Recently, Microsoft has just finished another massive cleanse of offending Xbox Live accounts. I think Microsoft has adopted one of the best policies to deal with users that artificial inflate their gamer score. The user’s gamerscore is wiped clean and their Xbox Live account is branded with the mark of a cheater. The account can still be used for online gaming and purchases though, so the money that went into the account is not wasted. Read more…
Popularity: 10% [?]
Most every gamer knows about the Valve game, Portal, but not many have seen the flash version of the game. While a very simplified version of its PC muse, Portal: The Flash Version actually attempts the same physics in a side-scroller. It was created by some valve fans around the same time Portal was launched. The game was nominated for a 2008 Zeeby casual game award, but failed to bring in the award.
The physics and portal technology achieved in the game should be applauded for the difficulty in execution in a flash game, but the gameplay leaves something to be desired. Read more…
Popularity: 11% [?]
Little Big Planet is an amazing and unique game. The difficulty of the game is challenging, but never frustrating. It is a great product for gamers of all ages, and should be a little bit of an added incentive to anyone that has not purchased a PS3 yet.
The puzzles for Little Big Planet can be difficult at first, but are always solvable with a little bit of trial and error. The difficulty curve for the game takes a big step up to challenge the players after a few levels. There are challenges further into the game that will boggle anyone’s mind for a bit.
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Popularity: 4% [?]
Behold and be amazed, the new Xbox 360 dashboard has been released for all to enjoy. Sufficient to say, it is a massive improvement from original dashboard. There are a few kinks to work out, but it is an overall sleek and appealing design.
The new tab design will take a bit of getting used to, but the categories are easy to navigate. The customization is not exactly advanced, but it looks very impressive. It is a beautifully crafted user interface and I applaud Microsoft for the update.
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Popularity: 4% [?]
There are quite a few schools out there specializing in teaching the tools to create video games, and a lot of them have a policy of school ownership of student work. Controversy has stirred up recently over DigiPen claiming all rights to Synaesthete, a recent student project and winner of several awards, including best student project at the 2008 Independent Games Festival. DigiPen has claimed the rights to all assets, code, and the design itself for Synaesthete. Is it right that a school can claim ownership of an IP created and implemented by students?
Sad to say, this is not just schools with this policy. There are many game developers that have very strict contracts with restrictions on employee generated work, and I have signed a few of them. The contracts state that all ideas and assets generated by the employee while employed by the company are property of the company, which also includes any work done outside of normal working hours.
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Popularity: 3% [?]
Recently I discovered a unique vocabulary matching game, Virble. Virble can be described as a cross between Scrabble and Bejeweled. It is an upbeat and cartoony word game that is a lot harder than it looks. The player matches three or more letters in a string for points or to change their color to complete the game.
Virble quickly becomes exponentially difficult as the shapes the letter hexagons create make it hard to find any words to create at all. The game will soon have you doubting your vocabulary skills, but is a fun way to increase your verbal recognition skills.
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Popularity: 3% [?]
A demo for a new and very unique game has recently hit the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Mirror’s Edge can only be described as a first-person platformer. The game takes the free running, parkour, and adds it into a game environment. The player gets the viewpoint of the character doing free running stunts.
While the player can climb just about anything the way forward is highlighted in red. The highlight system is not as jarring as one might think with the art style of the game. Everything in the game is very bright and clean. The game takes place in a conformist world where the only form of communication not able to be regulated are message runners, such as the main character.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
With the deadline for the next Independent Game Festival (IGF) awards passed, I thought I would go over some of the best games from last year’s awards. The IGF awards is an annual event for independent developers to compete for recognition and cash prizes. The actual award ceremony takes place during Game Developers Conference (GDC) in Febuary.
One of the most popular games from last year’s awards was a game called Desktop Tower Defense. Don’t let the simplistic graphics fool you, there is a lot of depth to this game. The player must prevent two waves of enemies from different directions from reaching the opposite side of the board. It takes a different twist to the normal one directional onslaught. It’s a solidly build TD with a very addictive aspect. Desktop Tower Defense was a new twist on something old, but games like World of Goo are completely unique.
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Popularity: 3% [?]
There has been quite a lot of heated controversy lately on the subject of killing children in video games. The latest game to take a stance on the subject is Fallout 3, which does not allow the player to hurt children. This decision has received a lot of backlash as Fallout 3 takes place in an open ended apocalyptic world where the player must make their own moral decisions. Is forcing a moral stance on the player against the fiber of the open-ended game?
I feel Bethesda made the right decision in limiting the ability of the player to attack children. The designers drew their own moral line and would go no farther. It may be a little odd to have children running around the world that the player can not affect like they can the adults, but it doesn’t take away from the gameplay in any way. Anyone can complain about it, but in the end it was up to the designers to build the game as they saw fit.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
With the sales of the Nintendo DS falling in Japan, Nintendo has released the newest evolution of its portable systems. While the DSi is already in stores in Japan, the date for European or North American release is pending. The system plays DS games, but has some very substantial upgrades.
The biggest and brightest shining light for the DSi is the internet browsing compability as the system will come with Opera. With the release of the DSi comes the DSi Shop filled with downloadable content for the system. The Gameboy Advance slot is being replaced with a SDHC memory card slot for storing downloaded software, music, and pictures. The DSi will have two built-in 0.3 megapixel cameras on the interior and exterior of the system. This system is looking to be a worthwhile upgrade from the DS Lite, but will not make the DS games obsolete quite yet.
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Popularity: 3% [?]
