for making Link right handed in the game) is because the majority of players are right handed and it would be easier for them to play the game on Wii that way. However on the Gamecube version Link is left handed again with the case still showing right handed.
3. Magic Bar: Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
Zelda games have always had magic bars. That is until Twilight princess. The magic bar was an early concept idea that was ultimately taken out of the game. That doesn't stop it from appearing in a picture on the back of the box.
2. Oblivion rated M: The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion
When Oblivion was originally rated it got a simple easy T rating. However after a user mod allowed players to view the top half of females without clothes the ESRB changed the rating to M. Because it was originally rated T (games were released with the T rating) and later changed due to no fault of Bethesday I consider this an mistake on the game case. (I still have a sealed copy rated T)
1. Lightsaber on Telos: Star Wars The Knights of the Old Republic 2 The Sith Lords.
You might be curious why I picked this game as number one. Well for me this was the most annoying. In Kotor 2 the first planet you arrive on is Telos. You don't get a lightsaber until after Telos. However the back of the case shows your character holding a lightsaber in the last part of Telos. Why was this annoying? Because I saw the back of the case and the main character holding a lightsaber on Telos and thought that I messed up somewhere and missed it, so I restarted the game and did it all again only to find out 3 hours later that the quest to get a lightsaber doesn't even start until after Telos. That's why this mistake gets rated 1 for me.
While mistakes on game cases aren’t a super critical thing they can be annoying and sometimes fun to find. Have you found any other mistakes?
Edit: There is another mistake on the back of Kotor. It shows a large Rancor on the beach where the Ebon Hawk land on Ratakaa. This is a mistake as well because the Rancors are scripted to certain environments and can't approach the beach because of it. (Thanks william5150)
LBP2 saying Multiplayer on the back of the box with no Multiplayer Component included (Thanks Alpha)
MGS 4 Greatest hits Collection including trophies on box (Thanks ItlovesHalo)
8. Description: Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes.
The description on the back of the box reads "Two of the greatest games of all time, Metal Gear Solid 1 and Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty are fused together to form the Nintendo gamecube classic Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes" From reading that description it would be safe to assume that both MGS1 and MGS2 are in the case but its actually just MGS 1 with MGS 2 graphics and controls. While its directly wrong it is misleading. And that's why it gets spot 8.
7. "...they will find you, and you will die...": Vampire Rain
Very few people have heard of this game, and with good reason. It was terrible. It tried to combine the sneaking action of MGS or Socom with a vampire story. The result was unpleasant. The quote, which appears quite boldly on the cover of the game, was actually part of a larger quote by Adam Sessler (Xplay) bashing the games poor stealth mechanic. In his original quote (which I couldn't find) he said something along the lines of: no matter how stealthy you are they will find you and you will die, its terrible. For taking a negative quote and making it sound positive they get spot 7.
6. Bastilla on Ratakaa: Star wars The Knights of the Old Republic
Anyone who's played this game knows what I'm talking about here. But for those of you who haven't here you go. Bastilla get captured and you lose her for half the game. When you finally get her back (presuming you do it right) you begin the final level of the game. However the picture on the back of the box shows Bastilla standing with you in front of the Temple of Ratakaa (the 2nd to last level). Before you comment, No. There is no time to take Bastilla to the Temple of Ratakaa after you get her back. As soon as you get her a scripted series of events happens taking you into the final level.
5. Krea's right hand: Star Wars The Knights of the Old Republic 2 The Sith Lords.
I don't like reusing the same game multiple times, but when a game messes up like this it's hard not to. In the game (early on) one of your characters (Krea) gets her right hand chopped off. On the back of the box it shows her holding a lightsaber in her right hand. While this could have been an earlier picture she didn't get a lightsaber to later in the game and before the game she had an entirely different wardrobe.
4. Right Handed Link: Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
It's a little known fact that Link is in fact left handed. However on the Back of the Twighlight Princess case it shows a right handed Link. The official reasoning for this (and for making Link right handed in the game) is because the majority of players are right handed and it would be easier for them to play the game on Wii that way. However on the Gamecube version Link is left handed again with the case still showing right handed.
3. Magic Bar: Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
Zelda games have always had magic bars. That is until Twilight princess. The magic bar was an early concept idea that was ultimately taken out of the game. That doesn't stop it from appearing in a picture on the back of the box.
