The new Alone in the Dark website has launched and you can check out all the spooky fun that Central Park has to offer on this snazzy flash based site. There are all the things you would expect from a game site including movies and screenshots. You can also take a tour of some of the various locations in the game and pick up items that will unlock some extra downloads for you.
I hope this game turns out well. I'm always happy to add another scary game to my arsenal and the videos I've seen thus far have looked quite good. Look for Alone in the Dark on your PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii and PC on May 24th.
The closest thing to enjoying "straight" gaming that I get is racing games. I love them. Not so much the simulation heavy titles (See: Gran Turismo) but the actiony ones with lots of explosions and the ability to smash up cars tickles my inner butch guy. As an odd twist of fate, I tried Burnout Paradise for the first time last night. I had placed it in my GameFly queue some time ago and the latest greatest releases kept pushing it down the list. Lo and behold, it appeared in my mail box and I gave it a go. It has been awhile since I've sat down and invested more than 2 hours in one sitting in a video game, let alone a racing title.
Those of you that have not played this game on the 360 or PS3 will have your chance to give it a go on the PC soon. No major details have been released about the port, but the developers urge you all to "tune into a live webcast at http://criteriongames.com at 8:00 AM PST on Friday".
A boy (or girl or boy/girl) always remembers his (or her or his/her) first console. For me it was the Atari Video Computer System (eventually known as the 2600). I got it for Christmas in 1979 at the tender age of twelve and I though it was just about the greatest thing I had ever laid eyes on. I thrilled to the "realistic" combat of, well.. Combat! I battled a dragon that looked more like a duck in Adventure and of course tried against all odds to get E.T. back home. I eventually moved on to other consoles, but the 2600 will always be my first love since it introduced me to the genre that would eventually become my career.
So how about you, what was your first console and when did you get it?
Here is is all you European Nintendo lovers, the date you've all been waiting for. Nintendo UK has announced that Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be hitting your local stores on June 27th. So mark your calenders and then cross out a week afterwards because if you're anything like the players here, you won't be leaving your living room for a while.
"This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" - Fall Out Boy ($1.99)
Scene Pack 01 ($5.49) - Scene Pack 01 includes "It Hurts" by Angels & Airwaves, "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" by Fall Out Boy, and "Date with the Night" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Rock Band price promotion:
"CrushCrushCrush" - Paramore and "Rock N Roll Band" - Boston are reduced to $0.99 until May 15th.
Guitar Hero III: Muse Track Pack ($6.25)
Includes "Exo-Politics", "Stockholm Syndrome" & "Supermassive Black Hole" as performed by Muse.
It's the second week of the Hanabi festival for the PAL Region, which gives players a chance to check out titles that never made it's way here. Last week we received two excellent shooters and a puzzle game, and this time we get... two excellent shooters and a puzzle game (and a billiards game), this time with a very Japanese vibe!
First up is Metal Slug (Neo Geo, 900 Points), the run n' gun coin-op classic. For those of unfamiliar with the game and the series, it's simply just about picking up your controller and blasting everything that moves (except your partner in co-op mode who joins you in the genocide of your enemies). It's simple but heaps of fun, and is a reminder that not all games need extreme depth to be enjoyable.
Next is Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu (MegaDrive, 900 Points), which even though released in March in the US is still seen as part of the Hanabi Festival line up (not that I'm complaining, it's a good thing!). The western world did technically get this title, but under the re-branded Doctor Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine(also on the VC). Pretty much the same as all of it's puyo brothers and sisters, the game forces you to think fast and create chains of 3 or more same colored "puyos" that fall from the screen. Let and too many pile up and it's game over. Multi player and it's awesomely super cuteness (which I'm a huge sucker for I sadly admit) make this a fun puzzle game.
Cho Aniki (TurboGrafix, 900 Points) finally and surprisingly makes it way to the VC in all of it's weird and wonderful glory. In this infamous side-scrolling shooter, you take control of ethier Idaten, a guy or Benten, a gal (Adon and Samson the two very beefed up guys the series is known for only play a secondary role in this title) as they fly around and shoot up the most bizarre stuff. Sadly unlike the other titles this week, the game only supports single player, but makes up for it with multiple difficulty levels.
Hopefully this great batch will get you through till the next and final week of the Hanabi festival. As usual, have a great week of gaming!
I'm sure many of you have heard about Folding@Home, which uses the idle processing power of your PC, Mac, or PS3 to work through the complex protein folding calculations needed to help find cures to serious diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's. Well, a new game has emerged that seems like it would be the bastard child of the PS3 has making sweet love to folding@home. The new game is called Foldit, and is very much like folding in that it is trying to figure out how to properly fold proteins; however, instead of CPU power, it is harnessing the human mind and competitive spirit. The great part is that you don't need to be a molecular biologist to play the game:
Foldit capitalizes on people's natural 3-D problem-solving skills. The intuitive skills that make someone good at playing Foldit are not necessarily the ones that make a top biologist. Baker says his 13-year-old son is faster at folding proteins than he is. Others may be even faster. Eventually, the researchers hope to advance science by discovering protein-folding prodigies who have natural abilities to see proteins in 3-D.
"Some people are just able to look at the game and in less than two minutes, get to the top score," said Popovic. "They can't even explain what they're doing, but somehow they're able to do it."
