Look, PopCap, first you give us a lust for diamonds, and now you're just making us downright hungry. Bejeweled Blitz maker PopCap Games just announced Popcorn Dragon during an EA event in New York City. The game will have players shoot fireballs at flying popcorn kernels by touching the screen, and that adorable dragon will try to eat it all, according to Joystiq.
Popcorn Dragon has no specific release date nor were any other platforms mentioned during the game's reveal. Adding to the mystery, PopCap has yet to reveal a price, though we doubt it will stray far from the coveted $.99 price point. Actually, the EA-owned studio has become quite the fan of microtransactions as of late, so "free" is certainly a possibility.
Thứ Tư, 26 tháng 10, 2011
Burnout Crash comes to iOS this fall with help from David Hasselhoff [Interview]
Burnout Crash will be launching on iOS this fall, for iPad and iPhone 4. The game has 18 traffic junctions (settings), three different gameplay modes and an '80s inspired soundtrack featuring songs by Vanilla Ice and Gloria Estefan. The game will feature Autolog technology, bringing a major social edge to the experience, as users will be able to connect with others and compare their stats across the game's different modes. You'll also be able to challenge friends directly via "Autolog Challenges," for some head-to-head fun.
It was ... Mafia Wars malware that infected the Air Force drone fleet?
I guess when local politicians are too busy playing CityVille to attend meetings, you really can't put this sort of thing past anyone. The U.S. Air Force has revealed new details on just what virus has infected the remote cockpits of its drone fleet, Wired reports. They're quite revealing as to what these remote crews might be up to on the job.
An anonymous defense official told the Associated Press that the malware that infected the remote cockpits' hard drives "is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online." The official didn't explain why remote drone crews were playing Mafia Wars or gambling online while on missions overseas.
An anonymous defense official told the Associated Press that the malware that infected the remote cockpits' hard drives "is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online." The official didn't explain why remote drone crews were playing Mafia Wars or gambling online while on missions overseas.
Ngmoco names former Mattel exec as CMO to oversee Mobage launch
Staskin most recently served as VP of marketing and communications at Milan, Italy-based gaming and lottery company Sisal SpA. At Ngmoco he will "lead all global marketing and communications efforts for the company," according to a release, and that includes things like advertising, public relations and customer acquistion. In layman's terms, it's Staskin's job to get more mobile gamers to use Mobage.
Find free Android games through OpenFeint's Game Channel app
Through Game Channel, OpenFeint will display games to users such as the Featured Game and Free Game of the Day, which the company says will include free in-game items, too. As for curation, OpenFeint will recognize notable free games under its Free Games That Rock category, and highlight game personally recommended by the company within Feint's Featured Picks.
The Game Channel app will also recommend games based on the seasons and other themes like holidays. Players will get to access their profiles and other social features right from within Game Channel, and OpenFeint will recommend new releases. This news comes just as OpenFeint finds itself with a new CEO, former Gree exec Naoki Aoyagi, and a new director of developer relations, Sarah Thompson.
The Game Channel app will also recommend games based on the seasons and other themes like holidays. Players will get to access their profiles and other social features right from within Game Channel, and OpenFeint will recommend new releases. This news comes just as OpenFeint finds itself with a new CEO, former Gree exec Naoki Aoyagi, and a new director of developer relations, Sarah Thompson.
Thứ Ba, 25 tháng 10, 2011
BioShock On PS Vita Won’t Be Infinite Or A Return To Rapture
When it comes to new hardware launches, you can always count on certain developers or publishers to pledge their support straight out the gate. Ubisoft will trot out Rabbids to make sure there’s family-friendly hilarity on the Wii U and EA’s always going to have some iteration of Madden or FIFA for the next next-gen PlayStation or Xbox.
But Irrational Games isn’t on of those companies. They’re a smaller studio and they turn smarter-than-average games, which takes longer than creating sequel after sequel. That’s why it surprised many when Irrational’s creative director Ken Levine came out during E3 to announce that he and his colleagues would be working on a Bioshock game for the PlayStation Vita. Things have been quiet since E3 but Levine recently took the time to give Joystiq an update on what not to expect from the studio’s Vita debut.
Levine says that the aim is to create an all-new experience that feels native to the vita and not just a ported, scaled-down version of something that Irrational’s already done. Joystiq quotes Levine as saying, “I’d rather do something that’s an experiment and that’s a little different. And is unique for the franchise.” He also says that, because the studio’s got a lot less manpower than other developers who develop for console and handheld, the Vita BioShock game might be the first time Irrational works with an outside entity to execute their vision.
But Irrational Games isn’t on of those companies. They’re a smaller studio and they turn smarter-than-average games, which takes longer than creating sequel after sequel. That’s why it surprised many when Irrational’s creative director Ken Levine came out during E3 to announce that he and his colleagues would be working on a Bioshock game for the PlayStation Vita. Things have been quiet since E3 but Levine recently took the time to give Joystiq an update on what not to expect from the studio’s Vita debut.
Levine says that the aim is to create an all-new experience that feels native to the vita and not just a ported, scaled-down version of something that Irrational’s already done. Joystiq quotes Levine as saying, “I’d rather do something that’s an experiment and that’s a little different. And is unique for the franchise.” He also says that, because the studio’s got a lot less manpower than other developers who develop for console and handheld, the Vita BioShock game might be the first time Irrational works with an outside entity to execute their vision.
New York Comic-Con’s Many Colourful Voltron Toys
I’m not really sure if the Voltron figures I spotted while browsing the floor of New York Comic-Con this weekend are new, but I’m positive I’m going to need to buy at least one of them.
I wonder if they’re made of metal, like those old Shogun Warriors? I actually picked up an original die-cast Mazinga earlier this month for $US10. It keeps Poe away from my nightstand when I’m not around. (Yes, I have a Great Dane that’s afraid of toys.)
I wonder if they’re made of metal, like those old Shogun Warriors? I actually picked up an original die-cast Mazinga earlier this month for $US10. It keeps Poe away from my nightstand when I’m not around. (Yes, I have a Great Dane that’s afraid of toys.)
The New Zelda Won’t Have A Lefty Mode After All
Last week, I wrote about my experiences as a left-handed person playing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. To save you the re-reading, I’ll let you know that I survived.
I had some trouble playing the game, which seemed tailored for righties, but I got used to it. Some readers, however, wondered if there was a lefty mode. Some even pointed to an IGN report that stated that there is one. I was surprised that none of the Nintendo reps who sat with me while I talked about the game’s compatibility for left-handed people had mentioned a lefty mode. None of them was a developer on the game, but they were knowledgeable folks nonetheless.
I e-mailed Nintendo public relations to be sure and even linked them the IGN video, which makes verbal mention of it but doesn’t show it, to make sure we were talking about the same thing. Now I’ve got an official response: Nintendo confirms there’s no left-handed mode in the game. Go figure.
This is no tragedy. What it means, I guess, is that Link will hold his sword in his right hand as he did in the Wii version of his previous Zelda console game. Prior to that, he’d been a lefty in all of his most famous games.
I had some trouble playing the game, which seemed tailored for righties, but I got used to it. Some readers, however, wondered if there was a lefty mode. Some even pointed to an IGN report that stated that there is one. I was surprised that none of the Nintendo reps who sat with me while I talked about the game’s compatibility for left-handed people had mentioned a lefty mode. None of them was a developer on the game, but they were knowledgeable folks nonetheless.
I e-mailed Nintendo public relations to be sure and even linked them the IGN video, which makes verbal mention of it but doesn’t show it, to make sure we were talking about the same thing. Now I’ve got an official response: Nintendo confirms there’s no left-handed mode in the game. Go figure.
This is no tragedy. What it means, I guess, is that Link will hold his sword in his right hand as he did in the Wii version of his previous Zelda console game. Prior to that, he’d been a lefty in all of his most famous games.
Thứ Hai, 24 tháng 10, 2011
Ratchet & Clank Want To Stay Up Late And Play Video Games
Everybody’s favourite lombax-and-robot duo returns to the PS3 in an all-new, co-op focused adventure this week. Here’s the opening cinematic sequence from the game, showing off the trademark humour that Insomniac’s known for bringing to the Ratchet & Clank games.
The interview sequence at the beginning reminds me of this classic bit from the beloved Tick series.
Be warned, Kotaku readers: if you ever meet me in person, I can quote from this episode at will.
The interview sequence at the beginning reminds me of this classic bit from the beloved Tick series.
Be warned, Kotaku readers: if you ever meet me in person, I can quote from this episode at will.
Valve Tinkering With An Excellent Portal 2 Feature That Talks Back
The people who made Portal 2 want to make it easier for you to make more Portal 2, according to a new report about the making of the game’s Peer Review expansion written by GTTV host Geoff Keighley.
In a free expansion to his PC, Mac and iOS behind-the-scenes article/app The Final Hours of Portal 2 that will be available today, Keighley explains that Valve people are working on “a Photoshop for test chambers,” a user-friendly editing tool that would allow amateurs to easily craft new Portal 2 levels. These folks are also developing a system that would allow Portal 2 players to access the new levels from within the game, without having to go outside the game to access them. “Now maps will appear on an easy to use menu, dramatically expanding the potential audience for fan-created content–and hopefully making it available on the consoles as well.”
Exciting as this might be for Portal 2 fans, the cleverest idea is that, as Keighley writes, “the writers are even discussing the idea of adding a personality to the editor... [I]magine what it would be like to have GLaDOS berate you every time you spell something incorrectly in Microsoft Word and you’ll have a sense of where this can go.”
Valve may have worked with Keighley on this app and given him access for this info, but they don’t confirm if all this is definitely going to be released–or just is in the experimental stages.
Keighley’s update shares many more details about the making of this month’s Peer Review DLC and some tantalising details about ideas considered but scuttled for the expansion. Let’s just say, we could have had DLC in outerspace, if only Valve had more time and resources. Bummer!
Check out the app for more details. If you have it, look for all this and more in a bonus chapter that should be available any minute now.
In a free expansion to his PC, Mac and iOS behind-the-scenes article/app The Final Hours of Portal 2 that will be available today, Keighley explains that Valve people are working on “a Photoshop for test chambers,” a user-friendly editing tool that would allow amateurs to easily craft new Portal 2 levels. These folks are also developing a system that would allow Portal 2 players to access the new levels from within the game, without having to go outside the game to access them. “Now maps will appear on an easy to use menu, dramatically expanding the potential audience for fan-created content–and hopefully making it available on the consoles as well.”
