Busy Gamer News

If you're tired of getting lost in Azeroth, the world of World of Warcraft, now there's a tool for pinpointing your exact location: a Google Map. You can even see where 15,000 in-game items can be found including treasure, herbs and ore. If you're setting up a meeting place, simply send your buddies a link to a specific in-game spot. Alas, you can't get step-by-step driving directions for those lengthy expeditions, but otherwise this is an amazing use of technology. Welcome to wherever you are at mapwow.com...

Call of Duty 2 for Xbox 360 has been patched to fix the bug that eats game saves. Multiplayer issues such as excessive lag will be corrected with a later patch... The 360 version of Burnout Revenge hits stores March 7, but in the meantime you can download a free theme, picture and exclusive car for the game from participating retail kiosks. You did buy a memory card, didn't you?... If you've picked your team for the Super Bowl on Sunday, EA has some 360 themes and gamer pictures they want to sell you. Each team has two themes at $2 a pop, and the pics are 50 cents. The recent 360 dashboard update didn't add a full preview, so you'll have to check them out at xbox.com...

If you've always wanted to try your hand at some independent games but didn't know where to start, GameTunnel.com waded through all of the 2005 indie releases to offer a Top 10 ranking:

1. Oasis - A strategy title set in a desert that plays like a casual game. This one's so addicting, Microsoft is eyeing it for a possible port to its growing Xbox Live Arcade.
   
   
   
2. Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space - A space adventure that can be completed in less than half an hour.
   
   
   
3. Zombie Smashers X2: Punks and Skins - A zombie-bashing arcade-style brawler.
   
   
   
4. Tribal Trouble - Another simplified stategy game, this time on a tropical island.
   
   
   
5. Mexican Motor Mafia - A 2D automobile mission game reminiscient of the early Grand Theft Auto series.
   
   
   
6. Democracy - A political strategy sim where you get to run a country.
   
   
   
7. Darwinia - A strategy/action game that's so good, the folks at Valve released it over their Steam digital distribution system.
   
   
   
8. Professor Fizzwizzle - A puzzle game with level paths for both kids and adult gamers.
   
   
   
9. DROD: Journey to Rooted Hold - Another puzzle title, but with role-playing and hack-and-slash quest elements.
   
   
   
10. New Star Soccer 3 - At first glance, it looks like an old-school sports game. But this one has a twist: You play only one player both on and off the field, battling demons like alcohol and gambling while fighting to get into the game.

If the rumors are true, Sony is adding e-mail and GPS support to its PlayStation Portable later this year. To make setup simple, e-mail accounts will be tied to the unique ID already embedded in every PSP; you just need to pick a username and working Wi-Fi connection. The Global Positioning System hardware will include a UMD map disc, which you can pay to upgrade periodically with new street data. If waiting isn't your strong suit and your PSP is homebrew-enabled, you can download the free PSPRadio now from dl.qj.net and wirelessly stream radio stations to your PSP. Rockin'...

The '80s classic shooter Crystal Quest is now available with upgraded graphics and sound on Xbox Live Arcade for the 360. The best part? It's only $5 and includes the original version. Apart from the many announced titles in the works, the big rumor about Arcade is that some 50 Dreamcast games are being ported for Marketplace release later this year. Could Microsoft be enlisting Sega to make a preemptive strike against Nintendo's plan to release its rather impressive back catalog on the Revolution? Not to mention Sony, which is rumored to be working on its own retro gaming counterstrike for the PS3 that could easily include many classic PlayStation games...

I'm a Big Fish now
After two and a half years of daily news scribbles and the occasional rant about the videogame industry, today I'm joining it. I've been hired by Big Fish Games to be their new product manager for online games.

This is actually where I've been directing my career for some time. Big Fish Games is (in my opinion) among the best online gaming destinations with one of the biggest portfolios of titles. They actually release a new game every day, 365 days a year.

Big Fish also happened to move into the same downtown Seattle office building where, until yesterday, I worked as member communications manager at HealthTalk. I've spent the past two years helping people face chronic illness. Believe it or not, it was actually a great job and it pained me to leave it. But at the same time, I couldn't NOT pursue my dream.

Big Fish Games is a casual game company, and Gamestay has always been about the middle-of-the-road gamer: more than casual but not quite hardcore, either. That means I've sometimes included news about casual games - particularly Xbox Live Arcade though now and again I've written about other interesting titles and destinations that crossed my radar. Personally, I love casual games and always try to carve out time for them.

