Games

The Raptr Report – “Most Played Games of 2012”

The video gaming network Raptr, which tracks over 10 million game users and their gameplay hours and achievements, has named their “Most Played Games of 2012” in eight categories. These winners are complimented by a detailed reports with several interesting trends, facts, and fascinations in the video game world…and the winners (except for most played game) are: Most Played New Game – Borderlands 2 (Gearbox/2K Games) Most Played Game (Released Anytime) – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Treyarch/Activision) Biggest Boost from User-Generated Content – Portal 2 (Valve) Most Played Long-Awaited Sequel – Borderlands 2 (Gearbox/2K Games) No Bathroom Break…

Game Diary, Reviews

Hitman Absolution Video Game Review on PlayStation 3

The Hitman action-assassin game series continues with this extended experience featuring elements of a successful hired assassin – stealth, strategy, and anonymity, so players need patience, practice, and considerable improvisation abilities. The Hype Contracts Mode-Create your own custom hits by choosing the level, targets, weapons and the rules of assassination in an innovative new online mode where created contracts can be shared and the money that you earn will unlock weapons, upgrades and disguises Freedom of Choice – Stalk from the shadows or rush in guns blazing thanks to fully-evolved game mechanics and a sophisticated AI-System that responds realistically to…

Game Diary, Reviews

SiNG Party Video Game Review on Nintendo Wii U

SiNG Party is a unique music performance game available exclusively on the Wii U with downloadable content and Miiverse features. This party game contains a well-varied song base (50 total) that keeps this music party rocking with elements of dance, duets, and karaoke. The colorful, clear-cut presentation and interface that works with a wide range of USB microphones though the game comes available with one if needed. The Hype Get the party started with SiNG Party, a new, interactive musical performance game that will get you and your guests singing and dancing well into the night. With dozens of popular…

Game Diary, News & Features

Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition Arrives on iPad!

For the past week or so I have been working my way through the PC version of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition from Overhaul Games. And it is the same as the absolute classic I played in 1998 – but better. So I was thrilled this morning to see that the iPad version was released! It had been delayed due to a bug discovered just before App Store submission, saying “iOS build had a game-stopper bug. With current estimate for app store approval, that puts us into next week. We’re doing all we can.” Next week arrived – and now the…

Game Diary, Music Diary, News & Features

Video Game Soundtrack Nominated for Grammy Award

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. That’s the nomination that was just received by Austin Wintory, the composer for Thatgamecompany’s excellent PS3 game Journey. Let me be clear, this is history being made, as this represents the first time that a video game soundtrack has been nominated for the prestigious Grammy Award. While the aforementioned category is usually reserved for film scores, it appears that interactive media is also eligible, and that this could become a landmark year for the industry. This revelatory announcement comes in the wake of MoMA’s recent video game acquisition. Despite the ongoing argument over the validity…

Events, Game Diary, News & Features

Are Video Games Art? MoMA Answers with New Exhibit

It’s the question everyone’s asking nowadays: can video games be considered art? Should they be? While it’s been over two years since film-critic Roger Ebert blew up the debate with his now-famous commentary, the fight rages on. This time, it’s New York’s Museum of Modern Art that’s taking a side. In the past, curators and critics alike have been hesitant to put a label on gaming. Pundits of established artistic disciplines were the worst offenders, often heard dismissing the industry in favor of their own respective fields. Ebert’s notorious quote that “video games can never be art” unleashed what has…

Game Diary, Reviews

Redrum Dead Diary HD for iPad Review

Integrate a cool story in a solid gameplay mechanic and I’m hooked. And Hidden Object Puzzle games are the perfect vehicle for a mystery story – you have a scenario laid out, uncover clues gradually while viewing specific scenes from the story, and generally uncover the entire story and solve the mystery. All wrapped up neatly in a two to four hour long game! The story centers around Rose, a young girl who can see and interact with dead people who were killed unjustly. She describes them as her friends, and her insistence on their reality lands her in an…

