I’ve been wondering why the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and the Scott Pilgrim game seemed so appealing, but the trailer and ads for the actual movie were kind of ho-hum. But the guys at Gamers With Jobs pinpointed it:
On a whim, I picked up one of the comics and fell in love with the contrast between a coming of age story and a fantastic romp through video game clichés. Watching the ads for the movie, I realized it was very difficult to capture just what Scott Pilgrim was about in a 30 second teaser. Part of the problem is that the movie and source comic are a bit off kilter, while the trailer is, at heart, still a movie trailer. It presents beats, glimpses of the game-inspired world, but isn’t edited with that in mind.
(Emphasis mine)
I guess the answer is that I thought the story made a great comic and game, but I really just don’t get movies.
NASA’s new educational space game is out on Steam today.
A few days ago, I was invited to check out NASA’s new game, Moonbase Alpha. Fortunately for you, it was still under wraps so you all were spared my clever, clever puns about a Moonbase Alpha beta.
Swedish indie devs, The Bearded Ladies, are announce the launch of their retro-inspired helicopter-adventure game Landit Bandit. The game promises co-op or duel mode, sexy girls and killer penguins.
The feel-good digital game of the summer has finally landed. Literally. Join eccentric characters Marley and Lander, as well as hot island babes and Tommy Gun-wielding penguins in Landit Bandit: a retro-looking, 3D casual-physics-based-helicopter game now available on the PlayStation®3 Network priced at a mouth-watering 12.99 Euros.
Landit Bandit has the depth of a cool-blue ocean and offers gameplay to suit a universal audience. Players can compete for the high-score on the global leaderboard – as well as battle head-to-head in 6 unique duels – or work co-operatively across a 20-level campaign against the backdrop of gorgeous 3D levels ranging from the picturesque desert islands to the cool, ice-filled tundra, each packed with enough humour to keep you laughing out loud from one level to the next.
David Skarin, CTO of The Bearded Ladies is elated at the release, “To have our game on the PlayStation®3 Network is great. Its a testimony to the hard work and raw talent of our small independent studio. We’ve defeated a string of self-imposed, gruelling milestones and overcome technical challenges akin to the cerebral workout being offered in the game that would leave any bearded lady weeping. The release brings joy to our hearts, although the real excitement is going to come in monitoring the reaction of the players”.
CEO/Producer, Haraldur Thormundsson added, “We have fulfilled our dreams with the release of Landit Bandit on the Sony PlayStation store. Its been one of the most rewarding expeditions I’ve been part of to date. To have shared the milestone with such a talented – not to mention eccentric group of creatives – is also very special. We’re all confident that players will enjoy the retro-goodness and LOL just as much as we did during the development”.
The North American gaming community can expect to get their hands on the controls of Landit Bandit from July 13th.
Tampere, Finland – July 1, 2010 – 10tons Ltd announced today a brand new game called Heroes of Kalevala. Heroes of Kalevala is a village-building match-3 game. The game world is inspired by Finnish national epic Kalevala. The game will feature state of the art match-3 mechanics, an extensive village building meta game, and several hero characters from Kalevala for the player to meet.
“We’ve always loved match-3 games that are original and provide polished playability. We created a tiny match-3 game called Ice Breaker way back in 2004 and now we wanted to revisit this classic genre.”, said Sampo Töyssy of 10tons. “Our goal was to create a modern match-3 game with all the best parts from existing games seasoned with some new twists. We also have an original meta game that interacts heavily with the match-3 game. Since the whole team is from Finland, it’s been fun and interesting to create a game that draws inspiration from Kalevala.”
Heroes of Kalevala will be available for iPhone and iPod touch around August 2010. More platforms will be announced later. Heroes of Kalevala is developed with the support of the MEDIA programme of the European Union.
So Konami is licensing the Unreal Engine from my neighbors, Epic Games… for a horror game based on the Saw films. Does this seem weird to anyone else? Ok… I guess I associate Konami with Lost in Blue and DDR, not bloody gory games.
