Game Diary

Special Madden NFL 15 Marathon Tourney Kicks off Friday, January 16

Think you’re an elite Madden NFL 15 gamer? Duracell will start the “Duracell Longest Lasting Tournament” this Friday, January 16, which will be a 26-hour Madden NFL 15 video game marathon tournament where players battle to hold the longest win-streak until the end. This tournament will be powered by Duracell rechargeable batteries and hosted on Twitch.tv where anyone can watch.


Beamdog Teases New Chapter for Baldur’s Gate Coming in 2015!

The Baldur’s Gate franchise of epic fantasy role playing games are amongst the most beloved and critically acclaimed of all time. They have recently been re-released as ‘enhanced editions’, and now Beamdog has teased us with pictures of screens and tidbits of information about their ‘Adventure Y’, which is “bridging the gap between Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II.”



Play 2400 Classic DOS Games … In Your Web Browser!

The history of gaming is littered with long-forgotten classics, great games rendered unplayable due to compatibility issues, or the lack of a 5.25″ floppy drive! Add the complexity of getting DOSBox configured and optimized, and the bar is simply too high. But now the Internet Archive has set up a portal to play 2400 games on your web browser!



New Gaming Accessories Announced at CES 2015

Gear up gamers for fun, flash and functionality! The Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2015) is featuring new and upcoming gaming accessories to enhance video game experiences for all ages. Nyko and Mad Catz are familiar names in gaming peripherals and this year brings more great gaming options including a PlayStation 4 data bank, PS4 Type Pad, innovative gaming headset, Xbox One light grip, and XB1 mini charge dock.


PlayStation Now Service Release Date Announced at CES 2015

On Monday, January 5, 2015, SCE President and CEO Andy House presented details on Sony’s PlayStation Now (PS Now) game streaming service at the CES show in Las Vegas, Nevada along with an official North American release date. This new Web service streams full games to Sony consoles, televisions, and other devices while offering game rental and subscription service options.




Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Review on Nintendo Wii U

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is the perfect term for this fun platformer where players scour every inch of the environments as Nintendo expands the Mario world again on the Wii U with the dialogue free Toad characters. This Wii U exclusive, one-player, puzzle-strategy game also features eclectic characters like Toadette, the Toad Bridage, Wingo, and Draggadon along with the familiar Goombas and Shy Guys.


Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris Review on PlayStation 4

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris has a “top-down” viewing perspective as up to four players can take on adventures in this quality game exclusively available by download. Our “tomb raider” Lara also has a rivals and ancient evils in her midst as develop Crystal Dynamics and publisher Square Enix craft this sequel to the 2010 Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.


Xbox Live and PSN Christmas Day Outage Update

Games will have to wait to play some of their new gifts that require online gameplay after they got a lump of coal yesterday in the gaming realm. Xbox Live and PlayStation Network (PSN) services went out on Christmas Day with a group of hackers claiming responsibility. Both companies acknowledged network issues and are working to restore services.


GTA Chinatown Wars Goes Universal, Out on Android!

One of my first posts at Gear Diary was the review of the Nintendo DS game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, a game I considered ‘essential and ‘my favorite game of the franchise’, and which remains the best-reviewed DS game. In 2010 I reviewed the game on iPhone and later iPad, and now it is out for Android!


Christmas Release on Wii U for NES Duck Hunt

Duck Hunt, the game that help launched their Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 into the game stratosphere, will finally be released for Wii U this Christmas Day (December 25) in time for new players to discover this mainstay shooting game while veterans get to relive the memories all over again.



EA/Maxis Releases New Free ‘The Sims 4’ Content/Updates

The Sims 4 now gifts new career-related content and a Holiday Celebration pack to their ever-growing set of free content since the initial fall release. The new business and athletic careers branch into two new paths/professions, which unlock four career-reward rooms in the build mode when played through. Sims now get paid time off! Update in-game or on Origin.


Mahjong Journey Is a Fun, Casual, Free-to-Play Game to Pass the Time

Mahjong is the classic tile-matching game that seems to have existed since the earliest handheld systems, at least since the Newton MessagePad. G5 has released two great Mahjong games in the past, which I reviewed here and here. Now they are back with a free-to play Mahjong game that takes you on a journey through Asia solving puzzle after puzzle.


Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Review on PlayStation 3

The fast paced, double stick, and multi-directional shooter franchise continues as Geometry Wars³: Dimensions features online play, leaderboards, furious music, and new boss fights plus a single player campaign mode called “Adventure” where movement is the key to success as players can enjoy a retro title full of content and fun.


’80 Days’ Is a Journey Worth Taking on iOS or Android

Think about this – interactive ‘build your own adventure’ storybook plugged into a role-playing adventure, based on the classic Jules Verne story ‘Around the World in 80 Days‘. Seems like a lot – but when put in the hands of Inkle Studios, the result is an amazing game that recently topped Time’s ‘Top 10 Video Games of 2014’!


LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Review on PlayStation 4

Now that this LEGO game series has connected the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder to their DC superhero counterparts, developers TT (Traveller’s Tales) expand LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham‘s gameplay with even more action, content, and extras plus the first ever Season Pass for a LEGO game to nab all the substantial downloadable content (DLC) and extras nicely coinciding with Batman’s 75th anniversary.


Soldak Entertainment Announces Zombasite Coming in 2015!

Soldak Entertainment is an indie developer making great games, mostly in the RPG genre. From the incredible Depths of Peril, the never-old Din’s Curse, light-but-fun Kivi’s Underworld to the sprawling space adventure Drox Operative. Now for their next game they are dipping into the undead with Zombasite, a post-apocalyptic fantasy action RPG coming in 2015 to Windows, Mac, and Linux.