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Watch The Video Game Industry’s “Oscars” Online Right Now
Couldn’t make it this year’s DICE Summit, but still want to bask in Jay Mohr jokes and watch Interactive Achievement Awards handed out to gaming luminaries? You can do so right now, as the awards show is now streaming online. The video game industry’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, the Interactive Achievement Awards is being…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Cryptic Considering a More ‘Meaningful’ Death Penalty for Star Trek Online?
Death in Star Trek Online seems to be a disappointing experience for its fans, lacking narrative oomph and encouraging unreasonably risky behavior. The game’s executive producer says the studio is listening and considering a change. “We are looking into finding a meaningful way to give players a deeper sense of loss when something bad happens,”…
By Owen Good Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
ESA Estimates Nearly 10 Million Games Illegally Downloaded in December
Research focusing on 200 specific titles showed 9.78 million illegal copies of video games were downloaded worldwide in the month of December, according to the Entertainment Software Association. The ESA expects the number is actually much higher as the study, conducted in partnership with the International Intellectual Property Alliance, focused only on those 200 popular…
By Owen Good Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Liveblogging The Tester: We Watch Episode 1 So You Don’t Have To
The first episode of the PlayStation Network reality show is here and I’m about to watch all 23 glorious minutes of eleven people fighting for a QA position at Sony Computer Entertainment. Now who has the dream job?! I’ve downloaded the 995 MB episode, in high definition, of course, to see just how entertaining The…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Alan Wake Used To Be An Open-World Game
In another sign that maybe it’s time for developers to stop aggressively chasing the Grand Theft Auto style of game, Matias Myllyrinne, managing director of Remedy Entertainment, revealed today this his team’s game, Alan Wake, used to be, mistakenly, open-world. The developer was sharing the story here at the DICE gaming conference of the several-year…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
PlayStation Store Update: Kazuma Kiryu & Ryo Hazuki All-Stars Racing
Sega offers double the demo in this week’s North American PlayStation Store update, with the Yakuza 3 and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing demos leading the charge of new and interesting things to download to your PlayStation 3. If you’re into downloadable content add-ons for games that you already own, the Assassin’s Creed II “Bonfire…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Bidding On Rare — and Factory Sealed — NES Cart Already Tops $15K
Remember the mom who sold an NES for $13,000 because it happened to include the ultra-rare Stadium Events? Well, a factory-sealed copy is now on eBay, and with eight days to go bidding is above $16,000. Let’s recap: Previously on L.A. Law … Stadium Events was a game that had a tiny NTSC release to…
By Owen Good Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
One Headache Averted
To: Ash From: Crecente Loved your piece this morning on White Dog and its tangential link to Dante’s Inferno. Great stuff. I finally, finally finished playing through Aliens Vs. Predators this afternoon. Single player is meh, but man there are some AMAZING multiplayer modes. It appears all it takes is one movie review for a…
By Brian Crecente Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Mario, Built From The Corpses Of Broken Skateboards
What can one build from the shattered frames of well used skateboards? If you’re the artist Haroshi, you can build some lovely looking Mario sculptures and skateboarding themed mosaics, not to mention some strong desire to own these works. Japanese artist Haroshi has transformed the snapped, cracked and worn out skate deck into something more…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Initial Rankings for MLB 10 The Show Released
Earlier this week MLB 2K10 revealed its team numeric ratings. MLB 10 The Show has now divulged its rankings of all 30 Major League teams across four categories. The New York Yankees are this year’s overall No. 1. The Show’s rankings come in four flavors: Overall, hitting, pitching and defense. I’ve broken them out here.…
By Owen Good Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Preordering The Dawn Of War II Expansion Is So Gangsta
Real-time strategy fans who preorder Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II’s Chaos Rising expansion online will score a free copy of Saints Row 2, which I’m sure makes sense to someone, somewhere. I know there have to be PC gamers out there who enjoy a real-time strategy game as much as they do an open-ended…
By Mike Fahey Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
These Are The Xbox 360 Final Fantasy XIII Shots You Were Looking For
Last week, Square Enix released new screen shots of Final Fantasy XIII in both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 flavors, sparking a bit of console-centered controversy, due to their clearly doctored nature. Now we’re getting a proper comparison. The previous batch of in-game screens were “mistakenly” released in Square Enix’s asset update for the forthcoming…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Mario & Sonic Winter Games Sells Six Million
If you folks really want Sega to stop making fluffy Sonic games that don’t revolve around simply running fast, it would help if you didn’t buy six million copies of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Just sayin’. We can’t blame this all on the Mario fans, and we can’t blame it all…
By Mike Fahey Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
World Of Warcraft Plushies: On The Wings Of Cuteness
Unsure how to handle the Gryphon Hatchling and Wind Rider Cub plushies from World of Warcraft that arrived at my house for review today, I hugged them. The verdict? Snuggable goodness. These two dangerously adorable little critters are the first shots fired in Blizzard’s bid for complete and total MMO plushie domination. For such small…
By Mike Fahey Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Free Copies Of Red Faction For Every* Darksiders Owner
Even if Darksiders owners didn’t have that special “mystery” coupon that was previously required to secure a free copy of Red Faction Guerrilla, they can still snag a complementary copy of THQ’s Martian shooter. There is, of course, an asterisk. THQ and Vigil are opening up the free copy of Red Faction Guerrilla floodgates to…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Activision Chief Regrets Not Making Guitar Hero With Harmonix
In 2006, Activision bought Red Octane, publisher of Guitar Hero, resulting in series developer Harmonix launching the rival game Rock Band and starting one of the uglier public feuds in gaming. Today, Activision’s CEO said shunning Harmonix was a mistake. “When we were buying Guitar Hero, or buying Red Octane, the makers of Guitar Hero,…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Bobby Kotick, Warm and Fuzzy, Defends Notorious No-Fun Statements
Bobby Kotick, head of Activision, thought he was Luke, not Vader. And he didn’t mean that thing about wanting to make game-making no fun. “I don’t know how this happened, but all my life I was the rebel flying the Millennium Falcon or the X-Wing fighter and suddenly I wake up and I’m on board…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
Japan Still Gorging On God Eater
The Monster Hunter-aping formula of God Eater gives the PlayStation Portable its second week atop the Japanese games sales charts, once again proving that hunting big bosses with giant weapons on Sony’s handheld is the path to success. God Eater and regular bestsellers such as Dragon Quest VI and New Super Mario Bros. Wii outsold…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 18, 2010 - Uncategorized
New Splinter Cell: Conviction Trailer Has Hollywood Blockbuster Written All Over It
While I’m still not sure if I’ll be buying Splinter Cell: Conviction when it drops in April, I’d sure as hell drop $10 on a Sam Fisher movie with a trailer like this one. It’s not that I am some sort of Splinter Cell hater. It’s just that time and time again I’ve purchased new…
By Mike Fahey Published February 18, 2010