All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#midnightlaunches GameStop just dropped a list of stores opening at midnight to make sure 24-hour Walmart stores don't steal all of their customers when the game launches. Will you be staying up late to kill the gods? More »

Almost a year ago, a trademark for "Crafting Mama" was spotted. It's now being put to use, as Majesco has announced, well, Crafting Mama for DS. In her latest endeavor, Mama will occupy her seemingly endless time with a new task: arts & crafts.

In a series of 40 projects, players will create things like birdhouses, quilts, kaleidoscopes and adorable new aprons for Mama to wear, as well as Mama dolls. Of course, these creations will all be realized through the familiar touch-based minigames, played alone and in multiplayer, which so many of us have grown to love in the utterly populous Cooking Mama game franchise. It's kind of crazy that a company can announce a game about making quilts and birdhouses, and we can already pretty much imagine how to play it!

Majesco plans a fall 2010 release for Crafting Mama, but we suspect the publisher is at least considering bumping that up a bit.

Paper Plane is a very simple game to play, but it can quickly become super addictive. Having this game with you while you’re on the throne can keep you occupied long after you’re done doing your…business!

Game developers take notes from the pioneering studio.

New zone arrives in long-running MMO.

#gdc10 How does Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto explain his Nintendo DS megahit Tomodachi Collection—still a Japan-only release—to the non-Japanese GDC attendee? By putting high-level Nintendo execs in weird Tomodachi Collection situations, including Sakamoto's own virtual crush on Samus Aran. More »

Speaking during GDC, Peter Molyneux highlighted Lionhead's strategy for Fable 3, specifically noting that a franchise will die if it fails to grow. "If we don't grow as a franchise, If Fable doesn't get bigger as a franchise," said Molyneux, "then it will eventually die." Lionhead is "very happy" with the success of Fable so far, with Molyneux stating that the original Fable sold "about 3 million" copies, while Fable 2 moved approximately 3.5 million.

He added that he hopes that 25-30 percent more people will play Fable 3, explaining Lionhead's plans to craft Fable 3 as more of an action-adventure title -- a genre which tends to perform better than RPGs. The overall goal for Lionhead is to sell more than five million copies of Fable 3. According to Molyneux, Fable 3 needs to sell that many in order to "be part of the big boys, the big blockbusters."

How will Lionhead rope in that many new customers? Read our full coverage of the Fable 3 GDC panel to find out.

A new party member and more, for a price.

Prepare to be amazed. These are some of the most breathtaking visuals from GDC 10.

[1UP]
It would appear that the still-unnamed next project in the Dragon Age series has been given a date, as spotted by 1UP in an early retail box of Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening for PS3. Aligning with the release window hinted at by EA hinted earlier this year during a financial call, the scarcely-detailed game will arrive on Februrary 1, 2011 -- or, in the graphic's terms, "02.01.2011."

We're not exactly sure if this is part of the two years of promised content that BioWare outlined late last year, but at very least it's an extremely early (possible) release date for more content in a critically acclaimed series. We've asked EA for more information on the date and will let you know more as soon as we do.

If you saw our live broadcast on Ustream yesterday, then you’ve been properly introduced to PlayStation Move. We’re incredibly excited to start bringing you lots of PlayStation Move content in the coming months, starting right here. Head on over to PlayStation.com to find out what PlayStation Move is bringing to the PS3.

On Tuesday, GameSpot premiered the very first PlayStation Move developer diary, which you can see in its entirely here. And today, we’re premiering PlayStation Move Developer Diary #2, featuring Zindagi Games. In the video, you’ll get special behind-the-scenes insight into PlayStation Move, as well as game footage in action. Enjoy it!

Meeting with Gaikai's founding fathers -- ( from left to right) Rui Pereira, Andrew Gault and David Perry -- this morning, we chatted about the company's unique take on "cloud gaming," particularly how, unlike competitor OnLive, there will be no fee to play streaming games using its servers and in-browser app, and what it's doing to "reduce friction" in trying (and eventually buying) games online.

