- GTAV: Concrete Misery continues the gritty realism of GTA4, and will be set in a pastiche of Baltimore in an obvious parody of The Wire.
- GTAV: Foiled Again will return to the cartoonish roots of Vice City, and will see you play as a costumed supervillain. Reaching the highest wanted level will get you hunted down by Batman.
- GTAV: Modern Warfare will be set in a middle eastern conflict. You play a corrupt soldier trying to ransack the town he is supposed to be liberating.
- GTAV: Grand Theft Stagecoach will be set in the past, you play Jack the Ripper in Victorian London.
- GTAV: Milton Keynes will be set in Milton Keynes. It will be as boring as that sounds.
- GTAV: IN SPACE will be set IN SPACE.
- GTAV: Retro City will be an isometric turn based strategy game. Fans will be outraged.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
And in other PC gaming news…
Okay, so no-one actually knows anything about GTAV, but that doesn’t stop us from speculating wildly, so let’s make up some crazy ideas:
Monday Mod: Terraria – Terrafirma
Terraria has a lot of features for players to enjoy but one feature it lacks is a map. Without a map it’s very easy to forget the scale of your world and keeping track of any findings from exploration becomes very challenging. With our Monday Mod this issue will be resolved, allowing for an easier way to keep track of your world as you focus on digging your way to the Hell zone.
Terrafirma is a third-party mapping tool that generates your entire Terraria world into a map which can be viewed on a separate window. You are able to zoom in/out, view details of specific content such as chests or minerals and keep track of any important locale you may have found. You can also save your map as a .png file allowing you to permanently store it for future use.
Terrafirma is a third-party mapping tool that generates your entire Terraria world into a map which can be viewed on a separate window. You are able to zoom in/out, view details of specific content such as chests or minerals and keep track of any important locale you may have found. You can also save your map as a .png file allowing you to permanently store it for future use.
The Legacy of id
Rage looks phenomenal, and despite a few quibbles about low resolution textures remains one of the best looking games released in 2011. We've got no doubt that this engine will spark the curiosity of many developers, and if it's like most id engines will go on to find a home in dozens of other games and graphical projects. id-Tech 5 is far from id's first engine – in fact, if that fancy "five" is to be believed, it's their fifth. Actually, that's wrong, it's their 7th. Hop into the TARDIS, and let's head back to the 90s to look at how id's technology has evolved from id-Tech 0.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Now You Can Shoot Doom Demons … With Your Mind
First wireless controls, then motion controls, then motion-tracking like the Xbox Kinect… sooner or later, someone’s going to come up with a computer (and therefore a video game) that can be controlled entirely with our minds.
Well, turns out it may be “sooner” — a research scientist at the New York research lab the Wadsworth centre has demonstrated that not only can computers already understand basic language-related thoughts, people can shoot Doom demons… with their minds.
(Yes, I’m going to keep italicising anything we can do with our minds through this article.)
As reported by Computerworld.com, Schalk showed a video with test subjects who had electrodes attached to their brains.
Schalk presented attendees a video showing how test subjects can control computer games through the use of electrodes attached to the surface of their brains. The test subjects were already wired for treatment of illnesses such as epilepsy.
In one demonstration in the video, a patient used thoughts to shoot monsters in the video game Doom. The patient used a joystick to move the gun back and forth but used his thoughts to cause the gun the shoot — accurately.
In another demonstration, Schalk showed how a computer can tell the difference between someone thinking the sounds, “Ah” or “Ooh.”
A third demonstration a computer detecting the sound level of music a person was listening to and track it moment-by-moment.
As much as I make light of the science fictiony feel of being able to control a video game with my mind, this is some huge, fantastically interesting stuff.
One of the biggest things holding many people back from playing video games is the control-scheme–gamers spend many years mastering the 20-odd buttons on a 360 or PS3 controller, and it takes countless hours of practice before the bridge between our brains and the controller breaks down a bit and we feel truly connected to a game. Playing Dance Central 2, I’ve been struck by how immediate the game feels, since true to Microsoft’s marketing buzzwords, my body really is the controller.
So imagine if a game allowed direct brain interaction! The mind boggles. This may only be the tip of the iceberg, but it most certainly is the start of something more intense and groundbreaking. For now, we’ll just have to imagine the possibilities… with our minds.
Thought-Controlled Computers May Soon be a Reality [Computer World]
Well, turns out it may be “sooner” — a research scientist at the New York research lab the Wadsworth centre has demonstrated that not only can computers already understand basic language-related thoughts, people can shoot Doom demons… with their minds.
(Yes, I’m going to keep italicising anything we can do with our minds through this article.)
As reported by Computerworld.com, Schalk showed a video with test subjects who had electrodes attached to their brains.
Schalk presented attendees a video showing how test subjects can control computer games through the use of electrodes attached to the surface of their brains. The test subjects were already wired for treatment of illnesses such as epilepsy.
In one demonstration in the video, a patient used thoughts to shoot monsters in the video game Doom. The patient used a joystick to move the gun back and forth but used his thoughts to cause the gun the shoot — accurately.
In another demonstration, Schalk showed how a computer can tell the difference between someone thinking the sounds, “Ah” or “Ooh.”
A third demonstration a computer detecting the sound level of music a person was listening to and track it moment-by-moment.
As much as I make light of the science fictiony feel of being able to control a video game with my mind, this is some huge, fantastically interesting stuff.
One of the biggest things holding many people back from playing video games is the control-scheme–gamers spend many years mastering the 20-odd buttons on a 360 or PS3 controller, and it takes countless hours of practice before the bridge between our brains and the controller breaks down a bit and we feel truly connected to a game. Playing Dance Central 2, I’ve been struck by how immediate the game feels, since true to Microsoft’s marketing buzzwords, my body really is the controller.
So imagine if a game allowed direct brain interaction! The mind boggles. This may only be the tip of the iceberg, but it most certainly is the start of something more intense and groundbreaking. For now, we’ll just have to imagine the possibilities… with our minds.
Thought-Controlled Computers May Soon be a Reality [Computer World]
This Guy’s Got Two Copies Of Battlefield 3 Right Now
These are two copies of Battlefield 3 snapped at a Toys ‘R Us according to the reader who sent them in. Poor, PC version; it didn’t get to be in the group photo.
Battlefield 3 will officially be on sale next Tuesday, October 25.
Battlefield 3 will officially be on sale next Tuesday, October 25.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Latest Articles for Might & Magic Heroes VI
Raising huge armies of gnarled fantasy creatures, thundering across the loot-laden countryside, and thrashing the kingdoms of rival heroes in epic turn-based battles is still every bit as awesome as it was when I first dove into Heroes of Might and Magic as a kid. Don't let the name switcheroo fool you: Might & Magic Heroes VI primarily sticks to the franchise's roots. It's laden with all of the excellent nitty-gritty details that strategic fantasy warfare nerds like me salivate over, but it also incorporates some updates to the formula that may not sit well with the hardcore set. As great as the underlying gameplay is, a few heinous design missteps nearly kill the experience outright, especially Ubisoft's hideous Uplay requirements.
Might & Magic Heroes VI
The acclaimed RPG franchise returns with Might & Magic Heroes VI. This adventure begins 400 years before the events in Heroes V, showcasing a family of heroes in a thrilling, epic story where Angels plot to revive an unfinished war. A legendary Archangel general who was killed during the war of the Elder races returns to life with a vengeance. Under the cover of preparations for an upcoming Demon invasion, he unites the peoples of Ashan to eradicate his ancient enemies. However, he underestimates the power of the all-too-human dynasty of the Griffin Dukes. The Griffin heroes' destinies will be written by players.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Chinese Couple Sells All Three Kids to Play Online Games
A young Chinese couple has sold all three of their children in exchange for money to play online Nick jr games at Internet cafes, reports a southern Chinese newspaper.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
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.
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.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Fanboy meaning is up for debate.
I am seemingly the the only person that believes fanboy isn't a negative term. I said the media turned the word negative but we fan did as well by making it an insult. I am a proud Playstation fanboy and you might think I hate the 360 but I don't, I have zero problem with X box, PC, Apple, or any other fanboy. I simply don't care for the the other systems, check my comments I hardly go into 360 or Wii articles because they don't apply to me.
Now I typed in fanboy in Google and urban dictionary is the first site to pop up. I don't know if fanboy is in Webster if it is feel free to post the definition. So here is definition one and what I always thought it was. These are editing down.
1.A passionate fan of various elements of geek culture but who lets his passion override social graces.
3. An arrogant person who goes into an outburst every time something he likes is questioned. Fanboys usually acuse others of being fanboys. Fanboys caused a lot of fallouts between people when they started arguing about consoles. If you insult something that a fanboy likes, he will spam your computer up and try to insult something that you like
Now this is what I mean. The third one is a troll not a fanboy. This is what the media and us fans have turned this word into. I do blame the media way more though. I want to take this word back and bring it back to the first meaning. I know its urban dictionary but it's true.
HELP me take this word back. Come out and stop using the terms like "fan" or "pro" and say you are a fanboy. There is nothing wrong with it. I remember wanted to talk about the anime or manga and my friends would pretty much whisper to me becasue they were ashamed of it. WHY its normal and safe.
That is what the gaming world has turned into and I hate it. trollz are not fanboys trollz are trolls.
Now I typed in fanboy in Google and urban dictionary is the first site to pop up. I don't know if fanboy is in Webster if it is feel free to post the definition. So here is definition one and what I always thought it was. These are editing down.
1.A passionate fan of various elements of geek culture but who lets his passion override social graces.
3. An arrogant person who goes into an outburst every time something he likes is questioned. Fanboys usually acuse others of being fanboys. Fanboys caused a lot of fallouts between people when they started arguing about consoles. If you insult something that a fanboy likes, he will spam your computer up and try to insult something that you like
Now this is what I mean. The third one is a troll not a fanboy. This is what the media and us fans have turned this word into. I do blame the media way more though. I want to take this word back and bring it back to the first meaning. I know its urban dictionary but it's true.
HELP me take this word back. Come out and stop using the terms like "fan" or "pro" and say you are a fanboy. There is nothing wrong with it. I remember wanted to talk about the anime or manga and my friends would pretty much whisper to me becasue they were ashamed of it. WHY its normal and safe.
That is what the gaming world has turned into and I hate it. trollz are not fanboys trollz are trolls.
Torchlight XBLA Code Contest
Did you read our interview with Runic Games ( http://n4g.com/user/blogpos... ) and dream of the day that you could play Torchlight on your 360 - for free? Well let's make that happen!
- Comment on this blog post with your avatar set to either the Vanquisher, Alchemist or Destroyer and tell us why you *need* Torchlight!
- Ten winners will be drawn at 9 p.m. PST, March 16, 2011. Codes will be sent to winners via N4G PM.
P.S. You might find the avatar you seek here... http://www.torchlightgame.c...
Update: The Random Number Generator has spoken!! Our winners (and apparently Alchemists are extremely lucky folk!):
- Comment on this blog post with your avatar set to either the Vanquisher, Alchemist or Destroyer and tell us why you *need* Torchlight!
- Ten winners will be drawn at 9 p.m. PST, March 16, 2011. Codes will be sent to winners via N4G PM.
P.S. You might find the avatar you seek here... http://www.torchlightgame.c...
Update: The Random Number Generator has spoken!! Our winners (and apparently Alchemists are extremely lucky folk!):
GDC: Uncharted 3 Eyes-On
I'm back and the embargo has (in internet time) long since lifted, but you still can't hear enough about Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, can you?
Debuting its third dimension at GDC it was striking to see how well-suited the environments (and theatrics) characteristic of the Uncharted series are for 3D. Using a scene from a previously shown area in which Drake and Sully battle through a burning building, the beauty of the series carries very well. Before all fiery hell breaks loose, there's a brief moment to appreciate those subtle climbing cues, the battered architectural playground laid out in a new dimension. Then, with wallpaper curling around you, embers dancing in the air, and smoke thickening the space that oft-spoken of immersion becomes reality. If you're into 3D then Drake's Fortune looks to be one entirely convincing spectacle.
I still struggle with the necessary evil of what we call 3D, the relatively shallow depth of field. With your focus largely pre-determined I catch myself straining to observe the bird in the lower right, or something else deliberately left out of focus. This was less of an issue in Uncharted 3's gameplay than I've seen elsewhere, since their focus isn't on having bullets rushing out the screen at your face, but on the environments as a whole. The fire looks realistic, the details are beautiful, and the structure collapse has the intensity to rival the train-climb from Uncharted 2. I'm still not a 3D believer, but I wouldn't be surprised if the game won over fans, and those already excited about 3D gaming? You will be very happy campers, indeed.
Revealing the primary villain for the first time, the Naughty Dog team emphasized the sheer bossy-ness of this boss: Katherine Marlowe. The British B is all-woman - she fights with more than just firepower, and using women's tricks like manipulation are so definitely not beneath her. Employing psychological warfare and commanding minions far more skilled and battle-ready than those previously seen in the franchise, the opposition will be insidiously cunning and brutal. Part of a secret society dating back to Queen Elizabeth's reign, they have a long history of combat training with methods shared over centuries. No, these guys won't be going for the obvious kill.
The cutscene showed off more than diabolical potential and was downright titillating for all you story lovers. First impressions (British and old) and associated stereotypes (polite and fragile) are dashed when Marlowe immediately proves herself decidedly rude and more than up for a fight - so long as she has her highly trained secret society guys on hand. We're all more than familiar with a grizzled angry guy with a big gun, and since there's something extra scary in the unknown, aristocratic elderly female antagonist Marlowe is capable of striking fear in our treasure-hunting hearts.
Sharp-tongued and ill-intentioned, Marlowe's scene with Drake and Sully in the alley makes you reconsider any qualms you had about punching old ladies in the face. Stealing a man's ancient family jewelry after your platoon of muscle beats him down? Not classy. Without Katherine in the thick of battle, it will be hard to deliver aforementioned punch to the face, but she can't always orchestrate things to her liking from a safe distance, can she?
Debuting its third dimension at GDC it was striking to see how well-suited the environments (and theatrics) characteristic of the Uncharted series are for 3D. Using a scene from a previously shown area in which Drake and Sully battle through a burning building, the beauty of the series carries very well. Before all fiery hell breaks loose, there's a brief moment to appreciate those subtle climbing cues, the battered architectural playground laid out in a new dimension. Then, with wallpaper curling around you, embers dancing in the air, and smoke thickening the space that oft-spoken of immersion becomes reality. If you're into 3D then Drake's Fortune looks to be one entirely convincing spectacle.
