Halloween is almost over and soon everyone will be preparing for the following holiday season. More and more children will begin begging their parents for pet-related games and toys for the holidays, then eventually beg for a real pet. A pet based on their virtual or toy pets that turn into more responsibility than they can handle or become aggravated with because the pet is nothing like their virtual ones, leaving the animal’s fate in their parent’s hands.

But one game company, Spil Games, created a game to help educate young girls about the importance of caring for a pet through their free online game Animal Shelter at GirlsGoGames.com.

It’s not as simple as pointing at the readily available food and toys on a screen or playing with a virtual pet that is always happy and healthy. Real pets can get hurt or sick and need attention that can’t be clicked on with a tap of a stylus or finger.

I was given an opportunity to interview Peter Hofstede, Games Director for Spil Games, about Animal Shelter and what he shared was his hope to educate girls that pets are not toys that you can just toss aside when you’re bored. A pet owner, it takes a lot more responsibilities to raise an animal than giving hugs and petting them on the head and I think this game expresses that responsibility.

I asked Hofstede what he hopes young girls learn from this cute game.

“We hope to increase our players’ awareness of the important fact that animals need good care. Unlike toys — which you can throw out or give away if you get fed up with them,” he said. “Animals need a lot of time and attention, and lots of TLC. We also hope that our players learn about the hard work involved in running an animal shelter. That’s something many people take for granted.”

And he’s not joking.

When you first play the game you’re given a list of tasks you must perform on top of making sure the animals in your care are given proper medical attention, fed a nutritional meal and exercised daily based on their health charts. For example, in my care I have a few dogs, cats, bunnies, turtles and even a hamster in my adoption center (see image on right). Each animal has its own needs much like a real pet. I have a turtle that is sick most of the time and requires more medical attention than the rest as well as a dog that’s often bored and hungry.

You also have to keep the areas clean to prevent their conditions from worsening and to keep your center from being closed.

Hofstede added that animal care alone just isn’t enough when they created this game so I asked what was the inspiration behind this game and what makes this virtual pet game different from the rest already out for handheld and console gaming systems.

“We know that cute animal games are very popular with our GirlsGoGames audience, so the idea of making a game about an animal shelter came up pretty quickly. However, it took some time to figure out the game’s core design and how to make it stand out from similar games,” he said. “Animal care by itself wouldn’t have been enough. That had already been done. But the advertising and ‘photography aspects hadn’t been done in other animal care games, so we added those two popular elements. We decided it was important for players to learn about the importance of keeping to a budget, so we added that element too. Lastly, we added movie events to build awareness about how commercials and movies can trigger people to get a pet, something our players may not have considered before. By combining these fresh and informative features, we ended up with a fun, successful, and unique game with an educational twist.”

Photographing the animals is not as easy as it seems. The camera moves and so does the animal. You have to take the right photograph of a pet and find the right words to use in your advertisement that will draw potential pet owners to your shelter. Patience is a virtue here because the animal moves around, looks away and even growls at the camera. If you’re patient enough you may be able photograph an adorable pose to post in the newspaper, fliers or even a television ad. Once the right photo is captured, then you must provide a decent description about animal you want to advertise for adoption.

Based on your success of getting the animals adopted as well as keeping the animals and the center in good condition, you are given donations that can be used to upgrade the food, medical care and toys for your animals. Just watch your budget because you don’t know when the next animal will be adopted or when the center will receive the next donation.

The game is adorable but takes strategy to get all the animals adopted and raise the donations needed to keep the animals fed, clean and healthy.

I asked if this game would eventually be made for a console or if there were any other educational games they are about to launch.

“We launch new games every single week but it’s really heart-warming when we can also take part in spreading awareness and educating our players with games like Animal Shelter,” Hofstede said. “We hope our players will enjoy the gameplay, of course, but we also hope that they enjoy learning about proper animal care and the process involved in animal adoption. Also, we want to let your readers know that they can expect a lot of new, exciting features and content in the near future. Our team here at Spil Games is working hard to develop ever richer and ever more entertaining online gaming experiences!”

Site [Spil Games] Site [GirlsgoGames.com]

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With the spookiest night of the year on tap, Gamertell thought we would take some time to talk with the most famous vampire in, really, all of pop culture.

With the spookiest night of the year on tap, Gamertell thought we would take an interview with the most famous vampire in, really, all of pop culture. As the villain in Castlevania , Count Dracula has been keeping gamers up late into the night since the days of the Nintendo Entertainment System. With that series’ popularity not being as high as it used to be, we wondered what sort of spirits (heh heh, spirits, get it?)... Oh forget it.

Gamertell’s Brian Allen had a cautious sitdown with the man, myth and legend that is Count Dracula.

Gamertell: First, let me say it is an honor sir. I’ve been a lifelong fan of the Castlevania series.

Count Dracula: I did it for the cash. I’ve never even played one of those nerdy things. I’m the Prince of Darkness, here!

Thanks for your brutal honesty, sir.

No reason for anything else. Life’s too short - at least for you mortal schlubs - to beat around the bush. Are there gonna be some hard hitting questions or you gonna keep blowin’ smoke up my cape?

No, no. Let’s get right to it. The Castlevania series has taken on a unique spin in recent years, even including a fighting game.

Hey, hey! They said there wouldn’t be any Castlevania: Judgment questions. Me and Simon Belmont needed the cash, OK? We used stuntmen. The whole idea was ridiculous. I still have nightmares about that controller waggling.

Wasn’t going to get into that until later but how is Simon? There was a rift between you two..

There was a rift in how much we got paid. I was the icon in this series. Who was Simon Belmont before Castlevania? Some game hero! The guy couldn’t even swim!

You sound a little bitter. You appeared to battle other heroes even after Simon left the series, so why the animosity?

Look, I kid the guy. Who didn’t after that Captain N fiasco? But you know, we had a chemistry. The games weren’t the same without Simon. We went together like Fred and Ginger, Batman and Robin…

Sonic and Tails?

What are you, trying to get me to turn into a bat and fly out of here?

In truth, Castlevania has lived an entirely new life on Nintendo’s DS. Those are among the highest rated games in the series.

Yeah, I’m still big. It’s the consoles that got smaller. The old days were great, though. Even other games referenced our work. Remember Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear, when he read the memory card? “You like Castlevania, don’t you?” Now Psycho Mantis, that freak was creepy. But it’s great to be respected by your peers.

That’s why it’s funny you see your Simon Belmont partnership as the pinnacle of Castlevania history. Many feel Symphony of the Night, in which you battled your son Alucard, was actually the best game. No love for that one?

Do not even get me started on that whiny brat of a son of mine! He’s all, “I hate my dad and I’m so tortured,” yet that never stops him from using the pale skin and vampire charms he inherited from me to pick up an endless assortment of goth chicks at raves!

Simon was more of a son than me than that punk and he’s killed me two, three, I don’t even remember how many times! You want to know about Castlevania Judgment? Not only was Alucard a full participant, the whole thing was his idea. Kids love fighting games, dad. Maybe in 1992 they did! You know what’s more out of style than Castlevania? Freakin’ fightin’ games! Hello Tekken! The panda thing was cute three games ago, now it’s just weird.

What do you think of today’s crop of vampires? Twilight, for example?

Those vampires are even more wussy than that no account son of mine. It’s embarrassing. This is supposed to be the hottest exclusive club in the world. You get past this velvet rope, you get to live forever! Why the 902010 nonsense? You’ll be around in 300 years and she won’t be. Trust me, first time she needs Botox and you’re still standing there looking the same way you did at 16, she won’t be able to get rid of you fast enough.

What’s your take on today’s horror games?

I’ll tell you this, zombies are done. I talked to one of the original cast members of Living Dead and he said if he’d known how it would have turned out, he wouldn’t have done the movie. What kind of a villain is a slow, shambling brainless cretin anyway? Give’ em a rest, game industry. I defy Frank West to survive the weekend in a shopping mall full of vampires, I don’t care how many wars he’s covered.

Interesting. Well, what is the world’s most famous vampire doing these days?

Reality TV, baby! My agent’s got a lot of irons in the fire. We’re talking with VH1 about a dating show, Fox wants me to hang out with the Octomom, and we’ve got our fingers crossed about Dancing With the Stars. Reaper’s jazzed about that one.

Reaper as in the Grim Reaper from the original Castlevania?

Yeah, he’s been in TV production for years.

Well, there’s a stretch. Thanks for taking some time out of your Halloween weekend.

There’s another rip! I don’t see a dime from those knockoff costumes!

Any-hoo, happy Halloween and thank you.

Thank you. By the way, what blood type are you?

Uh, gotta go. Thanks again.

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Since the launch of zOMG! in 2008 the game’s popularity on Gaia Online have grown by leaps and bounds with more than eight million active online subscribers.

This week Gaia Online celebrates the music of zOMG! during zOMG!fest featuring music composer and symphonist Jeremy Soule and music composer and songwriter Jeff Miyahara who has composed not only music for Gaia Online events such as the more recent Promageddon but have also worked with popular J-pop (Japanese pop music) artists.

This week Gaians have a chance to meet and talk to the composers virtually with a live in-world forum discussion. Gaia users can also receive an exclusive virtual item for their avatar and a chance to purchase the zOMG! game soundtrack.

I was given the opportunity to ask Jeremy Soule a few questions to get a better understanding of what goes into creating the music players hear while playing zOMG!

Soule has composed music for the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series, Harry Potter series, Company of Heroes, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Guild Wars and Neverwinter Nights.

I ask Soule where he gets the inspiration to create and compose music for zOMG!

“I worked very much in the same manner for zOMG! as I do for any game in that I try to absorb as much as I can about the game play, art direction and overall mood of the game,” Soule explained. “Dave Georgeson (zOMG! senior producer/creative director) and I had discussed the different themes and goals of the game to a degree where I felt the creative process we had was quite smooth.”

I asked Soule if there were any challenges he had faced when creating the music for a constantly growing game like zOMG!

“The game is ever expanding as it is an online flash based MMO. In this way, we’ve had to think far in advance of how we will grow this property. Fortunately, we have my efforts plus a catalog of thousands of songs from Naxos [Records] to make sure that we never run out of great content,” he said then laughed. “We want the experience to always feel rich, fun, vibrant and a total alternative to boring homework.”
Soule added that he tries to make sure that the music the players hear in the game will be a rich experience for them and tries to incorporate a lot of classical music into the soundtrack of zOMG!

“I wanted players to feel a sense of quality. I strove to write music that was very melodic and in-depth but the music provided by DirectSong’s relationship with Naxos Records ensured that some of the greatest (classical music) composers of all time were represented in the game. The one thing about classical music is that most people take it for granted without really fully appreciating how amazing it really is. Not everything sounds like a prissy harpsichord or big tympani,” Soule explained. “The range of some of the music in zOMG! is quite unsurpassed and quite entertaining. Walt Disney built his company on Classical music and my approach to Gaia has been very similar. We hope that over time, players will gain a real ear for knowing the difference between Debussy and Mozart.”

Right now there’s no definite date as to when Version 1.0 will be released but the zOMG! music fest is still going on for anyone curious about Jeremy Soule or music composer and songwriter Jeff Miyahara as well as a chance to receive a virtual item or purchase the zOMG! soundtrack.

Those interested in trying zOMG! would have to first register for free on Gaia Online and join the rest of the community in zOMG! or participate in one of many games available on Gaia Online or chat with friends.

Site [zOMG!fest] Site [Jeremy Soule’s Official Website] Site [Gaia Online]

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Since the free browser-based MMMORPG zOMG! started allowing players in 2008, it has been widely talked about in the forums. Guilds have formed to help others complete quests and meet other players who love the game.

I had a chance to talk with zOMG! senior producer and creative director Dave Georgeson and got an update on what has been happening on zOMG! and find out about future updates.

“We are currently in Open Beta, so it’s only the users that are excited by watching a game change and refine around them that play on a regular basis right now. We’ve had a couple million unique players since we launched Open Beta, however, our focus is not really on driving up the number of users at the moment. Instead, we’re focused on “fun factor” and refining the interfaces and learning curves as we prepare for “Version 1.0” later this year,” Georgeson said and when asked about the “fun factor” that is drawing players to the game. He said, “Lots of things. Our visuals are clearly unique, our game play is flexible and unusual (getting even more so by the time we officially launch).”

