General gaming

General gaming

Microsoft Proves How Serious (or Not) it is About PC Gaming

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 06:16 PM PDT

PC Games home on Xbox.com

Despite its insistence at certain E3 press conferences in the past, there has been the perception for quite a long time now that Microsoft doesn't really care about PC gaming. The first two Halo games were ported to PC, as was Gears of War, but subsequent titles in either series have been 360-only -- even Halo Wars, an RTS that would have been right at home on a keyboard and mouse. We go for long stretches of time without seing any Microsoft-published titles on the platform, and despite its attempts to create a more universal experience for playing games on PC through Windows Vista's Game Explorer Guide and Games for Windows, Valve has already provided that and much more with Steam.

Microsoft's initial efforts with Games for Windows Live brushed many the wrong way, largely due to the fact that it expected PC gamers to pay for the service. Once that requirement was dropped, there was less to complain about. Even so, to this day that hasn't stopped people from wishing Games for Windows Live titles instead used Steamworks or some other equivalent. But at least Games for Windows had its own presence. Microsoft changed that today -- as previously announced, Microsoft has transitioned the Games for Windows Marketplace from GamesForWindows.com to Xbox.com.

Xbox.com's July update went live a short while ago, with Games for Windows integration being the biggest addition. Xbox.com looks just as it did before -- with no mention of PC gaming on its homepage -- except "PC Games" has now been added as a link under the "Games + Marketplace" drop-down menu. Hardcore PC gamers are already displeased they're being lumped in with Xbox owners on a decidedly console-centric site, but the way PC games are relegated to a spot just above "Avatars" in the site's navigation isn't going to help matters, either.

ModernWarfare3.com is One Big Troll, Promotes Battlefield 3

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 05:12 PM PDT

Battlefield 3 website

Not everyone knows the exact URL of the website they're looking for, nor does everyone go right to a search engine when they don't know something. Someone looking for information on the next Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 3, might simply try typing in ModernWarfare3.com to see where it takes them. As it turns out, Activision doesn't own the domain, and visiting the site redirects you to the official website of MW3's biggest competitor, Battlefield 3.

ModernWarfare3.com used to be home to a site that masqueraded as the official website for the game, except it contained negative descriptions of it. A partially broken Google cache version shows it hosted a YouTube video slamming MW3 for looking just like Modern Warfare 2, as well as the following description:

"Modern Warfare is crap. On November 8, 2011, the most over-hyped first-person action series of all-time returns with the copy and paste sequel to the lackluster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Check out the E3 2011 gameplay demo featuring the Black Tuesday level for a look at the epic fail of the campaign. Pre-Order Call of Duty MW3 Today for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC to secure exclusive bonuses only available online for Modern Warfare 3 fanboys who don't know that Battlefield 3 is the better game."

Final Fantasy Rhythm Game Coming From Retro Game Challenge, Electroplankton Developer

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 04:27 PM PDT

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Theatrhythm might not be the sort of Final Fantasy game that 3DS owners were hoping for, but it is coming from a developer with some quality games under its belt. The game is in development at Indies Zero, the studio responsible for Retro Game Challenge, Retro Game Challenge 2 (which has yet to be officially brought to North America), and Electroplankton.

That's good news, even if the name continues to sound and look strange. As its newly launched website puts it, Theater + Rhythm = Theatrhythm. By that logic, Team Fortress 2 should be called Cartoonplosion, a name I can't help but think is also better than Theatrhythm.

Trench Trademark Owner Not About to Let "Trenched" be Released in Europe

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 03:17 PM PDT

Trenched

Trenched is still not out in Europe because of "unexpected challenges with distribution." What that really means, we learned at the end of June, was that a board game designer by the name of Rui Alípio Monteiro owns a trademark on "Trench." In other words, developer Double Fine and publisher Microsoft can't simply release the game as-is in Europe. After initially declining to say much of anything on the subject, Monteiro has now provided a statement on the situation and his intent to turn his Trench into a videogame.

According to the statement, sent to Eurogamer by way of Portuguese company Criações a Solo, the trademark was granted in the European Union in September 2009, followed by a filing on June 18, 2010 in the United States. The Microsoft-owned "Trenched" trademark was filed on May 13, 2011.

"He also owns the international Certificates regarding the visual aspect of the game and components," the statement reads. "Although the original idea was to produce a board game, he has also registered the trademark for electronic Games, since part of Rui Alípio Monteiro's global project is to turn Trench into an appealing electronic game, already in the development phase."

Ms. Splosion Man Review

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 03:01 PM PDT

Call me old-fashioned, but my favorite platform games are not draconian time-trial-a-thons like Super Meat Boy, but good old larger-scale stuff, like the Super Mario series and most everything that imitated it. Which is why it's such a delight to see something like Splosion Man gain some popularity, make some money, and now get a sequel in the form of Ms. Splosion Man.

