Warhammer comic released, contains beta codes
Xfire surpasses ten million registered users
With a name like Xfire, which sounds like some crazy new designer drug, you'd think that the announcement that it had over 10 million users would be cause for panic. Thankfully, Xfire is just an excellent game tracker and inter-game messenger, so the 10 million registered users is a good thing! We swear we aren't lying, officer!For those who haven't used Xfire, it's a nice little IM client that allows you to message and check what your friends are playing, all within your own game. It also tracks stats such as time spent playing a particular game, as well as things like character names. If you've used Steam since the update that added the Community feature, you'll know exactly how it works. Unlike Steam, it also allows you to share sweet images and videos with your gaming buddies. All in all, a nice service that has just hit a major milestone. Go Team Xfire!
Danny Glover backs new game with Arab action hero
Lethal Weapon co-star and all-around-revered-actor Danny Glover has joined the board of directors at Colourblind Entertainment, a United Arab Emirates-based studio developing video games for several world regions. The company is working on a game called Sharq Warriors.Sharq Warriors' protagonist is an Arab man named Sami, who will fight to save his country and his sister. "Many existing games feature Western soldiers shooting Arabs, Afghans and other ethnic 'enemies'," said fellow board member Riz Khan. "We're introducing different types of heroes and 'Sami' is the first of them but he fights corruption, not people of another race."
This is an admirable endeavor, and we're looking forward to seeing how it turns out. The game is primarily intended for the Middle-eastern market but a demo is on its way to the internet. Glover also heads up the activist film studio Louverture Films, which will be working with Colourblind to expand the Sami franchise into other media.
Casually Speaking: Evolving the casual game
1. Simple rules -- the object of the game should be clear, with an easily-understood control scheme
2. Minimal time investment -- levels should be short enough to be completed in one sitting, say, between 3 - 5 minutes
3. Minimal system requirements -- the game shouldn't require the latest video card or esoteric browser plug-ins
If we examine one of the reigning kings of the casual game genre, PopCap Games' Bejeweled, we find all three of these elements. It's easy to understand, progress can be made quickly (even though there is no goal other than the accrual of points), and it's Flash-based, which most web browsers already support out of the gate. So on the surface, it's fairly easy to determine, at a glance, if a game fits within the casual template. However, while games like Bejeweled still abound, the genre as a whole has begun to mutate, requiring a redefinition of the label. We'll explore how and why after the jump.
Continue reading Casually Speaking: Evolving the casual game
New tax breaks approved for Georgia based game developers
While other states in the US have tried to regulate the sales of certain PC games (only to have those same laws thrown out in court on First Amendment constitutional grounds) the state of Georgia's attitude towards games seems to be, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em". Earlier this week Georgia's current governor Sonny Perdue signed into law a new tax incentive plan to draw in more entertainment companies, including the game industry.According to the newly passed Entertainment Industry Investment Act, qualified game projects made in Georgie will get a 20 percent tax cut and they will get an addition 10 percent cut if they include some kind of animated Georgia state logo in their productions. As the press release announces the state is one of the few in the nation that gives video game productions the same tax breaks that are given to movie and TV shows that film in the state. Georgia has a number of game developers that might be helped by this move including Red Orchestra developers Tripwire Interactive along with High-Rez Studios, the makers of the upcoming MMO Global Agenda.
[Via GamePolitics]
Lost Planet and Bionic Commando comic books coming
This new agreement will result in four comics based on Capcom games. So far only two have been announced but they are both games that have or will show up on the PC. The sci-fi action game Lost Planet is one of them and the other is the upcoming remake of Bionic Commando. Gee..what's next? A Doom comic? A Half-Life hardcover graphic novel? The possibilities are endless
Major League Gaming starts PC league with World of Warcraft tournament
The plan is to begin at the MLG's San Diego tournament on June 13-15 and use Blizzard's MMO World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade for players with a total of over $20,000 in cash to be given out to the winners. The MLG will use HP's Blackbird 002 PCs as their tournament systems. World of Warcraft tournament swill also be held later in the year in Orlando and Dallas and more PC games could be added in the future to the circuit. With the recent shut down in operations for the PC based Cyberathlete Professional League and the World Series of Video Games, it's good news that Major League Gaming is recognizing that there is a large PC gaming tournament market that is currently underutilized in this country.
