CityVille Governor's Run Act 2 Nature Goals: Everything you need to know

If you've been keeping up with the governor's election in CityVille, you'll now be ready for Act 2 to begin. After helping "the people" in Act 1, Act 2 sees you helping out special interest groups, starting with a nature-loving group led by Zookeeper Karen. If you don't want Captain Krunsch to earn Karen's vote (and those of her friends), you'll need to finish the following three goals.

When Nature Calls

    * Place Conservatory
    * Collect from Conservatory four times


The Conservatory is a new Community Building that requires 12 staff members to operate. Once you build the base, you'll need to ask 12 friends to come staff the building, at which point you'll gain a bonus of 3,750 citizens to your maximum population cap. Just collect its profits four times after it's built to finish this first goal. You'll receive eight energy when doing so.

Food For Thought

    * Ask friends for 6 Gardening Gloves
    * Water Rose Garden 5 Times
    * Harvest 80 Cranberries


You can have more than one Rose Garden in your city, so feel free to place multiples just so you don't have to wait for the same Garden to be ready five times in a row (a time-consuming process, to say the least). As for the Cranberries, these take 12 hours to grow. Finish this goal and you'll earn 840 Goods.

More Power To You

    * Ask friends for 12 Recyclable Bags
    * Collect from Produce Paradise 30 Times
    * Collect from City Works 6 Times


The City Works is another Community Building that you might already have in your town. If not, here's a guide to building one. As for the Produce Paradise, this is a Business that's available from the store. It requires 253 Goods to operate and gives you 1,413 coins in profit by default. To more quickly finish this particular step (since 30 times is a long time to wait), make sure that the Produce Paradise is the only business operating in your town so that all customers will come to it, allowing it to sell out much more quickly than normal. Finishing this third goal gives you the EV Charging Station, a business that requires 475 Goods to operate and produces 2,393 coins.

Since this is just the first part of the second act of the Governor's Run event in CityVille, once you finish two more sets you'll receive an additional item: the Capital Rotunda building. What's more, you don't have to complete the entirety of Act 1 in order to access these Act 2 goals either, and can have them all running simultaneously in your town - talk about multi-tasking! We'll make sure to let you know when additional political goals launch in the game, so keep checking back with us!

What do you think of these Nature goals? Are you enjoying the Governor's Run event so far? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille German items start an Oktoberfest celebration

Here's one update I honestly didn't think we'd see come to FarmVille so soon. With the Halloween theme officially launching in the game earlier this week, we've seen yet another theme - German, or Oktoberfest - launch tonight as well. This theme is relatively small (so far), consisting of nothing but buildings and decorations that are re-releases of those items seen in a previous German theme. Whether or not we'll see any trees or specific animals launch as well is anyone's guess. For now, let's take a look at what's available so far.

Buildings

Festival Wheel - 38 Farm Cash
Festival Tent - 34 Farm Cash

I have to admit, even for its high price, the Festival Wheel (Ferris Wheel) is still one of the neatest looking items I can remember seeing launched in the game (it was originally available in last year's German event). This thing has it all - animation in the wheel itself and lights throughout as though it were at a real carnival. I'll tell you one thing: it will be hard for me not to personally splurge on one of these items for my own farm this year.

Decorations

German Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Festival Carriage - 22 Farm Cash
Festival Gnome - 18 Farm Cash
Cider Stand - 120,000 coins
Festival Pavilion - 240,000 coins
Barrel Tub - 120,000 coins

Again, all of these items are re-releases of those seen in the game previously, so you'll want to take a few moments to search your storage for any of them so that you don't needlessly purchase duplicates (especially if the item costs Farm Cash).

It will be interesting to see if any other items release that are actually new to the German theme this year, but for now, you've got seven days to purchase any of these items that have come back around.

Are you happy to see these items re-released in the game's store, or did you purchase all of the items you wanted last year? Sound off in the comments.

Vostu goes for Goooaaal with GolMania on Facebook, Orkut [Video]

And boy, does it look intense. Vostu--you know, the Brazilian social game maker trading legal blows with Zynga--has released what is likely its most ambitious social game yet with GolMania. Available now on Facebook and Orkut in English, Portuguese and Spanish, this social soccer game touts real-time, directly-controlled soccer matches between friends in a cute art style.

And, according to a Vostu representative, "real-time" means live, arcade-style gameplay between two friends over Facebook or Orkut, Google's wildly popular social network in South America. The game pits players against one another on the field, but has friends cooperate off of the green to build up each other's stadiums and to gain energy and money for more matches.

As player progress in GolMania by mastering its keyboard controls and dominating opponents live, they will unlock special maneuvers. You will also be able to organize private tournaments between friends and participate in global cups amongst the game's top players--you can even play soccer in low gravity on the moon. And Vostu already has even bigger plans for its now flagship social soccer game.
Gallery: GolMania on Facebook
Vostu's Mystery Fantasy Game on Facebook
"GolMania brings Vostu's fun social experience to a casual sports game," Vostu Chief Scientist Mario Schlosser said in a release. "We look forward to our millions of users getting to play GolMania and like with all of our games, we will then quickly react to their feedback and our deep analytics about player behavior to unveil new features that take into account how users make the game their own."

The game was developed Vostu's recent acquisition MP Studio, and employs the publisher's Vostu Game Network, meaning friends can play with one another in real time across social networks. Vostu also teased to us an unnamed social game (found in the gallery above) with a deep, cartoonish fantasy setting that's set to launch this fall as well. But until then, check out GolMania below and see if it gives your fingers a real challenge.


Click here to play GolMania on Facebook Now >

What do you think of Vostu's first real-time action sports social game? Do you see these types of games taking off on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment


Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're probably wondering why there are so many handsome farms all in one FarmVille Pic of the Day post. Well folks, today is a special day devoted to one very talented farm artist: Nicky Tran. As you can immediately tell, Nicky Tran is a farm artist of the highest caliber. There was no way I was going to be able to choose just one of Nicky's amazing farms to feature. So, I decided to feature them all!
farmville featured farm nicky tranFarmVille designer Nicky Tran is a master of item optical illusions, creating unbelievable 3D surfaces and structures. Not only that, but Nicky carefully selects item themes to prevent their farms from looking to disorderly. However, if I were to go into detail about what makes each one of these such a fantastic farm design, this post would be far too long. So I'm going to let you explore Nicky Tran's farms on your own. Look closely though, there's a lot to see and a lot to appreciate!
Click the images to make them larger!
farmville featured farm of the day nicky tran     farmville pic nicky tran
Here's what Nicky Tran had to say about their farms:

    First, I'd like to thank you for your compliments! My farms were all inspired by passion. It was that passion that gave me all these ideas for farm designs.

    The advice I would give to other upcoming farm artists is to do what's in your mind courageously and boldly. Always do whatever it is you feel like! It was the passion and that understanding that helped me complete these very difficult designs. Once again, I thank you very much. - Nicky Tran

What do you like best about Nicky Tran's farms? Add Comment

If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist.

FarmVille: Horses return to the store in celebration of Horse Paddock

As has become a new (but temporary) ritual in FarmVille, every time another animal breeding building releases in the game, a set of matching animals are re-released in the game's store allowing you to fill it with a variety of limited edition animals. Such is the case with this final breeding habitat - the Horse Paddock - as you can now purchase a variety of Horses to fill it from the store for a limited time. Remember, you don't need a Stallion inside your Horse Paddock to trigger breeding; you just need a single kind of a particular Horse to produce a Foal at random you harvest from the Paddock. Here's a look at the animals you can now purchase.

Disco Pony - 24 Farm Cash
Pinto Pony - 26 Farm Cash
Clydesdale Stallion - 40 Farm Cash
Mini Appaloosa - 26 Farm Cash
Palouse Horse - 28 Farm Cash
Haflinger - 24 Farm Cash
E-QUESTR10N - 24 Farm Cash
Mini Purple Unicorn - 35 Farm Cash
White Pegasus - 35 Farm Cash
Andalusian Horse - 26 Farm Cash
King Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Pink Ponytail Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Pinto Mini Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Fairy Horse - 26 Farm Cash
Comtois Horse - 26 Farm Cash

There are plenty of Horse collectors in FarmVille, and it shows here, with a whopping 15 horses/ponies being released once again for players to add to their collections. If you joined the game later than other farmers, or just started your collection recently, this is a fantastic (albeit incredibly expensive) way to flesh out your collection into something that's definitely worth showing off. Just remember, these Horses will only be available in the store for the next week. After that point, they'll go into retirement, with no guarantee of when (if ever) they'll come back again.

