Hasta La Gadget!

I can remember growing up back in the 80s, there were plenty of pinball machines in arcades alongside the video games. I was always more interested in video games, but there’s no denying that a noisy pinball machine with flippers and giant ball bearings rolling around is tons of fun. It’s hard to find pinball machines these days, but there are plenty of digital versions of pinball machines available.

If you’re a digital pinball wizard and like Star Wars, a new pack of pinball tables called Star Wars Pinball: Balance of the Force is coming for a number of gaming systems. The game offers three new Star Wars themed pinball tables to play through. Players will aid Star Wars characters including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca Lando Calrissian, and more. There are also tables themed for bad guys such as Darth Vader.

The new tables will be available for the Xbox, PS3, PS Vita, Nintendo Wii U, iOS, Android, Windows 8, Mac OS, and the Kindle Fire HD later this fall.

A collective effort pulled back Curiosity’s curtain early this summer, and now it’s nearly time to play god. On September 13th, 22cans and Peter Molyneux will make the beta release of Godus, the studio’s latest “experiment” in god gaming, available via Steam Early Access for PC and Mac. The early release will cost eager overlords $19.99 and allow them to “sculpt every inch of a beautiful world,” and, of course, destroy those worlds in multiplayer battles with other virtual gods. The Kickstarter-backed nod to Molyneux’s Populous reached its funding goal in December of last year with the promise of PC, Mac and mobile compatibility and continued his focus on the video game as social experiment. Final release details are still under wraps but you can see an updated trailer after the break.

And for more Molyneux, check out our interview from E3 2013.

Update: We had a chance to catch up with Molyneux following his keynote at PAX and, among other things, he revealed release dates for iOS and Android versions of Godus: October 31st (Halloween) and November 14th (Day of the Colombian Woman), respectively.%Gallery-slideshow77099%

Filed under: Gaming, Mobile

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Source: 22cans, Steam

If Microsoft hiring a former Valve employee wasn’t proof enough that it’s looking to overhaul the Windows gaming experience, it’s now announced that PC titles will be dropped from the Xbox.com store come August 22nd. An announcement on the Xbox support page loosely ties the closure to the impending death of MS points in favor of real currency, although we can’t see how they’re necessarily related. If you’ve splurged on PC games and extra DLC through the Xbox storefront, not to worry, as everything will continue to be accessible though the Games for Windows Live client, which will persist unaffected. Additional game content will also remain on sale in some instances, but that’ll vary by title.

When the PC Marketplace within Xbox.com does shut down, any Windows Live games published by Microsoft won’t be available anywhere, although one can only assume they’ll return to some new platform in the future. Newer PC games and XBLA ports are up for grabs in the Windows 8 store, of course, so perhaps MS will end up offering them there. Or, maybe it’s time to revive the dedicated portal model — that seems to be working for the other guys.

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Laptops, Software, Microsoft

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Via: Ubergizmo

Source: Microsoft

Games make life a whole lot more fun, and mealtimes are no exception. The latest food-related game is Pixelate, and it’s unlike most eating games you’ve played before.

Like most, it involves stuffing your face with food as fast as you can. The extra challenge is you have to follow the order indicated on the interactive dinner table.

Pixelate was created by Royal College of Art students Sures Kumar and Lana Z. Porter. Basically, players compete to eat what’s on their plates in the correct sequence as displayed on its screen. Whoever finishes everything fastest wins. It’s like Guitar Hero or Tetris, but with food instead of musical notes or falling blocks.

It’s a simple game with a complicated table to play it on. The table itself was developed using Arduino and OpenFrameworks. You don’t have to rely on human witnesses to tell who’s the winner, because the table can determine that much on its own. It does so by detecting the resistance for the food touching the forks that are connected to it. Neat, huh?

Pixelate sounds like a simple concept… until you check out its execution and realize it’s not that simple after all.

[via Core77 via Dvice]

Sure, you’ve controlled minions and vast armies in the Civilization games, but here’s your chance to actually be one of those underlings — at least if you live in South Korea. Civilization Online, announced late last year, is an in-development MMORPG title set in the Civ universe, and Massively has learned some of its finer details from the folks at XL Games and 2K Games (the companies crafting it in CryEngine 3). At the start, players will join one of four societies, and all will have to work together to expand across the sandbox environment and progress through the ages.

Unlike most MMOs, there will come a time when one civilization achieves certain goals and effectively “wins,” at which point the world will reset. Although combat is a part of the game, societies will also need to research, build and do various other things to become number one, much like the traditional strategy titles. Head to the source link for more info on the specifics, but don’t get too excited — Civilization Online will be launching first in Korea, and there are currently “no plans for a North American release.” Not used to things being out of your control, are you?

Filed under: Gaming, Software

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Via: Destructoid, Massively

Source: Massively, PC Gamer