Editorials, Game Diary

Rampant Piracy Causes iOS Developer to Shut Down Online Game

I had been hearing bits of this on gaming forums for the past few days, but today it was confirmed – iOS online game ‘Battle Dungeon’ has been pulled from the App Store and the online servers shut down due to extreme levels of piracy. The developers posted about it at their site and on their Facebook page: Unfortunately we have taken Battle Dungeon down for the forseeable future. This was due to high levels of server load created by large numbers of pirated copies of the game. The high load revealed technical issues which we don’t feel we can…

Game Diary, Reviews

Atari Celebrates 40 Years of Pong with Free Pong World for iOS Review

I have always loved that picture of my brother and me playing Pong at our aunt’s house one Thanksgiving back in the 70s. For those of us born in the 60s, Pong represented a revolution – a video game system that we could hook to our TV. By the time the 80s were in full swing Pong was an anachronism, yet there is something fun about the simplicity of the gameplay, the challenge of the head-to-head fun. Now you can get a revamped Pong game made as part of the PONG Indie Developer Challenge for free in celebration of the…

Game Diary, News & Features

Murim Wars Massively Multiplayer RPG for iOS and Android Coming in December!

As more and more mobile gamers are connected to high speed networks and are looking beyond simple puzzle games, genres previously tied to computers and consoles have sprung up on mobile devices. Of course, having the graphics capability to run those apps is also a big bonus! It seems that every few months we see a new game that expands the realm of possibilities for online interaction in a mobile setting. In just a couple of weeks we will see a new MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) for mobile devices – this is a genre previously restricted to…

Crowdfunding, Game Diary, News & Features

Sinister Design Launches a Telepath Tactics Kickstarter!

I have written several times about the cool hybrid indie RPG ‘Telepath RPG: Servants of God’, and while I never finished the review I started, it remains a unique experience and one of the best indie games I have played this year. For a while now developer Craig Stern has been talking up the progress on his turn-based game Telepath Tactics – and now he has launched a Kickstarter effort in order to deliver a game with a robust single-player experience and more graphics content than the original simple turn-based multiplayer game he planned. Project Title: Telepath Tactics game for…

Game Diary, News & Features

Battlefield 3 Expansion Pack Aftermath Releases

Battlefield 3: Aftermath, the fourth expansion pack which features a four new maps (Azadi Palace, Epicenter, Markaz Monolith, and Talah Market), three new vehicles (Barsuk, Phoenix, and Rhino) plus modified military and civilian vehicles. Players can also enjoy the new “XBOW” crossbow weapon, and a new “scavenger” mode where players search for weapons while starting with only a pistol. New assignments, dogtags, achievements, and trophies are also included. PlayStation 3 premium members can get this expansion pack now (associated Battlefield 3 game copy required) while it release for Xbox 360 and PC premium players on December 4. Players without premium…

Crowdfunding, Game Diary, News & Features

Legend of Dungeon Opens Up Kickstarter Effort, Launches Free Demo

I wrote about the teaser trailer for Legend of Dungeon last week, noting that the title sounded like a joke. Developer RobotLovesKitty got back to me and mentioned that it actually started as a joke – but then stuck! They also mentioned that they were launching a Kickstarter to fund even more features for the game – and offering a free demo! Project Title: Legend of Dungeon game for PC/Mac/Linux Status: Active Closing Date for Funding: 12/16/2012 URL of the Project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robotloveskitty/legend-of-dungeon From the Creatives: As you explore the sparsely lit dungeon, gather items and battle monsters you will no doubt…

Editorials, Game Diary

#1reasonwhy – Twitter (and blogs) Discuss Why Only 6% of Game Developers Are Women

When you look broadly across the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), women have made tremendous gains in the decades since I entered undergraduate school. This is excellent – there is simply no reason women shouldn’t have equal representation … so long as the opportunity is equal and fair. But there are some areas where women are terribly under-represented – and not just at higher levels, but at all levels. This article talks about the hostile environment at Goldman Sachs, but recently there has been a great deal of discussion about the lack of women in game design…

