All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

We're trying something a little different here at Joystiq for today's Swag Sunday post. Given the physicality of yesterday's naughty Swag Saturday, we're giving away five codes for hex-based crossword game HexaLex on iPhone and iPod Touch today -- immediately. We'll be picking one winner per hour for the next five hours from our comments section and hooking them up with a code to download the game (also immediately, should you so choose). Let us know your favorite "$20 word" in the comments and you could be using it to dominate friends in HexaLex by later today!

To enter this giveaway:

• Leave a comment telling us your favorite "$20 word" (example: disambiguation).
• You must be 13 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec).
• Limit 1 entry per person.
• This entry period ends at 2:30PM ET on Sunday, July 18.
• At that time, we will randomly select five (5) winners to receive a copy of HexaLex (iPhone/iPod Touch) (ARV $2.99).
• For a list of complete rules, click here.

This episode features music from Dragon Quest IX, Killer 7, Actraiser, Sonic CD and more.

#screengrab Cover of Business Today, Taiwan's leading financial publication, spied by reader Howard C. I've no idea what the headline in fact says, but yes, hitting a coin box repeatedly is a sound financial strategy. More »

The list of folks waiting to get into OnLive's game streaming / insanity portal may be long, but through its partnership with AT&T, the company has just extended its free first year offer through Labor Day (September 6). Additionally, getting in by Labor Day will lock in the optional second year at $4.95/month.

If that wasn't enough, the service just added puzzle-platformer Trine to its growing list of titles available for streaming (it was previously available only as a demo). If you haven't already, sign-ups are still ongoing over at OnLive's official site -- and yes, you can still wear white while doing so. For now.

#nom Technically not a recipe, this is more like cosplay for lunch. And it still doesn't solve the mystery of what "meat" is actually on Heavy's health-regenerating treat. But I do like the attention to detail, especially the cheese overhang. More »

As Sid mentioned yesterday, we’ll be covering events on both coasts this week; he’s heading out to NYC for a Holiday preview event (yes, in July), while I’ll be heading down to San Diego Comic-Con, which will once again be host to a large gaming contingent.

There’s actually one more event we hadn’t yet mentioned – we’ll be dropping by EA this week to get a closer look at games like Dead Space 2 and Medal of Honor. Anything you want us to ask the devs?

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of July 12, 2010)

• First Look at Cladun: This is an RPG – IGN
• Twisted Metal goodies and art at Comic-Con – Destructoid
• ‘Betrayal of Jimmy’ is exclusive PS3 launch DLC for Mafia 2, ‘Jimmy’s Vendetta’ to come later – Joystiq
• Next Disgaea Coming for PS3 – IGN
• Guerrilla Games managing director keynoting GDC Europe – Joystiq
• Cladun: This is an RPG is a new RPG by NIS – Destructoid
• Develop: Is PlayStation Home the next great game development platform? – Joystiq
• God of War Movie Trailer – Gamervision
• Hulu Plus on the PS3 Preview – IGN
• Sony: The PS3 Shortage Is Over – IGN
• Developer Interview: Eat Them! – PSNStores.com
• Killzone 3, Feature Story from GamePro
• Watch the recording of echochrome II’s soundtrack – Destructoid
• Review: DeathSpank – Destructoid
• MLB All-Star Game Joins Home Run Derby and Sony’s MLB 10 as 3D Spectacles – GamerLive.TV (watch the video)
• Sony PlayStation Move: what the future holds – TechRadar UK
• PSN Exclusive Joe Danger Breaks Even on Launch – PlayStation LifeStyle
• Developer Interview: Landit Bandit – PSNStores.com
• Mafia 2 PS3 exclusive DLC revealed – ‘Jimmy’s Vendetta’ – Joystiq
• DeathSpank Review – PlayStation 3 Review at IGN
• News: Gran Turismo 5 has ‘complete online system’ – ComputerAndVideoGames.com
• Sony’s PlayStation 3 firmware upgrade for 3D Blu-ray arrives in September – CNET
• Bad Aim Doesn’t Bedevil PlayStation Move, Not This Time – Kotaku

#india Looking at a trailer for Velayutham, a Tamil-language film that opened this week, I'm betting its story is not canonical to the Assassin's Creed continuity. It's made by a producer famously unconcerned about infringing on others' marks as well. More »

In an announcement perhaps meant to obliterate the definition of "Valve Time," the publisher announced that Alien Swarm has been rebuilt in Source Engine and will be released -- for free, no less -- tomorrow, Monday, July 19. The team that originally built the mod for UT2004 has since been hired on by Valve for work on the Left 4 Dead series and Portal 2, but luckily found enough time to move their game over to Valve's game engine between bouts of working on those other two games.

If you're so inclined, you can pre-load Alien Swarm starting right now before it goes live tomorrow. Oh! And when it does go live, Valve will also release the full SDK for the game, allowing users to get a more thorough look at what makes the game tick. Us? We're just excited to blast swarms of aliens with the totally insane looking flamethrower seen above. Hit the break for a trailer of the game in action.

[Thanks, Morey]

Ducktales is one hell of a fantastic NES game. There’s just something special about that game that sticks out in the minds of so many old-school gamers. Often licensed games just weren’t very good, and that stays true to this day. Somehow, Capcom avoided that trend and offered up one of the [...]

#photoshop This week's 'Shop Contest inspiration comes from star commenter Antiterra, reacting to news that Kinect will not debut in China thanks to laws that protect a robust knock-off industry forbid the sale of most consoles there. More »

Getting emails like this is just too awesome. This one comes from reader Haleman… i’ve a girlfriend (gonintendo reader just like me) since almost 4 years. we met online on a german zelda board, had a date, and so on… our first meeting was at GamesCom in 2006, still called GamesConvention in Leipzig, [...]

The following information comes from reader Shay… The Employees at The Home Depot are doing a contest. It’s not in its final stages, but it has to do with the amount of sales/help they make, and graphed out on a board resembling Super Mario Bros. Man, this might make working at Home Depot pretty fun! Good [...]

Inimitable host of the now-canceled Xbox Live gameshow 1 vs. 100 Chris Cashman recently spoke to Giant Bomb about his feelings on the show being disbanded, even going so far as to create a goodbye video. He called the situation a "bummer," adding, "It wasn't that long ago that I was blown away by having colored rubber bands on my braces, so getting to host the first live videogame ever is pretty much tops."

And though he says he's "sure they are plotting something rad," Cashman, sadly, doesn't have any idea what the future of Xbox Live's Primetime channel will hold for gameshows like 1 vs. 100. We've dropped his goodbye video just after the break. Feel free to pour one out for 1 vs. 100 with us while watching.

#openthread So, it's pretty clear that my two month TAY-less experiment was something of a dud. It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong and, of course, I do weigh more than 200 pounds ... More »

#photoshop A bit more of an interpretive dance last week, as we tried to make the contest timely to Blizzard's notorious (and aborted) Real ID plans. We still got some amusing looks at the secret lives of video game characters. More »

Whatever you may have imagined a God of War movie would be like, there's a very good chance it was nothing like this. Who would have thought Kratos was just an upper-crust prep school kid with real problems? Really, the only things missing from this trailer are Ellen Page and Jason Schwartzman.

Sorry about the lack of all the ‘normal’ edited aspects of the show this week. I came to North Carolina and I forgot to grab the intro/outro and other normal audio files for my new laptop. I promise I’ll make up for it next week! Download the show here Learn more about the image above here!