Animation team Kooberz Studios figured, you know, all LEGO ever cover is kid’s franchises. There’s never anything with real gore in it. So they whipped up their own LEGO Gears of War video.
And it’s pretty great.
Clocking in at just under two minutes, the Locust could have been better, but Marcus and the way they incorporate game effects like the patented “Roadie Run” more than make up for that.
If you like what you see, you can check out a making-of video here.
Thứ Tư, 26 tháng 10, 2011
Mooncraft Is Like Minecraft. On The Moon.
If you can get over the blatant intellectual property theft on display, Mooncraft actually serves a very practical purpose, in that it gives iOS gamers a smooth, stable Minecraft-esque experience on their phones or tablet. I mean, instead of building a house you’re building a base, and instead of being some guy you’re now some astronaut, but the gist of the games are almost identical: forage, build, survive.
Kirk Hamilton, Multi-Instrumentalist and Music-Game Liker
“No”s across the board here, and as a result I’m going to give Rocksmith a “yes.” But it’s only a symbolic “yes”, because this game does a lot of things very right, and I want to reward that. It manages to do what Guitar Hero and even Rock Band only hinted at — take real-world musical instruction and apply it to a video game setting. It’s well-made, and it works… except for lag, which bugged the crap out of me but which I eventually got around.
Owen Good, Who Certainly Has Some Rock Star Facial Hair
and certainly is a novel piece of software. But my gut says no because of its tight niche appeal and its need for one hellaciously expensive piece of hardware. Further, I could see casually interested musicians, with a guitar gathering dust, buying into the snake oil that this really will teach them to play guitar. That’s a claim that’s been sold in the back of comic books for decades, and it’s one of which I am always sceptical.
Should You Buy Rocksmith? No.
earning to play a guitar by playing a game is always wonderfully appealing to me. It was with Power Gig and with Rock Band’s last title. And in many ways Rocksmith comes closer than any of the three to delivering on that promise. But ultimately what you have in Rocksmith isn’t a game, it’s an instructor, an instructor with a peculiar way of teaching that may get you to play songs, but still not understand what you’re really doing. If you’re looking for something that will mechanically run you through the progressive skills it takes to learn to play something like Nirvana’s In Bloom, then get this. But if you want a game give Rocksmith a pass. No.
Which Game Is The Best Match For This Steampunk Xbox 360 Controller?
As a trend, steampunk may be yesterday’s fad. And, while this custom controller–created by the folks at MorbidStix — apparently been around for a while, it just popped up into view again. I love the combination of a real-life mechanical act — unlocking the controller with the key-to open up digital worlds. It’s a nice metaphor, almost like a Narnia-esque fairytale thing,
Looking at the controller’s unlockable beauty make me wonder what would be the best pairing, game-wise, for it. Two games that come to mind are Bastion and the upcoming BioShock Infinite. Supergiant’s Xbox Live hit had a bit of a roughhewn, rustic look in its design and Irrational’s flying-city saga evokes an early 20th century aesthetic, what with its skyhook and dirigibles. The steampunk controller looks like it’d fit in both worlds, as if it’s what the Kid or Booker DeWitt would use while playing an analogous projected entertainment device.
The controller doesn’t appear to be available on the MorbidStix site, but I’m sure a uptick in demand would make them pump out some more. And, while not present in mass quantities, it’s likely available on request.
Looking at the controller’s unlockable beauty make me wonder what would be the best pairing, game-wise, for it. Two games that come to mind are Bastion and the upcoming BioShock Infinite. Supergiant’s Xbox Live hit had a bit of a roughhewn, rustic look in its design and Irrational’s flying-city saga evokes an early 20th century aesthetic, what with its skyhook and dirigibles. The steampunk controller looks like it’d fit in both worlds, as if it’s what the Kid or Booker DeWitt would use while playing an analogous projected entertainment device.
The controller doesn’t appear to be available on the MorbidStix site, but I’m sure a uptick in demand would make them pump out some more. And, while not present in mass quantities, it’s likely available on request.
Prime Example Of An Exciting New Massively Multiple Sci-Fi Epic
PC
Prime Example Of An Exciting New Massively Multiple Sci-Fi Epic
By Mike Fahey on October 19, 2011 at 3:20 AM
Three races vie for control over the one planet in the universe that contains an abundant supply of the element necessary to further technological advancement in Prime: Battle for Dominusm an upcoming science fiction MMO I really should have told you about sooner.
What we’re looking at here is actual beta footage of Prime, a science fiction MMO in development for the PC at Phoenix, Arizona’s PitchBlack Games, a company made up of refugees from games like Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Guild Wars. The premise is that three factions — Human, Salent and Rodon — are each attempting to gain the upper hand in an ongoing war over the planet Dominus, where the tech-building flavour is. Players choose a faction, one of six character classes, and then start building up skill points so they aren’t a liability to their friends and allies. They’ll build bases and fashion equipment to help aid their cause, and when they’re done with that they’ll charge into battle like real men, Salent and Rodon, which will look a lot like what’s going on in the video above.
Prime Example Of An Exciting New Massively Multiple Sci-Fi Epic
By Mike Fahey on October 19, 2011 at 3:20 AM
Three races vie for control over the one planet in the universe that contains an abundant supply of the element necessary to further technological advancement in Prime: Battle for Dominusm an upcoming science fiction MMO I really should have told you about sooner.
What we’re looking at here is actual beta footage of Prime, a science fiction MMO in development for the PC at Phoenix, Arizona’s PitchBlack Games, a company made up of refugees from games like Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Guild Wars. The premise is that three factions — Human, Salent and Rodon — are each attempting to gain the upper hand in an ongoing war over the planet Dominus, where the tech-building flavour is. Players choose a faction, one of six character classes, and then start building up skill points so they aren’t a liability to their friends and allies. They’ll build bases and fashion equipment to help aid their cause, and when they’re done with that they’ll charge into battle like real men, Salent and Rodon, which will look a lot like what’s going on in the video above.
Playing With Fire Wants To Crowdsource A Video Game Movie
Goldberg knows the industry from an insider’s point of view having written the cultural history All Your Base Are Belong to Us and worked at Sony Online Entertainment before that. Plympton’s an indie filmmaker whose brilliant, skewed shorts have appeared on MTV and Lowery’s a storyboard artist who’s worked on films like Iron Man and Cowboys & Aliens. So, there’s a chance this thing might actually happen. You probably want to be a part of that, right?
Thứ Ba, 25 tháng 10, 2011
Dragon Age: Redemption Episode 2 Is Ready For You To Watch
The second instalment of Felicia Day’s Dragon Age: Redemption six-episode web series is live. I missed the first, but this one’s solid. Fun characters. Reverent to the video game lore without being embarrassing.
If you want to watch in order, here’s the first episode.
Looks like we’re getting a duel in a later episode. And some magic. Good stuff.
If you want to watch in order, here’s the first episode.
Looks like we’re getting a duel in a later episode. And some magic. Good stuff.
Microsoft Takes A Shot At The Wii In New Dance Central 2 Ad
I’ve never totally gotten the appeal of Wii dancing games, though clearly there are a whole ton of Just Dance fans out there who disagree. This new ad for Harmonix’s just-released Dance Central 2 takes a humorous dig at Wii games and their obsolescence in the face of full motion-tracking.
Honestly, while truly compelling Kinect games are few and far between, watching this ad reinforces the fact that there is no greater hardware out there for dancing games. Though it must be said, when I play Dance Central 2, it’s less “cool, attractive dude and girl playing together” and more “goofy guy dancing around in his apartment by himself”. But the potential is there! Maybe I should invite more people over so that my own Dance Central 2 sessions begin to resemble the ones on the TV.
Honestly, while truly compelling Kinect games are few and far between, watching this ad reinforces the fact that there is no greater hardware out there for dancing games. Though it must be said, when I play Dance Central 2, it’s less “cool, attractive dude and girl playing together” and more “goofy guy dancing around in his apartment by himself”. But the potential is there! Maybe I should invite more people over so that my own Dance Central 2 sessions begin to resemble the ones on the TV.
Vampire Diaries Star Joins Hendricks In Need For Speed: The Run
We already knew that Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks will be voicing the female lead in the upcoming Need For Speed: The Run. Electronic Arts is now saying that Sean Faris, star of The Vampire Diaries, will be assuming the role of the male lead, Jack Rourke.
EA’s Press Release describes Rourke as “one of the best drivers around,” but that his “cockiness and arrogance has led him into a debt he can’t repay.” Wow, both cockiness and arrogance? He must be a pain in the arse. Apparently “the mob has put a price on his head, and it’s a lofty one”. Hmm, a lofty price, you say? Good thing there’s Hendricks’ Sam Harper, “a woman with street smarts and a penchant for lightning fast cars.”
Wow, this whole thing really sounds so original and interesting! Star-crossed lovers! Street racing! OK fine, I guess we don’t really need a gripping narrative to have fun driving cars really really superfast. EA quotes Hendricks as saying “It’s very exciting to be part of Need for Speed The Run. I’ve never been a video game character before so this is definitely a first for me. It’s been fantastic fun to do something so different and to show a different side of myself as well.”
Faris is a fan of the series. “I got a kick out of seeing myself in the game,” he says in the press release, “it’s totally me!” As much as that sounds like a bland marketing pablum, I would imagine that it is pretty cool to see oneself recreated in-game.
EA’s Press Release describes Rourke as “one of the best drivers around,” but that his “cockiness and arrogance has led him into a debt he can’t repay.” Wow, both cockiness and arrogance? He must be a pain in the arse. Apparently “the mob has put a price on his head, and it’s a lofty one”. Hmm, a lofty price, you say? Good thing there’s Hendricks’ Sam Harper, “a woman with street smarts and a penchant for lightning fast cars.”
Wow, this whole thing really sounds so original and interesting! Star-crossed lovers! Street racing! OK fine, I guess we don’t really need a gripping narrative to have fun driving cars really really superfast. EA quotes Hendricks as saying “It’s very exciting to be part of Need for Speed The Run. I’ve never been a video game character before so this is definitely a first for me. It’s been fantastic fun to do something so different and to show a different side of myself as well.”
Faris is a fan of the series. “I got a kick out of seeing myself in the game,” he says in the press release, “it’s totally me!” As much as that sounds like a bland marketing pablum, I would imagine that it is pretty cool to see oneself recreated in-game.
Look At How Microsoft Wants To Transform Sesame Street. It’s The Future.
We’re not talking about Sesame Street video games (though they’re doing that too). They also want to make the show–filmed puppets and all–a TV show that a kid standing in front of their TV can interact with.
You don’t have to imagine what interactive Sesame Street would look like. Microsoft made a “vision” video of it. You can see that right here. But because it’s a “vision” video, it’s not really all there. We’re seeing Microsoft’s dream version of what this would look like, all dependent on a TV tethered to an Xbox 360 and a Kinect visual/motion/audio sensor.
Microsoft is trying to make this vision reality. If they nail it, well, I bet we’ll see plenty more TV shows that can react to us. Microsoft’s already getting the National Geographic in on this too.
I’m hoping they’ll make comedies that get funnier if the Kinect senses that I’m not laughing at the show’s jokes.
You don’t have to imagine what interactive Sesame Street would look like. Microsoft made a “vision” video of it. You can see that right here. But because it’s a “vision” video, it’s not really all there. We’re seeing Microsoft’s dream version of what this would look like, all dependent on a TV tethered to an Xbox 360 and a Kinect visual/motion/audio sensor.
Microsoft is trying to make this vision reality. If they nail it, well, I bet we’ll see plenty more TV shows that can react to us. Microsoft’s already getting the National Geographic in on this too.
I’m hoping they’ll make comedies that get funnier if the Kinect senses that I’m not laughing at the show’s jokes.
Mobile Angry Birds Is Still Going Strong With 30 Million Active Users Per Day
It’s been damned popular for a damned long time, but Angry Birds‘ numbers don’t appear to be dwindling at all. As Mashable reports, 30 million people play the portable game each day, logging over 300 million minutes of gameplay. Each day!
That’s 208,333.3 days of Angry Birds played for each day of real time (or, as the article points, out, 109.5 billion minutes per year). There is a lot of fun maths to be done here, but the upshot is that no one seems to have gotten sick of Angry Birds, and the game’s momentum doesn’t show signs of slowing down.
For my part, I haven’t played Angry Birds in months. But now I’m feeling like I’m left out of the zeitgeist.
That’s 208,333.3 days of Angry Birds played for each day of real time (or, as the article points, out, 109.5 billion minutes per year). There is a lot of fun maths to be done here, but the upshot is that no one seems to have gotten sick of Angry Birds, and the game’s momentum doesn’t show signs of slowing down.
For my part, I haven’t played Angry Birds in months. But now I’m feeling like I’m left out of the zeitgeist.
Meet Brendan Brewer, Video Game Reviewer
Cameron Davis used to review video games for a living, then he switched sides and started making games for a living and was present for both the demise of Krome and KMM Brisbane. Now, he still works in the games industry, but spends his spare time with Brendan Brewer – a comic skewering games ‘journalists’ and the review process. Some of it is a little too close to home for me…
Chủ Nhật, 23 tháng 10, 2011
If I Never Write Another Review As Long As I Live, I’ll Die A Happy Man
Every now and then I’ll get an email, hidden in my inbox. Sometimes it’s just a comment, sitting amongst a horde of others in a story I’ve written. “Why doesn’t Kotaku Australia write its own reviews?” It’ll say.
Then sometimes I’ll get a different kind of email, saying roughly the same thing, only it doesn’t take the form of a question it’s more like a quasi statement. It’ll say something along the lines of, “oh, but you guys don’t really do reviews, do you?” Those ones are normally from the representatives of a games publisher.
Usually that statement will be a response to why Kotaku Australia didn’t get early access to a new game, or why we were last in the queue for a review copy. But that’s OK — I’m more than happy to wait until the game’s general release to play.
And if I never have to write another video game review as long as I live, I’ll die a happy man.
I’ve written hundreds of product reviews and the wide matrix of issues you have to navigate, particularly in video games, is nigh on unmanageable, to the point where you have to ask yourself: What is the purpose of this, and what do reviews even mean anymore? What are they for?
First you have the scale itself — do you risk going against the traditional video game scale in attempt to bring more legitimacy to your review, or focus attention on the content of the review itself? Do you succumb to pressure and the need to remain relevant by reviewing games like every other media outlet, or do you plough your own path? The idea of a 7 out of 10 or an 8 out of 10 is so engrained on our psyche after decades of reading reviews that stepping outside that lexicon is risky.
Then comes the process of writing your ‘opinion’ — a process fraught with more doubt, and more issues to tackle. Do you review your game like a product, is it a series of experiences that you should judge? Should you take into account your knowledge or lack of knowledge — do you review from a fan’s perspective? Should your review be objective or a written piece focusing on what is essentially a subjective experience?
And that’s just the beginning — do you consider your audience? You are writing for them after all. I have no personal interest in, say, Modern Warfare 3 — but thousands of Kotaku readers do. Is this review for them? Do I have to take my own dislike of war-based shooters into account?
Normally this sort of self-indulgent navel gazing should be of no consequence or interest to anyone, but in an environment where EA Norway sending a series of demanding questions to prospective reviewers of Battlefield 3 becomes the biggest games story of the day and inspires thousands of seething comments and retorts — it’s clear that people really do care.
