GAMING GOODIES

Ode to Arcades: My Best Arcade Experience

2009-11-02T12:46:00.001-05:00

Everyone knows that arcades are not as widely used today as they once were in this country. There was a time when every town had at least one arcade, it was the place where kids and adults alike could go and enjoy their favorite games in an atmosphere all its own. I've talked about my love of the arcades of yesteryear before in this blog, bust mostly talking about how they came and went. Today I want to make it a bit more personal.

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When I was growing up in urban South Florida, there was a fairly large arcade only about a mile from my house called BigFoot's Arcade. BigFoot's Arcade was a constant throughout my childhood, the place where I went when I got good grades, the place where I first went to talk to girls, the place where my friends and I would go during Summer - reading comics, drinking Lemonade, and playing all the latest games til closing time.

I have many memories of that beautiful place, with all its electronic sounds assualting my ears, its strobing lights dazzling my eyes, the calls and whistles of exuberance and defeat. My favorite being the day the planets must've aligned, because for that single day I was a Mortal Kombat GOD, untouchable.

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Pitchers have no-hitters. I had a no-loss. It started off like any other arcade day, I waited for my turn in Mortal Kombat 2. Arcade etiquette dictated that if a person won in a fighting game, they usually had to keep playing, taking on all challengers. That winner could quit if he wanted to, but it was generally frowned upon if he did. He was supposed to keep playing until he lost or until his party had to leave.

So I waited for my turn and played the winner at the time. And I beat him. Easy. And then I beat the next challenger, and the next challenger. Then the next and the next. Before I knew it I garnered a large crowd, and the sun had long since gone down. There were few people who still wanted to challenge me and finally someone stood up to face me right when the owner of BigFoot's Arcade announced that would be the last game of the day. He looked confident. Perhaps he had seen a flaw in my strategy? A minor tic he could exploit?

I picked Sub-Zero, he picked Scorpion, and the battle began. The guy was good, I will give him that. I lost my first round easily, he got a perfect on me. I almost lost my cool, but I game him my classic combo:

Sweep:

Freeze:

Roundhouse Kick:

I beat him and life was good.

Real good.

The crowd cheered and the arcade closed and for that single moment, there wasn't a better Mortal Kombat 2 player in the world. That was easily my best arcade experience. What's yours?

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Rare to produce Project Natal FPS?

2009-10-30T09:54:00.000-04:00

Remember the video game company Rare? You know, the guys behind Battletoads, Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong Country, and the stellar Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64.

Well of all the companies out there, Rare announced that they are working on a first person shooter venture for the much anticipated Project Natal software from Microsoft.
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In case you forgot, Project Natal was the groundbreaking motion technology Microsoft demoed at E3 this year. The technology allows for full body movement to be captured in a game, without the need for any controller or peripheral. What's more, Project Natal allows you to scan your own real world items (like a skateboard) to be used in a virtual game. Microsoft claims that Project Natal will be bundled with every Xbox 360 in the future, and that the technology will take the motion control craze started by the Nintendo Wii to new and exciting heights.

And now we know an FPS by the heroes of yesteryear, Rare, is in development. I wonder how you play a first person shooter without a controller? With your fingers?
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Is the Wii 2 on its Way?

2009-10-29T12:15:00.000-04:00

Late-breaking news! MaxConsole.net claims they have an exclusive insider leak into the specs of the brand spanking NEW Nintendo Wii 2!

MaxConsole says they're getting their information from Logic-Sunrise.com, a site that they say has brought them exclusive "insider" information in the past. According to the leak, the Wii 2 will have Blu-Ray support, with a secondary purpose of curbing piracy, an issue the Nintendo Wii has contended with since its launch. What's more, the new Wii is going to sport 100% High Definition 1080p graphics, the likes of which will rival the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360!
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The leak claims the console will be announced relatively soon and that it will go on sale sometime late next year. And the very best news? MaxConsole also says there will be an incentive program that will allow consumers that already own the Nintendo Wii to trade it in for a discount towards the new Wii 2! Nintendo fans rejoice!!

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New PS3 Blog!

2009-10-23T15:13:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! I'm going to be leaving Gaming Goodies behind for the time being and focusing on my new PS3 exclusive blog that you can find here:

http://p-s-three.blogspot.com/

Make sure to check it out!!

Frightfully Good: Dead Space

2009-10-22T11:47:00.000-04:00

Continuing on with my Frightfully Good Games series in lieu of the holidays, I present EA's stellar 2008 survival/horror title Dead Space. Taking place in the distant future on a mining ship traversing the stars, you play as Isaac, the ship's engineer. Your ship runs into altercations out in open space and after a series of crashes and explosions your crew goes off to see what's wrong with the ship. As the engineer, your duty is with the ship's interior, making adjustments and repairs. It's then that you realize that something got onto your ship after the crash, some things that are now in the ventilation system, rummaging through the supplies, and terrifying the other few workers on the ship.

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One of the things that made Dead Space so terrifying was who you were playing as. Isaac is no Master Chief. He's no fighter, no hardened general. He has no military training, no survival training, and doesn't know any martial arts. Isaac is only an engineer, just a regular worker like the rest of his crew. Therefore the only weapons at his disposal are the regular (if not futuristic) tools of his profession. Soddering tools, cutting tools, futuristic saws, these are the only things you have with you. EA put a great deal of work into the creatures that populate this nightmare, and in doing so created the game's primary fighting mechanic. Whereas in other games, a pistol shot to the head is usually the best way to take down a baddie, the monsters of Dead Space has to be dismembered. That's right, dismembered. Because a shot to the face won't slow them down, you have to twist your cutting tools to chop off arms, legs, appendages, and (of course) their heads. It's a gruesom and wildly satisfying combat mechanism.

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The combat is great, but the overall atmosphere is just as important. As the title suggests, you don't often hear any ethereal music to try and heighten the tension, often all you hear as Isaac walks through his battered ship is...nothing. Silence. There'll be the squeezing of vapors through ventilation, the sliding of doors, the click-clack sounds of the monsters inside the walls of the ship. But when you step out onto the outside of the ship, into literal dead space, the absolute silence is the eeriest feeling of all. Dead Space is a wonderfully crafted nightmare, a title whose polished strengths easily outweighs any minor flaws, and the best part is...

EA announced a sequel! Awesome!

Dead Space is available on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows PC. If you haven't played this amazing game yet, get ready for one terrifying ride.

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Frightfully Good: F.E.A.R.

2009-10-21T11:37:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year and the Halloween festivities are just starting to pick up speed. As the leaves are changing and falling, and the weather gets colder and colder, maybe you'd like to get into the spirit of things with a few frightfully good games? The horror genre is a wide and wonderful genre in gaming, spawning a number of great and memorable titles. Although there are examples of these horror games in the past, as technology gets better and graphics become more realistic, these days developers can dish out some truly horrific titles. And these days the budgets for video games rival those for blockbuster films, so it only makes sense that horror, and its many subgenres like survival/horror, will be extremely popular. One of my recent favs is the F.E.A.R. series, that first made its debut on PCs in 2005, and then on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2006.

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As the name suggests, there's a great deal to be afraid of in the title. In the game, you played as a member of the First Encounter Assault Recon, a special government task force that investigates paranormal activity. You face a number of "super soldiers" who are at the command of a terrifying "girl" named Alma, seen above. The game's story is unravelled bit by bit as you play so you'll just have to play it to find out just what Alma is. F.E.A.R. takes a lot of cues from Japanese horror films, where they're more concerned with the "psychology of fear" rather than things that jump out at you. That being the case there are some real "OH MY GOD" moments in this title, and the atmosphere can get EXTREMELY terrifying. Long dark hallways, lights that flicker as you walk by them, sounds that come from behind you, strange things happening in the corner of your eye. What's more Alma has the power to give your character horrifying hallucinations, from thinking you're seeing something you're not, to actually creating things you're forced to fight. The effect is tremendously entertaining.

