Planetaki Planet gaming

Hasbro and Zynga make a deal, toys and games incoming

2012-02-11T06:48:44Z

Hasbro has struck a deal with Zynga to produce toys and games based on the social developer's catalogue of rich, nuanced IPs, which is great news if you've ever found yourself wishing you could somehow continue to give Zynga all of your money, even when you're away from your computer and smartphone.

Now, Hasbro's definition of "games" is more board-oriented than Zynga's, and while the licensing arrangement allows for "co-branded merchandise," it doesn't allow Zynga to make games based on Hasbro brands. The first products will hit store shelves sometime this fall, and while no specifics toys or board games have been announced we've got a feeling that My Little Ponyville and Ouija With Friends aren't that unlikely.

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Hasbro and Zynga make a deal, toys and games incoming originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hasbro and Zynga make a deal, toys and games incoming

2012-02-11T07:26:15Z

Continue reading Hasbro and Zynga make a deal, toys and games incoming

Hasbro and Zynga make a deal, toys and games incoming originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WRUP: All the Reckoning

2012-02-11T06:48:44Z

So much Reckoning this weekend.

What's everyone playing?

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WRUP: All the Reckoning originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WRUP: All the Reckoning

2012-02-11T07:26:15Z

So much Reckoning this weekend.

What's everyone playing?

Continue reading WRUP: All the Reckoning

WRUP: All the Reckoning originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wired Controllers Blamed in Attempted Murder [Crime]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

Cops in a northeastern Pennsylvania community booked a man on attempted murder charges, saying he tried to strangle his wife with "a video game cord." Either he was playing with wired console controllers from a generation ago, or the guy went and grabbed the Xbox 360 brick to choke his spouse. More »

Rock Band Weekly: Poison, Mr. Big, Heart, Rick Astley

2012-02-11T06:48:44Z

Tuesday is Valentine's Day, and in addition to being a day full of expectations and guilt, it's now a day where you can be rick-rolled by a damn video game in the sanctity of your own home. The "Gold Star My Heart" Pack drops Tuesday in North America and Wednesday for European PS3 users, and includes four love-centric tracks to get you into (or very quickly out of) the mood.

Peep the full track list after the break, and see if you're the kind of person who'd rather be playing Rock Band 3 on Valentine's Day. (Please invite us.)

Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Poison, Mr. Big, Heart, Rick Astley

Rock Band Weekly: Poison, Mr. Big, Heart, Rick Astley originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rock Band Weekly: Poison, Mr. Big, Heart, Rick Astley

2012-02-11T07:26:16Z

Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Poison, Mr. Big, Heart, Rick Astley

Rock Band Weekly: Poison, Mr. Big, Heart, Rick Astley originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turn Out The Stars [Open Thread]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

Greetings, camp Kotaku. It's friday evening, and that means it's officially the weekend! I hope you had a fun week. I sure did. We welcomed more simultaneous voices to Kotaku than... maybe ever? More »

Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure

2012-02-11T06:48:45Z

Crowded as it is with farting massage simulators, it can be hard to find worthwhile titles on Xbox Live Indie Games. That's why we sift through all that rough to unearth a few gems. That way, you get the skinny on quality games and we get to indulge our secret passion for fart machines. This week, we try out Nyan Cat Adventure, a platformer from 21st Street Games.

Indie developer 21st Street Games has found a niche: bizarre platformers. Its previous offering, Techno Kitten Adventure, was a visual assault backed by a simple gameplay mechanic, and the studio's latest is no different. The Xbox Live Indie game Nyan Cat Adventure takes the popular internet meme into the realm of single-button arcade gameplay.

But the most surprising thing about Nyan Cat Adventure is the variety I found in such a simple experience. True, the game only uses one button, but what that button does constantly changes throughout the game's main mode of play, dubbed 'Party.'

Continue reading Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure

Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure

2012-02-11T07:26:16Z

Continue reading Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure

Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Week in Unbelievably Gorgeous Screenshots: Grand Theft Auto IV [Dead End Thrills]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

Since we ran a feature on Duncan Harris, the groovy "video game photographer" behind the website DeadEndThrills, I've been sharing some of his work each week here. More »

What Are You Playing This Weekend? [Game Plan]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

Fleeing from the NeverDead tyranny, the last Battlestar, Goodlactica, leads a rag-tag fugitive fleet on a lonely quest to a shining planet known as UFC Undisputed 3. More »

Why Sony passed on publishing Demon's Souls in America

2012-02-11T06:48:46Z

Nobody expected Demon's Souls to be the hit it was, least of all Sony, the game's publisher in Japan. When Atlus decided to publish the game in North America, it took a risk -- one that paid off. The duty of publishing the sequel, Dark Souls, would then go to Namco Bandai.

Does Sony regret passing on publishing Demon's Souls in North America? Senior VP Shuhei Yoshida thinks so. He told Game Informer the company passed on the game after seeing an earlier build of the game. "What happened with Demon's Souls was until very late in the game's development, we were not able to play the game through. There were framerate issues and the network was not up and running. We underestimated the quality of the game and to be honest, the media in Japan did the same."

But still, even after a few hours with the final product, Yoshida remarked that he just wasn't able to see the value in the game. "For my personal experience with Demon's Souls, when it was close to final I spent close to two hours playing it and after two hours I was still standing at the beginning at the game. I said, 'This is crap. This is an unbelievably bad game.' So I put it aside." In the end, Yoshida admitted Sony "dropped the ball from a publishing standpoint" and was not able to "see the value of the product."

