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Article by: Randy Kalista

Randy has a restarting fetish. It's why he rarely finishes games. And that's got to stop. READ FULL ARTICLE...

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CES 2013: Innovations on the floor

by: Dan - posted: 1/9/2013 1:13 AM - Add a Comment

We stopped by Westinghouse yesterday, and came across a very large television, which we have seen before at the show. However, this wasn’t just any TV, but a prototype of a 110” Ultra High Def (4K) set. In the image below, you can see just how beautiful this TV can look and how it just dwarfs Sean. Because the 110” is still a prototype, pricing wasn’t available and we were told that the size would likely be around 98” due to cost and engineering considerations. The Westinghouse press release does state that the largest UHDTV (when a size is finalized) will be available in Q1 as a custom order only.

CES 2013: Roccat Gaming Power Grid

by: Sean Cahill - posted: 1/8/2013 11:42 PM - Add a Comment

Finishing up the visit to Roccat on the first full day of CES 2013, we turn our attention to the much anticipated Power Grid, a software that is downloadable to both the iPhone and Android-based smartphones. It's best to think of the Power Grid as an all-in-one accessory to do all of the things a gamer wished he could do with a single touch. The video below will explain some of the in-game additions as an example, using The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as the base title. It's important to note that the Power Grid is designed to basically help out in all aspects of computer usage. Colors on the keyboard and mouse can be changed on the fly, timers can be utilized for anything that one can think of, and macros can be quick accessed. The iOS version of Power Grid will be available within the next four to six weeks, with the Android version just a few weeks after. Enjoy the video to see how quick the reaction is from the software on the iPhone and the in-game action.

CES 2013: Roccat Gaming Ryos Keyboard

by: Sean Cahill - posted: 1/8/2013 10:33 PM - Add a Comment

CES 2013 is in full swing, and appointments have officially started here in Las Vegas. My Tuesday started out at the Las Vegas Hotel to visit with the good people from Roccat. Last year, Roccat made their North American debut at CES with a solid line of products. This year, there were two primary products in focus: The Ryos Keyboard and the Power Grid.

RYOS KEYBOARD

The meat and potatoes of the visit focused on Roccat's first mechanical keyboard, the Ryos. Bearing a very similar look to the Isku from Roccat, the Ryos is designed to be more customizable than any other keyboard available. As with most keyboards today, all of the keys are illuminated, but are also changeable based upon the user's preferences and current needs. For instance, if a user is currently operating Adobe Photoshop, a change in the macro will illuminate specific editing keys that the program uses. Of course, it wouldn't be proper to have this feature without really having it in mind for gamers. Various settings are available to illuminate the standard keys used in games, such as the WASD keys for movement, macro keys, and so on. The macro keys on the left hand side, upon pressing them, will also show the keys on the primary keyboard that are already coded, that way a gamer won't forget which one he or she set up for a specific macro. Little things make a good product that much better.

The spec-sheet for the Ryos Keyboard is as follows
- Per-key illuminated mechanical keyboard with 113 keys
- Advanced anti-ghosting with N-key rollover
- Choice of four CHERRY MX key switches
- 3 programmable thumbster keys
- 5 programmable macro keys
- 94 other programmable keys
- 1000 hz polling rate, 1 ms response time
- 1.8m rear-exit braided cable
- 1 x audio in, 1 x audio out, 2 x USB 2.0 ports
- 2MB on-board memory
- Two 32-bit ARM Cortex Processors

MSRP for the three models, the Pro, the Glow, and the standard MK, are $149.99, $129.99, and $99.99 respectively.

Expected release date is April 2013.

CES 2013: SteelSeries

by: John - posted: 1/8/2013 10:32 PM - Add a Comment

My annual trip to SteelSeries’s suite yielded two new keyboards that they just recently announced. The Apex and the Apex [Raw] are new membrane keyboards coming from SteelSeries that are geared towards gamers, of course. Let’s start with the more feature packed Apex.

