#downloadables
In 1996 Square released a special simplified Final Fantasy game on the Super Nintendo in hopes of popularizing the role-playing genre with the masses. It did not work. Now it's on WiiWare. More »
Like you didn't see this one coming. According to some sleuthing by the Wall Street Journal, many popular Facebook apps - including titles from omnipresent game dev Zynga - are sharing your user ID with unauthorized third parties. The Journal found that "all 10 of the top Facebook apps transmitted user's IDs" - six of those apps, including Farmville at numero uno, are created by Zynga.
In addition, the Journal reports that "three of the top 10 apps, including FarmVille, also have been transmitting personal information about a user's friends to outside companies." Of course, your user ID is publicly available and is, by itself, just a number; however, this data can be (and, as the Journal reports is being) shared with other parties, specifically "at least 25 advertising and data firms." The Journal says that many devs may not have realized they were exposing that information - the referring page includes the user's ID in the URL. Whoops!
Facebook, for its part, says that mere knowledge of an ID "does not permit access to anyone's private information on Facebook" though some firms will pair IDs to whatever personal information is stored in a user's public Facebook profile. The company also says it will work to "contain the problem." A Zynga spokesperson said, "Zynga has a strict policy of not passing personally identifiable information to any third parties" and pledged to work with Facebook to "refine how web technologies work to keep people in control of their information." The way we see it, you've got two choices: 1) Stop using Facebook apps or 2) Resign yourself to a dystopian future wherein the entire world knows you play Farmville. How humiliating!
#bythenumbers
What's Steam been doing in the nine months since Valve last released detailed statistics? Adding another five million users and more than 200 new games, for starters. More »
Bethesda has confirmed that Fallout: New Vegas will -- obviously -- be supported by post-release DLC. As was the case with Fallout 3 add-ons, the first new content for New Vegas will be "exclusive" to Xbox Live when it's released this holiday. Though no plans to feature the same content on PSN (or PC, for that matter) have been announced, odds are it will eventually be ported to PS3.
"We're excited to continue the partnership between Bethesda and Microsoft, and build on the success of the game add-ons released for Fallout 3 on Xbox Live," said Bethesda mouthpiece Pete Hines in an announcement. "Fans will once again be able to continue their experience in the Fallout universe with the add-on packs planned for after the launch of the game."
Bethesda will reveal more details about New Vegas DLC in "the coming weeks."
#igaming
Chillingo needs to spend all of the hard earned cash they're raking in from Cut the Rope and Angry Birds to help figure out how to combine the two. More »
#dlc
As if there was any doubt, Bethesda Softworks reveals plans to support Fallout: New Vegas with downloadable game add-ons, with an Xbox 360 exclusive pack coming out first. Hopefully they'll work this time. More »
He may never be a Metacritic standout, but SpongeBob SquarePants has won the hearts of millions of little ones -- it doesn't matter what we think about his games. Having shipped 29 million copies of pure SpongeBob gold since 2002, THQ isn't about to let the money-maker off the hook. The publisher has renewed its partnership with Nickelodeon for multi-year rights to develop and release SpongeBob titles across major platforms and distribution channels.
The first game under the new agreement is being developed for 3DS, Kinect and THQ's own uDraw GameTablet for Wii. It will be released next year, and you'll probably have to buy it (and one of those new technologies) if you've got a kid between ages 2 and 11.
Whether you need it for home security reasons, or whether you're just a collector of man-sized gaming memorabilia, a super limited edition Halo: Reach statue, modeled after Noble Team's Captain Carter, can be yours if you've got the wherewithal to win this pricey eBay auction.
Estimating the global Xbox 360 install base to be somewhere between 40 and 50 million units, Foundation 9 CEO James North-Hearn has suggested that around 30 percent of owners are "not only online and using Xbox Live, but all those and buying games." In a recent interview with Eurogamer, he claimed, "Certainly XBLA is past tipping point now."
He also stuck up for XBLA's competition, the PlayStation Network. "Even though it's a smaller user base, and even though it's generally accepted as currently not being as successful or popular, it's definitely growing," he said. "There's less competition on PSN, but currently a smaller user base." As for the future, North-Hearn believes "the market will move to both online and to digital distribution at some point, almost exclusively."
And Foundation 9 likely hope that's the case -- its six studios developed roughly 15 percent of the games on XBLA, including Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. North-Hearn even seems to believe "cloud solutions" could come to XBLA and PSN at some point in the future, saying that's "where the market's going to go" and that both channels are "in a great position."
When you get your shiny new Kinect, what games will you get with it? Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has provided a handy guide to the full Kinect launch lineup -- including launch day games and those arriving soon after. If you wagered there would be four sports minigame collections (Kinect Sports, Deca Sports Freedom, Game Party In Motion and MotionSports), you win!
The seventeen-game lineup also includes three dancing games (Dance Central, Zumba Fitness, and DanceMasters), four exercise games (Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout, EA Sports Active 2.0, and the aforementioned Zumba Fitness), and two 'boarding games (Adrenalin Misfits and Sonic Free Riders). See the full list after the break.
Major Nelson notes that the Xbox 360 launched in North America with 18 games, just one more than Kinect is launching with -- bearing out Shane Kim's comment that Microsoft would treat the Kinect launch like a new system. Or, it would, if this list didn't count the Kinect games coming out weeks after the Kinect release date as "launch games" vs. the 360's 18-game launch day. In any case, the Kinect has a lot of choices, even if they're all within a few categories.
Here's the latest communique from the UK: Medal of Honor managed to premiere in the top spot of the UK sales chart, ousting FIFA 11, which had a 65 percent drop in sales and slipped to second. Although Chart-Track won't share raw intel on sales figures, it claims MoH had the fourth and fifth biggest premieres for 2010 on Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.
Just Dance 2, the sequel to the unbelievably stalwart chart topper, debuted in third place. The original Just Dance has been the best selling game on one format in the UK this year and, even with its sequel out, still managed to secure a spot at #12 last week. This is only the seventh time since hitting the Wii-exclusive dance floor that the title has been out of the top ten.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Enslaved both slipped four spots last week to tenth and eleventh, respectively. There's little hope that either of these quality games will hang around the top ten for more than a couple weeks, especially as the incoming competition keeps heating up. Check out the UK's top ten after the break.
There's a Final Fantasy game on Virtual Console this week! Well, kind of -- Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was designed as a beginner RPG for American gamers, who weren't entirely familiar with the JRPG genre in those pre-Final Fantasy 7 days.
Americans should already be familiar enough with the concept of "spacial skills" to play WiiWare's ThruSpace, which is all about putting Tetris-like pieces through walls.
DSiWare is host to four games this week, including a Nintendo-published puzzle game, Snapdots.
#squareenix
At the 2008 gaming expo in Los Angeles, Square Enix dropped a bombshell: Final Fantasy XIII, previously believed to be a PS3 exclusive, was headed for the Xbox 360. Could the same be in store for Final Fantasy Versus XIII? More »