CARY, N.C., June 24, 2010 – Epic Games, Inc. announced today that Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. has licensed its Unreal Engine 3 for “Saw II: The Game,” an upcoming third-person survivor horror sequel developed by Zombie Studios for Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.
Based on the fictional universe of the “Saw” movie series, “Saw II” takes place between the first two films and introduces a new twist on Jigsaw’s sinister traps and puzzles in the most intense look into the “Saw” universe ever. “Saw II” features a new combat system, clever ways to fight off enemies using the environment, and highly realistic graphics powered by the latest Unreal Engine 3 technology.
“Licensing Unreal Engine 3 was an easy decision for us,” said Careen Yapp, vice president of acquisitions and franchise development at Konami. “The engine’s new and improved features, time-saving tools and exceptional support system make it the best choice for the ‘Saw’ property.”
“I’ve used other game engines, I’ve written my own, I’ve used middleware and I’ve shipped sequels for franchises using other studios’ tech set, and I prefer Unreal Engine 3 over all of them,” said Mark Long, chief executive officer of Zombie Studios. “The quickest way to reduce risk is to use a known, proven toolset. With Unreal Engine 3, I can promise publishers what I can deliver, and I deliver on time. Every time.”
“Saw II” will be Zombie Studios’ ninth title and fourth franchise shipped with the Unreal Engine.
“It’s always rewarding to support repeat customers with our engine technology,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “Konami is a fantastic publisher, and Zombie has great success shipping Unreal-powered games, so we’re eager to see how the new ‘Saw’ game unfolds.”
“Saw II: The Game” is scheduled to be released globally in fall 2010 to coincide with the release of the film, “Saw VII.” To download “Saw II: The Game” screenshots, the logo or trailer, visit http://www.konami.com/GamersNight/.
The guys at Ranker have come up with a list of the sexiest videogame commercials. I didn’t have high hopes for this list — I rank pixelated boobs just slightly higher than girls posting pics of themselves playing WarCraft in their underwear. But it was a laugh, I quite liked the logic in #7′s explanation of the hot girl in Bayonetta:
This commercial (which kind of mirrors the American version, but has a real live girl in it) features another hot girl in glasses… just like the character in the game!
Appealing to the same part of all of our brains (glasses = smart = relatable = GIRLFRIEND!), this game not only tailored to its target audience, but swept it off its feet.
Wonderful logic, boys. Counteracts all the times I’ve been told how pretty I’d be if I got contacts.
And on the topic of pretty girls in gaming, I’ve got some E3 booth babes behaving badly over on my personal blog.
I have to admit I installed this on my iTouch as soon as I got the press release. Because it has the potential to be cutely fun or be The Rules horrific, and either way, I have to check it out.
wikiHow, a collaboration to build and share the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual, just launched its newest iPhone and iPod Touch app, wikiHow’s Love Survival Kit. Available now for free download on the App Store, the Love Survival Kit follows wikiHow’s hugely successful Emergency Survival Kit, which has more than half a million downloads to date. Packed with articles for every love scenario, from casual dating to serious relationships, and everything in between, wikiHow’s Love Survival Kit will have you looking for love (tips) in all the right places.
