All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Some of the biggest names in shooters gather to talk about what's next for the genre.

The big boss himself wants to surprise players.

Bring the arcade home.

No, no, no. This simply will not do. There are so, so many things in this world worth buying with money you don't technically have, that we can't sympathize with a 12-year-old boy who, according to the Guardian, ran up a £905 tab (something like $1,380) by purchasing FarmVille funny money through developer Zynga. Since the boy lives with his (unknowing) mother, the company reportedly refused to refund the money, leaving the boy's life savings and the mother's credit card account in a world of hurt.

There are a handful of burning questions at the forefront of our minds with this story, the most pressing being: What was the endgame, here, kid? Was your sizable initial investment going to be completely recouped with this season's bumper crop harvest of virtual soybeans?

#psp Metal Gear fans won't have to settle for the limited edition (and garish) "spirited green" PSP when buying their Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker bundle. The superior "Big Boss" pack is also coming to U.S and Canada. More »

If you're a regular reader, you probably already know why we use the word "exclusive" in quotes so often. But if you're not, you might not know that it's because of situations like this, where the Xbox 360 "exclusive" Modern Warfare 2 DLC (a five map pack titled "Stimulus Package") is suddenly announced as heading to PlayStation 3 and PC. In fairness, as detailed by Microsoft to Eurogamer back in January, we already knew this particular exclusivity deal had a built-in expiration date.

What we didn't know, however, was an official release date for the PS3 and PC versions. Infinity Ward community man Robert Bowling revealed the May 4 US release date for PSN via Twitter, also detailing a May 5 release date worlwide for PS3s and May 4 for PCs worldwide. Though he doesn't specify, we have to imagine that pricing will remain in line with the content's $15 tag on XBLM. We've followed up with Bowling for clarity's sake and will let you know the solid pricing details as soon as we hear back.

#sports Tim Tebow getting the cover of NCAA Football 11 was part rumor, part poorly kept secret, and all but assured. EA Sports has confirmed for Kotaku that Tebow will be on the cover of all versions of the game. More »

While you may never get that Halo movie your parents promised you, Halo Waypoint is doing its best to bring you all sorts of Halo goodies that are, at the very least, movie-like. First, the Halo Legends anime series, then Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, and now Halo: The Return, a four-part motion comic series based on the short story of the same name in last year's Halo Evolutions book. The first episode debuted last Saturday but will remain free to watch, only through Waypoint. We've got the trailer for this Saturday's Part 2 above, so be sure to make a note in your Master Chief-themed day planner.

Map pack will be released in May.

#modernwarfare2 Modern Warfare 2's five-map, fifteen-dollar "Stimulus Package" will arrive for both PS3 and PC in North America on May 4, the game's studio just said via Twitter. More »

Crono and crew come to life in this series of four Chrono Trigger Formation Arts Trading Figures from Square Enix, now available for preorder from Entertainment Earth. More »

It figures. Just when we were starting to get excited about never having to type The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom again, 2K Play reveals that The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is jumping from XBLA to PCs via Steam on April 20. See, including the headline, that's three times we've had to type it already today, and this is still the first paragraph.

The whimsical platformer, originally developed by The Odd Gentlemen, is being ported (with 5 new puzzles) by 2K China. If you've managed to stay ignorant of its monochromatic charms to this point, we've got a trailer for you right after the break.

Let's make this episode personal. And give away stuff!

#ouijaboard It might be your nervous hands or my deceased ancestors that make the pointer on a regular Ouija Board move. On an iPad Ouija Board, there could be another culprit: a computer programmer. Fair or foul? More »

If you're a regular reader, you probably already know why we use the word "exclusive" in quotes so often. But if you're not, you might not know that it's because of situations like this, where the Xbox 360 "exclusive" Modern Warfare 2 DLC (a five map pack titled "Stimulus Package") is suddenly announced as heading to PlayStation 3 and PC. In fairness, as detailed by Microsoft to Eurogamer back in January, we already knew this particular exclusivity deal had a built-in expiration date.

