Immediately after launching Coconut Dodge, UK studio FuturLab is asking for your help naming their next game. The new game is “a futuristic shoot ‘em up that features a unique teleport mechanic”.

FuturLab’s Managing Director, James Marsden said: “Coconut Dodge has been scoring very well with reviewers and gamers, with many people considering it the best example of what the minis platform can offer. However, with only a tiny budget for marketing we’ve found it very difficult to get traction with a larger audience. So, this time we thought of a way to get as much attention as possible!”

John Griffin, FuturLab’s New Projects Director added: “The puzzle was a creative way to grab people’s attention, and this competition is a great way to invite fans of Coconut Dodge and the wider gaming community to take part in our next production. People can suggest names for the game in addition to the lead character, and we can’t wait to see what people come up with!”

Go here to name the game!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Harvest moon is a simulation game. In this game we’re going to learn farming, gardening, fishing, join the festival, and socializing. In this game, we can also get married. Harvest Moon was first attended in 1996. who’s made? Yasuhiro Wada was the one who made this game and in production by the victor of the interactive software (acquired by marvelous entertainment in 2003). These games already exist in various versions such as the Boy and GBA games, nintendo 64, playstation, playstation 2, GameCube and Nintendo DS, with new titles for psp, nintendo ds, and wii.

The following are figures who are in this exciting game :

1. ANN

Name: Ann
Role: Inn Keeper’s Daughter
Birthday: Summer 17
(Alt. Summer 23)
Rival: Cliff
Family: Doug (Father)

Ann is the daughter of doug, and work as maids, cooks, and assistant to his father at the inn. He is very friendly but tomboy. He also liked the food and the outdoors. He also hated doug for doug worried that their properties could disrupt chances for marriage. It is one of the best chefs in town.
Bonus points can be obtained by buying her food at the inn, besides water. He is a tough competitor in the cooking festival (often won) and played Ocarina in a music festival.

2. ELLI

Name: Elli
Role: Nurse
Birthday: Spring 16
Alt. Spring 20
Rival: Doctor
Family: Ellen (Grandmother)
Stu (Brother)

Elli is the nurse at the local clinic. His parents died several years ago, leaving Elli with responsibility for raising his younger brother (stu) is noisy and her grandmother was sick. Nevertheless, stu good boy and almost always cheerful, even he got a little disappointed if he had to pretend to cheer. Sometimes, his sister gave him a hard time, and he was angry because he did not always have time to spend time with her. However, stu is very important to him, like ellen (his grandmother).
Elli loves children, especially infants, because he was a baby sitter at the clinic. Since he spends most of his time working at the clinic, she had fallen in love with her boss, a doctor. However, unrequited feelings and go for a while.

3. KAREN

Name: Karen
Role: Shop Owner’s Daughter
Birthday: Fall 15 (Alt. Fall 23)
Rival: Rick
Family: Jeff (Father)
Sasha (Mother)
Celia (Cousin)

Karen is a daughter of Jeff and sasha. Together, this family operates the local supermarket. However, Karen went out of town enjoying more than helped run the family business. He can be a little arrogant at first, but always willing to lend ear to a friend, and very romantic, like a walk on the beach at night and wine. He also likes to cook, but it was horrible. Drinking contest with the duke’s famous in this city. Like her mother said: “Karen is a real girls, but she could not get her own life.”
Bonus points can be obtained by buying her something from the supermarket. Karen participated in the festival cooking (gourmet very afraid of this entry) and singer for the music festival.

4. MARY

Name: Mary
Role: Librarian
Birthday: Winter 20
(Alt. Winter 25)
Rival: Gray
Family: Basil (Father)
Anna (Mother)

mary is the only child of anna and basil. A shy girl, he runs the local library and admire the work of his father with botany and writing. He hopes to one day become a writer himself. He just had some friends in town, including gray, saibara, and charter.
Bonus points can be obtained by entering his second-floor library. He is a participant in the festival cooking and playing the organ during the music festival.

5. POPURI

Name: Popuri
Role: Farmer’s Daughter
Birthday: Summer 3
(Summer Alt. 10)
Rival: Kai
Family: Lillia (Mother)
Rick (Brother)

Popuri lives in Polutry Farm, he worked with his brother Rick after their father left town to seek treatment for their sick mother, Lillia. He is, cheerful girl. He admired the individual person is more like the Karen and Kai, the last one was the most he love / crush aka Kai. He’s one of the most friendly people of Mineral Town.
Bonus points can be obtained by having the heart eight chickens. He is the only one with the sweetness will come ask for candy during the Pumpkin Festival.

6. GRAY

Name: Gray
Role: Blacksmith Apprentice
Birthday: Winter 6
(Alt. Winter 23)
Rival: Mary
Family: Saibara (Grandfather)
Gray is a young man with a rather fierce blue eye contact that comes from the city to live in Mineral Town. He worked as a blacksmith’s apprentice under Saibara.

