Archive for July, 2007

All PS3 systems may be destroyed

For all the fans of the Playstation 3, enjoy the game system as much as you can, you may be losing it. This is not some system error like what you see with the Xbox 360. It’s not a virus or other outside influence. The item that may take down your Playstation is more intangible, [...]

Scan of EGM’s upcoming review of Lair for PlayStation

Submitted from Videogame2play
This image shows a portion of the upcoming EGM print review of Lair, Factor 5’s upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive. This review contrasts the only other review submitted at this moment (July 31st, 2007) that gave Lair a 90 by Play Magazine.
Here is a quote from the Play review:
Lair has come together beautifully… [...]

Age of Empires to launch Gold Edition in September

Fans of the Age of Empires series should be interested in hearing the news that a new bundled Gold Edition for Age of Empires III is shipping out on Sept 25th. The new bundle contains Empires III and its first expansion The Warchiefs.
The Warchiefs expansion focuses on North American and South American Native Indian tribes. [...]

CNN picks top 4 games of E3

Submitted from Videogame2play
So many games, so little time.
Such is still the case when running between Santa Monica, California, hotels at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the annual video game conve ntion that serves as a peek into the future of the multibillion-dollar interactive entertainment industry.
This year’s invitation-only show, with about 3,000 journalists and analysts, [...]

Does James Cameron and Ubisoft equal a great game?

Can a game based on a movie actually be good? There are some examples (very few) that say yes, but overwhelmingly the answer is ‘Hell No’. Still that doesn’t stop the attempts to cross market the projects.

One of the more promising of these movie-to-game scenarios is the recently announced Avatar. The good points are [...]

Call of Duty 4: Multiplayer Public Beta & Slight of Hand demonstration

Submitted from VideoGame2Play.com
It was announced at Microsoft’s E3 2007 press conference that Infinity Ward would offer a Call of Duty 4 Multiplayer Public Beta exclusively on the Xbox 360. The beta will be available on Xbox Live starting in August 2007 and will be the largest beta available on Xbox Live from a third party [...]

MMO’s are here to stay

Who is the big dog in Massively Multiplayer Online games? World of Warcraft (WoW) of course. But how big are they? 9 million players strong, and the MMO is about to hit China.
And some thought video games, and MMO’s in particular, were a fad.
More Here>

Rating 3.00 out of 5

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What video games are you looking forward to?

With E3 done, and the least fanfare I’ve noticed since I learned about the show 4 or 5 years ago, the best of the upcoming games are being discussed and voted on. Far more famous magazines and websites are busy saying this is great or that will rock the video game world. Sometimes they are [...]

The Oj Simpson verdict makes it into a video game. Really.

Submitted by Mr. Michael Vass a contributing author.
Call me naive, but I just had no idea how much obsession is tied to OJ Simpson. Yes there can’t be a murder (involving a Black male) that makes the news and not have a reference to OJ. Yes there isn’t a murder of wives that goes by [...]

More ads per minute than ever before

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.
Ok, there goes the virtual neighborhood. A colleague of mine send me a link to Educational Games Blog, and a particular post. My position on ads in-game is pretty well stated I think. Well this just confirms why the ads are not only not going away, but how much [...]

Here comes your NeoPets upgrade

For some of the younger gamers out there, have no fear. You are not forgotten. Not by me, nor Nickelodeon. Matter of fact, the company is going forward with plans to expand their casual online gaming exposure by100 million dollars. Now that is an investment.
The fact is that casual gaming is enjoyed by an estimated [...]

Google AdSense will be in-the-games

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.
Oh the joy and the pain. It seems you can’t get one without the other. Specifically I’m addressing the fact that Google stated at the recent Casual Connect game convention,
“Nope, no plans for a console, [Bernie] Stolar said. And no “Google Live,” no video-game portal, and no video-game search, [...]

Manhunt made me do it

Is there any other news out there besides that of people trying to connect video games to violent crimes committed by people with apparently serious mental issues. From parents that prefer to feed themselves rather than their infants to a killer from across the pond. Yes even in Britian videogames are considered the root of [...]

Not videoholics, just sick people

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.
Some people are just stupid. Life is that simple most days. This is never more apparent than when some people take actions that endanger the lives of their children. As a friend of mine mentioned,
“Just because people can have kids, some just shouldn’t.”
Now you are probably wondering at [...]

Are you a world champion gamer?

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.
Well here is something new. It’s not a new game, hardware or other item for video games. It’s a new level of respect and an attempt to bring a bit of ESPN to the gaming world. Yes, ESPN. Via News Corp gamers are getting the opportunity to get the [...]

Coming to a game near you

Well here is news that hasn’t come out of the E3 conference so far. It’s the latest trend in video games, and is on all the formats. If you own a Playstation, Xbox, Wii, or computer game you have seen the trend. It hasn’t reach the absolute annoying levels yet, but it’s coming. I’ll give [...]

E3, starts with a whimper, where is the bang

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.
Well E3 has started, and already reviews are coming in. The result so far is, bland at best. Without the pizzazz of previous E3’s, the loss of huge crowds of fans, the tone has been racheted down significantly.
Of course a quieter, less over-the-top E3 was the goal of this [...]

Offroad racing has new thrill

So are you a fan of Motcross? How about ATV’s or Monster trucks? Well there is something for all of you now, all at once.
I just read a very enthusiastic review of MX vs. ATV Unleashed, and by his account this is the game to get if you love offroad racing. With a load [...]

Are video games harder, or just boring?

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.
Sometimes you just have to disagree with the top boss. Sometimes he is correct. In this case there is a mix of both. The boss I’m referring to is John Riccitiello, the top man at Electronic Arts (EA). I agree with him about the status of many game titles [...]

Xbox announces good and bad news

Talk about mixed blessings. It was just announced that Microsoft will be extending the warranty on all Xbox 360 units to 3 years from the date of purchase. Normally that would be a great thing, especially since it is cost the mega-corp about $1 billion dollars. But there is a dark side to this universal [...]

Good buy or good bye America?

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.
It’s interesting how video games are acknowledged as one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment and yet slapped down as being the leading cause of the downfall of civilization. The AMA wanted to say it causes addiction, various politicians have jumped on bandwagons from time to time to [...]

The new virtual worlds for causal gamers

For those into MMO (massive multiplayer online games) that prefer not to slay bands of orcs, or blast a dysfunctional robot, a growing industry has been emerging. Second Life has dominated this field, along with the Sims, but others are starting to gather steam.
Doppelganger is probably one of the most recent and best known in [...]