2. Oblivion rated M: The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion
When Oblivion was originally rated it got a simple easy T rating. However after a user mod allowed players to view the top half of females without clothes the ESRB changed the rating to M. Because it was originally rated T (games were released with the T rating) and later changed due to no fault of Bethesday I consider this an mistake on the game case. (I still have a sealed copy rated T)
1. Lightsaber on Telos: Star Wars The Knights of the Old Republic 2 The Sith Lords.
You might be curious why I picked this game as number one. Well for me this was the most annoying. In Kotor 2 the first planet you arrive on is Telos. You don't get a lightsaber until after Telos. However the back of the case shows your character holding a lightsaber in the last part of Telos. Why was this annoying? Because I saw the back of the case and the main character holding a lightsaber on Telos and thought that I messed up somewhere and missed it, so I restarted the game and did it all again only to find out 3 hours later that the quest to get a lightsaber doesn't even start until after Telos. That's why this mistake gets rated 1 for me.
While mistakes on game cases aren’t a super critical thing they can be annoying and sometimes fun to find. Have you found any other mistakes?
Edit: There is another mistake on the back of Kotor. It shows a large Rancor on the beach where the Ebon Hawk land on Ratakaa. This is a mistake as well because the Rancors are scripted to certain environments and can't approach the beach because of it. (Thanks william5150)
LBP2 saying Multiplayer on the back of the box with no Multiplayer Component included (Thanks Alpha)
MGS 4 Greatest hits Collection including trophies on box (Thanks ItlovesHalo)
The PS Vita and the 3DS have a common problem.
With the 3DS already released and the Vita on its way, it got me thinking about the place these devices have in my life. One common problem occurred to me. They are not phones.
To bring my point across we must jump back in time when the PSP and the DS were released. I remember think this is quite cool. A console in my hand. They seemed perfect for travelling and great for passing the time. Now we are going to jump a couple of years with the release of the 360 and the PS3. How so much as changed in such a short time. A drive to become a multimedia device has become more apparent. Sony's attempt to get a blu-ray player in every house left a mark on the gaming industry. These console were not just about gaming any more it had to do everything. Just to produce a gaming console is just not enough. To maximise profits the casual and non gamer must be added to the install base. It then became apparent that this multimedia image came a little too soon because the Wii with interesting new technology grasped this casual market with little multimedia functionality. However as this generation progressed this theme of multimedia functionality became more of a main feature than a nice extra.
Now smart phones have been around for some time. Arguable it didn't take off until the RIM brought out their Blackberry line of phones. It instantly become popular with business people who loved the function of sending emails and having a phone in the same device. But this wasn't anything like the surge to come in 2007. Apple's Iphone shot multimedia devices into the masses. It was a small computer in your pocket that was also a phone. Not only could you check your emails and call people but you could do much more. Now ,on N4G, the idea of the Iphone being used for gaming is seen as blaspheme. In the early days it did struggled but as it progressed the gaming part of the phone became more apparent. It was seen to be cool to have one.
Now the background is out of the way I can get to my original point. The 3DS and PS Vita have one common flaw. They are not phones. Times have changed since the release of the PSP and Nintendo DS. Carrying around one all inclusive device has become very popular in recent years and almost a necessity.
To say, on N4G, the Iphone and other android smartphones are a threat to gaming is followed by onslaughts of abuse especially on the topic of how you are not a "real gamer". This type of gaming is having little to no affect on home consoles but it is ,however, having an effect on portable gaming. It is hard to ignore the success the App Store has had on mobile gaming. The 69p games have very low development cost but relativity high return. These games are also small simple games perfect for on the move. There are other types of games (like Modern Combat) who gets the controls spot on but lack the battery life to really play. This however because a mute point in the large scheme of things.
I am finding it harder and harder to justify getting a dedicated portable gaming machine when the times I am on the move (or anyone for that matter) is barley long enough to justify getting into a fully fledged game. The BBC in 2003 said the average commute in the UK was 45 minutes (which was the highest in Europe). There were no collective figures I could find for America but for Washington it was around 25 minutes in 2006. OK these are people who have jobs but school children are no better. Considering in the UK a lot (bare in mind not all) live in there schools catchment area. My commute was no different to the figures produced by the BBC. The only aspect in life I can see buying a PS vita or a 3DS useful is on flights, where you are spending some hours sitting in one place.
No you may be thinking what I haven't really talked about the phone aspect in great detail but I have in directly. The problem the Vita and the 3DS has is they are in direct competition to the Iphone and android devices but without the most essential component. I know a lot of you will be getting it and think I am mad but even if all of you on N4G get it that isn't enough for the companies. We must look at the bigger picture and so must they. Sony tried, sought of, with the Xperia Play. It ended up being half of each. It wasn't a good phone nor was it a good gaming device. I do hope this hasn't scared Sony off. These smart phone devices offer more games (I know some are garbage) for less money so buying a game at 69p doesn't drain on your wallet like PSP and 3DS games do.
The 3DS has hit road blocks right from the get go. The hardcore gamer seemed less interested by the limited number of games and the casual were not as easily impressed by new 3D technology as they were when the Wii came out. The biggest test for both the systems is when the Vita comes out. It should sell in Japan as they love pocket gaming but with the increase popularity of smart phones, that do everything, there seems to be little reason to get the Vita and 3DS with the £20 per game price tag.
