Game Diary

GameLoft Abruptly Changes Hero of Sparta 2 to 'Free to Play', Angering Current Owners

Editorials, Game Diary, News

GameLoft Abruptly Changes Hero of Sparta 2 to ‘Free to Play’, Angering Current Owners

Earlier this week in my list of iTunes App Store deals, I mentioned that Hero of Sparta 2 was ‘free for a limited time’. Turns out I was wrong – the update switched the game to a ‘free to play’ model full-up with ads! Those who had actually paid for the game were angered by the sudden appearance of an egregious amount of intrusive ads (I had to check it out myself … it was awful)! Fortunately after a couple of days of uproar, GameLoft has retreated. According to GameLoft’s Facebook page: “Gameloft wishes to apologize to the fans of…

Direct2Drive Being Absorbed Into GameFly ... Prepare to Lose Some Games!

Editorials, Game Diary

Direct2Drive Being Absorbed Into GameFly … Prepare to Lose Some Games!

What is the first thing you do when someone tells you not to worry? That’s right – you start worrying! Earlier this year I posted about how IGN had sold Direct2Drive to GameFly. GameFly is a console game rental subscription service, and had wanted to branch into PC game distribution and potentially rentals and saw Direct2Drive as a possible way to do that. I had basically forgotten about the deal for a few reasons: first, we haven’t heard anything in 7 months; second, because Direct2Drive has been much quieter in general, leaving the big sales for Steam and GamersGate; and…

Star Wars The Old Republic Launches, My Hands-On Thoughts

Game Diary, Reviews

Star Wars The Old Republic Launches, My Hands-On Thoughts

One of the most highly anticipated games of the year launched today – STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ from LucasArts and Bioware. The game is in the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) genre, and has been compared to the hugely popular World of Warcraft in terms of style, though obviously in a very different setting. Here is the press release: EA, BioWare and LucasArts usher in a Force in online games as STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ goes live today From Midnight Store Openings to the Opening Bell of the NASDAQ, Gamers and Star Wars™ Fans Celebrate the…

Gear Games Retrospective: Gothic 3 (RPG, 2006)

Game Diary, Reviews

Gear Games Retrospective: Gothic 3 (RPG, 2006)

I am an admitted fanboy of the Gothic franchise, with Gothic 2 listing near the very top of my ‘all time favorites’ list of games. It had been a while since I replayed Gothic 3 to any extent, so when Good Old Games added it to their lineup a couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t help but buy it … for the fourth time! I have the DVD version sitting somewhere, and have bought it on both Steam and Direct2Drive to get the full Gothic Collection digitally (at the time each only had a subset). Gothic 3 is a game…

Youda Survivor iPad Game Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Youda Survivor iPad Game Review

The trend of bringing more and more PC and Mac adventure and casual strategy games to the iPad is a great one in my opinion – they work well with the touchscreen interface, present more than a trivial experience, and are still playable in small time increments. Games like Civilization Revolution, Jack of All Tribes and Tiny Token Empires are examples of this … and now we have Youda Survivor! Let’s take a look! The Hype: For all real fans of time management games – the most frenzied adventure yet! Can you survive on a mysterious island as well as…

EA Brings the Grim Hammer of Reality to the PopCap Merger

Editorials, Game Diary

EA Brings the Grim Hammer of Reality to the PopCap Merger

Earlier we got a message from frequent commented DBMurray regarding a message he received about what is happening to customer data as part of the EA/Popcap merger I wrote about here. As we were conversing, I got the same message which is shown at top. Although the message says ‘good news’, neither DBMurray nor I find the news all that great. Why? Well, as my earlier article indicated, PopCap is a pretty cool company with great games. EA is a terrible company with a tendency to treat customers poorly, lock people out of their games for vague and inconsistent reasons,…

Why Does Sony Make it So Hard for Me to Say Nice Things? Memory Card Edition

Editorials, Game Diary

Why Does Sony Make it So Hard for Me to Say Nice Things? Memory Card Edition

You might not think so from my posts, but I am really cheering for Sony with the Playstation Vita. I canceled my pre-order of the system, but that was more about the fact that there were no bonus offers … and Amazon tends to be great with those so I figured I would just wait until the new year to see. The system looks great hardware wise, seems to offer tons of gameplay possibilities, and ultimately I think that more gaming options means better competition means better games for all of us! But this weekend I have discovered yet another…

First Impressions of Infinity Blade 2 from the Gear Diary Team

Game Diary, Reviews

First Impressions of Infinity Blade 2 from the Gear Diary Team

While my personal preference of games released this week is the port of 2004’s ‘The Bard’s Tale’, there is no doubt that the big release of the week is Infinity Blade 2. Doug has been beside himself waiting for the game to arrive, Dan started the ball rolling with his thoughts on the graphics, and me being me I grabbed it immediately upon release. So what do we think after a short time playing? Read on and see!

Would YOU Pay $30 a Year for TETRIS?

Editorials, Game Diary

Would YOU Pay $30 a Year for TETRIS?