He said the Gaia community continues to grow because players have found a unique form of entertainment.

“Our community is creative, intelligent, and enthusiastic. Gaia Online has a community of over 8 million unique people logging into it each month. They come to our site because they can get something here that they can’t get anywhere else,” Georgeson said comparing today’s number of users to the one he remembered when he started at Gaia Online.

“When I came to this company a little over two years ago, we only had 3 million uniques a month. We’re clearly doing something right. zOMG! gives them more of what they already like from the Gaia Online site, and then wrap it all in action, game play, and socialization. We’re a ‘20-ring circus’ that’s getting bigger with each passing day. By the time we launch [the next version] there will be something here for every kind of gamer.”

Georgeson said the most popular feature of zOMG! is the ability to change you avatar’s abilities by swapping rings.

“Our game is all about flexibility, widely-varied features and opportunities, and intuitive gameplay,” he explained. “The system we have for player skills is extremely flexible. We allow players to wear up to eight rings, with each ring being its own skill or power. To change what they are, they merely have to swap out rings. This is even more powerful and flexible than it seems at first glance.”

He said for instance, if no one in your group has the ability to heal you can switch to a healing ring if its in your inventory, then equip.

“Even cooler than that, did one of your friends just join the game as a total newbie? In most MMOs, you (as a veteran player) would be unable to play with that friend because you’d be too powerful to journey with him. Not in our game. You can easily either swap out your rings with less powerful ones, or “suppress” your ring power so that you play at the same level as your newbie friend,” Georgeson said. Then explained that the other popular feature about zOMG! is that its free. “And, of course, it requires no download, thus removing any reason to not try it out. It’s fun, which is what a game is supposed to be, right?”

Right now there’s no definite date as to when Version 1.0 will be released but zOMG! is still fun for anyone curious about the game. It’s not that hard to get started as you have a virtual guide to get you started and familiarize you with the controls of the game.

Better yet, there is no need to download anything to play or participate in this or any other game on Gaia. Just register for free on Gaia Online and join the rest of the community in zOMG!, play one of many games available on Gaia Online or chat with friends.

Site [Gaia Online]

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TNT Games, an independent video game developer formed a little longer than a year ago. Made up of Dungeon’s and Dragons fans, this small company has already released its first title, Trinity Wars Prologue: Spine of the World, for the XBox 360 and is now working on its next title in the Trinity Wars series with hopes of releasing it for all consoles.

I had a chance to chat with Timothy Porter, Lead Environment/Prop Artist at TNT Gaming, about Trinity Wars, the upcoming title still in development and how the company began.

“[The company started] with a group a child-hood friends with a dream and expanded into a company of 7 specialists,” said Porter. “TNT Gaming is a rag tag group of people who like to play and make games. [Dungeon’s and Dragons] started their interest in RPGs and in-depth story line games.”

The idea for the game came from Travon Santerre and the rest of the founders who had hundreds of stories stemming from a “Spine of the Earth” concept for for all the games to follow.

“This is perfect because we are hoping to produce this mini series for some time to come and since they are fairly short games we can continue to produce them in about 6 months or so like the first game,” Porter explained.

Soon, the company started to grow with talented members were being added to the team.

“We all do the game creation on the side while still working at our day jobs and all hope that eventually we can do this full time. We have a musical genius doing our sound with a full orchestra, singers and the whole shebang and lots of great voice actors to help round out the team. There are two artists—an ex-midway character artist and an ex-mommy’s best games artist.”

Porter said that once the first game was released a healthy fan base began to develop.

“Trinity Wars has a great following starting with our loyal followers from our first game to lovers of RPGs of any sort. I also believe that this new game will open more people’s eyes to the idea of an independent company that can produce a great game,” he said.

When asked what makes this game attractive to players, he answered, “While our last game was 2D side-scrolling [adventure] the new one is totally 3D using the XNA engine. Getting the XNA engine to work 3D with no hiccups is no easy feat, let me tell you. We have the government’s best working on our side, no pun intended. (And) while most of the community games are 2D we believe that the creation of a 3D game will draw a larger crowd.”

Porter said the company is currently working on getting certified to release their games on PS3, Wii and XBLA, which he admits is a hard long process involving lots of paperwork and crossed fingers bit said the Trinity Wars series is fully prepared using the XNA engine to be ported to any console so their fans can enjoy the games no matter what console they owned.

Although keeping up with all the assets in the game makes it hard, Porter said “there are so many parts and environments to Trinity Wars but that is what makes it such an great game. The game is amazing to play and the 3D dynamics are great. I was fully surprised to see the XNA engine performing so well. I remember my last title Weapon of Choice we used the XNA engine, but it felt like a toy. Some of the mods created to convert the engine to fully 3D have made it on par with many of the other 3D engines.”

At the end of the interview Porter said he’d like to challenge any Gamertell reader who owns an Xbox to try the game.

“Right now we are scheduled for a Fall ‘09 release and will be definitely on the Xbox Community Games network (check out our web site at tntgaming.net for updates),” he said. “So download it and at 400 points (5 dollars USD) you can’t lose. There is even a 5 minute trial for the game that lets you test it and try it before you buy it. So what are you waiting for? Go out and log on to our site, get our last game, and enjoy the amazing story line and support Indy gaming.”

Site [TNT Gaming] Read [Game Banshee]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Before I wrote “E3 could probably use a little more GameCock,” I tried to reach former GameCock CEO Mike Wilson for comment. Since he wasn’t with SouthPeak, the company that acquired GameCock in 2008, it took a little extra time to get hold of him.

It turns out he was at E3 2009 this year but not wearing the bright birdly garb or years past. He had a response to my opinion piece, a few comments about E3 2009 and let loose a little news of his own.

Here’s what Wilson had to say/type:

I agree with your article. The show floor was a nice balance, I thought, for the 30 mins or so I was on it. Seems like you could have conversations all day without yelling, and the techo/sweatfest aspect was way down. Cool.

But definitely a lot missing on the excitement front. Not sure how much of that was everyone being shellshocked or having survivor’s guilt because it’s 2009. But people seemed pretty bored.

Even the Hotel Fig[ueroa] was WAY down tempo from last year.

The rest of his email reveals that he’s not quite as caged as I had thought, although it sounds as if he won’t be putting on any colorful plumage any time soon. He was at Hotel Fig during E3 for a few meetings.

Harry [Miller] and I have another company going, which you’ll be hearing about soon, but even we are adjusting to the times a bit. One solid game IP at first, nothing too flashy.  2010 seems like a good year to fully come out of hibernation (hopefully with the rest of the biz) and have some noisy old fun. Maybe even by Austin GDC if the summer doesn’t bring any new catastrophes.

Wilson indicated there are not any demos of this secret game but there will be “soon.” Let’s hope his new project manages to ruffle at least a few feathers, in a good way, of course.

Read [Gamertell]

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This week is a good week to sign into Sony PlayStation Home if you haven’t already.

Today (June 2, 2009) and throughout the E3 Conference players are being awarded free items for their avatars as well as sneak peeks at upcoming games at the Presentation Podium. Between interviews with publishers and developers of PlayStation games Sony is flashing codes that will unlock freebies.

Today’s broadcast featured a sneak peek of upcoming game Heavy Rain by Sony Computer Entertainment so I went on YouTube to find the trailer for a closer look. Not exactly the one shown at E3 but this video will show you how gorgeous the game looks, check it out:

To claim your free gifts or check out new footage of upcoming games visit Sony Home and find Presentation Podium on your map. Watch the videos, the codes will flash between interviews. Or keep up with the events on the PlayStation website to interview times.

With the E3 Conference taking place there’s nothing new at the Mall. However over at Xi: The Hub, paranoia is stretching the AlphaAFK team thin as the struggle to find the spy among them and now another tester has gone missing. Between ransacking their homes looking for the surveillance camera that has been recording their every move they must figure out what Xi is all about and quickly. Players are asked to take on another maze in Alpha Zone 3, a riddle maze full of mind boggling riddles to receive their next fragment.

Read [Playstation Blog] Also Read [Playstation E3 Blog] Site [PlayStation]

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I just received a message from Christina Simmons, Assistant Account Executive Public Relations and Social Influence Marketing at Mullen Public Relations about an event taking place on Gaia Online May 26, 2009. Fans of The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series will have another chance to talk to the books author Michael Scott.

I asked if this event would include additional games for Gaia users to enjoy while they participated in the forum chat.

“Yes, Gaia is planning to extend the partnership with Random House for 3-4 more additional book-related promotions this year,” she said and added she wasn’t sure if all the book-related programs would include games yet. “Michael (Scott) will participate in an online forum chat with members of Gaia Online about his new book, as he did with the first two books of his series. This Michael Scott promotion on Gaia Online is part of a larger online campaign that immerses fans in the world of Nicholas Flamel through a game that features the author guiding them along their experience. A link to this game can be found at GaiaOnline.com.”

After speaking with Simmons I was given the opportunity to talk to Michael Scott about his books as well as his feelings about the upcoming event. My first question was why he felt this book has become so popular among Gaia users and how this book came about.

“I think the series struck a chord with the Gaia users because they could very clearly identify with the world and the main human characters - Sophie and Josh. My heroes are 15 and would have the same worries and concerns as many of the Gaia users,” Scott explained. “They’re concerned about school and clothes, they listen to the same music that many Gaia users would listen to, play the same games. They also have laptops and cell phones; Josh goes online the first time he discovers Nicholas Flamels real name. He does the same when he first comes across Scathach. Sophie and Josh use email - Josh has multiple accounts, with AOL, Fastmail, Yahoo and, of course, Gmail. So that made my characters believable.”

He said his stories are well researched and took years to create using information anyone can find for themselves in books.

“I started researching this series a long time ago. I had been developing the idea of a modern fantasy, a contemporary fantasy set very much in the here and now, using recognisable places as the settings and using modern teens as heroes.  Because of my life-long interest in mythology, legend and history, I also knew I wanted to use that as the basis of the story,” Scott explained. “When I initially started developing the story, the hero was Dr. John Dee, but Dee was never quite right. And then, in the year 2000, when I was in Paris, in the Rue Du Montmorency, I came across the oldest house in Paris, the home of the alchemist, Nicholas Flamel.”

Scott went on to explained that Flamel was famous in France and during his trip even found his characters.

“There are even streets [there] named after both Nicholas and Perenelle. But Nicholas was also a bookseller and, while I have been a writer most of my life, I was also a bookseller.  I loved the idea [which is the basis of the Flamel series] of a bookseller buying a magical book which changes his life forever,” Scott said and added he started the series from locations people would be familar with. “The series opens in San Francisco. It is set in locations where the Gaia readers are either familiar with (they know what the Golden Gate Bridge looks like), or they can go online and look at images of Notre Dame in Paris, or Stonehenge in England. All of these contemporary elements made the series so accessible.  And of course, what was really interesting is that the Gaia users began posting questions about the series, which were, in turn answered by other users.”

During the interview I asked with books like Harry Potter already in circulation, what makes his book different from the already familiar Potter series.

“I know The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series has been compared with Harry Potter but then, most Young Adult writing is.  Mine perhaps more than most because Nicholas Flamel is mentioned (though he never appears) in the first Harry Potter book,” he said. “What makes mine different is the fact that it is contemporary. All the places mentioned in the text exist. I give street and place names. It is possible to track the twins across Paris or through London. All the characters exist, so the readers can go online and research the historical Flamel, Dee and Machiavelli, or look up the myths and legends surrounding Scathach, Bastet or the World Tree. All of this additional material adds an extra layer to the story.” 

Scott added that meeting fans on GaiaOnline is an interesting way to bring attention to his books by meeting his audience and though at first was unsure of what to expect, but was surprised of the immediate response he received in the first session with fans on GaiaOnline.

“I did a 90 live chat for the first book, The Alchemyst. In those 90 [minutes] there were 427 pages of questions, with each page having multiple posts. Over 70,000 Gaia users voted in a poll. That day, and for several days afterward, there were so many hits to my website at DillonScott.com that the site went down on three separate occasions,” he said. “When we looked at the logs, about 90% were coming from the Gaia site. It was an inspired piece of marketing. When users logged in, they got a virtual item - an icon of The Alchemyst book - for their characters. I later learned that over 78,000 Gaia users had claimed their icon. When book 2, The Magician, was published, users got a red diamond - which appears on the cover, for their character. Additionally, the first few chapters of each book were available to download.  However, in advance of the publication of book 3, The Sorceress, we went one further and offered the entire text of The Alchemyst available to download. Gaia has this in advance of anyone else and, in the first weekend, 13,000 copies were downloaded.”