And I care — I really do. Enough to honestly admit that my opinion of any game — shrink-wrapped and squeezed into a totemic number to be sacrificed at the altar of metacritic — is really of little value to anyone or anything. So why bother?
What do we do with these reviews? In an age where we can watch trailers the instant they’re released and drown in details of development from the minute a game is greenlit, what is the consequence of another review? Why does it need to exist; particularly in a place where reviews are so ubiquitous. Do I really want to add my voice to that mashed up chorus — simultaneously chaotic and synchronised — what would be the value of that? What would be the point? I’d like to trust that you’ve already made a relatively informed decision what games you want to buy — slapping a numerical score on a game and beating my chest like King Kong probably won’t change that.
Don’t get me wrong, I admire those who manage to navigate this whole minefield and come out intact, people like Adam Mathew over at Game Informer/OPS, or Junglist, or Joab Gilroy at Game Arena. I may not always agree with their opinions, but I want to read what they think, even if I disagree with them. In fact, that’s arguably what video game reviews need more of. Proper, well justified, dissenting voices where necessary.
I enjoy reading well-written reviews, particularly when I’ve already played a game and it feels like a chance to exchange notes. But I don’t want to participate in that dialogue anymore. Not if I don’t have to.
For me writing about video games is something different. It’s the chance to share experiences and make some sort of connection — it’s a chance to find common ground in a shared moment. It’s not about a product and whether or not you’ll buy it.
Then sometimes I’ll get a different kind of email, saying roughly the same thing, only it doesn’t take the form of a question it’s more like a quasi statement. It’ll say something along the lines of, “oh, but you guys don’t really do reviews, do you?” Those ones are normally from the representatives of a games publisher.
Usually that statement will be a response to why Kotaku Australia didn’t get early access to a new game, or why we were last in the queue for a review copy. But that’s OK — I’m more than happy to wait until the game’s general release to play.
And if I never have to write another video game review as long as I live, I’ll die a happy man.
I’ve written hundreds of product reviews and the wide matrix of issues you have to navigate, particularly in video games, is nigh on unmanageable, to the point where you have to ask yourself: What is the purpose of this, and what do reviews even mean anymore? What are they for?
First you have the scale itself — do you risk going against the traditional video game scale in attempt to bring more legitimacy to your review, or focus attention on the content of the review itself? Do you succumb to pressure and the need to remain relevant by reviewing games like every other media outlet, or do you plough your own path? The idea of a 7 out of 10 or an 8 out of 10 is so engrained on our psyche after decades of reading reviews that stepping outside that lexicon is risky.
Then comes the process of writing your ‘opinion’ — a process fraught with more doubt, and more issues to tackle. Do you review your game like a product, is it a series of experiences that you should judge? Should you take into account your knowledge or lack of knowledge — do you review from a fan’s perspective? Should your review be objective or a written piece focusing on what is essentially a subjective experience?
And that’s just the beginning — do you consider your audience? You are writing for them after all. I have no personal interest in, say, Modern Warfare 3 — but thousands of Kotaku readers do. Is this review for them? Do I have to take my own dislike of war-based shooters into account?
Normally this sort of self-indulgent navel gazing should be of no consequence or interest to anyone, but in an environment where EA Norway sending a series of demanding questions to prospective reviewers of Battlefield 3 becomes the biggest games story of the day and inspires thousands of seething comments and retorts — it’s clear that people really do care.
And I care — I really do. Enough to honestly admit that my opinion of any game — shrink-wrapped and squeezed into a totemic number to be sacrificed at the altar of metacritic — is really of little value to anyone or anything. So why bother?
What do we do with these reviews? In an age where we can watch trailers the instant they’re released and drown in details of development from the minute a game is greenlit, what is the consequence of another review? Why does it need to exist; particularly in a place where reviews are so ubiquitous. Do I really want to add my voice to that mashed up chorus — simultaneously chaotic and synchronised — what would be the value of that? What would be the point? I’d like to trust that you’ve already made a relatively informed decision what games you want to buy — slapping a numerical score on a game and beating my chest like King Kong probably won’t change that.
Don’t get me wrong, I admire those who manage to navigate this whole minefield and come out intact, people like Adam Mathew over at Game Informer/OPS, or Junglist, or Joab Gilroy at Game Arena. I may not always agree with their opinions, but I want to read what they think, even if I disagree with them. In fact, that’s arguably what video game reviews need more of. Proper, well justified, dissenting voices where necessary.
I enjoy reading well-written reviews, particularly when I’ve already played a game and it feels like a chance to exchange notes. But I don’t want to participate in that dialogue anymore. Not if I don’t have to.
For me writing about video games is something different. It’s the chance to share experiences and make some sort of connection — it’s a chance to find common ground in a shared moment. It’s not about a product and whether or not you’ll buy it.
Building A Video Game in 48 Hours Is Not Easy…
Brendan Keogh has featured in Kotaku Australia before, and we’re fans. This piece on the most recent Brisbane Game Jam is a real humdinger. After spending 48 hours with the contestants themselves, he wrote an ungodly amount of words about the experience, and it’s an extremely compelling piece.
We wrote our own feature about Sydney’s Game Jam back in January, but this one is more a hands on experience – a look at the gruelling nature of the competition, and the agonies that come with trying to create a fully functioning video game in a 48 hour period.
Well worth reading. Parts one and two are already on the site, and part three will be posted tomorrow.
“I think they’re mad”: Inside a 48 hour battle to build the best video game [Ars Technica]
We wrote our own feature about Sydney’s Game Jam back in January, but this one is more a hands on experience – a look at the gruelling nature of the competition, and the agonies that come with trying to create a fully functioning video game in a 48 hour period.
Well worth reading. Parts one and two are already on the site, and part three will be posted tomorrow.
“I think they’re mad”: Inside a 48 hour battle to build the best video game [Ars Technica]
Ultima Creator’s House For Sale For A Cool $4 Mil
Richard Garriott, the Ultima creator and space tourist believed to be the only private citizen to own property on an extraterrestrial body, is selling real estate here on Earth. For about $US4 mil you may claim the stately Texas manor owned by Lord British.
According to KUT-TV of Austin, Texas, Garriott’s “captivating and magical” estate is listed by RE/MAX (TM) and features a 3,000 acre preserve and an “off the grid energy realm,” whatever the fuck that means. The manor features an observatory, grotto, waterfall and lagoon.
Need more information? The estate has its own Wikipedia entry.
Buy Richard Garriott’s Home for $US4 Million [KUT-TV via Game Informer.]
According to KUT-TV of Austin, Texas, Garriott’s “captivating and magical” estate is listed by RE/MAX (TM) and features a 3,000 acre preserve and an “off the grid energy realm,” whatever the fuck that means. The manor features an observatory, grotto, waterfall and lagoon.
Need more information? The estate has its own Wikipedia entry.
Buy Richard Garriott’s Home for $US4 Million [KUT-TV via Game Informer.]
When Street Fighter Met GI Joe, The World Suffered
The year was 1993. Street Fighter was one of the biggest things on the planet, and venerable toy franchise GI Joe…wasn’t. In an effort to boost Joe’s sales, Hasbro figured creating action figures based on Street Fighter would be a really good idea!
It wasn’t.
Between 1993 and 1994, Capcom and Hasbro teamed up to release a couple of lines of GI Joe figures that were branded, and sculpted, to look like Street Fighter characters.
While this seems like a bizarre coupling today, you’ve got to remember, Street Fighter was everywhere in the early 90s. It had cartoons, a movie, rap songs, t-shirts, anime adaptations, comics, the works. So a series of action figures, even ones sitting uncomfortably within the universe of the Great American Hero, seemed totally normal. At the time.
Until, you know, you actually saw the things.
It wasn’t.
Between 1993 and 1994, Capcom and Hasbro teamed up to release a couple of lines of GI Joe figures that were branded, and sculpted, to look like Street Fighter characters.
While this seems like a bizarre coupling today, you’ve got to remember, Street Fighter was everywhere in the early 90s. It had cartoons, a movie, rap songs, t-shirts, anime adaptations, comics, the works. So a series of action figures, even ones sitting uncomfortably within the universe of the Great American Hero, seemed totally normal. At the time.
Until, you know, you actually saw the things.
Thứ Bảy, 22 tháng 10, 2011
leaked Mortal Kombat 9 characters?
On the midway (soon to be netherrealm studio) boards today, a user named AdrianJames has realeased some "leaked" MK9 screens showing sonya on the select screen and artwork concepts of ermac and goro.
Sonya on the select screen:
http://i23.photobucket.com/...
Nothing much to show here except that sonya is definitely in this game but who didn't expect her? It looks like they did make her look like a bada$$ woman instead of a he-she like in MK vs DC universe. can't wait to see her in action as sonya is one of my favorites. speaking of favorites....
goro concept art:
http://i23.photobucket.com/...
The tweaked design looks pretty good. Hopefully, goro won't look like a hunch back like he did in Mortal Kombat armageddon.
ermac concept art:
http://i23.photobucket.com/...
In this picture, Ermac is wearing his MK: Deception outfit but, once again, the outfit is modified. I like his revamp design as he looks intimidating.
So, will Ermac and goro be in MK9? Seeing as thier concept art was leaked, I say it is very likely they will be in. Besides, goro was the freaking MK champion before liu kang defeated him
in MK1.
Sonya on the select screen:
http://i23.photobucket.com/...
Nothing much to show here except that sonya is definitely in this game but who didn't expect her? It looks like they did make her look like a bada$$ woman instead of a he-she like in MK vs DC universe. can't wait to see her in action as sonya is one of my favorites. speaking of favorites....
goro concept art:
http://i23.photobucket.com/...
The tweaked design looks pretty good. Hopefully, goro won't look like a hunch back like he did in Mortal Kombat armageddon.
ermac concept art:
http://i23.photobucket.com/...
In this picture, Ermac is wearing his MK: Deception outfit but, once again, the outfit is modified. I like his revamp design as he looks intimidating.
So, will Ermac and goro be in MK9? Seeing as thier concept art was leaked, I say it is very likely they will be in. Besides, goro was the freaking MK champion before liu kang defeated him
in MK1.
Disney XD News
DISNEY XD TO PREMIERE “FORT BOYARD – ULTIMATE CHALLENGE,” A REALITY ADVENTURE SERIES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”
The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.
In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.
“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.
The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.
The series will be televised on Disney XD cable and satellite channels around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and CiTV in the UK.
About “Fort Boyard”
“Fort Boyard” is the most successful adventure game show in the world, having sold to over 30 territories, while dominating France 2′s primetime summer schedule every year since 1990. The action takes place in an imposing fortress built in the middle of the ocean. This provides the perfect backdrop for strenuous, against-the-clock physical challenges and mind-boggling riddles, featuring strange characters and fearsome animals. All this and more awaits those attempting to reach the Treasure Room! Only the fittest and most intelligent contestants can hope to conquer Fort Boyard.
About Disney XD:
Disney XD is a basic cable channel and multi-platform brand showcasing a compelling mix of live-action and animated programming for Kids age 6-14, hyper-targeting boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, sports, adventure and humor. Disney XD branded content spans television, online, mobile and VOD platforms. The programming includes series, movies and short-form, as well as sports-themed programming developed with ESPN. In the U.S., Disney XD is seen on a 24-hour, advertiser supported network that reaches over 78 million households via its basic cable and satellite affiliates. There are 22 other Disney XD Games channels around the world.
Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”
The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.
In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.
“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.
The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.
The series will be televised on Disney XD cable and satellite channels around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and CiTV in the UK.
About “Fort Boyard”
“Fort Boyard” is the most successful adventure game show in the world, having sold to over 30 territories, while dominating France 2′s primetime summer schedule every year since 1990. The action takes place in an imposing fortress built in the middle of the ocean. This provides the perfect backdrop for strenuous, against-the-clock physical challenges and mind-boggling riddles, featuring strange characters and fearsome animals. All this and more awaits those attempting to reach the Treasure Room! Only the fittest and most intelligent contestants can hope to conquer Fort Boyard.
About Disney XD:
Disney XD is a basic cable channel and multi-platform brand showcasing a compelling mix of live-action and animated programming for Kids age 6-14, hyper-targeting boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, sports, adventure and humor. Disney XD branded content spans television, online, mobile and VOD platforms. The programming includes series, movies and short-form, as well as sports-themed programming developed with ESPN. In the U.S., Disney XD is seen on a 24-hour, advertiser supported network that reaches over 78 million households via its basic cable and satellite affiliates. There are 22 other Disney XD Games channels around the world.
Thứ Năm, 20 tháng 10, 2011
Captain Obvious vs the NGP
So I missed the actual announcement and official reveal of the PSP2. Or the NGP as Sony's calling it. Regardless, thought I'd offer my initial reaction and get laughed at. Maybe make a few think "hm..." as you do.
Anyway, my first thought is that the actual handheld should be called the PS3-nano. Launch titles for the bigger console were shown running on it with devs talking about how such was done in weeks. Its not the PSP2, its the PS3 slimmer/slimmest.
Another obvious thing that occurs to me, what with the tool set supposedly more friendly, is the benefit this likely means for the PS3 itself. That some devs - maybe the really cheap if not the really smart ones - will use the NGP framework for PS3 games. That some will either then offer them as separate NGP titles, or as digital copies on a PS3 disc installable onto the handheld. Make them standard for limited and special editions.
A third thought is that this Next Generation Portable, rather than the PSP2, is a re-imagining of PSN. That it actively puts it on three platforms - cell phones, the PSP2 and PS3 with monitoring access for the PC. Gains the Androids install base overnight while Sony lends it the strength of their gaming brand at the same time. Win-win.
So to sum up the obvious: wow. By general reaction Sony really hit one out of the park. Though of course the counter-reaction has already started, which will only get worse once the PSP2's price is announced along with battery life. Which, with the thing coming out this year, has to happen at the Tokyo Game Show. Where we'll also start to hear about actual PSP2 games.
Anyway, my first thought is that the actual handheld should be called the PS3-nano. Launch titles for the bigger console were shown running on it with devs talking about how such was done in weeks. Its not the PSP2, its the PS3 slimmer/slimmest.
Another obvious thing that occurs to me, what with the tool set supposedly more friendly, is the benefit this likely means for the PS3 itself. That some devs - maybe the really cheap if not the really smart ones - will use the NGP framework for PS3 games. That some will either then offer them as separate NGP titles, or as digital copies on a PS3 disc installable onto the handheld. Make them standard for limited and special editions.
A third thought is that this Next Generation Portable, rather than the PSP2, is a re-imagining of PSN. That it actively puts it on three platforms - cell phones, the PSP2 and PS3 with monitoring access for the PC. Gains the Androids install base overnight while Sony lends it the strength of their gaming brand at the same time. Win-win.
So to sum up the obvious: wow. By general reaction Sony really hit one out of the park. Though of course the counter-reaction has already started, which will only get worse once the PSP2's price is announced along with battery life. Which, with the thing coming out this year, has to happen at the Tokyo Game Show. Where we'll also start to hear about actual PSP2 games.
