Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

IGN's favorite NFL linebacker returns to give his take on the Xbox One reveal.

Maybe I was a little hard on the "X-Box," a cozy, if insane, contraption being sold for $2,500 in Youngstown, Ohio. It does come with an A/C unit, though I'd be glad to ditch that for a wet bar (and just open the fridge if it got too hot.) Anyway, I know how I can make amends with the seller: 'Shop Contest! That thar's your exploitable, so my advice is to go in the direction of kart racers and Need for Speed. Obviously, hilarious cameos on the inside are a useful angle, too. (Cool Hand Luke hint hint spends a night in the box hint) But anything you want to put it in, put it on, or put in or on it, go to town. Go forth and bring me funny. Source Image: The "X-Box." While most of you are smart enough to figure out how to upload images, here are some simple steps to take for those less familiar with the practice. 1. Create your 'Shop and save it to your desktop. 2. Go to the bottom of this post and click "Discuss." 3. This brings up a comment window. Click the icon that looks like a picture. 4. This brings up another window called "Insert Image." Click "Choose file" if you're uploading your 'shop from your desktop 5. Alternatively, you can upload the 'Shop to a free image hosting service. I suggest imgur. Then paste the image's URL into the field that says "Image URL." Note: this must be the URL of the image itself, not the page where it is displayed. That means the URL ends in .jpg, .gif, .png, whatever. 6. Add editorial commentary and hit submit and your image will load. If it doesn't, upload the image to imgur and paste the image URL as a comment. I promise I will look at it. 7. I'm not sure if we still have file size restrictions under Kinja but it's probably a good idea to keep your image size under 1 MB. This is especially true for animated .gifs. If you're still having trouble uploading the image, try to keep its longest dimension (horizontal or vertical) under 1000 pixels. Alright! Have at it. Thanks very much for your participation. To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.

This behind-the-scenes video for Castle of Illusion shows the developers at Sega reflecting back on the original game and how some of its elements will translate to the remake currently in development. Castle of Illusion is coming to PS3, PC and Xbox 360 this summer.

Welcome to Kotaku's Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics, chosen by our readership. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner. Corpse Run by Alex Di Stasi. Published May 27. Read more of Corpse Run Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published May 27. Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published May 27. Read more of Awkward Zombie Manly Guys Doing Manly Things by Kelly Turnbull. Published May 30. Read more of Manly Guys Doing Manly Things Brawl In The Family by Matthew Taranto. Published May 31. Read more of Brawl In The Family Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published May 30. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Brentalfloss the Comic by Brent Black, Andrew Dobson and Dan Roth. Published May 27. Read more of Brentalfloss the Comic Virtual Shackles by Jeremy Vinar and Mike Fahmie. Published May 29. Read more of Virtual Shackles Nerd Rage by Andy Kluthe. Published May 31. Read more of Nerd Rage To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.

Andrew Scott Reisse, an accomplished developer at Oculus VR, the company behind the virtual-reality Oculus Rift headset, was killed in Santa Ana, California on Thursday. He was an innocent victim of a police chase gone horribly wrong. Reisse was apparently out for a walk when an alleged gang member, fleeing the police in a Dodge Charger, allegedly barreled into the intersection of Flower Street and MacArthur Boulevard, hitting and killing the 33-year-old developer. The driver may face murder charges, according to ABC News. Oculus CEO Brenden Iribe and chief software architect Michael Antonov issued the following statement to Kotaku about Reisse on behalf of all of their company : Andrew was a brilliant computer graphics engineer, an avid photographer and hiker who loved nature, a true loyal friend, and a founding member of our close-knit Oculus family. Some of us have known Andrew since college, and have worked with him at multiple companies beginning with Scaleform in Maryland which he helped start at age 19, then at Gaikai in Aliso Viejo which brought him out to California, and finally at Oculus where he was a co-founder and lead engineer. Andrew's contributions span far and wide in the video game industry. His code is embedded in thousands of games played by millions of people around the world. Words can not express how sorely he will be missed or how deeply our sympathy runs for his family Andrew will always be in our thoughts and will never be forgotten. We love you Reisse. We at Kotaku would also like to wish our condolences to Reisse's family and friends. To contact the author of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.

Without a doubt, Call of Duty Dog stole the show at Microsoft's big Xbox One reveal, and not for all the right reasons. The law of unintended consequences dictates that one of them is appearance in the Kotaku 'Shop Contest. Who's a good 'Shopper? Who's a good 'Shopper? Yes you are, Sciteach! Yes you ARE! For starters, this week's contestants were working from these images. Source Image: Who's a good doggie? Who's a good doggie ...? Source Image: CoD Dog doing mocap (closeup) Source Image: CoD Dog doing mocap (longer shot) And now, the finalists! Archonios arniejolt Atomrocker Bino556 GiantBoyDetective HampstaSandwich HarrdeeHarrHarr jaepro JulesGM nicp1112 Pedro Silva Phaydii punkpolitical sciteach uscg_pa To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.

MIT's OpenRelativity engine, designed to model Einstein's special theory of relativity in a video game, now is being released as an open-source toolset. It is available for download here.

