On Trial: Osmos

Zak: 10/10Osmos, by Hemisphere Games, is a beautifully put together game. The game is simple, stylish, clean and addictive to play. The player starts out as a single cell life form and goes through stages absorbing other life forms to grow and dominate.[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IndieGameMag/~3/rfECfW1YvvU/on-trial-osmos.html

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Last week's top games on Gamefly

by: Adam Dodd
NEWS - As another week begins we take a quick look back at what gamers are interested, and last week looks like the battle of the exclusives. 360 titles Episodes from Liberty City, Forza, and Left 4 Dead 2 battle it out against PS3 exclusives Uncharted 2 and Ratchet & Clank.  Who will be victorious? 

Alright, so it's not as epic as I made it sound, but check them out and decide for yourself.

Most Popular Games Cross-Platform:
1   Borderlands   (PS3, 360)
2   Dragon Age: Origins   (PS3, 360)
3   Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2   (PS3, 360)
4   Assassin's Creed 2   (PS3, 360, DS)
5   Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City   (360)
6   Left 4 Dead 2   (360)
7   Uncharted 2: Among Thieves   (PS3)
8   Forza Motorsport 3   (360)
9   Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time   (PS3)
10   Brutal Legend   (PS3, 360)  

Xbox 360 Most Popular Games:  
1   Borderlands
2   Dragon Age: Origins   
3   Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
4   Assassin's Creed 2  
5   Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
6   Left 4 Dead 2
7   Forza Motorsport 3  
8   Brutal Legend  
9   Tekken 6  
10   Halo 3: ODST

PlayStation 3 Most Popular Games:
1   Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2   Borderlands
3   Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2   
4   Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
5   Assassin's Creed 2
6   Dragon Age: Origins
7   Demon's Souls   
8   Tekken 6  
9   God of War Collection
10   Brutal Legend

Nintendo Wii Most Popular Games:
1   New Super Mario Bros. Wii  
2   Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
3   Wii Sports Resort
4   Press Your Luck 2010 Edition
5   Rabbids Go Home  
6   Dead Space Extraction
7   Call of Duty: Modern Warfare  
8   A Boy and His Blob
9   Hasbro Family Game Night 2  
10   SpongeBob's Truth or Square

Nintendo DS Most Popular Games:  
1   Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
2   Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
3   Scribblenauts
 
PlayStation Portable Most Popular Games:
1   Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
2   Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars  
3   Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

Read The Full Article:
http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews/Last-weeks-top-games-on-Gamefly/Item14883.asp
x

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

L4D mod 'Dead Before Dawn' recreates Dawn of the
Dead remake

The Left 4 Dead modding community is really kicking decomposing zombie butt lately. We've seen Raccoon City, some of our favorite Super Mario 64 spots, and even Shaun of the Dead's Winchester pub all realized in the game's zombie apocalypse framework. Now we bring you another mod that pays homage to a zombie film: 'Dead Before Dawn,' a mod based on the 2004 remake of George A. Romero's classic, Dawn of the Dead.

The new mod opened to public beta this Halloween and features a variety of locales stripped from the movie, along with its own snazzy campaign poster. The folks behind the mod even went so far as to create their own title sequence (though their version features far less Johnny Cash than the movie's). You can shamble on past the break to check it out.

[Thanks, Gutfree!]

Gallery: Dead Before Dawn

Continue reading L4D mod 'Dead Before Dawn' recreates Dawn of the Dead remake

L4D mod 'Dead Before Dawn' recreates Dawn of the Dead remake originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:30:00 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!

Bonus stages coming to Super Street Fighter IV

The car and barrel bonus stages are making a return in Super Street Fighter IV. The latest Famitsu scans show the rebirth of the classic bonus stages that were in the original Street Fighter II games. For those of you that were unfortunate enough to be born after the golden era of gaming, the bonus stages requires players to completely destroy a car or a bunch of barrels within a certain amount of time.

The Famitsu scan also discusses some other new features coming to Super Street Fighter IV. There's going to be a team battle mode for 2 vs 2 and 4 vs 4 sets, a replay mode where you can watch previous matches and an Endless Battle mode for up to eight players. According to EventHubs, there's also going to be a tournament mode that will be released as DLC down the line.

I don't know about you, but there's something about beating the sh*t out of a car that is just so enjoyable!

[via Genki-JAM's C Blog]

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

CBS shows are soon to visit your consoles and
other gaming devices

by: Tina Amini
NEWS - The Amazing Race, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Diagnosis Murder, Ghost Whisperer, Hollywood Squares, Criminal Minds and Survivor. These are the names of the eight CBS shows that are soon to be published into respective video games. I don’t watch any of these shows (should I?) but I imagine the excitement would be palpable for those who do. The games will span a myriad of platforms: PC/Mac, 360, Wii, DS, and the iPhone/iPod touch.

If you’re a CSI fan, you’re in luck. Two of the CBS games that are currently available are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Deadly Intent and CSI: Deadly Intent – The Hidden Cases. The first of the two is available on the Wii, 360 and PC and takes you through 5 crimes across Las Vegas that were written by the series’ own writers. The latter is exclusive to the DS and has additional cases to play around in touch screen format.

When 2010 finally hits you’ll have a few more of the CBS series-based games to add to your watch list of games coming out. The Amazing Race is a time-based race across various locations where you will have to pick up hidden clues along the way to reach each pit stop.

