Sunday, February 1, 2009

Epic Explains Gears Meltdown

8:00AM Owen Good | A digital certificate that expired on Wednesday borked the original Gears of War for PC players; Epic is working up a fix. Meantime, VP Mark Rein has given an explanation and an apology. More »

Sunday Supplement: “Messages Aren’t Always Safe”

8:00AM David Wildgoose | Welcome to the Sunday Supplement – the first one ever, in fact. So what is it? Well, how would you like some of the best writing, think-pieces, essays and interviews from some of the brightest games bloggers and journos around? Essentially, it’s a bunch of links to interesting stuff I’ve read over the last week or so, and I figure you might find it interesting too.Today we encounter Hitler, struggle with our sexuality, and reminisce about the classic MMOFPS.

Sage Advice, but Not Viral Marketing

7:00AM Owen Good | Lots of you have pointed us to this — a highway roadside sign in Austin, Texas, warning of ZOMBIES AHEAD. Is this viral marketing for Resident Evil 5? I checked with a source at Capcom. More »

Your Comprehensive List O’ Street Fighter IV Achievements

6:00AM Owen Good | The value of achievements, on a gamer level, may be debatable. On the publisher level, if nothing else, their announcement is one more tool to hype a game pre-release. More »

Mass Effect Patch OTW for PC

5:30AM Owen Good | PC players rejoice; Bioware says an omnibus patch for Mass Effect is in the works. While not specifying its content just yet, it’ll likely address issues discussed on the Bioware forums. More »

Mario Explains Relationships for Us

5:00AM Owen Good | It’s no secret I peek at Reddit when I’m working weekends. But last week its contributors made something too hilarious not to share: An extremely dark view of relationships, in the context of Super Mario Bros. Around Wednesday a user kicked it all off with “Mario Explains It: Lesson 001.” (Above) The guy was clearly going all Mr. Bitterpants over the state of a just-friends relationship with some girl who is probably never, ever going to give it up for him. It was then followed up with many pictures and revisions. Here are the ones that were the funniest while still forming a logical progression: Here’s a “Fixed that for you” from someone even more bitter. The third picture shows the OP how to git ‘er done. Uh, staying “just friends” now sounds like a pretty good idea, doesn’t it? Smoker!!!!! Reloading! Of course, there’s always this path. I’d probably make supersize Bullet Bob into a divorce lawyer. And finally, for those who hate counseling, the Scott Peterson option. And so we learned an important lesson today, didn’t we kids? That’s right. Never ever never have sex with anyone you care about… Mario Explains It [Reddit]

Well, That Didn’t Last Long

4:00AM Owen Good | Remember Duck Hunt for the iPhone? Yeah, it was booted from the App Store, and not because of its piece of shit controls and absence of the Asshole Dog, either. More »

THQ Axes a Hundred as it Fixates on Smart Phones

2:00AM Owen Good | THQ fired 100 employees following a decision to shift its mobile game development to the smart phone platform only. Three studios are closing, in San Diego, the U.K. and Germany. More »