Exciting as this might be for Portal 2 fans, the cleverest idea is that, as Keighley writes, “the writers are even discussing the idea of adding a personality to the editor... [I]magine what it would be like to have GLaDOS berate you every time you spell something incorrectly in Microsoft Word and you’ll have a sense of where this can go.”
Valve may have worked with Keighley on this app and given him access for this info, but they don’t confirm if all this is definitely going to be released–or just is in the experimental stages.
Keighley’s update shares many more details about the making of this month’s Peer Review DLC and some tantalising details about ideas considered but scuttled for the expansion. Let’s just say, we could have had DLC in outerspace, if only Valve had more time and resources. Bummer!
Check out the app for more details. If you have it, look for all this and more in a bonus chapter that should be available any minute now.
There’s A Little Thrall In Everyone’s BlizzCon 2011 Bag, Courtesy Of Mega Bloks
In celebration of their upcoming World of Warcraft and StarCraft II lines, Mega Bloks is hitting BlizzCon 2011 big time, with a tiny Thrall for every convention attendee, a limited edition StarCraft II Battlecruiser, and much, much more.
I’ve become a bit of a Mega Bloks fan ever since I picked up one of their Need for Speed vehicles back in August, so I’m pretty jazzed that the company is taking a shot at some of Blizzard’s top properties. They seemed pretty thrilled as well, pulling out all the stops for a titanic showing at BlizzCon 2011 this weekend.
Things start off small with a special present for all physical attendees to the show, a special edition figure of World of Warcraft‘s top orc, Thrall. Everyone at the show will score one, and there will be ‘Make & Take’ stations on the show floor where attendees can try to build their own display stand for the fig.
From there Thrall gets much bigger. Standing seven feet tall and weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds, Mega Bloks Thrall is the biggest Mega Bloks statue ever built. Con-goers are invited to take their picture with the massive creation and Tweet it for a chance to win signed concept sketches of the mini-Thrall giveaway figure.
They’ve even got a custom, one-of-a-kind Mega Bloks replica of the famous evil sword Frostmourne on display, which the attendee closest to guessing the number of pieces in its construction will go home with.
Along with all of that World of Warcraft goodness Mega Bloks will also be debuting their WoW product line at the show, giving fans a sneak peek at what’s in store for them next summer.
I’ve become a bit of a Mega Bloks fan ever since I picked up one of their Need for Speed vehicles back in August, so I’m pretty jazzed that the company is taking a shot at some of Blizzard’s top properties. They seemed pretty thrilled as well, pulling out all the stops for a titanic showing at BlizzCon 2011 this weekend.
Things start off small with a special present for all physical attendees to the show, a special edition figure of World of Warcraft‘s top orc, Thrall. Everyone at the show will score one, and there will be ‘Make & Take’ stations on the show floor where attendees can try to build their own display stand for the fig.
From there Thrall gets much bigger. Standing seven feet tall and weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds, Mega Bloks Thrall is the biggest Mega Bloks statue ever built. Con-goers are invited to take their picture with the massive creation and Tweet it for a chance to win signed concept sketches of the mini-Thrall giveaway figure.
They’ve even got a custom, one-of-a-kind Mega Bloks replica of the famous evil sword Frostmourne on display, which the attendee closest to guessing the number of pieces in its construction will go home with.
Along with all of that World of Warcraft goodness Mega Bloks will also be debuting their WoW product line at the show, giving fans a sneak peek at what’s in store for them next summer.
GameStop Robber Leaves Shoe Behind, Gets 12 Years In Prison
A Washington DC man who robbed a Gamestop in 2008 for nearly $US7500, but left the store one shoe light, was sentenced to a dozen years in prison today.
Terrence Terrell Conner was sentenced in Greenbelt Maryland on Monday, the Associated Press reports. Connor and two others walked into the GameStop on December 23, 2008. The three hung out, posing as customers, until the manager began transferring cash from the store’s cash registers to the safe. Two of the robbers pulled out guns and demanded the cash from the manager.
The manager dropped the bag and Conner and the other two fled with $US7425 in cash. Somehow, Conner managed to leave one of his shoes behind. He also left a fingerprint, police say.
In 2009, police searching Conner’s home discovered the other shoe and a loaded gun.
D.C. man gets 12 years for GameStop robbery in Maryland [Washington Post]
Terrence Terrell Conner was sentenced in Greenbelt Maryland on Monday, the Associated Press reports. Connor and two others walked into the GameStop on December 23, 2008. The three hung out, posing as customers, until the manager began transferring cash from the store’s cash registers to the safe. Two of the robbers pulled out guns and demanded the cash from the manager.
The manager dropped the bag and Conner and the other two fled with $US7425 in cash. Somehow, Conner managed to leave one of his shoes behind. He also left a fingerprint, police say.
In 2009, police searching Conner’s home discovered the other shoe and a loaded gun.
D.C. man gets 12 years for GameStop robbery in Maryland [Washington Post]
While You Were Sleeping
While you were sleeping, face squished into a dog’s fluffy, soft body, drooling all over yourself, stuff happen. Video game stuff. Thankfully we’ve rounded up some of the highlights from last night while you were deep in slumber, so here it is!
Some of you lucky few will already have a copy of Batman: Arkham City, post another of them there pesky street date breaks. But just in case you’re picking your copy up today, or even if you have only put a couple of hours in, you might want to read this: tips for playing Arkham City the ‘best’ way, whatever that means!
Oh, and we have a release date for the PC version…
I dare you to tell me that Secret of Mana doesn’t have the greatest video game soundtrack of all time. I dare you. This Secret of Mana rap will make you wistful.
Valve are messing about with a new Portal 2 feature that may just make you squeal with delight and watch Kinect power this touch based interface.
In Short
Before You Start: Tips For Playing Batman: Arkham City The Best Way
Watch Kinect Power The Future Of Touch Based Interface
This Secret Of Mana Rap Will Make You Wistful
Valve Tinkering With An Excellent Portal 2 Feature That Talks Back
PC Gamers Enter Arkham City November 15
Some of you lucky few will already have a copy of Batman: Arkham City, post another of them there pesky street date breaks. But just in case you’re picking your copy up today, or even if you have only put a couple of hours in, you might want to read this: tips for playing Arkham City the ‘best’ way, whatever that means!
Oh, and we have a release date for the PC version…
I dare you to tell me that Secret of Mana doesn’t have the greatest video game soundtrack of all time. I dare you. This Secret of Mana rap will make you wistful.
Valve are messing about with a new Portal 2 feature that may just make you squeal with delight and watch Kinect power this touch based interface.
In Short
Before You Start: Tips For Playing Batman: Arkham City The Best Way
Watch Kinect Power The Future Of Touch Based Interface
This Secret Of Mana Rap Will Make You Wistful
Valve Tinkering With An Excellent Portal 2 Feature That Talks Back
PC Gamers Enter Arkham City November 15
Thứ Bảy, 22 tháng 10, 2011
Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia
Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.
Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.
TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.
The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.
THE NES TURNS 25! A QUARTER CENTURY OF NINTENDO
Across video games there are many iconic characters. There is Kratos a ultra violent Spartan warrior from the God of War games. The Halo series has the armored Master Chief a very different kind of Spartan warrior. Far older than both of fearsome combatants is Nintendo’s overall equipped Mario. Currently Mario’s face is known all around the world and throughout two galaxies. However there was a time when this plucky plumber was not so well known. It was a time before Blu-ray, bluetooth or even blue suit Mario. In the early 1980’s video games themselves were even somewhat obscure and the home video game industry was in a crisis. People just weren't playing games as much as before. Mario’s creators Nintendo had released their Famicom game system in Japan to success in 1983. That same year Atari, the company which had basically created home video gaming, lost half a billion dollars. The bosses at Nintendo were uncertain if America was ready for a new game system in this unprofitable video game market and so Nintendo’s console was only made available to lucky gamers in the northeast United Sates. It was a test launch. Before their system’s release here Nintendo’s Famicom was renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System. Also its original look was altered to appeal more to American gamers. The Nintendo Entertainment System or NES arose on the 18th of October in America like a grey and white phoenix from the ashes of the great game crash of 1983. A box-shaped console and two controllers were included in the basic NES package. The controller had a digital pad, select and start buttons and “A” and “B” buttons. The name that was most closely tied to the NES wasn’t mustachioed Mario but ROB. No, ROB wasn't the third Mario brother. ROB was a robot (“batteries not included”) that acted like a clunky controller for some of the initial games. It was included in the “Deluxe Set” NES package. Alas this accessory was quickly dropped by Nintendo (poor ROB, obsolete but not forgotten). Some of the first games for the fledgling game console were Duck Hunt, Kung Fu, Excitebike, and Hogan’s Alley. The titles that the NES offered were levels beyond what the Atari and others had made.
The NES’ visuals, sound, and game design were unmatched at the time. However it was Nintendo’s brilliant game designer Shigeru Miyamoto’s killer app that fueled the NES revolution and forever changed the gaming landscape: Super Mario Bros. Players could control two overall wearing brothers, Mario or Luigi. The Mushroom Kingdom’s princess was captured by a fiend named Bowser. The heroes had to run, jump, stomp, dodge, swim, and smash their way through 8 levels and many turtle troopers to rescue the helpless princess. Along the way they grabbed power ups that granted them special powers like the ability to toss fireballs. This innovative title drew countless players to the NES and would influence games to this day. America seemed ready and the NES was later released nationwide. Now gamers everywhere could get their hands on the NES. Americans were enchanted by the NES and it became a smash hit. The US gaming industry had started moving again and would never stop!
After the first wave of Nintendo games Miyamoto’s magic wasn’t finished. He would design many more memorable titles including The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo‘s magic wasn’t finished either. In the years following the release of the NES, Nintendo would conjure up new consoles that used more and more powerful technology. These machines would bring richer sound and visuals and more finer controls. Games became even more immersive and fun.
The NES’ visuals, sound, and game design were unmatched at the time. However it was Nintendo’s brilliant game designer Shigeru Miyamoto’s killer app that fueled the NES revolution and forever changed the gaming landscape: Super Mario Bros. Players could control two overall wearing brothers, Mario or Luigi. The Mushroom Kingdom’s princess was captured by a fiend named Bowser. The heroes had to run, jump, stomp, dodge, swim, and smash their way through 8 levels and many turtle troopers to rescue the helpless princess. Along the way they grabbed power ups that granted them special powers like the ability to toss fireballs. This innovative title drew countless players to the NES and would influence games to this day. America seemed ready and the NES was later released nationwide. Now gamers everywhere could get their hands on the NES. Americans were enchanted by the NES and it became a smash hit. The US gaming industry had started moving again and would never stop!