Phones are not the same as they use to be, nor are MP3 players. They have evolved with the times like many other devices. The two dedicated gaming machines must evolve or die and at the moment they are in danger of the latter
To bring my point across we must jump back in time when the PSP and the DS were released. I remember think this is quite cool. A console in my hand. They seemed perfect for travelling and great for passing the time. Now we are going to jump a couple of years with the release of the 360 and the PS3. How so much as changed in such a short time. A drive to become a multimedia device has become more apparent. Sony's attempt to get a blu-ray player in every house left a mark on the gaming industry. These console were not just about gaming any more it had to do everything. Just to produce a gaming console is just not enough. To maximise profits the casual and non gamer must be added to the install base. It then became apparent that this multimedia image came a little too soon because the Wii with interesting new technology grasped this casual market with little multimedia functionality. However as this generation progressed this theme of multimedia functionality became more of a main feature than a nice extra.
Now smart phones have been around for some time. Arguable it didn't take off until the RIM brought out their Blackberry line of phones. It instantly become popular with business people who loved the function of sending emails and having a phone in the same device. But this wasn't anything like the surge to come in 2007. Apple's Iphone shot multimedia devices into the masses. It was a small computer in your pocket that was also a phone. Not only could you check your emails and call people but you could do much more. Now ,on N4G, the idea of the Iphone being used for gaming is seen as blaspheme. In the early days it did struggled but as it progressed the gaming part of the phone became more apparent. It was seen to be cool to have one.
Now the background is out of the way I can get to my original point. The 3DS and PS Vita have one common flaw. They are not phones. Times have changed since the release of the PSP and Nintendo DS. Carrying around one all inclusive device has become very popular in recent years and almost a necessity.
To say, on N4G, the Iphone and other android smartphones are a threat to gaming is followed by onslaughts of abuse especially on the topic of how you are not a "real gamer". This type of gaming is having little to no affect on home consoles but it is ,however, having an effect on portable gaming. It is hard to ignore the success the App Store has had on mobile gaming. The 69p games have very low development cost but relativity high return. These games are also small simple games perfect for on the move. There are other types of games (like Modern Combat) who gets the controls spot on but lack the battery life to really play. This however because a mute point in the large scheme of things.
I am finding it harder and harder to justify getting a dedicated portable gaming machine when the times I am on the move (or anyone for that matter) is barley long enough to justify getting into a fully fledged game. The BBC in 2003 said the average commute in the UK was 45 minutes (which was the highest in Europe). There were no collective figures I could find for America but for Washington it was around 25 minutes in 2006. OK these are people who have jobs but school children are no better. Considering in the UK a lot (bare in mind not all) live in there schools catchment area. My commute was no different to the figures produced by the BBC. The only aspect in life I can see buying a PS vita or a 3DS useful is on flights, where you are spending some hours sitting in one place.
No you may be thinking what I haven't really talked about the phone aspect in great detail but I have in directly. The problem the Vita and the 3DS has is they are in direct competition to the Iphone and android devices but without the most essential component. I know a lot of you will be getting it and think I am mad but even if all of you on N4G get it that isn't enough for the companies. We must look at the bigger picture and so must they. Sony tried, sought of, with the Xperia Play. It ended up being half of each. It wasn't a good phone nor was it a good gaming device. I do hope this hasn't scared Sony off. These smart phone devices offer more games (I know some are garbage) for less money so buying a game at 69p doesn't drain on your wallet like PSP and 3DS games do.
The 3DS has hit road blocks right from the get go. The hardcore gamer seemed less interested by the limited number of games and the casual were not as easily impressed by new 3D technology as they were when the Wii came out. The biggest test for both the systems is when the Vita comes out. It should sell in Japan as they love pocket gaming but with the increase popularity of smart phones, that do everything, there seems to be little reason to get the Vita and 3DS with the £20 per game price tag.
Phones are not the same as they use to be, nor are MP3 players. They have evolved with the times like many other devices. The two dedicated gaming machines must evolve or die and at the moment they are in danger of the latter
Go Commando with N4G to win an Xbox 360 and Gears 3 from GameStop!
N4G and GameStop want you to Go Commando with us on September 20! Don't think you get less than a cool breeze for your efforts: pledging to Go Commando could win you an Xbox 360 and a copy of Gears of War 3 courtesy of GameStop!
Prize: An Xbox 360 250GB console and a copy of Gears of War 3
How to enter: Comment below with your pledge to Go Commando September 20th! You have until September 27, 11:59 PM PST to enter.
Quick Notes:
-Contest available to US residents (GameStop's rules, not ours, so deal!)
