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Gamestop Buys Kongregate
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Culture, Downloadable Content, Editorial, Internet, PC,
Kongregate, a community with a firm back bone made up of thousands upon thousands of free games, is about to get even more backing thanks to its recent fusion with gaming giant Gamestop. But will this unlikely pairing hurt the Kongregate gaming community more than it will help? And what exactly does this mean for your beloved local Gamestop?
Kongregate (or Kong for short) averages over 10 million active users with more than 23 million hours of logged game time a month, and puts forward games provided by eager young developers. Indie developers are supported by Kong not only in having a platform to present their wares to such a large community, but also by given a share in ad and transaction revenue. The owners Jim and Emily Greer wholeheartedly support this community, and do their best to give developers and gamers the best possible community for them. They also believe that Gamestop wholeheartedly support the Kong community as well.
Click to continue reading Gamestop Buys Kongregate
Read More 
| Kongregate via Gamasutra
Gallery: Gamestop Buys Kongregate
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Super-Mario Crossover: Mega-Man Your Mario
Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Culture, Nintendo, PC, Platformers, Retro,
Ever wondered what it would be like to play the classic Super-Mario Brothers NES game using another character? Well newsgrounds.com creator ExplodingRabbit has released a flash version of the classic Super Mario Bros. title, Super Mario Crossover, that allows you to use with Simon Belmont from Castlevania, Link from The Legend of Zelda, Samus from Metroid, Mega Man, and Bill from Contra. All characters maintain their special weapons and characteristics and the game even introduces a few new character features when they interact with the Mario Brothers game environment. Bill gains a ‘rapid-fire’ ability when he eats a mushroom, Samus can plant bombs when she is in her ball form and even the music changes for each character. This flash game offers the perfect distraction for your 2pm post-lunch food-coma, and may make you wonder why you ever ditched your original NES in the first place.
Gallery: Super-Mario Crossover: Mega-Man Your Mario
For anyone out there who has been longing—nay, pining—away for remixes of the stripped-down melodies that accompanied their favorite 80’s Midway/Capcom/Atari games, then 8-Bit Weapon has the cure for what ails you. The Tron Tribute EP is available for download, and the remixes are based off of the original score by Wendy Carlos for the 1982 film. The EPs samples use sounds from the following systems: Commodore 64, Nintendo NES, Nintendo Game Boy, Apple II, and Atari 2600. Beware: repeated listening may cause you to troll eBay and craigslist for your old Coleco-Vision console. For anyone born after 1985, this may be a little confusing. I know that quarters are like the nickel of the 80’s now, but 6-8 of those in your pocket used to mean 2-3 hours at the arcade… What’s an arcade? ...I hate you.
Gallery: 8-Bit Weapon Tron Tribute EP
Gaming gear I wish I had on this 12-hour flight
Posted by Alex Lifschitz Categories: Accessories, Culture, Features, Music, Nintendo, Sony,
As I write this, I am squeezed into a coach seat on a 12 hour flight from an undisclosed location in the middle east to New York City. Once I get done with this, I have another 6-hour jaunt to Los Angeles, and the memory of my last 2-hour flight here fades with every drop of overpriced airline beer. In these trying times, a man needs to keep entertained. My DS is charged, but alas, I have completed Castlevania already.
There are three - no, four crying infants on board. The man to my left has clearly not showered since the Reagan administration. If I don’t survive, let me leave you with these thoughts of what could have been, if only I had taken this frightening possibility into deeper consideration.
Hit the jump for my last coherent thoughts before the chilling onset of complete madness.
Click to continue reading Gaming gear I wish I had on this 12-hour flight
Gallery: Gaming gear I wish I had on this 12-hour flight
Three Rings of Death? Send off your Xbox 360 in Style!
Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Culture, Microsoft, Xbox 360,
For those of you out there who have spent the greater part of the last few years since the release of the Xbox 360 in a dark hole yelling ‘PWN’D!!!’ at 11 year-olds via the interwebz there is nothing more face-punchingly painful than the 3 Rings of death. For the uninitiated, the 3 Rings of Death (or RROD( on an Xsox 360 mean that the machine has eaten itself and you are now left with a very expensive bookend. For the you, avid gamer, this is a truly traumatic experience. You are forced—for a couple of weeks at least—to shuffle your way outside, blinking 12-inch-wide gollum-eyes at the sun all the while, and to begin socially interacting with people. An event this traumatic deserves to be memorialized, forever etched in the asocial fabric of the basement of your parent’s house where you live, yes? Well look no further, fearless devourer of the Hot Pocket, your savior has arrived in the form of an artistically morbid coffin for your Xbox. Created by Australian designer Alexis Vanamois, this sleek little number can serve to either a) memorialize your crawling out of the dungeon of social leprosy and beginning a new life, or b) as a badge of honor mounted on your wall and waiting for more XBoxes to be memorialized along side it as you travel down the road to becoming the comic-book guy from The Simpsons; the choice is yours.
Gallery: Three Rings of Death? Send off your Xbox 360 in Style!
PBS To Air Video Games Live, Blu-Ray and CD To Follow
Posted by Alex Lifschitz Categories: Culture, Music,
Video Games Live is pretty much the best video game concert event outside of the Dear Friends (Final Fantasy) concerts, and PBS is the station that brought us Yanni: Live at the Acropolis, which is easily the best live music event in recorded history, so it looks like there’s some kind of blood-tinged Faustian pact afoot. The February 5th, 2010 performance of Video Games Live at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans will be taped and aired on PBS during June of next year. Tickets to the event are going on sale this Friday (the 18th), so snap them up if you’re interested.
If you don’t want to make it down to N’awlins for the event, firstly, I don’t blame you. Last time I went, everything was coated in a thin layer of insanity gravy. But more importantly, a Blu-ray and CD of the event will be released next year for your mushy consumer brains to slurp up and toss into your PS3. However, the last performance I saw had Steve Vai playing the Halo theme on his guitar, which until then had been the stuff of maladjusted, failed musicians on youtube, so it might just be worth the trek.
Read the press release after the jump.
Click to continue reading PBS To Air Video Games Live, Blu-Ray and CD To Follow
Gallery: PBS To Air Video Games Live, Blu-Ray and CD To Follow
Have a Jolly Winter Wonderland with Sony Online Entertainment
Posted by Drea Avellan Categories: Culture, MMORPG, PC, Sony,
For some of us, video games have become an extension of ourselves. It is only natural that we would want be able to experience the holiday season as our virtual selves as well. Sony Online Entertainment agrees with this sentiment and has launched an online wide winter wonderland within their games including activities, special quests and treats. The games taking part are: EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Free Realms™, Legends of Norrath®, Pirates of the Burning Sea™, Star Wars Galaxies™ and Vanguard Saga of Heroes®.
Interested in part-taking on winter celebration? Find out all the activities available after the jump.
Click to continue reading Have a Jolly Winter Wonderland with Sony Online Entertainment
Gallery: Have a Jolly Winter Wonderland with Sony Online Entertainment
PlayStation 3 3.10 firmware brings Facebook to PS3 today
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Sony, Xbox 360,
Did you think the Xbox 360 would be the only console to integrate Facebook functionality? If so, Sony has another thing coming for you, as they are launching firmware 3.10 for the PlayStation 3 today, and, you guessed it, Facebook integration is included. Check out the video above to check out how it works, but in a nutshell, you’ll be able to have the PS3 post different events to your Facebook feed, like purchases, trophies, and in-game happenings. Other changes in PS3 firmware 3.10:
- You can choose a color for your PSN ID badge
- Photos are now displayed in a grid rather than a single column
- The friends list has been modified, based on feedback from the community
The update will be out today.
Read More | Sony
Gallery: PlayStation 3 3.10 firmware brings Facebook to PS3 today
The truth is revealed: Halo 2 causing holdup over Xbox Live 100 Friend Limit Increase
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Bungie, Culture, First Person Shooters, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
A few days ago we posted an editorial begging Microsoft to fix the Xbox Live friend limit that is currently imposed upon both Xbox Live and Zune users. Well, after years of being vague about it, the truth has finally come out. According to G4, a high-level Microsoft employee has revealed that the reason that the friend limit hasn’t increased at all, even after the launch of the Xbox 360, is Halo 2.
Halo 2? Yes. You see, original Xbox games have the friend limit hard-coded into them, and Halo 2 is an original Xbox game. Since it is still so popular, Microsoft thinks they need to keep supporting it. If they increase the friend limit, they need to take Halo 2 offline.
Please, for the love of all that is sane in the gaming world, implore your friends and countrymen to switch to Halo 3, or the upcoming Halo 3: ODST, so that we might have a more social Xbox Live.
Oh, and this still doesn’t explain the whole Zune Social thing, and Microsoft’s belief that it has to be tied to Xbox Live, for whatever reason!
Gallery: The truth is revealed: Halo 2 causing holdup over Xbox Live 100 Friend Limit Increase
Bethesda’s WET gives you a Shot at Love and prizes
Posted by Drea Avellan Categories: Action, Culture, PlayStation 3, Third Person Shooters, Xbox 360,
Well, okay. Maybe not a shot at love, but something you will love—prizes. Bethesda released a music video called “Shot At Love”, which depicts victims of Rubi Malone, WET’s leading lady, singing about love (yes, really). To help spread the word, Bethesda is giving out prizes to those that share the video. Simply watch the video, register and you will be given a link to distribute among your friends and any of those lovely social media sites. The more people watch the video from you, the more chances you have to win prizes. This is what you will get:
- 5 video shares: 3 exclusive wallpapers
- 50 video shares: Exclusive WET poster signed by Eliza Dushku
- Grand Prize: Custom WET bundle
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start sharing! WET will be available for the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3, September 15th.
Gallery: Bethesda’s WET gives you a Shot at Love and prizes
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