After the first wave of Nintendo games Miyamoto’s magic wasn’t finished. He would design many more memorable titles including The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo‘s magic wasn’t finished either. In the years following the release of the NES, Nintendo would conjure up new consoles that used more and more powerful technology. These machines would bring richer sound and visuals and more finer controls. Games became even more immersive and fun.
Thứ Sáu, 21 tháng 10, 2011
Angry Birds for PC
Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
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- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
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- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says
Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.
Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.
Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.
Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.
It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.
Thứ Năm, 20 tháng 10, 2011
Types of Gamers
Ok this is inspired but an episode of "The Game Overthinker"(google it, watch the series) and let me just say that MovieBob is definitely an intelligent and entertaining guy on all of his shows(He also does "Escape to the movies" and "The Big Picture" on The Escapist) and people should go check out his stuff.
Let's look at the types of gamers we know and then I'll get to the main point of this blog post. Let's start with the "Casual Gamers"
What is a "Casual Gamer"? Well as far as people seem to be concerned, it's a person who plays small, pointless games that have no depth, storyline, small amount of mapped buttons and is played by women mainly. Ok I admit even I'm not really completely sure what constitutes a "Casual Gamer" 100% but this seems to be the basics that gets reiterated online. These gamers usually play games like Bejewelled, Tetris, Farmvile, Brain Training, The Sims and the list goes on. It seems if you play games that actually help improve mental activity, your a "Casual Gamer". Well I hate to admit this to the "Hardcore Gamers" but I play these games every once in a while... except Farmville.
Now as for the "Hardcore Gamers", what is a "Hardcore Gamer"? In a nut shell you can just say people who own Xbox 360's but that's incorrect as wells as being accurate. "Hardcore Gamers" are people who play video games that are usually violent and contain adult content and play online frequently with other people in competitive matches. These gamers are mainly newer generation or reformed jocks who have only been playing games since the late 90's. The games they usually play are Call Of Duty, Halo, Mass Effect, Gears Of War, Killzone and the list goes on for eternity. I don't really play these types of games very often and pretty much don't like them very much either.
Then there's the "Fanboys" who only own one companies consoles or just one console of each generation or like a specific genre of games. These people only play the games on the console of choice and usually own the majority of the exclusive titles on it or own every console just to be able to play a specific genre of games. "Fanboy" has also become an insulting term for a person who's passionate about their choice or defend their choice.
Now here's the question? what about those gamers who enjoy games like Ratchet and Clank, Super Mario bros, Final Fantasy and all the other games not synonymous with the "Hardcore" or "Casual gamer? Well there isn't one. And what about the gamer who owns every console and plays any type of game? There isn't one.
Does this mean they need titles? Yes and no. Yes to make those who need labels happy and no because the labels are pointless. If they must get names how about for those who like games that don't fit in the current types of gamers "Enjoyment Gamers" who put the enjoyment of the game over things like blood and guts or puzzles and problem solving and for those who own everything and play any type of games "Devoted Gamers"(Which I pretty much am) who love games so much it doesn't matter what console a game is on and which audience it's meant for, it's about playing games and having fun. These are only suggestion for labels but I'd rather not bother with labels. Hell even the label gamer isn't really needed either. Also speaking of the label "Gamer" you should watch the "Gamer" episode of Extra Creditz on The Escapist, trust me all the episode are good but this is an eye opener.
The world is full of people who enjoy video games so why do we need more prejudice as well? Seriously between racism, religious intolerance and social classes do we need the same thing among people who play video games? Sure I like the term "Gamer" but now that there are more people who play games now in comparison to when it was first introduce it's become a pointless term for the most part. I'm still going to use it though.
I don't see the labels in video games ending anytime soon but there are really only 2 types of gamers. Those who play games a lot like me and those who play for short periods of times... in other words casually play games. Look at it this way, if you play less then 4 hours a day your a casual gamer. If you play more then that you are an obsessive gamer like me. These are not labels, just truths about the habit.
Let's look at the types of gamers we know and then I'll get to the main point of this blog post. Let's start with the "Casual Gamers"
What is a "Casual Gamer"? Well as far as people seem to be concerned, it's a person who plays small, pointless games that have no depth, storyline, small amount of mapped buttons and is played by women mainly. Ok I admit even I'm not really completely sure what constitutes a "Casual Gamer" 100% but this seems to be the basics that gets reiterated online. These gamers usually play games like Bejewelled, Tetris, Farmvile, Brain Training, The Sims and the list goes on. It seems if you play games that actually help improve mental activity, your a "Casual Gamer". Well I hate to admit this to the "Hardcore Gamers" but I play these games every once in a while... except Farmville.
Now as for the "Hardcore Gamers", what is a "Hardcore Gamer"? In a nut shell you can just say people who own Xbox 360's but that's incorrect as wells as being accurate. "Hardcore Gamers" are people who play video games that are usually violent and contain adult content and play online frequently with other people in competitive matches. These gamers are mainly newer generation or reformed jocks who have only been playing games since the late 90's. The games they usually play are Call Of Duty, Halo, Mass Effect, Gears Of War, Killzone and the list goes on for eternity. I don't really play these types of games very often and pretty much don't like them very much either.
Then there's the "Fanboys" who only own one companies consoles or just one console of each generation or like a specific genre of games. These people only play the games on the console of choice and usually own the majority of the exclusive titles on it or own every console just to be able to play a specific genre of games. "Fanboy" has also become an insulting term for a person who's passionate about their choice or defend their choice.
Now here's the question? what about those gamers who enjoy games like Ratchet and Clank, Super Mario bros, Final Fantasy and all the other games not synonymous with the "Hardcore" or "Casual gamer? Well there isn't one. And what about the gamer who owns every console and plays any type of game? There isn't one.
Does this mean they need titles? Yes and no. Yes to make those who need labels happy and no because the labels are pointless. If they must get names how about for those who like games that don't fit in the current types of gamers "Enjoyment Gamers" who put the enjoyment of the game over things like blood and guts or puzzles and problem solving and for those who own everything and play any type of games "Devoted Gamers"(Which I pretty much am) who love games so much it doesn't matter what console a game is on and which audience it's meant for, it's about playing games and having fun. These are only suggestion for labels but I'd rather not bother with labels. Hell even the label gamer isn't really needed either. Also speaking of the label "Gamer" you should watch the "Gamer" episode of Extra Creditz on The Escapist, trust me all the episode are good but this is an eye opener.
The world is full of people who enjoy video games so why do we need more prejudice as well? Seriously between racism, religious intolerance and social classes do we need the same thing among people who play video games? Sure I like the term "Gamer" but now that there are more people who play games now in comparison to when it was first introduce it's become a pointless term for the most part. I'm still going to use it though.
I don't see the labels in video games ending anytime soon but there are really only 2 types of gamers. Those who play games a lot like me and those who play for short periods of times... in other words casually play games. Look at it this way, if you play less then 4 hours a day your a casual gamer. If you play more then that you are an obsessive gamer like me. These are not labels, just truths about the habit.
Western Media Bias, The Evidence.
A lot of people on here are always claiming media bias when a review or article doesn't favor their opinion. Now I've never bought into any conspiracy theories but evidence is piling up and recently, perhaps due to the release of Killzone 3, there has been a slew of anti-Sony articles attempting to counter the fantastic year the PS3 has lined up. Makes me think twice when I read the mad conspiracy comments and at least have a think about how the western media could be more influenced by a big western company like Microsoft then you'd like to believe.
Anyway I'm not here to try and convince you that these mad commenters are 100% right, just to get you to think about it for yourselves and come to a logical conclusion. To this I'll be using something that doesn't crop up much in gaming media... evidence.
Anyway I'm not here to try and convince you that these mad commenters are 100% right, just to get you to think about it for yourselves and come to a logical conclusion. To this I'll be using something that doesn't crop up much in gaming media... evidence.
Thứ Sáu, 14 tháng 10, 2011
Toy Story in Real Time ... how Crytek let us down...
User blog
In the beginning of 2010 I made some calculations to predict when we will see toy story level graphics and wrote in a forum ... but my calculation went horribly wrong when Crytek let us down
To prove I have not copied I have added a reply in the forum
verifying I Orpheus am Anil Mahmud
I also posted this thing in vr-zone at that time
http://www.fudzilla.com/for...
Here is the post :
""
When NVIDIA launched the GeForce 2 in 2000, Jen-Hsun Huang said it was a "major step" towards achieving "Pixar-level animation" in real-time only to be criticized by Pixar's Tom Duff.
"These guys just have no idea what goes into `Pixar-level animation.' (That's not quite fair, their engineers do, they come and visit all the time. But their managers and marketing monkeys haven't a clue, or possibly just think that you don't.)
`Pixar-level animation' runs about 8 hundred thousand times slower than real-time on our renderfarm cpus. (I'm guessing. There's about 1000 cpus in the renderfarm and I guess we could produce all the frames in TS2 in about 50 days of renderfarm time. That comes to 1.2 million cpu hours for a 1.5 hour movie. That lags real time by a factor of 800,000.)
Do you really believe that their toy is a million times faster than one of the cpus on our Ultra Sparc servers? What's the chance that we wouldn't put one of these babies on every desk in the building? They cost a couple of hundred bucks, right? Why hasn't NVIDIA tried to give us a carton of these things? -- think of the publicity milage they could get out of it!
Don't forget that the scene descriptions of TS2 frames average between 500MB and 1GB. The data rate required to read the data in real time is at least 96Gb/sec. Think your AGP port can do that? Think again. 96 Gb/sec means that if they clock data in at 250 MHz, they need a bus 384 bits wide. NBL!
At Moore's Law-like rates (a factor of 10 in 5 years), even if the hardware they have today is 80 times more powerful than what we use now, it will take them 20 years before they can do
the frames we do today in real time. And 20 years from now, Pixar won't be even remotely interested in TS2-level images, and I'll be retired, sitting on the front porch and picking my banjo, laughing at the same press release, recycled by NVIDIA's heirs and assigns. "
Many did not find this response a very warm one and started blogging for example , this one is from a brother :
http://industrialarithmetic...
Now I ventured to do some calculations. You can always correct me if I am wrong as I am no expert in the computer industry.