Regular TechSpot readers will have no doubt spotted several mentions of Haswell on our front page this year. In the past few months we have covered everything from model names to performance and battery life claims. A key focus has been Haswell's graphics, with rumors suggesting its performance is set to be 2 to 3 times that of current HD 4000 integrated graphics. So what is Haswell exactly? It is Intel’s 4th generation Core architecture which will see a major refresh of the entire Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 product lineup in 2013. Whereas last year’s Ivy Bridge was a "tick" release, Haswell is a tock and traditionally that's meant a more significant advance forward. Efficiency and graphics have remained key areas of focus for Intel in the last couple of generations and Haswell is no different. Intel did claim that Ivy Bridge was a "tick+" due to the more significant overhaul to the graphics side of things. Even so, despite providing up to twice as much graphics performance as Sandy Bridge under certain scenarios, it was still very underwhelming 3D rendering power when compared to discrete solutions. And the time has finally come. Haswell is ready to be unveiled, along with Intel’s latest on-die GPU solutions. Today we'll only be checking out the new HD 4600 Graphics which comes as part of the high-end Core i7-4770K desktop processor. Faster HD 5000 Graphics and Iris Graphics 5100 and 5200 solutions will also become available starting today. As expected, the most powerful integrated graphics solutions are being reserved for processors designed for mobile devices, such as Ultrabooks. 4th Gen Intel Core CPU Family The Haswell lineup is comprised of several desktop and mobile Core i7 and Core i5 processors that will effectively replace most of the current offerings under those series. Core i3 variants will make it to market later in the year. The new Core i7 desktop processors include the Core i7-4770K, i7-4770R, i7-4770T, i7-4770S, i7-4770 and i7-4765T — all selling for $303 except for the i7-4770K that sells for a slight premium at $339. The Core i7-4770K and i7-4770 are identical in almost every way with a few exceptions. The K version comes with an unlocked multiplier and is 100MHz faster out of the box. The Intel vPro/TXT/VT-d/SIPP technologies have also been removed from the K series. The Core i7-4770S and i7-4770T are members of the low power series and as such the TDP has been reduced from 84w down to 65w and 45w, respectively. A determining factor in achieving this lower consumption is a lower CPU base frequency, reduced from 3.50GHz to just 3.10GHz for the i7-4770S and 2.50GHz for the i7-4770T. All Haswell Core i7 desktop processors feature 4 cores with 8 concurrent threads when using Hyper-Threading. The Core i7-4770K operates at 3.50GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.90GHz, while the non-K version features the same Turbo Boost frequency with a base clock of 3.4GHz. They are designed to work with DDR3-1333/1600 memory and feature an 8MB L3 cache. The most interesting of the Core i7 range is the 4770R, which operates at 3.20GHz with a Turbo frequency of 3.90GHz and uses the BGA package. This model dumps the HD 4600 Graphics used by all other desktop Core i7 processors and instead opts for the more powerful Iris Pro Graphics 5200. The only downside to this chip is the L3 cache reduction from 8MB to 6MB. Intel is also offering a lower clocked model, the Core i7-4765T which has a TDP of just 35 watts and comes clocked at just 2.0GHz with a 3.0GHz maximum Turbo frequency. Then there is the new Core i5 series which features the i5-4670K, i5-4670 and i5-4570 processors priced at $242, $213 and $192, respectively. There are also the Core i5-4670T, i5-4670S, i5-4570S, i5-4570T and Core i5-3450S low power models. We know, it gets very confusing, so let’s talk about the standard processors first. All standard Ivy Bridge Core i5 processors carry an 84W TDP and feature four cores and four concurrent threads. The only Core i5 processor to differ from this configuration is the i5-4570T which features two cores with Hyper-Threading for four threads. The Core i5 range is clocked aggressively: the i5-4670K and i5-4670 operate at 3.40GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.80GHz. Meanwhile the i5-4570 is clocked at 3.20GHz with a Turbo frequency of 3.6GHz. All Core i5 processors feature a 6MB L3 cache, with the exception of the i5-4570T, which has been downgraded to 3MB. All desktop Core i5 processors use the HD Graphics 4600 engine without exception. The low-power Core i5 range is equally confusing. The four models available at launch are different, though many of them occupy the same price range. The Core i5-4570T is essentially a Core i3 processor with Turbo Boost added. This processor operates at 2.90GHz with a Turbo Boost speed of 3.60GHz. However like the Core i3 processors, the i5-4570T features only two cores with Hyper-Threading support and a smaller 3MB L3 cache, it is said to cost $192. Then there is the Core i5-4670T and i5-4670S (both $213). The i5-4670T features a thermal design rating of 45w and works at 2.30GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.30GHz. The i5-4670S is actually faster, working at a base clock of 3.1GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.8GHz. As you would expect the i5-4670S has a higher TDP rating of 65w. Finally, we have the Core i5-4570S and i5-4570T processors (both $192) which feature a TDP rating of 65w and 35w, respectively. Both CPUs have a base clock of 2.90GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.60GHz. 4th Gen Intel HD Graphics Intel debuted on-die HD graphics with the Westmere architecture, although to be precise it wasn’t actually on-die but on-package, meaning the graphics engine was separate from the CPU. Furthermore, it was built using the 45nm process and not the same 32nm process used by the actual CPU. Then the second generation graphics (Sandy Bridge) changed all that by including the GPU on-die. Even though both processing units were under the same roof, the GPU was still independent of the CPU. It featured its own clock domain that could be set independently and could be powered down as needed. This same design principle was used for Ivy Bridge, Intel simply added more horsepower. There were two versions of the Intel HD graphics with the Ivy Bridge processors using either the HD 2500 or the faster HD 4000 engine. The shaders, cores and execution units are what Intel calls EUs (Execution Units) with HD 2500 featuring six and the speedier HD 4000 getting sixteen. Interestingly, most Core i5 desktop processors used the slower HD Graphics 2500 engine, while all mobile processors received the 4000 engine. Haswell offers many more flavors of built-in graphics. Starting at the bottom of the food chain we have the Intel HD Graphics 4600/4400 and 4200. The next level up is the Intel HD Graphics 5000 and then Intel Iris Graphics 5100 and Iris Pro 5200. Now because we only have the Core i7-4770K today we can show you how the Intel HD Graphics 4600 performs. This is the choice of built-in graphics that a wide majority of Core i7 (all except one) and all Core i5 desktop processors will receive. The HD 4600 gets 20 EUs, a 25% increase over Ivy Bridge. The clock speed has also been increased from 1150MHz to 1250MHz, a mild 9% bump in frequency. The Intel HD Graphics 5000 and Iris Graphics 5100 receive 40 EUs awarding them twice the power-performance of HD 4xxx. Then the Iris Pro Graphics 5200 which still features the same 40 EUs gets a large embedded DRAM cache to improve bandwidth performance. Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H The Z87X-UD3H is one of Gigabyte’s more affordable Z87 motherboards featuring the Ultra Durable 5 design. The board itself is a standard ATX model which features a matte black PCB with black and gray connectors. Adding a little flare are a number of large heatsinks which feature some blue highlights. The motherboard layout and design is similar to what we have seen from Gigabyte in the past and it features the typical range of enhancements. The board features all IR Digital Power Design (IOR International Rectifier) with IR digital PWMs equipped with IR Powerstage ICs. Meanwhile the PCB itself is a 2-layer copper design and is equipped with Durable black solid capacitors. Other features include Intel Gigabit LAN with high ESD protection using the new Intel I217-V controller. The famous UEFI and DualBIOS support exists and Gigabyte has added an LED indicator to signal any problems. The second generation On/Off Charge feature is included for quick charging mobile devices via USB. Gigabyte has also included a gaming headphone amplifier for enhanced audio quality, while audio is provided using the Realtek ALC898 HD audio codec. While the Z87 chipset provides six USB 3.0 ports and six SATA 6Gb/s ports, Gigabyte has upgraded both. The Z87X-UD3H offers a total of ten USB 3.0 ports thanks to the inclusion of the Renesas uPD720210 controller and eight SATA 6Gb/s ports with the help of the Marvell 88SE9172 controller. The Marvell 88SE9172 controller can be switched to provide either two extra onboard SATA 6Gb/s ports or two eSATA 6Gb/s ports, but not both at the same time. Along with the ten USB 3.0 ports the board also provides eight USB 2.0 ports, two on the I/O panel and the rest via onboard headers. Overclock friendly features include a Debug display near the DIMM slots and Quick buttons to allow Power On/Off, Reset, CMOS Clear, Dual BIOS, Smart Voltage and much more. The Z87X-UD3H supports 2-way Crossfire and 2-way SLI technology using two PCIe x16 slots. As is the case with Ivy Bridge the Haswell processors only provide enough PCIe lanes for a x16/x8 configuration when using two graphics cards. There is a third full length PCIe x16 slot, though it is only wired for x4 bandwidth. Meanwhile there is two PCIe x1 slots positioned between the primary and secondary PCIe x16 slots, followed by a traditional PCI slot. Around the back on the I/O panel we have six USB 3.0 ports, a PS/2 port, optical digital audio, six audio jacks, Gigabit LAN and dual eSATA ports. There is also a VGA, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort for utilizing the integrated video. Read More... Asrock Z87 ProfessionalAsrock H87 PerformanceAsrock Z87E-ITXSystem Specs & Memory BandwidthSynthetic BenchmarksApplication PerformanceEncoding PerformanceIGP PerformanceGaming PerformanceSystem Power ConsumptionFinal Thoughts Republished with permission from: Steven Walton is a writer at TechSpot. TechSpot is a computer technology publication serving PC enthusiasts, gamers and IT pros since 1998.