The Apex is a low profile keyboard priced at $99.99. Any of the 504 keys can be programmed, giving you plenty of flexibility in how you want to setup the keyboard. You can see from the images that the Apex has a very oversized space bar. It’s actually a nice design as you have a large area for your thumb to press. There’s a set of macro keys on the left side as well as above the function keys. The ones above the function keys are slightly angled to you so you can tell that you are pressing a macro key instead of a function key.

Now, many gamers want mechanical keys, but SteelSeries decided to go with membrane here to keep costs down and they will see if in the future there’s a market for mechanical keys in the Apex line. Personally, I don’t mind membrane keyboards and can do with either or when gaming and working.

An emphasis on the Apex is the 5 zones of colors you can program. Say you got some different profiles for your character in a game. You can setup profiles on the keyboard to match them and select a color so you can visually see when you change a profile and to what profile you have decided upon. As with most color changing keyboards, you get access to 16.8 million colors to choose from. Also, you have 8 levels of brightness along with the amount of colors selectable.

On the bottom are large rubber feet that can be interchangeable with feet at different angles. Two sets of feet, set at 7 degree tilt or 10 degree tilt are available and provided over the plastic clips that pop down as they are more robust and won’t break.

The Apex also features two additional USB ports if you would like to plug some USB devices there rather than in the computer itself.

SteelSeries has also designed some nice software to help improve your gaming. The SteelSeries Engine has a cool recording capability that will keep track of all the keys you press. It will then generate a heat map to show you which keys you press a lot in the game you play. With the visual cues, the software can recommend some setups or you can use the heat map to create setups that you are more comfortable with. This is an example of how SteelSeries is trying to improve your gaming in not only making products easy to use, but to use software to provide information that maybe beneficial in improving your gameplay.

For those that want to spend a little less and get a few features removed, the Apex [Raw] is the keyboard for you. At $69.99, the [Raw] only shines white and has five less macro keys as well as two less profiles. Also missing are the additional USB ports and no dedicated media keys. The rest is pretty much the same and you do get support of the SteelSeries Engine as well.

Both keyboards seem well designed in both the hardware and software department. It’ll be interesting to see if gamers call for a mechanical keyboard option of the Apex, but SteelSeries believes that they have a great price point for a feature rich keyboard even without the mechanical key setup. We’ll be sure to have a review up once we get some time with the final unit.

CES 2013: PowerA MOGA Pro

by: John - posted: 1/8/2013 8:20 PM - Add a Comment

For mobile gamers out there, PowerA had the MOGA which was a great little Bluetooth controller to make gaming more comfortable on tablets and phones. Well, at CES 2013, they were showing off their next iteration MOGA and I’m lining up to get one when it comes out.

The MOGA Pro is a more traditional sized controller for those that want to hold something familiar in the hand. It’s modeled after an Xbox 360 controller’s layout with the placement of the analog sticks, D-Pad, triggers, and shoulder buttons. The standard size controller felt just right in the hand and all the buttons and triggers on the pre-production model had that optimum feel. The sticks had the appropriate resistance and the triggers’ springs were solid.

MOGA features an integrated clip that pops out from the middle of the controller. It adjusts to the size of your phone and it had no problems holding my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with the case on. That’s about the largest it’s going to accommodate though and I would think that it’s about the largest size phone that would be comfortable to hold. The clip held the phone very tightly and I didn’t once think it had a chance of falling out.

For usage with tablets, a folding stand is included that compacts nicely. You can, of course, use your current case stand if you have one like I do, but the inclusion of a folding stand is nice of PowerA.

One of the strengths of the MOGA is the free software called Pivot that helps ease of pairing with a device as well as easily finding games that are MOGA friendly. You don’t have to hunt around in the Google Play store to see what games are compatible right off the bat and you have the option of grabbing that game from multiple sources, in case you have a preference. The ease of pairing can be bypassed by those that are more advanced and want the MOGA Pro as a straight HID device. A switch on front can determine the mode it will be in, which is a nice touch.

Holding the MOGA Pro in the hand with a Galaxy Note 2 attached, it felt comfortable and responsive. I hate playing games using the touchscreen when a controller is an option and the MOGA Pro is a solid option. Just going through one of the demo games felt natural with the MOGA Pro and I was sitting there fighting the on screen controls that I tend to do. I can definitely see this as a product I would use on a constant basis when playing my emulators on the phone.

