Namco Zippos: Dig Dug, Xevious, Galaxian, and
Pac-Man

While these Zippo lighters won't top the Sega console versions we showed you earlier, they all still have me considering taking up smoking so that I may have an excuse to carry one of these around.

For my money, the Dig Dug one is the winner. I'm the biggest Dig Dug fan around. It looks fantastic, too. The Galaxian one, with its slick engraved surface, is no slouch either. These lighters were created by Banpresto in Japan. They're all limited edition releases, made to celebrate Pac-Man's 30th anniversary next year.

Like the Sega console lighters, you'd really need to be a fan of the games, as these will cost ¥8,400 ($93) when they're released in Japan.

[via GameSetWatch]

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Madden NFL 10 KFC Giveaway

Kentucky Fried Chicken and Madden NFL 10 have teamed up and are giving away a plethora of prizes, including a copy of the game.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.pwnordie.com/2009/11/03/madden-nfl-10-kfc-giveaway/

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta details this
week, EA says

We were warned yesterday about phishers scamming folks out of personal info, promising entry into a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta that hadn't even been announced. It seems they weren't completely off the mark though, as EA told Blend Games that details about a BF:BC 2 beta would arrive this week. If you remember, GameStop recently posted -- then pulled -- a listing that claimed those who pre-ordered the game would receive entry into a beta starting November 19.

You know what this means, don't you? It's our worst fears made flesh: Online phishing scammers who can see into the future. Well, it's been nice knowing you, civilization.

[Via Blue's News]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta details this week, EA says originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America
(As Of Nov 1) [Wii]

Lots to discuss about these stats this month, as Call of Duty rises to fourth and Guitar Hero III begins to dip. Remember, the numbers show hours:minutes, lifetime, for these games.

(Click the chart to enlarge)

The Nintendo Channel is properly calculating and reporting player data again and so I can provide this month's look at Wii gaming usage without last month's asterisks. The stats on the chart are up to date as of the first of November.

Smash continues to reign, but look at that graph. Animal Crossing seems bound to catch it.

Guitar Hero III has been flat for a while, which either means no one new has bought it and those who have it have stopped playing it (doubtful) or that new users' lack of time with the game is balancing out veteran users' continued use. Whatever the case may be, the game dipped slightly this month for the first time in a while. GHIII is a 2008 game. It's successor Guitar Hero World Tour is at 35:18 and rising. The 2009 edition, Guitar Hero 5, just charted for the first time this month. But it's still low. Down at 13 hours flat.

Two games rose in the top 10 this month. Call of Duty, fueled likely by its online play, passed the single-player Fire Emblem. Harvest Moon passed Zelda.

No new games have entered the top 10. Tales of Symphonia is well outside at the number 11 spot with 38 hours, 43 minutes. Wii Sports follows at 37:33. Down a bit lower in the mid-teens are some games that are rising and may someday crack the top 10: Mario Kart Wii (35:06), FIFA 09 (34:21) and WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009 (32:15).

Tomorrow, as usual, I'll have a closer look at a slice of some of the October numbers.

Where's all this from? (AKA an explanation of the above chart for stat junkies only): In a move somewhat surprising for the generally secretive company, Nintendo makes all of this data public. Any Wii owner can download the Nintendo Channel to their Wii and begin browsing for games. Any game that has been played enough times has usage stats listed for it, contributed by anyone who chose to share their data with the channel. The sample size that the channel tracks is pretty good, though it is obviously biased toward users who hook up a Wii to the Internet. We calculate that sample size by looking at Wii Sports usage numbers, which show that more than 82 million sessions of that game have been played by Nintendo Channel users as of November 1 (up 4 million in the last month), for an average of 29.9 sessions per player. That divides to more than 2.7 million Wii Sports users whose gaming has been tracked by the channel. Since almost all Wii Sports owners in North America would be Wii users, we will venture that as many as 2.7 million people are contributing stats. That is up from the 2.6 million people when these numbers were run for October 1.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Toro gets evicted, new app to replace Mainichi
Issho

_{[As originally seen on Japanator]}

This is the worst news I have ever had to report.

For three years, SCEJ's Mainichi Issho has been a free app for the PS3, and as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest things mankind has ever conceived. If you play it, you know that the "game" is largely made up of a daily news show, which awards you points for watching. You can then spend these points on cool, often gaming-related items to pimp out Toro's room. Well, not anymore, because Sony's kicking the poor little guy out of his house.

As reported by Andriasang, Mainichi Issho (moonspeak for Every Day Together) is being replaced by a new app called Weekly Toro Station, which as you may have guessed, will be updated weekly on Friday nights instead of every day. That's all just lovely, except that in order to rebrand this, they're throwing my boy out onto the street. Instead of his cozy room, Toro will now take up residence in a dirty, vacant lot somewhere outside.

