David Daw has studied the history and future of television and has a master's in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts from San Francisco State University along with a BA in genre fiction from NYU. More by David Daw
It’s no secret that games are hard to make. Creating all the art, music, story and play mechanics for a game takes quite a lot of time and effort. As a result, most games reuse content or force players to backtrack or otherwise repeat themselves. While some games do it to a fault, this week’s games manage to capitalize on the best parts of repetition by creating fun and original reasons for you to do the same things over again.
David Daw has studied the history and future of television and has a master's in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts from San Francisco State University along with a BA in genre fiction from NYU. More by David Daw
While game creators are constantly creating new game mechanics they’re also refining the old ones, making new games out of systems we’ve known and loved for years. From a remake of an Apple II favorite to a 2D Minecraft, this week’s free games look at the games we love and makes them even better.
David Daw has studied the history and future of television and has a master's in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts from San Francisco State University along with a BA in genre fiction from NYU. More by David Daw
It can be hard to come up with original twists on gaming these days, but somehow indie developers keep finding new, exciting ways to tweak old gaming formulas. From altering the speed of light to a pair of text adventures that’ll get your blood pumping as fast as any AAA shooter, this week’s free games are all about unusual game mechanics.
Alex covers desktops, everything from fancy to practical. He's also an avid (addicted) gamer and loves following the industry. More by Alex Cocilova
Game mods have come and gone throughout the years, some leaving their mark while others vanish without a trace. Some mods manage to extend, improve or completely reinvent a game; ten years ago, Natural Selection did that for the Half-Life engine. The mod was free to download and introduced a complex and balanced ballet of battles between animalistic aliens and technically advanced humans, filling the lion's share of my free time. Now, exactly ten years later, Unknown Worlds Entertainment has released their followup, and it's awesome.
Natural Selection 2, like its predecessor, is a mixture of real-time strategy and first-person shooter. The goal of the game is to expand through a map while harvesting resource nodes, building new bases, researching new technology and ultimately destroying the enemy bases. Once the last Command Station (for Marines) or Hive (for aliens) is destroyed, the game is over.
David Daw has studied the history and future of television and has a master's in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts from San Francisco State University along with a BA in genre fiction from NYU. More by David Daw
Frog Fractions has been getting a lot of press in the past week or so, with more than one reviewer throwing around phrases like the best game of all time. It’s also a game that’s much more enjoyable if you go in blind, and people who’ve experienced it are reticent to say anything about the game at all. As a result a lot of people start up what they expect to be the most revolutionary game in years to find…a Missile Command clone starring a frog? Yet the game's critical praise isn't an elaborate hoax; there's a lot more to Frog Fractions than meets the eye.
I conducted a short interview (via e-mail) with the game’s creator Jim Crawford where we discuss why Frog Fractions is an “educational” game and how some of the non-traditional steps he’s taking to monetize a game this odd (among other things). A word of warning, though: Give the game a try (and really try) before you read on, as we discuss some specific spoilers along with some more broad ideas that might ruin the experience of Frog Fractions for you.
Cassandra Khaw is an entry-level audiophile, a street dancer, a person who writes about video games for a living, and someone who spends too much time on Twitter. More by Cassandra Khaw
Video game development is something many traditionally associate with big budgets, big teams and big names. Nonetheless, times are changing; a growing number of independent developers are beginning to demonstrate that the industry is no longer exclusively the province of those with corporate backing. Independent games like LIMBO, Minecraft and Bastion have all made a significant impact upon the media and gamers alike.
And while the mounting popularity of such titles is clearly a sign of change, there's something arguably more exciting. Frequently conducted over the course of a single weekend, 'game jams' offer the penultimate challenge to developers: to craft an entire game within a woefully limited set of hours.
Though rarely as elegant as a full-fledged production, many of the bite-sized games created during such events have definitely been impressive. However, while a multitude of game jams have been successfully run over the years, none of them answer the question posed by the controversially-named Fuck This Jam.
Alex writes reviews, How-To Guides and features to help you work smarter and game harder. More by Alex Wawro
PC enthusiasts expect to pay extra for premium peripherals, and Razer's new Deathstalker Ultimate ($250) pushes that expectation to the breaking point by including a flashy new touchscreen interface that's unlike anything we've ever seen in a gaming keyboard.
The keyboard chassis is light and durable, sporting shallow chiclet-style keys that look great but feel shallow. A rubberized wrist rest along the lower edge attracts dust and crumbs like a vacuum but keeps you comfortable during extended typing sessions. Like most Razer keyboards the DeathStalker Ultimate is fully programmable, and includes five extra macro keys on the left edge, a dedicated on-the-fly macro recording key, and a gaming mode key that functions as a toggle which disables the Windows key (and the Alt+Tab and Alt+F4 key combinations, if you like). Alongside these Razer staples you’ll find a new key sporting the Razer logo, which you can tap to revert the LCD trackpanel and accompanying keys built into the right side of the chassis back to their default interface.