There’s no pricing announced yet for the MOGA Pro, but I think a lot of mobile gamers who are more hard core gamers will enjoy this product. It feels like a standard controller, is lightweight, and has solid buttons and sticks for extended gaming periods.

CES 2013: Seagate

by: John - posted: 1/8/2013 7:30 PM - Add a Comment

Seagate had two items that I was really interested in this year at CES. The successor to the GoFlex Satellite, the Wireless Plus, made its debut at the show. Seagate has went and shaved 1mm off the thickness of the device but improved on many things.

Space has been doubled from 500GB to 1TB. That gives you plenty of room to hold some HD video as well as all your music and photos you want to share.

Battery life has been doubled at 10 hour for HD streaming. That's a lot of time to stream some high quality movies to your mobile device. Testing in their labs has shown that it can support up to 3 HD streams pretty well. There's no restrictions to trying to do more streams, but 3 seems to be the optimum amount for good quality. Of course, you can stream to more devices should you opt to go for lower quality standard definition video, but for those wanting just HD, 3's your number.

The Wireless Plus still acts as a hotspot for 8 devices and can share a single Internet connection amongst them. Seagate has gone and made some nice easy to follow instructions should you want to make funnel all the traffic through it.

Seagate has gone and improved on the iOS and Android app to be more robust. You can now wirelessly copy files to the device, something the GoFlex Satellite couldn't do. The interface to the app is pretty intuitive with the app aggregating all your videos, pictures, and files into one nice easy view. For those that want the folder view, it's there at a touch of a button.

For videos, the app will let you choose the app to play them should you have a third party video app installed. That's nice for folks like me who record shows in WTV format from Windows 7 Media Center and want to have it play back on their Android device using MX Player.

If you're interested in streaming to other devices without using the app, Wireless Plus is DLNA certified so TVs, computers, media players, whatever can use DLNA will be able to stream from the Wireless Plus as well.

I've been an avid user of the GoFlex Satellite and I'm excited to see the follow up. It's smaller, sleeker, more powerful, and more space at the same price point.

For consumers who want a NAS like device but don't want to set things up, the Seagate Central is for you. Seagate's going so far as to not even call it at NAS.

Central comes in three flavors: 2TB, 3TB, and 4TB. It's so easy to setup and install. There are three connections in the back: a power connector, ethernet, and USB. Once plugged in, you can use Seagate's app to set it up or just use the web interface. There's a public area and a private area for each user you put on the Central.

Seagate's software can setup auto back up routines whereby it will do a full backup initially and then do incremental backups there after. If you are a Time Machine user, Central's compatible for you guys as well. It makes doing backups pretty simple for those who might not be as tech savvy.

Central's going to be great as a streaming server as well.Seagate's gone and created a SmartTV app for Samsung TVs (others soon as well) where it can automatically find videos, photos, and music to stream. The interface will let you search and sort for items on the Central hard drive. It's also DLNA compliant so it can stream to many other devices as well.

For mobile devices, Central shares the same application as the Wireless Plus letting mobile users access to the files. And, if you're on the go, you can even use the software to copy files to Central, which is pretty convenient.

Seagate Central seems like a nice network storage device for those wanting something easy to setup to backup their files or stream media from. The three various size configurations can accommodate a lot of files and its ease of use should appeal to a lot of casual folks looking for something simple to use.

Seagate was also showing off their third generation hybrid drives. Now, you know I'm a big fan of Seagate's hybrid drives so it was good to see what they had in the pipeline. They had a 500GB 1 platter hybrid at 7mm for ultrabooks as well as a two platter 1TB 9 1/2mm drive.

Now, to show off some benefits for gamers, there was a demo station with two PlayStation 3s. One had a hybrid drive will the other had the standard PS3 HDD. An 11 hour Dragon Age session was saved on each one and a saved file was loaded on both at the same time. The one with the hybrid was able to load the game twice as fast as the one with the standard HDD. The Seagate rep was almost able to load the save game twice before the other one finished its first run. Pretty nice for those that want to save some time on the PS3 and it's easy to swap out HDDs on the system.

