Interstellar Marines crowdsourced funding not what it seems
Interstellar Marines hopes to buck the trend of small-scale independent games created on shoestring budgets. The title has been worked on by a dedicated team for a number of years and relies on a...
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Microsoft’s own E3: Halo Reach beta dated, Fable III details
It has been four years since Microsoft last put on an event like X10, but the publisher seems to be making up for lost time with all the announcements it made yesterday: official release dates,...
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Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment sort-of revives classic
The last time Konami released a Vandal Hearts game was over a decade ago, so fans of the turn-based strategy series have been understandably curious about the recently-released Vandal Hearts: Flames...
View ArticleBig names, tiny games: Facebook attracts major publishers
There are more applications available on Facebook every day. People, gamers or not, are playing Farmville or City of Eternals during class, at work, and at home. This vast audience has made Facebook...
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Reality blurs between Heavy Rain characters and actors
Heavy Rain relies on its characters to deliver much of the gravity and story of the game, but what you might not know is that the actors often provided both the sound and the face of their characters....
View ArticleEverything old isn’t new again: SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3
When you have a series of games as successful as SOCOM: US Navy SEALs, it's a double-edged sword. On one hand, generating buzz about each title you develop isn't too difficult, since you have a large...
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P.B. Winterbottom delights, far from a misadventure
Student project-turned-commercial release The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom has arrived on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and boy is it stunning. "Stunning" really is the only way to sum it up. There...
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Nintendo shows off new DSi, digital games push at summit
Hot on the heels of Microsoft's X10 event, Nintendo held its own Media Summit in San Francisco. Yesterday's event was bursting with just as many big reveals as Microsoft's, and there are plenty of...
View ArticleSupreme Commander 2: Chris Taylor speaks to Ars
Supreme Commander was a strategy game that got a great many things right, and it earned a ton of critical acclaim. As a result, the game's soon-to-be-released sequel, Supreme Commander 2, has some...
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Greed Corp: capitalism gone delightfully awry
Gamers have been getting lucky lately when it comes to quirky downloadable titles. The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom was delightful, and now we have the entertainingly strange strategy game Greed...
View ArticleValve mystifies gamers with Portal update
Portal's eerie symbolism was ramped up another notch this week when Valve announced a patch that has gamers playing what seems to be an alternate reality game within the platformer. The update to the...
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Blur‘s multiplayer beta hints at a spectacular game
Bizarre Creation's Blur is shaping up to be a great arcade-style racing game for the PC, PS3, and 360. The game's multiplayer beta is officially launching today on Xbox Live; we got to spend some time...
View ArticleBeautiful innovation: the first 20 hours of FF XIII
Final Fantasy games often seem like a mixed bag. One one hand, they tend to take too long to get into; the first ten hours or so always feel like something you have to slog through before things...
View ArticleAliens in the garden: the secret origin of Plants vs. Zombies
It goes without saying that we love Plants vs. Zombies here at Ars Technica, especially the pocket-sized iPhone version of the game that was just released. If you haven't played it, you can download...
View ArticleFragile Dreams on the Wii: originality has its price
There isn't another game quite like Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon on the market. Recently published by XSEED here in the States, it's a blend of adventure, role-playing, and survival...
View ArticleEvony: investigating the game everyone loves to hate
When it comes to casual games on the Web, there are many out there vying for our attention. While we've all played those addictive Flash games our friends have sent us, casual MMOs have been growing...
View ArticleMario Galaxy 2 Wii: new details, video, impressions
2010 is shaping up to be a big year for fans of the Wii, in no small part due to the fact that we're finally getting another entry into the Super Mario Galaxy series. With the game's May 23 release...
View ArticleLies and gaming: Evony responds to Ars
Last week was pretty big for Evony, but probably not in the way its developers hoped. Though Evony Age II saw its final launch, the game gained much more public attention because of the lawsuit it was...
View ArticlePlain Sight on the PC: low-gravity, suicidal robot ninjas
Robots are pretty cool. So are ninjas. When you combine the two, you get robot ninjas, which are exponentially more awesome. Plain Sight, the first game from Beatnik Games, is a quirky multiplayer...
View ArticleThe Whispered World: the adventure genre abides
Adventure games aren't nearly as popular as they once were, but for anyone who grew up playing titles like Day of the Tentacle or Sam & Max Hit The Road, they retain a fond place in our hearts....
View ArticleReality behind reality: Ars talks to The Tester‘s winner
We were dubious when Sony announced that it was casting for The Tester, and we were increasingly uncomfortable about the show as details gradually made their way into the light. The fact that the show...