A sequel to F.E.A.R. came out earlier this year called F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. Alma has grown up and the tricks she'll play on your character as you play are just as mindblowing as the first. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is also for the PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3. Pick it up and have a scare!

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Borderlands Review

2009-10-20T11:36:00.000-04:00

As I said before, Borderlands is one of my most anticipated titles of the year. Gearbox, the company behind it, has taken a big risk with the direction, the art, the release window, and the premise of this game and I think they will be rewarded in spades. Well Borderlands is out today! And the reviews have been pouring in and they are extremely positive. Included is a section of the GamePro review for Borderlands, who felt it was a great title that suffered from a few minor flaws.

Lonely Planet:
Rolling around the open areas as a lone wolf is certainly enjoyable-solitude accentuates the tension of dangerous situations, especially when you can hear the phenomenal soundtrack instead of your raucous pals-but it's just not the best way to play. With nobody to cover your flank and no one to pull you out of the muck when you run into trouble, the single-player mode becomes a lonely experience.
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Ding!:
Everything fell into place perfectly based on our agreed roles and there's an addictive quality here that's on par with Diablo, where the constant promise of new doodads and skill tree bonuses were enough incentive to keep you up way too late. The back of the box brags about "BAZILLIONS" of guns to discover, and given the visual and statistical variety of each weapon I stumbled across I'm not willing to challenge Gearbox's hyperbolic chest-beating just yet.

Let's Do That Again!

There's no doubt that Borderlands has its faults but everything that exists around those sticky spots is incredible. The fun I had with the rock-solid gunplay and extensive role-playing elements was considerably amplified by each additional player. Borderlands is an absolute blast that I'll go back to again and again, even if my friends aren't around to help out. Considering how great of a time I had in Pandora, though, I expect they'll be around for a while too.

PROS: Co-op loot-scavenging rocks; great graphics, style and music; RPG/FPS hybrid is outstanding

CONS: Single-player suffers from co-op focus; the story is interesting but it feels a tad shallow
(Source)

There you have it! Get some friends together, free up a weekend, and plunder the lost planet of Pandora to your looting and shooting heart's content! Borderlands comes out TODAY for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Windows PCs will get it on the 26th.

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33 Best PS3 Games

2009-10-19T11:31:00.000-04:00

Financially speaking, the Playstation 3 may just be catching its stride. With the release of the PS3 Slim, a cheaper and slimmer version of the PS3 (and with a 120gig harddrive) is selling like hotcakes. But believe it or not, just because you might just be catching wind about the Playstation 3, doesn't mean it hasn't been popular. And it also doesn't mean there hasn't been some amazing games for the system. GamePro was kind enough to compile a list of the best games on Sony's little console-that-could. You can see the whole list of thirty three titles here, but I'll just show you the top five:

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Grand Theft Auto IV

Bioshock

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Fallout 3

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

A lot of very big titles. You should check out the rest of the list for some more amazing games that have only recently been given the credit they deserve. And with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves out last week already being called the Game of the Year, the PS3 hype train has yet to reach max speed.

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Retro Revolution

2009-10-16T11:52:00.000-04:00

Look at this image:

This is Mega Man. Now, is this sprite of Mega Man from before or after 2008?

The answer?

Both!

As you're no doubt aware, there's been quite a retro revolution taking place in the gaming world over the past few years. Franchises long forgotten are breathed new life, like the recently announced Rocket Knight. Once a 16-bit adventure on the Sega Genesis, now re-imagined in "2.5D". Not quite 2D, not quite 3D. Like so:

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Some developers, however, push the retroness to the extreme. Like when Capcom released Mega Man 9 last year. It wasn't with new graphics, wasn't with some new mixture of dimensions; it looked EXACTLY like it did in 1987. Even the box art for the game looks like something that was popular during the time of Tron and He-Man:

It's a risky move. In the age where HD gaming has pretty much become the norm, for a developer to make something only the oldest of gamers would truly appreciate, speaks of their committment to the fanbase. And Mega Man 9 sold PHENOMENALLY, recreating a whole retro revolution in the gaming industry. Resurrecting old franchises is nothing new, but resurrecting them in the same style they were first created is as hardcore as it gets. And now there's even the advent of NEW franchises done in OLD graphics, with animations and color schemes that harken back to the games of yesteryear. A recent example is the not yet released game Half-Minute Hero for the PSP, that looks like something straight out of 1993:

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And yet, Half-Minute Hero is already being lauded by critics as a mini masterpiece. I don't know about you guys, but for a gamer like me that's been a fan of this industry since 1988, I would LOVE to see more of these. My most beloved old franchise?

RIVER CITY RANSOM.

Do it Nintendo.

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Let's Play Together

2009-10-15T12:20:00.000-04:00

The Nintendo Wii has gotten the reputation of being a kiddy console, something Nintendo has struggled with for ages. But it also has the reputation of being one of the main companies concerned mostly with multiplayer gaming, with getting everyone involved and playing together. It's not only a good business move (more players equates to more money), but as people are looking for ways to stretch their gaming dollar a bit, they're also looking for the most bang out of their games. I recently talked about how single player gaming might be on the decline, but that doesn't mean gaming is dead. Gamers these days are interested in ways of playing together, and enjoying gaming with friends and loved ones. Here are some hot multiplayer games coming out this year from Nintendo and all the other big names.
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New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Mario and all his pals come back for another big adventure, and it even comes with four player co-op. This makes it the very first "true" multiplayer Mario game, something the old-school Mario fans will no doubt love. You can take control of Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Yoshi and many more, utilizing each of your individual skills to triumph over the evil Bowser. Hey, everyone knows Mario games are fun, no matter what kind of gamer you are, because...it's Mario. Enough said.

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Borderlands

From Gearbox, the team behind the stellar Brothers in Arms series, comes a new IP called Borderlands. Set on a distant world called Pandora, the harsh atmosphere and lack of resources plunges the planet into chaos and lawlessness. You take control of one of four characters, all with their own stories and own reasons for being on Pandora, and all searching for an alien treasure that could make them rich. This is actually my most anticipated title this year, because of a lot of reasons. Open world, procedurally generated weapons in excess of 7 Million (that's right, 7 million plus weapons), vehicular combat, unique characters, and FOUR PLAYER CO-OP! It really doesn't get any better than that. It's available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

Left 4 Dead 2

Although it looks like a movie poster, it's actually the highly anticipated sequel to last year's groundbreaking effort Left 4 Dead. Again, we have four player co-op, this time against the hordes of "infected" zombie-like creatures who come at you from every angle. Four friends can take part in this zombie apocalypse, running and gunning your way through the Southern Bayou as try to make your way to safety and sanity. Boasting all new campaigns, new guns, new modes, new zombies and a newly improved "director" engine to keep you guessing, Left 4 Dead 2 looks like a sure hit this Fall. Available for PC and Xbox 360.

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Toy Drop

2009-10-14T11:40:00.001-04:00

Remember a couple of years ago when Furbie dolls were the biggest thing to hit America? What was the allure of those things? They were short, campy, creepy, furry mutations with a beak and terrible piercing eyes. Have you forgotten? Behold!

Still creeps me out to this day. But as creepy as I found them, they sold like hotcakes, to the point where McDonalds actually started offering them in Happy Meals. But kids, and some adults, are all into the newest toy crazes. Life's not all about games you know, all of us know kids who would probably rather play with a toy train than Super Mario Bros. (or maybe not). Either way, with the holiday season looming over us once again, and our economy still in the dumps, parents are looking for the new toys that will drive their kids crazy that won't break the bank either. Here's some I recently found that I'm thinking of getting my nephews and nieces:

Rubiks Touch Cube: The old regular Rubiks cube we knew as kids is just too easy for the young ones of today! They need a flashy electronic one! So instead of twisting it around, you slide your finger across the colors to switch them around. Looks like fun...in a hollow, digital way. Either way it's a whopping $149.99! Better go look for the duddy old plastic ones.