But now, in my professional life, I'm going to be focused on casual games full time. So the balance in my news blog may shift a little over time (you may have already detected it). I'll be sure to call out my affiliation anytime I do report on something that me or my company had a hand in, though I think you know by now that I strive to detach myself from any built-in biases - except for my ingrained bias against stupid or ill-conceived decisions that impact gamers in big ways.

Basically, I just gravitate to stuff I really like that I believe others will like, and the stuff that really pisses me off.

It's my hope that I'll also be able to blog some about my job and the interesting things I'm involved in. Assuming I can, I'll probably restrict those sorts of posts to my personal blog (what you're reading now), though I may bubble up some of the more interesting items to the news blog as well. The overall goal of this site remains the same: to help you wade through the mountains of gaming news to home in on the most useful, relevant and just plain cool items.

I know that - like me - you're busy, and you want to save what little free time you have for actually playing games. Maybe you'll try Big Fish Games, maybe not. But we'll still have lots of fun.

-=Gamewatcher

BLOG: I'm a Big Fish now: After two and a half years of daily news scribbles and the occasional rant about the videogame industry, today I'm joining it. I've been hired by Big Fish Games to be their new product manager for online games. This is actually where I've been directing my career for some time. Big Fish Games is (in my opinion) among the best online gaming destinations with one of the biggest portfolios of titles. They actually release a new game every day, 365 days a year.

[Read full Blog entry]

The DVD release of Doom also contains an Xbox demo of Doom 3. Just pop the movie into your original Xbox to try two single-player and two multiplayer levels, complete with deathmatch and cooperative play. Alas, you'll need a separate DVD player if you actually want to watch the movie since the Xbox treats it as a game disc. The film itself is a slightly above average game-to-movie adaptation with decent special effects and a storyline that's pretty intricate considering the game's run-and-gun premise. There are also some inside jokes for fans, such as naming the scientists after id Software developers John Carmack and Tim Willits...

There are some interesting news reports about games and their consequences. First, Canadian researchers report that playing videogames can keep the mind sharp and might even reduce the effects of aging on cognitive function by improving your ability to shut out internal chatter and focus on a specific task. The York University study found that gamers and people who are bilingual tend to be great multitaskers, thanks to their regular mental workouts. So if you meet a multilingual gamer, watch out - or better yet, hire them... Meanwhile, New York City employee Edward Greenwood IX was fired last week after Mayor Michael Bloomberg observed a game of solitaire open on the man's work PC. The 39-year-old office assistant says he only played games at lunch and during short breaks, when he needed a brief respite from his heavy workload. Apparently, like most of the world, Bloomberg didn't realize games can actually make you a better worker...

Microsoft continues to cover for its scarce selection of new 360 retail titles with a well-stocked Xbox Live Marketplace. There's now a free demo for King Kong; another free scenario for Outpost Kaloki X along with one that'll set you back $1.25; five Crystal Quest add-on packs including graphics, sounds and a new advanced scenario ($1.25 each, or $6.25 for the set - not counting the $5 game); gamer pictures and themes for Fight Night Round 3 featuring Oscar DeLaHoya and the "Ring Girl" (40 cents for pictures; $1.88 for themes), and themes for Bejeweled 2 and Hexic HD (also $1.88 each). As usual, you'll have to wait for Xbox.com to catch up its theme and picture pack preview gallery if you want to see what you're buying...

Score one for the hackers. Microsoft may have engineered the Xbox 360 so that players can't share their saved games or move their original Xbox saves for use with the backward compatability feature, but now there's a workaround. 360gamesaves.com just introduced Xplorer360, a PC application that can transfer files to and from your HDD if you're not afraid to break open the casing and connect it to your PC via SATA cable. Likewise, you can copy files from memory cards if you're comfortable soldering the necessary parts. Oh, and the beta software still boasts some major bugs. In other words, this isn't a project for the faint hearted, but it proves that it can be done. No doubt, a turnkey solution for the rest of us will emerge eventually. Then again, Microsoft might find a way to block it...