-One entry per member. Spamming or creating multiple accounts will be a DQ
-Questions & comments can be directed to Cat ( http://n4g.com/user/home/ca... )
-While Go Commando Day is September 20, we're giving you until September 27, 11:59 PM PST to enter.
-All Prizing provided by GameStop
For complete sweepstakes rules: http://n4g.com/general/Game...
More about GameStop's incentives:
GameStop ( www.gamestop.com ) has some serious incentives to go with their Gears of War 3 pre-orders, and is encouraging fans to Go Commando on September 20th - show your support (or lack thereof) on the FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/ev...
and with the #GoCommandoDay hashtag.
They're giving away prizes to pre-order customers right up to October 3. By pre-ordering the game at an GameStop or at www.gamestop.com use your receipt info to enter a code once a day on the "Go Commando" website, www.gamestop.com/gearsofwar . The grand prize is a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer with daily prizes of XBL memberships, an ATV, flatscreen TVs and autographed Gears 3 concept art.
www.gamestop.com/gearsofwar
Prize: An Xbox 360 250GB console and a copy of Gears of War 3
How to enter: Comment below with your pledge to Go Commando September 20th! You have until September 27, 11:59 PM PST to enter.
Quick Notes:
-Contest available to US residents (GameStop's rules, not ours, so deal!)
-One entry per member. Spamming or creating multiple accounts will be a DQ
-Questions & comments can be directed to Cat ( http://n4g.com/user/home/ca... )
-While Go Commando Day is September 20, we're giving you until September 27, 11:59 PM PST to enter.
-All Prizing provided by GameStop
For complete sweepstakes rules: http://n4g.com/general/Game...
More about GameStop's incentives:
GameStop ( www.gamestop.com ) has some serious incentives to go with their Gears of War 3 pre-orders, and is encouraging fans to Go Commando on September 20th - show your support (or lack thereof) on the FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/ev...
and with the #GoCommandoDay hashtag.
They're giving away prizes to pre-order customers right up to October 3. By pre-ordering the game at an GameStop or at www.gamestop.com use your receipt info to enter a code once a day on the "Go Commando" website, www.gamestop.com/gearsofwar . The grand prize is a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer with daily prizes of XBL memberships, an ATV, flatscreen TVs and autographed Gears 3 concept art.
www.gamestop.com/gearsofwar
Some problems I have with Sony
User blog
I am a proud Playstation fan. I own a PS1, PS2, PS3, and 2 versions of a PSP. Been gaming on Playstation consoles for a long time and am pretty satisfied with my experiences for the most part. However, there are some things that Sony does that really frustrate me.
Omitting moments where it is crucial to have the most accurate and up to date information possible; my first problem is with Sony notifying PS users of things like maintenance schedules and the like. Oftentimes when Sony is going to do maintenance, the ONLY way to know about it is through the blog or on sites like this one. Sony SHOULD be notifying users through their PSN accounts and emails, but I have yet to ever receive such notification. One user here stated that Sony do not send messages to PSN accounts because it would be impossible to tell if it was an official Sony message or some spammer/hacker trying to work one over on you. But I say that, considering Sony has complete control over PSN, they could easily implement a way to let people know if they are sending an official message. It's incredibly frustrating to try and do something on PSN, only to be met with vague error codes or a message stating the service is under maintenance AFTER you tried doing something.
That brings me to my next point. Sony should be training its support staff to know what the frickin' error codes are all about. 80% of the time, Sony customer service don't even know what the error codes mean, nor do they acknowledge there is even a problem. For example, error code 80010514. That code means the Blu-Ray diode is done and you need a new one. But the only way to find that out is through the forums, not through official Sony channels because they don't know anything or don't acknowledge the problem. You'd think since it's their system, Sony should know about the error codes since they programmed the codes into the system to begin with. Sony needs to have better communication within the company so as to facilitate the resolution of consumer issues more quickly and efficiently.
My next problem with them is their sloth like speed at fixing their PSN site on the internet, if they are even bothering to fix it at all. There is an Account Management site where you can make PSN account changes on your PC without needing to use your PS3 or PSP. Changes such as adding funds, changing Billing information, that kind of thing. But ever since the PSN hack of April, that site has been down with a message saying the servers are down for maintenance. It's been almost 5 months. How long does it take to do whatever the hell they are doing with those servers?
My final issue with Sony is their lack of support for WPA2 on the PSP. I'm not sure about the PSP Go, but both of my PSP's do not support my security settings for my wireless network, thus I can't connect to my own internet connection because it uses a WPA2 AES security function. So even if I have a problem with PSN on my PS3, I can't fix it on PC because the site is down and I can't fix it on PSP because I can't connect thanks to the use of a wireless b card in my version of the PSP.