7. CLIFF

Name: Cliff
Role: Drifter
Birthday: Summer 6
(Summer Alt. 10)
Rival: Ann

Cliff was a vagabond living in the town. He was somewhat shy, but a good man. He included a devout Catholic, spent most of his time in church when he was not at the inn.
In the fall, he thought about leaving permanently. And he’ll go, if you do not stop it.

8. KAI

Name: Kai
Role: Lodge owner
Birthday: Summer 22
(Alt. Summer 17)
Rival: Popuri

Kai is a child who is wearing a purple bandana on his head and appeared only during the summer, although there is an event that may cause Kai did not return to Mineral Town. He is friendly to everyone but not to Rick. Kai had a family in this city. He will marry Popuri if he was still there during the summer and the main character does not marry her. After he came, Popuri will appear only during the summer along with Kai

Popularity: 5% [?]

RALEIGH, NC and NEW YORK, September 3, 2010 – Major League Gaming (MLG) has today announced the results and winners from its 50th milestone Pro Circuit event which took place this past weekend at the Raleigh Convention Center. The event was the third in MLG’s 2010 Pro Circuit tournament which united thousands of amateur and professional gamers and hosted several high octane gaming competitions.

“We marked our 50th pro circuit tournament in Raleigh with some stunning wins and talented player performances”, said Sundance DiGiovanni, co-founder and CEO of Major League Gaming. “We continue to see amazing talent at our pro circuit events and the tenacity and ambition which marks the spirit of MLG was palpable here in particular as tensions mount and we edge closer to the season finale.”

In a dramatic final showdown match in the Pro Circuit’s headline Halo 3 tournament, Final Boss beat out reigning champions, Team Instinct to claim the first prize of $20,000, their second win since their Meadowlands win in 2008. The Final Boss team consists of 21 year old Justin “FearItSelf” Kats from Lansing, IL; 17 year old Justin “iGotUrPistola” Deese from West Columbia, SC; 20 year old Cameron “Victory X” Thorlakson from Detroit, MI and 24 year old Tom “Ogre2” Ryan from Pickerington, OH.

The Raleigh competition also played host to a slew of additional video game tournaments from varied game genres with players vying for top cash prizes and league prestige. Competitions included Tekken 6, World of Warcraft, Super Smash Brothers Brawl and the first ever North American competition for Starcraft 2.

Mew2King, tournament champion for the last two Pro Circuit Super Smash Brothers Brawl 1V1 competitions, claimed his third win at Raleigh and another top prize of $2,500 and JustFrameJames claimed the $2,500 prize for his spectacular performance in the Tekken 6 1v1 competition. Raleigh also featured MLG’s first Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty play off with the final $2,500 win secured by Huk who beat out fellow Canadian Protoss player Kiwikaki in the final. Finally the $9,000 top prize for the World of Warcraft 3V3 Raleigh championship was claimed by NerdStomper Blue following a nail biter two-round finale with Team EG.

Victorious Secret, repeat champions from the Doritos MLG Combine series proved to be worthy contenders against the pro ranks at Raleigh with three team members placing in the top 20 bracket leaderboard including 17 year old Justin “Calm Mentality” Mozingo, from Farmville, NC, 19 year old Alejandro “Swift Kill,” Ramirez from San Juan, TX, and 19-year-old Zachary “Watch,” Cahill from London, Ontario.

The Raleigh event was the third event in a challenging five-city US Pro Circuit tour that pits the most talented professional gamers against each other culminating in a National Championship event this November. The next Pro Circuit event takes place in Washington, D.C. on October 15-17, 2010.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Hull, UK / TQ Digital have confirmed that their anticipated MMO, Heroes of Might and Magic Online, licensed by renowned publishers Ubisoft, will be entering it’s Asia area closed beta on May 7^th.

Fans of Heroes of Might & Magic, one of the most loved PC-franchises of the last 15 years, can finally take their adventure to the MMO space on May 7^th with Heroes of Might and Magic Online, developed under the careful study of established china-based online games developer, TQ Digital.

With millions of players already habiting their other titles, including such well known names as Eudemons Online and Conqueror Online, TQ Digital have had a wealth of expertise to call on while crafting a playing experience based around the wants and needs of the series’ loyal fans.

Licensed by Ubisoft – who boast a host of mega-franchises, including The Settlers and Assassins Creed – Heroes of Might and Magic (HoMM) Online will take players back to the classic gameplay elements of HoMM III, mixing it with the stunning updated graphics of HoMM V in a 2.5D turn-based massively multiplayer environment.

Though Ubisoft introduced a new universe to the series for HoMM V, their first title after acquiring the franchise from 3DO Company, TQ Digital are finally bringing the popular fantasy setting of Erathia back, which debuted in 1999 releases, HoMM III and Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor.

Gameplay in Heroes of Might and Magic Online is as varied as it is beautiful, with gorgeous graphics complementing your epic quest to prove your valiant leadership.

