BF3 Leaflet Hints at New Medal of Honor

Eagle-eyed purveyors of internet gaming news might remember that developer Danger Close Games were very publicly hiring new talent for an “unannounced AAA first person shooter title” all the way back in January. Thing is, is anyone interested in a sequel to one of the biggest let-downs of 2010? Probably not, which is why that big ol’ “1” on the leaflet is so curious. Are we looking at some kind of HD remake here?

Three-Man Team Working on Diablo III’s Console Version

Nothing’s been officially confirmed as yet, but come on, as if Diablo III won’t be coming to the consoles. It totally is, and what’s more, Blizzard have since revealed that they have crack squad of at least… three guys working on the threequel’s console iteration. "We're not announcing anything because, literally, there's three of us on the team right now ... but that's what we're trying to do... We're trying to build the best console team at Blizzard,” said lead console designer Josh Mosquiera out of BlizzCon.

Remember This? [Update]

Can you remember this game from one single pic? This screenshot is overwhelmingly green, but I have faith in you guys. If you don’t get it, I’ll drop a second part of the screenshot in the afternoon!
Adding the second part for your guessing pleasure (I’ve made it too easy now!)

Thinking About Importing A 3G PlayStation Vita Into Australia? Read This First…

The pricing of the PlayStation Vita has raised some eyebrows. Most expected the Wifi enabled version to retail at $349.95, but $449.95 for the 3G Vita? That’s a bit too much to take for some. As a result you may find yourself tempted to import a 3G unit from overseas, but before you do, you might want to double check a few things.
Here are a few potential pitfalls you may want to be aware of. Bear in mind this is just some semi-informed guess work. We know that AT&T is partnering with Sony for Vita in the US, but we don’t yet have any full information with regards to how that will work precisely.

Tell Us Dammit

Every Wednesday, on Ask Me Stuff, I get asked a question so interesting that I feel the need to throw it out to you guys. This week the question was this – if you could play a game with the quality level of Batman: Arkham City, featuring any licensed character, which character would it be and why? I’d love to play a really high quality Indiana Jones game, but what about you.

I guess we do have that ‘Indiana Jones’ style play with Uncharted, but I’m sort of jealous of all those crazy hardcore Batman fans who just get a huge kick out of playing the game of their dreams with Batman: Arkham City. There’s something special about playing as a character you grew up with, and as someone who was never really into western comic books, I don’t really get to experience that with Arkham City – I just get the great game.

Anyway, enough of my rambling – what licensed character would you like to see get the Batman: Arkham City treatment? Let us know in the comments below.

Hype Video For NFL Blitz Doesn’t Show Off A Lot Of Big Hits

Lost in the shuffle with the announcement of NFL Blitz‘s return is the fact the game is actually rated more strictly than its Madden counterpart. As the inaugural hype video for the game shows, it’s an E10+ for, among other things,”mild language”.

Didn’t the original NFL Blitz have comically censored cussin’? Maybe that’s what the rating is referring to. Still, as this trailer shows, it will be a more violent game than either Madden or Madden NFL Arcade. Cartoonishly violent, maybe, but still violent.

You couldn’t tell it from this trailer though. I’ve watched through a few times and can only spot three really big player-on-player hits, the kind of crazy pro-wrestling suplex tackles that marked the original. In one instance, it’s a Packer tackling Sasquatch, and in another, it’s a Buccaneer taking down a robot. Although, to be fair, at 0:20 is the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware plowing the Eagles’ Michael Vick out of bounds.

It’s worth pointing out because of the NFL’s skittish image-management of a sport whose appeal is based on the big hit, but shies away from marketing that because of obvious PR problems in so doing. The success of Blitz‘s return will depend on how much it makes people recall the original. The original was made in an era when the league was under different management and wasn’t facing the kind of publicity over concussions that it is today.

“We’ve worked hand-in-hand with the NFL since we got the idea to bring Blitz back to life,” Dave Ross, the game’s project lead, told Kotaku. “Blitz will still contain over-the-top, fast arcade action with big hits and guys catching on fire, first down and 30 to go, with pass interference encouraged.”

As far as the old-style big hitting action, Ross said: “Since we’re not done with development, the NFL is still approving aspects of the game,” he said. “But what we will deliver, and when we deliver it, will be a very engaging and nostalgic look back at what it was.”

The game will be available in January for 1200 Microsoft Points.

Screw You Link And Your Diva Demands

The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert tour isn’t making a stop in Australia, which sucks, but it may be for the best when you consider what frickin’ diva is turning out to be. You think Mariah Carey is bad? Wait till you see Link’s list of backstage demands…

Angry Birds for PC

Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.

Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.

Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.



Angry Birds for PC


Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.

In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.

Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.

You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.

This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.

Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.

Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7



Free Angry Birds for PC

Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer

Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.

Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.

During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.

Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made.  This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
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    - Angry Birds PC Updated

    The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!

    As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy  you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there  who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.

I Hate Videogames

What’s with videogames these days? On one hand, they are much better than those of yesteryear, and on the other hand, they are turning our kids, friends and families into virtual zombies.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have some deep seated hatred for videogames; quite the opposite, in fact, I love videogames, if the truth be told. I even co-own a website, PS3GamerGroup.ca, that caters to people who enjoy Playstation 3 and its games.

I’ve been playing videogames since the early ’80′s beginning with the Commodore Vic 20, then moving to the Commodore 64 and then the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). While the Vic 20 and C64 had rather crude graphics and sound, I never really enjoyed videogames until I got my NES. The graphics were still crude (8bit magic, I tell you) and the sounds were very simple (the worst cell phone ringtone today is by far better than the best soundtracks of videogames back then), but the gameplay changed. Think of the Super Mario Bros. platformer – a very simple game, but it somehow provided hours, upon hours, of entertainment for me and my friends. However, even with such soon-to-be classics in the making, such as Super Mario Bros., my friends and I still found the time to do other things. We played catch, football, pool and ping-pong. We also walked or rode our bikes everywhere or anywhere we needed to be.

Today’s videogamer, in my opinion, do nothing outside the videogame realm such as participate in friendly sports challenges, or even have the energy to walk or ride their bikes anywhere. They do nothing but want to play videogames. They even want rides to friends houses to play videogames. Friends that live a 15 to 20 minute walk away now seem lightyears away and they desperately need a ride because they may take away valuable time from online play.

Today’s videogames are, in a word, awesome. Take Uncharted 2 and the Call of Duty series. Both are tops in their class and allow gamers with unlimited gameplay, especially with online play. Online plays both sides of the same coin. Not only do you get to play an awesome game, you don’t even need to leave the house to play with your friends. These gamers get up early to play videogames (well, as early as they can on weekends). Skip meals to play videogames. Take one bathroom break every seven hours. Go to sleep late, after playing videogames. Todays videogamers are turning into zombies. Ironic, as zombies are a favorite “bad guy” to kill in games (see: COD: World at War and Black Ops, Burn Zombie Burn, Dead Rising and the eagerly anticipated Dead Nation coming soon, for a brief list of the latest zombie killing games.) Come school mornings, gamers don’t get up in time to get to school on time and responses to parents pleading sounds like a zombie in the middle of a bowel movement. They even walk slow and awkward ( the best visual to give you would be some of the first zombies encountered in Shaun of the Dead). Getting these gamers to take a “break” for, oh, I don’t know, eating supper or taking out the trash, can be a real chore in itself. Sometimes, I bet parents wished they had their own game console to log online to and then they could talk or msg their kids to go eat and/or do their chores. I bet they would listen to that because it seems they are a slave to the game and its contents.