Survivor sounds like the most terrible idea for a video game. I have always avoided those “reality” shows like the plague, not including the studies in many media courses I have had to undergo that find the genre so fascinating. Nevertheless, it’s very similar to the television show in that it is basically a series of competitions that you’ll partake in against the other competitors that are presumably on an island of some sort.

The 2010 holiday barrage of games will also feature some of these CBS titles. More crime and mystery solving come in the form of Diagnosis Murder and Criminal Minds. Ghost Whisperer sounds interesting based on the story line – you will play the role of helping people move on to the afterlife. I wonder if they can make their gameplay just as interesting. Finally you’ll have The Hollywood Squares, which if you are not familiar with you should go and buy a television set already. Celebrities, questions, tic-tac-toe, and of course money and prizes are what this game entails.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews/CBS-shows-are-soon-to-visit-your-consoles-and
-other-gaming-devices/Item14882.aspx

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Your Direct2Drive bestselling titles are...

by: Marissa Meli
NEWS - During the week of October 25th to October 31st, the following titles sold the most copies on Direct2Drive:

1       Borderlands     2K Games      
2       Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Edition (Preorder)   Electronic Arts
3       Dragon Age: Origins Digital Deluxe Ed. w/ Prima Guide (Preorder)        Electronic Arts
4       Torchlight      Runic Games   
5       Tropico 3       Kalypso Media 
6       Dragon Age: Origins (Preorder)  Electronic Arts
7       Civilization 4: The Complete Edition    2K Games      
8       Aion    NCSoft
9       Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (Halloween Promo)  Activision    
10      Risen   Deep Silver   

Amateur marketing analysis tells me that people enjoy frightening things around Halloween. Yes, I am available for hire.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews/Your-Direct2Drive-bestselling-titles-are/Item
14884.aspx

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

World Of Warcraft "Lacks Approval" To Operate In
China [WoW]

Courtesy of some alleged "gross violations" of national regulations, China's General Administration of Press and Publication have ordered that World of Warcraft be suspended in the country.

According to a report on Reuters, NetEase - the company operating the game in China for publishers Activision Blizzard - have been ordered to "stop operating" the title, cease charging existing user's accounts and block any new account registrations.

The GAPP claim that because of these supposed violations, the game lacks the necessary approval required to be run under China's increasingly strict laws governing online video games.

This move is the latest blow in an ongoing struggle between the GAAP and the Chinese Ministry of Culture, which was behind last month's bluster over foreign investment in Chinese online gaming firms.

Indeed, things are so messy between the two that it's unclear whether the GAPP's actions will even be enforced, with reports emerging that NetEase haven't even been contacted by the GAPP, and that the Ministry of Culture have labelled the threats inappropriate.

NetEase, Activision caught up in China turf war [Reuters]
'World of Warcraft' Faces Goverment Crackdown In China [MTV]

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

World Of Warcraft "Lacks Approval" To Operate In
China [Update] [WoW]

Courtesy of some alleged "gross violations" of national regulations, China's General Administration of Press and Publication have ordered that World of Warcraft be suspended in the country.

According to a report on Reuters, NetEase - the company operating the game in China for publishers Activision Blizzard - have been ordered to "stop operating" the title, cease charging existing user's accounts and block any new account registrations.

The GAPP claim that because of these supposed violations, the game lacks the necessary approval required to be run under China's increasingly strict laws governing online video games.

This move is the latest blow in an ongoing struggle between the GAAP and the Chinese Ministry of Culture, which was behind last month's bluster over foreign investment in Chinese online gaming firms.

Indeed, things are so messy between the two that it's unclear whether the GAPP's actions will even be enforced, with reports emerging that NetEase haven't even been contacted by the GAPP, and that the Ministry of Culture have labelled the threats inappropriate.

NetEase, Activision caught up in China turf war [Reuters]
'World of Warcraft' Faces Goverment Crackdown In China [MTV]

UPDATE - Yup, appears this is more to do with a conflict between Chinese government bodies than the game itself. Reuters report that the MoC have said the GAPP "oversteps its authority" in shutting the game down, along with a clarification that it's only expansion Burning Crusade that's affected, not the core game itself.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal - Just In

Playfirst has released their latest hidden object adventure game, Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal.

Download a free trial of Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal, write a review, and discuss the game in our forum.

Add to del.icio.us

Digg this

Post to Furl

Add to reddit

Add to myYahoo!

Spector talks initial Disney pitches, hints at
spiritual successor to Deus Ex

During a London event to showcase Disney Epic Mickey, developer Warren Spector revealed that his initial pitches to Disney were for two very different titles; hinting one -- in many ways -- may have been a spiritual successor to Deus Ex. The other title, according to The Cut Scene blog, was a "big fantasy" story the developer and his wife unsuccessfully pitched to DC Comics.

Prior to the announcement of a new game in the series, Spector said he had previously attempted to acquire the Deus Ex license from publisher Eidos, but was unsuccessful. Since then, Spector's Junction Point Studios has been acquired by Disney Interactive, revealed his latest title and hinted at more from the Epic universe.

While Spector says there are still stories in the Deus Ex universe he would like to tell, the upcoming prequel, Deus Ex 3 -- helmed by developer Eidos Montreal -- will be the first title in the franchise without the original creator's watchful eye. "That story is not done for me," Spector said. "Deus Ex was very much a game of the millennium." Sadly -- with another team on the project -- it appears Spector's dream of continuing the Deus Ex conspiracy personally have indeed come to an end, for the time being.

[Via GamePro]

Spector talks initial Disney pitches, hints at spiritual successor to Deus Ex originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:00:00 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!