Video Games – Page 313

Rockstar Games now on Steam!

In a press release sent out late Friday Valve has announced that a ton of high profile games from Rockstar are now available on the Steam download system. As a promotion all the games are discounted 10% during launch week so this is the time to brush up on your GTA skills before GTA4 is released. There is no word however on what upcoming Rockstar titles will be added to the system but we can only hope that a PC version of GTA4 will be made and added. All we can say is we hope you are not on a download limit!

The list and comments below are from the press release.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto II
Grand Theft Auto
Midnight Club II
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Max Payne
Manhunt
Wild Metal Country

“We were immediately excited by the opportunity to offer our PC catalog via Steam because it allows us to reach out to gamers around the world in exciting new ways,” said Rowan Hajaj, Head of Finance and Corporate Development of Rockstar Games. “We are continually looking for ways to give back to our fans and this collaboration will give people a chance to easily revisit some of our greatest titles.”

“Rockstar Games brings some of most viscerally engaging games the industry has ever witnessed to Steam’s expansive library of titles,” says Jason Holtman, director of Steam business development. “We’re delighted to provide a place where gamers across the globe can discover all the fine work Rockstar Games has produced.”

For more information about Rockstar Games on Steam, please visit www.steamgames.com/v/index.php?publisher=rockstar

What we want, and don’t want from video games in 2008

Here at StuffWeLike, we like a lot of things when it comes to video games. But there are also some things we don’t. Here’s a list of stuff we’d like to see. And some things we hope never see the light in 2008.

Some good Wii games please

After Wii Sports, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy there was not much else to get gamers truly excited in 2007. A new Donkey Kong game would be nice. And we mean a proper DK game like Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), not some silly spin-off crap involving a pair of Bongo’s.

It doesn’t have to be all about the motion-sensing powers of the Wiimote either. Games can still be good using just the classic controller too. Observe the superb collection of titles on the SNES. Did they need motion-sensors to make them some of the best games ever? No!

The emergence of a new gaming mascot

It’s time for some new faces in the gaming world. We love Mario but he’s getting overworked these days appearing in such titles as Mario Kart, Mario Galaxy, Mario and Sonic at the Olympics and Super Smash Bros and the many more Nintendo will have planned for the mustachioed plumber. We’re not saying to get rid of him, just don’t abuse the poor guy.

The same goes for others too. The less said of Lara Croft, the better. Besides, Heavenly Sword’s Nariko is so much sexier. But even she hasn’t been the phenomenon Lara was in her day, though she has time on her side.

We’ll forgive Ratchet and Clank because Tools of Destruction is one of the best games around, just like Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was. Speaking of which, we wouldn’t mind seeing more of Nathan Drake, actually. It’s a start.

Proper motion-sensing controls

This applies to both the Wii and Playstation 3. It’s all well and good having new-fangled motion-sensing technology, but it’s how developers use it that counts. Take a look at how wonderfully these controls were implemented in Heavenly Sword and Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction for the PS3.

Rather than being forced on gamers throughout they are used only when neccessary to enhance the experience at key moments. Now take a look at the woeful Lair and you’ll see what we mean.

Equally, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has some of the most intuitive controls of any title, ever. It’s games such as Link’s first Wii outing that fully justify Nintendo’s Wiimote. But it’s a shame when other titles don’t get it quite so right, Scarface I’m looking in your direction.

Exciting new accessories

Forget all this cheap attachment baloney. What happened to all the great guns and accessories? Back in the day I used to have a R.O.B. The NES Robot. How cool was that! How about something exciting and innovative like that Ninty? The Crossbow doesn’t quite cut it.

Even the Dreamcast had some sexy red Maracas that came packed with Samba De Amigo. Rather than fishing rods and golf club attachments we want something different, please.

Delayed titles

Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto 4, Little Big Planet and even Sony’s Playstation Home concept; we could go on. We don’t mean to be picking on the PS3 as it’s had enough bad press but it’s been the main victim in all of this.

We would like to see titles out on time as promised. Publishers teasing us with trailers and screenshots only to be told we have to wait another four months to play them is not good enough.

No more ‘Red Ring of Death’

It came, it saw and it bitch-slapped a lot of us, including yours truly. Of all the injustices to hit gamers this one took the biscuit and then proceeded to spit out the soggy-crumbled remains in our shocked little faces.

Ok, so reports of this stain on gaming humanity has subsided a little, but with rumors of a new Xbox 360 with built-in HD DVD coming don’t let it happen again, Microsoft.

An end to lazy updates

Electronic Arts are probably the biggest culprits here, but its not just them guilty of dressing up titles masquerading as something totally new. With the current/next-gen console war entering its first calendar year with all the major contenders in place we’d like to see some originality. We know developers are bustling with ideas, but we want to see them.

What would you like to see in 2008? What do you NOT want to see? Is there anything we missed? Let us know.

Sony says Skype on PSP possible!

If skyping on your PSP was a fantasy you dearly cherished, you will be pleased to know that it has reached fruition. The site for Sony’s upcoming CES showing says that the Skype messaging client will be available for the PSP. This would almost turn the PSP into a pseudo-phone that actually works better than the crap N-Gage!

We don’t have details about it now, but I suppose official word should be enough here. While this is an exciting feature to have for a PSP, the ability to use Skype anywhere in the world from your handheld game system is something worth buying the PSP for!

OK, maybe not. No, we’re not paid by Sony.

[Via Engadget]

Bloody Awesome: “Shark Gun” for your Wii

Now, you might have seen plenty of gun mods for your Wii, and may even own one – but I’ll bet you you’ve never seen something like this. It’s called the “Shark Gun” and it is the perfect combination of the ferocity and deadliness of a shark with the ferocity and deadliness of a gun. You do the math.

It’s actually out for sale at DealExtreme for $10.86, which doesn’t sound like a bad deal for something to impress your friends with. Check out the back of the box, and its beautiful semi-Chinglish literature.

“With lively appearance and smooth lines, shark gun makes you feel comfortable and gives you a strong sense of shark liked invincible force.”

Woah, okay – “Shark liked”? So we want to impress and attract sharks with this thing? There’s more stuff if you read closely. Then again, maybe I should be thankful, seeing as how I have encountered far more traumatizing English on product manuals.

Pirates MMO has new content in Feb.

Disney has announced that they are going to release more content for their Pirates of the Caribbean MMORPG game in Feb. These additions will just be to give player character new clothing, tattoo’s and jewellery. There will be additions to the actual quests and ship options later in 2008 but for now character modifications are the only soon to be released items.

Pirates MMORPG is a small game downloadable from piratesonline.com, two of the main issues of the game are the seriously dated graphics and to make the game appeal to more people you download a small game and then gameplay areas download while you are playing them. For people on slower connections this does mean an area pops up out of nowhere. The good news though is that the game is free to play but to get all the options you have to pay a fee as usual.

Has Apple sold 5 million iPhones already?

The iPhone has been hailed as the ‘Jesus phone’ by many, while that may be taking things too far it seems to be doing pretty well because Rumors suggest around five million Apple-loving customers already have one. Apple hoped to sell 10 million units by the end of 2008 and it certainly looks like they will, maybe more. Christmas sales have been good to Apple too, and with a 3G version coming out in 2008 things are certainly looking up for Steve Jobs and co. Next step, world domination. Mwhahahaha, and so on.