Ok, now back to the topic headline of I hate Videogames. Maybe I should of titled it, Dr. Videogame (or how I learned to stop hating and like the game). I don’t hate videogames. I hate what it is doing to today’s youth: turning them into zombies. I swear I saw a videogamer just the other day saying in a zombie-like groan, “…games…games…”. Help me, I’m scared.

I was right! NGP-PSP2

I said it could possibly include Android, I said it wouldn't use TEGRA, I said it would focus on the hardcore market, I said it'd have console-esque power, I said they'd be going with their own Android-Store; I pretty much nailed my predictions (these were BEFORE any other "leaks", check the blog date!).

So, to make this blog have a bit of consistency and actual worth in reading, here are some more predicitions:

- PlayStation Suite will be a huge success. It'll allow indie devs to bring games to the system via android, and you're going to hear some REALLY nice "rags to riches" stories similar to that of Angry Birds or even Minecraft.

- The system will be $299.99. This offers a easy-to-afford pricepoint and will allow Sony to perhaps make 2-system owners of 3DS purchasers. Therefore they won't exactly be competing in the same way the DS and PSP were until much later after the system debuts.

- Depending on how this year unfolds with Parallax Barrier products (I forsee these being the next "tablet" rage) we may see the NGP-3D. Of course this won't be until 2013 or later, but by then Sony will have mastered the quality-3D ratio.

BULLETSTORM PS3 DEMO PLAYTHROUGH

This game is over the top. I wander what all of you think of this game. the action in this game reminds me a lot of Outtrigger for the dreamcast and Duke Nukem very fun game..

Anyway check out the video if you have not played the game yet..

Chinese Couple Sells All Three Kids to Play Online Games

A young Chinese couple has sold all three of their children in exchange for money to play online Nick jr games at Internet cafes, reports a southern Chinese newspaper.

According to Sanxiang City News, the couple met in an Internet cafe back in 2007 and bonded over their obsession with online video games.  A year later, the parents — who are both under 21 — welcomed their first child, a son.  Days after his birth, they left him home alone while they went to play online agame at an Internet cafe 30 km away.

In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession.  They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after.  The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him — RMB 30,000, or about $4600.

Upon having their third child — another boy — the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him.

They were finally turned into authorities when Li Lin’s mother found out what her son and his girlfriend had done.

When asked if they missed their children, the parents answered, “We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money.”

Sanxiang City Newsreports the couple didn’t know they were breaking the law.

Official Pokemon Game Coming To Smartphones

The Pokemon Company is set to bring an official Pokemon Online game to smartphone devices, marking the first time that an official Nintendo-copyrighted app will be available on the iOS and Android.

Called Pokemon Iie Tap (rougly Pokemon: Say Tap?), the app appears to be a rhythm game where players “tap on Pokemon indigo trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime,” according to a translation by consumer video game site GamesRadar.

According to the game’s official announcement, it will be available for most iOS devices, as well as Android devices running version 2.1 of the platform.

Though this is the first iOS or Android application to carry an official Nintendo copyright, it is not the first mobile app of any kind: a Pokemon mobile phone game called Pokemate was released in Japan in 2006.

Though it is a rarity, Nintendo does have a history of releasing official games on platforms that are not its own, including a promotional Flash game to promote its Tingle character.

A release outside of Japan has not been announced.

Nick Jr., MTVN expand in Asia

Rugrats and music fans in Singapore and Malaysia will be able to tune in to “Dora the Explorer” and 24-hour music videos, docus and concerts with the launch of Viacom’s Nick Jr. and MTVN HD in the territories in coming weeks.

Nick Jr Games. will bow on Singapore’s Starhub from May 18, while MTVN HD will air on Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s HyppTV in Malaysia from June 1.

Nick Jr. will be available on the StarHub TV’s Kids Basic Upsize Group, while MTVNHD will be available to existing StarHub TV’s Entertainment Basic Group customers who are subscribed to the Basic HD Upsize group.

TM will offer the two channels a la carte to its subscribers on HyppTV, Malaysia’s newest pay TV service.

The services will roll out to the rest of the region at a date to be announced.

Disney XD Games

DISNEY XD TO PREMIERE “FORT BOYARD – ULTIMATE CHALLENGE,” A REALITY ADVENTURE SERIES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 17

Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”

The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.

In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.

“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.

The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.Disney Friends for Change Games

To support the “Disney Friends for Change Games” on Disney Channel and Disney XD, Disneychannelgames.biz has launched an online destination at Disneyxd.biz, where kids and families can take part in the Games from home and help the planet — by making personal pledges of their own, playing online versions of the Games, and making art that matters! When kids play online versions of the Games at Disneyxd.biz, they can donate the points they earn to one of the four charities involved. At the end of the Games, the charity with the most points given by the Disney.com online community will receive $100K.


Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney

In addition to playing online games for charity, kids can view exclusive video content and participate in a number of funonline activities.  Kids can create online art on the Friends for Change Group Wall at Disneyxd.biz, where they can see the transformative power of friends everywhere pitching in to make a difference. The Disneyxd.biz site will also feature exclusive videos from the “Disney Friends for Change Games,” including a special wrap-up show hosted by Tiffany Thorntonand Jason Earles. Kids can also download the official 2011 Friends for Change anthem “We Can Change the World” featuring Bridgit Mendler on Disneyxd.biz


Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney

Over 30 Disney Channel Games and Disney XD Games stars from around the globe will compete in “Disney Friends for Change Games.” Four teams will play on behalf of a global charity — Fauna and Flora International, World Wildlife Fund, Ocean Conservancy and UNICEF. For five weeks beginning Friday, June 24, Disney Channelwill present “Disney Friends for Change Games” in interstitials during its Friday, Saturday and Sunday primetime original series programming, and Disney XD will present a special episode from the games Monday nights beginning June 27 (9:30 p.m., ET/PT). The Games will culminate with a special half-hour episode Sunday, July 31 on Disney Channel.


Friends for Change
Courtesy of Disney
About Disney’s Friends for Change

Disney’s Friends for Change is a multi-platform initiative that helps inspire kids and families to join together and make a positive impact on their world (and the people and animals that live there). Through PSAs on-air and online tool-kits, the program aims to provide useful information to help kids make small changes that add up to big differences. As part of the program, Disney donates $1 million dollars annually to fund projects all around the globe and has funded over 41 projects that help the planet ranging from educational & community programs to species & habitat protection. Friends for Change currently has over 4 million actions taking place from kids in 33 countries throughoutthe United States, Europe, Latin America, Japan, India and China. For more information, please visit Disneyxd.biz.

- Disney XD gets its game on

Astral-owned Disney XD Canada is delving deeper into the gaming space in a month-long promotion that will see the multi-platform brand take viewers behind the scenes of June’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), offer up two new games on DisneyXD.biz every week and give away five video game consoles to Disney XD viewers.