Seagate's got two nice products in both the Wireless Plus and the Seagate Central for storage and streaming operations. They also reaffirmed the benefits of a hybrid drive, this time for gamers on the console scene. I'm excited to try out Wireless Plus and see if Seagate Central would benefit me even though I have a pretty complete home network setup with Home Server.

CES 2013: Oculus Rift

by: John - posted: 1/8/2013 7:27 PM - Add a Comment

Oculus Rift was a pretty big story at last year's E3, but I didn't get a chance to experience it up close until today. I went in a little skeptical, but man did the tech impress the hell out of me.

What was shown to me was another iteration of the dev kit, which they are trying to finalize in the design. It strapped on and while there's a large box like structure on front, it felt really comfortable to wear. The demos were shown on both the Unity Engine and the Unreal engine, giving me two different experiences.

Now, what I had on is still not going to be near the final product the developers get. The screens were lower quality, experiencing blurring when turning and looking around as well as noticeable pixels. But, let me say this didn't discourage how I felt when I was trying them out. What was surprising was how comfortable and unnoticeable it is, even for a beta product. And it's only going to get better with the consumer product. Let's face it. If it's not comfortable, no one's going to wear it. It's almost there with what they have now.

The 3D immersion was truly impressive. There is one screen split between and sent to each eye, no active shuttering, no polarization. You're getting full horizontal resolution, full 60FPS per eye. The Unity Engine demo featured a snow fall in a medieval setting complete with walking knights. When looking straight up, you can almost feel the flakes falling on you. Looking straight down, you can see the floor of the environment. Something that really impressed me was turning completely around, you actually saw the environment behind you. You get complete freedom on where to look and you're never out of the environment no matter where you are turning.

While the head tracking was using components that aren't even the better ones that are going to be in the final product, it was still damn impressive. There was a slight, and I do mean slight, perceivable lag that will be improved on the final product. It was so much fun just looking around and viewing things such as the the structures of the buildings just by turning my head. I really can't wait to see what can be accomplished with the final components.

With the Unreal demo, I walked up to a video camera in the environment and the 3D was so effective, it felt like I could reach out and grab it. The 3D wasn't tiring my eyes and there was no crosstalk like you would have in other types of 3D systems. It really did seem natural and something that could enhance some games out there.

During the time I spent with the Oculus Rift on, my mind raced to all the applications it would be great for. Not just games, but other real world applications such as virtual tours and automobile simulators. But as a gamer, I want one for flight sims, third person RPGs, and racing games. I think quick FPS games would be a little disorienting and you need to turn a lot sometimes. It might not be practical to turn your head 180 degrees to try and shoot something behind you while running forward, but who knows. I think there's plenty of applications available that can benefit from a lightweight high quality VR headset.

I was also impressed with Palmer Luckey, who's the brains behind all this. He saw something he thought could be done and improved upon and really delivered on some high expectations. The guy has passion, owning over 40 different wearable screens. He has a passion for this and it shows with what he's done to try and get this product to the market. Right now they are just focusing on the PC side of things, but hopes to work towards the console arena with the product sometime in the future.

I was a skeptic, but now I am believer. It depends on the content, but Oculus Rift's technology really does work extremely well. It's the best one I've experienced so far and one that's got me excited about the technology. I really hope Oculus Rift succeeds as I'd love to get a consumer version in my hands I want it now, that's how much I enjoyed it. Let's hope we see some great stuff after the developer kits are pushed out in March.

CES 2013: Trending at the show – Android Game Consoles

by: Dan - posted: 1/7/2013 1:44 PM - Add a Comment

The 2013 International CES hasn’t officially opened yet, but one of the hottest trends so far is Android based gaming consoles. NVidia announced their Project Shield console last night, and another company, Sunflex, just hours ago confirmed that their “snakebyte eins” device unveiled at Gamescon 2012 will in fact be an multifaceted Android device called the “unu” that is part game console. These two companies along with the Ouya, which made headlines with their kickstarter campaign earlier this year are leading the charge.