Fanboy Rehab 101: How I learned to love Halo
Halo: You love it, or you hate it. I used to hate it. I hated it with an unfounded passion. To me Halo was a figurehead of everything bad in the computer/gaming industry. Halo was the game that fat-cat Microsoft stole from underdog Apple back in the days when no-one knew what an iPod was, when Steve Jobs was known more for being kicked out from Apple, and iMacs looked like fruit. Yes, I was a "Mac guy." Microsoft was the big evil Monopoly back then. They screwed Netscape. They ripped people off with new versions of Office and Windows that were no better, but required you to buy yet another computer. Bill Gates was the richest man in the world, and I was not. Microsoft was even going to try to monopolize the gaming console industry with the Xbox. The Xbox was evil, and Halo was it's heavy hitter. Supporting Halo was supporting Microsoft, which was just making the rich richer, and pushing the "little guys" out. In hindsight, I did not really hate Halo, I hated Microsoft.
Fast Forward about 10 or so years.
As a long time a PC/PlayStation gamer, I finally got a 360 for Forza 3 (I had played GT3/4/Prologue to death, and the inclusion of Porsche in Forza 3 made it an easy sell). One day last Fall, I was in my local games store, browsing for deals. Halo 3: Limited edition for 19.99$ used. SOLD! "Lets see what all the hype is about" I thought. I figured Halo was a game for pre-teens. Childs play. So I started the first level on Heroic (as intended...) and clearly remembered getting my asshole handed to me. Somehow I found myself stuck behind a tree with a plasma pistol (where did I get that???) and I was trying to hold off snipers with it. I was owned; or you could say pwned if that term was still hip. After figuring out the controls, and learning how to manage my shields, I began to have fun, a lot of fun. I went online and watched some videos to get caught up in the back-story, and before you know it, I was buying ODST. To me ODST is the black sheep of the franchise, but dripped atmosphere, and was a double-playthrough for me (a rarity for me in any game). Reach was phenomenal, and multiplayer still has me hooked. I have even started playing through Combat Evolved and have my eye out for a copy of Halo 2.
Long story short, I ended up loving Halo. It was no perfect game, but it was fun. It was accessible, while still providing depth. There are games with better graphics, and there are shooters that have surpassed Halo in popularity, but no matter how I looked at it, Halo was a great franchise, and I had a good time.
So what is my point here? Well, to be honest it is not to throw praise on Halo. You don't, and should not need my opinion to make your own decision on that one. Love it or hate it, I don't really care either. My point is that I missed out on what ended up being a great game because of my own Fanboyism over the years. I never gave Halo a chance, and until I did, it was my loss. Fanboyism did nothing for me. My message is for the subset of gamers that find they take sides and shun all that is not their console of choice. Be open, try new things. Forget review scores. Forget Lens of Truth. Forget PS3 vs 360. In this world there are good games, and there are bad games. Only you can decide which are which. Don't let console wars keep you from great games like Forza, GT, Halo, Killzone, Uncharted, etc. Remember, when you are being a Fanboy, you are only hurting your own gaming experience and enjoyment.
Fast Forward about 10 or so years.
As a long time a PC/PlayStation gamer, I finally got a 360 for Forza 3 (I had played GT3/4/Prologue to death, and the inclusion of Porsche in Forza 3 made it an easy sell). One day last Fall, I was in my local games store, browsing for deals. Halo 3: Limited edition for 19.99$ used. SOLD! "Lets see what all the hype is about" I thought. I figured Halo was a game for pre-teens. Childs play. So I started the first level on Heroic (as intended...) and clearly remembered getting my asshole handed to me. Somehow I found myself stuck behind a tree with a plasma pistol (where did I get that???) and I was trying to hold off snipers with it. I was owned; or you could say pwned if that term was still hip. After figuring out the controls, and learning how to manage my shields, I began to have fun, a lot of fun. I went online and watched some videos to get caught up in the back-story, and before you know it, I was buying ODST. To me ODST is the black sheep of the franchise, but dripped atmosphere, and was a double-playthrough for me (a rarity for me in any game). Reach was phenomenal, and multiplayer still has me hooked. I have even started playing through Combat Evolved and have my eye out for a copy of Halo 2.
Long story short, I ended up loving Halo. It was no perfect game, but it was fun. It was accessible, while still providing depth. There are games with better graphics, and there are shooters that have surpassed Halo in popularity, but no matter how I looked at it, Halo was a great franchise, and I had a good time.
So what is my point here? Well, to be honest it is not to throw praise on Halo. You don't, and should not need my opinion to make your own decision on that one. Love it or hate it, I don't really care either. My point is that I missed out on what ended up being a great game because of my own Fanboyism over the years. I never gave Halo a chance, and until I did, it was my loss. Fanboyism did nothing for me. My message is for the subset of gamers that find they take sides and shun all that is not their console of choice. Be open, try new things. Forget review scores. Forget Lens of Truth. Forget PS3 vs 360. In this world there are good games, and there are bad games. Only you can decide which are which. Don't let console wars keep you from great games like Forza, GT, Halo, Killzone, Uncharted, etc. Remember, when you are being a Fanboy, you are only hurting your own gaming experience and enjoyment.
Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia
Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Disney XD Games
Disney Friends for Change Games
To support the “Disney Friends for Change Games” on Disney Channel and Disney XD, Disneychannelgames.biz has launched an online destination at Disneyxd.biz, where kids and families can take part in the Games from home and help the planet — by making personal pledges of their own, playing online versions of the Games, and making art that matters! When kids play online versions of the Games at Disneyxd.biz, they can donate the points they earn to one of the four charities involved. At the end of the Games, the charity with the most points given by the Disney.com online community will receive $100K.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
In addition to playing online games for charity, kids can view exclusive video content and participate in a number of funonline activities. Kids can create online art on the Friends for Change Group Wall at Disneyxd.biz, where they can see the transformative power of friends everywhere pitching in to make a difference. The Disneyxd.biz site will also feature exclusive videos from the “Disney Friends for Change Games,” including a special wrap-up show hosted by Tiffany Thorntonand Jason Earles. Kids can also download the official 2011 Friends for Change anthem “We Can Change the World” featuring Bridgit Mendler on Disneyxd.biz
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
Over 30 Disney Channel Games and Disney XD Games stars from around the globe will compete in “Disney Friends for Change Games.” Four teams will play on behalf of a global charity — Fauna and Flora International, World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Conservancy and UNICEF. For five weeks beginning Friday, June 24, Disney Channelwill present “Disney Friends for Change Games” in interstitials during its Friday, Saturday and Sunday primetime original series programming, and Disney XD will present a special episode from the games Monday nights beginning June 27 (9:30 p.m., ET/PT). The Games will culminate with a special half-hour episode Sunday, July 31 on Disney Channel.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
About Disney’s Friends for Change
Disney’s Friends for Change is a multi-platform initiative that helps inspire kids and families to join together and make a positive impact on their world (and the people and animals that live there). Through PSAs on-air and online tool-kits, the program aims to provide useful information to help kids make small changes that add up to big differences. As part of the program, Disney donates $1 million dollars annually to fund projects all around the globe and has funded over 41 projects that help the planet ranging from educational & community programs to species & habitat protection. Friends for Change currently has over 4 million actions taking place from kids in 33 countries throughoutthe United States, Europe, Latin America, Japan, India and China. For more information, please visit Disneyxd.biz.
- Disney XD gets its game on
Astral-owned Disney XD Canada is delving deeper into the gaming space in a month-long promotion that will see the multi-platform brand take viewers behind the scenes of June’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), offer up two new games on DisneyXD.biz every week and give away five video game consoles to Disney XD viewers.
The Level Up contest runs through the month of September and is set to feature the star of What’s, Up Warthogs!, Eduard Witzke, reporting from this year’s E3 in eight short interstitial reports entitled Ed’s E3. New episodes of Ed’s E3 will premiere every Tuesday and Thursday from September 1 and will air throughout the Disney XD schedule. Additionally, a weekly entry word will appear in each episode, which can be used to enter the Level Up contest online to win one of five game consoles.
On top of entering the Level Up contest on DisneyXD.ca, viewers can explore a dedicated minisite to re-watch episodes of Ed’s E3 as well as test their skills on brand-new Disney XD games. Two new games will be unveiled each week with a bonus game available for those who can work out the special DisneyXD.biz game code.
To support the “Disney Friends for Change Games” on Disney Channel and Disney XD, Disneychannelgames.biz has launched an online destination at Disneyxd.biz, where kids and families can take part in the Games from home and help the planet — by making personal pledges of their own, playing online versions of the Games, and making art that matters! When kids play online versions of the Games at Disneyxd.biz, they can donate the points they earn to one of the four charities involved. At the end of the Games, the charity with the most points given by the Disney.com online community will receive $100K.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
In addition to playing online games for charity, kids can view exclusive video content and participate in a number of funonline activities. Kids can create online art on the Friends for Change Group Wall at Disneyxd.biz, where they can see the transformative power of friends everywhere pitching in to make a difference. The Disneyxd.biz site will also feature exclusive videos from the “Disney Friends for Change Games,” including a special wrap-up show hosted by Tiffany Thorntonand Jason Earles. Kids can also download the official 2011 Friends for Change anthem “We Can Change the World” featuring Bridgit Mendler on Disneyxd.biz
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
Over 30 Disney Channel Games and Disney XD Games stars from around the globe will compete in “Disney Friends for Change Games.” Four teams will play on behalf of a global charity — Fauna and Flora International, World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Conservancy and UNICEF. For five weeks beginning Friday, June 24, Disney Channelwill present “Disney Friends for Change Games” in interstitials during its Friday, Saturday and Sunday primetime original series programming, and Disney XD will present a special episode from the games Monday nights beginning June 27 (9:30 p.m., ET/PT). The Games will culminate with a special half-hour episode Sunday, July 31 on Disney Channel.
Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
About Disney’s Friends for Change
Disney’s Friends for Change is a multi-platform initiative that helps inspire kids and families to join together and make a positive impact on their world (and the people and animals that live there). Through PSAs on-air and online tool-kits, the program aims to provide useful information to help kids make small changes that add up to big differences. As part of the program, Disney donates $1 million dollars annually to fund projects all around the globe and has funded over 41 projects that help the planet ranging from educational & community programs to species & habitat protection. Friends for Change currently has over 4 million actions taking place from kids in 33 countries throughoutthe United States, Europe, Latin America, Japan, India and China. For more information, please visit Disneyxd.biz.
- Disney XD gets its game on
Astral-owned Disney XD Canada is delving deeper into the gaming space in a month-long promotion that will see the multi-platform brand take viewers behind the scenes of June’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), offer up two new games on DisneyXD.biz every week and give away five video game consoles to Disney XD viewers.
The Level Up contest runs through the month of September and is set to feature the star of What’s, Up Warthogs!, Eduard Witzke, reporting from this year’s E3 in eight short interstitial reports entitled Ed’s E3. New episodes of Ed’s E3 will premiere every Tuesday and Thursday from September 1 and will air throughout the Disney XD schedule. Additionally, a weekly entry word will appear in each episode, which can be used to enter the Level Up contest online to win one of five game consoles.
On top of entering the Level Up contest on DisneyXD.ca, viewers can explore a dedicated minisite to re-watch episodes of Ed’s E3 as well as test their skills on brand-new Disney XD games. Two new games will be unveiled each week with a bonus game available for those who can work out the special DisneyXD.biz game code.
Disney XD News
DISNEY XD TO PREMIERE “FORT BOYARD – ULTIMATE CHALLENGE,” A REALITY ADVENTURE SERIES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”
The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.
In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.
“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.
The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.
The series will be televised on Disney XD cable and satellite channels around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and CiTV in the UK.
About “Fort Boyard”
“Fort Boyard” is the most successful adventure game show in the world, having sold to over 30 territories, while dominating France 2′s primetime summer schedule every year since 1990. The action takes place in an imposing fortress built in the middle of the ocean. This provides the perfect backdrop for strenuous, against-the-clock physical challenges and mind-boggling riddles, featuring strange characters and fearsome animals. All this and more awaits those attempting to reach the Treasure Room! Only the fittest and most intelligent contestants can hope to conquer Fort Boyard.
About Disney XD:
Disney XD is a basic cable channel and multi-platform brand showcasing a compelling mix of live-action and animated programming for Kids age 6-14, hyper-targeting boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, sports, adventure and humor. Disney XD branded content spans television, online, mobile and VOD platforms. The programming includes series, movies and short-form, as well as sports-themed programming developed with ESPN. In the U.S., Disney XD is seen on a 24-hour, advertiser supported network that reaches over 78 million households via its basic cable and satellite affiliates. There are 22 other Disney XD Games channels around the world.
Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”
The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.
In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.
“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.
The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.
The series will be televised on Disney XD cable and satellite channels around the world (excluding France and the Nordics) and CiTV in the UK.
About “Fort Boyard”
“Fort Boyard” is the most successful adventure game show in the world, having sold to over 30 territories, while dominating France 2′s primetime summer schedule every year since 1990. The action takes place in an imposing fortress built in the middle of the ocean. This provides the perfect backdrop for strenuous, against-the-clock physical challenges and mind-boggling riddles, featuring strange characters and fearsome animals. All this and more awaits those attempting to reach the Treasure Room! Only the fittest and most intelligent contestants can hope to conquer Fort Boyard.
About Disney XD:
Disney XD is a basic cable channel and multi-platform brand showcasing a compelling mix of live-action and animated programming for Kids age 6-14, hyper-targeting boys and their quest for discovery, accomplishment, sports, adventure and humor. Disney XD branded content spans television, online, mobile and VOD platforms. The programming includes series, movies and short-form, as well as sports-themed programming developed with ESPN. In the U.S., Disney XD is seen on a 24-hour, advertiser supported network that reaches over 78 million households via its basic cable and satellite affiliates. There are 22 other Disney XD Games channels around the world.
Angry Birds for PC
Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
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- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
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- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds
Thứ Bảy, 15 tháng 10, 2011
Lets talk RAGE!!!
ID Software, the giant behind masterpieces such as Doom and Quake, are releasing their newest IP, RAGE, on September 13th on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. But will the game live up to today's standards after the company (ID) has been tucked away since Doom 3?
After watching almost every trailer/gameplay video on RAGE, the game is sure to impress, though there are some arising questions that leave me kinda worried about the game, which is what this blog is about (my 1st blog btw) Please note that some questions may be answered at E3 or in other RAGE footage, for now, its questions only about what we've seen so far.
So lets start with weapons:
ID has said their will be customization of weapons implemented into the game, however I have failed to see any "different" or customized weapons in the trailers. I hope they didn't mean customize by having just different ammo types or I'll be disappointed. Another thing I noticed is the lack of weapons, so far they have only shown 8 weapons (excluding grenades but including the blade thing) And from a game that is supposedly including some RPG elements, I'm hoping they have a lot more in store for us! The least they can do is have variations of those weapons like what Fallout did. I mean these are the guys that made the FPS genre, so plenty of weapons has to be a given, right? I sure hope so...
Enemies:
Is it me or do the enemies go down too quick? Especially the mutants. I hope they come in numbers then since I want each mission to last as long as possible but the way they plow through the enemies in the trailers has me "sorta" worried. Looks fun as hell though :p They seem to have a good variety of enemies too which is a plus, however is their any enemy that is NOT human like? Like did every animal just die off or something lol. I'm not asking for giant mole rats here but I mean it would be cool to face some kind of animal like creature, perhaps a giant tiger/lion that got infected/irradiated in a nearby zoo or something eh?
Open world-yness:
ID said the post-apocalyptic setting will be semi-open world, but how much can we really explore? Nothing says re-playability more than an open world, free roam environment, but to what I've seen so far from RAGE, you can only free roam in a set location. Dead City for example, only some parts will be explorable inside that set location, so "you can forget getting into that skyscraper and sniping innocent little mutants" is the kinda vibe I'm feeling from ID. Just wish they would expand that "set location" a little further.
