Cogs is a puzzle game where players build machines from sliding tiles. Players can choose from 50 levels and 3 gameplay modes. New puzzles are unlocked by building contraptions quickly and efficiently.

• Inventor Mode: Starting with simple puzzles, players are introduced to the widgets that are used to build machines — gears, pipes, balloons, chimes, hammers, wheels, props, and more.
• Time Challenge Mode: If you finish a puzzle in Inventor Mode, it will be unlocked here. This time, it will take fewer moves to reach a solution, but you only have 30 seconds to find it.
• Move Challenge Mode: Take your time and plan ahead. Every click counts when you only get ten moves to find a solution.

Cogs has already been a success on the PC, but players and reviewers unanimously agree: We want this kind of sophisticated puzzle game on our iPhones. They’ll get their wish in January 2010.

What Makes Cogs Unique

Puzzle fans aren’t getting their fair share. Every year, gaming hardware gets more and more powerful. Mid-range computers can render tens of thousands of polygons at 60 frames per second and the big studios are using all of that power to create incredibly realistic, compelling experiences.

And then there’s the puzzle genre. For those of us who prefer more mentally engaging content, we’re mostly stuck with flat, cartoony match-three games that have hardly changed in a decade. Puzzlers deserve better.

So when we started designing Cogs, we decided to bring players three-dimensional realism, attention to detail and quality puzzles that raise the bar for the entire genre.

We designed more than 50 puzzles with an astonishing variety. There are flying contraptions, music machines, roving tanks, jack-in-the-boxes and more than enough other imaginative inventions that gameplay never feels repetitive.

We wanted nothing to break the illusion of interacting with a massive steam-driven machine, so we made every aspect of the user interface with analog widgets from the odometer-style counters to the revolving puzzle descriptions to the massive iris in the background that opens to reveal each new puzzle.

The Team

Rob Jagnow is the founder of Lazy 8 Studios and the sole programmer and puzzle designer for Cogs. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT and draws from his previous work experiences at Pixar and Demiurge Studios. He works out of his home office in San Francisco, CA.

Brendan Mauro did all of the artwork for Cogs, including most of the user interface design. He has a passion for Legos and steampunk design.

Luke Gilbert composed the music for Cogs and created all of the sound effects. He’s the founder of Elepant Audio in San Francisco, CA.

How long does it take to develop such a game like Cogs?

From conception to completion, it took Cogs more than 5 years to make it to market. Rob Jagnow came up with the basic concept around 2004 and it stewed in his mind until January 2006 when he wrote the first prototype. It continued as an independent part-time project for years before Brendan Mauro came on board as the digial artist in May of 2008 to replace Rob’s placeholder artwork with the polished steampunk design that you see today. Sound effects and the game’s three music tracks were all done by Luke Gilbert of Elepant Audio.

One programmer, one artist and one musician.

Lazy 8 Studios released the PC version of Cogs through Steam on April 14, 2009. Direct2Drive and GamersGate joined the list of distributors on July 12 and October 14, 2009 respectively.

Cogs is scheduled for release on the iPhone in January, 2010.

Awem studio is engaged in creating Cradle Of Rome 2, the sequel to the hit puzzle game Cradle Of Rome. Like to have an inside look into the development process of Cradle Of Rome 2? Then read Developer’s Diary and learn interesting facts about the game! Be the first to know when Cradle Of Rome 2 is released!

Read Cradle Of Rome 2 Developer’s Diary and learn interesting facts about the game!

Take on the heroic challenge of freeing and restoring beautiful lands from invaders! Travel a huge new world with over 180 invigorating levels and go up against mighty enemies like Blockzilla, Block Widow and Blocktopus using your own customizable character. COLLAPSE! with character!

Learn more about COLLAPSE! game

Return to the jungle in The Treasures of Montezuma 2, an all-new Match 3 game with more levels, more challenges and more fun! Powerup totems and unleash special powers by making multiple matches of the same color token. Then rack up a high score by activating Score Frenzy with a series of insanely fast matches! Finally, unlock trophies for performing amazing feats as you try to collect all of the gems on each level before time runs out.

Read the full The Treasures Of Montezuma 2 Game Review

The Burtons have just moved into their beautiful new dream home, which unfortunately for them, happens to be haunted. As they prepare to pack up and leave, they are suddenly greeted by the peculiar Milton Hobblepop, self described paranormal investigator. Now the Burtons need your help to clear their house of a group of particularly unfortunate ghosts in Mishap: An Accidental Haunting.