Chose from a variety of 8 unique factions, develop elaborate castles that dominate the skyline of bustling metropolis Harmondale – epicenter of trade in the sweeping Antagarichean continent – plunder resources in exhilarating missions and fortify your armies against the inevitable wars of domination that lie ahead as you carve out your own legacy like the legions of plucky adventurers before you.

Experience magic based on an innovative in-game star system. Cast a new spell to increase your proficiency or perfect spells through a dynamic online training center.

Randomly generated combat maps, designed with strategic gameplay in mind, ensure you will need to think studiously about unit formations and tactics, while the hundreds of unique campaigns, each with deep storylines and goals, including 10 chapters of battlefield missions, are guaranteed to keep play refreshing throughout.

Develop towns of different races with the unique Town Prestige System, form guilds, gather resources, and prove your worth in the bloody-thirsty Challenging Arena. TQ Digital will be hosting a slew of PK events with HoMM Online: Team PK and Extreme PK are only the tip of the iceberg, with these events providing opportunities to gain priceless honor points and increase faction reputation.

Summary of HoMM Online game features:
• First Persistent World Turn-Based Strategy MMO
• 8 towns, 16 classes and 56 creatures
• Hundreds of campaigns with epic storylines
• Unique Anima and Dragon Scale Forge System
• Glorious Guild Building & Exciting Guild Wars
• Challenging Arena and PK Tournaments
• Heroes can build towns of different factions

The Asia area closed beta for HoMM Online launches on May 7^th. For more information on the game and a chance to register for beta access, visit the game’s official website today: http://homm.91.com/

Popularity: 4% [?]

Head over to DigimonBattle.com to sign up for the open beta!

From the press release:

WeMade Entertainment, a leading online games developer and publisher, today announced the start of open beta testing for the first-ever online Digimon game, Digimon Battle. Based on the popular Digimon anime series, Digimon Battle allows players to become a gifted Tamer and partner with a good Digimon in the battle to save both Earth and Digital World from the rampaging evil Digimon. Aspiring Tamers can sign up for the open beta and start playing when the servers open at 5:00pm PDT, here: www.digimonbattle.com

The story of Digimon Battle is based on the original animated TV Series, Seasons 1 – 4 (“Digimon Adventure,” “Digimon Adventure 02,” “Digimon Tamers” and “Digimon Frontier”). The classic anime characters are brought to life in the online game as players select a Tamer character, either Takato Matsuki, Henry Wong, Rika Nonaka, or Jeri Katou, and set off with their Digimon and human friends, using the Digivolution system to help their Digimon companions grown stronger. There are three types of Digimon Partners and seven types of Captured Digimon for players to find and tame in the world. Players and their Digimon level up by winning battles, and players can progress from a Rookie Tamer to the powerful Brave Grade. During the open beta, only the Normal Digivolution system, where players strengthen their Digimon partners by leveling up, will be available. In addition, the maximum level will be limited to 50.

“Digimon fans have been waiting for a game that provides exciting, interactive hands-on battling and we are proud to deliver,” said Kevin Seo, CEO of WeMade. “The beta is only the beginning. We will have many new content updates in the coming months that will add new Digivolution systems, Digimon classes, maps and the action-packed Battle Mode where players can battle each other to determine the best fighters.”

To commemorate the launch of the Digimon Battle open beta, WeMade is hosting a Triple Play Event Bundle, which includes three individual events running from March 17 to April 7. Now is the time for players to get in the game and get a head start! The first event called “Mega Mission” is where players are encouraged to “digivolute” their partners to the Mega Stage for a chance to win up to 500 WeCash, plus Gold Drills, Excalibur Swords and one week of Deva Aura! In the second event called “Check In and Cash In,” players are encouraged to check in to the game every day in order to achieve a 100% attendance record and cash in for the Mysterious DigiEgg! In the final event called “DB Happy Hour,” players can receive 30% EXP Buff for free when they log in on March 20 and 21 from 11:00am – 2:00pm Server Time.

For more information about Digimon Battle and to join the open beta, please visit www.digimonbattle.com

Popularity: 5% [?]

I first posted here about Beatnik Games’ Plain Sight back in 2008, when I mentioned their beta signup. The open beta didn’t exactly go very well (way too many people wants to be suicidal ninja robots), but I’ve been excited to see the game since then. The game comes out March 22nd, and I’ve just posted about the games’ features over at DIYGamer.

I have to admit that Beatnik Games‘ upcoming Plain Sight interested me from the start — what’s not to love in a game about suicidal ninja robots?

Plain Sight’s point-banking mechanic also interested me. Players can save their accumulated points whenever they’d like (by committing robo-suicide), but the longer a player goes without saving their points, the higher bonuses they would receive… Of course, until you bank those points, there’s always the risk that another player’s suicide will take you down, and you’ll lose all those great bonuses.

