All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

The Facebook page for 5TH Cell's Scribblenauts is teasing ... something. "Get your rooster hats ready!" a message posted on the game's "Wall" reads. "We have a very special announcement coming very soon..." We have no idea what's being announced, or even when, but it seems really early for a sequel announcement. Maybe another platform? Or maybe something outside the game, like a contest. In any case, if you like Scribblenauts, 5TH Cell is going to tell us all something that will probably be delightful. Speaking of delightful, the pictured object is "Game of the Year" as rendered by the game. That's just adorable.[Thanks, Josh!]

Most game retailers have dropped the price of the DS Lite to $94, as you can see from the image above. This looks like a week-long promotion that will end next Thursday. Best Buy isn’t the only retailer offering this deal, as Walmart has joined in as well. If you’re looking for [...]

I’ve never heard of the Gormiti brand before, but apparently it’s long-running, and quite popular at that. This might be why Konami has snatched up the Gormiti license to make Gormiti: The Lords of Nature Return for both Wii and DS. The game will be loosely based on the TV series, and will [...]

I still can’t believe that this was a real game. Further still, I had no idea it had a blood code! Time to hit eBay for a used copy!

Craig Alexander, Turbine's vp of product development, spoke at Austin GDC today in a panel called "MMOs to Consoles", which is no surprise since Turbine is working on a console MMO. It's investing heavily in the MMO console arena, and their current title, which remains unannounced, is in "active development."However, he did spend a lot of time pointing out how difficult it is to develop games on the PS3 vs. the Xbox 360. Duck your head as the fanboys go to it.Here's the logic: The Blu-ray drive on the PS3 is actually slower in seek and access time than the DVD drive on the Xbox 360. Once the Blu-ray gets up to speed, it can handle large amount of data. Just not in seeking and accessing, which is a pain for streaming when you're playing something like an MMO. The memory architecture is different. When you're dealing with main memory, you work with "256ish MB" on the PS3 vs "512ish MB" on the 360. The tools aren't as friendly on the PS3. That includes the performance monitor tools, the debugger tools ... everything. Migrating a project from the Xbox 360 to the PS3 is much harder than moving from the PS3 to the 360. Alexander recommends starting on the PS3 to get all of the heavy lifting done first, but using his same logic it sounds like developers will have a frustrating time during that process. Don't happy tools make happy workers? Gamers already feel like some titles suffer because they have to be developed for both platforms. Is this going to affect MMOs coming to both platforms?There's more. Read on, Macduff.

Craig Alexander, Turbine's vp of product development, spoke at Austin GDC today in a panel called "MMOs to Consoles", which is no surprise since Turbine is working on a console MMO. It's investing heavily in the MMO console arena, and their current title, which remains unannounced, is in "active development."However, he did spend a lot of time pointing out how difficult it is to develop games on the PS3 vs. the Xbox 360. Duck your head as the fanboys go to it.Here's the logic: The Blu-ray drive on the PS3 is actually slower in seek and access time than the DVD drive on the Xbox 360. Once the Blu-ray gets up to speed, it can handle large amount of data. Just not in seeking and accessing, which is a pain for streaming when you're playing something like an MMO. The memory architecture is different. When you're dealing with main memory, you work with "256ish MB" on the PS3 vs "512ish MB" on the 360. The tools aren't as friendly on the PS3. That includes the performance monitor tools, the debugger tools ... everything. Migrating a project from the Xbox 360 to the PS3 is much harder than moving from the PS3 to the 360. Alexander recommends starting on the PS3 to get all of the heavy lifting done first, but using his same logic it sounds like developers will have a frustrating time during that process. Don't happy tools make happy workers? Gamers already feel like some titles suffer because they have to be developed for both platforms. Is this going to affect MMOs coming to both platforms?There's more. Read on, Macduff.

Revisit the pivotal trailers that dropped during development.

This artbook is due to hit Japan on October 9th. Still no word on the game, or this book, coming stateside.

