All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#podcasts Irrational Games, the studio behind BioShock and System Shock 2, has kicked off what looks to be a great series of podcasts in which they interview other top developers. To get things started, Ken Levine interviews Todd Howard. More »

Microsoft seeing sales spike with new console.

#pc For years, developers from computing giant Intel had been working on a game, called Project Offset. Note the use of past tense in that sentence. More »

It's more or less the end of the world as we know it in Crackdown 2's Pacific City, but that won't be the R.E.M. song you'll hear in-game when it leaps from a rooftop to your place of residence on July 6. Find out what song of theirs you will hear with the full soundtrack listing after the break.

#consoletaisen Just like last week, the cheaper, re-colored Nintendo DSi XL is killing it in the sales department, enjoying a comfortable lead against the PlayStation and Xbox competition. More »

Hmmm…well…that was interesting. If you want to check out more on this fan-made show, hit up the official site at the link below. You can find more art, clips and audio. More here

Were you intrigued by our E3 preview of Echochrome 2, but wished it had fancy moving pictures to better understand the gameplay? Awesome, because we totally have that now! You'll get a better idea of how the puzzler works with the Move controller and get some details on the robust level editor.

Best part of the level editor: you don't have to spend hours designing levels that will make cool shadows, as the level editor will apparently take your shadow drawings and make levels out of them. Check out the video after the break.

#rapt Maurice Lamarche is Mr. Freeze in Arkham Asylum 2, but he played The Riddler with MTV News, outing a special guest in Star Wars: STFU 2. When his agent got him the gig, I hope he said IT'S A PART! More »

We were just talking about this last week! I told you, these kind of articles seem to pop up every so often. They will always be there, no matter how many bad/good Sonic games SEGA puts out. It’s just a fact of gaming nature. It’s a topic that will always get [...]

Nintendo’s video game systems again increased their lead versus other platforms in May, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game industry sales in the United States. The Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems took the top hardware spot with more than 383,000 sold, with sales representing more than 86 percent of all [...]

#clips Valve's sequel to first-person puzzler hit Portal has more than just portals, cubes and more portals. In addition to Aerial Faith Plates, Excursion Funnels, Pneumatic Diversity Tubes and Thermal Discouragement Beams, there's... gel. More »

As was foretold by The Predictor, you can now download the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 DLC again. Available on PSN and Xbox Live today, the $10 (800 Microsoft Points) DLC pack offers these five new playable characters and corresponding challenge missions:

• Magneto
• Black Panther
• Carnage
• Psylocke
• Cable

You can also download Juggernaut separately for $2 (160 Microsoft Points). You'll be able to download all of this DLC until December 31, 2010, when it'll once again make like Sue Storm and vanish from your preferred console's marketplace.

#clips This is a promotional vid for a Vancouver-to-New York tour of NHL 2K11, but it gives a good look at the motion control upgrades for this year's game - including a nifty puck-juggling mechanic that is certain to be abused. More »

#disney The maker of Justin Bieber Revenge, Lady Gaga Revenge and even plain old Tap Tap Revenge has a new and magical owner. Disney has snapped up Tapulous, the developer of iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch megahits. More »

XSEED's recent deal with Nihon Falcom means a truckload of role-playing games on PSP for us. The flagship product of the partnership is Ys Seven, the latest game in the long-running action RPG series and the first to be designed specifically for PSP. As someone whose experience with the Ys series can be described as "casual" at best -- I played the original Ys on a few different platforms -- I was pleasantly surprised to see the game evolve from the clumsy bumping-into-monsters adventure I remembered into an action RPG game that seems more than competent in the action department.

#mmo With help from a national foundation for games development, Iran has published the country's first online game, an MMO called Asmandez. More »

Consumers don't take kindly to new racing titles in May.

Consumers don't take kindly to new racing titles in May.

Consumers don't take kindly to new racing titles in May.

When I was at Nintendo’s 3DS demo section at E3 2010, all I could think about was 3-D WorldRunner. I want a remake of this game so bad for the 3DS! When I saw the old-school games trailer that featured several NES classics now in 3D, I knew that my dream could be [...]

#sex Ben Marsh's Play Condoms packaging, which aims to "create a desire to purchase the product for aesthetic reasons, rather than the necessity of condoms," promoting safe sex. Make sure to read the NSFW instruction manual. Seen via TinyCartridge. More »

A portion of a TinyCartridge interview with VBlank’s Brian Provinciano… TC: The game pays homage to dozens of ’80s games, films, and other pop culture items. Do you ever worry that you might go too far with many of the references, that some bits you’ve thought of putting in might come off as tacky or distract [...]

Hoo-doggy! Look at them critters go! While video game hardware sales were down 20 percent month-over-month in May - yeah, we're looking at you, handheld sales - software sales were up! Sure, you're right, they're only up 4 percent month-over-month and the industry is down 5 percent in total, but can't you just relax and enjoy the vista? Red Dead Redemption sold 1.5 million units across both the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms this month and Super Mario Galaxy 2 came in at 560 thousand units on the Wii. Even dear old Alan Wake made the grade, though his sales aren't listed. Find them all after the break.

Of course, these numbers come courtesy of the monthly NPD report, which lists the top 10 selling games (stored after the break) and the hardware sales for North America. The DS continues its free-fall after dropping 37 percent last month, losing another 13 percent. Notably: It's still the best-selling console this month! The Wii is up 21 percent after a 50 percent dip last month, and the Xbox 360 is up 5 percent after last month's 45 percent drop.

Unfortunately, Sony is bringing up the rear, with the PS3 down 15 percent and the PSP down 10 percent. However, NPD's Anita Frazier notes that "The PS3 platform has enjoyed the greatest percentage growth, with platform sales across hardware, software, and accessories up 32 percent for the month, and 28 percent year-to-date." A reminder that it's not always as simple as hardware sales.

• DS: 384K down 57K (-13%)
• Wii: 335K up 58K (+21%)
• 360: 195K up 10K (+5%)
• PS3: 155K down 27K (-15%)
• PSP: 59K down 7K (-10%)