Via Ninja! Ninja! Botzilla! on DIYGamer

Popularity: 2% [?]

Attention heathen aliens. The galaxy is not big enough for both of us.
First we tried leaflets, and you would not repent…
Then we tried hymns, and you would not repent…
Now we confront you with holiest persuader of all. Space-borne thermonuclear missiles. Prepare to die.

Cliff Harris of Positech Games (We’ve blogged about his other indie games like Democracy 2, Kudos and Kudos 2, and on Positech’s business model) has just added a new DLC pack for Gratuitous Space Battles. You’ll be fighting The Order, alien zealots who plan to wipe you out with shiny new weapons:

Radiation Guns

Bullet-firing weapons which deliver a radioactive payload which eats away at your ship from the inside, even if you manage to restore your shields after the initial impact. They also come with a free creepy green glow effect!

Nuclear Missiles

All the fun of radiation guns, in missile form!

Limpet Mines [

Tiny robotic drones which seek out fast moving enemy fighters and attach to them, slowing them down and allowing your heroic gunners to take an easy shot at those heathen alien swine.

Firefly Rockets

Think of them as ‘Rockets 2.0′, faster and more deadly.

You can get it here.  And, yes, there’s a strong possibility that I posted this just to share “then we tried hymns, and you would not repent.”

Popularity: 2% [?]

GLPeas, the British indie developer behind the Xbox Live Carcophony, announce their new project BlindGiRl, also for Xbox Live.

GLPeas’ stated goals are very Meg-friendly, with a promise to develop innovative, unique, non-violent games with an emphasis on gameplay over pretty graphics. No guns and no 3d shininess. Sounds fantastic, but they’re mysteriously silent about exactly what BlindGiRl is. You can follow their evasive Twitter stream in hopes of finding out more.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Just got this from Runes Of Magic:

From Thursday, 27 August 2009, 2pm BST (GMT+1) / 15:00h CEST we have a special offer for you. For a limited period of time we give you up to 900 Diamonds for free for every Diamond purchase you make!

This offer only lasts until Wednesday, 02 September 2009 2pm BST / 15:00h CEST. On the” Top-Up Diamonds” page you can easily see how many more diamonds you get.

(This is not a sponsored post, of course. Just wanted to spread the word.)

Popularity: 12% [?]

I blogged from Beijing last year about World of WarCraft access in China. Technical difficulties were keeping nerdy expats from accessing servers from outside China, and when you’re in China, you know that a sudden “technical glitch” preventing you from accessing a previously available site means that something is going on that the Chinese government doesn’t want you to know about. (See also: inability to connect to YouTube, Twitter, Blogspot, etc. during the current Xinjiang unrest, last year’s torch relay protests, that stuff that didn’t happen in T-word place, etc.)

Although it turned out to be real technical difficulties, we spent a long time worrying about what had gone politically sensitive in Azeroth. Was it a Free Dun Morogh rally?

Anyway, seems like there’s there’s another technical issue with WarCraft and in the Middle Kingdom, and this time it’s the China-based servers, not the foreign ones, affected.

The handover should have gone smoothly. Blizzard had decided to change its Chinese handling company for World of Warcraft from The9 to Netease.

And so on June 7th the WoW closed down for the handover but has yet to come back again.

Apparently Blizzard and NetEase are “working around the clock” to get the service restored to millions of Chinese users, but after three weeks there’s still no show.

The result has been long waits to enter Taiwanese servers as Chinese players swamp them.

via Boomtown – PC.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Guildford, UK– March 17, 2009– Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today officially announced the development of Mass Effect™ 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the multi award-winning 2007 hit, Mass Effect. The Mass Effect trilogy is a masterful science-fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life forms and mysterious uncharted planets. In this dark second chapter, Saren’s evil army of Geth soldiers has just been defeated, and humans, still struggling to make their mark on the galactic stage, are now faced with an even greater peril…

“We’re going to surpass the extraordinary gaming experience we brought our fans in Mass Effect by delivering intensified combat and expanded weapon options as well as increased depth of planet exploration, all while delivering a powerful, emotionally engaging story,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA.“Mass Effect 2 is shaping up to be an unforgettable RPG-shooter experience, taking players on a non-stop roller-coaster ride filled with stunning plot twists and no-holds-barred action.”

Mass Effect 2 is coming to PC and the Xbox 360 video game system in Early 2010. To see the exclusive new Mass Effect 2 teaser trailer check out the website here: www.masseffect.com

Popularity: 9% [?]

LOS ANGELES, Calif.– March 17, 2009 – Independent video games developer Zombie Studios has reached an agreement with Fox Atomic, a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, and production company Union Entertainment to develop its military action franchise “Blacklight” as a feature film, comic book series and video game. The announcement was made jointly by Zombie CEO Mark Long*, Fox Atomic President Debbie Liebling, and Union President Richard Leibowitz.

An original property created by Zombie Studios,“Blacklight” is a covert military action epic set twenty-five years in the future. The three companies will work together on a movie and comic book series to be produced by Fox Atomic and a multi-platform video game that will be produced by Zombie.

Both the film and the video game will be written by Jason Dean Hall, a veteran writer whose latest film, SPREAD, sold at Sundance to Summit. He is also writing projects for DreamWorks and Universal.

“We are excited by the huge potential “Backlight” has to succeed across multiple platforms — theatrical features, comics books, and video games,” said Liebling,“it offers us a remarkable franchise opportunity for film.”

“From the start, I have envisioned’Blacklight’ as a story that spans all of the forms of media I enjoy most,” stated Long.“It’s an ambitious project and I’ve been fortunate to find partners at Fox Atomic and Union who share that same vision. We are cooperating on the comic, game and movie at levels that are unprecedented in the industry.”

“’Blacklight’ plays to Union’s strengths as a film and game production company, allowing us to help bring a great property to consumers in both media,” added Leibowitz, a producer on the project.

Richard Leibowitz will produce and Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons will executive produce for Union. Mark Long, in addition to developing the video game, will serve as an executive producer on the feature. Zak Kadison and R. Eric Lieb will oversee for Atomic.

The“Blacklight” film, video game, and comics will feature the same characters and high caliber military action, but with unique, intersecting storylines that complement each other. No release dates for any of the properties have yet been announced.

*Is it just me, or would “Zombie CEO” be one of the best titles ever?

Via Blacklight | Press Release by MCV | MCV.

Popularity: 11% [?]

It’s not often when my interests in China and gaming collide. Nate, of the China blog Orientation, recently posted on Chinese gaming habits, particularly the huge numbers of MMO gamers in wang ba, or net cafes.

China contains an undulating 59 million online gamers. Despite the fact that 47m of them play free-to-play games, this is a massive amount. To put that into perspective, the 2007 estimate of England’s population was 51,092,000 while the 2008 census quoted America as having 306,068,000 million people. Imagine the entire country of England plunking down and playing a game everyday. Keep in mind that these are only online PC games.

The majority of Chinese gamers, though, seem to play in net cafes and not on personal computers. (Although this may be changing, I saw plenty of Beijing teens with their body weight in personal electronics, and laptops can’t be far behind). Playing in net cafes instead of at home changes the gamer culture quite a bit. No more jokes about nocturnal gamers living in their basements, although there are plenty of 24-hour wang ba for late-night gaming sessions.

Also, fewer games rely on the purchase of software (I’ll save the discussion of China and software piracy for a different post!), since one copy will be installed in the cafe and anyone who comes by will use it. Instead, games have an in-game cash shop or an hourly fee. While talking about Runes Of Magic, Lexton Collins credits the Asian game community for bringing us the free-to-play MMO model.

I also wrote on Chinese net cafes and gaming culture over on  Wang Ba: Gaming In A Strange Land on CNReviews. (It feels a bit odd to quote myself, but it’s better than re-writing my description):

Chinese net bars sell computer time by the hour, and most also sell juice, soda, candy, snacks, and instant noodles, the Chinese equivalent of a Hot Pocket. You can also buy cigarettes, smoking isn’t just permitted in net bars, at times I think it’s mandatory.

The library-like silence of an American net cafe is gone, replaced with the usual thousand-decibel cellphone conversations, Tudou or Youtube videos, and shouts from the boys playing CounterStrike. It might not be the most conductive environment for working, especially when compared with the headphones-wearing crowd back home, but the cheery shouts of videogame victory don’t need translation.

Another thing Nate noticed was the divide between guys playing combat-heavy games and girls spending their internet time using QQ, China’s answer to AIM. Chinese girls do play games but it’s more likely to be something cute on a handheld game or on their mobile phones than hardcore PC games.

I’m sure Chinese netizens and Old China Hands will see this as a very surface analysis, but it’s very interesting to me, to see how the gaming sub-culture translates into other countries! Share your thoughts in the comments!

Related: Travel in China is like a Fantasy Novel, Living In China Is Like an RPG.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Electric Box, by Twinkle Star Games, is one of the games available on Kongregate. The object of the game is to get the electrical current from the On/Off switch to the goal. You can use wires, generators, wind, light and steam power to get to that goal!

If you enjoy the special pieces having special moves, as in chess or Stratego, you’ll like these electric puzzles.  I know some people find this style of game frustrating, especially in the type of game that keeps adding new pieces with new rules, but I thought the pacing of Electric Box’s new additions was perfect to keep it challenging.  Each level adds complexity, by adding icons like batteries, which provide a back-up charge, in case your power supply runs out or changes, and electro-magnets, which pull your other pieces towards them.  Each level has only one solution, and it’ll use all the pieces in your inventory to reach that solution.

My one complaint — and this is a common one for me — is that some of the icons looked too similar. I was confused a few times when I though I had, say, a stream-powered generator but it was really a refridgerator.