Will you purchase any of these re-released Horses, or is your collection of Horses already large enough to fill plenty of Horse Paddocks? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Horse Mystery Box: What's inside?

If the recently re-released set of Horses available in the FarmVille marketplace aren't enough to satisfy your Horse-collecting needs, why not look into purchasing one of the new Horse Mystery Boxes that have also been released in the game's store? Remember, these Mystery Boxes are found under the Decorations tab of the store, even if they contain animals, so don't worry if you don't see them where they likely should be.

As for this particular box, it comes stocked with six Horses, but remember - you'll have no way of knowing which Horse you'll receive when opening a single box up. They come with the expected Horse price tag of 24 Farm Cash per box, and for that price, you're guaranteed to receive one of the following:

Black Shire Horse
Chrome Pegasus
Rainbow Mini Horse
Rainbow Pony
Rainbow Stallion
White Unicorn

Unfortunately, another problem inherent with these Mystery Boxes is that they also don't guarantee you to not receive duplicates if you decide to open more than one. Depending on how many of these Horses you already have on your farms from previous releases, that fact alone could actually make this box too much of a risk to purchase. Either way, you'll need to make up your mind about a purchase fairly quickly, as the box (and its contents) will expire from the store in a week's time.

Will you purchase a Horse Mystery Box for your game? Which Horse are you hoping to find inside? Which one did you actually receive? Let us know in the comments!

FarmVille Milking Shorthorn Lonely Animal: Everything you need to know

Over the past few months, we've seen a few animals come and go as Lonely Animals in FarmVille, and now that the Cow Pasture has been launched (a new storage building specifically for cows), we see the addition of one more: the Milking Shorthorn. This particular lonely animal functions the same as the others, but here's a rundown for those that haven't seen this feature before.

You'll have a period of just three days to gather the help of five friends to "lure" the Milking Shorthorn onto your farm. You see, the cow is actually sitting outside of your farm area, and you aren't allowed to interact with her as you would a normal animal. Only when you lure her into your farm will you be able to place her inside a building, harvest from her, etc.

To gather the help of friends, you can click on the Cow and then ask for help via individual gift requests. You can also purchase the cow outright, skipping this feature, by paying Farm Cash (within the same window). One final option comes in the form of ignoring her altogether, if you don't care about earning this free cow, and you can do so by clicking on the "Ignore It" button inside the Lonely Animal menu window. It's presumable that this would then delete the cow from your screen entirely, but I'm not going to ignore the animal to find out!

What do you think of this newest Lonely Animal? Have you gathered the other Lonely Animals on your farm, or is this your first one? Sound off in the comments.

Adventure World Ram Runner Expedition: Everything you need to know

After tackling the perils of the Mountains to retrieve the Bird Idol in Adventure World, you might be ready to take on even more Rams in the next Expedition: Ram Runner. This one requires quite a few Supplies to get started, along with other tools, and it comes with the shortest time limit we've seen on an Expedition yet: just four hours. As for the requirements, you need to have 700 Supplies, and two each of Food, Fuel and Water before you can begin. As usual, we're here to give you a complete guide on what you need to do to finish this Expedition, so read on for more!

Claim the Ram Stein!

    * Get the Ram Stein


For this particular Expedition, your goal will be to make it from one end of the linear trail to the other, while defeating Rams in the process. From the starting gate, you're met with two sets of traps, allowing two sets of Rams (with eight hit points each) to come after you when disarmed. You'll have to set the Rams free, however, as the traps block your path to continue. The truly unfortunate thing about this is that if you don't have a very highly upgraded Whip, you'll likely spend most if not all of your energy in just defeating the four of them. Luckily, you can bring five neighbors into this Expedition with you, giving you three bonus energy each (once they accept your request for help, that is), so you should be able to continue slightly onward after fighting these Rams with their help. The Stein itself is located on the last "island," as seen below.

Collect Ruby Vases

    * Get 2 Ruby Vases


As usual, these Ruby Vases are scattered along the path, with most being blocked by some sort of obstacle, whether that be a rock, bush, thorn or otherwise. You only need to collect two, and you can find two on one of the central islands, as seen below (note: the empty square is the location of a Ruby Vase - I had just already picked it up).

Collect Jade Vases

    * Get 5 Jade Vases


These Jade Vases are far more common on the map, as you'll simply need to collect more of them. You'll find them behind bushes, near Rams or by other obstacles. It should be pointed out that there are more than five Jade Vases on the map for you to collect, giving you the chance to use some strategy in your choices. If you see a Ram directly nearby a Vase, or tons of obstacles standing between you and a Vase, it might be better to skip it and save your energy points for Vases later in the Expedition.

All told, this isn't an incredibly difficult Expedition in terms of the quests you're required to beat; instead, it's simply one of the most energy intensive tasks we've seen to date due to all of the Rams (and their eight hit points each) standing in your way. You can avoid some Rams altogether, if you plan your moves ahead of time, and your friends can come in and help you out with their free three energy. Still, you'll need to be vigilant if you want to finish this Expedition in the short four-hour time limit you've been given, so make sure you're fully prepared (with a full energy bar) before you ever begin!

Check out the rest of our Adventure World Cheats & Tips right here.

What do you think of the Ram Runner Expedition? Is it one of the most difficult Expeditions you've encountered so far, or are your tools upgraded enough to make this one simple? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Pic of the Day: Have fun getting lost in Aliciafay03's farm maze

Don't let the look of this farm fool you. Because the first thing someone would notice about Aliciafay03's FarmVille farm is that she's got "FARM VILLE" spelled out in an outline of red, orange, and blue hay bales, which I know isn't a big whoop. Hay bales as a design element have gotten pretty stale in the landscaping community. Bales are good for spelling out visual shout-outs, portraits, and the occasional fun art (care for a whopper?), but there's rarely any impressive ones anymore. But look closer at Aliciafay03's farm, and you'll realize that it's an interactive maze.

Originally designed to be a cornfield maze, Aliciafay03 was eager to debut her farm for Zynga's official Farm of the Week contest, so she released her entry before the corn had a chance to grow. This is probably better, cause a cornfield would've obscured all the clever lettering. What we know about hay bales is that there's a cheat for players to harvest crops faster by trapping your FarmVille farming avatar in hay bales -- now here's where the interactive part comes in -- so if you click one end of this farm, your avatar can't go anywhere but to run through the maze!

Have you ever played in a real cornfield maze? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

If you have an AWESOME FarmVille farm that you want to see featured on Games.com, please email a picture to editors@games.com, Include a few words about the inspiration for your design and maybe a few tips for people who need an assist.

Stadiums full of people become Angry Birds players with Uplause

Could the Angry Birds replace the proverbial demands of "Make Some Noise" at your next baseball game? Maybe not your next one, but soon you could be cheering to fling the irate winged beasts into their plump green enemies. Pocket Gamer reports that Uplause, a Finnish developer of crowd-based games, has rebuilt Angry Birds with its creator, Rovio, into a version controlled by noise.

The self-proclaimed "social game maker for big crowds" has created similar games for use in stadiums for ice hockey games, soccer matches and even music festivals. Over the past summer, Uplause worked with Rovio to create a version of Angry Birds that is controlled using noise as an input device. (Namely, cheering, clapping, stomping and perhaps even booing, we assume.)

"As in the original, there's about a four second period before firing," Uplause CEO Veli-Pekka Marin explained to Pocket Gamer. "For live events, we'd expect each gaming session to take a few minutes." But in that time, thousands of folks will play at the same time. If anything, it's terribly efficient.

While all we know about this seriously social version of Angry Birds is that noise generates power for the game's slingshot, Pocket Gamer guesses that aiming is done automatically. Rovio and Uplause will first test this massive version of Angry Birds at a Formula 1 race taking place in Singapore this weekend, and the company's CMO Peter Vesterbacka sounds excited for its imminent global expansion.