Personally, I am wondering if the fractured nature of the Android operating system will doom these consoles to fail before they even get started. All we would have to do is take a look at what happened to the android tablet market over the last three years, and it may shake out that the small guys will fail and only a handful of strong companies will thrive. It will be interesting to see how this plays out for the remainder of CES and in the near future.

CES 2013: Sunflex confirms “unu” Android game console

by: Dan - posted: 1/7/2013 12:08 PM - Add a Comment

One of the trends that is shaping up here in Vegas this week is Android-based gaming consoles. The latest company to announce is Sunflex USA, which confirmed that their “snakebyte enis” device they showed off at the Gamescon 2012 has been formally named “unu.” The unu will be a multifaceted Android device though, as Sunflex says it is part game console, all-in-on tablet and Smart TV system.

The unu package comes with a controller, tablet and air mouse in addition to the console. We don’t have a lot of details on what is under the hood, pricing points and connections at this point, but we will try to stop by and check the unu out later in the week, so keep checking back for images and impressions. Check out an image of the bundle package as it stands today:

[READ MORE]

CES 2013: Polk Audio debuts Woodbourne

by: Dan - posted: 1/7/2013 10:13 AM - Add a Comment

Polk Audio this morning took the wraps off Woodbourne, which is a new form of tabletop audio system. At first look, it has a bit of a throwback style with a mahogany wood veneer top compliments and brass accents, which is different form the typical black speakers that are the current trend. In addition, it features connectivity via both AirPlay and Bluetooth, as well as direct connect by analog mini jack, USB, Ethernet and Optical. Not to be outdone by its looks, the Woodbourne sports a 180-watt amplifier powering the two 5 ¼”-inch mid-woofers (70 Watts each) and two 1” silk dome tweeters (20 watts each.) It currently is scheduled for a Q2 2013 release.

I like the concept of the Woodbourne from a gamer’s perspective, as it can seamlessly blend into atypical gaming areas such as a living room, office or bedroom and allow for your tablet, smartphone or even TV and consoles to connect and provide upgraded audio. We are scheduled to visit with Polk Audio on Tuesday to take a look at the Woodbourne and the other new offerings from the company. So check back for additional images and impressions.

[READ MORE]

CES 2013: Onkyo debuting headphone lineup

by: Dan - posted: 1/7/2013 9:49 AM - Add a Comment

Onkyo, long known for quality home theater and stereo A/V components will be getting into the headphone market at the 2013 International CES. The company is showing off their ES and IE lineup of headphones which will range in price from $179 down to $99. All have been designed with the smartphone and on-the-go user in mind and will feature detachable and replicable cables. The ES lineup will come in three different color schemes (black with a red cable, white with a white cable, and violet with a violet cable) and will have tangle-free cords. The Onkyo ES-HF300 ($179), ES-FC300 ($149) are on-ear models while IE-HF300 ($129) and IE-FC300 ($99) are in-ear models with a target release date is 1st Qtr 2013. The images below are all of the ES lineup.

We have an appointment with Onkyo on Wednesday to check the lineup out, so check back for our photos and impressions.

[READ MORE]

CES 2013: Project Shield gives you portable cloud gaming with Tegra 4

by: John - posted: 1/7/2013 6:16 AM - Add a Comment

Last night, NVIDIA had their annual CES press conference and there they not only talked about Tegra 4, they unveiled Project Shield that uses the new chipset to give you some great cloud gaming performance. Project Shield looks to be a handheld controller with an attached screen that will deliver some stunning visuals through

For starters, the screen has a resolution of 1280x720 giving you a solid DPI for the 5' screen. It is a touchscreen so you can interact with it as well. On the controller base, there's a microSD slot, HDMI out, and audio port, which I assume will let you hook up headsets as well for communication and sound. It's currently running Android JellyBean as its OS.

Project Shield can play Android based games as well as stream games from your PC if you are using a GeForce card. It's similar to how Splashtop THD does it with an Android tablet and your home PC.

Right now, it's in beta and there isn't any word on if it would also gaming over cell, but NVIDIA's new LTE chip sounds like something that would fit right into this wouldn't it? NVIDIA's aiming for a Q2 2013 launch and you bet I'll be keeping a close eye on this product.