Machines used to render Toy Story :
87 dual-processor and 30 quad-processor 100-MHz SPARCstation 20s
Total number of processors = 294
According to :
http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/ben...
SPARCstation 20 (single processor) had SunOS 5.4 installed and used a HyperSPARC @100 MHz with 27.5066 MFLOPS
Theoretical maximum performance of the setup used by PIXAR
294 * 27.5066 = 8086.94 MFLOPS
Movie was rendered at 1526x922 pixels using Stochastic Anti-Aliasing
Scan-line rendering used, shadow mapping for shadows ( no ray tracing )
Movie Length ~ 75 minutes
Number of rendered frames = 110064
Movie frame rate ~ 25 frames per second
Rendering time = 46 days
Total data sent to renderer = 34 Terabytes
Factor by which more power is needed for this to be real time
46*24*60 (rendering time)/ 75 (movie length) = 66240 = 883.2
So required computational power = 883.2 * 8086.94 MFLOPS = ~ 7.14 TFLOPS
This is without considering all the network bottlenecks.
Theoretical Performance of Gforce 480GTX ~ 1.5 TFLOPS
(not considering ATI solution because it is less programmable)
If 4 cards are placed in quad SLI (EVGA SLI classified motherboard though this motherboard can handle 7 cards )
4*1.5 = 6 TFLOPS
Now hardware rendering is much faster than software rendering and there is less of network bottleneck here.
Quick facts
Per frame data of Toy Story = 34*1024*1024(total data sent to renderer)/ 110064 = 323 MB
Per frane data of Crysis ~ 200 MB
Per frame data of Crysis 2 = :-)
Polygon per frame of Toy Story = 5-6 Millions
Polygon per frame of Crysis ~ 1.7 Millions and Nanosuit = 67000
Polygon in the Nanosuit of Crysis 2 ~ 1 million
Texture Streaming can now allow for extremely detailed textures
Example : RAGE from Id Soft
Something similar is probably used in Crysis 2
Global Illumination is used in Crysis 2 which is probably better than the lighting system in Toy Story
Only lacking feature is probably Stochastic Anti - Aliasing
""
Some of the data like 1 million polygon in the nanosuit was circulating on the web at that time
Now I was expecting Metro Last Light / BF3 to do the thing but those GTA Mods ..... puts a smile on my face :-)
I have found another link providing performance data of the sun workstations
http://home.iae.nl/users/mh...
In the beginning of 2010 I made some calculations to predict when we will see toy story level graphics and wrote in a forum ... but my calculation went horribly wrong when Crytek let us down
To prove I have not copied I have added a reply in the forum
verifying I Orpheus am Anil Mahmud
I also posted this thing in vr-zone at that time
http://www.fudzilla.com/for...
Here is the post :
""
When NVIDIA launched the GeForce 2 in 2000, Jen-Hsun Huang said it was a "major step" towards achieving "Pixar-level animation" in real-time only to be criticized by Pixar's Tom Duff.
"These guys just have no idea what goes into `Pixar-level animation.' (That's not quite fair, their engineers do, they come and visit all the time. But their managers and marketing monkeys haven't a clue, or possibly just think that you don't.)
`Pixar-level animation' runs about 8 hundred thousand times slower than real-time on our renderfarm cpus. (I'm guessing. There's about 1000 cpus in the renderfarm and I guess we could produce all the frames in TS2 in about 50 days of renderfarm time. That comes to 1.2 million cpu hours for a 1.5 hour movie. That lags real time by a factor of 800,000.)
Do you really believe that their toy is a million times faster than one of the cpus on our Ultra Sparc servers? What's the chance that we wouldn't put one of these babies on every desk in the building? They cost a couple of hundred bucks, right? Why hasn't NVIDIA tried to give us a carton of these things? -- think of the publicity milage they could get out of it!
Don't forget that the scene descriptions of TS2 frames average between 500MB and 1GB. The data rate required to read the data in real time is at least 96Gb/sec. Think your AGP port can do that? Think again. 96 Gb/sec means that if they clock data in at 250 MHz, they need a bus 384 bits wide. NBL!
At Moore's Law-like rates (a factor of 10 in 5 years), even if the hardware they have today is 80 times more powerful than what we use now, it will take them 20 years before they can do
the frames we do today in real time. And 20 years from now, Pixar won't be even remotely interested in TS2-level images, and I'll be retired, sitting on the front porch and picking my banjo, laughing at the same press release, recycled by NVIDIA's heirs and assigns. "
Many did not find this response a very warm one and started blogging for example , this one is from a brother :
http://industrialarithmetic...
Now I ventured to do some calculations. You can always correct me if I am wrong as I am no expert in the computer industry.
Machines used to render Toy Story :
87 dual-processor and 30 quad-processor 100-MHz SPARCstation 20s
Total number of processors = 294
According to :
http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/ben...
SPARCstation 20 (single processor) had SunOS 5.4 installed and used a HyperSPARC @100 MHz with 27.5066 MFLOPS
Theoretical maximum performance of the setup used by PIXAR
294 * 27.5066 = 8086.94 MFLOPS
Movie was rendered at 1526x922 pixels using Stochastic Anti-Aliasing
Scan-line rendering used, shadow mapping for shadows ( no ray tracing )
Movie Length ~ 75 minutes
Number of rendered frames = 110064
Movie frame rate ~ 25 frames per second
Rendering time = 46 days
Total data sent to renderer = 34 Terabytes
Factor by which more power is needed for this to be real time
46*24*60 (rendering time)/ 75 (movie length) = 66240 = 883.2
So required computational power = 883.2 * 8086.94 MFLOPS = ~ 7.14 TFLOPS
This is without considering all the network bottlenecks.
Theoretical Performance of Gforce 480GTX ~ 1.5 TFLOPS
(not considering ATI solution because it is less programmable)
If 4 cards are placed in quad SLI (EVGA SLI classified motherboard though this motherboard can handle 7 cards )
4*1.5 = 6 TFLOPS
Now hardware rendering is much faster than software rendering and there is less of network bottleneck here.
Quick facts
Per frame data of Toy Story = 34*1024*1024(total data sent to renderer)/ 110064 = 323 MB
Per frane data of Crysis ~ 200 MB
Per frame data of Crysis 2 = :-)
Polygon per frame of Toy Story = 5-6 Millions
Polygon per frame of Crysis ~ 1.7 Millions and Nanosuit = 67000
Polygon in the Nanosuit of Crysis 2 ~ 1 million
Texture Streaming can now allow for extremely detailed textures
Example : RAGE from Id Soft
Something similar is probably used in Crysis 2
Global Illumination is used in Crysis 2 which is probably better than the lighting system in Toy Story
Only lacking feature is probably Stochastic Anti - Aliasing
""
Some of the data like 1 million polygon in the nanosuit was circulating on the web at that time
Now I was expecting Metro Last Light / BF3 to do the thing but those GTA Mods ..... puts a smile on my face :-)
I have found another link providing performance data of the sun workstations
http://home.iae.nl/users/mh...
Back to the Origins: Rayman
When you hear 'Rayman' you may think about his never-ending escapades with rabbits, who are equally as deformed as our titular character; Rayman. If you thought that, then you don't even know Rayman. He may not be as recognizable as Sonic or Mario, but Rayman certainly has become somewhat of an icon in the gaming world.
Now me and Rayman go way back. I'm talking about how he used to teach me such basic things like Mathematics and English on the sheer prowess of Windows 3.1! And, fortunately for me, there was even more that Rayman could help me learn! Branching out to explain the French language through his 'educational adventures'. If you were to get an answer wrong you were punished by watching Rayman die and flinching in shock because it happens so fast! Though my sarcasm may not be obvious to some, the origins of Rayman do not rest in the hands of 'Maths & English with Rayman!'. So don't worry, you wont have to solve those quadratic equations to beat the next boss.
While on the outside, Rayman appears to be a failing temporary teacher, fundamentally, on the inside, Rayman actually proved to be a pretty successful 90's platformer too! In his debut, the 2D classic, 'Rayman' managed to give me fond memories and nostalgia for the Playstation One title I once owned. In 2D, I could understand Rayman, his world was flat and in that existence his impossible body shape became possible. Overall, the game looked pretty good and hasn't aged as much as those nasty 3D games at all. Since then, Rayman has branched into extra dimensions and had multiple spin-off's. But nothing has come close to the classic gameplay of the original... not until the announcement of Rayman: Origins, of course.
Now granted, this is old news, and this game appears to be a long time coming. However, with Gamescom 2011 just around the corner, there might well be an announcement and something well looking forward to. In contrast to the way Rayman has evolved with Rayman 2 & 3, a step back to the original is most welcome. With inclusion of multiplayer modes and UbiArt Framework technology, this episodic title could return Rayman to it's former glory!
It seems that Rayman belongs in 2D, as do many other platformers. And with the artistic direction that Ubisoft has taken, Rayman: Origins may well be a great homage to the original Rayman. Hopefully, this title will be hitting the online marketplaces soon!
Now me and Rayman go way back. I'm talking about how he used to teach me such basic things like Mathematics and English on the sheer prowess of Windows 3.1! And, fortunately for me, there was even more that Rayman could help me learn! Branching out to explain the French language through his 'educational adventures'. If you were to get an answer wrong you were punished by watching Rayman die and flinching in shock because it happens so fast! Though my sarcasm may not be obvious to some, the origins of Rayman do not rest in the hands of 'Maths & English with Rayman!'. So don't worry, you wont have to solve those quadratic equations to beat the next boss.
While on the outside, Rayman appears to be a failing temporary teacher, fundamentally, on the inside, Rayman actually proved to be a pretty successful 90's platformer too! In his debut, the 2D classic, 'Rayman' managed to give me fond memories and nostalgia for the Playstation One title I once owned. In 2D, I could understand Rayman, his world was flat and in that existence his impossible body shape became possible. Overall, the game looked pretty good and hasn't aged as much as those nasty 3D games at all. Since then, Rayman has branched into extra dimensions and had multiple spin-off's. But nothing has come close to the classic gameplay of the original... not until the announcement of Rayman: Origins, of course.
Now granted, this is old news, and this game appears to be a long time coming. However, with Gamescom 2011 just around the corner, there might well be an announcement and something well looking forward to. In contrast to the way Rayman has evolved with Rayman 2 & 3, a step back to the original is most welcome. With inclusion of multiplayer modes and UbiArt Framework technology, this episodic title could return Rayman to it's former glory!
