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Uno Coming To The Nintendo DS
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile, Strategy,
It turns out Uno isn’t just for your Xbox 360 anymore. This October Uno, Skip-Bo, and Uno Free Fall will be coming to the Nintendo DS. The collection of Mattel games will be on one compilation cartridge, letting you get your on the go Uno fix quite easily. Not a whole lot of information is available, but we can definitely imagine Uno taking advantage of the DS microphone for calling out Uno before your online opponent. Can the mobile version of Uno be as addicting as the Xbox Live Arcade counterpart? I wonder how many people are playing Uno for the first time on a console, and if a console is the future of card games.
Read More 
| Jack Of All Games
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Xbox 360 Coolers Reviewed
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Reviews, Xbox 360,
It is no secret that the Xbox 360 generates a bunch of heat when it runs. Overheating problems may be overblown, but there are a lot of people for whom heat is a real issue. While it is easy to get distracted by the shiny water cooling solutions, there are a couple of simple-to-use, inexpensive solutions for the average gamer. HardOCP reviews two of these, the Nyko Intercooler 360 and the Pelican Fan Stand.
Both fan solutions ultimately receive high marks from the crew at HardOCP, but there are some differences the end user should be aware of. The Pelican unit is USB powered, must be turned on and off with the power switch, and requires the Xbox 360 to be used in the vertical position. The Nyko unit powers itself through a pass through with the Xbox 360’s power supply, and can be used both horizontally and vertically. While the Nyko unit has a power switch, once it is on, the fan turns on and off with the Xbox 360.
HardOCP also ran some temperature tests against the coolers; the Nyko seemed to have a slight edge in CPU temperature, but others seemed to be a wash. Noise output was also tested in the comparison, and the Nyko seemed to be a great deal louder than the Pelican fan. For full details, check out the review on HardOCP’s site.
Read More | HardOCP
Myst Resurrected: Rand Miller on Uru Live
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: MMORPG, PC, Retro,
The Myst series has had somewhat of a fractured history; the original game sold millions of copies, and really helped usher in the age of the CD-ROM drive. The follow-up, Riven also did well as a sequel, but after that, the series kind of lost its way. While all of the sequels received decent reviews, it seemed gamers were moving away from adventure and puzzle style games to the more immediately gratifying first person shooters. Of the later follow-ups, the only game produced by Cyan was Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and its online component, Uru Live. Uru Live launched without several of its touted features, and the servers were killed only months later. However, Live has received a new lease on life with the announced partnership between Cyan and GameTap. Gamasutra was able to talk with Rand Miller about this development and the Myst franchise in general.
Miller’s comments on online gaming are interesting; he says, “…our plan for Uru was… to continue to stream those ages those pieces on a regular basis so that your adventure never ended.” He follows up by saying, “We look at online gaming different from everyone else does… What people want is content… what people want is new stuff all the time.” How is what Uru Live is doing any different from the additional content placed in other massively multiplayer online RPGs? The pace of the content launches might be faster, but it seems like it would be difficult to maintain that pace.
It’s interesting that GameTap is trying to resurrect the game, but how deep does their commitment run? Uru Live doesn’t seem to be a typical MMORPG, but will their co-operative puzzle solving and community interaction be able to compete with the more action-oriented online games on the market?
Read More | Gamasutra
Wii Controller Still Being Tweaked?
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Rumors, Wii,
Game site Infendo looked at a report by Spanish site Revogamers on a recent Wii demo and discovered something interesting. The Wii remote shown in the recent post differs from the controller shown at E3. Instead of the “plus” and “minus” buttons, the remote shown at the recent demo displays the “return” and “pause” buttons from an earlier configuration. If one looks at other pictures from the recent demo, however, the remote shown with the classic controller has the “plus” configuration.
It is possible that Nintendo is still playing with the layout of the controller. Another explanation might be that there is a limited supply of the demo controllers, and the recent showing was utilizing older control hardware. In any case, one hopes that the controller design has been finalized at this point, and will be ready for gamers this holiday season.
Read More | Infendo
Prey Gone Gold
Posted by Matt Haselton Categories: First Person Shooters, PC, Release Dates, Xbox 360,
One week after 3D Realms’ George Broussard posted “I smell gold” on the company’s forum, it’s official: Prey discs are being gold mastered. In the official press release, 3D Realms confirms the game will be in North American stores on July 11 and in Europe three days later. The buzz is good, the demo is a hoot, and Prey should, in the words of 3D Realms CEO Scott Miller, “be a major hit for gamers worldwide.”
