Gadgets and Video Games

I’m a big proponent of games you can play with single taps on the iPhone and, as such, I was pretty skeptical about how well Call of Duty: World at War ‘ s zombie mode would make the leap to the diminutive platform. Though I’ve played FPS games that technically worked on iPhone, they’re very rarely something I find myself returning to. Call of Duty: Zombies cleverly skirts the issue by providing so much help with aiming, you’re able to focus on what makes the mode so much fun on consoles.

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iPhone It In: Call of Duty: Zombies

Did Qore say February 16 was the day Heavy Rain would be released? It meant February 23! As if specifically intended to correct this morning’s report , Sony just announced the for-real North American release date for the adventure game. A reminder: pre-ordering the title will get you free launch-day access to the first downloadable Heavy Rain Chronicles episode, which won’t be available otherwise until a later date (at which point it’ll be $5).

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Heavy Rain release date official: February 23

It looks like Activision’s hopes for Tony Hawk: Ride are falling even faster than the average Tony Hawk: Ride player. IndustryGamers reports that this month’s NPD numbers place the game at 114,000 copies sold across three platforms. Not that Activision is even paying attention to its own failure right now, distracted by the ridiculous success of its own Modern Warfare 2 . This is the second disappointing month in a row for a big-box Activision game .

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NPD: Only 114K took a Tony Hawk: Ride in November

Click to Big Daddy-size If you find yourself enraptured by everything BioShock , you’re really going to love this. 2K Games has disclosed details on the BioShock 2 Special Edition release, limited to one production run and set for retail on February 9 alongside the slightly-less-special edition we saw the cover art for on Tuesday . If you’re prepared to sink $99 into the set ($89 for PC) you’ll be the proud (but poorer) owner of the game, a 164-page hardcover art book, three posters, the orchestral score on CD and the most special goodie accompanying this edition: the orchestral score on a vinyl 180g LP. You know ..

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BioShock 2 Special Edition vinyl-y announced

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. Starting on Sunday: all DS and PSP games will be buy one, get one half off.

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Toys R Us announces pre-Black Friday game deals

Poor PC gamers. First they hear the soul-crushing news that Modern Warfare 2 won’t support dedicated servers , and now Infinity Ward has broken their hearts yet again. During a Best Buy online chat, the developer fired off a string of bad news, affirming a 9-vs-9 player limit, the inability to kick players from ranked matches and a lack of console commands. Ars Technica has laid out the full list of disappointments, if you’ve got the stomach for it.

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Modern Warfare 2 limited to 9 vs. 9 on PC

With Quantic Dream’s previous (and very weird) Indigo Prophecy available on multiple platforms, many gamers have been curious as to why Heavy Rain is a PS3 exclusive. PushSquare reports that Quantic Dream’s David Cage — once again — explained the reasoning behind the game’s exclusivity at the Eurogamer Expo. He first noted that any answer he gave would be “suspicious,” but further explained that the PS3 hardware is “extremely powerful,” adding, “If you make a real PS3 engine, then you can have really fantastic performances.” He elaborated that porting to the Playstation 3 from other platforms “becomes difficult” (something we’ve heard before ). Beyond technical reasons, Cage said that the team at Quantic Dream loves the console.

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Cage explains why PS3 is ‘the best platform’ for Heavy Rain

The Screen Actors Guild has rejected a new video game voice actor contract, while the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists has approved the deal. Variety reports that the “thesps” (stop it, Variety) of the SAG have asked “vidgame” (seriously, stop it, Variety!) employers to come back to the bargaining table. Scott Witlin, who represents the employers, isn’t sure if the companies are willing to negotiate. The main opposition in the contract appears to revolve around the “atmospheric” provision, which allows employers to use actors in 20 voice roles, for up to 300 words, at the “daily base rate” of $782 for four hours of work. Meaning that Nolan North might not just be the lead in your next video game, but play every character in the adventure — wonder how his falsetto is for female voices?

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Screen Actors Guild rejects video game voice deal

When Robot Symphony alerted us to its upcoming iPhone debut, MeowWalker , we were prepared to dismiss it out of hand based only on the premise of combining Michael Jackson with the staple of lazy internet humor, cats. But instead of a tasteless cash-in, the trailer for the dance game (after the break) reveals what could turn out to be our, well, third favorite Michael Jackson-based game, right after the Genesis Moonwalker and the arcade Moonwalker . Sha-meow! The gameplay is simple: tilt and swipe the phone to make a lanky, Thriller- jacketed feline perform MJ’s signature dance moves to the tune of the Michael Jackson songs already on your phone. The addition of quirky animation and (especially) sound effects, which reimagine Michael’s weird vocal tics as cat noises, result in something that we can’t get enough of. Which means, according to the MJ canon, we haven’t stopped watching the trailer.

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This is it: a dancing Michael Jackson cat game for iPhone

Faced with The Truth that – regardless of what sorts of anti-piracy technology it folds into its DS platform – pirates will invariably hack the dual-screened handheld, Nintendo has buddied up with Capcom and 53 other video game publishers in Japan to file suit against four resellers of the popular R4 flash cartridge. Earlier this year, a Tokyo court banned the sale of the devices ; however, Capcom now says that “legal action has had no meaningful effect in the intervening period” and that sellers would “ignore” its warnings.

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Nintendo, Capcom, friends file suit over DS piracy-enabling R4 sales