When Beenox and Activision revealed the impressive, all-gameplay trailer for the Amazing Spider-Man game, the New York Comic-Con attendees at the Marvel Video Games all reacted enthusiastically. But, during the panel’s Q&A session, one fan expressed concern over just how long the tie-in game would be when it comes out next year.
Complaining that Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time were both really short, the questioner asked if Amazing Spider-Man would be any longer than those two games. Acitivision’s Doug Heder answered that the longer development cycle–already going on for a year-and more development resources (read: people and money) would mean that the game would be a more robust experience than the last two games. Hopefully, this means that Spidey’s return to open-world glory will be a bigger, longer and hopefully better game than his last two outings. The Q&A revealed that Marvel’s video game liaison Chris Baker is dying to get Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham into a game as a playable character, too.
A World of Trust for MMO
Monday, October 24, 2011
News In Infamous‘ Festival of Blood, You Might Be A Swarm of Bats
Once a game comes out, some game developers may go to tropical locations or re-acquaint themselves with families who they barely get to see during crunch time. Sucker Punch did something a little different during their summer holiday: They turned Cole McGrath — the electrically powered hero of the development studio’s best-selling Infamous games — into a blood-sucking vampire.
The secret origin behind Festival of Blood revolves around the artists and animators at Sucker Punch wanting to revive their creative juices. With two games taking about 6-7 years to make,” says the studio’s Ken Schramm, “you want to stretch your muscles in different ways.” That desire, combined with the data that the majority of people who played Infamous 2 follow the good Karmic path, led Sucker Punch to turn Cole into a vampire, because it explores the dark side of being super-powered and struggling for control.
In a move that differs from how most DLC gets implemented, Festival of Blood will be a standalone add-on. That means you won’t need to own either of the two preceding Infamous games to play it. The decision to do standalone DLC keys in to a desire to capitalise on the three million downloads of Infamous 1 that happened as part of Sony’s Welcome Back program after the spring’s disastrous PlayStation Network outage.
Festival of Blood actually focuses on Zeke, Cole’s chubby, Elvis-obsessed sidekick, as he spins a tall tale while trying to pick up a woman in a bar. Zeke spins a yarn that has Cole being kidnapped by a tribe of vampires, who are led by new villain Bloody Mary. Cole’s electromagnetic powers prove no match for the vampires’ numbers and mystical abilities and he gets turned into a bloodsucker. Bloody Mary’s disembodied voice taunts Cole throughout the missions, challenging him to find her and kill her before sun-up comes and he becomes a vampire permanently.
Festival of Blood happens on Pyre Night, a Halloween-esque bacchanal. The giant demon-themed party that allows Sucker Punch to put a costume on the city of New Marais, where Infamous 2 is set. You’ll see giant, destructible effigies, new NPC models and familiar locations done over to make them feel horrific. You’ll also take Cole into entirely new areas like the Catacombs, the underground locale where the vampires of New Marais live.
The biggest change in FOB might be the elimination of the Karma Meter, which has measured how much of an altruistic hero or a selfish vigilante you’re making Cole become as the game progresses. Different powers become available depending on how good or bad you are, but Festival of Blood will have only one new set of skills-along with Cole’s electrical powers–for players to unlock. One of them fundamentally changes how you get around New Marais. Shadow Swarm lets Cole fly, changing him into a swarm of bats. It works well with the new Move support that’s also coming to the game. The new abilities get governed by a Corruption Meter, a beating heart which gets filled by the blood you consume from NPCs. Cole’s new powers also include a Punch Blast, a wave of force that pushes enemies back and a stake kill.
New powers aren’t the only thing that changes in Festival of Blood. During my demo with him, animation director Billy Harper observed that vampires own the most powerful creature mythos of all the classic monsters. So, they’ve been made to do thing that Cole’s enemies in previous games haven’t been able to do. The Harpy class of enemies will be able to parkour around the environment like Cole does, meaning that the easy tactical advantage of grabbing high ground won’t last very long. Part of Festival of Blood‘s plot will involve Firstborns, vampires that hide amongst the regular folk of New Marais, and they’ll be able to turn bitten NPCs into Minions. Minions won’t have full vamp powers but will be able to pick up slabs of wood and other objects in the world that can be used as weapons, which is also another new feature never seen before in an Infamous game. Lots of other little touches will differentiate Festival of Blood from the mainline Infamous games. Fiends, a vampire class that have been around for centuries, will use crossbows or boomerangs depending on when in history they were turned. And the Firstborn will be able to employ the same cinematic takedowns against Cole that he became able to do in Infamous 2.
And the user-generated content initiative that Sucker Punch began with Infamous 2 also gets a healthy booster shot. Creators will be able to use all the shadowy, morbid assets of Festival of Blood to create new missions. In fact, Sucker Punch plucked 20 of the best UGC creators to build the first wave of missions bundled into Festival of Blood. These adventures won’t be available in Infamous 2, though, and you’ll only be able to access them inside of the DLC. UGC craftspeople will also be able to make the comic-book style 2D cutscenes that bridge plot points in the Infamous games. Moreover, you’ll be able to use them to stitch together separate UGC missions, turning them into a larger saga with other people that you might be creating with.
With Festival of Blood, Sucker Punch uses a DLC release as an opportunity for tonal variation. You’re getting something familiar yet different, just as in Rockstar’s zombie-filled Undead Nightmares DLC for Red Dead Redemption and BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 DLC missions. In this case, Sucker Punch is forcing you to play as an evil version of Cole, but my time with Festival of Blood convinced me that being bad can be good.
The secret origin behind Festival of Blood revolves around the artists and animators at Sucker Punch wanting to revive their creative juices. With two games taking about 6-7 years to make,” says the studio’s Ken Schramm, “you want to stretch your muscles in different ways.” That desire, combined with the data that the majority of people who played Infamous 2 follow the good Karmic path, led Sucker Punch to turn Cole into a vampire, because it explores the dark side of being super-powered and struggling for control.
In a move that differs from how most DLC gets implemented, Festival of Blood will be a standalone add-on. That means you won’t need to own either of the two preceding Infamous games to play it. The decision to do standalone DLC keys in to a desire to capitalise on the three million downloads of Infamous 1 that happened as part of Sony’s Welcome Back program after the spring’s disastrous PlayStation Network outage.
Festival of Blood actually focuses on Zeke, Cole’s chubby, Elvis-obsessed sidekick, as he spins a tall tale while trying to pick up a woman in a bar. Zeke spins a yarn that has Cole being kidnapped by a tribe of vampires, who are led by new villain Bloody Mary. Cole’s electromagnetic powers prove no match for the vampires’ numbers and mystical abilities and he gets turned into a bloodsucker. Bloody Mary’s disembodied voice taunts Cole throughout the missions, challenging him to find her and kill her before sun-up comes and he becomes a vampire permanently.
Festival of Blood happens on Pyre Night, a Halloween-esque bacchanal. The giant demon-themed party that allows Sucker Punch to put a costume on the city of New Marais, where Infamous 2 is set. You’ll see giant, destructible effigies, new NPC models and familiar locations done over to make them feel horrific. You’ll also take Cole into entirely new areas like the Catacombs, the underground locale where the vampires of New Marais live.
The biggest change in FOB might be the elimination of the Karma Meter, which has measured how much of an altruistic hero or a selfish vigilante you’re making Cole become as the game progresses. Different powers become available depending on how good or bad you are, but Festival of Blood will have only one new set of skills-along with Cole’s electrical powers–for players to unlock. One of them fundamentally changes how you get around New Marais. Shadow Swarm lets Cole fly, changing him into a swarm of bats. It works well with the new Move support that’s also coming to the game. The new abilities get governed by a Corruption Meter, a beating heart which gets filled by the blood you consume from NPCs. Cole’s new powers also include a Punch Blast, a wave of force that pushes enemies back and a stake kill.
New powers aren’t the only thing that changes in Festival of Blood. During my demo with him, animation director Billy Harper observed that vampires own the most powerful creature mythos of all the classic monsters. So, they’ve been made to do thing that Cole’s enemies in previous games haven’t been able to do. The Harpy class of enemies will be able to parkour around the environment like Cole does, meaning that the easy tactical advantage of grabbing high ground won’t last very long. Part of Festival of Blood‘s plot will involve Firstborns, vampires that hide amongst the regular folk of New Marais, and they’ll be able to turn bitten NPCs into Minions. Minions won’t have full vamp powers but will be able to pick up slabs of wood and other objects in the world that can be used as weapons, which is also another new feature never seen before in an Infamous game. Lots of other little touches will differentiate Festival of Blood from the mainline Infamous games. Fiends, a vampire class that have been around for centuries, will use crossbows or boomerangs depending on when in history they were turned. And the Firstborn will be able to employ the same cinematic takedowns against Cole that he became able to do in Infamous 2.
And the user-generated content initiative that Sucker Punch began with Infamous 2 also gets a healthy booster shot. Creators will be able to use all the shadowy, morbid assets of Festival of Blood to create new missions. In fact, Sucker Punch plucked 20 of the best UGC creators to build the first wave of missions bundled into Festival of Blood. These adventures won’t be available in Infamous 2, though, and you’ll only be able to access them inside of the DLC. UGC craftspeople will also be able to make the comic-book style 2D cutscenes that bridge plot points in the Infamous games. Moreover, you’ll be able to use them to stitch together separate UGC missions, turning them into a larger saga with other people that you might be creating with.
With Festival of Blood, Sucker Punch uses a DLC release as an opportunity for tonal variation. You’re getting something familiar yet different, just as in Rockstar’s zombie-filled Undead Nightmares DLC for Red Dead Redemption and BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 DLC missions. In this case, Sucker Punch is forcing you to play as an evil version of Cole, but my time with Festival of Blood convinced me that being bad can be good.
Thanks For Sharing This Metal Gear Drawing, Hideo Kojima!
Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima posted this drawing of Metal Gear Solid creator Raiden. It’s not clear if this is just a drawing or whether it’s in relation to the upcoming title Metal Gear Solid: Rising, which stars Raiden. 雷電です。 [@Kojima_Hideo via VG247]
Sunday, October 23, 2011
GoldenEye Paintball Mode Not A Retail Exclusive In Australia
In the US, if you want your copy of GoldenEye 007: Reloaded to come with the paintball multiplayer mode, you’ll have to buy it from GameStop. In the UK, it’s a GAME exclusive. And in Australia? You can get it anywhere you like, baby.
Initially announced as a pre-order exclusive in the US, the game’s paintball mode was later revealed to be a GameStop exclusive, so if anyone wanted their copy of the game to come to with this mode they had to head to the US retailer. Over the weekend it was announced that UK buyers would be facing similar restrictions, with GAME securing the exclusive to the paintball mode.
Kotaku AU spoke with a local Activision representative who confirmed that there will be no retail exclusives for the Australian market. Instead, players will be able to unlock the mode by progressing through the game.
Initially announced as a pre-order exclusive in the US, the game’s paintball mode was later revealed to be a GameStop exclusive, so if anyone wanted their copy of the game to come to with this mode they had to head to the US retailer. Over the weekend it was announced that UK buyers would be facing similar restrictions, with GAME securing the exclusive to the paintball mode.
Kotaku AU spoke with a local Activision representative who confirmed that there will be no retail exclusives for the Australian market. Instead, players will be able to unlock the mode by progressing through the game.
Zelda Concert’s "Contract Rider" Calls For All Sorts Of Awesome
We’ve all heard the ridiculous demands in rock star’s contract riders, things like the colour of M&Ms, the temperature of the dressing room, the types of condiments for the party sub. Well, tomorrow night is The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert in Los Angeles, and you should see Link’s list of demands.
The venue, Pantages Theatre, is obligated to provide three dressing rooms, one of which a “secret room” that “must be accessible by bombing a wall.” Link’s room should have “one (1) large Fairy Fountain,” and “Fairy to replenish health.”
The Pantages is also on the hook for providing–at its own expense–a Biggoron Sword, a Hookshot and a Mirror Shield, as well as refreshments, including potions and Lon Lon Milk. You can see the entire document here.
It’s all a big put-on, of course, but the concert is real. It’s at 8 p.m. PDT tomorrow night at the Pantages theatre, 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, L.A. London will see the performance on Tuesday at
The venue, Pantages Theatre, is obligated to provide three dressing rooms, one of which a “secret room” that “must be accessible by bombing a wall.” Link’s room should have “one (1) large Fairy Fountain,” and “Fairy to replenish health.”
The Pantages is also on the hook for providing–at its own expense–a Biggoron Sword, a Hookshot and a Mirror Shield, as well as refreshments, including potions and Lon Lon Milk. You can see the entire document here.
It’s all a big put-on, of course, but the concert is real. It’s at 8 p.m. PDT tomorrow night at the Pantages theatre, 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, L.A. London will see the performance on Tuesday at
Doom 4 "Indefinitely Postponed" Following RAGE’s Disappointing Launch
A source claiming to be close to the publishers of the recently-launched RAGE has told Kotaku that, at a recent “company wide” meeting held in Dallas, Bethesda and parent company Zenimax made the decision to “indefinitely postpone” development of Doom 4.
Despite having been first announced back in 2008, Doom 4 has been on the backburner at developers id while work was completed on multiplatform shooter RAGE, which was released earlier this month to decidedly mixed reviews. While Crecente enjoyed it (and I’m digging it as well), the game’s repetitive nature and numerous technical issues left it falling well short of many people’s expectations.
The apparent source says that Zenimax and Bethesda made the decision based on the “the issues and reviews” surrounding RAGE’s launch, which in their eyes has demonstrated “a serious lack of confidence in the project management at id”.
Remember that, before you get too invested in this, at the moment the news is entirely unconfirmed. We’ve contacted Bethesda for comment and clarification, and will update if we hear back.
Despite having been first announced back in 2008, Doom 4 has been on the backburner at developers id while work was completed on multiplatform shooter RAGE, which was released earlier this month to decidedly mixed reviews. While Crecente enjoyed it (and I’m digging it as well), the game’s repetitive nature and numerous technical issues left it falling well short of many people’s expectations.
The apparent source says that Zenimax and Bethesda made the decision based on the “the issues and reviews” surrounding RAGE’s launch, which in their eyes has demonstrated “a serious lack of confidence in the project management at id”.
Remember that, before you get too invested in this, at the moment the news is entirely unconfirmed. We’ve contacted Bethesda for comment and clarification, and will update if we hear back.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
News BlizzCon 2011: WoW: Mists of Pandaria Announced
Blizzard are currently rolling out all manner of Blizz-related news at the company's annual Blizzfest, BlizzCon 2011. Arguably the most important of these gaming announcements is the long-awaited unveiling of the latest expansion to the World of Warcraft universe. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria will introduce a new world, a new race, and a new monk class. Oh... and pandas. Lots of cute, cuddly, deadly pandas.
The Pandaren race will be World of Warcraft's first neutral race, and the characters kind of resemble a pack of Kung-Fu Pandas (from the DreamWorks animated film). The Pandarens have also harnessed their inner "chi" to become the chief proponents of the new monk class. Check out this Mists of Pandaria reveal trailer, straight from BlizzCon:
The Pandaren race will be World of Warcraft's first neutral race, and the characters kind of resemble a pack of Kung-Fu Pandas (from the DreamWorks animated film). The Pandarens have also harnessed their inner "chi" to become the chief proponents of the new monk class. Check out this Mists of Pandaria reveal trailer, straight from BlizzCon:
News BlizzCon 2011: Official Blizzard DOTA Trailer
Blizzard has finally unveiled its upcoming StarCraft II map: Blizzard DOTA. As the name suggests, the mod is a Defense of the Ancients-style RTS game, where famous Blizzard characters from StarCraft and World of Warcraft battle it out in arena combat. The game doesn't take itself too seriously, with the trailer describing Blizzard DOTA as "an endless battle with no purpose other than ladder points". Sounds like every multiplayer game ever made!
According to StarCraft II level designer Matt Gotcher, the game is "kind of like Super Smash Bros. or Marvel vs. Capcom", in the way players get to choose from a bunch of legendary Blizzard heroes:
"For Blizzard DOTA, we wanted your hero to be someone really special. So we were just sitting around, and we were like: 'wouldn't it be cool, if you could actually play as an iconic Blizzard character, like Zeratul, and square off with the Blademaster. Or, who wouldn't love a fight between Kerrigan and Sylvanas."
