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ESRB Lists Xenogears, Three Other PS1 Classics
Four classic titles from Squaresoft (now Square Enix) have been rated by the ESRB for release on the PSP and PS3, indicating an imminent release to the North American PlayStation Store. Xenogears, plus Legend of Mana and Vagrant Story all have gotten Teen ratings, while Threads of Fate has been rated Everyone. Sony Computer Entertainment…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Monday Night Combat Is Half Off Today
Less than a month before it releases on Steam, Monday Night Combat has dropped to half off over Xbox Live Arcade for the time being. You can grab the cooperative/competitive shooter for just 600 Microsoft Points ($7.50) while supplies last. Clarification: The sale is for today only, says Uber Entertainment. For those who are buying…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
LittleBigPlanet 2 Demo Available Now
Slated for release last week, LittleBigPlanet 2 arrived on the PlayStation Store today. The file weighs in a shade under 2 gigs. The 2,025 MB demo includes three playable levels – Rocket Funland, Avalon’s Advanced Armaments Academy and Tower of Whoop, plus three trailers detailing features of the new game. While you’re waiting for it…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2010 -
UncategorizedTaking Down the Lights
To: Ash From: Crecente Re: A Seven Year-Old’s Shopping Spree Looks Like This My favorite childhood toys were probably those hard little plastic action figures you could buy in Thailand in the 70s. You’d set them up and then take turns trying to knock them down, like marbles. It was great. What you missed Man…
By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Games Pirate Loses House, Car and $350K in Piracy Sentencing
A software pirate whose employer discovered his $700,000 counterfeit-games operation will spend the next 2 1/2 years in federal prison. Qiang “Michael” Bi, 36, of Powell, Ohio, was sentenced today on charges of copyright infringement, mail fraud and identity theft for more than four years worth of selling pirated games at $10 a pop, reports…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Korean College Student Dies After 12-Hour Gaming Session
There seem to be few gaming stories out of Korea lately that don’t involve some sort of fatality. In this case, a 19-year-old college student died after a 12-hour-session with an FPS at an Internet parlor. The victim, identified only as “Moon,” started gaming at 2 a.m., took a break at 10:30 a.m. to get…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2010 -
UncategorizedThe Tester 2’s Grand Prize Winner Embraces Obscurity
Most reality show contestants are vying for a chance at fame and fortune. As the winner of the second season of Sony’s The Tester, Matthew “Gaymer” Brown sees his new game testing job as a chance to escape the spotlight. The Tester is a reality show produced by Sony for the PlayStation Network in which…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 -
UncategorizedBattlefield: Bad Company 2 Was My Most Played iPhone Game of the Holidays
On sale right now for just four bucks, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is the iPhone game I’m spending the most time playing these days. It’s not because of the campaign, I’ve barely scratched the surface of the 15 or so levels, it that the controls seem fairly responsive and local multiplayer is a blast. I’ve…
By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Two Million Xbox 360 Gamers Have Played Castle Crashers
Independent developer The Behemoth got a rather lovely present on Christmas Day, when the Xbox Live Arcade version of Castle Crashers surpassed two million players. How will they celebrate? With an Xbox made of gold. Castle Crashers was a big hit when it was released in August of 2008, and sales haven’t slowed down much…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 -
UncategorizedKinect Gives Life To This Humanoid Robot
Using Microsoft’s Kinect to control a modified Roomba is impressive. Using it to get a kit-built humanoid robot to mimic your actions is pretty damn amazing. Once again hobbyists beat Microsoft at their own gaming peripheral, utilizing Kinect’s impressive technology in ways that go so far beyond gaming. Here we see software engineer Taylor Veltrop…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Angry Psychology Professor Explains Angry Birds’ Success
Why is Angry Birds such an addictive game? According to University of San Francisco psychology professor Mel Joseph Ciena, it’s a combination of repetition and a “false impression you’re competitive and achieving something.” Oh come on, we’re saving eggs! Joe Eskenazi of SF Weekly queried two experts for their opinion on why Rovio’s physics-based bird-flinging…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 -
UncategorizedHug These, Love These Adorable Left 4 Dead 2 Zombies
The zombies are here! The zombies are here! Earlier this month we pointed out that Left 4 Dead 2-styled Hunter and Tank plushies were joining the adorably-engorged Boomer in the Valve store, but that they wouldn’t start shipping until Dec. 27. Well, they’re shipping now and we’ve got our hands on them, along with some…
By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
This Is Your Brain On Video Games
What happens to our attention when we play video games? The New York Times’ technology reporter Matt Richtel played a video game while stuffed inside a $3 million M.R.I. scanning tube to find out. Richtel has spent the better part of the past year exploring questions about the role attention plays in our daily lives,…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
PETA Praises Adult Swim Flash Games For Being Animal Friendly
While Adult Swim’s flash games aren’t known for classy content, two have been singled out by animal rights group PETA for being especially animal friendly. Humans killing polar bears is bad, but polar bears killing humans wins awards. Polar Bear Payback is an action game in which the player takes on the role of a…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Letters From The Call Of Duty Front
If you thought playing Call of Duty: Black Ops online was tough, imagine how hard it is for the wives and children of those constantly dying soldiers. Check out more letters from the Call of Duty front at Dorkly.
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Reuters: 2011 Will Be a Good Year For Gaming
A new generation of games on social networks, phones and tablet computers will spur sales in 2011, Reuter apotheosizes in a story today. “Before we were figuring out how to make social games, now we are mastering the art of making social games,” said Mark Skaggs, vice president of product development at Zynga, told Reuters.…
By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Entertainment And Fun Aren’t The Same Thing
He may switch a few words around, but what commenter DunnCarnage is basically saying in today’s Speak-Up on Kotaku is that a game doesn’t have to be fun to be entertaining, and vice-versa. Something that has been bugging me recently about games is the concept that they don’t necessarily have to be “fun” to be…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Police Say Man Stole Game Boy From Teen That Died On Christmas [Update]
Seventeen-year-old Bradley David-McCombs Jr. died in a tragic car accident on Christmas Day. On Monday night his family held a viewing at the Rairigh Funeral Home in Montgomery Township, Pennsylvania. That night, someone decided to steal his Game Boy. McCombs, pictured here, died after his sport utility vehicle flipped on Route 553 in Cherryhill Township…
By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2010 -
UncategorizedHead Crabbed in Indie Game: The Movie
Big money, big production video games are great, but let’s never forget about the indie games, that’s where the sexy happens. Whether it’s Minecraft or Limbo, Super Meat Boy or Briad, it’s indie games that seem most willing to test the boundaries of what can be done in video games. That’s why you’re going to…
By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2010
