Gadgets and Video Games

If you’ve been gaming as long as we have, you know that Columns is one of Sega’s great puzzle games. Like most puzzle games, the object is simply to line up four same-colored gems — horizontally, vertically or diagonally — and watch them explode. Whether you’re familiar with the game or not, we’ve got some good news: Sega is giving away the iPhone version of Columns for free in celebration of USA’s Independence Day. The app will be free starting midnight, Friday, July 3, all the way through Monday, July 6

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Get iPhone Columns as a free 4th of July treat from Sega

click to PROBE THE INSIDIOUS DEPTHS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS (ie: peep the gallery) What is Dreamkiller ? It’s like Psychonauts and Painkiller had a baby, and that baby has grown into an angry teenager who then scratched the design doc for the game on the outside of his notebook. Mindware Studios – the developers behind Painkiller Overdose – are back to “probe the insidious depths of the subconscious” with Dreamkiller for the Xbox 360 and PC platforms, available this fall

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Dreamkiller: It’s like Psychonauts and Painkiller had a baby

Filed under: Mac , PC , Meta (about Joystiq) We actually thought news would be slow this past week; boy were we wrong. Let’s check out the big events and exclusive content for the past seven days at Big Download! Exclusive features Reviews: We give our final verdicts for Prototype and Fallout 3: Point Lookout Happy 13th Birthday Quake : We look back at the id Software FPS franchise The big PC game acquisitions : In the way of id Software’s purchase by ZeniMax, we take a look at other PC game industry purchases. Mac Monday : Our weekly Mac games column takes a look at the life sim Spouts Adventure . Boot Disk : Our weekly look at retro gaming centers on the classic action-RPG System Shock 2

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The Best of Big Download: June 22-28

All hail Overlord 2 ! Well, OK, so don’t everyone hail , but one may genuflect if one wishes. It appears that the game has been slightly enhanced since the first outing, but it’s still just not clicking. We’ve given our ” snap judgment ” on the evil baiting master simulator, but let’s see what the other outlets thought. Much like the original, it appears people’s opinions are all across the board. 1UP (A-) : “So no, it’s not an entirely perfect experience

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Metareview: Overlord 2

While you’re patiently waiting for the end of the week so you can cash that paycheck and pick up High Voltage Software’s The Conduit for your Nintendo Wii, why not take a gander at what the rest of the interweb had to say about the game? Considering the lack of correlation between Metacritic scores and the sales numbers of Wii games, though — at least according to Peter Moore — you probably shouldn’t let these numbers get to you too much. GamePro (70) : ” The Conduit is the closest you will get to recapturing the magic of Goldeneye … To be blunt, The Conduit is a by the numbers shooter that offers a couple of thrills but ultimately doesn’t make much of an impact … anyone who loved Goldeneye will want to give a look as well if only to get a nice dose of nostalgia, but the rest of you shouldn’t feel a need to abandon your favorite next-gen shooter for this one.” GamesRadar (80) : ” The Conduit is fun, controls well, and is, at times, quite beautiful ..

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Metareview: The Conduit (Wii)

( click to Megaton-size ) In an act that can only be defined as ‘terror gifting,’ Bethesda recently dropped a handful of new, extra creepy Fallout 3: Point Lookout screenshots for your approval. Between the trailer (after the break), the few screens we got before and the handful of screens below, the creators of the “Capital Wasteland” have remained fairly tight-lipped about even the existence of the DLC from the get go. Of the little we know from Bethesda about the game — the swamp setting and promise of new weapons/enemies — it looks as though the company is set to take even more of our money in the coming months. And considering this is the same developer that once created horse armor , we’re going to say things have come a pretty long way. [Via Evil Avatar ] Gallery: Fallout 3: Point Lookout Continue reading Steamboats and body parts in new Point Lookout screens Steamboats and body parts in new Point Lookout screens originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:30:00 EST

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Steamboats and body parts in new Point Lookout screens

( click to Megaton-size ) In an act that can only be defined as ‘terror gifting,’ Bethesda recently dropped a handful of new, extra creepy Fallout 3: Point Lookout screenshots for your approval. Between the trailer (after the break), the few screens we got before and the handful of screens below, the creators of the “Capital Wasteland” have remained fairly tight-lipped about even the existence of the DLC from the get go.

The rest is here:
Steamboats and body parts in new Point Lookout screens

Apparently, for the Nintendo Wii (according to Lost Winds developer David Braben), the folks reviewing Wii games are the wrong people for the job. Responding to comments made by EA Sports’ Peter Moore earlier this month regarding low metacritic scores for Wii games and its less than serious effect on sales numbers of said games, Frontier Developments head David Braben told Eurogamer that, “Most reviewers are what are often called ‘core gamers’ – and these family-focused games tend to appeal less to them.” And he makes a good point. If Joystiq’s readership is primarily “core gamers,” what’s the point in covering casual fare meant for more mainstream crowds? Braben continues, “It throws up a difficult dilemma for those reviewers …

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Lost Winds dev: Reviewers are a problem with low Wii metacritic scores

Various industry figures have come out in support of Peter Moore’s claims that review scores don’t impact the success of Wii games. One developer told Eurogamer that how a Wii game does is contingent entirely upon marketing, calling Wii games “pure risk.” “A lot of these games that you think are the perfect game for Wii don’t sell because companies don’t have the money to market them,” the developer said. “Whereas Nintendo is spending gazillions of dollars marketing their games.” Michael Pachter suggested that review scores aren’t important because many Wii owners don’t read reviews.

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The industry chimes in on the importance of reviews for Wii games

ESA CEO Mike Gallagher’s first “real” E3 was a success. We briefly spoke with him on the concourse from the South to West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center on the last day of the show, but with some more time to decompress and receive feedback, it seemed like the right time to circle back around and see if he was still feeling good about how things went. We asked the executive about how the post-show feedback is going, the chance of loosening up the attendance a little more and if there are any plans yet to make the show public — oh yeah, and is Activision coming back to the ESA?

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E3 2009 postmortem with ESA CEO Mike Gallagher