Check out this official trailer for more character reveals:
According to StarCraft II level designer Matt Gotcher, the game is "kind of like Super Smash Bros. or Marvel vs. Capcom", in the way players get to choose from a bunch of legendary Blizzard heroes:
"For Blizzard DOTA, we wanted your hero to be someone really special. So we were just sitting around, and we were like: 'wouldn't it be cool, if you could actually play as an iconic Blizzard character, like Zeratul, and square off with the Blademaster. Or, who wouldn't love a fight between Kerrigan and Sylvanas."
Check out this official trailer for more character reveals:
Friday, October 21, 2011
Game Updates/Patches Need To Be Available On Disks
The latest patch for Fallout NV has hit the Xbox. I'm very happy that I can load my saved games again, and it's really cool that your companion shows up on the map.
Almost every game on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will have an update/patch to download at some point. Some of these updates fix MAJOR problems with the game, like the Fallout NV bug mentioned above.
But this made me think. What happens 10 years from now when I want to play this game again? I dust off the old xbox/ps3 or maybe I buy one off the internet, pawn shop, garage sale, etc....
I put in the Fallout NV disk and I'm stuck playing a broken game. I assume that the patch is no longer on PSN or Xbox Live since those networks will be long gone, having been replaced by whatever network the newer console will use.
These patches need to be able to either
1) be downloaded as burnable disk image
2) be able to request the company send you a physical disk with the patch on it. (hell, I'd even pay a couple bucks for this)
Either of these will ensure that these games will always be playable as their final, fixed version for years to come.
NOTES:
Don't think that I'm purposely picking on Xbox or leaving out PS3. This idea hit me when playing the super-broken Fallout NV on Xbox, so that's what I talked about.
Almost every game on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will have an update/patch to download at some point. Some of these updates fix MAJOR problems with the game, like the Fallout NV bug mentioned above.
But this made me think. What happens 10 years from now when I want to play this game again? I dust off the old xbox/ps3 or maybe I buy one off the internet, pawn shop, garage sale, etc....
I put in the Fallout NV disk and I'm stuck playing a broken game. I assume that the patch is no longer on PSN or Xbox Live since those networks will be long gone, having been replaced by whatever network the newer console will use.
These patches need to be able to either
1) be downloaded as burnable disk image
2) be able to request the company send you a physical disk with the patch on it. (hell, I'd even pay a couple bucks for this)
Either of these will ensure that these games will always be playable as their final, fixed version for years to come.
NOTES:
Don't think that I'm purposely picking on Xbox or leaving out PS3. This idea hit me when playing the super-broken Fallout NV on Xbox, so that's what I talked about.
PS Move and Kinect: Time for RTS on HD consoles
I'll come out straight away and say I'm the biggest skeptic of the merits of motion control out there.
I bought a Wii well before I owned either a PS3 or 360, and, aside from the glory that was Super Mario Galaxy, I found it horrible. It was flooded with boring casual game after boring casual game, and the hardcore titles it did offer were just tiresome. Controlling games by pointing, shaking and flailing is novel, but that novelty wares off very quickly. So to eBay it went and I never looked back.
Then I heard of Kinect and Move. I didn't rejoice like many did, but spurned my beloved gaming machine makers for trying to get onto the motion control scene. By the very nature of motion controls, you simply can't deliver a comfortable core experience.
Controlling a car without a steering wheel? No thanks Kinect and Forza 4- there's something called feedback which is pretty important- not to mention holding your arms in front of you for a long race is downright tiring. Go Ahead, I challenge you to hold your arms out in front of you for 5 minutes without them getting tired.
Pointing and aiming with your controller? No thanks Killzone 3- it was bothersome and tiresome in Metroid Prime, and every other Wii shooter. I don't care how 1-1 it is, it's a chore. Try playing that for more than half an hour.
But I also got thinking. What developers seem to be attempting to do is create games we've traditionally played with controllers into motion control games, and then fill the rest in with waggle happy crap. What they need to do is make games that suit motion control. And what suits it better than... REAL TIME STRATEGY! T
Consoles have traditionally been an RTS graveyard, simply because doing RTS with a gamepad is nigh impossible. There's been attempts, but they've been very lame. But with Move or Kinect, RTS could really work. These control methods would work for RTS games simply because they can provide the point-click accuracy of a mous, vital to any RTS game.
Think of a Total War game on PS3 or Xbox. Or a Command and Conquer game that didn't suck? How about Starcraft? These sorts of games lend themselves perfectly to the accuracy of these new generation of motion controllers, and the consoles certainly have the guts to make them.
So who's with me? Who thinks MS and Sony should ditch making all these silly kids games and attempts at tacking motion controls to gamepad games, and reboot Age of Empires on the PS3 and Xbox, or give us Warcraft, or any other of the number of great RTS franchises available. Or perhaps even create their own, fully utilising the control method?!
I bought a Wii well before I owned either a PS3 or 360, and, aside from the glory that was Super Mario Galaxy, I found it horrible. It was flooded with boring casual game after boring casual game, and the hardcore titles it did offer were just tiresome. Controlling games by pointing, shaking and flailing is novel, but that novelty wares off very quickly. So to eBay it went and I never looked back.
Then I heard of Kinect and Move. I didn't rejoice like many did, but spurned my beloved gaming machine makers for trying to get onto the motion control scene. By the very nature of motion controls, you simply can't deliver a comfortable core experience.
Controlling a car without a steering wheel? No thanks Kinect and Forza 4- there's something called feedback which is pretty important- not to mention holding your arms in front of you for a long race is downright tiring. Go Ahead, I challenge you to hold your arms out in front of you for 5 minutes without them getting tired.
Pointing and aiming with your controller? No thanks Killzone 3- it was bothersome and tiresome in Metroid Prime, and every other Wii shooter. I don't care how 1-1 it is, it's a chore. Try playing that for more than half an hour.
But I also got thinking. What developers seem to be attempting to do is create games we've traditionally played with controllers into motion control games, and then fill the rest in with waggle happy crap. What they need to do is make games that suit motion control. And what suits it better than... REAL TIME STRATEGY! T
Consoles have traditionally been an RTS graveyard, simply because doing RTS with a gamepad is nigh impossible. There's been attempts, but they've been very lame. But with Move or Kinect, RTS could really work. These control methods would work for RTS games simply because they can provide the point-click accuracy of a mous, vital to any RTS game.
Think of a Total War game on PS3 or Xbox. Or a Command and Conquer game that didn't suck? How about Starcraft? These sorts of games lend themselves perfectly to the accuracy of these new generation of motion controllers, and the consoles certainly have the guts to make them.
So who's with me? Who thinks MS and Sony should ditch making all these silly kids games and attempts at tacking motion controls to gamepad games, and reboot Age of Empires on the PS3 and Xbox, or give us Warcraft, or any other of the number of great RTS franchises available. Or perhaps even create their own, fully utilising the control method?!
N4G Contest Not a Scam
So as many people may have noticed N4G is doing contests and giving away prizes. I was the 1st place winner of the October blog contest. The prize was a Playstation Move starter pack. Weary of online scams I was reluctant to give out my personal information. I was reassured by Catastrophe (Cat) that there would be NO charges for the prizes. All Cat needed was my address and full name. Figuring since I wasn't asked for a Credit Card number I'd give it a shot (I would have never agreed if I was asked for one). A month (November) passed with no update or package so I gave up expecting and went back to my thinking that it was just a scam. 21 days later (some pun intended [but seriously 21 days later]) and a package arrived on my front door. Upon opening it I was pleasantly surprised to see a Playstation Move Sports Champion bundle. Now I'm writing this blog with a two fold purpose. 1st: I would like to reassure anyone who won a contest and isn't sure if its legit or not. This IS a legitimate contest and the prizes ARE Legit. It might take a while for the prize to reach you, but it is real. 2nd. I would like to thank Cat and all of the other Administrators along with anyone else who helped with the contest and contest prizes. You have my thanks.
My Game of the Year Awards
Alright everyone. It's that time of the year again. It's the VGAs. And as always there was plenty of Bull with the awards. Here's the list of the games I think should have won.
Game of the Year: Mass Effect 2
Runner up: God of War III
Studio of the Year: Bioware
Runner up: Quantic Dreams
Character of the Year: Commander Shepard
Runner up: Ezio
Xbox360 Game of the Year: Mass Effect 3
Runner up: Halo Reach
PS3 Game of the Year: God of War III
Runner up: Heavy Rain
Wii Game of the Year: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Runner up: Kirby's Epic Yarn
Pc Game of the Year: Starcraft II wings of Liberty
Runner up: Sid Meier's Civilization V
Best hand held game: Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
Runner up: God of War Ghost of Sparta
Best Shooter: Call of Duty Black Ops
Runner up: Battlefield Bad Company 2
Best Action Adventure Game: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Runner up: Mass Effect 2+
Best RPG: Fallout New Vegas++
Runner up: Mass Effect 2
Best Multiplayer: Battlefield Bad Company 2
Runner up: Call of Duty Black Ops
Best Driving Game: Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
Runner up: Gran Turismo 5
Best Graphics: God of War III
Runner up: Heavy Rain
Best Downloadable Game: Echo Chrome II
Runner up: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Best DLC: Mass Effect 2 Lair of the Shadow Broker
Runner up: Borderlands The secret Armory of General Knoxx
Best Independent Game: Limbo
Runner up: Super Meat Boy
Most Anticipated Game+++: inFamous 2
Runner up: Killzone 3
Most Anticipated Game++++: Elder Scrolls V Skyrm
Runner Up: Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception
+ I know that Technically Mass Effect 2 is an RPG but the game was more of an action adventure than a true RPG
++ Fallout New Vegas had more RPG elements in it than ME2 did
+++ Most anticipated PRE VGAs
++++ Most anticipated POST VGAs
I know that I didn't mention Sports or Music. The reason why is because I never played any sport or music game.
Game of the Year: Mass Effect 2
Runner up: God of War III
Studio of the Year: Bioware
Runner up: Quantic Dreams
Character of the Year: Commander Shepard
Runner up: Ezio
Xbox360 Game of the Year: Mass Effect 3
Runner up: Halo Reach
PS3 Game of the Year: God of War III
Runner up: Heavy Rain
Wii Game of the Year: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Runner up: Kirby's Epic Yarn
Pc Game of the Year: Starcraft II wings of Liberty
Runner up: Sid Meier's Civilization V
Best hand held game: Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
Runner up: God of War Ghost of Sparta
Best Shooter: Call of Duty Black Ops
Runner up: Battlefield Bad Company 2
Best Action Adventure Game: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Runner up: Mass Effect 2+
Best RPG: Fallout New Vegas++
Runner up: Mass Effect 2
Best Multiplayer: Battlefield Bad Company 2
Runner up: Call of Duty Black Ops
Best Driving Game: Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
Runner up: Gran Turismo 5
Best Graphics: God of War III
Runner up: Heavy Rain
Best Downloadable Game: Echo Chrome II
Runner up: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Best DLC: Mass Effect 2 Lair of the Shadow Broker
Runner up: Borderlands The secret Armory of General Knoxx
Best Independent Game: Limbo
Runner up: Super Meat Boy
Most Anticipated Game+++: inFamous 2
Runner up: Killzone 3
Most Anticipated Game++++: Elder Scrolls V Skyrm
Runner Up: Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception
+ I know that Technically Mass Effect 2 is an RPG but the game was more of an action adventure than a true RPG
++ Fallout New Vegas had more RPG elements in it than ME2 did
+++ Most anticipated PRE VGAs
++++ Most anticipated POST VGAs
I know that I didn't mention Sports or Music. The reason why is because I never played any sport or music game.
DC Universe Beta Preview (PS3)
Having PlayStation Plus seems to be finally paying off. This month we were presented with lots of great stuff. One of the things presented was the DC Universe Beta (DCUB). The DCUB is 117MB and absolutely free to PlayStation Plus subscribers. This is my preview after playing a little while of it. When you first start the game you are presented with a screen showing Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and a guy in a green suit of armor (Later identified as Lex Luthor) standing together looking at the Earth from space. A menu opens on the bottom and the game starts downloading the data you need to play. This is a very long process and takes roughly 5 hours to download all the data (15gigs). Fortunately you can stop the download and resume from the spot you left at later. Once the download finishes you get to watch the opening cut scene of the game.
Story
To say a few words the opening cut scene has Wonder Woman looking like a man and everyone sounding like they're smoking Hookah and trying to talk, with the exception of Joker who is voiced by Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker and Joker from the cartoons). The Heroes are fighting the Villains. The heroes start loosing and in an extremely epic moment Superman flies away from the sun and just starts wrecking havoc. Lex Luthor kills Superman and Brainiac's ships invade. Luthor goes back in time to rally all the heroes and villains together to prepare for Brainiac's assault. That's where you come in. The power of all the heroes who died in the future was trapped inside bug, parasite, things that Luthor took back in time with him. He can give this bug to a person and they become infused with the power of the hero or villain that died.
Customization
You get to designed your hero/villain. Everything, what power they have, who their mentor was, what their movement ability is, what clothes they wear, what weapon they use, and what race they are. The customization is extensive and detailed. While you don't get to create your own custom patterns the available designs can be mixed and matched at your personal choice, which leads to quite a few exceptional looking characters.
RPG Elements
In RPG fashion you receive quests, fight enemies, level up, get gear, buy and sell, and interact with other players. Most of this is done from Watchtower, the superheroes secret hideout (sorry I don't know what it is for the villains). Outside of Watchtower the world of DCU is extremely violent. Enemies are prevalent and have extremely short respawn times. You could easily wind up fighting in one building forever because of how fast the enemies respawn. Fortunately as you are super you can easily keep fighting or just flee.
Combat
Combat is relatively easy but not entirely satisfying. You use Square for regular attacks and Triangle for quick attacks. X jumps and Circle picks up objects. L2 or R2 with a combination of the face buttons does a special power. Overall the combat seems to lack any sense of power as your attacks seems like your barely striking your opponent.
Leveling
As you fight you receive EXP although you only receive 1 EXP from most enemies and it takes hundreds of EXP to level. The game does not want people to grind for levels it wants you to do quests. Once you finally amass enough EXP to level you receive along with standard upgrades a skill point in either physical attributes or super attributes. Basically at level 1 you get a point to place in your powers like fire, level 2 you get a point to place in physical attributes like weapon skills, or health, ect. than level 3 it goes back to powers, back and forth.
The rest is fairly standard. Quest, kill, loot, sell, level up, repeat.
Bugs/Problems
Being as how this is a Beta bugs and glitches are to be expected. Some problems I've encountered are the game deleting my cape. I have a standard superhero cape equipped which the game continues to unequipped from me, while not game breaking it is annoying. Another problem I keep having, and this is game breaking, is that the game continuously disconnects me from the servers without telling me. So I'll be flying around looking for stuff to do and there will be no one (While doing this is discovered that the map is exceptionally huge). No quests, no players, and no enemies. Overall the game is fun.
Overall
It's fun to be your own superhero or villain and fight other enemies. The combat needs to be ramped up a bit to make it seem like your actually hitting the enemies instead of lightly tapping them, and the bugs need to be hammered out, but what is a Beta for if not that exact purpose. Overall definitely a fun game, and one I'm going to be keeping a much closer eye on now. If you have PlayStation Plus or know of some way to get in the Beta be sure to give it a try.
Story
To say a few words the opening cut scene has Wonder Woman looking like a man and everyone sounding like they're smoking Hookah and trying to talk, with the exception of Joker who is voiced by Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker and Joker from the cartoons). The Heroes are fighting the Villains. The heroes start loosing and in an extremely epic moment Superman flies away from the sun and just starts wrecking havoc. Lex Luthor kills Superman and Brainiac's ships invade. Luthor goes back in time to rally all the heroes and villains together to prepare for Brainiac's assault. That's where you come in. The power of all the heroes who died in the future was trapped inside bug, parasite, things that Luthor took back in time with him. He can give this bug to a person and they become infused with the power of the hero or villain that died.