What we didn't know, however, was an official release date for the PS3 and PC versions. Infinity Ward community man Robert Bowling revealed the May 4 US release date for PSN via Twitter, also detailing a May 5 release date worlwide for PS3s and May4 for PCs worldwide. Though he doesn't specify, we have to imagine that pricing will remain in line with the content's $15 tag on XBLM. We've followed up with Bowling for clarity's sake and will let you know the solid pricing details as soon as we hear back.

If you're a regular reader, you probably already know why we use the word "exclusive" in quotes so often. But if you're not, you might not know that it's because of situations like this, where the Xbox 360 "exclusive" Modern Warfare 2 DLC (a five map pack titled "Stimulus Package") is suddenly announced as heading to PlayStation 3 and PC. In fairness, as detailed by Microsoft to Eurogamer back in January, we already knew this particular exclusivity deal had a built-in expiration date.

What we didn't know, however, was an official release date for the PS3 and PC versions. Infinity Ward community man Robert Bowling revealed the May 4 US release date for PSN via Twitter, also detailing a May 5 release date for PS3s and PCs worldwide. Though he doesn't specify, we have to imagine that pricing will remain in line with the content's $15 tag on XBLM. We've followed up with Bowling for clarity's sake and will let you know the solid pricing details as soon as we hear back.

click to kazoomi

You already know what I think of Mass Effect 2, so I won't waste your time going over that here. Suffice it to say that I love it so much that I wasn't about to wait and see what some chubby nobody like myself though of the new DLC, "Kasumi - Stolen Memory." I was buying it, and that was that.

So if we can all agree that Mass Effect 2 is a great game (and we can, right?), it seems what we've basically got here is a value proposition: Does the $7 entry fee provide you with enough new greatness? Let's break down the new, shall we?

But did they use his new throwing motion or his old throwing motion?

#realworldapplications Stanford University communications professor Byron Reeves talks to The Washington Post about how the collaborative online model of games like World of Warcraft can help change real world workplaces and empower better leaders. More »

I don’t even know what would possess someone to do this.

#religionweek It might be your nervous hands or my deceased ancestors that make the pointer on a regular Ouija Board move. On an iPad Ouija Board, there could be another culprit: a computer programmer. Fair or foul? More »

A portion of a PureNintendo review… Why it’s pure * Added level of submergence * Fun colors (blue, white, and pink)

[IGN] If you haven't been following along with the minutiae Halo: Reach development over at Bungie's website, you probably didn't know that the upcoming beta will feature four maps from the final product's full list. Today we finally got a look at what those maps will be -- "Swordbase" and "Powerhouse" (intended for "party game types"), "Overlook" (featuring the "Generator Defense" game type), and the sparsely detailed sandbox design of "Boneyard" (intended for the "Invasion" game type) -- as well as a smattering of new deets on the jetpack-enhanced Halo game.

For instance, we probably won't be finding out too many major campaign secrets during the beta that we didn't already know. The devs at Bungie have only included human-themed maps in the beta as to ensure the secrecy of plot points, actually. "Several of the other maps have different themes that I think are really cool [outside of the beta]," says Bungie's Chris Carney. "I don't really want to talk about them because it would talk about things that are happening in the single-player story." There's a ton more really, really specific stuff (as well as several new screens) over on IGN, if you're into that kind of thing (and let's be honest, if you've made it this far in the post, you probably are).

#salesget This week's bestselling game in Japan, which we'll call Etrian Odyssey III, keeps Tecmo Koei's Fist of the North Star game (aka Hokuto Musou) from enjoying a second week in first place. Kenshiro can't be too happy about that. More »

Teyon, whose last WiiWare effort was Hubert the Teddy Bear: Winter Games, has announced a new WiiWare rail shooter that couldn't be more distant in tone -- or in temperature. Heavy Fire: Special Operations is a realistic military rail shooter set in "the terrorized region in the Middle East." It's also another excuse to get out the Wii Zapper.

Heavy Fire features ground, Blackhawk, and Humvee-based combat, and weapon upgrades based on real equipment, awarded as players rise in military rank. And not only are the environments destructible, you get "additional points for smashing the environment." All right, maybe it's not that realistic. Teyon has yet to announce a price or date for Heavy Fire.

Looks like Nintendo is going to pump out old screenshots on their Twitter before they get to new ones. That’s kind of a bummer! Thanks to 8-Bit Jay for the heads up.