Two weeks ago, priests in Georgia (the <s>former Russian state</s> independent republic, not the US state) led a mob that attacked about 50 gay rights demonstrators, hurling rocks and, if this YouTube video is an indication, swinging furniture. Someone's cooked up a nearly unplayable side-scroller lampooning the chaos. This is Call of Taburetka, the latter word meaning 'stool,' which is what a black-robed priest from the Georgian Orthodox church was swinging as the mob descended on the marchers, ending the rally before it could begin. The game's creator, on its Facebook page, insist that the game is not homophobic. "Dear friends, this game it not anti-gay. it just describes what happened on May 17," he says in one post. "i wanna say that this game isn't anti-gay this is for funny," he says in another. I suppose I could believe that if the satire involved is how idiotically uncontrollable the priest is, and how he fails in his mission to assault within about 10 seconds of beginning a game, exploding into what looks like a fart cloud. People are lobbying Facebook to take down the page as a violation of its anti-hate speech policies. Assuming it's not taken offline altogether, the game's creators are considering "disabl[ing] this game for foreigners because they can't understand meaning of this game." Fend Off LGBT Activists in ‘Call of Taburetka’ [Gay Gamer] To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.

Brad enlists Ryan as they storm into battle for some genre-mixing medieval mayhem.

What's happened in the business of video games this past week ... QUOTE | "I think, candidly, people are way, way under-indexing how hard we're punching."—Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft's Entertainment Division, talking about how Microsoft is ready to invest $1 billion in exclusive Xbox One titles. QUOTE | "The optimistic part of me is thinking that [Microsoft is] holding off on announcing their new, indie-friendly platform policy and they're going to tell us all about it at E3."—Tim Schafer of Double Fine, describing why he's taking a cautious approach towards Xbox One. QUOTE | "The next-gen look is more about lighting models and shaders than the size of your textures and number of polygons."—CD Projekt Red's lead character artist on The Witcher 3, Pawel Mielniczuk, talking about the impact of next-gen on video game visuals. QUOTE | "A piece of hardware is only a piece of hardware, it's what you do with it that's important."—Richard Lemarchand, former Naughty Dog lead turned educator, talking about the importance of game design and next-gen consoles. QUOTE | "They're really hard to do well, and as a result, there are a lot of really bad ones out there."—Jesse Schell, keynote presenter for the Serious Play Conference, discussing why serious gaming carries a stigma. STAT | 1 billion—Number of total next-gen consoles that Microsoft thinks will be sold from all companies combined; that's way up from the 300 million sold of the current generation of consoles. QUOTE | "Eventually, games need to generate more sales, otherwise we see the end of these smaller games on console platforms."—Developer Ilari Kuittinen, talking about why more downloadable games need to sell at least 1 million units. STAT | 8.45 million—Number of people who watched the Xbox One reveal in the first 24 hours; the reveal was the most-watched event in streaming partner Akamai's history. QUOTE | "There's a sense of mischief in reaching onto your opponent's board and taking what's theirs. Players love to cheat."—Developer Alistair Atcheson, talking about shared-tablet multiplayer games. QUOTE | "If we go out there with a shitty product, then people don't have to look at it twice."—PlayJam CEO Charles Tigges, talking about the company's GameStick Android-based console. STAT | 3.5 million—Number of anti-piracy takedown notices the ESA sent out in 2012; they were able to remove 96% of the 5.4 million infringing files found. This Week in the Business courtesy of GamesIndustry International Image by Shutterstock

Who needs a gun when you can use your opponent as a human pillow after a three story drop?

Welcome to the weekend, Kotaku. Which means I've got a round-up of all our best content on Kotaku Selects. While Microsoft and Sony still aren't talking about the online and other details for their newest consoles, others are talking. So while we wait for news from E3 in roughly a week (oh god one more week), you can peruse out round-up selections. Oh, and, that image up there is some Mario street art, a la Banksy. From Trust icon street art found by Pxlbyte. To contact the author of this post, write to tina@kotaku.com or find her on Twitter at @tinaamini.

It's time to breakdown everything for E3! Sounds like the perfect time to get unprofessional.

A teaser video for the upcoming GameTrailers.com documentary about the popular gaming message board NeoGAF finally puts some faces to the screen-names. These people don't look anything like their avatars! I quite like the GIF-generating, news-aggregating, secret-finding, incessant-games-journalism-analyzing NeoGAF. I even post there from time to time. But I've not met many other people who post there. I've mostly been left to imagine what the fine folks there looked and sound like. Now, we can all wonder no more. Behold: SHIFT The full documentary will air on GameTrailers.com and their affiliated apps on June 1 at 4pm ET/ 1pm PT. I've seen a rough cut. There's some fun stuff in there. To contact the author of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.

I'll see you this summer, buddy.

We’re about to enter a period of the yearly gaming cycle where the regular flow of releases is going to slow down. For some, this is a bummer, since it means there aren’t any (or few) new games. For me, it’s one of the most exciting times of the year, since I can hack at my backlog.

What are you guys looking forward to playing with the extra time?

For me, it’s Eternal Darkness and System Shock 2. Waiting until Halloween might make more sense when it comes to timing, but there will be other horror games (where you at, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs?) coming throughout the year, and I must strike while the iron is hot. Both have have such cult followings, and have obviously influenced those that came after. It’s one thing to know something is influential, it’s another to experience it yourself.

I can’t have the summer just be about horror, though, and so I leave the possibilities elsewhere to you. Valkyria Chronicles is an interesting strategy game that many recommended once I’d put Fire Emblem: Awakening to bed, and I intend to actually play (and finish) Dark Souls before the sequel comes out.

Hey, You Should Play This

• NothingElse by Ivan Zanotti (PC, Free)

NothingElse is coming with an unfortunate caveat: I haven’t finished it. The first 15 minutes have hooked me, but enough is going on at work that I haven’t been able to see where it all goes. The reason NothingElse is commands this space, however, is because NothingElse comes from imscared designer Ivan Zanotti. If anyone’s earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the unsettling, Zanotti has.

And You Should Read These, Too

• "On Consuming Media Responsibly" by Jenn Frank for

When I wrote about Amnesia: The Dark Descent, one of the motivations was coming to grips with why I continue to enjoy horror. When my father passed, I wondered whether my exploration of death in a safe space would mean the genre no longer meant anything to me--that hasn’t been the case. Jenn Frank discusses her fascination with horror and other media in this piece, set behind the backdrop of the dialogue around Anita Sarkeesian and her videos exploring tropes about women in games.

"I think what I’m getting at is, especially with the horror genre, it’s less important what a movie says and more important that you, the viewer, understand why you’re enjoying it. I believe in judicious self-awareness; a director like Nicolas Winding Refn knows exactly why he makes the directorial choices he makes, and he works those kinks right out onscreen. Or, if you aren’t enjoying a piece of work—if ultraviolence isn’t your thing, or if you’re suffering a visceral reaction—it’s every bit as important that you identify what about the piece is making you uncomfortable."

• "How to not hate Anita Sarkeesian" by Colette Bennett for blow in the game slot

Colette Bennett has some recommendations for Sarkeesian’s critics, and how to separate the argument from the author. I’m including two pieces that touch on Sarkessian’s series because the second one premiered this week and is featured below, and I know how the comments sections on those articles tend to go. You are allowed to disagree with Sarkessian, even aggressively so, but do so with a sense of class. Articulate your response, explain yourself. Stooping to name calling, derogatory remarks, and childish attitudes only undermines your point.

"Let's just say, for a moment, that instead of watching Anita's video series, you're reading the same ideas in a book (and there are dozens on the subject of feminism, and a handful on women's role in games as well). Are you still angry about them? You may be. If so, you can focus your hatred on the author of that book, or any of the other books. But notice how you feel when you're angry: insulated, seething, closed. If that feels bad, consider that there are other options, and other ways to react."

If You Click It, It Will Play

Crowdfunding Has Promise, Hopefully Developers Don't Screw It Up

• Unrest wants to see what it would be like to set a serious RPG in ancient India.
• Yeah, I'm definitely on board for Armikrog, a new game from the developers of Neverhood.
• The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers is a fascinating, ambitious project.

