Games Archive

Nintendo Announces Wii Successor

Thom Holwerda 2011-04-25 Games 69 Comments

Ah yes, this was pretty inevitable. Nintendo is facing dropping sales and earnings for another year, and as such, it should come as no surprise that they have just announced the Wii's successor. The Japanese gaming giant will unveil the machine during E3 in June, and the device is scheduled for release in 2012.

Sony: We’re Kicking Cheaters and Pirates Off PSN

Thom Holwerda 2011-02-16 Games 33 Comments

You'd almost forget it, but a few weeks ago, the Playstation 3 was hacked wide open - like a pristine cave deep in the world of Minecraft. This has let out all sorts of nasties, and now Sony is trying to clean up the mess. For once, I'm in full agreement with their position.

Sony Announces NGP (PSP2), Talks Android Gaming

Guest post by Amy Bennett 2011-01-27 Games 3 Comments

Engadget gets some hands-on time with a Playstation Phone but the big news is out of Tokyo where Sony held its "Playstation Meeting 2011" event where they introduced both Playstation gaming on Android and the PSP2, currently code named NGP.

How the Berkeley Overmind Won the 2010 StarCraft AI Competition

Thom Holwerda 2011-01-19 Games 7 Comments

"StarCraft, one of the most popular games ever made, also serves as the perfect proving ground for artificial intelligence. Here's the inside story of how a Berkeley team won the world's first StarCraft AI competition with code that can beat even pro-level human players."

Sony: We Will Fix PS3 Crack

Thom Holwerda 2011-01-07 Games 31 Comments

Sony has responded to the recent cracking of the Playstation3, and the company claism that they can fix the issue - which ought to be impossible considering the scope of the hack. "We are aware of this, and are currently looking into it," Sony said, "We will fix the issues through network updates, but because this is a security issue, we are not able to provide you with any more details."

First Custom Firmware for Playstation 3 Working

Thom Holwerda 2011-01-05 Games 10 Comments

All the recent hackery news regarding the Playstation 3 has culminated in the inevitable: the first custom firmware for the Playstation 3. KaKaRoTo, its creator, did not release his custom firmware; in fact, he released the tools so you can modify your own Playstation 3's firmware update package. The feature set is extremely limited - but that's kind of the point. He left most of it untouched, and refuses to implement anything related to piracy.

OnLive Partners with Vizio, OnLive Integrated into Vizio Products

Thom Holwerda 2011-01-04 Games 10 Comments

Ah, OnLive. This company is trying to bring streaming gaming to the mainstream, and has has just announced a pretty significant partnership with Vizio, the US' largest LCD TV seller. Vizo TVs, smartphones, tablets, and Blu-Ray players will all come equipped, out of the box, with OnLive's streaming service.

Playstation 3 Code Signing Cracked Wide Open

Thom Holwerda 2010-12-29 Games 16 Comments

The Playstation 3 has been cracked so hard even its momma felt the blow. "Approximately a half hour in, the team revealed their new PS3 secrets, the moment we all were waiting for. One of the major highlights here was, dongle-less jailbreaking by breaking the PS3 loaders, giving complete control over the system. The other major feat, was calculating the public private keys (due to botched security), giving users the ability to sign their own SELFs."

The Best-Selling Computer of All Time – Sort of

Thom Holwerda 2010-12-07 Games 70 Comments

Sometimes, it's good to reminisce. To look back upon what came before us, in order to better understand what lies ahead. Last week, I bought a piece of computing history I missed out on, a piece I've desperately been wanting to have for a long time now. I bought what is most likely the best selling computer of all time.

Microsoft Wants You to Hack Kinect

Thom Holwerda 2010-11-19 Games 41 Comments

Ah, Microsoft's Kinect. Now that the technology has been released into the wild, one thing becomes clear: hackers and programmers love it. It's already been hacked to work on Linux and the Mac, and the first interesting hobby projects are starting to appear. Since Microsoft has already stated it's selling Kinect at a profit, I'm going to make a bold statement: Microsoft is loving the hackery. Update: Turns out I was right - Microsoft has stated that Kinect was left open by design.

Kinect Already Hacked, Linux Driver Released

Thom Holwerda 2010-11-10 Games 18 Comments

It took him only three hours, but here we are: Microsoft's Kinect motion controller thing for the Xbox360 has been hacked, and a preliminary open source driver has been made available for Linux. According to the hacker in question, it was surprisingly simple.