Read Mishap An: Accidental Haunting Game Preview

Just a short post again today. I’ve been rather distracted with various games, which have all been eating away at my spare time. As noted before, I’ve been playing Syarin no Kuji and will eventually get around to doing a VN diary for it, though it took me longer than anticipated to complete it. Rather interesting game, though, with a world that replaces prison time with ‘obligations’ like losing some hours of your day, not being able to disobey parents or not being able to speak with the opposite gender.

I also picked up the new Heroes of Might and Magic game for the DS. I haven’t actually played a Heroes game properly since HoMM 4, since I had to return HoMM 5 since it never worked on my laptop, apparently due to some bugs, since I met the system specs and Oblivion used to work fine, which I’m sure was more graphically intense. Nevertheless, I’m told it returned more to the HoMM 3 type system, which I thought was inferior to 4, so it probably wasn’t much of a loss.

Back on topic, however, I’m very impressed with this game. It takes the classic, if tired HoMM like formulae, and forces a puzzle game down its throat, revitalising it in the process. Lining up columns of troops to attack and rows to defend, along with chain linking, merging, spells, artifacts, and both elite and champion class troops each with their own rules of engagement, and you have a very deep and fascinating strategy blend.

This is tagged onto a standard HoMM like map for exploration, recruiting, resource gathering and quests. Most of the standard sides return, with Haven, Academy, Necropolis, Sylvan and Inferno, creating a pentagon of wholly different sides that in some ways feel similar to the five colours from Magic the Gathering.

I’m currently on Godric’s campaign, which is a step up in difficulty from Anwen’s, I have to say, as his requires a much more defensive playstyle with his slower charging troops and damage prevention spell. Fortunately, you can get XP for solving puzzles too in this game, which helps in the more difficult battles. It’ll be interesting to play the more ‘evil’ sides after completing this, I should imagine.

To finish, I also created a new wallpaper again for you to use.
Its Ruri Matsuri, a new God girl and student council president from the latest Shuffle! game, Shuffle Essence+:

As always, click the above to see it full sized

Unfortunately, I’m told that Ruri doesn’t actually get a route in the game, which is kinda odd since they’re using her for the advertisment in Dengeki Hime. Whatever. In case you were wondering, this game is basically a revised version of the original shuffle, with a stack of extra girls thrown in and some slight amendments to the routes of the original girls. Most of the new ladies are God girls, actually. But then again, they already did a side game featuring the Demon world (Shuffle! Tick! Tack!) so I suppose its just. Or something.

And yes, you can actually romance Kareha-sempai now (hopefully complete with her ‘brrrinng, brrrinng, brrrinng!’ noise and her sparklies):

“Mai! Mai! MAI!” <brrrinng, brrrinng, brrrinng!> etc.

Which is perhaps the best development, since she was the most amusing character, IMHO.

Anyway, thats all for today. Cya again soon.

Perfect Gift: Young Girl or Kitchen challenged 20 years.

The sequel to the original cooking game, Cooking Mama, Cooking with Friends gives you the original feel of guided cooking and a chance to please virtual people with your potentially edible slop. This makes it perfect for anyone with a culinary bent and more than a dash of whimsy.

Mama is the person who takes you through the game, setting up recipes and guiding your through the tutorials. Though, if you make a mistake while you’re “Cooking with Mama” she will fire up her eyes at the end of that segment with a disapproving “Mama will fix.” After a while, it’s rather terrifying and Godzilla tussling with Mothra would be more comforting.

As an English translated, Japanese game, the food you get to prepare is a little surprising. There’s a little something from everywhere, though it does focus a little more on your traditional Japanese fare.

The interactivity of the game itself is great for kids and people too stoned to care. From the touch screen to the mic use (you blow into it during a few of the recipes to indicate fanning or other uses of air).

Once you’ve mastered Cooking with Mama, you can take any of the myriad of unlocked dishes and go Cook for Friends. There’s no guiding, and Mama will not fix. Though, unless you are really coordinated, or payed insanely close attention, this aspect of the game is better off avoided. Even if you can cook for real, there’s little disappointing as a fake person looking at your disaster and calling it inedible.

