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This Ad For The Wreck-It Ralph Arcade Is Straight Out of The 1980s
Disney’s upcoming animated feature Wreck-It Ralph, which stars a video-game villain trying to make good, is digging hard into gamer nostalgia. Disney made real-life versions of the fictional arcade machine the movie’s titular star springs from. Now, via Empire Oline, Disney has released this “vintage 1982” ad that further inserts memories that never were into…
By Kate Cox -
The Gears of War Film Adaptation May Not Be Entirely Doomed After All, Unless It Is
Ah, the Hollywood process. There have been talks in Hollywood about a Gears of War movie for a long time. In 2009 it looked likely. In 2010, it seemed plauged with delays. 2011 saw it sliding into “development hell.” It seems like we’re due for an annual update, then, and Variety has provided one—this time,…
By Kate Cox -
Reviewers Love Killing Aliens One Turn At A Time In XCOM: Enemy Unknown
I’ll admit to rooting for XCOM: Enemy Unknown to be a hit ever since I got a speeding ticket coming home from a press preview event for it over the summer. Sure, I deserved it, but I wanted that embarrassment (and money) at least to be worth something. So did XCOM deliver on its promise…
By Kate Cox -
This Is What Your Very Own Volus Biotic God Looks Like In Mass Effect 3‘s New DLC
The new Retaliation multiplayer DLC for Mass Effect 3 is out today. I’ve dabbled with it a bit so far and, sadly, luck is not with me when it comes to unlocking a volus. (I got a vorcha, instead. So close, game, and yet so far…) Other folks, however, have had better luck with their…
By Kate Cox -
Esports
Guild Wars 2 Adds PvP Features, Plans For a Future Jump Into eSports
If there is one overwhelming theme to gaming in 2012, it seems to be the rise of eSports and competitive PvP. MOBAs attract millions of players and tens or even hundreds of millions of watchers logged into livestreams. Prize pools for competitions grow ever larger, and more and more games are jumping into the fray.…
By Kate Cox -
It Takes Eight Separate Teams To Keep Guild Wars 2 Ticking Along Post-Launch
For an MMORPG like Guild Wars 2, getting the game launched is just a small fraction of its development. The team needs not only to keep developing new content as time goes by, but also to be able to address bugs, security concerns, and balance in existing content as the game evolves. So how does…
By Kate Cox -
Latest Study To Look At Violent Video Games Claims They Make Teenagers More Aggressive
The battle over whether and how violent media damage the youth of the world who consume them continues apace. Today’s study adds fuel to the argument that yes, violent games are bad for kids. There is a link between increases in physical aggression over time and playing aggressive video games, a team of researchers has…
By Kate Cox -
Eight Game Reviewers Leap Out Of The Shadows To Set Their Sights on Dishonored
Dishonored isn’t available until tomorrow, but reviews for the stealth-action title appeared far and wide today. Reviewers seemed mixed over whether the story writers were too busy hiding in shadows to pay attention to the tale’s conclusion, but seem unanimously agreed on one thing. Stepping into the shoes of an assassin hell-bent on revenge may…
By Kate Cox -
Capcom Cites “Technical Reasons” Why Resident Evil 6 Contains On-Disc DLC
It’s been a rough year for Capcom with on-disc DLC. Fans angry about unavailable, locked content included on their discs at launch have been vocally criticizing the publisher for the practice. After outrage about on-disc DLC included with Street Fighter X Tekken, Capcom said they would be re-evaluating the practice. Players found it more than…
By Kate Cox -
Esports
Riot Addresses Allegations of Cheating and Network Failures During League of Legends Championship Tournament
The playoffs in the League of Legends season two championship began on Thursday and were scheduled to conclude on Saturday, but ran into a series of troubles along the way. The first day went smoothly, as did day two. On Saturday, though, matches had to be paused and restarted more than once. Streaming and play…
By Kate Cox -
