All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Don't call it a comeback.

Come on ride that mount. Come on and ride it.

#republished On page 141 of Noah Wardrip-Fruin's (excellent) Expressive Processing, there's discussion of a citation of from Jesper Juul: More »

A playable ... logo? That's exactly what web giant Google has today, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man's Japanese release. The doodle (Google's term for its event and holiday-specific logos) is accessible on its main page and is a full 255-level game complete with a 256th level "kill screen," just like the original coin-op.

The interactive doodle -- a first for Google -- is the brainchild of senior user experience designer Marcin Wichary, whose earliest exposure to Pac-Man came at age five while traveling across his native Poland with his father, a game technician, to repair arcade machines. Wichary worked with Google doodler (yes, it's a real job) Ryan Germick to create the finished design.

So, for today at least, you can tell your boss: "I may be browsing the web and playing a game, but I'm also being part of something historic."

Note: Joystiq assumes no responsibility for any repercussions that result from playing Google's Pac-Man doodle at work.

If your unique vocal style mostly consists of blood-curdling screams and primal, scratchy howling, then your ship has finally come in. This week, heavy metal outfit Pantera's album "The Great Southern Trendkill" is added to the Rock Band catalog. You can pick up the whole kit n' caboodle for 1280 ($15.99), or grab each pack piecemeal-style, like you've been able to do since the dawn of time.

Click past the jump to see all the tracks included on the album.

#collectorsedition Microsoft confirms a holiday release for Fable III on both Xbox 360 and PC, but if you want a royal amount of Collector's Edition swag, you're going to need to go the console route. More »

According to Siliconera, Level 5 recently trademarked "Professor Layton and the Unwound Future," which seems to correspond with the Japanese name of the third puzzle-rich Professor Layton game, Professor Layton and the Final Time Travel. This is just ... this is so frustrating. We've told Layton over and over again: When you're tying up the future, you've got to use a square knot. These types of problems are best solved with prevention, sir.

Even if this particular title doesn't match up exactly with the Japanese original, the time travel theme seems to feature in both titles. Perhaps Layton will explore his own past, and we'll finally get to learn why he wears such a ridiculously tall hat. That's really the greatest puzzle of all, isn't it?

#pullquote Alan Wake developer, Matias Myllyrinne, as heard during this week's live episode of Kotaku Talk Radio. More »

#review Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the most unnecessary Mario game of all time. More »

This morning, Microsoft officially announced that Fable 3 will be heading to the PC as well as the Xbox 360, confirming news derived from last week's accidental box art reveal. Standard and "Limited Collector's" editions were also detailed -- for $59.99 and $79.99, respectively -- with the latter coming with several in-game and physical items (seen in full after the break).

Since the Windows iteration will only be available in the standard version at retail (for just $50, might we add) and downloadable "exclusively" through Games for Windows Live Marketplace, all PC players will be able to access the extra quest, region, and dog breed that come with the Xbox 360's collector's edition. Between now and the game's fall release, why not take a look through these exciting retail mockups below in our gallery? Oooh!

This morning, Microsoft officially announced that Fable 3 will be heading to the PC as well as the Xbox 360, confirming last week's accidental box art reveal. Standard and "Limited Collector's" editions were also detailed -- for $59.99 and $79.99, respectively -- with the latter coming with several in-game and real life items (seen in full after the break).

Since the Windows iteration will only be available in the standard version at retail (for $10 less at $50, might we add) and downloadable "exclusively" through Games for Windows Live Marketplace, it's unclear whether PC players will be able to access the extra quest, region, and dog breed that come with the Xbox 360's collector's edition. Rather than worry yourself with that, though, why not take a look through these exciting retail mockups below in our gallery. Oooh!

#madden I thought I was going to have a script. Come on up, said EA Sports. We'll put you in the booth with Gus Johnson, the new play-by-play man, and let you play the part of the color analyst. More »

#madden In a madcap dash covering the last seconds of 2009's first Sunday of football, the Denver Broncos won their game, Gus Johnson lost his mind, and Madden NFL 11 found its voice. More »

Click for a screenshot onslaught. Being the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 fan that you are, you've no doubt read about the game's upcoming Onslaught mode DLC. If, for some reason, you haven't -- and didn't click on that link there -- here's the skinny: it will add up to four-player co-op to EA's latest military shooter, pitting human-folk against opposing A.I. foes in a rush to complete four different maps as quickly as possible. You'll want to do that because the mode will sport worldwide leaderboards for each of its four difficulty settings.

