Congrats to comment number 68, Rob, who won the copy of Dante’s Inferno.
The contest is now closed, thanks to all who participated.
On February 9th, gamers will be preparing to “Go to Hell.” Not because we’ve been playing murder simulators all our lives (according to the word of Jack Thompson), but due to the fact Electronic Arts is set to ship their latest videogame Dante’s Inferno, which is loosely adapted from Dante Alighieri’s legendary epic poem The Divine Comedy.
Players will assume the role of Dante, a veteran of the Third Crusade. When Dante finds his love, Beatrice, soul trapped inside the clutches of hell, he attempts to follower her, but quickly learns the “light-bearer” Lucifer is personally seizing her spirit. In order to save Beatrice, Dante must fight through hordes of demons in the Nine Circles of Hell and when he finds her, merry her in order to free her soul.
This will be one of the first time a studio, Visceral Games in this case, will take on the task of mixing a videogame with one of the great literary works in human history. I’m excited to see how the team will pull it off, I’m sure most of you are too.
Thankfully one of you /gamer readers will be able to snag a copy of the highly-anticipated title on Xbox 360 for free, thanks to a contest we’re holding. The rules are simple: after the Jump, a question will be asked about the Divine Comedy. All you have to do is type your email, we’re it is required to comment (for contact purposes), answer the question right, and automatically you’ll entered into a drawing. Whomever is selected will be notified right away.
The contest will start NOW and end on February 9th, at midnight pacific standard time.
Gregor Collienne is a photographer from Germany. However, he doesn’t take pictures that catches his eye, or tries to capture the perfect setting to inspire people. Instead, for the most part, he takes humorous snap shots of people doing an everyday activity and pairs them up with another group, who are doing something completely different. When you check out his work, you not only chuckle, but they make you think — it almost feels like an optical illusion.
Up top is one picture of his work. While it’s unlike a lot of his photos — it made me laugh nonetheless. I’m assuming the picture is asking all of us, what if we could control our girlfriends or all women for that matter, with a single PlayStation controller? Like, how awesome would that be? No more would we hear the excuse: “I have a headache.” Can some smart scientist make this happen? Please!
If you want to check out Collienne’s work, click here.
There has hardly been any news since the first reveal of OnLive to the world at GDC2009 in San Francisco. When Steve Perlman, the CEO of the games-on-demand service and one of the inventors of Apple’s QuickTime technology, took center stage at the press briefing to introduce the gaming community to his newest project OnLive — he was met with both praise and criticism. Some people thought this ambitious “cloud-gaming” service was the future of gaming, while many others thought there is no way this technology will work with the functionality of today’s Internet capabilities. But with all these questions, most people always seem to ask the same one; how much will the consumer have to spend in order to use the service?
A few days ago, a video of Perlman was uploaded onto youtube, where he went back to his old school Columbia University and discussed his next endeavor. While nothing to new was unveiled, he did briefly mentioned something interesting about the MicroConsole. If you are unfamiliar with OnLive, it is a gaming service that lets players stream videogames using the Internet. The player has a couple of options to do so. One, they can download a 1MB program that lets them play a game directly to their computer, without downloading. The second way is to somehow get their hands on the MicroConsole and play the games the same way, but on their television. (more…)
People seem to forget when Mario isn’t saving Princess Peach inside the strange world of the Mushroom Kingdom, from the clutches of Lord Bowser, he is a plumber on the side. Everyone wants a little extra cash and in this economy, being a hero just doesn’t pay all the bills.
Up top is picture drawn by Pat Kinell, which he entitled “Super Plumber.” It shows Mario what he does best, and that is fix the pipes of an old-broken-down sink, while having a few ‘friends’ on the side.
Obviously right away you can spot some of his enemies on the floor, but there are a few other Super Mario Bros. references. For one, if you look on the floor to the right of Mario, you’ll see a raccoon tail, which would have been from the third installment of the famed series. On the top of the toilet, you should notice a tissue-box with it baring a mushroom logo. Above that, on the windowsill, you’ll see a miniature Piranha Plant getting some rays. And to the right of that, check out the picture that resembles one of the many infamous castles.
If you want to own a 11X 14″ print, click here — it will only set you back $50.
Cool Stuff is a feature of /gamer. Know of any geekarific creations or cool products which should be featured on Cool Stuff? E-Mail us at slashgamer@gmail.com
Here at /gamer, we would like to wish all of you a very happy Modern Warfare 2 day. Today is a day that could easily be considered better than Christmas. Hopefully all of you on the east coast have gone to a retail store and had success trying to find a copy at midnight and you didn’t have to wait too long — although, that sounds doubtful. Up top is a picture one of our readers sent us from his local Gamestop and as you can tell, there is a crap-load of customers waiting in line, and it was taken long before the doors opened.
