Playboy Party on its way to Facebook

Game Facebook lately become favorite for traditional gaming companies, because the low-cost develop, style game which is casual, so enable to reach a wider market for the users. After a couple of companies like Disney and McDonald's set their foot on the platform, this time an American adult magazine, Playboy, also participated to enter the market, titled Playboy Party.

In Playboy Party, players can customize their avatars, build a house, and collect a variety of "Playboy's Girls." In addition to a cartoon-style characters, this game also integrate a realistic scene, and allows players to decorate the mansion, hold a party and friendly guest service. After making certain achievements, players can open and enjoy the pictures of Playboy Girls in bikinis, one by one.

Wanna iPhone 4 for $25?

If you smart enough, you can get an iPhone 4 from Radio Shack for as little as $25.

RadioShack is running a little special event from Dec. 4-11 that offers a $50 discount on iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS. You must buy new devices and not refurbs. You just have to be eligible for upgrade. This means you must be ready for a new two-year agreement.

So the pricing would be: $49.99 for 3GS, $149.99 for 16 gig iPhone 4 and $249.99 for a 32-gig iPhone 4.

The Shack also offers a trade-in program. iPhone 3G owners get $75 and 3GS get $125. All in all, you could get a new iPhone 4 for as little as $24.99 if you want to sign up with AT&T for two years.

Prototype going to have sequel

After what I did in the first game (included evidence on the picture below), I'm sure that the first Prototype has been completed. Means there is no other sequel to a pretty good game, though not too good because it's contain some elements of Grand Theft Auto.

But my guess is wrong, because the website "Murder your maker," launched a trailer due to be shown at the Spike Video Game Awards in this month. And the contents of the trailer is showing some scenes from the first game and several imagery of the New York City. This award were scheduled to be held on 11 December.

Will I play again? We'll see ...

The Ukrainian artist Protsenko Pavel has a thing for Mass Effect 2, leaving us with this... interesting looks, where men look like fire-proof war machines while women look like sexy little pin-up models.

Pavel appears to be compositing different pose of screenshots and actual photographs together, which explains why in some cases the character's joints look...wrong. Still, overall the effect is great!

New content from Cabal Online, Epi V: Mercenaries

CABAL Online, the fast-paced free-to-play MMORPG, will release its latest free content expansion – Episode V: Mercenaries on this month. After in Episode IV we saw an increasing level cap and the opening of a new region on October, Episode V will continue to add exciting new content for players to enjoy. This update will live globally, with players in the US and Europe enjoying the content before players in Korea.

Mercenary System

The mercenary system will allow players to summon a helping hand, in the form of a NPC-controlled character, while inside the dungeons of the game. It opens up a brand new objective to achieve, with a whole variety of different mercenaries available to find and "recruit". While group play and team work will remain an essential part of the game, the introduction of mercenaries will assist in the creation of balanced parties to take on the most challenging encounters. Mercenaries will have a number of benefits. This includes buffs and stat boosts for the entire party, while mercenaries will join in by attacking monsters that either damage, or are damaged by, their summoner.

Dungeon Leader boards

One of the central features of CABAL Online are the fast-paced, hugely chaotic, timed dungeons. From the solo DX dungeons – which require players to complete a quest within a very short time frame – to the large party dungeons which require quick thinking to complete before the clock runs out, getting the best possible time has long been an unrewarded aim. Now this dungeon will be recognized when the introduction of a leader board system live. On entering each dungeon, a clear ranking will be displayed of those who have completed it in the fastest time. It will set a clear goal and challenge, with the aim no longer to simply complete the dungeon but to do so in the fastest possible time.


Improved Drop Rates

Combining with the new competitive incentive to enter the games dungeons, the drop rate system has been overhauled to provide a much more rewarding experience. The majority of high level equipment will now drop as "bind on equip", allowing a significantly higher drop rate of these items than in the past. This is an important, and no doubt a welcome, change for players of the game.

Mail Systems

A long requested feature has been the ability to use the games mailing system to send messages between players. This now been available, with the option to send messages, gold and items to any player – whether online or offline – inside of the game.

Dual Pets

Expanding on the existing pet system, it will now be possible to equip two pets. Both of the pets will follow their owner and will level up to provide slots to be filled with stat boosts.

New Quests

A whole host of new challenging quests have been added to the game, including dungeon quests, starter quests and the quest to find the ‘Ring of Tyrant'.

Final result of GNGWC 2010

The grand final of GNGWC2010 that traveled around the globe for 4 months have finally returned to Bexco, Busan. "Atlantica" from Ndoors, "Shot Online" from Onnet and "Silk Road Online" from Joy Max" were selected as the main game in GNGWC2010 with the total award of 27,000 USD. By holding the grand final game in G Star 2010, it successfully concluded the major international gaming event:

Egyptian gamers held up their flags high after winning the Silk Road Online competition and a German player defeated a US player in Atlantica and won the award. Shot Online was won by a Korean player, of which three out of four finalists were also Korean.