"Through social participation, our fans will get to interact with the Angry Birds in an entirely new way," Vesterbacka said to Pocket Gamer. "We think this new form of gaming will give fans a great opportunity to form a strong emotional connection with the characters." I think Vesterbacka is confusing "emotional connection" with "drunken, crowd-fueled stupor." Check out the video below to get an idea of how it might work. Who knows you might be doing the same thing at the next World Series.


What do you imagine a noise-controlled version of Angry Birds would be like? What other games come to mind when you think of this approach? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Bravo gifts turtle with instant cable TV fame and a Facebook game

Just when we thought we've seen everything, US cable TV network Bravo is launching a Facebook game where you get to dress up their latest celebrity -- she's a turtle. I don't mean she's reclusive or anything. I mean that literally: She is a turtle, but she's not just any turtle. This is a turtle that caught the eye of Bravo's Executive Vice President of Original Programming, also known as Andy Cohen, and host of Bravo TV's Watch What Happens: Live.

The turle has been selected as the show's new mascot and will make her first appearance on Sept. 25. Her Facebook game will be called "Turtle Time", named after a TV episode of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York, where one of the drunk stars made a toast at "Fat Turtle", a bar and dance club in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

The Facebook game's objective is to design the turtle's tank and dress her up each week. There will be options to gift decorations to friends in the game, or to use Facebook Credits to buy special items. Results will be posted online, voting will commence, winners will be chosen and live versions of these designs will then be used on the show. Finally, when the season ends in December, Cohen will choose a past winner to fly to New York for a live taping and chance to meet the turtle.

What does the turtle have to say about all this? Well, here's a quote from Bravo's cheeky press release:

    "Ever since I landed on the shores of Sag Harbor, I have been searching for my big break in show biz. When Andy Cohen came walking down those golden sands, I knew my dreams were coming true," Divulged Yet-To-Be-Named Turtle. "I can't wait to move into the Bravo Clubhouse and to be dressed in the latest fashions."

Oh, and before anyone runs to the nearest phone to alert PETA, Bravo has contacted the American Humane Association for an animal safety monitor who'll oversee the tapings according to the Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals In Filmed Media. There's no word if there's someone to monitor the turtle's dignity, but I think that's irretrievable at this point.

[Hat-tip: The Hollywood Reporter]

Is this cruel and/or unusual treatment of animals? Or just some harmless and wacky fun? Have you lost your faith in humanity yet? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Zynga profits plummet 90 percent, raises questions about imminent IPO

Will the big show still go on? That's what many wonder, as Zynga just revealed in an updated regulatory filing that its profits dipped by 90 percent in the June quarter, thanks to increased spending and a lack of major game releases earlier this year, Reuters reports. According to the news service, this raises questions as to whether the company can sustain growth ahead of its long-awaited IPO (initial public offering).

Zynga's net income took a nose dive to $1.4 million from $14 million a year earlier, and its net profit plummeted over 90 percent in three months from $16.8 million in March of this year. Reuters chalks this up to the fact that the filing shows that the FarmVille maker's expenses rose $149 million compared to a year earlier, and $59 million alone from the previous financial quarter.

We'd imagine a major chunk of those expenses are thanks to the 14 companies Zynga gobbled up in the past year. It's also worth noting that the developer didn't really release any major Facebook games in 2011 prior to Empires & Allies. (And no, we're not counting FarmVille English Countryside.) Since then, however, the company has been on a frenzy, launching three more Facebook games this summer: Words With Friends, Pioneer Trail and recently Adventure World.

This news speaks volumes to the fact that Zynga has reached a point where it constantly needs to produce in order to sustain its meteoric growth, and more importantly for them right now, the faith of investors. Since the company's last filing, Zynga conducted a third-party analysis that estimated the probability of an IPO at 75 percent. This is down from the 80 percent probability reported in Zynga's previous filing.

In other words, it looks like the anticipated Zynga IPO could be delayed, just as previous reports suggested, to wait for improved market conditions. However, EA is gaining on the company with The Sims Social, and fast. According to AppData, EA and Playfish's game has just about 1.6 million fewer daily players than CityVille's 12.9 million.

Do you think Zynga has anything to worry about, given the news? Would you ever invest in Zynga if given the chance? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

FarmVille Cow Pasture Goals: Everything you need to know

Even though last night's FarmVille update brought with it the new Cow Pasture animal habitat, the corresponding goal series didn't appear for many users (myself included) until today. Luckily, we don't seem to have lost any time in the process, as these goals give us a full two weeks to complete them. Interestingly, with the launch of these goals, some users have lost access to previous habitat goal series, so we can only hope that Zynga will sort things out with time. In the meantime, however, here's a look at these Cow Pasture goals, so you'll know what to expect as you move through them.

Cow Cookies

    * Get 6 Cow Treats
    * Place 1 Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 100 Grain Crops


If you're having trouble deciding which crops fit the "Grain" distinction, just head into the store's crops section and click on the "Grains" tab to automatically sort the store to show you just grain crops. Pick the one you like most (perhaps one that takes the shortest time to grow) and plant away. Finishing this first goal gives you 50 XP, a Red Heart Cow and 2,500 coins.

The Tethered Heifer

    * Get 6 Cow Tethers
    * Buy 2 Cow Topiaries
    * Harvest 30 Plain Cows


Just ask your friends for these Cow Tethers and then buy two Cow Topiaries from the store - they cost just 300 coins each. After that, you'll need to harvest 30 original, regular cows (of the brown and white variety) to finish this last step. If you've long outgrown such "normal" animals and need to buy some in the store, you can also do that for 300 coins each. They can be harvested once per day, so make sure you have enough on hand to not slow yourself down too greatly while waiting for them to become ready to harvest. Finish this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Grey Yak.

Lickety Split!

    * Get 6 Salt Licks
    * Complete the Cow Pasture
    * Place 3 Green Hay Bales


To see what you'll need to complete the construction of a Cow Pasture, check out our guide. The Salt Licks can be earned by posting a general help request on your feed, while Green Hay Bales cost 125 coins each in the store. For making it past this goal, you'll receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a Black Shorthorn Cow.

Born and Grazed

    * Get 9 Cow Collars
    * Achieve Level 1 Mastery of Cow
    * Harvest 125 Strawberries


If you're into animal mastery, you'll likely already have the Cow mastered to this point, but if not, just keep those 30 cows you had (or purchased) earlier and harvest them until you reach that point. As for the Cow Collars, they are also earned via a general request posted on your news feed. As for the Strawberries, please note that Super Strawberries do not count, and you'll simply waste your time by planting them. These must be the original Strawberries only. After completing this goal, you will have cross the halfway mark and will receive 50 XP, 2,500 coins and five units of Animal Feed.

Milk Master

    * Get 9 Milk Buckets
    * Harvest one Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 150 Vegetables


It doesn't matter which kind of vegetable you choose to harvest here, so feel free to plant something you need bushels for, or just something you've yet to master to complete two tasks in one. The Milk Bucket request is a general one to your news feed, while harvesting the Cow Pasture can happen once every day. Finish off this goal and you'll earn 50 XP, one Grey Jersey Cow and 2,500 coins.

Moovin' In

    * Get 9 Brass Cow Bells
    * Place 10 Cows in a Cow Pasture
    * Harvest 150 Fruit Crops


If you haven't removed your Dairy Barns from your farm (which is a voluntary process, mind you), you can simply pull cows out of them and place them into the Cow Pasture until you've reached ten (don't worry - you can always put them back later). Finally, to collect the Brass Cow Bells, you'll need to - you guessed it - post a general request on your news feed for all of your friends to help. Finishing this final goal in the series gives you 50 XP, 2,500 coins and a B0v1n3-11 - a very pretty two-toned red alien cow.

Again, these goals, as so many others in the game, are time limited, so you'll have two weeks to finish them off and earn all of the prizes therein. Good luck completing everything in time!

Have you received the Cow Pasture goals on your farm? Are you going to keep the Dairy Farms as normal, or are you going to swap them all out for Cow Pastures? Sound off in the comments.

Mobile social game taps into 700K player base for children's charity

Parallel Kingdom 700,000K players
What do you do when you're a well-respected mobile game with 700K players worldwide? You design a virtual soup can helmet and sell it to your players for charity! At least, that's what Per Blue's Parallel Kingdom is doing (with Playmob) for the SOS Children relief in North Kenya.