Customization
You get to designed your hero/villain. Everything, what power they have, who their mentor was, what their movement ability is, what clothes they wear, what weapon they use, and what race they are. The customization is extensive and detailed. While you don't get to create your own custom patterns the available designs can be mixed and matched at your personal choice, which leads to quite a few exceptional looking characters.
RPG Elements
In RPG fashion you receive quests, fight enemies, level up, get gear, buy and sell, and interact with other players. Most of this is done from Watchtower, the superheroes secret hideout (sorry I don't know what it is for the villains). Outside of Watchtower the world of DCU is extremely violent. Enemies are prevalent and have extremely short respawn times. You could easily wind up fighting in one building forever because of how fast the enemies respawn. Fortunately as you are super you can easily keep fighting or just flee.
Combat
Combat is relatively easy but not entirely satisfying. You use Square for regular attacks and Triangle for quick attacks. X jumps and Circle picks up objects. L2 or R2 with a combination of the face buttons does a special power. Overall the combat seems to lack any sense of power as your attacks seems like your barely striking your opponent.
Leveling
As you fight you receive EXP although you only receive 1 EXP from most enemies and it takes hundreds of EXP to level. The game does not want people to grind for levels it wants you to do quests. Once you finally amass enough EXP to level you receive along with standard upgrades a skill point in either physical attributes or super attributes. Basically at level 1 you get a point to place in your powers like fire, level 2 you get a point to place in physical attributes like weapon skills, or health, ect. than level 3 it goes back to powers, back and forth.
The rest is fairly standard. Quest, kill, loot, sell, level up, repeat.
Bugs/Problems
Being as how this is a Beta bugs and glitches are to be expected. Some problems I've encountered are the game deleting my cape. I have a standard superhero cape equipped which the game continues to unequipped from me, while not game breaking it is annoying. Another problem I keep having, and this is game breaking, is that the game continuously disconnects me from the servers without telling me. So I'll be flying around looking for stuff to do and there will be no one (While doing this is discovered that the map is exceptionally huge). No quests, no players, and no enemies. Overall the game is fun.
Overall
It's fun to be your own superhero or villain and fight other enemies. The combat needs to be ramped up a bit to make it seem like your actually hitting the enemies instead of lightly tapping them, and the bugs need to be hammered out, but what is a Beta for if not that exact purpose. Overall definitely a fun game, and one I'm going to be keeping a much closer eye on now. If you have PlayStation Plus or know of some way to get in the Beta be sure to give it a try.
Hopefully More Surprises For Tales
Pretty much everyone has probably gotten wind of Tales of Xillia, Namco Bandai's newest addition to its beloved Tales of Series RPGs.
At first, I have to be honest, I thought I would be indifferent about this game. With the recent barrage of new Tales games coming our way, I have to admit that I've become a bit tired of it all. Tales of Graces F gave me the hype, for sure, but that was mainly because I was looking forward to conclusions regarding some parts in the main ToG story that I demanded answers to (and thank the Heavens, Namdai was able to deliver this quite gracefully). But with regards to the other new games, like Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3, the hype just wasn't there.
Right now, however, the hype for both RM3 and ToX is back in full swing, but all for the wrong reasons, I'm afraid.
My hype for RM3 was lit up mainly due to the opening theme, which, upon hearing just a few seconds of it, made me love it instantly. The fan service of including so many Tales characters didn't really excite me as much as I thought it would. The recent news that it will be the last game of the Radiant Mythology series? Maybe, but not at a substantial amount.
I'm looking forward to ToX mainly because of the two main characters' back story. Jude, aspiring to be a doctor, intrigued me because that's what my life is currently about right now. Mira fascinated me with her cool atmosphere, an unapparent cute side (she's a natural airhead, as some info say) and her claiming to be the spirit Maxwell herself. The feature of choosing a protagonist's story to go with at the game's beginning sounded fun, but definitely not "new". Aside from that, having Ayumi Hamasaki sing the main theme made me very, very ecstatic... All those plus the fact Mira is much older and taller than Jude, which I find somewhat adorable.
But when it comes to all the other elements of the game? I was just "meh". The graphics, though there is an improvement, just reminded me of ToV's or ToG's. Though the characters now show better facial expressions, it was something Namdai has been hoping for anyway, as stated in a previous interview.
Long story short, I wish Namdai would think up of more surprises for its loyal fans of the Tales of Series. It just goes to show that no matter how much you love a particular game series, if it does not develop, if it does not "evolve", then its fans will also feel a sense of stagnancy. This is the same for localizations. Right now, most Tales fans have already lost all hope of ever seeing a Tales game reach the west, and it's not their fault. I, too, have lost all hope for it to happen. So right now, Namdai, announcing a localization would be a big slap in the face, and I mean that in a good way.
At first, I have to be honest, I thought I would be indifferent about this game. With the recent barrage of new Tales games coming our way, I have to admit that I've become a bit tired of it all. Tales of Graces F gave me the hype, for sure, but that was mainly because I was looking forward to conclusions regarding some parts in the main ToG story that I demanded answers to (and thank the Heavens, Namdai was able to deliver this quite gracefully). But with regards to the other new games, like Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3, the hype just wasn't there.
Right now, however, the hype for both RM3 and ToX is back in full swing, but all for the wrong reasons, I'm afraid.
My hype for RM3 was lit up mainly due to the opening theme, which, upon hearing just a few seconds of it, made me love it instantly. The fan service of including so many Tales characters didn't really excite me as much as I thought it would. The recent news that it will be the last game of the Radiant Mythology series? Maybe, but not at a substantial amount.
I'm looking forward to ToX mainly because of the two main characters' back story. Jude, aspiring to be a doctor, intrigued me because that's what my life is currently about right now. Mira fascinated me with her cool atmosphere, an unapparent cute side (she's a natural airhead, as some info say) and her claiming to be the spirit Maxwell herself. The feature of choosing a protagonist's story to go with at the game's beginning sounded fun, but definitely not "new". Aside from that, having Ayumi Hamasaki sing the main theme made me very, very ecstatic... All those plus the fact Mira is much older and taller than Jude, which I find somewhat adorable.
But when it comes to all the other elements of the game? I was just "meh". The graphics, though there is an improvement, just reminded me of ToV's or ToG's. Though the characters now show better facial expressions, it was something Namdai has been hoping for anyway, as stated in a previous interview.
Long story short, I wish Namdai would think up of more surprises for its loyal fans of the Tales of Series. It just goes to show that no matter how much you love a particular game series, if it does not develop, if it does not "evolve", then its fans will also feel a sense of stagnancy. This is the same for localizations. Right now, most Tales fans have already lost all hope of ever seeing a Tales game reach the west, and it's not their fault. I, too, have lost all hope for it to happen. So right now, Namdai, announcing a localization would be a big slap in the face, and I mean that in a good way.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Learn Your Lesson Guerilla Games?
User blog
There was recently an article posted here on N4G that Killzone 3 has been selling less than what Killzone 2 (KZ2) did around its launch date ( http://n4g.com/news/729292/... While the validity of the exact numbers can be disputed at this point, the general statement is likely true.
So this is where the main point of my blog comes in, but first a little background. I bought Killzone 2 a little late in its lifespan (the summer of 2010) and thoroughly enjoyed the single-player and its gritty presentation and graphical prowess. But of course, the hook of most FPSs these days is the multiplayer. I can easily say that while I don’t spend much time with it anymore, it’s one of my favorite multiplayer FPSs. The main draw for me was the nature of the controls. Some called it sluggish, but I relished at the opportunity to master my skills and best my opponents. It truly took practice and skill to down enemies. The semi-realistic recoil and bullet spread encouraged burst firing over long distances, as opposed to the ability to full-auto an assault rifle across a map and kill a player instantly (Call of Duty). Even, in my opinion, the most noob-friendly weapon ever conceived, the shotgun, took precision and care.
That being said, I very much looked forward to the Killzone 3 public beta (really a demo). I was impressed with the crisp visuals and the stealth kills were very satisfying to pull off. But of course, something near and dear to me was missing, but I knew it was coming. That’s right; the weighty feel that many bashed the game for had been nerfed. I don’t know about you guys, but that weight for me was a signature of Killzone 2. It added much to that sense of brutality that made the title so deserved – Killzone. I appreciate Guerilla Games’ (GG) efforts to appease the community, but I feel this was also their biggest fault. I very much do believe that this was a vain attempt to appeal to a larger crowd and thus, boost sales. But what’s this? It apparently has not.
It seems the very people who whined and complained about the “problems” of Killzone 2 didn’t even come back for the third entry, despite GG’s willingness to “fix” the game for them. So what did this essentially do? For gamers like me – those who appreciated the masterpiece that was KZ2 and dedicated time and practice to the game are met with (if you’ll pardon my phrasing) noobified gameplay. I do understand that GG tried to find the best of both worlds with KZ3, but to me, it was a transparent attempt to bring in the ADD kids who couldn’t be bothered with playing and learning how to play a game that’s actually different from the rest.
I’m not bashing Killzone 3. I thought the demos were fun and still contained that visceral violence that the series has become known for. But I can’t keep myself from thinking: How long will it be until developers stop trying to appease people who don’t even appreciate the work they put into their games? How long will it be until developers are confident enough in their product to stand up and identify the true fans and stop stressing over the random people who trash the game just because it doesn’t play the way they demand it to? Developers, please take note of this. Any true Killzone 2 fan would know that the weight was the icing on a beautiful product, and it certainly could have had a place in the already-great Killzone 3.
There was recently an article posted here on N4G that Killzone 3 has been selling less than what Killzone 2 (KZ2) did around its launch date ( http://n4g.com/news/729292/... While the validity of the exact numbers can be disputed at this point, the general statement is likely true.
So this is where the main point of my blog comes in, but first a little background. I bought Killzone 2 a little late in its lifespan (the summer of 2010) and thoroughly enjoyed the single-player and its gritty presentation and graphical prowess. But of course, the hook of most FPSs these days is the multiplayer. I can easily say that while I don’t spend much time with it anymore, it’s one of my favorite multiplayer FPSs. The main draw for me was the nature of the controls. Some called it sluggish, but I relished at the opportunity to master my skills and best my opponents. It truly took practice and skill to down enemies. The semi-realistic recoil and bullet spread encouraged burst firing over long distances, as opposed to the ability to full-auto an assault rifle across a map and kill a player instantly (Call of Duty). Even, in my opinion, the most noob-friendly weapon ever conceived, the shotgun, took precision and care.
That being said, I very much looked forward to the Killzone 3 public beta (really a demo). I was impressed with the crisp visuals and the stealth kills were very satisfying to pull off. But of course, something near and dear to me was missing, but I knew it was coming. That’s right; the weighty feel that many bashed the game for had been nerfed. I don’t know about you guys, but that weight for me was a signature of Killzone 2. It added much to that sense of brutality that made the title so deserved – Killzone. I appreciate Guerilla Games’ (GG) efforts to appease the community, but I feel this was also their biggest fault. I very much do believe that this was a vain attempt to appeal to a larger crowd and thus, boost sales. But what’s this? It apparently has not.
It seems the very people who whined and complained about the “problems” of Killzone 2 didn’t even come back for the third entry, despite GG’s willingness to “fix” the game for them. So what did this essentially do? For gamers like me – those who appreciated the masterpiece that was KZ2 and dedicated time and practice to the game are met with (if you’ll pardon my phrasing) noobified gameplay. I do understand that GG tried to find the best of both worlds with KZ3, but to me, it was a transparent attempt to bring in the ADD kids who couldn’t be bothered with playing and learning how to play a game that’s actually different from the rest.
I’m not bashing Killzone 3. I thought the demos were fun and still contained that visceral violence that the series has become known for. But I can’t keep myself from thinking: How long will it be until developers stop trying to appease people who don’t even appreciate the work they put into their games? How long will it be until developers are confident enough in their product to stand up and identify the true fans and stop stressing over the random people who trash the game just because it doesn’t play the way they demand it to? Developers, please take note of this. Any true Killzone 2 fan would know that the weight was the icing on a beautiful product, and it certainly could have had a place in the already-great Killzone 3.
Pissed Off with Crysis Too (PC)
Honestly Crytek, what the hell were you thinking!?
Firstly lets get the good points out of the way because I want to rant…the game itself is good. It’s enjoyable, the story holds up to the equivalents of a Michael Bay film (which is fine by me when considering an action packed shooter); the AI can sometimes be oblivious to the ones and zeros leaving my virtual gun but generally the bad guys flank around me and flush me out with grenades enough to make me hesitate a little; the controls are solid with easy suit changing access and makes the strategy between battlefields slightly more pronounced then the simple cover-shoot/run & gun ethic. Perhaps grenades are a bit of a shitter to use but nothing that couldn’t be addressed with a simple patch.
It’s also important to congratulate Crytek in creating an engine that runs and acts beautifully on both the PS3 and 360, I honestly can’t say one is distinctly better than the other. They’ve managed to power in a lot of impressive lighting effects and other technical bullocks I don’t understand so the finished piece looks pretty appetizing and for this I give them a gold star.
BUT, the game is a sequel. Many gamers (the console heavy users) see this is a game that pops up after a glorified tech-demo that they never had the opportunity to play; to the PC base, Crytek’s biggest fanbase, this is a sequel to a much loved tech-demo AND game that let you rip through rainforests a la Predator, throw men through corrugated tin shacks, and finally be eaten by sharks.
From a PC user perspective this must be one of the biggest kicks in the face they’ve ever received from a game developer, in the last few years there has been so much debate on how consoles drag down technology to a specific threshold; don’t get me wrong I love my PS3 dearly but there’s a certain amount of truth in what a lot of these PC enthusiasts say. To have Crytek completely fuck over their PC audience with a much downgraded sequel to obviously satisfy EA console desires is a far cry of what PC gamers originally believed of Crytek and serves as an metaphorically overzealous titanium nail in the coffin for what PC gamers can expect for the future of its platform’s games.
To me Crytek were one of the few bastions of developers headed by very capable tech engineers who could create PC content time after time that would completely take the industry’s breath away with expansive environments coupled with eye dazzling visuals and physics that would cause your computer to explode if it tried to load the damn games up. I remember playing Crysis on my PC back in college, my mate looks at the screen in complete awe, “wow, looks like your playing with real life”, I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t say that about Crytek’s recent outing.
As a sequel, its inferior in practically every way, the one thing improved is the sound track, as epic as they come really. If I wore a Nanosuit around the city, shooting shit up and turning invisible, I’d definitely have this playing in my head set…or the Dark Knight.
Perhaps using the city as an excuse they’ve really cut down on the roam around and missions seem a bit tacked together (more of the COD style level progression than the original Crysis which was more streamlined, not Half-Life but still decent enough you knew how you got from A-B). You spend a good half-hour blasting the banjokazooie out of everything that moves, and there are many things that move in a virtual two mile radius, then its the end of the level and from digital map view (they’ve given up with Google Maps 15yrs from now) you see your man wondering across the entire city like everything with a gun has decided to have a coffee break and play dominoes rather than partake in any more of this beastly violence.
So you’d think with smaller environment you would make up for it with an uber-awesome physics engine that would rip the original’s to pieces. Perhaps tear the surrounding buildings apart with shattering windows and flaking exteriors, fell more trees in Central Park and obliterate Central Perk along with it’s albino coffee serving employee…what’s that? No physics, oh ok then, we’ll make do with an exploding car and some signs that deform, slightly. I mean c’mon! Have you seen the stand up lights that litter the entirety of New York City’s virtual underground, you can’t even bloody tip them over, all you can do is pick up random bits of shit scattered around like teddy bears, radios, and hedgehog dildos. My only explanation for the lights are that the Ceph (the alien intruders) arrived and slyly super-glued all the lamps in the metro to confuse the entire metropolitan human race. Overall there is very little destructible/modifiable material, just lots of indestructible and throwable objects like cardboard boxes, yeah great game mechanic, like playing The Sims for homeless people.
Textures are dissapointing, you’d think there’d actually be real life cracks and leaves on your screen since playing the orginal, no, now they’re worse, less detailed, more blurry, as if someone constantly pouring vodka in your eyes. With all the hype initially surrounding this its ended up like a trip to the toilet where you’ve spent half an hour pushing out a turd to find it’s the size of a McChicken Nugget.