It seems that Rayman belongs in 2D, as do many other platformers. And with the artistic direction that Ubisoft has taken, Rayman: Origins may well be a great homage to the original Rayman. Hopefully, this title will be hitting the online marketplaces soon!
Angry Birds for PC
Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:
* angry birds for pc
* activate free angry birds for pc
* angry birds FLASH SCAM
* angry-birds-online scam
* free angry birds games full version for window xp
*
- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.
Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.
Angry Birds for PC
Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.
In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.
Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.
You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.
This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.
Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.
Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7
Free Angry Birds for PC
Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer
Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.
Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.
During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.
Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made. This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
Incoming search terms:
* angry birds for pc
* activate free angry birds for pc
* angry birds FLASH SCAM
* angry-birds-online scam
* free angry birds games full version for window xp
*
- Angry Birds PC Updated
The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!
As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.
BBCW launches CBeebies games app
Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.
Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.
She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”
More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.
Thứ Năm, 6 tháng 10, 2011
New Pioneer Trail World Map: Are four more expansions on the way?
Pioneer Trail World Map
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
That's the logical guess, at least. Zynga recently updated The Pioneer Trail with a brand new World Map that hints at four unreleased areas. Instead of showing the four areas on the Pioneer Trail, the "Travel" button now shows a condensed icon representing the recently-released expansion in a larger map. What's more important, however, is what surrounds it.
Considering this is all we have right now, prepare for some wild speculation. The Pioneer Trail icon is surrounded by four grayed out icons. Moving from most left to right, what first appears is either a castle or a fort, with no trail marks leading to it. Perhaps this is a new area for players to tend to much like the Homestead (maybe players claim Fort Courage for themselves.) To the bottom left is a canyon, which is most likely the long-teased Rattlesnake Canyon.
Directly below The Pioneer Trail icon is what appears to be a Gold Mine, likely alluding to the Gold Rush expansion that has been hinted at since almost day one. (You know, way back when this game was still known as FrontierVille?) Finally, a haunted graveyard of sorts is featured. We seriously doubt Zynga would create an entire expansion's worth of content with a Halloween theme, so maybe this will be the home of future season-specific events.
At this point, who knows what the developer is up to. What we do know, however, is that Zynga has big plans for Pioneer Trail well into 2012. And considering the game has lost the majority of its daily players since it was re-branded in August, we're not surprised Zynga would be working hard to keep the major content releases flowing.
What do you make of this brand new World Map in Pioneer Trail? Do you think Zynga can recover its lost fans with a flurry of major expansions in 2012? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
The CityVille French Riviera Casino: Everything you need to know
Nearly a year after the game's release, it's finally time to unlock the first CityVille Wonder: The Eiffel Tower. We've guided you through building both the Sailboat Hotel and the Tonga Tower, and now Zynga has released the French Riviera Casino to the game. It's the third and final building required to access CityVille's first Wonder, and follows about the same pattern as its predecessors. But that doesn't make it any simpler of a task, so here's everything you need to know:
Players must be at least Level 30 to access the French Riviera Casino. Once you reach that point, you'll come across a new Goal from Edgar. It simply asks that you place the foundation for the building, and rewards you 2 XP for doing so. Keep in mind that you don't have to complete the Sailboat Hotel and Tonga Tower to access this Goal.
However, you will have to finish all three to access the Eiffel Tower. Once you place the new building, it will appear complete with massive tarps, scaffolding and a giant crane. Click on it again to reveal the next giant steps in constructing this massive building in a window featuring three tasks.
Unlock French Riviera Casino
Unlock the French Riviera Casino
* Gather parts to Unlock
* Upgrade one French Business to Level 2
* Master one French Crop to Level 2
Like most buildings in CityVille, you must ask your friends for a list of items, though this time that list is more like a litany. You must ask friends for 12 of each of these items: Roulette Wheel, Dice, Slot Machine, Deck of Cards and Poker Chip. Once you receive one of each, you can place them on your Wish List to possibly make this part pass by more quickly.
Of the French Businesses listed in the Goal, we recommend upgrading the French Restaurant, as it costs the least at 4,500 Coins and holds just 110 Goods, meaning it will be open for collection more often and thus more upgrade points. Choosing the best French crop to upgrade is easy: Go with what's cheapest. That would be the Sun Flowers, which cost just 51 Coins and take 15 hours to harvest.
Inside French Riviera Casino
Once you completed all three daunting tasks, click "Finish Building" to unveil the French Riviera Casino. Of course, the building is functional, but operates much like a standard Hotel. Click on the building to supply it with a whopping 500 Goods. Click it again, and a menu similar to the Hotels will appear. While your city's residents will populate the French Riviera Casino, you can invite friends to boost the building's payout up to three times the normal value.
You can even invite friends as VIP guests after the Casino is ready to be collected. Just click on the hovering VIP icon to select five VIP friends. This is the final building to unlock the Eiffel Tower, so go on and build the first Wonder ever to hit CityVille.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you finished all three buildings to unlock the Eiffel Tower yet? What do you think of how Zynga has handled this new set of buildings? Sound off in the comments. 4 Comments
Players must be at least Level 30 to access the French Riviera Casino. Once you reach that point, you'll come across a new Goal from Edgar. It simply asks that you place the foundation for the building, and rewards you 2 XP for doing so. Keep in mind that you don't have to complete the Sailboat Hotel and Tonga Tower to access this Goal.
However, you will have to finish all three to access the Eiffel Tower. Once you place the new building, it will appear complete with massive tarps, scaffolding and a giant crane. Click on it again to reveal the next giant steps in constructing this massive building in a window featuring three tasks.
Unlock French Riviera Casino
Unlock the French Riviera Casino
* Gather parts to Unlock
* Upgrade one French Business to Level 2
* Master one French Crop to Level 2
Like most buildings in CityVille, you must ask your friends for a list of items, though this time that list is more like a litany. You must ask friends for 12 of each of these items: Roulette Wheel, Dice, Slot Machine, Deck of Cards and Poker Chip. Once you receive one of each, you can place them on your Wish List to possibly make this part pass by more quickly.
Of the French Businesses listed in the Goal, we recommend upgrading the French Restaurant, as it costs the least at 4,500 Coins and holds just 110 Goods, meaning it will be open for collection more often and thus more upgrade points. Choosing the best French crop to upgrade is easy: Go with what's cheapest. That would be the Sun Flowers, which cost just 51 Coins and take 15 hours to harvest.
Inside French Riviera Casino
Once you completed all three daunting tasks, click "Finish Building" to unveil the French Riviera Casino. Of course, the building is functional, but operates much like a standard Hotel. Click on the building to supply it with a whopping 500 Goods. Click it again, and a menu similar to the Hotels will appear. While your city's residents will populate the French Riviera Casino, you can invite friends to boost the building's payout up to three times the normal value.
You can even invite friends as VIP guests after the Casino is ready to be collected. Just click on the hovering VIP icon to select five VIP friends. This is the final building to unlock the Eiffel Tower, so go on and build the first Wonder ever to hit CityVille.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you finished all three buildings to unlock the Eiffel Tower yet? What do you think of how Zynga has handled this new set of buildings? Sound off in the comments. 4 Comments
Game of the Day: Sudoku X
sudoku x game of the daySudoku X is a challenging rendition of the classic puzzle game. It's everything you're used to in Sudoku, but with one mine-bending twist. The object of Sudoku is to completely fill the grid with numbers. You aren't allowed to repeat the same number in any row, column, or 3 by 3 box. In Sudoku X you also aren't allowed to repeat a number in either of the purple diagonals running from corner to corner.
If you manage to finish today's puzzle, try attempting some of the other ones by clicking through the archive at the top!
Click here to play Sudoku X!
sudoku x game of the day sudoku x game of the day
Were you able to complete today's puzzle?
If you manage to finish today's puzzle, try attempting some of the other ones by clicking through the archive at the top!
Click here to play Sudoku X!
sudoku x game of the day sudoku x game of the day
Were you able to complete today's puzzle?
Video Game Roundup: Gears of War 3, Star Fox 64 3D, The Gunstringer
Gears of War 3 has only had, let's say, a billion of advertisements all over the airwaves, so we figured we'd kick off this edition of the Video Game Roundup with a look at the the final game in the popular Xbox 360 trilogy. Then we'll delve into the outer space adventures of Fox McCloud in Star Fox 64 3D, and finish up with a look at the Kinect-only The Gunstringer on Xbox 360.
gears of war 3
Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3 continues the trilogy as you play Marcus Fenix, head of a team of super soldiers known as "Gears" who are intent on combating the various plagues that are infesting the planet Sera (got that?). Human resistance to the hostile enemies known as the Locust have all but wiped civilization out, but that's sooooo previous-game-in-the-series. In Gears of War 2, you made a dent in their forces, but they're still around, and now are joined by some crazy zombie aliens called the Lambent.
If this sounds confusing, we assure you, it isn't, mainly because you'll be way too busy blowing up stuff to care! The action is almost non-stop, and while we were able to complete the game in about a week, it always keeps you guessing with what they'll throw at you next. Our favorite part is... well, we won't spoil it!
The greatest thing about Gears is the fact that this is definitely not meant to be played just by one person. The real draw is when you get a group of buddies together to play through the story at the same time. Instead of protecting some computer-controlled player, having your friends in the roles of these characters makes the game a lot more dramatic!
Of course, instead of saving them, you may just want to throw a grenade at their feet, so the famous competitive modes are also in this version of Gears, and one play is definitely not enough. This game will have you hooked as you score medals and experience to unlock new weapons and characters.
Overall, Gears of War 3 is the best in the series, and our contender so far for video game of the year. Visually, it's a stunner, and while the story does try to add depth, the action is what it's all about. Amazing stuff.
Games.com Score: Five zombie aliens (out of five)
star fox 3d
Star Fox 64 3D
Star Fox 64 3D is the second Nintendo 64 title to get the Nintendo 3DS treatment (the first being the amazing The Legend if Zelda: Ocarina of Time), and in a lot of ways, it's a better fit for the 3D portable. You take control of Fox McCloud as he leads his cohorts (my personal favorite is Slippy) into some very cool space adventures, both in space and on land, and all of which uses the Nintendo 3DS in some pretty innovative ways.
For example, you can use the gyroscope in the Nintendo 3DS to tilt your ship any which way you want, so leaning into turns actually makes a difference. It feels very natural, and when used with the analog controls, you're able to get out of some pretty hair-raising situations. All that moving the system around makes the 3D fuzzy, but you can just turn the 3D slider down all the way for a clear view of the action.