Like I said, I love the Playstation brand and applaud Sony for the monumental "right" moves they made with the brand. But some of the wrong moves they've made are VERY frustrating to solve on your own, and a waste of time to try and solve through customer service. I think that Kaz needs to light a fire underneath his employees to get these problems resolved quickly, but I doubt that will happen any time soon.
I am a proud Playstation fan. I own a PS1, PS2, PS3, and 2 versions of a PSP. Been gaming on Playstation consoles for a long time and am pretty satisfied with my experiences for the most part. However, there are some things that Sony does that really frustrate me.
Omitting moments where it is crucial to have the most accurate and up to date information possible; my first problem is with Sony notifying PS users of things like maintenance schedules and the like. Oftentimes when Sony is going to do maintenance, the ONLY way to know about it is through the blog or on sites like this one. Sony SHOULD be notifying users through their PSN accounts and emails, but I have yet to ever receive such notification. One user here stated that Sony do not send messages to PSN accounts because it would be impossible to tell if it was an official Sony message or some spammer/hacker trying to work one over on you. But I say that, considering Sony has complete control over PSN, they could easily implement a way to let people know if they are sending an official message. It's incredibly frustrating to try and do something on PSN, only to be met with vague error codes or a message stating the service is under maintenance AFTER you tried doing something.
That brings me to my next point. Sony should be training its support staff to know what the frickin' error codes are all about. 80% of the time, Sony customer service don't even know what the error codes mean, nor do they acknowledge there is even a problem. For example, error code 80010514. That code means the Blu-Ray diode is done and you need a new one. But the only way to find that out is through the forums, not through official Sony channels because they don't know anything or don't acknowledge the problem. You'd think since it's their system, Sony should know about the error codes since they programmed the codes into the system to begin with. Sony needs to have better communication within the company so as to facilitate the resolution of consumer issues more quickly and efficiently.
My next problem with them is their sloth like speed at fixing their PSN site on the internet, if they are even bothering to fix it at all. There is an Account Management site where you can make PSN account changes on your PC without needing to use your PS3 or PSP. Changes such as adding funds, changing Billing information, that kind of thing. But ever since the PSN hack of April, that site has been down with a message saying the servers are down for maintenance. It's been almost 5 months. How long does it take to do whatever the hell they are doing with those servers?
My final issue with Sony is their lack of support for WPA2 on the PSP. I'm not sure about the PSP Go, but both of my PSP's do not support my security settings for my wireless network, thus I can't connect to my own internet connection because it uses a WPA2 AES security function. So even if I have a problem with PSN on my PS3, I can't fix it on PC because the site is down and I can't fix it on PSP because I can't connect thanks to the use of a wireless b card in my version of the PSP.
Like I said, I love the Playstation brand and applaud Sony for the monumental "right" moves they made with the brand. But some of the wrong moves they've made are VERY frustrating to solve on your own, and a waste of time to try and solve through customer service. I think that Kaz needs to light a fire underneath his employees to get these problems resolved quickly, but I doubt that will happen any time soon.
Why the division?
Its pretty late in California right now. 1:30A.M., I'm doing my late night web runs (Since I've been jobless for the last 2 weeks what else is there to do?) and one question pops into my head.
Why is it that we are divide as a nation? Looking back through the glass of time, I can remember NES vs. Master system, SNES vs Genesis, Saturn Vs Playstation VS N64, Dreamcast vs........ so on and so on.
But going through my 25+ years of gaming I can't remember ever arguing about system A is way better than that system B because....of games?.....Graphics?, nope! today's points are based solely on sales and the money generated by said system and said games on system. WHAAAAAAAAAT! I know at this point its like digging up a dead horse just to add a few more bullets to the poor animals skull but why are we as a nation so divided by something that is so separate from us to begin with.
If this game sells a billion and this game only sells a few hundred thousand, why does it matter so much? I mean we aren't seeing any of this money and its quite the opposite, we actually make these games the successes that they are buy giving up our money and yet we will argue to the point of being racist, ignorant jerks to prove why we bothered to make this game a billion dollar success and call those who did not put in things that will make our forefathers spin in their grave. Why has this happen to us? I remember growing up with Nintendo a good friend of mine was all about Sega, we still interacted like normal, played together and when it came down to our videogames we asked, what are we playing that day? Are we going to my house or your house? That trend pretty much continued up until X360 released. All of a sudden if you weren't online with a 360 we couldn't be friends in real life?!?!? WHAAAAAATTTTT! Then the PS3 released and if you owned one you just threw away $600 because as far as "Gamers" were considered it was D.O.A.. What happen to us? we used to share our experiences as a people, used to talk about games that we could play that our friends couldn't and vice-versa. But now it seems that system ownership is a lot stricter than religion. "Buy what I have so we can talk about it or F*** YOU!!" Why and How?