Scott said he still visits his GaiaOnline page to answer questions if there are any and was amazed to find out how much his fans knew about his work.

“I went back to Gaia for book 2 and indeed will be back again for book 3, though, to be honest I never left,” he said. “My avatar is still active and I continued to log onto GaiaOnline for months afterward answering questions, though by that stage the fans were active enough and were answering for me. Sometimes, they even knew stuff - like publication dates of foreign editions - that I didn’t.”

The next session with Micheal Scott will be held on May 26, 2009, to attend register on GaiaOnline and visit his page. The site is free to join and once registered visit Scott’s page and enjoy. There’s even a link to his interactive game featuring Scott himself guiding players through each puzzle.

Site [GaiaOnline] Site [Micheal Scott’s Official Website]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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On June 2009, a new game developed by GameInvest and published by Oxygen Games will throw players into the chaotic world of medicine.

Imagine just graduating from a top medical school and landing a job in a hospital so small that you are the only nurse. You may get that chance when Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward is released for the PC, Wii and DS.

After spending a few crazy hours on Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward, I had a chance to talk with Mariana Cardoso, General Manager of GameInvest, about the game and to find out what it takes to be a nurse in this crazy hospital.

“Hysteria Hospital challenges players to manage their time and actions effectively in order to accomplish the goals of the game,” Cardoso explained. “Just like in school or in a work environment, audiences must sometimes make quick decisions in order to manage the tasks at hand. Although Hysteria Hospital is a game, it is also an exercise in time management and organizational skills.”

When Cardoso mentioned time management and organizational skills, she wasn’t kidding. The beds have to be changed, clinic areas cleaned and records to find for each individual patient that comes in the door. And I thought babysitting a group of hyperactive 8-year-olds at a summer camp was a nightmare, these patients can become down right demanding.

“Hysteria Hospital has been in development for a little over a year, about the time frame we expect for most of our titles,” she explained. “Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward is part of a series of hospital-themed time management style games that we have developed. The other game in the series is called Hospital Hustle and it was released recently for the PC. The games share themes, but vary based on certain gameplay mechanics, characters and other game features such as the number of levels and in-game objects.”

She said with each level completed the tasks players must perform become harder but the craziness that takes place as you treat patients are hilarious from the mechanical bed that smashes them back to health to the whirlwind actions of the doctor, the animations are amazing and looked fun to create.

“We had a lot of fun developing the hospital equipment in the game. For example, the equipment designed to treat stress is actually a seat shaped like a cow on top of a spring,” she said. “You place your patient on the cow-seat and the spring swings the patient around until they become completely de-stressed. Our brainstorm sessions to develop creative and wacky concepts for the hospital equipment were certainly fun, and usually took place on playgrounds and during Lego building sessions. More than anything else, we hope that audiences will find Hysteria Hospital amusing, funny and truly entertaining. And, if you want to learn the basics of good hospital management - swinging patients from the hair while taking them from treatment to treatment - while also having a laugh then you should definitely try playing Hysteria Hospital.”

This game was definitely as entertaining as cute.

“We as a team came up with the hospital-themed concept for this game as we were inspired by one of our team members who likes to impersonate a doctor on weekends and prescribe outrageous solutions for common problems like dandruff. Just kidding,” she joked. “When coming up with ideas we typically try to conceptualize the style of gameplay, the story theme and art style simultaneously, so that when we begin implementing the development of the game, we have a clear path to successfully achieve our vision.”

Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward is scheduled to be released in June 2009 for the PC, Wii and DS. To play, PC users assign tasks to their character using a mouse, Wii owners use the Wii remote and DS users use their stylus to navigate their nurse through 63 levels of emergency room challenges. The game received a Pegi of 7+ and an E for Everyone by the ESRB for comic mischief and mild language.

Site [Oxygen Games] Site [GameInvest]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

A new PlayStation Home world called Backstage with Guitar Hero just opened on March 27, 2009, and already fans of the Guitar Hero franchise have poured into the new game space to rock out with friends.

According to Carlson Choi, director of Interactive Marketing at Activision/Blizzard, the idea for the “Backstage with Guitar Hero” game space began nine months ago with Sony.

“Rather than creating a publisher focused space (eg Activision Space), we’ve decided to create a franchise driven space around Guitar Hero. Our expectation is for this to be a virtual community where our PS3 Guitar Hero fan base can hang out, check out what is new for the franchise and share their Guitar Hero experiences with others,” Choi explained.

The new Home world is easy to find using the world map on your virtual PSP. Once there you can explore the lounge area, watch videos of upcoming Guitar Hero games or even try your hand at the Guitar Hero mini-game. During the event gamers were given a chance to play the game and those with the highest score will be rewarded with a prize. The game is simple, similar to the once popular electronic game Simon Says using your button pad to strum the cords of an electric guitar.

But just as Activision is providing a fun space for PS3 Home users, fans will also help Activision with shaping the future of this popular game’s Home space.

“Since this is a community for our PS3 Guitar Hero fans, our goal is to listen to what they want and design around their expectations.  We already have some ideas on what we’d like to do with the space but it will all depend on what the community tells us before we actually solidify the next phase,” Choi said and added “we are in discussions with our partner at Sony for future phases of the “Backstage with Guitar Hero” space.”

Here’s a glimpse of the new Home world “Backstage with Guitar Hero:”

Site [PlayStation] Site [Guitar Hero]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Now living the swashbuckler’s life is only a click away on the web.

I recently sat down and spoke with the managing director of Inova Interactive, Larbi Belrhiti about his game Piracy Age. Piracy Age is a massive multiplayer online game where players take on the role of a pirate, manage a crew and, according to the site, “reach absolute notoriety and fear on the seas, and use the means of terror and force to achieve it.”

Piracy Age was released this month (March 2009) and joins Inova Interactive’s first MMO game Mafia Boss which yielded 1.3 million registered players and paved the way for other games since its release in 2005.

“Even though the game was a success story, we have been working hard since 2006 to make a step forward in this niche of MMO browser-based games,” Belrhiti explained. “In the company, I am the person in charge of creating the game concepts. I always wanted to find a pirate game I would love to play but never found one that would be intuitive enough for me to play. Therefore I have started working on this idea of a new pirate game that would the interface of a strategy PC game like Age of Empire. It took us three years to get Piracy Age ready, however, Piracy Age is just like the top of the iceberg. We have actually been thinking of building a gaming network and wanted to find a way to offer many games for players to play on the same website, with one account.”

Belrhiti said it took so long to create the game because “it took us one year to build a gaming platform that would be able to hold many games.”

To help cut down development time, as Belrhiti explains, “[O]ur technical team came up with a ingenious approach to build a game generator. We would actually put the game concept in files, put the creatives, images and skinning in a directory and give everything to the game generator. The game generator will then generate a game automatically. This game generator took us 2 years of heavy engineering to get done. So as you might be asking yourself, Piracy Age is 100% generated and was not hard coded.”

Belrhiti added that this approach to creating the web-based game allowed his team to offer a game that can not only evolve but can be produced very quickly and players can play without the worry of constant downloading of content just to play a level.

“As you may know, the game is 100% web-based and players can play from their laptop, from work, from a friend’s computer (or) from a cyber cafe. They don’t need to install anything. However we are very limited by the bandwidth and we cannot send tons of images,” he explained. “Therefore we have been using a cutting edge technology used mainly on Web 2.0 websites where the user does only load the images of the page that are needed. The page doesn’t have to refresh completely and we save a lot of bandwidth to be able to send more graphics than before. This also gives a much better interactivity of the game and makes it look more of a PC strategy game.”

Belrhiti said the second challenge of creating Piracy Age, was avoid a childish looking game that players would not want to participate in for competitions. So the game has very mature themed activities and characters that make up the player’s crew.

“We have introduced hookers that are essential in order to generate gold and even to keep your crew happy. Your pirate’s and slave’s happiness is based on weapons, rum and tobacco. Also priests are used to to rescue your wounded pirates in battles but need rum to be happy,” Belrhiti said. “So these are features of the game that make it unique and thrilling compared to other pirate games. For a game almost solely based around one screen, Piracy Age is still a very strategical game, which requires careful planning and consideration, or else your pirate empire could soon be lost. The most important part about the game that is very important is the game community.This is a game of strategy and players cannot get to the top by themself, they need be part of a crew or create their own crew.

“Players take on the role of a pirate with their own private island, which they can use however they see fit to come out on top as the wealthiest player in the game. Whether you buy your way to the top or work your way there through careful strategies, everyone will eventually have the chance at being the grand prize winner.”

The game is free and has no time limit for how long players choose to play. Registration is quick and easy. Once registered you can pick an island and start raiding the high seas to make a name for yourself. The transactions and events happen smoothly because the page doesn’t have to constantly refresh every time a change is made. But players who enjoy the game have an option to buy subscriptions or credit packages (PayPal, Via or Mastercard).

Belrhiti said his company listens to the players and will continue to evolve the game according to the needs of the games community including interaction through the company’s Facebook page

“We are a company that is very close to our players. We listen to our players suggestions and keep improving the gameplay and proposing new features,” he explained. “In three years, I would say that the game will be as attractive and as easy to play for everybody but with the greatest player community. I think that we all played games with a strong passion 10-15 years ago, maybe they were not as evolved as today’s (online games) but we have been so passionate. This is how I see our games, not industrial games but games with a strong human and social aspect.”

Site [Piracy Age] Site [Mafia Boss]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

It’s not personal - it’s business. It’s a concept from the original Godfather movies that holds true even in EA’s Godfather games. You think strategically and take actions that will put the family in the best possible position. When The Godfather II is released April 7, 2009, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 owners will be called upon to take care of business again - moving up in the ranks and becoming a dons who leads their own crime families in New York, Havana and Miami.

Well, maybe perhaps players will start taking things personally once The Godfather II‘s out. After all, it will be the first entry in the series with multiplayer, and your friends may take it personally if you whack them.

Gamertell was fortunate enough to get the chance to talk to John Salera, the EA Redwood Shores Senior Development Director, about the studios’ work on The Godfather II game.

Gamertell: How long has EA Redwood Shores been working on The Godfather II?
John Salera, EA Senior Development Director We’ve actively been working on it since early in 2007. But if you look at what we did when we built the 360 version of The Godfather: The Game and then the PS3/Wii versions of The Godfather: The Game, you can see we were starting to play around more with some of the concepts that became central in GFII: building up your crew, a more robust RPG system, and finding ways to enhance the racket gameplay.

GT: How closely would you say The Godfather II game follows the events and story of The Godfather: Part II?
JS: As you know the events in the second Godfather movie occur across two time periods: the early 1900’s and the late 1950’s / early 1960’s. When making a video game based on another property, be it a movie, a book, or anything else, it’s very important to determine what makes the most sense and will be the most fun when you have a controller in your hands. We focus on the latter part of the story. And in particular, we use the story told in the movie as a backdrop to the story the player’s character – Dominic – experiences. There are key touch-points that people will recognize from the film like the blackmail of Senator Geary or the meeting of the Dons in Cuba, and Dominic plays an important role in many elements of that story while following his own experience and building his own empire within the Corleone Family.

GT: So far, only PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions have been announced. Any chance of a Wii version sometime before the end of 2009?
JS: We really enjoyed how The Godfather: Blackhand Edition turned out on the Wii but there we don’t have any news about that right now.

GT: It has been confirmed that Robert Duvall is returning to reprise his roll as Tom Hagen in The Godfather II, will any of the other original actors be appearing in the game?
JS: Unfortunately, several of the characters played by the actors we worked with on The Godfather: The Game didn’t survive to the end of the first movie.  It was great to have the chance to work with Robert Duvall again – he’s a total pro. And, his return as Tom Hagen plays both a key role in the story line, as well as adds a key feature to the player. When the player is looking to send his family members to bomb or take over a rival family’s venue, Tom will give the player advice as to whether the attack will be successful.

