Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Learn Science - Nintendo DS
Learn Science let's kids learn while having fun. Learn the basic principles of: Light and Sound, Physics, The human body, Biology and Geography while playing a variety of engaging minigames. Unlock new minigames by scoring high marks in Career Mode and then perfect your skills by mastering unlocked minigames in Game Mode on one of 3 difficulty levels. Kids can challenge their friends in multiplayer minigames, or they canco-operate and challenge the AI.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam - River Assault Gameplay Movie
An assaulting force makes slow progress on the Cao Son Temple map.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/battlefieldbadcompany2vietname/video/6285745
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Rabbids Travel in Time is an explosive Time Waster
Tracking so far? If so, you're going to enjoy Rabbids Travel in Time. What you see in the screenshot is an adorable rabbit taking aim at the last remaining caveman for this particular level (it started off with three). Once you aim, you need to decide how hard you're going to pelt the caveman with your roll of explosive toilet paper. You do this by moving the mouse cursor along the arrow (as you can see, it's about at the two-thirds mark for this screenshot).
Once you aim and decide on the velocity, physics takes over. The toilet paper will bounce away, or come to rest somewhere, and then explode. I didn't see a way to make the fuse any shorter or longer - the explosion always seems to come at the same interval, which is about two seconds after you throw the roll.
Sometimes there's more than one rabbit (or "rabbid") per level, as you can see in the screenshot. This is nice because they can play "catch" - i.e, you throw the toilet paper from one rabbit to the next, and the other rabbit takes aim and reaches the eventual goal. Fun!
Rabbids Travel in Time is an explosive Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Guardian Top 20 Games of 2010: part one
Our favourite titles from a rather fine year of interactive entertainment, starting with numbers 20-16.
Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without an array of list features to argue with and shout at. So here's our contribution to the great festive debate. Over the next four days we'll present the Guardian review team's twenty favourite games of 2010. They are, quite simply, the titles we played the most, and that gave us the most pleasure.
Feel free to heckle, contradict and mock ? that's the fun of it. Some of the more quirky favourites from the team have been ejected as part of the democratic process, but we'll list a selection of those on Christmas Eve.
For now, prepare your indignation ? or agreement ? for the first five games...
20. Fable III
(Lionhead, Xbox 360, PC)
Once again Peter Molyneux promised the Earth and delivered... well, at least a continent. The third title in Lionhead's RPG adventure series takes place 50 years after Fable II and demands that you rescue an ailing kingdom then learn to govern it effectively. Our team loved the fusion of game styles, the engrossing plot and the sense of your actions and interactions having a profound effect on the world around you. Certainly though, it was let down by some technical issues and the rather uninspired environment design, while some gamers criticised the simplified structure. However, most of us agreed that Fable III represents an enthralling and often witty take on an over-subscribed genre. It also boasts a voice acting cast that stuffs in more stars than most Hollywood blockbusters. Not bad going for a British development.
19. Halo: Reach
(Bungie, Xbox 360)
This is a game about last stands ? it is the Spartans' final and ultimately doomed attempt to save Reach from the encroaching Covenant forces, and it is Bungie's closing Halo game before moving on to other projects. No wonder the story of valour and sacrifice is so epically drawn ? and no wonder some felt it failed to hit the stratospheric emotional heights it aimed at. It's difficult to pull off tragedy with giant guns and wisecracking uber men. Whatever its narrative failures however, Halo Reach does everything fans of the series wanted and more, providing a compelling range of weapons and vehicles, and an intelligent foe to aim them at. And with its multiplayer engine still firing on all cylinders, Reach, ultimately, is a Triumphalist 'best of', a cocksure culmination of the whole Halo experience, as envisioned by its departing creator. Halo ? and by logical extension, the Xbox 360 ? will never be the same again.
18. Final Fantasy XIII
(Square Enix, PS3, Xbox 360)
Another Final Fantasy adventure, another band of plucky young super models out to save their world from an invading evil. As with every title since the epoch shattering seventh incarnation, it has split critical opinion with a mighty battle-axe. The Guardian referred to this mammoth cinematic odyssey as 'grandly and unapologetically linear'. Hardcore game site Destructoid preferred to label it, 'a pompous and masturbatory affair'. Most gamers will swivel between both viewpoints as they trek through the 50-hour campaign, often marvelling at the almost ridiculous beauty of the landscapes and set pieces. Indeed, wherever you stand on the whole 'adventure-game-as-travel-documentary' debate, and whatever you think of the smoothed down active battle system, only a churl would wish an end to this idiosyncratic series ? the Gran Turismo of RPGs.