Watch 8000 Redcoats Fall Like Dominoes (Literally) In This Impressive Tribute to Assassin’s Creed III
Ubisoft asked for an Assassin’s Creed III fan film. These three gents obliged. It took 139 takes, but the end result is more than worth watching. This impressive Rube-Goldberg-like machination takes the redcoats—over 8000 hand-painted figures—through fire, snow, a staircase wrought of video games, and even the kitchen sink. But in the end they all…
By Kate Cox -
Eight Wild Reviews Appear to Rate Pokemon Black and White 2
Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 make a neatly matched set of entries into one of the most venerable (and most predictable) of game franchises. The pair are direct sequels to the Black and White of 2011. That’s a good amount of time to make tweaks to a tried-and-true formula. But are the updates…
By Kate Cox -
A Tanooki Suit Hoodie Sounds Like a Cute Idea, But The Result Is Kind of Creepy
Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s the model’s gleeful pose. Or maybe it’s the waggling tail. Whatever the case, this hoodie from 80s tees, is kind of weirdly off-putting. The “racanooki” top is inspired by the classic raccoon-styled Tanooki Suit that Mario can fly around with in Super Mario Bros 3. Wearers can indeed flap their…
By Kate Cox -
Here Are A Bunch Of Ladies Dancing In Silly Clothing Because of Just Dance 4
I knew that dance games, like Ubisoft’s Just Dance series, took an extraordinary amount of motion capture and choreography. But I admit that I never stopped to think about the costumed characters on-screen. Not only does the team have to capture dancers in motion… they need to outfit the dancers, too. This behind-the-scenes look at…
By Kate Cox -
It Looks Like The Angry Birds Are Getting A Star Wars Crossover
It appears that some kind of Star Wars and Angry Birds crossover is in the works. Rovio launched a new Angry Birds tumblr account today, with this sneaky *.gif. What is the black bird doing with that cloak and lightsaber? Apparently the world will find out on Monday morning, with an announcement live from New…
By Kate Cox -
Last Fish Is a Satisfying Swim Through a World of Light and Shadows
What drew me to Last Fish was its art. It looked sort of like what would happen if Osmos were redesigned by the team behind Limbo. Its muted palette of light and shadow, black and grey, grabbed my attention. Mobile games tend so often to be bright and colorful that seeing one exist deliberately in…
By Kate Cox -
You Can Print Your Own Mask of Borderlands 2‘s Handsome Jack, Just In Time For Halloween
Halloween is coming up surprisingly fast. If you find yourself seeking a gaming-themed costume, have you considered perhaps being Handsome Jack? Reader Jeffrey Broome directed us to this papercraft mask he made, featuring the villain of Borderlands 2. Not only is the mask fairly impressive-looking on its own, but he’s also shared the pattern and…
By Kate Cox -
This Video Shows Off The Best of What Indie Games Can Be
The Off-Book series of mini-documentaries, from PBS, has brought us insights on video games many times before. They’ve taken on the perennial argument of whether (and how) games are art, and they’ve delved into the 8-bit phenomenon of retro graphics and chiptunes. In this most recent installment, they delve into the indie game scene. Thanks…
By Kate Cox -
WoW‘s 10 Million Subscribers Are Great… Until You Look at Facebook’s Billion
Sitting down and catching up on all the news this morning, a pair of headlines jumped out at me. Both were, in a sense, subscriber numbers. Each, by itself, is mildly interesting. Together, though, the figures paint a clear picture of why game development today is moving in a particular direction. One figure has to…
By Kate Cox -
Free New Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer DLC Adds Collectors, Challenges, and Creepy Hazards
Mass Effect 3 is getting its largest multiplayer DLC to date, BioWare announced on their blog today. The update, called “Retaliation,” adds not only new character classes and weapons, but also new enemies, new modes to existing maps, and a challenge feature, with a whole host of unlockables to earn. “Retaliation,” like the game’s other…
By Kate Cox
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