Using all the pieces in my inventory to move the power around the board made for a really interesting puzzle game, although I don’t know if it has much replay value. But that’s not a real problem. The free games portal Kongregate has dozens of other free puzzle games for when you finish one game or get bored.

Popularity: 16% [?]

The March-April issue of Indie Game Magazine comes out today!

Here’s a late valentine’s day present, IGM issue 3 is now available. This issue is our largest yet and features tons of indie game reviews! We review the 2008 IGF grand prize winner: Crayon Physics, Blast robots to bits in Droid Assault, Kick your way to stardom with New Star Soccer 4, Built a Kingdom in Kingdom for Keflings, and more!

Buy the Issue Sent to your Door (US, CAN, UK)

Buy a Single Digital Issue

Buy it on Zinio

I mentioned this issue the other day, because of the impromptu ad contest. It also has my review of the new indie game Chains. You can either get this magazine mailed to your house on paper or view it instantly online.

Via The Indie Game Magazine.

Popularity: 10% [?]

A few months ago, I reviewed the original Kudos and talked about how much I enjoyed it. Kudos 2 was quite similar, but with many more options, like the ability to change clothes and hair to make unique avatars. This is my cute Kudos 2 sim over on the left. I hate to sound so girly but I get much more attached to characters I can customize.

Today’s Positech newsletter says that Kudos 2 is now available on the Mac, so even people with a one-button mouse can play too! From the newsletter:

You can download the mac demo here:
http://www.redmarblegames.com/downloads/Kudos2Demo.dmg
And buy the game here:
http://store.esellerate.net/s.asp?s=STR807618070&Cmd=BUY&SKURefnum=SKU05843952168
As usual, the mac version is sold through, and ported by our partners at redmarblegames.com

if you don’t know about Kudos 2, it’s a turn-based life-simulation game where you get to control the choices someone makes in their life from age twenty to thirty. Think of it as a strategic version of the sims, without all the worrying about answering the door and going to the bathroom all the time.

Of course, Kudos 2 for PC is also available, and you can try out a free demo version.  Besides Kudos and Kudos 2, Positech also did the game Democracy.

Popularity: 12% [?]

The team at Garden Party World just introduced a new minigame. I’ve already talked about how cute and kid-friendly GardenPartyWorld is, so I’ll just pass along the news about the new game.

For those accustomed to GardenParty and its features, they will be fully aware of the bee suit and its uses. For those not so familiar, it allows Gardeners to fly both for fun and to collect items high up in the sky. What was lacking, was an activity, beyond those mentioned, which would allow the bee suit to play an integral part in a game… that was until now! From 30^th January 2009, GardenParty is pleased to announce the latest addition to the fun, safe virtual world for kids, a new multi-player bee game – BusyBee.

The much loved bee suit now has an even greater purpose within the world. The new game involves buzzing bees working together to collect the nectar for their sleeping Queen Bee, if they satisfy her need for honey, they will be rewarded, however, disappoint the Queen Bee, the quest must continue! All-in-all, this new multiplayer game encompasses fun, community and team work altogether and will have any Gardener laughing with excitement.

This latest news comes as a welcomed addition to the ever expanding world which has seen children from all over the world take part and “Grow their own fun” whilst thoroughly enjoying their experience.

To celebrate the new arrival, GardenParty will be hosting the launch of BusyBee with a buzzing party which will be at take place on the 30^th January from 4pm (UK time), 11am (EST) and 8am (PCT).

GardenParty is a free to play MMO for children. Don’t worry, you can tell everyone you’re just checking it out for your little niece or nephew.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Click on this link to a Big Fish Games coupon, and you’ll get 2 free games. The full versions, not the usual one-hour trial version.

You’ll be able choose two (2) free games from the selection of games listed below.
1) Atlantis Atlantis: Visually stunning and absolutely addictive, Atlantis takes you on a trip to the 19th century. As the head of a team of explorers on a classified mission, you unlock the secrets of the long-lost city in 81 challenging levels of pure fun. If you succeed, fame, fortune, and world-changing technology from Atlantis will be yours!

2) Fairies Game: Fairies takes you to a world where legends are true and magic is real. As the most powerful wizard ever, you are the only hope for a once peaceful land where fairies have been captured by an unknown evil. Complete 100 mesmerizing levels, break the magical spell that traps the fairies inside pictures, and restore justice to this world in need. Succeed and you’ll be a hero, granted the ultimate power; use it wisely!

3) Top Ten Solitaire Game: The world’s 10 most popular solitaire card games combined into one incredible game! With amazing graphics, animated cards, soothing music, great features and polished game play, it is no exaggeration to say that Top Ten Solitaire is the best solitaire game ever! Play Klondike, Pyramid, Scorpion, Accordion, Penguin, Canfield, Golf, Monte Carlo, Free Cell, and Yukon all in one collection.