I still struggle with the necessary evil of what we call 3D, the relatively shallow depth of field. With your focus largely pre-determined I catch myself straining to observe the bird in the lower right, or something else deliberately left out of focus. This was less of an issue in Uncharted 3's gameplay than I've seen elsewhere, since their focus isn't on having bullets rushing out the screen at your face, but on the environments as a whole. The fire looks realistic, the details are beautiful, and the structure collapse has the intensity to rival the train-climb from Uncharted 2. I'm still not a 3D believer, but I wouldn't be surprised if the game won over fans, and those already excited about 3D gaming? You will be very happy campers, indeed.
Revealing the primary villain for the first time, the Naughty Dog team emphasized the sheer bossy-ness of this boss: Katherine Marlowe. The British B is all-woman - she fights with more than just firepower, and using women's tricks like manipulation are so definitely not beneath her. Employing psychological warfare and commanding minions far more skilled and battle-ready than those previously seen in the franchise, the opposition will be insidiously cunning and brutal. Part of a secret society dating back to Queen Elizabeth's reign, they have a long history of combat training with methods shared over centuries. No, these guys won't be going for the obvious kill.
The cutscene showed off more than diabolical potential and was downright titillating for all you story lovers. First impressions (British and old) and associated stereotypes (polite and fragile) are dashed when Marlowe immediately proves herself decidedly rude and more than up for a fight - so long as she has her highly trained secret society guys on hand. We're all more than familiar with a grizzled angry guy with a big gun, and since there's something extra scary in the unknown, aristocratic elderly female antagonist Marlowe is capable of striking fear in our treasure-hunting hearts.
Sharp-tongued and ill-intentioned, Marlowe's scene with Drake and Sully in the alley makes you reconsider any qualms you had about punching old ladies in the face. Stealing a man's ancient family jewelry after your platoon of muscle beats him down? Not classy. Without Katherine in the thick of battle, it will be hard to deliver aforementioned punch to the face, but she can't always orchestrate things to her liking from a safe distance, can she?
Saturday, October 15, 2011
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
Recap and thoughts on Nintendo E3 Presentation
And so Nintendo finish off the big three’s press conferences. Last year Nintendo gave us a inoffensive and cute press conference with the awesome announcement of the Nintendo 3DS (well when Kid Icarus Uprising was announced). However it was marred by too much talking about themselves and not giving the third-party much room to breathe. Was Nintendo’s keynote speech at E3 2011 an improvement or have they let them selves down?
It all began fantastically with Legend of Zeldathemes being played by the Zelda Orchastra while a video was being played of all the Zelda games in chronological (released) order, including Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Then Shigeru Miyamoto came onto the stage (along with his translator) and what followed was a bundle of Zelda announcements. Basically if you’re a fan of the series then by the end of it your knees would have been quivering and a change of pants would have been in order.
It was all to do with the Legend of Zelda celebrating its 25 Anniversary and it started with the announcement of the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening being the first game available for the Nintendo 3DS e-shop, which opened today. This was followed that next weekend the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D will be released. Providing you can hold the portable system still, the 3D is absolutely beautiful; you’ll waste quite a lot of time just running around locations because the 3D is jaw dropping. Additonal features include the famous Master Quest and a boss challenge mode. September is the next wait for a Legend of Zelda game to make it’s way to the e-shop but it may just be worth the wait, as it’s the Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords – the mutiplayer Zelda game that appeared on the Game Boy Advance – and will be a FREE download.
As for Skyward Sword, no concrete release date has been mentioned, but Miyamoto did say around the holiday period, which could be November or December. To celebrate the release, Nintendo have planned special gold Wii-mote plus to be available with the game.
Lastly, Miyamoto gave us news about the music of Legend of Zelda. First the Legend of Zelda Symphony will be holding concerts around the world in the fall (Autumn) and second there will be two music cd’s that Legend of Zelda fans can get their hands on. The first one is the Ocarina of Time 3D OST which is only available to a select number who manage to register the game at Club Nintendo and the 2nd will be tracks preformed by the Legend of Zelda orchestra.
To close, Miyamoto brought on stage people he has worked with, thanking them, his staff and the fans.
Now, if you wasn’t a Legend of Zelda fan, this was a throat clearing “get on with it” part of Nintendo’s keynote speech. But for everyone else, this was a lot of fun. I forgot to mention that Miyamoto had some fun with the orchestra as he got them to play several of the famous jingles that occur in the games (two of them being when you get an item). The only surprising thing was that Skyward Sword didn’t get a huge mention nor did we see any gameplay. I know they did that last year but they had problems then and it would have been a nice reminder about the game. Oh well, what we got – and heard – was still pretty awesome.
Satoru Iwata came on stage and talked about reaching audiences new and old, breaking the boundaries that divide gamers and preluding to revealing Nintendo’s Console/Controller hybrid the Wii U. I’ll be honest and say that these kind of talks bore me a bit so I didn’t take much in.
After Iwata’s speech, we got some funky video game reels (DO A BARREL ROLL!) that preludeds to what Nintendo were about to show us in terms of games we could expect to appear on the Nintendo 3DS. After this, Reggie-Fils-Amie came on stage and my feed goes down due to Nintendo’s official site going heywire for a moment. When it’s sorted I’m watching the end of Mario Kart…So this is the part where I search YouTube…Okay I’m back ans as Gerrard Winter alluded to, it’s pretty much Mario Kart with no vast differences…Which is how we’ve liked it since the series first started on the SNES. As long as it’s no where near the quality of Mario Kart 64 or Mario Kart: Double Dash, we’ll like it just fine.
Next up is Starfox 64 3D and the main talking points were the 3D tilt controls, where if you tiled the 3DS left, right, up and down, your Arwing will respond and go in that direction. With the 3D on this is probably not advisable but it could still be a fun novel feature, especially as some of us do tend to throws ourselves in the direction we want to move to avoid an attack in games. The other talking point was the mutiplayer (which wasn’t exactly a strong point in the original Starfox 64 but nevermind) where you can now not only see your oppopnents faces but see their reactions as the images will be small video screens instead of still picture. If you want to see your friends make a sad face in fuzzy quality, this is the feature you have been waiting for. Everyone else will just buy the game so they can ride the landmaster again.
Super Mario 3D (what is it with these creative titles?) is shown next and Reggie tells us “This is the first 3D Mario adventure created from scratch for a portable system, and once you’ve played Super Mario 3D, I think you’ll agree it incorporates quite a tale.” BAZINGA! *ahem* this looks like a combination of Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros. The Tanuki suit is one of the main focuses of the game and even the enemies can now weird the power of the Japanese racoon as we saw a Goomba take a swipe at mario with a Tanuki tail. About time the little dudes got an equalizer. As usual, it should be a very good Mario game that will help the 3DS attract a huge range of audiences.
Kid Icarus: Uprising looked badass last year and continues to look badass this year. It is still my #1 reason to get a 3DS and the trailer (despite Pit’s accent being a tad annoying) just made me more excited for it. It looks to have a set of badass characters, the mutiplayer, which pits a team of angels against each other, looks very enjoyable and the game overall looks amazing. The AR feature also looks to be another good novel feature. I still don’t think you can tell how much I want this game.
Now seeing Luigi’s Mansion 2 was a very pleasant surprise. Though the original wasn’t a great game (seriously stop kidding yourself) it was still fun and bringing it to the 3DS instead of the Wii was the right move as the original felt short and a bit lacking (especially for a launch title). Hopefully Luigi’s Mansion 2 will be a bit more meaty and have some very nice secrets. As for the gameplay, it looks to continue the fun of being a Nintendo version of the Ghostbusters. Just one reveal and it’s already a near-purchase title.
Reggie doesn’t have time to go through any other titles, but he does give us a tasty video that briefly shows the following games: Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Ace Combat 3D, Tetris, Cave Story 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, Driver Renegade, Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions, Tekken 3D and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.
Now something for Pokemon fans. No it’s not a new Pokemon game (surely you can’t have completed Black/White and caught ALL the Pokemon by now?!). Instead Pokedex 3D is almost a meta-game extension of Black and White where you have to fill up a Pokedex (which looks to be more detailed then usual) by swapping with people either using AR cards, spotpass or any other means (possibly direct trading). You can also take pictures with your Pokemon. I won’t judge that last feature. Pokedex 3D is only availble in the e-shop and (thankfully) it’s free.
Now it’s time for the most confusing part of E3, let alone Nintendo’s keynote speech. The introduction of the Wii U, Nintendo’s newest console (I think). Before the unveiling of the new system, Reggie talked about how the Wii got it’s name because it was a console that was catered for everyone and introduce the Wii U as a system that is great for everyone and perfect for you. Then came the picture of the Wii U…Well actually it was the controler. It looked like a SNES pad that had gained fifty pounds and had additional buttons. In the middle was a screen that would be the main focus of the Wii U. We were then treated to a video to demonstrate the Wii U.
We see someone walk through the door and act like a douche in telling him it’s time to watch some baseball (this is why you get two TV’s folks). Instead of glaring at him, Wii playing dude *shrugs* says okay and we’re set to watch baseball…Except the camera pans down and we see the Wii playing dude pick up the Wii U controller and resume playing Super Mario Bros. Mii (I know the title due to hindsight) He now becomes the Wii U playing dude. If your a quick observer you’ll notice he was never playing on the Wii but was actually playing on the Wii-U! He was just looking at the big screen instead of the Wii U controller.
Now we get set to see it’s features such as being able to draw, use the screen to play games such as Wii Sports, use the screen as an aiming device when attached to the blaster peripheral which shows it is backward compatible, use to monitor your weight, make video calls, share pictures and videos by just flicking the content to the TV screen and browse the internet on TV by using the screen. Oh and you can play Othello, just in case you were hoping for exciting games. Yes you can also play Nintendo Wii games using that. Nintendo haven’t forgotten to include that part yet. The Wii U will be available in 2012.
Iwata comes on stage and goes more in-depth about the Wii-U such as how you can play games and that it is NOT a portable games machine. we then hear from Miyamoto his thoughts on the new system. Iwata then talks about third-party support but before we get to that, we hear a bombshell of an announcement that a Smash Bros. game is being developed for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS! This gets the biggest reaction from the crowd though Iwata kind of lets us down by nothing even having any concept art. He best not be trolling.
More talk about the Wii-U from Reggie with him telling us “Stating that Wiiu will play the way you change games is a pretty bold assertion, so this week we’re providing pretty tangible proof.” which leads to Reggie announcing that E3 attendees can experience eight interactive experiences, not games, to see the potential of the Wii-U. Well 3DS tech demos worked a treat last year so I guess it’s an effective strategy to showcase the Wii-U. We are then shown a pretty CG video of a bird flying through an area of Japan, picking a sakura flower form a tree, dropping it into the lake which seems to signal a huge fish to jump out of the water. I guess this was to show how good CG intros could be on the Wii U. That or a new Sega Bass Fishing game from Sega is being worked on.
A few games are revealed to be for the Wii U. The first one is the aforementioned Super Mario Bros. Mii, which seems to just be Super Mario Bros. Wii but this time you can have your Wii play alongside Mario and crew. Shield Pose where you swing the Wii U controller left and right blocking arrows and hope to God you don’t swing to hard and take out a window. Chase Mii is a multiplayer game with one player holding the Wii U controller and is tasked from running from up to four people who play using the Wii-mote. However, the Wii U player has the advantage of being able to see where everyone else doesn’t get that luxury. Lastly is Galactic Fighters, game with “”galactic fighers” shooting up at a ship, while the pilot in the ship is shooting back down.” Reggie says the game is hard but addictive and right now I’ll take his word on it.
We get a glimpse of Lego City Stories and instantly I get the impression it’s GTA Lego. Just without the violence and sex. If it at least allows some sort of carnage in a Lego cute way then I will start to look forward to Lego City Stories.
We now get comments from third-party developers, telling us why the Wii U is awesome, which leads to some kickass reveals of games being available at launch for the Wii U; Darksiders 2, Tekken: Wii Successor, Batman Arkham City, a new Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online. I expect there to be more revealed in the coming months but this is a fantastic start. Tekken: Wii Successor and Batman Arkham City would be on my list of games to purchase with the new system. We are treated to some videos showcasing some new titles as well as those that have been revealed; Darksiders 2, Dirt, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online, Metro Last Light, Tekken and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (working title). The last one got a huge “whoop” from the crowd. It also seems that Nintendo is starting to embrace mature games as we saw just as many violent games that are available for the Nintendo Wii!
EA’s John Riccitiello came on stage to give a talk about how Wii U will make their games better. Nothing much here except that it seems Nintendo is really hoping to gain more third-party support it seems.
Reggie is out and he finishes the presentation by talking about Nintendo’s recent gaming systems (Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U) and to check out the Nintendo Network and that’s everything. Amazingly the keynote speech was just over an hour, around 30 minutes less then Sony and Microsoft’s and yet it seemed to contain just as much info, if not more.
Conclusion: Well Nintendo says Wii U but it felt like “Wii Me” as Nintendo did what they did last year; focus mostly on themselves and only give the third party support a tiny bit of attention. As a result we mainly saw games from Nintendo themselves and though there was more their party mention then last year, it felt brief compared to Nintendo’s own products. Also the Wii U was so confusingly presented that only now are we beginning to realize fully what the damn thing is. Still, what did hit the spot hit it pretty damn well, with the 3DS games looking fantastic, especially Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Kid Icarus: Uprising, while the Legend of Zelda section just plain awesome. Also in hindsight, the Wii U does show promise (though Nintendo can thank the third-party games being shown). Nintendo still know how to charm and their conference was the most fun. As such it was (just about) the best show out of the big three.
It all began fantastically with Legend of Zeldathemes being played by the Zelda Orchastra while a video was being played of all the Zelda games in chronological (released) order, including Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Then Shigeru Miyamoto came onto the stage (along with his translator) and what followed was a bundle of Zelda announcements. Basically if you’re a fan of the series then by the end of it your knees would have been quivering and a change of pants would have been in order.
It was all to do with the Legend of Zelda celebrating its 25 Anniversary and it started with the announcement of the Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening being the first game available for the Nintendo 3DS e-shop, which opened today. This was followed that next weekend the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D will be released. Providing you can hold the portable system still, the 3D is absolutely beautiful; you’ll waste quite a lot of time just running around locations because the 3D is jaw dropping. Additonal features include the famous Master Quest and a boss challenge mode. September is the next wait for a Legend of Zelda game to make it’s way to the e-shop but it may just be worth the wait, as it’s the Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords – the mutiplayer Zelda game that appeared on the Game Boy Advance – and will be a FREE download.