The Love Survival Kit’s practical articles help people gracefully navigate tricky dating and social situations, or just kill time by learning fun and charming tricks. A modern approach to etiquette – complete with video tutorials – the Love Survival Kit covers a broad range of relationship categories and subjects, such as:
• Love and War including: How to Catch a Cheating Boyfriend, How to Date Multiple Men/Women at a Time, How to Play Hard To Get, and more
• Kissing including: How to Kiss, How to French Kiss, How to Deal with a Bad Kisser, How to Get Rid of Chapped Lips, and more
• Awkward Situations including: How to Deal with Someone’s Bad Breath, How to Escape the Friend Zone, How to Get Rid of a Stalker, and more
• Breaking Up including: How to Break Up Over the Phone, How to Break Up Over IM, How to Get Over a Break Up, and more
• Dating Skills including: How to Flirt, How to Play Footsie, How to Read Body Language, How to Have a Great Conversation, and more
• Charming Tricks including: How to Fold a Dollar Into a Heart, How to Open a Beer Bottle with a Dollar Bill, How to Open a Champagne Bottle with a Sword, and more
• Additional How-To Categories including: Best Foot Forward, Relationship Fixes, Relationship Skills and Tying the Knot
wikiHow Founder Jack Herrick commented: “I started wikiHow to help people by offering practical education. One of the most surprising things I’ve seen is how many people want to use wikiHow to secretly improve their love life. So the Love Survival Kit was created to fulfill this need, delivering the best of our romance and relationship advice in one free app.”
Which gets me thinking… I wonder if there’s a Worse-Case Scenario Handbook app yet.
TERA already won my love with their gorgeous concept art. (A larger version of the picture above is my laptop’s wallpaper — and that’s saying something, considering I get new game assets in the mail every day) I’m really excited to see their new MMO at E3
En Masse Entertainment, a new breed of game publisher focused on delivering highly anticipated online video games to Western audiences, announced today that it will present the first hands-on demo of its flagship Action MMO title, TERA™, at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 in Los Angeles. The hands-on demo will focus on TERA’s groundbreaking action combat system, which allows players to step into a world where their actions, teamwork, and combat expertise—not statistics—give them a chance to become true heroes in the face of danger.
“At E3, people will have the chance to experience firsthand what makes TERA‘s gameplay so exciting,” said En Masse CEO Dr. Jae-Heon Yang. “Select media will form a party with varied roles and venture forth to experience their first battle using our innovativeaction/adventure style combat system. During the show, players will see how TERA is changing the rules of MMO combat.”
TERA is an innovative Action MMORPG with rich graphics and animations where players fully control their characters through the game’s dynamic battle system. Player actions in TERA can change the balance of power in a world threatened by dark powers as six allied races work together to protect their world. The game, which is currently in development for PC, will launch in North America and Europe in 2011.
Just released at E3. iGUGU‘s new Gamecore systems promises to bring3.5D gaming into homes with an affordable wireless controller:
LOS ANGELES – June 14, 2010 – iGUGU®, a global manufacturer of innovative entertainment technology products for consumers and business, will introduce the arrival of 3.5D gaming enabled by its innovative iGUGU Gamecore system at E3 Expo 2010 .
Featuring an innovative compact wireless controller that incorporates a trackball, direction pad, joystick, programmable action buttons, and a full QWERTY keyboard, iGUGU Gamecore enables users to play PC-based games on a large screen television without the need to use a computer keyboard and mouse. The controller is equipped with six accelerometers, enabling users to intuitively play games using natural motions to do activities such as steer a race care or fly an aircraft.
iGUGU Gamecore, which enables gamers to access and play virtually any of the more than 27,000 game titles available for the PC and through the Internet on a television, greatly enhances the experience of playing PC games by allowing gamers to control their games through natural, intuitive body movements.
When using iGUGU Gamecore to play games on a 3D television, the gamers’ experience is taken beyond 3D as a new level of realism is added by intuitive game control providing gamers with the sense of actually driving a race car, flying a fighter jet or going on patrol in a war game. iGUGU calls this extraordinary virtual experience, 3.5D.
According to Isaac Calderon, president of iGUGU, Gamecore will forever change the way that people experience computer gaming. “With the extensive processing, memory and storage characteristics of even the most basic computer systems, the PC is truly the most powerful videogame console available on the market today, but until now computer gaming has been limited to relatively small desktop or laptop screens. With iGUGU Gamecore, gamers can have the best of both worlds with the ability to enjoy their PC-based games on a large screen television in the home theater. With our wireless controller, the experience is further enhanced because not only can gamers search for and access games stored on their computer or on the Internet, but they play these games using intuitive body motions to add a new level of realism.”
