Author: Christopher Bowen
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News: MySpace Apps Sending User Data
The Wall Street Journal reports that applications inside social networking website MySpace are directly linking user IDs (UIDs) to advertisers when their ads are clicked on by users. The UIDs link back to a user’s personal page which has as much personal information as the user has decided to put out. In the case of…
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News: Phil Spencer Denies Mandate For Kinect Titles
Responding to rumours that the company had put forth a mandate for first-party developers such as Lionhead Studios to shy away from controller based games in order to make Kinect games, Microsoft Game Studio corporate VP Phil Spencer had a very plain answer for Gamasutra: “No”. “Fable III ships [this] week, and it’s not a…
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News: Hot Pursuit Demo Drops On PS3, Xbox Live Tomorrow
According to a press release put out by Electronic Arts, a demo for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit will drop tomorrow on both Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. The demo will only be for a limited time; after November 9th, the demo will no longer be available, but in the meantime, players will be…
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News: Xbox Live Gold Deals of the Week for 10/25
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News: Playstation Store Scheduled For Downtime On Oct. 28
Sony has confirmed to CVG that the Playstation Store will be down for nine hours on Thursday, going down from 0830 to 1730 PST. This seems to coincide with when the west coast – where Sony is based in America – is at work or school. I do not know if this is intentional or…
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News: California State Senator Leland Yee Defends Games Bill
The Supreme Court of the United States is about to hear arguments, starting in November, on the Cailfornia Games Law that restricts sales of certain video games to minors. The champion of the bill in California, Democratic State Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco, has defended the bill prior to the arguments. “Parents – not…
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News: PSPgo Prices Slashed Worldwide
Sony has announced that they are reducing the price of the PSPgo worldwide. The prices will be as follows: * $199 in the US, down from $249 * 16,800Â¥ ($207) in Japan, down from 26,800Â¥ ($331) * £160 in the UK, down from £225 So let’s analyse for American audiences. For $50 less, you can…
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News: Analyst Says Activision Should Reacquire Rock Band IP
Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creatz, in looking at poor reviews and poorer retail figures for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, has stated that the only prayer Activision has of saving the franchise is dealing with the enemy: talking to Viacom and either merging with or buying the Rock Band franchise. “We believe Activision’s best…
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News: Apple Rumoured To Buy Sony, Electronic Arts By Naff Tossers
I couldn’t make this up if I tried. Last week, Steve Jobs hinted that his company, with $51bn USD in the kitty, was looking to strategically expand into more opportunities to broaden their appeal. Usually when a CEO says this, it’s code for “we’re going on a shopping spree”, and all that people could do…
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News: Zynga Files Patent Request For In-Game Currency
According to Venturebeat, Zynga, the company behind Farmville, Mafia Wars and other social games primarily on Facebook, has made a request for a patent on the purchasing of in-game currency. The currency would be non-refundable, and would include the poker chips used in Zynga Poker, which would potentially get around anti-gambling laws in most states.…
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News: Fils-Aime: Apple Bigger Threat Than Microsoft To Nintendo
Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime is known to be candid about his thoughts, and he’s recently gone on record as stating who he thinks the biggest threat to Nintendo’s market share is. Talking to Forbes, Mr. Fils-Aime stated that Apple – and not Microsoft – is a bigger threat to his company’s position. “Do I…
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Diehard GameFAN Hall of Shame Nomination: Postal 2
Every week, we will present a new game to be nominated for the Diehard GameFAN Hall of Fame and Hall of Shame. These nominations will occur every Monday and Friday, respectively. Our standards are just like the Baseball Hall of Fame: every game will be voted on by members of the staff, and any game…
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Review: VVVVVV (Windows/Mac)
Though he missed the initial release in January, Chris Bowen wasn’t about to miss a cheap, yet fun, indie game a second time. Is VVVVVV worth the positive press it’s received elsewhere?
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Review: NHL ’11 (Sony PS3)
Chris Bowen called NHL ’10 “the greatest sports game ever.” High praise from someone usually so reserved. Was NHL ’11 able to defend the title?
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Hands-On Preview: Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2011
Activision’s newest game will have its own gun controller, and hunting action like never seen before. Chris Bowen went to New York City to preview it, and tells us what he thinks.
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Diehard GameFAN Hall of Fame Nomination: Super Mario Galaxy
It’s been called the evolution of 3D gameplay, and the greatest Mario title to date. Are those platitudes enough to get Super Mario Galaxy into our Hall of Fame?
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Diehard GameFAN Hall of Shame Nomination: The Path
Alex Lucard called it the worst game he’s ever played. Chris Bowen says it set video games back as a medium. Strong words, but is The Path bad enough for the Diehard GameFAN Hall of Shame?
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Review: Ace Combat: Joint Assault (Sony PSP)
Ace Combat: Joint Assault Developer: Namco Bandai Games Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Genre: Arcade Flight Combat Release Date: 8/31/2010 The blessing and the curse of the Ace Combat series of games is that you generally know what you’re getting every time. The Notorious M.A.S. is a big fan of Ace Combat, as evidenced by the…
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Diehard GameFAN Hall of Fame Nomination: Katamari Damacy
Our newest nominee for the Diehard GameFAN Hall of Fame is the biggest surprise Game of the Year winner in our history. Is Katamari Damacy good enough to earn our highest honour?
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Diehard GameFAN Hall of Shame Induction: Daikatana
The first nominee for the Diehard GameFAN Hall of Shame is one of the most infamous and reviled games of all time. Was Daikatana bad enough to enter our lowest depths?