Cooking Mama has garnered such popularity, she’s also taken up gardening. So, if you’ve mastered Cooking Mama 1 & 2, also check out Gardening Mama. See if she has any fresh veggies for her recipes.

Tetris Logo

When there´s one innovative thing in the gaming sector in the last years, it´s the “Casual Style”. Nintendo showed started this strategy as the first company with their Nintendo Wii. The other big gaming companies like Sony or Microsoft are also trying to get a piece of the casual cake for their own video game systems. In my opinion this is not a new trend. Casual Games were always on the market and one of the best examples for this is Tetris. I think so because Tetris shows that even in the 1980´s and 1990´s casual gamer could play simple, short games without any intensive story or any aggressive gameplay. When Tetris was released for the Game Boy in the year 1991 nearly everyone played it, not only the “old” gamers. Tetris got to one of the most played games in the whole video game industry. This game series is over 20 years old and from it´s first day till now it sells very well and that on nearly every video game system. Since now there were sold about 70 million Tetris copies worldwide on many different systems. With this blog entry I want to show you the story behind this traditional game. At this point I just want to say, the classic Tetris game was not developed by Nintendo even when  nearly everyone thinks so.

Gameplay

The main Gameplay of Tetris is based on a very simple principle. A random sequence of Tetrominoes, also called blocks, falls down on the ground of the playing field.  The player has to move the falling Tetrominoes left or right. Also he can rotate the Tetrominoes in 90 degrees steps. The target of this game is to create horizontal lines without gaps. If the player build one or more lines, they will disappear and the Tetrominoes above will fall further down. During the game the Tetrominoes will fall faster, so that it becomes more difficult to control them and to build new lines. In nearly every version of Tetris the user can push a button to speed up the falling Tetrominoe to earn more points for that block.

Tetris for the IBM-PC

The game ends when the staple of Tetrominoes reached the top of the playing field so that no other Tetrominoes fits on the playing field.

Some players asked the question if it could be possible to play endless. There is one simple answer: No. Even when you are a very good player you can´t play endless because it gets quicker and quicker and even when you get more and more lines and you reach quicker sequences at one special point you have no chance to get further. At this special point a Tetris block would fall faster than a game frame would displayed on the screen. This means the block is on the ground before you get a chance to see the block and to move it in a free gap. It is nearly impossible to reach this point but there you can´t play further because you will not see the falling Tetrominoes.

What are Tetrominoes?

All Tetrominoes

For those who never played or seen a Tetris game I will describe here shortly, what a Tetrominoe is and which several types there are. Every Tetrominoe is build out of four equal square blocks. There are seven different Tetrominoes which are often called as I, J, L, O, S,T or Z Tetrominoe because they look a bit like the letters as they are called. Nearly every version of Tetris has it´s own different colors for each Tetrominoe.

Historic View

Idea and first steps

Alexey Pajitnov

The First Version of Tetris was programmed and designed by Alexey Pajitnov. He was inspired by a Puzzle game called Pentomino which he knew out of his childhood.  It was developed for the Elektronika 60 and published on 6 June 1984. Pajitnov developed it during his work at the “Computer Centre of the

Vadim Gerasimov

Russian Academy of Sciences”. The first Version of Tetris was without sound or color. Anyhow it got a huge success in the Academy´s staff. Alexey was working with two other students in a small group which created games. Alexey made anew game which then was ported by Vadim Gerasimov and Dmitry Pavlovsky for other systems, mostly for the IBM-PC. In summer 1985 they made a Tetris version for the IBM-PC. It was the first Tetris with colored blocks and sounds. Shortly after it was published in the public it was frequently often copied and so it expanded very quickly in the eastern bloc.

Expanding to the western World

At this time Hungary was very successfully in exporting puzzle games. Andromeda Software got considerate to Tetris. So they got in contacted the academy because they were interested in the game. At the Academy they showed interest in a deal with Andromeda Software but they did not take it very seriously, so they made a short imprecisely answer. By the reason that agreements without a contract were normal in the software industry at that time, Andromeda Software took this as an implied engagement. Andromeda Software informed Mirrorsoft, the software section of the Maxwell Corporation. Mirrorsoft showed interests for that game. Also they sold it to Spectrum Holobyte in California.

Tetris for Atari systems

The fight for the license

A few month after the first version with the license of Andromeda Software was launched got Robert Stein a  Telex from Elektronorgtechnica (short Elorg). At this time is Robert Stein the responsible person for Tetris at Andromeda Software. In that Telex was written that Andromeda Software had no rights for Tetris. Elorg is a company in Moscow which had to manage all licenses and rights for soviet software products.   After  this Robert Stein could get the rights for Personal Computer at a meeting with Elorg. But at this time you could sell the most games on video game consoles, not on PCs. Mirrorsoft got in contact with Atari because they wanted to develop a Tetris version in a cooperative work with Atari. But they didn´t know that they have no rights for video game consoles. Atari presented a first version of their Tetris game on a Computer Conference. Henk Rogers from Bullet Proof Software detected the game and brought it to Nintendo in Japan. Nintendo was very interested and decided to decided to publish their new Handheld console, the Game Boy, in a package with Tetris. Nintendo needed the right to publish a Tetris version on their new handheld console, so they put Rogers in charge to save the rights for Nintendo.

Tetris Boxart for NES

So we have one game and 3 companies which want the rights for it. All 3 (Henk Rogers for Nintendo, Robert Stein for Andromeda Software and Kevin Maxwell for Mirrorsoft) were at the same day in Moscow to get the rights from Elorg but they had their meetings at different times, so they didn´t see each other in Moscow. The first one was Rogers. He presented the Japanese version which was from Atari and so licensed by Robert Stein. They saw that Stein had no rights for this and Rogers offered his good connections to Nintendo. The next one was Robert Stein. He would get more licenses for Tetris but he was   confronted with license exceeds and open payments. The last one was Kevin Maxwell. He decided to close the hearing with Elorg because he didn´t knew about the  license exceeds and so he had to ask his father Robert Maxwell about the contract terms with Elorg.

The Result of this three hearings was that Stein got a new contract in which he got the license for some special objects. All handheld rights went to Rogers. Nintendo wanted also the rights for video game consoles, so they flew another time to Moscow and got another contract with Elorg for the video game console rights of Tetris.

Nintendo´s greatest success

Tetris Boxart for the Game Boy

Tetris should become one of Nintendo´s important things in their more than 100 years old history. They sold about 8 Million Tetris copies for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Game Boy was released in a package with Tetris and sold. Nintendo published for nearly every of it´s own system a special Tetris game with new and innovative game types. I think the Game Boy version of Tetris is one of the most important Games in the whole video game history. It was not only played by Gamers, even people who never played video games were totally cached of Tetris and played it very long. Special at this version is that you can play it with a real opponent with a second Game Boy with a Tetris cartridge and a Link-Cable. Here you could send your enemy lines when you destroyed two ore more lines on your screen. So it got a very nice multiplayer gameplay.

Music

There are many different versions of Tetris and so there are many different soundtracks in that games but the most popular music theme is on the Game Boy version. Music A. It is an instrumental arrangement of the Russian folk tune called “Korobeiniki”. This track got with Tetris worldwide very famous. So is it covered by some famous DJ´s and Rock Bands. The traditional music track from the Game Boy version are also re-arranged on the newer versions of Tetris and also in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the “Luigi´s Mansion” stage. Also very famous is the Music C. Music C from the Game Boy version is an arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach´s French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814, V. Menuett – Trio.

Conclusion

I think Tetris got since it´s development in 1984 to one of the most important Games in the Videogame History. Tetris was one of the most successful games in that time and even now it´s with every new version a good sold game. Worldwide were about 70 Million copies sold. Not many game series can keep up with this number. In my opinion shows Tetris with every new version and even with nearly all older versions, for example the first IBM version or the Game Boy version, that a good game can exist without High-Definition graphics or an extreme realistic game engine.

Be the first to play Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove with this special Collector’s Edition.   Download Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove™ Collector’s Edition Game

Use your wits and Hidden Object and Adventure game talent to follow the trail of a group of missing graduate students in Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove! Experience all the exclusive Collector’s Edition extras including bonus “Easter egg” levels and puzzles that reveal secrets related to both past and future Mystery Case Files episodes. The integrated Deluxe Strategy Guide also includes extra video outtakes, concept art, screenshots, and desktop wallpapers.

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Early Access to MCF: Dire Grove
• Bonus gameplay that reveals MCF “secrets”
• A new Challenge and Achievement system
• A Deluxe Strategy Guide, integrated into the game

Download Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove™ Collector’s Edition Game

One of the more recent in the Lego video game franchises, the game holds little surprise to veterans of the other games like Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, and Lego Harry Potter. The game play is simple, requiring you to cycle through various characters as you work your way through a series of scenes of lego violence and puzzles.

