Gadgets and Video Games

The Borderlands crew at Gearbox Software is making the post-mortem interview rounds, and this time Aaron Thibault, Stephen Palmer and Matthew Armstrong stopped to chat with G4 . The interview has some excellent insight into the making of the game: The team originally was finishing up the Halo PC port when they realized that Bungie had dynamically coded their guns, and wondered what you could do if you dynamically created guns from that code. ” Halo meets Diablo ” was the answer, and that was Gearbox’s premise from the beginning.

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Gearbox: Borderlands art style helped ‘make a certain leap of faith’

Introducing 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community. Jay Cohen is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences where he serves as chairman of its board directors. Cohen left Ubisoft earlier this year, after serving as the company’s North American vice president of publishing, and now works for Jerry Bruckheimer Games. AIAS: How do you measure success? Jay Cohen: Review scores and unit sales! What’s your favorite part of game development?

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Jay Cohen answers 10 Questions from the Academy

If there’s one wonderful thing we can say about movie game trailers, it’s that they keep us on top of what’s happening with the kids these days. Take for instance Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel — we didn’t even know there was a second film coming out! What we can glean from the trailer above is that there will be some form of illicit chipmunk love affair angle to the film that will play into the game’s story. Also, it may or may not be music-rhythm game of some form

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Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel game tie-in coming in early December

Click for 2x ZOOM! The last of Nyko’s Big Three from E3 has hit the marketplace, and it’s a doozy . The “Zoom Case” is, uh, well, it’s a protective case for the DSi with, yep — that’s a gigantic camera lens attached to it. And would you look at that? Nyko saved up enough for a real-life model. She really helps to sell the image of a social networking enthusiast

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Nyko Zoom Case for DSi unleashed upon the world

It looks like Samsung is willing to pay as much as $250,000 to development teams or individuals for any mobile game pitches that eventually make it to the recently launched Samsung Application Store. According to Develop Online , Samsung has enlisted the help of mobile developer Handmark to help oversee the upcoming megaton of pitches, prototypes and products, as well as assist developers with production of their ideas for the platform. Having lost a sizable chunk of the mobile consumer base to Apple, and more specifically the iTunes App Store , Samsung is now reaching into its pockets to ensure the company’s slip in market share doesn’t turn into a complete mudslide.

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Samsung offering sacks of cash for mobile game ideas

Want to get Borderlands a little early and stay up a little late? In addition to the North Texas midnight launches that Gearbox staffers will be attending, the company has announced midnight launches at around 1,300 different GameStop locations. We guess 2K does have more pull than we thought! You can browse the list right here and see if your closest store is on the list. If it isn’t … think of it as a chance to get acquainted with some new GameStop employees.

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Borderlands launching at midnight at 1,300 GameStops

A quick note for the World of Warcraft fans out there: Starting on November 11 (Nov. 12 in Europe, apparently), all WoW players will be required to log into the game using a Battle.net account — presumably to pave the way for the upcoming new features . Our friends at WoW.com have put together some handy resources to make the change as painless as possible. They’ve also compiled a quick list of solutions for players that are still resistant to the idea. For those that have yet to merge their current WoW account with Battle.net, now’s the time to get it done.

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WoW requires Battle.net login starting Nov. 11

A quick note for the World of Warcraft fans out there: Starting on November 11 (Nov. 12 in Europe, apparently), all WoW players will be required to log into the game using a Battle.net account — presumably to pave the way for the upcoming new features . Our friends at WoW.com have put together some handy resources to make the change as painless as possible. They’ve also compiled a quick list of solutions for players that are still resistant to the idea.

See the original post:
WoW requires Battle.net login starting Nov. 11

A quick note for the World of Warcraft fans out there: Starting on November 11 (Nov. 12 in Europe, apparently), all WoW players will be required to log into the game using a Battle.net account — presumably to pave the way for the upcoming new features . Our friends at WoW.com have put together some handy resources to make the change as painless as possible. They’ve also compiled a quick list of solutions for players that are still resistant to the idea. For those that have yet to merge their current WoW account with Battle.net, now’s the time to get it done

More here: 
WoW requires Battle.net login starting Nov. 11

It’s an exciting time over at WoW.com , Joystiq’s site for everything World of Warcraft . The Public Test Realm (a.k.a PTR) is in full swing, which means we’re swimming with all of the new features and items and dungeons that will come out soon in a brand new content patch to the game. While you’re waiting, whether you’re a WoW veteran or newbie, head on past the break and check out what’s new in Azeroth

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The best of WoW.com: October 6-13, 2009