City of Industry, Calif.—June 7, 2010—InterWorks Unlimited Inc., the
fastest-growing distributor of innovative gaming peripherals, today
announced they have extended their official license deal with leading
worldwide developer and publisher of video games Capcom Entertainment,
Inc. to develop Resident Evil® Darkside Chronicles and Resident Evil®
Umbrella Chronicles and other Capcom® game-branded peripherals for use
with this generation’s gaming consoles.
“Resident Evil® is one of the most successful franchises in video game
history,” said Michael Kidakarn, Executive Creative Director of
InterWorks. “Our products must achieve the design and technical
sophistication that gamers expect from the Resident Evil universe. We know
fans will be proud of the final product along with future inventions we
have in the works for popular Capcom brands.
“InterWorks has come up with some innovative ideas that will enhance the
gameplay experience for Capcom gamers,” said Seon King, Senior Director or
Licensing at Capcom. “We are excited about the new products and looking
forward to hearing the response from gamers.”
The next products to launch will be the Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles
and Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles Magnum and Knife Kit, continuing
upon the success of the Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles and Resident
Evil Umbrella Chronicles Shot Blaster for the Nintendo Wii™. Both will be
featured at the InterWorks booth at the upcoming Entertainment Expo in Los
Angeles, June 15-17, 2010.
I mentioned the Bounty Hunter class in the upcoming SW:TOR game a while ago. Now they’ve just announced some more about the Sith Warrior class, as well.
Champion of the Dark Side
An unstoppable force of darkness, the Sith Warrior is entrusted with the task of destroying the Empire’s enemies and enforcing Sith domination across the galaxy. The Warrior channels the destructive emotions of fear, anger, and hatred to purge weakness from body and mind and become a being of pure, brutal efficiency.
Destined to eradicate the incompetent chaos created by the Jedi, the Sith seek to rule the galaxy through power and intimidation. The armies of the Sith Empire are trained to accomplish this task, but they require the leadership of bold Sith Warriors—loyal and mighty overlords—who will drive them to conquest and victory.
I’ve posted about Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box and about The Game Composer’s Blog before, and today’s post over at the Game Composer’s Blog was just awesome. Sayre’s latest post transcribes a podcast he did about Tiger Eye, with an alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.
ALIEN: Welcome back, humans. One of your kind is now with us. Behold Matt Sayre!
MATT: Thank you, Alien. I’m happy to be here.
BIGFOOT: (English accent) Welcome, Mr. Sayre.
FRANKENSTEIN: Urrrgh!!
MATT: Hi, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.
BIGFOOT: Oh, go ahead and call him “Frankenstein”. He’s grown accustomed to that particular appellation.
MATT: Great. I will, thanks.
FRANKENSTEIN: Gyee.
ALIEN: Begin this interrogation by giving us the history of your project and the human faction that has created it.
MATT: Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box is a new hidden object puzzle adventure game based on the paranormal romance novel Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. The game basically covers the first half of the book. You play as Dela Reese, a young woman traveling in China. She finds a mysterious riddle box and once she opens it she discovers an ancient warrior, Hari, who has been trapped within for centuries. He is cursed to serve as a slave to whomever possesses the box. You try to rid him of the curse and deal with the Magi, the antagonist who is responsible for the curse and who wants his riddle box back.
Our team, PassionFruit Games, was formed specifically to make this game and, we hope, all its sequels. Tiger Eye is the first in the Dirk & Steele (the psychic detective group Dela belongs to) series of books and it’s an exciting series, perfect for video games. The members of PassionFruit Games previously worked at Her Interactive (I did contract work for them, the rest were full-time), where they worked on the Nancy Drew Dossier series. Unfortunately, the Dossier series did not pan out (even though Resorting to Danger won Yahoo’s 2009 Hidden Object Game of the Year award) so the team was laid off. The day after being laid off, however, we were already planning this new venture. And last month we shipped TE: CotRB!