Or you can play without the gyroscope and crank that 3D effect because the game is gorgeous. The stars and backgrounds have a great layering effect that makes this one of the best looking Nintendo 3DS games to come out. It's just a shame you almost have to choose either the gyro controls or the 3D effect, as both don't work too well at the same time.
Still this is a great game that is worth a purchase even if you have played the Nintendo 64 original. And if you haven't? You're in for a treat, as the story takes you from battle to battle, with a few variations that keeps things fresh. The main style of play will have you flying straight ahead as enemies come at you, and you just have to move the target around the screen to fire your lasers and bombs. This happens during many flying missions, although you'll hop in a tank for a very cool diversion a bit later in the game. There's also a free roam style that has you dogfighting against different enemies, including a few characters from the original game that are back to make life a pain for Fox.
The hardware shows off a great experience, although it's not perfect. It's still a lot of fun though (wait until you play against some of your friends in a very cool multiplayer mode) and worth a look!
Games.com Score: Four old rabbits in space (out of five)
the gunstringer
The Gunstringer
The Gunstringer is another Xbox 360 title worthy of a closer look. Made by the guys behind the indie sensation 'Splosion Man on Xbox Live, The Gunstringer uses the Xbox Kinect to bring to life the story of a cowboy with a sordid past out for revenge. And he happens to be an undead puppet. So, yeah, there's that.
Controlling the cowboy puppet is as simple as using your left hand to move him around like a marionette, while using your right hand to point like a pistol and shoot. This is as simple as it gets, folks, but it is a very fun time.
The story is full of laughs (just take a look at some of the audience members in your play), and the game changes it up quite a bit. One chapter will have you swinging your arm from side to side while avoiding boulders, while another will have you swiping at ninja enemies with your very own samurai blades.
Simple to pick up and play (since you're not actually picking up anything) and a great sense of humor make The Gunstringer a must-play game.
Games.com Score: Five wavy tube men -- you'll see (out of five)
gears of war 3
Gears of War 3
Gears of War 3 continues the trilogy as you play Marcus Fenix, head of a team of super soldiers known as "Gears" who are intent on combating the various plagues that are infesting the planet Sera (got that?). Human resistance to the hostile enemies known as the Locust have all but wiped civilization out, but that's sooooo previous-game-in-the-series. In Gears of War 2, you made a dent in their forces, but they're still around, and now are joined by some crazy zombie aliens called the Lambent.
If this sounds confusing, we assure you, it isn't, mainly because you'll be way too busy blowing up stuff to care! The action is almost non-stop, and while we were able to complete the game in about a week, it always keeps you guessing with what they'll throw at you next. Our favorite part is... well, we won't spoil it!
The greatest thing about Gears is the fact that this is definitely not meant to be played just by one person. The real draw is when you get a group of buddies together to play through the story at the same time. Instead of protecting some computer-controlled player, having your friends in the roles of these characters makes the game a lot more dramatic!
Of course, instead of saving them, you may just want to throw a grenade at their feet, so the famous competitive modes are also in this version of Gears, and one play is definitely not enough. This game will have you hooked as you score medals and experience to unlock new weapons and characters.
Overall, Gears of War 3 is the best in the series, and our contender so far for video game of the year. Visually, it's a stunner, and while the story does try to add depth, the action is what it's all about. Amazing stuff.
Games.com Score: Five zombie aliens (out of five)
star fox 3d
Star Fox 64 3D
Star Fox 64 3D is the second Nintendo 64 title to get the Nintendo 3DS treatment (the first being the amazing The Legend if Zelda: Ocarina of Time), and in a lot of ways, it's a better fit for the 3D portable. You take control of Fox McCloud as he leads his cohorts (my personal favorite is Slippy) into some very cool space adventures, both in space and on land, and all of which uses the Nintendo 3DS in some pretty innovative ways.
For example, you can use the gyroscope in the Nintendo 3DS to tilt your ship any which way you want, so leaning into turns actually makes a difference. It feels very natural, and when used with the analog controls, you're able to get out of some pretty hair-raising situations. All that moving the system around makes the 3D fuzzy, but you can just turn the 3D slider down all the way for a clear view of the action.
Or you can play without the gyroscope and crank that 3D effect because the game is gorgeous. The stars and backgrounds have a great layering effect that makes this one of the best looking Nintendo 3DS games to come out. It's just a shame you almost have to choose either the gyro controls or the 3D effect, as both don't work too well at the same time.
Still this is a great game that is worth a purchase even if you have played the Nintendo 64 original. And if you haven't? You're in for a treat, as the story takes you from battle to battle, with a few variations that keeps things fresh. The main style of play will have you flying straight ahead as enemies come at you, and you just have to move the target around the screen to fire your lasers and bombs. This happens during many flying missions, although you'll hop in a tank for a very cool diversion a bit later in the game. There's also a free roam style that has you dogfighting against different enemies, including a few characters from the original game that are back to make life a pain for Fox.
The hardware shows off a great experience, although it's not perfect. It's still a lot of fun though (wait until you play against some of your friends in a very cool multiplayer mode) and worth a look!
Games.com Score: Four old rabbits in space (out of five)
the gunstringer
The Gunstringer
The Gunstringer is another Xbox 360 title worthy of a closer look. Made by the guys behind the indie sensation 'Splosion Man on Xbox Live, The Gunstringer uses the Xbox Kinect to bring to life the story of a cowboy with a sordid past out for revenge. And he happens to be an undead puppet. So, yeah, there's that.
Controlling the cowboy puppet is as simple as using your left hand to move him around like a marionette, while using your right hand to point like a pistol and shoot. This is as simple as it gets, folks, but it is a very fun time.
The story is full of laughs (just take a look at some of the audience members in your play), and the game changes it up quite a bit. One chapter will have you swinging your arm from side to side while avoiding boulders, while another will have you swiping at ninja enemies with your very own samurai blades.
Simple to pick up and play (since you're not actually picking up anything) and a great sense of humor make The Gunstringer a must-play game.
Games.com Score: Five wavy tube men -- you'll see (out of five)
Pioneer Trail Shaman Lodge Goals: Everything you need to know
Finally, Halloween approaches. Zynga is already preparing its in-game festivities with the release of the Shaman Lodge to Pioneer Trail. Laughing Bear the Shaman has arrived on the Homestead, and he foresees a terrible spookiness on your land. It's up to you (if you're at least Level 17) to help Laughing Bear build his lodge to collect as many charms as possible in preparation for a seriously spooky event.
Once you complete the Lodge, you will be able to collect shiny charms from it daily. We assume these will come in handy in this year's Halloween event in Pioneer Trail, so it's in your best interest to get started on this new building right away. Since we know the suspense is killing you, here's everything you need to know to build the Shaman Lodge:
Clearin' the Ground
* Place the Shaman Lodge
* Clear 12 Skulls
* Harvest 30 Sunflowers
When the even appears in your game, it will present you with the option to place the Lodge in a pop-up. Select "Build Lodge" to get started. Then, simply search your Homestead for Skulls--they're also a reward for completing the Cow and Graveyard Collections. Harvesting 30 Sunflowers will cost a total of 9,300 Coins and take at least 18 hours to grow. Your reward for completing this Goal includes one Mystery Animal Crate, 500 XP and 500 Coins.
Staffin' Up
* Chop 30 Oak Trees on a Neighbor's Homestead
* Collect Two Daily Bonuses from the Shaman Lodge
* Collect 15 Eerie Gems
By this point, the Goals assume you've already completed the Shaman Lodge, so give the foundation a few whacks (which we imagine will cost Energy and Wood). Once that's complete, a window will appear with what's needed to complete the building, pictured below. Based on previous Goals, we imagine the first three items are requested through News Feed posts, while the latter three are found by asking your friends directly.
Finish your Shaman Lodge
After that's through, visit at least six friends to chop 30 Oak Trees. Collecting two Daily Bonuses from the Shaman Lodge will take at least two days. The 15 Eerie Gems will, again, come from your friends. Your rewards for this Goal include a welcome nod to the popular Internet video, the Double Rainbow, 500 XP and 500 Coins.
Final Preparations
* Clobber six Snakes
* Harvest 30 Peppermint
* Collect 15 Monsterbane Arrows
Snakes appear most frequently beneath Skulls and Rocks, so try to avoid clobbering any Snakes from collecting Skulls in the first Goal. Peppermint acts more like a fruit tree than a crop, so you can choose to buy all 30, but I wouldn't recommend that. Regardless, this portion of the Goal will take you at least four hours at the very least. The Monsterbane Arrows are sourced from your friends like the Eerie Gems before them. Enjoy a Mystical Charm Totem, 700 XP and 700 Coins for completing this Goal.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you started your Shaman Lodge yet? What do you think these Charms will be used for this Halloween? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Once you complete the Lodge, you will be able to collect shiny charms from it daily. We assume these will come in handy in this year's Halloween event in Pioneer Trail, so it's in your best interest to get started on this new building right away. Since we know the suspense is killing you, here's everything you need to know to build the Shaman Lodge:
Clearin' the Ground
* Place the Shaman Lodge
* Clear 12 Skulls
* Harvest 30 Sunflowers
When the even appears in your game, it will present you with the option to place the Lodge in a pop-up. Select "Build Lodge" to get started. Then, simply search your Homestead for Skulls--they're also a reward for completing the Cow and Graveyard Collections. Harvesting 30 Sunflowers will cost a total of 9,300 Coins and take at least 18 hours to grow. Your reward for completing this Goal includes one Mystery Animal Crate, 500 XP and 500 Coins.
Staffin' Up
* Chop 30 Oak Trees on a Neighbor's Homestead
* Collect Two Daily Bonuses from the Shaman Lodge
* Collect 15 Eerie Gems
By this point, the Goals assume you've already completed the Shaman Lodge, so give the foundation a few whacks (which we imagine will cost Energy and Wood). Once that's complete, a window will appear with what's needed to complete the building, pictured below. Based on previous Goals, we imagine the first three items are requested through News Feed posts, while the latter three are found by asking your friends directly.
Finish your Shaman Lodge
After that's through, visit at least six friends to chop 30 Oak Trees. Collecting two Daily Bonuses from the Shaman Lodge will take at least two days. The 15 Eerie Gems will, again, come from your friends. Your rewards for this Goal include a welcome nod to the popular Internet video, the Double Rainbow, 500 XP and 500 Coins.
