When it comes to video games, AAA console releases have really grown stagnant over the last decade. That's one of the many reasons I'm so glad to be at Gamezebo, where we focus on the platforms that give developers the freedom to experiment instead of the latest cut-and-paste first person shooter.As it turns out, Xbox co-creator Ed Fries seems to feel the same way about the current state of AAA games, and he's ready to explain why, detailing the creativity-stifling environment that led to his 2004 resignation from Microsoft in a recent GamesIndustry interview.Rather than fostering new ideas, Fries suggests that AAA development is run too much like a business - focusing on quantity of dollars rather than quality of game. Instead of experimenting with little things, which Fries says sows the seeds of successful bigger projects down the road, the focus of the Xbox brand during his time there was to stick to what works and sell it better. "In a sense, I fundamentally didn't agree with that because I think the big things come from little things," Fries told GamesIndustry.
Harold Ramis was one of the greats. If you're in your thirties and love comedy, there's a very good chance that Ramis played a huge part in that. You probably know him as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters, but he was so much more. Ramis wrote Animal House, Stripes and Meatballs. He directed Caddyshack, Groundhog Day and National Lampoon's Vacation. In short, he created everything you ever loved about comedy. And as of today, sadly, he's no longer with us.The only proper thing to do tonight is to cancel your plans, microwave some popcorn, and break out your favorite Ramis flick. For me it'll be Caddyshack. But hey - if you can't do this, we're not going to judge you. As much as you might want to go home and watch SCTV until your eyes hurt, we know you have other obligations.So maybe instead of enjoying a Harold Ramis classic, you can stick one of these games on your phone in your travels tonight to remind you of his work instead.
The App Store is a mess. It always has been, and no matter what Apple seems to think they're doing to fix it (remember when they bought Chomp?), it never seems to get any better.Ouriel Ohayon thinks he has the answers. Well… some of them, at least. The CEO of Appsfire shared an op-ed piece with TechCrunch earlier today that looks at every angle of Apple's App Store, and offers some interesting solutions to many of its more visible problems.Ohayon argues that the App Store's sub-par search function is largely to blame for discoverability woes, with hot keywords powering results more than hot apps. This is why games with the word "flappy" have littered the top free charts in recent weeks - and a few have even managed to exploit the keyword trifecta of "flappy," "miley cyrus" and "wrecking ball."But it's not just search. An easy to abuse review system, a lack of communication with developers, iAD - Ohayon discusses all of it.Read Ouriel Ohayon's full editorial Fixing the "Flappstore" at TechCrunch.
From the creators of the captivating and hugely successful Mystery Manor, Game Insight's Incredible Heist is a brand new hidden object game with a devious twist. Said to usher in the "next generation of hidden object games," Incredible Heist will have players assuming the role of an amateur con artist, as they travel to gorgeous environments all over the world and do what aspiring con artists do best: pick locks, solve puzzles, and above all else, loot from the most magnificent of treasures!In fact, there's so much treasure looting involved that a storyline will begin to unfold involving the retrieval of mysterious artifacts called Cryptexes. When all of these hidden Cryptexes are collected, it is rumored that the secrets of the ancient Thieves Guild will be unearthed once and for all. In addition to the main hidden object gameplay with a side of good thieving fun, players can also form impressive item collections as well as complete a number of mini-games.While Game Insight hasn't given out an official release date just yet, Incredible Heist will be coming to iPad in the near future. According to the game's official website, it also would appear that a Facebook version is in the cards somewhere down the road as well. In either case, there's one thing that we know for sure right now: this game is gearing up to be quite the steal!
By now, it's no longer a secret that Valve is thinking about killing off Steam Greenlight. Until it actually disappears though, it's still fertile ground for stories like the one you're about to read. Call it a tale of how social media can be a double-edged sword when trying to drum up support for your indie game.The game in question is called Zombies. The period is actually part of the name (hey, it did the job for fun.), though there are no actual zombies in it. Plus it's changing to Corporate Lifestyle Simulator anyway.Like many indie games, this pixelated action-shooter is a part of bundle deals on several popular sites. Some of them promised that buyers would receive Steam keys for the game if/when it was greenlit (or greenlighted, as I never know which way is proper) - a common though not universal feature of these bundles.The game was greenlit, but there was a bit of a catch: as explained by NeoGAF user chubigans, the developer had no intention of giving bundle buyers Steam keys, regardless of what the deals stated. At issue was his feeling that he should receive the customer data for everyone who purchased his game, unwilling to hand over "thousands of keys" to the bundle sites.
The latest batch of games approved through Steam Greenlight was announced on Wednesday. Fifty titles were chosen, including Lost Decade Game's A Wizard's Lizard, Rat King Entertainment's Tri, and Cecly's Galactic Princess. Some of these titles have already been released on other platforms or storefronts and are just now making their way onto Steam, while others are still in development. Galactic Princess, for example, is just over a week into its Kickstarter campaign."These titles were selected on the same criteria we have been using in the past: Votes in Greenlight give us a hugely valuable point of data in gauging community interest along with external factors such as press reviews, crowd-funding successes, performance on other similar platforms, and awards and contests to help form a more complete picture of community interest in each title," Valve community spokesperson Alden Kroll explained in the announcement post."You can use that very same link to the announcement post to view the complete list of all fifty games that made the cut this time around. And when you're done doing that, why not pick out a few of your favorites and get to gaming?
2014 seems to be the year of copyright. Whether it's King's CANDY crisis, the Flappy Bee incident, or the ASTROIDS name change, IP protection seems to be the word of the day. And now, in China, Nintendo is fighting its own IP battle - and it's over the unauthorized use of Mario.And believe it or not, this isn't even the only infringement story coming out of China this week!Thanks to our partners in China, Laohu.com, bringing us the latest news out their country as they do every Friday. For day-to-day happenings in China, be sure bookmark Laohu.com.
Don't you just hate it when some days you have a whole bunch of errands to run, when all you really want to do is stay in bed and browse all the latest free games and sales going on around the internet? Take right now for instance: I'm long overdue for a haircut, and I've been putting off going to the DMV for a solid two months now. So what am I doing instead? Stocking up on more games at almost next-to-nothing prices!In fact, if buying new games at incredible deals were daily errands in their own right, then I would get more accomplished each day than you could ever imagine! First I would hit up the iOS App Store and download a few premium games I missed out on for absolutely nothing. Then I would scoop up the latest Humble Indie Bundle before circling back to Gamezebo for a few more last minute deals there as well. Talk about being a productive adult member of society!"And as always, if there were any other deals I may have missed while I was "waiting in line at the DMV," then be sure to let us all know about them down in the replies!