Tweets That Make You Go "Hmmmmmm"

Iwata Asks does this include the tip then?

— Satiru Iwata(@IwataAsks) May 31, 2013

Iwata Asks what have I done?

— Satiru Iwata(@IwataAsks) May 24, 2013

Iwata Asks who is this guy and why is he touching my shoulder?

— Satiru Iwata(@IwataAsks) May 17, 2013

Iwata Asks why won't they sell me the animals?

— Satiru Iwata(@IwataAsks) May 15, 2013

Iwata Asks is anyone else sick of eating?

— Satiru Iwata(@IwataAsks) May 14, 2013

Oh, And This Other Stuff

• You bet your ass we'll be looking at this chemical spillage simulator.
• Ashly Burch opens up about some personal turmoil in her life recently. Heartbreaking.
• Did you know Donkey Kong 64 shipped with the expansion pack because of a BUG?
• Games writer Susan O'Connor on the difficulty of writing for video games.
• Digital Foundry tries to figure out if the cloud can make games better on Xbox One.
• An outsiders perspective on the prospects of next-generation from John Siracusa.
• These old posters for Konami arcade games are the friggin' best.
• Find out why Penny Arcade Report couldn't go to China to cover League of Legends.
• How MOMA chose which games should appear in its current exhibit.
• Michael Abbott waxes on and off about the advantages of working in genre.
• Are Sony and Microsoft doing enough to convince us to buy new machines?
• The advantages of having a plan.
• I remember Weaponlord, but I sure can't remember if Weaponlord was any good.

Look, we all make mistakes. None of us are infallible. Sometimes I forget to pay my cable bill until after the due date, Stephen Totilo thinks Majora's Mask is one of the best Zelda games ever, and the Week in Gaming Apps plotted your demise. Let's all just make up and move on. Look, Week in Gaming Apps is sorry, okay? It was so choked up over subtly suggesting you might perish and then actively plotting your demise that it didn't even show up last week. It may have looked like I decided to skip it in favor of starting my long weekend early, but I assure you, it was pure guilt. The Week in Gaming Apps is really a nice weekly feature, when you get to know it. Just look at the games we reviewed in its name this week. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic! A zombie game about riding and shooting! A zombie game about shooting and sometimes riding! An old school arcade beat-em up, mobile-style! The game with the pee! These are not the games of a feature that wants to cook you and feed you to the cast of TV's The Hughleys while playing They Might Be Giant's "Nanobots" over and over again on a children's xylophone. Look, it's just its disturbingly-specific way of saying you're safe here. The Week in Gaming Apps loves you, no matter how much of your body remains covered by skin. What We Played This Week After Earth - Android, iOS - $.99 Based on the Will Smith movie of the same name, this is a mission-based endless runner with some rather neat ideas. There's a little combat, some free-falling, and every now and then things go sideways. Not too shabby for a movie tie-in! The Regular Show: Best Park In The Universe - iOS - $2.99 This is, oddly enough, an old school beat-em up starring The Regular Show crew. Unexpected. Interesting. Dude. Dots - iOS - Free It's connect-the-dots as a color puzzle game. Fiendishly addictive, and I hate saying that. Directional Dash - iOS - $.99 Clear groups of colors by flicking them in the direction of the arrows on their faces. It's incredibly simple, but satisfying. Pixoban - Android, iOS - $1.29, $.99 Crate-pushing puzzles with a sleek pixel feel. Starts off simple, then makes me very angry. This is a plus. Little Luca - Android, iOS - $.99 A lovely little phsyics-based puzzler with retro graphics? That's something you don't see every day. Makes me want to go back in time and show those NES devs how to party. Warhammer Quest - iOS - $4.99 Such a good turn-based dungeon crawler I want to spend the weekend with it before dropping a full review. Excellent use of the Warhammer license. Zombie Fish Tank - iOS - $.99 You know those fish games where you eat smaller fish to get bigger so you can eat bigger fish? This is that, only you're an undead fish, and there are boss fights against scientists' fingers. Hyper Breaker Turbo - iOS - $1.99 All the Breakout-style ball-busting you could ever want. Wonderful variety here.

Gamasutra's got a fascinating article about how the developers behind Japanese games like Paladin's Quest create worlds and characters. Go check it out.

I end up watching a lot of news in my line of work, and one thing that is frequently hammered home is this: mainstream American media doesn't know what they're doing with games. Across the board what you see on television (with the exception of business reporting) is at best marginally competent and at worst ignorant and hyperbolic. Which is why I find the BBC report above about the Game Republic showcase, as well as this story yesterday, so refreshing. The clip above, taken from BBC Look North in Yorkshire, is an example of how local news should be approaching games coverage. It's positive, upbeat, approachable and sees the game industry for what it really is: a cultural asset and a viable career path.

Supergiant's Amir Rao joins us as we give a warm Daily Dota welcome to SHAGBARK!!!!!!

Save the Date is one of the more clever games I've played in recent memory. It's a visual novel with a simple premise: go out to dinner with someone. Well, it should be simple, except every time you try it, the dinners turn into scenarios that would be right at home in the Final Destination movies. As if the pressure to be good company at dinner weren't enough. But more interesting than that is that the game knows you're going to reload and try other stuff. It expects you to, even. Dialogue options on retries will reference stuff you did on other playthroughs, and each new playthrough sees you using knowledge you gained in a bad run. Reloading and trying again is stuff we'd normally do when we don't get our way while playing something, sure, but it's still neat to see a game account for that/work it into the gameplay. The game also uses all that knowledge to make a clever point about the odd, kind of dehumanizing way we play games. Like I said, it's clever stuff. I'd say more but I don't want to spoil too much—give Save the Date a try here. You can get through it in about 30 minutes, and it's well worth your time.

