Items tagged with games
Despite having a head start over the competition, Nintendo may have lost the next-generation console war before it's fully begun. Nintendo's going to battle with the Wii U, an IBM PowerPC-powered console that launched in the U.S. on November 18, 2012, and several other territories shortly after, but sales haven't been...
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Electronics Arts over the weekend announced that it's been able to improve server response time by 40x for its new SimCity title, thus reducing serving server downtime due to its decision to incorporate a DRM scheme that requires a persistent Internet connection. Not a moment too soon, EA also noted that the number of...
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The Boy Scouts just made it tougher for parents to crack down on kids for playing too many video games by introducing a new Game Design merit badge. That's right, there's more to Boy Scouts than learning how to whittle your way out of an emergency situation. Through Game Design, the Boy Scouts of America is looking to...
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All good things never truly go out of fashion, they just sometimes take a backseat to the popular trends of the day before making a triumphant comeback. So it goes with Age of Empires II, a classic real-time strategy (RTS) by today's standards, having first launched to PC nearly 14 years ago (and to the PlayStation 2 in November, 2001). Age...
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If nothing else, give Electronics Arts (EA) credit for acknowledging how "dumb" it was to not be fully prepared for the demand its SimCity game would attract, given that the publisher is insisting on a DRM scheme that requires an always-on Internet connection. Unfortunately, that's not where the boneheaded decisions...
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The problem with DRM schemes is they tend to punish honest paying customers with a level of inconvenience that's annoying at best, and crippling at worst. Every once in awhile we're reminded of this, such as the current server SNAFU that's affecting SimCity, an otherwise well-received game with favorable reviews. Electronics Arts (EA) is a...
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Rahul Sood is joining Razer as an advisor to the gaming peripheral maker's board of directors, Razer announced today. The founder of VoodooPC will provide strategic counsel on all aspects of Razer's business, everything from global operations to sales, marketing, and product development, the latter of which is particularly intriguing. "I’m...
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The last Tomb Raider movie -- Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life -- grossed just $67 million domestically and $157 million worldwide when it debuted in 2003. Those kind of figures don't inspire subsequent attempts to capitalize on a franchise, but with Tomb Raider recently getting a reboot, Hollywood may once again give Lara Croft...
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Believe it or not, it's already been a year since Google rolled out Google Play, a revamping (and renaming) of the Android Market. To celebrate the occasion, the happy-go-lucky folks at Mountain View are serving up party favors in the form of free games, in-game content, and other goodies. "We've decided to give you some great gaming gifts...
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It seems like most of the studies involving video games have to do with trying to link real-world violence with violent video games (intermittently broken up by voices of reason). It gets old, so try this on for size. In a refreshing change of pace, a new study shows that seniors who play video games have a higher...
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Ubisoft on Monday officially announced the next installment in its popular Assassin's Creed Series, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. As previously teased, the upcoming title will feature a new hero and setting, and the "most diverse and seamless Assassin's Creed world ever created," Ubisoft said. Black Flag, which has been in development for...
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Thanks to some leaked marketing materials, the cat was already out of the bag regarding Ubisoft's upcoming Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag title, so why not confirm the game's existence? Without a valid answer to be found, Ubisoft went ahead and did just that by posting cover art for the next Assassin's Creed game. Black Flag features a new...
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Believe it or not, there are some in Washington who don't blame real-world violence on violent video games. Shocking, we know, but it's true. Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole is one of them, and during a panel discussion over the weekend, she pointed out that there isn't evidence to support the notion that video...
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Sony spent the majority of its 2-hour long PlayStation 4 (PS4) press event talking about games, software, social integration, and the cloud, but one thing the console maker didn't discuss is the price of games. Some have speculated that triple-A titles for the PS4 could see a price bump to $70, or even higher, but...
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The life of a PC gamer isn't always easy. Sometimes we have to watch our console brethren play a particular title while we wait months for the PC release, as will probably be the case with Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto V, and in other instances, we're saddled with crappy ports (Resident Evil 4, anyone?). We only bring this up to underscore...
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The next-generation console ball is now in Microsoft's court. Nintendo is already moving full steam ahead with its Wii U console, which it released in November of last year, and earlier this week Sony formally introduced its upcoming PlayStation 4 console. That just leaves Microsoft as the odd man out among the three major console players....
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Do you hear that sound? It's the entire Internet, and especially console gamers, taking a collective sigh of relief after learning that Sony will not discriminate against used games. As boneheaded of a decision it would have been to not allow previously owned games to work on a next generation console, rumors persisted that Sony and Microsoft...
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In case you missed it, Sony at long last unveiled its PlayStation 4 console during a two-hour press event yesterday, featuring a surprise appearance by Blizzard, which is bringing Diablo III to the PS3 and PS4. You'll get to play that game (and many others) on Sony's wireless DualShock 4 controller. Yes, Sony is...
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Has it really been seven years since the last time Sony launched a major gaming console for the living room? You betcha it has, which means if you were 11 years old when the PlayStation 3 came out, you're now old enough to join the military, buy lottery tickets, and stand trial as an adult if you run afoul of the law. Or maybe your son or...
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Sometimes loose lips can sink ships, and other times they simply give you a heads up about what's around the corner. This one falls into the latter category, as Ubisoft revealed in a forum post what specific changes an upcoming patch for Far Cry 3 will bring to the table. One of the biggest changes is a new "Master"...
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If Paul Revere was still alive, he'd ride through the streets in a Mustang yelling, "The consoles are coming! The consoles are coming!" In his absence, some websites are calling attention to rumors that next generation consoles, and in particular Microsoft's Xbox 720, won't play nice with used games, effectively killing off GameStop and putting...
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Nintendo can pat itself on the back knowing that it beat both Microsoft and Sony in releasing next generation consoles, but being first isn't always the best strategy. At least one analyst believes the Wii U amounts to a misfire, saying Nintendo made a mistake in releasing it. "I think they misfired on the Wii U," Wedbush Securities managing...
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