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	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 18:05:00 -0400 Sam & Max episodic game developer Telltale Games has followed up on the teaser it posted to Gametrailers last week with an announcement of a brand new title called Poker Night at The Inventory. The game will feature "a new style of poker" and feature high profile characters from games and comics, including Homestar Runner's Strong Bad, Penny Arcade's Tycho, Sam & Max's Max and The Heavy from Team Fortress 2. Telltale CEO Dan Connors ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	An anonymous reader writes "TorrentFreak has shed some light on the dark practice of installing stealth-mode P2P clients during game downloads and using unsuspecting gamers' PCs as 'bandwidth slaves.' The clients operate in the background and largely go unnoticed until problems arise that are caused by overactive uploading/seeding. While the Akamai NetSession Interface and Pando Media Booster are specifically called out, there appear to be other offenders as indicated in the comments left by TorrentFreak readers. A publisher called Solid State Networks is putting out a call for an industry-wide 'best practices' effort to promote transparency, control and privacy on behalf of gamers who are otherwise being abused for their bandwidth without their consent." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 17:27:00 -0400 It's been six years since the release of a new game in the Oddworld franchise, but thanks to UK-based developer Just Add Water, a remake of the EA-published Xbox title Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is coming to PlayStation 3 next year. Oddworld founders Lorne Lanning and Sherry McKenna are working closely with Just Add Water to create the remake, which will feature remastered dialogue, 720p visuals and PlayStation Move support. Additional bonus materials will be packed ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	An anonymous reader writes "'Always bet on Duke.' It seems he was right about himself, at least. The longest, most storied in-development game in history seems like it's finally going to be released by Gearbox Software sometime within the next year. 'According to Pitchford, Gearbox began finishing Duke Nukem Forever in late 2009. "Clearly the game hadn't been finished at 3D Realms but a lot of content had been created," he says. "The approach and investment and process at 3D Realms didn't quite make it, and it cracked at the end. With Gearbox Software we brought all those pieces together. It's the game it was meant to be." The game is currently expected to ship in 2010 although given its history Pitchford is understandably reluctant to be more specific.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 17:02:00 -0400 [Sister site FingerGaming rounds up the week's most popular paid and free iPad gaming applications on the App Store as of today, with Brisk Mobile's Medieval HD and Telltale Games' Puzzle Agent HD charting among the App Store's biggest-selling titles.] This week's top paid titles are: 1. Angry Birds HD ($4.99) 2. Medieval HD ($2.99) 3. Pinball HD ($0.99) 4. Zombie Infection HD ($0.99) 5. Sudoku 2 HD Pro ($2.99) 6. Fruit Ninja HD ($4.99) ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	donniebaseball23 writes "EA's Medal of Honor reboot doesn't ship until October 12, but it's already seen a fair amount of controversy thanks to the publisher's decision to allow people to play as Taliban in multiplayer. The controversy just got escalated another notch, reports IndustryGamers, as the world's biggest games retailer GameStop has decided it won't sell the title at its stores located on US military bases. The new Medal of Honor won't be advertised at these stores either. GameStop noted that they came to this decision 'out of respect for our past and present men and women in uniform.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 16:34:00 -0400 RuneScape developer Jagex suffered a setback in its suit against bot maker Impulse Software, as a U.S. court denied its request for a preliminary injunction prevent the sale and use of Impulse's iBot. Similar to many other third-party bots created for massively multiplayer online games, Impulse's iBot software automatically completes tasks and levels up RuneScape characters without users needing to play the game themselves -- a practice prohibited by most MMO publishers as cheating. Jagex, ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	tlhIngan writes "Despite all the lawsuits and injunctions by Sony to keep the PS3 Jailbreak out of modder's hands, it appears that a third party has made a clone. The best part is, it only requires a cheap (approximately $40) development board by Atmel, and the requisite software is open-source. Get the Atmel code from GitHub and apply a small patch which will enable backup play (the code by itself only lets you run unsigned code, the patch allows for BD backups). The code is GPLv3. It would be highly ironic if someone ported this to Linux USB Gadgets, then you could use a Linux device to jailbreak your PS3, to which Sony removed Linux functionality. An Android phone would be suitable." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 16:12:00 -0400 After an announcement earlier in the week that RPG publisher Atlus (Persona) had been dissolved by parent company Index Holdings, Atlus U.S.A. president Shinichi Suzuki has made an official statement which reassures fans the company will still create and publish games in the future. The statement reads, "Recent news out of Japan that Index Holdings, the parent company of Atlus Co., Ltd. (and its wholly-owned private subsidiary Atlus U.S.A, Inc.), would be merging the Atlus ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	Buffalo55 writes "For the most part, classic games manage to reappear on different systems. Just look at Nintendo. The publisher has done an excellent job bringing NES, SNES, Genesis and even old school Neo Geo titles to the Wii's Virtual Console, while Microsoft's Game Room brings the best of Atari's 2600 into the living room. Of course, not every console was a success. The '90s, in particular, saw quite a few flops from companies like Panasonic, Sega and Atari. Just because a system is a failure, though, doesn't mean all of its games suck. On the contrary, most of these machines have a few gems that fell between the cracks once the console croaked." What overlooked game on a failed platform would you like to see revived? Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 15:17:00 -0400 In a diverse week for new job postings, Gamasutra's jobs board plays host to roles across the world and in every major discipline, including opportunities at Blizzard, Warner Bros. and many more. Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly. It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	We recently discussed a man who sued NCsoft for making Lineage II "too addictive" after he spent 20,000 hours over five years playing it. Now, several readers have pointed out that the lawsuit has progressed past its first major hurdle: the EULA. Quoting: "NC Interactive has responded the way most software companies and online services have for more than a decade: it argued that the claims are barred by its end-user license agreement, which in this case capped the company's liability to the amount Smallwood paid in fees over six months prior to his filing his complaint (or thereabouts). One portion of the EULA specifically stated that lawsuits could only be brought in Texas state court in Travis County, where NC Interactive is located. ... But the judge in this case, US District Judge Alan C. Kay, noted that both Texas and Hawaii law bar contract provisions that waive in advance the ability to make gross-negligence claims. He also declined to dismiss Smallwood's claims for negligence, defamation, and negligent infliction of emotional distress." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 14:05:00 -0400 Sales of Sony's PSP doubled week-on-week in Japan on the release of the chart-topping Capcom PSP game Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Ailu Village, which also launched in a bundle. For the week ended August 29, the PSP line -- including the PSP-3000 and PSP Go -- sold 55,948 units, up from the previous week's 28,185. This week, the PSP-3000 individual sold 55,112 units, while the disc drive-less PSP Go sold 836. The jump in ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	angry tapir writes "Late last week an Australian court issued an injunction against a handful of retailers selling or importing hardware — commonly known as 'mod chips' — that allows unauthorized software to run on Sony's PlayStation 3. The court also required that the four parties that were the subject of the injunction actually hand over to Sony any PlayStation modchips they have. Sony's PlayStation 3 mod chip lawsuit could be just the first of many such cases in Australia, according to a lawyer who defended a client against Nintendo in a similar case earlier this year." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 13:32:00 -0400 Online payments company PayPal is preparing to launch new developer tools designed to simplify transactions in social games, as well as a new micropayments feature, next month. The new tools are meant to provide a streamlined process of buying virtual currencies. "We're going to have an inline shopping experience where you can authorize a transaction on the screen right there in the game," explained PayPal's VP of Product Development Osama Bedier, according to a report ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	dotarray writes "An Australian man who took Sony to court over the company's decision to remove Linux functionality from the PS3 console has now lost his claim, with the court clearing the manufacturer of any wrongdoing regarding the upgrade." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 13:06:00 -0400 Borderlands developer Gearbox Software confirmed it is in the "polishing phase" of development of the near-mythical Duke Nukem Forever, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Take-Two's 2K Games division will be publishing the game, which is the sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, the first-person shooter from 1996 developed by the now-defunct 3D Realms. Duke Nukem Forever was originally announced in 1997 by 3D Realms, and has become analogous with vaporware. But in recent years, ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	adeelarshad82 writes "Microsoft unveiled a new wireless Xbox 360 controller, which features a revamped D-pad that transforms from a plus to a disc. The new D-pad was developed to address complaints from users. Other new features include: A, B, X, and Y buttons that are gray instead of the standard red, green, yellow, and blue; and a matte silver color. The controller includes 2.4-GHz wireless technology with a 30-foot range." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	Fri, 3 Sep 2010 12:10:00 -0400 [Psychologist and gamer Jamie Madigan analyzes the human decision-making process for Gamasutra, explaining how research on jam reviews, of all things, might have surprising lessons for video game reviews.] For every one of us, making decisions is part of our daily human existence. Most of them are of little consequence –what to eat, what movie to see, what video game to buy– so we have developed an astonishing array of mental short-cuts to make these ... Source: Gamasutra News (Gamasutra News)

 

	sk8pmp writes with news that iFixit, a website known for Apple gadget teardowns and repair guides, is expanding into the game console market, launching a series of troubleshooting and repair guides to help gamers fix their own machines. They're also starting to sell replacement parts and the tools necessary to work on them. "Right now there are repair guides for 24 gaming consoles, including 206 repairs and upgrades. Some of these fixes deal with major issues, such as the infamous Red Ring of Death from the Xbox 360, but others are simpler. For instance, right now there is no easy way to clean out the fans inside your console. 'I think this is probably the number one cause of overheating these days now that manufacturers have mostly gotten their act together,' Wiens said. 'This is routine maintenance, and it's mind-boggling that the manufacturers don't provide people with an easy way to open the case up and blow it out.' You'll also learn how to replace broken LCD screens on your portables, replace the motherboard on your PlayStation 3, and do just about anything else you might want to do to these systems, from the simple to the harrowing." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	donniebaseball23 writes "Microsoft has raised the annual price of Xbox Live Gold to $60, which is a price hike of $10. The new price goes into effect on November 1, but gamers can lock in the current Xbox Live price by renewing now. EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich is not surprised by the move, nor does he think it will really have much impact on the Xbox momentum." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	donniebaseball23 sends this quote from an opinion piece at Industry Gamers: "On Monday, news came down the pipeline from SCEE president Andrew House that Sony wants to focus on a younger audience for the PSP with future titles. My immediate reaction was one of shock and confusion. After all, in an interview with IndustryGamers at E3, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime noted that, 'the way I would describe the market for the Nintendo 3DS would be the launch market that we had with the Nintendo DS plus the launch market that maybe PSP had.' When your primary competitor is looking to the exact market that you've catered to, why would you abandon that market? There was a time when Sony Computer Entertainment was a trailblazer, bringing things to the industry ahead of everyone else. Nowadays, however, it seems that Sony is content to merely fall in step behind everyone else and simply try hard to not fall too far behind." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	An anonymous reader writes with an interesting use for the iPad: "The guys over at the Volumique blog have a different idea as to how to tackle apps for Apple's devices. They aren't just thinking about a digital activity on such devices, they are experimenting with using physical objects through Apple's multi-touch screens. Imagine being able to buy the playing pieces for a board game, but then loading up an app on your iPad for the actual board. The pieces would be recognized when placed on the iPad's screen, it would even recognize which direction they were facing. This may sound like an impossible feat unless you use a much more expensive device like Microsoft Surface, but Bertrand Duplat and Etienne Mineur at Volumique already have it working." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	siobHan writes "The PAPA World Pinball Championships recently concluded in Scott, PA (near Pittsburgh), as covered on Slashdot already. The organizers recorded full 1080p/60 HD video of the playfield during the final games, and have uploaded the entirety of the crucial deciding game, with commentary (direct link to just the video). The winner of this game received $10,000 for his skillful play." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)

 

	siliconbits writes "Chinese manufacturer Lenovo will build a video gaming console for the Chinese market and has already spun off a company called Eedoo Technology, including a team of 40 engineers, with the task of developing the platform. It will be called the Ebox, and will be specifically designed to recognize shapes and movement without the need for a dedicated game controller, not unlike Microsoft's Kinect." Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot: Games (News for nerds, stuff that matters)