Welcome to another week of Ask Kotaku, where people are fed up with their jobs and responsibilities. You need a way out, and I can offer some hope for you (hopefully). **If you want advice on anything at all, send me an email at Tina at Kotaku dot com for next week's column.** Regarding Work and School Moving on from a game design career when you hate it After about ten years, it's clear that becoming a game designer was, to quote GOB Bluth, "a huge mistake". It's impossible to find a job, and if you *do* find a job, there's no stability, very little pay, and very little opportunity to be creative without having your worked stomped on by corporate suits who know less than you do. Unfortunately, game designers have little in the way of transferable skills - I'm not qualified to design anything other than games, nor am I qualified to work on games in any capacity other than design. In fact, as the games industry evolves and designers are becoming more and more specialized, I find I'm becoming less and less qualified for *design* jobs (despite being an accomplished level designer and UI designer, I now no longer qualify for either job), narrowing my job prospects yet further. I can't find any information online on how to move on from a career in game design, as every google search I can think of only returns articles on how to *become* a game designer (it is still considered a "dream job" for some god-forsaken reason). Do I have any options other than starting from the bottom in some other career path? I've started applying for producer jobs, hoping my experience as a lead designer can at least land me an associate producer job, and I've started studying programming in case I have to start from the bottom anew, but ideally I'd like to get out of the games business entirely. Man, that's rough. Despite how hopeless it seems, though, you have a few options. You're already looking into programming, which is great, but honestly a lot of other people have a head start on you in that department. Fortunately you already have a head start in other ways, namely that you have a job and experience in the general field of video game development. I think looking into producer roles is a great idea, too, because your experience will be to your benefit. You could always start your own independent company or work with another one that has more control and a more comfortable work setting. Maybe you haven't found the right company yet. I'm sure you've tried a few options, but it can take longer than you'd think to find the right fit. But have you thought about marketing? It'd be a drastic change, but it sounds like that's what you're looking for anyway. The games industry has a wide variety of roles, and someone with actual development experience would be valued in any of them. Of course, try to develop any other skills you have so that you can seem more well-rounded if you want to make the jump to other in-house or outsourced positions that relate to games and the making and promotion of them. If you want out of games entirely, you could always take your development skills—particularly UI design since you mentioned it—to other fields. UI design isn't limited to games, after all. Maybe even think about freelancing for some time. Consulting? There are so many options. Many of them won't be for you or they won't be feasible. But you do have options. And worst, worst case scenario, save up some money and, yes, start from the bottom at some other career if that will make you happy. Obviously try to shoot for something somewhat connected so that the climb is easier but regardless, eventually—and probably quicker than you would expect—you'll climb that ladder, too. And five years from now, you'll be a much happier person. But consider your options fully first. What game developer employers look for in an applicant Gaining an interest in games dev. recently, I've been prying into that field. I'm a sound engineering student, without much experience (yet) in both fields. Having knowledge about the industry's workings, what do you think I should be focusing on? What do devs look for in a worker? Or am I just walking down a doomed path? They're looking for people with the right experience and for people with talent. It can be hard to get your foot in the door when you're just starting out and want to gain experience but every opportunity is asking for applicants to already have some amount of experience. I know the feeling. We've all been there at some point. I suggest internships. It's not ideal, I know, but you can sometimes find paid internships. That way you'll build connections, gain a bit of experience, and even have some credits to your portfolio. Imagine contributing to a AAA game (or any game really), even in a small way. It'd do wonders for you in your next interview. You'd be able to speak to the experience of working with a team in a very specific environment. These days, it's the employer's market. They have their pick. It can be hard to set yourself apart from the hundreds of overqualified applicants. The best thing you can do is keep working and building a portfolio and your rolodex (or the modern version of that). Deciding between going back to school or continuing to work Do you think at this day and age, the economy not being the best yet with unemployment issues and salaries being so low these days, is it worth it to get a Master's degree and potentially get more in debt knowing you may not find a good job even with the Master's. I graduated with my BS in 2008 and while I've had a job since a graduated I've been looking for a better paying job for about a year now with no luck. I already owe a lot of money to Sallie Mae and would hate to add to that debt if I can't find a decent paying job. You're right that it's not a great time to find a well-paying job. But you also don't want to put yourself further into debt. I'd say that you should calculate your future plan. Decide what job you want to aim for with this potential future degree, and weigh your options. Determine if getting a Master's degree would likely land you that job. If it won't, I'd continue working. If you think it's a position that necessitates a Master's degree and a position that doesn't have thousands of job-hungry poor souls flocking to it, then you should invest the time in school. Not knowing your particular situation, I'd say it seems like the most solid plan would be to continue working and looking for higher-paying jobs, or to ask your current employer for a raise. If you've been there for a year and working well, it's only fair. And though it can feel draining to be searching for a year for a new job, some people have no job and have been searching for longer. And I don't foresee the job market getting significantly more comfortable any time soon. I know that's probably not what you want to hear. But I am a personal believer of taking minimal risks. It's why I'm not a betting man. Ok I'm not actually a man either. Making music for video games One question I've always had is how do you break into writing music for a game. Or at least providing music for one. I've had some success in the past ( remixed for Queen, had music placed on tv shows etc) but have always wanted to write a score for something be it game or movie. I've got no idea where to start on something like this. Can't say I've gained much experience writing scores for actual films and games, but my friend likes to write scripts and we've worked on scoring his ideas for fun. Music for fake films if you want to call it that. Starting out with your friends is a great idea. Once you guys being creating, you'll have something to show to future potential employers. I've mentioned this quite a bit on the site before, but your portfolio is your strongest weapon. You need to keep adding points to it. Also your stuff is great! I've been listening to it while writing this column :) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=&quot;http://aeye.bandcamp.com/album/warpool-...; data-mce-href=&quot;http://aeye.bandcamp.com/album/warpool-... Maiden by A.Eye&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; Getting a job as a games writer How do I make it into the writing scene? I have been trying for many years, (short stories, reviews, articles, etc.) but have not had any luck. I am currently trying to use tumblr as a blog for my video game reviews, but I don't feel it is the best medium to use for it. I have tried other websites, like gamespot, and still no help. Do you have any advice that could help? I've discussed a few pointers on this already, so I'll just summarize them: continue to build your portfolio, don't get discouraged, make connections. But I have a specific tip for you. Don't write reviews! Write features. Express your opinion and your voice. Everyone writes reviews. They're frankly boring to read as an example of someone's work and don't give a sense of your style as well as a feature would. Choosing a major when you have no clue what to do How I can decide what I want to study in university? It seems impossible for me to know what I wanna study and do for the rest of my life ( I would prefer to do my career for the rest of my life, because I want to move up in that field and earn better money, because I have experience), because I can't try to jobs beforehand, so I'd like to get some views and opinions on how I can decide my future career path. Also I don't feel that any career interests me, just I want to make some big money, so this is definitely a problem, so please Kotaku help me with this problem! Normally I'd suggest internships because it gives you hands-on time with the environment and work you'd be doing in specific careers. It's how I was sure I loved writing. I started an internship at Condé Nast and haven't looked back from my writing career since. But since you're already working and it doesn't seem like you'd have time in between to experiment with internships, I'd say research a whole bunch of career choices. Make a list of things you think might interest you. Read about the jobs online. Watch videos and interviews; consume anything about it that you can. Reach out to people who work in those fields and ask them about what it's like. Read books on the relevant subjects and topics. Go visit the workplaces if you can. When my oldest brother was a kid, my mom really wanted him to become a doctor. But the second he stepped into a hospital he hated it. He knew it wasn't for him. The best you can do is try to take in everything about what that job might be like, and decide if it's for you or not. Worst case scenario? Just major in something generic. I did media and communications. It worked out fine for me. Your major doesn't tie your fate. Regarding Life Finding the drive to leave the house I have issues finding the desire to go outside. All I ever do is sit in front of my PC either watching Youtube videos, playing games, or just browsing the internet being bored. Yet I could go outside, enjoy the sunshine or do things. Yet I don't, and I don't know why. I just need get off my butt and do something, but I can never find the drive to. What should I do? It's not abnormal to not find the drive and energy to go out and be active. But you basically have to force yourself, will yourself into doing it. It's like exercising. I used to be a swimmer and fell out of it years ago. Once you fall out of the habit, it can be hard to break back in. But a month or so ago I decided to force myself to try it again, and now I go every week. In fact, I'd feel guilty if I missed a week. It's all about creating habits. For me, I know it helps if I have a buddy to encourage me to go out and do things. So I'll look for fun events in the city and invite my friends. That way I know I have to stick to the plan. I go swimming with my dad. That way, if I am feeling lazy about going, I know I can't back out because I have an obligation not only to myself, but also to him. Once you get into the habit, you won't want to get out of it. It'll feel like second nature. And your week will feel empty without getting up and doing something. Moving out of your parents house when you support them I’m looking for a bit of help when it comes to moving out of my folks house. Since I was eighteen I had the blatant desire to move out and be as independent as soon as possible. I’m twenty-one now and in that time all I’ve managed to do is get a great gal and a steady job. I’m pretty set when it comes financially but that’s also my crutch. My family sometimes relies on my pay checks to make ends meet for auxiliary entitlements they own (my sisters AAU Basketball membership, Cable bill, and sometimes the occasional gym membership) and I’m totally cool with helping out it’s just I feel if I move they’ll see that as a sign of my resignation from contributing to the family. And they’d be absolutely right. Also, I don’t pay rent as what I help out with is “rent” enough, believe me all that shit adds up. How do I approach this? What do I say to my folks other then, “pay for your own shit!” you know? What’s the best way I can dump my family and live my own life? This one is very difficult, because either way it means something has to give. But maybe this shouldn't be an immediate cut, but a more planned out one. Hear me out. For one thing: it might feel like 21 is too old to live at home anymore. It's not ideal of course, but it's not by any means a terrible thing. Everyone has different circumstances. I think I moved out just around that age. Some friends of mine only recently moved out of their parents' houses and they are around 25. It often has nothing to do with your financial status, it can be for a million other reasons. In your case, your family relies on some support from you. It might not be fair to you, but they're family and they need you. You need to wean them off of you. Start helping them set up other means of income. Be it jobs or investments or assistance from your siblings. Discuss a stipend situation with them that feels reasonable for you. Reasonable enough to where you can start saving some of your money to set yourself up in an apartment within some timeframe. This might take months or a year or two years. I understand you are probably tired of the wait. But a lot of life is waiting for things to pan out as you assemble a means to make that happen. Tell them that it's important to you to begin your own life, but that you don't want to abandon theirs or the life you had with them. Tell them that you need to start to think about moving out and how you're going to accomplish that. Set boundaries and voice your concerns. You shouldn't shock them with an immediate cut, but they of course can't continue to rely on you forever. This is a conversation that needs to happen sooner or later, and the sooner it happens the sooner you'll be able to set a plan in motion to eventually gain some independence. They love you and want you to be happy, too. It just might be scary to them to lose you. Keep that in mind when you have the conversation with them. Amazing music What is the single most epic song you've ever heard? I'm curious about what song the Kotaku staff regards as most epic... I guess this is a Life question? Anyway: this one is really hard for me because I LOVE music. So I would really prefer to spend a few hours sifting through my library and my playlists before I say anything definitive and potentially tarnish my usual methods of music-sharing. But I'll risk that and go with my instinct. Because what immediately comes to mind is M83's "In The Cold I'm Standing." It's mostly because when I listen to it I get into a really deep train of thought. I get lost in it. So it might not fit the actual definition of "epic" in terms of length, but it's emotionally evocative enough for me to have it warrant that title: This one—Jesu's "Wolves"—is on the lengthier side, and similarly powerful: "You Don't Know Me" by Apparat was always a favorite of mine, as well: Really I could keep going! I hate to only show three examples, but I'll keep from flooding this page and show you selections from the other writers. If you want me to dedicate an Ask Kotaku just to music, I would be more than happy to in the future. And that would certainly be epic itself. Now on to my colleagues, many of whom could also not contain themselves to one song. Seriously, I had to cut them off. Like a musical bartender. Fahey: Faith No More "Epic" Okay, my real answer is Homeworld by Yes. Evan: John Williams' theme to the 1978 Superman movie never fails to make me feel like a Kryptonian under a yellow sun but it also makes me teary-eyed because I can remember how I felt seeing Christopher Reeve fly across the screen when I was six years old. In terms of video game tunes, I love "Creation - The State of Art" by Ken Ishii from the Rez soundtrack. It's got an urgent thump and a vast sweep that pulls you along but also has smaller sonic details that reward closer listening. It's my deadline music that I play when I need to focus on something. Chris: Rex Tremendae by Mozart. The Legendary Theme from Gitaroo Man. Or maybe The Sun Rises from Okami in terms of games. Kirk: Good lord, that is a big question. Focusing more on "epic" than just "good"... Here are three: Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, Finale (I don't love Bernstein's take, but still.) Jeff Buckley, "Grace" (Mainly for the scream at 4:30.) The Mars Volta, "Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)" (This tune is a true *crag*ing epic, especially the version from De-Loused, and it features some of my all-time favorite rock drumming.) But I like and listen to a lot of epic music, so I'd have to do at least ten to feel like I was scratching the surface. (Editor's note: Exactly!) András: The Fleets Arrive from Mass Effect 3. It was the one moment the whole trilogy was building up to, and the music was suitably epic. Owen: Men of Harlech (the version by Bryn Terfel, Gareth Jones and the Welsh National Opera Orchestra) Pines of the Appian Way—Respighi Going the Distance—Bill Conti (Rocky soundtrack) Luke: Jerusalem, by Sleep. 52 minutes of grandeur. Jason: NOFX - The Decline Eric: Flash Gordon by Queen, heck just Queen in General. Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner This song used to give me nightmares and visions as a child, I remember a daze like feel feeling watching "What's Opera Doc." Richard: When it comes to "epic," I feel the need to aim for the classical side (often with an accompanying choir). The "Winter" section from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" is one of my favorites. And you can't go wrong with Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony." As for game music, I'd say the most epic I've heard is "What Becomes of Us," the theme song to Final Fantasy Type-0. Stephen: Not really this: But probably this: ...which isn't actually called Ric Flair's theme song! Thus Spake Tharathustra. It kicked ass in the movie 2001, too. Ash: Serge Gainsbourg's "Cargo Culte" Anything on A Love Supreme: Station to Station: There's more. Way more, but these jumped out at me. Gergo: Makoto Fujiwara - SDF Macross opening theme Ogura Kei - Hikari No Hashi O Koete (Legend of the Galactic Heroes ending #1) You May Call Me Father from the Bayonetta OST Regarding Games and Gaming Final Fantasy XI's anniversary Just curious, since I didn't see it get much attention from Kotaku or other sites. Some fun facts (sorry I don't have references handy): -Original release date in Japan: May 15th, 2002, PS2 & PC -Expansions since release: 5 -Add ons: 6 -Current platforms: PS2, Xbox 360, Windows PC -The most recent expansion, Seeker's of Adoulin, is the final commercial title to be released for the PS2 -Monthly active subscribers: approx. 500,000 -Most profitable Final Fantasy title to date for Square-Enix I think I can't wait for the HD remake of Final Fantasy X! I have a very personal connection to that game. But, in all seriousness, Final Fantasy XI was certainly a fascinating entry in the FF series. I never got into it myself, but I had friends invest serious hours into that game daily. You're right that it was the most profitable Final Fantasy game, but the other impressive statistic is that it was the first cross-platform MMO. How awesome is that? One of our readers actually wrote a tribute to the game on its 10-year anniversary. It's worth a read. Sharing games with family members I'm a 13-year old who loves gaming, and I am good in studies, so my parents don't care about me playing video games every time. The only problem I have is... my 3-year old nephew. Why? He's a gamer too! He started by playing Angry Birds on my(MINE) PC and then he started to play the SNES games I backed up on it. He plays Super Mario World better than me and he also plays FIFA & Gran Turismo on my(in this case, family's) PS3. It's hurting his eyes too! So my problem is this - how do I get him to stop playing games on my PC, and also my PS3? I am the youngest of three kids. That means, growing up, I never really got to play games. I sure as hell got to watch my brothers play a lot of games, though. The best I could do was steal the controller away while my middle brother (the biggest culprit) wasn't looking. The second he saw me playing, he'd gain interest again and decide he was going to play at that moment. It sucked! You should enjoy sharing the experience with your nephew. You two can bond over it—even if bonding translates to fighting over the controller. It's something you guys can laugh about when you're older. Of course, there have to be boundaries since they are your things and he's much younger and should respect that. Just set time limits and restrictions. Like not chewing on the keyboard or whatever it is three-year-olds do. Regarding Kotaku Getting news How do video game journalists get their tips? I am trying establish a reputation, so people will say "He's nice and trustworthy". I actually managed to get a tip by accident about the PS4. Then I submitted it to your website and others too. I did not hear anything and figure that some else submitted it. The main reason behind this is I do not want to become famous by giving out these tips, I just want people to know. Should I have friends in this industry or just hunt on twitter to find tips? What do you all do? We get our news from lots of places. Sometimes they're emailed to us by tipsters and readers. Sometimes they're from our personal sources. Sometimes we find things on Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook and other social sites. Other times they're more basic, like press releases and RSS feeds and interviews we conduct. We basically live and breathe the Internet for news, and reach out to our contacts for even more. Interacting with commenters A thing I was wondering for a while now (but I just remembered to ask) was how do you guys deal with colourful commenters (like me), and where do you draw the line? Do you have some favourites that you ignore and give space that other commenters don’t have? You said in a other question that you guys talk about rude commenters, but do you also talk normal commenters, and talk about what some commenters are allowed to do and where to draw the line? It depends on the level of colorful commenting that you're talking about. We won't tolerate hateful comments or attacks. We enjoy differing opinions, just as much as we as the writers and editors of Kotaku have differences in opinions between us. We draw the line at nasty comments meant to troll or hate on someone in particular or on a group of people. Anything NSFW has to go, too. We don't play favorites in this regard. If it's something we deem inappropriate, favorite commenter or not, it has no place on our site. I'm sure some of us have favorite commenters, though. Personally, I view us all as one big community. And ever since the launch of Kinja, I think that community has been delightful in a way it hasn't been in some time. We have more discussions and conversations. People seem more open to communicating. So you're basically all collectively my favorite. Yes, yes, cheesy, I know. As for your other question: sometimes you guys create the craziest, weirdest, funniest threads and we all discuss them in our group chat. I know Stephen and I tweet our favorite ones often. Sometimes I steal the amazing GIFs you guys post and brag about you on Twitter. We have fun when you guys have fun. We discuss what goes on in TAY, too. We love how much effort and love and personality the community pours into everything they do. We discuss interesting conversations, rebuttals, reactions. Everything. We consider your guys' contribution to Kotaku as a big part of the site overall. To contact the author of this post, write to tina@kotaku.com or find her on Twitter at @tinaamini.

Welcome to another one of those app reviews where I spend all day planning on reviewing a specific title but then get so caught up in something unexpected and new that I go completely off-track until I'm peeing on a brush fire. Peeing on a brush fire is just one of many activities in G.O.L. Legend, or simply G.O.L., an acronym of a name delivered with absolutely no indication of what it stands for. I guess it's being left open to interpretation. Speculate away. It ultimately doesn't matter, because once you begin tapping the screen, everything else is just static. Let me set up the game for you. You're a knight (initially, at least). Your princess is kidnapped. You move from screen to screen to save her. On most screens you move forward automatically, tapping the screen to swing your sword to kill enemies, plant yourself to withstand tornadoes, or shield yourself from dragon's breath or raining arrows. On other screens you are timed-jumping through lava fountains. Or shooting a bow to activate a trap. Or swimming across a lake. Or pushing a rock uphill. Or peeing out fires. You gather coins, and your taps and time are kept track of for comparison purposes. The TouchGameplay folks made a gameplay trailer to show you how all of this works. It's just tapping — tapping with a single finger. It's a slideshow of simple mini-games woven together into a simple-yet-engrossing tapestry. After defeating the first of three stages and unlocking the second of nine characters (now the princess can save the knight), I'm convinced. G.O.L. is a brilliant new way to tell a very old story, even if I have no idea what the full title of that story may be. G.O.L. Genre: Mini-Game AdventureDeveloper: D&D Dream Corp.Platform: iOSPrice: $.99 Get G.O.L. in iTunes