GT: Can you give us any details on how, or if, the story changes depending on whether or not players choose to side with Hyman Roth or the Corleone Family?
JS: The story line for Dominic doesn’t fork based on how you play. The freedom for the player is in how you achieve the next goal or story event point. How you decide to build your empire through taking over and defending the rackets and crime rings, how you build your family, and which families you aggravate the most provide a play experience which is quite varied.

GT: The Godfather II is the first in the series to cover multiple cities. Will New York City, Havana and Miami be as detailed and open as Little Italy was in The Godfather: The Game?
JS: With Godfather II, we greatly improved upon how we built the world. We were able to build cities that are much more 3D in nature. The player has more freedom, is afforded opportunities to be more creative in how they approach a given situation, and is treated to much greater visual variety. The team worked hard to bring three very different locations to life, while also improving both the visuals and game play in those spaces.

GT: It seems like the characters and environments in The Godfather II look even more detailed and lifelike than they did in The Godfather: The Game. How did you pull this off?
JS: Thanks. The team worked hard on improving every visual aspect of the game. We co-developed the renderer with the Dead Space team, and made numerous improvements to our engine which affords us much more freedom in how we built the world and added a lot of bells and whistles. The characters, in addition to being a visual step-up from Godfather, are also much more varied in their appearances. Previously, we were much more limited in the variety of NPC’s we could have displayed at the same time. In Godfather II, every NPC is visually unique in some regard. We also greatly increased the variety and visual quality of our vehicles.

GT: What new or tweaked returning elements of The Godfather II are you especially proud of?
JS: I think the answer would vary based on who you asked this of on the team, because we each have our own favorite parts of the game. But for me personally, it’s how different each of the cities feel. We didn’t want to create huge, massive spaces where all you’re doing is commuting from one spot to another. Instead we focused on creating three cities that each feel different and are densely packed with game play opportunities. I really like the pacing and how the player is given access to the cities as it ramps the challenge well.

GT: In The Godfather II, players have the ability to command a squad of gangsters - how many underlings can you have at once, and how does this affect gameplay? Does this mean that there are multiple ways to handle missions?
JS: A huge part of Godfather II is building your family. As you progress through the game, building up your empire, you will be able to hire up to 7 Family Members. These are special NPC’s which you can customize with RPG attribute upgrades, promote through the ranks and add skill specialties, arm with weapon upgrades, and even select their clothing style.

You can select up to 3 of the Family Members into battle with you as Crew. You can also command your Family Members remotely via the Don’s View to attack or bomb enemy locations and defend locations you control. Which Family Members you select to be your active Crew, how you’ve customized and invested in them, and which specialties you’ve given them adds variety to every aspect of the game.  In addition, many of the rackets you fight through to gain control will have multiple paths utilizing different specialties and their defenses will vary based on the standing of the competing family.

GT: The “Don’s View” adds a strategic element to The Godfather II that wasn’t in The Godfather: The Game. What inspired you to add in this extra gameplay element, and do you feel it adds a new level of realism to the game?
JS: Early on we decided to focus on the organized part of organized crime. What distinguishes the crime families in the Godfather universe is that they don’t just run around the streets randomly blowing things up and killing people – their actions always have a purpose. And that purpose is to further develop their empire, weaken an enemy empire, and always to increase their income.

The Don’s View – a 3D model of each city – is a view into how a Don would think about the world. Where are the key rackets? Who owns them? How well are they defended? What locations do I need to take over to complete my Crime Rings? The Don’s View and the entire strategy layer we added to Godfather II are there to give the player’s actions context and meaning – just like a real Don. You are calling the shots this time around and the Don’s view is a great tool to help players make those decisions.

GT: The reactions of rival families in The Godfather II, like constant assaults on businesses, sabotaging establishments and strategic attacks, seem like very realistic behaviors. What inspired the complex behavior patterns of opposing families?
JS: In the early development stages of the strategy aspect of Godfather II, we created a card game to model that part of the overall experience. All of the elements were represented in simple form: rackets, fronts, guards, made men, income, guards, attacking, bombing, and defending. Over the course of months, we played numerous sessions and refined both the rule set and how the AI behaved. In order to get realistic decision-making on the part of the AI families, at each step we compared what the players of the card game did with how our AI model was working. Over time, we were able to get the AI to behave like the players by ensuring they valued the various decisions in the way the people showed they were.

GT: Likewise, it is also intriguing that certain opponents have to be strategically investigated and assassinated in order to permanently remove them as an adversary. Can you offer an example of some key players who can, or can’t, be removed from the game using this tactical approach?
JS: Taking out a Hit on an enemy Family Member is a powerful tactic the player can pursue. The targets are the Made Men, Consiglieri, and eventually even the Don’s of the opposing families. By performing favors for people in the world, the player will be rewarded with intel as to the hangouts and kill conditions for the other Family Members. By tracking down their targets and executing them with the correct kill condition, the player can permanently remove an opposing Family Member from the game. Otherwise if you just kill an opposing Family Member, he will be hospitalized and return after a time, just like your Family Members.

The Don’s are a special case. They are each found in their Compounds – well guarded fortresses which only become available to attack once the player has taken over all of that family’s rackets and fronts. To kill the Don, the player must have one of his Demo Crew members set a charge on the gas main, and then escape the building before it blows up in a massive fireball.

GT: The multiplayer mode is one of the biggest surprises of The Godfather II. What made you decide to include this extra element to the game?
JS: Building up your family, and then taking them online was one of the original pillars of our game development strategy. Just like a crime family, we wanted players to be able to interact in a cooperative and competitive community online. In Godfather II, the single player experience focuses on the main character Dominic and his ascendancy in the Corleone family. However, The Family Members the player hires in the single-player game are the characters that are available in online play. So, how the player builds his family, how he invests in them and customizes them is important not only to the single-player game, but also to the multiplayer experience.

GT: We already know that performance in multiplayer can provide players with extra money and weapon licenses. Are there any other perks that come from being the best The Godfather II multiplayer player, other than bragging rights?
JS: Having the connection between the single-player and multiplayer games was important to us since we didn’t want multiplayer to feel tacked-on like it sometimes can. What the player does in multiplayer affects the single-player experience. As the players perform different tasks based on their specialty or specialties, as well as racks up kills and executions they’ll earn income which will go to their single-player bank roll.

Also, as they play online games, they’ll accumulate Honors. Once enough Honors are earned, the player can assign higher and higher level weapons to these Family Members – both in single-player and multiplayer games. This is a huge benefit.

Bragging rights via Leaderboards is also a key perk. And that’s not all, we have some more exciting multiplayer coming soon.

GT: Is there anything else you want players to know about the latest entry in the series? Perhaps any aspect that you’re particularly proud of, or that you think really makes The Godfather II stand out?
JS: Mainly, we hope people have fun playing the game! We had a lot of support from our fans after they got their hands on The Godfather: The Game, and the team worked very hard to give them a sequel which improves on nearly every aspect of the original. We tried to fix the most common complaints, and keep the best parts intact, and also add in some brand new things like multiplayer and the Don’s View.

GT: With the original Godfather game doing so well, and such a great buzz around The Godfather II, would it be realistic to expect a game based on The Godfather: Part III?
JS: Well we’d love to tell you the answer to that, but we’d have to eliminate you if we did, so probably better to let that one sit just now….

Gamertell would like to thank John Salera for taking the time to speak with us about The Godfather II.

Site [The Godfather II]

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In an interview with MTV News, writer Josh Schwartz confirmed that the Marvel’s merry band of mutants will indeed be expanding with another film, this time centering around the mini-series X-Men: First Class.

The veteran TV writer for the CW’s Gossip Girl and NBC’s Chuck did state in the interview that, despite early rumors, he would not be directing X-Men: First Class.

“I would be terrified to have the first thing I direct be a giant franchise movie.”

Schwartz explained.

X-Men: First Class details the early days of the first five X-Men who were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in 1963: Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Beast, Iceman and Angel, all of whom have already appeared in the three previous X-Men movies.

Originally released in 2007, X-Men: First Class only ran for eight issues and has since been picked up as a monthly series by Marvel. 

When asked about what the film would be about, Schwartz was mum about any actual details, only referring to what he would like to tell if given the chance:

“The Dark Phoenix storyline is probably the high point of the comics’ storytelling. But they did that. So we’ll find more fertile soil somewhere else.”

“I’m not really allowed to say anything,” he added. “They’re watching me as we speak. It’s exciting, it’s a huge honor and we’re just getting started.”

There is also no word yet on any possible cast, although it is doubtful that any of the original X-Men cast will be returning for this new film.

With the possible X-Men Origins: Magneto in the works, and the May 1, 2009, release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine coming in just a few months, X-Men fans have plenty to look forward to in the next few years.

Read [MTV News] Also Read [IGN] Site [Marvel Comics]

Full Story » | Written by Christopher Buckner for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Sure, Harmonix is on to bigger and badder things these days, what with the massive success of Rock Band (and the first two Guitar Hero titles that almost single-handedly birthed the rhythm-music genre), but CEO Alex Rigopulos is still interested in making a sequel to the developer’s awesome Amplitude. MTV is reporting on a recent interview in which Rigopoulos stated an interest in continuing the ultra-funky series.

From the post:

“I’d love to do a sequel to Amplitude, actually. It’s an issue of prioritization. It’s challenging enough to keep the Rock Band train on the tracks. We’ve grown from about 80 or 90 people a couple years ago to more than 300 now, and managing that kind of growth takes focus. For us, that lingering question of ‘what are we going to do about Amplitude’ is still very much out there. I would love to come back and do it right for the PlayStation 3, for example.”

I would love to see an Amplitude sequel - Frequency (the prequel) and Amplitude were two of the coolest, most fun pre-Guitar Hero music games ever made. Sometimes I even prefer to throw Frequency into the old PS2 instead of starting up a GH session. Those games had a purity and a slickness that just can’t be matched. I hope this happens - even if it’s far down the road at this point.

Read [ARS Technica] Via [MTV]

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During this year’s 2009 Consumer Electronics Show held January 8, 2009, to January 11, 2009, Psyko Audio Labs Inc. was announced winner of the Best of Innovations Design and Engineering award for the headphone category.

Pysko Audio Labs new innovative headset, the Pskyo 5.1 Headphones, competed against 13 other companies to include Audiovox and Plantronics for the title which was awarded January 11, 2009, on the CNET Live Stage at the Sands Expo and Convention Center at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA).

I had a chance to speak with James Hildebrandt, Head Psyko at Psyko Audio Labs Inc., and asked whether or not receiving the award sets a new standard for Psyko’s future products.

“Lucy, we are up to the challenge but consider this. the Consumer Electronics Show is the largest show of its type in the world and we won the Innovations Design and Engineering award for headphones on our first product. We are a start-up company and beat out every other headphone maker including all the established names in the business,” Hildebrandt explained.

“In the last couple of days we were named as one of the three finalists in the CNET CES Best of Show Products in gaming along with a Wii product and an nVidia product, again beating out every other headphone company at the show. This is your classic David and Goliath story. That is an amazing standard to maintain. Stay tuned for more from Psyko Audio.”

As Hildebrandt explains in his video presentation (below), the headset is designed to give gamers a “perfect room” sound by delivering the sound that would normally come from the computer and give the player. In the video he says the Pskyo 5.1 will “solve an immediate problem for gaming” and will provide a unique experience.

“We are focused on delivering headphones that give gamers a richer audio experience and the precision sound directionality that can improve their reaction time and game performance,” Hildebrandt said. “Our current product is for the PC gamer and we will be working on expanding that to other platforms.”

While reading the specifications of the headset, I must say its very impressive because the speaker is not placed in the ear cups. Instead, the sound is delivered through five speakers located in the headband and bridge, distributed through the wave guides.

According to the video, the sound is distributed to the ear cups to provide a natural surround sound experience. The waveguides directs all the front sounds to flow past the front of your ears and all the rear sounds to flow past the rear of your ears, similar to the way sounds interact with your ears in a room system.

“Every speaker is in a precise location to create the correct timing and volume differences to both ears just like sounds in a room around you,” Hildebrandt explains in the video.

The Psyko 5.1 headphones will be available in limited quantities for both Mac and PC systems during first half of 2009 for $299.