As for Skyward Sword, no concrete release date has been mentioned, but Miyamoto did say around the holiday period, which could be November or December. To celebrate the release, Nintendo have planned special gold Wii-mote plus to be available with the game.
Lastly, Miyamoto gave us news about the music of Legend of Zelda. First the Legend of Zelda Symphony will be holding concerts around the world in the fall (Autumn) and second there will be two music cd’s that Legend of Zelda fans can get their hands on. The first one is the Ocarina of Time 3D OST which is only available to a select number who manage to register the game at Club Nintendo and the 2nd will be tracks preformed by the Legend of Zelda orchestra.
To close, Miyamoto brought on stage people he has worked with, thanking them, his staff and the fans.
Now, if you wasn’t a Legend of Zelda fan, this was a throat clearing “get on with it” part of Nintendo’s keynote speech. But for everyone else, this was a lot of fun. I forgot to mention that Miyamoto had some fun with the orchestra as he got them to play several of the famous jingles that occur in the games (two of them being when you get an item). The only surprising thing was that Skyward Sword didn’t get a huge mention nor did we see any gameplay. I know they did that last year but they had problems then and it would have been a nice reminder about the game. Oh well, what we got – and heard – was still pretty awesome.
Satoru Iwata came on stage and talked about reaching audiences new and old, breaking the boundaries that divide gamers and preluding to revealing Nintendo’s Console/Controller hybrid the Wii U. I’ll be honest and say that these kind of talks bore me a bit so I didn’t take much in.
After Iwata’s speech, we got some funky video game reels (DO A BARREL ROLL!) that preludeds to what Nintendo were about to show us in terms of games we could expect to appear on the Nintendo 3DS. After this, Reggie-Fils-Amie came on stage and my feed goes down due to Nintendo’s official site going heywire for a moment. When it’s sorted I’m watching the end of Mario Kart…So this is the part where I search YouTube…Okay I’m back ans as Gerrard Winter alluded to, it’s pretty much Mario Kart with no vast differences…Which is how we’ve liked it since the series first started on the SNES. As long as it’s no where near the quality of Mario Kart 64 or Mario Kart: Double Dash, we’ll like it just fine.
Next up is Starfox 64 3D and the main talking points were the 3D tilt controls, where if you tiled the 3DS left, right, up and down, your Arwing will respond and go in that direction. With the 3D on this is probably not advisable but it could still be a fun novel feature, especially as some of us do tend to throws ourselves in the direction we want to move to avoid an attack in games. The other talking point was the mutiplayer (which wasn’t exactly a strong point in the original Starfox 64 but nevermind) where you can now not only see your oppopnents faces but see their reactions as the images will be small video screens instead of still picture. If you want to see your friends make a sad face in fuzzy quality, this is the feature you have been waiting for. Everyone else will just buy the game so they can ride the landmaster again.
Super Mario 3D (what is it with these creative titles?) is shown next and Reggie tells us “This is the first 3D Mario adventure created from scratch for a portable system, and once you’ve played Super Mario 3D, I think you’ll agree it incorporates quite a tale.” BAZINGA! *ahem* this looks like a combination of Mario 64 and New Super Mario Bros. The Tanuki suit is one of the main focuses of the game and even the enemies can now weird the power of the Japanese racoon as we saw a Goomba take a swipe at mario with a Tanuki tail. About time the little dudes got an equalizer. As usual, it should be a very good Mario game that will help the 3DS attract a huge range of audiences.
Kid Icarus: Uprising looked badass last year and continues to look badass this year. It is still my #1 reason to get a 3DS and the trailer (despite Pit’s accent being a tad annoying) just made me more excited for it. It looks to have a set of badass characters, the mutiplayer, which pits a team of angels against each other, looks very enjoyable and the game overall looks amazing. The AR feature also looks to be another good novel feature. I still don’t think you can tell how much I want this game.
Now seeing Luigi’s Mansion 2 was a very pleasant surprise. Though the original wasn’t a great game (seriously stop kidding yourself) it was still fun and bringing it to the 3DS instead of the Wii was the right move as the original felt short and a bit lacking (especially for a launch title). Hopefully Luigi’s Mansion 2 will be a bit more meaty and have some very nice secrets. As for the gameplay, it looks to continue the fun of being a Nintendo version of the Ghostbusters. Just one reveal and it’s already a near-purchase title.
Reggie doesn’t have time to go through any other titles, but he does give us a tasty video that briefly shows the following games: Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Ace Combat 3D, Tetris, Cave Story 3D, Resident Evil: Revelations, Driver Renegade, Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions, Tekken 3D and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.
Now something for Pokemon fans. No it’s not a new Pokemon game (surely you can’t have completed Black/White and caught ALL the Pokemon by now?!). Instead Pokedex 3D is almost a meta-game extension of Black and White where you have to fill up a Pokedex (which looks to be more detailed then usual) by swapping with people either using AR cards, spotpass or any other means (possibly direct trading). You can also take pictures with your Pokemon. I won’t judge that last feature. Pokedex 3D is only availble in the e-shop and (thankfully) it’s free.
Now it’s time for the most confusing part of E3, let alone Nintendo’s keynote speech. The introduction of the Wii U, Nintendo’s newest console (I think). Before the unveiling of the new system, Reggie talked about how the Wii got it’s name because it was a console that was catered for everyone and introduce the Wii U as a system that is great for everyone and perfect for you. Then came the picture of the Wii U…Well actually it was the controler. It looked like a SNES pad that had gained fifty pounds and had additional buttons. In the middle was a screen that would be the main focus of the Wii U. We were then treated to a video to demonstrate the Wii U.
We see someone walk through the door and act like a douche in telling him it’s time to watch some baseball (this is why you get two TV’s folks). Instead of glaring at him, Wii playing dude *shrugs* says okay and we’re set to watch baseball…Except the camera pans down and we see the Wii playing dude pick up the Wii U controller and resume playing Super Mario Bros. Mii (I know the title due to hindsight) He now becomes the Wii U playing dude. If your a quick observer you’ll notice he was never playing on the Wii but was actually playing on the Wii-U! He was just looking at the big screen instead of the Wii U controller.
Now we get set to see it’s features such as being able to draw, use the screen to play games such as Wii Sports, use the screen as an aiming device when attached to the blaster peripheral which shows it is backward compatible, use to monitor your weight, make video calls, share pictures and videos by just flicking the content to the TV screen and browse the internet on TV by using the screen. Oh and you can play Othello, just in case you were hoping for exciting games. Yes you can also play Nintendo Wii games using that. Nintendo haven’t forgotten to include that part yet. The Wii U will be available in 2012.
Iwata comes on stage and goes more in-depth about the Wii-U such as how you can play games and that it is NOT a portable games machine. we then hear from Miyamoto his thoughts on the new system. Iwata then talks about third-party support but before we get to that, we hear a bombshell of an announcement that a Smash Bros. game is being developed for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS! This gets the biggest reaction from the crowd though Iwata kind of lets us down by nothing even having any concept art. He best not be trolling.
More talk about the Wii-U from Reggie with him telling us “Stating that Wiiu will play the way you change games is a pretty bold assertion, so this week we’re providing pretty tangible proof.” which leads to Reggie announcing that E3 attendees can experience eight interactive experiences, not games, to see the potential of the Wii-U. Well 3DS tech demos worked a treat last year so I guess it’s an effective strategy to showcase the Wii-U. We are then shown a pretty CG video of a bird flying through an area of Japan, picking a sakura flower form a tree, dropping it into the lake which seems to signal a huge fish to jump out of the water. I guess this was to show how good CG intros could be on the Wii U. That or a new Sega Bass Fishing game from Sega is being worked on.
A few games are revealed to be for the Wii U. The first one is the aforementioned Super Mario Bros. Mii, which seems to just be Super Mario Bros. Wii but this time you can have your Wii play alongside Mario and crew. Shield Pose where you swing the Wii U controller left and right blocking arrows and hope to God you don’t swing to hard and take out a window. Chase Mii is a multiplayer game with one player holding the Wii U controller and is tasked from running from up to four people who play using the Wii-mote. However, the Wii U player has the advantage of being able to see where everyone else doesn’t get that luxury. Lastly is Galactic Fighters, game with “”galactic fighers” shooting up at a ship, while the pilot in the ship is shooting back down.” Reggie says the game is hard but addictive and right now I’ll take his word on it.
We get a glimpse of Lego City Stories and instantly I get the impression it’s GTA Lego. Just without the violence and sex. If it at least allows some sort of carnage in a Lego cute way then I will start to look forward to Lego City Stories.
We now get comments from third-party developers, telling us why the Wii U is awesome, which leads to some kickass reveals of games being available at launch for the Wii U; Darksiders 2, Tekken: Wii Successor, Batman Arkham City, a new Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online. I expect there to be more revealed in the coming months but this is a fantastic start. Tekken: Wii Successor and Batman Arkham City would be on my list of games to purchase with the new system. We are treated to some videos showcasing some new titles as well as those that have been revealed; Darksiders 2, Dirt, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online, Metro Last Light, Tekken and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (working title). The last one got a huge “whoop” from the crowd. It also seems that Nintendo is starting to embrace mature games as we saw just as many violent games that are available for the Nintendo Wii!
EA’s John Riccitiello came on stage to give a talk about how Wii U will make their games better. Nothing much here except that it seems Nintendo is really hoping to gain more third-party support it seems.
Reggie is out and he finishes the presentation by talking about Nintendo’s recent gaming systems (Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U) and to check out the Nintendo Network and that’s everything. Amazingly the keynote speech was just over an hour, around 30 minutes less then Sony and Microsoft’s and yet it seemed to contain just as much info, if not more.
Conclusion: Well Nintendo says Wii U but it felt like “Wii Me” as Nintendo did what they did last year; focus mostly on themselves and only give the third party support a tiny bit of attention. As a result we mainly saw games from Nintendo themselves and though there was more their party mention then last year, it felt brief compared to Nintendo’s own products. Also the Wii U was so confusingly presented that only now are we beginning to realize fully what the damn thing is. Still, what did hit the spot hit it pretty damn well, with the 3DS games looking fantastic, especially Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Kid Icarus: Uprising, while the Legend of Zelda section just plain awesome. Also in hindsight, the Wii U does show promise (though Nintendo can thank the third-party games being shown). Nintendo still know how to charm and their conference was the most fun. As such it was (just about) the best show out of the big three.
E3 2011: The Microsoft Balancing Act
After much excitement and rumour in the build up to E3, gamers around the world were treated to, in my opinion, the most underwhelming E3 in a long time, with Microsoft leading the yawn fest. To me, the excitement for E3 is all about the revealing of games and hardware to the public that have never been seen before, despite Nintendo's efforts in the hardware section, I don't think I have been so underwhelmed and surprised by the lack of megatons at a E3 showcase before.
This feeling started the moment Microsoft's press conference finished, which in my view, failed to inject any real surprises of note, although I had a feeling all along that this was going to be the case due to the lack of stern investment in exclusives to the console. There is no doubt in my mind Gears of War 3 and Forza 4 will be of a high standard while Halo 4 will no doubt give many Xbox 360 players something to really look forward but for me it is not enough.
When I first heard that Gears of War 3 was going to be demonstrated on stage at Microsoft's press conference, I asked myself why would they do this? Sure it is a highly popular franchise and after a good few weeks on the much highlighted beta, the third person action shooter by Epic will be most enjoyable but E3 is about surprises and announcements so why spend the time on stage to play a game that will be released in September this year, has had a lot of coverage beforehand along with a beta? Surely Epic and Microsoft could of released a HD video via Xbox Live Marketplace and various gaming websites with brief footage of the single player campaign like they did with Gears of War 2?
Another element I found strange during Microsoft's press conference was what seemed to be a flow of games that are also available on other platforms. Sure, games like Modern Warfare 3, Tomb Raider and Mass Effect 3 are sure to be excellent titles in their own right but this is E3, gamers that have invested in a individual system want to see what is coming in the future, what new games will be announced, not showing games that are playable on the competition's machine and treating them like a exclusive.
Then we have Kinect, a product that is causing heated debates more so than ever after Microsoft's showing. Some gamers like it while others feel a strong dislike for it. Microsoft have spent a lot of money on Kinect and it is to be expected that they have to invest a lot of software and marketing for it. What seems to be missing is the ability to provide a balance of motion control Kinect games and traditional controller games exclusive to the platform. At E3 Kinect was the dominant force for Microsoft, which seems off putting for some and I can understand it.
Having owned a Wii, which was sold after three years and a current owner of Xbox 360 Kinect, experiencing what motion control has to offer on two different platforms I have come to the conclusion that, as it stands currently, not one game via motion control has offered me personally a fond and memorable experience. That is not to say motion control should be scrapped, if people enjoy motion control then respect to them, there is a market for it and it's clear that it has proved to be a successful alternative to the traditional control pad experience.
My problem, which is mentioned briefly above, is the balancing act Microsoft at the moment seems to be struggling with to offer motion control and traditional exclusive games to each type of gamer. While I am not calling for a exact number each way, it's becoming clear that those who plan Microsoft's strategy are pushing a lot more for the motion control experience on a console that was considered by many to be a core console suited to a traditional controller.
With employees such as Aaron Greenberg hyping Microsoft's strategy for the core gamer in the month's building up to E3 claiming deals were in place similar to those such as Codename Kingdoms from Crytek ( now with the title Ryse and seems to be offering motion control as the marketing campaign) it is somewhat disappointing that all they could provide was Halo 4 and a remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved remastered in high definition for the traditional controller.
I question the goals and strategy of people such as Phil Spencer, who is current head of Microsoft games studios and I question his thinking in terms of the long haul and in terms of being able to provide a balancing act that will keep those consumers happy who have invested time and money in the console for all those years and those they hope to bring in via the Kinect experience. At the moment Spencer seems intent of telling gamers what they should want rather than actually giving what gamers want. They have seen what sort of profit the Nintendo Wii has made and want a piece of the money pot, understandable as this is business but what they should not do is alienate the millions who had a choice to invest in the motion control experience back in 2006 and decided not to and if you look at the Nintendo Wii today with it's stern price cut and lack of software in the pipeline, could Microsoft suffer the same fate eventually?