Despite the company's marketing tagline, Razer's new Blade ultrathin gaming laptop isn't really "thinner than a dime." It's thinner than a dime… that's been placed on its side. That said, it's still a pretty darned thin gaming laptop. (And you know what, it's sort of a cute tagline. After all, a laptop truly thinner than a dime would be horrifyingly, uselessly thin.) Yesterday, I attended Razer's announcement event for their two new gaming laptops: The more-powerful and ever-so-slightly cheaper 17" Razer Blade Pro and the new ultrathin 14" Razer Blade. If you'd like the vital stats on those machines, Mike posted the info yesterday. Short version: The 14" Blade sports an Intel Haswell processor, 8GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5. Since I had a chance to mess around with the new Blade after the presentation, I figured I'd go after the biggest question I had: How does this thing stack up to a MacBook Air, size-wise? I took out my 13" Air and shot some comparison photos: As you can see, despite Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan's assurances that the Blade is a fraction of an inch thinner than the Air is at its thickest, the Air is certainly the less substantial laptop. It's lighter, too. But the Blade is indeed a mighty small computer, and its 14", 1600x900 screen is an inch larger than my MacBook's. And of course, most important of all is what's on that screen: High-end PC games that my MacBook Air couldn't run in its wildest dreams. (Though in the little guy's defense, he runs FTL just fine, and that's all the laptop gaming I need.) I played a few minutes of Metro: Last Light on the Blade and it ran flawlessly on very high settings. FRAPS wasn't running, but I'd guess the game was hitting around 35-45 FPS. The gentleman next to me was running Crysis 3 and getting similar results. Here's what I've got on two other things commenters mentioned after yesterday's announcement: Battery life and the potential for crotch-scorching heat. In the presentation, Tan claimed that the Blade can get 6 hours of battery life, based on Mobilemark 2007 benchmarks. But as anyone who's ever bought a laptop knows, press conference battery-life claims* are generally awfully generous. I'd be surprised if this thing could really sustain an airplane Last Light gaming session for 6 hours, but I guess we'll have to wait until people test it to know for sure. *(Always with that asterisk.) As for the heat, the Blade I tested was certainly very warm when I picked it up, and while I wouldn't call the heat "crotch-scorching," between the types of games it'll be running, the battery demands and the heat, this laptop will probably be at its best when resting on a hotel-room desk or an airplane tray-table. I have no need for a powerful, hardcore gaming laptop, but if I did—if I traveled all the time or didn't have a lot of room in my apartment—I can absolutely see the appeal of either the Blade or the Blade Pro. The green branding isn't really my thing, but both machines have a clean, understated design that doesn't look garish or childish in that way gaming PCs so often can. And I have to say, it was pretty cool to play one of the most demanding modern PC games on a laptop the size of my MacBook. Even if I'll never understand how someone could hope to play an FPS with a trackpad. If you want more nitty-gritty details on the new Razer gaming laptops, check out Mike's post from yesterday. And if you'd like to see a row of dudes testing gaming laptops at a media event, well, you're in luck:

What do the people making games think about Xbox One? We asked, they answered, and it's not all loving.

This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. It's rare for an iPhone adaptation of a classic game to work out at all; rarer still for said adaptation to be preferable to the original. Jordan Mechner's faithful iOS/Android port of Karateka accomplishes this task handily, partly because of convenient portability, and partly because of nice new features.

But more than anything else, Karateka Classic succeeds because the original's controls weren't that great to begin with. Karateka is, when you get right down to it, a game about shuffling your feet up to your opponent, and then mashing on the kick buttons until he falls over. Like every other pre-Street Fighter 2 fighting game, attacks are slow and connecting depends not so much on timing or frame counting, but the will of some capricious computer god.

It's mesmerizing to watch AweMeChannel do 3D chalk art of Duck Hunt at high speed. Not only that, but they also animate the chalk art at the end to make it look like the Duck Hunt is "playable." Very awesome. Duck Hunt 3D Chalk Art [AweMeChannel]

This week brings the App Store release of Marbly, an iOS puzzle game designed by famed Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov.

Marbly is a match-three puzzler in which the object is to remove all marbles from the game board in as few moves as possible. The game includes over 180 puzzles across three gameplay modes, and offers Game Center achievements and leaderboards.