I kind of want to quote the whole thing, actually. And also I want to subscribe to the Alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein podcast.
Looks like the booth babes are back for E3 2010! I was pretty sad to see them go, and I’m glad they’ll be back. Probably not the most feminist and progressive way to feel, but it seems like it’s part of the whole E3 image.
Anyway, if you want to become a booth babe (and who doesn’t?) G4TV is recruiting right now:
G4TV had several booth babes at their E3 2009 exhibit hall space and this year they are asking potential female models and spokespeople to submit a video of themselves saying why they should be the official G4 booth babe. Submissions must be made by May 19. A group of judges will then pick a number of video submissions and post them on the G4 web site where readers can vote for their favorite booth babe from May 24-June 4. The top three vote getters then go through another G4 judging panel and they will pick the final winner. That woman will be flown to Los Angeles to be G4′s booth babe at E3 2010. And it’s likely we will take a picture of the winner. And it’s likely you will look at it. Don’t pretend you won’t.
I wrote about Fatfoogoo about a year about in a post about the free-to-play model. A new post on Venture Beat says that Fatfoogoo, a company that deals in handling virtual goods, has been purchased by Digital River. From the post:
Digital River said today it has acquired European virtual-goods company Fatfoogoo for about $10 million.
Minneapolis-based Digital River is a publicly traded e-commerce company. Fatfoogoo, based in Vienna, Austria, provides a platform for game developers to implement virtual currency and virtual goods, digital representations of real-world objects popularly used in online games. Virtual goods is expected to become a $1.6 billion market, in 2010 according to Inside Network.
Via VentureBeat (See? this is totally real news, and not just because I like saying Fatfoogoo!)
A press release for Evony landed in my mailbox today. My previous experience with Evony involves wondering why there are bra advertisements on gaming sites. I put on my magic BS-reducing journalist glasses to read it, and here’s what it said:
Evony, the free-to-play gaming sensation, today announced its official one year anniversary, inviting the 19 million people who clicked the boobie ads looking for softcore to join in the celebration. First launched in May 2009 with Evony: Age I, Evony has enjoyed a warm reception from its growing fan base, especially those who haven’t got girlfriends or live in areas without Victoria’s Secret catalogs. The game’s unexplainable success is expected to continue with the April launch of Evony: Age II, the expansion that boasts a suite of new features and enhancements, and even more intrusive boobie advertising on all your favorite gaming sites.
In May of 2009, what started with only two servers and a clever vision to create a browser game designed to be played secretly while pretending to work, has evolved into a MMO phenomenon that’s anything but subtle.
“This is an amazing moment for the Evony team, all made possible by a community of game sites and games bloggers running Google Adsense, and a community of potential game players who are easily distracted by boobs,” said the Vice President of Operations at Regan Mercantile, LLC. “Our goal with the Evony franchise is to make sure we don’t accidentally attract any female players or mature adults by mistake.”
The recently launched Evony: Age II features new quests involving historical heroes and cities, a redesigned graphical interface and innovative panty photos for the upcoming advertising campaign.
Here’s a list to help you get all the My Tribe trophies. These in-game achievements can also be found under “Trophies” in your in-game menu.
Easy:
Dustbunny - Collect 5 Stardust Crate Collector – Open 10 crates Socialite - Visit your friend’s islands 20 times Good Host – Have your island visited 100 times by friends (You don’t have to have 20 or 100 friends for these two trophies. You’ll have the same result with one friends and lot of patience.) Mystery Magnate – Solve any two 2 mysterious objects Growing Tribe – Increase your tribe’s population to 10 Expert Skills – Have a tribe member reach level 10 in any skill Pooper Scooper – Collect 20 bird guano. Eww.