Max Payne fan film "foxed" by Fox
A number of major film studios are flexible when it comes to having their properties adapted by fans for non-profit fan films. Twentieth Century Fox is apparently not one of them. Years ago gamers coined the term "foxed" when the same film studio got the development team that made the exceptional Alien mod for the original Quake to stop development and remove the first public release of the total conversion. Now the very same film studio has decided to shut down the fan-made movie Payne and Redemption, based on Remedy's action game Max Payne.The reason, of course, is that Fox is making its own theatrical Max Payne movie starring Mark Walhberg as the dark and violent detective (it's due out in October). Apparently having a free fan made Max Payne movie would not do and earlier this month the writer-director of Payne and Redemption, Fergie "Larry David" Gibson, posted up word on his web site that after having a chat with the VP of Fox's Intellectual Property he was forced to close shop.
You can tell that Gibson is extremely bitter about the whole situation; this is something he has been working on for years. He made three trailers for his film (all now pulled of course) and now all his work is for naught. You could argue that Fox has every right to do what it did; they are spending tens of millions to make and market a Max Payne movie and they could be concerned that a fan-made non-profit film could cause confusion. On the other hand you could argue that such a fan film could serve as free publicity for Fox's Max Payne movie. We will never know.
[Via Blue's News]
Blizzcon 2008 announced for October 10-11
As usual, Blizzard fans who purchase the $100 ticket to attend will get to participate in evens like panels, tournaments for all of Blizzard's game, costume contests, silent auction and of course the chance to play some upcoming Blizzard titles. There were no specifics but of course you have to think both Starcraft II and the next World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King will be available. But will there be a major new game announcement made, perhaps one that starts with a "D" and ends in a "iablo 3"? We will have more info on the event as it drawn near.
Military of Oz using games to recruit its elite soldiers
Australian military officials must have been inspired by that example, because their online recruitment initiative DefenceJobs has launched a website full of military-themed Flash games. The games are designed to pitch a 12-month, post-secondary-school stint in the army as a viable choice to teens. So, far, over 300,000 users have signed up at the site.
The games aren't nearly as complex as America's Army, but they're still fun, and there are several of them. Some of them even have multi-player options. The blending of military and gaming culture is a complex subject, and a lot can be said both in criticism and acceptance of the trend, so mull over that if you like. Or, if you're more the shooting type than the thinking type, just play the damn games.
[Via Joystiq]
BioShock to inject the silver screen with healthy dose of plasmids
The movie is being produced by Universal, and is being helmed by Gore Verbinski, whose works include the highly popular movies The Ring and Pirates of the Caribbean. It's also (possibly) being written by John Logan, whose screenplays have been nominated for and won Academy Awards (such as the scripts for Sweeney Todd and The Aviator). The future is looking brighter all the time.
[Via Joystiq]
Are PCs the center of the innovation universe?
Games For Windows senior director Kevin Unangst spoke at length with Gamasutra recently about the state of PC gaming. Apparently Microsoft thinks the industry is healthy and growing, which is a good thing. Sure, Microsoft has been through a rocky patch over the last year. Both Vista and the G4W initiative have not lived up to expectations. Any gamer who has had to navigate the rocky road with Vista over the last year knows what I'm talking about. But based on this interview it sounds like Microsoft isn't giving up on the Games for Windows concept.
Continue reading Are PCs the center of the innovation universe?
Online petition requests nudity toggle in Age of Conan
The upcoming MMORPG Age of Conan has held on to, and showcased, its use of digitized 'bewbs' so much we just assumed it would be the second bullet point on the back of the retail packaging; under 'engaging storyline,' of course. While we'd be the first to admit, and shake our heads at, the fact that its core demographic of gamers would welcome the sight with two open An online petition has surfaced on the official Age of Conan message boards attempting to have a nudity toggle added to the game when it ships, and subsequently goes live, on May 20. At the time of this story 185 signatures have been added to the petition and offer genuinely concerned comments, mostly requesting the filter be added so the game can be played with children. Wait, wha?
We guess the decapitation thing is OK, but digital nudity? You've gone too far sir!
[via 1UP]
Free packs of gum for successful "Stop Uwe Boll" petition
Now Stride, the gum company, has announced a unique way to promote their product. Basically if the "Stop Uwe Boll" petition reaches that 1 million number by May 14 Stride will give each petition signer a downloadable coupon for one free pack of Stride gum. That coupon will be made available on May 23 which just happens to be the release date for Boll's Postal film adaptation. According to Stride's marketing director Gary Osifchin, ""Look, it's nothing personal against the guy. Maybe his non videogame-based films are unbelievable! But we've seen such intense passion for this cause that we couldn't help but get involved." Of course this is no guarantee that Boll will indeed stop making movies; he's free to ignore this movement. But hey, it's a cool way to promote gum, don't you think?
Portal in real life
Augmented Reality Portal is inspired by the popular first-person puzzler from Valve. Two devices have the ability to copy and paste each other's content into the other while allowing for special video effects to be added all in real-time. Sure, we're still a long way from searching for cake in an industrial science lab but we're advancing one step at a time.