Microsoft needs leaders that will give all gamers what they want without the excuse of multiplatform games and without the need to dominate one template of gameplay for another in terms of exclusive library. People who can manage to work out how to give gamers of all tastes what they want instead of telling them what they want, the likes of Peter Moore and Robbie Bach are sorely missed at the moment, people who I feel would of done a much better job of balancing the line ups and maybe cooling down the frustration many traditional controller players are feeling at the moment.
This feeling started the moment Microsoft's press conference finished, which in my view, failed to inject any real surprises of note, although I had a feeling all along that this was going to be the case due to the lack of stern investment in exclusives to the console. There is no doubt in my mind Gears of War 3 and Forza 4 will be of a high standard while Halo 4 will no doubt give many Xbox 360 players something to really look forward but for me it is not enough.
When I first heard that Gears of War 3 was going to be demonstrated on stage at Microsoft's press conference, I asked myself why would they do this? Sure it is a highly popular franchise and after a good few weeks on the much highlighted beta, the third person action shooter by Epic will be most enjoyable but E3 is about surprises and announcements so why spend the time on stage to play a game that will be released in September this year, has had a lot of coverage beforehand along with a beta? Surely Epic and Microsoft could of released a HD video via Xbox Live Marketplace and various gaming websites with brief footage of the single player campaign like they did with Gears of War 2?
Another element I found strange during Microsoft's press conference was what seemed to be a flow of games that are also available on other platforms. Sure, games like Modern Warfare 3, Tomb Raider and Mass Effect 3 are sure to be excellent titles in their own right but this is E3, gamers that have invested in a individual system want to see what is coming in the future, what new games will be announced, not showing games that are playable on the competition's machine and treating them like a exclusive.
Then we have Kinect, a product that is causing heated debates more so than ever after Microsoft's showing. Some gamers like it while others feel a strong dislike for it. Microsoft have spent a lot of money on Kinect and it is to be expected that they have to invest a lot of software and marketing for it. What seems to be missing is the ability to provide a balance of motion control Kinect games and traditional controller games exclusive to the platform. At E3 Kinect was the dominant force for Microsoft, which seems off putting for some and I can understand it.
Having owned a Wii, which was sold after three years and a current owner of Xbox 360 Kinect, experiencing what motion control has to offer on two different platforms I have come to the conclusion that, as it stands currently, not one game via motion control has offered me personally a fond and memorable experience. That is not to say motion control should be scrapped, if people enjoy motion control then respect to them, there is a market for it and it's clear that it has proved to be a successful alternative to the traditional control pad experience.
My problem, which is mentioned briefly above, is the balancing act Microsoft at the moment seems to be struggling with to offer motion control and traditional exclusive games to each type of gamer. While I am not calling for a exact number each way, it's becoming clear that those who plan Microsoft's strategy are pushing a lot more for the motion control experience on a console that was considered by many to be a core console suited to a traditional controller.
With employees such as Aaron Greenberg hyping Microsoft's strategy for the core gamer in the month's building up to E3 claiming deals were in place similar to those such as Codename Kingdoms from Crytek ( now with the title Ryse and seems to be offering motion control as the marketing campaign) it is somewhat disappointing that all they could provide was Halo 4 and a remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved remastered in high definition for the traditional controller.
I question the goals and strategy of people such as Phil Spencer, who is current head of Microsoft games studios and I question his thinking in terms of the long haul and in terms of being able to provide a balancing act that will keep those consumers happy who have invested time and money in the console for all those years and those they hope to bring in via the Kinect experience. At the moment Spencer seems intent of telling gamers what they should want rather than actually giving what gamers want. They have seen what sort of profit the Nintendo Wii has made and want a piece of the money pot, understandable as this is business but what they should not do is alienate the millions who had a choice to invest in the motion control experience back in 2006 and decided not to and if you look at the Nintendo Wii today with it's stern price cut and lack of software in the pipeline, could Microsoft suffer the same fate eventually?
Microsoft needs leaders that will give all gamers what they want without the excuse of multiplatform games and without the need to dominate one template of gameplay for another in terms of exclusive library. People who can manage to work out how to give gamers of all tastes what they want instead of telling them what they want, the likes of Peter Moore and Robbie Bach are sorely missed at the moment, people who I feel would of done a much better job of balancing the line ups and maybe cooling down the frustration many traditional controller players are feeling at the moment.
This gen's newest fanboy: The Hacker Fanboy
The term fanboy has been around for a long time. Long before this gen of video game consoles and in more areas of entertainment than just the game industry as well. We can argue all day about what the true definition of fanboy is, but for this blog we will use the definition of a person who has an extraordinarily abnormal love or fixation upon something.
We've seen fanboys of all 3 consoles and all types of game genres popping up all over this site.
"My console is better than yours because it has cross game chat"
"My game is better than yours because it's only on one disc"
"Link iz teh pwn"
These are just some small examples of the kinds of statements you may have come across here. But now, I'm going to add another.
"Hackers are fighting for OUR rights"
As piracy grew thanks to the evolution of consoles into being more PC oriented in design, it opened up ways for people to try and break their way into every aspect of a console or game. Hackers have been around forever, but never more prevalent in gaming than this gen. They are public and they are proud.
These are individuals who believe they have the right to alter software to do anything they see fit. What gives them this right? They believe it's the fact they spent money on a thing.
Let's be clear about that. Hackers, and hacker fanboys, claim that because they bought a product, they should be free to do whatever they want with it. And they will use any loophole they can find to try and work their way around any copyright laws that exist.
But what is it they actually own? Let's take the PS3 for example. Hackers and hacker fanboys are very vocal that they should be able to have Linux and whatever other kind of program they want on the PS3 because they bought the PS3. They will also argue against the removal of Linux from the PS3 as the removal of an "advertised feature" but yet can't find any ads to support this. It's important to remember that argument because I'll come back to it later.
Now then, they are correct that they own their PS3. They paid for a piece of hardware made up of various plastics, metals, and silicon whose design is put in such a way that it allows it to play video games, music, and videos. They can freely turn said hardware into a grill, a toaster, hell even some kind of ventriloquist dummy if they could (that'd be cool to see). They did in fact pay for that hardware.
HOWEVER!!! This is where all hackers and hacker fanboys FAIL at literacy. EVERY PIECE OF SOFTWARE IN THE WORLD (with the exception of open source software and freeware) ALWAYS COMES WITH A TERMS OF USE LICENSE AGREEMENT YOU MUST AGREE TO UPON INSTALLATION OF SAID, AND/OR USE OF SAID.
When you bought your PS3, you paid for the hardware; AND A LICENSE TO USE THE OS SOFTWARE!! You DID NOT BUY the PS3's OS. You bought the right to USE the software. If you had actually BOUGHT the software, then there would be no need for a End User License Agreement, now would there?
Now we come back to the advertised features argument. There is the unproven claim that Linux was an advertised feature, but you know what WASN'T an advertised feature of the PS3? Piracy. Surely any sane person would agree then that since piracy wasn't an advertised feature, the removal of anything that can promote piracy on the PS3 cannot be illegal or immoral yes? Why argue about the removal of something you DIDN'T pay for? But that's what hackers and hacker fanboys do. Constantly change the terms of their arguments to fit the fact that they are doing something illegal.
So we come to the hacker fanboys. These are individuals who state "You can't group all hackers together" and "You have to work with hackers, not against them" and "Hackers shouldn't be called hackers, they should be called modders or tinkerers."
They justify hacking as a means of somehow improving a product, yet conveniently try to push under the rug every security circumvention, every theft, and any other illegal transgression hackers commit. They will fight for the "right to do what we want with what we bought" ignoring the laws set in place that define exactly what you own. And when we get something like the PSN outage, CAUSED BY HACKERS, the hacker fanboys blame Sony for taking a harsh stance against the illegal modifications and circumventions of their recognized original work. They state that it's Sony's fault for protecting their investment, that hackers should be free to do what they please. The problem is that when you give so much freedom, people will always take it too far.
And the idea that you can't judge all hackers the same due to the malicious acts of some of them is partially correct, partially incorrect. As long as you justify any part of what is used to steal or circumvent securities, as long as you don't denounce the acts of those who are trying to give your community a bad name, as long as you do nothing to help prevent real problems occurring because of hackers, you are part of the problem and responsible for the reputation hackers have.
A person who wishes to modify something for their own use should have no problem doing so legally. And if it's known to be illegal, why publicly distribute it and then complain when you're sued? The FACT remains that none of us own the OS's of our respective consoles. We do not have the legal right to tamper with what we do not own. No one had the right to hack into PSN, and it's not Sony's fault that it happened. It's all about choices. But hacker fanboys would have everyone believe that everything created should belong to everyone, and that the original creator(s) shouldn't have complete control of their own works.
We've seen fanboys of all 3 consoles and all types of game genres popping up all over this site.
"My console is better than yours because it has cross game chat"
"My game is better than yours because it's only on one disc"
"Link iz teh pwn"
These are just some small examples of the kinds of statements you may have come across here. But now, I'm going to add another.
"Hackers are fighting for OUR rights"
As piracy grew thanks to the evolution of consoles into being more PC oriented in design, it opened up ways for people to try and break their way into every aspect of a console or game. Hackers have been around forever, but never more prevalent in gaming than this gen. They are public and they are proud.
These are individuals who believe they have the right to alter software to do anything they see fit. What gives them this right? They believe it's the fact they spent money on a thing.
Let's be clear about that. Hackers, and hacker fanboys, claim that because they bought a product, they should be free to do whatever they want with it. And they will use any loophole they can find to try and work their way around any copyright laws that exist.
But what is it they actually own? Let's take the PS3 for example. Hackers and hacker fanboys are very vocal that they should be able to have Linux and whatever other kind of program they want on the PS3 because they bought the PS3. They will also argue against the removal of Linux from the PS3 as the removal of an "advertised feature" but yet can't find any ads to support this. It's important to remember that argument because I'll come back to it later.
Now then, they are correct that they own their PS3. They paid for a piece of hardware made up of various plastics, metals, and silicon whose design is put in such a way that it allows it to play video games, music, and videos. They can freely turn said hardware into a grill, a toaster, hell even some kind of ventriloquist dummy if they could (that'd be cool to see). They did in fact pay for that hardware.
HOWEVER!!! This is where all hackers and hacker fanboys FAIL at literacy. EVERY PIECE OF SOFTWARE IN THE WORLD (with the exception of open source software and freeware) ALWAYS COMES WITH A TERMS OF USE LICENSE AGREEMENT YOU MUST AGREE TO UPON INSTALLATION OF SAID, AND/OR USE OF SAID.
When you bought your PS3, you paid for the hardware; AND A LICENSE TO USE THE OS SOFTWARE!! You DID NOT BUY the PS3's OS. You bought the right to USE the software. If you had actually BOUGHT the software, then there would be no need for a End User License Agreement, now would there?
Now we come back to the advertised features argument. There is the unproven claim that Linux was an advertised feature, but you know what WASN'T an advertised feature of the PS3? Piracy. Surely any sane person would agree then that since piracy wasn't an advertised feature, the removal of anything that can promote piracy on the PS3 cannot be illegal or immoral yes? Why argue about the removal of something you DIDN'T pay for? But that's what hackers and hacker fanboys do. Constantly change the terms of their arguments to fit the fact that they are doing something illegal.
So we come to the hacker fanboys. These are individuals who state "You can't group all hackers together" and "You have to work with hackers, not against them" and "Hackers shouldn't be called hackers, they should be called modders or tinkerers."
They justify hacking as a means of somehow improving a product, yet conveniently try to push under the rug every security circumvention, every theft, and any other illegal transgression hackers commit. They will fight for the "right to do what we want with what we bought" ignoring the laws set in place that define exactly what you own. And when we get something like the PSN outage, CAUSED BY HACKERS, the hacker fanboys blame Sony for taking a harsh stance against the illegal modifications and circumventions of their recognized original work. They state that it's Sony's fault for protecting their investment, that hackers should be free to do what they please. The problem is that when you give so much freedom, people will always take it too far.
And the idea that you can't judge all hackers the same due to the malicious acts of some of them is partially correct, partially incorrect. As long as you justify any part of what is used to steal or circumvent securities, as long as you don't denounce the acts of those who are trying to give your community a bad name, as long as you do nothing to help prevent real problems occurring because of hackers, you are part of the problem and responsible for the reputation hackers have.
A person who wishes to modify something for their own use should have no problem doing so legally. And if it's known to be illegal, why publicly distribute it and then complain when you're sued? The FACT remains that none of us own the OS's of our respective consoles. We do not have the legal right to tamper with what we do not own. No one had the right to hack into PSN, and it's not Sony's fault that it happened. It's all about choices. But hacker fanboys would have everyone believe that everything created should belong to everyone, and that the original creator(s) shouldn't have complete control of their own works.
Microsoft's E3 presser in a nutshell=Kinect+Casual+Usual+Halo 4
Microsoft’s E3 presser was all about Kinect,boatloads of Modern Warfare 3 and Mass Effect 3,Kinect dashboard,more Kinect games and Halo 4 trilogy announcement.
It wasn’t a surprise to see MS presser kicking off with a 10+ minutes of good old COD:Modern Warfare 3 footage just as Black Ops kick started last year’s E3 with Mark Lamia showing off Campaign gameplay.The gameplay was still the same old CODdish but crisper compared to all the previous iterations of the game.
Then came a huge load of KINECT centric stuff like
1)Kinect support for Mass Effect 3 where you will be able to speak the dialog using a Kinect camera, and the game will detect which option you picked and go down that dialog sequence.This really felt a gimmick rather than an innovation(Just imagine conversing with a Krogan at home!)
2)Kinect support for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – You can select gun parts in the “Gunsmith Editor” with Kinect movements or voice commands. You’ll be able to use voice commands to randomize loadouts and pull up specific loadouts.It also features kinect for gameplay like firing weapons and movement.Further more Ubisoft CEO claimed “All future Tom Clancy’s titles will utilize Kinect!”
3)Kinect Dashboard redesign with enhanced Voice control.
4)Kinect based Crytek’s Xbox Exclusive action game Ryse revealed.
5)Kinect support for Forza Motorsport 4 enhanced with multiplayer features, such as multiplayer racing clubs and monthly expansions.
6)Kinect support for Fable: The Journey which is basically an on rails shooter with Kinect controlled movements.
7)Kinect support for Minecraft,the indie sensation finally hitting Xbox 360.
8)Disneyland Adventures= A Kinect based minigame collection.
