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Pitfall!‘s Creator Likens His Fame to Being a Child Star
There were a lot of one-hit wonders in the 1980s, but David Crane isn’t one of them. The Activision programmer was behind Decathlon for the Atari 2600, Ghostbusters, one of the first great film-to-game adaptations on PC, and later, A Boy and His Blob. But he’ll forever be known as Pitfall!‘s creator, almost typecast as…
By Owen Good -
Get Your Kicks—the Ones Your Player Wears in NBA 2K13
NBA 2K has a great track record of indulging its players’ shoe fetishes, but according to IGN, it’s going even further in NBA 2K13 NBA 2K13 will add deeper customization options for your created player’s footwear, but the big new feature is its integration with the NikeID website. This means not only can you share…
By Owen Good -
City of Heroes Takes Its Case to City Hall [Update]
The City of Heroes community has called for a massive demonstration at 5 p.m. EDT in Atlas Park to protest the MMO’s shutdown. [Update] But apparently it’s already begun. That image [h/t mrKetch] shows hundreds now jamming city hall, and reports say the gathering already is large enough to bring down servers. [Second Update] With…
By Owen Good -
Yeah, So, About That ‘Easy Mode’ for Dark Souls …
The biggest thing Dark Souls (and spiritual ancestor Demon’s Souls) has going for it is that it’s hard as shit. Suffering through countless deaths to the end is a serious badge of honor. So when the series’ director said earlier this week “I am thinking about whether I should prepare another difficulty that everyone can…
By Owen Good -
Spammers and Gold Farmers are Trying to Hack Into Guild Wars 2 Accounts, Says ArenaNet
Hackers armed with email addresses and passwords stolen from other sources are probing Guild Wars 2 accounts to see if they can break in and use the accounts for botting or spamming gold sales, ArenaNet confirmed earlier today. The statement came after many users were notified of attempted logins to their account from locations in…
By Owen Good -
NFLer Snubbed by Wrong Photo in Madden Now Gets One Slightly Less Recognizable
Ten days ago, Marcus Thomas decided he’d had enough of being identified by some other Marcus Thomas’ mugshot in Madden NFL and took to Twitter to complain about it. Two days later, he was released by the New York Giants. Well, not only is he looking for work, he’s looking for a face, too. Madden…
By Owen Good -
The Moneysaver: Major Release Mayhem
As the major-release machine spins up for its September-to-November finishing kick, NewEgg is guaranteeing $12 off preorders with a coupon good through Sunday, and Toys ‘R’ Us is trying to clear shelf space with a twofer sale on console titles. Borderlands 2, the most pre-ordered game in 2K Games history, is $48, 10 days before…
By Owen Good -
The Fart Comes on Little Cat Feet in Fart Cat!
By far my favorite aspect of Fart Cat!, a fun and utterly deranged iOS game that released Wednesday, comes when you finish a level. A foghorn blares, the gassy kitty smiles and purrs, the screen fills with a stinky cloud and the game tells you, very proudly, “ROOM CLEARED.” You probably will want to play…
By Owen Good -
That Harry Potter-like Spellbook for PlayStation Move Is On Sale in November
Wonderbook; The Book of Spells, the not-really-Harry-Potter-but-endorsed-by-J.K.-Rowling-so-you-think-it-is bundle of game and hardware, is gonna hit shelves in November, Sony said earlier today. Sony’s selling it in two forms: The Wonderbook: Book of Spells Move Bundle, for $79.99, which comes with the game, a peripheral, and the PlayStation Eye camera and Move controller that makes the…
By Owen Good -
New Getups Now Available for Free in NCAA 13
NCAA Football 13‘s “Uniform Store,” meant to deliver the latest variants on the college football getups you see on the TV, finally has some threads to offer. Twenty-three uniforms are now available through the feature—free—although it is not yet accessible through the PlayStation 3. Teams included in the first batch of free uniforms include alternate…
By Owen Good -
Madden‘s Master of Fake Twitter Must Tell a Story Deeper Than 140 Characters
I knew what was coming after I lost to Green Bay, 24-17, in Week 11 of my first season in Madden NFL 13. It was the same kind of thing that came in Week 2 after a gutwrenching 24-20 loss at home to San Francisco, in which I was cited for the lack of a…
By Owen Good -
The Boss Will See You Now in NBA 2K13
NBA 2K13 keeps packing off-court roleplaying moments into its career mode, more than any other sports simulation it seems. The release of a couple teaser screenshots today suggests that the player you create in the game’s “My Player” singleplayer career can now ask to see your team’s general manager to discuss whatever’s on your mind.…
By Owen Good -
Here’s Another Kojima-Ordered Look at Snake, to Prove He’s Not a Geezer in Ground Zeroes
Metal Gear fans thought they were getting Old Snake a second time after viewing the 10-minute in-game demonstration of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, which series creator Hideo Kojima said was a misperception created by backlighting. Still, people continued to press the issue. So Kojima asked an artist to remove the goggles from this promotional…
By Owen Good -
Just In Time for the NFL’s Kickoff, it’s Tecmo Super Bowl 2013
New England’s Rob Gronkowski is the “cover” star for Tecmo Super Bowl 2013 a fan-made, free mod of the NES all-time classic NFL game that puts the modern game and all of its stars and uniform colors into the old Tecmo Bowl structure. The ROM is available for download now. Its rosters are current as…
By Owen Good -
You’ll Wish It Was Winter Already After You See This Snowspeeder Sled In Action
Why no one built this until now, 32 years after The Empire Strikes Back, I don’t know. But this enterprising builder, “fortyozjuicebox,” assembled a compact, cardboard version of a Snowspeeder and, at the :40 mark of that video above, races it downhill at a sledding derby. The video, however, doesn’t show the level of detail that…
By Owen Good -
It’s Looking Like a Digital-Only Disappearance for NBA Live
The rumor went around shortly after everyone got back from E3. I took a phone call from a person within the industry who knew I’d been down to EA Sports’ Tiburon studio to see NBA Live. They asked if I thought it was going to be a digital-only release. “What? No. That’s … dumb,” I…
By Owen Good -
Culture
The Week in Games: Take the Day Off
There are no major retail releases in North America this week as the United States celebrates Labor Day. Downloadable content instead highlights the Week in Games. Tuesday • The Sims 3 Supernatural (PC) • Battlefield 3: Armored Kill (PSN) • ZEN Pinball 2 (PSN, PS Vita) • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim —Hearthfire (XBLA) •…
By Owen Good -
Portal 2‘s Writers Originally Planned for Chell to Marry a Turret
Even for a game known for some really bent comic themes and recurring gags, this concept is way the hell out there, but Portal 2 was originally going to see Chell, the protagonist, get married to a turret. Erik Wolpaw, one of the writers, revealed the idea at a panel at PAX yesterday. Wolpaw said…
By Owen Good
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