Game Diary, Reviews

Reveal the Maze Pro for iPhone Review

Type of app: Maze / puzzle game Platform/where to buy: iPhone; available in the App Store Developer: Yigit Turkeri Description: Have you ever been in a real maze? Forget about all of the other maze games that you have seen before. We invite you to a real maze experience. While increasing your field of view with 13 different items and trying to get to the exit, avoid harmful items and earn points by collecting coins as much as possible. With the suggestions you will make on our website, you decide the concepts of the new maps. • 108 levels in…

Game Diary, Reviews

ShadowGun Deadzone for iOS and Android Hands-On Review

Type of app: First/Third Person Shooter (FPS) game Platform/where to buy: iPad (Android version here); available in the App Store and Google Play Developer: Madfinger Games Description: Prove your courage and challenge your friends. Experience heroic multiplayer battles that have never been seen on mobile device before. Enjoy console quality multiplayer game with awesome graphics on your phone and tablet. ? Experience intense tactical multiplayer combat with up to 12 players connected online. ? Choose from two popular game modes – Deathmatch and Zone Control, various maps and from 10 playable characters ? As a character’s ranking increases, new elements…

Game Diary, Reviews

Shards of Time HD for iPad Review

Shards of Time is one of the most dense hidden object games I can recall playing, and yet I didn’t tire of playing it to the extent I had expected. By ‘dense’ I mean that it often felt that completing a single hidden object scene would spawn another scene plus a puzzle, and doing those would add more … and so on. Similar to most genre games, you start with a cutscene that establishes your character and the motivation for whatever is happening next. In this case you learn that you are part of a secret group with magical power…

Game Diary, Reviews

Deadly Dungeons for Android Review

Type of app: Dungeon Crawler game Platform/where to buy: Android; available in the Google Play Store Developer: Jacob Ensign Description: Deadly Dungeons is a first person RPG developed exclusively for the Android platform. This Android RPG is influenced by classic dungeon crawler games such as Dungeon Hack, Eye of the Beholder, and Nethack. Your purchase supports indie games development. After being separated from your adventuring party, you must navigate a deadly dungeon, and fight your way through hordes of creatures in a desperate attempt to escape alive. What first begins as a simple escape to the surface turns into a…

News & Features

Assassin Nuns and Body-mulchers Rule as Conan Takes on HitMan Absolution

My favorite movie genre? Zombie flicks. My favorite gaming genre? Shooters. My favorite game franchise? The Hitman series. I’m not kidding. The newest game in the Hitman series has all the elements needed for success. It’s funny, violent and definitely not for kids. Add in assassin nuns and body-mulchers and you’ve for the formula for success. Check out this episode of Conan the Clueless Gamer for a closer look… and a laugh. Hey, if a game can get Conan to scream “I’m a scarecrow in a cornfield mother$%^%er”, it can’t lose right? Conan’s final thought… “We’ve rated numerous games and Hitman…

Game Diary, News & Features

Check Out the Legend of Dungeon Teaser Trailer

I have to confess that when I heard the name ‘Legend of Dungeon’ I rolled my eyes. Then I checked out the trailer and smiled … now THIS looks fun! A classic, lo-fi dungeon-crawling, rogue-like, real-time, beat-em-up, co-op romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously? Sign me up! Sadly the game isn’t done yet and there isn’t an announced release date or price, but the trailer should help keep your interest. Check out the none-too-serious trailer: For more info and to keep up-to-date on Legend of Dungeon’s progress: Robot Loves Kitty’s dev blog Robot Loves Kitty’s main site Robot Loves…

G5 Hosting Doomsday Preppers Caption Contest

Game Diary, Reviews

Doomsday Preppers (NatGeo Show Tie-In) for iPad Review

Type of app: Building Management game Platform/where to buy: iPad/iPhone; available in the App Store Developer: National Geographic Games / G5 Entertainment Description: 135 floors to build – how deep will you go? Six types of floors: Shelter, Security, Food and Water, Science, Workshop and Recreation Over 300 products to prep and store Over 150 male and female customizable avatars to choose from Regular game updates to keep you plotting and planning Play with other preppers, including your Facebook friends Major features: I have to confess that I have never seen Doomsday Preppers, which starts its second season on November…

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