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  This Is Trenched, A Game That Seems To Have Everything Going For It

  How best to explain the wonderfully unusual Trenched? It’s true that it’s a tower defense game. It’s also a third-person shooter, a deeply customizable war game with loot drops and online player progression. This is World War I-era trench warfare, only this time, the good guys have giant gas-powered mechs and the bad guys are…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 9, 2011
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  An Insanely Twisted Coming Out Party at PAX

  First discussed in 2007 and under development since last year, indie shooter/puzzle game Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will have its coming-out party at PAX East this weekend, and it looks damn good. Fuelcell Games published these four screenshots today touting the game, which the public may see – and play for the first time –…

  By Owen Good Published March 9, 2011
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  Super Mario Bros. With Hi-Def Audio Sounds So Disturbing

  Stripping the familiar 8-bit sound effects from Super Mario Bros. and replacing them with realistic “nextgen AAA sounds” makes for an unsettling, but awesome, audiovisual experience. You’ve never heard coins collected with this level of fidelity. Promise. This audio remix is the work of composer and sound designer Jake Kaufman, a video game music pro…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 9, 2011
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  Wendy’s Pac-Man Tag Sounds a Little Familiar

  From now mid-April, Wendy’s is serving up kids meals with five separate toys to celebrate Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary. One of them is “Pac-Man Tag.” Hey …. Pac-Man Tag involves a set of four clip-on tags to designate three kids as ghosts and one as Pac-Man. Then they run around the yard. That sounds familiar. Crecente…

  By Owen Good Published March 9, 2011
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  The New Toy Soldiers Sends G.I. Joe Action Figures To War!

  The warfare of Xbox Live Arcade hit Toy Soldiers advances ever closer to the modern era with Toy Soldiers: Cold War, a battle between action figures from the 1980’s. Leaving the grim battles of World War I behind, Cold War pits Rambo toys and canon fodder with a kung-fu grip against a Red Menace. The…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 9, 2011
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  Minecraft, Its Maker and The Fantastic Mr. Starfox

  We have about 20 days until our entire three-floor house has to be completely packed up. This move is killing me. The Art, Food and Drinks of Plants Vs. Zombies Last week’s PopCap Games party at the Game Developers Conference wasn’t just a chance to indulge in Plants Vs. Zombies drinks and snacks while watching…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 9, 2011
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  The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Is The D-Day of Middle Earth, Only With Sweet Loot

  There is another great war in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga, a bloody battle set in the northern regions of Middle Earth. This front is the setting of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, the fantasy world’s equivalent of the Allied invasion of Normandy, says developer Snowblind Studios. They’re the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 9, 2011
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  Minecraft Would Look So Much Better With Physics Like This

  Would a really sweet and totally accurate physics engine really add much to the addictive gameplay of world-carving indie hit Minecraft? Perhaps not, but this build and destroy demo—”Minecraft + Physics!”—according to its creator would certainly make it easier on the eyes. Chris Delay of Introversion Software, makers of Uplink, Darwinia and DEFCON, is responsible…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 9, 2011
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  The Fantastic Mr. Star Fox Takes A Look Deep Inside Himself

  “I’ve been flying through silver rings for 18 years, and I never once stopped to ask why.” When Nintendo’s classic space shooter meets visionary director Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr. Star Fox is born. And then he questions his existence. Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animation adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox ranks as one…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 9, 2011
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  Shoot Many Robots Is Supposed To Be Our Modern Metal Slug

  The people at Demiurge Studios, itching to make a game of their own after years of making video games for other companies, have decided to make an homage to the old gun-crazy side-scroller Metal Slug. They wanted to make it more analog, let you shoot everywhere. And they want you to run and jump and…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 9, 2011
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  Kinect Sets Guinness Record As “Fastest Selling Electronics”

  Congratulations to Microsoft, who took what I thought was going to be a modest hit and making it a giant one. Now let’s get that next wave of games coming! [GuinnessWorldRecords.com]

  By Joel Johnson Published March 9, 2011
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  Serious Sam Gallery

  Serious Sam Double D Serious Sam Double D Serious Sam Double D Serious Sam Double D Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack Serious Sam Kamikaze Attack Serious Sam: The Random Encounter

  By Mike Fahey Published March 9, 2011
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  Final Fantasy‘s Fighter Knocks Out The Competition In Japan

  The Nintendo 3DS had a great second week in Japan, with another 200,000 gamers snapping up stereoscopic 3D hardware. But it was a PSP game that dominated the software charts (again), with Square Enix’s dramatic fighting game adventure Dissidia 012: Duodecim Final Fantasy dominating the sales charts. The latest Dissidia sold an impressive 286,117 copies…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 9, 2011
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  What It’s Like To Be Notch, The Man Who Made Minecraft

  If you’re the guy who made Minecraft, you’ve got it good. Your game’s a hit. You’re getting lots of money for it and winning lots of awards. But what’s it like to be Notch? His New Peers And Old Friends When you go from being some random game-maker in Sweden to the guy who created…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 9, 2011
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  NCIS Writers Successfully Troll PC Gamers & MMO Players

  Surely, the writers of CBS crime drama NCIS know what a massively multiplayer online role-playing game is, right? And that they don’t involve “high scores” in the Pac-Man or Galaga sense? Of course they do, so we’re taking this recent cameo of faux-MMO Fear Tower 3 as good-natured ribbing. It may be the most successful…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 9, 2011
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  Is This The New Face Of PlayStation Home?

  With PlayStation Home gearing up for a transformation from virtual world to viable gaming platform, concept art images depicting the new look for Sony’s PlayStation 3 service have surfaced. Let’s take a look! The images, apparently sent to 4Player Co-Op via an anonymous user that discovered them in a marketing survey, depict a PlayStation Home…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 9, 2011
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  This Week In Comics

  Game Developers Conference blocked me from recommending comics to you last week, but nothing stands in my way this time. Here are some picks for the week… Comics You Should Consider Buying Batman Inc. #3 The long-delayed third issue by writer Grant Morrison, chronicling Bruce Wayne’s efforts to build a Batman franchise. We’re going to…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 9, 2011
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  Are You There God? It’s-a Me, Mario

  Few video games deal with the touchy subject of religion seriously. When they do, they often deal with the more fantastical outlying bits of different faith systems, like last year’s Dante’s Inferno, or the upcoming El Shaddai: Rise of the Metatron. Rarely do we see games that hunker down and deal with real questions of…

  Joshua Wise Published March 9, 2011
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  Cognitive Reverse Engineering Explains The Incredible Allure Of Angry Birds

  With more than 50 million copies of Rovio’s bird-slinging casual game downloaded, Angry Birds is one of the most popular games of all time, but why? Usability engineering consultant Charles Mauro tears down the surprising secrets to Angry Birds’ success. A certified human factors engineering professional and president of usability engineering and user interface design…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 9, 2011
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  The Art, Food and Drinks of Plants Vs. Zombies

  Last week’s PopCap Games party at the Game Developers Conference wasn’t just a chance to indulge in Plants Vs. Zombies drinks and snacks while watching flowers cavort around the packed room. It was also a chance to check out some really neat concept art from the game and, you now, talk to people. Make sure…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 9, 2011