News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
Last September, the Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG switched from paid subscriptions to a free-to-play model. The result has been a tripling of revenues and a significant increase in the number of players. The core game is free, but you can pay for expansions or a full VIP membership.
Link: http://www.gamasutra.com/…
(via Slashdot)
It appears that Duke Nukem Forever, the poster child for vaporware, will finally be released on May 3rd, 2011. The game has been in almost continuous development since 1997, and was awarded a Vaporware Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 by Wired.
Link: http://www.gameinformer.com/…
(via Slashdot)
PC gamers are having problems with StarCraft II, because it’s causing their graphics cards to overheat and shut down. The linked article essentially says this shouldn’t happen unless your PC’s cooling system isn’t working properly, and then explains how to restore it back to normal by removing accumulated dust and organizing your cables.
Link: http://www.pcauthority.com.au/…
(via Slashdot)
Just ran into this neat little nugget. Machinarium is a puzzle game with great artwork. I think of it as Myst lite. Because of rampant piracy, they’re holding an “amnesty” sale where you can purchase the download version of the game for only $5.00 (discounted from $20). The sale ends on August 12th. The website has a demo of the first three levels, so you can see what it’s like. They also have some wallpaper images available for download. Runs on PCs with Windows or 32-bit Linux, and Macintosh computers.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
An Oregon man has broken the all-time high score in Asteroids, reaching 41,336,440 points. It took him 3½ days without sleep. Go ahead and put that on your resume!
Link: http://www.wired.com/…
(via Slashdot)
So you have a game console that you don’t need anymore. Thinking about selling it on eBay, donating it to charity, or perhaps giving it to a friend? The linked article explains how to remove personal information that may be stored on the console’s hard drive.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
A Taiwanese man is the first person to finish World of Warcraft. According to the article, he “killed 390,895 creatures, accumulated 7,255,538,878 points of damage, completed 5,906 quests (that’s 14.62 quests per day, apparently), raided 405 dungeons and hugged 11 players.” Some people have way too much free time.
Link: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/…
(via Neatorama)
…is Minesweeper (although I contend that Windows Solitaire is a close runner-up). The linked article explains more.
Myst is my all-time favorite computer game. It’s now available as an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch—with enhanced graphics to boot!
Link: http://osxreality.com/…
(via digg)
Here’s an interesting theory that goes against modern conventional wisdom. Boys are naturally inclined towards a certain amount of aggressive behavior, and violent video games are good outlets for it. Moreover this natural aggression is normal and healthy, and if suppressed, can hinder a boy’s development.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Here’s an interesting bit of research. Two students revisited every Super Mario video game and, based on how far and fast Mario fell, calculated the acceleration due to gravity. The lowest is still more than four times the actual value, with the highest up by a factor of eleven.
Link: http://hypertextbook.com/…
(via mental_floss)
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