Blog Posts by Mike Smith

  • Lego Universe trailer brings the funny (and Captain Picard)

    It’s a truth universally acknowledged that there’s nothing that can’t be improved by a Patrick Stewart voiceover.

    And such is the case with this Lego Universe trailer. Although the game itself, boasting a mix of creative Lego construction and massively multiplayer online gameplay,
    is looking set to be a family-friendly hit this fall, we can’t help but
    feel even more optimistic about it having seen this awesome trailer.

    It’s just exited a lengthy (and well-received) beta test period, and will be launching in just a few short weeks, on October 26.

    Read More »from Lego Universe trailer brings the funny (and Captain Picard)
  • Super Mario Bros: from NES, to SNES, to Wii, to…piano?

    Like you've never heard him beforeYeah, you've played Super Mario Bros. But we bet you've never played it quite like this before.

    After months of work listening to the music over and over again,
    isolating its various instruments, and cross-checking it against other,
    simplified or interpreted transcriptions, it's ready for the public --
    and freely available.

    "All this hard work has paid off," creator Joseph Karam says on his
    web site, "and today, as a tribute to the man who changed the face of
    video game music forever, I can proudly present to you a superior,
    premium, deluxe sheet music transcription of Koji Kondo's original Super
    Mario Bros. compositions from 1985, along with the corresponding midi
    sound files."

    So if you're

    Read More »from Super Mario Bros: from NES, to SNES, to Wii, to…piano?
  • PSP Go price slashed $50; still can’t play Birth by Sleep

    PSP Go: cheaperSlammed by critics as too expensive at its October 2009 launch, the PSP Go just became a rather better deal. Sony announced today it'll trim $50 from the sleek handheld's pricetag, leaving it at just $199.

    The new price brings it more into line with other handheld gaming systems: the standard PSP retails at around $170, as does the Nintendo DSi XL, although the regular DSi is cheaper at $150.

    Launched as a premium alternative to Sony's aging PSP, the Go has no UMD drive, relying instead on 16 GB of internal memory to store its downloadable games. Despite sporting what is (subjectively) one of the best form factors portable gaming has to offer, it proved too expensive for new PSP owners --

    Read More »from PSP Go price slashed $50; still can’t play Birth by Sleep
  • Cataclysm comes to Warcraft’s world

    Deathwing, yesterdayIn the six years since its 2004 launch, online role-playing game World of Warcraft
    has reigned unopposed as the king of the massively-multiplayer market
    -- but there's one thing that'll kill a long-running game quicker than
    anything else: boredom.

    Never a company to do things by halves, Warcraft creator Blizzard
    plans to keep the game fresh by mixing things up a bit. This December,
    it'll release a new expansion for the game -- its third so far -- in
    which players will witness the release of a vast, ancient dragon from an
    interdimensional prison. First on his agenda: ripping the game's
    all-too-familiar world to pieces.

    If you want to get an idea of how that might look, here's the game's

    Read More »from Cataclysm comes to Warcraft’s world
  • Blizzcon blowout: Diablo III detailed

    If you’re a fan of World of Warcraft -- or Starcraft, or Diablo, or
    any of the other games of widely-loved developer Blizzard -- there’s
    only one place to be this weekend: Anaheim, California, at the Blizzcon
    expo that annually attracts tens of thousands of like-minded fanatics.

    Starcraft tournaments, costume competitions, and a live performance
    from nerd faves Tenacious D are all on this weekend's agenda -- but the
    big news today comes from the conference’s opening address.

    Yup, as is Blizzard’s habit, they took advantage of a
    standing-room-only crowd of cheering fans to unveil more details about
    their next big release, Diablo III. Specifically, they announced the
    game’s fifth and final

    Read More »from Blizzcon blowout: Diablo III detailed
  • Imation Link brings computer games to your HDTV

    Imation LinkIn the age of wireless mice, keyboards, networks, and netbooks, it's
    quite possible your main computer system only relies on cables for
    power -- and even then, only sometimes. But try to hook your laptop to
    your HDTV, and you're plunged back into unsightly spahgetti-hell again.

    Or you were until now, that is. Meet the Imation Link Wireless A/V
    Extender, a neat piece of hardware which promises to stream high-def
    video and audio from your laptop (or, indeed, any PC or Mac) to your
    TV, with no intervening wires to trip you up.

    The Link comes in two parts: one that looks like a USB storage
    device, and another that resembles a 10-inch-long TV antenna and hooks
    to your TV like any other video

    Read More »from Imation Link brings computer games to your HDTV
  • Angry Birds head for Android (and go free)

    Angry birds: still angryiPhone owners have downloaded over seven million copies of Angry
    Birds, netting its developer Rovio over $5 million in cash -- but owners
    of phones running rival OS Android have, thus far, been left out of the
    birds-versus-pigs hit.

    Not any more. Not only did Angry Birds
    release for Android today, it's a darn sight cheaper than it is on the
    iPhone -- in fact, it's free, via popular app store GetJar.

    Angry Birds held a stranglehold on the iPhone's games charts for
    months, but was knocked off the top spot recently by just-released
    puzzler Cut the Rope.
    Shifting a million copies in just ten days, Cut the Rope is the App
    Store's fastest selling game ever -- and word is, it'll be heading for

    Read More »from Angry Birds head for Android (and go free)
  • Three weeks before release, Gran Turismo 5 delayed (again)

    Gran Turismo 5In news that's sure to depress any racing fan, the latest in Sony's
    iconic (and hugely influential) Gran Turismo series has been delayed --
    again.

    Previously scheduled for the green flag on November 2, Gran Turismo 5
    will now be released at some later point this year, according to the
    official Playstation blog. It's been more than five years since the last fully-fledged installment in the immensely successful series.

    "We sincerely apologize to [Gran Turismo] fans for the delay,"
    producer Taku Imasaki said. "However, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the
    team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the
    perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game

    Read More »from Three weeks before release, Gran Turismo 5 delayed (again)
  • World’s most expensive Monopoly set heads for Wall Street

    Yes, it's quite expensiveEven the most mundane of Monopoly sets contains over $20,000 in fake
    money -- but this custom-made, jewel-encrusted one-off is estimated to
    be worth over $2 million, and it's headed, appropriately enough, for Wall Street.

    San Francisco jeweler Sidney Mobell created the set in the 1980s
    after he heard about a Monopoly tournament taking place in London. It
    took a year to complete, and it's only been played once, in an
    exhibition game between Mobell and former British Prime Minister Edward
    Heath. Mobell donated it to the Smithsonian in 2003.

    Why's it so expensive? It's made from 18-karat gold, for starters,
    and the bling-heavy board is decorated with 165 gems. The two dice are
    worth $10,000

    Read More »from World’s most expensive Monopoly set heads for Wall Street
  • All aboard! Game Boat controller is hilarious, terrible

    Game Boat -- brilliant, or terrible?Just when we thought we'd seen the be-all and end-all of crazy controllers...

    Enter the Game Boat.
    It's designed for upcoming Microsoft game Kinect Adventures, where you
    (among other things) hurtle down a raging river onboard a (typically
    imaginary) inflatable raft. The Game Boat will let you add that extra
    dimension of aquatic realism by giving you a real, 5-foot-long
    inflatable boat to sit in. It contains no electronics, and takes no
    further part in the game. But it comes with a pump.

    We thought Kinect, being an entirely controller-less system, would
    have stemmed the tide of crazy controller attachments, but it...doesn't
    appear to have done so. In its defense, the Game Boat can also be

    Read More »from All aboard! Game Boat controller is hilarious, terrible

Pagination

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