Sony unveiled specs for PlayStation 3, still advertised for Spring 2006 release - though rumor places the U.S. launch in September. The big news is that the hard drive is an external add-on. Also of interest are its support for up to seven BlueTooth controllers, PSP over Wi-Fi and some form of network control. Plus, there are two HDMI outputs (vs. the Xbox 360's zero) with 1080p max resolution... Nintendo revealed an Opera-based Web browser due out for the Nintendo DS this June. Before you get too excited, it'll cost about $32 (vs. the PSP's free browser) and so far it's only announced for Japan. Japanese DS fans will also get a digital TV tuner card that can pick up broadcasts designed for specially equipped cell phones. No word if or when we might see similar offerings in the U.S...

A number of big PC game patches have been released. Battlefield 2 jumps to v1.2 and closes exploits, improves game balance and makes UAVs visible so they can be shot down. F.E.A.R. v1.03 adds vote kick, PunkBuster support and three new multiplayer maps. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 v1.1 improves multiplayer, balancing and bugs while enabling more map options and the Logitech G15 keyboard's LCD screen. And Star Wars: Empire at War is already at v1.1 with arguably more bug fixes than should be necessary for a just-shipped game. If you haven't tried Empire at War and you have bandwidth to spare, there's also a 750MB demo). Download these from fileshack.com or your favorite game download site...

How much is an ad-free online gaming experience worth to you? EA and its sponser ESPN have priced it at $2. When you go online with Fight Night Round 3 for PSP, you'll be asked to supply either an e-mail address or a credit card. If you give an e-mail address, you'll receive ads from ESPN in return for free online play. Of course, unscrupulous gamers could pony up any ol' e-mail address, such as a free account somewhere that's never checked. (Or make something up and risk losing online play when the mails start to bounce.) This seems like one of the more boneheaded marketing maneuvers to date: Any list generated in this manner will be next to worthless...

If you're wondering who's got the top gamerscore on Xbox 360, it's a 20-year-old Canadian who goes by ST TheKing. His score of 20,435 (at this writing) is the pinnacle of Xbox 360 gaming to date, and the guy doesn't even have every available point. According to his interview on achieve360points.com, the new Xbox 360 achievements system is so compelling that he's playing many games that he normally wouldn't have looked at twice. Hardest won achievement? No Crash Victory: Single Races in Ridge Racer 6. Worst game to date? NBA Live 06...

Word is that Sony will get into the digital distribution business with a $5.99 map pack for SOCOM 3 in March. The first of three planned expansions, this pack will include updated versions of the SOCOM 2 multiplayer maps After Hours, Last Bastion and Liberation - complete with new game types, night and day selection and added tweaks. Apparently you'll be able to save the packs to your PS2 hard drive if you have one, or a PSP memory card or flash drive if you don't. If true, consider this proof that Sony has deepened its online console strategy...

Reports suggest Microsoft will release its Xbox Live Camera in May 2006. The camera will add video chat on the Xbox 360 at 640x480 and support for 1.3 megapixel still photos. It also has a microphone that plugs into your game controller, and will support new EyeToy-like games. Due around the same time is a Quick Charge Kit that rejuvenates two 360 wireless controller batteries at once. No word on price for either item... Can't wait for the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? Remind yourself daily how much you want the first 360 RPG with two new Oblivion picture packs ($1 each) and a theme ($1.88) from Xbox Live Marketplace to decorate your gamer card and dashboard. There's also a free trailer...

Back when Microsoft announced the new Xbox Live Silver and Gold levels for the 360, it revealed there would be free weekends now and again for gamers who stick with the free Silver accounts. Well, rumor has it that the first of these is April 1 with Verizon footing the bill for a free 72-hour online gameplay marathon... If the theme and gamer pictures for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion aren't enough to sate you, the game's full list of achievements has leaked out. Many are tied to guild milestones, so expect to play for a very long time to collect them all... If you've somehow managed to avoid playing Call of Duty 2 on the 360, there's now a free demo on Xbox Live Marketplace...

If you're brave or just can't handle the bugs in Quake 4 any longer, there's a v1.1 Beta patch available. It adds myriad new multiplayer features including voice chat, and corrects a few annoying problems with the single-player game like not picking up ammo. Beta patch users can't use any saves from previous versions or play non-beta users in online matchups, so you might want to wait for the final patch... The Battle for Middle Earth v1.03 fixes hundreds of issues, including exploits, animation glitches and game balance. Likewise, The Battle for Middle Earth II v1.01 makes the game more stable... There's also a v1.01 patch for Tony Hawk's American Wasteland. Dude, like, messaging an offline buddy no longer hoses your game...