The Level Up contest runs through the month of September and is set to feature the star of What’s, Up Warthogs!, Eduard Witzke, reporting from this year’s E3 in eight short interstitial reports entitled Ed’s E3. New episodes of Ed’s E3 will premiere every Tuesday and Thursday from September 1 and will air throughout the Disney XD schedule. Additionally, a weekly entry word will appear in each episode, which can be used to enter the Level Up contest online to win one of five game consoles.

On top of entering the Level Up contest on DisneyXD.ca, viewers can explore a dedicated minisite to re-watch episodes of Ed’s E3 as well as test their skills on brand-new Disney XD games. Two new games will be unveiled each week with a bonus game available for those who can work out the special DisneyXD.biz game code.

Disney XD News

DISNEY XD TO PREMIERE “FORT BOYARD – ULTIMATE CHALLENGE,” A REALITY ADVENTURE SERIES ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
Geno Segers (Disney XD’s “Pair of Kings”) and popular British television presenter Laura Hamilton (“Dancing On Ice”) host an exciting competition requiring brainpower, courage and teamwork, “Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge,” a 10-part series premiering MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT), with a thrilling finale MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD. Based on the international game show phenomenon “Fort Boyard,” the series is set in a 19th century sea fort off the coast of France. It introduces six teams — 24 teens from the United States and the United Kingdom — who team up for a tournament where only one team will ultimately get the key to unlock the historic fort’s hidden treasures and win the honor of calling themselves “the conquerors of Fort Boyard.”
The reality adventure series marks the first kids’ version of the popular game show which premiered more than 20 years ago and has since been produced in over 38 countries worldwide.
In the premiere episode, team members from the Red Vipers and Yellow Scorpions compete in the first round of challenges to find out which team has what it takes to move on to become the conquerors of the fort.
“Fort Boyard – Ultimate Challenge” is produced by Zodiak Media Group’s production companies The Foundation and Adventure Line Productions, who created the concept for the original “Fort Boyard” and have been producing the series for 22 years.
The executive producers are Nigel Pickard and Ged Allen for The Foundation, Pierre Godde for Adventure Line Productions and Jamila Metran for CiTV. The producer is Steve Pinhay.

Play the Scary Maze Game With Your Friends!

Have you ever played the Scary Maze Game 8 now? If not, brotha you haven’t lived!!! This maze game is the most awesome game on earth! But in order to play it you MUST have a partner in the room with you. So go find a friend, co-hort, or even an enemy – it doesn’t matter! Then match your wits and your mouse skills with the game and see if you’re awesome enough to win the BIG prize at the end!

The HA epidemic

Hello Ladies and Gentleman We interrupt you're regularly scheduled blog posting to bring you this important public service announcement:

PANIC

A wide spread plague has hit the gaming world and the repercussions of this epidemic could mean the end for video gaming.

The "Half-assed" virus, or HA for short, is a 6 stage virus that attacks the hearts of gamers with the possibility of causing lethal reactions for the infected victims. This HA virus is manufactured by a group calling themselves "The Developers". The following are the stages of the HA epidemic.

Stage 1: The Hype

"The Developers" design the virus to attack both the heart and the head during this stage. The HA virus attacks the head and releases images of awesome fights, cool musics, death diffing acrobatics, and senses of team work in these clearly fabricated "works" they call "Trailers". These "Trailers" could be released several different times and once they are released upon the victims it can spread like wildfire. The "Trailers" release these images in the victims mind create desires in the heart of the victim. Sometimes the infection can become so bad that the victim turns to criminal action.
http://www.baltimoresun.com...

Stage 2: The Game

This is probably one of the hardest hitting stages of the HA virus attack. After the "Trailers" create the wants and desires in the hearts of the victims, which only grows over time, "The Developers" release a catalyst to the HA virus known as "The Game". When a victim gets a hold of "The Game" one of two things can happen. Either the victim has a positive reaction to "The Game", a rarity only getting rarer, or they have a negative reaction to "The Game". "The Developers" purposely release "The Game" in a broken condition where it will intentionally have the hardest time creating positive reactions with the victim. This can cause extreme anger and sadness in the heart of the victims, leading to the potential of suicide.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008...

Stage 3: The patch

After "The Developer" intentionally releases "The Game" in a broken state and create depression and aggression in the hearts of the victims they release stage 3 of the HA virus known as "The Patch". "The Patch" is a inhibitor designed to 'fix' the problems that plague "The Game". Often times "The Patch" is, again, intentionally released to not fix all of the problems with the "The Game". They are only released to bring hope back into the hearts of the victim. The victim starts to regain hope that they can survive the HA virus.

Stage 4: The Fall

After "The Patch" is released to fix the problems with "The Game" and the victims start to regain hope that can survive the HA virus they attempt to reinitialize "The Game". Most of the time the victim will have a negative reaction to "The Game" again and step 3 and 4 will repeat over again. Sometimes "The Patch" will fix "The Game" completely and the victim will survive the HA virus. However for the most part "The Patch" will not fix "The Game" and the victim will develop severe anger and often time intolerable aggression.

Stage 5: Recovery

After The Fall, the victim will go into recovery mode. During this time either the victim is able to completely remove the HA virus by removing "The Game", or they develop an immunity to the HA virus.

Stage 6: Repeat
"The Developers", seeing how well their HA virus worked the first time they begin developing a newer and updated HA virus that the victims of their first HA virus have not developed an immunity towards. The HA virus process repeats itself.

Conclusion:
Ok. I know I over dramatized this quite a bit, but it is a serious problem in gaming today. Developers only understand one thing. Money. Let's start telling the Developers we're sick of them trying to sell us their half assed games. Vote with your wallets.

Eurogamer 2011: Starhawk, TPS/RTS?

Space, the final frontier... or is it? No it’s not, according to Lightbox Interactive’s follow-up to Warhawk, a multi-player only TPS released in 2007 on PS3. The new frontier involves some kind of space gold rush, in which the very substance you’re fighting for can mutate you into some kind of boney, glowing tribal warrior. The space-western theme is very reminiscent of cult fave TV show Firefly, who’s cancellation was a tragedy equalled only by Warhawk’s unappreciative public reception. Warhawk was never the best looking game, nor the most innovative but its gameplay was both deep and incredibly well-balanced. As a gamer who prefers the single player experience to competitive online it was surprising for me to find such satisfaction in a game designed entirely to play online. Still, when Lightbox revealed that Starhawk would have a single player campaign I couldn’t help but be overjoyed. At the Eurogamer Expo in London I recently got to play the entire demo through to the end, twice, here are my thoughts.

The games intro follows Sony’s first party trend (see Resistance and infamous) of animated comic book style, it’s a very artistic and efficient way to tell a story but it’s starting to seem overused. It melds seamlessly back into gameplay, in which you are shot onto a planet’s surface in a pod to secure a source of rift energy. I found the controls familiar but there was a definite sense of ‘weightiness’ that wasn’t present in Warhawk; although it could just be that it’s been a while since my last Warhawk escapade. Within the first 30 seconds I found myself in a fire fight; shooting felt solid and enemies explode satisfyingly into a flurry of glowing rift energy balls. I believe this energy is then used to purchase the ‘build in battle’ structures, which became available after capturing my first rift source.