Story: Will the story be compelling and memorable or will it be a given task to do something for each mission like in Dead Space 2? For a heavy focused singleplayer I sure hope it isn't the ladder!
Well anyways, that is my two cents on what ID needs to have in the game to get it from being a great game, to a masterpiece! Do you think ID software will deliver, or is it too much to ask?
After watching almost every trailer/gameplay video on RAGE, the game is sure to impress, though there are some arising questions that leave me kinda worried about the game, which is what this blog is about (my 1st blog btw) Please note that some questions may be answered at E3 or in other RAGE footage, for now, its questions only about what we've seen so far.
So lets start with weapons:
ID has said their will be customization of weapons implemented into the game, however I have failed to see any "different" or customized weapons in the trailers. I hope they didn't mean customize by having just different ammo types or I'll be disappointed. Another thing I noticed is the lack of weapons, so far they have only shown 8 weapons (excluding grenades but including the blade thing) And from a game that is supposedly including some RPG elements, I'm hoping they have a lot more in store for us! The least they can do is have variations of those weapons like what Fallout did. I mean these are the guys that made the FPS genre, so plenty of weapons has to be a given, right? I sure hope so...
Enemies:
Is it me or do the enemies go down too quick? Especially the mutants. I hope they come in numbers then since I want each mission to last as long as possible but the way they plow through the enemies in the trailers has me "sorta" worried. Looks fun as hell though :p They seem to have a good variety of enemies too which is a plus, however is their any enemy that is NOT human like? Like did every animal just die off or something lol. I'm not asking for giant mole rats here but I mean it would be cool to face some kind of animal like creature, perhaps a giant tiger/lion that got infected/irradiated in a nearby zoo or something eh?
Open world-yness:
ID said the post-apocalyptic setting will be semi-open world, but how much can we really explore? Nothing says re-playability more than an open world, free roam environment, but to what I've seen so far from RAGE, you can only free roam in a set location. Dead City for example, only some parts will be explorable inside that set location, so "you can forget getting into that skyscraper and sniping innocent little mutants" is the kinda vibe I'm feeling from ID. Just wish they would expand that "set location" a little further.
Story: Will the story be compelling and memorable or will it be a given task to do something for each mission like in Dead Space 2? For a heavy focused singleplayer I sure hope it isn't the ladder!
Well anyways, that is my two cents on what ID needs to have in the game to get it from being a great game, to a masterpiece! Do you think ID software will deliver, or is it too much to ask?
Official Pokemon Game Coming To Smartphones
The Pokemon Company is set to bring an official Pokemon Online game to smartphone devices, marking the first time that an official Nintendo-copyrighted app will be available on the iOS and Android.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Smear Campaigns: Not such a conspiracy after all.
It was only a couple days ago, many of you might have missed it, when the USA Today broke a story involving Facebook hiring a PR firm to smear Google. Two individuals, Jim Goldman, a former tech reporter for CNBC and John Mercurio, a former political reporter working for Burson-Marsteller (one of the biggest, most well known PR agencies in the world); were caught trying to feed or even co-author stories to a writer that gets his work published in places like the Washington Post, Politico, and The Huffington Post.
The Whistleblower’s email exchange can be found here: http://pastebin.com/zaeTeJe...
After being confronted with evidence by the USA Today, Facebook admitted to their role; claiming they were only trying to bring attention to the issue, as did Burson-Marsteller. Burson-Marsteller is saying that they have reviewed ethics policy among employees working at the firm. Both companies get negative PR, but really other than that our Justice Department doesn’t care – nothing is being done to stop this besides the PR embarrassment it showcases, which usually goes away after a week or so of not talking about it.
Terence Fane-Saunders, who worked for Burson-Marsteller in the 1980s and now runs his own PR firm, Chelgate explains: "In this grubby little attempt to seed negative stories without disclosing their source, they were denying the media (and that means the public, and that means you and me) the opportunity to assess the value of those stories," Saunders said. "If you don't know the source, you can't judge motive." http://www.ibtimes.com/arti...
TheDailyBeast talked to several PR people from Silicon Valley that say this practice happens the time in the PR business, but it’s unusual that Burson-Marsteller was so clumsy about doing so.
So if PR smear “whisper” campaigns happen all the time in the PR world, just how far removed is the tech media removed from the videogames media? Is it possible this could be happening to the stories we read on N4G every day? I pose this question to N4G users because we are exactly the people that see a broad range of articles across the media – and might find suspicious work when compared to legitimate.
It was 2 days ago when, Joe Wilcox of Betanews broke a story entitled: Don’t believe the hype: PS3 users aren’t switching to Xbox 360. http://www.betanews.com/joe... Joe called half a dozen Gamestops in America to check up on Edge’s claim actually finding no evidence that people were trading in PS3s at an unusual rate.
Edge’s News story was circulated to most major sites (there’s too many to count) like CNET News http://news.cnet.com/8301-1... SlashGear; TG Daily; The Loop; Venture Beat; Kataku; CVG and ZDNet; most of the time only citing the 200% increase mentioned by two different anonymous sources by edge, and in every instance not mentioning the statistics were from Europe in the title. In order to make a stronger story out of it every website citing Edge was skipping over the other source that Edge mentioned in England that hadn’t noticed any change.
While it’s hard to tell if PR could have been at work – the sketchy part is that only one of Edge’s cited sources would go on record. Also two of the sources cited a 200% figure – why use percentages unless you’re trying to hide the real figures? For all we know a ‘200% increase’ could be from 0 to 2. It also seems exactly like something one of the major Console manufacturers would do in a Press Release on sales figures to fit to their liking. The biggest strike against Edge’s article was the fact that another person actually investigating the claim was finding nothing of the sort, in fact, disproving Edge’s claim to some degree. Could Edge have been fed an article from an un-sourced email, like the facebook-google incident? It’s hard to say, but we really need to open our eyes on this sort of thing. Smear campaigns may be real and sadly, it seems they actually go unpunished when they’re uncovered.
The Whistleblower’s email exchange can be found here: http://pastebin.com/zaeTeJe...
After being confronted with evidence by the USA Today, Facebook admitted to their role; claiming they were only trying to bring attention to the issue, as did Burson-Marsteller. Burson-Marsteller is saying that they have reviewed ethics policy among employees working at the firm. Both companies get negative PR, but really other than that our Justice Department doesn’t care – nothing is being done to stop this besides the PR embarrassment it showcases, which usually goes away after a week or so of not talking about it.
Terence Fane-Saunders, who worked for Burson-Marsteller in the 1980s and now runs his own PR firm, Chelgate explains: "In this grubby little attempt to seed negative stories without disclosing their source, they were denying the media (and that means the public, and that means you and me) the opportunity to assess the value of those stories," Saunders said. "If you don't know the source, you can't judge motive." http://www.ibtimes.com/arti...
TheDailyBeast talked to several PR people from Silicon Valley that say this practice happens the time in the PR business, but it’s unusual that Burson-Marsteller was so clumsy about doing so.
So if PR smear “whisper” campaigns happen all the time in the PR world, just how far removed is the tech media removed from the videogames media? Is it possible this could be happening to the stories we read on N4G every day? I pose this question to N4G users because we are exactly the people that see a broad range of articles across the media – and might find suspicious work when compared to legitimate.
It was 2 days ago when, Joe Wilcox of Betanews broke a story entitled: Don’t believe the hype: PS3 users aren’t switching to Xbox 360. http://www.betanews.com/joe... Joe called half a dozen Gamestops in America to check up on Edge’s claim actually finding no evidence that people were trading in PS3s at an unusual rate.
Edge’s News story was circulated to most major sites (there’s too many to count) like CNET News http://news.cnet.com/8301-1... SlashGear; TG Daily; The Loop; Venture Beat; Kataku; CVG and ZDNet; most of the time only citing the 200% increase mentioned by two different anonymous sources by edge, and in every instance not mentioning the statistics were from Europe in the title. In order to make a stronger story out of it every website citing Edge was skipping over the other source that Edge mentioned in England that hadn’t noticed any change.
While it’s hard to tell if PR could have been at work – the sketchy part is that only one of Edge’s cited sources would go on record. Also two of the sources cited a 200% figure – why use percentages unless you’re trying to hide the real figures? For all we know a ‘200% increase’ could be from 0 to 2. It also seems exactly like something one of the major Console manufacturers would do in a Press Release on sales figures to fit to their liking. The biggest strike against Edge’s article was the fact that another person actually investigating the claim was finding nothing of the sort, in fact, disproving Edge’s claim to some degree. Could Edge have been fed an article from an un-sourced email, like the facebook-google incident? It’s hard to say, but we really need to open our eyes on this sort of thing. Smear campaigns may be real and sadly, it seems they actually go unpunished when they’re uncovered.
Thứ Sáu, 14 tháng 10, 2011
PC Gaming: The Truth
After reading countless articles and comments on this site that spread lies and misinformation about this platform I decided to share my thoughts on the matter without screaming “PC gaming is better” or “Consolez FTW”. I am biased towards PC gaming as I am a PC gamer and own neither console. However I used too and gamed on the consoles for years so I believe I have a fair insight on both sides. This is not an article to start a flame war in the comments about which platform you prefer, everyone has their opinion and I advise you not to post why your system is the best. It’s all preference.
This Blog is only here to throw away the big lies about PC gaming which I spread out into three topics.
[Price]
A lot of arguing goes on about this topic. You have the “uninformed” console gamer who believes that a PC costs around £2000 however I am going to ignore this because it’s just plain stupidity. Then you get to the real argument PC’s are a big investment, you are likely to pay triple the price of a console to get a good gaming rig that will last you a while. However console games generally cost around £10 more than a PC game at launch and drop in price a lot quicker. Then there is the factor of upgrading your PC which is not normally necessary to keep playing games which brings me to the second big lie about PC Gaming, people who say that you have to worry about upgrading your parts for every new game that releases. If you invested in a good system at launch there is no reason why it can’t still play games 4-6 years down the line. Due to most games only running DX9 because of the consoles however of course you will need to upgrade your computer if you want to run DX11 and bought a DX9 graphics card however this is not a necessity.
TL;DR PC gaming is a massive investment at first however If you buy a lot of games it will probably end up being cheaper.
[Ease of use and reliability]
Well a lot of people want their gaming platform to be simple and easy to use and in this field consoles trump PC however the jump is not as big as people think and you will actually learn something useful if you learn how to build and maintain a PC. Thinking of building a PC sounds a lot scarier than it really is, I learnt how to build a computer after watching 4 short youtube videos and glancing over my motherboards instructions. Yet it is completely understandable If someone does not wish to do this and consoles are definitely the better choice for ease of use.
A lot of gamers see PC’s as something that never works how you want it too and you need to install drivers and all of these things. However I disagree windows 7 takes care of 99.9% of driver installs automatically. The problems that do occur with my PC can normally be fixed after a quick google search or patch. Consoles on the other hand are not very reliable, The problems that occur with consoles are more likely to require you to return the console unless you have a very good technical understanding.
[Games]
“But the PC has no games” As a PC gamer I hear this a lot. However this is not true at all PC has way more games than both consoles combined. It is fully backwards compatible and with services such as GOG.com really old games are being brought back to life. PC games normally address the PC Gamer crowd. They are often less casual and more strategic. PC gamers love strategy games and so we have big series such as Starcraft and Total War, two games that also hold their own against console top sellers. PC is also the “true” home of indie games and innovation, It offers developers a complete freedom so that they do not have to abide by the rules of Sony or Microsoft which has allowed for some great titles such as Minecraft, Mount and Blade and terraria. Three games that would never have passed approval by Sony and Microsoft due to buying unfinished games and the way they evolve. Then there is Mods, a lot of console gamers see mods as something that adds a new skin or enhances a games graphics however their have been some pretty impressive mods. For example: Team Fortress, Counter Strike, Nehrim, The cube and much more. There are also mods that fix problems in games such as The Unofficial Oblivion Patch that fixes 800 bugs in the game. And of course graphics mods which seem to be getting the most publicity at the moment.
Then there is F2P games. These are regarded by most gamers as cheap and trash however some of these games are pretty good. Recent ones include KAG2D and Team Fortress 2. However I agree that most past F2P games have been plagued by pay to win and all sorts of issues. Developers seem to have noticed this and there are some promising F2P titles such as End of Nations and Firefall which both do something new and great.
So I think that throws out the no games argument.
In conclusion game on what you want to game on. PC gaming is not better than console gaming and console gaming is not better than PC gaming, they both suit different kinds of people. Gaming is primarily about fun after all.
This Blog is only here to throw away the big lies about PC gaming which I spread out into three topics.
[Price]
A lot of arguing goes on about this topic. You have the “uninformed” console gamer who believes that a PC costs around £2000 however I am going to ignore this because it’s just plain stupidity. Then you get to the real argument PC’s are a big investment, you are likely to pay triple the price of a console to get a good gaming rig that will last you a while. However console games generally cost around £10 more than a PC game at launch and drop in price a lot quicker. Then there is the factor of upgrading your PC which is not normally necessary to keep playing games which brings me to the second big lie about PC Gaming, people who say that you have to worry about upgrading your parts for every new game that releases. If you invested in a good system at launch there is no reason why it can’t still play games 4-6 years down the line. Due to most games only running DX9 because of the consoles however of course you will need to upgrade your computer if you want to run DX11 and bought a DX9 graphics card however this is not a necessity.
TL;DR PC gaming is a massive investment at first however If you buy a lot of games it will probably end up being cheaper.
[Ease of use and reliability]
Well a lot of people want their gaming platform to be simple and easy to use and in this field consoles trump PC however the jump is not as big as people think and you will actually learn something useful if you learn how to build and maintain a PC. Thinking of building a PC sounds a lot scarier than it really is, I learnt how to build a computer after watching 4 short youtube videos and glancing over my motherboards instructions. Yet it is completely understandable If someone does not wish to do this and consoles are definitely the better choice for ease of use.
A lot of gamers see PC’s as something that never works how you want it too and you need to install drivers and all of these things. However I disagree windows 7 takes care of 99.9% of driver installs automatically. The problems that do occur with my PC can normally be fixed after a quick google search or patch. Consoles on the other hand are not very reliable, The problems that occur with consoles are more likely to require you to return the console unless you have a very good technical understanding.
[Games]
“But the PC has no games” As a PC gamer I hear this a lot. However this is not true at all PC has way more games than both consoles combined. It is fully backwards compatible and with services such as GOG.com really old games are being brought back to life. PC games normally address the PC Gamer crowd. They are often less casual and more strategic. PC gamers love strategy games and so we have big series such as Starcraft and Total War, two games that also hold their own against console top sellers. PC is also the “true” home of indie games and innovation, It offers developers a complete freedom so that they do not have to abide by the rules of Sony or Microsoft which has allowed for some great titles such as Minecraft, Mount and Blade and terraria. Three games that would never have passed approval by Sony and Microsoft due to buying unfinished games and the way they evolve. Then there is Mods, a lot of console gamers see mods as something that adds a new skin or enhances a games graphics however their have been some pretty impressive mods. For example: Team Fortress, Counter Strike, Nehrim, The cube and much more. There are also mods that fix problems in games such as The Unofficial Oblivion Patch that fixes 800 bugs in the game. And of course graphics mods which seem to be getting the most publicity at the moment.