CES 2013: NVIDIA's CES Press Conference at 8PM PST

by: John - posted: 1/6/2013 9:50 PM - Add a Comment

If you can't make it to CES, and I'll be there tomorrow with Dan and Sean who are already there, you can catch the press conference NVIDIA is having. It's nice that they are providing a live stream to the event and it's one that I usually attend when I am there. Anyways, here's the stream below for your viewing pleasure.

CES 2013: ROCCAT to unveil Ryos Keyboard

by: Sean Cahill - posted: 1/6/2013 6:54 PM - Add a Comment

Last year, ROCCAT made a big splash at CES with their North American launch of their PC peripherals. The Germany-based company has done quite well and is looking to carry that momentum into 2013. Debuting at CES this year is the Ryos Keyboard, which is ROCCAT's first mechanical keyboard. The Ryos is is looking to be a solid addition to the entire lineup of gear that ROCCAT has to offer, as well as a new Kone mouse along with a Beta look at Power Grid. I will be meeting with the good people at ROCCAT on Tuesday morning here at CES, so be sure to check back for my impressions of my visit personally!

[READ MORE]

CES 2013: Seagate's Central gives home users a central place for files as well as a SmartTV app

by: John - posted: 1/6/2013 6:31 PM - Add a Comment

I've got all my TV's connected in my house so that I can stream content to any of my TV's without any hassle. It's really nice to be able to record in one place and watch anywhere else. While it took a bit to get my setup to be perfect, Seagate's got something that might make it easier for everyone else.

The Seagate Central is a network hard drive that can interact with SmartTVs via an app to stream movies. SmartTV's are getting more and more prominent so seeing an app to access the content stored on the Central is pretty awesome. Of course, you can also stream to your mobile device since it's DLNA certified.

It can also serve as a central backup device so that your PCs can have some disaster recovery options. Depending on how easy it is to setup, which I will see on Tuesday, this could be a great option for some folks.

Central comes in 2TB, 3TB, and 4TB sizes with pricing of $189.99, $219.99, and $259.99 respectively.

[READ MORE]

CES 2013: Seagate ups the ante of wireless storage with Wireless Plus

by: John - posted: 1/6/2013 6:16 PM - Add a Comment

One of the coolest products Seagate produces is the Satellite Wireless. It looks like Seagate's churning out it's next generation in that product line with the all new Seagate Wireless Plus.

The Wireless Plus improves on the original by providing up to 10 hours of battery life along with 1TB of space. It's made to stream to all your mobile products, up to 8 simultaneously. You can also save content to it wirelessly. Now, they had an Android and iOS app for the Satellite, but I thought it was lacking. Let's hope they have a new one that's improved on functionality.

As with the Satellite, Wireless Plus includes a USB 3.0 plug so you can transfer files to and from the hard drive quickly.

Seagate's my first appointment at CES so expect a report on the Wireless Plus on Tuesday.

[READ MORE]

CES 2013: Ubisoft and Lenovo team up with content for the table PC

by: John - posted: 1/6/2013 6:10 PM - Add a Comment

Lenovo's putting out a 27" table top PC for those that want an extra large touch screen to play around with. The premise is that families can take the it, place it flat on a table, and people can interact with it as they please. The large 1920x1080 display seems like a fit for, say, family oriented games?

Ubisoft is going to provide a few games as they are pre-loading DrawRace2: Racing Evolved, King of Opera and Raiding Company. I'm actually going to see Ubisoft on Wednesday so I can comment on the games a little more after the meeting, but the three free games will be available on the table top PC in the second half of 2013. [READ MORE]

CES 2013: The week ahead

by: Dan - posted: 1/6/2013 11:00 AM - Add a Comment

In early January, while most of us are trying to find ways to get out of the ridiculous New Year’s resolutions we made, the staff at GamingNexus is getting prepared to attend the largest electronics show in the world out in Las Vegas. This year Sean, John and myself will be providing coverage of the 2013 International CES once again and we have a very full slate of events on tap for you this week.

