Video Games News « Video Games

News: This Tiny Keychain-Sized Game Boy Can Actually Be Played Like the Big One

I don't know about you, but I was obsessed with handheld gaming devices when I was younger. Between my Game Boy and multiple Tamagotchis, I was guaranteed hours of entertainment that could fit comfortably in the palm of my hand.

News: Someone Built a Working Calculator in Mario Maker & It's Awesome

Since it was released last fall, Super Mario Maker has offered us a glimpse into the minds of some of the most evil people on the planet. The game, for Nintendo Wii U, lets players create their own Super Mario levels using a deep list of objects, enemies, and green pipes, which can then be uploaded for anyone to play.

News: Get GTA V for $25 on PlayStation Store - Huge Rockstar Discount

PlayStation Store is having great discounts on some PS3, PS4, and PSV games. You can get GTA V for only $25 and some other Rockstar games with the discount of 60-80%. You can check the whole list here: Big savings on Rockstar titles start today - PlayStation Store.

News: Like Bubble Bobble Then You'll Love This!

Puff and Po and the Empress's Treasures, is an inspiring indie game that stays fateful to the arcade single screen plat-former style and game-play.

News: Playstation #WayofPlay Entry

First of all I am glad that I was able to find this website and become part of it. So far I love it. Recently Playstation created a competition where a person has to show how online gaming is good. Pretty simple right? You can enter with an image or a video, however I do not think that an image can really show the fun of online gaming. I have created a video which does show some of the good parts of online gaming and I also tried to keep it fun. I would really appreciate if you would have a l...

News: Offensive Combat on Facebook

Featuring intensely competitive multiplayer action, Offensive Combat enables players to harness their skills and use their creativity and ingenuity to win the ultimate mash-up of first-person shooters. The browser version and the mobile/tablet versions of the game are interconnected, and work together unlike any game before.

News: Let's Play Donkey Kong Country 2

Hey everyone! This is BlueBandit, and below I have posted the newest video in my Let's Play of DKC2. If you enjoyed it, please go here to watch the rest, and also don't forget to subscribe!

News: Valve Turns Gamers into Moviemakers with Source Filmmaker Beta

If you're familiar with games like Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress 2, then you've probably seen some of the cool animated movies that Valve has made for them using their Source Filmmaker moviemaking software. It's a tool built to make animated films inside their Source game engine. It's even been licensed to make the upcoming animated film Deep.

News: The Recycling Entertainment System: What Rock Band Would Have Been Like in the 8-Bit Era

As advanced gaming systems continue to evolve, older classics like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) are one step closer to extinction. They're rotting in the basements of gamers. They're gathering dust at the local pawn shop. Or worse... being thrown out in the trash like a used up condom. But not everybody is getting rid of their NES—or more specifically, their NES controllers.

News: Watch Out! Kinect-Based AI System Knows What You're Up To

With Microsoft's release of the Kinect SDK, things seem to have slowed down a bit in the world of Kinect development. Have developers exhausted the uses of Kinect already? No way! Four researchers at Cornell University have created an AI-based system on the Kinect that can recognize what you're doing, and maybe even who is doing it.

Project Mimicry: Kinect Transforms Real Sandbox into Virtual Game

In the world of developers, a "sandbox game" is video game where players are free to "roam a virtual world and change any factor at will"; these types of games demand creativity on the player's part, with no linear/"correct" way to play.

News: Hackers Rejoice! Microsoft Finally Releases Kinect SDK for Windows 7

It's been a long time coming, but Microsoft has finally released a software development kit (SDK) for the Kinect on Windows 7 PCs. The word "hacking" is no longer needed, thanks to the free beta download available at Microsoft Research that allows anyone with a Windows computer and some coding knowledge to take advantage of the Kinect's motion-sensing capabilities.

News: 5-Year-Old Video Game Designer Friggin' Loves Ponycorns

It's typically not the kind of video game you would see on WonderHowTo. Instead, you'd learn about games with gruesome zombies or beer guzzling dwarfs, even a controversial, dystopian war. But Sissy's Magical Ponycorn Adventure deserves some serious praise.

News: E3 Sneak Peaks of Sony's Next Generation Portable

In just a few days, the biggest expo in the video game industry will unleash the newest games and hardware from all of the major companies. Nintendo is set to unveil its Wii-replacing Project Café and Konami will showcase its upcoming lineup, including new Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid games. But what will Sony be presenting at E3 in Los Angeles this year?

News: Custom Made MAME Arcade Cabinet

JeremyThroopityThroop posted this awesome hand built MAME arcade cabinet to the WonderHowTo Company Blog. Check out the stats here, and if you're interested in building your own, fellow WonderHowTo user Walter Teruya has also contributed a two-part tutorial, which can be found here and here.

