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Yahoo! News

US firm files patent claim against Nintendo Wii (AFP)

AFP - A US firm said Wednesday it had filed legal actions against Japanese-based Nintendo claiming patent infringement by the wildly popular Wii game console.
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Arstechnica

Gods among menus: a review of Too Human

With its epic, Norse-inspired story, strong customization systems, and fluid combat, Too Human manages to stand out even in the wake of controversy, albeit with its fair share of problems.Read More...
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Forbes Mario V. Apple: On Like 'Donkey Kong'

Fanboys freaked when we suggested Steve Jobs would go after the handheld gaming market. Well guess what? He is.
09/26/08
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Forbes Mario V. Apple: On Like 'Donkey Kong'

Fanboys freaked when we suggested Steve Jobs would go after the handheld gaming market. Well guess what?He is.
09/26/08
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Times Online - Business Nintendo launches new DSi - but not...

Nintendo, the Japanese group whose cartoony offerings dominate the global casual video games market, catering for the mass consumer, has launched a new version of its handheld...
10/02/08
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Yahoo! News Let video games read your mind with...

USATODAY.com - SAN FRANCISCO - Luke Skywalker, eat your heart out. Emotiv's elegant, lightweight EPOC headset is a piece of cutting-edge technology that grants Yoda-like...
08/07/08
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Yahoo! News Let video games read your mind with...

USATODAY.com - SAN FRANCISCO - Luke Skywalker, eat your heart out. Emotiv's elegant, lightweight EPOC headset is a piece of cutting-edge technology that grants Yoda-like...
08/05/08
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WRAL.com 'NHL 09' first star in hockey franchise

In the world of sports video games, not much can really change year to year. The game at its core is the same, but it's what video-game developers add that makes it worth...
10/08/08
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macNN

Instant Action gaming portal to gain Mac support

Garage Games' Instant Action portal should soon open to Mac gamers, according to the company. Instant Action is a web-based gaming service, but one which concentrates less on casual puzzlers, and more on the action games PC and console users are familiar with. Titles use a modern 3D engine, and include games like Marble Blast Online and the futur...
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AppleTell

Appletell review - Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Section: Software + Apps, Games, Mac + Computers, Software, Features, Review Genre: Team-based first-person shooter Format: DVD Developer: Splash Damage and Nerve Software Macintosh Developer: Aspyr Studios Publisher: Aspyr Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.5.1, 2GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 1GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600 or NVidia GeForce 7300 graphics card, 5.5GB hard disk space, DVD ROM, mouse and keyboard, broadband Internet connection for Internet play Review Computer: 2GHz 20” Intel Core Duo iMac, 1GB RAM, 256MB ATI Radeon X1600 Network Feature: Internet and LAN Processor Compatibility: Intel only Price: $49.95 ESRB Rating: T (mild blood, mild language, violence) Availability: Out now Demo: No Official Website: www.enemyterritory.com Playing Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (ETQW), I find myself empathizing with Roger Ebert when he has to go see one of those Diary of the Princess Pants movies. I am not the target audience. This game is not meant for me. It’s meant for gamers who not only have the time to spend mastering the controls and strategies required to be effective, but the desire to do so. Perhaps a side-effect of reviewing Mac games for over 10 years is that I’m so used to being forced to move along quickly, that I now get bored if I don’t. Which isn’t to say that ETQW is boring. Far from it. The action is relentless, the graphics are some of the best available in a Mac game (provided your computer can handle them), both the single-player and multiplayer versions are intense. This is a great game; most likely the best team-based FPS currently available on the Mac. I just wish I didn’t suck at it so badly. There’s kind of a story in ETQW, but it’s as pointless as adding a story line to Wheel of Fortune. No one cares about why you have to kill all these Strogg fellows (other than that the name just sounds like something you’d want to kill), it just matters that you do. Strogg invade Earth, Earth fights back. Roll credits. There are two ways in which you can defend the Earth: alone, or with a little help from your friends. No matter which component you’re playing, the layout is the same. After receiving a briefing on the mission goals, you pick what type of soldier you’d like to be, and you’re then dumped on the battlefield. Go. Even in the single-player mode, the class of soldier you pick directly affects your role in the mission. Obviously, if you’re a sniper, you can’t be expected to hop into an armored vehicle and tear straight through enemy lines. Rather, it may be your job to take out someone who would prevent that vehicle from getting through. This adds a lot of replay value to the single-player version, as playing a different class of soldier greatly alters the gameplay of each level. And believe me, there’s plenty to do. You can play as any of five classes of human soldiers or Strogg soldiers. There are over 40 types of vehicles you can commandeer, such as tanks, alien walkers, helicopters and anti-gravity ships. Your missions will see you establishing bases, destroying bases, taking out enemy defenses, defending your own, etc., and will often change multiple times during a mission. It’s actually an interesting comment on the industry. There was a period of time when first-person shooters such as this sought to one-up each other on graphics alone. The big news was always the new graphics engine, or perhaps the addition of two new types of guns. Yippee! Now, it seems the graphics are a given, so attention has focused to actual gameplay. With locales that vary greatly and a huge number of weapons and vehicles to employ, the gameplay has to be able to fill all of this up or risk being dwarfed by the design. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is up to the task, which is why it can focus its attention on the multiplayer component, with the single player component feeling tacked on. See, adding a story line to play through can give a game purpose and drive if there’s really not much to do. But, there’s so much you can do in ETQW that the story isn’t needed. Indeed, as I mentioned above, it just gets in the way. I could go into the benefits of team-based play in ETQW, but there’s really no point. I mean, it’s fairly obvious, isn’t it, that a game centered around squad combat would be more fun with an actual, you know, squad? You get a rush from fighting alongside other human players (especially if you have some sort of VOIP set-up, such as TeamSpeex or Ventrilo). The action in ETQW just feels more urgent when played with humans and against humans, and is ultimately more satisfying. So, why a single-player version at all? Because the game is hard. Learning when and how to use all of these vehicles and weapons takes plenty of practice, and I don’t need to tell you that multiplayer action can be a horrible experience when you’re not any good at the game. Practicing will pay off, too, as you’ll be rewarded in the multiplayer version with special weapons and abilities as you rise through the ranks. This helps the multiplayer version remain fresh, and gives you incentive beyond simply completing each individual mission. Aspyr Studios did a fantastic job with the Mac port, bringing us parity with the PC version (which provides a huge online gaming community). The graphics provided by id Software’s MegaTexture rendering technology are stunning, but they come at a price. I wasn’t able to get decent enough performance on my 2GHz Intel Core Duo iMac with 1GB RAM and a 256MB ATI Radeon X1600, and had to install the game on the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac with 2GB RAM and 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 at the office in order to do the game justice. What a difference it makes to be able to play ETQW without handicap. It’s somewhat playable at the lower range of the recommended system specs, but you’ll really have to dumb down the graphic in order to avoid series hiccups during the battles. And the last thin you need during these battles are hiccups. As far as I know, MacSoft still plans to release Unreal Tournament III for the Mac. The UT series has been Quake’s rival for some time now, so I’m curious to see if it’s able to top the features and gameplay of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Until UT III’s release, though, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars stands without competition on the Macintosh. Just be sure you set aside a lot of practice time, and perhaps a few paychecks to cover the purchase of a Macintosh that can handle the game. Me? I have to move on to the next game...thank God. A man can only take so much embarrassment, even if those mocking his FPS abilities are half a country away. Appletell Rating: Buy Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »
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Arstechnica Waging WAR: a two-month report on...