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Ni-Hao Kai-Lan: Kids are just so much smarter than we ever were. Their cartoons are actually teaching them another language! When Dora The Explorer becomes old hat, we have the just as adorable Kai-Lan who teaches Korean while entertaining. And these toys are a healthy $14.99.

Zhu Zhu Pets: You thought the furryness was over?! It never went away, it just got a little less frightening. Zhu Zhu Pets, from what I can tell, are just furry toy pets, something along the lines of a gerbil or guinea pig, without all the messes, smells, sounds, and...life. Don't be fooled though, these pets are consistently on Amazon.com's top ten most sold products, and Wal-Marts across the globe are selling them for around $8, but they can't seem the keep them in stock. Will it just be Furby 2?!?

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Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Review

2009-10-13T11:28:00.000-04:00

Not too long ago I talked about two wargames that will be released soon that really had me excited: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. They're the bigwigs in the war genre right now, but I often forget that there are lesser known but just as dedicated war games out there with their own unique take on the genre. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is the unofficial sequel to Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis that was released back in 2001. It is known for its intense difficulty and committment to war realism. I played Operation Flashpoint: CWC a long time ago and was giddy to find that headshots were automatic kills, something the other, more popular war games don't actually do. I respect Kotaku's review system, instead of giving it an arbitrary number, they break it down into things they liked and things they hated. Check it out a portion of that review:
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Loved

Damage System: Getting shot in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising can have a lasting impact on how you play the missions. Besides headshots killing you instantly, you can get tagged in the legs, the chest, the arms, the head. Injuries show up on a little version of your character on the screen, if you don't fix yourself up fast (or have a medic do it) you'll eventually bleed out. And even when you do patch yourself up you still won't be able to run sometimes. The end result? More cautious gameplay, more thinking before you move. Perfect for this type of game.

Difficulty: Played on the average setting, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a brutal, unforgiving experience. If you don't pace yourself, using tactics and squad commands, you're going to be shot down in seconds. And those one-shot kills you land can happen to you too, so don't stand in one place for too long.

Realism: From the whine of bullets and full body damage modeling to the relatively open map, which allows for just about any sort of approach you want in a map, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising plays more like a training exercise than it does a run-in-gun shooter.

Hated

Save System: Managing and creating save points in a game can be an art. Too many and players will just trudge through the game, regardless of loss of life, knowing that they can respawn feet from where they dropped. Too few and you have Dragon Rising, which has you play for 30 to 40 minutes, cross vast tracks of terrain, take out multiple units and then die only to do it all over again. The save points improve as you near the end of the game, but the beginning is brutal and unnecessary.

Line of Sight: When a single shot can kill you instantly and save points are stretched between unforgiving distances of objectives and terrain, having a game that can't render an enemy on the horizon doesn't just look bad, it guts the action. In almost every map I played there were enemies who phased in and out of existence as they wavered on the edge of what the game could handle showing me, making sniping a near impossibility.

Brain-Damaged Friendlies: Your squad mates can be life-savers, helping you flank enemies or patching you up after you've taken a shot to the chest. But man can they be stupid. It's shocking how many times my men came to patch me up and then just stood over me with a med kit in hand, watching me die, or refused to mount a vehicle, or walked directly in front of me while I was shooting. Or the one time I had to restart a section of a mission because my squad had commandeered a jeep, drove to the other side of the map with it and then refused to join me at the extraction point. In a game so reliant on squad, this level of artificial intelligence problems is unacceptable.
(Source)

Sounds good, but doesn't seem to pull off a lot of the things that made the original so noteworthy. Oh well, Modern Warfare 2 is next month! Whooo!

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Fighting Games...The Genre Arcades Left Behind

2009-10-12T11:20:00.000-04:00

It's the summer, you're twelve years old, and you have a pocket full of change you bummed off of your parents. You step into your local arcade and are instantly dazzled; lights are flashing, 8-bit sounds are beeping and blooping in your ears, people are laughing, crying, and cheering in every direction. You're here for fun and laughs, for friends and camaraderie, but mostly, you're here for what everyone else is here for: recognition. And the best way to get recognition in the inclusive fast-paced world of arcades? Fighting games.
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Before fighting games were relegated completely to consoles, the true allure of the genre came from besting a physical opponent you've only just met in front of dozens of your peers, perhaps most of them strangers as well. It was the closest thing a geeky suburban kid could get to street cred, and the respect one gained from these competitive bouts were just as real as any sports hero would get. It was a great pasttime, one that required a great deal of time and effort, and skill, to be a champ. I had many great summers in such places.

But the fighting genre has taken a serious back seat, and competitive gaming is now mostly done online to virtual opponents half the world away. It's still fun, but a lot of the passion is gone. And as the world becomes more casual, the gaming pool wider, and production costs increased, fighting games simply don't hold sway in the gaming community as much as it once did. Arcades left them behind and the young ones don't seem to care for it.

Thankfully, in recent years, a few titles are still garnishing praise. Street Fighter IV, released in the States this year, has enjoyed tremendous success. Soul Calibur IV, released last year, was also a commercial success. And Tekken 6 is poised to storm the fighting scene in just a few weeks. Although their popularity has diminished, the competitive fighting game is still going strong, and this video from the EVO tournament shows just how intense these battles can be:

Indie Games...Pushing the Envelope

2009-10-09T11:52:00.001-04:00

Game development is an expensive endeavor. One of last year's biggest games, Gears of War 2, had a $12 million development budget, well over the cost of the development of, say, Star Wars. And personally, I thought Gears of War 2 was a great game, well worth the development costs and just as many thrills as a similarly priced Hollywood film. But what about the little game developers? The guys whose vision might just be a bit too extreme, too unconventional, to get the financial backing of a major game publisher? Well then they make it indie, baby!

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If you're anything like me, the term "indie" conjures up thoughts of strange fashion statements, apathetic youth, and confusing ideals. But in the gaming world, it's awesome! Generally you can find some very amazing ideas, things totally outside of the realm of jumping or shooting, that have the potential to push the idea of gaming to the edge. Take, for example, the 2005 indie title Façade. It's an interactive story where you type in anything and the game characters respond. Observe:

Amazing stuff, eh? This is a free game that you can download here. But indie developers, like any developers, need to make money. And offering a game for free isn't going to make you money. Luckily, we have the likes of the Playstation Network, Xbox LIVE Arcade, WiiWare, and Steam, to bring indie titles to the limelight. Just like last year's HUGE indie title, Braid, whose interesting time mechanics totally changed how a simple platforming game could be played.

What new delights await the gaming community? Find out at IndieGames.com.

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Is Single-Player Gaming Dead?

2009-10-08T11:35:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not there was a time when gaming wasn't as social of an event as it was today. Lots of games were single-player experiences and that's the way we liked it. We jumped into a world, spent hours there, and didn't feel socially irresponsible after doing so. If you were itching for social gaming, you went to an arcade, and it would satisfy every multiplayer itch you could possibly have. But those days are long gone, arcades are all but vanquished from the West, and solo gamers are looked down upon. Kotaku's Michael McWhertor has an interesting article about it.

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There is some cause for concern for the solo-only player. Massively successful games like Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Valve's Left 4 Dead offered shorter campaign modes in favor of a more robust multiplayer feature set. And StarCraft fans may be more than perturbed about the late release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, already sliced into three campaigns, largely due to delays with Battle.net, Blizzard's multiplayer service.

If more publishers and developers follow suit in shifting more focus to multiplayer, will the lone wolf suffer?

The addition of multiplayer to games that have relied on their single player strengths is done for a number of reasons, the most obvious of which is that the game buying public has simply come to expect it as a series sequelizes and evolves. It's an oft-demanded feature from the community, even in series that tend to be strictly single-player.