Saying that Gaikai "isn't trying to be PlayStation 4 or take out the next Wii," Perry described (and demoed) the concept of embedding instantly playable games on any website. A publisher can, for instance, have a clickable pop-up appear when people are looking at one of its games on Amazon, which quickly launches an overlay window running the full game, with whatever time limit the publisher chooses. After this period, players can opt to buy the game for unlimited streaming, download it, or have a physical copy shipped to them.

What intrigued us more is the ability to Tweet from within these demos, and, if you're playing a multiplayer title, anyone who clicks the link sent to your Twitter feed will be launched into your game. We also got a look at a widget that places a small video of any game you're currently playing via Gaikai on your personal blog, which friends can click to either try the game or actually join the session you're in, if applicable. This demo used Mario Kart 64, in which it was possible for Gaikai staff to drop in as player two, three or four fairly easily.

Perry also revealed to us that Gaikai has secured servers at 300 data centers across the US (as opposed to OnLive's five), in addition to inking deals with local broadband providers to install servers at another 900 peering locations -- all with the goal of keeping latency as low as possible. The ideas we saw in action have the potential to shake up the traditional game demo model, for sure. What do you think of what Gaikai's cooking up?

While Mass Effect 2's in-game DLC pipeline, The Cerberus Network, continues to transport new weapons (and soon, a new vehicle) to players for free, BioWare has announced the game's first pack of paid downloadable content. "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" finally completes Commander Shepard's dirty dozen, adding a confident female thief to your anti-Reaper repertoire. It's currently scheduled to launch for Xbox 360 and PC on April 6th.

After downloading the DLC, players can get in touch with Kasumi on the Citadel, either in the middle of an ongoing Mass Effect 2 game or after the completion of the main story (lesson learned from Mass Effect 1 DLC!). Once recruited, Shepard aids Kasumi on a secretive mission of recovery, which requires a suave disguise and a run-in with an influential and predictably corrupt art collector. The content, which also provides the "Locust" SMG, a flash-bang grenade loyalty power and a new Achievement, should take about an hour and a half to complete.

BioWare is currently in the midst of "internal discussion" to determine the price of the DLC, but we'll keep you updated as soon as it's finalized. Look for some impressions of "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" on Joystiq later today. Spoiler: It looks great.

Hi Everyone – It’s time for the weekly digital comics update for the PSP. This week, we have the first ever five issues of The X-Men (1963) from Marvel. Also, Red 5 return with the first issue of We Kill Monsters – an action-comedy in which two brothers discover monsters in their sleepy town and the power to do something about it. As always, you can check out www.playstationcomics.com for more info. Enjoy!

• 2000AD Prog # 1670 - $ 1.99
• Archie & Friends # 137 - $ 1.99
• Betty & Veronica # 1 - $ 1.99
• Donald Duck and the Vacation Chain # 0 - $ 0.99
• Donald Duck in: “Gone With The Wind” # 3 - $ 1.99
• Dreamland Chronicles # 2 - $ 1.99
• G.I. Joe # 8 - $ 1.99
• G.I. Joe Origins # 8 - $ 1.99
• G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes # 2 - $ 1.99
• Locke & Key: Head Games # 5 - $ 0.99
• Marvel Knights (2000) # 11 - $ 1.99
• Marvel Knights (2000) # 12 - $ 1.99
• Marvel Knights (2000) # 13 - $ 1.99
• Marvel Knights (2000) # 14 - $ 1.99
• Marvel Knights (2000) # 15 - $ 1.99
• Scrooge McDuck and the Coin-Eating Plant # 0 - $ 0.99
• Star Trek: Nero # 2 - $ 1.99
• Superduck # 8 - $ 1.99
• Transformers: All Hail Megatron # 15 - $ 1.99
• Transformers # 3 - $ 1.99
• Transformers: Tales of the Fallen # 2 - $ 1.99
• Transformers: Tales of the Fallen # 3 - $ 1.99
• We Kill Monsters # 1 - $ 0.99
• Wizards of Mickey # 4 - $ 0.99
• Wolverine (2003) # 56 - $ 1.99
• Wolverine (2003) # 57 - $ 1.99
• Wolverine (2003) # 58 - $ 1.99
• Wolverine (2003) # 59 - $ 1.99
• Wolverine (2003) # 60 - $ 1.99
• Wolverine (2003) # 61 - $ 1.99
• The X-Men (1963) # 1 - $ 1.99
• The X-Men (1963) # 2 - $ 1.99
• The X-Men (1963) # 3 - $ 1.99
• The X-Men (1963) # 4 - $ 1.99
• The X-Men (1963) # 5 - $ 1.99
• X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (2004) # 1 - $ 1.99
• X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (2004) # 2 - $ 1.99
• X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (2004) # 3 - $ 1.99
• X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (2004) # 4 - $ 1.99
• X-Men: Phoenix Endsong (2004) # 5 - $ 1.99

