Sony's PSP2 May Go Strictly Digital
Like the PSPgo released last year, Sony’s next PlayStation Portable device, the PSP2, might not have a UMD drive, according to EDGE. Users would be forced to download all content for the portable device, making it impossible to continue using physical media compatible with the original PSP on the new gadget.... read more
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Review (Xbox 360)
Developer: BioWare Edmonton Publisher: Electronic Arts Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC More of a good thing ain’t so bad Top-tier video game expansion packs usually have three main goals: to reveal more about the game world; to introduce new people, places, and things; and to provide a fresh experience without changing too much. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening succeeds on all three levels, adding 15-20 hours worth of gaming to last year’s sprawling epic, enough to whet the appetite of most RPG fans.... read more
Lost Planet 2 Review
(Xbox 360)
Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Shootout with space pirates and gigantic bugs, what could go wrong? Well… One of the great things about video game sequels—especially as opposed to movie ones—is that they’re often better than their predecessors. Game makers often use the second go-round to fix the mistakes of the previous outing, as well as to add new ideas. But while Lost Planet 2 builds upon the 2006 original, these additions unfortunately don’t make the game any better and, in some case, actually make it worse.... read more
Start Press: Herding Scapegoats
Once upon a time, rock ’n’ roll was controversial. To concerned parents and clergy, Elvis Presley’s dance moves on late-night television prefigured some hip-swiveling apocalypse that would bump traditional moral values right off the planet's outer rim. In 1985 there were even Senate hearings (Senate hearings!) in which Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister were forced to answer for rock’s moral transgressions before Tipper Gore and her colleagues in the Parents Music Resource Center.... read more
Just Cause 2 Review
(Xbox 360)
Developer: Avalanche Studios Publisher: Eidos Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC Wake me when there’s nothing left to explode There are moments when Just Cause 2 pretends to be something that it isn’t. This is not a political thriller, nor is it the tale of Rico Rodriguez, the gruff superspy with a deep-down heart of gold. Like dutiful students in a freshman screenwriting course, the developers make occasional half-hearted stabs at that kind of storytelling. But you can tell they’re not feeling it, because Just Cause 2 isn’t designed to accommodate a traditional narrative arc. Rather, the game is one... read more
EA Sports Bringing FIFA to Facebook
The world cup begins in about a month, but that’s not all soccer fans have to look forward to. FIFA, the popular games series from EA Sports, is coming to Facebook.... read more
Start Press: How I Learned To Love The Plot Spoiler
As I played through Remedy’s thriller Alan Wake (check out our review of the game here), I kept thinking about the gaming community’s paranoia over inadvertently reading plot spoilers. Just a few hours before the board of CrispyGamer.com sent the most talented editorial team in online game journalism packing, a feature by journalist Tom Bissell went up on Crispy’s homepage entitled “Spoilsport: On Gaming’s Unhealthy Obsession With Spoilers.” At the Game Developers Conference earlier this year in San Francisco, Crispy’s former managing editor Elise Vogel shared with me the urgency she felt in getting this particular piece up on the site... read more
Watch the Trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2
When LittleBigPlanet was released in 2008, it charmed players with a puzzle platform and such accomplished digital art that the game took home eight Interactive Achievement Awards (the Oscars of gaming) in categories such as Overall Game of the Year and Oustanding Achievement in Art Direction. What made the game really special, though, was the incorporation of user-generated content — less than two years after the PS3 game hit the market, the number of player-created levels breached the two-million mark.... read more
Alan Wake Review
(Xbox 360)
Developer: Remedy Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Platform: Xbox 360 One novelist's sabbatical gone horribly, horribly wrongCelebrity writer Alan Wake has got it made. Every novel he publishes jumps to the top of the best-seller list. He lives in a ritzy New York City apartment with a private terrace and dazzling view. He’s happily married and has a literary agent who knows how to close a deal. There’s only one problem: Wake hasn’t been able to put a word to paper for more than two years. The creative spigot has shut off and the only thing left flowing at this point... read more
April/May 2010 Crossword Puzzle: What's the Alternative (Hint)
From Paste issue #62. Check your answers.... read more
April/May 2010 Crossword Puzzle: What's the Alternative (Answer Key)
From Paste issue #62. Print the puzzle.... read more
April/May 2010 Crossword Puzzle: What's the Alternative
From Paste issue #62. Check your answers. Get a hint.... read more
Crossword Puzzles
Each issue of Paste has a custom-made crossword related to that month’s content produced by Brendan Emmett Quigley. Enjoy!... read more
Start Press: In Your Game We Play
In the Old Testament book of Sega Genesis, you can read about the first game Adam and Eve played together in the Garden of Eden. Before the Apple IIe. Before LuCiFeR666 tricked Eve into downloading a virus-infected copy of Resistance: Fall of Man. Before the curse descended and 8-bit Nintendo cartridges had to be mouth-blown like harmonicas. Before the sinister Red Ring of Death. Before Cliff Bleszinski dyed his hair streaky blond for the first ill-advised time. Before Adam and Eve were ordered to go play outside the garden.... read more
Halo: Reach Beta Goes Live Online Today
Today marks a new chapter in the wildly popular Halo game series, as creator Bungie prepares to launch the beta version of the multiplayer Halo: Reach for a 17-day trial period.... read more
Next Call of Duty To Be Set in Vietnam?
Call of Duty, the popular video game series that puts players in soldiers’ virtual shoes, will release its seventh incarnation in November. Titled Call of Duty: Black Ops, the game is rumored to be set in Vietnam, according to Venture Beat. Previous Call of Duty games have been set either in World War Two or modern combat situations. The new game’s developer, Treyarch, a part of Activision Blizzard, recently revealed the trailer for the game, which you can watch below:... read more
Splinter Cell Conviction Review (Xbox 360)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: Xbox 360, PC Scattered reboot succeeds in spite of itself There is an identity crisis at the heart of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction that can best be addressed by answering the following question: Why is this game called “Conviction”? After all, the stealth-action adventure contains no references to our nation’s legal process—no judge, no jury, no court rulings. Perhaps the title is meant as an homage to protagonist Sam Fisher’s unwavering certainty?... read more
Boy Scouts Offer Video Game Belt Loop, Academic Pin
Ever the vanguard of the latest necessary survival skills, the Boy Scouts of America have begun offering a recognition to Tigers, Cubs and Webelos who undertake the grueling but vital task of familiarizing themselves with video-game systems.... read more
Start Press: Lookie Here!
My apartment is relatively compact, meaning the kitchen, dining room, living room and study all occupy the same room. What this means is, I don’t have the luxury of a basement “man cave” where I can stash all my videogame consoles and musical instruments. What this means is, my wife frequently finds herself in the room with me while I’m playing videogames. And that probably wouldn’t be such a bad thing—it’s easy enough to plug in headphones, which provide a better sound experience anyway—but I have this one compulsion that drives her crazy.... read more
Ubisoft Games Going Green
Video game publisher Ubisoft is preparing to launch a new green initiative according to USA Today.... read more
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