Marbly is developed by WildSnake Software, itself named after another Pajitnov creation. WildSnake notes that Marbly is the first game in a series of planned mobile app collaborations with Pajitnov.

The somewhat-wonderful, somewhat-demented interactive incarceration simulator Prison Architect always gets the best updates. To wit: "Internally we've done a lot to increase the realism by implementing a more advanced model of prisoner anger. This now results in full scale riots and riot police to restore law and order." They've also added Steam Workshop support and made a Linux version to go along with the PC and Mac versions. Prison Architect may not be finished yet, but that Alpha's been good. You can start playing it now, if you buy access on Steam. Get it for $27 at the moment. Or read more about the Alpha 10 update first. And then get it! It's from Introversion. They make quality. To contact the author of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.

It‘s almost midnight and I have spent the last hour killing myself over and over and over again. 205M. Too far. 199M. Almost there. 199M again. So close. This continues, the tapping of my space bar sharpening behind the force of frustration with each failed attempt, for dozens of playthroughs. 201M. *crag*, seriously? This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Why would they even put this in here? It doesn’t take any skill, it’s complete luck. I am not having fun, quite the opposite in fact, but I stick with it. Getting a score of exactly 200 meters will unlock the last 15G achievement I need in Jetpack Joyride. This is how I play video games now. While I sit here typing this sentence, my gamerscore sits at 122,595G. By the time you read this, it will be higher. I am an achievement hunter, or in less-polite company, an achievement whore. And it’s ruining video games. I don’t remember when exactly I discovered achievements, but I hardly noticed them… at first. Then I got curious, started looking up achievement lists online, watched my gamerscore slowly rise as I’d loosely follow those lists from game to game. It was casual, innocent even. I am an achievement hunter, or in less-polite company, an achievement whore. And it’s ruining video games. Soon, I started seeing articles about achievements, whispering in my ear about games with quick 1000Gs that could be unlocked with minimal effort. I do know that, like a lot of people, my first true act of achievement whoring was in Avatar: The Burning Earth, where you could unlock every achievement in five minutes just by pressing B over and over again. For a few months prior I had fought it, not wanting to sully my gamertag with such an easy score, but finally I caved. I was hooked. What followed was a Requiem for a Dream-style downward spiral into achievement whoring hell. Boosting matches online, changing gameplay sliders in sports games, reloading saves to farm for kills, I did it all. No genre was safe from my addiction, no game too bad or too embarrassing to feed my hunger. When I bought a new game, I wouldn’t play it right away. I’d run to the computer to my favorite achievement websites to find out which achievements were missable and which ones I should be working to complete first. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t play a game without at least looking at its achievement list. But now the Xbox One is coming, with achievements that carry across multiple games and can be added post-launch by the developers, and I know that I can’t keep going on this way. No genre was safe from my addiction, no game too bad or too embarrassing to feed my hunger. I need to reflect on what got me here, on how I let it slip out of control. I need to change. I never got the fourth bottle in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the one you earn by riding around Hyrule Field shooting big Poes with arrows from horseback. The big Poes would always disappear too quickly, and my aim was never very good, so I left it alone and went along my way. I already had three bottles anyways, why did I need another one? Back before I discovered achievements, I played games because I liked them. I didn’t care that I had left certain games half-finished, or didn’t get X number of headshots with a certain weapon. If a game was fun, I played it. If it wasn’t, I stopped. So simple. That fourth bottle might have been a lot more tempting if it had had 100Gs attached to it. Looking back, I wonder if that experience would have been different if there had been achievements to fuel my gaming habits in my younger years. Would I have obsessed over that one chapter I never could unlock in WWF No Mercy’s story mode? Would I have gone back and rented Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. to earn its achievements, even though I already owned Slugfest? Would I have quit Disney’s Aladdin every time I missed a red jewel until I had collected them all in one sitting? I’d like to think that my entertainment wouldn’t have been altered, but I’m not so sure. That fourth bottle might have been a lot more tempting if it had had 100Gs attached to it. Despite my earlier gaming innocence, and like any proper psychological abnormality, there were signs that I was ripe for achievement whoring at a young age. When I was in elementary school, my dad and I engaged in a serious war fought on the battlefield of Minesweeper’s top-times board. My dad was subtle—he wouldn’t say anything when he beat my time, but would leave his name on the leaderboard for me to discover on my own. When I beat him, I was less subtle—I called him at work in the middle of the day. What’s that Dad, you’re in the middle of a big project? No problem, I just wanted to let you know that I got 111 seconds on expert! Yes, I still remember that 111 seconds was the time that knocked him off of the leaderboard. It’s also the first time I can remember that a game became more about playing and beating it—it became about a number. And I found numbers quite easy to obsess over. There have been several low points in my achievement whoring career. For a two-year stretch, my Gamefly queue was dedicated to nothing but children’s games and four-year-old sports titles that could be burned through in a couple of days for a quick 1000Gs. If it was a movie tie-in or had LEGO or an adorable Pixar character on the box, you better believe that I was playing it. A game became more about playing and beating it—it became about a number. During one session, I needed to intercept a pass for a touchdown in NCAA Football, and I recruited my fiancée to help. “Wait, you have to hit A to select the play, then A to hike the ball, THEN B to throw to the receiver that I’m covering. Got it?” I’m certain that this experience has single-handedly kept her away from playing a co-op game with me ever since. I also had to explain to my fiancée why it’s perfectly acceptable for a grown man to play Hannah Montana because you can max out its achievements in just a few hours. The arguments, surprisingly, are not as persuasive as you’d expect them to be. Skyrim is one of my favorite games of this console generation, but I still have to fight a seething resentment every time I play it for one achievement that glitched on two successive playthroughs and cost me 100% completion. And now, finally, here I am, committing suicide en masse in Jetpack Joyride when I could be doing something—literally anything—else. My problem isn’t just that I obsess over achievements, although that doesn’t help. Rather, my problem is that achievement hunting has fundamentally changed the way I approach and play games. I still love gaming but, often, once I’ve played the fun out of a game I’m still left with a sizeable list of achievements that have me doing something I could care less about save for the corresponding gamerscore boost. Hours of playtime that could be used to play something new instead get consumed with monotonous task-managing, all in the name of increasing a number that has no actual value. Hours of playtime that could be used to play something new—something fun—instead get consumed with monotonous task-managing, all in the name of increasing a number that has no actual value. And if a game has a dreaded missable achievement, I’ll play in rigid paranoia until it unlocks, knowing that my chance at 100% is still intact. This is a problem. The first step is admitting that you have a problem. My road to recovery started, ironically enough, with an achievement list—the cut-and-pasted MLB 2K13 list that was a carbon copy of 2K12’s list. To me, there was no clearer indication that this game would be a woeful retread of the previous year’s model and, stuck with no new baseball game to play alongside the actual season, I popped in my original Xbox copy of MVP Baseball 2004 instead. Backwards-compatible Xbox games have no achievements, despite the achievement-hunting community’s cries for Microsoft to put them in retroactively. So for the first time in quite some time, I just gamed, never looking at an achievement list or worrying about what I needed to unlock, and it felt good. Really good. It’s a small step, but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Part of me worries that the Xbox One will suck me back in with its platform-wide achievements, but as long as I stay diligent, I think I’ll be ok. The other day, I missed an achievement in Tomb Raider by forgetting to talk to one of my crewmates until it was too late to go back, and I’m ok with that. I think they call that acceptance. Cameron Gidari is a freelance writer and the author of Seattle Before8 and the upcoming Manhattan Before8. His work is featured on gidarimedia.com, and he can be reached on Twitter at CGidari. Republished with permission.