View ArticleThe Peregrine: like The Power Glove for PCs, only useful
It has been a while since a glove has been used as a video game controller. In fact, the last time I personally used one, I was eight and had convinced my parents to buy me a Nintendo Power Glove....
View ArticleFinal Fantasy it ain’t: Ars reviews NIER
It's not surprising that Square-Enix released NIER after Final Fantasy XIII came out. By releasing a well-made action-heavy RPG, unwary gamers are likely to assume that NIER will feature similar fare;...
View ArticleHumble Bundle: greatest sale of indie games ever?
A group of indie developers are selling a package of their games which includes some of the biggest independent games on the market. Gamers can name their own price—from 1¢ to $1,000—for a pack of...
View ArticleAchron: indie RTS where time is your plaything, and enemy
Time travel is a tricky thing to implement in a video game, especially when it fundamentally affects the title's play mechanics. What if time travel is not only an active part of play, but its use...
View ArticleAliens vs. Predator in Australia: dev refuses to censor
None of us were expecting the upcoming Aliens vs. Predator game to be anything less than an addictive gorefest, but we often forget how difficult that type of game can be to market abroad. While the...
View ArticleEA announces Dead Space 2: Isaac’s coming back!
The two games in the Dead Space franchise have been high-quality titles. Unsurprisingly, Electronic Arts has officially announced that it's working on a sequel after a tease over the weekend. EA...
View ArticleThe Saboteur: Pandemic’s swan song is a helluva tune
There aren't many games like Pandemic Studios' The Saboteur. As opposed to other games set during World War II, it isn't a first-person shooter that has players mowing down endless waves of Nazi...
View ArticleSpike VGAs highlight problems with industry awards
Every entertainment industry has its own set of prestigious awards. Movies have the Oscars, music has the Grammys, television has the Emmys, etc. Unfortunately, video games have yet to figure out what...
View ArticleHas Atari gone Chaotic Evil over D&D publishing rights?
Up until recently, Atari has been having a tough go of things. Between devastating financial losses and corporate restructuring, it was a bit of a wonder to see the company handle 2009 as well as it...
View ArticleFrom Australia to the UAE: why games get the banhammer
When a game gets banned, it's big news, especially if it manages to earn this status in multiple countries. In the United States, sexual content is almost always the reason behind an Adults Only...
View ArticleWhen religion and games intersect—and how it often goes badly
When it comes to controversial subjects, nothing leads to shouting matches quite like introducing religion into the mix. While the video game industry is usually willing to court controversy when the...
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Good, Bad, and Ugly in Gaming: the 2009 Golden Ars Awards
The gaming staff at Ars Technica has spent the past few weeks trying to avoid the multitudes of gaming lists that have been flooding the RSS feeds. Everyone has a pick for game of the year, and many...
View ArticleEA shuts down 25 game servers, including Madden 09
EA's financial problems from last year, it seems, are continuing to have repercussions. Even after cutting 1,500 employees in November, the publisher is still looking to reduce operating costs. As a...
View ArticleIwata: Nintendo already working on a newer, more powerful DS
Nintendo just can't seem to stop releasing new-and-improved versions of the DS. This past year, we got the DSi, which was an awesome improvement on the already excellent DS Lite. This year, we have...
View ArticleThe fun side of the Apocalypse: Darksiders reviewed
Exactly how Darksiders hasn't stirred up controversy is a bit of a stumper. The game draws from Revelation, the apocalyptic last book of the Bible, and lets players take on the role of a Horseman of...
View ArticleGran Turismo 5 “delayed” in Japan, release TBA worldwide
Just when it seemed like Gran Turismo 5 was a soon-to-be reality, Sony dashed the hopes of racing enthusiasts around the globe. Originally set to be released in Japan this March, Sony announced that...
View ArticleSearching for gold: how to fund your indie video game
Creating a game on your own is no easy task. Aside from making sure you have all the artistic and programming skills necessary—or that you can assemble a team to handle those responsibilities—there's...
View ArticleInterstellar Marines: trite name, crowd-sourced budget
It's easy to dismiss Interstellar Marines as an uninspired entry in a long line of first-person shooters. After all, it's about marines. In space. Who sometimes use flashlights to see in dark hallways...
View ArticleBioware locking down LGBT-related forum topics… again
It's not surprising that the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community is torn when it comes to Bioware. On one hand, the developer has included the option to pursue same-sex...
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