On a tangential note, I had to smile when I read Human Head developer talk about Prey as the “cumulation of nearly five years work.” To clarify, Human Head may have been working on the game for half-a-decade, but Prey was first announced back in 1995, and I remember reading a preview in a 1996 PC Gamer. Just for giggles, I dug up an online copy of that article here, which highlights such features as “very smooth animation without the need for a 3D accelerator card,” “3D, polygon-based enemies,” and most exciting of all, an “early 1997” release date.
Read More | Take2 Interactive
Cheap Halo 2 Xbox Live Headset
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Hardware, Hot Deals, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Major Nelson clued readers into a great deal for the Halo 2 Xbox Live Headset which normally retails for $49.99. Plantronics is currently selling the headset for $14.95! To top off the deal Plantronics is even donating $1 of each sale to the Plantronics GameCom United Way Katrina Recovery Fund. This headset is levels above the quality of the OEM Xbox 360 headset and when combined with Datel’s Headset Adapter makes for an amazing deal. Do yourself and your friends a favor, pick up a new headset today.
Read More | Plantronics via Major Nelson
Final Fantasy XII In Stores On Halloween
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: PlayStation 2, Role Playing Games,
Gamespot reports that the latest in the Final Fantasy saga, Final Fantasy XII will hit the US on October 31, 2006. The game will be released in both Regular and Collector’s Editions, priced at $49.99 and $59.99 respectively. The Collector’s Edition will be available exclusively at Gamestop and EBGames. The package includes a steel case and a Collector’s DVD that features:
- Developer’s Interviews
- History of Final Fantasy featurettes
- Final Fantasy XII U.S. Trailers
- Final Fantasy XII Japan Trailers
- Final Fantasy Art Gallery
So, gamers that are anxiously awaiting the release of this Holiday season’s next generation consoles will have a new Final Fantasy to keep them occupied.
Read More | Gamespot.com
ExtremeTech has just published a lengthy interview with two of the key players in Microsoft’s deployment of DirectX 10. They speak to Chris Donahue, Director in the Games for Windows Entertainment and Devices Division, and David Blythe, Software Architect in the Graphics Platforms Unit. The result is a fairly technical drill down into what DirectX 10 promises to bring to the end user.
More details after the jump.
Click to continue reading Microsoft Talks DirectX 10
Read More | ExtremeTech
A big question in the next-gen console race has been - with development costs soaring and games getting progressively more complex, how much is this all going to cost after all? Well, there’s hints of some bad news from Kaz Hirai (speaking in the latest PSM magazine) for everyone saving up for a Playstation 3:
“generally speaking, over the past twelve years or so, there has been a consumer expectation that disc-based games are maybe $59 on the high end to $39 on the low end. So, what I can say now is, I think it would be a bit of a stretch to think that we could suddenly turn around and say ‘PS3 Games now $99.99.’”
He then continues:
“I don’t think consumers expect software pricing to suddenly double. So, the quick answer is that we want to make it as affordable as possible, knowing that there is a set consumer expectation for what software has cost for the past twelve years. That’s kind of the best answer I can give you. So, if it becomes a bit higher than $59, don’t ding me, but, again, I don’t expect it to be $100.”
So let’s see what’s really said here - Sony is basically going to take the fact that consumers have an expectation of a ~$59 price point into account, but in the end they’ll make it as affordable “as possible”? That sounds suspiciously like the logic behind the pricing for the PS3 console, which may not be a good thing. If Sony has to convince us that there’s a good reason to pay more for their games as well as their console, they may have a long battle ahead of them (especially with many of their formerly exclusive titles rumored to appear on other systems - Assassin’s Creed for one, or GTA 4).
We’ll definitely be listening closely when the final games pricing structure releases.
Read More | Spong.com
PopCap Games Turns 6 Today - Happy Birthday!
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Internet, PC, Xbox Live Arcade,
One of the leaders in casual gaming, Popcap is turning 6 today, with minor fanfare. So far, all there is on their site is a PopCap logo with birthday candles on it (pictured to the right). If you’re a casual gamer and haven’t heard of Popcap before, go there now and prepare to be addicted. PopCap has produced many of the most-downloaded casual games online including mega-hits like Bejeweled and Zuma. They also recently won 2005 Casual Game of the Year for their newer hit Chuzzle.
For the more tech-inclined of y’all, PopCap is also a major supporter of independent developers - they’ve developed some easy-to-use tools for game development via the completely free PopCap Games Framework. In fact, games like Insaniquarium, Rocket Mania, and Pixelus were all developed with game creators outside of PopCap.
Good work guys! Here’s looking forward to many happy returns!
Read More | PopCap.com
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