The build in battle system is the feature that has raised my title question. At first it feels like a gimmick, just dropping turrets into the battlefield to support you isn’t exactly innovative. However, when you start collecting new buildings it becomes clear that Lightbox is onto something and has thrown a lot of weight behind it. In fact it seems to have completely transformed the game to the point that, at times, it borders on real time strategy. Enemy drop locations are announced in advance with timers and symbols, so you can prepare strategically. The tide of battle can shift with just one construction, where enemy types are countered with various turrets or NPC vehicles/mechs/warhawks. The whole concept allows for a depth of choice rarely seen in shooter games without taking away any of the fun derived from using a giant robot to hunt down and shoot a solitary enemy soldier with a salvo of overkill.

It’s this combination of genres that has solidified Starhawk as one of my most anticipated games of 2012 and could be exactly what the somewhat crowded and stale shooter market needs to get it out of its rut. Unless you believe MW3 will bring some kind of surprising innovation, in which case I commend your optimism.

UPDATE: Added a very nice video with Dylan Jobe, President of Lightbox Interactive, describing the build in battle system. It also contains some footage of it working in MP as well as the upgrade system for structures.

Join N4G as We Game for the Children's Miracle Network

N4G Moderators Odion, JL, cgoodno and I are leading the N4G team to charity victory - want in? As gamers in Extra Life's annual 24-hour video game marathon you can join the N4G team and get some play time in or you can donate and help us reach our fundraising goal!

All contributions will benefit local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Any contribution will help and all donations are tax deductible.

Our team fundraising goal is $5000 - which is huge for our first year, but c'mon...we can so do this!

If you would like to be part of the N4G team by playing just go here: http://www.extra-life.org/i... All gaming counts - PC, console, mobile, board...just game!

If you want to be part of the N4G team by donating choose any of our participant profiles on that page and donate!

Some other stuff: Want to play 24 hours but not for 24 hours straight? That's cool, just clock 24 hours in the time frame you choose! This is about the kids, after all - any Achievements/Trophies/etc. earned is just icing on the very real cake.

BONUS: If you join the team OR donate $24 or more to one of the N4G team's participants you'll be entered to win a swag bundle from our swag closet. This is a grab bag of posters, t-shirts, buttons, bags, and dog tags to name a few from GDC, E3, PAX...or stuff that showed up in the mail.
1. Swag bundle is open to all except for employees of HAVAmedia and immediate relatives. You do not have to be a registered N4G user to win.
2. Closing date is 15th October 2011
3. The winner will be chosen by random.org and notified via email or N4G ticket on or after October 16, 2011.
4. Failure to reply to notification within fourteen (14) days results in forfeiture of prize.

BBCW launches CBeebies games app

Games based on popular CBeebies Games series Charlie & Lola, Teletubbies, 3rd & Bird and Numberjacks are available through a new app launched by BBC Worldwide.

CBeebies On The Go is available for free on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to pre-school children in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Korea.

Developed by Tag Apps, it includes matching pairs picture games for the Teletubbies and Charlie & Lola, a Kerwhizz jigsaw game and a 3rd & Bird tap-the-fruit challenge. It also holds a number of short video clips from popular shows.

Director of CBeebies investment at BBCW, Henrietta Hurford-Jones, said the team had “worked hard to build a product that upholds the core values of learning through play”.

She added: “This new kids’ app is a first for the Channels business, so the learnings from this pilot phase will help shape any future plans to roll CBeebies Games On The Go out to new territories and different devices.”

More than 53m homes have access to the CBeebies channel worldwide.

Angry Birds for PC

Finally, those birds that everybody likes has arrived on PC. After iPhone, iPad, Android and other mobile versions, also iPhone cases and toys, Angry Birds has finally arrived on the PC thanks to the Intel App Up store. It’ll work fine and dandy on laptops and netbooks and will cost you only $4.99 to download. Nice price for this lovely game.

Angry Birds is a global phenomenon in mobile gaming and the top grossing iPhone app of 2010. So if you’re not a smart-phone wielding hipster, you no longer have an excuse not to be part of this franchise.

Overall it’s pretty much an identical game play experience to the iPhone app, with some minor differences. It’s snappy, gorgeous, and it sounds amazing. On the netbook version you use a mouse or trackpad instead of touch. There is an open hand icon when the mouse is in hover state, and a closed hand icon when you are clicking or dragging. This visible clue when pulling the slingshot is a nice aid. It allows you to fine tune shots more than just observing the angle of the slingshot band.



Angry Birds for PC


Larger screen means more visibility in the game. On many levels you can see the target that can’t be seen on the iPhone. The previous shot trail is more easily seen, allowing fine tuning of your next shot. Overall the animations and physics seem to have more fluidity.

In terms of features, options, menu etc it’s pretty close to the original. On the netbook the replay level icon has been added to the game space. So you don’t need to pause first then replay. If you start off with bad shot, just click the replay icon, then you can start over. Saving a click is nice. There is a Menu button in the Pause menu that gets you back to the Start screen. There are some things not in play on the netbook version. The leader board and achievements are not available in the main menu. The Golden Eggs are there.

Angry Birds strikes an interesting balance of repetitive, simple tasks and challenging game play working for the many scenarios. So, if you liked this game on your iPhone or Android phone, you’ll sure like it on your big PC screen. If you are new player, don’t hesitate and join the fun now.

You must know and recognize the game from the Rovio, Angry Birds.

This game consists of seven birds with super abilities are different. By using slingshots, you can control the jump and the height of ill-tempered birds to tear down the building where the collection of green pork fat is shelter.

Where is a funny collection of birds swelled, turned into a grumpy group of birds which destroy the kingdom of lustful pigs these cunning thieves.

Angry Birds now not only for the iPhone, Android OS, PS3 and PSP. even Angry Birds has been available in Ovi Store for Nokia. And now Angry Birds have been available for Windows XP and Windows 7



Free Angry Birds for PC

Plenty of dodgy website owners want to rip off Google and push traffic towards their sites on the bogus promise of the free version of Angry Birds for PC. This is only a scam but in fact there exists a download free Angry Birds for PC nevertheless, you will need to move quickly to take advantage of that offer

Finland games producer Rovio Mobile has produced their very 1st version of Angry Birds Game for the Apple iPhone. This particular game was immediately caught by the iPhonesters, and Rovio understood that they will become successful. That has been fine. However, Rovio needed to get going by recoding Angry Birds Games for several programs, which become easier for small companies to get done.

Several weeks went by and finally, the Nokia and Android users could get themselves the Angry Birds Game. After that, the RovioMobile switched their attentions to the huge users of the PSP or the Play Station Portable and the PS3. That has been an additional huge porting project for Rovio operations.

During that time, the PC users have been reading and hearing rumors regarding Angry Birds for PC. Ultimately, in January, Angry Birds for PC was released, and downloading is not for free. However, not everybody is willing to pay for $5 for just a game, even if they will enjoy playing with it. These days, several users have grown to be familiar of getting some thing for free, so there are many who are on the lookout for a totally free Angry Birds for PC download. It can be downloaded via Windows 7 and Windows XP and Vista, or Mac support. But downloading can only be downloaded if you have an internet connection for the process to activate successfully.