After two solid months of in-the-field research and play-testing, Ars reports on the most recent high-profile MMORPG in Warhammer Online. Check out our full report, complete...
10/13/08
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AppleTell Appletell Review - Fable: The Lost...

Section: Software + Apps, Games, Mac + Computers, Software, Features, Review Genre: Action/RPG Format: DVD Developer: Lionhead Studios Macintosh Developer: Robosoft...
07/25/08
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iLounge Review: Gameloft S.A. Brain Challenge

Gameloft’s Brain Challenge ($5) is the iPod Games equivalent of Brain Age, and works on the fifth-generation iPod, iPod nano, and iPod classic. Limitations of the iPod...
07/23/08
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Yahoo! News At E3, video games shift their aim to...

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...
07/22/08
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Macworld - A Vampyre Story adventure game coming...

A Vampyre Story is a new point-and-click adventure game coming to the Mac from one of the alumni of LucasArts' famed Monkey Island adventure games.
10/21/08
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Times Online Roberto Di Matteo ready for life with...

Six years after injury forced a premature end to his playing career, Roberto Di Matteo is sitting at a first-floor window watching his new team warm up. His squad is too small...
07/19/08
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msnbc

Video gamers are surprisingly fit, says study

Drop those stereotypes about people who play online role-playing games — chances are they're more physically fit than the average American.
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Arstechnica

PS3's LittleBigPlanet births YouTube-like social game design

Sony's headline title for the holiday, LittleBigPlanet banks on a YouTube-like approach to bring video game content creation to the masses.Read More...
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Times Online Thought control: it's the computer...

First came the joystick. Then came the motion-sensing Wii remote. Now get ready for another radical and rather unsettling leap in video games technology: thought control.
07/18/08
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Times Online - Business Thought control: it's the computer...

Click here for a slideshow of the history of computers
07/18/08
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Macworld - Review: Call of Duty 4: Modern...

From its visually stunning beginning to its emotionally wrenching ending, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a surprisingly deep, rich, and unique approach to the first-person...
10/24/08
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Yahoo! News Videogames getting more social ...

AFP - Videogame makers are riding the social-networking wave with a flood of soon-to-be-released titles that let friends play online as teams and even create their own characters.
07/17/08
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Yahoo! News Videogames getting more social ...

AFP - Videogame makers are riding the social-networking wave with a flood of soon-to-be-released titles that let friends play online as teams and even create their own characters.
07/17/08
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B.B.C. NEWS Future fun

Nintendo boss talks about what's next for the Wii
07/17/08
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Yahoo! News Video game industry tries to broaden...

AP - A tough little blob must splash color over a town wallowing in gray. Bug-eyed rabbits do a dance routine. And then there's the "perfect equine farm" of wild horses for...
07/16/08
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Yahoo! News Microsoft, Sony Copy Nintendo's...

Investor's Business Daily - Nintendo raised the bar for casual, easy-to-play video games again Tuesday, as rivals Microsoft and Sony scrambled to imitate the family-friendly...
07/16/08
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