Personally I don't expect games to be multiplayer, and sometimes I really don't want it! But the gaming atmosphere has changed drastically over the last twenty years, could multiplayer games now be considered the norm?
[Source]

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Nintendo's "Kind-Code"...Game Killer or Killer Game?

2009-10-07T12:06:00.000-04:00

Not too long ago, Nintendo revealed a new mode in their upcoming Wii game New Super Mario Bros. that would essentially guide novice players through a level they found too hard. Immediately the gaming world exploded, cried foul, rioted, and lambasted Nintendo with the greatest of insults. And perhaps rightfully so. The idea that there was an option in a game that essentially played the game for me would make some gaming vets believe that the video game developer has catered so wholly to the casual crowd that they don't even care about making the player finish on their own. A game killer indeed, right?

Well new information has come up, some that sheds more light on the new mode. Officially called the "Super Guide", the mode only comes into effect when a player dies 8 times in a level. The mode will use Luigi to show the player how to get past a difficult portion of the game, allowing the player to pick up at any time and continue playing. Lastly, one can choose whether or not to enable the game mode. Not so terrible, right? It gets even more not...terrible. Sources say that the inclusion of the "helper" mode gives Nintendo the ability to make New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii even more difficult than usual! Since the lowest skilled players are already taken care of by the system, Nintendo can make the rest of the game as hardcore as they'd like, ensuring that the "core" gamers won't be left out in the cold. On the contrary, they will be more challenged than ever before in a Mario game. Cool beans, eh? Check out the video to see the game in action:

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Uncharted 2...What's the Big Deal?

2009-10-06T12:13:00.002-04:00

Metacritic gives it an astounding 97%.

Adam Sessler, host of G4's X-Play, calls it "the best single player experience I have ever played".

Bold words. For the past few days the gaming world has been abuzz with reviews pouring in from all the most trusted sites for this Playstation 3 exclusive, and they've all been stellar. I don't know about you, but stuff like this generally makes me skeptical. No game is perfect, not even the oft praised Ocarina of Time, and I want to know what reviewers didn't like about the game. For example, Michael McWhertor of Kotaku fame said that the multiplayer was fun, but not genre defining, which doesn't sound perfect to me. What's more, from all the reviews I've been reading, the single-player is still as linear as the first, and I was almost sure this was an age when open world "sandboxes" reigned supreme. Obviously Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is, like its predecessor, trying to bring a cinematic flair to a genre that's probably been needing one for a long time. Blockbuster movies are not "choose-your-adventure", they're linear rollercoasters that are meant to keep you guessing. From what we've seen, Uncharted 2 follows this movie example quite a bit, with co-op added to the mix:
Play Uncharted 2 on your FREE PS3!

You have to admit, that looks like fun. That looks like stupid fun. I guess I'll just have to wait and see for myself if the hype is justified or not.

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PS3 "Real Triggers"

2009-10-05T15:17:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if everyone else has already seen and purchased these, but I've only recently been turned on to them and they're great. IGN has a review on the peripherals here. Basically, there are a lot of people out there who want a PS3 but have a problem with the controller's triggers. And that's understandable, while certain games feel fine with the "marshmallow" triggers, other games, like shooters, don't seem so hot. But now there's a new peripheral called the "real triggers" that allows PS3 owners to transform their old duddy triggers into hot FPS fraggin' ones! Observe!:

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Warfare Comes Home

2009-10-05T11:47:00.001-04:00

Back in 2005 I was a Battlefield 2 fiend. I thought there was nothing greater than getting a squad with five of my friends, hijacking a tank and barreling through the Pakistani desert, recklessly swerving past enemy land mines,emptying clips and grenades at pursuing vehicles. It was pure fun. But it had one major flaw; there was no story to it, no single-player of any kind. There was once a time when war games belonged almost exclusively to those small fraternity of PC gamers who had rigs powerful enough to run them. At that time, cinematics wasn't at the forefront of game design and a war game that was entirely multiplayer was seen as a norm of the industry.
Get a FREE Xbox 360 Elite to play Modern Warfare 2!

But things have changed. When consoles once again took center stage in the video gaming world, suddenly there was a much wider audience exposed to these types of games, and the jump in technology allowed developers to create truly cinematic masterpieces that could rival Hollywood. And in recent history, one of the gaming franchises that have managed to garner critical and commercial acclaim for its story AND multiplayer was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Thankfully, a sequel was planned, is in the works, and has a BRAND NEW TRAILER! Observe:

Amazing stuff isn't it? The entire online world is buzzing with the intensity of the new trailer, and who could blame them? If looks could kill, half of the people on the Internet would be dead from the beauty of this beast. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is slated for release on November 10th, only a month away! And it's available for PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3! But what about those of us who loved the Battlefield series? Have we been cast aside, relics of a bygone era, destined to abandon those wonderfully entertaining multiplayer war games of yesteryear? Of course not! Battlefield Bad Company 2 may be coming out much later than Modern Warfare 2 (March of 2010), but that doesn't mean it still won't kick ass. Check out this awesome trailer showcasing the frantic action you can expect next year!:

Destructable environments? Air strikes? A bevy of vehicles at my disposal? Count me in. Warfare has finally come home, and it's looking brilliant!
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Gender and Video Games

2009-10-02T14:20:00.003-04:00

I used to love G.I. Joe action figures as a kid. My father, new to the United States, felt it was a great way to get me to appreciate this wonderful country by emulating those who defended it. Many hours were spent creating war strategies; making forts behind mounds of sand and mapping covert operations around ant hills. Feeding Cobra to my dog. Sigh. When I was young, G.I. Joe toys used to look like this:

And now they look like this:

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See a difference? Growing up in an increasingly cynical youth culture, I've heard the old adage about the portrayal of women in the media a lot. I've heard about the model photos, the "sex sells" ads, and of course, how video games continue to perpetuate an unrealistic standard of beauty. And I'm not saying I disagree. I mean, not to pick on them, but Platinum Games' new heroine Bayonetta, is a butt-kicking scenester, complete with thick rimmed black glasses, pale skin, a beauty mark...and a suit made out of her own hair. Her design was very intentional, and the undeniable sexuality of her character is far from accidental. All the way down to her butt. Yeah.

But guys see a lot of images in gaming too. There was a time when long eared archers who didn't wear pants were the norm, whereas now, with the aide of the Unreal 3 engine, the likes of Marcus Fenix riddle the gaming universe. Doesn't look good does it?
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But here's the facts: I'm a young twenty-something who will never EVER look like Marcus Fenix. My girlfriend does NOT look like Bayonetta (or Lara Croft for that matter), and I don't expect her to ever do so. And from what I can from all the relationships I know of, there just aren't many women out there who expect guys to look like Fenix (or to have guns with chainsaws on it). Yet we can all play these games, full of these images, and not have it affect our realistic expectations of beauty. And Gears of War 2 was all kinds of fun. I mean, if you play games right now you're not automatically a sexist right?
Right?

Let the GAMES (and toys) Begin! (again)

2009-10-01T14:03:00.003-04:00

As you can see, I haven't posted here in a VERY long time. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with the site, so I took some time off from it to figure it out. So now I'm back, with lots of new offers, free stuff, and all the gaming and toy news I can think of. You never know what I'll find so be sure to stick around!

And first up on our menu:

Get a FREE Copy of The Beatles Rock Band for Xbox 360!!

Beatles Rock Band! Everyone's talking about it, everyone loves it, and Ringo Starr has finally become a popular Beatle! I kid, everyone loves Ringo. And everyone knows when you're smacking those Rock Band drums, trying to emulate Ringo's solo from Get Back, you'll fall for him too. Check out this video of someone doing just that!

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The Battle Wages On: Halo Wars Review

2009-03-03T12:23:00.000-05:00

Play Halo Wars on your FREE XBox 360 Elite.

