Games Archive

8 Best Free ASCII Linux Games

Submitted by James Collett 2011-12-13 Games 8 Comments

The idiom 'don't judge a book by its cover' can be extended to 'don't judge a computer game by its graphics'. Whilst the games featured in this article have extremely basic graphics, they have many redeeming qualities beyond evoking fond memories of the early days of computer gaming. Text-based games are often forgotten and neglected in the Linux press. However, there are some real ASCII gems out there waiting to be explored which are immensely addictive and great fun to play.

Minecraft 1.0 Released

Thom Holwerda 2011-11-19 Games 30 Comments

At MineCon in Las Vegas yesterday and today, Mojang has officially released Minecraft 1.0, signalling the end of the phenomenon's alpha and beta testing phase. It's been an interesting journey, and I've been playing the game since early summer 2010 - so it's weird to see it hit final now. Game of the year? Well, no, that title obviously goes to Skyrim - but for a game like Minecraft to be even considered for such a title is amazing enough. Thanks, Notch and the rest of the Mojang team!

Guest post by JoshB 2011-11-14 Games 53 Comments

When I decided to take on this article I thought it would be easy. Grab a few quotes from some developers, re-hash WINE support, check out the latest version of Battle for Wesnoth... Simple stuff.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Released (For Some)

Thom Holwerda 2011-11-08 Games 6 Comments

This is massively off-topic since we barely cover the video game industry on OSNews, but in select cases, I'm willing to make exceptions. I just got home from picking up my pre-order copy of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition (Xbox 360), and just want to gloat a little bit for all the peasants among us that won't get it until Thursday or Friday. You can imagine OSNews will be shutting down for the coming, oh, seven months or so.

Sony Asks Gamers To Waive Right to Sue

Thom Holwerda 2011-09-17 Games 26 Comments

"Sony is preparing to ban gamers from the PlayStation Network unless they waive the right to collectively sue it over future security breaches. The firm has amended PSN's terms and conditions and users have to agree to them next time they log in. The move comes months after a string of hacking attacks compromised over 100 million accounts of the PlayStation Network subscribers. It is, however, possible to opt out of the agreement within the next 30 days. Gamers will now have to try to resolve any legal issues with an arbitrator picked by Sony, before being able to file a lawsuit."

Xbox Live Comes to Windows 8

Thom Holwerda 2011-09-13 Games 7 Comments

"We are confirming that we will be bringing Xbox LIVE to the PC with Xbox LIVE on Windows. We are very excited about Xbox LIVE coming to Windows 8. Xbox LIVE brings your games, music, movies, and TV shows to your favorite Microsoft and Windows devices. Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy." Xbox Live on desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, and the Xbox. Pretty awesome.

Accuracy Takes Power: A 3GHz Quest for the Perfect SNES Emulator

Thom Holwerda 2011-08-09 Games 13 Comments

"Emulators for playing older games are immensely popular online, with regular arguments breaking out over which emulator is best for which game. Today we present another point of view from a gentleman who has created the Super Nintendo emulator bsnes. He wants to share his thoughts on the most important part of the emulation experience, accuracy."

Bethesda Threatens Minecraft Creator over ‘Scrolls’ Trademark

Thom Holwerda 2011-08-06 Games 25 Comments

There are two reasons for this news item. First, I want this issue resolved. Second, it allows me to post the most awesome picture ever and ever. The story is simple. Mojang, the company behind the immensely successful Minecraft, is working on a second game called 'Scrolls', which has been in development for a while now. As it turns out, Bethesda has sent a cease and desist notice to Mojang - they claim 'Scrolls' infringes on 'The Elder Scrolls' trademark. As a fan of both Minecraft and Bethesda, this is just silly.

Submitted by tjavailable 2011-08-03 Games 4 Comments

Even though most games wont run natively on Ubuntu there is still a sizeable number that run flawlessly on it thanks to the almighty Wine. The Wine app database lists a few games that run flawlessly on Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution for that matter and assigns a rating for them based on precious metals.

The Xbox Story

David Adams 2011-08-03 Games 1 Comment

Xbox celebrates its tenth birthday this year, having launched in the US on November 15, 2001. In this four-part special, Patrick Garratt talks to members of the console’s original team and tells its release story.