9)Star Wars Kinect -Basically a light saber swinging game with auto-targeted enemies.
10)Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, the new Kinect based minigame collection.
11)Kinect Fun Labs, an Xbox based Kinect platform that allows users to exploit and build specific Kinect software.
12)Kinect Sports Season 2featuring six new sport minigames like Golf, Skiing, Football, Darts, and Tennis.
13)Kinect based Dance Central 2 featuring a new Campaign mode,enhanced tutorial and 2 player support.
The E3 conference ends with a first look at Halo 4.
IMPRESSIONS!!
If you go through the above list(13 announcements-are you kidding me?) you can clearly make out the KINECT dominance in throughout the press conference with known games like MW3,Gears of War thrown in to fill in the gaps left by a Nauseating number of Kinect centric game announcements.
Microsoft clearly tried to go after the core and casual crowd with Kinect,but they ’ve failed on both. Kids stuff looks fine but most of the core Kinect titles look downright awful or they don ’t look like they work.Some of the Kinect technology looks neat.Specifically finger tracking andvoice recognition, though I don ’tknow the appeal of having it in gaming.
The whole conference felt like a Pre-E3 event loaded with motion and voice stuff catering to Casual audience while the inclusion of the Kinect features to Hardcore games like ME2 and Ghost Recon only felt like an afterthought addition without any substantial substance to its inclusion.Xbox 360 isn’t doing anything for the hardcore gamers besides Gears of Wars 3 and Halo 4.I was liteerally shocked at the lack of any good Xbox 360 exclusive games catering the Hardcore gamers.This explains Microsoft’s silence preceeding E3.Just portraying Kinect to cater a wider audience without having great lineup of Platform Exclusive games(look at SONY=Exact opposite) and totally depending on third party titles wont do good for Microsoft on a long term.Overall it was boring apart from a few cool things here and there.
RATING- 6/10
MS definitely is losing E3.
Share your valuable opinions in the comments section.
It wasn’t a surprise to see MS presser kicking off with a 10+ minutes of good old COD:Modern Warfare 3 footage just as Black Ops kick started last year’s E3 with Mark Lamia showing off Campaign gameplay.The gameplay was still the same old CODdish but crisper compared to all the previous iterations of the game.
Then came a huge load of KINECT centric stuff like
1)Kinect support for Mass Effect 3 where you will be able to speak the dialog using a Kinect camera, and the game will detect which option you picked and go down that dialog sequence.This really felt a gimmick rather than an innovation(Just imagine conversing with a Krogan at home!)
2)Kinect support for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – You can select gun parts in the “Gunsmith Editor” with Kinect movements or voice commands. You’ll be able to use voice commands to randomize loadouts and pull up specific loadouts.It also features kinect for gameplay like firing weapons and movement.Further more Ubisoft CEO claimed “All future Tom Clancy’s titles will utilize Kinect!”
3)Kinect Dashboard redesign with enhanced Voice control.
4)Kinect based Crytek’s Xbox Exclusive action game Ryse revealed.
5)Kinect support for Forza Motorsport 4 enhanced with multiplayer features, such as multiplayer racing clubs and monthly expansions.
6)Kinect support for Fable: The Journey which is basically an on rails shooter with Kinect controlled movements.
7)Kinect support for Minecraft,the indie sensation finally hitting Xbox 360.
8)Disneyland Adventures= A Kinect based minigame collection.
9)Star Wars Kinect -Basically a light saber swinging game with auto-targeted enemies.
10)Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, the new Kinect based minigame collection.
11)Kinect Fun Labs, an Xbox based Kinect platform that allows users to exploit and build specific Kinect software.
12)Kinect Sports Season 2featuring six new sport minigames like Golf, Skiing, Football, Darts, and Tennis.
13)Kinect based Dance Central 2 featuring a new Campaign mode,enhanced tutorial and 2 player support.
The E3 conference ends with a first look at Halo 4.
IMPRESSIONS!!
If you go through the above list(13 announcements-are you kidding me?) you can clearly make out the KINECT dominance in throughout the press conference with known games like MW3,Gears of War thrown in to fill in the gaps left by a Nauseating number of Kinect centric game announcements.
Microsoft clearly tried to go after the core and casual crowd with Kinect,but they ’ve failed on both. Kids stuff looks fine but most of the core Kinect titles look downright awful or they don ’t look like they work.Some of the Kinect technology looks neat.Specifically finger tracking andvoice recognition, though I don ’tknow the appeal of having it in gaming.
The whole conference felt like a Pre-E3 event loaded with motion and voice stuff catering to Casual audience while the inclusion of the Kinect features to Hardcore games like ME2 and Ghost Recon only felt like an afterthought addition without any substantial substance to its inclusion.Xbox 360 isn’t doing anything for the hardcore gamers besides Gears of Wars 3 and Halo 4.I was liteerally shocked at the lack of any good Xbox 360 exclusive games catering the Hardcore gamers.This explains Microsoft’s silence preceeding E3.Just portraying Kinect to cater a wider audience without having great lineup of Platform Exclusive games(look at SONY=Exact opposite) and totally depending on third party titles wont do good for Microsoft on a long term.Overall it was boring apart from a few cool things here and there.
RATING- 6/10
MS definitely is losing E3.
Share your valuable opinions in the comments section.
Friday, October 14, 2011
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.
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
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.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Angry Birds worth at least as much as FarmVille, Rovio exec says
The Mighty Eagle has dollar signs in its eyes, as Rovio chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka said recently to Finnish magazine Kauppalehti Optio that his company is worth several billion dollars, MSNBC reports. And by, "several million," Vesterbacka means somewhere in the FarmVille range--he noted to estimates that Zynga was worth $20 to $25 billion (which sounds a bit inaccurate to me)--according to MSNBC.
But Bloomberg recently reported that the Angry Birds creator was worth at least $1.2 billion, and this valuation would mean Rovio is 100 percent viable to compete with Zynga. I've never read it being discussed seriously, the two being competitors, but perhaps those talks will start now. Rovio could be the second major company of the new age of publishers to combat the first. (And here we thought the birds were looking to get bought.) Rovio is looking for 1 billion users, and fast. Perhaps Zynga was more of a motivation to the birds than previously imagined.
"We are not selling though - unless somebody offers enough," Vesterbacka was quoted saying in the interview published on Thursday, according to MSNBC. The exec went on to say that Rovio plans to list on the New York stock market within three years. If Rovio can enter new territory with the Angry Birds and take full advantage of the freemium model, then there is no reason it can't be a viable competitor to Zynga.
The more Rovio attempts to introduce the Angry Birds to new media (and sources of revenue), the further it will inch toward defeating Zygna, which only is within a single, though massive market. What I'm getting at is to warn you that there is more swiping and harvesting in your gaming future where the first three years of it came from.
[Via Zap2It]
Do you think Rovio could really be worth around $11.5 billion? If true, how do you think Zynga will respond, and which mode of gaming will come out on top? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
But Bloomberg recently reported that the Angry Birds creator was worth at least $1.2 billion, and this valuation would mean Rovio is 100 percent viable to compete with Zynga. I've never read it being discussed seriously, the two being competitors, but perhaps those talks will start now. Rovio could be the second major company of the new age of publishers to combat the first. (And here we thought the birds were looking to get bought.) Rovio is looking for 1 billion users, and fast. Perhaps Zynga was more of a motivation to the birds than previously imagined.
"We are not selling though - unless somebody offers enough," Vesterbacka was quoted saying in the interview published on Thursday, according to MSNBC. The exec went on to say that Rovio plans to list on the New York stock market within three years. If Rovio can enter new territory with the Angry Birds and take full advantage of the freemium model, then there is no reason it can't be a viable competitor to Zynga.
The more Rovio attempts to introduce the Angry Birds to new media (and sources of revenue), the further it will inch toward defeating Zygna, which only is within a single, though massive market. What I'm getting at is to warn you that there is more swiping and harvesting in your gaming future where the first three years of it came from.
[Via Zap2It]
Do you think Rovio could really be worth around $11.5 billion? If true, how do you think Zynga will respond, and which mode of gaming will come out on top? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Parking Wars 2 brings Philly's ... charms to light in Facebook gaming
We have a fine city here, Philadelphia. But, a lot of that beauty has to grow on a person, and that can take years. So, to warn folks of our city's charms before they decide to visit the City of Brotherly Love, Majesco presents Parking Wars 2 for Facebook. The creator of franchises like Cooking Mama (also on Facebook!) and the Zumba Fitness games is looking to cash in on Facebook.
Based loosely on the hit A&E show of the same name--you know, the one that shows just how awesome it is to drive in my hometown? (To dispel any misleading, It's horrific.) The game launched this week, Inside Social Games reports, and has since reached over 34,000 monthly players and just over 1,500 daily players.
The game tasks players with parking cars on their friend's streets and keeping track of when to move each car and where to move them to in order to maximize points. At this year's E3, we left Parking Wars 2 feeling like it was too reliant on other friends, perhaps. And while it sounds (and sort of is) a bit boring, a slick presentation, sharp '50s style and matching tunes keep it interesting.
Parking Wars 2 in action
When players leave a car in a spot for too long or park illegally, their friends can ticket them there for parking illegally. Players level up by correctly parking and removing cars in a timely fashion. Then, they can purchase new cars that are worth more points when parked correctly. You can then buy items to boost the value of your cars, as well as for extra bonuses to ticketing vehicles. If you're a fan of watching people bicker about parking on TV, then perhaps this is your game, but I like to escape from reality, thanks.
Click here to play Parking Wars 2 on Facebook Now >
Are you excited that Parking Wars is back in action on Facebook? Do you think this sequel will do better than its predecessor? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
Based loosely on the hit A&E show of the same name--you know, the one that shows just how awesome it is to drive in my hometown? (To dispel any misleading, It's horrific.) The game launched this week, Inside Social Games reports, and has since reached over 34,000 monthly players and just over 1,500 daily players.
The game tasks players with parking cars on their friend's streets and keeping track of when to move each car and where to move them to in order to maximize points. At this year's E3, we left Parking Wars 2 feeling like it was too reliant on other friends, perhaps. And while it sounds (and sort of is) a bit boring, a slick presentation, sharp '50s style and matching tunes keep it interesting.
Parking Wars 2 in action
When players leave a car in a spot for too long or park illegally, their friends can ticket them there for parking illegally. Players level up by correctly parking and removing cars in a timely fashion. Then, they can purchase new cars that are worth more points when parked correctly. You can then buy items to boost the value of your cars, as well as for extra bonuses to ticketing vehicles. If you're a fan of watching people bicker about parking on TV, then perhaps this is your game, but I like to escape from reality, thanks.
Click here to play Parking Wars 2 on Facebook Now >
Are you excited that Parking Wars is back in action on Facebook? Do you think this sequel will do better than its predecessor? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
EA transplant to Zynga confirmed: Jeff Karp joins as marketing head
The cat has been officially removed from the bag ... by Zynga. The FarmVille creator confirmed to us that Jeff Karp (pictured), former executive VP of EA's casual games label, EA Play, has been hired as Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer at Zynga. Of course, Karp will oversee all marketing operations at the $11.5 billion company (at least), as well as international sales.
Before joining Zynga, Karp enjoyed 11 years at EA in various executive positions including chief revenue officer of the EA Games label. It was there he oversaw international marketing for properties like Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Mass Effect and more, according to Zynga's statement.
This EA-Zynga transplant joins a number of high-level traitors former EA executives. Most recently it's rumored that Mark Turmell, senior creative director at EA Sports and creator of NBA Jam, has joined Zynga. Just this June, former GM of EA-owned Easy Studios Ben Cousins joined Ngmoco to head its Sweden studio. And there are plenty more to mention.
It's unfortunate that just as the company goes full speed ahead into social and casual games with one of the biggest buys in recent gaming history that some of its most important positions have gone temporarily vacant. But it looks like The Sims Social could already be the shot in the arm EA needed--it's already attracted over 7 million players.
Do you think this will be a harmful loss for EA? With The Sims Social and whatever PopCap is up to, do you think EA could bounce back and enter the ring with Zynga? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Before joining Zynga, Karp enjoyed 11 years at EA in various executive positions including chief revenue officer of the EA Games label. It was there he oversaw international marketing for properties like Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Mass Effect and more, according to Zynga's statement.
This EA-Zynga transplant joins a number of high-level traitors former EA executives. Most recently it's rumored that Mark Turmell, senior creative director at EA Sports and creator of NBA Jam, has joined Zynga. Just this June, former GM of EA-owned Easy Studios Ben Cousins joined Ngmoco to head its Sweden studio. And there are plenty more to mention.
It's unfortunate that just as the company goes full speed ahead into social and casual games with one of the biggest buys in recent gaming history that some of its most important positions have gone temporarily vacant. But it looks like The Sims Social could already be the shot in the arm EA needed--it's already attracted over 7 million players.
Do you think this will be a harmful loss for EA? With The Sims Social and whatever PopCap is up to, do you think EA could bounce back and enter the ring with Zynga? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Think Facebook games stink lately? Then make one in Pixaquarium
Come on, you know after witnessing the umpteenth bug in FarmVille you said to yourself, "Hell, even I could do this better!" Well, now's your chance to make good on your foolish statements made in anger, with Pixaquarium Game Maker by Stuntbird Games. More of a creation platform than a game, Pixaquarium gives players the tools to make their own games within the game, albeit far simpler ones that are governed by a template.
You have control over nearly every aspect of the games you create from background artwork to your character's image and the shape of your enemies. But what's most interesting about this is that players can share their game creations with friends, according to a release. Sure sounds like it beats sharing gifts.
"My oldest daughter was bringing me drawings to put into that game," Stuntbird Games President Dean Ruggles said of his inspiration for the game in a statement. "I realized that a game that was as much about creativity as play could be fun. I thought of it as active entertainment, which is new in the game world, in that Pixaquarium is all about being artistic and inventing a new world to play in."
Pixaquarium in action
While I wouldn't agree about this type of gameplay being new, it's one of the first Facebook games I've seen clearly geared toward the little ones. Especially those who might have dreams of making their own games. The game is revolved around players uploading photos or other images to play with in the game. So imagine scenarios like a player making a game that includes their best friend to share with them.
It sounds like a great opportunity to increase the meaning of sharing content in Facebook games, but I would imagine kids will need their parents' help with the editor. (As for playing the games, that's as simple as avoiding the bad guys and collecting stars.) As simplified as it is, it might be a bit too much for the single-digit crowd. Regardless, nothing beats making a mini game of yourself slaying aliens and goblins in less than a few minutes, but prepare to pay if you want to save your work.