Starting today, and as I mentioned earlier, Sean and I will be taking a stop by a place that offers a very unique experience to gamers that are looking to get a realistic experience of some of their in-game actions. While we won’t be riding dragons or shooting fireballs from our hands like in Skyrim, we will be taking a look at some powerful tools of the trade.

Later in the week, we will be attending both the Digital Experience (Monday) and Showstoppers Events (Tuesday), where each bring together hundreds of exhibitors at one place where they show off their latest and greatest products./projector manufactures.

As for actual games and game developers, we are slated to visit with Sony, Square Enix, GameLoft and RedLynx (an UBISoft studio) during the course of the week. More than likely we will find some unannounced titles on the floor being shown off in various booths, so keep checking back all week.

For complete coverage, follow us on our twitter feed @GamingNexus to see live tweets and images as well as check back daily.

CES 2013: Unique Las Vegas gamer's experience

by: Dan - posted: 1/6/2013 9:29 AM - Add a Comment

As the calm before the storm known as the 2013 International CES starts to wane, Sean and I are out here in Las Vegas a day earlier than usual to take a look at a unique experience for gamers. The image below is a hint of where we will be going today, so stop back early next week to read about our unique Las Vegas experience that many gamers might be inclined to try.

2K Games is having a big mobile sale for the holidays

by: Russell - posted: 12/19/2012 11:26 PM - Add a Comment

2K Games has recently announced that they're having a big mobile sale to celebrate the holidays. From now through January 2nd, several of their iOS games will be on sale. The games included in this sale are:

Borderlands Legends - $0.99
Carnival Games Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 - $0.99
Civ Rev - $0.99
Pirates - $0.99
NBA 2K13 - $2.99
NHL 2K11 - #0.99

All games are for the iPhone and iPad except for Carnival Games Vol. 1 and 2 which are for just the iPhone. Still, six mobile games for eight bucks isn't too bad.

Peter Molyneux's re-imagining of Populous barely reaches its goal

by: John - posted: 12/19/2012 6:44 PM - Add a Comment

Peter Molyneux's having a rough few years seeing a lot of his games fail to reach expectations of both fans and himself really. His last project of a mobile cube game called Curiosity suffered from server issues. Peter's trying his hand at something he's had success with and this time he turned to Kickstarted to try and fund his game

Godus looks very much like ole Populous in the way its played. Followers build the towns and help fight for you. The more followers you have, the more powerful you are. Peter's company, 22cans, created a prototype to show off on Kickstarter to try and generate funds.

Looking for £450,000, the project barely made its goal in the 30 days allowed with a few hours to go as of this writing. In a way, it's good to see some folks still have faith in Peter to produce a solid game. He has been pretty good with these types of games in the past so here's hoping he'll do good with Godus as well.

First episode of The Walking Dead available free for a limited time on the App Store

by: Nathan - posted: 12/18/2012 6:45 PM - Add a Comment

If you have missed out on the phenomenal Walking Dead video game then maybe this will entice you to play. How does free sound? Yes the first episode of the award winning series will be offered in App stores for a limited time for free.

Just download the application for free for a limited time and you will get the first episode for free. You can save 25% buying the Multi-Pack which includes episodes 2-5 for $14.99 USD.

The app can be found here.

Telltale is also temporarily discounting the price of several of their other apps until the New Year.

Back To The Future Episodes 1-5 ($.99 each)
HECTOR Episodes 1-3 ($.99 each)
Jurassic Park: The Game 1-4 ($.99 each)
Law & Order Legacies ($.99)
Via in-app purchase:
Episode 2: Home to Roost - $0.99
Episode 3: Killer Smart - $0.99
Episode 4: Nobody's Child - $0.99
Episode 5: Ear Witness - $0.99
Episode 6: Side Effects - $0.99
Episode 7: Resolution - $0.99
Monkey Island Tales and Monkey Island Tales 1-5 ($99)
Puzzle Agent and Puzzle Agent HD ($.99)
Puzzle Agent 2 and Puzzle Agent 2 HD ($.99)
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space 1-5 ($.99)
Sam & Max The Penal Zone Episode 1 ($.99)
Wallace & Gromit The Last Resort ($.99)

I cannot wait for Season 2. I really wasn't interested in this at first because I thought it was just going to be another lame movie/tv show to game tie in so I held off on playing until episode 2 came out. I said "eh what the hell" and downloaded the first episode. I was instantly hooked and immediately downloaded and played episode 2.

