Sunday, February 3, 2008
Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Computer Space
1:00PM Flynn De Marco | In almost a year and a half of doing Arcade Flyer Art Saturday I would have been hard pressed to choose a favorite. Until now. What makes this one particularly notable is that Computer Space was designed by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney for Nutting Inc. prior to their founding of Atari in 1972. It also happens to be the very first commercially available arcade video game. Here is the description of the gameplay from the back of the flyer which I have posted after the jump along with the flyer for the two player version. More »
Tails Goes Bargain Basement
12:00PM Flynn De Marco | While I was out grabbing lunch earlier I stopped in X-21, a store that does a lot of prop rentals and has a ton of amazing old furniture that you could never afford. I went down to the basement to see if they might have a cheap desk chair that wouldn’t require a bank loan and who should I see but our good friend Mr. Miles “Tails” Prower. He stood about three feet tall and with his tail was about three feet wide. I inquired as to his price and was quoted $US 300 which considering his size was pretty cheap. So if you live in the SF Bay Area and are looking to take in a has-been video game character, he’s waiting for you at the corner of Valencia and 20th. Bring cash. More »
Who Will Win the Race to the End of Resident Evil 4?
11:00AM Flynn De Marco | The gaming marathon mad folks over at cameronbanga.com (aka Four48) have issued a challenge in their latest charity driven attempt. They will be competing with seven other teams from around the world to see who can reach the end of Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition first. Currently, two teams have dropped out leaving six left to slaughter their way through the zombie hordes. You can make your donations (which will go to Child’s Play) on their website as well as follow the multiple teams’ progress via live streaming video. More »Lost: Via Domus ‘Crash’ Trailer
10:00AM Flynn De Marco | Here we have a second trailer for UbiSoft’s upcoming game based on the hit ABC TV show LOST entitled Lost: Via Domus. You play one of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 and interact with all of the show’s well known characters to help cure your apparent amnesia. Knowing the way the LOST machine works, I wouldn’t put it past them to include some exclusive easter eggs in the game that will be clues to the show’s plot. But just like the show, the trailer leaves the viewer with more questions than it does answers. More »
10 Reasons Free To Play Growth May Be Slow
9:30AM Maggie Greene | Over at Free To Play, a list of ten potential reasons the free to play model may never take hold in the West like it has in Asia, or at least why it may take a long, long time. It’s an interesting roundup of a number of issues facing virtual worlds and some games more broadly (issues with RMT, bad ad campaigns, bad advergaming, etc.) – I’m always interested to see people’s attitudes toward the free to play model, which is frequently met with much hostility. One of the most pressing issues is the issue of an onslaught of repetitive MMORPG or virtual space clones: From Maple Story to Silkroad Online, there is no shortage of MMOs in the free to play space. In the same vein, there is an abundance of virtual worlds such as Second Life or Kaneva. It seems as though the vast majority of new free to play game since 2005 have been virtual worlds or MMOs. Perhaps it’s the very reason that these games have proliferated in the free to play market; MMOs and virtual worlds are inherently more inclusive than an FPS. Still, it would be a shame to see the free to play space flounder due to constant reiteration of the same genres and themes, turning away players seeking a different experience. Considering the quiet inroads a number of free to play options have made in the American market, I would be surprised if the market didn’t continue to grow – and I’m not convinced flying under the radar is such a bad thing. Top 10 Free To Play Growth Killers [Free To Play] More »
Sealed Chrono Trigger Fetching a High Price on eBay
9:00AM Flynn De Marco | How much is a really good old game worth to you? What if it was still in it’s original shrink wrap? According to eBay, the right game can be worth quite a bit to the right people. A seller is currently hosting an auction for a sealed copy of Chrono Trigger for the Super Nintendo that has shot up to an amazing $US 420.55. With thirty bidders and a day and a half still left to place bids, something tells me it will go even higher. My question is, what will the winner do with their expensive prize? Will they open it and play with it or will it become a pricey knick-knack that will take up shelf space and no doubt garner the envy of hardcore Chrono Trigger fans. [via GoNintendo] More »
Air Force Unveils Plans For Air Force 2.0
8:30AM Maggie Greene | Never accuse the USAF of being too far behind the times – they’ve just unveiled a long term plan to create ‘Air Force 2.0,’ including social networking (MyBase!), virtual training, and more ways to appeal to those tech savvy kids than you can shake a stick at. The Air Education and Training Command paper details the plan (but no real mention of cost), wrapping up with a look at three of the ways they hope Air Force 2.0 will function: Attached at the end of the white paper is a series of three vignettes, detailing narrative form how MyBase will operate for each sector: recruiting to and inspiring the public after a recent terrorist attack with games as well as social settings; training new cadets in a virtual Squadron Officer School (vSOS) with avatars of famous historical thinkers, guest lectures at the University of Texas, and full-blown simulation of what it’s like to watch an air mission from the ground in an Army M1A2 Abram; and, finally, using avatars as interaction methods for research about security issues and further training. Ooooook. Well, they’ve projected plans running through 2030, so we’ll see how long it takes for the USAF 2.0 to become reality. Air Force Unveils Potential Plans for MyBase Virtual World [Virtual Worlds News] More »
Call of Duty 4 Community Mapping Contest
8:00AM Flynn De Marco | The folks at Infinity Ward are inviting players to create and submit their own custom multiplayer maps for use with call of Duty 4. With the release of the 1.5 Mod Tools patch, PC users will be able to submit their home made maps to the COD4 team who will be choosing their favorites on March 31. From the Infinity ward website: What’s your dream map? Wide open spaces perfect for sniping, or close quarters combat with plenty of cover to bound back and forth from? Maybe a nice mixture with plenty of avenues to attack from and some perfect choke points you can ambush from with the right amount of team work. Whatever you think makes a good multiplayer map, we want to see it. Most importantly, we want your best work. An announcement concerning what the “special prizing and opportunities” will be for the winners is expected to come next week. I’m interested in knowing what the “opportunities” will be. A job? Your winning map as downloadable content? We’ll keep you posted as we find out more. Call of Duty 4 Community Mapping Contest Details [Infinity Ward] More »
News
The Activision Blizzard Merger That Nearly Wasn’t
7:30AM Maggie Greene | Trying to combine two companies into one successful partnership that all side are happy with is hard work – and the Activision Blizzard merger was no exception. Papers filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) detail the process – the preliminary proxy statement is really, really massive, but does contain some interesting details about how the merger came to be (and almost wasn’t on multiple occasions). More »
