Gadgets and Video Games

When Skate 3 was revealed, we didn’t know what to make of the change in venue. The third installment takes place in the fictional skateboarding paradise of Port Carverton and, as the above developer’s diary informs, it’s actually a homage to recently-deceased colleague Ron “Mad Carver” Hartley. He’s even got his own in-game memorial, which we think is a great way to be remembered. When we go, we hope somebody cares enough to at least hold on to the newspaper clipping about that one blog that lost its life defending the earth from the hordes of Raptormen who’ll eventually enslave us all in 2022.

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Skate 3 dev diary explains the origins of Port Carverton

We have mixed feelings about utilizing the ESRB as a source for upcoming US releases. On the one hand, we’re thankful that their rating practically assures that Sega’s After Burner Climax will be coming to the US on Xbox Live and PSN (it was previously only announced for Japan). On the other, they always manage to make games sound so boring , and this is a game that includes both the words “Burner” and “Climax” in its title.

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ESRB: After Burner Climax is a go for US and Europe

During an online community Q&A session held earlier this week, Remedy’s Mika Reini dashed hopes for an Alan Wake demo before the game’s launch. When asked whether or not the game would see a pre-release demo, Reini replied, “Demo before the launch, most likely not.” Of course, that doesn’t rule out the possibility of demo after the game’s release, though Reini didn’t imply that one was in the works. Reini also responded to a question regarding whether or not we’ll see an Alan Wake collector’s edition.

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Remedy: Alan Wake demo unlikely

World of Warcraft may have around 25 hojillion subscribers ( give or take ), but it would appear that only a small fraction of our collective gaming time is being spent in massively multiplayer online worlds. A recent survey conducted by GamesIndustry.biz (via IndustryGamers ) asked 13,000 US and European citizens, aged eight and up, to break down how much time they spent playing various types of games. The article detailing the survey’s results, titled “Today’s Gamers MMO Focus Report,” claims that US citizens spend more time with MMOs than Europeans by far – 21 percent on this side of the Atlantic and 10 percent across the pond. Furthermore, 8-12-year-old males make up the majority of US players, “[which is] explained by the popularity of virtual worlds aimed at young children, such as Club Penguin and Disney Toontown ,” according to the report. We might normally wonder how the rest of our time stacks up in other gaming genres, but we’re too busy playing Modern Warfare 2 online

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Survey says: MMOs taking up 15% of gaming time

In a refreshing move, Toys R Us revealed some November video game deals for Sunday, November 22 through Thursday, November 26, available both in-store and online. Therefore, they won’t require you to stand outside in the middle of the night or battle other deal-seekers for possession of a “doorbuster” (which Toys R Us is also reportedly doing ). Even better, Toys R Us is the only retailer we know of handing out Cold Stone gift cards with purchases

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Toys R Us announces pre-Black Friday game deals

The Dante’s Inferno game concept — a totally brutal action-adventure based on Dante Alighieri’s epic poem — seems like a hard sell to us, but it was no problem getting EA on board. As it turns out, EA was all in from the very beginning, according to Visceral creative director Jonathan Knight’s recollection during a PlayStation Blog interview (that you can watch after the break). He got the go-ahead “pretty much right away,” as EA executives apparently saw “the potential in the mythology” glowing green before their very eyes. “Nobody’s really taken on that kind of medieval Christian notion of the afterlife as a very real place that you go to, you know, just under the ground, and there’s monsters and demons and rivers,” Knight said. “It’s just a crazy, fantastical, incredible vision that Dante Alighieri had for Hell, and my execs immediately saw the potential there for a real game.” In addition to the appeal of Hell — a concept that ” everybody has some knowledge of ” — we can imagine that EA appreciated what is basically a licensed game based on a public domain property, especially these days .

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Dante’s Inferno concept was greenlit immediately

According to Bright Side of News ‘ secret sauces sources , Nvidia is in talks with Nintendo about the hardware for the successor to the Nintendo DS. Nintendo is reportedly interested in Nvidia’s Tegra line of chips for mobile devices, like the one in the Zune HD .

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Rumor: Nvidia Tegra chip going into next-generation DS

Right from its vertigo-inducing “training stage” (it seems crass to even describe it like that) you’ll know Uncharted 2 is something really special. Sure, you’re being taught the basics of leaping, climbing and crawling through the rough terrain that hero Nathan Drake must overcome in his latest adventure, but you’re doing so as you cling with all your might to a train car dangling off a cliff, knowing always that one wrong move will mean a certain, gooey death in the chasm below. As I emerged breathless from the part where they teach you the controls , the thought that kept running through my head was, “How long can they keep this up?” Gallery: Uncharted 2 Continue reading Review: Uncharted 2 (single player) Review: Uncharted 2 (single player) originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

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Review: Uncharted 2 (single player)

Another day, another video of Joystiq on the streets of Chiba! Day Two of TGS 2009 proved to be more eventful than the first as our gaggle of bloggers split up to tackle the laundry list of titles available to play on the show floor — and some that weren’t! You wanna know what it feels like to be Joystiq staff? It’s murder on your feet! Joystiq vs. TGS 2009: Day Two originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:29:00 EST

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Joystiq vs. TGS 2009: Day Two

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360 Terror. Is. Reality

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TGS 2009: Hands-on: Dead Rising 2’s ‘Terror is Reality’