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Weekend Coupons: A Quarter Back
‘Tis the weekend for bulk discounted savings. Not a lot of game-specific deals out there, but three big online retailers are running sales on games you might enjoy. Let’s go to the tape! Software: • GameStop’s running an online used game sale until noon tomorrow. You get 25 percent off with the promo code DEAL25U,…
By Owen Good -
Reviews
NCAA Football 10 Review: Be True to Your School
EA Sports appeals to your school pride and sportsmanship with this year’s version of NCAA Football, encouraging you to play the game right and giving you the tools to make its complex tasks more simple. But what motivates college sports fans about these games is the fantasy of it all – being a heavily recruited…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku Originals: Glum Assignments
It wasn’t much fun reporting quarterly numbers that showed nearly every major name in games having a terrible time. Fortunately, Batman, Scribblenauts and A Boy and His Blob arrived to put a smile on everyone’s face. The week that was in Kotaku’s original reporting: 2009 San Diego Comic-Con Round Up Summer of Gaming Libraries Got…
By Owen Good -
Capcom Giving Away Autographed Snack Foods
If you know what “Pringles” means among Marvel vs. Capcom 2 players – and it’s no compliment – you can win a can of the real thing autographed by the guy who coined the term. It comes from Michael “IFC Yipes” Mendoza and was dropped in the stream-of-conscious lingo play-by-play of this MvC2 fight years…
By Owen Good -
Chargeback Snafu Results in Warcraft Account Suspensions
A gigantic mess involving credit cards, unauthorized charges, chargebacks and an unresponsive company has suspended the accounts of many unwitting World of Warcraft players. In a nutshell, here’s what happened: first, the accounts were suspended because of “a chargeback filed against the account’s past payments.” For those not in the know, that is when a…
By Owen Good -
The 360 Gets a $30 Chastity Belt
If you’re in a crap neighborhood where smash-and-grab burglaries are a problem, maybe this thing saves your 360 even if the rest of your stuff’s stolen. Chances are, you got ripped off just buying it. This first-ever Security Kit is $29.95 worth of common stuff you can buy at a hardware store for a lot…
By Owen Good -
Valve Writer Hits Back at ‘Racism’ Editorial
Last week, a Houston Chronicle writer referenced Left 4 Dead 2’s setting choice – New Orleans – in an opinion piece lamenting the perceived insensitivity of several games. Valve has responded. Chet Faliszek, the Valve writer on Left 4 Dead, got very candid with Destructoid when asked about the implied accusation that New Orleans, because…
By Owen Good -
Brütal Legend’s Filters Allows Families to Enjoy M-Rated Game
Reading this interview with Tim Schafer, I’m taken back to the first R-rated movie I saw with permission. Dad took me and Fletch to see Beverly Hills Cop in 1984. I was 11. It was and it remains one of the great father-son moments. Proof that parents can understand limitations and what their kids are…
By Owen Good -
All Halo Wars Leaderboard Data Erased from Xbox Live
All Halo Wars leaderboard data – and by this, “all” means “everything” – disappeared from Xbox Live today, says Major Nelson, meaning braggin’ rights have been reset to launch day status. “Human error” is blamed. It covers singleplayer. It covers multiplayer. It covers Trueskill leaderboards. It covers all matchmaking data. Gone. Says the Major: This…
By Owen Good -
Dreamcast, NES Ported to Papercraft
Sure, they don’t work, but these cardboard consoles definitely start more conversations. Best part, you don’t even need tape or glue. Thicker paper is recommended, as is a nice printer that can handle 150dpi printouts. You don’t technically even need color, like these old-school pals. (There is a little bit of red, in the logos;…
By Owen Good -
Your 360 Needs HDMI for Avatar’s 3D Effects
If you ponied up for a 3D-enabled TV because you want to take advantage of 3D-enabled games, you need to make sure you have an HDMI-enabled console to go with that. Ubisoft reminds us that James Cameron’s Avatar: The Video Game will need 1080p resolution from an HDMI cable if you’re grabbing up that game…
By Owen Good -
Reviews
Streets of Rage Micro Review: Ragin’ Hard
Porting a console classic to modern times is a no-brainer when it’s an impulse buy where half the purchase decision is fueled by nostalgia. But is Sega’s Streets of Rage worth it on the iPhone? Loved All the Rage: This is a straight-up emulation of the Genesis original, so of course everything you love and…
By Owen Good -
GayGamer’s Pic with ‘Booth Bear’ Cops 2nd in ‘Lust’ Promo
GayGamer.Net’s PixelPoet had a novel response to the “Sin to Win” fiasco at Comic-Con – send a shot of himself with a burly booth dude. Turns out he got runner-up. For the same-sex picture, taken at PAX last year, he won a prize package that included a limited-edition T-shirt and a voucher good for $240…
By Owen Good -
Therapist Wants Free Warcraft, Swears He’s Providing Addiction Counseling
Dr. Richard Graham, a London-based psychiatrist, is so concerned about MMO addiction that he plans to provide “in-game therapy” for those hopelessly lost in the virtual world. Oh, and, he’d like Blizzard to give up some free logins. The Telegraph of London talked to Dr Graham, who plans by the end of the year to…
By Owen Good -
Halo Talk Abruptly Ends Gearbox Interview
Gearbox’s top dog, Randy Pitchford, talked about Borderlands and whatnot for five minutes, then someone asked about rumors of Halo 4 and Pitchford’s reaction was enough to freak the PR-mans. Borderlands forms the crux of the chat, then comes a curveball question to the CEO at 5:09 of this video – “Oh, we nearly forgot!…
By Owen Good -
Bethesda Guy: Here’s Who Can Afford Bungie’s Non-Halo IP
Ashley Cheng, the production director at Bethesda Game Studios, posted on his personal blog a back-of-the-envelope guess at which publishers might take up Bungie’s next, non-Halo game. Hint, one of the candidates rhymes with “Shmesmesda.” Based on recent reports, Cheng says, “Bungie only owes Microsoft two more games and they’re done. Halo ODST and Reach…
By Owen Good -
ECA Form Letter Asks Obama to Stop Picking on Games
If President Obama’s rhetorical flogging of video games has you in high dudgeon, the ECA’s built a form letter enabing you to point out to the White House how “video games can empower and educate.” The Wii’s exergaming influence and the industry’s overall sales and market figures are both cited as examples of video games’…
By Owen Good -
Newsflash: Most Profitable Games Movies Were, Actually, Terrible
Let’s remember, in a year when folks are talking optimistically about a Gears of War movie, the history such franchises are up against. Game adaptations might make money. But as films, they suck without exception. Industry Gamers examined the highest grossing game movies and found that, while most made millions of dollars, their average Metacritic…
By Owen Good -
Happy Anniversary
To: Luke From: Owen Re: The Weekend is Made for Comic-Con This week is pretty special in my family. Dad’s birthday is July 20, an easy one to remember, as he watched Apollo 11 reach the moon on a black and white TV on his 20th birthday, knowing the world would never be the same…
By Owen Good -
World at War Map Pack 3 Adds 10 New Achievements
The four maps – three regular, one zombie – being added next month to Call of Duty: World at War will bring with them 10 new achievements, one of them hinting at some unusual weaponry. “Acquire Waffle Weapons!” is earned once you pick up the “Ray Gun,” “DG-2” and “Monkey Bomb” at the same time.…
By Owen Good
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