Top Video Games For Gamers Of All Ages (TechWeb)

TechWeb - We look at World of Warcraft, Desktop Tower Defense, Orange Box, Wii Sports, Civilization IV, and other top video games to see why video gamers of all ages are getting hooked.

At E3, video games shift their aim to casual players (USATODAY.com)

USATODAY.com - This year's downscaled E3 video game expo drew about 4,500 gamemakers, analysts, retailers and journalists to L.A. last week - less than a tenth of E3's size two years ago - even as the industry grew from $10.5 billion in 2005 to $18 billion in 2007.

Microsoft isn't doing all it should to help PC gaming

Microsoft may be responsible for the foundation of Windows-based gaming, but its recent efforts to help the waning PC gaming industry have done little: developers and gamers alike are clamoring for more love from Microsoft.Read More...

Best of Both Worlds: Games you won’t find on the Mac

Some computer games never appear on the Mac. Sometimes the game makers don’t think the limited Mac market is worth it. Other games depend so much on Windows-specific technologies that it’s not feasible to port them without major reengineering. Whatever the reason, here are Peter Cohen’s ten top reasons you might want to install Windows on your Mac.

Macintosh/iPhone software update round-up - September 15, 2008

Section: Software + Apps, Miscellaneous, Third-Party, iPod + iTunes, iPod Accessories, Cases, iPhone + Communications, iPhone, iPhone SDK & Apps, Mac + Computers, SoftwareMacintosh and iPhone software updates and announcements for September 15, 2008: CardScan, a leading provider of contact management systems, today announced the availability of CardScan Executive for Mac, comprising a contact management software and business card scanner. CardScan for Mac software features automatic synchronization to Address Book, allowing users to keep data the same across devices and applications. The company also announced that all CardScan Executive Version 8 systems will include software for both Windows and Mac. The assignment is daunting. The “thinnest” and “funnest” iPods ever created. But the challenges are nothing new to the designers at Speck Product’s innovation lab in Palo Alto, California. Fast on the heels of last week’s new iPod announcement, the team is fiercely on task delivering fresh designs for the arrival of at least five new iPod cases between now and the upcoming holiday season. Just days after the official release of the new iPod touch and iPod nano, MacCover offers the matching protection covers on their site. The covers are made in 3mm thick, shock absorbing felt in 9 colours, and are made to fit the new models exactly. There is also a D-ring attached for keys or personal gadgets. 21 Pro: Blackjack is the ideal blackjack game for every player, novice and expert alike. With life-like high-resolution graphics and authentic game play, 21 Pro provides a genuine casino experience. If you have never played or have been intimidated by sitting at a blackjack table, this is the perfect game to learn how to play. If you are an experienced player, and want to take your game to the next level, the 21 Pro’s card counting will help you fine tune your skills. Marware has announced its latest leather holster case for the Apple iPod touch 2G, the C.E.O. Premiere. The classic design offers textured, perforated leather, an ultra-slim belt clip and elegant contrast stitching. Providing a sleek, upscale look, the C.E.O. Premiere is a stylish premium hip case that works with both the new iPod touch 2G and the original touch. They’ve also announced the new executive flip-top leather case, the C.E.O. Flip Vue for the new iPod touch 2G. Designed to provide the perfect balance between all-around protection and easy access, the C.E.O. Flip Vue is a sleek, elegant holster case. The C.E.O. Flip Vue allows for all iPod touch functionality while providing elegant leather protection. And because two announcements in one day just isn’t enough, they’ve also released the C.E.O. Sleeve for the Apple iPod touch 2G. The C.E.O. Sleeve is a slim, attractive Nappa leather sleeve that combines elegant protection and quick access to the new iPod touch. This case is uniquely designed to appeal to the more discriminating, style-conscious wearer. The C.E.O Sleeve is a premium holster sleeve that works with the new iPod touch 2G and the original touch. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion for its award-winning subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), will arrive in stores on November 13 in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18. Details regarding the launch of Wrath of the Lich King in mainland China will be announced at a later date. Plyxim, LLC. has announced the release of Exibia 1.3, their broadcast scheduling application for Mac OS X. Exibia allows clients in a multi-user, multi-platform environment to upload and schedule QuickTime-compatible videos to a centrally-located server. Media Atelier has released GrandTotal 1.0, its invoicing application for the Mac OS X Leopard platform. GrandTotal is ideal for freelancers, small- to mid-sized companies, and any organization that needs to generate personalized, invoices, estimates and account statements. GrandTotal sports an easy to use, sophisticated interface that will have you up and running in minutes. A wide range of word processing and layout tools makes creating handsome, customizable documents simple and quick. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Appletell review - Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes

Section: iPod + iTunes, iTunes, iPod, iPod nano, Features, Review Genre: Tactical RPG Format: iPod Game Developer: Square Enix Minimum Requirements: 3G iPod nano, iPod classic or 5G iPod (video), iPod Software v1.2, 129MB disk space Price: $4.99 ESRB Rating: N/A Availability: Now I recently wrote an article for Appletell in which I wondered if the App Store / iPhone combination would kill iPod gaming. In the article, I opined that it will, and probably should, but that it saddened me to say so. For one reason or another, developers just never figured out how to program games for the click wheelbinterface, or what games to port over to the iPod. A few games stood out, a few were terrible, and the majority were simply mediocre. Then, suddenly, along comes Square Enix. Square Enix of Final Fantasy fame. Square Enix of Valkyrie Profile fame. Square Enix of Dragon Quest fame. Square Enix has released some of the best and most beloved RPG franchises—be they action, tactical or what have you—on pretty much every platform worth mentioning since the NES. And now, with the release of Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, they’re on the iPod. Just having this company acknowledging the iPod is big enough, that they’ve also released arguably the best iPod game yet makes it all the more satisfying. Song Summoner is a tactical role playing game, meaning players control warriors one turn at a time, positioning them on a battlefield grid and having them attack their opponent (or not), before moving on to the next soldier. And although Song Summoner will draw many comparisons to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Tactics, it actually plays more like Fire Emblem in that you move all of your soldiers before the computer gets a turn. These battles take place on a fixed, isometrical battlefield. The battlefield designs are somewhat uninspired, but they’re at least very colorful. The graphics in general are quite nice; along the lines of what you’d expect to see on the Nintendo DS. The sprite-based characters look good enough, but it’s the small battle animations that make the graphics work. They’re not going to win awards, granted, but they come together in a cohesive package that indicates the developers understood the strength and weaknesses of the device’s graphics capabilites, and worked with them accordingly. In games of this type, you’re usually presented with characters that you level up throughout the game, giving them access to greater weapons and abilities as they face greater foes. If Square Enix had been content to bring Final Fantasy Tactics to the iPod, that’s what we would’ve gotten. Instead, they decided to embrace the iPod for what it is—a music player—by letting you create Tune Troopers based on your music. You can create soldiers from any song in your collection, and that character will get its capabilities from the song’s characteristics (check out Jenni Lada’s Four Tips for Sturdy Tune Troopers). The ability to create your own soldiers is pretty cool, but not as intelligent as it sounds. I found that songs of similar styles could create wildly different characters. On the other end, you’ll also find yourself with quite a few characters who are extremely similar in capabilities despite being made from wildly different songs. And, of course, there are only around 50 character designs programmed into the game, so it’s not as if your soldiers can be truly customized based on your choice of music. These Tune Troopers don’t level up like characters do in standard tactical RPGs. Rather than gain experience trooper by trooper, battle spheres are earned at the end of a fight, which can then be used to beef up your army. However, each Tune Trooper has a limited number of uses (determined upon its creation) before it’s gone for good. This obviously will play with your use/level-up strategies, and can be frustrating for those used to dumping experience points onto characters in an effort to make them very strong by the end of the game. Here, that work can be for naught. On the other hand, it does force you to create more warriors, which leads to more fun with your music collection. Square Enix’s use of the click wheel is quite effective, as they chose to stick with the spinning motion for selection and execution instead of relying on the more cumbersome left/right button approach. The menus and battlefield are all circular, so you can just drag your thumb around the wheel to make your selections. This may take a little more time, but it allows for simple, one-handed play, and feels quite natural. In fact, the only annoying decision Square Enix made was apparently based on the assumption that we’re all fans of Pink or Avril Lavigne. The majority of the characters are exceptionally bratty, and are based on the “attitude = funny” equation that’s just really, really not true. The story is exceptionally dorky, too; evil robot guy rids the world of humans and music in order to control the planet with his mechanized “network,” and one lone rock and roll rebel must lead the fight against him. This idea was dorky was Styx used it for a concept album, it was intentionally dorky when Queen used it for a musical, and it’s just as dorky now. But, it’s fun. And honestly, this is the first iPod game that rises above the casual gamer audience to appeal to hard core gamers. It’s not enough bring it up to the level of the iPhone or Nintendo DS, the latter of which already has dozens of games such as this available to anyone willing to look in the used section at GameStop, but it does show that a great, ambitious game can be made for this little MP3 player if developers know what to do with it. Hopefully, now that Square Enix has shown them the way, more will be willing to make the journey. And hey, speaking of Journey, I wonder what kind of Tune Trooper “Stone in Love” will give me… Appletell Rating: Buy Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes See other iPod game reviews. Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »