-
Nintendo’s Not Worried About SmartGlass, Because You Only Have Two Hands
While E3 was occupying everyone’s attention last week, Nintendo held an analyst event for their investors. During the Q&A, one meeting participant honed in on something many of us have been wondering since Microsoft unveiled their SmartGlass, and posed the question: “Are you worried about SmartGlass? How does Nintendo intend to differentiate its hardware system?”…
By Kate Cox Published June 13, 2012 -
These Gifs Prove That Mad Men Would Make For a Fantastic Video Game
The fifth season of Mad Men has concluded, and now we must all sit in silence, have long conversations about symbolism… and wait for a depressingly long time for the next season to begin. Why can’t they just make a video game version of the show? Our own Patricia Hernandez was asking this same question…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 13, 2012 -
The Story of a Family in Turmoil After a Video Game Studio Closes its Doors
The collapse of 38 Studios has been notable not just for the scale and suddenness of the closure, but the manner in which it has affected employees. It’s easy for us to read a story about a shuttered game developer, think of the games we’ll never get to see, then move on with our lives.…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 13, 2012 -
As Promised, Here I am Looking Like a Jackass Playing NBA Baller Beats
We saved my weirdest E3 appointment for last—checking out the rhythm/sports hybrid NBA Baller Beats from Majesco and HB Games about four hours before my flight last Thursday. The teaser videos may have looked ridiculous, but some of that can be attributed to overacting and over-editing. How does this Kinect game look when someone is…
By Owen Good Published June 13, 2012 -
These Guys Made a List About Sexism Against Men in Video Games. Are They Trolling? [UPDATE: Yeah, Pretty Much]
There’s been a lot of controversy lately surrounding Anita Sarkeesian’s crowdfunded documentary Tropes vs. Women in Games. Sarkeesian’s now-funded project will be a multi-part series dedicated to taking a closer look at the many problematic tropes that video games use while depicting female characters. Most of the controversy has been due to the fact that…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 13, 2012 -
What Exactly is Madden‘s New Career Mode Giving You—and What Is It Taking Away?
The debut of Madden NFL‘s new suite of career modes—called “Connected Careers”—seemed to be drowned out by the noise of E3 and by the announcement that same day of the game’s new real-time physics engine. That’s a gameplay enhancement gamers could easily understand. Connected Careers wasn’t so easily reduced, and as such, its debut sounded…
By Owen Good Published June 13, 2012 -
Creator of ‘The Painting Obama Fears’ Is No Longer Selling Assassin’s Creed-Inspired Masterwork
Artist David Bugnon wanted to paint/Photoshop/draw a tribute to conservative muckraker Andrew Breitbart and didn’t intend to sell what was discovered to be a near-copy of Assassin’s Creed artwork. But it went on sale nonetheless. He’s yanked it and apologized
By Stephen Totilo Published June 13, 2012 -
Angry Birds Is Partnering With The Philadelphia Eagles To Give You Awful Cartoons
In honor of its new partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles, Angry Birds creator Rovio released this video today. It’s cute, in an awful, unfunny sort of way. Rovio will launch a new, Eagles-themed version of Angry Birds this fall. Because the Eagles are birds. Get it?
By Jason Schreier Published June 13, 2012 -
Nintendo Isn’t Scared of Apple’s Rumored TV
Nintendo isn’t worried about Apple wresting dominance in the battle for your living room. Even if the iPhone maker could announce its long-rumored television at some point this year, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata says he isn’t worried about Apple’s new device taking attention away from the Wii U. In response to a question during an…
By Jason Schreier Published June 13, 2012 -
Tomb Raider Creators Are No Longer Referring to Game’s Attempted ‘Rape’ Scene As an Attempted Rape Scene
The creators of the new Tomb Raider have denied that their new game features an “attempted rape scene,” directly contradicting their own statements to Kotaku last week Addressing the widespread reactions to the article posted on this site Monday, Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher released a statement today saying that there is no rape…
By Jason Schreier Published June 13, 2012 -
PlanetSide 2 Plays Like a First-Person Shooter, Not a Massively Multiplayer Compromise
The original massively multiplayer online FPS, PlanetSide, promised competitive first-person shooting on a massive scale. It got the scale right, but tech limitations made for gameplay that was a pale shadow of its more traditional shooter counterparts. With PlanetSide 2 technology has finally caught up to Sony Online Entertainment’s ambition. We’ve seen large-scale online shooters…
By Mike Fahey Published June 13, 2012 -
Four Cool Things about Four ‘Free’ MMOs
The world of massively multiplayer online games keeps getting, well, more massive. We’ve come a long way since I first picked up the genre eight years ago. World of Warcraft may still dominate the traditional monthly susbcription market, but free-to-play multiplayer worlds of all kinds boast tens of millions of subscribers worldwide. At E3 last…
By Kate Cox Published June 13, 2012 -
A Case Mod That Takes “Mod” Seriously
PC designer Jeffrey Stephenson, whose work we have featured before, is back with his latest creation. There are case mods, and then there are ultra-mod case mods. This mod, is, well, mod. Have words lost all meaning for you yet? That’s all right. You won’t really need them to admire this sleek, svelte, sixties-inspired PC.…
By Kate Cox Published June 13, 2012 -
Permadeath and Other Players Make Wizardry Online One Hardcore MMO
Last week I openly wondered how Wizardry Online, a massively multiplayer online game, could possibly capture the spirit of the original grid-based first-person dungeon crawler that stole my heart so many years ago. The answer, I found during a quick hands-on session with the game last week, is tension. The tension that comes of knowing…
By Mike Fahey Published June 13, 2012 -
Sir, You Are Being Hunted Through This Haunting English Countryside
The idea behind Sir, You Are Being Hunted is, well, exactly what it sounds like. Man’s greatest enemy is man. That’s something we see in quite a few games, really. Mostly they have guns in them. But what gives this particular in-development indie title a quirky, unique edge is its Britishness. Also its robots. Its…
By Kate Cox Published June 13, 2012 -
Miner Wars 2081 Takes Space Combat to a Creative New Level
The early Miner Wars 2081 alpha I played last year was little more than a spaceship equipped with a mining laser capable of blasting tunnels through massive asteroids. I played with it for hours. Since then the Descent-inspired space sim has grown into something much bigger. On the most basic level Miner Wars 2081 is…
By Mike Fahey Published June 13, 2012