4) Word Search Deluxe Game: It’s the master of all word search games! Thousands of word groups, numerous game types, a puzzle editor, and much more make this a must have for anyone who currently enjoys word search games or has ever enjoyed playing them. There is a kid’s option complete with animated characters and an easy to read large grid of characters.

5) Slot Words Game: Get ready for some good ‘ol word scrambling madness! Place your bet, spin the reels and prepare to do some quick thinking to unscramble the letters that the slots reveal. The more you bet, the longer the word and the bigger the payout. Progress through the levels, each giving out greater payouts but allowing less time to solve the puzzles. How many levels can you survive before you start losing your hard earned cash?

I’m downloading mine right now. What about you?

Via Free Samples: Big Fish – 2 Games Downloads

Popularity: 7% [?]

Playing Positech’s Democracy 2:

Democracy 2 has a
bit of a slow start, because with so many options and so many
possibilities it’s hard to get a handle on what everything does. It’s a
government strategy game, which isn’t a new genre, but Democracy has
almost endless options.

My country, Malaganga, started with some problems, and my goal was to eliminate disease and street crime, without alienating any voters. In Civ4, my usual strategy game, your citizens will tell you that religion makes them happy, and if you’re really successful, they’ll throw a celebration in your honor. (I particularly like “We love the despot!” day.) In Democracy2, your constituents are divided into smaller interest groups, like Liberals, Socialists, Wealthy, Drivers or Smokers, and your actions affect each group differently. A tax on emissions pleases Environmentalists but annoys others, free school buses please Parents, but the Tobacco tax to pay for the buses doesn’t go over so well. In addition to passing laws, random events come up, and you’ve got decide who to appoint for foreign relations, or whether to allow genetically modified produce. I really liked the random events. Sometimes a pop star would endorse me, and once a vigilante superhero appeared (I guess I had some street crime problems).

Read the rest at Simpson’s Paradox — Playing Democracy

Popularity: 10% [?]

Ah, gaming romance. I love stories like this, because they ruin the stereotype of anti-social gamers, and the stereotype that all gamers are men.

LAND O’ LAKES, FL– JANUARY 12, 2009– Artix Entertainment’s MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds was the setting for the December 29th wedding of longtime Artix gamers Bello and Merca which was broadcast live starting on www.aqworlds.com with over 11,000 gamers in attendance.

The bride, who is a retailer, and the groom, who is a pre-school teacher, have been avid Artix gamers for three years. They live in southwestern Missouri and decided to share their union with fellow gamers worldwide.

“We thought this was a unique opportunity to do something memorable,” said Bello.“We decided to go with AdventureQuest Worlds because we’ve been playing Artix games for years now and almost feel like we’ve been a part of Artix Entertainment’s maturation as a gaming company.”

Read the rest at OVER 11,000 GAMERS ATTEND ADVENTUREQUEST WORLDS ONLINE WEDDING Gaming Industry | Press Release by MCV

Popularity: 12% [?]

DALLAS (January 9, 2008) – MumboJumbo, a leading developer and publisher of casual games, has entered into a publishing agreement with phenomedia publishing gmbh to bring their latest Moorhuhn titles to Nintendo DS™ system in the North American market.

The three-title deal includes Star Karts, Atlantis Quest and The Pharaoh’s Treasure, all of which will launch in 2009 for the popular handheld gaming console at retail prices of $19.99 each.

“We’re very excited to bring these three Crazy Chicken games to the North American audience,” said Mark Cottam, CEO of MumboJumbo. “The strong character, variety of game play and overall production values of these titles make them a perfect fit for MumboJumbo.”

Developed by phenomedia, Star Karts follows the zany Crazy Chicken through an intergalactic racing competition, while Atlantis Quest is a side-scrolling action (or platformer) game that takes Crazy Chicken through 30 levels of challenges both above and below the sea. In The Pharaoh’s Challenge, players can try their hand at puzzle-solving in the Egyptian-themed adventure.

“We would like to tie Moorhuhn’s latest three adventures on Nintendo DS to international success of Moorhuhn DS. Each of these games represents a different genre – racing game, Jump&Run and puzzle – and thus not only emphasizes the platform’s diversity, but also that of the strong character Moorhuhn itself,” said Helge Borgarts, phenomedia publishing gmbh’s CEO.

Crazy Chicken originally launched in Germany as Moorhuhn X and quickly developed a league of fans who found the zany and precocious chickens entertaining and comical. Bringing the mischief and mayhem to Nintendo DS will serve to broaden the game’s already impressive audience.

Via MumboJumbo to Bring New Crazy Chicken Titles to North America Gaming Industry | Press Release by MCV

Popularity: 4% [?]

Gametribe.com, the premier destination for Free-to-Play games starts 2009 with a great update to come on January 7th!

We are happy to introduce the Marriage system for all the lovers!
Declare you Love and get married to unlock extra bonuses with your
partner.