SOS Children's Villages is an independently operated, international organization that's been saving kids since 1949. Currently, funds are needed for emergency food and medical aid due to a severe drought in the area. Soup Can Helmets cost 550 Food each (the virtual currency of Parallel Kingdom), which is the equivalent of $5.50 USD and enough to feed three children. Since the helmet is priced with Food, it's possible for you to not spend any real money on the helmet for it to still count. (In fact, for those of you who haven't liked the game's Facebook page yet, there's a free 100 Food offer that you can use towards a helmet purchase.)

According to Per Blue, this charity drive is at its halfway point with only a week left to go. So far, 550 Soup Can Helmets have been sold, which means 1,650 children have been cared for. If you play the game, you can buy the Soup Can Helmet in the PK Swag section of your local Trade Post until September 29.
Parallel Kingdom Donate Food
If you're new to the game and feeling adventurous, then after the tutorial stage, click on the Food tab on the bottom of your game screen to reach the Get Food menu. You'll see the Donate Food option, but it's really just a notice for the charity drive. Instead, you need to go to Travel, click on a Trade Hub (the one in Madison, WI is one of the two biggest ones), and locate your Local Trade Post, which should be a white building with a red roof buried under a dozen other players who are represented as little heads. Finally, you need to be at Level 2 to be allowed to purchase the helmet. (If you get lost, fire up the in-game chat. Special thanks goes to MisMoon, MoldyBanana, and ZeroGr@vity for their help.)
Parallel Kingdom Trade Post
Parallel Kingdom is best described as FourSquare meets a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game). It surpassed a half million players in June, was voted 2009 Best Augmented Reality App Second Place (first place went to XMG Studio Inc.'s Pandemica) and 2009 Best MMO Game Third Place (beaten by ngmoco's Eliminate Pro, with Miraphonic's Epic Pet Wars in first place). Although Parallel Kingdom is not a true Facebook game (its Facebook game app simply links you to register on the website), it does possess Facebook Connect and can be played on your PC with a web browser.

Would you try out a game just to donate to charity? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Putting the 'face' in Facebook games: Arkadium and Image Metrics

Arkadium is likely best known on Facebook for games like Mahjongg Dimensions and Cooking Mama, but that's about to change. Thanks to a brand new partnership with Image Metrics, an animation studio best known for the facial capture technology it provides to traditional game developers, your own face could be the star of Arkadium's next Facebook game.

During an interview with Gamasutra, the new found duo revealed Portable You, a new toolset for Facebook game developers--starting with New York City-based Arkadium--to allow players to include their own face as the centerpiece of their avatars. Using a simple webcam, Portable You, embedded in any given Facebook, could create a 3D rendering of your head and face.

By the way, that picture to the right is a 3D reproduction of an actress's face done by Image Metrics--it's not real. But we doubt Portable You will be as powerful. This is especially considering the technology was bought through an acquisition of Big Stage earlier this year.

"Mostly we've been the user of our own technologies," Image Metrics CEO Robert Gehorsam said to Gamasutra. "But we've also really come to realize and believe there's a major shift going on in how people want to represent themselves, express themselves and communicate online, starting with creating your own character in a game."

"We work directly from video; we don't require any kind of markers, or the special makeup," Gehorsam told Gamasutra. "We can go directly from a video screen or from a single image to 3D animation... through a whole bunch of equations that recognize the face in a 2D context. It's not a photo; it's really 3D."

Sure, this has the potential to introduce a never-before-seen level of immersion to Facebook games. The idea of representing or expressing yourself more accurately than ever has plenty of charm. But the more pressing question I have for Image Metrics is: How well does Portable You render beards?

What do you think this type of technology means for Facebook games in the future? Would you ever place a 3D version of yourself into your favorite Facebook games? Sound off in the comments. Add CommentAdd Comment

FarmVille: Free Crab Shack with any Farm Cash purchase

While the "free-gift-with-purchase" feature in FarmVille has continued to grow, giving users a way to stock up on extra animals that they may have missed in their original releases in the game, until recently, that's all the feature has been: a way to earn animals. Now, though, we're starting to see trees and even buildings come into the mix.

For example, the latest offering is the Crab Shack, which was originally released during the New England event way back in July of 2010, and then again in the Birthday Classics even earlier this year. Interestingly, this is one building that cost coins during its previous releases in the game, but if (for whatever reason) you never picked one up, here's a chance to earn one for as little as $1. For that price, remember you'll also earn 4 Farm Cash.

The reason this building is so significant is that it basically screams to be added to the Lighthouse Cove farm, which all players were given access to earlier this week. And since we can't (as of this writing) pull items out of storage from our others farms into the Lighthouse Cove, this is as close as you're going to get to having any of this theme on your land for the foreseeable future.

As usual, this free Crab Shack offer will only be around for a limited time, so make sure to login to your farm sooner, rather than later, if you want to take advantage of this deal.

Will you purchase a Farm Cash bundle as part of this free-gift-with-purchase giveaway? Would you pay Farm Cash to access your "other farm" storage in the Lighthouse Cove? Sound off in the comments.

Earn 2 free FarmVille Farm Cash in Yahoo promotion

It looks like we're seeing a change for the better in terms of free Farm Cash promotions in FarmVille, as there's another available this afternoon, from Yahoo. Technically, this promotion is encouraging users to add Yahoo! as their browser homepage, but as usual, there's a way around that (that still allows you your free Farm Cash)!

To start, you'll need to click on the sponsored link window displaying the Yahoo "Y" and then wait for the window to load (it might take a bit longer than normal, as the promotion has to decide which browser you're using to access it). From there, you're given instructions on how to make Yahoo! your homepage on that particular browser, but at the bottom of the window sits a countdown timer that starts at 30 seconds and slowly counts down (much more slowly than 30 seconds, that is). When it finally does run out, you can click on the "Finish" button to end the promotion and receive your two Farm Cash.

As usual, your Farm Cash should automatically update into your account upon closing this activity window, but if it doesn't, a simple refresh of the game should do the trick. Either way, make sure to complete this activity the very first time you see it appear under your FarmVille gameplay area, as these cross-promotions tend to be incredibly fast-moving, and may disappear even after refreshing the page.

Were you able to earn your free Farm Cash from Yahoo, or has the promotion not appeared for you yet? Sound off in the comments.

FarmVille Capital One Free Gift: What's inside?

If you've played FarmVille at all in the last 24 hours, you're likely aware that a Capital One cross-promotional farm has appeared in the game, giving you a chance to earn a free Capital One Goat and some "Capital One" instant grow. What you might have missed, however, is the release of a Capital One Gift on the game's free gifts page. This box can be thought of as a mystery box, as you'll never know which item you'll receive when opening one.

There are quite a few items that can be found inside each Capital One Gift, but unfortunately only a few are really "exciting." Here's a list of items that we've received from those boxes so far:

Pygmy Goat
Animal Feed
Passion Fruit Tree
Flower Sheep
Farmhand

While the Pygmy Goat and Farm Sheep are cute little animals, we've easily received an overwhelming amount of Passion Fruit Trees, and little of everything else. Whether that means those are the most common prizes, or we're just "unlucky" remains to be seen. This Capital One gift will only be available to send for the next nine days, so make sure to send some now while you still can (and ask for some in return!).

Have you received any other items from your Capital One Gifts? Let us know and we'll add them here! Sound off in the comments.

Kixeye's War Commander blasts onto Facebook for all to conquer

Hardcore gamers have established a beachhead on Facebook, and now can make their next offensive in War Commander. The next social strategy game by San Francisco-based Kixeye has entered public beta is now live and available for all would-be commanders on Facebook to dominate with. The game isn't a far cry from the studio's previous efforts, except for one thing.

Players can finally control individual units on the battle field in real time as they slaughter enemy units and demolish buildings. Clearly inspired by traditional strategy staples like Command and Conquer on the PC, War Commander continues the developer's tradition of real time gameplay with asynchronous interaction between friends ... or enemies.

Based on our time trying out the game's closed beta test, our very own Brandy Shaul found attacking and defending bases to be a largely passive experience, regardless of whether you can now directly control units. Personally, I find the choice to decide which unit gets fired at first by enemy defense turrets a strategic boost, though a small one.

Regardless, this marks Kixeye's next step in its ultimate goal to bring a true RTS (real time strategy) experience to Facebook, Kixeye CEO Will Harbin told VentureBeat. "It's the most advanced strategy game ever created for Facebook," Harbin said. "We're getting closer and closer to real-time strategy titles that you've seen on the PC."

