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Pokemon Is Super Effective At Blowing Up Nintendo DS Sales In Japan
Turns out selling more than 2.5 million copies of the latest Pokemon game(s) translates into a big boost for the Nintendo DS. Crazy! But just how many new Nintendo DSs did Japanese Pokemon fans snap up with the game? More than 85,000, according to sales tracker Media Create, across the DS Lite, DSi and DSi…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Take-Two Mum On Plans To Get A Slice Of Used Sales
Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of 2K Games, 2K Sports and Rockstar Games, has told investors it’s working on a way to “participate” in the used-games market but was tight-lipped about what specifically it has in mind. In sports titles, what we’ve seen this year is the arrival of one-use codes that unlock multiplayer features. The…
By Owen Good Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Operation Angry Birds
To: Bash From: Crecente Trish is not a gamer. Not really. She doesn’t like to play typical video games, doesn’t like to hear about them, doesn’t like to watch them. But occasionally I trick her into trying one out. A decade ago it was Sims, which she loved for all of a week before starting…
By Brian Crecente Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Mario Creator Says Making Mario Games Is Easy, Rubik’s Cubes Hard
Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind Mario, reflects on the past 25 years of his creation in a new interview with fellow creator Shigesato Itoi, explaining how creating Super Mario Bros. and the Mario games that followed was the “easy” way out. “When there are several possibilities, I choose the easy one,” Miyamoto explains to the…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
“Grenade Dodger” Exposes Jersey Shore App To Legal Situation
“The Situation,” star of the Mutual-of-Omaha douchebag safari “Jersey Shore,” has an iPhone app with a minigame in which one must dodge “grenades” – i.e. unattractive women. Unbeknownst to them, the game uses photographs of live grenades. And one’s ticked off. RadarOnline reports that “The Situation – Official App” could get hit with a lawsuit…
By Owen Good Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Angry Birds Plush Toys Spotted In Manhattan
These are Angry Birds plush toys spotted today on the sidewalks of New York City today. These stuffed birds seem too light to knock down any towers made of glass, brick or wood. They’re prototypes for the official product coming in 2011, a tipster tells Kotaku. For those without iPhones, Androids and whatnot, Angry Birds…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Pac-Man Celebrates 30th Birthday With Notepads For Snobs
For the discriminating diarist, journalist, field notes taker or part-time poet—one who’s also a Pac-Man fan—Namco Bandai and Moleskine have partnered to release top-tier, retro-themed stationery. Coming this October, Moleskine’s licensed Pac-Man Volant set (pictured) packs in the quality that white people expect from their branded notebooks, now with more colorful retro 8-bit flair. Moleskine…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 24, 2010 -
UncategorizedMega Man 8-Bit Deathmatch Has More Than 50 Weapons
With more than 50 classic Mega Man weapons represented, upcoming fan made game Mega Man 8-Bit Deathmatch has something to kill everyone. The Mega Man 8-Bit Deathmatch Doom mod has come a long way since we showcased it late last year. CutmanMike puts traditional first-person shooter developers to shame with an amazing array of weapons…
By Mike Fahey Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Disney Game Boss Out Before Epic Mickey
Steven Wadsworth is out as head of interactive media and therefore head of Disney’s video games, The New York Times reports. We last ran into Wadsworth in February when he was hyping Club Penguin, then-upcoming Split/Second and still-upcoming Epic Mickey
By Stephen Totilo Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
PS3 Update Has Killed Three Old Mad Catz Controllers
New controllers from major third-party game controller manufacturer Mad Catz won’t explode or otherwise malfunction when connected to PlayStation 3s running unofficial-controller-hating firmware, 3.50. They’re fine. But three old models won’t work. Mad Catz has tested its controllers on the 3.50 system and found that the following three don’t function with upgraded PS3s, company spokesman…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Celebrating Blizzard’s Cultural Legacy
Blizzard co-founders Mike Morhaime, Frank Pearce and Allen Adham were honored this week as Artistic Visionaries as part of Orange County’s 11th annual Cultural Legacy Awards. Photo by Nicholas Koon. Gameface is a photographic celebration of the people who make, play and love video games.
By Mike Fahey Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
It’s time to put the copy of Borderlands back in the Xbox 360. There’s a Claptrap uprising happening this weekend and my Siren (and maybe my low level Berserker) are going to shut this nonsense down. While much of this weekend will be solely dedicated to Borderlands’ new expansion, Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution, I’ll also…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 24, 2010 -
UncategorizedRunning From The Police Sure Looks Like Fun
If high-speed police chases were half as exciting as this Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit trailer makes them out to be, everyone would be doing them. Of course everyone would also need to own a souped-up Porsche. In my experience that is a lot harder to achieve than pissing off the police. I’d expect it…
By Mike Fahey Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
Press A To Win ManStruggle
To triumph over their friends in Grab’s new Facebook game ManStruggle, players need to bring their “A” key. How does a developer make a fighting game that is accessible to Facebook’s social-gaming audience? They throw out the complicated parts, like combos, special moves, punching, and kicking. All one needs to do to triumph over their…
By Mike Fahey Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Old Role Playing Game The Kids Can’t Stand
Michael Abbott teaches undergraduates about the history of video games. They must play the old, ugly stuff. Defender? They can deal. Planetfall? It’s a struggle. But there’s this one game they just can’t take. Ultima IV. Historic, important, innovative, (no, I’ve never played it), legendary role-playing game Ultima IV. He gave them five days to…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
How Video Games Reorganize Your Brain
It is no secret that video games aid players with their hand-eye coordination. A new study shows that playing video games extensively reorganizes how the brain handles difficult visuomotor tasks. Gaming pundits have been pulling out the eye-hand coordination card for as long there have been video games. Seeing things is easy. Manipulating things with…
By Mike Fahey Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
An Atari Collection As Permanent Marker Art
Artist Hollis Brown Thornton is selling this amazingly detailed permanent marker drawing for $600 in his online store. If you’re a fan of “Atari” you should check out some of Brown’s other game-themed artwork, like Mario-inspired Clouds in the Sky at Sunset or, my favorite, Space Invaders moment “Closing Credits at the End of The…
By Brian Crecente Published September 24, 2010 - Uncategorized
A Million New Recruits Join The Clone Wars
If you build a free-to-play massively multiplayer game set in the Star Wars universe, they will come. Sony Online Entertainment reports more than one million registered players a week after the launch of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures. It was a real no-brainer for Sony Online Entertainment. Multiplae millions of players flocked to Free Realms,…
By Mike Fahey Published September 24, 2010