Review:

A strategy game based on the Halo universe, Halo Wars immerses you in an early period of the storied Halo universe, allowing you to experience events leading up to the first Halo title. With the guidance of Serina, a spirited artificial intelligence (A.I.) persona, direct legions of UNSC soldiers, Warthogs, Scorpions, and more, each group having its own strengths and uses in battle. Adventurous commanders can also call upon ancient Forerunner technology, if they are fortunate enough to find it hidden throughout the battlefield.

In campaign mode, command the armies of the UNSC warship Spirit of Fire, with familiar and new UNSC units in its initial encounters against the Covenant, an alien coalition threatening to obliterate mankind. Covenant forces are also waiting for you to lead them into battle in multiplayer skirmishes via the New Xbox Experience. Call upon an arsenal of new and familiar Covenant units such as Grunts, Elites, Ghosts, and even Scarabs to defeat foes on the battlefield.

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Features:

Groundbreaking Xbox 360 strategy game: Since inception, Halo Wars was explicitly designed to bring a typical PC genre to console gamers. Commanding armies is easy, controlling troops and units effortless, and epic battles are smoothly handled using an intuitive user interface. Halo Wars represents the true next-generation experience, combining a masterful control scheme with the award-winning strategic gameplay only developers Ensemble Studios can provide.

Strategic command of armies in large-scale combat: Gamers are in command of the battlefield, playing as either of two unique civilizations: UNSC or Covenant. Counter and crush your opponent by tactically fielding the superior army. Choose among leaders possessing elite skills that can turn the tide of battle. Use various combinations of leaders and units, and create countless strategies tailored to your preferred playing styles.

New take on a legendary world: Experience the early battles between the UNSC and Covenant, in a time predating Halo. Join the crew onboard the Spirit of Fire, a Phoenix-class colony ship converted for UNSC military use, and guided by the A.I. persona Serina. Discover an ancient artifact during a journey to the planet Harvest, the first planet to be attacked by the Covenant. And then get ready for the wars.

Play Halo Wars on your FREE XBox 360 Elite.

LittleBigPlanet Delayed Due To Qur'an References

2008-10-20T10:49:00.000-04:00

Several readers over at Slashdot have pointed out that Sony's much-awaited LittleBigPlanet has hit a snag and will be delayed worldwide. The delay came after it was discovered that a song licensed for use in the soundtrack contained audio samples from the Qur'an. All advanced copies sent to retailers for the target release of October 21 in North America, 22 in PAL territories, and 24 in the UK and Ireland, have been recalled.

Get a free copy of LittleBigPlanet here.

Found on Slashdot.

Next Tony Hawk Game To Include Skateboard Peripheral

2008-10-16T14:56:00.000-04:00

Found this article on 1up.com

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Analyst Doug Creutz of Cowan and Company has looked into his crystal ball and believes that Activison will include a skateboard peripheral with the next edition of the Tony Hawk series. Expected to be released sometime next year, Creutz feels that the addition of peripherals with games will boost sales for the franchise after a year's absence from the market.

According to a report from GamesIndustry.biz, in his latest letter to investors Creutz stated:

"We believe that the extra year of development time and the opportunity for consumers to shake off franchise fatigue could contribute to better unit sales than the franchise has enjoyed in recent years.

"We also view it as highly likely that the game will include some sort of skateboard peripheral with all SKUs when it ships, given the massive success (and higher price points and profitability) of Activision Blizzard's Guitar Hero franchise."

It's worth remembering that a similar story was leaked this summer, so this certainly isn't the first time we've heard about the possibility of Tony Hawk sporting an added peripheral. Furthermore, the move is pretty much a no-brainer considering how popular Wii Fit has been with its Wii Balance Board accessory. With Nintendo and other developers working on ways to integrate the board into future IPs, the days of owning a lone controller have quickly become a thing of the past.

If you factor in the how popular the music gaming genre and its peripherals are, it's clear that gamers have no problem paying extra for something that will enhance their gameplay experience. Keeping that in mind, it's safe to say that Creutz probably isn't far off in his predictions for the Tony Hawk franchise -- even if this obvious assumption of theirs is something gamers have known for a long while now.

Dude is ADDICTED To World Of Warcraft

2008-10-15T16:28:00.000-04:00

From Yahoo Video Game News:

Get a World of Warcraft Gaming Package here.

Think you play too much World of Warcraft?

Compared to "Prepared," you don't.

In a case of game addiction gone officially bananas, gaming blog Joystiq reports on what is surely the biggest Warcraft fan of them all. Known only under the moniker "Prepared," the gamer plays a stunning 36 World of Warcraft accounts on 11 different computers...simultaneously.

Stemming from a desire to manage raids -- large-scale gameplay sessions that typically require the teamwork of multiple players -- all by himself, the die-hard gamer seems undaunted by both the financial and lifestyle commitments to such a geeky endeavor.

"It costs me exactly $5711 in subscription costs per year with 36 accounts on the 6 month pay schedule," he writes. "Not bad considering I'm looking at it like it's a hobby and there are more expensive hobbies out there than World of Warcraft."

Like yachting, perhaps. And despite the downturn in the economy, Prepared can't wait to get his hands on the upcoming Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

"I plan to be at the store when it opens and will purchase 36 copies of it. With tax, it should be about $1500 for all of them."

Word of Prepared's over-the-top addiction comes on the heels of the annual Blizzcon Convention, a fan-oriented celebration of the games created by Warcraft publisher Blizzard.

World of Warcraft Gaming Package

First Wii Music Tracks Revealed

2008-10-15T09:14:00.000-04:00

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Get a copy of Wii Music here

The Japanese website for Wii Music is listing six of the songs featured in the game BUT IS IT A GAME OR IS IT A TOY OR IS IT ART OR IS IT A GAME OR OR OR.

According to Siliconera, they include the theme tunes to Super Mario Brothers, Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing: Wild World.

You can also expect Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Ode to Joy from similarly dead composer Beethoven. And finally there's My Grandfather's Clock - a bluegrass song since covered by J-Pop artist Ken Hirai.

Wii Music is out in Japan this Friday, and will be released in Europe on November 14th. OR WILL IT yes actually.

Found here

Obama Campaigning On Xbox 360

2008-10-14T14:49:00.000-04:00

This article was found here.

Free Xbox 360 here

Last week we noted unconfirmed sightings of an “Obama for President” billboard in the Xbox 360 racing game Burnout Paradise. Today we’re able to report that it is, in fact, an official advertisement placed by the senator’s campaign team.

Xbox 360

“I can confirm that the Obama campaign has paid for in-game advertising in Burnout,” Holly Rockwood, director of corporate communications at Electronic Arts, the game’s publisher, told me via email, noting that EA regularly allows ad placements in their online games. “Like most television, radio and print outlets, we accept advertising from credible political candidates,” she continued. “Like political spots on the television networks, these ads do not reflect the political policies of EA or the opinions of its development teams.”

To my knowledge, this Burnout ad is far and away the most prominent use of a major online game to promote a presidential candidate’s campaign. There have been near-misses, of course: In 2006, for example, when he was seriously considering a run for the Democratic nomination, ex-Virginia Gov. Mark Warner made an avatar-based appearance at a press conference in Second Life.

Of course, detractors could accuse Sen. Obama of sending out mixed messages; earlier this year he was telling audiences that parents need to “turn off the television set, and put the video games away.” Then again, since the Burnout billboard specifically advises gamers to vote early, maybe it’s his subtle way of trying to get them off the couch.

World's Coolest Slot Car Track

2008-10-14T11:51:00.000-04:00

Get this here

I remember playing with slot cars when I was a kid. This trumps any slot car set I've ever seen. At almost 64 feet its the longest one I've ever seen (that's what she said).

Nintendo Plush Pillow

2008-10-14T10:47:00.000-04:00

First the Xbox pillow and now this crazy NES pillow set.

Insane.

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21 Hardest Nintendo Games

2008-10-14T09:52:00.000-04:00

NES, SNES, GBA, DS, Wii, GC games all included. Enjoy!

