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It’s Stupid How Excited I Am About the Tamagotchi App
The toy that taught an entire generation to care for something that didn’t exist is returning soon, and I’ve never been so excited about the prospect of cleaning up poop. Bandai Co. and Sync Beatz Entertainment are breathing new life and love into the Tamagotchi on Android and iOS. Mobile phones are the perfect place…
By Mike Fahey -
Because the World Needs More Zombie-Themed Typing Games
It really does. Typing of the Dead left me hanging. Zombie Typomaniac ($1.99) for the iPad scratches the scabrous itch. There is no greater motivator than the threat of being eaten. It’s what makes the animal kingdom work, and it can make you type faster as well. I am completely in favor of America adopting…
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This Week’s Android Charts: A Touching Story About Zombies
Another week, another 20 Android apps vying for attention on the top paid and free charts. All the usual suspects are present and accounted for—19 games that have been poking about the rankings for weeks, months and even years. There’s only one fresh face here, though technically it’s been rotting for ages. Zombie Smasher is…
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Zynga Cancels Three Games Less Than Four Months Old
During today’s Zynga conference call it was announced that the company would be closing CityVille 2, the incredibly promising The Friend Game and the mobile Party Place, three recent releases that performed below expectations. CityVille 2 was launched at the beginning of November 2012, delayed slightly due to Hurricane Sandy’s effect on the Baltimore development…
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You Don’t Lead Off a Game Called Garfield’s Escape with Odie, Dammit.
Garfield is the most relevant character in comics today. With his laissez faire attitude about life and the way he hides his deep abiding love for his family behind a wall of standoffishness and mild abuse, he’s a charming allegory for the decade we live in, an icon of our time. What do you mean…
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Playing Borderlands 2 on Nvidia’s Project Shield
Nvidia’s Tegra 4-powered Project Shield handheld will be great for playing Android games, but the real draw is streaming PC games from your GeForce PC to the handheld and playing anywhere in your house. I can’t wait to play Borderlands 2 in the bathroom without a laptop burning my bare legs. I’m surprised they didn’t…
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What Sorcery is This? Magicka Casts Its Spell on Largely Rectangular Tablets
One of PC gaming’s finest co-op experiences is coming to a rectangular productivity-enhancing device near you. How many times will you “accidentally” kill your friends in Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet? Developed by Ludosity, the folks behind the lovely Bob Came in Pieces, Wizards of the Square Tablet is a whole new adventure in…
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This Week’s iPhone Charts: Come on Baby Tell Me What’s the Word?
Word up! After a few short weeks at the top of the free charts, Temple Run 2 takes a backseat to What’s the Word?, a word game that uses a set of four pictures as clues. There are two reasons for this. First off, Temple Run 2 has already been downloaded more than 50 million…
By Mike Fahey -
Reviews
Unreal — Candy Unjunked: The Snacktaku Review
Candy is dandy, but it’s also not very good for you. It’s filled with artificial flavors, preservatives, hormones, genetically modified organisms (yum!), hydrogenated oils and corn syrup. That’s why it’s called junk food. The mission of Unreal is to remove the junk from junk food without removing the taste. That’s a rather tall order. I’d…
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Facebook Lines Up Ten Titles to Court the Hardcore Gamer
An arcade beat-em up with a Diablo pedigree; a fast-paced multiplayer first-person shooter; a complex competitive strategy kingdom builder—these are the first shots fired in Facebook’s battle to expand its gaming player-base beyond farmers and puzzle-players, with another seven in the chamber for 2013. After years of steady growth, Facebook’s gaming revenue has gone flat—fourth…
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Worms in Your Social Network? It’s More Likely Than You Think.
The beta is over and battle lines have been drawn. They’re sort of squiggly. Team17’s classic team-based trajectory shooter is now open to everyone on Facebook. Release the sheep! The spineless competition is fierce in the Facebook version of Worms. Along with the four-on-four battles that have been endearing these slimy little bastards to gamers…
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If This is What a Free-to-Play Pokemon Game Would Be Like, Then No Thanks.
Zuko Monsters has several advantages over Pokemon, the long-lived monster collecting role-playing game series that clearly serves as its inspiration. It’s got sharp and colorful graphics filled with personality, with nary a pixel to be seen. Timed finger taps during battles add a simple element of interactivity that Pokemon‘s battles lack. Zuko Monsters is also…
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Sky Pirates of Neo Terra Races Gracefully Across Three Platforms
Fresh from a test run in the wilds of Canada and an Image comics mini-series, Sky Pirates of Neo Terra tells the story of a world where disparate tribes maintain peace through glidewing racing, which is as good an excuse for a cross-platform online multiplayer racing game as I’ve ever heard. It’s a little Skies…
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I Can’t Stop Staring At This Week in Gaming Apps
There are weeks when all the gaming apps that we review or play seem to follow some sort of loose theme. This is not one of those weeks. I’ve been staring at this week’s collection for an hour, and I’m not seeing a prevailing trend. There’s a two-player pinball game, which has nothing to do…
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Gaming Cupcakes So Simple a Little Kid on YouTube Could Make Them
We’ve gotten out of the habit of posting gaming-inspired baked goods at Kotaku over the past few years, but here at KotakuMobile the subject is fresh and new. Besides, YouTube youngin’ AbesWorld2 isn’t just showing us Cut the Rope cupcakes, he’s showing us how to make them. I am going to save this video and…
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And Then Real Racing 3 Made AI Clones of All of Your Friends
The Firemonkeys call it “Time-Shifted Multiplayer.” It sounds an awful lot like racing against ghosts, but the multiplayer aspect of the upcoming third iteration of mobile’s flagship racing franchise is just a little bit creepier than ghosts. What Real Racing 3 will do is create an AI driver for everyone that plays the game. Real…
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An Abstract Puzzler in the Most Artistic Sense of the Word
Dutch painters in the early 1800s sure knew how to combine lines and colors. They called the movement “De Stijl”, which is Dutch for “easily replicated in Photoshop” (or possibly “The Style”), and artist Piet Mondrian was one of its prime movers. His Composition series defined the style, inspiring artists of all types to this…
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They’re Giving Away the Coolest Giant Skylander in New York Next Week
Of all the new figures Toys for Bob introduced in Skylanders Giants, there is one I desire above all others. She’s a ninja. She’s a djinn. She’s Ninjini, and Activision is giving her away free at the Times Square Toys’R’Us on Tuesday, the jerks. Celebrating Toy Fair 2013 and the overwhelming success of the Skylanders…
By Mike Fahey
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