All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Def Jam Rapstar gets another 7 tracks deeper today, adding cuts by Busta Rhymes, DMX, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Lil' Jon and Twista to the official track listing, in addition to another "oldie" by Public Enemy. As with all songs in the game, these will be edited versions, though it's as yet unclear if the censoring suits have finally caught on to the meaning of Lil' Jon's insistence that we all "skeet, skeet" on ... the windows and walls, is it?

Of course, players will be invited to invent their own catchy hooks in Freestyle Mode, which today adds a trio of beats from DJ Premiere, Bangladesh and Just Blaze, who has contributed the appropriately dubbed "8 Bit" production. Check out the full update and a new video promo after the break.

If you're looking for information about a hot new gun that will be shootable in the almost-here Halo: Reach, you might want to flip to one of the many other stories we've written about the game. If you want super esoteric insight into the high-functioning AI design of the series -- that is to say, the enemies' actual programmed intelligence, and not the game's fictional AI constructs -- we suggest checking out AI Game Dev's 42-point analysis on Bungie's tricks and innovations for making those pesky Elites so darn pesky.

Of course, these tips will really only benefit you if you happen to be a game designer or programmer, though we suppose you could hypothetically use the information to impress your friends while playing Reach next week. "Look at the way Bungie implemented those perceptual information objects," you might say to your awestruck cohorts. "Man, that really must have cut down on some memory fragmentation and recycling problems."

#mac Answering reader mail, Rockstar Games today said it will be bringing Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas to Mac gamers "later this year." More »

EA's upcoming Medal of Honor is a risky proposition for the company. Unlike Activision's Modern Warfare series, Danger Close's game is based upon a real-life conflict. With battles ongoing in the Middle East, MOH has rightfully attracted its fair share of controversy -- some are eager to say that the game is simply going too far.

The military advisors EA has hired have the difficult job of "selling authenticity and realism" while making sure "it didn't go too far." Originally titled Medal of Honor: Anaconda, the game's pitch was essentially "Black Hawk Down for Afghanistan." It would be based on a failed operation called Anaconda, where a Navy SEAL was dragged to his death by Al Qaeda fighters. One consultant told the New York TImes that the original concept "hit a little too close to home" and would "put a sour taste in our brothers' mouths."

Medal of Honor has evolved over its development, with a new found focus on "telling the soldier's story." One designer told the NYT that, differing from Infinity Ward's approach to the genre, "we want the player to feel, not like they're in a movie, but like they're in Afghanistan." Funding such an ambitious goal is certainly not cheap, with executive producer Greg Goodrich telling the newspaper that "if the game doesn't sell at least three million copies, I'm not going to be able to do another one."

Certainly, the stakes are high for EA, attempting to capitalize on the success of its competitor's flagship franchise. But will Medal of Honor's approach resonate with gamers? We'll find out in one month's time.

Halo: Reach Review tease, Duke Nukem returns and erotic PlayStation Move creations! Dig in.

In case you haven't been following along too much at home, we'll give you the quick recap: The Apple App Store submission and review process has been, historically, something of a total mess. There's been very little consistency in Apple's standards and plenty of app developers (including game developers!) have found themselves on the wrong side of Apple's approval process. But the Big A is looking to change all that. In a public statement, the company says it's looking to "relax some restrictions [it] put in place earlier this year."

What kind of restrictions? "In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code," the statement reads. "This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need." If you don't speak Giant Corporation, let us translate: Developers will be able to use third-party tools like Adobe's Flash CS5 to create iPhone apps. Adobe, surely having thought this was a battle it had already lost, was pleased with Apple's announcement, telling All Things Digital, "We are encouraged to see Apple lifting its restrictions on its licensing terms, giving developers the freedom to choose what tools they use to develop applications for Apple devices."

While Apple may be relaxing those restrictions, it's also going one step further and publishing its "App Store Review Guidelines to help developers understand how we review submitted apps." This new found desire for transparency has already given us an amazing amount of insight into the app review process. For example, did you know Apple has a policy on fart apps? Did you know it was this direct? "We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don't need any more Fart apps." If you insist, Apple!

Check out Engadget for some more great pulls from the Review Guidelines PDF (or snag a copy for your Kindle at the source link below). With the iOS platform becoming an increasingly important (not to mention vibrant!) marketplace for indie games, we're thrilled to see Apple make some difficult, though necessary, steps towards opening up its walled garden. Now we can see if there's a policy against us making a Tower Defense game called Apple's Walled Garden, where you strategically place reviewer-shaped turrets to keep unwelcome apps out.