Site [Psyko Audio Labs, Inc.] Read [CNet] Also Read [Gadgetell]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

I was browsing the net as usual to keep myself abreast of all the game industry news when my friend and fellow Gaian told me about a journal he found on Gaia Online announcing that Gaia was laying off members of its staff. I couldn’t find that journal but at any rate that’s simply horrible with the holidays just around the corner. But to make sure I’m reporting the truth and nothing but the truth I contacted Kate Hourihan of Mullen PR to clarify what is going on.

“Hi Lucy,
Out of respect for those impacted by the staff reductions, we’re unable to comment on specific employees. With the current economic conditions we found it
necessary to turn to staff reductions and other operating cost cuts as we head into an uncertain 2009. Above all, our priority is to continue to deliver an exciting experience to our users and the measures we’ve taken will enable us to do that.
Best, Kate”

According to WorldsInMotion, Gaia Online released 36 staff members. But Gaia is not the only gaming company tightening their belts according to Nobosh.

Companies inlcuding Midway Austin Games shaved 25 percent of its staff, WildTangent laid off 20 percent, Midways pinkslipped almost 200 and Electronic Arts shaved six percent of its staff to brace for the new year. Even LucasArts had to tighten its belts a bit and released more than 100 employees.

The current economy has shaken many other gaming companies and causes worry about staying afloat through 2009. In an article by Ray Poirier in Gaming Today, Poirier writes “Nearly every major gaming company has laid off workers in the current economic slump and so far the end isn’t in sight, nor is the impact on the various communities.”

In his interview with American Gaming Association President and CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Fahrenkopf agreed and added, “These [gaming] complexes employ thousands and thousands of workers. And those thousands of workers buy cars, buy washing machines. So it’s a major negative impact on the communities where we do business when we have to cut back.”

Read [Worlds in Motion] Also Read [Gaming Today] Also Read [Kotaku] Site [Gaia Online] Site [Mullen PR]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

If the words of Hiroshi Takai are any indication, the Xbox 360 has an excellent chance to usurp the Playstation’s crown as the premiere console of the role-playing genre.

Takai, who developed The Last Remnant, recently told interview with ComputerAndVideoGames that programming games for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console has proven “easier” than accomplishing the same task for the Playstation 3.

In the interview he made it clear that he enjoyed flexing his programming chops with the 360 in addition to becoming familiar with Unreal Engine 3. He also mentioned that he hoped future projects would be possible on Microsoft’s system and help increase the console’s relevance to Japanese gamers.

For Nintendo supporters, this admission is surprisingly ironic, as they are keenly aware of Square spurning the Nintendo 64 because developers felt they could achieve more with Sony’s original Playstation. At that time, they believed that the N64’s cartridge-based method of delivering games paled in comparison to Sony’s CD-based presentation potential.

In this case, Square-Enix is saying in so many words that the 360’s streamlined method of delivery is far less taxing than the complex architecture that is inherent to Sony’s Playstation 3. One could easily interpret this as saying that Sony is thus receiving a taste of its own elite-system medicine.

Interestingly, while Takai may have enjoyed working on Last Remnant for the 360, his satisfaction has not been reciprocated thus far, as the game has been greeted with mixed reviews.

Obviously, there is still more work to be done to unlock the 360’s potential, as well as that of Sony’s Playstation 3.

Read [Kotaku] Via [CVG]

Full Story » | Written by Jason Townsend-Rogers for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Recently, in an interview Yahoo! Games, film director and part of the development team for Boom Blox Steven Spielberg let the public know about the different problems he’s had with game cinematics.

In the interview he made it brutally obvious that he has been a long-time gamer bring up some of his past with gaming going all the way back to Pong. One of the ways he brought it up was toward the end of the interview where he is quoted as saying, “I thought Pong was the Woodstock of videogaming.” Being that it was one of the first big games of its time, that analogy is pretty accurate.

Spielberg also noted the failing of game cinematics and brought up that a lot of cut scenes try to tell a story. However, due to the obvious switch between gameplay and cut scenes, some gamers take a blind eye to what the cut scenes are trying to show.

To illustrate his point, he brought up the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises saying that the cut scenes don’t work well as story telling devices. Then again, this is coming from someone who had more experience as a film director than game producer. That’s not necessarily something that would discredit him since he knows how to tell a story in a cinematic way.

One of Spielberg’s complaints with the storytelling aspect of cut scenes is the same as most gamers have: Stuff in the cut scenes often isn’t possible in the game. He used first-person shooters as an example, saying:

They go to a lot of trouble to do these [motion-capture] movies that explain the characters. And then the second the game is returned to you and it’s under your control, you forget everything the interstitials are trying to impact you with, and you just go back to shooting things. And that has not found its way into a universal narrative. And I think more has to be done in that arena.

Spielberg noted that game developers should be applauded in their attempts at telling the story. It just seems like he’s saying that if the cut scenes are to continue, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done before they really are a viable option for storytelling.

He also noted that a lot of film makers are learning quite a bit from video games and are starting to present more movies in the style that game developers try to tell the story of their games. To illustrate this he brought up the movies Wanted and The Bourne Ultimatum.

Quite a bit of Wanted does look like it should be a video game cut scene since, in terms of the action and special effects, it comes across following the look of different action games in general. A lot of the camera work for The Bourne Ultimatum was similar to the presentation of a lot of different games, like the Syphon Filter games

Read [GameDaily] Also Read [Yahoo! Games]

Full Story » | Written by Jonathan Gronli for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

In both civilian and military communities worldwide, the world of video gaming is expanding more and more, especially with popular massive multiplayer online titles. MMO games such as World of Warcraft, War Hammer and Call of Duty 4 have become a way of life and provide people with ways to meet other people who share their love of interaction through gaming.

One of the major fascinations of MMO games are the teams and communities players form while online, and a kinship a soldier often has to leave behind when he deploys. Ed Hale, a former member of 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, now a corporate executive officer for CompeteSoft, Inc., offers free online gaming servers to Soldiers across the globe.

Hale, who graduated from West Point in 1971, said the idea for the community gaming concept came to him after finishing his five-year enlistment.
“The people I worked with at Fort Bragg forged some of the most vibrant memories I carry with me, even today,” Hale said.

But after leaving the service as a ranger and infantryman, he said trying to find a career in an unstable computer industry made it hard to maintain a career, with one job layoff after another.

“(So) five years and 110 jumps later, I found myself struggling over 25 years, working for numerous firms with either hardware, software or service/support responsibilities related in some way to computers or computer peripherals,” he said.

During one of his many ‘dot com’ job searches, Hale finally found a job in Texas where he met his current business partner, Randy Van Gelder. The two would eventually start an online business for the growing competitive XBox community called TeamCompete. When they realized how many of those gamers were deploying service members, they wanted to create a community for military gamers. So they created CompeteSoft.

“Our mission is to provide a free online space where gamers in the military can play solo or in teams, set up matches, record scores and establish bragging rights, with their fellow service members, friends and families for free,” he said. “We don’t sell anything. This is something we do because our military men and women deserve anything we can provide that’s safe, fun, free and connects them to family and friends.”

Hale admitted that he never knew any gamers over the age of 50 until they began registering on the site.

“You would be surprised at the number of gamers we have met who are (50 years old) and older who play online with their kids, on teams and in online leagues,” Hale said, and added that learning about the different kinds of online gamers was just as exciting. “We have a small handful of gamers over 50 who are actually military veterans.”

Veterans like Anthony Rivera, a Navy veteran who has been using CompeteSoft since 2004, said he enjoys being able to compete in multiple video game competitions.

“I also use the software to compete and to build a team of members with like minds,” Rivera said. “Another advantage of using the software is the abilities it has to brand a team a member etc. The experience that members will get out of the program is the social network potential it has. Compared to other software on the market I believe that there is nothing like it.”

Hale said CompeteSoft was created to become a place where active duty, retired and former military service members of all branches, veterans, Department of Defense civilians and their families play online games together. Hale said anyone could participate and play along side their military counterparts on the server since the site is free.

Staff Sgt. Craig Rader, noncommissioned officer in charge, Armed Forces Network Korea - Television News, said he uses CompeteSoft because he prefers to compete and interact with ‘real’ people instead of computer-generated opponents.

“I also enjoy talking and meeting people from around the world with similar game interests as mine,” Rader said. “With global servers, I can play against gamers worldwide, so being geographically remote becomes less of an obstacle while online.”

Rader said he’s still fairly new to CompeteSoft but has enjoyed the convenient and unique features the site provides.

“(Ever since) I discovered CompeteSoft and StripesGamer through an advertisement in the Pacific edition of Stars and Stripes newspaper, the site has allowed me to reach out to other players and play in organized online matches much more conveniently than other commercial sites,” Rader explained. “I recommend this site because it offers a chance for service members to connect with each other through gaming. As far as I’ve seen, it’s the only site that caters specifically to a military audience and offers services specifically suited to the military.”

Hale predicts CompeteSoft will grow. “Military gamers may not all have the newest consoles and many prefer playing the PC games or handheld games they have been playing for the past few years. Tools and games that best satisfy the player’s lifestyle and interests will be sought out and provided as the site grows and matures,” he said.

Site [CompeteSoft] Site [TeamCompete]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Just got word from Kate Pietrelli at TriplePoint that the crew over at Gaia Online are pleased with the more than 500,000 players who have joined to play zOMG!

“Hi Lucy. Hope all is well with you. I just wanted to give you a heads up about our recent announcement that the Gaia Online casual MMO just reached over 500,000 players in Open Beta! So exciting!” Pietrelli said.

A majority of the new Gaians joined out of curiosity about zOMG! and, for existing Gaians, it’s a celebration to welcome new allies to join their crusades against the baddies.

“Positive feedback from satisfied players not only aids our team in modifying and ultimately perfecting the zOMG! gameplay experience; it is truly rewarding,” said David Georgeson, Senior Producer of zOMG! at Gaia Online. “After a lengthy development process, it’s almost surreal to watch players dig right into the storyline and begin realizing the game’s full potential.”

zOMG! is an epic Gaia Online adventure where Gaians work together or alone to discover what is going on in Gaia through quests, engaging battles with monsters and solving the mystery of zOMG! Its an interesting environment where inanimate things such as plungers, dolls and garden gnomes have taken a life of their own, and have begun attacking the local towns and villages throughout the world of Gaia. Since its launch November 6, 2008, more than 500,000 players populated the world of zOMG! and began their journey.

It was no surprise that zOMG! would become successful since Gaia Online has been a thriving destination for years, boasting more than seven million monthly members who participate daily in Gaia’s forums and virtual goods marketplace.

Good community, good people and tons of fun awaits all Gaians. Come join the game and let’s play together.

Read [Gamertell] Site [zMOG! Overview] Site [Gaia Online] Site [TriplePoint]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Gaia online is an awesome place to hang out and I know. I’m a Gaian too.

Recently I had the honor to play zOMG! during its testing phase and chatted with a few Gaians and Senior Producer Dave Georgeson about the new MMO.

When you first start the game you take a nice leisurely train ride into the Gaia online world of zOMG! That is until you realize the train is controlled by a computer that has malfunctioned. It won’t take long before you arrive safely at the train station for some training and then off on your own to explore the world. Just look out for those cute little fluffy clouds, green hamsters and garden gnomes. They can catch you by surprise if your not careful.

Overall the game is fun. Just ask Gaian Pauline Hapgood, 14 (aka “c_saw”)  who just registered on Gaia on November 22, 2008, and had been playing zOMG! for five hours when I found her doing a few quests near the town’s main water fountain area.

“So far I like the game,” Hapgood said. And when asked which part of the game was the most fun, she said “I liked cleaning out the sewers (the first quest you do when you start) and earning the rings that have powers in them, (I liked doing) the quest and also all the people. I like the game, (others will) gain a few hours (while playing) and earn Gaian gold which goes towards their Gaia account.”

zOMG!‘s senior producer, Dave Georgeson, said the user feedback he and his team have received have been mostly positive since the official open beta was released November 6, 2008.