Final Preparations
* Clobber six Snakes
* Harvest 30 Peppermint
* Collect 15 Monsterbane Arrows
Snakes appear most frequently beneath Skulls and Rocks, so try to avoid clobbering any Snakes from collecting Skulls in the first Goal. Peppermint acts more like a fruit tree than a crop, so you can choose to buy all 30, but I wouldn't recommend that. Regardless, this portion of the Goal will take you at least four hours at the very least. The Monsterbane Arrows are sourced from your friends like the Eerie Gems before them. Enjoy a Mystical Charm Totem, 700 XP and 700 Coins for completing this Goal.
[Source and Image Credit: Zynga]
Have you started your Shaman Lodge yet? What do you think these Charms will be used for this Halloween? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Thứ Ba, 4 tháng 10, 2011
Game of the Day: WHATword?
Half match-3, half word game, WHATword? is an addictive word-making challenge. Line up letters to form words and knock them off the screen. But be careful because as soon as you clear a word, new balls will drop in to fill the gap. Line up various words, make an extra-long word, or use a special bonus letter; and you'll get heaps extra points. To advance to the next level, complete all the WHATwords!
See how far you can get before the WHATwords become too difficult!
Click here to play WHATword?!
whatword what word game of the day whatword what word game of the day
Pro Tips:
* When in trouble, mash the "Blast" button to rearrange the letters on the board.
* When you're lining up a WHATword, be careful not to create any other combos by accident. It might be a long time before the letters you need arrive in unison again.
Click here to play WHATword?!
How many levels did you clear in WHATwords?
See how far you can get before the WHATwords become too difficult!
Click here to play WHATword?!
whatword what word game of the day whatword what word game of the day
Pro Tips:
* When in trouble, mash the "Blast" button to rearrange the letters on the board.
* When you're lining up a WHATword, be careful not to create any other combos by accident. It might be a long time before the letters you need arrive in unison again.
Click here to play WHATword?!
How many levels did you clear in WHATwords?
6waves Lolapps puts up $10 million for indie social game developers
Is 6waves Lolapps looking to find the next FarmVille? It's possible, but what's more important is that the new found publisher-meets-developer duo is looking to give the little guy a chance. The company just announced that it has raised $10 million in what it calls the 6L Fund. With it, the publisher will grant independent social and mobile game creators the financial resources and support they need to (hopefully) create the next big thing on Facebook or elsewhere.
"There are game teams at all stages in the creative process that have fresh and potentially groundbreaking ideas," said SVP of Publishing at 6waves Lolapps Jim Ying in a statement. "With the capital and the resources that only 6waves Lolapps can deliver, they could help shape the future of social gaming."
The resources Ying referred to include cross promotion, funded user acquisition (essentially paying for more players through advertising), product management, localization, hosting, and the FLISO Game Engine. The latter is enhanced Flash--software game developers commonly use to create Facebook games--technology acquired by 6waves earlier this year.
Independent developers might want to bite, considering that 6waves Lolapps reaches about 38 million collective monthly players, according to AppData--that technically puts the company just under Diamond Dash maker wooga's over 41 million monthly players. Most importantly, this potentially gives indie social game makers a chance on Facebook, which some argue has otherwise all but dried up.
Starting Sept. 27, developers can submit their applications for the 6L Fund, and hopefully we'll see the fruits of their labor sometime next year. Who knows, maybe it's time for another indie developer to enjoy wild success. Just think, what was Rovio before Angry Birds?
What do you think of 6waves Lolapps looking to indie game creators for the next social or mobile hit? Do you think this strategy could result in the next big Facebook game? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
"There are game teams at all stages in the creative process that have fresh and potentially groundbreaking ideas," said SVP of Publishing at 6waves Lolapps Jim Ying in a statement. "With the capital and the resources that only 6waves Lolapps can deliver, they could help shape the future of social gaming."
The resources Ying referred to include cross promotion, funded user acquisition (essentially paying for more players through advertising), product management, localization, hosting, and the FLISO Game Engine. The latter is enhanced Flash--software game developers commonly use to create Facebook games--technology acquired by 6waves earlier this year.
Independent developers might want to bite, considering that 6waves Lolapps reaches about 38 million collective monthly players, according to AppData--that technically puts the company just under Diamond Dash maker wooga's over 41 million monthly players. Most importantly, this potentially gives indie social game makers a chance on Facebook, which some argue has otherwise all but dried up.
Starting Sept. 27, developers can submit their applications for the 6L Fund, and hopefully we'll see the fruits of their labor sometime next year. Who knows, maybe it's time for another indie developer to enjoy wild success. Just think, what was Rovio before Angry Birds?
What do you think of 6waves Lolapps looking to indie game creators for the next social or mobile hit? Do you think this strategy could result in the next big Facebook game? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Angry Birds creator wants to publish indie games, Rovio exec says
It makes you wonder: Could Rovio be just a little bit scared that it might not strike gold again? Chief marketing officer for the creator of Angry Birds Peter Vesterbacka (pictured) said to Develop in an interview that the developer is planning to open a publishing label.
"We have some plans for this area, but not ready to announce yet," Vesterbacka told Develop. "If we do something in the publishing area, you can expect it to be a bit different."
However, it seems as if the maker of your favorite annoyed avians wants to keep things 1.) indie (independently developed) and 2.) mobile. According to Develop, Rovio has already approached several mobile game studios to form a foundation for the new business. While the Finnish company's other ventures have arguably been leaps of faith--cookbooks ... seriously?--it certainly has experience in the publishing business.
Well, at least from the other end. Angry Birds made it to the US in 2009 though Chillingo, a mobile games publisher that is now owned by EA. Of course, Rovio was able to back out of deal once the acquisition occurred, but the company is currently in another publisher relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, through which it nabbed the rights to create Angry Birds Rio.
And honestly, it would be a no-brainer for an indie game developer to team up with Rovio. For one, if the company claims to be worth at least as much as Zynga, it at least has considerable resources to offer. And seriously, could you go wrong with a team that has somehow successfully hyped up slingshotting birds into pigs for two years running? I think not.
[Via TouchArcade]
What do you think of Rovio potentially becoming an indie games publisher? Would you try a new iPhone game just knowing it was published by the creator of Angry Birds? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
"We have some plans for this area, but not ready to announce yet," Vesterbacka told Develop. "If we do something in the publishing area, you can expect it to be a bit different."
However, it seems as if the maker of your favorite annoyed avians wants to keep things 1.) indie (independently developed) and 2.) mobile. According to Develop, Rovio has already approached several mobile game studios to form a foundation for the new business. While the Finnish company's other ventures have arguably been leaps of faith--cookbooks ... seriously?--it certainly has experience in the publishing business.
Well, at least from the other end. Angry Birds made it to the US in 2009 though Chillingo, a mobile games publisher that is now owned by EA. Of course, Rovio was able to back out of deal once the acquisition occurred, but the company is currently in another publisher relationship with Twentieth Century Fox, through which it nabbed the rights to create Angry Birds Rio.
And honestly, it would be a no-brainer for an indie game developer to team up with Rovio. For one, if the company claims to be worth at least as much as Zynga, it at least has considerable resources to offer. And seriously, could you go wrong with a team that has somehow successfully hyped up slingshotting birds into pigs for two years running? I think not.
[Via TouchArcade]
What do you think of Rovio potentially becoming an indie games publisher? Would you try a new iPhone game just knowing it was published by the creator of Angry Birds? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Myhomefarm23's angular English countryside
Today's featured farm was created by FarmVille Forums member, Myhomefarm23. This FarmVille English Countryside plot is a great example of intelligent farm design. Sure it's a farm art masterpiece, but it's also functional!
Myhomefarm23 went about creating this absurd tree design without a single orchard, laughing at anyone who squishes their beautiful trees into storage bins. Breathtaking rows of fruit trees line the path leading up to the Eiffel Tower located at the center of the farm, creating a truly spectacular effect. Not only that, but if you look closely, where there isn't trees, the farm is full of animals! This, folks, is an exceptional sheep and pig breeding design. If harvested consistantly, this farm could turn a huge profit! Just looking at this excellent farm makes me wish I was Myhomefarm23's neighbor, just so I could reap some of the rewards :)
I just hope Myhomefarm23 has plenty of Farm Hands and Arborists saved up or they're in for a lot of clicking!
What do you think of this great English Countryside design?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Myhomefarm23 went about creating this absurd tree design without a single orchard, laughing at anyone who squishes their beautiful trees into storage bins. Breathtaking rows of fruit trees line the path leading up to the Eiffel Tower located at the center of the farm, creating a truly spectacular effect. Not only that, but if you look closely, where there isn't trees, the farm is full of animals! This, folks, is an exceptional sheep and pig breeding design. If harvested consistantly, this farm could turn a huge profit! Just looking at this excellent farm makes me wish I was Myhomefarm23's neighbor, just so I could reap some of the rewards :)
I just hope Myhomefarm23 has plenty of Farm Hands and Arborists saved up or they're in for a lot of clicking!
What do you think of this great English Countryside design?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Tagged bulks up for a bout with Facebook, acquires WeGame
If we haven't driven home yet that mobile will be massive in the future of social games, we clearly haven't done our job. Luckily, news like the fact that Sibblingz has signed on It Girl creator CrowdStar and a number of other developers to use its Spaceport service helps us make good on that.
TechCrunch reports that--in addition to CrowdStar--BitRhymes, IKIGames, LuckyLabs, Fortune Planet and DeezGames have signed on to use Spaceport to create mobile versions of their Facebook games. Spaceport is Sibblingz's cloud-based game development platform that allows developers like CrowdStar to create mobile games that work on both iOS and Android devices.
Essentially, it allows developers to create a mobile game once and have it run on multiple mobile devices. The platform makes use of coding languages like Javascript and HTML5, but neither of which are known for making robust or fully-featured games on iPhones or Android phones. However, Sibblingz claims that games built on Spaceport feature an app-like experience.
What Sibblingz means is that, while these games are built using simpler code languages, they will perform like, say CityVille Hometown by Zynga. That game was built using tools specifically for iOS devices and is thus more visually impressive and feature-rich than mobile browser games. However, according to TechCrunch, developers can even create games specifically for iPhones and iPads through Spaceport.
Sibblingz also says that developers can make games for Facebook's worst-kept secret, Project Spartan--an initiative to bring Facebook to mobile devices through browsers using HTML5 complete with full-featured apps and games--through Spaceport. Jeez, on paper it sounds like Spaceport can do anything but make the cash flow.
