Today on TGR:
30 Adventure Games You Need to Play
Are you nostalgic for the good ol’ days of getting lost for hours because you didn’t pick up that innocuous-looking item five screens back? Perhaps you have a hankering for the fantastic settings and fantastically impossible puzzles of the genre? Whether you desire adventure tropes or merely seek to be a more well-read (well-played?) gamer, check out our list of the 30 adventure games you need to play.
Do AAA X360 Games Lack Originality? Part Three
Paul Delamore presents the final entry in his dissection of the Xbox 360’s top 20 Metacritic-rated titles. Do the titles on the top of the pile deserve their place, or have the ignorant masses yet again proven how ignorant and massive they are?
TimeGate Sues Paramount Over Trademark Infringement
TimeGate – the studio behind upcoming shooter Section 8 – has taken issue with Paramount’s fishy behavior, as reported by TGR writer Jeff Sorensen. Apparently, mere days after seeing demos forSection 8, Paramount announced a new project with a very familiar name…
And, on the rest of the internet:
Will Wright leaves EA for Stupid Fun
Will Wright, lead designer behind gaming powerhouses The Sims and Spore ended his long tenure at Electronic Arts. The partnership is still strong, however, with EA becoming equitable partners with Wright in the Stupid Fun Club.
If you raised an eyebrow at that, you wouldn’t be the first. Apparently, the Stupid Fun Club "is an entertainment think tank developing new Intellectual Properties to be deployed across multiple fronts including video games, movies, television, the internet, and toys."
Anyone familiar with Wright’s almost child-like love for discovery, toys, and play will suddenly realize how much this makes sense.
Nintendo’s video service to include DS
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata stated in an interview with Wall Street Journal that Nintendo will bring on-demand video to consumers in a "Nintendo-like way."
No, that doesn’t mean all videos will require waggle to play. Iwata described a service in which consumers would "download video through the Wii and take it with you on the DS," proving that idea of connectivity espoused during the Gamecube era is still alive and well.
Portable video didn’t work out so well for the PSP though. Perhaps not buying overpriced UMD movies will help out a bit. Regardless, maybe a video service will get more people using their Wiis, because…
Wii Has Lowest User Activity According to Neilsen
Nintendo’s Wii had the lowest activity out of all three current consoles, according to a study published by ratings firm Neilsen. The study which covered December 2008 showed that Wii owners used their console in 6.8% of the total amount of time they could’ve used it, which trailed the 360’s 10.2% and the PS3’s 10.6%.
Naturally, hardcore games could point to this as a reason that the Wii sucks, but casual gamers tend to not veg out for hours playing a game. As someone with a job, social obligations, and an occasional desire to go outside can attest – that ain’t always a bad thing.
Gran Turismo may be coming to PC
Polyphony Digital CEO Kazunori Yamauchi remarked that the Gran Turismo franchise may not stay PlayStation exclusive for much longer, according to an interview with Austrian outlet DerStandard.
"It is very, very improbable that GT will come out on another console," Yamauchi said, "but perhaps it comes to the PC. Particularly [so we could spread the game in] the Chinese market."
“[Polyphony Digital] report directly into our CEO, Kaz Hirai, so it’s a little bit of a ‘wait and see’,” said John Kroller to VG247.com, but we look for that franchise to continue on as many platforms as possible."
Hear that sound? That’s millions of Sony fanboys rushing to their forums.
Amazon.com launches Xbox Live store
Amazon continues their video game warpath by launching their Xbox Live store – just in case you really, really need to buy Uno and you aren’t near your Xbox.
The store will offer customers the "convenience to purchase and gift select Xbox LIVE games, subscription cards and Microsoft Points cards," which should give parents an even easier cop-out gift for birthdays and Christmases.
Strategy First sale on Steam
Not content with offering sales every weekend, Steam launched a mid-week 50% sale today on all Strategy First titles, including big’uns like Flatout: Ultimate Carnage and Perimiter 2.
Check the full list for a lot of insanely cheap games to waste your afternoon.