News: Introducing Indie Games Ichiban: "Better Games for Less Money"

Are you a gamer with a fondness for oldies, bargains & the non-mainstream? If so, tune in. WonderHowTo is excited to introduce another regular to join our cast of front page contributors: Nick Battjes, our resident indie video game expert. Nick, a graduate of video game design at the University of Southern California, is a passionate gamer & owner of 13 consoles (and counting).

News: Was Worms the First Indie Video Game?

In the mid '90s, there was no such thing as a widely available indie video game. Brick-and-mortar stores were the only places for consumers to buy games, and magazines were the only outlets to hear about them. For video game creators, the need for a publisher to market and distribute was logistically essential to attract players.

News: Project Café Makes Another Secretive Appearance—Fact or Fake?

Nintendo has already confirmed that the successor to the Wii will be on the market in 2012, but a lot is still unknown about Project Café, the codename given to the device. From all of the leaked information on the web, it seems like there's a significant design upgrade from the Wii, making it hard to imagine this gaming console being called or even referred to as the Wii 2.

The Schmupaissance: Gatling Gears and the Rebirth of Shoot-'Em-Up Games

Shoot-em-up games, or shmups, consist of lone or small groups of players shooting at and being shot at by hordes of colorful enemies. The genre is thought to have peaked in the mid-'90s, but recent games in the indie world may be saying otherwise. Geometry Wars and other twin-stick games kicked off the trend, but newbies Trouble Witches NEO, Outland and just-released Gatling Gears have brought some much needed originality into the modern shmup scene—making it something worth exploring again. ...

Studio Ghibli x Minecraft: Anime Classics Recreated as Video Game World

Are you familiar with Studio Ghibli? It's the dreamy Japanese animation studio responsible for anime classics Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Howl's Moving Castle. Regarded as highly inventive, serene, and spooky, Studio Ghibli puts out internationally renown films, loaded with magic, monsters and lovable creatures, such as Totoro (pictured to the right, and above).

News: Video Game Landscape Brought to Life: A Real World Tour of "Fallout: New Vegas"

Following in the footsteps of great historical figures is a great way to learn about them. Michael Wood famously did so in the 1980's for his PBS documentary and book In The Footsteps of Alexander The Great. This March, UK-based marketing director Chris Worth completed a similar endeavor—not by tracing the path of a real-life emperor or explorer, but a humble video game character. One known simply as "The Courier".

News: 5 Alternative Uses for Your Xbox 360

Video games consoles have long wanted to be more than just consoles. Nintendo Japan called the NES the Famicom because they wanted to make it the sole family computer. Obviously that didn't work out, and most efforts to make consoles into all-in-one entertainment systems have had similar fates. Sony has done the best job with the Playstation consoles, probably because they have experience with other types of electronics that most video game companies do not.

Spare Your Ears from Stupid: 3 Video Game Podcasts Worth Listening To

In case you haven't noticed, I absolutely adore video games. Most of my friends don't, so to get my fix of knowledgable video game conversation I have turned to podcasts. They're free, they feature the smartest people in games journalism, and can be enjoyed while doing just about anything. Working. Walking the dog. Crying yourself to sleep. Whatever you're into.

News: 5 Month Retrospective of the Hacked Kinect

Nintendo's Wii Remote came close, but never has a video game peripheral garnered such adoration from the hacker community than the Kinect.

News: Zone Out to Dreamy Digital Aquariums on PC and Xbox 360

I've always wanted a gigantic saltwater aquarium, but maintaining a big, beautiful fish tank is not only time consuming—it's expensive. Also, it's a potential hazard if you have children, pets or any other uncontrollable elements around the house.

News: Pirates! Possibly the Purest RPG Ever

I love role-playing games. They tell great stories, require intense strategy, and make minimal demands of my tyrannosaurus-like hand-eye coordination. The idea of an RPG experience, at least on paper, is to allow users to play the role of a character. However, real people do not gain generic experience points for killing things, nor do they pause for each other during combat or have the ability to carry hundreds of potion bottles without slowing down. These can be fun gameplay mechanics, but ...

AudioSurf vs. Polynomial: The Battle Between Psychedelic MP3 Games

In 2008, Audiosurf came out on Steam, creating the psychedelic music game genre. If you haven't played it in the intervening three years, you're missing out on one of the coolest things in video games. The player selects any MP3 on their computer, then the game builds a unique level based on that song, which the player must then navigate whilst playing a block-matching, Tetris-like puzzle game. It's an incredibly compelling audiovisual experience, one with immense replay value and surprisingl...

News: The Best Places to Download PC Games Online

Digital distribution games are already firmly established on the PC, and they've infiltrated every present and next-gen console to some degree. Whether you like to play DOS, AAA, PC or indie games, there's a way to purchase most of them without leaving the comfort and warmth of your couch or desk.