Then there is F2P games. These are regarded by most gamers as cheap and trash however some of these games are pretty good. Recent ones include KAG2D and Team Fortress 2. However I agree that most past F2P games have been plagued by pay to win and all sorts of issues. Developers seem to have noticed this and there are some promising F2P titles such as End of Nations and Firefall which both do something new and great.
So I think that throws out the no games argument.
In conclusion game on what you want to game on. PC gaming is not better than console gaming and console gaming is not better than PC gaming, they both suit different kinds of people. Gaming is primarily about fun after all.
Working with Pirates
Last week an Indie company made the headlines on a gaming websites because they chose a different type of advertising for their game. A special build of the game was released on a torrent site for free.
Before the morale debate starts I would like to state that I downloaded games illegally before(like most of you) and to some point I understand why some people do it regularly.
For 18 years I lived in Lima: the capital of Peru (South America if some of you don’t know); unlike the UK, US, EU(Developed countries), getting, I mean buying games it is much harder.
First of all not all the games are available, the release dates are different (months after released in USA), but more importantly the prices at retail are the same or very close to the ones in America.
In Peru the minimum wage is 200$ dollars a month, where a game retail price is around 40-60$, making buying videogames a banality. I’m not here to debate why is ok to get games without paying for them, we know they are not a necessity, just hear me out. I know what is it to be a teenager and the only way to get your games is to get pirated versions of them.
Here are some ideas in how we can “work” with pirates.
1) Engage the pirates: Don’t threat pirates as your enemies or loss revenue, but instead as potential customers who haven’t been reached yet. Indie Developer tinyBuild released a special build of their latest game No Time to Explain! on a torrent site for free.
The developer told Gamasutra: “Basically, on release day, we rushed to make a version of the game that is actually all about pirates”, “People were going to pirate it anyway, so we figured if we make something funny out of it (give everyone pirate hats in a pirated version of the game), gamers would appreciate that and start talking about it”
“Plus, we think it’s a great distribution channel that just hasn’t been monetized properly yet”
2) Reward Customers: DRM is not the way to stop piracy. If you are a customer it feels like you are being treated like a criminal and being kicked in the crotch.
Don’t assume all your customers are potential criminals. Imagine you go to shop to buy some clothes, and while doing so a security guard follows you all the time; that is like DRM, it doesn’t think you are a criminal but is there just in case you might end up doing something funny.
Give customers incentive for buying from you, even coffee shops give me a stamp for each coffee I buy. Why not after 3 new videogames I buy you give me 50% discount on the next DLC?
I’m sure there are a number of ways to reward customers for choosing to buy new games, giving incentives instead of punishing them for doing so.
3) Create a community: Give your customers a place where they can meet and play like-minded people. Games like FIFA give you the chance to connect with football fans around the world, create avatars, watch videos, join leagues and much more.
4) Lower prices: The current prices in the UK for a new game are between 35 £ and 45 £. I personally don’t buy games at released dates because I found it ridiculous to pay that amount for a videogame.
I Wait till the game price goes down or becomes platinum (in case of the ps3), and buy for a reasonable price. I’m pretty sure the publishers will sell more games if they sell them at 20-25 £ than at 45£.
Before the morale debate starts I would like to state that I downloaded games illegally before(like most of you) and to some point I understand why some people do it regularly.
For 18 years I lived in Lima: the capital of Peru (South America if some of you don’t know); unlike the UK, US, EU(Developed countries), getting, I mean buying games it is much harder.
First of all not all the games are available, the release dates are different (months after released in USA), but more importantly the prices at retail are the same or very close to the ones in America.
In Peru the minimum wage is 200$ dollars a month, where a game retail price is around 40-60$, making buying videogames a banality. I’m not here to debate why is ok to get games without paying for them, we know they are not a necessity, just hear me out. I know what is it to be a teenager and the only way to get your games is to get pirated versions of them.
Here are some ideas in how we can “work” with pirates.
1) Engage the pirates: Don’t threat pirates as your enemies or loss revenue, but instead as potential customers who haven’t been reached yet. Indie Developer tinyBuild released a special build of their latest game No Time to Explain! on a torrent site for free.
The developer told Gamasutra: “Basically, on release day, we rushed to make a version of the game that is actually all about pirates”, “People were going to pirate it anyway, so we figured if we make something funny out of it (give everyone pirate hats in a pirated version of the game), gamers would appreciate that and start talking about it”
“Plus, we think it’s a great distribution channel that just hasn’t been monetized properly yet”
2) Reward Customers: DRM is not the way to stop piracy. If you are a customer it feels like you are being treated like a criminal and being kicked in the crotch.
Don’t assume all your customers are potential criminals. Imagine you go to shop to buy some clothes, and while doing so a security guard follows you all the time; that is like DRM, it doesn’t think you are a criminal but is there just in case you might end up doing something funny.
Give customers incentive for buying from you, even coffee shops give me a stamp for each coffee I buy. Why not after 3 new videogames I buy you give me 50% discount on the next DLC?
I’m sure there are a number of ways to reward customers for choosing to buy new games, giving incentives instead of punishing them for doing so.
3) Create a community: Give your customers a place where they can meet and play like-minded people. Games like FIFA give you the chance to connect with football fans around the world, create avatars, watch videos, join leagues and much more.
4) Lower prices: The current prices in the UK for a new game are between 35 £ and 45 £. I personally don’t buy games at released dates because I found it ridiculous to pay that amount for a videogame.
I Wait till the game price goes down or becomes platinum (in case of the ps3), and buy for a reasonable price. I’m pretty sure the publishers will sell more games if they sell them at 20-25 £ than at 45£.
Phineas And Ferb 3D Game – Disney XD Games 63
New Disney Game – Phineas and Ferb
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Have Fun!
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Have Fun!
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Thứ Ba, 11 tháng 10, 2011
Apple's Game Center hits 67M users, new version hits Oct. 12 in iOS 5
Mark your calendars, proud iPhone owners. Apple announced today at its iPhone 4S event that the next version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5, will launch Oct. 12 as a free update. And with it comes a brand new Game Center, Apple's answer to existing mobile social game networks like OpenFeint and Mobage (and before that, Ngmoco's Plus network). You see, the company has been dragging its feet somewhat into the mobile social games space.
Regardless, the existing version of Game Center has welcomes 67 million able-thumbed mobile gamers, Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the event. (OpenFeint boasts 115 million users for comparison.) The service will be vastly improved next week with achievements, the ability to find new friends to play with and customizable profiles.
These features have been a part of Game Center's mobile competitors for some time, but despite being a latecomer, the service has managed to garner tens of millions of players. When Apple first revealed Game Center, it was already behind these independent services that have gone on to become, or rather be acquired by, major gaming companies.
Game Center, even with the advantage of being baked directly into iOS rather than individual games like Openfeint, has lots of work to do before it will trump its competitors. It proves that even if the iPod Touch is "the most popular portable game player in the world," according to Cook, it's still not the most popular social mobile game player in the world. That's gonna' take some time.
[Via Gamasutra, Gdgt]
Do you think Apple's Game Center could ever catch up to OpenFeint or even Mobage in the mobile social game space? What do you think the company needs to do in order to make that happen? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Regardless, the existing version of Game Center has welcomes 67 million able-thumbed mobile gamers, Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the event. (OpenFeint boasts 115 million users for comparison.) The service will be vastly improved next week with achievements, the ability to find new friends to play with and customizable profiles.
These features have been a part of Game Center's mobile competitors for some time, but despite being a latecomer, the service has managed to garner tens of millions of players. When Apple first revealed Game Center, it was already behind these independent services that have gone on to become, or rather be acquired by, major gaming companies.
Game Center, even with the advantage of being baked directly into iOS rather than individual games like Openfeint, has lots of work to do before it will trump its competitors. It proves that even if the iPod Touch is "the most popular portable game player in the world," according to Cook, it's still not the most popular social mobile game player in the world. That's gonna' take some time.
[Via Gamasutra, Gdgt]
Do you think Apple's Game Center could ever catch up to OpenFeint or even Mobage in the mobile social game space? What do you think the company needs to do in order to make that happen? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
To pick up Fast Five on Blu-ray, DVD at Walmart, better try Car Town
Branded Facebook game promotions are a dime a dozen these days, but turning a Facebook game into a store front? Now, that's something to twirl the mustache at. Cie Games announced that Car Town was the only place Fast Five fans could pre-order the Fast Five Blu-ray/DVD combo pack at Walmart. But since the movie released today in stores, fans can also take a trip to Walmart to score some in-game rewards.
Within Car Town, players could click on a giant Walmart-themed big rig to pre-order the pack through Walmart's online store, which would have scored them an exclusive in-game locker with a Fast Five-themed bullet-proof vest to display in their garages. Though, anyone who buys the game through Car Town or in stores will net themselves a virtual Armet Gurkha armored vehicle to race their friends with.
This is the culmination of a six month-long event made possible by Universal Partnerships & Licensing that displayed the movie's trailer within Car Town. And now players can complete missions inspired by the movie's storyline by racing cars directly taken from the film. And Car Town, which enjoys over 5.2 million monthly players, has had its branding throughout the Fast Five release.
"This program is one of the most extensive and successful efforts to date by a major film studio to leverage the nexus between real-world marketing and promotion via social gaming," said Cie Games CEO Justin Choi. "Since the program began in April 2011, Car Town players have completed more than 200 million races in the virtual Rio de Janeiro race environment modeled after the movie's key location."
In other words, this was one giant Facebook game branding event, and Cie Games is far from the only developer that's in on the action. Zynga has already begun to integrate Indiana Jones into its Adventure World completely, while other studios like Ecko|Code build their business entirely around branded Facebook games. We've said it before and we'll say it again: Branding is huge in Facebook games. Our concern, however, is whether the games can grow in terms of gameplay amidst the allure of branding.
Have you followed the Fast Five event in Car Town since it started? What do you think of branding in Facebook games--has it gone too far or are you digging it? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Within Car Town, players could click on a giant Walmart-themed big rig to pre-order the pack through Walmart's online store, which would have scored them an exclusive in-game locker with a Fast Five-themed bullet-proof vest to display in their garages. Though, anyone who buys the game through Car Town or in stores will net themselves a virtual Armet Gurkha armored vehicle to race their friends with.
This is the culmination of a six month-long event made possible by Universal Partnerships & Licensing that displayed the movie's trailer within Car Town. And now players can complete missions inspired by the movie's storyline by racing cars directly taken from the film. And Car Town, which enjoys over 5.2 million monthly players, has had its branding throughout the Fast Five release.
"This program is one of the most extensive and successful efforts to date by a major film studio to leverage the nexus between real-world marketing and promotion via social gaming," said Cie Games CEO Justin Choi. "Since the program began in April 2011, Car Town players have completed more than 200 million races in the virtual Rio de Janeiro race environment modeled after the movie's key location."
In other words, this was one giant Facebook game branding event, and Cie Games is far from the only developer that's in on the action. Zynga has already begun to integrate Indiana Jones into its Adventure World completely, while other studios like Ecko|Code build their business entirely around branded Facebook games. We've said it before and we'll say it again: Branding is huge in Facebook games. Our concern, however, is whether the games can grow in terms of gameplay amidst the allure of branding.
Have you followed the Fast Five event in Car Town since it started? What do you think of branding in Facebook games--has it gone too far or are you digging it? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Thứ Tư, 5 tháng 10, 2011
Facebook games could get crazy good graphics with Unreal Engine 3
That's right, you supposed 80 million hardcore gamers on Facebook, Gears of War maker Epic Games announced that the upcoming Adobe Flash Player 11 will support its Unreal Engine 3. Considering the majority of Facebook games are created and played using Flash, we can't imagine it will be long before social game makers craft Facebook games in gorgeous 3D.
Kotaku reports that the Flash version of Epic Games's Unreal Engine 3, the technology through which numerous hardcore console game series like Unreal Tournament and Mass Effect are made, appears less powerful than on PCs and consoles. Regardless, this marks a huge step toward 3D gaming on Facebook, considering other methods like Unity have yet to catch on.
That's mainly because games that use the Unity Player requires an additional download, which could arguably scare less technologically-savvy players away. Flash requires no download, aside from the occasional update, though that's merely thanks to Flash's growing ubiquity. It's also important to note that Apple's iOS devices support Unreal Engine 3, meaning developers could create games that run similarly on both Facebook and iPhones or iPads. (Infinity Blade on Facebook, anyone?)
This type of cross-platform play is something social game makers have clamored for awhile now, many of which turning to HTML5 to make it happen. (Even Zynga mobile chief David Ko said that HTML5 is still too early.) But with the possibility for full 3D games that players could play between their iPhones and on Facebook, it's possible that developers could come running back to Flash. Check out what Unreal Engine 3 looks like on Flash Player 11, though not yet in motion, here.
Are you excited to hear that Flash games, primarily Facebook games, will be capable of full 3D graphics? How do you think this might change the enormous social games industry? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Kotaku reports that the Flash version of Epic Games's Unreal Engine 3, the technology through which numerous hardcore console game series like Unreal Tournament and Mass Effect are made, appears less powerful than on PCs and consoles. Regardless, this marks a huge step toward 3D gaming on Facebook, considering other methods like Unity have yet to catch on.
That's mainly because games that use the Unity Player requires an additional download, which could arguably scare less technologically-savvy players away. Flash requires no download, aside from the occasional update, though that's merely thanks to Flash's growing ubiquity. It's also important to note that Apple's iOS devices support Unreal Engine 3, meaning developers could create games that run similarly on both Facebook and iPhones or iPads. (Infinity Blade on Facebook, anyone?)
This type of cross-platform play is something social game makers have clamored for awhile now, many of which turning to HTML5 to make it happen. (Even Zynga mobile chief David Ko said that HTML5 is still too early.) But with the possibility for full 3D games that players could play between their iPhones and on Facebook, it's possible that developers could come running back to Flash. Check out what Unreal Engine 3 looks like on Flash Player 11, though not yet in motion, here.
Are you excited to hear that Flash games, primarily Facebook games, will be capable of full 3D graphics? How do you think this might change the enormous social games industry? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Supernatural show, Being Human, gets Facebook game in time for Halloween
News has been circulating that Being Human--a popular British supernatural drama with an American remake about a vampire, ghost, and werewolf that share a flat--will finally get its own Facebook game. Televisual reports that it's "available globally." DigitalSpy claims the game has been "released" and even has a screenshot.
The same screenshot was used by SFX, though to its credit, it doesn't claim the game has launched. Instead, Broadcast claims that. I guess everyone was excited to tell folks about the game, but no one could provide a link to the actual game.
If you love this show and don't mind being teased beyond your sanity trying to figure out where this game is, then let us fill you in on what we do know. As of this writing, there's no official announcement about a game on either the Syfy or the BBC website. Neither is there any news on the official Syfy and BBC Facebook fan pages for either the American or British version of the show.
So, perhaps it's safe to say that the game is totally not launched and available yet. But given those involved in the game's creation, it's clear this game will be based on the original BBC show and won't be originating state-side on Syfy's budding games portal.
Being Human Facebook Game
Zodiak Active, which manages the rights to the BBC show, had partnered with developer Utinni Games to bring Being Human to Facebook. Zodiak Active senior VP Edward Humphrey has this to say about it:
The Being Human social game will build upon the creative inspiration of the TV drama and allow players to take the roles of vampire, werewolf and ghost in compelling new storylines that they will play, rather than watch. . . The game is a mix of exploration, combat and problem-solving that immerses users into an intriguing world of supernatural creatures that exist just beyond the surface of everyday life.