If you missed them, be sure to check out Cyril Lachel's reviews of the episodes.

A New Day
Long Road Ahead
Around Every Corner

I can haz vudyeogaem nao?

by: Nathaniel - posted: 12/14/2012 3:58 PM - Add a Comment

If you love cats and mobile gaming, then this might be the best totally real and not made up game news of the day: you can now download the feline puzzle game Meowzers on the iTunes store for you favorite iOS device.

You don't have to be high on catnip to play Meowzers, but I'm sure it helps. In light of trying to explain the gameplay to you - because it cannot be done sober and clearheaded, I'll just show you the Meowzers launch trailer.

To learn more, follow the jump. Also, you can visit www.sillysoft.net/meowzers.

[READ MORE]

Happy Birthday to Doom!

by: Nathan - posted: 12/10/2012 8:23 PM - Add a Comment

December 10th 1993. The date when a first person shooter would be released and the gaming industry would never be the same again. It was also the date that parents and concerned adults would have a heart attack at the massive gorefest that would soon make their way into kids hands everywhere. It was the day that the original Doom was released.

The original Doom is without a doubt my favorite videogame of all time and I still play it to this day. In my opinion the game was just perfect. It had an easy difficulty for beginners new to FPS (which were a lot of people) but if you felt like an additional challenge you could bump up the difficulty 4 more times.

I think what makes Doom so replayable is that it was almost a puzzle game within an FPS. The stages were all laid out like mazes which made it so fun to play through. The music, graphics and sound were amazing as well. When you heard that Cyberdemon growl and you hear his massive footsteps getting louder and louder, your heart would start racing and you knew you were about to meet your maker.

I still have yet to complete the game on Nightmare difficulty but I do know that it still makes for a very fun and very intense challenge to this day. Even if I do complete it on Nightmare difficulty I still have an endless number of custom maps I can play on the PC.

Anyways the guys from Classic Game Room have put together an awesome video in their "On this day in gaming" series for the game Doom. Check it out!

Archos GamePad releases in Europe, U.S. set for Q1 2013

by: Dan - posted: 12/10/2012 3:22 PM - Add a Comment

Back in August, we posted a bit of news regarding Archos and their plans to release a new Android based gaming tablet into Europe and the U.S. On Friday, Archos confirmed a lot of features of the GamePad as well as launched the tablet in Europe and narrowed the U.S. availability to early 2013. The Archos GamePad is designed with a similar form factor to the WiiU GamePad, but runs on Google Certified Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The announcement also gives us greater insight into the hardware the GamePad will have, which is listed below. Giving them a glance, it looks like there will be plenty of memory available via microSD, good horsepower with a quad-core GPU paired with a dual-core CPU. The mapping system that is included looks to be comprehensive and something that users will adapt to quickly. The video below shows just how easy it is to map buttons to games within the GamePad:

Right now, the Archos GamePad is retailing for 149.99€, which translates into about $194 U.S. So although a price point in the U.S. hasn’t been announced, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it come out at $199 initially.

Archos GamePad Features

Operating System: Google Certified Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Smooth Gaming Experience with 3D Graphics: Quad-core Mali 400 MP GPU paired with a 1.6GHz Dual-core CPU.
Memory: 8GB of internal memory with microSD slot or up to 64GB of additional space.
Mini-HDMI: Use the mini-HDMI port to connect the GamePad to your TV for a big screen viewing experience.
Google PlayTM: 700,000 apps and games and includes DRM support for downloading books, magazines, music, movies and TV shows.
ARCHOS Media Center applications: tailor made apps for video and music that include metadata scraping, auto-subtitles and of course, the best format and codec support around including 1080p video decoding.

We have an appointment set up with Archos at the 2013 International CES, so expect a hands on with the tablet and additional information on when we can expect to see it here in the U.S.

[READ MORE]

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