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Tag: Gaming

Atari’s Greatest Hits for Android

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 7:04 PM on November 28, 2011

If you grew up in the era of Atari then you probably still get nostalgic for it once in a while.  Thankfully, there are still ways to get your Atari fix.  I occasionally fire up an emulator on my computer from time to time and play a game of Centipede or Asteroids.  But, if you don’t want to sit in front of your desktop or laptop, you can now take your Atari addiction mobile.

Atari’s Greatest Hits is now available in the Android Market.  The app itself is free and comes with Missile Command.  Additional games packs are available for $0.99 each, or you can purchase all 100 games for $9.99.  The game packs can only be purchased from within the Atari’s Greatest Hits app, and are sold through the Amazon Android App Store.

Atari requires you to be running Android 2.2 or newer.  If you’re looking for a fun way to waste some time and take a stroll down memory lane then this is a must-have app for a reasonable price – and, hey, if you just like missile Command, it’s even more reasonable at the price of free.  You can check out the brief intro video below.

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Posted in Android, Gaming, mobile

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GNC-2011-11-12 #722 CES 2012 Support Needed

Posted by geeknews at 12:55 AM on November 18, 2011

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Ford Drives Real World Customers from the Gaming World

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 6:22 PM on November 7, 2011

Today Ford announced their latest advertising initiative, which involves the gaming world.  No, you won’t be able to play Angry Birds in your car via Sync, that would likely prove dangerous.  What Ford is doing is branding their vehicles in video games, and it’s actually not something new.  They have been at this for a while, beginning in 1995 with Sega Rally, but they are now making a more concerted push.

While gamers seem locked into their virtual worlds, they are surprisingly aware of the products that appear in those worlds.  And driving games may be one of the genres where the gamer is most aware of the product.  After all, the gamer in a car race is keenly aware of the car he or she chooses because it may make the difference between winning and losing.

“We’ve realized that gaming is something that many people have grown up with and helps define who they are,” said Brian Mcclary, with Ford’s Social and Emerging Media team. “Ford has gained positive exposure and popularity because we put our products into the right games while giving something back to the gamer.”

Ford is doubling down their efforts now with the release of Forza Motor Sport 4 (released 10/11/11) and Need for Speed The Run (to be released 11/15/11).  They have found that allowing their vehicles to be used in-game gets them more brand recognition and more positive feedback, which translates to more potential customers.  Here are the numbers that they provided from their study.

36% increase in brand rating

28% increase in purchase consideration

39% increase in brand recommendation

45% more gamers agreed Ford Focus is fun to drive

It’s good to see Ford continue to “get it” with their innovation to keep them on top in an ever-changing digital world.  Their partnership with Microsoft for the Sync system and the forward looking advertising with gaming and even with supporting podcasts is something many other old-world companies should take note of.

If you are a gamer, you can check out Forza Motor Sport 4 in the Xbox Marketplace and NSF The Run at the EA Need for Speed website (you can pre-order now).  You can view a trailer of NSF below, but it’s not completely family safe (language).

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Posted in advertising, Ford, Gaming

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EA Releases Need for Speed Hot Pursuit for Android

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 5:48 PM on November 5, 2011

EA, one of the most popular game makers, has been in the mobile market for some time now.  Thanks to a deal with some handset makers, like Motorola, preview editions of their games come pre-installed.  That’s great but, of course, to get the whole game you have to pay up.  Also, in some cases the games are not even an option for uninstall.  That’s bad, but here’s what is not so bad – EA makes some really good games.  Their flagship racing game, Need for Speed, has been a best-seller in the Android Market with the “NSF Shift” version.

Now NSF Shift has been surpassed by EA’s latest release, which hit the market a couple of days ago.  Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is now available with a host of cool features.  You can choose from a variety of sports cars that will make the average male drool.  There’s the Porsche, Pagani, Bugotti, and Lamborghini Murcielago to name just a few.  Or, if you choose to be the cop in this game, you can get the rarest of them all – the Lamborghini Reventon.

Before you get too excited though, there’s one key thing you need to know.  To get the hottest cars you will need to unlock them.  Unlocking a car requires a certain amount of points.  With each point level reached another vehicle becomes available.  Once you get a car you can choose to use it or any of the ones you have already unlocked.  You can also customize its color by using sliders to choose the way you want your vehicle to look.  Like the previous NSF Shift, it uses your phone’s accelerometer to control the car.

The game is available for $6.99 from the Android Market.  It’s not a small download, being around 500MB when it’s all said and done, but it will entertain any mobile gamer.  In the first 24 hours my son is up to a Porsche Cayman, but I would really like my Droid back…

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Posted in Android, Gaming, Microsoft

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Gamer Dies From DVT

Posted by Andrew at 12:30 AM on August 1, 2011

The BBC is highlighting a campaign to warn gamers of the risk of deep vein thrombosis caused by long gaming sessions in a sitting position. Chris Staniford died earlier in May from a blood clot which formed in his leg before moving to his lungs. Chris was a keen gamer and would play his Xbox 360 for up to 12 hours at a time.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) can happen when people stay still for long periods, typically sitting, and there have been several cases involving long-haul flights. It’s easy to see that certain games and consoles can lead to prolonged sitting and presumably the motion-controlled games are suitable antidote.

Chris was 20 when he died and DVT is easily avoided by short breaks and exercise, so it makes sense to highlight the risks to the millions of gamers out there. Microsoft also has a website, Play Smart, Play Safe that provides guidance to parents and gamers on a range of issues that can affect players.

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Posted in Gaming, Information, medical

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Build a Custom Gaming PC at Walmart.com!

Posted by Don at 9:58 AM on April 27, 2011

Honestly, this comes as quite a surprise. I would have never thought Wal-Mart and iBuyPower would team up to bring a custom gaming PC builder to Walmart.com but, that’s exactly what they have done and Walmart says there are over 10,000 combinations available.

Custom rigs start out at $599 and we can choose between 5 different cases. We’ll also be able to include up to 8GBs of RAM and a 2TB hard drive so there’s plenty of room for all those games. We won’t have to worry to much about graphics as there are 9 different cards from AMD and NVIDIA to choose from with the 1.5GB GeForce GTX480 at the top of the list. Intel and AMD processors, including the i5 and i7, will also be available depending on your customizing needs. They have even provided 3 different optical drive options including a Blu-ray writer!

Usually when I think of places to throw a custom gaming rig together Walmart is not at the top of the list. However, if you’re looking for something affordable this could be the way to go. If you want to start building right away head over to the Walmart.com Builder right now. It looks like the $599 base model is on sale for $579 so get over there and start customizing — that fresh copy of Portal 2 wants to play!

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Posted in Gaming

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A Whole New Gaming Concept From Sifteo

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 11:37 PM on February 8, 2011

Andy stops by the Sifteo booth to take a look at a whole new concept in gaming – the Sifteo cubes (or boxes).  This is truly a gaming innovation, taking the best of interactive and PC games and meshing the two together.  In the video you can check out a demo of a Tetris-like game that is played on a table with the Sifteo cubes to see what this is really all about.  It’s very hard to describe, but you can both see the video on the cubes while hearing the sound from a nearby laptop PC.  The devices have a 4+ hour battery life, with a 1-2 hour recharging time.  They also have learning games that will be great for young children in aiding them in learning spelling, math, and more.  You will see them all demonstrated in the following video.

A basic set of three blocks will be available for $149 later this year for both Mac and PC.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News.

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Posted in ces, Gaming, Special Media

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