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More Than a Million People Beat Halo 4‘s Campaign in the First Five Days of Its Release
In the first five days since Halo 4‘s release on Nov. 6, 1,116,882 people completed the game’s campaign, or roughly one out of every four persons who played campaign at some point in that span. Some 4.5 billion kills were recorded by all these players, roughly two-thirds of the projected population of Earth. About 13.5…
By Owen Good -
THQ Gets Tattooed by Lawsuit
If you think you’ve had a rough couple of weeks, pour one out for THQ. Its stock price did a swan dive on Nov. 5, the same day of a disastrous earnings call that sent up rumors the publisher is trying to sell itself off. Then word passed it was in default on a $50…
By Owen Good -
Sony and Microsoft Could Have Killed the Wii Long Before It Would Save Nintendo
The midnight launch of the Wii U is a perfect time to reflect on the craze, six years ago, surrounding its predecessor, and the industry-transforming success of the Wii. And there really is no finer story you could read about that than what Rob Crossley has written for CVG. Microsoft and Sony both had their…
By Owen Good -
Bad Port or Bad Hardware? We’re Already Hearing Complaints About Wii U Visuals.
As Nintendo’s first high definition console, Wii U will join the neverending, nothing-really-proven debate between the PS3 and the Xbox 360 over which console’s visuals for whatever multiplatform game are superior. Some people are convinced it’s a bad port, others are convinced it proves inferior hardware. It doesn’t sound like Mass Effect 3 or Ninja…
By Owen Good -
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Removed from Steam Over Music Licensing
When Grand Theft Auto: Vice City disappeared from Steam’s marketplace a few days ago, some suspected it was because of the game’s upcoming release for iOS devices. Instead, what appears to be a lapsed license for one of the songs appearing in the game has forced the takedown, until the matter is resolved. Gaming Blend…
By Owen Good -
Jimmy Fallon is No Match for Reggie in Metroid Blast
Before working the line at Nintendo World’s Wii U campout, Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime went back on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to show off the new console and play a couple of games, Metroid Blast in NintendoLand, and New Super Mario Bros. U. Reggie’s good at both games, which is refreshing to see;…
By Owen Good -
The Moneysaver: No Soup for Wii U
This is the Wii U’s big release weekend in North America and no, you will not find it discounted anywhere. In fact you, probably will not find it anywhere unless you pre-ordered the console back when its release date was announced. Dealzon reports that the only online availability for Nintendo’s new console is through third…
By Owen Good -
Zynga’s Boss Near Tears, Says Wall Street Journal, as He Grapples With Turning the Company Around
Well, now you’ve done it. Yes you, Facebook user, you’ve made Mark Pincus cry. Taken public and valued at $9 billion in so doing, Zynga’s stock price has slid to a quarter of its value at the initial public offering, and taught a harsh lesson to the CEO about what happens when you run a…
By Owen Good -
Tell President Obama to Honor the Veterans of Halo 4
The White House’s bullshit feel-good “We the People” initiative is, like all Internet petitions, worth the paper it is printed on.* Most of the petitions lodged there demand things the executive branch cannot effect on its own. The remainder are protest tantrums, like the secessionist fantasies a bored and distended mainstream media are indulging in…
By Owen Good -
Backhanded Box Quotes: When ‘Best Call of Duty Ever!’ Isn’t a Compliment
Welcome back to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of measured, thoughtful criticism from the user reviews of Metacritic. This week we examine games from two series that frequently are accused of impersonating each other: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Halo 4 Call of Duty: Black Ops II Released: Nov. 13. Critic: MasterOfMetroid (Metacritic)…
By Owen Good -
There’s No Such Thing as a Free-to-Play Game
I’ve tried to be fair to the concept of free-to-play games, which you see a lot of in mobile gaming. Yes, it all seems a bit cynical—it trades a single price for a potentially unlimited revenue stream, but there’s nothing necessarily illegal or unethical about that. It does depend on making some substantive portion of…
By Owen Good -
Challenge the World’s Best Trainers in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 Beginning Monday.
On Monday, Pokémon enthusiasts can challenge the top 12 trainers from this year’s World Championships in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 The trainers and teams will be distributed over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection sometime on Monday, and will bring three-time world champion Ray Rizzo’s stable of Tyranitar, Garchomp, Cresselia, Hydreigon, Rotom, Metagross along with…
By Owen Good -
EA Sports Expands Course Offerings in Basic Version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14
Mea culpa: When Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 revealed its cover stars yesterday—Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods—I missed the biggest news in the cover art: Its basic course roster has gone up to 20. That’s four more than the 16 the game has usually included in its standard version for high definition consoles, with about…
By Owen Good -
Spike VGAs Announce Nominees for Best Video Games of November
Assassin’s Creed III, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3 and The Walking Dead are the nominees, announced today, for Game of the Year at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards. The rest of the list contains, as you might expect, a number of nominees that were just released only days ago, if at all. Halo 4…
By Owen Good -
For Your Consideration: The Second Annual Saxxy Awards
Valve has opened the voting for the second annual Saxxy Awards, celebrating cinematography in Team Fortress 2, and a winner shall be crowned on Nov. 30. Why so soon? Well, because the best overall winner is going to be announced at the Spike Video Game Awards on Dec. 7, and the video is going to…
By Owen Good -
Tiger Woods Will Serve You Arnold Palmer Next Year
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 revealed its cover today, pairing Woods with a younger Arnold Palmer, as he appeared during his heyday of the early 1960s. Palmer returns to the game as a playable character, too, having last appeared in the game in 2006. While EA Sports is giving out no additional details yet, Palmer’s…
By Owen Good -
Unsuccessful Nintendo Counterfeiter Gets Almost Three Years in the Slammer
A counterfeiter who made about £600,000 selling cartridges and discs loaded with pirated Nintendo games will do at least a year of hard time in the U.K. after being sentenced last Friday. Justin Success-Brooks—turns out Success is not his middle name, just part of his hyphenated last name—got a 28-month prison sentence that will likely…
By Owen Good -
What’s Going on With NBA 2K13‘s Roster Update?
The state of NBA 2K13‘s roster update has been uncommonly bad to date. In the most recent episode of the Press Row Podcast, Operation Sports’ normally placid Steve Noah needed bleeping when discussing the slowness and inaccuracy of the update. “There’s been three players added in the latest update,” Steve said, in a podcast recorded…
By Owen Good -
Real Names in Games Mean More Money for the NCAA, Executive Argued
Five years ago, an NCAA executive said EA Sports should be allowed to use actual names of its amateur athletes—commanding a higher licensing fee as a result—because players’ likenesses were “rigged into the games now by illegal means.” Permitting their use would clear up the matter and bring more money to the NCAA, he said.…
By Owen Good -
Culture
The Week in Games: Black is Back
Black Ops II is this week’s glamor release, and has been for a very long time. LEGO Lord of the Rings, Just Dance 4 and RIFT: Storm Legion make it a varied week for new video games. You’ll also notice a ton of Wii U titles hitting shelves. You can’t yet play them, but they’re…
By Owen Good
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