Regardless, what's important to take away here is that social game developers realize that mobile is where it's at. Frankly, it's one area where clear winners have yet to be defined, much unlike Facebook (ahem, Zynga and EA). At this point, anyone could come out a winner on mobile, and perhaps the companies that embrace cross-platform game creation like CrowdStar will have the upper hand.
Do you think these developers have a chance at winning the mobile race these social game creators are running with Spaceport? Who do you think will ultimately win the mobile social gaming war? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
TechCrunch reports that--in addition to CrowdStar--BitRhymes, IKIGames, LuckyLabs, Fortune Planet and DeezGames have signed on to use Spaceport to create mobile versions of their Facebook games. Spaceport is Sibblingz's cloud-based game development platform that allows developers like CrowdStar to create mobile games that work on both iOS and Android devices.
Essentially, it allows developers to create a mobile game once and have it run on multiple mobile devices. The platform makes use of coding languages like Javascript and HTML5, but neither of which are known for making robust or fully-featured games on iPhones or Android phones. However, Sibblingz claims that games built on Spaceport feature an app-like experience.
What Sibblingz means is that, while these games are built using simpler code languages, they will perform like, say CityVille Hometown by Zynga. That game was built using tools specifically for iOS devices and is thus more visually impressive and feature-rich than mobile browser games. However, according to TechCrunch, developers can even create games specifically for iPhones and iPads through Spaceport.
Sibblingz also says that developers can make games for Facebook's worst-kept secret, Project Spartan--an initiative to bring Facebook to mobile devices through browsers using HTML5 complete with full-featured apps and games--through Spaceport. Jeez, on paper it sounds like Spaceport can do anything but make the cash flow.
Regardless, what's important to take away here is that social game developers realize that mobile is where it's at. Frankly, it's one area where clear winners have yet to be defined, much unlike Facebook (ahem, Zynga and EA). At this point, anyone could come out a winner on mobile, and perhaps the companies that embrace cross-platform game creation like CrowdStar will have the upper hand.
Do you think these developers have a chance at winning the mobile race these social game creators are running with Spaceport? Who do you think will ultimately win the mobile social gaming war? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
Chủ Nhật, 2 tháng 10, 2011
FarmVille Pic of the Day: Myhomefarm23's angular English countryside
Click here to make the image larger.
Today's featured farm was created by FarmVille Forums member, Myhomefarm23. This FarmVille English Countryside plot is a great example of intelligent farm design. Sure it's a farm art masterpiece, but it's also functional!
Myhomefarm23 went about creating this absurd tree design without a single orchard, laughing at anyone who squishes their beautiful trees into storage bins. Breathtaking rows of fruit trees line the path leading up to the Eiffel Tower located at the center of the farm, creating a truly spectacular effect. Not only that, but if you look closely, where there isn't trees, the farm is full of animals! This, folks, is an exceptional sheep and pig breeding design. If harvested consistantly, this farm could turn a huge profit! Just looking at this excellent farm makes me wish I was Myhomefarm23's neighbor, just so I could reap some of the rewards :)
I just hope Myhomefarm23 has plenty of Farm Hands and Arborists saved up or they're in for a lot of clicking!
What do you think of this great English Countryside design?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Today's featured farm was created by FarmVille Forums member, Myhomefarm23. This FarmVille English Countryside plot is a great example of intelligent farm design. Sure it's a farm art masterpiece, but it's also functional!
Myhomefarm23 went about creating this absurd tree design without a single orchard, laughing at anyone who squishes their beautiful trees into storage bins. Breathtaking rows of fruit trees line the path leading up to the Eiffel Tower located at the center of the farm, creating a truly spectacular effect. Not only that, but if you look closely, where there isn't trees, the farm is full of animals! This, folks, is an exceptional sheep and pig breeding design. If harvested consistantly, this farm could turn a huge profit! Just looking at this excellent farm makes me wish I was Myhomefarm23's neighbor, just so I could reap some of the rewards :)
I just hope Myhomefarm23 has plenty of Farm Hands and Arborists saved up or they're in for a lot of clicking!
What do you think of this great English Countryside design?
If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist!
Tagged bulks up for a bout with Facebook, acquires WeGame
The imminent battle between Facebook and Google+ over social games domination has a potential, scrappy third contender. People often forget about Tagged, the San Francisco-based social network with a considerable 100 million plus users. Video games, our favorite thing to talk about, might change all that, as the company announced that it has purchased WeGame.
WeGame is a cross between a social network for gamers in vein of services like Raptr and an online store with digital copies of games. Of course, terms of the deal weren't disclosed, and it's unclear exactly how the social network will make use of its new gaming network-meets-game store.
This news is especially striking considering the fact that Tagged already offers social games to its users. In fact, the company hired former Pogo VP Andrew Pederson to oversee its social gaming efforts. Perhaps that venture hasn't produced results, or Tagged simply looks to further bolster its social gaming efforts. Unfortunately, we currently haven't a clue.
According to TechCrunch, Tagged will reveal the details of how WeGame's technology will be incorporated "in the coming months." The company in question is run by a mere four employees, so we imagine there is a good amount of automation going on there, something Tagged could be looking to take advantage of.
It's also worth noting that WeGame is heavily skewed toward the hardcore crowd, offering a number of games for sale that only fans of franchises like World of WarCraft might recognize. That said--and this is pure speculation--Tagged could be looking in a completely different direction than Facebook is and Google+ appears to be: the proverbial Call of Duty player. Hey, if the social network has found strong enough of a niche to thrive in the shadow of Facebook, perhaps it has found another.
Are you either a Tagged or WeGame user? What do you think of Tagged picking up another games service when it already offers games? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
WeGame is a cross between a social network for gamers in vein of services like Raptr and an online store with digital copies of games. Of course, terms of the deal weren't disclosed, and it's unclear exactly how the social network will make use of its new gaming network-meets-game store.
This news is especially striking considering the fact that Tagged already offers social games to its users. In fact, the company hired former Pogo VP Andrew Pederson to oversee its social gaming efforts. Perhaps that venture hasn't produced results, or Tagged simply looks to further bolster its social gaming efforts. Unfortunately, we currently haven't a clue.
According to TechCrunch, Tagged will reveal the details of how WeGame's technology will be incorporated "in the coming months." The company in question is run by a mere four employees, so we imagine there is a good amount of automation going on there, something Tagged could be looking to take advantage of.
It's also worth noting that WeGame is heavily skewed toward the hardcore crowd, offering a number of games for sale that only fans of franchises like World of WarCraft might recognize. That said--and this is pure speculation--Tagged could be looking in a completely different direction than Facebook is and Google+ appears to be: the proverbial Call of Duty player. Hey, if the social network has found strong enough of a niche to thrive in the shadow of Facebook, perhaps it has found another.
Are you either a Tagged or WeGame user? What do you think of Tagged picking up another games service when it already offers games? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
CrowdStar, others dock in Sibblingz Spaceport for mobile social games
If we haven't driven home yet that mobile will be massive in the future of social games, we clearly haven't done our job. Luckily, news like the fact that Sibblingz has signed on It Girl creator CrowdStar and a number of other developers to use its Spaceport service helps us make good on that.
TechCrunch reports that--in addition to CrowdStar--BitRhymes, IKIGames, LuckyLabs, Fortune Planet and DeezGames have signed on to use Spaceport to create mobile versions of their Facebook games. Spaceport is Sibblingz's cloud-based game development platform that allows developers like CrowdStar to create mobile games that work on both iOS and Android devices.
Essentially, it allows developers to create a mobile game once and have it run on multiple mobile devices. The platform makes use of coding languages like Javascript and HTML5, but neither of which are known for making robust or fully-featured games on iPhones or Android phones. However, Sibblingz claims that games built on Spaceport feature an app-like experience.
What Sibblingz means is that, while these games are built using simpler code languages, they will perform like, say CityVille Hometown by Zynga. That game was built using tools specifically for iOS devices and is thus more visually impressive and feature-rich than mobile browser games. However, according to TechCrunch, developers can even create games specifically for iPhones and iPads through Spaceport.
Sibblingz also says that developers can make games for Facebook's worst-kept secret, Project Spartan--an initiative to bring Facebook to mobile devices through browsers using HTML5 complete with full-featured apps and games--through Spaceport. Jeez, on paper it sounds like Spaceport can do anything but make the cash flow.
Regardless, what's important to take away here is that social game developers realize that mobile is where it's at. Frankly, it's one area where clear winners have yet to be defined, much unlike Facebook (ahem, Zynga and EA). At this point, anyone could come out a winner on mobile, and perhaps the companies that embrace cross-platform game creation like CrowdStar will have the upper hand.
Do you think these developers have a chance at winning the mobile race these social game creators are running with Spaceport? Who do you think will ultimately win the mobile social gaming war? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
TechCrunch reports that--in addition to CrowdStar--BitRhymes, IKIGames, LuckyLabs, Fortune Planet and DeezGames have signed on to use Spaceport to create mobile versions of their Facebook games. Spaceport is Sibblingz's cloud-based game development platform that allows developers like CrowdStar to create mobile games that work on both iOS and Android devices.
Essentially, it allows developers to create a mobile game once and have it run on multiple mobile devices. The platform makes use of coding languages like Javascript and HTML5, but neither of which are known for making robust or fully-featured games on iPhones or Android phones. However, Sibblingz claims that games built on Spaceport feature an app-like experience.
What Sibblingz means is that, while these games are built using simpler code languages, they will perform like, say CityVille Hometown by Zynga. That game was built using tools specifically for iOS devices and is thus more visually impressive and feature-rich than mobile browser games. However, according to TechCrunch, developers can even create games specifically for iPhones and iPads through Spaceport.
Sibblingz also says that developers can make games for Facebook's worst-kept secret, Project Spartan--an initiative to bring Facebook to mobile devices through browsers using HTML5 complete with full-featured apps and games--through Spaceport. Jeez, on paper it sounds like Spaceport can do anything but make the cash flow.
Regardless, what's important to take away here is that social game developers realize that mobile is where it's at. Frankly, it's one area where clear winners have yet to be defined, much unlike Facebook (ahem, Zynga and EA). At this point, anyone could come out a winner on mobile, and perhaps the companies that embrace cross-platform game creation like CrowdStar will have the upper hand.
Do you think these developers have a chance at winning the mobile race these social game creators are running with Spaceport? Who do you think will ultimately win the mobile social gaming war? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
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