Angry Birds pc is one of the well-known games that have taken the popularity with over 200 million downloads. The availability of this game is taking place in almost all of the popular platforms. In addition to playing the game online in the browser you can now download it on your laptop and take it wherever you may go to enjoy the amazing games, enabling you to play whenever, wherever you go. Take it to your workplace or even in the park, while resting and basting under the sun. Probably launching the Angry Birds for PC the wisest and the best move the game maker ever made.  This availability made for the millions of platform owners, even made the popularity of Angry Birds known to more video-gaming enthusiasts more than over.
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      - Angry Birds PC Updated

      The PC version was updated last week which we talked about in this post. This update will finally include all episodes of Ham ‘Em High and the two chapters of Mine and Dine. I’m sure this is welcome news for all the PC players who have been feeling left out. It shouldn’t have taken this long to get all the episodes out but that’s in the past now so lets just get to playing. Since all the chapters are available you also have access to all of the golden eggs. You can finally complete your collection!

      As a side note because I didn’t want to do an entire post about the subject, have you all seen the Angry Birds bra? It’s available over on etsy  you should go check it out. I personally don’t know anyone who would wear it but i’m sure there is someone out there  who would. I don’t recommend buying this for you girlfriend or wife unless she really loves angry birds.

Gundam's giant fighting robots even bigger on Japan's Gree, DeNA

Just in case you haven't noticed, Japan kind of has a thing for gargantuan fighting robots. The incredible growth of mobile social games based on the popular Gundam franchise reflects this, as Gundam Masters by Gree has reached over 1 million players just over a month since its Sept. 1 release on Japanese mobile phones. Serkan Toto reports that the number breaks down to 1,262 players registered per hour since its launch.

Even more impressive is that the Gundam game available through DeNA's Mobage network, Gundam Royal, reached 1 million players in just six days when it launched in December of last year. According to Serkan Toto, the game now enjoys around 3 million players on the Mobage network, which just launched in China and across the English-speaking world through Ngmoco.

While these numbers certainly pale in comparison to, say, CityVille's meteoric growth going into 2011, there's likely more Gundam where this came from. DeNA just embarked on a joint venture with Bandai Namco, the company that holds the Gundam license, to make a 100 million yen joint studio project called BDNA Inc. And Serkan Toto reports that Bandai Namco is also working with competitor Gree to release four more mobile social games this year.

Mobile social games are clearly far bigger across the Pacific than they are in the U.S., but they're gaining traction in the western world as well. Several secret Zynga projects have been cropping up like Mafia Wars Shakedown and FarmVille Express. Not to mention companies like Capcom making major moves in the space with its Smurfs games. If 2011 was the year of social games, 2012 will certainly be the year of mobile social games.

[Via and Image Credit: The Next Web, Gunjap.net]

Do you think mobile social games are going to take off in the U.S. and abroad like they have in Japan? What social game are you dying to get to play on your mobile phone? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

No More Heroes for Mobage to bring 'social assassin battle' to phones

Japanese developer Grasshopper Manufacture's Suda 51 clearly wasn't joking when he set out to make "the social game with the most blood." Joystiq reports that, according to a release by publisher Marvelous AQL, No More Heroes (working title) will release on iOS and Android devices through DeNA and Ngmoco's Mobage network as a "social assassin battle." This will be the first multiplayer game in the critically-acclaimed-but-commercially-lukewarm No More Heroes series.

Unfortunately, neither a release date nor more details on just how social this bloody mobile game will be were revealed. But judging from these first images of the game in action, it certainly looks to impress visually. (Frankly, these look a helluva lot like images from previous versions of the series on consoles like Nintendo Wii.)

This decidedly hardcore mobile social game will be released by Grasshopper Manufacture along with three more games in the same format. The first of which will most likely be Frog Minutes, an odd game that's already available in Japan through Mobage that has players capture various insects for a frog to eat.
No More Heroes Mobage 2
Nothing has been revealed of the studio's other two mobile social games in the works other than their titles, Humans vs Zombies and Alien Busters. Based on highly educated guess work, either of the games will feature at least one of the following things: blood, guts, swords and women scantily clad in school uniforms.

Do you plan on playing this game when it releases to Mobage? How well do you think a game like this will do with mobile social game fans? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

FarmVille Lighthouse Cove Chapter 3 Bonus Goals: Everything you need to know

After celebrating Heritage Days in FarmVille's Lighthouse Cove, you'll be ready (but perhaps not willing) to tackle the next series of Bonus Challenges on your new farm. Past Bonus Challenge goal sets have been incredibly expensive to say the least, but depending on which sets of data with these newest goals is correct, you just might be in for a break here. We'll get to the discrepancy in a minute, but for now, let's take a look at the first goal out of three.

Bonus Challenge 1!

    * Get 3 Hobby Horse Rakes
    * Harvest 70 Cove Cranberries
    * Improve the Cove to Level 4


To earn the Hobby Horse Rakes, you'll simply need to post a general request to your news feed asking all friends for help at once. For finishing this first, fairly simple goal (admittedly), you'll receive 500 XP, a Fall Gnome and 2,500 coins.

Bonus Challenge 2!

    * Harvest 90 Chandler Blueberries
    * Harvest 1 Orchard??
    * Make Wild Blueberry Pie Twice


Here's where things get a bit hairy. According to in-game images that Zynga has provided, this second task is technically "Harvest 1 {item}," with a picture of an Orchard. This leads us to believe that you'll simply need to harvest a ready Orchard, which is incredibly simple. However, when speaking of the goals on the game's official forums, we're told that this task is really supposed to be "Expand to a Harbor Homestead," which would cost at least 50 Farm Cash, depending on if you had already expanded twice before to the 16x16 level. We'll let you know when we discover which one is correct. Either way, if you finish this goal entirely, you'll receive 1,000 XP, a Red Cedar Tree and 5,000 coins.

Bonus Challenge 3!

    * Harvest Lighthouse Cove
    * Make Black Raspberry Wine Twice
    * Harvest the Zoo


Raspberry Wine can be crafted inside your Restaurant using three Raspberry, two White Grape and three Chandler Blueberry bushels. As for the Zoo, you'll need to build one of these on your own (check out our guide for more), as you weren't given one when landing in the Cove proper. Only after it's been completed, and it's had a chance to become "ready" after 24 hours will you be able to finish this goal, and the overall Bonus Challenge series, off for good. Finishing this final goal in the trio gives you 500 XP, a Gorilla, 2,500 coins and 10 Animal Feeds.

This entire goal series will need to be completed in under a week, or else they'll expire and take your chance at these rewards with them. Since you still have quite a bit of time before these goals even activate on your land, however, why not plan ahead by building your Zoo, or even making these crafting recipes and then letting them sit completed inside your Restaurant? You'll need to save all of the time you can to finish these three goals in time, so every little bit of planning helps! Good luck!