#gameannounce A year after we discovered a trademark registration for it, Majesco is finally ready to make Crafting Mama official. The woman with the most free time in the world returns this fall with a whole new bag of domestic tricks. More »

We learn about new features of the cloud-based gaming platform.

click to visit the new Albion
Peter Molyneux has made it clear that Fable 3 is ditching as much of the 2D interface from Fable 2 as possible. Speaking at GDC, he finally showed us exactly how Lionhead will achieve this. According to Molyneux, Microsoft user research revealed that a majority of Fable 3 players understood fewer than half of the features in the game. "We're creating content that people literally don't care about," said Molyneux.

To help rectify this, Fable 3's menu system is managed entirely from within the game world. When players pause the game, their character is instantly warped to a chamber with different rooms that serve different functions. Molyneux specifically demonstrated the dressing room, where players will change clothes. Molyneux contrasted the process with that of Fable 2, in which changing outfits was like "going in the morning and choosing index cards to choose what you wear."

Zap kart-driving friends wherever you are.

Damn the haters, I say. Yoshi’s Island DS is a great game…I had a blast with it! I really do like it as much as the original, and can’t understand why it got crapped on by some gamers. I think it might have something to do with the last few levels in [...]

Metroid and WarioWare's director and producer talks about his projects.

Capcom has announced the Japanese release date for Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi's supernatural puzzle adventure game, Ghost Trick. Japan will be able to put Sissel's spirit into a bicycle on June 24. Capcom has yet to offer a date for North American or European releases beyond simply 2010, but if the game is in a complete state by June, that bodes well for localization sometime in the fall.

However, if you can't wait that long, and you don't mind clicking through a bunch of Japanese text, you can play the TGS demo right now! Capcom posted a flash demo to the Ghost Trick site.

[Via Andriasang]

Yoshio Sakamoto has had a rather diverse career with Nintendo, having worked on games like Metroid, WarioWare and Tomodatchi Collection. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata asked the Metroid: Other M producer to speak at GDC to "explore the secret of creating games for such a dynamic range of titles."

One of Sakamoto's greatest inspirations seems to be film, noting directors Dario Argento, Luc Besson, John Woo and Brian de Palma as key figures. In particular, he found Argento's "Deep Red" to have a profound impact. Argento's manipulation of mood through music and timing is something he found moving; the use of foreshadowing helped transcend the film beyond other horror films.

Other M will take these various inspirations by becoming a "synthesis of everything I've learned," Sakamoto told the audience. A new trailer screened for GDC attendees highlighted various cinematic moments in the upcoming Wii game, including a CG reimagination of Super Metroid's climatic ending. Sakamoto pointed out the return of Metroid Fusion's Adam, reminding the audience that foreshadowing will play a key role in creating suspense in the interquel. Considering the subsequent applause, it seems clear that Metroid fans approve of this new direction.

EA offers help to avoid 'mapathy.'