17. Alan Wake
(Remedy, Xbox 360)
Very specifically billed as a 'psychological action thriller', Alan Wake, was always a fascinating project ? an obsessive labour of love, teased out over several years by Remedy's comparatively tiny development team. The central concept, a horror author travelling to a remote town to combat writer's block ? only to end up combating an all-pervasive evil ? is the familiar stuff of a hundred survival horror yarns. But the intense plotting, interesting light-as-a-weapon mechanic, and endlessly self-doubting hero make this much more of a 'think piece'. It is never quite the revelation it thinks it is however, and following the much weirder Heavy Rain, it looked positively conventional at times. Alan Wake is a paradox then. Time Magazine called it the game of the year ? even the game's sternest detractors will understand why some love it so ardently.
16. Call of Duty: Black Ops
(Treyach, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
It was too conventional, too representative of the big money gaming mainstream, for some to stomach. But Black Ops is superlative blockbuster entertainment. The single-player campaign skilfully pickpockets twenty years of Cold War history, generating a conspiracy thriller that's as plausible as anything the movie biz could have chucked at us. And within it, there are marvellous set-pieces and well-tuned cultural references. The sequence where you start off on a murderous cruise down a Vietnamese river with Sympathy for the Devil kicking in over the speakers is approaching genius. Then you have the exhaustive multiplayer functionality, the zombies, the retro arcade game? There have been troubling problems with the PS3 version ? these need to be addressed. And as I wrote in my review, the game stretches the whole CoD premise to snapping point. One more over-blown, globetrotting, shoot-fest could bring the whole edifice crashing down.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/dec/19/top-20-games-2010
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Eat Them! - Double Monster Rampage Gameplay Movie
Two monsters tear up a city.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/puzzle/eatthem/video/6285695
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution Story Trailer
Get some of the backstory for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution.
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Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/warhammer40000dawnofwariiretribution/video/6285588
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House of the Dead 2 and 3 Returns - Nintendo Wii
HORDES OF ZOMBIES UNLEASHED ON THE WII! Two grisly titles from the popular THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD series are being compiled into one action-packed horror shooter for the Wii. Both THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2 and 3 will feature the original arcade experience, complete with branching storylines, over six ghoul-filled game modes and bonus content. Re-live your glory days in the arcades and mow down packs of clawing, biting undead with the new rapid-fire Wii Zapper! Wii Zapper sold seperately.
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Commando Assault
Monday, December 20, 2010
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded - Nintendo DS
Sora's journey in KINGDOM HEARTS II has drawn to a close, and now a new tale is set to begin. Jiminy Cricket is looking over the journal he used to document his first adventure with Sora when he discovers a mysterious message. He didn't write it-so how on earth did it get there? King Mickey is determined to find out, so he and his friends decide to digitize the journal and delve into its deepest secrets. Inside this 'datascape' dwells a second Sora who is about to embark on a grand adventure of his very own.
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The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest ? review
Wii/DS/PS3/PS2/PSP; �29.99; cert 12+; Warner Bros
I was always a fan of EA's LOTR spin offs for maintaining the movie's epic feel within a decent, if linear, RTS. So I was keen to see how Warner Bros would fare with a very different approach.
Initially, the signs aren't too bad. Graphically, there's a lot to admire in Aragorn's Quest ? particularly the 3D world that fits the more soft-focus Shire locations best. Character likenesses are also good, albeit in that shrunken style we've come to expect from Wii games ? and music and voice acting are above average.
There are a couple of niggles, though. There's the camera perspective that continues to pan for a few seconds after your character has turned, creating an almost drunken feel to movement. And then there's the weedy crackle that emanates from the Wiimote when you pick up treasure or kill a significant foe, destroying most of the pleasure in doing so.
In gameplay terms, Aragorn's Quest plays like an arcade adventure with RPG pretensions. Most of the time you're pursuing the main storyline quest, which weaves its way between set-pieces from the movies. Pressing the A button reveals the path to your next keypoint where a cut-scene or battle usually awaits but there are also side quests you can follow for extra gold, weapons or occasional artifacts.
As an RPG, however, this is a seriously dumbed-down affair, with artifacts that can be picked up and viewed in your inventory but then have to be bought as if they were still in a shop. A bigger problem comes in the combat with an auto-targeting system that barely functions, meaning that most battles degenerate into frantic wiggling until a blow connects. It's a shame, because using the Wiimote for fighting and interaction and the Nunchuck for movement and blocking, promises far more finesse than it actually delivers.
However, the overriding problem with Aragorn's Quest is with the way it treats Tolkien's hallowed story. For a start, in retelling key events from Sam's perspective you'll soon find that character, mythology and occasionally logic are largely dispensed with. Take the Palantiri; in the book these are priceless orbs entrusted only to Sauron's most valuable allies, in the game, they're left around the forest floor like lost Satnavs.
Ultimately, it feels almost disrespectful that Tolkien's rich and evocative mythology should be reduced to collecting "Gandalf Tokens" and bowdlerising one of the 20th century's greatest mythologies. The pity is that that Aragorn's Quest works well enough to prove that LOTR does indeed have the makings of an epic RPG. Unfortunately, this isn't it.