Oh, but the good sh*tty news? You can put him up in a mansion if you want to shell out $8 a month to pay his rent. You'll be able to transfer your Mainichi Issho game data to the new app regardless, and you can still watch the now-weekly news show and access the arcade and so on. But unless you pony up ¥800 and pay for the "Platinum Member" service, you'll be missing out on many features, getting the Toro Station show at a later time, and poor Toro will be homeless, with all your collected items and goodies sitting outside in the vacant lot.

Toro gets evicted on November 11th, at which point Mainichi Issho will be fully replaced on PSN with the new Weekly Toro Station app. Long story short? What used to be a free, daily service is now weekly and costs $8 a month for the full experience. To nudge you in that direction, Sony is yanking people's heart strings by tossing Toro out on his ass if you opt for the stripped-down, free version. Classy way to treat your own mascot, fellas. Catch some pics, a video of the sadness and more details after the jump.

video details and more


Heartbreaking.

So what are you supposed to do with all the neat shit you had in Toro's room now that he's kicking it vagabond-style? Tape together some cardboard boxes for a makeshift wall, apparently:

Toro and Kuro will still put on the now-weekly news show, only now it'll be from the sad lot outside:

But if you cough up the ¥800 a month, Platinum Membership will put the boys in this fancy mansion:

Which has a nice fireplace inside, making the news show look more like this:

Now, is it just me, or is that the same goddamned room we already had, but with a bigger window? Yes, it is. So essentially, Sony's taking poor Toro's home away from him and charging you $8 a month to keep the little guy off the street. The cruel bastards.

Anyway, I'm sure there are maybe five of you who care about Toro or Mainichi Issho, but the point here is that a cool idea, which has been completely free since the PS3 launched, now costs money every month. Thanks Sony!

Now, a small tribute to my own pimp-ass room, which Toro's about to be kicked out of.

Mainichi Issho is still available for free on the Japanese PSN until November 11h if you're curious what the fuss was about. Does anyone else play this? Let's see some screencaps of your awesome room in the comments if you have them. Just hit the select button in the game to screencap, and use the PS3's web browser to upload them or email them to yourself from your hard drive.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Forensics Escape

Forensics Escape is another new point and click type room escape game from Gamershood. You are a negligent detective in a murder scene. You have to find enough evidence to convict a felon who is a...

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Lost in the City a chilling hidden object
adventure PC game

You?ve just woken up in an abandoned city with no knowledge of how you got there. Can you solve the mystery and find your way home unscathed?Lost in the City is a chilling hidden object adventure. Your first date with the beautiful and charming April was[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.gamezplay.org/2009/11/lost-in-city-chilling-hidden-object.html

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Video: Censored Left 4 Dead 2 right 4
classification

Footage allegedly taken from Australia's censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 has made its way online ... and we feel it's inadequately preparing citizens down under for the future! Though the game will get Aussies used to facing down a charging zombie horde, it does nothing to desensitize them to the revolting gore that inevitably follows.

The censored version lacks exploding heads, dismemberment (courtesy of the new melee weapons) and burning corpses. Sadly, for those of us who have built up a considerable hatred for the undead scourge threatening our civilization, the fallen undead just fade into the ether. Check out the full video after the break and pray for Australia's survival when the zombie apocalypse comes.

[Via Destructoid]

Continue reading Video: Censored Left 4 Dead 2 right 4 classification

Video: Censored Left 4 Dead 2 right 4 classification originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Jaroo.com is like Hulu for cartoons

Excuuuuse me, but videogame cartoons are rarely good. That said, there's something about watching them that is extremely satisfying. Sometimes it's seeing how they've worked elements of the game into the cartoon. Other times it's fun to see how they end up totally off base, like they never played the game before. Newly launched website Jaroo.com has plenty of cartoons like this, as it's a cartoon website. Think of it as Hulu for crappy old animation.

There are plenty of game-based cartoons to be found.

• Captain N
• Pole Position (seriously)
• Sonic Underground
• Super Mario Bros
• The Legend of Zelda

As anything that shoots free video to your eye sockets, there's mandatory ads to watch. Nothing serious, though. I watched a bit of The Legend of Zelda and had a few laughs. Be sure to check out episode two, where Link has a full-on battle with a flying water bucket (9:26). 

While it's not related to gaming, you have to hear the opening theme song to The Hurricanes, a crap soccer cartoon. It has to be the most amazingly bad theme song I've ever heard.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

A Glimpse at League of Legends' Champions [Clips]

Free-to-play, highly addictive PC game League of Legends recently went on sale and live for those wanting to play for free.

We'll have our full review up for the real-time strategy game tomorrow, but until then take a look at this trailer, which shows off some of the more than 40 playable champions in the game.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!