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21. Jackal (NES)

20. Metal Slug 3
With its propensity for lobbing out insta-kill poisoned apples, the final mother brain boss in Metal Slug 3 is a graduate of the same school of evil as the Disney stepmothers.

Naturally, having survived helicopter attacks and close encounters of the bite-your-face-off kind, you'd be foolish for expecting SNK to just let you win at this final hour, but the random patterns of the golden delicious airstrikes make for a violent hike up in deaths.

19. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

18. Super Mario Galaxy
A walk in the most delightful astro-park for 119 stars, there is one particular challenge that almost put an end to our sanity. You probably know the one: Luigi's Purple Coins in the Toy Time Galaxy.

A field of panels stretch out beyond you. Touch one and it'll disappear. The conundrum? How to ooh, ahh, waa-hoo to the scattered 100 coins without destroying your route back to where the star appears.

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17. Maximum Carnage (SNES)

16. Etrian Odyssey

15. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising
Aside from Neotank units and a smattering of new terrain features to cower behind, Advance Wars 2 wasn't much of a change.

So how could it destroy even the most experienced COs? Thrown in at the deep end, it was as if the developers saw this as a direct continuation of the original campaign (i.e. starts at the difficulty of that title's last mission and only grows harder).

14. Kuru Kuru Kururin
What does the title mean? It's the sound of your teeth grinding through your chin as yet another spinning stick journey through a don't-touch-the-walls maze ends with another loss.

13. Trauma Center: New Blood

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12. Super Ghouls and Ghosts
Super Ghouls And Ghosts had to feature somewhere - it is, after all, a genuine hardcore SNES classic that'll happily send you and your heart-dotted boxer shorts to the pearly gates within your first 15 steps.

The GBA version features here for some chug-tastic slowdown that transforms the tricky kneejerk reactions into a task of Sisyphean pointlessness.

If the wolves, skeletons, knights, demons, bats and zombies don't get you, the framerate will.

11. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevanias have us wailing through the night. However, we reckon the prize goes to Circle Of The Moon. A GBA launch title, the dark gothic graphics were designed before the GBA's contrast specs were known, leaving gamers with a black screen which only an intense light source could interpret.

10. Batman: Dark Tomorrow

9. Zack and Wiki

Descending into our gaming inferno, the uniting factors in most of these games are reaction times and finger dexterity. Not so here. Unlike the frantic experiences of previous pages, Zack and Wiki is all about calmly letting you dig a massive logical pitfall, and serenely watching you fling yourself in.

Using that old thought muscle of yours, you'll burn bridges and hack through second chances without even noticing. Then do it again. And again.

8. Guitar Hero 3

We can argue about the toughest song until the cows come home - the fact of the matter is Guitar Hero 3 is freakishly hard. 'Through The Fire And The Flames' on Expert is a moving walkway of rainbow tiddly-winks, spilt over a seven minute hell-slog, and Raining Blood has us spitting the stuff.

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Free DS

7. Battletoads

The whole descent into hell idea? Pinched from stage two of Battletoads. Not only is the toad's abseiling journey hard in itself - steel ravens can snip your cable in the blink of an eye - but reaching the bottom means facing stage three.

Turbo Tunnel is the stuff of agonizing legend - a journey through the densest network of insta-kill obstacles imaginable. Most galling? Despite the brutality, we still think it's one of NES's most original and underrated titles.

6. Super Mario Bros 2: The Lost Levels

And not that turnip yanking silliness Nintendo tried to feed the West, either. We're talking the real deal - the Japan-only sequel so hard that Nintendo were allegedly frightened it would collapse puny Western minds.

On the surface it may look like the original Super Mario Bros., but poison 1-up mushrooms, flying bloopers and gusts of wind that suffocate movement offer vast swear-volumes of evidence to the contrary.

5. Bart vs The Space Mutants

4. Gradius Galaxies

There's more than a smidgen of guilt in developer Mobile 21's decision to include a hints feature in their GBA take on Konami's space-shooter classic.

By offering exact routes for each section of the game, they were admitting that (as with all Gradius games) you just have to learn the set paths of every bullet in the game - all eight billion of them. While in space no one can hear you scream, sitting on a bus surrounded by old people is a different matter.

3. Contra 4

2. Mega Man and Bass

Like Contra, the trickiest Mega Man is open to debate. Victims of the original will claim it the hardest, but only because the experience was so horrible that it prevented them from playing another game since.

Modern times brought a modern enemy: this GBA reworking of Japan-only SNES title Mega Man And Forte, breaking you with both stilted platforming and entirely unfair health regeneration. Feel the GBA crumble like old paper.

1. F-Zero GX

Never have eight missions presented such grief - we'll see Rayman made the official Nintendo mascot before we complete the F-Zero Grand Prix story mission on Very Hard.

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Found here

Spore Announces Expansion Pack

2008-10-13T13:56:00.001-04:00

Get A Free Copy Of Spore Here!

It seems the ephemeral Spore expansion that appeared on Amazon and GameStop earlier this month (only to quickly disappear) is indeed launching on November 18, as those listings seemed to suggest. A brand new listing for the "Creepy & Cute Parts Pack" has appeared on none other than EA's own online store (via Joystiq), showing it's already available for pre-order and confirming the earlier reported November release date.

Spore

Sure enough, the expansion pack has also reappeared on GameStop (but not yet Amazon). But all this hullabaloo over where and when the expansion is or isn't listed seems to miss the real question raised here -- is $20 asking a little bit too much for an expansion that at least seems to only offer some new creature parts not two months after the game released?

We know Maxis has a track record for releasing innumerable expansions, and we know Spore expansions have already been planned for a while, so it seems like this is just the first sign of many, many more expansions to come. We just hope the "Spore Ikea Parts Pack" won't be following anytime soon.

Found here.

Free Copy Of Spore!

Kid Gets A PS3 For Christmas; Freaks Out

2008-10-10T15:17:00.000-04:00

Get one here!

Just like the N64 kid.

Freak out and get your own PS3 here.

Xbox 360 Pillow

2008-10-09T15:17:00.000-04:00

Xbox 360

Soft and cuddly.

Get a real one here.

Grill Steak On Your PS3

2008-10-07T15:15:00.000-04:00

Playstation 3

Next Generation Graphics. Blu-Ray Player. HDTV Support. BBQ Grill.

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50 NES Games in 7 Minutes

2008-10-06T15:09:00.000-04:00

This is awesome. I can name most of them. See if you can get all 50.

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AC/DC Version of Rock Band to Get Exclusive Achievements, Trophies

2008-10-06T09:51:00.001-04:00

Some interesting Rock Band 2 news. Get a free copy of the game here.

Although it could be purchased for under $5, Sneak King still had Achievements, so why shouldn't the upcoming standalone expansion for Rock Band? Xbox 360 Fanboy is reporting that upon being asked if the game was going to include the meta content, a Harmonix developer going by the handle HMXHenry replied "Yes! There will be unique Achievements and Trophies for the AC/DC Track Pack, as well that are song specific."

Henry didn't indicate whether or not the additional Gamerscore possible would total 200 or 1,000 points, but we're tentatively guessing the latter since that's how much other similarly priced titles -- such as Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise -- include.

As for the song-specific Achievements, I hope their titles are as clever and entertaining as the STD-inspired lyrics of "The Jack," which just so happens to be one of the songs on the disc. Feel free to propose a few names in the comments section below.

Found here.

Free Rock Band 2 here.

Save Wii Games To SD Cards

2008-10-03T09:50:00.001-04:00

Awesome news.

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With just 512MB of built-in storage capacity, it doesn't take many Virtual Console or WiiWare games to fill up the console.

Fortunately it appears that Nintendo is finally doing something to address this issue. Beginning in Spring '09, gamers will have the option to download games directly to SD cards. Still no USB HDD option though.

Found here.

Now Nintendo Says New DS Coming

2008-10-01T09:41:00.000-04:00

Contradicting an earlier report Nintendo plans to release a brand new DS. Get a free Nintendo DS Lite and other handheld systems here!