“The player forums are full of feedback, and basically all the negative comments are in reference to bugs, which the team is working on non-stop to correct,” Georgeson said. “When the open beta first launched, the development team was busy ‘fighting fires’ (ie: dealing with server issues, etc.) but those ‘fires’ were quickly handled and now the team is focusing on adding new quests, watching players get into the game and reacting to player feedback. Some issues the team is working on now include adding quests and new features to eliminate the need for ‘grinding’ in certain zones once existing quests have been completed.”

My friend Jania Moudrak, 24, aka “GameTesterJan” has been a Gaian since 2007 and already has his own clan in zOMG! We started playing around the same time it was first released and already he’s fighting the final boss ... while I’m still wandering aimlessly low on health around in the zen garden hiding from garden gnomes and killer flamingos.

”zOMG! is a innovative MMORPG which runs directly through the web browser and does not require a download,” Moudrak said. “The game itself is very enjoyable and yes there is room for improvement but I have faith that it will continue to get better. I have already recommeneded the game to family and friends.”

Gaia members help improve the game by reporting any glitches or errors they find while they play according to Georgeson.

“Players were very successful in finding and reporting glitches in the game and the development team takes their feedback very seriously,” he said and added that the developers chose the 100 most important glitches to the players to fix and hope to correct the issues by the end of the year and work on the remaining glitches next year. “Programmers are (also) busy adding more quests, instances, features, plotlines, etc. While there are some items such as (player versus player modes) that they’d like to add soon, they are making sure to handle all the bugs and major issues from player feedback first, before adding more new features.”

Georgeson said with the upcoming new quests and features will come with a twist in the plotline since this year’s zOMG! is only chapter one of the story. The stories in my opinion are just as enjoyable as the game itself, while some people like my friend Moudrak loved the co-operative battles the most.

“I enjoy the narrative but the best part of gameplay is co-operative battles within a team. I am the clan leader of the zOMG! Elite! we have over 2,000 members so it’s a lot of fun to team up and share information or even trade/sell items,” he said and when asked his favorite moment in the game he said “I do not have a favourite moment, I suppose I would have one if it had in-game cutscenes or FMV’s. But I must admit that the hardest part of the game is the final boss Sealab X, Sealab X Body, Left Arm, Right Arm and then Sealab X Head. Although recently it has been made easier unfortunately this caused the deflation of the Sinster Scarf.”

Something to look forward to once I gain enough levels to at least put a dent in the flamingo’s beak. Just how many monsters are in the zOMG! world I wonder?

“There are hundreds, literally,” Georgeson responded. “In each zone there are at least three to four different ‘types’ of monsters, which branch off into multiple variations. All zones and areas are accessible now, but remember the plotline will be unfolding over time. There are around 20 zones total, not including one-room instances and battles.”

Whoa, that means lots and lots of monsters for Gaians to discover. I’m so toast if I don’t get into the game and level up.

I find the game very enjoyable, not too hard that it makes you want to put a size seven boot through the monitor but not too easy that its rather insulting to ones intelligence level. It’s a pretty decent game in my opinion and totally worth logging in and playing. If anything, the game is free if your trying to cut back on spending to save up for the after Christmas taxes and bills like I do.

According to Georgeson, there’s more to zOMG! than just the game that sets it apart from other MMOs.

“Many things… in particular, the ring system, which allows for more flexible gameplay than most MMO’s; the storyline, dialogue and characters are also much more fully-developed than in other online games; and zOMG! offers a long list of social content unique to Gaia Online,” he said. “Right now there are about two to three thousand players concurrently online. The servers can handle around 200-300 thousand players, so there definitely no server issues now. In Gaia Online, you can be a member of more than one “club,” but in zOMG! you can only belong to one “clan” (team) to give the development team more possibilities for the future (ie: mass pvp, battles, etc.) The programmers are building more tools and features for the clan system to make it more robust over the next few months.”

Something to look forward to if your breezing through zOMG! like Moudrak or just taking your time to enjoy the scenery like me. Georgeson said once all the bugs have been worked out Gaians will be able to enjoy the zOMG! 1.0 launch.

“It will be bigger, better, stronger and faster,” he said and hinted there is so much more to come in the next chapter.

Read [Gamertell] Site [zMOG! Overview] Site [Gaia Online]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

When I last spoke with Zach Wigal, founder of Gamers Outreach Foundation, he was just finishing up a Halo 3 tournament in January to raise funds for his community.

I caught up with Wigala few weeks ago and learned he has just earned the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award.

Wigal said he only became aware of the program a few months ago after doing an interview with Chris Erickson of 360StyleCast podcast and added that Erickson has been an MVP for a while, this year being Erickson’s third award.

“He was really the person who introduced me to the award,” Wigal said. “Prior to meeting Chris (Erickson) I hadn’t heard of it. Roughly 2 to 3 months ago, Chris told me he wanted to nominate me for the MVP award. I still only had a very basic understanding of the award, so I more or less went about my business without saying much to any of my friends. Sure enough, I got a few e-mails from Microsoft, and on October 1, (2008), they welcomed me to the MVP program. Now, I’m very familiar with what the award is.”

I contacted Michael Fosmire, MVP Lead, to find out more about this MVP award.

“The MVP Award is a worldwide program intended to express Microsoft’s appreciation for those who are leaders in the technical community as it relates to Microsoft products,” Fosmire explained. “We recognize individuals who voluntarily share their expertise with others - either in online communities such as forums, newsgroups and websites or in offline communities such as user group meetings or industry conferences. There are no hard and fast criteria about how an individual receives the award. It’s meant to express our appreciation for exceptional contributions over the past 12 month period.”

Fosmire said Microsoft’s goal is to recognize those few who really stand out as making significant positive impact in the community.

“We were thrilled to recognize Zach for his Xbox community participation and leadership,” Fosmire said and explained what happens after receiving the award. “He’ll have a number of benefits that are offered to all MVPs and he’ll have opportunities to provide feedback to Microsoft about our products and we’ll ensure that he’s enabled with information that he can use to serve the community.”

I asked Wigal what the awards meant to him personally and he said he was more than excited to receive it.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the MVP program. I’m very passionate about what I do, so to me, this award is like a form of encouragement. I’m very thankful that Chris nominated me in the first place, and I’m equally thankful to Microsoft for taking the time to consider me as an award recipient,” Wigal said. “To me, receiving this award is like Microsoft’s little ‘wink of approval.’ So, from that perspective, I suppose Microsoft felt like I was qualified because of Gamers Outreach Foundation, to become a part of the MVP program.”

Wigal said earning the award would not change his role within Gamers Outreach Foundation, instead the award will help provide potential opportunities for GOF and Microsoft to work together on future projects.

“Only time will tell. At the end of the day, I’m just the guy that happens to provide direction for our foundation’s activities,” he said. “There’s a whole group of guys I work with who are the ones that really make everything possible.As far as Gamers Outreach Foundation is concerned, this is something I believe in. Gamers Outreach Foundation has gone from a few high school kids wanting to host their own Halo tournament, to a vision of helping others through the use of video games. It’s come a long way in a very short period of time, but it still has much further to go. Interview me again in 5 years, I’ll fill you in on our progress.”

The MVP Award Program has been in existence for about 15 years, having grown from 30 MVPs to over 4,000 today Fosmire said. “Originally, we recognized those individuals who were leaders in English speaking technical newsgroups. But we’ve grown to recognize MVPs from over 90 countries and 30 languages who are active in online and offline communities spanning almost 90 Microsoft products and technologies.”

Read [Gamertell] Site [Microsoft MVP] Site [Gamers Outreach Foundation] Site [360style.net]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

If you’ve been into the big-label EA sports games (the Madden’s, the FIFA’s, the NBA Live’s, etc.) of the last few years, you’ve surely noticed that the music has gone from a fairly low priority (hovering somewhere between crowd animation and the title screen design) to a major part of the game. Up-and-comers and big name musicians alike have started to dot the aural landscape as much as the shouts and grunts of the players – and the games are all the more immersive and fun for it.

Ladytron is one of the most kick-ass electronic bands to grace the virtual fields (and courts!) of some of this year’s biggest jockfests. Featured in NBA Live 2009 and FIFA 09, the band’s distinctive electro-pop will finally hit the ears of mass audiences - check out “Runaway” in FIFA, and a very cool Blestanation remix of “Ghost” in NBA Live. The band has been a success in the dance-electronic-pop world, and they’ve certainly garnered acclaim (and a legion of fans), so it’s always great to see good (and interesting!) musicians get exposure in such a mainstream way.

We had a quick chat (via email) with band member Reuben Wu about the evolution of game music, how games have influenced Ladytron’s sound, and how marathon Zelda sessions are the best way to spend a sick day.

Gamertell.com: Is this the first time you’ve had your music featured in a videogame? How does the experience compare to having your music in a movie or commercial?

Reuben Wu: No, we’ve done this kind of thing a few times now. It’s a bit different in that gaming a a bit more underground than commercials, and you might be concentrating on the screen a bit more…

GT: What do you think about the game industry as a way of distributing/showcasing music?

RW: It made a massive step when they started playing music by recording artists. Before this when you had your Super Mario and Streetfighter 2, it was just anonymous kids’ music. Now the industry has matured in a lot of ways.

GT: As an electronic music band, have you had any influence from videogames (the sounds or soundtracks associated with them)?

RW: I think everyone is influenced in a way whether you are electronic or not. As kids, these things become hardwired into your brain: the sound Pac Man made when it touched a ghost, the Super Mario Bros. theme tune. The SID chip had such a characteristic sound to it, you begin to get attached to those bass end crunchy riffs..

GT: Is anyone in the band a gamer? Any favorites you’d like to share with us?

RW: We’ve played GTA a lot in the back of the tour bus - the possibilities are endless and it just ceases to be a ‘game’. I’ve always loved all the stuff back in the 80s and 90s - Elite on the BBC Micro, Yar’s Revenge on the Atari, Streetfighter 2, I once started and completed Legend of Zelda in one day, during a sick day off school.

GT: Right now you’re touring, but what’s next for the band?

RW: More albums, more everything…

Keep an eye out on the band’s website for tour dates, album information, and funky extras.

Read [ official website] Also Read [FIFA 2009]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

I recently interviewed Gerard Way for an upcoming issue of Geek Monthly magazine. Way, known to many as the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, wrote the 6-issue comic book series Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, currently available as a trade paperback by Dark Horse Comics ($17.95) and winner of three 2008 Eisner Awards for Best Limited Series (Way and Gabriel Ba), Coloring (Dave Stewart) and Cover Artist (James Jean).

Way is currently writing the second chapter in the series, coming out late 2008, and Universal Pictures has already optioned Umbrella Academy for a live-action feature film. But don’t expect to see a videogame based on his creation. At least, not one that he approves of.

PJ: What about an Umbrella Academy video game?

Way: You know I’d rather not. There’s a lot of stuff that goes into making a film, unfortunately. Are they making a Watchmen video game?

PJ: There’s been rumors and it’s been put off for years just like the movie.

Way: OK, I mean, I’m hoping they don’t. The movie is going to be amazing. I am completely excited to be involved in that. It means a lot to me because it will change my life and Zack [Snyder] I completely trust and Zack’s a phenomenal director. But then when you get this stuff like videogames and ####### GameBoy games and ####, that’s kinda the point where I’m like, if we make a film of Umbrella, does that mean we have to make a videogame? Because thatjust doesn’t seem cool to me. I don’t understand why every single super hero property needs to be treated like a kids toy. There’s no Batman [Dark Knight] game, right? For the new film.

PJ: I think there is going to be one next year if at all.

Way: Oh, OK. I mean, personally, to me, that’s a great idea. This film is really heavy. It elevates the genre. It’s PG-13. It’s like the first PG-13 film for super heroes - I’m not talking about Punisher and things like that - and there’s no game. I think that’s great. I don’t think there should be a game for something like that. Eventually, I guess if they do one, fine, but it’s just like a barrage, a kind of assault. It’s like video games, Taco Bell cups, and stuff and you’re just like, holy ####. I want to make a really good movie. Why’s there all this other stuff?

That’ll the stuff that bums me out, not the [Umbrella Academy] film. The film’s the film. It’s a different vision than my comic, I accept that. It is exciting. Anyone that writes a comic and isn’t excited about that is probably lying. I think it’s really exciting but it’s the other stuff that I find to be kinda taxing. I can’t even see, I mean, what are you going to do in an Umbrella Academy video game? Like, do they just have coffee? That’s what I would want out of an Umbrella Academy video game.

PJ: An anti-game…

Way: Yeah, they just have coffee and eventually they get around to fighting some trash cans and then shooting their sister in the head and that’s your video game.

It should be noted that Way’s band, My Chemical Romance, is working on a song for the Watchmen movie. Much later in the interview I brought up that Universal is one of the companies that produces movie-based games. I suggested that maybe he write his own Umbrella Academy videogame and make it his own shade of awesome. To that he replied:

Well if it’s gonna be a great game and, like I said, if there’s scenes of them drinking coffee, I could get into something like that. I love what those Aqua Teen guys did. I didn’t play the game but just the idea of the game seems amazing to me. It’s like an anti-game, basically. It wasn’t even a game, right? You just play golf and then kill zombies. It’s weird.

There will be much more from my from my interview with Way as well as comments from series’ artist Gabriel Ba and editor Scott Allie in an upcoming issue of Geek Monthly magazine.

Product Page [Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite] Site [Geek Monthly] Read [MTV SplashPage]

Special thanks to Dark Horse for the interview(s) and to Geek Monthly for letting me publish this portion of the interview on Gamertell.

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

I know it’s been awhile since I played Bumper Stars by Large Animal Games on Facebook (especially after getting my butt handed to me by my fellow game journo, Jenni Lada) but I recently went back to give the game a try. It’s a totally refreshed game from when we previously played.

I contacted Wade Tinney, co-founder of Large Animal Games, to find out more about the changes.

“Hi Lucy, Thanks for reaching out! Here is a rundown of the changes to the game: On the game play side, we completely re-programmed the game and put in a more robust physics engine,” Tinney wrote. “There were some rare situations in the original version where a Bumper Star could get caught forever between a wall and some bumpers. That should never happen now. You can now see information about other players by clicking on their profile picture in the leader board area.”

Tinney said that, at the end of the challenge, players can now leave messages for their opponents that shows up as a voice bubble by their profile in the challenge results.

Another feature are 14 new bumper stars including Barack Obama and John McCain which is now available for purchase, Tinney said within four days of its launch September 24, 2008, more than 776 users have already purchased Obama and 224 purchased McCain.

Tinney said the challenges within the game are much easier to get to now without the hassle of unloading or reloading the original flash game each time. For instance, you now earn achievements for clearing all the fruit or bumpers in a single shot.

“However, the most important change of all will become apparent over the coming months. The real reason we went to the trouble of rebuilding the game is so that we can start adding new content and features on a regular and frequent basis,” Tinney said. “So, you’ll start to see new Bumper Stars and new features pop up every week or two.”

Tinney also hinted at a multiplayer mode for the game in the future and challenges Gamertell readers to give it a try as well as try one of their new bowling game Lucky Strike Lanes.

Read [Gamertell] Site [Large Animal Games]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

If you are a fan of videogame music in any capacity, you owe it to yourself to check out OverClocked ReMix – a completely free-to-download site that offers some of the most professional sounding remixes (more accurately, re-arrangements) of game-based music anywhere in the world. Recently, the community-run site featured a full album of remixed music inspired by Doom II – titled Delta-Q-Delta, which was completed entirely by a small team of dedicated musicians and artists. Gamertell.com recently had the opportunity to speak with the project leader, Lee Barber (aka “The Orichalcon”) about the nature of “fan art”, crafting professional-grade work on nothing but blood, sweat, and tears, and how the soundscapes of classic games like Doom II lend themselves to such varied musical styles.

Gamertell.com: First off, what got you involved in the OC ReMix community? Were you a musician or a gamer first (or is this a “chicken-or-the-egg” situation?)

Lee Barber:  I was drawn to OC ReMix as a gamer. I hadn’t really tried my hand at music making or remixing at all until I came across OCR. I’m a big fan of the Doom series, as well as Final Fantasy. I’m pretty sure the first mix I heard on OCR was a remix of Ultimate Doom‘s E1L8 music, the music to which you fought the two barons of hell. From there, I downloaded Mazedude‘s Doom 2 remixes (this is going back to around 2002-03). Because of his high quality work, I was pretty much hooked to the remixes in general, and started remixing and producing music as a result.

GT: When you’re putting together a project like this, what is the workflow like? Do you assign pieces of music to individual artist, or is it a more free-flowing process?

LB: This project in particular was very free-flowing to begin with. I started with the idea that every mixer, no matter how new or experienced, could have a go at a track. So I had a lot of people signing up for tracks whom I’d never heard of before. A lot of those people disappeared after signing up, or simply weren’t showing the quality or integrity I wanted. So I culled the list of artists who weren’t up to par and started asking certain people in particular to take certain tracks, with the rest left open. The most frustrating part of putting together the project is the complete lack of control I have over the mixers involved. There was an incident about a year before we released where one of the artists had completed two very awesome remixes for the project, but due to a certain rule on OC ReMix regarding the originality of the source, those mixes couldn’t be added to the site. I really wanted to keep his tracks on the project, but he decided to withdraw them completely. I feel the project suffered without his input, as it would’ve sounded a lot more complete with the sound he had. I think it’d be easier to work with a specific cast of mixers in future, and especially if I’m in a position where I can pay them. But for now, remix projects will never flow terribly smoothly.

GT: Why Doom? What specifically went into the decision to remix the music of this game over other classics?

LB: After the first Doom ReMix project (The Dark Side of Phobos), it was inevitable that Doom 2 would be next in line. The project was actually started by another person, but he left shortly after starting it and I took over from pretty much the beginning. As I mentioned above, I love the Doom series, and the music is just so simple to work with when it comes to remixing. Slow, brooding tunes that adapt themselves easily to all sorts of styles, as demonstrated on Delta-Q-Delta. As for other classics, well, there are plenty of projects in the works for classic games right now at OCR, so we can look forward to hearing them in the near future.

GT: As a follow-up, how would making this album compare with other OC ReMix projects you’ve worked on in the past?

LB: This is the first project I administrated right through to the end. I participated in the joke Duck Hunt remix project on OCR, and had three tracks on The Dark Side of Phobos. In terms of the actual remixing, I felt that DQD was a lot harder, because I pushed myself really hard to make my tracks sound the way I specifically wanted them to sound, whereas my previous work was more relaxed and fun. I also think that DQD in general was a far slower process compared to other projects. A few of the projects released before DQD were actually started up to a year after ours started. This is mostly my fault by choice. I could’ve released much earlier if I’d wanted to. But I felt it necessary to wait until I was absolutely certain I couldn’t make the project any better by waiting longer. The victims of this long process were the mixers who got their mixes to me early, such as Mazedude’s “Westside Archvile” and Evil Horde‘s two tracks. They were both completed early in 2006, at least two and a half years before the release.

GT: The work done at OC ReMix is consistently excellent, often of professional quality – and I do know that some members have indeed branched out to do music for high-profile games. Is this a big change for what was once “just” a collective of fans?

LB: Indeed, David Lloyd (djpretzel) and Larry Oji (liontamer) have worked incredibly hard to turn OC ReMix from a general collection of fan tunes into a professionally run website. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve found OCR to be a good launching pad for the mixing talents of the artists involved. We’ve definitely seen improvement in artists as a result of the critique provided by Dave, the judges, the other remixers and the fans in general. Personally, I think it’s amazing just how much of an impact community websites can have when it comes to individual careers and lives. In 10-20 years time, who knows how many artists who started out at OCR might be high-profile names in the music industry. I don’t know if OCR will still be around then, but I’m sure there are plenty of mixers, including myself, who will credit OCR significantly for teaching and launching their careers in this industry. Although it’s not as though we’re a school of learning or anything. Really, it’s just a group of friendly people sharing thoughts and opinions in the search for the best we can produce.

GT: On a more philosophical note, do you see the work you (and others at the site) do as “fan art” or is it something more lofty?

LB: Well this is a point of contention for us, specifically because of Wikipedia. Once we’ve released albums, we’ve created Wikipedia pages for them only to find them up for deletion soon after, specifically because they’re classed as “Fan art”. Even with high publicity (including magazine reviews and praise from high-profile people in the music community), we struggle to keep the articles from being deleted. I think game music still has a long way to go before it loses the scorn of the general public, and as such the remixes and remix albums will be tagged as “fan art” and nothing more for the near future. I personally don’t mind the tag, as technically we are fans, creating art for what we love. However, when a community comes together in such a focused effort of professionalism to create a remix album, I think that effort alone raises it to a loftier level. There are remix albums for mainstream artists after all, such as Nine Inch Nails. But nobody calls those remix albums “fan art”.

GT: Finally, could you tell me a few favorite pieces of music from a game (any games, any platforms, any composer)?

LB: Haha, only a few? I could recite for days and not even come close to covering the music I love. My favourite tunes from games change from day to day, week to week. Specifically, I’d say that the chocobo theme from the Final Fantasy games is one of my favourite melodies. It’s such a broad-spectrum melody that lends itself to so many styles, both in the games and in the remixes for it at OCR. If you have a chance, grab Draggor’s “Chocarena” mix from OCR, by far the best chocobo remix out there. Recently, BioShock has impressed me with its musical score. Game music tends to be taking a cinematic approach with music lately, and they tend to sound best when the music seamlessly fits into the background as it does in BioShock, rather than hogging the attention in the foreground. Ultimately though, probably the most unique and fun artist out there would have to be Terry Scott Taylor, who is responsible for the music to The Neverhood and Skullmonkeys. Two games whose soundtracks remain untouched by remixers, if only because they’re already perfect in their own right, and I’ll be damned if I could think of how any remixer could make them better. If you haven’t heard them, then find a way to get them. That goes for everyone!

Read [Delta-Q-Delta] Also Read [OverClocked ReMix]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Gamertell staff writer Mark Rollins is heading to the fifth annual Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, WA, this weekend (August 29 - 31, 2008) and will be providing regular updates. Check back often for from-the-floor goodness and in-depth looks at:

• The demo of the new game by Hidden Paths
• Ken Levin’s keynote address
• Partying with Cryptic Studios
• New Champions Online game
• An interview with Pirates of the Burning Sea, Flying Labs
• Jumpgate Evolution
• Electronic Arts
• South Peak
• Garage Games
• Gamecock
• Meteor Games Twin Skies
• ...and so much more!

Read [Gamertell] Site [Penny Arcade Expo]

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Mark Darin, one of the graphic designers for the newStrong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People was available for an interview at the Telltale Games booth at Comic-Con 08, where he was thrilled to talk about the game and share some new information.

“Strong Bad will be a full out adventure game, with extra goodies and side stuff.” Said Darin when asked about the game. Darin indicated that the sense of humor fans enjoyed in Homestar Runner will continue in Strong Bad. Each episode will be supplemented with a rich and realistic storyline (realistic for Homestar, anyway). Expect to have fun with the game as well as laugh, “These episodes will be very much based on the storylines, the humor of it will be an added bonus.” Says Darin.

Darin assured the players that, like the Homestar Runner cartoons, this game will also be full of easter eggs and other hidden surprises. “When you beat the episode, you can continue to play and find all of the hidden stuff in the game, you can also look for it during game play.”

Darin went on to explain that the player controls the tone of any conversation. You can choose to compliment characters or insult them, which of course will effect that characters reaction. He also indicated there will only be one ending for the game, so you are free to play as you want without worry of affecting the outcome.

Darin also said this game will be as much fun to watch as it is to play, “I know sometimes friends just like to sit and watch, well this is definitely one of those games.”

I asked Darin to tell us about some of the goodies in the game, one thing he mentioned was having access to Strong Bad’s computer (a WiiWare exclusive) and the ability to send out Strong Bad-type emails and screen shots of the game to your friends Wii systems. Players can also create their own Teen Girl Squad comic from Strong Bad’s computer.

Darin told me that he is very excited about this upcoming series. “Being a fan of the Homestar Runner series, working on this game is a dream come true!”  Each episode will be issued monthly, with a total of five episodes. When asked if Telltale games plans to produce any more than the five episodes, Darin replied, “If the game does well enough, there is always a chance. I personally would love to make more”

Based on what Darin told me, this game should be fun for any fan of the Homestar Runner.  And if you’ve never visited the Homestar Runner website, check it out and see for yourself.