It sucks to be in the Dead Space universe. If you're not turned into a horribly mutated zombie, then you're being ripped apart by aforementioned zombies. The upcoming Dead Space Extraction for Wii certainly places its characters between a rock and a really horrible, bloody place. The latest dev diary for the rail shooter reveals the characters of the game, and talks about how each character has their own unique motivations. They are united by one thing though: the incredible desire not to meet a bloody, guts-splattering death.One key thing to note about Extraction is that it's far more story-driven than the first game, offering five times the dialogue as the original. Considering you're traveling with a group of people, instead of exploring solo, that makes a lot of sense. It'll be interesting to see how the Wii audience responds to yet another third-party M-rated game.

Who would have known that traveling by footwear would have been so much fun?! I know Miyamoto isn’t too fond of rehashing old power-ups, but I really wish he would make an exception in this instance.

I’m off to bed, for just a few hours! Just as our announcements bar says, we are recording the podcast at noon today, instead of three. The entire podcast crew has a wedding to go to a little bit later on Saturday! For those that listen to the show, rare guest Woodland [...]

There's usually a nostalgia element to Bomberman games -- since the core gameplay has remained basically identical over the last twenty years or so, a lot of the appeal of Bomberman lies in memories of awesome multiplayer sessions past. But there isn't usually a '70s nostalgia element, mostly because Bomberman didn't exist until 1983. Hudson's teaser for Bomberman Live: Battlefest, the new WiiWare/XBLA/PSN Bomberman party game, adds a lovely anachronistic touch not usually seen in Bomberman marketing. And also a bunch of footage of stuff exploding in cross patterns.

I was curious as to what MySims Camera was all about. Sadly, this was the only video I could find on YouTube!

Two screens are from the Nintendo Power preview that we featured earlier in the week, and one of those is brand-new. Making the screens even better is the fact that they’re direct-feed. Seriously, is that not some of the most beautiful pixel-art you’ve ever seen?

The profile for Gabriel Cunningham has opened up at the official Trauma Team website. If Mr. Cunningham tickles your fancy, you can grab yourself a wallpaper of the man as well.

What if the Professor Layton series somehow crossed paths with C.S.I., or Law and Order? That’s what this flash video has done, with a dose of humor tossed in. Click over to check it out. Video here (CAUTION - FOUL LANGUAGE)

Steve Purcell’s limited-edition slipcover was made available exclusively to those who pre-ordered Tales of Monkey Island from the Telltale website, but now it’s available as a stunning 21.75″ x 16″ print for everyone to cherish and enjoy! Unsigned prints are shipping now & signed prints will ship sometime in the next few weeks.

This is simply not right. ExciteBots is the better game, I tells ya! I swear, one of you guys better go out this weekend and take advantage of this Walmart deal! Thanks to CoffeewithChess for the heads up.

Wow, that baby is bad-ass! I don’t know how Nintendo got from this concept design to the red beast that we all know. This version looks much more portable, but according to Gunpei Yokoi, a solution to making the Virtual Boy easier to use was on the way. “We have plans for a shoulder-mounted [...]

Ubisoft has released the first of its developer diaries for Avatar: The Game. This video mainly covers the Avatar universe and how the game will be directly related to the film. Avatar: The Game is not your typical licensed game -- at least in respect to its story, by being officially recognized as canon in a larger universe.Those of you looking to see some gameplay will notice some snippets above, though the video is mainly developers and Cameron talking about the game. Don't worry, though: Cameron doesn't pull another Cameron.

It's not often that we get to post a breaking news, stop-the-presses kind of story about an impending sequel to a beloved franchise. Of course, that adage doesn't really apply to Street Figher, a series with more sequels and spin-offs than the Joystiq staff has fingers and toes. On the Japanese Street Fighter IV blog, Capcom's Natsuki Shiozawa intimated that an announcement regarding a sequel would be made in the near future. With TGS only a week away, we can only hope that such an announcement will be made then. IGN quite rightly notes that an SFIV "sequel" doesn't necessarily equate to a brand new entry in the series. Given the series' history, it's easily possible that it could end up being an extension of the game, à la Street Fighter II Championship Edition. We might add that an SFIV refresh would be perfect for the impending holiday shopping season.