All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

The rest of the year is looking hot. We count down the best upcoming games.

#activision Brutal Legend and Grim Fandango creator Tim Schafer labeled Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick a "dick," "total prick" and, most damning, a ball bearing enthusiast. Fair enough. Just don't accuse Mr. Kotick of not liking video games, Activision says. More »

The 007 update for Microsoft's Game Room is available for download right now, and will enable 15 new games in total: three Konami Arcade games; nine Atari 2600 games; three Intellivision titles and zero James Bond games. However, not all of the games are available right now -- the Game Room Facebook account lists the first five, and a message posted further down the thread notes that the rest will trickle out over "multiple weeks." Here's what's available as of right now:

• Barnstorming
• Fishing Derby
• Gyruss
• Hover Force
• Quadrun

We'll update you on the rest of the games as they're made available.

There's one universe left to reveal, and we know what it is.

The rest of the year is looking hot. We count down the best upcoming games.

The rest of the year is looking hot. We count down the best upcoming games.

According to a job notice recently discovered by superannuation, Maxis is currently hiring a development director to aid in the creation of "an unannounced next-generation Online simulation game." The job's prerequisites give a few hints about what the new project might entail, including requirements such as "shipped at least one online PC title" and "has shipped at least one game with an online financial model, including online stores and DLC's."

Regardless of which of Maxis' franchises this new title ends up within, it sounds like it'll be microtransaction-supported. Perhaps superannuation's hypothesis that it'll be a Facebook-based FarmVille competitor isn't too far off.

Is that Freedom Rock? Even better, it's Kidz Bop -- so turn it up!

#cheevos 2K Sports says it's resolved freezes and server outages in MLB 2K10, which came as gamers went to collect a rare Achievement/Trophy timed to the All-Star Game. Users still have until the end of today to pick that up. More »

Get all your friends together for a gaming party that'll also help you get fit!

The E3 demo of Metroid: Other M featured a boss fight in which the Galactic Federation worked to freeze a giant monster so Samus could shoot missiles at it. Now you can watch this dynamic battle for yourself, courtesy of CVG's week-long Metroid: Other M video series.

#science Which came first, the chicken, or the egg? Thanks to a brave group of British researchers, the age-old question finally has an answer. More »

#rocksteadystudios Rocksteady Studios' Batman: Arkham Asylum was surprisingly excellent, but not without its "mistakes," including one that made the game's art director "want to cry a little bit." It's a mistake that will be corrected in the sequel. More »

If you thought the amount and variety of spoken dialogue in Fable 2 was ridiculous, then the voice statistics Lionhead is targeting for Fable 3 will... um... also seem ridiculous to you.

Speaking at the Develop Conference in Brighton, Lionhead Audio Producer Georg Becker mentioned that the upcoming title would feature about 80 actors speaking over 460,000 recorded words, representing a full 47 hours of speech in the final game. For context, Becker estimated Fable 2 had a mere 50 voice actors speaking a paltry 370,000 words over a laughably short 36 or 37 hours of speech.

PopCap's casual classic finally comes to Wii.

Instantly forgettable.

Adventure gaming lives in these screens.

XBLA is all about death this week. First up we have gruesome, deadly martial arts with Deadliest Warrior: The Game and then we have just, heroic, loot-driven murder with DeathSpank. Honestly, both causes of death have their appeal. Watch the latest XBLA in Brief and see just how fun death can be.

[iTunes] Subscribe to XBLA in Brief directly in iTunes.
[Zune] Subscribe to the XBLA in Brief directly.
[RSS] Add the XBLA in Brief feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[M4V] Download the M4V directly.

There are new Xbox Live Arcade games released every week. We realize that our readers are busy, attractive people, and may not have time to download and examine each and every new XBLA game. You've got busy, attractive person stuff to do, after all. Not to worry though, because we've done the work for you, downloading every single trial game and giving you a taste of what to expect. Watch XBLA in Brief every week to see which games deserve a closer look. When you have the time, of course.

With every passing week more and more awesome games arrive into the ever-expanding world on PlayStation Home. And this week promises to continue in this rich tradition of compelling content and exclusive gaming experiences, as we release three highly-anticipated games for use in your clubhouses and personal spaces.

By popular demand, our friends at VEEMEE are delivering special versions of Darts and Pool that you can share with your friends in the personal location(s) of your choice. To sweeten the deal, those of you that have already added VEEMEE’s London Pub personal space to your collection will receive a discount on each of these games ($1.99 for Darts, $2.49 for the English and American Pool package), which will be available from the Exclusives store beginning this Thursday, July 15th. So take this as your “cue” to “dart” on over to the PlayStation Home Mall and prove once and for all that you are the King (or Queen) of two of PlayStation Home’s most popular games.

Fans of the recently-released Midway space will finally be able to add the Trigger Happy-in-a-Box game to their collection of personal games. This game will be available at a discounted price of $0.49 for players that have purchased the Midway Bar Key (similarly, if you purchase the Trigger Happy-in-the-Box game at its full price of $2.99 you will receive a discount on the Midway Bar Key). Be sure to add this game to your collection by visiting the Midway space or the Exclusives store in the PlayStation Home Mall starting this Thursday.

Last but not least, the long-awaited Killzone 2 Radec costume will be made available this week along with additional Monkey Island 2 items. You can pick up the former from the Threads store in the PlayStation Home Mall while the latter can be found in the LucasArts store come this Thursday.

See you in Home!

Alright kids, play ball!

As part of a Develop Conference talk on the lessons learned from developing Kinect Sports, Rare Talent Director Nick Burton showed a short video of the near-final version of Kinect Sports' soccer mini-game. The clip shows how control jumps between different teammates as the player passes the ball, with the Xbox 360 AI controlling player movement automatically (a la Wii Sports tennis). Check it out after the jump.

#epicwin Gears of War's executive producer Rod Fergusson is exchanging Twitter followers for bonus experience points in Gears of War 2 over the San Diego Comic-Con weekend. He's already in over his head. Let's make him suffer! More »

Now instead of picking up rings, Sonic has to avoid the ‘onion rings’. Check out what happens if he picks too many of them up!

No word on what platforms this game is coming to, but previous CSI games have landed on Nintendo systems. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one drop in as well.

Independent developer makes cuts.