Kinect for Windows SDK

David Adams 2011-06-16 Games 25 Comments

Microsoft has released a beta SDK for Windows, allowing Windows developers to officially make use of the XBox Kinect hardware. From their own press release: "The Kinect for Windows SDK, which works with Windows 7, includes drivers, rich APIs for Raw Sensor Streams, natural user interfaces, installer documents and resource materials. The SDK provides Kinect capabilities to developers building applications with C++, C# or Visual Basic using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010."

E3: Cows, Cows, Cows

Thom Holwerda 2011-06-07 Games 52 Comments

So, the E3 is well under way, and all the major players have had their press conferences. To summarise. Microsoft: Kinect. Really. Kinect. Please Kinect. We'll do anything. For the love of god, Kinect. Sony: wait, what is this? What am I doing here? Oh, here's a 24" 3D TV for $500 and yet another PSP. Nintendo: we slapped every possible shiny object onto a tablet and made the Wii capable of rendering halfway decent graphics. Here's another load of Mariozelda Kart, and a bunch of EA games that Xbox/PS3 players already own. Yes, this year's E3 has been a massive letdown - save for a few exceptions. Update: Epic fail for Nintendo. The company has admitted that it has used footage from the Xbox 360 and PS3 to spice up the press reel for the Wii U.

Smartphone Minecraft Xperia Play Exclusive First

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-25 Games 9 Comments

"Minecraft developer Mojang has confirmed to Gamasutra that the previously revealed Android version of its PC indie hit will be arriving on Sony Ericsson's PlayStation-certified Xperia Play before other phones. The Xperia Play version of Minecraft will feature customized controls for the system's PlayStation-styled slide-out buttons, the company said. Mojang is also developing versions of the title for iOS and other Android phones, and said the smartphone versions of the game will be tweaked slightly to deal with the vagaries of the new platform." And we have video. I'll be buying an iPad 2 soon, and with that thing getting Minecraft... I fear for my life.

Sony Starts Downplaying PSN Security Fail

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-17 Games 29 Comments

Now that the Playstation Network is back online, the great downplaying by Sony has begun. Sony CEO Howard Stringer has been making the rounds in the media world, talking about the massive security fail, and in his eyes, it's not that big of a deal. He calls it a 'hiccup', something that happens to all large networks.

Playstation Network Coming Online Again

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-15 Games 14 Comments

As much as many of us are getting a bit of schadenfreude out of the epic Sony security fail, fact of the matter is that nearly 80 million ordinary people, who have nothing to do with Sony's abysmal customer track record, were affected by it as well. So, for those people - which includes a number of my friends - I'm happy to tell them that the Playstation Network has, in phases, been switched on again over the weekend.

PSN Outage May Not Be Fully Remedied Until May 31

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-09 Games 6 Comments

"It's now Monday, the week after Sony told us to expect some functionality to return to the PlayStation Network. Sadly, that has not happened: you can't play your games online, make digital purchases, or download demos; the service remains completely dead. Sony is claiming that it's still unpacking the extent of the attacks, and the industry has begun to try to put a dollar amount on the damages being suffered by the Japanese company."

Hackers Return Linux to the PlayStation 3

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-06 Games 34 Comments

"It all began when a young man named George Hotz began to work on the PlayStation 3, trying to gain access to the machine in a way that made Sony uncomfortable. In response, Sony removed the OtherOS functionality of the PlayStation 3 in a mandatory update, and the hacking community was not happy with this decision, resulting in a sort of cold war. PS3 hackers have once again gained the upper hand: Linux has been returned to the PlayStation 3."

Awesome Added to Awesome, World May End

Thom Holwerda 2011-05-06 Games 20 Comments

Somebody has just added the Portal gun to Minecraft. Your argument? It is now invalid.

Submitted by sawboss 2011-05-05 Games 75 Comments

There's fail, there's epic fail, and then there's Sony. You may've thought it wasn't possible, but Sony has just outdone itself on the fail scale, forcing us to add yet another notch. During the congressional testimony this morning, Dr Gene Spafford of Purdue University revealed just how badly Sony managed its Playstation Network servers. It's... Bad.

PSN Fail Turns Epic: User Data of All PSN Users Compromised

Thom Holwerda 2011-04-26 Games 123 Comments

After days and days of the Playstation Network being offline, Sony has announced it has taken the service down indefinitely. The cause is a lot more severe than previously thought: PSN has been systematically attacked, and personal information of all users has been stolen, possibly including credit card data. Sony is asking PSN users to keep close tabs on their credit card account statements. This has turned from a rather amusing slap on the wrist for Sony into a massive and truly epic security fail that could have tremendous consequences for millions and millions of people the world over.