That definitely sounds like this will be a role-playing game. In fact, SFX also reported that you can "play as a ghost, werewolf or vampire." The game has got the blessing of Toby Whithouse, the BBC show's creator, and thumbs-up from the show's producer, Touchpaper Television. Enough screenwriters from the series have been brought in to make sure that the content and banter will be top-notch. Currently, the BBC version of Being Human just ended Season 3. Season 4 will premiere sometime next year. So this game will obviously be filling the void for the duration.
Have you ever watched Being Human on either Syfy or BBC? What other shows would you like to see Facebook games for? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The same screenshot was used by SFX, though to its credit, it doesn't claim the game has launched. Instead, Broadcast claims that. I guess everyone was excited to tell folks about the game, but no one could provide a link to the actual game.
If you love this show and don't mind being teased beyond your sanity trying to figure out where this game is, then let us fill you in on what we do know. As of this writing, there's no official announcement about a game on either the Syfy or the BBC website. Neither is there any news on the official Syfy and BBC Facebook fan pages for either the American or British version of the show.
So, perhaps it's safe to say that the game is totally not launched and available yet. But given those involved in the game's creation, it's clear this game will be based on the original BBC show and won't be originating state-side on Syfy's budding games portal.
Being Human Facebook Game
Zodiak Active, which manages the rights to the BBC show, had partnered with developer Utinni Games to bring Being Human to Facebook. Zodiak Active senior VP Edward Humphrey has this to say about it:
The Being Human social game will build upon the creative inspiration of the TV drama and allow players to take the roles of vampire, werewolf and ghost in compelling new storylines that they will play, rather than watch. . . The game is a mix of exploration, combat and problem-solving that immerses users into an intriguing world of supernatural creatures that exist just beyond the surface of everyday life.
That definitely sounds like this will be a role-playing game. In fact, SFX also reported that you can "play as a ghost, werewolf or vampire." The game has got the blessing of Toby Whithouse, the BBC show's creator, and thumbs-up from the show's producer, Touchpaper Television. Enough screenwriters from the series have been brought in to make sure that the content and banter will be top-notch. Currently, the BBC version of Being Human just ended Season 3. Season 4 will premiere sometime next year. So this game will obviously be filling the void for the duration.
Have you ever watched Being Human on either Syfy or BBC? What other shows would you like to see Facebook games for? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
FarmVille Pic of the Day: MaizaHedgerow's garden estate
farmville featured farmToday's featured farm is a beautiful specimen crafted by MaizaHedgerow. Throughout our FarmVille Pic of the Day posts, we've seen a variety of awesome hedge maze farms. Some of you might remember farms made by Kathy, Cotopaxi, and others. However, never have we seen a maze with as much style and class as MaizaHedgerow's.
Imagine that in an alternate universe, you own a massive estate, with a huge mansion on it. Now imagine what your patio and garden would look like. If you're like me, you've imagined something like MaizaHedgerow's farm. Any fans of Chris Van Allsburg might agree that this farm looks a bit like The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. With it's perfect symmetry, square tree & crop arrangements, and beautiful hedges, this farm is truly splendid.
What do you think of MaizaHedgerow's picture-perfect garden?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Imagine that in an alternate universe, you own a massive estate, with a huge mansion on it. Now imagine what your patio and garden would look like. If you're like me, you've imagined something like MaizaHedgerow's farm. Any fans of Chris Van Allsburg might agree that this farm looks a bit like The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. With it's perfect symmetry, square tree & crop arrangements, and beautiful hedges, this farm is truly splendid.
What do you think of MaizaHedgerow's picture-perfect garden?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Apple's Game Center hits 67M users, new version hits Oct. 12 in iOS 5
Mark your calendars, proud iPhone owners. Apple announced today at its iPhone 4S event that the next version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5, will launch Oct. 12 as a free update. And with it comes a brand new Game Center, Apple's answer to existing mobile social game networks like OpenFeint and Mobage (and before that, Ngmoco's Plus network). You see, the company has been dragging its feet somewhat into the mobile social games space.
Regardless, the existing version of Game Center has welcomes 67 million able-thumbed mobile gamers, Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the event. (OpenFeint boasts 115 million users for comparison.) The service will be vastly improved next week with achievements, the ability to find new friends to play with and customizable profiles.
These features have been a part of Game Center's mobile competitors for some time, but despite being a latecomer, the service has managed to garner tens of millions of players. When Apple first revealed Game Center, it was already behind these independent services that have gone on to become, or rather be acquired by, major gaming companies.
Game Center, even with the advantage of being baked directly into iOS rather than individual games like Openfeint, has lots of work to do before it will trump its competitors. It proves that even if the iPod Touch is "the most popular portable game player in the world," according to Cook, it's still not the most popular social mobile game player in the world. That's gonna' take some time.
[Via Gamasutra, Gdgt]
Do you think Apple's Game Center could ever catch up to OpenFeint or even Mobage in the mobile social game space? What do you think the company needs to do in order to make that happen? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Regardless, the existing version of Game Center has welcomes 67 million able-thumbed mobile gamers, Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the event. (OpenFeint boasts 115 million users for comparison.) The service will be vastly improved next week with achievements, the ability to find new friends to play with and customizable profiles.
These features have been a part of Game Center's mobile competitors for some time, but despite being a latecomer, the service has managed to garner tens of millions of players. When Apple first revealed Game Center, it was already behind these independent services that have gone on to become, or rather be acquired by, major gaming companies.
Game Center, even with the advantage of being baked directly into iOS rather than individual games like Openfeint, has lots of work to do before it will trump its competitors. It proves that even if the iPod Touch is "the most popular portable game player in the world," according to Cook, it's still not the most popular social mobile game player in the world. That's gonna' take some time.
[Via Gamasutra, Gdgt]
Do you think Apple's Game Center could ever catch up to OpenFeint or even Mobage in the mobile social game space? What do you think the company needs to do in order to make that happen? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
To pick up Fast Five on Blu-ray, DVD at Walmart, better try Car Town
Branded Facebook game promotions are a dime a dozen these days, but turning a Facebook game into a store front? Now, that's something to twirl the mustache at. Cie Games announced that Car Town was the only place Fast Five fans could pre-order the Fast Five Blu-ray/DVD combo pack at Walmart. But since the movie released today in stores, fans can also take a trip to Walmart to score some in-game rewards.
Within Car Town, players could click on a giant Walmart-themed big rig to pre-order the pack through Walmart's online store, which would have scored them an exclusive in-game locker with a Fast Five-themed bullet-proof vest to display in their garages. Though, anyone who buys the game through Car Town or in stores will net themselves a virtual Armet Gurkha armored vehicle to race their friends with.
This is the culmination of a six month-long event made possible by Universal Partnerships & Licensing that displayed the movie's trailer within Car Town. And now players can complete missions inspired by the movie's storyline by racing cars directly taken from the film. And Car Town, which enjoys over 5.2 million monthly players, has had its branding throughout the Fast Five release.
"This program is one of the most extensive and successful efforts to date by a major film studio to leverage the nexus between real-world marketing and promotion via social gaming," said Cie Games CEO Justin Choi. "Since the program began in April 2011, Car Town players have completed more than 200 million races in the virtual Rio de Janeiro race environment modeled after the movie's key location."
In other words, this was one giant Facebook game branding event, and Cie Games is far from the only developer that's in on the action. Zynga has already begun to integrate Indiana Jones into its Adventure World completely, while other studios like Ecko|Code build their business entirely around branded Facebook games. We've said it before and we'll say it again: Branding is huge in Facebook games. Our concern, however, is whether the games can grow in terms of gameplay amidst the allure of branding.
Have you followed the Fast Five event in Car Town since it started? What do you think of branding in Facebook games--has it gone too far or are you digging it? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Within Car Town, players could click on a giant Walmart-themed big rig to pre-order the pack through Walmart's online store, which would have scored them an exclusive in-game locker with a Fast Five-themed bullet-proof vest to display in their garages. Though, anyone who buys the game through Car Town or in stores will net themselves a virtual Armet Gurkha armored vehicle to race their friends with.
This is the culmination of a six month-long event made possible by Universal Partnerships & Licensing that displayed the movie's trailer within Car Town. And now players can complete missions inspired by the movie's storyline by racing cars directly taken from the film. And Car Town, which enjoys over 5.2 million monthly players, has had its branding throughout the Fast Five release.
"This program is one of the most extensive and successful efforts to date by a major film studio to leverage the nexus between real-world marketing and promotion via social gaming," said Cie Games CEO Justin Choi. "Since the program began in April 2011, Car Town players have completed more than 200 million races in the virtual Rio de Janeiro race environment modeled after the movie's key location."
In other words, this was one giant Facebook game branding event, and Cie Games is far from the only developer that's in on the action. Zynga has already begun to integrate Indiana Jones into its Adventure World completely, while other studios like Ecko|Code build their business entirely around branded Facebook games. We've said it before and we'll say it again: Branding is huge in Facebook games. Our concern, however, is whether the games can grow in terms of gameplay amidst the allure of branding.
Have you followed the Fast Five event in Car Town since it started? What do you think of branding in Facebook games--has it gone too far or are you digging it? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Thứ Hai, 3 tháng 10, 2011
Adventure World Mountain Chase Expedition: Everything you need to know
As we told you yesterday, a trio of new Expeditions have launched in Adventure World, being triggered by the upcoming appearance of Indiana Jones in the game. First came the Great River Expedition, and now, we'll take a look at the second of two: The Mountain Chase. This particular Expedition requires you to have 400 Supplies and two each of Foods, Fuel and Water. You'll have a period of three days to finish this entire Expedition, which contains three quests to complete.
The story of this Expedition sees you gathering a rubbing from a second Standing Stone. However, you'll have competition for this stone, as a group of thieves have taken it, and you'll need to get it back. Let's get started!
Let the Chase Begin!
* Collect the First Stone Piece
* Collect Second Stone Piece
* Use the Stone Base
* Take a Rubbing of the Standing Stone
This quest is the main, overall quest for this particular Expedition, and it requires you to collect the various pieces of the stone, which has been broken up. You'll go through the thieves' campsites searching through boxes that may contain stone pieces, but not all of them do. There's no skill involved in this setup, but there will be some trial and error, so keep that in mind. While the first piece is held in a box, the second is held by a snake at the end of the path. The Stone Base is back at the beginning of the map.
Sweethearts and Sweet Tooths
* Collect 3 Cocoa
* Collect 12 Sugar
* Use Cooking Fires to Bake 3 Brownies
* Collect 3 Brownies
If anything, your research teammate Emily is definitely demanding. Just like in the Great River Expedition, you're sent on what might as well be a while goose chase by Emily in this Expedition as well, as she asks you to gather cooking ingredients for brownies that she can use to "woo her beau." Cocoa is found growing from large trees, while you can ask your friends to send you the sugar. The Cooking Fires are found inside the thieves campsites, and you'll just need to click on them when you have the proper ingredients to make the brownies.
Take Their Stuff
* Collect 7 Backpacks
* Collect 4 Maps
In this Expedition, you can think of Backpacks and Maps as though they were Red and Jade Vases. That is, they're scattered throughout the map, often blocked by pieces of debris, and by collecting them, you'll apparently learn more about the identity of these thieves.
When you've finally retrieved the pieces of the Standing Stone and have finished these other two goals, you will have completely finished the Mountain Chase Expedition. Indy still has one more job for you though, before he makes a true appearance, so keep checking back with us for more guides on completing that Expedition and more in the future!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Mountain Chase Expedition? Do you think these "Emily-based" quests have any point of being in the game, or do you like the variety they add? Sound off in the comments.
The story of this Expedition sees you gathering a rubbing from a second Standing Stone. However, you'll have competition for this stone, as a group of thieves have taken it, and you'll need to get it back. Let's get started!
Let the Chase Begin!
* Collect the First Stone Piece
* Collect Second Stone Piece
* Use the Stone Base
* Take a Rubbing of the Standing Stone
This quest is the main, overall quest for this particular Expedition, and it requires you to collect the various pieces of the stone, which has been broken up. You'll go through the thieves' campsites searching through boxes that may contain stone pieces, but not all of them do. There's no skill involved in this setup, but there will be some trial and error, so keep that in mind. While the first piece is held in a box, the second is held by a snake at the end of the path. The Stone Base is back at the beginning of the map.
Sweethearts and Sweet Tooths
* Collect 3 Cocoa
* Collect 12 Sugar
* Use Cooking Fires to Bake 3 Brownies
* Collect 3 Brownies
If anything, your research teammate Emily is definitely demanding. Just like in the Great River Expedition, you're sent on what might as well be a while goose chase by Emily in this Expedition as well, as she asks you to gather cooking ingredients for brownies that she can use to "woo her beau." Cocoa is found growing from large trees, while you can ask your friends to send you the sugar. The Cooking Fires are found inside the thieves campsites, and you'll just need to click on them when you have the proper ingredients to make the brownies.
Take Their Stuff
* Collect 7 Backpacks
* Collect 4 Maps
In this Expedition, you can think of Backpacks and Maps as though they were Red and Jade Vases. That is, they're scattered throughout the map, often blocked by pieces of debris, and by collecting them, you'll apparently learn more about the identity of these thieves.
When you've finally retrieved the pieces of the Standing Stone and have finished these other two goals, you will have completely finished the Mountain Chase Expedition. Indy still has one more job for you though, before he makes a true appearance, so keep checking back with us for more guides on completing that Expedition and more in the future!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Mountain Chase Expedition? Do you think these "Emily-based" quests have any point of being in the game, or do you like the variety they add? Sound off in the comments.
CityVille Pet Show Timed Goal: Everything you need to know
If there's one thing we know about the character Ruth in CityVille, it's that this woman loves her pigeons. That's true to such an extent that she's decided to enter her pigeons into the local pet show. This is done through a new timed goal called "Pet Show" (or, just "Best in Show," if you prefer), and it must be completed in just 24 hours to receive the best prizes. Here's a look at what you'll need to do:
* Get 12 Pet Shampoos
* Collect 12 Times from any Zoo enclosure
* Collect 12 Dubai Shipments
If you have multiple Zoo habitats in your city, just make sure you collect from all of them at once to maximize your points. You can collect from them every few hours, so if you have four habitats (for example), you'll only need to collect from each one three times. While you're waiting, you can send off for Dubai Shipments which take 12 hours to return, and can also gather the bottles of Pet Shampoo, which is accomplished via a general news item posted to your wall.
If you can finish this goal within the first 24 hours, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, 10,000 coins, 3,000 Goods and a Poodle Statue decorative item for your town. If you can't finish within the first day, but finish within 72 hours, you won't receive the Poodle Statue, but you will earn a Silver Tophy, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Finally, if you finish the goal at any point after the first 72 hours, you'll receive a Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.
Remember, while you are timed once you start the goal, there doesn't appear to be any time limit for when you need to start it. That is, you are only placed on a time limit once you manually start the countdown in your game. Feel free to ignore it entirely until you're truly ready before beginning and you'll still have the full time available to you to finish (and a better chance of actually doing so).
What do you think of the Pet Show Timed Goal? Have you already started it in your game, or are you waiting for a better time before you take on a time-sensitive goal? Sound off in the comments.
* Get 12 Pet Shampoos
* Collect 12 Times from any Zoo enclosure
* Collect 12 Dubai Shipments
If you have multiple Zoo habitats in your city, just make sure you collect from all of them at once to maximize your points. You can collect from them every few hours, so if you have four habitats (for example), you'll only need to collect from each one three times. While you're waiting, you can send off for Dubai Shipments which take 12 hours to return, and can also gather the bottles of Pet Shampoo, which is accomplished via a general news item posted to your wall.
If you can finish this goal within the first 24 hours, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, 10,000 coins, 3,000 Goods and a Poodle Statue decorative item for your town. If you can't finish within the first day, but finish within 72 hours, you won't receive the Poodle Statue, but you will earn a Silver Tophy, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Finally, if you finish the goal at any point after the first 72 hours, you'll receive a Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.
Remember, while you are timed once you start the goal, there doesn't appear to be any time limit for when you need to start it. That is, you are only placed on a time limit once you manually start the countdown in your game. Feel free to ignore it entirely until you're truly ready before beginning and you'll still have the full time available to you to finish (and a better chance of actually doing so).
What do you think of the Pet Show Timed Goal? Have you already started it in your game, or are you waiting for a better time before you take on a time-sensitive goal? Sound off in the comments.
Pioneer Trail End of Summer Sale offers 50% off Horseshoes and more
If you thought that 40% off Horseshoes purchased when redeeming a Zynga Gift Card was a good deal, try this one on for size. As part of the Pioneer Trail "End of Summer Sale," you can now take 50% off all Horseshoe purchases for a limited time. Leave it to Zynga to tell us about these things at the last minute, but you only have a few hours to take advantage of this Horseshoe deal, and a few others (for your reference, this sale places 170 Horseshoes in a package for $10, as an example).
Other items are on sale as well, including Mystery Animal crates from a variety of themes (including winter and Halloween) that are priced at 30% off, bundles of Critter Milk, Chunky Chow and Fuzzy Blankets at 40% off, and even Wedding Gift and Poker Card packages being 40% off as well.
Of course, this deal applies only to those items that you'd purchase with Horseshoes, and not anything coin-related, but it also includes the ability to purchase Beef Jerky (permanent boosts to your maximum energy) or Badgers, which are a limited edition animal. All in all, if I had to personally judge which item was the most valuable, I'd say the Beef Jerky for 16 Horseshoes is definitely something that's more worthwhile than not. Think about it - you'll be able to raise your maximum energy, allowing you to do more tasks in a single sitting and make progress faster. Purchase more than one Beef Jerky and you'll really be in business.
Again, though, you won't have much time to splurge on these items, or the Horseshoe packages proper, before the sale ends at midnight tonight (Eastern time). I wouldn't be surprised if Zynga extended the sale beyond this point to make more money, but if not, you've been warned!
Will you purchase any of these End of Summer Sale items? Which ones? Sound off in the comments.
Other items are on sale as well, including Mystery Animal crates from a variety of themes (including winter and Halloween) that are priced at 30% off, bundles of Critter Milk, Chunky Chow and Fuzzy Blankets at 40% off, and even Wedding Gift and Poker Card packages being 40% off as well.
Of course, this deal applies only to those items that you'd purchase with Horseshoes, and not anything coin-related, but it also includes the ability to purchase Beef Jerky (permanent boosts to your maximum energy) or Badgers, which are a limited edition animal. All in all, if I had to personally judge which item was the most valuable, I'd say the Beef Jerky for 16 Horseshoes is definitely something that's more worthwhile than not. Think about it - you'll be able to raise your maximum energy, allowing you to do more tasks in a single sitting and make progress faster. Purchase more than one Beef Jerky and you'll really be in business.
Again, though, you won't have much time to splurge on these items, or the Horseshoe packages proper, before the sale ends at midnight tonight (Eastern time). I wouldn't be surprised if Zynga extended the sale beyond this point to make more money, but if not, you've been warned!
Will you purchase any of these End of Summer Sale items? Which ones? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille: Halloween Black Belgian horse available for coins
If you're a Horse collector in FarmVille, you'll likely be happy with the following news: a new Horse called the Black Belgian is now available in the game's store for coins. However, unless you've been saving up, you may not be able to afford its high price tag. How high? How does the million coin mark sound to your wallet? Good? Then you're just fine, as that's its exact price.
Interestingly, this Black Belgian horse is marked in the Halloween limited edition item theme, but it doesn't do anything to scream "Halloween" other than being black. Still, I suppose this gives Zynga a way to bring more attention to it in the store, as its part of the theme that will only last for a limited time. The Black Belgian will only be available for the next two weeks, but you'll receive one heck of a bonus for purchasing it: 10,000 XP.
At that point, you can either place the Horse into your Horse Paddock to be able to collect from it once daily, or you can keep it outside on display and collect from it once every three days. Remember, if you store it, you have a chance to breed a Black Belgian Foal, which would of course be even more limited. Whatever the case, make sure to head into the store sooner, rather than later, if you have any interest whatsoever in purchasing one of these expensive Horses for your farm(s).
Will you purchase the Black Belgian Horse for the whopping price tag of 1 million coins? Sound off in the comments.
Interestingly, this Black Belgian horse is marked in the Halloween limited edition item theme, but it doesn't do anything to scream "Halloween" other than being black. Still, I suppose this gives Zynga a way to bring more attention to it in the store, as its part of the theme that will only last for a limited time. The Black Belgian will only be available for the next two weeks, but you'll receive one heck of a bonus for purchasing it: 10,000 XP.
At that point, you can either place the Horse into your Horse Paddock to be able to collect from it once daily, or you can keep it outside on display and collect from it once every three days. Remember, if you store it, you have a chance to breed a Black Belgian Foal, which would of course be even more limited. Whatever the case, make sure to head into the store sooner, rather than later, if you have any interest whatsoever in purchasing one of these expensive Horses for your farm(s).
Will you purchase the Black Belgian Horse for the whopping price tag of 1 million coins? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille: Lighthouse Cove land expansions on sale for "select users"
Just what makes someone a "select user?" We're not exactly sure, but if you're even remotely interested in expanding the size of your land in FarmVille's Lighthouse Cove farm, and aren't afraid to spend some Farm Cash to do so, you'll be happy to know that "some" users are being offered the ability to do so at a discount. So far, these are the sale expansions, with their prices:
Harbor Homestead (18x18) - 40 Farm Cash (down from 50)
Oceanside Farm (20x20) - 50 Farm Cash (down from 60)
Seaside Farmland (22x22) - 60 Farm Cash (down from 80)
Unfortunately, that seems to be where the discounts stop for now. It could be that different users have different selections of expansions on sale in their own games, but as the Lighthouse Cove currently supports up to the 32x32 size (the Waterfront Land expansion), this 22x22 cutoff is pretty low. Still, by the time you reach that point, you'll have already shelled out 150 Farm Cash, so maybe that's enough (for now).
Again, the game's loading screen [pictured] says that these sale prices are only available for "select users," but I haven't personally come across anyone that doesn't have the option to expand with sale prices. That's not to say this is a lie, but I'd simply make an educated guess that more people have the ability than not. After all - Zynga wants your money, so why not release the sale to more users to entice them to actually spend some? Either way, this sale isn't going to be around forever, so make sure to browse through the Farm Aides section of the store soon to see if the sale prices are available to you.
Do you have the sale prices on Expansions in your store? Will you take advantage of any of the sale prices? Sound off in the comments.
Harbor Homestead (18x18) - 40 Farm Cash (down from 50)
Oceanside Farm (20x20) - 50 Farm Cash (down from 60)
Seaside Farmland (22x22) - 60 Farm Cash (down from 80)
Unfortunately, that seems to be where the discounts stop for now. It could be that different users have different selections of expansions on sale in their own games, but as the Lighthouse Cove currently supports up to the 32x32 size (the Waterfront Land expansion), this 22x22 cutoff is pretty low. Still, by the time you reach that point, you'll have already shelled out 150 Farm Cash, so maybe that's enough (for now).
Again, the game's loading screen [pictured] says that these sale prices are only available for "select users," but I haven't personally come across anyone that doesn't have the option to expand with sale prices. That's not to say this is a lie, but I'd simply make an educated guess that more people have the ability than not. After all - Zynga wants your money, so why not release the sale to more users to entice them to actually spend some? Either way, this sale isn't going to be around forever, so make sure to browse through the Farm Aides section of the store soon to see if the sale prices are available to you.
Do you have the sale prices on Expansions in your store? Will you take advantage of any of the sale prices? Sound off in the comments.
Thứ Bảy, 1 tháng 10, 2011
CityVille Governor's Run Act 2 Nature Goals: Everything you need to know
If you've been keeping up with the governor's election in CityVille, you'll now be ready for Act 2 to begin. After helping "the people" in Act 1, Act 2 sees you helping out special interest groups, starting with a nature-loving group led by Zookeeper Karen. If you don't want Captain Krunsch to earn Karen's vote (and those of her friends), you'll need to finish the following three goals.
When Nature Calls
* Place Conservatory
* Collect from Conservatory four times
The Conservatory is a new Community Building that requires 12 staff members to operate. Once you build the base, you'll need to ask 12 friends to come staff the building, at which point you'll gain a bonus of 3,750 citizens to your maximum population cap. Just collect its profits four times after it's built to finish this first goal. You'll receive eight energy when doing so.
Food For Thought
* Ask friends for 6 Gardening Gloves
* Water Rose Garden 5 Times
* Harvest 80 Cranberries
You can have more than one Rose Garden in your city, so feel free to place multiples just so you don't have to wait for the same Garden to be ready five times in a row (a time-consuming process, to say the least). As for the Cranberries, these take 12 hours to grow. Finish this goal and you'll earn 840 Goods.
More Power To You
* Ask friends for 12 Recyclable Bags
* Collect from Produce Paradise 30 Times
* Collect from City Works 6 Times
The City Works is another Community Building that you might already have in your town. If not, here's a guide to building one. As for the Produce Paradise, this is a Business that's available from the store. It requires 253 Goods to operate and gives you 1,413 coins in profit by default. To more quickly finish this particular step (since 30 times is a long time to wait), make sure that the Produce Paradise is the only business operating in your town so that all customers will come to it, allowing it to sell out much more quickly than normal. Finishing this third goal gives you the EV Charging Station, a business that requires 475 Goods to operate and produces 2,393 coins.
Since this is just the first part of the second act of the Governor's Run event in CityVille, once you finish two more sets you'll receive an additional item: the Capital Rotunda building. What's more, you don't have to complete the entirety of Act 1 in order to access these Act 2 goals either, and can have them all running simultaneously in your town - talk about multi-tasking! We'll make sure to let you know when additional political goals launch in the game, so keep checking back with us!
What do you think of these Nature goals? Are you enjoying the Governor's Run event so far? Sound off in the comments.
When Nature Calls
* Place Conservatory
* Collect from Conservatory four times
The Conservatory is a new Community Building that requires 12 staff members to operate. Once you build the base, you'll need to ask 12 friends to come staff the building, at which point you'll gain a bonus of 3,750 citizens to your maximum population cap. Just collect its profits four times after it's built to finish this first goal. You'll receive eight energy when doing so.
Food For Thought
* Ask friends for 6 Gardening Gloves
* Water Rose Garden 5 Times
* Harvest 80 Cranberries
You can have more than one Rose Garden in your city, so feel free to place multiples just so you don't have to wait for the same Garden to be ready five times in a row (a time-consuming process, to say the least). As for the Cranberries, these take 12 hours to grow. Finish this goal and you'll earn 840 Goods.
More Power To You
* Ask friends for 12 Recyclable Bags
* Collect from Produce Paradise 30 Times
* Collect from City Works 6 Times
The City Works is another Community Building that you might already have in your town. If not, here's a guide to building one. As for the Produce Paradise, this is a Business that's available from the store. It requires 253 Goods to operate and gives you 1,413 coins in profit by default. To more quickly finish this particular step (since 30 times is a long time to wait), make sure that the Produce Paradise is the only business operating in your town so that all customers will come to it, allowing it to sell out much more quickly than normal. Finishing this third goal gives you the EV Charging Station, a business that requires 475 Goods to operate and produces 2,393 coins.
Since this is just the first part of the second act of the Governor's Run event in CityVille, once you finish two more sets you'll receive an additional item: the Capital Rotunda building. What's more, you don't have to complete the entirety of Act 1 in order to access these Act 2 goals either, and can have them all running simultaneously in your town - talk about multi-tasking! We'll make sure to let you know when additional political goals launch in the game, so keep checking back with us!
What do you think of these Nature goals? Are you enjoying the Governor's Run event so far? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille German items start an Oktoberfest celebration
Here's one update I honestly didn't think we'd see come to FarmVille so soon. With the Halloween theme officially launching in the game earlier this week, we've seen yet another theme - German, or Oktoberfest - launch tonight as well. This theme is relatively small (so far), consisting of nothing but buildings and decorations that are re-releases of those items seen in a previous German theme. Whether or not we'll see any trees or specific animals launch as well is anyone's guess. For now, let's take a look at what's available so far.
Buildings
Festival Wheel - 38 Farm Cash
Festival Tent - 34 Farm Cash
I have to admit, even for its high price, the Festival Wheel (Ferris Wheel) is still one of the neatest looking items I can remember seeing launched in the game (it was originally available in last year's German event). This thing has it all - animation in the wheel itself and lights throughout as though it were at a real carnival. I'll tell you one thing: it will be hard for me not to personally splurge on one of these items for my own farm this year.
Decorations
German Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Festival Carriage - 22 Farm Cash
Festival Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Cider Stand - 120,000 coins
Festival Pavilion - 240,000 coins
Barrel Tub - 120,000 coins
Again, all of these items are re-releases of those seen in the game previously, so you'll want to take a few moments to search your storage for any of them so that you don't needlessly purchase duplicates (especially if the item costs Farm Cash).
It will be interesting to see if any other items release that are actually new to the German theme this year, but for now, you've got seven days to purchase any of these items that have come back around.
Are you happy to see these items re-released in the game's store, or did you purchase all of the items you wanted last year? Sound off in the comments.
Buildings
Festival Wheel - 38 Farm Cash
Festival Tent - 34 Farm Cash
I have to admit, even for its high price, the Festival Wheel (Ferris Wheel) is still one of the neatest looking items I can remember seeing launched in the game (it was originally available in last year's German event). This thing has it all - animation in the wheel itself and lights throughout as though it were at a real carnival. I'll tell you one thing: it will be hard for me not to personally splurge on one of these items for my own farm this year.
Decorations
German Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Festival Carriage - 22 Farm Cash
Festival Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Cider Stand - 120,000 coins
Festival Pavilion - 240,000 coins
Barrel Tub - 120,000 coins
Again, all of these items are re-releases of those seen in the game previously, so you'll want to take a few moments to search your storage for any of them so that you don't needlessly purchase duplicates (especially if the item costs Farm Cash).
It will be interesting to see if any other items release that are actually new to the German theme this year, but for now, you've got seven days to purchase any of these items that have come back around.
Are you happy to see these items re-released in the game's store, or did you purchase all of the items you wanted last year? Sound off in the comments.
Empires & Allies: Embark on the Lucky Mermaid Mini-Campaign
If there is one thing social gamers like--other than free stuff, of course--it's choices. It looks like Zynga has realized this in its recent games, and now Empires & Allies is taking on that mantra with the new Little Mermaid Mini-Campaign. While on paper, this is nothing more than a series of Goals, players are given a few choices on their path to the final reward: The Golden Mermaid.