Gallery: War Commander on Facebook
Based on my brief experience with the game, War Commander suffers from brief lag issues at the moment, with intermittent pauses during gameplay. However, Kixeye appears to be hard at work on optimizing the game already. (It is in "open beta," after all.) "We're learning from the past and optimizing the code base more and more," Harbin told VentureBeat.

While Kixeye mentioned that it's "waiting for an onslaught of competition" that it has yet to see, the company does have one worthy opponent that it has already exchanged stern words with over its most recent release, Kabam and Edgeworld. We're sure this rivalry is far from over, so why not check the latest traded blow right now?

Click here to play War Commander on Facebook Now >

Are you a fan of hardcore strategy games on Facebook? Regardless, what do you think of the growing hardcore scene on the platform traditionally dominated by mothers and other casual players? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment

Soon, you might score some Angry Birds with that Starbucks macchiato

Angry Birds Starbucks
"Hey, I'll take a grande caramel cappuccino ... with an Angry Bird on top? Yeah, that works." We doubt most Starbucks baristas would do this nonsense just for you, but you might at least be playing a lot more Angry Birds in Starbucks locations soon. In fact, according to Bloomberg, you may soon take trips to Starbucks specifically to play Rovio's wildly successful game.

During an interview with Bloomberg, Rovio SVP Wibe Wagemans said that his company is in talks with the Seattle-based coffee company to set up virtual goods offers and perhaps even digital scoreboards in Starbucks locations. Keep in mind, however, that this is the same guy who made lofty claims like, "We are now the fastest-growing consumer brand in history."

But what honestly leads us to believe that this isn't merely poppycock is that the Finnish game developer has conducted similar partnerships with national companies in the past. Take Barnes and Noble bookstores, for instance, which offered Nook e-reader owners a free Mighty Eagle download earlier this year--just for visiting with their device in tow.

And don't forget that you can already find a bunch of Angry Birds-themed retail items like plush dolls and t-shirts in the book seller's stores. More importantly, who runs the in-house Barnes and Noble cafes? Yup, Starbucks. So, despite Starbucks's refusal to comment on or acknowledge whether it's talking to Rovio, all signs are pointing at least to a dash of Mighty Eagle with your mocha macchiato.

And Starbucks would be kind of dumb not at least dip one toe into the Angry Birds nest. With toys, cook books and a feature film in the works, Rovio's flagship brand is huge. Not to mention that a Facebook version of the game is in the works, according to Wagemans, which would all but blow this franchise wide open. It's a good time for Angry Birds, and they're looking to share the wealth ... anywhere, really.

[Image Credit: Food Beast]

Would you go to Starbucks just to keep your high score above your fellow coffee snobs lovers'? What do you think of Rovio's immense push into the retail world with Angry Birds? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

TGS 2011: Lumines Electronic Symphony hands-on preview

With PS Vitas in short supply at this year's TGS, we were pleased to be able to sit down in a quiet spot off the show floor and play the TGS demo of Lumines: Electronic Symphony. From our brief time with the game, it looks like Electronic Symphony is poised to be the puzzle game for Vita as the original Lumines was for PSP.  

Creating a follow-up to such a simple, well-designed, well-balanced block puzzle is tough. Besides updating the visuals and sound, what do you do? Well, Electronic Symphony obviously has upped the ante on the overall presentation, but it adds a few elements to the gameplay without disrupting the core mechanics or the flow of the game.
A quick primer on Lumines: it's a falling block puzzle where squares of four blocks fall one at a time from the top of the screen, and you must match same-colored squares of four or more (there are only two colors of blocks on any given level). Blocks clear each time the sweeper line passes over them, and you get more points the more blocks you can clear in a single sweep. It's from Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi though, so you know it's more than just a falling block puzzle – there's a music and rhythm element too. The sweeper line, called the timeline, moves to the tempo of the music in each level (so it moves slower during a slow song), and of course the visuals also pulsate and change in rhythm with the music too, the intensity of which escalates as your score climbs higher and higher.

So what's new in Electronic Symphony? For starters, it adds two new special blocks, called the chain block and the shuffle block. The chain block clears all blocks of the same color that it touches and any other blocks that are adjacent to those blocks within the same cluster. So if you have a long snaking line of blocks that touch but don't form any squares, it will clear them all. The shuffle block does exactly what it sounds like it does – it randomly shuffles all the blocks within a cluster (clusters are any group of blocks that all touch each other on the field). This might sound bad, but in a pinch it can actually be a lifesaver. If your screen is almost full and you're in danger of a game over, a shuffle can potentially create a bunch of matches and clear more room on the screen.
Avatars also play a bigger role this time too, and the avatar you choose determines what kind of special power-up you get. As you play, a meter fills that allows you to use an avatar power by tapping the icon in the lower left corner – in the demo, using the avatar power gave us a random special block. You can fill up the meter faster by tapping your fingers against the Vita's back touch pad, which totally works, but feels a bit silly and seems like an unnecessary use of the hardware's features. At the very least, you can ignore it if you'd like.

From the brief demo alone, it's clear that Electronic Symphony takes full advantage of the new hardware, and the newly 3D visuals look absolutely amazing on the Vita screen. As our score grew and the visuals got more and more intense, it was impossible not to slow down and admire how gorgeous it looks in motion. Like Mizuguchi's other works, it really plays with different visual aspects creatively, like opacities and textures, dynamic lighting, and particle effects (we're told there's a skin with a popcorn popping theme, which sounds like a satisfying visual). And with over 50 skins confirmed for the game, there's a lot more to look forward to. Expect tons of great music too, with licensed tracks "Hey Boy Hey Girl" by The Chemical Brothers and "4 AM" by Kaskade.
Lumines: Electronic Symphony is planned as a launch title for North America and Europe, so look for more info in the coming months.

TGS 2011: Army Corps of Hell (PS Vita) first hands-on preview

On the show floor of Tokyo Game Show, space is at a premium, with crowds all over the place, and based on the gigantic lines for most titles, it seems the PS Vita is most popular with attendees. That’s no surprise as this is its public debut in Japan, but it makes getting your hands on a Vita title incredibly difficult. Fortunately, one of the first titles we finally got a shot at was Square-Enix’s just revealed Army Corps of Hell. With over-the-top violence and a heavy metal aesthetic, you might not think it would remind you of Nintendo classic Pikmin, but the similarly light RTS gameplay style quickly made this one of our early favorites planned for the Vita launch.

We began the game as the skeletal lord of demons entered the Underworld with his tribe of 99 smaller minions surrounding him. As our first enemy appeared, a monster that mostly consisted of a giant, purple-lidded eye, we approached him on the circular platform with our brigade of testy demons and began tossing our angry army at the giant. As our team equipped with swords got on top of the beast and stabbed it to death, it eventually exploded into a shower of blood, leaving only its eyeball, which the titular Army Corps of Hell quickly consumed.
Soon enough we learned that our squad was made of three factions: the previously mentioned swordsmen, a group that used spears, and a team of magic users. Each made up a third of your forces and you switched on the fly between them depending on what the situation called for. A couple baddies were more susceptible to spears than swords, and there were a few times we needed to strategically pull back and use the magical ranged attacks of our squad. It struck a nice balance as we took out hellspawn after hellspawn with our team.
Still, we have to admit that the small amount we played was a tad linear, as each encounter followed thusly: find a few enemies on a circular platform, kill them all, wait for a bridge of bones to appear, then cross to the next platform. There was a health-restoring minigame that used the back touchpad to liven things up, but unfortunately it wasn’t really working in our demo build. But even if it started to grind a little, our spirits were kept up by the hilariously silly heavy metal soundtrack in the background and just how excitedly violent the title was. Though the game hasn’t been announced for an English language release, the style and design just screams Western announcement, so hopefully it’ll be ready in time for the early 2012 US/UK launch.

As we reached the boss of stage, the strategy got a little deeper as we ran around the platform avoiding his powerful stomp attacks then circling back around to fling our swordsmen at his knees to bring him down. By the way, Army Corps gameplay demands makes the direct camera control a necessity, giving us renewed appreciation for the Vita’s right thumb stick. Once we brought the boss to the ground, our spearmen were all over his face and eventually ripped off his head, which sailed across the stage in a bloody arc. As our satisfied team fed on the spoils of battle (aka the severed head), we were also satisfied with the pretty fun time we had with Army Corps of Hell. As long as Pikmin 3 is stuck in development hell, we may as well have fun in the meantime with this hellish tribute on the Vita.