Click here to play Pixaquarium Game Maker on Facebook Now >
Do you think user-generated content could take off in Facebook games? If you could make any Facebook game, what would it be? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
You have control over nearly every aspect of the games you create from background artwork to your character's image and the shape of your enemies. But what's most interesting about this is that players can share their game creations with friends, according to a release. Sure sounds like it beats sharing gifts.
"My oldest daughter was bringing me drawings to put into that game," Stuntbird Games President Dean Ruggles said of his inspiration for the game in a statement. "I realized that a game that was as much about creativity as play could be fun. I thought of it as active entertainment, which is new in the game world, in that Pixaquarium is all about being artistic and inventing a new world to play in."
Pixaquarium in action
While I wouldn't agree about this type of gameplay being new, it's one of the first Facebook games I've seen clearly geared toward the little ones. Especially those who might have dreams of making their own games. The game is revolved around players uploading photos or other images to play with in the game. So imagine scenarios like a player making a game that includes their best friend to share with them.
It sounds like a great opportunity to increase the meaning of sharing content in Facebook games, but I would imagine kids will need their parents' help with the editor. (As for playing the games, that's as simple as avoiding the bad guys and collecting stars.) As simplified as it is, it might be a bit too much for the single-digit crowd. Regardless, nothing beats making a mini game of yourself slaying aliens and goblins in less than a few minutes, but prepare to pay if you want to save your work.
Click here to play Pixaquarium Game Maker on Facebook Now >
Do you think user-generated content could take off in Facebook games? If you could make any Facebook game, what would it be? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Pac-Man maker creates joint social mobile games studio with DeNA
But Pac-Man is already on iPhon--no, social mobile games. Namco Bandai, the company responsible for the most recognizable character in gaming, will take a crack at social mobile games with a new studio co-created by DeNA. GamesIndustry.biz reports the massive Japanese social mobile games company (does Mobage ring a bell?) has contributed 25 percent of the 100 million yen studio project, named BDNA Inc.
While this is certainly a huge step for Namco Bandai, the company already has extensive mobile game experience since bringing a number of its properties like Pac-Man and Galaga to smartphones. In fact, the two companies have even worked together before, according to GamesIndustry.biz, on Gundam Royale. The game released on the Japanese Mobage mobile game network to 3 million players last year.
Namco Bandai Games executive VP Shin Unozawa will lead BDNA's operations, while it's board of directors will be led by Isao Moriyasu, and Keigo Watanabe of DeNA, alongside Hirotaka Reizei and Hideyuki Okabayashi of Namco. The Pac-Man maker has had limited success on Facebook, with just under 1.5 million monthly players across its games, most of which are social renditions of its arcade classics.
All the while, DeNA has been tearing it up since Mobage, now powered by recent buy Ngmoco, launched in English for U.S. and western European audiences through Android. The service will now be the go-to place for games on AT&T Android phones, not to mention the squad of legendary designers DeNA has on board like Mega Man's creator Keiji Inafune. Perhaps BDNA Inc, which opens Oct. 1, is just the boost Pac-Man needs to dominate in a world overrun by new arcade-style games.
Which of Namco's properties would you like to see re-imagined by BDNA, Inc. first? Would you rather the studio focus on new, original games instead? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
While this is certainly a huge step for Namco Bandai, the company already has extensive mobile game experience since bringing a number of its properties like Pac-Man and Galaga to smartphones. In fact, the two companies have even worked together before, according to GamesIndustry.biz, on Gundam Royale. The game released on the Japanese Mobage mobile game network to 3 million players last year.
Namco Bandai Games executive VP Shin Unozawa will lead BDNA's operations, while it's board of directors will be led by Isao Moriyasu, and Keigo Watanabe of DeNA, alongside Hirotaka Reizei and Hideyuki Okabayashi of Namco. The Pac-Man maker has had limited success on Facebook, with just under 1.5 million monthly players across its games, most of which are social renditions of its arcade classics.
All the while, DeNA has been tearing it up since Mobage, now powered by recent buy Ngmoco, launched in English for U.S. and western European audiences through Android. The service will now be the go-to place for games on AT&T Android phones, not to mention the squad of legendary designers DeNA has on board like Mega Man's creator Keiji Inafune. Perhaps BDNA Inc, which opens Oct. 1, is just the boost Pac-Man needs to dominate in a world overrun by new arcade-style games.
Which of Namco's properties would you like to see re-imagined by BDNA, Inc. first? Would you rather the studio focus on new, original games instead? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Adventure World: New chapters revealed after El Dorado
While we all know that Zynga's newest game, Adventure World, starts out as a quest to solve the mystery of El Dorado by gathering the Mastery Key and four totems, did you know that the game is far from over after this first mission is complete? That's right, after solving the mystery of El Dorado, Zynga announced that we'll be taken through Chapters 2 and 3 of the game (each likely as lengthy as the first - or longer).
While there's no way to guarantee when each user will make their way to these newest chapters individually, we do know their locations, thanks to a screenshot posted by the big Z on the game's Facebook fan page. Chapter 2 takes us to Egypt, where we'll solve the "Riddle of the Sphinx." Meanwhile, Chapter 3 is set in Tibet, where the "Mystery of the Yeti" waits to be solved.
Unfortunately, while we also know that Indiana Jones will showing up in the game next month, we haven't been told how great of an impact he will have on these two Chapters, if at all. It could be that we'll need to wait until Chapter 4 and beyond to see Indy come into the actual story of the game, depending on how far ahead the team at Zynga had developed the game before making this announcement.
Either way, we'll make sure to bring you continued coverage on the quests, expeditions and story missions in Adventure World, so keep checking back with us for more.
Are you excited to travel to Egypt and Tibet in Adventure World? How far have you made it in the story so far? Sound off in the comments.
While there's no way to guarantee when each user will make their way to these newest chapters individually, we do know their locations, thanks to a screenshot posted by the big Z on the game's Facebook fan page. Chapter 2 takes us to Egypt, where we'll solve the "Riddle of the Sphinx." Meanwhile, Chapter 3 is set in Tibet, where the "Mystery of the Yeti" waits to be solved.
Unfortunately, while we also know that Indiana Jones will showing up in the game next month, we haven't been told how great of an impact he will have on these two Chapters, if at all. It could be that we'll need to wait until Chapter 4 and beyond to see Indy come into the actual story of the game, depending on how far ahead the team at Zynga had developed the game before making this announcement.
Either way, we'll make sure to bring you continued coverage on the quests, expeditions and story missions in Adventure World, so keep checking back with us for more.
Are you excited to travel to Egypt and Tibet in Adventure World? How far have you made it in the story so far? Sound off in the comments.
Adventure World Mountain Quests: Everything you need to know
After making your way through the Deep Jungle in Adventure World, and successfully retrieving the Monkey Idol, you'll unlock the ability to head up the mountain in - you guessed it - Mountain quests. You're going after the Bird Idol here, but you'll have some steep requirements to meet before you can leave Base Camp on the trek. You'll need to collect 20 each of Food, Fuel and Water, and will need to gather six friends to help you out on this quest. Technically, their job will be to "pull you up the mountain elevator," so they must be gathered before you're allowed to start on this quest for the Bird Idol. They can also be used while on the quests, giving you three free energy for each friend.
Once you begin, there's no time limit associated with these Quests, unlike the time limits found in Expeditions, so don't feel the need to rush through. Take your time with completing these quests and you'll get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of rewards. Here's a complete guide to doing just that.
Main Quests on the Mountain
Recover the Bird Idol Part 1
* Get the Box of TNT
* Get the Fuse Cord
* Get the Detonator
These three items are scattered about the map, and are guarded by a new kind of enemy: the Ram. By simply exploring the various "islands" or cliffs in this map (they look more like islands, if you ask me), you'll come across these three items on your own, but can always click on the "Show Me" button within the quest window to be shown exactly where they lie.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 2
* Set the TNT Below the Cliff
Once you've defeated Papa Cliff Jumper and have gathered all of the materials for your TNT bundle, you can place it in the highlight on your map, at the very top end. There's a Ram up here guarding the path, so keep that in mind.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 3
* Use the Plunger to Blast a Path!
* Recover the Bird Idol
The Plunger is found past a rock that must be blown up with dynamite (see the screenshot above), which can be purchased back at Base Camp for 1,000 coins. It's a single-use item, so you'll have to purchase one each time you want to use dynamite on a map. Once you've used the Plunger, you'll have to fight one last Ram before finding the Bird Idol on the platform you've just formed.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 4
* Return to Base Camp
* Place the Bird Idol
Unlike last time (when recovering the 25 Comments), once you collect the Bird Idol on the top of the cliff, you really will be done (no secret cave this time around). You'll just need to head home and place it outside the entrance to El Dorado to be completely finished.
Mountain Side Quests
Society Work
* Get 10 Jade Vases
* Get 5 Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Azure Skulls from Hidden Caves
* Get a Ram Horn Grip from the Mountaineer Collection
The Mountaineer Collection items drop from any Mountain map, including this one, so as you complete tasks, you might be lucky enough to come across enough collectibles to turn this one in (the Ram Horn Grip is the prize) before everything is said and done. As for the Ruby & Jade Vases (especially Jade Vases), they're scattered around the map as you might expect, hidden behind trees or under clouds, so make sure to explore every nook and cranny of the map to find them all. As an example, you'll be able to find four Jade Vases on the very first "island" you start the Mountain quests on. As for the Azure Skulls, the Hidden Caves are found under "Blooming Bushes," which are small areas of ground cover, the size of a regular bush, with white flowers on top. Once you interact with these bushes, they'll disappear, revealing a ladder into the cave. Here, you'll find Red Vases as well. Check out the screenshots below for the locations of both Hidden Caves, and an example of what you'll see when entering one.
A couple of notes: First, ignore Fluffy the Ewe in the below screenshot - she is a "lost animal" that may not appear in this particular location in your own game, and shouldn't be used as a place marker. Second, if you don't happen to find a Ram Horn, you don't technically have to to complete this entire mission and recover the Bird Idol. You can skip this quest and simply head back to Base Camp and place the Idol in its place.
Butting Heads
* Defeat four Rams
* Defeat Papa Cliff Jumper!
The four Rams are scattered around the map (check out the screenshot above), while Papa Cliff Jumper is found at the top end of the map, next to the Detonator you need for the first story mission in this area. He has 12 hit points, and he takes away two energy points each time he hits you, so it might take you a while to whittle him down, depending on how much you've upgraded your whip.
On the Rocks
* Break five Small Rocks
* Break five Medium Rocks
* Break three Big Rocks
* Use Dynamite
A single use of Dynamite is available to purchase for 1,000 coins in your Tool Shop back in Base Camp. As for the 13 rocks, you'll find them blocking your path between islands, or blocking your path between collectibles like vases, so you shouldn't have any problem finding the ones you need. If you do need one or more of a particular kind of rock, remember to hit the "Show Me" button in the quest window to see the camera zoom to a rock's location. As for the dynamite, you'll find a rock on your path after finding the Fuse Cord that must be blown up for you to proceed, and another as you reach the top of the map.
Bird Watching
* Investigate Rare Birds
* Investigate Exotic Eggs
* Investigate Bird Nests
Just like the Vases and rocks, these Birds, Nests, and Eggs are scattered around the map, normally blocked by some kind of obstacle, whether that be a trap, bush, thorn, or rock (as examples). The nests are found in similar areas, but they blend in incredibly well (that is, they look almost identical to thorns), so keep a lookout for things that look like the item in the square below.
Once you finish all of these goals, you will have successfully retrieved the Bird Idol, and will be at the halfway point for opening El Dorado itself, back on Base Camp. We'll make sure to let you know how to recover the other two idols, so keep checking back with us!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Mountain / Bird Idol quests? Do you like it more than those quests for collecting the Monkey Idol? What sorts of adventures are you looking forward to next? Sound off in the comments.
Once you begin, there's no time limit associated with these Quests, unlike the time limits found in Expeditions, so don't feel the need to rush through. Take your time with completing these quests and you'll get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of rewards. Here's a complete guide to doing just that.
Main Quests on the Mountain
Recover the Bird Idol Part 1
* Get the Box of TNT
* Get the Fuse Cord
* Get the Detonator
These three items are scattered about the map, and are guarded by a new kind of enemy: the Ram. By simply exploring the various "islands" or cliffs in this map (they look more like islands, if you ask me), you'll come across these three items on your own, but can always click on the "Show Me" button within the quest window to be shown exactly where they lie.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 2
* Set the TNT Below the Cliff
Once you've defeated Papa Cliff Jumper and have gathered all of the materials for your TNT bundle, you can place it in the highlight on your map, at the very top end. There's a Ram up here guarding the path, so keep that in mind.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 3
* Use the Plunger to Blast a Path!
* Recover the Bird Idol
The Plunger is found past a rock that must be blown up with dynamite (see the screenshot above), which can be purchased back at Base Camp for 1,000 coins. It's a single-use item, so you'll have to purchase one each time you want to use dynamite on a map. Once you've used the Plunger, you'll have to fight one last Ram before finding the Bird Idol on the platform you've just formed.
Recover the Bird Idol Part 4
* Return to Base Camp
* Place the Bird Idol
Unlike last time (when recovering the 25 Comments), once you collect the Bird Idol on the top of the cliff, you really will be done (no secret cave this time around). You'll just need to head home and place it outside the entrance to El Dorado to be completely finished.
Mountain Side Quests
Society Work
* Get 10 Jade Vases
* Get 5 Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Azure Skulls from Hidden Caves
* Get a Ram Horn Grip from the Mountaineer Collection
The Mountaineer Collection items drop from any Mountain map, including this one, so as you complete tasks, you might be lucky enough to come across enough collectibles to turn this one in (the Ram Horn Grip is the prize) before everything is said and done. As for the Ruby & Jade Vases (especially Jade Vases), they're scattered around the map as you might expect, hidden behind trees or under clouds, so make sure to explore every nook and cranny of the map to find them all. As an example, you'll be able to find four Jade Vases on the very first "island" you start the Mountain quests on. As for the Azure Skulls, the Hidden Caves are found under "Blooming Bushes," which are small areas of ground cover, the size of a regular bush, with white flowers on top. Once you interact with these bushes, they'll disappear, revealing a ladder into the cave. Here, you'll find Red Vases as well. Check out the screenshots below for the locations of both Hidden Caves, and an example of what you'll see when entering one.
