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Pokémon Black May Be An Urban Legend, But It’s Also Creepy As Hell
Pokémon games are normally quite tame affairs. The worst that happens is some weird animal gets knocked out for an hour or two. But in Pokémon Black, there is death, nothing but death, and it is all around you. Pokémon Black is apparently a hacked, unofficial version of Pokémon Red, which Tiny Cartridge’s Eric Caoili…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 30, 2010 -
Inception Star On Street Fighter II
Fresh off Inception, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is doing the variety show circuit to promote the film and talking about something extremely important. That’s right, he’s talking Street Fighter II. Gordon-Levitt began acting at the age of 6 and appearing in commercials. While he didn’t exactly love doing ads, he did love that it enabled him to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 30, 2010 -
Valve Helps Indie Dev Get Rich
Minecraft is a neat little indie game that until this week had been getting by on word of mouth and forum recommendations. All that changed when Team Fortress 2 developers Valve gave the game a shout-out. Since highlighting the game in a recent Team Fortress 2 blog update, sales of the game have gone through…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 30, 2010 -
The Men And Women Behind Gaming’s Most Iconic Characters
They’re some of the most recognisable faces in modern pop culture. But have you ever wondered just who the men and women are providing the voices behind gaming’s biggest characters? Master Chief (Halo): Steve Downes What Else Has He Done? Steve is known to millions around the world as the voice of Master Chief, but…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 30, 2010 -
First Look At NBA Jam’s Retro Superstars
Here’s your first look at some of the new NBA Jam’s old stars: Magic Johnson and Dennis Rodman. While we knew that retro stars like Johnson and rival Larry Bird were going to feature in the game, this is the first we’ve seen any of them in screenshots, and is the first we’ve seen or…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 30, 2010 -
Saw 3D’s Eyeball Poster Looks Disturbingly Familiar
Looks like Sony’s Kevin Butler character isn’t the only ad campaign inspiring an imitator. This new Saw 3D movie poster is a little too close to an older PlayStation 3 spot for comfort. Can you spot the similarities? I suppose I could just ask “Do you have functioning eyes?” Saw 3D—the torture slasher horror flick…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
Space Madness
Let’s end the day with a little interstellar insanity. As a fan of watching people go bananas in the far reaches of our universe, I figure it’s as good a conversation starter as any. I’m talking about movies like Sunshine, Moon, Event Horizon, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the like. Those films in which the…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
Ultima Creator Richard Garriott Just Sued A Cool $28 Million Out Of NCSoft
Why is this man smiling? Because a Texas jury just awarded him $28 million in a suit filed against NCsoft, the publisher of his now defunct massively multiplayer online game Tabula Rasa. Last year, Garriott and NCsoft parted ways not long after the closure of Tabula Rasa and the developer’s trip to the International Space…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
Does This Mean There’s No School On Civilization V Day?
Gubernatorial proclamation naming Sept. 21, 2010 – the game’s release date – as “Sid Meier’s Civilization V Day” in Maryland, home of Sparks, Md.-based Firaxis Games. Looks more like a letter of marque from Pirates! to me.
By Owen Good Published July 29, 2010 -
StarCraft II Put To The Test On Dozens of CPUs, GPUs
If, like me, you’re playing StarCraft II on a Mac, you’ve little choice in the hardware on which you’ll play it. But if you’re in the market for a new PC, you may want to make it a StarCraft-playing beast. Fortunately for you, TechSpot has put the recently released StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty through…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
NHL Slapshot Box Goes Top Shelf With The Great One
Michael Jordan isn’t the only best-ever superstar gracing the cover of a video game and appearing in it this year. Wayne Gretzky’s playable in NHL Slapshot and also serves as your mentor in the singleplayer career mode. EA Sports today published the official packshot for the Wii game, which arrives Sept. 7. It gives you…
By Owen Good Published July 29, 2010 -
This Is Undead Michael Jackson’s Replacement For Plants Vs. Zombies
Michael Jackson’s estate wasn’t too thrilled with the zombie King of Pop lookalike featured in Plants Vs. Zombies. Not wanting to be startin’ something legally with Jackson’s legal team, PopCap opted to drop that moonwalking zombie for something less litigious. Courtesy of PC Gamer, we get a good look at the pretty undead thing that…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
The Patch To End (Most) Patches Coming to NCAA 11
Another large patch coming by mid-August for NCAA Football 11 will address some notorious balance issues with recruiting in the game’s Dynasty modes, and deliver “live tuning” for necessary gameplay adjustments without waiting for a dedicated patch. Folks may already have noticed the “Tuning” category in the file management menu of the main game. There’s…
By Owen Good Published July 29, 2010 -
Fan-made Gears of War 3 Trailer Attempts To Outdo The Official One
Can fans take the Gears of War teaser formula and make it better? You know the formula, right? Grim, in-game capture of cinematic footage plus stark, haunting music plus COGs versus insurmountable odds equals great Gears of War ad. If you were slightly disappointed by the grayness or tone of Gears of War 3’s debut…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
Space Invaders Make For A Cute, Uncomfortable Seating Option
Designer and motorcycle enthusiast Igor Chak‘s Space Invaders couch concept, which exists in the virtual world until Taito sees fit to start releasing designer furniture. More renders at Chak’s personal site
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
From Novato, California … at Soundtrack … 27 Songs … NBA 2K11!
Press play on this video and read that headline in the voice of former Chicago Bulls public address Ray Clay, because the game’s soundtrack includes “Sirius” by the Alan Parsons Project, the team’s intro song during the Michael Jordan era. Jordan, of course, is on the cover of the game and appears on the rosters…
By Owen Good Published July 29, 2010 -
Obama And The Billboard
To: Ashcraft From: Stephen Re: Heading Back To Red Dead I just finished Red Dead yesterday. You’re in for a treat. Remember that billboard I showed you yesterday? No changes to it. But, last night, people lined up on Houston Street to watch Barack Obama and his motorcade drive by. I stumbled into the crowd…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 29, 2010 -
The Force Unleashed II’s Top Man Just Left The Building
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed executive producer Haden Blackman was at Comic-Con last weekend to show off the sequel to that game. Today, the 13 year LucasArts vet resigned, three months before The Force Unleashed II is due to ship. IGN received a statement from Blackman, who confirmed his exit from LucasArts by saying that…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 29, 2010 -
Why Madden’s ‘Strategy Pad’ Doesn’t Feel Right To Some
It’s easy to make fun of an ergonomic assessment of Madden NFL 11’s new “strategy pad” control, but this video from GoMadden does present a reasonable accounting of why there are many hardcore fans who dislike the design change. To recap, pre-snap adjustments, both offense and defense, will be made differently this year. In the…
By Owen Good Published July 29, 2010