Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Bonus Echochrome Levels Up For A Limited Time Only
11:00PM Luke Plunkett | One of the best features about Sony’s Echocrome is that it embraces user-generated content. Thing is, it only embraces it temporarily. Like a female praying mantis, coupling with a mate in a fit of passion before turning on it and devouring it whole. See, each new round of user-generated levels, when thrown up, replaces the last lot. So if you want to play the best homemade designs available, you’ve only got a limited time before they’re gone. Gone forever. Not sure I really like this idea, since Echocrome isn’t a game that really makes me want to rush through it. echochrome: no end in sight [PlayStation.Blog] More »
WiiWare Games Will Be Up When They’re Ready
10:00PM Luke Plunkett | Got an idea which games will be available when WiiWare launches in the West? You don’t. Because Nintendo haven’t announced them. And from the sounds of it, won’t ever be announcing them, telling Wired’s Chris Kohler that as it stands, we may not be given advance warning as to what’ll be appearing on the service. You’ll wake up one day, check here/your Wii, and either there’ll be new games, or there won’t be. Oh, the suspense! No WiiWare Launch List Until Next Week? [Game|Life] More »
Blizzard Gets Its Digital Download On
9:00PM Luke Plunkett | Last week, Blizzard launched a spiffy new website. The improvements run a little deeper than just a cosmetic touch-up, however: they’ve for the first time begun offering digital downloads of their games from their own online store. Warcraft III ($US20), Frozen Throne ($US20) and the Starcraft Anthology ($US15) are all available, with more (including Diablo) promised to appear later down the line. [Blizzard Store] More »360 Bike Finished, Looks…Yeah
8:00PM Luke Plunkett | That Xbox 360 bike with control pad-themed dash we told you about last month is all done. If you’re looking at it and can actually see yourself riding it – and hey, looking like that, it’ll take some chops – know that there’s only one, it’s worth $80,000 and even if you could afford it, you can’t buy it, because it’s been crafted for a competition run by GAME Australia. It’s Cruisin’ Time – Xbox 360 Chopper Hits the Streets [Xbox Australia]
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News
Gaming PR In The Age Of Blogs
7:00PM Luke Plunkett | Last week, Gamasutra ran an interview with Tom Ohle, vice president of PR & marketing for CD Projekt, creators of The Witcher. They obviously get to talking about games PR, and in particular some of the challenges facing a public relations team when deciding how to market a game. While I don’t agree with many of their points (Ohle’s or that of the interviewer), especially that “major blogs just don’t really cover” the PC that much (we try to give it it’s due whenever & wherever possible), it’s still an interesting read, if only for Ohle’s idea that even a site with just one reader’s worth taking care of, because that’s still one potential customer. Q&A: CD Projekt’s Ohle On The Witcher, PR’s Place In The Blogosphere [Gamasutra] More »
Happy Birthday, Wolfenstein
6:00PM Luke Plunkett | Yes, other games came before it, but that’s just nitpicking: for 99% of gamers, the first-person shooter genre kicked off with Wolfenstein 3D, which turned 16 yesterday. Happy birthday! Having played through the original only a few months ago, it’s funny how, sixteen years on, I still had more fun with Wolfenstein than I do with most modern FPS games. Maybe that says something about the pure, arcade pleasures of the game. Or (more likely) it says something about the appeal of mowing down a mechanised Hitler with a chaingun while stuffing your face with plates of bbq chicken. [via Wired] More »
Get A Closer Look At WETA’s Warthog
5:00PM Luke Plunkett | The rate things are going, they may never make a Halo movie. So that short Neil Blomkamp put together last year may be as close as you get. And these shots of the Warthog used in that short may be as close as you get to it. Built by WETA, the guys behind the special effects for Lord of the Rings, it’s crazy the amount of detail that went into a vehicle built not for a movie, or even a trailer, but a cheap concept pitch. Plenty of pics at the link below. Close Up: Weta’s Warthog (Part 1) [NZGamer] More »
Stuck On GTA IV? Try These Cheats, You Cheater
4:00PM Luke Plunkett | GTA IV isn’t the hardest game around, but hey, maybe you’re not the best gamer around. Maybe you’ve got stubby thumbs. Maybe you can game, just can’t be bothered, and want the ability to spawn sports cars in front of you just for kicks. If so, take note of the following GTA IV cheats, which will do things like restore Niko’s health, give you all the game’s weapons, change the weather and adjust your wanted level. ACHTUNG: these mess with your saved game files and can stop you earning achievements, so you might want to turn autosave to the “off” position if you want to safeguard your progress against a tragic corruption. More »
Flash Portal Turned Into Real Portal
3:00PM Luke Plunkett | Remember that 2D, Flash-based version of Portal from last year? Was pretty neat. Well, it’s even neater in 3D. The same guys responsible for the original have translated all 40 levels into real Portal maps, which apparently add up to around 3.5 hours of Portal gameplay. And who are you to say no to 3.5 hours of new Portal gameplay? Portal: The Flash Version MapPack For Portal [wecreatestuff, via Shacknews] More »
