General gaming

General gaming

Game Music Thunderdome Round 2.1: The Mario Paint Face-Off

Posted: 18 Apr 2012 05:27 PM PDT

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Game Music Thunderdome Round 2.1: The Mario Paint Face-Off

Finally! Our game music voting continues... with a 16-bit twist.

By: 1UP Staff April 18, 2012

A few months ago, we pitted together 64 of our favorite pieces of game music ever and asked you to vote on them. Once you'd narrowed the picks down to 32, we... well, we got sidetracked a bit and forgot to advance things to the next round. Sorry. But better late than never, right?

We're compacting our second round into two parts of 16 tunes apiece rather than running them each as daily one-vs-one contests. For this first set of face-offs, we've decided to pay tribute to the greatest 16-bit artistic tool of all time: Nintendo's Mario Paint. These 16 tracks are presented below in fan-made Mario Paint renditions (or ersatz versions created in Mario Paint Composer. It's the great equalizer! By stripping these tracks from their original context, the core melodies are freed from the shackles of technology and can face off on compositional merit alone. Also, mario Paint remixes are awesome.

How Dead Space 3 Can Avoid Making Alien 3's Mistakes

Posted: 18 Apr 2012 04:18 PM PDT

If (SPOILER WARNING) Dead Space 2's post-ending dialogue about "Marker Site 12" (END SPOILER) didn't already indicate that Dead Space 3 is likely on the way for you, then the various slips, sources, and rumors that have transpired since DS2's release should have clued you in. But is that good? If Dead Space was basically Alien, and Dead Space 2 was Aliens, will that that doom Dead Space 3 to be the uneven Alien 3?

Such a fate can be easily avoided. For one thing, Alien 3 was the product of numerous rewrites and extensive studio interference, all of which resulted in a mediocre hodgepodge of ideas both great and terrible. We're assuming the developers at Visceral have maintained a consistent vision for Dead Space 3 (an idea bolstered by the lack of rumors about personnel change at the studio). We're also assuming that, since it's basically the same team as the previous game, the team wouldn't make out-of-character/franchise decisions such as (Alien 3 spoilers, I guess, even though you've had 20 years) killing beloved characters the way Newt and Hicks died between films. Still, you never know, and we have a few ideas about how Dead Space 3 could be more Return of the King than Alien 3.

Diablo III Looks To Be Getting a Starter Edition, Too

Posted: 18 Apr 2012 12:58 PM PDT

Diablo III

For many developers and publishers, free-to-play is the way to go these days. Just recently we've seen quality games like Tribes Ascend and Super Monday Night Combat, two titles that would have no doubt come with a price tag attached in order to play in the past, released for free. Despite all the predictions that World of Warcraft will one day be forced to go free-to-play like so many other MMOs (Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online, EverQuest, and so on), Blizzard has stuck by the more traditional methods of selling games. Starting last year, however, it did begin trying to lure in new players with the trappings of free-to-play, and it appears as though things will be no different with Diablo III. As reported by Ars Technica, a Starter Edition of Diablo III popped up sometime overnight, allowing even those without beta access to play a portion of the game ahead of its launch on May 15.

Last June, Blizzard announced any Battle.net user would be able to play World of Warcraft up to level 20 for free. Previous trial versions of the game limited players to a certain period of time before they would be asked to subscribe. The new trial placed no restrictions on play time, allowing potential subscribers to create an unlimited number of characters and play without feeling rushed. StarCraft II followed suit later in the year with a Starter Edition. Replacing the existing demo, it allowed for a good amount of content -- the first four missions, first two challenges, and four multiplayer maps (playable with owners of the full game) -- to be played without ever paying a dime, the idea being the sample would convince players to purchase the full version.

The 1UP Community Cares About The Legend of Dragoon

Posted: 18 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT

dragoon

Last week, we caused the internet to raise its collective pitchfork in anger at us for stating that 1UP doesn't care about The Legend of Dragoon. And while we haven't changed our stance, you guys certainly provided a plethora of arguments in favor of caring about LoD. Some of you condemned us for stating our opinions, while others, like kingsharkboi, appreciated the fact that we started a dialogue about a game that tends to be overlooked by lovers and haters alike.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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