A couple of notes: First, ignore Fluffy the Ewe in the below screenshot - she is a "lost animal" that may not appear in this particular location in your own game, and shouldn't be used as a place marker. Second, if you don't happen to find a Ram Horn, you don't technically have to to complete this entire mission and recover the Bird Idol. You can skip this quest and simply head back to Base Camp and place the Idol in its place.
Butting Heads
* Defeat four Rams
* Defeat Papa Cliff Jumper!
The four Rams are scattered around the map (check out the screenshot above), while Papa Cliff Jumper is found at the top end of the map, next to the Detonator you need for the first story mission in this area. He has 12 hit points, and he takes away two energy points each time he hits you, so it might take you a while to whittle him down, depending on how much you've upgraded your whip.
On the Rocks
* Break five Small Rocks
* Break five Medium Rocks
* Break three Big Rocks
* Use Dynamite
A single use of Dynamite is available to purchase for 1,000 coins in your Tool Shop back in Base Camp. As for the 13 rocks, you'll find them blocking your path between islands, or blocking your path between collectibles like vases, so you shouldn't have any problem finding the ones you need. If you do need one or more of a particular kind of rock, remember to hit the "Show Me" button in the quest window to see the camera zoom to a rock's location. As for the dynamite, you'll find a rock on your path after finding the Fuse Cord that must be blown up for you to proceed, and another as you reach the top of the map.
Bird Watching
* Investigate Rare Birds
* Investigate Exotic Eggs
* Investigate Bird Nests
Just like the Vases and rocks, these Birds, Nests, and Eggs are scattered around the map, normally blocked by some kind of obstacle, whether that be a trap, bush, thorn, or rock (as examples). The nests are found in similar areas, but they blend in incredibly well (that is, they look almost identical to thorns), so keep a lookout for things that look like the item in the square below.
Once you finish all of these goals, you will have successfully retrieved the Bird Idol, and will be at the halfway point for opening El Dorado itself, back on Base Camp. We'll make sure to let you know how to recover the other two idols, so keep checking back with us!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Mountain / Bird Idol quests? Do you like it more than those quests for collecting the Monkey Idol? What sorts of adventures are you looking forward to next? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Milking Shorthorn Lonely Animal: Everything you need to know
Over the past few months, we've seen a few animals come and go as Lonely Animals in FarmVille, and now that the Cow Pasture has been launched (a new storage building specifically for cows), we see the addition of one more: the Milking Shorthorn. This particular lonely animal functions the same as the others, but here's a rundown for those that haven't seen this feature before.
You'll have a period of just three days to gather the help of five friends to "lure" the Milking Shorthorn onto your farm. You see, the cow is actually sitting outside of your farm area, and you aren't allowed to interact with her as you would a normal animal. Only when you lure her into your farm will you be able to place her inside a building, harvest from her, etc.
To gather the help of friends, you can click on the Cow and then ask for help via individual gift requests. You can also purchase the cow outright, skipping this feature, by paying Farm Cash (within the same window). One final option comes in the form of ignoring her altogether, if you don't care about earning this free cow, and you can do so by clicking on the "Ignore It" button inside the Lonely Animal menu window. It's presumable that this would then delete the cow from your screen entirely, but I'm not going to ignore the animal to find out!
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this newest Lonely Animal? Have you gathered the other Lonely Animals on your farm, or is this your first one? Sound off in the comments.
You'll have a period of just three days to gather the help of five friends to "lure" the Milking Shorthorn onto your farm. You see, the cow is actually sitting outside of your farm area, and you aren't allowed to interact with her as you would a normal animal. Only when you lure her into your farm will you be able to place her inside a building, harvest from her, etc.
To gather the help of friends, you can click on the Cow and then ask for help via individual gift requests. You can also purchase the cow outright, skipping this feature, by paying Farm Cash (within the same window). One final option comes in the form of ignoring her altogether, if you don't care about earning this free cow, and you can do so by clicking on the "Ignore It" button inside the Lonely Animal menu window. It's presumable that this would then delete the cow from your screen entirely, but I'm not going to ignore the animal to find out!
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this newest Lonely Animal? Have you gathered the other Lonely Animals on your farm, or is this your first one? Sound off in the comments.
adventure world, cross-promotion, farmville, farmville monkey, free farmville monkey, zynga
After tackling the perils of the Mountains to retrieve the Bird Idol in Adventure World, you might be ready to take on even more Rams in the next Expedition: Ram Runner. This one requires quite a few Supplies to get started, along with other tools, and it comes with the shortest time limit we've seen on an Expedition yet: just four hours. As for the requirements, you need to have 700 Supplies, and two each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. As usual, we're here to give you a complete guide on what you need to do to finish this Expedition, so read on for more!
Claim the Ram Stein!
* Get the Ram Stein
For this particular Expedition, your goal will be to make it from one end of the linear trail to the other, while defeating Rams in the process. From the starting gate, you're met with two sets of traps, allowing two sets of Rams (with eight hit points each) to come after you when disarmed. You'll have to set the Rams free, however, as the traps block your path to continue. The truly unfortunate thing about this is that if you don't have a very highly upgraded Whip, you'll likely spend most if not all of your energy in just defeating the four of them. Luckily, you can bring five neighbors into this Expedition with you, giving you three bonus energy each (once they accept your request for help, that is), so you should be able to continue slightly onward after fighting these Rams with their help. The Stein itself is located on the last "island," as seen below.
Collect Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Ruby Vases
As usual, these Ruby Vases are scattered along the path, with most being blocked by some sort of obstacle, whether that be a rock, bush, thorn or otherwise. You only need to collect two, and you can find two on one of the central islands, as seen below (note: the empty square is the location of a Ruby Vase - I had just already picked it up).
Collect Jade Vases
* Get 5 Jade Vases
These Jade Vases are far more common on the map, as you'll simply need to collect more of them. You'll find them behind bushes, near Rams or by other obstacles. It should be pointed out that there are more than five Jade Vases on the map for you to collect, giving you the chance to use some strategy in your choices. If you see a Ram directly nearby a Vase, or tons of obstacles standing between you and a Vase, it might be better to skip it and save your energy points for Vases later in the Expedition.
All told, this isn't an incredibly difficult Expedition in terms of the quests you're required to beat; instead, it's simply one of the most energy intensive tasks we've seen to date due to all of the Rams (and their eight hit points each) standing in your way. You can avoid some Rams altogether, if you plan your moves ahead of time, and your friends can come in and help you out with their free three energy. Still, you'll need to be vigilant if you want to finish this Expedition in the short four-hour time limit you've been given, so make sure you're fully prepared (with a full energy bar) before you ever begin!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Ram Runner Expedition? Is it one of the most difficult Expeditions you've encountered so far, or are your tools upgraded enough to make this one simple? Sound off in the comments.
Claim the Ram Stein!
* Get the Ram Stein
For this particular Expedition, your goal will be to make it from one end of the linear trail to the other, while defeating Rams in the process. From the starting gate, you're met with two sets of traps, allowing two sets of Rams (with eight hit points each) to come after you when disarmed. You'll have to set the Rams free, however, as the traps block your path to continue. The truly unfortunate thing about this is that if you don't have a very highly upgraded Whip, you'll likely spend most if not all of your energy in just defeating the four of them. Luckily, you can bring five neighbors into this Expedition with you, giving you three bonus energy each (once they accept your request for help, that is), so you should be able to continue slightly onward after fighting these Rams with their help. The Stein itself is located on the last "island," as seen below.
Collect Ruby Vases
* Get 2 Ruby Vases
As usual, these Ruby Vases are scattered along the path, with most being blocked by some sort of obstacle, whether that be a rock, bush, thorn or otherwise. You only need to collect two, and you can find two on one of the central islands, as seen below (note: the empty square is the location of a Ruby Vase - I had just already picked it up).
Collect Jade Vases
* Get 5 Jade Vases
These Jade Vases are far more common on the map, as you'll simply need to collect more of them. You'll find them behind bushes, near Rams or by other obstacles. It should be pointed out that there are more than five Jade Vases on the map for you to collect, giving you the chance to use some strategy in your choices. If you see a Ram directly nearby a Vase, or tons of obstacles standing between you and a Vase, it might be better to skip it and save your energy points for Vases later in the Expedition.
All told, this isn't an incredibly difficult Expedition in terms of the quests you're required to beat; instead, it's simply one of the most energy intensive tasks we've seen to date due to all of the Rams (and their eight hit points each) standing in your way. You can avoid some Rams altogether, if you plan your moves ahead of time, and your friends can come in and help you out with their free three energy. Still, you'll need to be vigilant if you want to finish this Expedition in the short four-hour time limit you've been given, so make sure you're fully prepared (with a full energy bar) before you ever begin!
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Ram Runner Expedition? Is it one of the most difficult Expeditions you've encountered so far, or are your tools upgraded enough to make this one simple? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille: Earn a free Monkey for playing Adventure World
Apparently, the 19 million people already playing Adventure World isn't enough for Zynga, as the two teams behind FarmVille and Adventure World have teamed up in a new cross-promotion, aiming to get people to try out the company's newest game for more than just a few minutes. To be specific, the next time you login to FarmVille, you'll likely receive a pop-up letting you know of the new promotion. Note: the pop-up will likely have a broken image on it; apparently the FarmVille team didn't test the pop-up before pushing it live. The text, however, is intact.
The rules of this cross-promotion are simple: you'll just need to follow the in-game link to Adventure World and reach Level 5 before October 5. If you can accomplish that, you'll receive a free FarmVille Monkey. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned broken image, we can't see exactly what this (hopefully cute) monkey looks like, but the fact that he's available for free makes me want him either way (I'd imagine I'm not alone).
If you've yet to try Adventure World, make sure to check out our many guides for the game's Expeditions and story quests, so that you can level up to that Level 5 milestone as quickly as possible. For everyone else, who is already a Level 5 Adventurer, you'll only need to sit tight and wait for your prize to arrive next month.
Will you play Adventure World just to receive a free FarmVille Monkey? Let us know in the comments.
The rules of this cross-promotion are simple: you'll just need to follow the in-game link to Adventure World and reach Level 5 before October 5. If you can accomplish that, you'll receive a free FarmVille Monkey. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned broken image, we can't see exactly what this (hopefully cute) monkey looks like, but the fact that he's available for free makes me want him either way (I'd imagine I'm not alone).
If you've yet to try Adventure World, make sure to check out our many guides for the game's Expeditions and story quests, so that you can level up to that Level 5 milestone as quickly as possible. For everyone else, who is already a Level 5 Adventurer, you'll only need to sit tight and wait for your prize to arrive next month.
Will you play Adventure World just to receive a free FarmVille Monkey? Let us know in the comments.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
CityVille Reel World Timed Goal: Everything you need to know
A new timed goal has launched in CityVille this week, taking us back to the great outdoors for some fishing. If you're level 35 or above, you'll have access to this goal, which can be started at any point in your game - it's up to you when exactly you'll begin. Using our guide to the goal, you should be able to prepare yourself as much as possible before actually starting the goal, and that way you'll have a better chance of earning the gold trophy and the prizes that come with it.
The Reel World
* Get 10 Fishing Lures
* Harvest 30 Pumpkins
* Collect 8 Times from a Seafood Restaurant
A Seafood Restaurant costs just 7,500 coins to purchase from the store, and if you're a veteran player in the game, it's highly unlikely that you don't already have at least one sitting in your town. It requires 140 Goods to operate, so your best bet to completing this particular task quickly would be to make it the only business that currently has Goods, so all citizens will flock to it, causing it to sell out much faster than normal. Pumpkins, meanwhile, take 18 hours to harvest, so unless you follow our suggestion of having pumpkins already to harvest before starting this goal, that's some serious time you'll spend (waste), waiting for them to grow.
If you can complete these three tasks within the first 24 hours of starting the goal, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, a Sailboat, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Unfortunately, you must complete this goal at this top level to receive the Sailboat. If you don't finish within the first day, but can complete the goal before the 72-hour mark has passed, you'll receive the Silver Trophy, 2,600 coins and 1,200 Goods, while finishing at any point after that cutoff gives you the Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.
Luckily, it seems that these timed goals are becoming a bit easier with each one that's released. So long as you plan ahead with the pumpkin task, you should have no real trouble finishing this one off in 24 hours, but we still wish you good luck in your attempt!
What do you think of this latest timed goal? Have you received the Gold Trophy on any timed goals in the past? Sound off in the comments.
The Reel World
* Get 10 Fishing Lures
* Harvest 30 Pumpkins
* Collect 8 Times from a Seafood Restaurant
A Seafood Restaurant costs just 7,500 coins to purchase from the store, and if you're a veteran player in the game, it's highly unlikely that you don't already have at least one sitting in your town. It requires 140 Goods to operate, so your best bet to completing this particular task quickly would be to make it the only business that currently has Goods, so all citizens will flock to it, causing it to sell out much faster than normal. Pumpkins, meanwhile, take 18 hours to harvest, so unless you follow our suggestion of having pumpkins already to harvest before starting this goal, that's some serious time you'll spend (waste), waiting for them to grow.
If you can complete these three tasks within the first 24 hours of starting the goal, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, a Sailboat, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Unfortunately, you must complete this goal at this top level to receive the Sailboat. If you don't finish within the first day, but can complete the goal before the 72-hour mark has passed, you'll receive the Silver Trophy, 2,600 coins and 1,200 Goods, while finishing at any point after that cutoff gives you the Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.
Luckily, it seems that these timed goals are becoming a bit easier with each one that's released. So long as you plan ahead with the pumpkin task, you should have no real trouble finishing this one off in 24 hours, but we still wish you good luck in your attempt!
What do you think of this latest timed goal? Have you received the Gold Trophy on any timed goals in the past? Sound off in the comments.
CityVille Campaign Committee Goal: Everything you need to know
If you're looking for a way to earn extra coins, XP and Zoning Permits in CityVille, and you have a lot of friends that are always willing to help you out, you might be interested in the new "Campaign Committee" goal that was launched this week in the game. This feature is open to users that are at least level 15 and have at least one City Hall building in their town. As of right now, this is a one-time only feature, and instead of showing up on the left-hand side of your screen as other goals appear, this one must be activated by you by collecting from your City Hall when it's ready.