Why Sony passed on publishing Demon's Souls in America originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why Sony passed on publishing Demon's Souls in America

2012-02-11T07:26:17Z

Why Sony passed on publishing Demon's Souls in America originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Roof, the Roof, the Roof is Not on Fire, Says Konami [We Don't Need No Water]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

An image circulating Twitter earlier today seemed to imply a Konami office building in Japan was burning. It most certainly was not, a spokesman told Kotaku. Reading into Japanese Twitter users' feeds, it appears this "strange smoke" might be only building steam. All is well. More »

Indie Royale Valentine's Bundle available now, with Lume, Hoard, Zeno Clash and more

2012-02-11T06:48:46Z

The Indie Royale website is back at it with a brand new bundle of games for sale, this time scheduled for Valentine's Day. On this one, paying either the minimum price (currently just above $4) or above will net you five different indie titles: The impressive FPS (and IndieCade finalist) Zeno Clash, the excellent and underrated Hoard, the gorgeous adventure title Lume, and top-down puzzle crawler Soulcaster and its sequel. Plus, buyers also get both Hoard DLC packs, and anyone who pays higher than the minimum will pick up the "Music to Play Games by Too" compilation album.

Remember, the way the bundle works is that the price goes up as more people buy the bundle, but it drops when people spend more than the minimum (so giving more actually makes it cheaper for everyone, and supports the game's developers as well). Purchased titles are available on both Steam and Desura, and the bundle is on sale through Valentine's Day.

Indie Royale Valentine's Bundle available now, with Lume, Hoard, Zeno Clash and more originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indie Royale Valentine's Bundle available now, with Lume, Hoard, Zeno Clash and more

2012-02-11T07:26:17Z

Indie Royale Valentine's Bundle available now, with Lume, Hoard, Zeno Clash and more originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Five Days of Pure Unadulterated Gaming App Hotness [The Week In Gaming Apps]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

Balls were kicked. Knights were wound. Towers were defended. Passwords were hacked, and the dead rose to detect among the living in another spectacular Week in Gaming Apps. More »

Darius Bursts onto the App Store

2012-02-11T06:48:47Z

Square Enix has released another Taito shmup on the App Store, and as with pretty much all Square releases, we can't help but be aghast at the price. Given the source material, however, maybe $11 isn't that bad.

Dariusburst Second Prologue is based on both the PSP Dariusburst and its arcade followup, Another Chronicle -- the two latest iterations of Taito's long-lived shmup series about shooting enormous robot fish. The PSP game content is all here, along with a remixed mode with new enemy patterns and stuff from Another Chronicle. There are also four new tracks by Taito's Zuntata band.

In other words, if it were on PSP, there'd be no question of its value. We admit we're still kind of balking at the App Store price anyway. That's just how the market is on that platform!

Gallery: Dariusburst Second Prologue (iOS)

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Darius Bursts onto the App Store originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get Five Amazing Game Soundtracks For as Little as $1 [Game Music]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

Hey, why should indie game developers get to have all the bundling fun? Game composers should get to experience the joy of bundling too. I'm glad to see that they finally are. More »

Darius Bursts onto the App Store

2012-02-11T07:26:17Z

Gallery: Dariusburst Second Prologue (iOS)

Continue reading Darius Bursts onto the App Store

Darius Bursts onto the App Store originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Mass Effect 3 Misspelled "Renagade" Console is Up for Grabs [UPDATE] [Mass Effect]

2012-02-11T07:01:37Z

EA has put a "Mass Effect 3 Mission Command" app on Facebook, through which fans can unlock some Avatar items and possibly get chosen for early access to the game's upcoming beta. There's also a big sweepstakes opportunity to win one of two custom Xbox 360s, painted in the game's Paragon and Renegade themes. EA sent us these pictures earlier today. More »

Fallout 3 concept artist Adam Adamowicz passes away

2012-02-11T06:48:47Z

Adam Adamowicz died of cancer yesterday, and while his career may have focused on building digital worlds, his impact can be felt just as intensely in our physical lives. As the concept artist for Fallout 3 and other Bethesda titles, including Skyrim, Adamowicz shaped the reality of some of our favorite video game experiences, regardless of whether the wider world knew his name.

Awesome Robo offers an in-depth, heartfelt glimpse into Adamowicz's work and life, highlighting the hand-drawn process he used to create Fallout 3's vault jumpsuit, weapons and super mutants, among dozens of other integral pieces that made up the game's universe.

Fallout 3 concept artist Adam Adamowicz passes away originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallout 3 concept artist Adam Adamowicz passes away

2012-02-11T07:26:18Z

Fallout 3 concept artist Adam Adamowicz passes away originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How Grand Theft Auto V Could Crib From Its Past to be Rockstar's Biggest Game.

2012-02-11T07:26:11Z

We are now more than three months removed from Rockstar's confirmation that (surprise!) Grand Theft Auto V is in development. Aside from what was yielded by the days spent dissecting the premiere trailer after its release, new information has been impossible to come by as Rockstar has returned to being characteristically silent about what it has in the works. That has, however, left us with plenty of time to ponder what GTA V may have in store for gamers and how many of its key features could be enhanced versions of ideas seen in Rockstar games past.

Firm details are scant, though based on the trailer there has been a great deal of guesswork. GTAV returns to Los Santos and its surroundings, much to the chagrin of those hoping for a brand-new locale like London or Washington, DC. Like how GTAIV revisited Liberty City (which was used in the GTAIII series), Los Santos, Rockstar's fictionalized version of Los Angeles, previously served as the first of three cities in San Andreas. Based on the trailer we know the landscape will be diverse -- ranging from skyscrapers and Hollywood (known as Vinewood) to mountains and farmland. There are also beaches and countryside, so essentially we're seeing a lot of what comprised San Andreas' iteration of Los Santos -- only it will now presumably be much bigger and denser without two other cities taking up room.