Starting from the very beginning, you're given to choice to approach this new timed mini-campaign (about two weeks) in either combat-oriented or social or construction-centric missions. Frankly, the latter already sounds kind of boring, so I'd personally recommend taking the former path.
Each path consists of five Goals with one choice along the way. But Zynga reminds players to choose carefully, as there is no turning back after you make your first and second decisions along the way.
This mini-campaign appears in your game just as The Little Mermaid anchors on the coast of your empire, and clicking on it reveals a new campaign map with several Goals. According to the developer, these Goals have more lucrative rewards than standard ones, and the final prize--should you complete all five Goals on time--is The Golden Mermaid. This is certainly not a combat unit, but is a decoration said to grant players with booming profits.
Empires Allies Little Mermaid Campaign Screen
This is a brand new approach to releasing content for the E&A team, and plans are to release more mini-campaigns like this one. So, of course, the team is looking for feedback on the forums. Here's a personal suggestion: Lose the social-centric missions and focus on the combat--perhaps even player vs player in Battle Blitz.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you started the Little Mermaid mini-campaign yet? What do you think of this approach to new content in E&A? Sound off in the comments. 6 Comments
Starting from the very beginning, you're given to choice to approach this new timed mini-campaign (about two weeks) in either combat-oriented or social or construction-centric missions. Frankly, the latter already sounds kind of boring, so I'd personally recommend taking the former path.
Each path consists of five Goals with one choice along the way. But Zynga reminds players to choose carefully, as there is no turning back after you make your first and second decisions along the way.
This mini-campaign appears in your game just as The Little Mermaid anchors on the coast of your empire, and clicking on it reveals a new campaign map with several Goals. According to the developer, these Goals have more lucrative rewards than standard ones, and the final prize--should you complete all five Goals on time--is The Golden Mermaid. This is certainly not a combat unit, but is a decoration said to grant players with booming profits.
Empires Allies Little Mermaid Campaign Screen
This is a brand new approach to releasing content for the E&A team, and plans are to release more mini-campaigns like this one. So, of course, the team is looking for feedback on the forums. Here's a personal suggestion: Lose the social-centric missions and focus on the combat--perhaps even player vs player in Battle Blitz.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you started the Little Mermaid mini-campaign yet? What do you think of this approach to new content in E&A? Sound off in the comments. 6 Comments
The Top 10 Free iOS and Android Games -- September 2011
Alright, now the summer is really over. As we dry our eyes of those final sun-soaked tears, we at least have one thing to cheer us up: games. Ah yes, the ultimate digital pastime-meets-picker-upper just gets better and better now that we have access to a myriad of games right within our iPhones and Android phones.
And while the lot of them cost little more than $.99, the number of full-featured, free games on both platforms is only growing. Just for you, we've pruned the games that hit the top 10 on both platforms by the end of September.
You can expect to see everyone's favorite angst-ridden, wingless birds more than once among the newcomers. Rather than simply shut them out as we have before, how's about we take each opportunity to highlight some of the crazy news surrounding them? Away we go:
Top 10 Free iOS Games
1. Cross Fingers
Mobigame's goofy and visibly confusing puzzle game is free for a limited time only. The name of the game is tangrams, and it's up to you to use the oddly-shaped puzzle pieces provided to form the shapes featured in each level. The game also contains an Arcade Mode in which players must keep up with a "frenetic machine," solving puzzles rapidly to survive.
Oregon Trail iPhone
2. The Oregon Trail
Famed (or infamous) developer Gameloft and The Learning Company have made their mobile take on this classic PC adventure game free for a limited time. Frankly, the game looks and seems to play a lot like its Facebook counterpart created by Blue Fang, so check out our preview to get an idea of how it might work. Get this: It has Facebook Connect, too ... hmm.
3. Texas Poker
Another newcomer by Kamagames brings the live multiplayer poker experience to your iPhone. Players can invite friends to play with them via email, Facebook and Twitter. While it's free to play, players can, of course, buy chips with real dough from inside the game. Oh, and there's live chat, too. So, you can trash talk while you lay down that straight.
4. Card Ace: Casino
Boy, do people enjoy gamblin'. This game by Self Aware Games allows players to sit in on more than just poker like Blackjack (21), slots and the creator's very own "word-game-meets-Texas-Hold-'Em masterpiece." Of course, players can buy more chips within in the game with real cash, and each casino game has real-time chat and public rooms for live play.
5. Traffic Rush
Only free until Oct. 3, this game courtesy of Donut Games tasks players with keeping an intersection accident-free by touching and guiding vehicles away from one another. Oh, and the cross streets are two-way (and with two lanes), so we can already see this one getting crazy rather quickly. And the creators threw in a Rail Rush mode, too, which can only spell trouble.
6. Office Zombie
Just in time for Halloween, Fluik released this haunted take on its Office Jerk game. Ad-supported, the game lets players torment, well, a zombified office employee with anything they can dig up. We're not sure what the objective of this game is, really, but at least it might serve as a stress reliever? That's all I got.
High Caliber Hunting iPhone
7. High Caliber Hunting
EA's mobile take on the popular hunting sub genre of hunting games like Cabela's is free for a limited time. And it looks surprisingly graphic, displaying the vitals of the game's various, um, game as if you had x-ray vision. Simulation is the goal in this game, with real brand name rifles and equipment featured as well as a up close-and-personal "Bullet-Cam". Ew.
8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
Another of EA's popular franchises is free on iOS for a limited time. Of course, you can play across multiple real-life golf courses controlling a number of professional athletes. But the most interesting news here is the Closest to the Pin Challenge, an asynchronous social mini game in which Facebook friends post their best shots and talk trash.
9. Pretty Pet Pony
Ready to overload your iPhone with cute? Good, because this game by Dream Cortex and Animoca has the pink stuff in spades. It's your job to clean, pamper and raise your own ponies in Cuby the Bear's stables. Then, it's off to the race track to compete with your friends on tracks made of rainbows ... I think I just threw up a little bit.
10. Stupid Ninjas
Stupid Zombies maker GameResort takes the same concept from its first game to the Far East: try to kill all the ninjas on screen with as few sword swipes as possible. Cause chain reactions from the shurikens that each ninja holds. The game comes with 180 levels and Game Center support to boast your ninja-slicing prowess.
Top 10 Free Android Games
Hanging With Friends Android
1. Angry Birds
Did you know that soon, you might be able to play Angry Birds with thousands of people through the sound of your collective cacophony? Crazy, we know.
2. Hanging with Friends
Zynga's adorable take on the classic game of Hangman was recently released to Android devices, and it's apparently already heating things up. The game is essentially identical to the iOS version released earlier this summer, so check out our full preview to get a better idea of what it's like.
3. Angry Birds Rio
Hey, did you know that co-star of the NBC show Chuck, Yvonne Strahovski, is an Angry Birds master? Yeah, we know, her and everybody else at this point. But hey, maybe there's a chance she'll become the next Rovio spokeswoman--yowza!
4. Words with Friends
Yup, Zynga is killing it on Android, we know. But what's more interesting about Words with Friends is that you can not only now play it on Facebook, but pick up your existing games on either platform through Facebook Connect. Living in the 21st century has its perks.
5. Bunny Shooter Free Game
Yes, that is the game's real title. (But finally, a new game!) Created by the painfully literal dudes at Best, Cool & Fun Games, this puzzler (picture below) tasks players with shooting these poor pink bunnies with as few arrows as possible. You'll do this across over 180 levels filled with obstacles and explosions ... and probably feel a tinge of guilt about it afterward.
6. Angry Birds Seasons
Dude, seriously--oh, sorry. Did you know that Rovio might be looking to get into publishing other indie games? Maybe that way, the company can turn around the next hit game to dominate the charts. (At least it'll be something new?)
7. Drag Racing
Creative Mobile's Drag Racing has enjoyed the same spot for two months now, and it's probably thanks to the support it has from real-life car brands. Players can also race each other in real time through the Pro League, which again is likely a major selling point. Oh, and watch out for when this game hits Facebook--come on, cross-platform play.
Bunny Shooter Android
8. Lane Splitter
Fractiv hits the top 10 with this "motorcycle survival game" in which players must make it to their wedding with a new character that sports a special ability. Players tilt their device to steer the motorcycle as it (hopefully) weaves in and out of traffic. With Facebook Connect, players can compete for the high score between their friends and post achievements.
9. Fruit Ninja
Guys, it has finally happened: The real Fruit Ninja by Halfbrick Studios has made it into the top 10. By now, you should know the drill--this game is dang near everywhere. Also, it just launched on Facebook, if you want to slice up even bigger fruit.
10. Tetris
A game as iconic as Tetris probably deserves to be much higher on this list, but hey, at least it's a spot. While there's not much to be said of Tetris after some 27 years, that doesn't mean the game is not worthy of your time. Just give it go already, will ya?
[Sources and Image Credits: Apple, Google]
Which of these games have you tried so far, and what do you think? What free iOS or Android games have you been playing lately that you want to share? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
And while the lot of them cost little more than $.99, the number of full-featured, free games on both platforms is only growing. Just for you, we've pruned the games that hit the top 10 on both platforms by the end of September.
You can expect to see everyone's favorite angst-ridden, wingless birds more than once among the newcomers. Rather than simply shut them out as we have before, how's about we take each opportunity to highlight some of the crazy news surrounding them? Away we go:
Top 10 Free iOS Games
1. Cross Fingers
Mobigame's goofy and visibly confusing puzzle game is free for a limited time only. The name of the game is tangrams, and it's up to you to use the oddly-shaped puzzle pieces provided to form the shapes featured in each level. The game also contains an Arcade Mode in which players must keep up with a "frenetic machine," solving puzzles rapidly to survive.
Oregon Trail iPhone
2. The Oregon Trail
Famed (or infamous) developer Gameloft and The Learning Company have made their mobile take on this classic PC adventure game free for a limited time. Frankly, the game looks and seems to play a lot like its Facebook counterpart created by Blue Fang, so check out our preview to get an idea of how it might work. Get this: It has Facebook Connect, too ... hmm.
3. Texas Poker
Another newcomer by Kamagames brings the live multiplayer poker experience to your iPhone. Players can invite friends to play with them via email, Facebook and Twitter. While it's free to play, players can, of course, buy chips with real dough from inside the game. Oh, and there's live chat, too. So, you can trash talk while you lay down that straight.
4. Card Ace: Casino
Boy, do people enjoy gamblin'. This game by Self Aware Games allows players to sit in on more than just poker like Blackjack (21), slots and the creator's very own "word-game-meets-Texas-Hold-'Em masterpiece." Of course, players can buy more chips within in the game with real cash, and each casino game has real-time chat and public rooms for live play.
5. Traffic Rush
Only free until Oct. 3, this game courtesy of Donut Games tasks players with keeping an intersection accident-free by touching and guiding vehicles away from one another. Oh, and the cross streets are two-way (and with two lanes), so we can already see this one getting crazy rather quickly. And the creators threw in a Rail Rush mode, too, which can only spell trouble.
6. Office Zombie
Just in time for Halloween, Fluik released this haunted take on its Office Jerk game. Ad-supported, the game lets players torment, well, a zombified office employee with anything they can dig up. We're not sure what the objective of this game is, really, but at least it might serve as a stress reliever? That's all I got.
High Caliber Hunting iPhone
7. High Caliber Hunting
EA's mobile take on the popular hunting sub genre of hunting games like Cabela's is free for a limited time. And it looks surprisingly graphic, displaying the vitals of the game's various, um, game as if you had x-ray vision. Simulation is the goal in this game, with real brand name rifles and equipment featured as well as a up close-and-personal "Bullet-Cam". Ew.
8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
Another of EA's popular franchises is free on iOS for a limited time. Of course, you can play across multiple real-life golf courses controlling a number of professional athletes. But the most interesting news here is the Closest to the Pin Challenge, an asynchronous social mini game in which Facebook friends post their best shots and talk trash.
9. Pretty Pet Pony
Ready to overload your iPhone with cute? Good, because this game by Dream Cortex and Animoca has the pink stuff in spades. It's your job to clean, pamper and raise your own ponies in Cuby the Bear's stables. Then, it's off to the race track to compete with your friends on tracks made of rainbows ... I think I just threw up a little bit.
10. Stupid Ninjas
Stupid Zombies maker GameResort takes the same concept from its first game to the Far East: try to kill all the ninjas on screen with as few sword swipes as possible. Cause chain reactions from the shurikens that each ninja holds. The game comes with 180 levels and Game Center support to boast your ninja-slicing prowess.
Top 10 Free Android Games
Hanging With Friends Android
1. Angry Birds
Did you know that soon, you might be able to play Angry Birds with thousands of people through the sound of your collective cacophony? Crazy, we know.
2. Hanging with Friends
Zynga's adorable take on the classic game of Hangman was recently released to Android devices, and it's apparently already heating things up. The game is essentially identical to the iOS version released earlier this summer, so check out our full preview to get a better idea of what it's like.
3. Angry Birds Rio
Hey, did you know that co-star of the NBC show Chuck, Yvonne Strahovski, is an Angry Birds master? Yeah, we know, her and everybody else at this point. But hey, maybe there's a chance she'll become the next Rovio spokeswoman--yowza!
4. Words with Friends
Yup, Zynga is killing it on Android, we know. But what's more interesting about Words with Friends is that you can not only now play it on Facebook, but pick up your existing games on either platform through Facebook Connect. Living in the 21st century has its perks.
5. Bunny Shooter Free Game
Yes, that is the game's real title. (But finally, a new game!) Created by the painfully literal dudes at Best, Cool & Fun Games, this puzzler (picture below) tasks players with shooting these poor pink bunnies with as few arrows as possible. You'll do this across over 180 levels filled with obstacles and explosions ... and probably feel a tinge of guilt about it afterward.
6. Angry Birds Seasons
Dude, seriously--oh, sorry. Did you know that Rovio might be looking to get into publishing other indie games? Maybe that way, the company can turn around the next hit game to dominate the charts. (At least it'll be something new?)
7. Drag Racing
Creative Mobile's Drag Racing has enjoyed the same spot for two months now, and it's probably thanks to the support it has from real-life car brands. Players can also race each other in real time through the Pro League, which again is likely a major selling point. Oh, and watch out for when this game hits Facebook--come on, cross-platform play.
Bunny Shooter Android
8. Lane Splitter
Fractiv hits the top 10 with this "motorcycle survival game" in which players must make it to their wedding with a new character that sports a special ability. Players tilt their device to steer the motorcycle as it (hopefully) weaves in and out of traffic. With Facebook Connect, players can compete for the high score between their friends and post achievements.
9. Fruit Ninja
Guys, it has finally happened: The real Fruit Ninja by Halfbrick Studios has made it into the top 10. By now, you should know the drill--this game is dang near everywhere. Also, it just launched on Facebook, if you want to slice up even bigger fruit.
10. Tetris
A game as iconic as Tetris probably deserves to be much higher on this list, but hey, at least it's a spot. While there's not much to be said of Tetris after some 27 years, that doesn't mean the game is not worthy of your time. Just give it go already, will ya?
[Sources and Image Credits: Apple, Google]
Which of these games have you tried so far, and what do you think? What free iOS or Android games have you been playing lately that you want to share? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
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