Chris Rowson designed the shirt above, which depicts what would happen if those”Space Invaders” were indeed real and if the US government or any other for that matter do, if they caught one of those sinister aliens. If you want to purchase one, head over to Threadless.com and pick one up for only $18.
Cool Stuff is a feature of /gamer. Know of any geekarific creations or cool products which should be featured on Cool Stuff? E-Mail us at slashgamer@gmail.com
Not that this should be huge news to anyone, but Gamestop told the USA Today that their company has now seen the largest reservation total for one videogame, thanks to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Tony Bartel, the chain’s executive vice president for merchandising and marketing, confirmed the record setting number with the daily newspaper. “As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we’ve taken for the game is the highest for any title we’ve ever sold in our 6,200 store network.”
While Bartel didn’t go into details about a specific number on where the company stands currently with total number of reservations, or where they plan to be when the game launches on November 10th, we actually have them.
According to someone inside Gamestop, we were told that the company has about 1.5 million total reservations, and their initial goal is to reach the 2 million mark when the game launches in less than a week. Will they reach it? I don’t know, but as of now Gamestop should make around $90 million. And that would be if no one else reserved between now and then. And don’t forget some of the special edition packages cost as high as $150; however, from what we were told there isn’t a whole lot of those pre-ordered inside the company to really affect how much they make.
If Gamestop does succeed and hits their original goal of 2 million reserves, Gamestop would make a cool extra $30 million. Tony Bartel adds that he feels “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of all time.” With these numbers, it’s hard to argue with him.
Not that this should be huge news to anyone, but Gamestop told the USA Today that the company has now seen the largest reservation total for one videogame, thanks to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Tony Bartel, the chain’s executive vice president for merchandising and marketing, confirmed the record setting number with the daily newspaper. “As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we’ve taken for the game is the highest for any title we’ve ever sold in our 6,200 store network.”
While Bartel didn’t go into the details about a specific number on where the company stands currently with total number of reservations, or where they plan to be when the game launches on November 10th, we actually have them.
According to someone we talked to inside Gamestop, we were told that the company has about 1.5 million total reservations, and their initial goal is to reach the 2 million mark when the game launches in less than a week. Will they reach it? I don’t know, but as of now Gamestop should make around $90 million. And that would be if no one else reserved between now and then. And don’t forget some of the special edition packages cost as high as $150; however, from what we were told there isn’t a whole lot of those pre-ordered with the company to really affect how much they make.
If Gamestop does succeed and hits their original goal of 2 million reserves, Gamestop would make a cool extra $30 million. Tony Bartel adds that he feels “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of all time.” With these numbers, it’s hard to argue with him.
We’re only a few months away until BioShock 2 is finally released. The first was met with remarkable reviews and was one of the best games to come out in 2007 — maybe even this generation. The gameplay was pure bliss and rather original for a first-person shooter. But what will always stick out in my mind about the first installment was how revolutionary the title was in telling a story. It wasn’t the concept either, but rather how the player wasn’t spoon-fed the history of ‘Rapture,’ and it was up to whomever was playing to reveal the secrets of the underwater world. Unlike most videogames out there, the story didn’t look down at the gamers who were experiencing it.
2K has just released another trailer for BioShock 2 and I must say, I’m actually nervous about the sequel. While I think the gameplay will be fine, even though I question the innovation it’ll try too deliver, I more concerned about how the developers plan on telling the story. The biggest hurdle they have to overcome is not having the mastermind behind the original installment, __. I really think this trailer finally proves if they could do just that — and it doesn’t look good. The voice over of the woman talking (I’m guessing is the Big Sister), sounds ridiculous, and I don’t mean in a good way either. Even the dialog, which I hope isn’t included in the final game, is cheesy at best. The rest just focuses on the gameplay, which looks fun — but is not what made the original so amazing. Hopefully I’m wrong and it’s just a bad advertisement, but I’m starting to think its not.
Infinity Ward has already promised that the “Prestige Edition” of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which includes night vision goggles, would actually be limited and not on stores shelves a year from now — at a discount price. Retailers even requested Activision if they could receive a second shipment of the bundle and the publisher quickly denied them.
We’ve been told by management from Gamestop that the giant retailer would no longer take reservations after they shut their doors tonight. So, if you were hoping to walk into one of the 4,000+ stores Gamestop owns and purchase the “Prestige Edition,” you’ll be out of luck.