Nintendo plans to launch a new version of its popular DS portable gaming device with a camera and music player function, according to a report in the Sunday edition of The Nikkei Business Daily.

The new version will have better wireless capability for connecting to the Internet and will cost under ¥20,000 (US$189), the report said. It will be offered first in Japan, it said.

Nintendo was not immediately available for comment.

The company is scheduled to present an unnamed "new product" at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday and speculation has been rife that it would be a new version of the DS.

The DS first went on sale in 2004 and a second version, called the DS Lite, debuted two years later in 2006. Both have sold extremely well with worldwide sales of the DS products at 77.5 million units as of the end of June this year.

In Japan, a total of 23 million of the devices have been sold in the country -- roughly one for every fifth person -- but in recent months sales have started to slow. In the April to June quarter Nintendo sold 580,000 units in Japan versus 2.1 million in the same period of 2007 so analysts have predicted a refresh of the DS might be coming to stimulate sales.

For the current fiscal year to the end of March 2009 Nintendo predicts it will sell 28 million units of the DS.

Found here.

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GTA IV Won't Be Banned In New Zealand! Gamers Win!!

2008-09-30T10:39:00.000-04:00

Good news for all you Kiwis out there!

Get a free copy of GTA IV Special Edition here!

Australians may not be getting Silent Hill: Homecoming, but at least they can purchase Grand Theft Auto 4 safely. Their pals over in New Zealand almost lost the latter luxury when the Society of Promotion of Community Standards petitioned to have the Film and Literature Board of Review take another look at the classification of GTA IV. Well, as Game Politics reports, now they have, and nothing's changing.

GTA4 will retain its rating of R18 and will continue to be sold. Chalk up another win for gamers and common sense. Gamers win again!!

Found here.

Free GTA IV here.

Ten Best Games For Nintendo Wii

2008-09-29T11:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of the Top 10 Nintendo Wii Games. A pretty good list in my opinion. I also included the link to get a Nintendo Wii for Free. You can also find a link for all of these games and more for free. Agree or disagree with this list? Let me know below!

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl

2. Super Paper Mario

3. Mario Party 8

4. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess

5. Super Mario Galaxy

6. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

7. Warioware: Smooth Moves

8. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

9. Wii Sports

10. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Bungie Announces Halo 3 Expansion Pack, Releases Trailer

2008-09-26T09:08:00.000-04:00

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The biggest title coming out for Xbox 360 in the next few months is... Halo 3? Bungie would sure like you to think so. That’s right, Bungie’s at it again with more Halo, as Microsoft shows their dedication to downloadable content.

This morning a countdown ended on Bungie.net to reveal an all-new teaser trailer for Halo 3. The game set records when released exclusively for the Xbox360 platform last year, but Bungie soon after split from Microsoft, becoming an independent game studio once again.

They proved today that they have not abandoned Microsoft’s system or the millions of Halo fans, announcing an expansion pack adding to the campaign mode. How exactly it will add-on is yet to be seen. The game gave a sense of finality to the Halo trilogy, leaving fans a bit bewildered as to how an expansion will work.

The trailer starts with a stark but peaceful metropolis, cutting quickly to the image of a large metallic asteroid burning through the atmosphere. A heads-up display evaluates the cityscape, then takes a street-level look, with cars lining it, a storm hitting, and a large red sign that ominously says “evacuate” over “City of New Momelisa.” Whoever is in this city knows something is coming. Scanning the skies above, the image now sees a swarm of vehicle flying high atop the skyline, as the HUD cuts in and out. A large-scale explosion goes off in the distance, and several metal objects drop from the sky.

In an alert screen familiar to fans who’ve been watching the website, the viewer is told to “Please Remain Calm” in several languages. “Pardon our Dust” and “Keep it Clean” are also flashed across the screen before a seemingly random series of green-on-black letters and numbers scrolls across, including a date hidden in the “code” that says “01/06/09,” ending in a reboot of the HUD, warning of a metropolitan disaster. The same areas scanned before are shown again, this time in fire and ruins. The scan shows a population of zero, and a final metal object falls from the sky, cracking the camera. “Prepare to Drop” is the final tagline shown before the logos.

So there you have it, Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios are releasing a campaign expansion to Halo 3, likely on January 06, 2009. Will this expansion make you prioritize a year old game above all the great looking games coming this holiday season? Sound off below!

Watch the trailer for yourself right here at Newsarama by clicking here.

Found here

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Wii Shop Channel Update: Mega Man 9, Super Dodge Ball, Vectorman, Plattchen twist 'n' paint

2008-09-22T11:15:00.000-04:00

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In addition to the promised release of Mega Man 9--also coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 within the next week and a half--today's update to the Wii's online shop brings two retro downloads and a new painting puzzle game.

Today's releases:

-Mega Man 9
-Plattchen Twist'N'Paint
-Super Dodge Ball
-Vectorman

All four games will be downloadable from the Wii Shop Channel beginning today at 12 PM EDT, 9 AM PDT.

Found here.

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How To Unlock Every Rock Band 2 Song Right Away

2008-09-17T09:30:00.001-04:00

Rock Band 2 was released today! Get a free copy of the Special Edition Here!

It was a little frustrating to pop in “Rock Band 2″ and have most of the music locked away.

Thankfully, there’s a way around that.

Harmonix has introduced “game modifiers” into “Rock Band 2,” which includes such options as a long-needed no fail mode — and a secret song-unlock code.

The catch? You need to know the code! But we’ve already figured that out for you. You simply input the original “Rock Band” unlock code — Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue — in the game modifier screen.

Once the code is entered, the unlock song modifier will be unlocked. Voila! You have just unlocked all of the songs available in “Rock Band 2.”

Found here.

Free copy of Rock Band 2 here!

Spore Limited to 1 Account Only

2008-09-16T15:19:00.001-04:00

Sad news. Its a good thing you can get a Free Copy Of Spore Here!

Spore users are up in arms on the EA forums over the DRM attached to Will Wright's latest creation. Apparently the game is limited to one account per installation. This means households with multiple people who play the same game must buy multiple copies of Spore in order for each person to play. According to EA_Violet, there was a misprint with the game's manual and you can only setup one Spore account per game:

"That section in the manual was a misprint and will be corrected in future printings of the manual. There is one Spore registration/account per game/serial code so you are correct in that you cannot make multiple accounts at this time. I have sent your guys' feedback to the game team though since I can understand the desire to share a game on a system that you entire family uses."

Right about now you're probably thinking this is EA's way of milking consumers for more money, but according to another post from MaxisLucky (one of the game's developers), the EULA was designed this way for multiple reasons:

There were many reason why we chose to have one account per copy of the game - some had to do with how saved games work and some had to do with limiting the online feature only to the one person who bought the game. We aren't charging a subscription fee for the online features and given the load to our servers we were very interested in making the experience for paying customers not be slow and laggy because of many multiple accounts per copy of the game. 2x to 1000x the number of people with accounts per game equals 2x to 1000x the number of creations on the server.

Please don't take it out on the mods. They are just trying to keep things civil.

Limiting accounts to 1 install per game is unprecedented. It's pretty baffling to me that Maxis didn't foresee the backlash this would create when they designed the game. If their reason for doing this is due to online play, perhaps they should remove this prohibitive restriction for offline gameplay.

Found here.

Free copy of Spore here.

Google Games?

2008-09-12T10:40:00.000-04:00

Could Google get into gaming? Fortune’s Chris Morris thinks so.

The 10-year-old company has hired a former Sony executive to head up their games division, and while the company has denied plans to enter game publishing or development, the gaming market is huge right now, with millions of gamers right now playing casual online games like Sudoku, and MMORPGs like World of Warcraft raking in millions in revenue each month. In-game advertising is also quickly taking off. Morris speculates that Google could even tie in many existing products into potential games: imagine logging flight plans with the aid of Google Earth for example.