GR’s weekend giveaway: Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition download codes

Welcome to GamesRadar’s weekend giveaway! This week, we’d like to bring you the gift of game with a chance to win an XBLA or PSN download code for Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition. Entering is easy. Trust us. Just read a few more words and you'll see what we mean.
To enter, just leave a comment on this article by 9:00 am (Pacific Time) on Monday, Sep 19. In your comment, make sure to tell us if you’d prefer an XBLA or PSN code if you win. You can read our official contest rules here. US and Canada residents only please. Our apologies to readers from other countries.

Winners will be selected at random and can expect a PM from one of our administrators early next week. Don’t forget to check your inbox to see if you’ve won!

iPad reviews of the week: VidRhythm, Radballs, DrawRace 2, Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack!

We're checking out the latest offerings from a couple recognizable names in the world of console gaming this week: VidRhythm, the wacky video creation from Rock Band developer Harmonix, as well as DrawRace 2 HD, a touchscreen-oriented racer from Trials HD creator RedLynx. Elsewhere, we're tackling an alluring music-addled puzzle game called Radballs, as well as checking out the second in the series of Serious Sam-inspired indie games, Kamikaze Attack! Most of these are universal apps – aside from DrawRace 2, which has separate iPad and iPhone apps – so one download will let you play on any compatible iOS device. Check 'em out!
Game: VidRhythm
Price: $1.99/£1.49
Size: 12.8MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store: US / UK

VidRhythm is not a game, which makes it a curious anomaly in the history of this weekly feature, as well as the long and impressive background of creator Harmonix – you know, the studio that spawned Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Central, and Karaoke Revolution. Harmonix has an amazing knack for creating innovative and exciting music-related products, and VidRhythm continues that theme on the much smaller scale of a two-dollar universal iPad and iPhone app. Is the developer's first commercial non-game as notable as those aforementioned experiences? Not in the slightest. But for all that the studio has served up over the years, we'll happily check out their other ventures if it'll keep 'em rocking out for years to come.
Depending on how you choose to wield VidRhythm’s abilities, it's either a force for amusement or annoyance. The app grabs quick video clips of whatever's in view – your face, a pet, etc. – along with a brief voice clip as detailed, whether it's a drum-like sound or a hummed note. You'll choose one of 20 featured songs, including sped-up classical tunes and original compositions from within Harmonix, as well as a visual theme, with options inspired by past studio releases and other general themes like cats and colorful icons. Then simply press a button and watch the app transform your various choices into one goofy video that can be uploaded and shared online. 
If you'd like to see some nightmarish examples of what happens when you mix the feline theme with human facial reactions, don't hesitate to search for "VidRhythm" on YouTube. It's hard not to admire the app’s ability to immediately translate bite-sized recordings into something lightly amusing you'll want inflict upon friends and family. Before iPhones (and later iPads) were so widely owned, it was easier to be wowed by the things these touchscreen wonders could do. VidRhythm is a welcome throwback to that time, so don't overthink its long-term worth; just drop a couple bucks and get weird with us already.
Game: Radballs
Price: $2.99/£1.99
Size: 165MB
Buy it now from the iTunes store: US / UK

"Radballs" is an awesome term, and Radballs also happens to be a neat iOS puzzle game. The game is all about matching like-colored balls and clearing them from the screen, but this superbly presented app takes its cues from a variety of sources, especially Bejeweled and Lumines. The latter favorite comes to mind due to the inclusion of a moving line (set to the beat of the music) that clears bunched-up balls – but it's also a notable influence on how damn slick the audio and visuals are in this iPad and iPhone offering.
This hodgepodge of familiar elements from top genre entries may not feel quite as polished, balanced, or addictive as its influences, it's definitely intriguing. Colored balls drop onto the playing field, where you shift balls around (one at a time) to pair up four or more like colors into squares or rectangles. Such blocks are cleared when the moving line passes through, which earns you points to fill your Radness meter and clear the stage, but Radballs adds in a fresh mechanic where you can grab the line and scratch it like a record to earn extra points. With power-ups that detonate or electrically clear large chunks of balls, you'll encounter several ways to earn enough Radness to clear each stage.

Born from '80s-inspired design flash, Radballs looks like a million bucks thanks to its eight distinct skins which toss up uniquely styled and colored balls, as well as themed iconography like palm trees and shutter shades. The soundtrack includes some fabulously thumping remixes of recent OK Go singles and other original electronic tracks from Neil Voss, who composed the Tetrisphere and The New Tetris OSTs way back when. Better yet, you can use your own DRM-free music to propel the puzzle action, which adds a new twist to the on-screen antics. Radballs may be like a Frankenstein's monster of existing puzzle ideas, but we can't help but be hooked by the excellent aesthetics.

TGS 2011: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy hands-on preview

The Final Fantasy series as whole has one of the best music catalogs in all of gaming, so the idea to make a rhythm game featuring all the classics from the franchise's history is about as solid as it gets. With awesome rhythm games on the DS like Elite Beat Agents and Rhythm Heaven already setting a strong standard, our expectations were high as we picked up Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy for the very first time. After playing through all the tracks available on the TGS demo, it looks like the Final Fantasy rhythm game is right on track.

First, let's talk about the basic mechanics. Like many rhythm games, Theatrhythm features several kinds of notes that you must hit in time to the music in a specific way. Basic notes require a simple tap, arrow notes require a quick flick in the indicated direction, and hold notes require you to hold the stylus to the screen for the indicated duration. Accuracy is graded on each note, with "critical" appropriately being the highest grade possible. Similar to DDR, your character has a life bar and you HP goes up and down depending on how many notes you hit/miss, failing you out of the song if it hits zero.
From the start, it's clear that Theatrhythm isn't just a generic rhythm game with a Final Fantasy skin. First, there are three types of levels that correspond with the three major sections of an FF game – battles, exploration, and cutscenes. Battles are quite similar in format to DDR, where notes move in a straight line across the screen. The set-up looks like an FF battle, with a monster on the left and four party members on the right. As the notes scroll across the top screen, you can tap anywhere on the bottom screen to hit them. Once we got a good streak going on our first battle (the battle theme for the original FF), we automatically triggered a summon, which felt a lot like activating star power in rock band.

Field exploration levels switch things up a bit. Whereas the hold notes in battles are all just a straight line where you don't have to move the stylus at all, the field sections we played had lots of hold notes with wavy lines where we had to move our stylus on the bottom screen to keep it lined up with each note's twisting path. And whereas the battle and exploration levels are side-scrolling, the cutscenes present a fixed screen where the scene plays in the background and the notes circle around in place.
While the highly stylized, over-the-top chibi-size adorableness of the art won't appeal to everyone, we absolutely love it. It fits well for this type of game too – it's a spinoff, not a serious Final Fantasy game, and as such it shouldn't look like one (and if the sprites look familiar, it's because they're from the Japan-only Kingdom Hearts Mobile game). Plus, there's just something fun about seeing characters we've known and loved for so long in a completely different light than we're used to.

The music too, is obviously fantastic. The final game will have over 50 tracks, with three songs each for each game in the numbered series, from the first Final Fantasy through FFXIII (our favorite track from the demo was probably Tina's theme from FFVI, but it's tough to choose).
We're eagerly anticipating an official announcement that Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy will be localized outside of Japan, so look for more news as soon as that happens.

TGS 2011: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (Kinect) preview

Announced last year at Tokyo Game Show before Kinect hit stores, the idea of a new Steel Battalion game for a controller-free hardware d-on seemed almost comical. The original Steel Battalion is remembered by hardcore collectors for being packed in with one of the most complicated console controllers of all time. Now the series is back with Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor as Capcom gives development responsibilities to From Software, and in the place of two control sticks, three pedals, and 40 buttons, you’re left with motion controls to fill the gap. Could that possibly work? After seeing it in action, we think it just might.