Bounty Offered for Open-Source Kinect Driver

Submitted by Debjit 2010-11-05 Games 16 Comments

"The first person who figures out how to build an open-source driver for Microsoft's much-hyped new Kinect motion controller could win a USD 2000 bounty offered by a leading open-source hardware developer. Kinect is currently available solely for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and may well someday be extended to the Windows platform. But for New York-based Adafruit Industries, that's not enough. And that's why Adafruit - led by MIT Media Lab alum Limor Fried and Make magazine Senior Editor Phillip Torrone - is offering two grand to someone who can figure out how to decouple the hot new device from Microsoft's gaming machine." Bah, motion controllers. Evolutionary dead end. A shiny object already on its way out. People play games to unwind, not to look like idiots flailing their arms and legs around.

Working 16bit ALU Implemented in Minecraft

Thom Holwerda 2010-09-28 Games 23 Comments

There are some things in this world that just happen. There's really no logical reason for it to happen, there's no explanation as to why it happens now, and not, say, three years ago. Minecraft is one those things. It's a game, but not entirely. It's digital Lego, but not entirely. It's impossible to explain what it is in words alone - you need to experience it. All I have to point to is this: someone has created a working 16bit ALU inside Minecraft. Which is a videogame. An ALU running inside a videogame running on a processor which has an ALU. In blocks. Wait, what?

Submitted by sawboss 2010-09-27 Games 42 Comments

The PlayStation 3. For a long time, it was a rather well-protected machine, and it wasn't until early this year that George Hotz finally managed to crack the thing wide open. In essence, it was now possible to jailbreak the PlayStation 3 like you would jailbreak your iPhone, but of course, Sony wasn't pleased. With the recent firmware update, v3.50, Sony went from surgical precision to the battle axe - they blocked all non-Sony ~~USB devices~~ controllers (and a lot of PS2 > PS3 controller adapters) from working.

The Death and Rebirth of Duke Nukem Forever: a History

Thom Holwerda 2010-09-08 Games 5 Comments

"Duke Nukem Forever was announced in 1997, after its predecessor, Duke Nukem 3D, had rocked the PC market with a hero who liked kicking ass, hanging out with strippers, and murdering alien police officers that were, literally, pigs. It was inappropriate, raunchy, and amazing. It was also one of the games that gave 3D Realms the success that brought its destruction. Duke Nukem Forever began life as a completely self-funded game; its developer wanted nothing less than perfection, and would chase every update in technology in order to deliver it. The game saw monumental delays, suffered the slings and arrows of a gaming world that was first angry and then tolerant of its favorite whipping boy, had its home taken away, and has since risen from the dead. Is the public still interested in Duke Nukem? Hell yes it is. This is the story of the gaming industry's favorite joke, and how Duke may finally have the last laugh."

Sony Steps up Fight Against PS3 Jailbreaking

Thom Holwerda 2010-09-07 Games 71 Comments

I've often harped on Apple for its policy regarding jailbreaking, but of course, Apple isn't the only company engaging in such practices. We already talked about Motorola, and now, we have Sony - already a company with a checkered past when it comes to consumer rights. As it turns out, Sony don't want you jailbreaking ~~your~~ their Playstation 3.

Game Review: Mafia 2

Thom Holwerda 2010-09-04 Games 22 Comments

I pay the cab driver, pick up my suitcase, and step outside. The background's filled with the notes from Dean Martin's rendition of "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", and as I walk away from the cab the sounds of the city drive away the memories from the war, back in Sicily. It's February 8, 1945, Empire Bay, and the war is drawing to a close. Welcome to Mafia II.

Submitted by poundsmack 2010-09-03 Games 36 Comments

We don't do a whole lot of gaming news (a few reviews every now and then, just for my own personal fun), but in this case, I'd like to make an exception. Iconic and legendary, Duke Nukem is going to really really really return to the main stage of gaming. Borderlands developer Gearbox has announced that Duke Nukem Forever will be released early next year, for both consoles and PC. A playable demo is now being trotted around PAX. Instant update: VIDEO! VIDEO!

Submitted by sawboss 2010-08-29 Games 21 Comments

"Chinese PC maker Lenovo will go head-to-head with the big boys in the video game console market, looking to snatch away market share from the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. On Aug 9, a team of some 40 Lenovo software engineers was spun off from the Lenovo Group to develop and market the 'Ebox', a platform similar to Microsoft's Kinect for Xbox 360."

Valve Silences Steam on Linux Rumours

Guest post by Debjit 2010-08-23 Games 55 Comments

A rumor has been going around for about four months now that Valve is coming out with a Linux version of Steam and had a lot of people in the Linux community very excited. However Valve have officially killed the rumor. And it is not what people wants to hear - there is no Linux version of Steam in development.