Unlike others in the Lego franchise, the Batman game doesn’t adhere to any of the movies or any truly cohesive storyline. Each of the three acts are independent of each other, and you can play as either the Dynamic Duo or their Rogue’s Gallery.

Once you get through the story mode, you can go through the free play to unlock the various hidden characters and other tasty bits that they keep hidden behind silhouette for exorbitant Lego nub fees.

The great part of the game is ultimately in being the Dark Knight and busting up the bad guys. All in all, it’s a great game in the Lego franchise that continues to capitalize on big money names. While this game in it self is not a bad game, if you don’t love Batman, pass this up.

Coming soon! Lego Rockband. Seriously, It’s out later this week.

“Touch Friends” is a puzzle game that a player touch blocks and remove them without collapsing other sedentary blocks. A player can get higher score if the player can touch blocks and clear the stage without collapsing blocks as soon as possible. A player can play this game with the photos of friends whom the player is following after integrating with Twitter. Of course, a player can play this game with the default blocks if the player do not integrate with Twitter. A player can play this game with the photos of friends who post tweets recently when the player wants to play with them. In this case, the player can check the number of count how many the player touch friends at the High Score menu. Also, the player can tweet the top 5 records into Twitter. Thus, the more a player tweets, the higher the ranking of the player in the friends’ twitter raises.

- Four types of items
A player can get items during playing a game. If the player uses the items, the player can get more score and the degree of game difficulty can increase because some blocks can be added.

- Additional bonus scores about when the player touches friends who have high total count
The number of touching friends will be saved. A player can get additional bonus scores when the player touches friends who have high total count. The more a player plays this game, the higher scores the player can get.

Features

- Easy and addictive
- 15 unique levels
- Easy beginning level for the beginner
- Possible to play with the photos of Twitter friends(following friends)
- Possible to tweet the score of the game in the Twitter.
- The top 3 friends can have special blocks

Tip:

1. Just watch the shape of piled blocks and find the blocks that look not to shake other blocks. And then, just touch it carefully without touching others and you can remove it and get some scores.
2. You can remove other blocks even though the blocks don’t move. Key point is that remove the blocks as soon as possible.

Our next version:
You should look forward to next version because you can save all of the record on the server and compare the score with your Twitter friends. Also you can see who touched me.

]]> http://interpolred.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/not-much-free-time-these-days/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:42:53 +0000 interpolred http://interpolred.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/not-much-free-time-these-days/

I really wanted to get a blog out sooner, but I’ve been keeping very busy all week.  While my writing on Suite101 has been nonexistent for the past two weeks, my writing on GamerSyndrome has soared to new heights.  No longer publishing just the two required articles per week, I’ve been submitting upwards of four articles a day, reporting on the latest news in the games industry as well as throwing in a few original pieces.  It’s been fun, but more than anything it’s been tiring, time-consuming, and it’s given me a real feel for the whole writing career thing.  Surely when I finally land a paying job it will be more stressful, but by submitting so much content within a week, I’m getting at least a small taste of what it’s like to write on a professional scale.

Due to my excessive writing, I haven’t had much time to play video games (or do anything else, for that matter).  My copy of SvR 2010 has just sat near my Wii collecting dust.  It’s rather saddening, especially since I really enjoy Story Designer mode.  I haven’t had time to finalize my original WWE story.  Oh, well.  Maybe next week.

The few spare moments I have had I’ve spent playing numerous indie games.  I’d played independently developed games before, but I’m just now getting into indie games on a large scale.  I first played Time Fcuk about a week ago (or possibly two weeks ago).  I really liked it.  Its blend of puzzle and platform mechanics is great, and the twisted story behind it is eerie in a satisfying kind of way.  The graphics are great too.  Very simple, but very effective; and even though the designer stated that it’s not an artistic game, it’s hard not to argue against that statement given the game’s unique look.  Time Fcuk was reason enough for me to set up a Newgrounds account.  That’s how much I loved it.  Plus, I’m trying to collect the game’s achievement medals.  The fact that the game supports user-created content makes it even greater.  I may never create my own levels, but I’ll likely return to the game multiple times later on to try some original stages.

