Blog Posts by Ben Silverman

WoW: Cataclysm - Blizzard Entertainment Warcraft's old world might have come to an end, but the new one is already paying off big time.

Activision-Blizzard has announced that the recent world-changing Cataclysm
expansion sold an astonishing 3.3 million copies in its first day of
availability, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. The previous record-holder? That would be the second
World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, which sold a 'meager' 2.8
million copies over the course of its launch day back in 2008.

The 3.3 million mark includes both retail copies of the game
and digital sales, though Blizzard didn't break it down any further. Over
10,000 retail stores worldwide helped the role-playing

Looking good, Nathan - Sony Computer Entertainment Call it Nathan of Arabia. And call us excited.

In advance of Saturday's VGA Awards on Spike, Entertainment Weekly got the lowdown on what will surely rise to the top of countless
'most anticipated games' lists: Sony and Naughty Dog's Uncharted 3: Drake's
Deception.

Details are a bit light at the moment, though EW confirms that
the new adventure will focus on the relationship between Drake and his mentor,
Victor "Sully" Sullivan and will take place in the Arabian Peninsula;
specifically, the mysterious Rub' al Khali desert, which Drake believes is
home to a "legendary lost city."

"We're a bunch of nerds," Naughty Dog co-president
Evan Wells told EW. "We just look for something that will be

It seems everyone and their mother has recorded a kooky
version of the Super Mario Bros. theme song (on Tesla Coils, beatbox flute, two guitars, and even while blindfolded), but
few have tackled the awesome but obscure 'Song of Healing' from the N64 great
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

And no one has done it with as much style as wine glass
expert -- and clever filmmaker -- Sp0ntanious, who absolutely knocks it out of
the park:

Not sure what's more impressive: the actual playing of the
wine glasses, or the part where he adds/subtracts water from the glasses and
moves them around the screen. Or the fact that he chose the 'Song of Healing'
in the first place. Though Zelda nerds will

Leading game publisher Ubisoft doesn't take piracy lightly.

Or quietly.

Anyone foolish enough to play an illegally pirated copy of
the company's newly released dance game, Michael Jackson: The Experience on the
Nintendo DS, will get a rude awakening, vuvuzela-style. Not only will the game
be unplayable, but the user will be greeted with the same droning horns that
drove soccer fans bonkers at the South African World Cup matches this past summer.

Behold the blaring footage as posted by Youtube user ctkxtreme:

Apparently, that's what happens when you pause the game.
Kind of catchy, actually, though I keep waiting for "Billie Jean" to
kick in.

[See also: Is Kinect the new Wii this holiday

-->

You are on the way to destruction. Thanks to World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, pretty much everyone we know is headed back into Azeroth. And that got us thinking about one of our favorite things to come charging out of Blizzard's great MMO.

Leeroy Jenkins.

You know the fella -- and if you don't, you will, shortly. But Leeroy isn't the only internet meme to spring from video games. In fact,
some of the best known memes were born out of our beloved pastime, and while they
might not be as fuzzy as a LOLcat or as rapturous as a double rainbow, they're just as potent.

Leeroy Jenkins --
World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is responsible for plenty of pop-culture
tidbits, but none have been as headstrong as this proud,

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime Selling over 1 million copies, Atari's 2009 Ghostbusters video game was something of a hit. And when a game's a hit, a sequel's just a
matter of time.

It turns out that time is spring 2011, which is when Atari plans on releasing the just-announced sequel, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, reports USA Today.

But don't warm up your proton packs just yet, because while
it's a sequel in name, it's not exactly a sequel in game, too.

The new title is being built by relative unknown developer
Wanako Studios, whose biggest prior game is probably Assault Heroes 2. Not
exactly a household name. It also won't come on disc, instead being released as
a PC, Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade

-->

Oooh, shiny! So addictive it should come with a surgeon-general's warning,
the legendary Bejeweled franchise is pretty much as big as puzzle gaming gets. Since 2000, it's appeared on nearly every platform in existence -- and it's about to get bigger. The anticipated Bejewled 3 arrives on December 7th, packing new
features, new modes, and most likely the same old result: outrageous sales to millions of obsessive jewel junkies.

But how much do you really know about the match-3 kingpin
itself? Swap some gems for facts with these Bejeweled tidbits:

-- It debuted as a Flash game called Diamond Mine, but was
eventually re-named Bejeweled to avoid confusion with a competing game called
Diamond Mines.

--

-->

Super PS3 Maybe "it does everything," after all.

On Wednesday, officials from the U.S. Air Force unveiled the 'Condor Cluster', a supercomputer powered by 1,760 PS3 consoles.

So how fast is it? Created by the Air Force Research Lab in Rome, New York,
the massive system -- which operates at a peak of a whopping 500 teraflops --
is the 34th fastest supercomputer in the world and the fastest interactive
computer in the Defense Department. Officials also point out that it consumes
only one-tenth of the power of similar rigs, making it the sixth greenest
computer of its kind.

It's also pretty affordable. The PS3 consoles are exactly
the same ones you'd find at your local Best Buy, though these have