What do you think of these Chapter 3 Bonus Challenge goals? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille: Puppies leaving the store "soon"

And we'll file this one under "Flop." While plenty of FarmVille farmers may have adopted puppies, clearly they were in the minority. Let's face it - the puppy feature was far from perfect. With many puppies going for expensive Farm Cash prices, and then the possibility of them running away hanging over your head if you can't grow them fast enough, the entire feature apparently turned into more than we could take.

Apparently, Zynga feels the same way, as it's decided to end the feature entirely, announcing that it will remove all puppies from the store "soon." Now, if you happen to be a puppy owner, you don't have to worry about losing them, as you'll still be able to grow and train the puppies you've already purchased. On the other hand, if you were just waiting for a better breed, but do actively want a puppy, you can still purchase them. Here's its full announcement:

"Howdy Farmers, we've found plenty of homes for puppies, so you won't be able to find any more in the market soon. Not to worry though, you can still grow and train the ones you already have."

It's unfortunate that we don't know exactly when the pups will be taking their leave from the store, but I suppose this is one case where you'll want to make your last-minute purchases sooner, rather than later, just to be safe. As of this writing, you can still purchase one of six puppies. Here's the rundown of their prices (I wouldn't expect these to change):

Heeler - 65 Farm Cash
Border Collie - 300,000 coins
Border Collie (can't run away) - 65 Farm Cash
Golden Retriever - 65 Farm Cash
Sheepdog - 65 Farm Cash
St. Bernard - 65 Farm Cash
Terrier - 5,000 coins
Terrier (can't run away) - 65 Farm Cash

Again, there's no exact date for the puppies to leave the store, but I wouldn't delay if I were you (and I were interested in purchasing one or more of these pups). After all, it's likely that Pubble Kibble will disappear eventually as well (regardless of what the big Z says above), leaving you without a free way to grow your new purchase. We'll make sure to let you know if Zynga announces the final day of puppy availability, so keep checking back.

Are you disappointed to see puppies leaving the game, or did you ever bother with adopting / growing one? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille: Farmer Appreciation Week starts with Double Mastery

If you're one of the many players that's still dedicated to FarmVille, you'll be happy to know that Zynga appreciates your support. Or, at least they appreciate it enough to launch a full "Farmer Appreciation Week" in the game. While we have very little details at this point as to what the entirety of this event will contain, the biggest news comes via a new loading screen that has just gone into circulation.

This particular loading screen advertises Double Mastery, but don't worry - you don't have to wait until the weekend to receive it. It's already starting to hit players' farms as of this writing, and the double mastery will stay on all week. We've tested it out, and so far it does appear this Double Mastery event applies to animals as well, so now is definitely the time to be as diligent a FarmVille player as ever before. Just note that if you have any sort of statue on your land for Double Mastery of trees and crops, it's likely that this won't stack. Everyone that plays this week will simply receive 2x the mastery points on all crops, trees (and yes, apparently even animals) harvested.

Again, Zynga hasn't officially announced any other bonuses that will be released during this Fan Appreciation Event, but we'll make sure to keep an eye out for any freebies or announcements and will share them with you as soon as we know more. Personally? This sounds like a great time to release Calf and Foal mastery - c'mon Zynga! Don't let us down!

Will you play FarmVille more often than normal this week just to take advantage of double mastery? Which trees or crops will you try to master first during this period? Sound off in the comments.

CityVille Popular Science Timed Goal: Everything you need to know

Do you like timed goals in CityVille? How about the idea of increasing the payout of your businesses and homes by 100 percent? I thought that might get your attention. It turns out Zynga has combined both of those ideas into one, with a new timed goal, Popular Science. And it will reward you with a Solar Panel, if you earn the top trophy. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let's take a look at what this new goal requires in the first place.

    * Collect from an Observatory Twice
    * Increase your Population by 5,000
    * Have 10,000 Goods


Now, I don't know about you, but these seem to be the hardest tasks we've seen in a timed goal yet. The Observatory is a Community Building that simply must be built in your town (and as it's been around since February, you might already have one). The population increase is massive, especially considering the amount of room (on average) you'll need to waste with homes to raise your population that much. And if you don't have a storage cap of upwards of 10,000, there's literally no way you could be holding that many Goods at once. Extra Goods storage buildings take up even more space, limiting the amount of other buildings you can construct.

Unless you're one of the veteran or power players that already has the requirements filled for all three of these tasks, you'll at least have a longer time frame--three days--to finish them all for the Gold Trophy. If you can do so, you'll receive just the Solar Panel (no Goods or coins this time), which, as I said above, gives you a 100 percent payout bonus to any buildings you place the Solar Panel next to.

Meanwhile, if you can't finish within three days, your rewards will decrease significantly, with the Silver Trophy rewarding you with 50,000 coins and the Bronze Trophy with 20,000 coins. Now, I already warned you that these tasks were hard, so perhaps now is the best time to tell you that finishing these timed goals is voluntary. There's nothing forcing you to complete them, although you will have to settle with seeing their goal icons in your goal manager until Zynga decides to remove them entirely.

What do you think of this Popular Science timed goal? Do you like CityVille's timed goals in general? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Express: Zynga working on mobile browser version? [Rumor]

According to this single image found by a FarmVille Freak tipster, that very well may be the case. A mobile browser-based version of FarmVille may be in the works at Zynga. The website reports that readers are reaching this screen when attempting to log into their mobile farm via the existing. However, those readers' claims strike us as odd considering what's displayed is clearly the Safari browser on an iPhone.

FarmVille Freak goes on to say that the app isn't completely functional at the moment. When we attempted to reach this same page through the native FarmVille app for iPhone, we simply arrived at our existing farms. But when trying to access FarmVille from Safari by typing in "www.farmville.com," we were redirected to "m.farmville.com/fx/" and a message that reads, "Howdy Partners! FarmVille is currently not available for this device."

The fact that we were redirected to that web address suggests that perhaps mobile web version of FarmVille really is in the works, but the release of this image was accidental. If you remember, Zynga approached players earlier this year with a survey asking players what they would want from a mobile web version of the game. Why Zynga would suddenly release a mobile web version of its flagship game after working so hard to bring the native FarmVille app up to speed is beyond us.
FarmVille Express full
This news follows the mild announcement of a new Mafia Wars game for iOS, Shakedown. More importantly, this news comes just after Zynga's mobile head David Ko told The Guardian that he thought HTML5, commonly used by game developers to make mobile web game like what FarmVille Express appears to be, is still too early. Though, there is Facebook's Project Spartan to consider. We've contacted Zynga for comment.

[Image Credit: FarmVille Freak]

What do you think this leaked image means? Would you rather play a mobile web version of FarmVille on your iPhone than the native app that's available now? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Pioneer Trail Ghost Town feature coming soon [Video]

Way back in January, Pioneer Trail players (then FrontierVille) were able to take a survey detailing potential new themes for the game. One of those themes just so happened to be "Ghost Town." While it may now be October, it looks like that theme is finally coming around, and will likely comprise the greatest portion of the game's Halloween event this month. While we haven't received much official news in text, Zynga has released a preview trailer for this Ghost Town theme, which it's calling a "Mega-Feature!"