Another game I played and completed is RunMan: Race Around the World.  But much like Aether (which I’m still in the process of completing), I’ll talk about that game in my next post.  I just downloaded Cave Story.  Due to the fact that I had to work a Deftones concert last night (which wasn’t anything special considering I don’t care at all for the Deftones), I wasn’t able to play the game all that much.  Nope, I was pretty much only able to configure the controls and play part of the first stage.  I plan on playing the hell out of that game during Thanksgiving break.

That’s about it for now.  This post was much longer than I had planned.  I could probably write more, but I have to work another concert at Avalon tonight, and I’d like to watch the rest of last night’s SamckDown before going to work later.  I’m also working the night club apparently, so I should make some decent money tonight.  Here’s hoping.

New Rubik 360 puzzle game

Thirty years ago, a Hungarian professor named Erno Rubik invented one of the most famous brain teaser of the world: the Rubik cube. Last February was released the successor of the popular cubic puzzle game: it’s called Rubik 360 and it is a Sphere!

The mythical Rubik Cube became a symbol of the 80s with millions of puzzles sold worldwide (one of the best-selling toy in history) and millions of hardcore players challenging themselves in leagues and tournaments.
One sphere, six balls and only one possible solution make the new Rubik puzzle game quite different from its cubic father.
So The Hungarian architect Erno Rubik tried to tease again millions of people with this apparently innocuous spherical puzzle game, trying to repeat the success of his previous brain teaser.
The Rubik 360 is a sphere within a sphere within a sphere, really simple to play but very difficult to solve.
The object of the game is to get the small coloured balls from within the central sphere into the matching colour holes of the external sphere (it’s easy to say, but less easy to do).

In fact the Rubik cube brain teaser is quite harder to solve and it’s more a visual logic skill game, instead, the new 360 puzzle game it’s more related to manual ability and coordination.

I don’t know if this new brain teaser puzzle will replicate the success of the Rubik Cube, but it’s now clear that this new spherical puzzle game already become, for all Rubik cube fans, another addictive and challenging brain teaser.

Challenge your mind and if you want know better how the new Rubik sphere works, take a look at this video and find out how the solution to the puzzle in few moves .

Curiosities and facts around the Rubik Cube

- Rubik Cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations, but only one solution.

- In the world have been sold over 350,000,000 Rubik cubes

- the Cube was invented in 1974, but only in 1980 arrived in the rest of Europe

- There are more than 40.000 YouTube videos about the Rubik cube

- The first world championship ‘Speed-cubing’ was held in Hungary in 1982 and was won by Minh Thai, an American student, who solved the puzzle in 22.95 seconds

- The current world champion of ‘Speed – cubing’ is Eric Akkersdijk; record: 7:08 seconds.

- Other disciplines include solving the cube blindfolded, with one hand, with feet and underwater

La rivincita del 2D grazie ad un affascinante puzzle-game dal gusto retrò ma molto moderno pieno di ritmo e dall’ottima realizzazione

Semplice e complesso. Moderno ed originale ma dal sapore retrò. World of Goo si potrebbe descrivere con questi semplici aggettivi.
Questo puzzle game dei 2D Boy, piccola software house indipendente, è stato sicuramente uno dei migliori giochi della scorsa stagione grazie alle sue doti, al basso costo ed a quel tocco di novità che ha portato in un mercato pieno di ottimi titoli ma molto simili tra loro.

CONCETTO SEMPLICE E GENIALE

Ricordate il gioco Tower of Goo? Si trattava del primo capitolo nato dalla brillante mente di questi ragazzi di San Francisco in cui bisognava unire delle palline gelatinose e formare la torre più alta, stando attenti al loro incastro realizzando una struttura equilibrata e resistente.
Dopo tre anni, quasi quattro, si è giunti a World of Goo nel quale per l’occasione si dovranno guidare delle palline di un materiale gelatinoso attraverso cinque stage per un totale di una cinquantina di livelli. Lo scopo del game è quello di salvare quante più palline di goo unendole tra loro in strutture più o meno stabili permettendo alle altre di arrivare al traguardo. Concetto simile a quello visto in Lemmings quasi 20 anni fa. Ci saranno livelli semplici, altri in cui si dovranno evitare trappole o superare ostacoli fisici.