I'll admit early on I was just as rabid as the next person but I've been able to let that go, but it seems the problem has only gotten worst and not better, despite there being many ways to enjoy our freetime, it seems that you can only have one way to enjoy it or else you're an outcast. Sad really but I guess thats the way the world is going.
P.S. This was just a random thought but feel free to comment if you like.
Why is it that we are divide as a nation? Looking back through the glass of time, I can remember NES vs. Master system, SNES vs Genesis, Saturn Vs Playstation VS N64, Dreamcast vs........ so on and so on.
But going through my 25+ years of gaming I can't remember ever arguing about system A is way better than that system B because....of games?.....Graphics?, nope! today's points are based solely on sales and the money generated by said system and said games on system. WHAAAAAAAAAT! I know at this point its like digging up a dead horse just to add a few more bullets to the poor animals skull but why are we as a nation so divided by something that is so separate from us to begin with.
If this game sells a billion and this game only sells a few hundred thousand, why does it matter so much? I mean we aren't seeing any of this money and its quite the opposite, we actually make these games the successes that they are buy giving up our money and yet we will argue to the point of being racist, ignorant jerks to prove why we bothered to make this game a billion dollar success and call those who did not put in things that will make our forefathers spin in their grave. Why has this happen to us? I remember growing up with Nintendo a good friend of mine was all about Sega, we still interacted like normal, played together and when it came down to our videogames we asked, what are we playing that day? Are we going to my house or your house? That trend pretty much continued up until X360 released. All of a sudden if you weren't online with a 360 we couldn't be friends in real life?!?!? WHAAAAAATTTTT! Then the PS3 released and if you owned one you just threw away $600 because as far as "Gamers" were considered it was D.O.A.. What happen to us? we used to share our experiences as a people, used to talk about games that we could play that our friends couldn't and vice-versa. But now it seems that system ownership is a lot stricter than religion. "Buy what I have so we can talk about it or F*** YOU!!" Why and How?
I'll admit early on I was just as rabid as the next person but I've been able to let that go, but it seems the problem has only gotten worst and not better, despite there being many ways to enjoy our freetime, it seems that you can only have one way to enjoy it or else you're an outcast. Sad really but I guess thats the way the world is going.
P.S. This was just a random thought but feel free to comment if you like.
Gears of War 3 Achievement Challenge: $10,000 in prizing
Pairing nicely with the Gears 3 fever around here, 360Voice is hosting a Gears of War 3 Achievement Challenge kicking off September 20th and running through October 20, 2011.
Players unlocking achievements and recruiting friends to the cause are scoring points toward their Brotherhood's total score - and the top two Brotherhoods get prizes. More of a persuasive type? The top three Recruiters also win big.
http://360voice.gamerdna.co...
If the N4G Brotherhood ( http://360voice.gamerdna.co... ) led by our own Eiffel finishes in the top two we're adding to the prize pool: The top five scorers in the N4G Brotherhood get a Gears of War 3 controller and all surviving Cogs get a brand spanking newly designed N4G t-shirt.
Go! http://360voice.gamerdna.co...
Players unlocking achievements and recruiting friends to the cause are scoring points toward their Brotherhood's total score - and the top two Brotherhoods get prizes. More of a persuasive type? The top three Recruiters also win big.
http://360voice.gamerdna.co...
If the N4G Brotherhood ( http://360voice.gamerdna.co... ) led by our own Eiffel finishes in the top two we're adding to the prize pool: The top five scorers in the N4G Brotherhood get a Gears of War 3 controller and all surviving Cogs get a brand spanking newly designed N4G t-shirt.
Go! http://360voice.gamerdna.co...
Monday, October 10, 2011
Zynga reveals Mafia Wars 2, to be a 'badass' Facebook game [Video]
To most, Facebook gaming is nothing but farmland, cows and rainbows with a dash of brand endorsement. Zynga, one of the stereotype's main offenders, hopes to set the record straight with Mafia Wars 2. A full-blown sequel to the original text-based Facebook RPG (role-playing game), Mafia Wars 2 will bring the franchise into "a vast 3D world where being bad never felt so good."
Judging from this early artwork and the ... interesting trailer below, it seems as if Zynga could make good on previous speculation that its next Mafia Wars game would take a more literal approach in paying homage to its inspirations.
The trailer is set to Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song," you know, so its badassery really sets in. Jokes (about the narration) aside, the video is impressively-edited with its stylistic, "golden" approach to blood and gore.
Unfortunately, all we know about Mafia Wars 2 is apparently how badass it's going to be. While that may be all some need to get psyched, you can check out and "Like" the game's official Facebook fan page to find out more about the game.
Oh, and you'll score some early items for the game by hopping on board early like some accessories for your character and decorations. These already tell us a great deal about the game--fully customizable 3D avatars, anyone? Alright, now we know you're hyped.