Although really, Splosion Man (and Ms.) is more of a hybrid of both those kinds of platformers, with longer stages that are peppered with devious tricks and traps that often require you to take a few tries until you nail the timing and get yourself ever closer to the finish line. Like her counterpart, Ms. Splosion Man is a rogue scientific anomaly trying to escape the doofy lab techs of Big Science by "sploding" all through the Science facilities and subsequent conglomerate-owned locales. Sploding is essentially jumping -- a triple-use ability that gets Ms. SM up and over (sometimes way up and way over) every obstacle that comes in her way.

Almost $6 Billion Spent by U.S. Gamers in Q1 2011

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 02:34 PM PDT

Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D

Roughly $5.9 billion was spent on videogame hardware, content, and accessories in the United States during the first quarter of 2011, according to the NPD Group. That's an increase of 1.5% as compared with the same period during the first quarter of 2010.

$2.03 billion of that figure was spent on new, physical videogame software purchases, a figure that includes PC games sold at retail. Another $1.85 billion came from "other monetization methods," a vague term that includes things like used games, subscriptions, game downloads, downloadable content, game rentals, mobile games, and social network games.

The NPD Group has been criticized of late for restricting the amount of information it shares with the media, in particular specific sales figures for games and hardware. EA earlier this year made it clear it looks down upon using NPD data for videogame sales as it "see[s] NPD's data as a misrepresentation of the entire industry." NPD, for its part, has attempted to expand its coverage beyond that of new, physical sales, something it reiterated in a press release about the Q1 figures distributed earlier today.

Valve's Team Fortress 2, Portal, and L4D Comics Coming Together in Book Form

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 02:04 PM PDT

Saxton Hale TF2 comic

Even if you're not a Team Fortress 2 player, the comics Valve has produced for the game's website provided a reason for anyone to visit from time to time. The line of Saxton Hale comic strips have amused me to no end, and Valve has also released promotional comics for the Left 4 Dead and Portal franchises, albeit less hysterical ones. For those who prefer to read these sorts of things away from a computer screen, Dark Horse Comics is putting together a compilation of these comics for a book due out later this year.

The 304-page hardcover book, Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, includes comics from all three franchises according to a description provided to Comic Book Resources. It wasn't clear if it'll include every comic released to date or if new ones will be created for the book. We've asked Valve for clarification on its contents.

Valve Presents will be released on November 16 for an MSRP of $29.99.

Free Tokyo Game Show Tickets Up for Grabs, Just Pay for Everything Else

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 12:32 PM PDT

Tokyo Game Show 2010

The organizers of the annual Tokyo Game Show are giving away 200 tickets to attend this year's show (running from September 15 through September 18). While the tickets are free, unfortunately everything else that is involved with taking a trip to the other side of the world -- like airfare, a hotel, and so on -- isn't provided.

Should you be able to afford all of those things, you'll need to have someone to bring and either a Twitter or Facebook account. Those on Twitter need to follow the official TGS account and a tweet a wish about going with the hashtag "#tgs2011ticket" by August 31. Facebook users have to write on the wall of the TGS page and need a valid e-mail address registered to their account. The comment must start with "See you @ tgs#" and talk about what you want to see most at the show.

The Today Show: It's "Weird" for Men Over 30 to Play Games

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 11:23 AM PDT


Playing games when you're over the age of 30 is "weird," The Today Show has declared. Friday's show hosted a segment called "The Other View: Getting a Guy's Perspective on Love" where women send in questions about men to be answered by advertising exec and television personality Donny Deutsch. The final question read, "What's up with men and videogames? Do you think it's OK for men to play videogames in their 30s and over?"

The woman reading the question could barely make it through without laughing at the notion, and it was immediately met with another of the show's hosts declaring, "That's weird." Deutsch said, "The answer's no. ...When you're in your 30s, there should be something more on your mind or attention than videogames." The consensus was that it's acceptable if games are being played with a child, but it was agreed that wasn't what was being asked.

You could say I have a slanted view on the subject as someone who both plays videogames and writes about them, but were this question asked about watching movies or reading books -- as if it ever would be -- you can bet it would be found perfectly acceptable. Playing videogames, however, continues to have a stigma in many people's minds despite the fact that Wii, DS, Facebook, and mobile games have all gotten more people playing games than ever before.

Ms. Splosion Man Takes a Shot at Capcom Over Copycat

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:50 AM PDT


The sequel to Splosion Man, Ms. Splosion Man, will be out this week, and those who play through enough of the game will get to witness a shot that developer Twisted Pixel has taken at Capcom.

It might sound like a random thing to do, but there's a reason for it. Capcom released an iOS game last December called MaXplosion. It was a pretty clear rip-off of Splosion Man, prompting Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford to say the "similarities are pretty nauseating" and that it "is a complete theft." Due to the two companies' respective sizes, the developer decided not to take any legal action, and instead continued to focus on making games. "We just need to keep our heads down making the next thing so that Capcom has something to steal next year," he joked.

What Twisted Pixel was working on was Ms. Splosion Man. Joystiq noticed that a secret area of the game contains a crack about Capcom and what happened, although, as Joystiq notes, Capcom has previously tried to distance itself from the game, pointing out that it was developed by a different division of the company.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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