E’ UNA QUESTIONE DI FISICA

Una delle tante strutture realizzabili in World of Goo. Durante il gioco saremo sempre avvisati su quanti metri mancano al traguardo

Semplice ma complesso, dunque. World of Goo si basa su concetti di fisica. Questo potrebbe spaventare chi questa materia non capisce nulla. Tuttavia, vi assicuriamo che il concetto è molto semplice.
La fisica entra in gioco perché questi esseri sferici, con tanto di occhietti e vocine stridule, si uniranno fra loro ad una o più trame a seconda della loro composizione, del loro peso e dalla loro posizione facendo muovere, o oscillare, più o meno velocemente, la struttura che si è formata. Ci vorrà, quindi, una buona dose di acume, colpo d’occhio ed anche tempismo nell’eseguire al meglio i vari legami e collegamenti in modo almeno sufficiente (in alcuni casi non sarà necessaria la precisione assoluta, in altri si), da poter portare le pallette al traguardo rappresentato da un tubo di salvataggio.

LA RIVINCITA DELLE DUE DIMENSIONI

Un'immagine coloratissima di gioco. Abituatevi: World of Goo è ricco di colori

Tecnicamente, World of Goo va controcorrente. Al posto dell’ormai immancabile 3D, infatti, i programmatori hanno puntato forte sul vecchio 2D con ottimi risultati. La veste grafica è molto buona con colori, sfumature accese ed ambientazioni varie (stagioni diverse, località stravaganti ecc.) mentre le animazioni risultano essere fluide, pulite e realistiche nella loro meccanica e riproducono in modo credibile ogni piccolo movimento delle nostre sfere melmose. Carine anche le scene di intermezzo che introducono i vari livelli.
Il sonoro fa un’ottima figura con pezzi orecchiabili ed incalzanti, mai fuori luogo ed evocativi. Nel corso del gioco si troveranno tanto bel materiale. Azzeccati pure gli effetti sonori, con gli urletti di felicità dei nostri Goo che saremo ben propensi ad ascoltare.
La giocabilità si attesta su livelli altissimi: si ha la piena libertà di fare tutto. Basta un po’ di ingegno, un po’ d’acume e si avranno risultati strabilianti. La longevità, invece, è garantita dagli oltre cinquanta livelli di gioco che serviranno per salvare il mondo, il pianeta dei Goo. Inoltre, con le palline in più che riusciremo a salvare potremo cimentarci nella costruzione della torre online facendo gara con utenti di tutto il mondo.

COMMENTO FINALE

World of Goo è un titolo moderno che strizza molto l’occhiolino al passato. Un concetto nuovo, ma che ricorda molto Lemmings, una realizzazione tecnica volutamente leggera ma dal buon impatto con una grafica stilizzata, a tratti psichedelica, animazioni stupefacenti, e game-play dal ritmo elevato. Il sonoro è all’altezza mentre la giocabilità permette di fare tutto ciò che la mente decide ed adottare qualunque strategia per salvare le goccioline melmose. Senza dimenticare il prezzo budget. Il lavoro dei 2D Boys pubblicato da Rtl Playteinment è da tenere in seria considerazione se possessori di pc con windows, linux, machintosh, e console Nintendo Wii.

Edoardo

Pregi

* Semplice ma geniale

* splendida realizzazione tecnica

* Giocabilità ai massimi

* Non necessita di grandi requisiti di sistema

* Prezzo budget

Difetti

- Alcuni passaggi difficili

- Longevità ottima ma migliorabile

LA PAGELLA

Grafica: 15/20

Sonoro: 15/20

Giocabilità: 18/20

Longevità: 15/20

Globale: 17/20

La scheda

Piattaforma: Pc Windows; Machintosh; Linux
Genere: Puzzle Game
Publisher: -
Distributore: Rtl Playteinment
Sviluppatore: 2d Boy
Giocatori: 1
Pegi: 3+

Requisiti minimi

Windows XP e Vista; processore da 1 Ghz; 512 mb di Ram; scheda acceleratrice compatibile 3D e DirectX 9.
Machintosh: Mac Osx 10.4; processore Intel da 1Ghz o processore PPC; 512 mb di Ram; scheda acceleratrice 3D e OpenGL 1.1.