Medium:
Dressed to the Nines – Dress a tribesperson with a rare top and a rare bottom. (They only need to wear this for a moment, so don’t worry if it doesn’t match and looks ridiculous.) Centenarian - Keep a tribesperson alive until they are 500 years old. You can use moonstone, or the fountain of youth for this. Top of the Line – Have fully upgraded Wood, Rock, and Food Storehouses, and Science Station. Proud Parent - Have one of your tribeswomen give birth to 5 or more children Eldest Elder – Produce a level 7 tribal elder Traveler - Build an ark and sail to a new island Dyed in the Cloth – Craft 100 dyes in total Jewelry - Have a tribesperson wear four gems at once. They’ll need to be wearing a top, bottom, hat, shoes for this to work. Like Dressed To The Nines, though, they’ll only need to wear this for a moment. Feather in Cap – Collect 20 stork feathers in a single play session Green Thumb – Harvest 1000 farms Poop Disturber – Click on 100 sea gulls Mystery Mastermind - Solve 4 mysterious objects Powerful Tribe – Increase your tribe’s population to 20 Masterful Skills - Have a tribemember reach level 20 in any skill Guru Skills – Have a tribe member reach level 30 in any skill
Hard:
Geologist - Find 100 golden relics Moonstruck - Collect 200 moondust No Farm Harm - Harvest 100 crops in a row, with no wilted crops Unparalleled Skills – Have a tribe member reach level 100 in any skill Collector’s Items – Collect 30 rare items from crates Mycologist - Collect 1000 mushrooms Shell Shocked – Collect 10,000 shells Very Berry – Harvest 500 berries Master of Mystery – Solve 8 mysterious objects Tremendous Tribe - Increase your tribe’s population to 30
Hardest:
Johnny Appleseed - Plant 1000 trees Dressed to the Tens – Dress a tribesperson with a legendary top and a legendary bottom World Traveler - Have your tribe sail to 20 different islands Craftastic - Craft 1000 different items Power Player – Reach player level 50 Methuselah - Keep a tribesperson alive until they are 969 years old. (This was also a trophy in the old version!) Nobel Prize – Research 25 different technologies Superhero - Have one tribe member reach 100 in both Physical Strength and Mental Strength
So I heard a bit of a rumor that Merscom was changing their focus, moving away from hidden object games (like Shutter Island, Wisegal and National Geographic’s Mystery of Cleopatra) and into social games. I didn’t realize that meant they’d soon be acquired by Playdom.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today the continuation of its roll-up of talented social gaming development teams with the acquisition of Merscom, LLC. Privately held Merscom develops online and social games for third parties with nationally recognized brands. Merscom is currently developing games for Sea World, Purina, National Geographic and NBC Universal. Merscom is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Playdom plans to leverage Mercom’s expertise in working with IP owners as Playdom moves to develop partnerships with powerful global brands. Playdom also plans to use the acquisition to leverage the talented North Carolina game development community. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
It’s interesting to see Merscom described as a social and online games company, since I associate them with hidden object games and HO/adventure games.
Just a quick post to mention that ThumbGods will be hosting the Indie Games blog carnival at the end of May. Send in your indie games posts or articles!
Just saw the announcement from Majesco (the people behind Cooking Mama, Gardening Mama, and Crafting Mama) that they’ll be working on a new Martha Stewart game. I really like the Martha Stewart cookbooks (what’s not to like about easy recipes and gorgeous food photography?), but I thought the related TV show and magazine were pretty disappointing. I don’t have high hopes for the game, I expect it to be more of the underwhelming-spinoff variety, but I’m ready to be proved wrong!
And even if it’s not the greatest game ever, the fact that there’s a Martha Stewart game at all says something good about breaking the stereotype that all games are slobs living in their mom’s basement.