Doug wrote about the new ‘reimaginged’ Tetris app, which includes the following: · The fan-favorite Marathon Mode. · A brand new level-based Galaxy Mode, where players can use game-changing power ups to dig down and shatter their scores. · Innovative Marathon One Touch Mode, a simple and easy-to-use control scheme for Marathon mode that is specially designed for touch screen gameplay. · New gameplay challenges delivered via the never-before-seen Tetris Log system. · Tetris Rank functionality that tracks players’ lifetime “lines cleared” to assign an overall rank. · Ability to subscribe to the T-Club, the only Tetris fan club to…

Gamer Banned for Using 'Inappropriate Language' in Forum Tamer Than What Is in the Actual Game!

Editorials, Game Diary

Gamer Banned for Using ‘Inappropriate Language’ in Forum Tamer Than What Is in the Actual Game!

Early this year I wrote about two separate incidents of gamers being banned from playing games based on comments made in separately housed gaming forums – the first was about someone banned for upsetting a forum moderator by asking “Have you (Bioware) sold your souls to the EA devil?”. At the time EA claimed it was an ‘error’: “Unfortunately, there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended a user’s entire account,” he told Ars. “Immediately upon learning of the glitch, EA took steps to restore the user’s macro account and apologized for the inconvenience.” My speculation that the…

The World of Goo for iPad Game Review

Game Diary, Reviews

The World of Goo for iPad Game Review

> There are times when a simple description does little to convey the joy contained in a great game. For World of Goo, my one-line description ‘solve puzzles by building stuff by stringing together bunches of goo balls’ doesn’t begin to explain why you will be losing sleep playing ‘just one more level’. I am not sure that my description or conclusion will completely describe just how much fun this game is, but hopefully my full description will entire you enough to buy one of the best games available for the iPad. The Hype: Beautiful and surprising, the millions of…

Choose Your Digital Download Vendor Carefully (and Avoid Aspyr's GameAgent No Matter What)!

Editorials, Game Diary

Choose Your Digital Download Vendor Carefully (and Avoid Aspyr’s GameAgent No Matter What)!

Earlier this week I wrote about the great 50% off sale on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the Mac App Store. The deal is still going on, by the way! Anyway, it put me in the mood to replay the game, so I checked Steam to see if they ever opened up Steam Play – they hadn’t. Fortunately I had reviewed the game back in the summer of 2008 for the Mac, with a game gotten through Aspyr’s GameAgent. This meant I had a full game at some point. UN-fortunately, the install file was >4GB, and the Iomega 250GB…

Star Fox 64 3D Nintendo 3DS Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Star Fox 64 3D Nintendo 3DS Review

Nintendo updates their 1997 N64 game “Star Fox 64” on the Nintendo 3DS with a fun local, download play multiplayer mode complete with live stills and video from other players using the Nintendo 3DS inner camera.

iPad/iPhone App Review: G5 Games Navigator

Game Diary, Reviews

iPad/iPhone App Review: G5 Games Navigator

One thing most of us can agree on – finding games on the iTunes App Store (or Android Market or Amazon Appstore or Microsoft Marketplace for that matter) can be a daunting task: if you know the exact name you will have no problem … but if not, you are in for quite a challenge! Hoping to help navigate at least their own corner of the App Store as well as Mac and PC games, G5 introduces the G5 Games Navigator. Let’s take a quick look! The Hype: Find quality casual games in the App Store! Stay updated on G5’s…

Mac Game Review: Tiny Token Empires

Game Diary, Reviews

Mac Game Review: Tiny Token Empires

As more and more games hit the Mac App Store after finding success as iPad games, sometimes actual full-sized Mac games get lost in the shuffle. Take Tiny Token Empires, for example. It has a bright and charming style and ‘Match 3’ combat system that might make you think it is a simple game, but underneath there is a full sized game to match the full sized $25 price tag. Let’s take a look and see if it earns that paycheck! The Hype: Tiny Token Empires is an amazing mix-it’s a puzzle game, « Match 3 » game and turn-based…

Virtual City Playground Gets a Major Update

Game Diary, Reviews

Android Game Review: Virtual City Playground

A couple of months ago G5 released the iPad version of Virtual City Playground, and I noted it was like ‘Sandbox mode set free’ and really enjoyed playing. Now it has arrived on Android and iPhone. Read on to find out what I thought! The Hype: Your favorite Virtual City gameplay is now FREE in Virtual City Playground! Make even your most ambitious dreams a reality! Build the city of your dreams… and then run it. • Play sandbox mode for FREE! No predefined missions • Over 85 new optional quests • Over 90 new buildings, landmarks, and decorations, including…

Deus Ex: Human Revolution PlayStation 3 Review

Game Diary, Reviews

Deus Ex: Human Revolution PlayStation 3 Review

The Deus Ex game series continues with engaging themes involving modified, or “augmented” humans in a futuristic world, set in 2027, amid various international settings, amazing musical score, and “choose-your-own-adventure”-type decision making format.