The game itself was made by a group of graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Washington, who put over a year to ensure that the game was accurate and engaging. The game currently presents known unfolded proteins and sees how quickly people can understand and manipulate the proteins given the set rules of needed to create the correctly folded protein. Currently they have tested the game with over 1,000 people and plan to release the game public this week. At the same time they will be offering proteins of unknown final folding shapes. And then comes the Nobel Prize worthy help:
Eventually, the researchers hope to present a medical nemesis, such as HIV or malaria, and challenge players to devise a protein with just the right shape to lock into the virus and deactivate it. Winning protein designs will be synthesized in Baker's lab and tested in petri dishes. High-scoring players will be credited in scientific publications the way that top Rosetta@home contributors already are credited for their computer time.
Overall it sounds like a game with a very lofty ambition and hopefully it makes waves as to what we can do with gaming. The article also goes on to describe how they plan to form a multiplayer community around the game to encourage people to work as groups to solve the more complex problems. Who knows, today's King of Kong could be tomorrow's Nobel Prize winner.
Ripped right from the pages of Variety: Universal Studios has signed a deal to turn last year's hit BioShock into a film. This has been hinted at for a while but this is the first time we've gotten actual confirmation. Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski has been tapped to direct and John Logan, who penned The Aviator has been tapped to write the script.
Take 2's Strauss Zelnick is cutting quite the deal that will ensure that BioShock gets made and doesn't get axed like the doomed Halo movie. Ken Levine is also currently being consulted although it is unsure whether he will have a hand in the final product. I truly pray that he does and that BioShock turns out to be just as fine a film as it was a game. I will be on the edge of my seat to see what they do with this one and crossing my fingers that it doesn't turn out to be another Blood Rayne... or another Resident Evil... or another Silent Hill... or another (fill in the blank)
Seemly one part MTV's Cribs, and one part a promotional video showcasing a hotel's accommodations and facilities, this video functions as proof positive that people give Blizzard tremendous amounts of money.
Ri-damn-diculous amounts of money. Really, all this video is missing is a montage of kids soaring down a water ride (a flume, perhaps) and several slow pan shots of couples with faces ill lit by torches embedded into the coastline while their excessive jewelry fragments the light into a veritable techicolor dream over the camera's lens.
Blizzard, you're ballin'.
So please, stop acting all humble.
Announced earlier this year, the Skype phone service integration with the PSP-2000 has been a bit of a pain to setup. Owners of the newer model PlayStation Portable were required to track down the remote control unit for the PSP-1000, while also being required to purchase a specific Sony headset just to get the system operational.
Though hardly a complete fix to all of your Skype woes, this $29.95 MSRP kit definitely simplifies the process.
Alas, what took Sony so long to release this accessory kit, and why they still have not developed support for the TalkMan microphone are guaranteed to remain mysteries.
Sierra put a demo of its upcoming The Bourne Conspiracy on Xbox LIVE, so I thought I'd take a break from wreaking havoc in Liberty City to try playing as human weapon Jason Bourne for a change. The demo offers up a nice sampling of the different gameplay elements offered in the full game.
The Bourne movies established the action as intensely fast-paced and frenetic. And Sierra did a reasonably impressive job of incorporating that pacing into the game without leaving the player feeling like the game is out of his control. At times the transitions from combat to gunplay to Quick Time events can leave you a little unbalanced, but overall, it's not as bad as I'd feared. The main trick they've given you is a quick press of Y allows you to activate a special sense that shows you on the map where you must go next, and where the enemies are. On-screen, it slows the action and highlights key items, allowing you to plan your next move and giving you the feeling of being a superspy.
For specific impressions of each section of the demo, make the jump!
Wii Fit is going to sell like hot cakes. You know it, I know it, and, as soon as the major TV talk show blitz starts, so will you mother, aunt, dad, etc. With just about every primary game retailer having already closed down pre-orders, Wii Fit will be drawing in tremendous revenue for Nintendo. So, with that in mind, why wouldn't the largest third party manufacturer consider jumping into the fitness crazy as well?
"We're watching very closely what the Wii Fit board does... And we're working on stuff, trying to work out how we can use EA Sports applications there. We also need to make sure we're delivering something that's truly exercise. I'll call Wii Fit more eastern fitness, where it senses weight and balance, like Tai-Chi. It's more about holistic fitness. I don't think the board is going to take a pounding. We need to look more at western fitness in which I can actually be moving and start to sweat a little bit, and that's what we're working on right now."
"It can't feel like a workout. We need to distract people and not make this exercise feel like work, but like they're having fun. So mini-games, things where you're actually laughing out loud, that's the stuff we're working on. It's something I've always been passionate about, and who better than us to go and play in that market?"
Given Electronic Arts president Peter Moore's previous work experience as a physical education instructor, and a new corporate initiative in creating fun games for everyone, EA's physical fitness title may end up being a welcome supplement to the Wii Fit workout.
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It's the second week of the Hanabi festival for the PAL Region, which gives players a chance to check out titles that never made it's way here. Last week we received two excellent shooters and a puzzle game, and this time we get... two excellent shooters and a puzzle game (and a billiards game), this time with a very Japanese vibe!