That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find one anywhere on launch day, but your chances will greatly diminish if you don’t just pre-order the package. If you are at all worried about not being able to find the regular edition of Modern Warfare 2, I wouldn’t be. Unlike the “Prestige Edition,” there will be plenty of games to go around and retailers will have no problem filling up their shelves with the anticipated first-person shooter.
A few weeks ago, we mentioned how Activision was giving away Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free when a customer purchased the first initial shipment of Guitar Hero 5. Back then, that was the only the only information we had and we had no clue how players would receive the game. Now we do.
Today, Gamestop received the details on how this will work. According to an employee who works for the retail company, if you purchase either the stand-alone or bundle of Guitar Hero 5, a unique code will be packaged inside the box. From there, you would head over to guitarhero.com/vanhalengameoffer and enter in the code which came with the game. Once this is done, you would then enter in your personal information, like name and address, and after this is all done, Activision will send your free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen six weeks later.
Even though you don’t get the free game right away, it sounds like you should get it sometime in November, which is about a month and a half earlier from the actual release of Van Halen.
I’ll be honest, since Neversoft took over development of the Guitar Hero franchise from Harmonix, I became less interested in the series. I felt Harmonix had more of a passion creating a music game, and I thought they absolutely proved this when Rock Band was released. Especially if you compared Rock Band to Guitar Hero: World Tour. But this deal seems too good to pass up and I think I might have to bite at this promotion.
Katie Morgan is probably one of the most revered stars in the adult film industry…and the hottest. The 29 year-old actress has appeared in over 200 films, since she hit the spotlight in 2001. Recently, Morgan has reached to other areas of entertainment outside of porn. She hosted a show on HBO called Pornucopia, which its main topic included sex. She even starred in Kevin Smith’s hilarious 2008 comedy “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” where she played stripper and an upcoming porno actress named Stacy.
Like most celebrities these days, Morgan has a Twitter account. As of late, she’s been tweeting about how she is obsessed playing with the Nintendo Wii.
On July 28th, Katie wrote:
“playing wii grand slam tennis online… Well trying to anyway… Our last opponents quit after we beat them 4-2 :p I love video games ”
Even with the opponents abruptly quitting, she continued to play the the tennis game. On July 30th, she talked about her experience and even with pain, she can’t stop.
“still playing wii grand slam… It’s been like three days… I think my arms gonna fall off… I just can’t put the wiimote down lol owww”
Physical suffering and all, Morgan continued to still play. It seems like she’s started to learn about the dreaded cheaters of online play. She questioned if it was at possible.
“ok tweet people… Does anyone know of a cheat in online wii grand slam where they freeze the game to set up a shot? happened a few times :/”
The next day, Ms. Morgan’s arms were hurting so much, she considered to get a massage. However, she realized if she went out and did get one, that could take away from her precious Wii time. Us gamers know exactly how she feels.
“I can’t move my arms. :p I should probably go get a massage.. But instead I’m sitting in bed seriously fighting the urge to turn on the wii”
What did she do? Well, what would you do? That’s right, she continued to play until she tweeted her next message… Six hours later.
“playing grand slam for the past 6 hours… oh I’m not done yet… oh no sir! has anyone died from to much wii I wonder as I puff lol”
Well Katie, yes gamers have died from playing too much. But don’t worry, six hours is hardly enough to put you in the ground. Keep gaming… It’s hot.
(Seriously, who is the “real” legend in this pic?)
Until the Wii was release to the masses, Nintendo was having a hard time trying to convince the public to accept their consoles into homes around the world. Sure, the NES and the Super Nintendo were smash hits and the Japanese-based company was riding high, but once the Nintendo 64 hit the market — that all changed. The first time in the company’s history, they were no longer the current sales leader for consoles sold in a particular generation, thanks to the Sony PlayStation. Sony went on to sell 102 million systems worldwide, a record at the time. Nintendo, who released the N64 to compete with the original PlayStation, lagged behind with a little under 33 million sold total, even though it was marketed as a ‘more’ powerful system.
There was one sole key reason why Nintendo lost this ‘console war,’ and that was their inability to adapt to a new media. When Sony released their first home videogame system, the games were played off a Compact Disc, while Nintendo stuck with the old cartridge technology. The combination of CD and games were around long before the PlayStation. Sony wasn’t innovative — but they were smart.
When developers were trying to design a game for the N64, they were having a hard time fitting information into the cartridge because of its limited space. Thus forcing the studios to take out content they originally wanted for the game, and ultimately not having the ability to show full-motion-video during the cut-scenes. The graphics also took hit because of the format chosen by Nintendo.
Some games for the system were even more expensive. Because of the production of the games and the cost of the physical media, some titles were priced as high as $60. While the PlayStation never exceeded the $50 mark.