During our hands-off, developer controlled demo, we quickly understood that Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor’s greatest strength is its use of Kinect and the standard controller in unison. The fact that a controller is involved came as a relief to us, since a mech combat game like this one demands precision that waving your arms about can’t really do on its own. For the core mechanic of pointing you weapons at stuff and blowing it to smithereens, it’s all on the controller, but there’s a myriad of things happening around that central experience that can only be done with Kinect.
Taking place in a future where a virus caused technology to basically be set back to the 1920s, humanity has had to to quickly get back in the swing of things now that computers are gone. In that turmoil America was invaded by a country that sounds like some sort of Communist conglomeration, and in 2082 America is slowly taking back their states, one bloody, mech-filled battle at a time. In this war you pilot a VT or Vertical Tank, the walking war machines central to the conflict.

From inside the VT a team of soldiers run the contraption, with you manning the main controls. In the background your support team is reloading the canons, checking diagnostics, and talking plainly yet poetically about the nature of war. From standard view inside the cockpit, which is seen when sitting and having the controller in a resting position on your lap, you can turn around and check on your squad mates with a quick sweep of your hand in the direction of the corner of the tank you want to check.
As we were introduced to the motion controls they came off as a mix of useful and gimmicky. Pratical tricks included turning a knob to switch your main weapon, pulling down your camera array to view the battlefield from different angles, and standing up to exit the top of the tank to get an unobstructed view of the battlefield. The more gimmicky uses included shaking a squad member’s hand, putting your hands up to your eyes to use binoculars while standing, and in one of the funnier moments of the demo, punching a hysterical teammate. As the battle gets too intense for one member of the support team, he tries to run out of the tank and, after pulling him back in with a quick overhead grab with your right hand, you then punch him in the face multiple times to get him to calm down, which works for some reason.

That brief exchange of therapeutic punches was peppered with obscenities highlights another important thing about the game: it seems heavily aimed at the western, mature market. The battles are incredibly bloody, with VT machinegun fire hitting human infantry and exploding them into bloody messes on impact. Additionally, the soldiers have swear-heavy conversations about how effed up a particular battle is, and how they don’t need this shit. The overall look also seems more Western, with character designs and settings taking a much more American flavor.
Though the start of the demo was frontloaded with Kinect-based actions, the deeper we got in, the more the controller took center stage. With a quick push forward of both hands and the controller, the pilot enters the standard action view, as the VT slowly walked forward, blasting enemies both human and mech to bits. While standard munitions just bounce off the exterior, heavy blasts from opposing VTs cast about the cockpit and its inhabitants violently. After taking down a particularly heavily armored VT and some guard towers, the day was won and the soldiers had taken back Manhattan.

After the brief demo we were impressed with how the controller and Kinect were able to work together for a richer-looking experience that could be something special when its 2012 release rolls around. Though we don’t think all the Kinect uses we saw were wholly necessary, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor could be the first Kinect game that successfully caters to hardcore players instead of dancing grandmas and excitable children. However, with all the different ways you use Kinect controls in the cockpit, we bet this will have one hell of a tutorial.

TGS 2011: Clan of Champions announced for PS3, 360 and PC

NIS America recently announced at TGS that it plans to publish the fantasy action game Clan of Champions in North America and Europe for PS3, 360 and PC. The multi-platform title is quite a departure for the publisher, best known for niche Japanese titles like the hardcore tactical RPG series Disgaea and lovely Ar Tonelico JRPGs.

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Clan of Champions is being developed by Acquire, best known for the Tenchu series. The developer has also worked with NIS before on the PSP titles What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord? and Class of Heroes, but this type of multi-platform project is new territory. Multiplayer will be a huge component too, with both three player co-op and three-on-three competitive modes. Character customization will allow players to choose among human, elf or orc, and although it's primarily an action game, it appears to have some RPG elements like weapon leveling.
Set for a Spring 2012 release in both North America and Europe, Clan of Champions is definitely one we'll be keeping our eye on in the coming months.

TGS 2011: Comical Tekken 3D Prime Edition trailer fires new shot in the Street Fighter/Tekken war

Since the announcement of Street Fighter X Tekken the heads of their respective franchises, Yoshinori Ono of Street Fighter and Katsuhiro Harada of Tekken, have appeared in a series of silly videos for that game. Still, most of them have been for the Capcom side of things, as SFXT is being developed by Capcom and Tekken X Street Fighter has yet to be shown in any real capacity, but that changed with the new trailer for Tekken 3D Prime Edition for 3DS. Despite this being a Namco title, this awesome video starts at Capcom’s offices and features a scene-stealing turn by Ono. Watch!

We love this trailer for so many reasons, most of which involve Ono’s theatrical laughter, and it was cool to see Namco use this comical developer rivalry to hype their new game. And you have to give credit to Capcom for participating in an ad for something they aren’t involved in at all. Though we suppose it’s possible that this indirectly advertises SFXT, so Capcom gets some bonus.

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Tekken has been all over the place lately, with a new CG film, a Tekken Tag HD remake and the planned Tekken Tag 2 on top of all the Street Fighter crossover talk, so seeing it spread to the 3DS isn’t much of a shock.  When we briefly saw the game in action we thought, “Yup, that’s totally Tekken in 3D,” as it seems like a capable, no frills version of the series for the new handheld. And the fact that you get the 3D CG film Tekken Blood Vengeance with your standard Tekken fix of 40 playable characters on the 3DS sounds like a pretty good deal. Now if they could just make Ono and Harada playable characters…

TGS 2011: The console war parody rages on with Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2

Just like in real life, the console war continues on in Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2, just announced for release in the US and Europe at NIS America's recent TGS event. If you're unfamiliar with the series, you can check out our FAP of the first game, but all you really need to know is that it's a JRPG about the console wars. Each console is personified as an adorable girl with looks and personality befitting of her console, and they all duke it out Highlander style, basically.

The same cast of characters will return in Mk2, but the battle system has been totally revamped. We're told battles will be more strategic this time, the combo system will be streamlined to be faster, and the overmap and exploration are receiving overhauls as well. We're eager to see what improvements the sequel will make over its predecessor, so look for more details before Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 releases next Spring.
Sep 19, 2011

Why wait? GAMEFest's biggest games reviewed NOW!

You know what's crap? Waiting for stuff. And it's even worse when there's a boatload of potentially very exciting games involved, like there was at GAMEFest in Birmingham this weekend just gone. A whole bunch of this autumn and winter's brightest and best filled the NEC show room, but with only short demo time available for each one, I am forced, as is customary, to continue holding back the serious analysis until fuller review-type circumstances come around.

But you know what? I don't care about that. I want to review stuff, and I want to review it now. So using sharpened journalistic instinct (and no small amount of guesswork), I'm going to provisionally review the demos I played with actual numbers and everything.
Please note though. This is a lighthearted article for the purpose of fast, focused previews and general fun-times. All the games covered will be getting proper reviews at the appropriate time. These scores I'm putting down here reflect only my enjoyment of the demos, and do not necessarily reflect what the final verdict will be. In any way. At all. Video game PRs, calm yourselves.

Dark Souls

To be fair, I didn't last too long in Dark Souls. Yes, it was sort of hard, as the series' reputation constantly suggests, but I also picked up the demo part-way through the previous pod-tenant's play, and thus was cast into an unfamiliar location with an unfamiliar character and had to work out the controls along the way. Yeah, I could have backed out and started again, but the menus were long and complicated, I couldn't get them to work properly, and I was really tired by that point so JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, OKAY?

But yes, Dark Souls is kind of hard. And good. To be honest, I didn't find things as soul-twistingly difficult as many claim the game is. It was more a case of staying alert to what was up ahead and preparing accordingly (zombie archers? You'll want a shield then, but use it very wisely), but definitely far more demanding and satisfying than the requirements of 90% of action games out there right now. In the end I got insta-killed by the same giant Asylum Demon that wiped Cundy the other day, having accidentally fallen into its domain from the floor above. It killed me unapologetically. It really did not care at all.
Score: 8

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

It's tricky to appraise a Zelda game based on a short demo. After all, the joy of the series is in the tens of hours of exploration, character development, back-tracking, unlocking and discovery. It is not in trying to get as far as you can through a (probably) specially- created demo dungeon before the unseen time limit runs out and boots you back to the title screen. Neither is it in partaking in an isolated, out-of context boss fight, selected from said title screen like some kind of cheating, debug-code stealing, 1337x0r h@x0r scum.