It's all speculation of course, but do you think Google Gaming would be good for the industry? With all the consolidation going on at the moment, another game publisher would certainly add some spice to the industry provided they could deliver a nice blend of compelling games...

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Warhammer Online "Head Start" Begins in 3 Days!

2008-09-11T09:48:00.000-04:00

Get a Free Copy of Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning Here!

Following the recent launch of the open beta for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, developer Myhtic Entertainment has revealed exactly when North American pre-order customers will get their promised early access to the live game servers.

Those that pre-ordered the Collector's Edition will be able to start playing on Sunday, September 14. Access for those that pre-ordered the regular edition will follow on Tuesday, September 16.

Unlike the beta that is currently underway, any progression made during the "head start" program will be retained when the PC MMORPG officially launches on September 18.

Found at Shack News

Free Warhammer Online is here

Poll: Which System Do You Own?

2008-09-10T12:10:00.001-04:00

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Free Video Games

2008-09-09T14:26:00.000-04:00

I've received a few emails from people asking where they can find other free video games. I did some searching and compiled a list of some of the more popular things people asked about. I will continue to update this blog with more findings.

Xbox Live Gold Cards

Nintendo DS (I posted about this earlier)

Playstation 3

Wii Fit

A Ton Of Different Wii Games. You Choose Which Game

Nintendo Wii

Xbox 360

Xbox 360 AND an LCD TV

$250 Towards Xbox 360 Games

There you go.

Nintendo Say No New DS

2008-08-29T12:17:00.000-04:00

Get a free Nintendo DS here.

There have been certain rumors floating around, indicating that console manufacturer and video game publisher Nintendo is working on a spanking new edition of their handheld gaming system, the Nintendo DS. The news spread across numerous web sites, hinting the possibility of a new Nintendo DS - presumably, the new product would be announced in early 2009. Incidentally, the company didn't revise its Nintendo DS since the DS Lite model, which was released back in 2006.

Anyway, it wasn't long before Nintendo denied the whole thing, regarding the story as nothing more than "rumor and speculation." Disheartening news for handheld-console-nerdos, I'm sure.

Found here.

Get a free Nintendo DS here.

No Price Cut For PS3 In 2008

2008-08-29T10:37:00.000-04:00

This is sad new for consumers. Especially with the economy so bad. Hopefully my free PS3 will be arriving soon. I'll update you guys when I get it.

Sir Howard Stringer says that his company isn't planning a further console price drop; says Wii "may be a superior business model" in terms of hardware profitability.

In the wake of last week's announcement of a new $499 160GB PlayStation 3, executives at retailer GameStop predicted a $50 price cut for the 80GB model by year's end. However, in an interview published today, Sony Corp CEO Sir Howard Stringer ruled such a move out. Speaking with the German Newspaper Die Welt, the Welsh-born executive--and first non-Japanese chief of Sony--was asked if his company planned to reduce the PS3's price by the holidays. "I think not," the executive stated flatly.

Stringer also had some choice words to say about one of the PS3's rivals, the Wii. He admitted to playing Nintendo's console, which he diplomatically described as offering "a different experience." He also said that he doesn't consider the console as a threat. "The Wii is not succeeding at our expense--it is not hurting us," he explained. According to last month's NPD figures, the Wii was outselling the PS3 in the US by two-to-one, with the Xbox 360 running a close third place.

Stringer continued, "The Wii is a well-made device that has found a new target group. For a while, we held the same target group with the SingStar karaoke game. But perhaps we neglected to pursue that avenue. PlayStation games are rather designed for those who play a lot. Although it's a different strategy, it pays off... The major difference lies in the fact that Nintendo makes money with the hardware alone, which may be a superior business model."

Unfortunately, by his own account, the CEO said that it will be a while until the PlayStation 3 hardware becomes profitable. Although Sony's PS3 manufacturing arm has hit a "production bottleneck" due to demand, Stringer joked that Sony won't make back its hardware-production cost "for as long as I live."

"The traditional business model for the PlayStation envisaged us making a loss with the hardware in the early years until the production costs had decreased to a point that enabled us to break even," explained Stringer to Die Welt. "In the meantime, we earn money with the games. We are currently at the stage in which we need to get a grip on the production costs. That takes time. We are already making more money with the games than we are losing with the hardware."

Found here.

Free Playstation 3 console is found here.

Star Wars: Force Unleashed

2008-08-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

Some news on this game. I'm really looking forward to it.

The saga continues in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a video game developed by LucasArts which casts players as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy.

The expansive story, created under direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi -- and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

As its name implies, The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time: Digital Molecular Matter (DMM), by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd.

Paired with the powerful Havok Physics™ system, these new technologies create gameplay only possible on the new generation of consoles. DMM incorporates the physical properties of anything in the environment so that everything reacts exactly like it should -- wood breaks like wood, glass shatters like glass, plants on the planet Felucia bend like plants on the planet Felucia would, and more. Meanwhile, as a revolutionary behavioral-simulation engine, euphoria enables interactive characters to move, act and even think like actual human beings, adapting their behavior on the fly and resulting in a different payoff every single time.

Working with its sister company Lucas Licensing, LucasArts is preparing an unprecedented promotional effort around the launch of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, encompassing a full line of toys and game-based action figures from Hasbro, as well as a full publishing program from Dark Horse, Del Rey and Palace Press.

More information about the game can be found at the official website, here, which will continue to release details throughout the year, including updates from the development team.

This game looks great. I found this at the official Star Wars website. I've found the free offer for this game here. I will periodically update this blog with cool news stories and games I find.

If anyone else finds anything like this or has any questions, let me know.

Playstation 3 Offer Review

2008-08-26T15:00:00.000-04:00

This is the first of many “free” offers I will review related to Games & Toys.

A little about myself – I am a 26 year old gamer. I love video games, though the only console I currently own is an Xbox 360 and my PC. I was born in Russia and moved to the United States when I was 13. While in college in the United States, I frequently used similar “free” offers to help me get items for very little cost and sometimes no cost. I mostly used these pages to get gift cards to various shops.

Since I already own an Xbox, I figured the next step would be the PS3. I really want to upgrade to a Blu-Ray player anyway, so why not? Today I will examine the Playstation 3 offer using the following criteria and answering frequent questions about these types of offers.

1. How and where can I find this?
Well, you could just click here or find this through organic search listings on Google by searching for “playstation 3”. You can also find this under Google paid listings. Paid listings are the sponsored listings located at the top of the search page and on the right side-bar. Searching for “free ps3” should bring this offer up.

2. Who is offering this?
This is part of the current corporation I am examining called “World Avenue”. This firm specializes in these free offers and they have many different categories for different products (see links to the right for blogs pertaining to those different categories).

3. What is required to receive this- in terms of effort and cost (if any)?
You’ll need to have basic mailing information (name, address, email etc.), anywhere from 35 minutes to 2 hours to spend reviewing and signing up for low cost offers, a secure internet connection (I’m assuming you have one if you’re reading this), $0 if you use the Refer-A-Friend option (we’ll get to that later).

4. My personal experience with this offer:
I went through the offer path slowly to document my experience for you. After a few short survey questions I got to the sponsored offers page. Here is where you can choose to sign up for trial offers and subscriptions such as 30-day Netflix or Blockbuster memberships (which some of you probably want to get anyway). You also have the option to use Refer-A-Friend to receive any of World Avenue’s offers without paying any cost. I found this intriguing and will definitely test this route next time.

It took about an hour and a half (it would probably be quicker if I didn’t stop to examine every page) to completely sign up for each offer and reach my confirmation page. Along the way I spotted offers from Netflix, Seattle Coffee, Teeth Whitening, EMusic, Blockbuster, Video Professor etc. There was a wide variety of different sponsor offers to choose from.

So, I completed the path and am anxiously awaiting my PS3. I’m very excited and will update when it is received. Metal Gear Solid anyone? :)