But the biggest surprise that generation, had to be the announcement of Sony and Square inking a deal to have the once Nintendo only series Final Fantasy, to be a Sony exclusive. Before the deal was made, Final Fantasy was scheduled to be released for the Nintendo 64, but because of this limited space on the cartridge, Square decided to go with Nintendo’s rival instead. Many contribute this one incident, the final nail in the coffin for N64’s chance to outsell the PSX.
Wait, Sony still makes EyeToy/PSEye games? Of course they do, but because of Project Natal, the camera accessory has taken a backseat as of late. We already know Natal is much more advance in terms of how well the unit reacts to human movements, but that doesn’t mean the PSeye can’t impress either.
EyePet from Sony was announced as a PSeye based game for the PlayStation 3 a little over a year ago. Since that time, it’s completely fell off the radar for a number of reason. One would be because of Natal, but also Sony hasn’t talked about the title too much. The game is in fact still in development and engadget had a hands on preview. They were even cool enough to post a video of their experience.
EyePet looks and plays a lot like what Nintendo did with their Nintendogs title for the DS, which gamers had to take care of a virtual dog by touching the screen. In EyePet you do something similar, but you wave your hands in the air in front of the cam and at some points hold a card to interact with the adorable creature — who is displayed on the TV. Does it look fun? Sure. But like most other pet-raising simulators, I doubt it’ll keep me interested for more then a day.
I’m showing the video off, not because I believe the title will be a contender for ‘game of the year,’ or anything like that. It’s more for the fact that the EyeToy I believe, is still a unit that should have been focused on. I do think Sony had something special, and they were kind of the first company to bring motion technology to the forefront. But because of poor marketing and making the camera feel nothing more than a cool demo, the Eyetoy never took off. Which was probably a huge missed opportunity on their part.
Did you ever wonder were the blocks came from when you play Tetris? From a plane dummy! Well, according to this t-shirt they do, anyway. The blue shirt comes in various sizes and if you want one, it’ll just set you back $20. Head over to glennz to order it.
Cool Stuff is a feature of /gamer. Know of any geekarific creations or cool products which should be featured on Cool Stuff? E-Mail us at slashgamer@gmail.com
Living on the west coast, I really have taken for granted the amount of conventions dedicated to videogames. This side of the country represents some of the biggest and well-known expos in the world like: E3, GDC and even PAX. These shows have thousands of attendees each year, and they seem to grow year-in and year-out. However, for me it wasn’t always easy to access a gaming show.
You see, I grew up in the Boston area, where the local government is trying to lure videogames publishers and expand to the Bay State. Just recently, Penny Arcade announced they will be extend their PAX show to two times a year and one of them will be on the east coast, and Boston is the lucky city to host the show. In a way you can say it was the first major confirmation that Boston is trying to be a focal point for the videogame industry.
While PAX is certainly a welcoming sign that New England could bank on a never-ending industry, the show won’t be the first to entice thousands of gamers to visit the Bay State.
A few years ago, the largest Ebay videogame seller opened an independent game store in Framingham, MA; a suburb just west of Boston. The store, called Game Universe, sells everything from retro gaming machines like the original Atari 2600 and goes all the way to this newest generation. While the concept alone is worth visiting, the store’s owners wanted to make sure their customers also had an incredible experience when they came to explored the outlet as well.
They decided to attach six 50″ plasma screens on the walls around the store and even added 5.1 surround sound to some of them. Each display was capable of playing anything, so if you wanted to experience E.T. on the Atari alone before your friends who were supposed to met you but are running late to play a little Gears of War — it could be done.
Word got around fast and customers started to come into the store just to play games. Management thought it would be a great idea to start-up tournaments, in hopes it would lure even more customers. The theory ended up being successful; the owners had to purchase another eight smaller screens because of the high demand of customers entering exclusively for LAN tournament play.
Over the course of three years, the store has earned some great creditability; they even saw players as far as California come to participate in their gaming tournament. They noticed that gaming tournaments were not just some fad and if done right, could actually be held inside a convention. That is exactly what they are planning as I write.
“We have spent the last three years building our local reputation for running pro-level tournaments at Game Universe in Framingham, MA,” said James Jewett co-executive director. “We got to the point where we outgrew our venue so we decided take on a larger event.”
Game Universe has just recently revealed a gaming convention called GameUniCon and will take place at the 20,000 square footBest Western Royal Plaza in Marlborough, MA. Get this, when the convention opens its doors on August 21st, they won’t close until three days later on the 23rd. That’s right, show organizers have confirmed it will be 24-hours long, and never close until the final day.
After the jump, read more about this newly announced convention. (more…)
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