But still, the dungeon was rather stunningly pretty, the enemy design and animation a beautiful hark-back to the tone of Wind Waker, and piloting the flying bug item worked excellently with Wii MotionPlus. I might not have had time to properly get a feel for the structure and flow of the dungeon as a whole, but casually cutting spider-threads and dropping the ugly great eight-legged f*ckers from a great height was both effortless and therapeutic. The boss fight was a bitch-hard sword dual that I sort of half gave up on towards the end, but I suspect that was more due to the situation not allowing me to properly explore the nuances of the Wii MotionPlus sword fighting than the quality of the game. So yeah, I have faith this one is going to be at least up to the usual standard. Possibly better.
Score: 9

Mario Kart 7

Instantly familiar, instantly accessible. That's typical for Mario Kart. But for the first time in quite a while, the series has managed to atypically avoid instant ennui. As gimmicky as they might look, those hang-glider and underwater bits really do add some freshness to MK, the submerged sections playing around with floatier physics thanks to the greater resistance of the environment around your kart, and the fully-controllable winged flight (automatically activated after a big jump) opening up loads of potential for veering far from the track to find secret routes, or sneaky overtaking and the skipping of corners way above the roar of engine and stench of exhaust.
Score: 8

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

I'll admit, I had my doubts about this one. Frankly, it's screamed "gimmicky co-op spin-off" right in my face from day one. And to be fair, it still sort of does. But the difference now is that it now feels like a fun gimmicky co-op spin-off. Just with two players (as I experienced it, with a good-natured randomer from the show floor), the co-ordinated set-pieces were rather a hoot, in a kind of LittleBigPlanet-But-Less-Brutal kind of way. One minute we were engaging in some gleefully hairy daisy-chained trapeze swinging to negotiate a very wide pit of death, the next we were running from side to side on the deck of a flying car to steer amongst speedily oncoming traffic, and the next we were tactically choosing our targets on a building-sized boss to concentrate our efforts for a damage bonus.

The stage itself was of the overly simple "walk in a linear line and kill everything along the way" school of Ratchet & Clank level design (potentially as a safety-net against anyone getting lost), but if the final game can keep throwing in the set-pieces with increasing imagination (and if you'll definitely have people to play with), it could be rather a hoot.
Score : 7

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Speaking of co-op spin-offs, this is not Resident Evil 6. It is not Resident Evil 6 at all. It's  a combination of much tighter, sharper shooting control, much bigger numbers of easier-to-kill zombs, asymmetrical team tactics via co-operative character buffs, and a whole lot of violence. Despite all of the changes though, it does a brilliant job of evoking that dark, dystopian, society-in-collapse feel of Resident Evil 2 and 3. In fact atmospherically and visually it's spot on. It's also potentially very satisfying, provided you can co-ordinate with a regular team of players. The zoomed-in over-the-shoulder view currently feels a little too zoomed-in for comfort, but hopefully that's something we can get used to with extended play.

Sony publishing president Shuhei Yoshida confirms new handheld will not be content-restricted by location.

Sony devoted nearly all of its Tokyo Game Show press conference to the PlayStation Vita, but one omitted bit of news concerning the device was revealed today in 140 characters or less. In a post to his Twitter feed, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the PS Vita will not be region locked.

The PS Vita won't be region-locked.

After a Twitter user asked Yoshida whether it had been confirmed that the PS Vita would be region free, the Sony executive replied with a simple, "Yes, it is." Yoshida did not indicate whether the PS Vita will be open through just physical media, or also digital content. Sony had not responded to GameSpot's request for clarification as of press time.
Currently, with the PlayStation 3 and PSP, physical media is released region-free, allowing games published in one country to be played without hassle in another. However, Sony's digital strategy restricts content to the region in which it is released, with access being determined by the region of a user's PlayStation Network profile.
As announced earlier this week, the PS Vita will launch alongside 26 games in Japan on December 17. Sony expects to release its newest gaming hardware in Europe and North America sometime in early 2012. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of the PS Vita.

* Uninteresting story * Making good monsters requires grinding * Some elements aren't explained well.

Many Western players are aware that Dragon Quest is the 800-pound reptilian overlord of Japan's game industry, but might not be aware that the series has spawned numerous spin-offs. Among them are the Dragon Quest Monsters games, which takes the Dragon Quest series' roster of crazy, cartoony beasties and puts them at your beck and call. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is the latest in the series to be brought to Western shores, and it offers what the DQ franchise is best known for--whimsical fantasy settings and characters, fun dialogue, and traditional turn-based role-playing game combat--while putting its own distinct twist on the familiar formula.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is full of adventure, combat, and gooey royalty.

You assume the role of the game's nameless protagonist, a young ruffian and would-be monster scout (a person with the ability to subdue and command monsters) who stows away on a flying vessel headed toward a major monster-scout tournament. As fate would have it, the ship encounters a patch of turbulence and crash-lands on an uncharted island seemingly devoid of human life. It's up to you to develop your monster-scouting skills to command the beasts that rule this island and find the ship's missing passengers. But there's more to this strange island than meets the eye, and you soon discover secret tomes and treasures of legendary monster scouts of yore. Perhaps you were sent to this place for a reason. It's not a particularly interesting or original story, but Joker 2's saga still manages to charm thanks to superb localization. Dialogue is consistently amusing, laden with silly puns and odd little speech tics that make the various characters and critters you meet during your quest a memorable bunch. The visual element of the game is also strong, with surprisingly detailed environments and amusing character and enemy animations that help bring the island and its denizens to life.
Dragon Quest is known for its staunch adherence to traditional RPG elements, and while Joker 2 maintains the old-school feel of its forefathers, it also takes the formula in some different directions. Instead of progressing on an overworld map from hub town to dungeon to point of interest, you move from one monster-riddled area to another via a simplified map menu, with new places to explore opening as you complete various story goals. You won't find much in the way of towns, either. Instead, the wrecked ship acts as a hub, with functions like a vending machine, an automated bank, and a monster holding pen becoming available as the game progresses and more shipwrecked non-player characters are rescued.
Combat in Joker 2, as in its sibling games, is old-fashioned. Commands are given to your party through text menu selections, and your crew and the enemy take turns bashing each other until someone emerges victorious. The big difference this time is that instead of a crew of armored warriors, you're commanding a monster squad that you have personally recruited and trained. Your party consists of up to six monsters at a time: three in combat, three in reserve (though bigger beasties require multiple spaces in your roster). You can switch your monsters in and out of combat at any time, even replacing fallen fauna with a full-health unit from your reserve crew if need be. Each monster breed has numerous distinct characteristics, and as they gain levels from fighting, you earn skill points that you can use to give them new attack skills and stat boosts from a species-specific selection. You also have the ability to attempt to scout almost any foe you encounter, which involves having your on-field team show its strength by attacking a monster as a group (but not dealing any damage). If you hit hard enough, you might get a new teammate, but if you fail, you could lose a turn--or worse, make your foe even more aggressive.

Monster mashing: it's not just for mad scientists anymore!

Capturing and building your monster posse is a lot of fun, but what makes things even more interesting is the monster synthesis feature, which opens a few hours into the game. You can fuse two monsters of a high-enough level into a brand-new beast, complete with otherwise unobtainable skills inherited from its "parents." Not only do these fused monsters have access to a wider skillset, but they also gain levels more quickly and have better stat sets than creatures captured on the field. While synthesis itself is great fun, the preparation and aftermath are considerably less exciting. You often need to build up one or both of the monsters for your desired fusion to a certain level--and possibly well beyond that if you want their offspring to come into the world with a huge pool of skill points off the bat. Fused monsters also start at a very low level, requiring you to fight and grind for experience points to make them as strong as the rest of your crew. Since combat can be a bit slow, this can become a source of some irritation. At least you have the option to let the monsters in your party use their own AI instead of giving them direct commands, but even so, you still have to watch combat animations and dialogue play out every single turn. Making things worse is that several nuances to combat and fusion aren't explained well in-game--you need to consult your easy-to-overlook Scout Guide to figure out that maybe you need to run away from that giant flying lynx that can kill you instantly instead of trying to fight it.
It may not be an all-time classic like some of the other Dragon Quest installments, but Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 is still a solid entry in one of the most storied RPG franchises around. It's challenging, endearing, not overly complicated, and plenty of fun, and and a good bet for RPG fans looking for a new beast to tame.