All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#lacrosse College Lacrosse, which released last year on Xbox Live's Indie Games channel, returns this year with a new version and a slew of upgrades - including motion capture animations and an augmented control set. It will cost $5. More »

#teammeat Super Meat Boy makers Team Meat reveal Mr. Minecraft, the latest indie game star to make a guest appearance in the hard-as-nails platformer. The Minecraft-inspired cameo is exclusive to the PC version, says Team Meat, coming to Steam later this month. More »

THQ didn't have much to say about its second quarter earnings for the period ending September 30, racking up a net loss of $47 million on net sales of $77.1 million. Compare that to a net loss of $5.6 million on net sales of $101.3 million in the prior-year period, and you can see why it wasn't very talkative. Instead, the company took the opportunity to once again point towards its future, including the December quarter launches of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 and the family friendly uDraw GameTablet for Wii ... and then it looked even further in the future, laying out its March quarter releases, including Homefront, WWE All Stars, UFC Personal Trainer and de Blob 2.

But it didn't stop there! Other forward-looking highlights included the eight-year extension of the lucrative UFC business, the hiring of Assassin's Creed designer Patrice Désilets, and the high-profile fiscal 2012 lineup, including Red Faction: Armageddon, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, and the next Saints Row title. Hey, these turnarounds don't happen overnight, right? THQ continues down its path of high-quality (and expensive to produce!) AAA releases, but we bet it wishes there was a quicker way to get there. We'll be on the conference call hoping to learn more about what's next at THQ and tally the number of times we hear the term "transmedia."

What: Imagine Fashion Stylist Platform: Nintendo DS™ system Where: Available at retailers everywhere When: November 3, 2010 Rating: E (for Everyone) Price: $29.99 Details: Ubisoft’s latest Imagine Fashion Stylist video game allows girls to explore the thrilling life of a fashion stylist and run their own mall. With Imagine Fashion Stylist, players can explore the life of a fashion stylist as they [...]

Sure, we appreciate the fact that Team Meat's Super Meat Boy was conveniently downloaded onto our Xbox 360, but that doesn't do much to satisfy our unending urge to lovingly squeeze the game box ever so tightly. At the moment, there's nothing we can do about this (and no, not any old game box would do) -- but this may change. Tweeting from the Super Meat Boy account, the game's devs publicly wondered, "If we decided to try to find a publisher and do a boxed version for $20 (with extras) but come out later on the Wii, would you hold out?"

It seems that the tweet was at least partially in reaction to the game's WiiWare delay, said to be due to size constraints. One thing the folks at Team Meat certainly won't be doing? Splitting the game into chapters for digital release. "No split. It isn't as easy as 'cut it into parts.' The logistics of that are insane. That would push it out farther than a retail release," the devs also tweeted.

"We will figure this WiiWare issue out soon," Team Meat assured. "Should have official updates in a few weeks." Until then, well, we'll be playing ... Super Meat Boy.

Through Telltale's Poker Night at the Inventory.

#newyorkcity Sega celebrates the impending release of Sonic Colors in New York City tomorrow evening with an ice skating party in Bryant Park. Need a reason to care? How about free hedgehog hats? More »

This place is a prison.

Look, guys. Amazon really, really wants you to buy Final Fantasy XIII. For the millionth time this year, the retailer has cut the price of the PS3 version of the game for its Deal of the Day promotion -- this time around, you can grab the lengthy JRPG for $18.99, more than half off the usual cost.

Saddled with the same sorry story, but saved by Star Wars Smash Bros.

Who would win between a Spartan, a Viking, and a ninja? This download reveals all.

Sony reemerges after a few weeks of Nintendominance.

Sony reemerges after a few weeks of Nintendominance.

Sony reemerges after a few weeks of Nintendominance.

#shinjimikami The director of great video games old (Resident Evil) and new (Vanquish) is going to get out of the business of directing games after his next unannounced title. Instead, famed creator Shinji Mikami will be focusing on things more presidential More »

Pumpkins are cropping up all over the lands of Fat Princess!

There’s something new growing in the world Fat Princess and it’s not just dress sizes!

If you jump into an online game of Fat Princess anytime now through the end of November, you will see how much our beloved Princesses love to eat pumpkins during the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays!

Happy Halloween from all of us here at SCEA Santa Monica and Fun Bits Interactive (formerly known as Atomic Operations Media).

Boo!

Microsoft recently responded to complaints that the newly relocated Xbox Live Indie Games channel -- now somewhat buried in the "Specialty Shops" section of the Game Marketplace (seen above) -- has negatively impacted visibility and sales of the already-struggling platform. Speaking to Eurogamer, a spokesperson for the company said that the intent of the move was to give Xbox Live Indie Games a "full marketplace experience," one that offered "unique ways of sorting through that content." The update does seemingly improve browsing the Indie Games, including a bump up in the Top Rated and Top Downloaded lists from 20 to 50 titles.

In fact, Microsoft expects Indie Games exposure to increase following the Dashboard redesign, thanks to the popularity of other types of content in the Specialty Shops, specifically the Avatar Marketplace. "Xbox Live members have made more than 290 million customizations to their Avatars' clothing, so we expect many people to regularly visit the Specialty Shops section," the spokesperson said.

Microsoft's response drew heat from apparent Xbox Live users and Indie Games developers in the Eurogamer post's comments section. The counterargument is "a load of PR bollocks," said one commenter; while a self-identified Indie Games creator argued, "Users looking for a shirt for their Avatar aren't the same as users looking for a game."

"We'd like to be considered games, thank you very much," the same commenter added. "This explanation is a joke."

The Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 models were in fine form last week during Capcom's Fight Club in Atlanta, Georgia, which I missed due to being deathly ill. See more of what I didn't see at Capcom Unity. More »

May the best Jutsu win.

We did it, Halo: Reach players! By working together and racking up 117 million daily and weekly challenges, the Reach level cap has been raised and new armor has been unlocked. Sure, none of it really means anything, but we'll be damned if the prospect of new shoulder pads isn't exciting.

[Thanks, Sean]

Go bug hunting.

#science Who needs flat 3D when you can have 360 degree holograms? Researchers at the University of Arizona have created a method to produce holographic images that refresh every two seconds, and say that 30 frames per second is within reach. More »

The folks at CAPCOM might appreciate this costume from the FUNimation crew. And yes, he is actually a lawyer at FUNimation Entertainment.