The next time you collect your profits from your City Hall, you'll see a new menu, asking you whether or not you'd like to start this new goal. You'll have just 24 hours to collect as much help from your City Hall staff members as you plan your campaign for your run for Governor. There are three levels of prizes associated with this goal, with more upgraded City Halls unlocking better prizes, and the amount of friends that ultimately help you also affecting your rewards. For a Level 2 City Hall, the three level of rewards are 10,000 coins, 40 XP and 3 Zoning Permits.
Once you start the goal (remember, it's a manual start - you can choose to do so whenever you're ready), you'll be able to post wall posts to your friends' walls asking them to come help you out. If you happen to have many spaces filled by Samantha or just blank staff positions, you can fill those by asking friends as well. When a friend responds to your call for help, you'll see a green check mark appear next to their name on the list. After the 24 hour period has passed, you'll receive whatever prizes you've received for your current level (note: you can track your current status on prizes by looking inside the goal's menu, as seen below).
Again, this Campaign Committee goal is a one-time-only activity for your town. Perhaps if it goes over well enough with users, we'll see another opportunity to ask our friends for help with campaign "donations," but for now, just focus all of your efforts on earning the most rewards from this feature while you can.
What do you think of the Campaign Committee feature in CityVille? Would you like to see this be an ongoing feature in your town? Sound off in the comments.
The next time you collect your profits from your City Hall, you'll see a new menu, asking you whether or not you'd like to start this new goal. You'll have just 24 hours to collect as much help from your City Hall staff members as you plan your campaign for your run for Governor. There are three levels of prizes associated with this goal, with more upgraded City Halls unlocking better prizes, and the amount of friends that ultimately help you also affecting your rewards. For a Level 2 City Hall, the three level of rewards are 10,000 coins, 40 XP and 3 Zoning Permits.
Once you start the goal (remember, it's a manual start - you can choose to do so whenever you're ready), you'll be able to post wall posts to your friends' walls asking them to come help you out. If you happen to have many spaces filled by Samantha or just blank staff positions, you can fill those by asking friends as well. When a friend responds to your call for help, you'll see a green check mark appear next to their name on the list. After the 24 hour period has passed, you'll receive whatever prizes you've received for your current level (note: you can track your current status on prizes by looking inside the goal's menu, as seen below).
Again, this Campaign Committee goal is a one-time-only activity for your town. Perhaps if it goes over well enough with users, we'll see another opportunity to ask our friends for help with campaign "donations," but for now, just focus all of your efforts on earning the most rewards from this feature while you can.
What do you think of the Campaign Committee feature in CityVille? Would you like to see this be an ongoing feature in your town? Sound off in the comments.
Clarins looks to beautify Facebook with Spa Life, its first social game
Is it only a matter time now before mom pants get their own Facebook game? Clarins, a well-known French brand of beauty products, recently released its own Facebook game, Spa Life. The game doesn't stray far away from games like Cafe World or Restaurant City, but applies the same principles to managing a spa rather than an eatery. Developed by Freshplanet, Spa Life has players managing an influx of customers looking for everything from a "mani-pedi" to facials and more.
Of course, just like its inspirations, players can decorate, upgrade and add new services to their spa. But players can only do this if they serve their terribly impatient customers in time to make the most cash from them. And in true Facebook game fashion, players can always buy their way out of waiting for the next upgrade with Facebook Credits.
According to Mashable, Clarins's North American CEO Jonathan Zrihen saw Facebook as a golden opportunity to reach its audience. And considering we all know by now that the average Facebook gamer is a middle-aged mother, he's probably right on the money. "I knew about the craziness of Zynga games, but I didn't realize the demographic was so much in line with the demographics of our products," Zrihen told Mashable. "I was also impressed by the level of engagement these games create."
Yes, this is yet another branded game, though it's odd that players aren't inundated with the brand until much later in the game. Another interesting nod is that Spa Life attempts to use your friends' names as customers to add more social awareness to the game. Building off of that, you'll need plenty more friends to run your various services, just like you need them to staff buildings in CityVille.
Spa Life in action
Branded games are exploding on Facebook. In fact, studios like Ecko|Code are focusing all of their efforts on creating games for brands such as Showtime shows like Weeds and Dexter. Facebook game developers like Zynga and Playdom have integrated brands into their games for awhile through promotions, it's only recently that they've begun to build games around a single brand.
For instance, it looks as if Adventure World will become Zynga's first game to completely embrace a brand. In October, the game will become "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game" with the help of Lucasfilm. Sure, original games will continue to release, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of them moving forward.
Click here to Play Spa Life on Facebook Now >
Are you a Clarins fan--enough to check out this Facebook game? What do you think of branded games on Facebook and the fact that they're growing? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Of course, just like its inspirations, players can decorate, upgrade and add new services to their spa. But players can only do this if they serve their terribly impatient customers in time to make the most cash from them. And in true Facebook game fashion, players can always buy their way out of waiting for the next upgrade with Facebook Credits.
According to Mashable, Clarins's North American CEO Jonathan Zrihen saw Facebook as a golden opportunity to reach its audience. And considering we all know by now that the average Facebook gamer is a middle-aged mother, he's probably right on the money. "I knew about the craziness of Zynga games, but I didn't realize the demographic was so much in line with the demographics of our products," Zrihen told Mashable. "I was also impressed by the level of engagement these games create."
Yes, this is yet another branded game, though it's odd that players aren't inundated with the brand until much later in the game. Another interesting nod is that Spa Life attempts to use your friends' names as customers to add more social awareness to the game. Building off of that, you'll need plenty more friends to run your various services, just like you need them to staff buildings in CityVille.
Spa Life in action
Branded games are exploding on Facebook. In fact, studios like Ecko|Code are focusing all of their efforts on creating games for brands such as Showtime shows like Weeds and Dexter. Facebook game developers like Zynga and Playdom have integrated brands into their games for awhile through promotions, it's only recently that they've begun to build games around a single brand.
For instance, it looks as if Adventure World will become Zynga's first game to completely embrace a brand. In October, the game will become "Adventure World: An Indiana Jones Game" with the help of Lucasfilm. Sure, original games will continue to release, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of them moving forward.
Click here to Play Spa Life on Facebook Now >
Are you a Clarins fan--enough to check out this Facebook game? What do you think of branded games on Facebook and the fact that they're growing? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
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 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 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.
[Source and Image Credit: VentureBeat]
Are you on board with the growing trend of branded games on Facebook? Do you think developers will maintain integrity as the focus on branded content in their games intensifies? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
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 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.
[Source and Image Credit: VentureBeat]
Are you on board with the growing trend of branded games on Facebook? Do you think developers will maintain integrity as the focus on branded content in their games intensifies? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
New Pioneer Trail World Map: Are four more expansions on the way?
Pioneer Trail World Map
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Have fun getting lost in Aliciafay03's farm maze
Don't let the look of this farm fool you. Because the first thing someone would notice about Aliciafay03's FarmVille farm is that she's got "FARM VILLE" spelled out in an outline of red, orange, and blue hay bales, which I know isn't a big whoop. Hay bales as a design element have gotten pretty stale in the landscaping community. Bales are good for spelling out visual shout-outs, portraits, and the occasional fun art (care for a whopper?), but there's rarely any impressive ones anymore. But look closer at Aliciafay03's farm, and you'll realize that it's an interactive maze.
Originally designed to be a cornfield maze, Aliciafay03 was eager to debut her farm for Zynga's official Farm of the Week contest, so she released her entry before the corn had a chance to grow. This is probably better, cause a cornfield would've obscured all the clever lettering. What we know about hay bales is that there's a cheat for players to harvest crops faster by trapping your FarmVille farming avatar in hay bales -- now here's where the interactive part comes in -- so if you click one end of this farm, your avatar can't go anywhere but to run through the maze!
Have you ever played in a real cornfield maze? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
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.
Originally designed to be a cornfield maze, Aliciafay03 was eager to debut her farm for Zynga's official Farm of the Week contest, so she released her entry before the corn had a chance to grow. This is probably better, cause a cornfield would've obscured all the clever lettering. What we know about hay bales is that there's a cheat for players to harvest crops faster by trapping your FarmVille farming avatar in hay bales -- now here's where the interactive part comes in -- so if you click one end of this farm, your avatar can't go anywhere but to run through the maze!
Have you ever played in a real cornfield maze? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
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.
Stadiums full of people become Angry Birds players with Uplause
Could the Angry Birds replace the proverbial demands of "Make Some Noise" at your next baseball game? Maybe not your next one, but soon you could be cheering to fling the irate winged beasts into their plump green enemies. Pocket Gamer reports that Uplause, a Finnish developer of crowd-based games, has rebuilt Angry Birds with its creator, Rovio, into a version controlled by noise.
The self-proclaimed "social game maker for big crowds" has created similar games for use in stadiums for ice hockey games, soccer matches and even music festivals. Over the past summer, Uplause worked with Rovio to create a version of Angry Birds that is controlled using noise as an input device. (Namely, cheering, clapping, stomping and perhaps even booing, we assume.)
"As in the original, there's about a four second period before firing," Uplause CEO Veli-Pekka Marin explained to Pocket Gamer. "For live events, we'd expect each gaming session to take a few minutes." But in that time, thousands of folks will play at the same time. If anything, it's terribly efficient.
While all we know about this seriously social version of Angry Birds is that noise generates power for the game's slingshot, Pocket Gamer guesses that aiming is done automatically. Rovio and Uplause will first test this massive version of Angry Birds at a Formula 1 race taking place in Singapore this weekend, and the company's CMO Peter Vesterbacka sounds excited for its imminent global expansion.
"Through social participation, our fans will get to interact with the Angry Birds in an entirely new way," Vesterbacka said to Pocket Gamer. "We think this new form of gaming will give fans a great opportunity to form a strong emotional connection with the characters." I think Vesterbacka is confusing "emotional connection" with "drunken, crowd-fueled stupor." Check out the video below to get an idea of how it might work. Who knows you might be doing the same thing at the next World Series.
What do you imagine a noise-controlled version of Angry Birds would be like? What other games come to mind when you think of this approach? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The self-proclaimed "social game maker for big crowds" has created similar games for use in stadiums for ice hockey games, soccer matches and even music festivals. Over the past summer, Uplause worked with Rovio to create a version of Angry Birds that is controlled using noise as an input device. (Namely, cheering, clapping, stomping and perhaps even booing, we assume.)
"As in the original, there's about a four second period before firing," Uplause CEO Veli-Pekka Marin explained to Pocket Gamer. "For live events, we'd expect each gaming session to take a few minutes." But in that time, thousands of folks will play at the same time. If anything, it's terribly efficient.
While all we know about this seriously social version of Angry Birds is that noise generates power for the game's slingshot, Pocket Gamer guesses that aiming is done automatically. Rovio and Uplause will first test this massive version of Angry Birds at a Formula 1 race taking place in Singapore this weekend, and the company's CMO Peter Vesterbacka sounds excited for its imminent global expansion.
"Through social participation, our fans will get to interact with the Angry Birds in an entirely new way," Vesterbacka said to Pocket Gamer. "We think this new form of gaming will give fans a great opportunity to form a strong emotional connection with the characters." I think Vesterbacka is confusing "emotional connection" with "drunken, crowd-fueled stupor." Check out the video below to get an idea of how it might work. Who knows you might be doing the same thing at the next World Series.
What do you imagine a noise-controlled version of Angry Birds would be like? What other games come to mind when you think of this approach? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Bravo gifts turtle with instant cable TV fame and a Facebook game
Just when we thought we've seen everything, US cable TV network Bravo is launching a Facebook game where you get to dress up their latest celebrity -- she's a turtle. I don't mean she's reclusive or anything. I mean that literally: She is a turtle, but she's not just any turtle. This is a turtle that caught the eye of Bravo's Executive Vice President of Original Programming, also known as Andy Cohen, and host of Bravo TV's Watch What Happens: Live.
The turle has been selected as the show's new mascot and will make her first appearance on Sept. 25. Her Facebook game will be called "Turtle Time", named after a TV episode of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York, where one of the drunk stars made a toast at "Fat Turtle", a bar and dance club in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
The Facebook game's objective is to design the turtle's tank and dress her up each week. There will be options to gift decorations to friends in the game, or to use Facebook Credits to buy special items. Results will be posted online, voting will commence, winners will be chosen and live versions of these designs will then be used on the show. Finally, when the season ends in December, Cohen will choose a past winner to fly to New York for a live taping and chance to meet the turtle.
What does the turtle have to say about all this? Here's a quote from Bravo's cheeky press release:
"Ever since I landed on the shores of Sag Harbor, I have been searching for my big break in show biz. When Andy Cohen came walking down those golden sands, I knew my dreams were coming true," Divulged Yet-To-Be-Named Turtle. "I can't wait to move into the Bravo Clubhouse and to be dressed in the latest fashions."
Oh, and before anyone runs to the nearest phone to alert PETA, Bravo has contacted the American Humane Association for an animal safety monitor who'll oversee the tapings according to the Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals In Filmed Media. There's no word if there's someone to monitor the turtle's dignity, but I think that's irretrievable at this point.
[Hat-tip: The Hollywood Reporter]
Is this cruel and/or unusual treatment of animals? Or just some harmless and wacky fun? Have you lost your faith in humanity yet? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The turle has been selected as the show's new mascot and will make her first appearance on Sept. 25. Her Facebook game will be called "Turtle Time", named after a TV episode of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York, where one of the drunk stars made a toast at "Fat Turtle", a bar and dance club in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
The Facebook game's objective is to design the turtle's tank and dress her up each week. There will be options to gift decorations to friends in the game, or to use Facebook Credits to buy special items. Results will be posted online, voting will commence, winners will be chosen and live versions of these designs will then be used on the show. Finally, when the season ends in December, Cohen will choose a past winner to fly to New York for a live taping and chance to meet the turtle.
What does the turtle have to say about all this? Here's a quote from Bravo's cheeky press release:
"Ever since I landed on the shores of Sag Harbor, I have been searching for my big break in show biz. When Andy Cohen came walking down those golden sands, I knew my dreams were coming true," Divulged Yet-To-Be-Named Turtle. "I can't wait to move into the Bravo Clubhouse and to be dressed in the latest fashions."
Oh, and before anyone runs to the nearest phone to alert PETA, Bravo has contacted the American Humane Association for an animal safety monitor who'll oversee the tapings according to the Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals In Filmed Media. There's no word if there's someone to monitor the turtle's dignity, but I think that's irretrievable at this point.
[Hat-tip: The Hollywood Reporter]
Is this cruel and/or unusual treatment of animals? Or just some harmless and wacky fun? Have you lost your faith in humanity yet? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
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