[Video and Image Credit: Zynga]
Are you excited to get your clickers on some fresh gang bustin' in Mafia Wars 2? What did you think of the announcement trailer? Share with us in the comments. Add Comment
Judging from this early artwork and the ... interesting trailer below, it seems as if Zynga could make good on previous speculation that its next Mafia Wars game would take a more literal approach in paying homage to its inspirations.
The trailer is set to Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song," you know, so its badassery really sets in. Jokes (about the narration) aside, the video is impressively-edited with its stylistic, "golden" approach to blood and gore.
Unfortunately, all we know about Mafia Wars 2 is apparently how badass it's going to be. While that may be all some need to get psyched, you can check out and "Like" the game's official Facebook fan page to find out more about the game.
Oh, and you'll score some early items for the game by hopping on board early like some accessories for your character and decorations. These already tell us a great deal about the game--fully customizable 3D avatars, anyone? Alright, now we know you're hyped.
[Video and Image Credit: Zynga]
Are you excited to get your clickers on some fresh gang bustin' in Mafia Wars 2? What did you think of the announcement trailer? Share with us in the comments. Add Comment
Finally, hang out with your Android buddies in Hanging With Friends
It looks like Tuesday is unofficially Zynga Game Day, as the company just announced that Hanging With Friends is now available for free on the Android Market. Keep in mind, this comes just minutes after the company revealed Mafia Wars 2. Even better news than the fact that Android players can get in on Zynga With Friends's second mobile game is that it's now cross-platform ready.
Yes, now you can play both your iPhone-toting friends and your best Android-owning enemies buds in this crazy take on the classic pen and paper game of Hangman. In case you're unfamiliar, Hanging With Friends takes the popular turn-based exchange of the wildly popular Words With Friends and applies that to a wacky game of Hangman, but with some twists.
For one, players who choose their word for an opponent are limited by the letters provided to them. Then, that challenge is sent to a player who must guess the word with a limited amount of guesses. This exchange of posing challenges and guesses continues asynchronously until one player loses all of their balloons and falls into a pit of lava or other various deathtraps.
Luckily, you have a series of power-ups at your disposal that can restore some of your guesses or reveal letters that may or may not be part of the word your friend chose in secret. Of course, these boosts cost Coins, which you can accumulate over time by winning Hanging With Friends matches or purchasing them outright in-game.
Gallery: Hanging With Friends on Android
Of course, the Android version contains all of the features that its iOS counterpart sports, like the ability to play up to 20 games at a time, in-game chat and push notifications. Finally, you can add friends via your existing With Friends account, or just connect to Facebook (like everyone else) to find more folks to crush with your wordsmithery. Have at thee, Fandroids.
Click here to download Hanging With Friends on the Android Market Now >
Are you psyched that Hanging With Friends has finally come to Android? What other Zynga games do you hope to see on Android phones on the future? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Yes, now you can play both your iPhone-toting friends and your best Android-owning enemies buds in this crazy take on the classic pen and paper game of Hangman. In case you're unfamiliar, Hanging With Friends takes the popular turn-based exchange of the wildly popular Words With Friends and applies that to a wacky game of Hangman, but with some twists.
For one, players who choose their word for an opponent are limited by the letters provided to them. Then, that challenge is sent to a player who must guess the word with a limited amount of guesses. This exchange of posing challenges and guesses continues asynchronously until one player loses all of their balloons and falls into a pit of lava or other various deathtraps.
Luckily, you have a series of power-ups at your disposal that can restore some of your guesses or reveal letters that may or may not be part of the word your friend chose in secret. Of course, these boosts cost Coins, which you can accumulate over time by winning Hanging With Friends matches or purchasing them outright in-game.
Gallery: Hanging With Friends on Android
Of course, the Android version contains all of the features that its iOS counterpart sports, like the ability to play up to 20 games at a time, in-game chat and push notifications. Finally, you can add friends via your existing With Friends account, or just connect to Facebook (like everyone else) to find more folks to crush with your wordsmithery. Have at thee, Fandroids.
Click here to download Hanging With Friends on the Android Market Now >
Are you psyched that Hanging With Friends has finally come to Android? What other Zynga games do you hope to see on Android phones on the future? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski is awfully addicted to Angry Birds
Another falls to the power of casual games. Just as actress Emma Stone had to go cold turkey on FarmVille, Chuck star Yvonne Strahovski has admitted to Collider an acute Angry Birds addiction. The actress (and voice of Miranda Lawson in Bioware's Mass Effect series) told the website she's not just hopelessly addicted to the game, but has some serious bird-slinging game.
"I don't know if this classifies as a video game, but I have a terrible obsession with Angry Birds," Strahovski admitted to Collider. "I have 3 stared every single level that has ever come out ever except for this one in this moon thing that just came out." Well, she already has me beat, it seems, and likely many of you.