I played the mode a couple of weeks back at EA HQ. Even on the lowest difficulty setting my three fellow players and I were absolutely humiliated within seconds of starting our first level. The A.I. is unforgiving. Our initial embarrassment had what I believe is the effect DICE is after with this mode: really making squads work together. You won't make it 50 feet if you don't -- and if you all die it's game over.

#foxconn Foxconn is the largest electronics manufacturer in the world. It's China-based plants churn out iPods, iPads, iPhones, Kindles, PS2s, PS3s, Wiis and Xbox 360s. And today, another one of its factory workers apparently committed suicide. More »

Hi Everyone – Time for this week’s video store update.

Check out the Harry Potter collection to stock up on the full library of films, plus before 5/30 save on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Also head over to the Deal of the Week section under Featured Collections and New Releases to save up to 50% on Street Fighter TV episodes and films.

Finally under New Releases this week you’ll find Hollywood hits: Valentine’s Day, Invictus, The Spy Next Door, The Messenger and Extraordinary Measures.

Check out the trailer below for Valentine’s Day before you head to the video store. Have a great weekend!

Top Movies

Daybreakers Edge of Darkness Avatar Legion Tooth Fairy Valentine’s Day It’s Complicated Sherlock Holmes 41 Year Old Virgin… Leap Year

Top TV Episodes

Smallville | Season 9 Salvation Supernatural | Season 5 Swan Song Family Guy | Season 8 Quagmire’s Dad Lost | Season 6 Across The Sea Family Guy | Season 8 The Splendid Source The Boondocks | Season 3 Bitches to Rags The Boondocks | Season 3 The Red Ball Family Guy | Season 8 Brian & Stewie V | Season 1 Fruition The Boondocks | Season 3 It’s a Black President, Huey Freeman

Mass Effect 2 is already outstripping the original in terms of DLC, and it looks like the downloadable bounty will be getting even more interesting in the future. In a recent interview with VideoGamer, BioWare's Casey Hudson made it known that upcoming DLC will link the stories of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. "We'll start to have packs that'll tell the story between Mass Effect 2 and 3," said Hudson, adding that it will be "quite a few months" before BioWare is ready to start talking about Mass Effect 3.

We're all for more Mass Effect 2, especially DLC that extends the story. Honestly, though, how can BioWare top the fact that Saren is actually Commander Shepard's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate?

#facebook Tired of playing the old "how many dicks can I see in an hour?" game on webcam novelty Chatroulette? Might want to try something a little more structured. More »

#art Heeeeeeeeeey, guess what. Video game executives, whether on purpose or not, fib. And they do it all the time. What's important is not to get upset! You need to get constructive, and turn those fibs into works of art. More »

#nintendo Former Nintendo boss Hiroshi Yamauchi, who ran Nintendo from 1949 to 2002, used to be the richest man in Japan. He isn't anymore. That doesn't mean he isn't willing to part with his cash. More »

#pc It may seem ridiculous now, but there once was a time when it was tough work getting sound out of a PC. We've come a long way since then, something this clip does a good job of reminding us. More »

#metalgearsolid This is 1987 stealth game Metal Gear. The box shows protagonist Solid Snake at the age of 23 years-old. Let's review and see how he stacks up over the years — courtesy of 2ch, the world's largest bulletin board. More »

#toys At this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, toy company NECA will be selling a few exclusives from their video game lines. Only attendees - or savvy web shoppers - will be able to pick up these up. More »

#screengrab By "best" I don't mean "most realistic", I mean the best. As see on Topless Robot. More »

StarCraft 2 may be one of the most anticipated titles of this year, but after checking out this 8-bit recreation of the game that started it all, we're inclined to cancel our pre-order and spend the rest of our days praying for a playable version. It takes us back to our elementary school days, when we thought getting to play Oregon Trail in school was about the best thing ever. Can you imagine if we had this instead? Zerg rushing would be at, like, a whole 'nother level.

But we digress. Instead of pining for what could've been, you should head past the break to watch the game in action and hope for what could be: an actual playable release of this charming 8-bit recreation. What else could you possibly want in life?

#business The recent trend for publishers to lock out content to customers buying pre-owned versions of games was supposed to be a swipe at GameStop, but the giant retailer reckons the move won't hurt it one bit. More »

#nier Ever wonder why there are two versions of role-playing game Nier? More »

#art Yup. Giant buildings that look like - well, are - video game consoles. Don't they look great? More »

#ruhroh Earlier this week, a teaser site appeared on Yahoo! Japan, claiming that the web portal and the game company would change Japanese history. The teaser site than asked Twitter users to guess what was to come. More »