LimeWire Wants Subpoenas for Recording Industry Third Parties
LimeWire, the popular peer-to-peer-file-sharing service that allows people to freely transfer music, TV shows, videos, etc., is looking for court-ordered subpoenas of third parties that deal with the recording industry.... read more
Kill Screen Magazine's
Top Games of 2010
The videogame arts and culture magazine Kill Screen has released the results of its contributors' poll, titled "High Scores: The Best of 2010." It's a diverse and not entirely uncontroversial selection comprised of two separate lists of 20 games each. The first list includes the "Big Games" of the year and covers full-priced AAA releases. The second list is for "Small games" and covers downloadable and independent games priced under $30. It's a neat approach, and has allowed for two very distinct top-20s.... read more
Independent Games Festival Announces Nominees
The 13th annual Independent Games Festival has announced its awards nominees. Held during the Game Developers Conference late next month in San Fransisco, the IGF honors independent video games for excellence in design, audio, visual art and more.... read more
Infinity Blade Review (iOS)
Aah, videogames. As you play them you will fight, you will emerge victorious, you will fight again, and eventually you will be defeated and you will die. And then somehow, you will rise to fight again. Your avatar will level up and become more powerful, and you yourself will become more proficient. This is the Way Of The Game.... read more
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
(PC, Mac)
You're going to die. Whispered in the darkness, those four premonitory words distill the essence of fear. You are not dead yet—the horror lurks just outside of your vision, and you have not yet fallen beneath its claws. But you are going to die, and so this nightmare of terrible anticipation draws longer and longer with no end in sight. Crouching paralyzed in a corner, staring at the floor; knowing that any stray movement or sound could spell your doom, wishing it would just be over. You're going to die, and there's nothing you can do about it.... read more
Scarlett and the
Spark of Life (iPhone)
Every now and then an iPhone game comes along and pleasantly surprises me—most recently the jaunty new point-and-click adventure Scarlett and the Spark of Life. It's got a great protagonist, snappy writing, hilarious jokes, and ill-tempered, headbutting Llama-monsters. Yeah, I know. Always with the Llama-monsters.... read more
The Musical Villages
of Jim Hall's Isle of Tune
Ever since I was young I've had this compulsion regarding windshield wipers—whenever I'm in a car in the rain, I can't help but get into their hypnotic, rhythmic groove. No matter the driving conditions, I find myself bopping my head and humming along as they swipe, swipe, swipe. This habit has produced a lot of interesting beats over the years, from the deep, uneven swing of a pair of oversized bus wipers to fast pulse of a sedan in a downpour. But it wasn't until this week that I saw a videogame designer take that absent-minded compulsion and run with it.... read more
Epic Mickey (Wii)
Disney slips you a Mickey read more
Call of Duty: Black Ops Review
(Xbox 360)
Developer: Treyarch Publisher: Activision Platforms: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Always bet on black There are times when I lament the rampant “sequelitus” that's taken hold of the videogame industry, when nearly every new release is another addition in some ongoing franchise and where original titles (like the criminally overlooked Enslaved: Odyssey to the West) are often relegated to the bargain bin. Of course, more often than not, the objective, rational part of my brain is elbowed to one side by my inner fanboy; an obnoxious and easily placated button masher who salivates at the thought of the next... read more
Michael Jackson Video Game Hits Shelves
Remember when we told you that a Michael Jackson video game was in the works? No, no—the other one.... read more
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Review (Xbox 360)
Developer: Beenox Publisher: Activision Platforms: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Does whatever a spider can… more or less It’s been a tough ride for the spandex clad pantheon of comic book superheroes. For every decent video game culled from the pages of DC and Marvel, there are ten more horrible adaptations waiting in the wings like the proverbial henchmen of a mad super villain. Then along came 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum, a game that was both a paean to fans of the Dark Knight as well as an innovative gameplay experience. As a result, it now almost goes without... read more
Super Meat Boy Review (Xbox 360)
Developer/Publisher: Team Meat Platforms: Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, PC Bloody perfect Super Meat Boy is that kid who went to your high school who covered up his savant-like intelligence with class-clown theatrics. A retro 2D platformer in the tradition of NES classics Mega Man, Ghosts & Goblins and Super Mario Bros.—the latter example, of course, a stylistic and acronymic cousin—the game all but defies you to take it seriously. Super Meat Boy casts the player as an anthropomorphic slab of meat, square as a Wendy’s hamburger patty. Meat Boy is determined to rescue his sweetheart Bandage Girl from a dastardly fetus... read more
Fable III Review
(Xbox 360)
Developer: Lionhead Studios Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Platform: Xbox 360 Feeble Peter Molyneux has earned a reputation for vastly overstating the emotional depth on offer in his Fable RPGs. Each time I wade a few hours into a new installment in the franchise, I feel like a kid who’s been promised his own personal moon landing, only to be taken for a spin in one of those coin-op space rockets that rumbles back and forth for 30 seconds before jerking to a halt. Molyneux promises a meaningful simulation of human interaction but forces us to communicate with NPC characters through... read more
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game Review (PS3)
Developer: Ubisoft Publishers: Ubisoft, Universal Studios Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360 Finally a movie game that gets it together It’s only natural the Scott Pilgrim-verse inspire a videogame spinoff in its recent comics-to-movie migration: In his series of graphic novels, Scott relates to the world around him through videogame-tinted lenses. Then again it’s hard not to when he can only win the hand of the girl he loves by facing down and defeating her “seven evil exes.” The graphic novels effortlessly stuck every landing on the myriad of obscure gaming references (like “sub-space doors” from Super Mario Bros. 2), and the... read more
Super Mario Galaxy 2 Review (Wii)
Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Wii You can’t blame Nintendo for false advertising They did call the game Super Mario Galaxy 2, after all. And that’s what you get—more of the same old Galaxy. Sure, there’s a Lugi tucked away here, and a Yoshi to ride there. And someone spent a lot of time working out all kinds of new little twists and turns in this already vertigo-inducing Galaxy. And if you haven’t played the original in a while, you’ll have a hard time figuring out if this game really offers anything new at all. Bowser’s got the princess and... read more
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor Review (Wii)
Developer: Treasure Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Wii Heavier on the “punishment” side To a select few American gamers, the fact that Sin & Punishment: Star Successor has been released in America at all is immeasurably more exciting than the game and its four-hour shmup twitch-fest can ever live up to. The majority of people here likely haven’t even heard of it: As the 2010 sequel to Japan’s 2000 N64 rail-shooter Sin & Punishment, and the first entry to be released on shelves over here, it’s practically the definition of under the radar. Its dated graphics and sworn allegiance to the sadly... read more
Shank Review (Xbox 360)
Developer: Klei Entertainment Publisher: Electronic Arts Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360 Recapturing the youthful innocence of slaughtering bad guys If you were to tally up the number of henchmen and lackeys the average gamer has sent packing on a one-way trip to Hades, we’d all be found guilty of multiple digital genocides. And yet innovations like curb stomps and headshots have failed to make act of onscreen murder retain its dissipating gory gusto. Maybe that’s because games have been getting too dang complicated, emphasizing story or action. Although Shank’s plot is clipped winkingly from Kill Bill, and it’s got its share... read more
What Beats a Michael Jackson Video Game?
Nothing! Or at least that’s what SEE Virtual Worlds is hoping, as they’re planning to release Planet Michael, a Michael Jackson-themed 3-D massively multiplayer online game boasting the slogan “The Ultimate Michael Jackson Online Game.” Phew!... read more
Paste Goes To PAX 2010
PAX, The Penny Arcade Expo September 3-5, 2010 Seattle, Wash. It’s Friday morning in Seattle and Warren Spector is on a roll. The legendary game designer has spent the past 15 minutes presenting his impressive resume, a personal history that in many ways mirrors the history of gaming itself. This fact is not lost on the sold-out crowd filling Benaroya Hall—from Dungeons & Dragons tabletop RPGs to classic videogames like Ultima, Deus Ex and Thief, each of his past projects elicits a cheer more enthusiastic than the one before it. They are cheering for him and his accomplishments, but they... read more
Metroid: Other M Review (Wii)
Developer: Project M Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Nintendo WiiSamus finds her voice, but does she have anything to say?Nintendo’s characters might be the most beloved in games, but it’d be a lie to call any of them great conversationalists. Some are only capable of introducing themselves in cartoonish accents, while the vocal skills of others are limited to repeatedly uttering an immutably pitched grunt. And although Donkey Kong’s wit is surprisingly biting, he’s no Dorothy Parker.... read more
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