I’m trying to hold off completing the campaign as I keep hoping there’ll be a patch, truth is it’s probably not going to arrive through official means, and if it does it’ll probably be pretty unexciting. If Crytek pull off an amazing feat like an incredible patch that improved absolutely everything, including real life, then they’d certainly shut every single whiner like myself up, but I honestly hope they do because this latest outing is insulting to the fan base that most respected them.
Firstly lets get the good points out of the way because I want to rant…the game itself is good. It’s enjoyable, the story holds up to the equivalents of a Michael Bay film (which is fine by me when considering an action packed shooter); the AI can sometimes be oblivious to the ones and zeros leaving my virtual gun but generally the bad guys flank around me and flush me out with grenades enough to make me hesitate a little; the controls are solid with easy suit changing access and makes the strategy between battlefields slightly more pronounced then the simple cover-shoot/run & gun ethic. Perhaps grenades are a bit of a shitter to use but nothing that couldn’t be addressed with a simple patch.
It’s also important to congratulate Crytek in creating an engine that runs and acts beautifully on both the PS3 and 360, I honestly can’t say one is distinctly better than the other. They’ve managed to power in a lot of impressive lighting effects and other technical bullocks I don’t understand so the finished piece looks pretty appetizing and for this I give them a gold star.
BUT, the game is a sequel. Many gamers (the console heavy users) see this is a game that pops up after a glorified tech-demo that they never had the opportunity to play; to the PC base, Crytek’s biggest fanbase, this is a sequel to a much loved tech-demo AND game that let you rip through rainforests a la Predator, throw men through corrugated tin shacks, and finally be eaten by sharks.
From a PC user perspective this must be one of the biggest kicks in the face they’ve ever received from a game developer, in the last few years there has been so much debate on how consoles drag down technology to a specific threshold; don’t get me wrong I love my PS3 dearly but there’s a certain amount of truth in what a lot of these PC enthusiasts say. To have Crytek completely fuck over their PC audience with a much downgraded sequel to obviously satisfy EA console desires is a far cry of what PC gamers originally believed of Crytek and serves as an metaphorically overzealous titanium nail in the coffin for what PC gamers can expect for the future of its platform’s games.
To me Crytek were one of the few bastions of developers headed by very capable tech engineers who could create PC content time after time that would completely take the industry’s breath away with expansive environments coupled with eye dazzling visuals and physics that would cause your computer to explode if it tried to load the damn games up. I remember playing Crysis on my PC back in college, my mate looks at the screen in complete awe, “wow, looks like your playing with real life”, I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t say that about Crytek’s recent outing.
As a sequel, its inferior in practically every way, the one thing improved is the sound track, as epic as they come really. If I wore a Nanosuit around the city, shooting shit up and turning invisible, I’d definitely have this playing in my head set…or the Dark Knight.
Perhaps using the city as an excuse they’ve really cut down on the roam around and missions seem a bit tacked together (more of the COD style level progression than the original Crysis which was more streamlined, not Half-Life but still decent enough you knew how you got from A-B). You spend a good half-hour blasting the banjokazooie out of everything that moves, and there are many things that move in a virtual two mile radius, then its the end of the level and from digital map view (they’ve given up with Google Maps 15yrs from now) you see your man wondering across the entire city like everything with a gun has decided to have a coffee break and play dominoes rather than partake in any more of this beastly violence.
So you’d think with smaller environment you would make up for it with an uber-awesome physics engine that would rip the original’s to pieces. Perhaps tear the surrounding buildings apart with shattering windows and flaking exteriors, fell more trees in Central Park and obliterate Central Perk along with it’s albino coffee serving employee…what’s that? No physics, oh ok then, we’ll make do with an exploding car and some signs that deform, slightly. I mean c’mon! Have you seen the stand up lights that litter the entirety of New York City’s virtual underground, you can’t even bloody tip them over, all you can do is pick up random bits of shit scattered around like teddy bears, radios, and hedgehog dildos. My only explanation for the lights are that the Ceph (the alien intruders) arrived and slyly super-glued all the lamps in the metro to confuse the entire metropolitan human race. Overall there is very little destructible/modifiable material, just lots of indestructible and throwable objects like cardboard boxes, yeah great game mechanic, like playing The Sims for homeless people.
Textures are dissapointing, you’d think there’d actually be real life cracks and leaves on your screen since playing the orginal, no, now they’re worse, less detailed, more blurry, as if someone constantly pouring vodka in your eyes. With all the hype initially surrounding this its ended up like a trip to the toilet where you’ve spent half an hour pushing out a turd to find it’s the size of a McChicken Nugget.
I’m trying to hold off completing the campaign as I keep hoping there’ll be a patch, truth is it’s probably not going to arrive through official means, and if it does it’ll probably be pretty unexciting. If Crytek pull off an amazing feat like an incredible patch that improved absolutely everything, including real life, then they’d certainly shut every single whiner like myself up, but I honestly hope they do because this latest outing is insulting to the fan base that most respected them.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
Ulf's Make-A-NextGen-Console-From-PC-parts survey
Ulf blog Rule #1) No whining allowed.
Just post your rig, and have fun making it. Tell us why you chose the components you did, and why your console beats the socks off everybody elses.
Ulf blog Rule #2) Follow the rig-making rules.
The rules are as follows
========================
CPU + GPU, Power usage:
Under 180W (don't include other components, assume the rest of the power supply can handle them)
Reason: People don't buy consoles that sound like jet engines, or that need liquid cooling, in their cozy livingrooms. Manufacturer's can't afford to fix consoles that dumb users cause to overheat, either -- at least not at affordable prices, and expensive customer service is bad for the company rep. At 180W for the CPU and GPU, your console would likely require at a supply rated at about 300-350W, at least, and such a beast would probably need to be external, for heat and reliability reasons.
Cost: under $400 *retail* (motherboard, memory, CPU, GPU, sound hardware, optical disc drive, HDD -- motherboard onboard components are fine, if you think they're good for your console design.)
Reason: Consoles don't sell very well at high prices. Disregard the cost of the controller, the networking adapter, any included cables, the case, the power supply, the packaging, etc., when computing your cost. Also disregard any room for profit for the retailer, or the cost to ship the console to retail, etc. Consider all that stuff included, in the extra cost of parts @ retail prices, when you're making your build.
Handy links:
TechARP desktop GPU comparison guide -->
http://www.techarp.com/show...
Wikipedia i7 and Phenom CPU references -->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
Just post your rig, and have fun making it. Tell us why you chose the components you did, and why your console beats the socks off everybody elses.
Ulf blog Rule #2) Follow the rig-making rules.
The rules are as follows
========================
CPU + GPU, Power usage:
Under 180W (don't include other components, assume the rest of the power supply can handle them)
Reason: People don't buy consoles that sound like jet engines, or that need liquid cooling, in their cozy livingrooms. Manufacturer's can't afford to fix consoles that dumb users cause to overheat, either -- at least not at affordable prices, and expensive customer service is bad for the company rep. At 180W for the CPU and GPU, your console would likely require at a supply rated at about 300-350W, at least, and such a beast would probably need to be external, for heat and reliability reasons.
Cost: under $400 *retail* (motherboard, memory, CPU, GPU, sound hardware, optical disc drive, HDD -- motherboard onboard components are fine, if you think they're good for your console design.)
Reason: Consoles don't sell very well at high prices. Disregard the cost of the controller, the networking adapter, any included cables, the case, the power supply, the packaging, etc., when computing your cost. Also disregard any room for profit for the retailer, or the cost to ship the console to retail, etc. Consider all that stuff included, in the extra cost of parts @ retail prices, when you're making your build.
Handy links:
TechARP desktop GPU comparison guide -->
http://www.techarp.com/show...
Wikipedia i7 and Phenom CPU references -->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
Jon Stewart Vs. Kotaku
Let me start off with this blog by showing you the original Kotaku article. http://kotaku.com/5817529/t...
Kotaku: Jon Stewart fumbles the ball on his take down of the Supreme Court's decision to rule that video games are protected speech this week, forgetting that he's living in the same glass house.
Ironically, Stewart uses the very graphic video game images he thinks should be criminalized, on a television show that is itself protected speech.
Get back to me when you think it should be illegal for a 17 to watch your show Jon. That pointed out the same thing Kotaku tried to point out( http://www.warpzoned.com/?p... The point is when
The video in question: http://www.thedailyshow.com...
Wait I didn't hear where he said "Violent video games should be banned."
You didn't either? Weird, how that works. Jon Stewart wasn't defending the law that recently got shot down(EMA Vs. Brown) Jon was saying it's ironic that Violent Content is allowed, but sexy
content isn't.
I agree that it's weird that violence is more acceptable than sexy content is. It's the complete opposite for other countries, where violence is frowned upon, and sexy content isn't.
I do think when purchasing something that has an "M" rating parents should do their research, and not let the games babysit their kids. If parents think their kids are old enough, and mature enough to play a game, then more power to them, because it's their kid, and the same goes for movies, and music.
It should be noted that yes, just like a butt, everyone has an opinion, and this one's mine.
The only thing that is weird about the bill is that Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the people behind it, because he's starred in such films as The Terminator, The Predator movies, and the Conan films.
Kotaku: Jon Stewart fumbles the ball on his take down of the Supreme Court's decision to rule that video games are protected speech this week, forgetting that he's living in the same glass house.
Ironically, Stewart uses the very graphic video game images he thinks should be criminalized, on a television show that is itself protected speech.
Get back to me when you think it should be illegal for a 17 to watch your show Jon. That pointed out the same thing Kotaku tried to point out( http://www.warpzoned.com/?p... The point is when
The video in question: http://www.thedailyshow.com...
Wait I didn't hear where he said "Violent video games should be banned."
You didn't either? Weird, how that works. Jon Stewart wasn't defending the law that recently got shot down(EMA Vs. Brown) Jon was saying it's ironic that Violent Content is allowed, but sexy
content isn't.
I agree that it's weird that violence is more acceptable than sexy content is. It's the complete opposite for other countries, where violence is frowned upon, and sexy content isn't.
I do think when purchasing something that has an "M" rating parents should do their research, and not let the games babysit their kids. If parents think their kids are old enough, and mature enough to play a game, then more power to them, because it's their kid, and the same goes for movies, and music.
It should be noted that yes, just like a butt, everyone has an opinion, and this one's mine.
The only thing that is weird about the bill is that Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the people behind it, because he's starred in such films as The Terminator, The Predator movies, and the Conan films.
Will PES ever be great again? Also, why i think FIFA is overrated.
Just to point out, this is my first Blog post on here. I was just going thru some today for the fist time and i though "Hell, i might as well give my views about something and see what fellow gamers think about it".
Anyway, let me start off by saying that I am not a PES “fanboy”. I know the title might say otherwise but im definitely not. Im a huge football fan and at the end of the day all I want to do is play a decent footie game regardless whether its FIFA or PES. So far this generation I havent played one.
For me, PES6 was the greatest football game ever made, and still is. It was almost perfect. The key reason why it was so great for me was because it allowed you the play exactly how you wanted. If you wanted to play counter-attacking football, you could, all out attacking football, you could, pin a team into their box and pass around it ala Barca, you could, play everything thru a creative midfielder ala Zidane or Riquelme, you could. You get my point. Also another important point was the individuality which is all but gone from modern footie games. Every player felt different. Their strengths and weaknesses were more apparent and were vital to how you played the game. If you were on the ball with Zidane you would notice immediately because of his great control, tight dribbling and smooth passing. So it would be wise to get the ball to him every chance you could. Where on the otherhand a player like Roy Keane was great for pressurising players and winning the ball back but wasn’t very creative therefore you wouldn’t dribble much with him or try any killer passes. This injection of individulaity and simple, yet precise, gameplay mechancics made PES6 so great to play.
You would think it would only get better coming into the next generation but PES 2008 proved otherwise. PES 2008 was a huge surprise to PES fans simply because of how poor it was. But many fans, including me, just assumed it was a result of the jump to new consoles and PES 2009 would be the real successor to PES 6. We were wrong. Ok, but PES 2010 will surely be the real deal. We were wrong. The terrible animations, rigid gameplay and mistake prone goalies, among other flaws, were still present. Oh, but PES 2011, with way more animations, true 360 movement & passing and more “freedom”, this is it, PES is back! We were wrong. Although, as bad as it can be, PES 2011 does show hope, they tried new things and I could see what they were trying to achieve and it was the right idea. Except the results didn’t match the vision. It turned out to be the most frustrating game in the series. Erratic animations, clunky dribling, unresponsive players (especially defenders), terrible refereeing, non-existant close control or pace, mental goalkeeping, useless high through-ball, the “stumble”, broken shooting, poor AI…..that pretty much sums it up for me. Although I mentioned a lot of serious flaws, the thing is, these things can be easily fixed. Along with a much improved Master League and the introduction of ML Online and a brilliant tactic system, I still have hope for PES 2012 and the series in general. Even though I wouldn’t be surprised if I was in the minority regarding this. What do you think?
Now, the FIFA being overrated part. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate FIFA. Its not a “bad” game, but for me it aint a “great” game either. Yet the last two editions have received critical acclaim. “Footballing Perfection” as OPM put it. But that’s the thing, its not, its actually far from it. It does a lot of things right, it has fantastic presentation, a great soundtrack, nice graphics, smooth online, the ability to change aspects of the game from automatic to manual, the brilliant dynamic commentary and I love the aspect of playing around in the Arena during loading times. But when it comes down to the reason we bought the game, the gameplay, that’s where it fails for me.
When I first got FIFA10 I loved it. I loved the feel of it and the brilliant animations. But after a few games I started to notice things that snnoyed me more as I played. Every goalie I played against made world class saves. I found it hard to hit a low driven shot. The refereeing was very leniant. The game would get congested a lot where players would crowd a certain part of the pitch, especially midfield. Small players were knocked off the ball by stronger players way too easy. Defenders always go for the ball instead of containing players. The game sometimes felt like rugby with the overload of jostling. There was no pace, fast players were useless because anyone could catch them. One of the most annoying things was that every player felt the same and after a while every game felt the same. That is why I got sick of FIFA and started to wonder why it was getting such praise with so many glaring flaws.
FIFA11 promised a lot of improvements especially player individuality. Yet when I played it it was basically the same, with most of the same flaws and the only difference that really stood out for me was the slower passing. I rented it for the week and at the end of the week I was bitterly dissapointed as I actually thought it would be a great game. Unlike PES, I havent much hope for FIFA simply because what I consider to be a average game is getting great reviews and therefore EA are not under any pressure to make any major changes. Whereas because of the bad reviews, Konami are.
Now im stuck in a footie game limbo, last year I though for the first time I would have two great footie games, this year my expectations are much lower. Luckily for me there is loads of great games out around the same time.
Anyway, let me start off by saying that I am not a PES “fanboy”. I know the title might say otherwise but im definitely not. Im a huge football fan and at the end of the day all I want to do is play a decent footie game regardless whether its FIFA or PES. So far this generation I havent played one.
For me, PES6 was the greatest football game ever made, and still is. It was almost perfect. The key reason why it was so great for me was because it allowed you the play exactly how you wanted. If you wanted to play counter-attacking football, you could, all out attacking football, you could, pin a team into their box and pass around it ala Barca, you could, play everything thru a creative midfielder ala Zidane or Riquelme, you could. You get my point. Also another important point was the individuality which is all but gone from modern footie games. Every player felt different. Their strengths and weaknesses were more apparent and were vital to how you played the game. If you were on the ball with Zidane you would notice immediately because of his great control, tight dribbling and smooth passing. So it would be wise to get the ball to him every chance you could. Where on the otherhand a player like Roy Keane was great for pressurising players and winning the ball back but wasn’t very creative therefore you wouldn’t dribble much with him or try any killer passes. This injection of individulaity and simple, yet precise, gameplay mechancics made PES6 so great to play.
