Something happened at the Atlanta Pokemon Championship Series that never happened before. The final battle came down to a father and son pair. Believe it or not, one family managed to sweep the tournament and assert their Pokemon prowess against all others. It sounds like this family has had their nose to [...]
Japan's Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association recently conducted a study of the the world's 114 most popular sites for illegal game downloads in order to get a rough estimate on how much the industry has lost due to software piracy. The results aren't pretty: According to Andriasang's report on the group's calculations, piracy on the DS and PSP alone between 2004 and 2009 cost the worldwide games industry roughly 3.816 trillion yen, or around $41.7 billion. Join us in a "holy crap," won't you? Holy crap.
CESA noted that peer-to-peer downloads couldn't be tracked under their study, so the actual results could end up being much higher than this initial figure. We guess the industry's learned a pricey lesson about ... umm, DRM restrictions, or day-one paid downloadable content, or dedicated servers, or selling things at a negotiable price for charity.
#screens
Earthworm Jim's hi-def port to Xbox Live Arcade arrives Wednesday. You've gotten a look at the trailer already; here's another batch of screens to help you decide if the trip down memory lane's worth 800 Microsoft Points. More »
#crime
Prosecutors say a New Jersey man managed to convince four 13- and 14-year-olds to send him pictures of their genitals by saying it was a membership condition of the clan he was starting in Call of Duty: World at War. More »
#twig
The PSP takes the spotlight with the platform-exclusive Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker this week. Tiger Woods returns from a bruising year in the tabloid eye with his latest console offering, and Green Day goes on tour with Rock Band More »
A portion of a Nintendo Life review…
The variety of transformations papers over a lot of the game’s more repetitive elements, and although the story mode is over in a few hours the Survival and Time Attack additions extend its lifespan. You’re left with a competent puzzle platformer that tends to satisfy rather than entertain.
Full review [...]
Due to Facebook's recent decision to limit the notifications proliferated by third-party applications -- Join my Mafia! Feed my Goldfish! Become a Vampire! Fight my Pirates,etc. -- the creators of games which appear on the social networking site are beginning to see their player bases decrease dramatically. Gamasutra reports that 12 of the top 25 Facebook games saw more than one million players leave in May, while the worldwide FarmVille community lost more than 7.7 million of its agricultural inhabitants.
It's unclear how these losses affect the pocketbooks of social game developers such as Zynga -- its entirely possible that these quitters weren't purchasing in-game content in the first place. However, it's definitely creating some negative consequences for our untended, expansive soybean fields.
A snippet from the Game Informer interview with Tetsuya Nomura…
I guess that means the new Kingdom Hearts projects are going to land on DS, PSP, or PS2? Seems a little strange, doesn’t it?
#tattoos
This might sound nitpicky, but it's not to veterans who game. And those who served in Vietnam might wonder why Call of Duty: Black Ops personnel in "denied" areas would want to advertise an American military unit on their forearm. More »
French gaming news site PS3Gen recently got its hands on a few photos purportedly leaked from the next installment in the MotorStorm franchise. The images depict a collapsing, derelict version of San Francisco, where racers must negotiate ruined streets, toppling skyscrapers and -- if the norms of past games in the series remain -- other racers, who are probably driving vehicles that are so much larger than their own.
Though PS3Gen doesn't mention where the images came from, they certainly look legit. Between these and the Motorstorm 3 domain registration filed in February, we wouldn't be surprised if this was one of Sony's major players during its E3 press conference.
#rumor
You may recall last April, Ice-T and Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski discussed casting opportunities for Gears of War 3, before that game was even announced. Last night, Ice let slip that he has a speaking part, but quickly retracted it. More »
#squareenix
Anyone in L.A. going down by Staples Center at all? Head over and check this out in person, maybe you can tell us what "Nerkas" is, and what kind of game it appears to be describing. More »
#screengrab
They're pancakes - wow! Jim's Pancakes is a blog started by a dad spending his weekend mornings making cool pancakes for his three-year-old daughter. Yesterday morning's theme: Tetris. More »
Oh man, I remember pouring many hours into Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. That goes for both the arcade as well as the SNES version. I even went back in with the Virtual Console outing. There’s just something about this game that keeps me coming back for more. I guess I must [...]
Well, when it comes to style, the Tetris pancakes certainly have an an edge over Pac-Man. When it comes to flavor, I’m thinking the Pac-Man creation might be a bit better. Which ones look more tempting to you!?
Remember when Pokemon Gold / Pokemon Silver were all the rage? Now you kids are into Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver. It’s always the next, best thing with you whippersnappers! You have to learn to appreciate where Pokemon came from, not just where it is now!
I’m kidding, of course…but all this Gold/Silver talk has made [...]
Crystal Monsters
Platform: Nintendo DSi
Rating: Everyone
Content descriptors: Mild Cartoon Violence
Rating summary:
This is a role-playing game in which players capture their own monsters, train them, and engage in turn-based battles to become the best “Monster Breeder.” During battle, players can select attacks (e.g., “bite,” “fire ball,” and “fire wave”) that damage other small monsters, resulting in blinking [...]