To prepare a great wedding ceremony, you can now get the two
beautiful Ring of Devotion (to give energy to the partner) and Partner
Pager (to summon the partner at any time).

Depending on the rings set you choose (Plain, Gold, Platinum or
Diamonds), you will have access to the different wedding costumes
(Chinese, Japanese and Fantasy) and wedding places (Chinese, Church and
Fairytale).

Invite all your friends, prepare a special banquet, it’s a unique moment!

If you want to get married, you can also try the Lover’s quests:

- Devoted Love in Darkdale lvl 20

- Mutually Love in Swan Lake Basin lvl 25

- Everlasting in Blakatoa lvl 30

- Loving Forever in Grassgreen Square lvl 35

- Never regretting Giantwood Forest lvl 40

These quests give wedding dresses and love titles!

Another big feature coming is the Potential Development Instructor
(meet him at the Eversun Dojo). He will give you several quests that
will let you reach the new cap, the level 62!

New items and goodie bags:

• Permanent Emperor’s New Hat and Bounty Hunter Costume available until January 21st

• Purple Butterfly Wings

• Devil’s Wings

• Wedding Venue Lease Contract: for couples to enter a wedding place another time

• Costume goodie bags available until February 4th:

o For girls: Bestial Girl costume, Wild Girl costume and Fairy Horn

o For boys: Red Ghostly Gown, Blue Ghostly Gown, and Demon Horn

• Special riding Pet goodie bag available until January 21st: you may get a permanent Lil’Dairy Pu or Pure White Pupu!

The new update will be available to players after the weekly Wednesday maintenance window.

DOMO is a Free-to-Play social MMORPG based on ancient Chinese
mythology. Join with thousands of other gamers in an amazing
anime-inspired world where you can socialize, form friendships, craft
and master a variety of jobs, all within the underlying quest of trying
to solve the riddles of the ancient myth of the Kunlun Mirror.

To download and play DOMO visit the game’s official website through www.gametribe.com.

Via DOMO: Love is all! Gaming Industry | Press Release by MCV

Kind of makes me wish WoW had special romantic quests!

Popularity: 12% [?]

I played Alabama Smith: Escape from Pompeii, and I just loved the premise. You play gifted young archeology student, Alabama Smith, who gets the chance to study abroad in Italy, and look for a magical time-traveling amulet.

I loved the premise, since I did my undergraduate in classics, and I spent my study abroad in dusty old libraries in the UK. Sadly I didn’t discover any ancient artifacts there.

Escape From Pompeii has some hidden object elements, but it’s more like the Monkey Island and Sierra games of old, where players have to find items and figure out how to use them. I also enjoyed the minigames, which were engaging. A hint feature keeps the game from ever getting frustrating. Can’t figure out what to do? Get a hint!

My only problem is that the cutscenes were just awful. The dialogue was stilted, and the animation consisted of waggly eyebrows. Poor Alabama is just a bit too feminine looking… he looks too much like a guy the shy girl draws in colored pencils in art class.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I posted the other day about recruiters avoiding MMORPG gamers because they’re afraid to hire someone who fits the stereotype of the unwashed slacker gamer. The BBC has a new article that talks about the good things we learn from gaming. Time management games and sims teach actual skill, not just buttonmashing.

“Dad she says, “Should I hire a new janitor for my zoo?” Sure I said, go ahead,” explained Mr Laux.

“And then she said she couldn’t afford it out of her current income but really wanted to invest into capital improvement. She said if she didn’t then people wouldn’t come to her zoo because it will get old.

“And I said well why not hire the janitor and fire him when you are done.

“Well I could do that but if I do that then employee morale will go down and productivity will go down and it may cost more in the long run she said.”

Via BBC NEWS | dot.life | A blog about technology from BBC News | Gaming is good for you

Popularity: 8% [?]

Google has announced its intentions to enter the in-game advertising sector, with a post on its Adsense blog suggesting it will be targeting web-based games to begin with.

It read: “Do you develop or publish web-based games? If so, you’re contributing to a growing trend – according to comScore, over 25% of Internet users play online games every week, which is over 200 million users worldwide. As a beta user of AdSense for Games, you can display video ads, image ads, or text ads within your online games to earn revenue”.

The pitch continued: “You’ll be able to show these ads in placements you define, such as interstitial frames before a game, after a level change, or when a game is over. Members of our AdWords team will sell your in-game ad placements directly to top brand advertisers, and you’ll also see contextually targeted text and image ads based on content and demographic information. In addition, you’ll be able to control the ads you see on your pages using our filtering options”.

The beta for Adsense for Games has now been opened and is available to those publishers with over 80% of their traffic from the UK or US.

It will be run in partnership with Mochi Media and its MochiAds network, with Google providing advertisers to fill its available advertising slots.

The news comes not long after Google announced it would start selling games and other products via links from relevant videos to online stores such as Amazon and iTunes.

Popularity: 1% [?]