From the press release:
NEW YORK, NY and EDISON, NJ, April 20, 2010 -Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) and Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced a strategic partnership to develop and produce interactive electronic games based on MSLO’s expansive portfolio of award-winning lifestyle content. Under the terms of the partnership, Majesco receives the exclusive worldwide rights to publish these games.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Martha Stewart brand to bring sensibility to the video game market,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia offers a vast wealth of content and has a passionate following. Branching into the interactive entertainment space is a natural next step, and Majesco Entertainment is proud to be the exclusive partner.”
“Majesco Entertainment is well respected for bringing consumer-friendly titles to the mass market and has a proven track record of tapping the interests of family and non-traditional video game players,” said Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. “Women are increasingly engaged in social gaming. We feel confident that this new offering will delight loyal customers who are active in the space while introducing a new generation to the brand.”
The game is available online here. (Is anyone else having trouble getting Chrome and Unity to play nicely together? Just me? Kelvin’s Space Ranch runs smoothly in Firefox, though.) Here’s the trailer:
I posted this on DIYgamer this morning (I also posted a review of Puzzle Bloom, but I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking, posting a review on a day where I’ve been totally swamped with iPad games press releases) but it’s worth mentioning here as well.
Republic of Fun, my neighbors here in Raleigh, NC*, are releasing Pinheads Party, a new Cranium-meets-iPad multiplayer game at the App Store today. Although the Republic of Fun’s manifesto decries genre-ism and the casual gamers vs. core gamers divide this looks like an all-ages casual game to me. (Sorry, el presidente, but without some genre descriptors, I’m left telling you all that it’s um, blue. And pretty!)
“We are more than excited to have Pinheads Party available for the launch of iPad,” says Mike Rasmussen, el presidente, Republic of Fun. “As a gaming device, we believe iPad is where it’s at, and that with our wildly fun games, Republic of Fun can enjoy great success in the App Store. This revolutionary device has really opened up our minds to the limitless gaming possibilities that it affords.”
I’m not sure if GameCrush is trying to be a gamer dating site (like SoulGeek or World of DateCraft) or a way for awkward gamer guys to pay girls to play games with them, and I’m not going to find out because the site’s down due to an overabundance of sign-ups. No word on whether those would-be beta GameCrushers are lonely guys or broke girls.
Here’s the press release:
SAN FRANCISCO – March 23, 2010 GameCrush, now available in public beta, introduces an entirely new interactive social gaming experience allowing gamers to meet, match and pay to play online games with other users (PlayDates). GameCrush is the only online service that allows gamers to choose a companion to spice up their favorite online games. Both Players and PlayDates define the experience they want- either “flirty” or “dirty”, choosing from some of the most popular console titles and casual web-based games. To register for free, visit www.gamecrush.com.
On GameCrush, players can find their perfect PlayDate through browsing their profiles and chatting live with them. Players can then purchase a live one-on-one private gaming session, complete with two-way video and text chat.
Designed to appeal to female and male gamers alike, GameCrush offers games to suit a variety of tastes, from casual web-based games to the hottest console titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, Gears of War 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. Initially games are available on GameCrush’s own exclusive video-enabled gaming platform and on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE network. In addition, GameCrush will soon be available for platforms such as Sony’s PlayStation 3, World of Warcraft, and other online gaming environments.
GameCrush delivers comprehensive social tools that allow PlayDates to post profiles complete with picture galleries, video clips, blogs and text chat. PlayDates can make up to $30 or more per hour while having fun playing online games. After a game session is completed, Players rate their gaming experience, and top-rated PlayDates are rewarded with enhanced site promotion and additional benefits.
I keep getting sucked back in for a few more minutes of Osmos, so instead of a proper post, here’s some indie games news from DIYGamer. (Did I mention I’m writing over there now? Because I’m writing over there now.)
“We are more than excited to have Pinheads Party available for the launch of iPad,” says Mike Rasmussen, el presidente, Republic of Fun. “As a gaming device, we believe iPad is where it’s at, and that with our wildly fun games, Republic of Fun can enjoy great success in the App Store. This revolutionary device has really opened up our minds to the limitless gaming possibilities that it affords.”