News: Has SimCity Been Destroyed for Good?

Yesterday, Electronic Arts had a nice sale on Steam for 40-60 percent off some of their Sims titles, which included The Sims 3 (along with its DLCs) and SimCity 4. I've never been a big Sims fan, especially with the slew of virtual people games in the last decade, so I didn't realize until now that Maxis had stopped making their SimCity games; They haven't released any city building Sim games since SimCity 4 eight years ago. There was SimCity Societies in 2007, but it was made by a different ...

Outland: A Polarizing Experience

Sticking with our theme of XBLA games with uninspiring names, we have Outland. This game shares its name with an unrelated sci-fi cult film from 1981, unrelated comic strip from the '90s, and unrelated region in World of Warcraft. Didn't exactly try hard to build name recognition. Other than that, Finnish developer Housemarque has created the best 2D platformer I've seen in years.

News: Bullet Hell or Bullet Heaven? The Case of Trouble Witches NEO

The Xbox 360 is America's video game system. It was designed in America, it has better market share in America than anywhere else, and it has the most overtly macho game catalog of any console. For many Xbox fanboys, gaming heaven is shooting hordes of really well-animated things in the most intuitive way possible. Trouble Witches NEO - Episode 1: Daughters of Amalgam, released last week on Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) for $10 by Japanese developer Adventure Planning Service, is a typical Xbox 360...

Adult Swim Games: It's Not Just for Aqua Teen Anymore

The days of having to pay for video games are over. Generally, retail games are better because they're made with more effort and care than their free counterparts. But free browser-based game sites are insanely popular, specifically Kongregate, Armor Games, and the grandaddy of them all—NewGrounds. Despite not receiving funds directly from the players, they’ve become a profitable niche in the games industry. And that popularity has attracted more talent and money to the production of web game...

News: Want a Next-Gen Old-School Final Fantasy Game? Go Cheap. Go Cthulhu.

I was raised in the glory days of Japanese RPG's (JRPG's) on the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were the biggest game franchises, and real gamers could debate their merits endlessly. We remained engaged in the stories of the games, even though the soldiers, princesses and schoolchildren all had spiky day-glo hair. We waded through hours of randomly triggered menu-based battles instead of playing Doom or baseball. And we loved every minute of it.

The Future of Tower Defense: Shooting, Role-Playing and Bacon

There’s no point to playing all of the different tower defense games available today. Most adhere to the original formula, so playing 2 or 3 really good ones (like those mentioned in my previous post) would be more efficient.

News: Attack Balloons and SuperMonkeys: A Tower Defense Retrospective

Real-time strategy (RTS) was the most popular genre in PC games at one time. It put Blizzard on the map—one of the biggest game developers in the world. And it buried the once venerable turn-based strategy genre, the only survivor being the Civilization series. But like hair metal in the late ‘80s, RTS reached its saturation point. Many bands (games) were too similar and used ornamentation over innovation. Suddenly, the fans left. From ’95 to ’03, Command & Conquer releases were more like new...

News: The Revolution of the Hacked Kinect, Part 3: Gaming Gets Artsy

Video games and art have somewhat of a sticky relationship. Many video games have large teams of talented artists doing amazingly creative work, and yet the art community is only just beginning to utilize video games as art (sometimes). Perhaps if video games were shown not just as a medium of expression, but as a means of creating great art as well, the art community would be forced to consider it differently. The third part in the Hacked Kinect series will focus on the artistic possibilitie...

News: Is the Metascore Algorithm for Rating Video Games B.S.?

Guiding internet users to useful content is one of the most lucrative businesses in the world. This process is called aggregation. Google and other search engines form the top of the food chain, aggregating all of the content on the web in response to queries. There are all sorts of other important aggregators though, and you probably use at least one every day: Fark and Reddit for web content, Rotten Tomatoes for movie reviews, and Metacritic for a variety of media, but most importantly, vid...

Project Cafe: The Specs Behind Nintendo's Newly Rumored Console

In the past 25 years, there have been five generations of home video games systems. Since Nintendo changed the world by releasing the NES in 1987, there has always been at least two consoles competing for dominance in the wild west of the games industry. This competition— coupled with rapid advancements in technology—has led to a new generation of battling systems coming out every five years, like clockwork.

News: Alternate Reality Games at the New York Public Library & Tales of Golden Potatoes

Two new and radically different ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) have burst into the news in the last week, and illustrate the very best of an innovative phenomenon: the commercial tie-in ARG, and the public service ARG.

News: Super Massive Video Games

Today we pay homage to a phenomenon. One as diffuse and amusing as the internet itself, and as pointless as dog Halloween costumes. I'm speaking, of course, of giant games.