#pax Video game designer Dave Perry predicted a few years ago that a day would come when a company released a high quality game you'd expect to pay full price for but will play for free. It would change everything. More »

#science The laws of physics describe basic behaviors of nature that are, to our knowledge, universally constant. According to a new study conducted by astrophysicists based in Australia and England, these universal constants might not be as universal as we thought. More »

Halo: Reach isn't even out in stores, but IGN has already found a way to exploit part of the game for the sake of easy Achievements. In this video, its outlines a surefire method for farming up a good amount of the game's cheevos by tweaking the customized Firefight system to be really hard and then giving yourself invincibility. Which means "you can basically shoot around in circles, and get massive amounts of points." Seems like fun ... we guess?

If nothing else, this shows off just how customizable the multiplayer system in Reach actually is. Bungie has made it so that the priority is coming up with fun gametypes with your friends, not just tweaking for as many points towards Achievement as possible. Not that we don't appreciate sweet, sweet cheevos, but that's not the only reason we're Firefighting against the Covenant, right? Right?

We're giving away PSN codes like Clements' life depends on it.

Cuddly screens to start your day.

TerRibly frustrating.

State of Play: Good? Bad? You're the guy with the gun.

State of Play: Good? Bad? You're the guy with the gun.

The problem I've always had with Bit.Trip Beat is that you could only control it by twisting the Wiimote. It's not the most accurate control scheme and, since the game is largely built on the player's ability to quickly and precisely move from one place to another, it was one tough experience. However, on the iPad, it's far more responsive -- sporting both touch-based and tilt-based controls in the final product, it was quickly evident that this was the best way to play the game.

Looks like things are getting real! The WarioWorld website (official site for dev kits) has just added the 3DS to its roster. Looks like this opens the doors for third party devs that are licensed for Wii/DS, but want to get on the upcoming 3DS action. Thanks to Anon for the heads [...]

#madden Scouting reports, the Madden multiplayer data that tells you your opponents' tendencies - and your own as well - are normally bought with the in-game currency accrued free in multiplayer games. This weekend, they're 100 percent free. More »

Mario's out and the Miis are in for Nintendo's latest mini-game celebration.

A memorial trust has been set up to assist the family of Brian Wood, a developer who died under tragic circumstances last weekend. Wood had been the lead developer on Company of Heroes Online. The trust has been set up to help his pregnant wife and family during this time. For more details on how to donate, please follow this link: The Brian Wood Memorial Trust.

A portion of a Siliconera review… While Ivy the Kiwi? is short, it possess a number of qualities neglected in many games. It’s beautiful, challenging and forces the player to apply his or herself to succeed. It may appear deceptively simple and I’m sure many unwitting buyers will pick it up thinking guiding a bird to [...]

Play on traditional turf or try a streetball tournament in this feature-packed Wii version of futbol.

Fifteen years ago today, PlayStation crawled out of the primordial ooze and took its first tentative steps onto North American soil. Being 15 at the time, I remember this moment with the kind of crystal clarity that only comes with youth (and way too much free time). Above all, I remember the TV advertisements. PlayStation’s 9/9/95 release was accompanied by a barrage of now-legendary TV and magazine spots peppered with confounding messages like “U R Not E” and “ENOS Lives” (which I recently learned stands for “Ready Ninth Of September,” in case that particular mystery was still haunting you).

Well, ENOS still lives. Fifteen years later, we decided to ask 3,000 North American PlayStation users what PlayStation means to them. And while the results are by no means scientific, they are entertaining — and, in at least one case, somewhat surprising. Enjoy, and feel free to share your own PlayStation 15-year anniversary memories in the comments below.

State of Play: Good? Bad? You're the guy with the gun.

The God of War comes out on top.

You know those Highlights magazines and coloring books you used to doodle in as a kid? Imagine your life depended on your ability to stay within the lines, only your arm had a mind of its own and the image you were coloring is constantly changing as you try to color it. Yeah, we had the same nightmare as kids ... and also, that's pretty much Lilt Line on Wii, the first game to be published - as opposed to developed - by Gaijin Games, the predominantly WiiWare dev studio behind the Bit.Trip series.

One hour. Ten songs. Our thoughts.

#record The notorious arcade champion Billy Mitchell was certified as the new world record holder in Donkey Kong Jr. at his induction to the International Video Game Hall of Fame last month. But Mark Kiehl had already beaten his score. More »