The trailer [embedded below] shows us that the Ghost Town will be more than just an item theme in the game's store; it will apparently be a location we can visit and complete tasks in. The story of Ghost Town sees the evil Mayor Witherwood placing a curse on the town, which has apparently resulted in some... unusual animals and crops being developed. There looks to be some sort of zombie corn with glowing pink eyes, a broken clock tower, Frankenstein's Monster trees, tombstones a plenty (including what looks to be an Indian Burial Ground and ghost frogs) and even floating, zombie / ghost chickens!

We're told that we'll use "your Sharpshooter, Mad Scientist and Shaman" in tasks that resemble those out on the Pioneer Trail map proper. If I'm making an educated guess, it's likely that these positions will be filled by friends, with your Sharpshooter being able to go out and hunt undead bears and other monsters to earn Hides, the mad scientist can "tackle" man-eating plants for Potions, and the Shaman will seek out ghosts and bless them for Spirits. Your own character can also complete tasks, rewarding you with Charms (from rocks, shrubs and buildings). You'll be able to use the hides, potions and spirits to help the locals in Ghost Town, with the ultimate goal being to earn enough keys to open the Mayor's Mansion and bring him to justice.


As for the Charms, you'll use those to earn special, exclusive prizes like decorations along the way. The more Charms you collect, the more prizes you'll apparently wind up with, giving you incentive to play around in Ghost Town for days and even weeks after the feature launches. Unfortunately, we just don't know when that will be.

Either way, we'll make sure to keep track of all things Ghost Town in the Pioneer Trail, and will let you know when you can embark on this spooky adventure in your own game, so keep checking back!

Are you excited to travel to Ghost Town in Pioneer Trail? What sorts of prizes are you hoping to earn along the way? Sound off in the comments.

Adventure World Danger Mine Expedition: Everything you need to know

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After completing the three Indiana Jones-themed Expeditions in Adventure World, you'll have a chance to get back on track with the main game. The next Expedition on our list is Danger Mine, which asks you to recover a set of TNT crates before they can explode. This particular Expedition requires 1000 Supplies and five each of Fuel, Food and Water to begin, and you only have a single day to accomplish all of the quests therein. Here's a guide to help you out.

Crates of Boom

    * Get the First Crate of TNT
    * Get the Second Crate of TNT
    * Get the Third Crate of TNT


The crates are all sitting next to numbered rocks, so you know the order to go after them in. However, picking them up in the wrong order would be incredibly difficult, as this is one Expedition that has you navigating between open areas using mine carts. As you're underground and in a mine, after all, you'll only be able to walk long distances by pushing a mine cart in front of you. This wastes a lot of energy, but eventually you'll end up at an open area containing the TNT and other goodies that can be collected / cleared for extra energy or XP. Note that there are plenty of other TNT crates around the map, but only the ones standing next to numbered rocks really count.

Mush Rooms

    * Clear 15 Mushroom Colonies


Blocking your path(s) here in Danger Mine are Mushroom Colonies, along with spider webs and other traditional debris. These Mushroom Colonies are important, because apparently one of your adventure teammates wants mushroom soup tonight (leave it to you to be the errand boy/girl). You'll clear out Mushroom Colonies with your machete, so just clear out every colony you see to be sure.

Back on Track

    * Collect 5 Track Fragments
    * Repair 5 Broken Tracks


The Track Fragments are found scattered around the map, and a simple click on them will collect them. You'll be able to pick them out amongst the rest of the tracks as they tend to face the opposite direction and look like the picture below. Also highlighted there are the broken track areas that need to be repaired.

All in all, this particular Expedition is fairly straight-forward, and so long as you're diligent about coming back and playing more than once per day, you should have no problem completing the entirety of it within the one day time limit. Remember, you can also bring up to five friends in on this Expedition with you, for 15 free energy, making any spiders you encounter not such a great threat to your energy bar after all. Keep checking back with us as we'll bring you more coverage of all of the Expeditions in Adventure World!

Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.

What do you think of this Danger Mine Expedition? Did you find it to be one of the easiest we've seen so far, or do the spiders over-complicate things? Sound off in the comments.

The Sims Social: Grab your free Plumbob Hoodies while you still can!

While we knew that the Sims Social would be celebrating fans this week with a series of freebies (including Simoleons, collectibles and the like), here's a gift that tops them all - a free Plumbob Hoodie for both girl and boy Sims! For those that don't know, the Plumbob is the name of the Gem that appears over each Sims' head, and lets the owner know of their status based on its color. This particular Hoodie displays a bright green Plumbob, and it's yours for the taking, but only for a limited time.

To be clear, there are two links available to claim this Hoodie, and therefore two Hoodies available for all users: one for male Sims and one for female Sims. Even if you are fairly certain you'll never change the gender of your Sim, why not grab both? They're both absolutely free, after all. Here are the links to claim both (found on the game's Facebook fan page):

Female Sim Plumbob Hoodie
Male Sim Plumbob Hoodie

While you're on the game's fan page, make sure to grab the extra Simoleons and Hope items that are also being given away. Now's a great time to be a fan of the game, with daily giveaways like these, but we'll make sure to let you know when the more noteworthy prizes come along if you don't want to fan the page yourself.

What do you think of these Sims Plumbob Hoodies? Did you claim both, or just the one for your Sim's current gender? Let us know in the comments!

FarmVille Halloween Items: Nightmare Unicorn, Fire Peach Tree and more

With tonight's FarmVille update, we see a slew of new items launch in the current limited edition Halloween item theme. If you've yet to pull your Halloween items out of storage, now's the time, as you've got plenty of items to further flesh out your spooky graveyard or ghost town on your farm(s). As usual, we're here to give you a complete rundown of the items available this evening, so let's get started!

Trees

Fire Peach Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Fire Peach Tree - 14 Farm Cash
Jack O Lantern Tree - 8 Farm Cash
Giant Jack O Lantern Tree - 14 Farm Cash

For tree collectors, tonight's update is a big one as it sees the release of four new trees, along with four corresponding mastery signs. As you'd expect, the two Peach Trees are a pair, with the giant version being available for free via Mystery Seedlings. Likewise, the Giant Jack O Lantern Tree is available as a Mystery Seedling as well, so feel free to skip purchasing it and only invest in the Jack O Lantern Tree. As for mastery, all of these trees come with the same stats, and will be mastered after 75, 150 and 225 harvests each.

Animals

Nightmare (Pony) - 26 Farm Cash
Nightmare Unicorn - 30 Farm Cash
Nightmare Sheep - 20 Farm Cash
Nightmare Cow - 24 Farm Cash

All of these animals have one thing in common, other than having "Nightmare" in their names: they are all a dark brown/black animal with some kind of flames for "hair." In the case of the Nightmare Unicorn, the flames are an awesome bright blue color, while the other three animals have orange flames. Keep in mind, farmers, that the Nightmare Pony (officially called just the "Nightmare") was originally released in last year's Halloween theme, and then again in the Birthday event last June. Make sure you don't already have one in your collection before spending anymore Farm Cash on the animal.

Buildings

Ghost Inn - 30 Farm Cash

Yet again, we're seeing a fairly awesome Halloween building being released for Farm Cash (unfortunately). This one is a few shades of purple and has glowing windows. Perhaps I'm just partial (my favorite color is purple, after all), but this one is definitely temping my wallet.