You would think it would only get better coming into the next generation but PES 2008 proved otherwise. PES 2008 was a huge surprise to PES fans simply because of how poor it was. But many fans, including me, just assumed it was a result of the jump to new consoles and PES 2009 would be the real successor to PES 6. We were wrong. Ok, but PES 2010 will surely be the real deal. We were wrong. The terrible animations, rigid gameplay and mistake prone goalies, among other flaws, were still present. Oh, but PES 2011, with way more animations, true 360 movement & passing and more “freedom”, this is it, PES is back! We were wrong. Although, as bad as it can be, PES 2011 does show hope, they tried new things and I could see what they were trying to achieve and it was the right idea. Except the results didn’t match the vision. It turned out to be the most frustrating game in the series. Erratic animations, clunky dribling, unresponsive players (especially defenders), terrible refereeing, non-existant close control or pace, mental goalkeeping, useless high through-ball, the “stumble”, broken shooting, poor AI…..that pretty much sums it up for me. Although I mentioned a lot of serious flaws, the thing is, these things can be easily fixed. Along with a much improved Master League and the introduction of ML Online and a brilliant tactic system, I still have hope for PES 2012 and the series in general. Even though I wouldn’t be surprised if I was in the minority regarding this. What do you think?
Now, the FIFA being overrated part. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate FIFA. Its not a “bad” game, but for me it aint a “great” game either. Yet the last two editions have received critical acclaim. “Footballing Perfection” as OPM put it. But that’s the thing, its not, its actually far from it. It does a lot of things right, it has fantastic presentation, a great soundtrack, nice graphics, smooth online, the ability to change aspects of the game from automatic to manual, the brilliant dynamic commentary and I love the aspect of playing around in the Arena during loading times. But when it comes down to the reason we bought the game, the gameplay, that’s where it fails for me.
When I first got FIFA10 I loved it. I loved the feel of it and the brilliant animations. But after a few games I started to notice things that snnoyed me more as I played. Every goalie I played against made world class saves. I found it hard to hit a low driven shot. The refereeing was very leniant. The game would get congested a lot where players would crowd a certain part of the pitch, especially midfield. Small players were knocked off the ball by stronger players way too easy. Defenders always go for the ball instead of containing players. The game sometimes felt like rugby with the overload of jostling. There was no pace, fast players were useless because anyone could catch them. One of the most annoying things was that every player felt the same and after a while every game felt the same. That is why I got sick of FIFA and started to wonder why it was getting such praise with so many glaring flaws.
FIFA11 promised a lot of improvements especially player individuality. Yet when I played it it was basically the same, with most of the same flaws and the only difference that really stood out for me was the slower passing. I rented it for the week and at the end of the week I was bitterly dissapointed as I actually thought it would be a great game. Unlike PES, I havent much hope for FIFA simply because what I consider to be a average game is getting great reviews and therefore EA are not under any pressure to make any major changes. Whereas because of the bad reviews, Konami are.
Now im stuck in a footie game limbo, last year I though for the first time I would have two great footie games, this year my expectations are much lower. Luckily for me there is loads of great games out around the same time.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Angry Birds for PC
Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:
* angry birds for pc
* activate free angry birds for pc
* angry birds FLASH SCAM
* angry-birds-online scam
* free angry birds games full version for window xp
*
- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:
* angry birds for pc
* activate free angry birds for pc
* angry birds FLASH SCAM
* angry-birds-online scam
* free angry birds games full version for window xp
*
- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Phineas And Ferb 3D Game – Disney XD Games 63
New Disney Game – Phineas and Ferb
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Have Fun!
Disney released a new game. Phineas and Ferb 3D online game. Klick here to read the complete review.
The new game is available at the Disney XD discovery channel. Get ahead of the game before its officially released next week!
Disney is introducing the brand new DisneyXD game. Phineas and Ferb in: The Transport inators of Doooom!
Doofenschmitz is up to his old tricks again, and who has gone missing? Phineas! Help Ferb find his brother and try to help Agent P thwarth Doofenschmitz evil plans!
Check out this new exciting Disney XD online game before all others do at the Disney Cartoon network games website!
Check out Disney’s cartoon network to find a lot of amazing games and news. Disney offers a lot of cartoon games on their site. So head over to the Disney XD site and play the new Phineas and Ferb – The Transport-inators of Doooom! game!
Have Fun!
Play the Scary Maze Game With Your Friends!
Have you ever played the Scary Maze Game 8 now? If not, brotha you haven’t lived!!! This maze game is the most awesome game on earth! But in order to play it you MUST have a partner in the room with you. So go find a friend, co-hort, or even an enemy – it doesn’t matter! Then match your wits and your mouse skills with the game and see if you’re awesome enough to win the BIG prize at the end!
Chinese Couple Sells All Three Kids to Play Online Games
A young Chinese couple has sold all three of their children in exchange for money to play online Nick jr games at Internet cafes, reports a southern Chinese newspaper.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games. A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son. Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.
In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.
Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.
They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.
When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”
Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.
Official Pokemon Game Coming To Smartphones
The Pokemon Company is set to bring an official Pokemon Online game to smartphone devices, marking the first time that an official Nintendo-copyrighted app will be available on the iOS and Android.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.
According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.
Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.
Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.
A release outside of Japan has not been announced.
Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia
Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Troy Aikman + Facebook = A fantasy football game all about the QBs
Fantasy football, or as I like to call it: The Jock's Dungeons and Dragons, doesn't exactly make for a fun Facebook game. Even the mighty Sports Illustrated couldn't make fantasy football fun on Facebook, regardless of how robust its features are. Troy Aikman (you know, the famous former Dallas Cowboys quarterback?) and Boulder, Co.-based Prediculous--which runs a social game of sorts that challenges players to accurately predict real world events--hope to change that with Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB.
"The quarterback is one of the most important and exciting positions on a football team," Aikman said in a release. "Knowing a little something about that position, I wanted to create a fun fantasy game centered around QBs that anyone can play. From casual fans to long-time fantasy players, this game gives everyone a shot to play and win."
The game simplifies the classic fantasy football gameplay of drafting an entire team down to one of the only positions that matters most exciting positions in all of football: the quarterback. Each week, players will pick their top four QBs for the week that will earn them points based on how they perform in the real NFL games. Then, those choices will be sized up against Aikman's own picks each week found in a video feature uploaded every week.
Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB gameplay
While this will serve as a guide for the casual football fan, it should also serve as a source of competition beyond the stat crunching mega fans and their friends. However, each QB can only be chosen once every three weeks, unless you want to pay up with QB Chips using Facebook Credits. You'll earn QB Chips based on your participation each week as well. And unlike most traditional fantasy football leagues with their rigid times and rules, players can join Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB at any time during the NFL season.
Every Tuesday morning, the game will tally whose QB picks earned the most points per game based on several factors, and declare the winner within your league, which can be comprised of as many as 100 players. Of course, you can brag about your winning predictions using the News Feed, and find friends via requests. Sure, it's a simplistic fantasy football game for Facebook, but maybe that's the key to getting Facebook gamers into fantasy football. We'll see once the season starts on Sept. 8.
Click here to play Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB on Facebook Now >
Are you a fan of fantasy football or have a fan in the home? Do you think Troy Aikman's approach to fantasy football on Facebook could popularize the game on a new platform? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
"The quarterback is one of the most important and exciting positions on a football team," Aikman said in a release. "Knowing a little something about that position, I wanted to create a fun fantasy game centered around QBs that anyone can play. From casual fans to long-time fantasy players, this game gives everyone a shot to play and win."
The game simplifies the classic fantasy football gameplay of drafting an entire team down to one of the only positions that matters most exciting positions in all of football: the quarterback. Each week, players will pick their top four QBs for the week that will earn them points based on how they perform in the real NFL games. Then, those choices will be sized up against Aikman's own picks each week found in a video feature uploaded every week.
Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB gameplay
While this will serve as a guide for the casual football fan, it should also serve as a source of competition beyond the stat crunching mega fans and their friends. However, each QB can only be chosen once every three weeks, unless you want to pay up with QB Chips using Facebook Credits. You'll earn QB Chips based on your participation each week as well. And unlike most traditional fantasy football leagues with their rigid times and rules, players can join Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB at any time during the NFL season.
Every Tuesday morning, the game will tally whose QB picks earned the most points per game based on several factors, and declare the winner within your league, which can be comprised of as many as 100 players. Of course, you can brag about your winning predictions using the News Feed, and find friends via requests. Sure, it's a simplistic fantasy football game for Facebook, but maybe that's the key to getting Facebook gamers into fantasy football. We'll see once the season starts on Sept. 8.
Click here to play Aikman 2011 Fantasy QB on Facebook Now >
Are you a fan of fantasy football or have a fan in the home? Do you think Troy Aikman's approach to fantasy football on Facebook could popularize the game on a new platform? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Kingdoms & Quests looks like Zynga's next big game, a social RPG?
Update: Zynga has since taken down the support pages detailing Kingdoms & Quests. However, the "restricted" app still has a presence on Facebook.
And its worst-kept secret at that. Even before Adventure World has hit Facebook, it looks as if we already know a great deal about Zynga's next major social game. It's called Kingdoms & Quests, and at the moment is available only in Australia, according to brand new support pages for the game.
This is the first we're hearing of this new game, but a detailed guide for beginners reveals quite a lot about the unannounced Kingdoms & Quests. (You can try to access the game via Facebook, though you'll simply get a screen that reads, "Use of app 'Kingdoms & Quests' is restricted.")
First of all, we know that this game is a fantasy RPG (roleplaying game) in which players gain experience and resources like wood, coins and food through battling monsters as they clear the fog surrounding their kingdom. So, there will be a property management and expansion aspect to Kingdoms & Quests, but the support page drives home that combat is the focus in this game.
Like Empires & Allies before it, players will create a kingdom and populate it with combat units to do battle against monsters in turn-based bouts, though we doubt this game will focus on strategy like E&A does. That's namely because Zynga doesn't at all mention PvP (player vs player) combat nor does it mention large-scale encounters or having to defend your territory. In fact, it looks like you'll only be able to have four units in battle at a time.
Kingdoms & Quests art
Zynga uses language that implies that players will explore the land around them on quests, killing individual groups of monsters with supporting warriors. Furthermore, it looks like players will be able to micromanage their units through equipment either crafted or found during battle. It sounds as if each and every unit will be outfitted with unique weapons.
While PvP doesn't seem to be a part of Kingdoms & Quests, social interaction will, of course, be a major focus ... perhaps more so than in any Zynga game before it. "If a player has an element icon next to their name, rather than the home kingdom icon, you can visit them on their map and play Kingdoms & Quests with them in real-time," the support page reads. Surely Kingdoms & Quests will be a first for Zynga on many levels, and we're psyched to learn more. To see what this game will be about in detail, check out its support page right here.
[Via Mafia Wars Maniac]
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Are you excited for yet another new Zynga game? How do you think or hope Kingdoms & Quests will play? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
And its worst-kept secret at that. Even before Adventure World has hit Facebook, it looks as if we already know a great deal about Zynga's next major social game. It's called Kingdoms & Quests, and at the moment is available only in Australia, according to brand new support pages for the game.
This is the first we're hearing of this new game, but a detailed guide for beginners reveals quite a lot about the unannounced Kingdoms & Quests. (You can try to access the game via Facebook, though you'll simply get a screen that reads, "Use of app 'Kingdoms & Quests' is restricted.")
First of all, we know that this game is a fantasy RPG (roleplaying game) in which players gain experience and resources like wood, coins and food through battling monsters as they clear the fog surrounding their kingdom. So, there will be a property management and expansion aspect to Kingdoms & Quests, but the support page drives home that combat is the focus in this game.
Like Empires & Allies before it, players will create a kingdom and populate it with combat units to do battle against monsters in turn-based bouts, though we doubt this game will focus on strategy like E&A does. That's namely because Zynga doesn't at all mention PvP (player vs player) combat nor does it mention large-scale encounters or having to defend your territory. In fact, it looks like you'll only be able to have four units in battle at a time.
Kingdoms & Quests art
Zynga uses language that implies that players will explore the land around them on quests, killing individual groups of monsters with supporting warriors. Furthermore, it looks like players will be able to micromanage their units through equipment either crafted or found during battle. It sounds as if each and every unit will be outfitted with unique weapons.
While PvP doesn't seem to be a part of Kingdoms & Quests, social interaction will, of course, be a major focus ... perhaps more so than in any Zynga game before it. "If a player has an element icon next to their name, rather than the home kingdom icon, you can visit them on their map and play Kingdoms & Quests with them in real-time," the support page reads. Surely Kingdoms & Quests will be a first for Zynga on many levels, and we're psyched to learn more. To see what this game will be about in detail, check out its support page right here.
[Via Mafia Wars Maniac]
[Image Credit: Zynga]
Are you excited for yet another new Zynga game? How do you think or hope Kingdoms & Quests will play? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Plants vs Zombies for iPhone update unearths nine new mini games
Look, Plants vs Zombies might be PopCap's most entertaining game to date (next to Peggle), but even flinging seeds at ravenous zombies gets stale after awhile. Luckily, PopCap thinks so too, and has updated PvZ for iPhone, bringing with it a whopping nine new mini games that players can buy using coins in Crazy Dave's Shop. Well, at least these mini games are new to the iPhone--they're all from the PC and Mac version of PvZ.
Each of the nine new games comes in a pack of three for 50,000 coins, which players can collect through just playing the Adventure Mode or tending to their Zen Gardens (released in the previous update). Of course, you can expedite the process by purchasing bundles of 100,000 coins for $.99 apiece. Here's a sneak peek at all nine mini games, courtesy of PopCap:
Game Pack #3
* Walnut Bowling 2: Knock 'em dead in this killer twist to an old favorite sport.
* Seeing Stars: Unravel the mystery of the star-shaped pattern.
* Bobsled Bonanza: Melt the ice and defeat bobsledders and Zombonis in this frosty battle.
Game Pack #4
* Invisi-Ghoul: Test your prowess to take on invisible zombies.
* Last Stand: Not your average day at the pool!
* ZomBotany 2: Hybrid zombies sport plant heads and abilities to up the challenge ante.
Game Pack #5
* Beghouled Twist: An homage to Bejeweled Twist, this mash-up requires match-3 skill.
* Pogo Party: Crash the pogo party of your roof!
* Zombie Nimble Zombie Quick: Get ready to move faster than ever!
PvZ mini games
All nine mini games sound like fun, but we're most interested in this homage to Bejeweled Twist, and Walnut Bowling has always been a blast when it comes up in Adventure Mode. This update also introduces more Achievements to brag about share on Apple Game Center, most notable of which is Peking Express.
This is a micro game of sorts in which you're timed on how quickly you scroll all the way down the Achievements page to visit China and its zombies. I made it in just over 10 seconds--can you beat my time? If you're game, then click on the link below and get to diggin'. If anything, this should hold you over until Peggle and PvZ hit Facebook ... maybe.
Click here to download the new Plants vs Zombies update for iPhone >
Have you unlocked any of the new features in this PvZ update? Which of the new mini games are you most excited about? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Each of the nine new games comes in a pack of three for 50,000 coins, which players can collect through just playing the Adventure Mode or tending to their Zen Gardens (released in the previous update). Of course, you can expedite the process by purchasing bundles of 100,000 coins for $.99 apiece. Here's a sneak peek at all nine mini games, courtesy of PopCap:
Game Pack #3
* Walnut Bowling 2: Knock 'em dead in this killer twist to an old favorite sport.
* Seeing Stars: Unravel the mystery of the star-shaped pattern.
* Bobsled Bonanza: Melt the ice and defeat bobsledders and Zombonis in this frosty battle.
Game Pack #4
* Invisi-Ghoul: Test your prowess to take on invisible zombies.
* Last Stand: Not your average day at the pool!
* ZomBotany 2: Hybrid zombies sport plant heads and abilities to up the challenge ante.
Game Pack #5
* Beghouled Twist: An homage to Bejeweled Twist, this mash-up requires match-3 skill.
* Pogo Party: Crash the pogo party of your roof!
* Zombie Nimble Zombie Quick: Get ready to move faster than ever!
PvZ mini games
All nine mini games sound like fun, but we're most interested in this homage to Bejeweled Twist, and Walnut Bowling has always been a blast when it comes up in Adventure Mode. This update also introduces more Achievements to brag about share on Apple Game Center, most notable of which is Peking Express.
This is a micro game of sorts in which you're timed on how quickly you scroll all the way down the Achievements page to visit China and its zombies. I made it in just over 10 seconds--can you beat my time? If you're game, then click on the link below and get to diggin'. If anything, this should hold you over until Peggle and PvZ hit Facebook ... maybe.
Click here to download the new Plants vs Zombies update for iPhone >
Have you unlocked any of the new features in this PvZ update? Which of the new mini games are you most excited about? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Car Town Japan drifts onto Mobage, Cie Games opens Tokyo office
If The Fast and the Furious has taught us anything about the "real" world, it's that Tokyo is a haven for gear-heads. Car Town creator Cie Games looks to bring Japanese social gamers just what they've been looking for in a social game with Car Town Japan. Inside Social Games (ISG) reports that the Facebook racer with over 5.8 million monthly players will expand to Mobage, DeNA's mobile social games network, before the end of this week as the company opens its Tokyo office.
"When we launch future titles, you'll see us deployed internationally much more quickly on multiple platforms," Cie Games CEO Justin Choi told ISG. "We are planning on opening additional offices. We are going to use Japan as a hub to expand into other markets in Asia."
According to ISG, this Japanese version of Car Town on Mobage is different from what sounds like a dedicated version of Car Town for iOS and Android devices that's in the works, which will be released "soon." Car Town Japan features a decidedly Japanese look and feel, though folks will still race, build, decorate and upgrade cars based on real-life brands like Toyota, Honda and Ford.
For you lucky folks going to the Tokyo Game Show next week, Cie Games will have a playable version of Car Town Japan there, too. For the rest of us back in the states and elsewhere, we'll just have to wait patiently until the game speeds onto our iPhones and various Android devices. So pump your brakes, and go play Car Town on Facebook some more.
[Image Credit: Inside Social Games]
Do you think this is a sign of Cie Games rise to social game notoriety among the elites like Zynga and EA? Are you excited to soon have a mobile version of Car Town to take around? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
"When we launch future titles, you'll see us deployed internationally much more quickly on multiple platforms," Cie Games CEO Justin Choi told ISG. "We are planning on opening additional offices. We are going to use Japan as a hub to expand into other markets in Asia."
According to ISG, this Japanese version of Car Town on Mobage is different from what sounds like a dedicated version of Car Town for iOS and Android devices that's in the works, which will be released "soon." Car Town Japan features a decidedly Japanese look and feel, though folks will still race, build, decorate and upgrade cars based on real-life brands like Toyota, Honda and Ford.
For you lucky folks going to the Tokyo Game Show next week, Cie Games will have a playable version of Car Town Japan there, too. For the rest of us back in the states and elsewhere, we'll just have to wait patiently until the game speeds onto our iPhones and various Android devices. So pump your brakes, and go play Car Town on Facebook some more.
[Image Credit: Inside Social Games]
Do you think this is a sign of Cie Games rise to social game notoriety among the elites like Zynga and EA? Are you excited to soon have a mobile version of Car Town to take around? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Ubisoft CEO: Smurfs & Co. gained 4.2 million players with no marketing
And now, The Smurfs & Co. is sitting pretty with over 9 million monthly players since its launch just over a month ago. During an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot revealed, "Smurfs went from zero to 4.2 million without marketing in two weeks."
While these might not be The Sims Social numbers, it speaks volumes to the power social games with strong brands behind them have on Facebook. This is especially considering Ubisoft conducted zero advertising (the main method of growth for Facebook games these days) for The Smurfs & Co. in that time period. That's the power of The Smurfs for ya, I guess.
Guillemont continued," So it's amazing how fast, when the content is adapted, those products can grow. So it really shows that people are very interested by new content in games. So we will continue to develop and make sure the quality of the game experience is adapted to what people are looking for."
In other words, the best way to for a Facebook game to grow is the keep it current, according to Guillemont. (So, that's why Zynga updates its games incessantly!) The Ubisoft boss went on to reveal to GamesIndustry.biz just why it's in on the rapidly growing free-to-play and social games movement: "In the long term there's no reason why the casual would not overcome the hardcore business because there are more people that are interested in buying casual."
So, if you ask Guillemont, casual (and free-to-play) are the way to go, which already accounted for 40 percent of the company's revenue in 2010. And Ubisoft is certainly not alone--EA has already spent over $1 billion on Facebook and mobile games, which is looking to already be paying off. Other traditional companies are slowly dipping their feet, while a legion of originally hardcore game designers have Facebook Credits twinkling in their eyes.
Does this mean no more Assassin's Creed or Ghost Recon for the hardcore crowd? Of course not, but I'm willing to bet that it does mean far more blue creatures in white hats in a not-so-little place called Facebook.
Do you agree that casual games could overtake hardcore games in the future? What do you think of The Smurfs & Co. so far, what brands do you hope Ubisoft brings to Facebook next? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
While these might not be The Sims Social numbers, it speaks volumes to the power social games with strong brands behind them have on Facebook. This is especially considering Ubisoft conducted zero advertising (the main method of growth for Facebook games these days) for The Smurfs & Co. in that time period. That's the power of The Smurfs for ya, I guess.
Guillemont continued," So it's amazing how fast, when the content is adapted, those products can grow. So it really shows that people are very interested by new content in games. So we will continue to develop and make sure the quality of the game experience is adapted to what people are looking for."
In other words, the best way to for a Facebook game to grow is the keep it current, according to Guillemont. (So, that's why Zynga updates its games incessantly!) The Ubisoft boss went on to reveal to GamesIndustry.biz just why it's in on the rapidly growing free-to-play and social games movement: "In the long term there's no reason why the casual would not overcome the hardcore business because there are more people that are interested in buying casual."
So, if you ask Guillemont, casual (and free-to-play) are the way to go, which already accounted for 40 percent of the company's revenue in 2010. And Ubisoft is certainly not alone--EA has already spent over $1 billion on Facebook and mobile games, which is looking to already be paying off. Other traditional companies are slowly dipping their feet, while a legion of originally hardcore game designers have Facebook Credits twinkling in their eyes.
Does this mean no more Assassin's Creed or Ghost Recon for the hardcore crowd? Of course not, but I'm willing to bet that it does mean far more blue creatures in white hats in a not-so-little place called Facebook.
Do you agree that casual games could overtake hardcore games in the future? What do you think of The Smurfs & Co. so far, what brands do you hope Ubisoft brings to Facebook next? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Gree's OpenFeint hires ex-Glu Mobile exec, more social games coming?
The mobile social game wars are heating up, as OpenFeint just took on former Glu Mobile executive Sarah Thompson (pictured) as its director of developer relations, SocialTimes reports. In other words, OpenFeint, owned by Japanese mobile social gaming powerhouse Gree, hired Thomson to strategically acquire build relationships with independent developers.
Namely, SocialTimes's Azam Khan guesses those developers will be primarily social and mobile social game creators, given Thomson's past exploits in the industry with Glu Mobile and IUGO Entertainment before that. And frankly, we couldn't agree more. Considering OpenFeint is a social network for mobile games at heart, and Gree's existing status, it simply makes sense.
"OpenFeint is going through an exciting phase of growth right now and Sarah is exactly the kind of person we need to keep up the momentum," OpenFeint SVP Marketing and Developer Relations Eros Resmini said in a release. "Sarah's deep history in mobile gaming paired with her connections to the developer community made her a great fit for OpenFeint."
We can't help but recall what just went down between OpenFeint and Gree: The former's co-founder and CEO Jason Citron resigned, and Gree CFO Naoki Aoyagi took his place. (Though, VentureBeat reckons the move was less ... cut-and-dry.) But back to Gree and OpenFeint's future plans, the simple fact is mobile social games are growing at an exponential rate on iOS and Android devices.
"I've always admired OpenFeint for its constant innovation in the mobile gaming space," Thomson said in a release. "As the company continues to change with the market, I'm excited to help OpenFeint continue growing." And we think we have an idea of just where Thomson would like to go. It starts with an "S" and--oh, forget it. You get the point already.
Do you think this puts OpenFeint in a better place to compete with opponents like DeNA and Zynga in mobile games? Don't you wish you could have rockin' tattoos and a big time exec gig? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments
Namely, SocialTimes's Azam Khan guesses those developers will be primarily social and mobile social game creators, given Thomson's past exploits in the industry with Glu Mobile and IUGO Entertainment before that. And frankly, we couldn't agree more. Considering OpenFeint is a social network for mobile games at heart, and Gree's existing status, it simply makes sense.
"OpenFeint is going through an exciting phase of growth right now and Sarah is exactly the kind of person we need to keep up the momentum," OpenFeint SVP Marketing and Developer Relations Eros Resmini said in a release. "Sarah's deep history in mobile gaming paired with her connections to the developer community made her a great fit for OpenFeint."
We can't help but recall what just went down between OpenFeint and Gree: The former's co-founder and CEO Jason Citron resigned, and Gree CFO Naoki Aoyagi took his place. (Though, VentureBeat reckons the move was less ... cut-and-dry.) But back to Gree and OpenFeint's future plans, the simple fact is mobile social games are growing at an exponential rate on iOS and Android devices.
"I've always admired OpenFeint for its constant innovation in the mobile gaming space," Thomson said in a release. "As the company continues to change with the market, I'm excited to help OpenFeint continue growing." And we think we have an idea of just where Thomson would like to go. It starts with an "S" and--oh, forget it. You get the point already.
Do you think this puts OpenFeint in a better place to compete with opponents like DeNA and Zynga in mobile games? Don't you wish you could have rockin' tattoos and a big time exec gig? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments
Very sneaky, Zynga: Mafia Wars Shakedown revealed for iOS devices
Jeez, these guys are just terrible at keeping secrets, huh? (Alright, so this one looks like it was intentional, but nobody told us!) Zynga has announced yet another game, Mafia Wars Shakedown for iOS devices. However, the company went with a more low key approach for this announcement, which is far from its style. Exhibit A: Mafia Wars 2.
News of the game appeared when it replaced the Facebook page for Mafia Wars: Atlantic City, which was shuttered earlier this month in preparation for a "a much more exciting destination," the Mafia Wars Blog reads. What that implies to us is that Atlantic City may have been a failed experiment in HTML5 game creation, hence Shakedown. No other information about the game has been revealed other than it will first release for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Well, that and these tiny pieces of artwork. It's unknown whether this new iPhone game will come within a dedicated app like FarmVille and CityVille Hometown for iOS or through HTML5 like its predecessor. Frankly, HTML5--a web-based coding language capable of game development across multiple platforms simultaneously--is capable of more than Atlantic City.
Mafia Wars Shakedown Banner
Shakedown has all but replaced the web presence for Atlantic City (even the Twitter account has been taken over). My guess is that this new game will be a native iOS app like previous Zynga Mobile games, especially considering this news comes just as Zynga Mobile's David Ko told The Guardian he thinks HTML5 is still too early. We've reached out to Zynga for comment.
What are your guesses about this brand new Mafia Wars game for iOS devices? Are you bummed at all that Atlantic City has been closed down? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
News of the game appeared when it replaced the Facebook page for Mafia Wars: Atlantic City, which was shuttered earlier this month in preparation for a "a much more exciting destination," the Mafia Wars Blog reads. What that implies to us is that Atlantic City may have been a failed experiment in HTML5 game creation, hence Shakedown. No other information about the game has been revealed other than it will first release for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Well, that and these tiny pieces of artwork. It's unknown whether this new iPhone game will come within a dedicated app like FarmVille and CityVille Hometown for iOS or through HTML5 like its predecessor. Frankly, HTML5--a web-based coding language capable of game development across multiple platforms simultaneously--is capable of more than Atlantic City.
Mafia Wars Shakedown Banner
Shakedown has all but replaced the web presence for Atlantic City (even the Twitter account has been taken over). My guess is that this new game will be a native iOS app like previous Zynga Mobile games, especially considering this news comes just as Zynga Mobile's David Ko told The Guardian he thinks HTML5 is still too early. We've reached out to Zynga for comment.
What are your guesses about this brand new Mafia Wars game for iOS devices? Are you bummed at all that Atlantic City has been closed down? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Catch the winter blues at Onisuka057's farm
While DaTigga's isles farm certainly beats all in terms of creating a water-filled landscape, Onisuka057's river mountain farm is a contender for the greatest number of watery FarmVille decorations used. Just like his golden oasis farm, Onisuka057 proves to be a big spender of Farm Cash items, but he does arrange them in impressive ways. By using nine Waterfalls and one Bear Fishing item, he's managed to create the illusion of a massively long river running down the crevices of his mountain. (The mountain itself is the same kind used by ombra231's Italy farm to recreate the Apennine Mountain Range.)
On the bottom of the farm, he's got more Alps intertwined with more than one Lake and Mirror Lake, which are certainly not cheap. While the Lake is readily available at the Market, the Mirror Lake is a random Mystery Box item, so he must've had to buy a lot of those before he got what he wanted.
FarmVille spelled out in hay bales
For more uses of blue, Onizuka057 planted a ton of what appears to be Forget-Me-Nots, which require at least Level 90. In an earlier version of his farm, he even spelled out "FARMVILLE" in what looks like Perfect Bunches of Morning Glory and Iris flowers. I think his farm looked better with all that blue, though the logo version that he made out of hay bales looks good, too.
Which version of Onisuka057's farm do you prefer? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
On the bottom of the farm, he's got more Alps intertwined with more than one Lake and Mirror Lake, which are certainly not cheap. While the Lake is readily available at the Market, the Mirror Lake is a random Mystery Box item, so he must've had to buy a lot of those before he got what he wanted.
FarmVille spelled out in hay bales
For more uses of blue, Onizuka057 planted a ton of what appears to be Forget-Me-Nots, which require at least Level 90. In an earlier version of his farm, he even spelled out "FARMVILLE" in what looks like Perfect Bunches of Morning Glory and Iris flowers. I think his farm looked better with all that blue, though the logo version that he made out of hay bales looks good, too.
Which version of Onisuka057's farm do you prefer? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Pioneer Trail Baby Bunyan Goals: Everything you need to know
You know, I've always wondered what old Paul Bunyan looked like as an infant. (Was he always that huge--was him mom even bigger?) With the new series of Baby Bunyan Goals, Zynga looks to answer these questions once and for all in Pioneer Trail.
Much like the Injured Animals of old, players Level 18 and above will soon find a Baby Bunyan of their own, all alone on their homesteads. But this will only happen after chopping trees. Get to choppin', and follow along with our guide below:
Big Food
* Feed Baby Bunyan Super Baby Gro 8 Times
* Harvest 50 Potatoes
* Help 10 Exhausted Storks
Once you find your own Baby Bunyan, it's time to nurse it into the tree-choppin' tyke you always dreamed of. (Weird dreams much?) Just like an Injured Animal, you must ask your friends for Super Baby Gro. While this Goal only requires you to do it eight times, it takes 15 Super Baby Gro to nurse him completely.
Harvesting 50 Potatoes will cost you 4,500 Coins total, and take at least four hours, if you plant them all at once. Exhausted Storks are actually a new Injured Animal that are found either clearing debris or harvesting crops. Of course, they require you to ask friends for even more items to nurse them back to health. Your rewards for completing this massive first Goal are 500 XP, 500 Coins and one Stork.
Big Britches
* Collect 100 Cotton Puffs
* Tend 40 Baby Sheep
* Collect 25 Safety Pins
The 100 Cotton Puffs required for this Goal reportedly come from harvesting Cotton, which is news to us. If the ratio is 1 to 1, harvesting 100 Cotton will cost you 6,000 Coins and take three days at the very least. Tending to 40 Baby Sheep could be tough, though Zynga doesn't distinguish between Sheep or your Homestead or those of your Neighbors. The 25 Safety Pins, of course, come from begging your friends some more. Enjoy 750 XP and 750 Coins for completing this Goal.
Need more Super Gro
Who's A Big Boy
* Complete Feed Baby Bunyan
* Bake 25 Cakes In The Inn
* Collect 25 Baby Clothes
By this point, you're expected to have a fully grown (well, sort of) Baby Bunyan, which again, takes 15 Super Baby Gro. To bake 25 Cakes, you will need 50 Fire and 100 Batter. Fire is first crafted in the Wagon using seven Wood and five Cloth, which amounts to 350 Wood and 250 Cloth. (That's 250 visits to old friends, though you can also turn in the Cotton Collection for five Cloth.)
The 100 Batter will take a whopping 2,000 Food and 90,000 Coins--this is gonna' take awhile. The 25 Baby Clothes are, once more, sourced from friends. For finishing this giant Goal, you will be rewarded with 1000 XP, 1000 Coins and one Baby Giant Blue Ox. More importantly, you'll have your very own Baby Bunyan, which will prove to be a boon to your homestead.
Baby Bunyan About
Click on your Baby Bunyan after clicking "Finish" to ask him to chop trees. Here's the best part: Baby Bunyan can chop down three full trees for you at the cost of zero Energy. However, Baby Bunyan can only do this once daily. Still, that's quite the reward for such an arduous set of Goals, so use him wisely.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you started on your Baby Bunyan yet? What do you think of this brand new feature ... and those Goals? Sound off in the comments. 5 Comments
Much like the Injured Animals of old, players Level 18 and above will soon find a Baby Bunyan of their own, all alone on their homesteads. But this will only happen after chopping trees. Get to choppin', and follow along with our guide below:
Big Food
* Feed Baby Bunyan Super Baby Gro 8 Times
* Harvest 50 Potatoes
* Help 10 Exhausted Storks
Once you find your own Baby Bunyan, it's time to nurse it into the tree-choppin' tyke you always dreamed of. (Weird dreams much?) Just like an Injured Animal, you must ask your friends for Super Baby Gro. While this Goal only requires you to do it eight times, it takes 15 Super Baby Gro to nurse him completely.
Harvesting 50 Potatoes will cost you 4,500 Coins total, and take at least four hours, if you plant them all at once. Exhausted Storks are actually a new Injured Animal that are found either clearing debris or harvesting crops. Of course, they require you to ask friends for even more items to nurse them back to health. Your rewards for completing this massive first Goal are 500 XP, 500 Coins and one Stork.
Big Britches
* Collect 100 Cotton Puffs
* Tend 40 Baby Sheep
* Collect 25 Safety Pins
The 100 Cotton Puffs required for this Goal reportedly come from harvesting Cotton, which is news to us. If the ratio is 1 to 1, harvesting 100 Cotton will cost you 6,000 Coins and take three days at the very least. Tending to 40 Baby Sheep could be tough, though Zynga doesn't distinguish between Sheep or your Homestead or those of your Neighbors. The 25 Safety Pins, of course, come from begging your friends some more. Enjoy 750 XP and 750 Coins for completing this Goal.
Need more Super Gro
Who's A Big Boy
* Complete Feed Baby Bunyan
* Bake 25 Cakes In The Inn
* Collect 25 Baby Clothes
By this point, you're expected to have a fully grown (well, sort of) Baby Bunyan, which again, takes 15 Super Baby Gro. To bake 25 Cakes, you will need 50 Fire and 100 Batter. Fire is first crafted in the Wagon using seven Wood and five Cloth, which amounts to 350 Wood and 250 Cloth. (That's 250 visits to old friends, though you can also turn in the Cotton Collection for five Cloth.)
The 100 Batter will take a whopping 2,000 Food and 90,000 Coins--this is gonna' take awhile. The 25 Baby Clothes are, once more, sourced from friends. For finishing this giant Goal, you will be rewarded with 1000 XP, 1000 Coins and one Baby Giant Blue Ox. More importantly, you'll have your very own Baby Bunyan, which will prove to be a boon to your homestead.
Baby Bunyan About
Click on your Baby Bunyan after clicking "Finish" to ask him to chop trees. Here's the best part: Baby Bunyan can chop down three full trees for you at the cost of zero Energy. However, Baby Bunyan can only do this once daily. Still, that's quite the reward for such an arduous set of Goals, so use him wisely.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you started on your Baby Bunyan yet? What do you think of this brand new feature ... and those Goals? Sound off in the comments. 5 Comments
Adventure World 4 Comments Adventure World Great River Expedition: Everything you need to know
Here we are again, adventurers, giving you another look at a brand new Expedition that has been added to Adventure World this week. If you've been completing Expeditions in a row from left to right across the game's menu, you'll be surprised to see that not one, but three new Expeditions have appeared fairly early on in the list, in anticipation of the arrival of Indiana Jones in the game next month. How do I know that? It's simple - all three Expeditions are tagged with Indiana Jones within the game's menu.
Still going in order, the first of these Expeditions you'll come across is the Great River Expedition. This one will see you reuiniting two villages that are separated by broken bridges. The overall Expedition has a three day time limit, and requires you to have 325 Supplies and two each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. Once you do, you'll have three quests to complete in all - here's a guide to completing them.
Gather a Rubbing
* Collect 12 Cotton
* Collect 24 Vines
* Repair 6 Bridges
* Take a Rubbing of the Standing Stone
Soon after starting this Expedition, you'll see that this is about more than just repairing bridges. Apparently, Indy (or perhaps just the Society) wants you to take a rubbing (with coal and paper) of an ancient Standing Stone at the far end of this map. In order to get there, you'll need to complete these bridges as a result.
The materials necessary to complete these bridges are scattered throughout the map, with the Cotton being found in rows or other farm-esque areas, and the Vines coming by removing Thorns from the map. Each thorn tends to give out four individual Vines, you'll need to remove at least six to reach the 24 total. Each of the six bridges require four Vines and two Cotton, so you'll luckily have enough to build some bridges to reach other areas and collect more materials, without having to do everything at once.
Llama Research?
* Gather 10 Hay
* Ask for 10 Shaving Cream
* Apply Shaving Cream to 10 Llamas
* Shave 10 Llamas
For whatever reason, Emily (your research companion) has taken an interest in the Llamas the frequent this map, and wants their wool. Taking a rather humorous approach, you'll need to gather ten cans of shaving cream by asking your friends to send them to you. You'll then need to click on on each Llama twice: once to apply the shaving cream and once to shave them. The Hay, meanwhile, is scattered around the various islands of the map.
Grapple to the Summit
* Recover the Mountainheart Gem
* Gather the Feed Bag that Weighs the Same as the Gem
* Place the Feed Bag in the Hands of the Mountainheart
Making this Expedition even more complicated, Emily has another demand: she wants the Mountainheart gem that rests along the top left hand corner of this map. This one is guarded by snakes and plenty of debris, and is compounded by the fact that you'll need to have a bag weighing the same as the Gem before you can take it. These bags are found around the map, and come in various sizes. Don't worry about having to personally determine their weight; just by clicking on a single bag, you'll be told whether or not it's the right size. This results in trial and error, sure, but it doesn't require any skill.
Once you have finished these three admittedly complex portions, you'll have successfully completed the Great River Expedition. If this is any indication as to the complexity of future Expeditions, I hope we're all ready for a struggle as we continue on.
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Great River Expedition? Are there too many steps required to complete it, or do you appreciate a lengthy challenge? Sound off in the comments.
Still going in order, the first of these Expeditions you'll come across is the Great River Expedition. This one will see you reuiniting two villages that are separated by broken bridges. The overall Expedition has a three day time limit, and requires you to have 325 Supplies and two each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. Once you do, you'll have three quests to complete in all - here's a guide to completing them.
Gather a Rubbing
* Collect 12 Cotton
* Collect 24 Vines
* Repair 6 Bridges
* Take a Rubbing of the Standing Stone
Soon after starting this Expedition, you'll see that this is about more than just repairing bridges. Apparently, Indy (or perhaps just the Society) wants you to take a rubbing (with coal and paper) of an ancient Standing Stone at the far end of this map. In order to get there, you'll need to complete these bridges as a result.
The materials necessary to complete these bridges are scattered throughout the map, with the Cotton being found in rows or other farm-esque areas, and the Vines coming by removing Thorns from the map. Each thorn tends to give out four individual Vines, you'll need to remove at least six to reach the 24 total. Each of the six bridges require four Vines and two Cotton, so you'll luckily have enough to build some bridges to reach other areas and collect more materials, without having to do everything at once.
Llama Research?
* Gather 10 Hay
* Ask for 10 Shaving Cream
* Apply Shaving Cream to 10 Llamas
* Shave 10 Llamas
For whatever reason, Emily (your research companion) has taken an interest in the Llamas the frequent this map, and wants their wool. Taking a rather humorous approach, you'll need to gather ten cans of shaving cream by asking your friends to send them to you. You'll then need to click on on each Llama twice: once to apply the shaving cream and once to shave them. The Hay, meanwhile, is scattered around the various islands of the map.
Grapple to the Summit
* Recover the Mountainheart Gem
* Gather the Feed Bag that Weighs the Same as the Gem
* Place the Feed Bag in the Hands of the Mountainheart
Making this Expedition even more complicated, Emily has another demand: she wants the Mountainheart gem that rests along the top left hand corner of this map. This one is guarded by snakes and plenty of debris, and is compounded by the fact that you'll need to have a bag weighing the same as the Gem before you can take it. These bags are found around the map, and come in various sizes. Don't worry about having to personally determine their weight; just by clicking on a single bag, you'll be told whether or not it's the right size. This results in trial and error, sure, but it doesn't require any skill.
Once you have finished these three admittedly complex portions, you'll have successfully completed the Great River Expedition. If this is any indication as to the complexity of future Expeditions, I hope we're all ready for a struggle as we continue on.
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Great River Expedition? Are there too many steps required to complete it, or do you appreciate a lengthy challenge? Sound off in the comments.
Adventure World Great River Expedition: Everything you need to know
Here we are again, adventurers, giving you another look at a brand new Expedition that has been added to Adventure World this week. If you've been completing Expeditions in a row from left to right across the game's menu, you'll be surprised to see that not one, but three new Expeditions have appeared fairly early on in the list, in anticipation of the arrival of Indiana Jones in the game next month. How do I know that? It's simple - all three Expeditions are tagged with Indiana Jones within the game's menu.
Still going in order, the first of these Expeditions you'll come across is the Great River Expedition. This one will see you reuiniting two villages that are separated by broken bridges. The overall Expedition has a three day time limit, and requires you to have 325 Supplies and two each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. Once you do, you'll have three quests to complete in all - here's a guide to completing them.
Gather a Rubbing
* Collect 12 Cotton
* Collect 24 Vines
* Repair 6 Bridges
* Take a Rubbing of the Standing Stone
Soon after starting this Expedition, you'll see that this is about more than just repairing bridges. Apparently, Indy (or perhaps just the Society) wants you to take a rubbing (with coal and paper) of an ancient Standing Stone at the far end of this map. In order to get there, you'll need to complete these bridges as a result.
The materials necessary to complete these bridges are scattered throughout the map, with the Cotton being found in rows or other farm-esque areas, and the Vines coming by removing Thorns from the map. Each thorn tends to give out four individual Vines, you'll need to remove at least six to reach the 24 total. Each of the six bridges require four Vines and two Cotton, so you'll luckily have enough to build some bridges to reach other areas and collect more materials, without having to do everything at once.
Llama Research?
* Gather 10 Hay
* Ask for 10 Shaving Cream
* Apply Shaving Cream to 10 Llamas
* Shave 10 Llamas
For whatever reason, Emily (your research companion) has taken an interest in the Llamas the frequent this map, and wants their wool. Taking a rather humorous approach, you'll need to gather ten cans of shaving cream by asking your friends to send them to you. You'll then need to click on on each Llama twice: once to apply the shaving cream and once to shave them. The Hay, meanwhile, is scattered around the various islands of the map.
Grapple to the Summit
* Recover the Mountainheart Gem
* Gather the Feed Bag that Weighs the Same as the Gem
* Place the Feed Bag in the Hands of the Mountainheart
Making this Expedition even more complicated, Emily has another demand: she wants the Mountainheart gem that rests along the top left hand corner of this map. This one is guarded by snakes and plenty of debris, and is compounded by the fact that you'll need to have a bag weighing the same as the Gem before you can take it. These bags are found around the map, and come in various sizes. Don't worry about having to personally determine their weight; just by clicking on a single bag, you'll be told whether or not it's the right size. This results in trial and error, sure, but it doesn't require any skill.
Once you have finished these three admittedly complex portions, you'll have successfully completed the Great River Expedition. If this is any indication as to the complexity of future Expeditions, I hope we're all ready for a struggle as we continue on.
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Great River Expedition? Are there too many steps required to complete it, or do you appreciate a lengthy challenge? Sound off in the comments.
Still going in order, the first of these Expeditions you'll come across is the Great River Expedition. This one will see you reuiniting two villages that are separated by broken bridges. The overall Expedition has a three day time limit, and requires you to have 325 Supplies and two each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. Once you do, you'll have three quests to complete in all - here's a guide to completing them.
Gather a Rubbing
* Collect 12 Cotton
* Collect 24 Vines
* Repair 6 Bridges
* Take a Rubbing of the Standing Stone
Soon after starting this Expedition, you'll see that this is about more than just repairing bridges. Apparently, Indy (or perhaps just the Society) wants you to take a rubbing (with coal and paper) of an ancient Standing Stone at the far end of this map. In order to get there, you'll need to complete these bridges as a result.
The materials necessary to complete these bridges are scattered throughout the map, with the Cotton being found in rows or other farm-esque areas, and the Vines coming by removing Thorns from the map. Each thorn tends to give out four individual Vines, you'll need to remove at least six to reach the 24 total. Each of the six bridges require four Vines and two Cotton, so you'll luckily have enough to build some bridges to reach other areas and collect more materials, without having to do everything at once.
Llama Research?
* Gather 10 Hay
* Ask for 10 Shaving Cream
* Apply Shaving Cream to 10 Llamas
* Shave 10 Llamas
For whatever reason, Emily (your research companion) has taken an interest in the Llamas the frequent this map, and wants their wool. Taking a rather humorous approach, you'll need to gather ten cans of shaving cream by asking your friends to send them to you. You'll then need to click on on each Llama twice: once to apply the shaving cream and once to shave them. The Hay, meanwhile, is scattered around the various islands of the map.
Grapple to the Summit
* Recover the Mountainheart Gem
* Gather the Feed Bag that Weighs the Same as the Gem
* Place the Feed Bag in the Hands of the Mountainheart
Making this Expedition even more complicated, Emily has another demand: she wants the Mountainheart gem that rests along the top left hand corner of this map. This one is guarded by snakes and plenty of debris, and is compounded by the fact that you'll need to have a bag weighing the same as the Gem before you can take it. These bags are found around the map, and come in various sizes. Don't worry about having to personally determine their weight; just by clicking on a single bag, you'll be told whether or not it's the right size. This results in trial and error, sure, but it doesn't require any skill.
Once you have finished these three admittedly complex portions, you'll have successfully completed the Great River Expedition. If this is any indication as to the complexity of future Expeditions, I hope we're all ready for a struggle as we continue on.
Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of this Great River Expedition? Are there too many steps required to complete it, or do you appreciate a lengthy challenge? Sound off in the comments.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Zynga Mobile Chief: Mobile is a 'new social gaming frontier'
Everyone else is right there with ya, big red. During an interview with The Guardian, Zynga Mobile SVP David Ko said, "We believe that mobile represents a new social gaming frontier. We've always said we want Zynga to be the best content creators in the world, and we are platform agnostic." More and more Zynga fans expect to play its games on their phones and tablets, which wasn't exactly where CEO Mark Pincus's heart was many moons ago.
Regardless of whether Zynga has been creating mobile games since Zynga Poker hit iOS devices in 2008, it was only the advent of Facebook Connect that motivated the company to dig deeper into the platform. From that we got games like FarmVille and CityVille Hometown, neither of which are feature-complete versions of their Facebook counterparts. (The latter of which is a different game entirely.)
Now, The Guardian reports that Zynga is looking to take advantage of mobile devices' key features like cameras and accelerometers in future games. And tablets appear to be a big deal in Zynga HQ--Ko told The Guardian the company was "very bullish" on the idea. And HTML5, the emergent web coding language that's been touted as the proverbial messiah for cross-platform social gaming, is something Ko admits the company is interested in.
"HTML5 is interesting, although I do feel it is early," Ko told The Guardian. "With those acquisitions, you can see into our thinking in this area a little bit." (Ko there is referring to companies like Newtoy and Dextrose.) Zynga already released one game through HTML5: Mafia Wars Atlantic City.
However, HTML5 games have yet to achieve the complexity of, say, Hanging With Friends, which Zynga just released on Android devices. Regardless, all eyes--including Zynga's--are on those 4-inch screens that rarely leave your side. And with companies as unlikely as Capcom making buku bucks on mobile games, you can bet Zynga is a' hustlin'.
