| PC Game Review: SafeCracker
Are you a logic puzzles fan? Do you enjoy playing Sudoku and other math games in your spare time? Did you try solving the puzzles in The Da Vinci Code? Then you'll enjoy SafeCracker, the recent recipient of PC Gamer's Best Puzzle Game Award (March 2007 issue). Eccentric billionaire Duncan W. Adams passes away, but his will is missing, hidden somewhere in his extravagant mansion. Adams was a collector of intricate safes, and his family believes that the will is inside one of the 35 safes scattered throughout the house. The Adams family hires you (with a delightful British accent) to crack each safe and find that will. There are many different rules for opening each of the 35 safes. Some require observing a pattern first, some involve finding a code or password, while others use a key obtained from a previous safe.
BitTorrent's game downloads: A big hoax
Update: BitTorrent's Games section is misleading. First of all, game downloads don't necessarily use BitTorrent. What you may get via the BitTorrent P2P network is a small (298K) installer program, which in turn runs a proprietary downloader application that gets the game code from a central server. Second, although games are listed in the B.E.N. catalog as free, they are nothing of the sort. You get a free preview period to try the game. If you want to play it past that period, you have to pay up. Gangland, for example, is free only for 60 minutes. After that, access to the game costs $14.99. And you pay through a separate payment engine, not your BitTorrent account. What's the point of using BitTorrent for games? I can't see one. Bad form, BitTorrent. I apologize for not noticing this in our earlier review.
PS3 Firmware Update Rumored to Bring Avatars and Achievements
Sony set to upgrade PS3 with PlayStation Home; No more EE+GS chips after April The 2007 Game Developers' Conference is less than a week away, and many eyes are on Sony for what is supposed to be a significant announcement planned for the event. GDC Director Jamil Moledina is appears to be privy to the keynote topics, and said to GameDaily last week that Sony will be delivering news that would make PlayStation 3 owners very happy. Gaming blog Kotaku has posted what could be the subject of Sony's massive announcement: PlayStation Home. According to the rumor-filled story, the PlayStation 3 will soon be getting its own version of “Mii avatars" and “Xbox 360 achievements." As a new requirement for all future PS3 titles, each game will feature its own virtual room, where users “will receive items with which to adorn the room that are specific to the game," as part of an achievement system.
Ambrose rescues Charlton at Vicarage Road
A late Darren Ambrose header gave Charlton a 2-2 draw at Watford to cap a spirited fight-back after Alan Pardew's side had been 2-0 down at half time.And Kevin Lisbie might have won the game for the Addicks had he not wastefully fired wide with what was virtually the last kick of the match.Earlier a Hameur Bouazza effort and Damien Francis' thumping finish had seemed to make a mockery of Charlton's hopes of escaping relegation.But an Alex Song through ball gave Luke Young the chance to slide home with 25 minutes still on the clock, before Ambrose's far post header secured a point for the away side.It was cruel on Watford, whose new formation helped them boss proceedings for much of the match.Gareth Williams and Hungarian Tamas Priskin both came in for Aidy Boothroyd's side in reaction to last weekend's defeat against Everton, and soon helped their side go 2-0 up.Pardew removed the disappointing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at half time and replaced him with Zheng Zie, sparking renewed hope of Premiership survival for the London club.But a draw is little use to Boothroyd's team, who remain ten points away from safety and now seem to have little chance of avoiding relegation.
Free Time: Toy Fair Focuses On Interactivity
NEW YORK -- Sure, it features countless numbers of kids' playthings; but at the American International Toy Fair in New York every year, it's the adults who get to have all of the fun. The annual event -- the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere -- took place Monday through Wednesday this week in New York City, where more than 1,500 toy manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents came in from 30 countries to show off their new toys.
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EA, iVillage Make Play for Women
Electronic Arts has joined forces with NBC Universal's female-oriented iVillage.com to create a co-branded games channel that will feature casual games from EA's Pogo.com. Demographic and ComScore MediaMetrix data would seem to suggest it's a perfect match.
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