Decorations

Raven - 18 Farm Cash
Trick or Treat - 15 Farm Cash
Misty Waterfall - 18 Farm Cash
Skeleton Flamingo - 30,000 coins
Black Rose Planter - 8,000 coins
Dreadful Fence - 5,000 coins

If you already own a few of the Black Rose items from previous themes, know that this one is a different item that you can add to your collection. As for the Dreadful Fence, this is a re-released item that would make the perfect accompaniment to any Graveyard area you have setup on your farm with previously released tombstones.

Avatar Costumes

Ugly Duckling - 50 Farm Cash
Duck - 45 Farm Cash
Black Sheep - 40 Farm Cash
Sheep - 45 Farm Cash
Pink Cow - 35 Farm Cash

Unfortunately, if you want your avatar to be dressed up as any of the most basic animals from FarmVille, you're going to have to shell out a ton of Farm Cash to do so. Hopefully, we'll see additional costumes released in the future - even if they're re-released ones - that are a bit cheaper.

As usual, these new items come with a two week time limit, giving you plenty of time to purchase Farm Cash if you need to, and enough time to pull out your other Halloween items to see just which of these new items go best with those already in your collection. Just remember to go shopping sooner, rather than later, so you don't forget about these new items entirely (trust me, I've been guilty of that more than once).

What do you think of these new FarmVille Halloween items? Have you already decided which costume to dress your avatar up in this year? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Raffle Booth (10/02/11): Royal Steed and Flower Bridge up for grabs

The FarmVille Raffle Booth has been updated this evening with two new items, along with three which have clearly become the standard "filler" prizes for the feature. One of these new items was free in a previous release, while the other would have set you back quite a few Farm Cash. Here's a complete list of this week's prizes, along with your odds of winning them.

    * 10 Special Delivery Boxes - 1:5
    * 3 Farmhands - 1:20
    * 5 Love Potions - 1:50
    * Flower Bridge - 1:200
    * Royal Steed - 1:500


All told, the 1:500 odds for the Royal Steed (horse) aren't the worst we've seen, but then again, this item isn't as limited as other top prizes either. It was originally given away for free to users that collected enough guests in the Royal Wedding event. Meanwhile, the Flower Bridge has even better odds, but is arguably more valuable. It was released back in July of last year in the New England event, but it cost a whopping 42 Farm Cash to purchase at the time. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping my tickets earn me that item, rather than another Royal Steed.

Either way, remember that while you can purchase additional Raffle Tickets for Farm Cash, the rest can be earned for free from friends. Just remember to ask for as many as you can between now and next Sunday, when the drawing will take place. Good luck!

Which of these prizes are you hoping to win in this week's Raffle Booth? Let us know in the comments!

CityVille Pet Show Timed Goal: Everything you need to know

If there's one thing we know about the character Ruth in CityVille, it's that this woman loves her pigeons. That's true to such an extent that she's decided to enter her pigeons into the local pet show. This is done through a new timed goal called "Pet Show" (or, just "Best in Show," if you prefer), and it must be completed in just 24 hours to receive the best prizes. Here's a look at what you'll need to do:

    * Get 12 Pet Shampoos
    * Collect 12 Times from any Zoo enclosure
    * Collect 12 Dubai Shipments


If you have multiple Zoo habitats in your city, just make sure you collect from all of them at once to maximize your points. You can collect from them every few hours, so if you have four habitats (for example), you'll only need to collect from each one three times. While you're waiting, you can send off for Dubai Shipments which take 12 hours to return, and can also gather the bottles of Pet Shampoo, which is accomplished via a general news item posted to your wall.

If you can finish this goal within the first 24 hours, you'll receive the Gold Trophy, 10,000 coins, 3,000 Goods and a Poodle Statue decorative item for your town. If you can't finish within the first day, but finish within 72 hours, you won't receive the Poodle Statue, but you will earn a Silver Tophy, 2,300 coins and 1,200 Goods. Finally, if you finish the goal at any point after the first 72 hours, you'll receive a Bronze Trophy and 1,200 Goods.

Remember, while you are timed once you start the goal, there doesn't appear to be any time limit for when you need to start it. That is, you are only placed on a time limit once you manually start the countdown in your game. Feel free to ignore it entirely until you're truly ready before beginning and you'll still have the full time available to you to finish (and a better chance of actually doing so).

What do you think of the Pet Show Timed Goal? Have you already started it in your game, or are you waiting for a better time before you take on a time-sensitive goal? Sound off in the comments.

Pioneer Trail End of Summer Sale offers 50% off Horseshoes and more

If you thought that 40% off Horseshoes purchased when redeeming a Zynga Gift Card was a good deal, try this one on for size. As part of the Pioneer Trail "End of Summer Sale," you can now take 50% off all Horseshoe purchases for a limited time. Leave it to Zynga to tell us about these things at the last minute, but you only have a few hours to take advantage of this Horseshoe deal, and a few others (for your reference, this sale places 170 Horseshoes in a package for $10, as an example).

Other items are on sale as well, including Mystery Animal crates from a variety of themes (including winter and Halloween) that are priced at 30% off, bundles of Critter Milk, Chunky Chow and Fuzzy Blankets at 40% off, and even Wedding Gift and Poker Card packages being 40% off as well.

Of course, this deal applies only to those items that you'd purchase with Horseshoes, and not anything coin-related, but it also includes the ability to purchase Beef Jerky (permanent boosts to your maximum energy) or Badgers, which are a limited edition animal. All in all, if I had to personally judge which item was the most valuable, I'd say the Beef Jerky for 16 Horseshoes is definitely something that's more worthwhile than not. Think about it - you'll be able to raise your maximum energy, allowing you to do more tasks in a single sitting and make progress faster. Purchase more than one Beef Jerky and you'll really be in business.

Again, though, you won't have much time to splurge on these items, or the Horseshoe packages proper, before the sale ends at midnight tonight (Eastern time). I wouldn't be surprised if Zynga extended the sale beyond this point to make more money, but if not, you've been warned!

Will you purchase any of these End of Summer Sale items? Which ones? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille: Halloween Black Belgian horse available for coins

If you're a Horse collector in FarmVille, you'll likely be happy with the following news: a new Horse called the Black Belgian is now available in the game's store for coins. However, unless you've been saving up, you may not be able to afford its high price tag. How high? How does the million coin mark sound to your wallet? Good? Then you're just fine, as that's its exact price.

Interestingly, this Black Belgian horse is marked in the Halloween limited edition item theme, but it doesn't do anything to scream "Halloween" other than being black. Still, I suppose this gives Zynga a way to bring more attention to it in the store, as its part of the theme that will only last for a limited time. The Black Belgian will only be available for the next two weeks, but you'll receive one heck of a bonus for purchasing it: 10,000 XP.

At that point, you can either place the Horse into your Horse Paddock to be able to collect from it once daily, or you can keep it outside on display and collect from it once every three days. Remember, if you store it, you have a chance to breed a Black Belgian Foal, which would of course be even more limited. Whatever the case, make sure to head into the store sooner, rather than later, if you have any interest whatsoever in purchasing one of these expensive Horses for your farm(s).

Will you purchase the Black Belgian Horse for the whopping price tag of 1 million coins? Sound off in the comments.