Are you waiting for more mobile games from Zynga? What would you like to see the developer do next on smartphones? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Regardless of whether Zynga has been creating mobile games since Zynga Poker hit iOS devices in 2008, it was only the advent of Facebook Connect that motivated the company to dig deeper into the platform. From that we got games like FarmVille and CityVille Hometown, neither of which are feature-complete versions of their Facebook counterparts. (The latter of which is a different game entirely.)
Now, The Guardian reports that Zynga is looking to take advantage of mobile devices' key features like cameras and accelerometers in future games. And tablets appear to be a big deal in Zynga HQ--Ko told The Guardian the company was "very bullish" on the idea. And HTML5, the emergent web coding language that's been touted as the proverbial messiah for cross-platform social gaming, is something Ko admits the company is interested in.
"HTML5 is interesting, although I do feel it is early," Ko told The Guardian. "With those acquisitions, you can see into our thinking in this area a little bit." (Ko there is referring to companies like Newtoy and Dextrose.) Zynga already released one game through HTML5: Mafia Wars Atlantic City.
However, HTML5 games have yet to achieve the complexity of, say, Hanging With Friends, which Zynga just released on Android devices. Regardless, all eyes--including Zynga's--are on those 4-inch screens that rarely leave your side. And with companies as unlikely as Capcom making buku bucks on mobile games, you can bet Zynga is a' hustlin'.
Are you waiting for more mobile games from Zynga? What would you like to see the developer do next on smartphones? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Half of all U.S. social gamers own a game console, RockYou study says
As if we already didn't know: Some social gamers are more "hardcore" than we thought. But the next study released that attempts to drive this point home is courtesy of Zoo World creator RockYou and conducted by Interpret, a media research firm. Titled the "Social Gamer Thought Leadership Research Study," it finds that 50 percent of U.S. social gamers own a traditional gaming console.
The study, which polled over 2,00 social game fans living in the U.S. aged 18 and older with a 60-40 women to men split, also found that social gamers are more "sophisticated." To back up the claim, the study reports a quarter of social gamers prefer games with quests, and that 22 percent admit that score-sharing drives their urge to play more. Oh, and these players also spend quite a bit of time with the games.
Of the over 2,000 people polled, RockYou and Interpret found that the average social gamer spends an average of 9.5 hours playing out of the 13 average hours they spend on networks like Facebook. The average social game player, according to the study, has just over 16 real-life frieds playing these games with them and has made 20 new friends through social games. Of course, the study doesn't get into how deep said friendships are, but how could you?
The study also reports that 42 percent of social gamers would play a social game more, if offered real world rewards like coupons or gift cards. (But isn't the idea to get them to pay up?) It was just recently that Raptr discovered that a number of Zynga fans may be Halo and Grand Theft Auto fans, too. And before that, Kabam found in its own study that the hardcore crowd on Facebook is growing.
What should you take away from this influx of studies and reports? Regardless of whether you still dig tending to virtual crops or running a shanty town, many developers--even the "casual" ones--seem all but done with your farms and cities of yore.
What do you think of the numerous reports on the growing hardcore crowd in social games? How do you think this will change the industry in the long run? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The study, which polled over 2,00 social game fans living in the U.S. aged 18 and older with a 60-40 women to men split, also found that social gamers are more "sophisticated." To back up the claim, the study reports a quarter of social gamers prefer games with quests, and that 22 percent admit that score-sharing drives their urge to play more. Oh, and these players also spend quite a bit of time with the games.
Of the over 2,000 people polled, RockYou and Interpret found that the average social gamer spends an average of 9.5 hours playing out of the 13 average hours they spend on networks like Facebook. The average social game player, according to the study, has just over 16 real-life frieds playing these games with them and has made 20 new friends through social games. Of course, the study doesn't get into how deep said friendships are, but how could you?
The study also reports that 42 percent of social gamers would play a social game more, if offered real world rewards like coupons or gift cards. (But isn't the idea to get them to pay up?) It was just recently that Raptr discovered that a number of Zynga fans may be Halo and Grand Theft Auto fans, too. And before that, Kabam found in its own study that the hardcore crowd on Facebook is growing.
What should you take away from this influx of studies and reports? Regardless of whether you still dig tending to virtual crops or running a shanty town, many developers--even the "casual" ones--seem all but done with your farms and cities of yore.
What do you think of the numerous reports on the growing hardcore crowd in social games? How do you think this will change the industry in the long run? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
FarmVille Horse Paddock: Everything you need to know
Back in the middle of August, FarmVille saw the launch of the Wildlife Habitat breeding building, and at the time we were told that six (and then seven) new buildings would be released in all. We didn't know when those buildings would eventually release, but as time passed we've been led to here. The final animal breeding building has launched in FarmVille, the Horse Paddock.
Similar to the Cow Pasture, this Horse Paddock is specifically for Horses, and it gives you an opportunity to store those horses and randomly breed those that are inside. You'll only need to have a single "type" of each Horse for it to be possible to breed a matching Foal when harvesting the building, but as of right now, a few Horses or Unicorns may not be able to be stored. (This is probably because either they're coded differently, or Zynga just forgot.)
Of course, before you can actually use your Horse Paddock, you need to build it. You'll need three building materials, two of which are new: 10 each of Logs, Saddles and Bridles. These Logs are the same logs that are used to repair/upgrade the Lighthouse Cove on your new farm, so it will be up to you to decide when exactly to divert your efforts there into building this Horse Paddock. As for gathering these ingredients, you can do so by asking friends through individual gift requests, or you can purchase them outright for 1 Farm Cash each.
Once its construction is complete, you'll be given a free Cream Draft Horse. You can store up to 20 Horses in total inside your new building, and you can have as many Paddocks as you like, provided you collect the building materials to build each on individually. With this feature also comes the ability to grow individual Foals into adults with Farm Cash. You can keep them as babies forever (as before), but if you've received a free Foal from a friend and can't wait for the Nursery Barn to grow it into an adult, you can now pay to do so outright.
Remember, both Foal and Calf mastery are coming soon to the game, if you need any extra incentive to build one of these buildings--and fast! Also, with the release of the Horse Paddock, the Horse Stable is now unavailable to buy/build from the market. You can keep your existing Horse Stable(s), but you'll also be given the option to trade in all of your Horse Stables to receive exclusive Horses and Animal Feed. Then again, as so many users lost their Cows entirely when doing the same for the new Cow Pasture building, I'd suggest holding off on that for now ... or forever.
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Horse Paddock? Do you prefer it over the Horse Stable, even though it has less storage capacity? Sound off in the comments.
Similar to the Cow Pasture, this Horse Paddock is specifically for Horses, and it gives you an opportunity to store those horses and randomly breed those that are inside. You'll only need to have a single "type" of each Horse for it to be possible to breed a matching Foal when harvesting the building, but as of right now, a few Horses or Unicorns may not be able to be stored. (This is probably because either they're coded differently, or Zynga just forgot.)
Of course, before you can actually use your Horse Paddock, you need to build it. You'll need three building materials, two of which are new: 10 each of Logs, Saddles and Bridles. These Logs are the same logs that are used to repair/upgrade the Lighthouse Cove on your new farm, so it will be up to you to decide when exactly to divert your efforts there into building this Horse Paddock. As for gathering these ingredients, you can do so by asking friends through individual gift requests, or you can purchase them outright for 1 Farm Cash each.
Once its construction is complete, you'll be given a free Cream Draft Horse. You can store up to 20 Horses in total inside your new building, and you can have as many Paddocks as you like, provided you collect the building materials to build each on individually. With this feature also comes the ability to grow individual Foals into adults with Farm Cash. You can keep them as babies forever (as before), but if you've received a free Foal from a friend and can't wait for the Nursery Barn to grow it into an adult, you can now pay to do so outright.
Remember, both Foal and Calf mastery are coming soon to the game, if you need any extra incentive to build one of these buildings--and fast! Also, with the release of the Horse Paddock, the Horse Stable is now unavailable to buy/build from the market. You can keep your existing Horse Stable(s), but you'll also be given the option to trade in all of your Horse Stables to receive exclusive Horses and Animal Feed. Then again, as so many users lost their Cows entirely when doing the same for the new Cow Pasture building, I'd suggest holding off on that for now ... or forever.
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of the Horse Paddock? Do you prefer it over the Horse Stable, even though it has less storage capacity? Sound off in the comments.
FarmVille Horse Paddock Goals: Everything you need to know
With the launch of the Horse Paddock in FarmVille, many farmers are probably wondering just when the matching set of goals will arrive. If you're like most, you probably don't have them in your game yet, as they are on a very slow rollout. For those that do have them, however, you'll see that this set of six goals has a 16-day time limit (perhaps less by the time these roll around to everyone), and will reward you some Horses for completing them. Here's a guide for doing just that:
Horsing Around
* Get 6 Horse Combs
* Place 1 Horse Paddock
* Buy 3 Orange Hay Bales
The Horse Combs are earned through a general news feed post. The full six people can click on this post to actually send you rewards, so you shouldn't have to ask for it twice. As for the Horse Paddock, note that this goal doesn't require you to have completed the construction on the building - just place its base. Finally, the Orange Hay Bales are available from the store for 125 coins each. Finishing this first goal, no matter how simple it might seem, actually gives you some great rewards: 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Pink Saddled Horse. To be specific, the horse's body is white, but the saddle is pink.
There She Is, Miss Equestrian...
* Get 6 Horse Tiaras
* Buy 2 Horse Topiaries
* Harvest 10 Horses
For this one, we're not sure if Horses placed inside your Horse Paddock (or previously owned Horse Stables will count), so if you try it once and they don't, just pull some Horses out of storage and wait for them to become ready to harvest on their own. To collect the Tiaras, you'll post another item to your news feed asking all friends to help at once. You can then finish this goal off by purchasing the Horse Topiaries, which cost just 100 coins each in the store. For completing this second goal, you're given 50 XP, 2,500 coins, a single Animal Feed and a Fancy Hitching Post decoration.
Sugar High
* Get 6 Sugar Cubes
* Complete a Horse Paddock
* Harvest 100 Vegetables
It doesn't matter which vegetable crop you harvest, so long as you harvest 100 individual squares of them. While you wait for those crops to grow, you can collect the Sugar Cubes via a general news feed post, and can complete the Horse Paddock by collecting its 30 required building ingredients. Check out our guide to the Horse Paddock to see exactly what we mean. Finishing this goal gives you 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Cream Stallion.
Horseplay
* Get 9 Carrots on Sticks
* Harvest a Horse Paddock
* Harvest 75 Wheat
Each Horse Paddock is available to harvest once every 24 hours, so if you happen to collect from one right before you receive this goal, just wait until the next day to finish this one off. In the meantime, you can post a general news post asking for the Carrots on Sticks and can harvest the wheat as well. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins, five units of Animal Feed and a Blingy Water Trough decoration. Apparently, these horses are fairly high maintenance.
Giddy Up!
* Get 9 Stylish Horse Shoes
* Master Cream Stallion to Level 1
* Harvest 50 Mint
The fastest way to master any Horse will be to make sure they're in storage, so that they can be collected from once per day (rather than once every few days when they're outside of buildings). Just place the Cream Stallion into either Horse building on your farm (that is, if you didn't trade in your Horse Stable for feed and prizes) and collect from it routinely to reach Level 1 before this goal series expires. Oh, and you guessed it--the Stylish Horse Shoes come from a general news post on your wall. Finish off this goal and you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins, five units of Animal Feed and something for your avatar: a Jockey Outfit.
Saddle Up!
* Get 9 Horse Saddles
* Place 10 Horses in a Horse Paddock
* Harvest 50 Spinach
If you already have 10 or more Horses in a Horse Paddock and this step doesn't automatically complete for you, just pull them back out and replace them in the building. That should clear up any "bugs." One final news feed post will help you earn the Horse Saddles, which you can collect while waiting for your Spinach to grow, which takes 14 hours. When finishing this goal, you will have completed the Horse Paddock goal series in its entirety, and will receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Chestnut Mini Stallion (a dark brown miniature horse) as your final rewards.
Just remember--these goals are on a time limit, so if you like these prizes more than those, say, for completing the Chapter 2 Goals in the Lighthouse Cove farm, feel free to prioritize any way you'd like to receive the best prizes in your eyes. Happy farming!
[Source and image credit: Zynga]
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Horse Paddock goals or the prizes therein? Have you received these goals on your farm(s) yet? Sound off in the comments.
Horsing Around
* Get 6 Horse Combs
* Place 1 Horse Paddock
* Buy 3 Orange Hay Bales
The Horse Combs are earned through a general news feed post. The full six people can click on this post to actually send you rewards, so you shouldn't have to ask for it twice. As for the Horse Paddock, note that this goal doesn't require you to have completed the construction on the building - just place its base. Finally, the Orange Hay Bales are available from the store for 125 coins each. Finishing this first goal, no matter how simple it might seem, actually gives you some great rewards: 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Pink Saddled Horse. To be specific, the horse's body is white, but the saddle is pink.
There She Is, Miss Equestrian...
* Get 6 Horse Tiaras
* Buy 2 Horse Topiaries
* Harvest 10 Horses
For this one, we're not sure if Horses placed inside your Horse Paddock (or previously owned Horse Stables will count), so if you try it once and they don't, just pull some Horses out of storage and wait for them to become ready to harvest on their own. To collect the Tiaras, you'll post another item to your news feed asking all friends to help at once. You can then finish this goal off by purchasing the Horse Topiaries, which cost just 100 coins each in the store. For completing this second goal, you're given 50 XP, 2,500 coins, a single Animal Feed and a Fancy Hitching Post decoration.
Sugar High
* Get 6 Sugar Cubes
* Complete a Horse Paddock
* Harvest 100 Vegetables
It doesn't matter which vegetable crop you harvest, so long as you harvest 100 individual squares of them. While you wait for those crops to grow, you can collect the Sugar Cubes via a general news feed post, and can complete the Horse Paddock by collecting its 30 required building ingredients. Check out our guide to the Horse Paddock to see exactly what we mean. Finishing this goal gives you 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Cream Stallion.
Horseplay
* Get 9 Carrots on Sticks
* Harvest a Horse Paddock
* Harvest 75 Wheat
Each Horse Paddock is available to harvest once every 24 hours, so if you happen to collect from one right before you receive this goal, just wait until the next day to finish this one off. In the meantime, you can post a general news post asking for the Carrots on Sticks and can harvest the wheat as well. For finishing this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins, five units of Animal Feed and a Blingy Water Trough decoration. Apparently, these horses are fairly high maintenance.
Giddy Up!
* Get 9 Stylish Horse Shoes
* Master Cream Stallion to Level 1
* Harvest 50 Mint
The fastest way to master any Horse will be to make sure they're in storage, so that they can be collected from once per day (rather than once every few days when they're outside of buildings). Just place the Cream Stallion into either Horse building on your farm (that is, if you didn't trade in your Horse Stable for feed and prizes) and collect from it routinely to reach Level 1 before this goal series expires. Oh, and you guessed it--the Stylish Horse Shoes come from a general news post on your wall. Finish off this goal and you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins, five units of Animal Feed and something for your avatar: a Jockey Outfit.
Saddle Up!
* Get 9 Horse Saddles
* Place 10 Horses in a Horse Paddock
* Harvest 50 Spinach
If you already have 10 or more Horses in a Horse Paddock and this step doesn't automatically complete for you, just pull them back out and replace them in the building. That should clear up any "bugs." One final news feed post will help you earn the Horse Saddles, which you can collect while waiting for your Spinach to grow, which takes 14 hours. When finishing this goal, you will have completed the Horse Paddock goal series in its entirety, and will receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Chestnut Mini Stallion (a dark brown miniature horse) as your final rewards.
Just remember--these goals are on a time limit, so if you like these prizes more than those, say, for completing the Chapter 2 Goals in the Lighthouse Cove farm, feel free to prioritize any way you'd like to receive the best prizes in your eyes. Happy farming!
[Source and image credit: Zynga]
Check out the rest of our FarmVille Cheats & Tips right here.
What do you think of these Horse Paddock goals or the prizes therein? Have you received these goals on your farm(s) yet? Sound off in the comments.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)