? Game reviewed on Wii
Rating: 3/5
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/dec/17/lord-of-the-rings-aragorns-quest
Dropbox hits 1.0, gets lighter, faster, and adds selective syncing
The folks at Dropbox are particularly proud of this release, which they've for some reason dubbed "Rainbow Shell." Most changes will be completely transparent to the average user, but quite a bit of work's been done to the client over the last few months. For starters, the syncing engine's been overhauled to not only sync files faster, but to use up to 50% less memory doing it.
New users should now have an easier time setting up Dropbox, as the initial setup wizard's been redesigned with ease of use in mind. Mac users should be a bit happier with their client too, because it's been rebuilt to use Cocoa only, and looks much more native in OS X.
The one thing that's sure to be noticed by users however, is the addition of selective syncing, which allows you to choose which files or folders will get synced with each computer. That option can be found in the Dropbox preferences, in the advanced section, and it only applies to the system on which the client is installed. That way you can set your netbook to only sync music files, your work computer to grab all your documents, and your home computer to sync everything the other two have to offer.
But for the most part, this release is about heaping piles of bug-fixes, and the Dropbox team is extremely enthusiastic about the amount of problems they've worked out. It's certainly been a tough job to make a file-syncing system that works seamlessly between Windows, Mac and Linux, and that's without adding mobile devices to the mix.
Dropbox hits 1.0, gets lighter, faster, and adds selective syncing originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sunday, December 19, 2010
Imagine Babysitters - Nintendo DS
Play as a young babysitter who moves to a new town and takes care of several cute babies.In this new adventure, improve your babysitting skills and start an official job at the nursery.
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Circus Circus
Perform each circus act to perfection! Earn money based on how well you perform and use it to unlock the next acts! Become a circus master.
Source: http://www.freearcade.com/CircusCircus.flash/CircusCircus.html
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BioWare cofounders to enter AIAS Hall of Fame
Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk set for induction for career credits including Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
For the last 13 years, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has inducted one gaming luminary into its Hall of Fame per year. For next year, the AIAS will break with tradition to add two new creators to its hallowed Hall: BioWare cofounders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk.
After getting their start creating medical software, Muzyka and Zeschuk established a reputation for BioWare as a talented developer of role-playing games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. Since then, the developer has produced a number of high-profile hits, including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age. The company's current slate includes follow-up installments for each of those, with Star Wars: The Old Republic being the company's first entry into the massively multiplayer online world.
According to the AIAS, induction into the Hall of Fame is "bestowed on game creators whose efforts and contributions have expanded the scope and success of the interactive entertainment industry." Muzyka and Zeschuk will be inducted by Epic Games president Mike Capps at the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, set for February 10 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. As in previous years, the ceremony will be part of the D.I.C.E. Summit.
Previous AIAS Hall of Fame inductees include Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda), Sid Meier (Civilization), Will Wright (SimCity, the Sims), and Yu Suzuki (Shenmue, After Burner). A full list of Hall of Famers along with their contributions to the industry is available at the AIAS Web site.
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Source: http://www.gamespot.com/mac/rpg/baldursgate/news.html?sid=6285593
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Pachter: No Impact on Treyarch for Black Ops Technical Problems
WedBush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that the technical problems associated with the Windows PC and PS3 versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops will have "no impact" on the reputations of developer Treyarch or publisher Activision.
Pachter says that, despite the number of errors the game has had on the platforms and post-patch problems for some users, there will be no backlash from the community because Treyarch is responding quickly to the problems.
Treyarch released a patch this week to address the known issues with the game, but some users are complaining about connection issues still.
Yesterday Treyarch community manager Josh Olin issued a statement on the official site for the game, letting the community know that the company was aware of problems post-patch and working on a solution: Read More
Source: http://gamepolitics.com/2010/12/17/pachter-no-impact-treyarch-black-ops-technical-problems
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A Space Shooter for Two Bucks! Official Trailer
Check out the official trailer for A Space Shooter for Two Bucks!.
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Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/aspaceshooterfortwobucks/video/6285582
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Saturday, December 18, 2010
Windows Phone 7 "Mango" may add HTML5, Silverlight support to WP7's browser
Despite the update's appetizing codename, Microsoft doesn't seem to be converging on a single food-related theme for its Windows Phone OS. The next release, Windows Phone 8, is codenamed "Apollo". We can only hope 8.5 will be codenamed "Starbuck".
Bear in mind this is all sheer speculation; however, after Windows Phone 7's somewhat lackluster launch, any sort of improvement could be exciting.
Windows Phone 7 "Mango" may add HTML5, Silverlight support to WP7's browser originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.pheedcontent.com/click.phdo?i=b94e695c61d3cd86ed660c2eacfb614c
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Top Final Fantasy XIV Devs Replaced, PS3 Version Delayed
Read more of this story at Slashdot.