When asked whether she used YouTube or something else to cheat, the Australian starlet replied, "No. I am legitimate. The only thing I looked up is that I could't find the last two golden watermelons in the Rio version. I could't find them. I was like, 'Where are the watermelons?!' So I had to go online and find out where they were." Alright, we get it, so you know your stuff.
Her next mission? Clear every level in the game with 100 percent using the Mighty Eagle. Well, I guess that's about the only challenge she has left, considering she's obliterated every last level. After that, maybe she might consider voice over work for the upcoming Angry Birds movie when it goes into production in oh, I don't know, two years? And who knows, maybe you'll catch her in a Starbucks, flicking away to destroy your high score sometime soon.
[Via Kotaku]
[Image Credit: Collider]
Are you still addicted to Angry Birds after all this time? Have you accomplished more in the game than lovely Yvonne? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
"I don't know if this classifies as a video game, but I have a terrible obsession with Angry Birds," Strahovski admitted to Collider. "I have 3 stared every single level that has ever come out ever except for this one in this moon thing that just came out." Well, she already has me beat, it seems, and likely many of you.
When asked whether she used YouTube or something else to cheat, the Australian starlet replied, "No. I am legitimate. The only thing I looked up is that I could't find the last two golden watermelons in the Rio version. I could't find them. I was like, 'Where are the watermelons?!' So I had to go online and find out where they were." Alright, we get it, so you know your stuff.
Her next mission? Clear every level in the game with 100 percent using the Mighty Eagle. Well, I guess that's about the only challenge she has left, considering she's obliterated every last level. After that, maybe she might consider voice over work for the upcoming Angry Birds movie when it goes into production in oh, I don't know, two years? And who knows, maybe you'll catch her in a Starbucks, flicking away to destroy your high score sometime soon.
[Via Kotaku]
[Image Credit: Collider]
Are you still addicted to Angry Birds after all this time? Have you accomplished more in the game than lovely Yvonne? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Google+ opens its doors to all, but (hopefully) mostly social gamers
The proverbial veil has been lifted, everyone. Google+ is finally open to the public, meaning anyone can join Google's social network regardless of whether they've been invited through a friend. More importantly, this means the service, which soft-launched back in August to a controlled amount of users through invites, is open to even more social gamers than before.
Granted, there are only 16 games so far on Google+ Games. But surely the company hopes, that with an influx of potential players, that developers will become even more interested in Google as a social gaming destination. However, there are several arguably basic social features that aren't yet a part of the Google+ developer API, or application programming interface.
Namely, the posts that players can push through to the Games Stream from a Google+ game are not interactive. This means that the viral nature of social gaming is severely hindered on the network--players cannot directly help one another through the Games Stream like the can through the Facebook News Feed. This essentially thwarts what is popularly believed to give social games their name.
At the moment, players can only post general updates such as, "I scored 5 bajillion points in Bejeweled Blitz!" However, Rovio played somewhat of a smarter game with Angry Birds on Google+ Games, and introduced a friend gate to most of its content, meaning players have to add so many friends to access new levels. Luckily, Google has already stated that it's working to introduce more robust features over time.
Regardless, omissions like this serve as proof that Google+ Games, while impressive in its scope, ambition and support, is still a nascent gaming platform when put up against competitors like Facebook. With this news, perhaps the race Google+ is running has changed track to whether Google+ Games can keep up with the demands and needs of its players, rather than its competitors.
[Via Inside Social Games]
Have you tried out Google+ Games yet? Do you think, after what you experienced, that Google has a chance at competing in the social games world? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Granted, there are only 16 games so far on Google+ Games. But surely the company hopes, that with an influx of potential players, that developers will become even more interested in Google as a social gaming destination. However, there are several arguably basic social features that aren't yet a part of the Google+ developer API, or application programming interface.
Namely, the posts that players can push through to the Games Stream from a Google+ game are not interactive. This means that the viral nature of social gaming is severely hindered on the network--players cannot directly help one another through the Games Stream like the can through the Facebook News Feed. This essentially thwarts what is popularly believed to give social games their name.
At the moment, players can only post general updates such as, "I scored 5 bajillion points in Bejeweled Blitz!" However, Rovio played somewhat of a smarter game with Angry Birds on Google+ Games, and introduced a friend gate to most of its content, meaning players have to add so many friends to access new levels. Luckily, Google has already stated that it's working to introduce more robust features over time.
Regardless, omissions like this serve as proof that Google+ Games, while impressive in its scope, ambition and support, is still a nascent gaming platform when put up against competitors like Facebook. With this news, perhaps the race Google+ is running has changed track to whether Google+ Games can keep up with the demands and needs of its players, rather than its competitors.
[Via Inside Social Games]
Have you tried out Google+ Games yet? Do you think, after what you experienced, that Google has a chance at competing in the social games world? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
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