]]> http://dropmakeswaves.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/numblast-psn-sortie-us/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:30:00 +0000 -ctk- http://dropmakeswaves.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/numblast-psn-sortie-us/

C’est aujourd’hui qu’est sorti Numblast sur le store américain ! Ca m’étonne quand même que l’Europe ait eu autant d’avance au niveau de la sortie de ce jeu (2 juillet chez nous).
Enfin bref, c’est un bon puzzle game bien sympa, donc si ça vous tente, je pense qu’il est moins cher sur le store américain que sur le store européen. Je n’ai pas vérifié, donc ne m’en voulez pas si c’est pas le cas :p

When a priceless and powerful book goes missing, evidence mounts that it was Annie who stole the tome. Now Irene must hunt for clues and hidden objects to clear her sister’s name and find the real thief. Trouble is, whoever stole the treatise used it to summon a powerful primeval demon!

Read the full Magic Academy 2 Game Review

LucasArts take on Little Red Riding Hood

Developer: LucasArts

Play It! : Xbox Live Marketplace (800MP) / Steam £6.99

I remember a time when LucasArts used to represent fun. X-Wing, The Secret of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, these games were all near-perfectly designed in their construction, critical classics of the Nineties and, most importantly, an absolute blast to play. The millennium ruined that. Personally I blame The Phantom Menace, after which LucasArts simply stopped innovating and decided to pump out a bunch of shameless Star Wars cash-ins that never touched the dizzy heights of their decade old big brothers. They’re not stupid either: after finally realising that all their best staff had jumped ship (bye-bye Sam & Max, au revoir Tim Schafer), LucasArts simply went back and made a load of their old games shinier for re-release on XBLA and Steam.

Read the rest here.

In HdO Adventure: Frankenstein game, help Brad find parts of Janet’s body… in Frankenstein’s manor!   Download HdO Adventure: Frankenstein game (31.13 MB)

Brad is looking for his fiance, Janet, who has mysteriously disappeared. His quest leads him to Bavaria, and a castle owned by a mad scientist, Lord Albrecht von Frankenstein. It seems Janet was helping him with his last “experiment” and now desperately needs Brad’s help in getting her body back together! Help Brad find parts of Janet’s body, as well as the pieces of the monstrous machine which will bring her back to life!

Download HdO Adventure: Frankenstein game (31.13 MB)

Play Romance Of Rome and win various trophies! Do you know what you need to do to earn this or that trophy? See the list of all the trophies you can receive in Romance of Rome and find out how you can get them.

Learn more about Romance Of Rome game TROPHIES!

Enjoy the latest installment of the Sally’s Saloon games series Sally’s Quick Clips. Grab the keys to success today as you play as Sally, the famous esthetician. Walk through various saloons and fulfill the clients’ requests in this encyclopedia of perfect look Sally’s Quick Clips game!
Sally’s Quick Clips is a nice blend of puzzle and time management games. Match scissors, dyers, hair dye, and various accessories to make your customers happy. Visit local shops and buy useful upgrades to make Sally’s job easier and more efficient. Compete with Sally’s friends in amazing mini-games and win trophies.

While reflecting on her years of success, Sally’s mind drifts back to her humble beginnings when, fresh out of beauty school, she was on the hit TV Show “Styling America” with a chance to win $100,000! Arrange scissors, dryers, hair color and more into matching groups of three or more to gather resources for the special services you’ll provide to your choosy clients. Match your customers’ tastes and make them look sharp. With your help, Sally might win this dazzling TV competition!

Featuring polished graphics, pleasant music and addictive game play Quick Clips is a nice game for the whole family. It is time to begin. It is time for Sallys Quick Clips game!

if you have 20 minutes you should try the 12 levels of Sure Shot Sniper 2. It’s a nice concept for a puzzle game.
http://www.mousebreaker.com/games/sureshotsniper2

Make sure your Cafe gets the expansion that was launched today at Cafe World on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/cafeworld

I tried Dungeons and Dragons Tiny adventures on facebook cause I wanted to see if this will upsell D&D online (http://www.ddo.com/, the MMO)  - it does not

What are you playing?

It’s just another day at the office until you get a voice mail from your boss saying he’s been kidnapped and needs your help! The only problem is, the police won’t start looking for him until you produce evidence that shows he’s actually missing. This leaves you with one option: roll up your sleeves and save your superior! In the tradition of Natalie Brooks, you’ll comb graphically rich scenes for hidden clues, follow the trail to your boss by talking with witnesses to the crime and win mini-games that will get you one step closer to success. Saving your boss’ life wasn’t in your job description, but what can a girl do?

Learn more about Superior Save game

Superior Save game screenshots