Site [Homestar Runner] Site [Telltale Games] Also Read [Gamertell]

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If you’re like me (a wildly obsessed BioShock fan), this will come as welcome, if cryptic news. According to an article at GamesIndustryBiz, Ken Levine and 2K Boston are working on a project that is “very different” from their previous effort, BioShock.

From the article:

“we all looked at each other, and these guys have worked together for maybe six or ten years, all the senior creative guys on BioShock, and asked what do we want to do? Do we want to do something a little more straightforward next time, or do we want to swing for the fences again? To paraphrase, we decided to swing for the fences.”

Levine hinted at themes for the next game, stating, “There are things related to story, gameplay and…I don’t know how to describe it…people’s relationship with the game over the long term.”

I can’t begin to guess what that means, but I’m excited for it either way. I’m sure it’ll be quite some time before we see anything of the new title, but when we do, I’ll be eagerly (kindly?) anticipating something great.

Read [Gamesindustry.biz]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Not many attendees were impressed with this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). During an interview held Thursday, (July 17, 2008) Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s senior managing director and general manager of entertainment analysis and the development division, told MSNBC that even though many fans of long running Nintendo franchise games such as Mario, Zelda or even StarFox were upset he felt that E3 was no longer a place for those types of games:

“For a very long time, E3 was an event where - and certainly Nintendo included - catered specifically to the core gamer. Now we look at more ... an opportunity for us to introduce new concepts and new types of play that we intend to bring to the broader audience, particularly because of the media that gathers at E3 now. So while attending an E3 event like this, they might be given the impression that Nintendo is no longer focusing on the games that appeal to the core gamer, in fact we’re still working on many of those titles, but it’s just not the type of event where we’ll be showcasing that anymore.”

The number of E3 attendees, according to GameDaily, has dwindled since 2006 when it was downsized to provide a less costly event to exhibitors.

“I hate E3 like this,” Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Either we need to go back to the old E3, or we’ll have to have our own private events.”

During an interview July 17, 2008 with GamesIndustryBiz Ubisoft executive director Alain Corre expressed that the conference was held at the wrong time, wrong date and location:

“For E3, it’s very important to be there, and to present the games, because even though it’s much, much smaller than it used to be, still the American media are here, all our competitors, so you need be there, to be ready and to share product. It’s one milestone in the communication of your products throughout the year, and it’s important because it’s the ramp-up for Christmas. [But] E3 here, mid-July, in the Convention Center in downtown LA - it’s not appropriate I would say.”

UbiSoft North American president Laurent Detoc told the San Francisco Chronicle the experience was horrible and remembered when “the world used to come to E3. Now it’s like a pipe-fitters show in the basement.”

Even Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter had a few things to tell GameDaily (July 21, 2008) about this year’s format of the event.

“In our view, E3 is headed for extinction, unless the publishers and console manufacturers wake up to the fact that nobody cares about the show anymore. We believe that show is ill-timed, coming after most major holiday announcements are out, and landing during ‘quiet period’ for most of the companies (making meetings with investors near-impossible).

The lack of a spectacle will likely keep media away in the future, the lack of surprises will keep retailers away, and the lack of interaction with management will likely keep investors away. Without these three constituencies, the show will likely lose its relevance. We strongly believe that E3 should be held no later than early June (when companies can meet with investors and when some ‘secrets’ have yet to be revealed), and believe that the spectacle should be restored by increasing the size of the show space.”

Even so, word has just come out that E3 2008 will happen with little indication that the format will change.

Read [MSNBC] Also Read [GameDaily] And [GameDaily]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

According to an article in the New York Times, the now open Apple App Store for iPhone software offers more than 500 software applications, games, educational programs, mobile commerce and business productivity.

In the article, writers John Markoff and Laura M. Holson interviewed Steven P. Jobs, the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc., who explained the quality and sophistication of the applications for the iPhone placing the product in a class of its own.

“The reaction we have gotten so far has been really strong,” Jobs told the New York Times. “The quality and the sophistication of the applications you can write for the iPhone is in a different class.”

In the article Job went on to explain how Apple will attract developers to write software for the iPhone and compete with other products such as Palm, Microsoft, R.I.M, Nokia and Symbian with an example of how many active software developers currently work at two of their competitors.

“Palm, for example, says that it has 30,000 active software developers, and Microsoft said last month that it had more than 18,000 applications available for its Windows Mobile operating system, which is available from 160 cellular carriers around the world,” the article read and asked Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray of Minneapolis, his opinion of the enthusiasm towards iPhone.

“Everybody wants to build an iPhone app,” said Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis. “It’s pretty rare you hear things like this. The enthusiasm is surprising.”

But soon Apple will be facing fierce competition with other companies who offer applications that can compete directly with iTunes, such as Mywaves who offers free mobile video services to Nokia and BlackBerry smartphone users.

According to Jobs, he told the New York Times that 25 percent of the first 500 applications at the store are free and the other 90 percent of applications are offered for $9.99 or less.

The article also posed an interesting question: How will Jobs manage his companies relationship with software developers after past experiences with music executives who praised Apple’s iPod at first, then later complained about not being paid enough to release their music for the product? Even Hollywood studio executives were a little distant about allowing full-length movies to be viewed on iTunes.

But for now, developers are invited to apply to create iPhone apps. Developers interested in creating apps for the iPhone can apply and download the tools needed to create their products for the iPhone.

Currently there are several apps available for download on the iPhone Apps Web site. The top apps available now are:

• eBay allow users to keep track of and bid on items on eBay wherever they go.
• Twitterrific Allows users to post tweets, links and locations on their iPhone.
• Super Monkey Ball allows players use the iPhone to tap, tilt and play the game to navigate their monkey through various puzzles.
• Loopt lets iPhone users keep track of their friends.

Read [New York Times] Site [iPhone] Developer’s site [iPhone Developers site]  Site [Appletell]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

PowerUp Games has announced that, later this month (July 2008), it will be providing a new and unique opportunity for gamers, developers and publishers to meet and discuss upcoming releases.

Through PowerUpGames.com, gamers will be able to connect with companies that really want to hear what gamers have to say, allowing them to offer suggestions to help improve games before they hit shelves.

“A common issue I see when games are being developed is that the testing takes a lot of resources and simple consumer feedback gets lost in the shuffle,” said PowerUp Games’ owner and industry veteran, Brad Baker, via email. “PowerUp Games offers a simple way to involve real players in the creative and refining process. Before, doing an open beta was usually only done to generate publicity, and you’d get, if you were lucky, one in ten of them actually reporting any bugs or providing any feedback. We’re here to make it do much more.”

I asked Baker what he meant by “do much more” and he explained in his email, “Provide early feedback on concepts, art and design. Provide the load for stress and performance testing, help proof all the unique configurations out there, gather information for Tech support and read me [documents], and provide usability testing and find bugs or issues.”

Baker said PowerUP Games is the only company he knows of “that offers these types of services in the US. We help people enter the video game industry and we connect the players in the industry to their intended audience. As a gamer that is interested in the industry, you can join our community and see what it is like to participate in the industry. You don’t have to take years of classes, you don’t need a bunch of students loans, get in, get involved and see if you like it. As a publisher, we get you closer to your audience. We provide ways of helping you produce a better title.”

I asked PowerUp Games’ content manager, Michael Walbridge, if this was true and he responded in email that he agreed adding that as a gamer himself this site helps both gamers and the industry to understand what the other want in their games.

“This is the first time that I know of that there is a system for companies to get feedback on their actual games as they build them. Instead of the games press writing previews and people having to guess whether the game is good or not ... [gamers] can see the actual game in action and help the company build the game that the gamer wants to buy,” said Walbridge. “People don’t want to play bad games. Companies don’t want to make them. This is the first project I know of that helps out both those buying and those selling. Our targets are publishers, developers and anyone interested in playing, testing, or seeing games before they come out. A gamer gets an account, signs in, and plays and tests games and provides feedback. Publishers and developers get accounts, sign in, and can see that same feedback from the players. They can also make adjustments to their projects such as revising descriptions or putting newer, better versions of the game up. The point is to encourage communication between game player and game maker and to make it easier, too.”

Baker compares PowerUp Games to Monster and other job search sites.

“Anyone interested in videogames from the mom or dad that wants to play with their kids to the 14-year-old who would like to see if this industry is right for them to build a career in, you can think of us like a match making service like Monster.com,” Baker said. “We take publishers (like employers on Monster) and match Students up with (the publisher or developer) on projects. In addition, we have training that helps the students get the resume material they need to move to the top of the stack for interviews, etc.”

When I asked both Baker and Walbridge where they see PowerUp Games in five years, they responded, “I see our curriculum adopted by several schools all over the US and a few all over the world,” said Baker. “I see large Video game producers coming to us for our students so they can help with the summer rush. I see us helping out the casual and mobile space, giving them services they need to succeed. I see us helping the MMOs [Mass-Multiplayer Online gaming sites] and giving them services they need,” he said. “[And] I see 500,000 students and 100-200 projects a month.”

“I am hoping that PowerUp is a highly recognized name that gamers know as the best place to go to learn about new games and about the games industry,” added Walbridge. “And for publishers and developers to recognize (this site) as one of the best ways to support their projects. If, in five years, PowerUp is a name that is seriously considered and respected by every game maker out there, I think we’d be happy with that.”

In a press release Walbridge sent me, it read that PowerUp Games is now accepting clients for participation in its marketing support program as well as preparing for a unique opportunity for gamers in July and during the month of July the site will offer a chance for gamers, developers and publishers to meet and discuss upcoming releases on the site. PowerUp games will involve gamers by directing them to sign up for an account at PowerUpGames.com and once they sign in, they will be able to download any projects that publishers and developers decide to make accessible. They can also upload bugs and comments into a bug tracking system that publishers and developers can access from their own PowerUpGames.com accounts. For publishers’ and developers’ their accounts will give them control over how and when their projects are made accessible. They can also make announcements that post immediately in a section of the players’ accounts.

“What we’re looking at is a global meeting place for game players who can speak their minds in a way that is useful to publishers and developers,” Baker said. “Gamers will move out of their private gathering places and meet publicly with those who are making the games, and we’re setting a new paradigm for how these two groups communicate.”

Site [PowerUp Games]

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Here’s great news for Gamertell readers who own a Nintendo Wii. Titanstrike has organized a Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament with cash prizes over at SmashTournament.com. And Gamertell readers get an exclusive discount on the entry fee.

According to Francisco Diaz, founder of Titanstrike, this year’s tournament will bring more players than the last and will have a referee for each match.

“This Tournament we’re putting on will have a referee in every match This way we can properly deal with disputes, no-shows and disconnects,” Diaz said. “Last year’s online Counterstrike Tournament that we organized for Miss Video Game was very positive and we had some exciting match-ups nearing the end of the finals. This tournament is unique because it’s open to the public but we’re still expecting great match ups.”

He wanted to show me the site’s new action figure but, due to a very slow computer and the lack of a Wii, I was unable to view the arena and some of the new features to report on its awesomeness.

“I wanted to show you the instant action feature we have on the site,” he explained. “We can drop directly into the server via the website, without having to deal with IPs or any need of traditional lobbies. And we give +2 points per kill and -2 points if you die in game, and we track all the stats automatically and we started giving prizes to the leader boards, that’s what all the TS points are about.”

The tournament itself will be a 64 player Super Smash Bros. Brawl and will be played live on the Wii System.

“The tournament promises excitement with 1st place walking away with $100, 2nd place with $50 and finally 3rd place with $10,” Diaz explained. “The tournament is open to everyone over the age of 18 and to those that will boot up their Wii consoles on US and Canadian soil. The tournament will begin as soon as the 64 Player slots are filled over at the Smash Tournament website.”

In addition to the announcement Diaz offered a discount for all Gamertell readers who wish to participate. There is a 25% coupon discount available on the entry fee for GamerTell readers. This exclusive coupon reduces the entry fee from $5 USD to $4 USD and can only be redeemed by following this link.

While processing the entry fee please make sure that you provide your Alias, contact email and Smash Bros. Friend code. Please read the full details by clicking here.

“Yes, I challenge the Gamertell readers to a game of COD4 [Call of Duty 4] on the PC ... my Titan ID is FD,” he added and invites any reader to challenge him.
Site [Titanstrike] Site [Smash Tournament]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »