Friday Daily Feedly - Pirate Stock Exchange, Gamers & Microtransactions, Happy 15th Birthday PlayStation, Sonic the Hedgehog character designer speaks (honestly, he does), PSPgo's empending death and Boob stroke Nipple coupons among other things...

Pirate Stock Exchange Opens in Somalia (12/03/2009 13:02)

Stock market got you down lately? How about putting that money into the business of high-seas piracy instead?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Saboteur Offers Free DLC of Boobs on Day One (12/03/2009 09:00)

On the first day The Saboteur is available, Electronic Arts will offer downloadable content which removes the nipple-covering pasties from the performers at a nightclub in the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Real Life Comics (12/04/2009 08:46)

Real Life Comics – The Online Comic ©1999-2008 Greg Dean. Just yesterday I was commenting to someone that I haven’t actually seen or spoken to Richard in a few years now… 

Silverball opens following Fuse closure (12/04/2009 08:30)

Studio shut last month, Develop confirms - but directors return with new outfit

Rebecca Mayes Muses: Wet (12/04/2009 09:00)

Rebecca Mayes is finding out that Wet isn't just a walk in the woods.

Escape to the Movies: Ninja Assassin (12/04/2009 09:00)

This week MovieBob takes a look at Ninja Assassin...sort of.

Can Medal of Honor really usurp CoD: Modern Warfare? (12/04/2009 08:50)

EA chief John Riccitiello certainly thinks so... You no doubt caught the announcement earlier this week that EA is set to reboot its Medal of Honor FPS series next year. Single player development duties are being handled by EALA (formerly DreamWorks Interactive), while EA DICE (of Battlefield fame) will be overseeing the multiplayer functionality. The big - though not entirely surprising news - is that the action will be moving forward to the modern day - Afghanistan to be exact. Check out link to fully digest...

Happy 15th Birthday, PlayStation (12/03/2009 07:37)

December 3rd, 1994: A day that will live in infamy. Fifteen years ago today, the little gray Sony PlayStation hit shelves in Japan, introducing a powerful new player to the console arena.

Teenage Adventurer Immortalized In Sims 3 Expansion (12/03/2009 07:16)

He can't grow a beard, buy cigarettes or vote, but British teen Michael Perham is the latest downloadable content addition announced for EA's The Sims 3 World Adventures.

What Gamers Think About Microtransactions (12/03/2009 09:00)

As game developers grapple with making microtransactions more appealing to Western gamers, Daniel Kromand interviews a group of gamers to gauge the effectiveness -- and ineffectiveness -- of current microtransaction practices.

 

 

 

Harbor Havoc 3D: If Only Airports Were This Fast… (12/04/2009 08:18)

Harbor Havoc is one of the more recent in a genre of iPhone (and Nintendo DS) titles known as “path-drawing games.” These games have been around since the early days of the iPhone, and primarily have you drawing a path for a selected object to get from Point A to Point B. In the beginning, they were indeed as basic as A to B, but as time wore on, more finesse has been adopted in the form of added challenges (i.e. enemies or power-ups). Harbor Havoc 3D falls in the latter category.

Check out link to fully digest...

 

 

Is Final Fantasy VII's Midgar Poignant or Just Depressing? (12/04/2009 07:00)

Is Final Fantasy VII a classic because of the dystopian city of Midgar or in spite of it?

Out of the Blue: Naoto Ohshima Speaks (12/04/2009 09:00)

Sonic the Hedgehog character designer Naoto Ohshima expounds upon the early days of Sega's mascot, recollects design choices in the Saturn game Nights, and explains why it's important to make games that are "just a little new."

 

Interview: Oceanhouse Media (12/04/2009 09:10)

Oceanhouse Media has developed a staggering number of non-gaming Apps since it opened its doors in January, and now it's tackling games, starting with Dr Seuss. We spoke to company president, and former Autodesk and Presto Studios man Michel Kripalani to find out more...

The game of art: a profile of digital artist Cory Arcangel (12/04/2009 03:15)

The New York-based artist, famed for his work based on hacked Nintendo games is curating an exhibition at London's Lisson Gallery. Gamesblog met up with him to discuss his career, and the attractions of games as an artistic medium. Here's a question that has bothered cultural commentators – and gamers - for the last thirty years. Can videogames be art? Of course, most of us blithely wave the matter away; 'they're just games,' we humph, before turning back to our controllers. But of course – the most profound new entertainment medium of the century can't be so easily dismissed – and as videogames deal in the same areas of aesthetics and representation as other audio visual media, it's impossible to say that games don't have artistic aims and merits. Hegel, one of the few modern philosophers to grapple extensively with the meaning of art, certainly would have seen videogames as an expression of the subjective spirit - and the worlds we see in games are certainly subjective. Miyamoto's Mushroom Kingdom is in no way an objective rendering of human life. Check out link to fully digest...

Rebellion: we won't censor AvP for Australia (12/04/2009 04:27)

Studio will not pander to 'territories where adults are not able to make their own entertainment choices'

In focus: Operation Flashpoint's audio (12/04/2009 02:59)

Why sound designers must focus on realism

Within reason (12/04/2009 03:35)

Often, someone will riff on a concept or approach that characterizes the revolution that we're living through online, and heads will nod. "Sure, that sounds great [insert idea here... like Free, or social media or permission or ideaviruses or empowered consumers or treating people with respect, etc.] within reason." It's the last two words that make it a lie. The last two words allow you to weasel your way into failure. Within reason means, "without bothering the boss, without taking a big risk, without taking the blame if we fail, without alienating our current retailers... be reasonable!" And so you do it half-heartedly and you fail. And who beats you? The people who did it without reason. 

GDC Canada opens call for submissions (12/03/2009 10:02)

Speaker proposal deadline set for Jan 5, event to open in May 

Developer says PSPgo "will die" if games are not cheaper (12/03/2009 11:45)

Ok, it's not love but I am very fond of my PSPgo. Sony's download-only version of the PSP gets a lot of playtime, primarily because of convenience. I've got about 10 games installed on it all - including the excellent LittleBigPlanet - and it is obviously easier than carrying 10 UMD discs around. Yes, the iPhone gets its fair share too but real physical controls, rather than a touch screen, are always appealing. But there is no doubt that when it comes to game pricing the PSPgo has got a problem. Check out link to fully digest...

Aussie game charts: November 23-29 (12/03/2009 02:29)

New Super Mario Bros. Wii continues to reign supreme down under, while Cricket moves up and Mario Kart Wii returns to the top 10.

Max Payne 3 delayed, Borderlands sequels teased (12/03/2009 08:07)

Rockstar Vancouver's shooter sequel pushed to Aug.-Oct. quarter as Take-Two president Ben Feder says 2K Games has "long-term publishing rights" to Gearbox's action-RPG hit.