40 gamers from US, Germany, France, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia competed against each other to become the best and enjoyed their stay in Korea. We were able to see that GNGWC has become a global event instead of being limited to a global marketing tool.

4Story reveal its secret, 3rd Kingdom Broa!!!

Zemi Interactive, Inc., Korea's leading MMORPG developer and service provider of famous free to play MMO "4Story" has announced today that they are ready to reveal their long prepared secret project "Broa the 3rd nation" to all 4Story fans worldwide.

In the world of 4Story, endless conflicts between 2 kingdoms 'Craxion' and 'Defugel' have taken place for over 2 years of its service. The title, 4Story stands for 3 kingdoms & 1 hero. Over 700,000 active users worldwide have always wondered about the 3rd Kingdom Broa and Zemi Interactive is finally ready to quench their thirst.


The "3rd Kingdom Broa" update will first be released on November 25th, 2010 through its global service platform. With new force 'Broa' joining the chaotic battle grounds of 4Story, all 4Story fans worldwide holds their breath preparing for new coming era. Loyalty, Betrayal, New rising power, this very new chapter will be written by the players of 4Story.

"We have been preparing ‘The 3rd kingdom Broa’ update for past 11 months. New weapons, Armors, Siege war, Trade routes, towns, fields, instant dungeon, and more will be introduced with this grand update. We believe this very update will bring many unexpected changes to the game. 4Story is war concentrated MMO. Here at Zemi, we are trying our best put all our creative thoughts together to provide all 4Story fans with more exciting war features to the game. This grand update is just a beginning. We have multiple updates coming your way in 2011,” said the Head developer of 4Story, Mr. Hyunho Shin.

Casual Players vs Hardcore Players

Have you ever thought, when playing MMORPG like World of Warcraft, you will find a term that distinguishes between the two players? Yes, those types of players are casual players and hardcore players. But did you truly understand the meaning of those words? At least in our observations, we sought to understand the meaning of the term.

Casual Players

Players of this type tend to play games for their own entertainment, they are not going to rush to catch up the level as quickly as possible. Time spent on the this type of player is not as much as time spent by the hardcore players. They were not too adept at mastering the game, but overall they are also not so bad in the game.

Casual players probably going to follow raid, although it is rare and they do not think about the process. For the frequency of the game, casual players will log once, twice or maybe just settle things in game, according to its cooldown time. And they tend to use the auction feature to make a profit.

Hardcore Players

Players of this type will play MMORPG exceed the level of their own pleasure, rather than freelancers who play for pay, hardcore players much better. That's because they devote much of their life just to log on the game, they do things like: do all the quests, collecting herbs, rob, or just talk nonsense with another player.

Usually, they will gather in the guild who have a high level, because their purpose is realm. They also have a tight schedule against raidboss, they are obliged to attend and perform in raid a few times a week. The presence of these players have a big role, because the guild with players of this type are extremely rare. They really know well about their character class, and often discuss in message board or in the game and exchange thought among its members.

They may be bored, it's because the content does not match with their needs. Thus, they often have more than one character. And certainly, they are addicted to MMORPGs they play the same time.

Pirates of the Burning Sea is Free-to-Play now

Lets sail free on the water!!!

Yeap, If you've been looking for a little free-to-play pirate fun, look no further than Pirates of the Burning Sea (PotB). The pirate-based MMOG recently announced the free-to-play sails and is now available to everyone without anymore subscription. Utilizing a model similar to that of Turbine, PotB offers premium content via an in-game store (item mall) and also offers players a subscription-based Captain's Club membership for $14.99/mo, which provides access to premium content and additional bonuses.

The premium content are like slot for character and dock (to park your ship), discount of purchasing inside the game, as well as bonus on experience, item loot chance, and finally, access to special mission.

Law Action will be taken to Protect IR on Chinese Gov.

The increasingly serious infringements of intellectual property rights (the piracy software) in Mainland, China (which have severely affect the game, movie & TV, and novel industries), put the State Council Information Office of the PRC held a press conference on Nov. 30, and announced to take action to protect the intellectual property rights from the end of this year.
According to Jiang Zengwei, Vice Minister of Commerce of the PRC and director of the National Office of Special Actions, the protection of intellectual property rights is necessary for the market to grow stably, and the action carried out around Mainland, China this time also reflects relevant authorities' fierce determination to solve the problem.

So far, 30 important cases have been handled initially in this special action, and the General Administration of Press and Publication has also investigated 55 important copyright infringement cases. Meanwhile, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the PRC, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the General Administration of Customs have put more energy into management. This action is wise, because it also lays a firm foundation for the western game companies' to march into the Chinese market.

Complete Remastered MapleStory on This Month

Nexon America has announced that the biggest update in the history of MapleStory will take place on this December, all North American players will experience a completely new kind of adventure. Unlike any other update before, everything in the game has remastered, report said.

On this update, players will be able to level up faster than before, all skills and monsters have also been rebalanced, allowing players to rediscover the game with focused skills and familiar monsters. In addition, players will enjoy a visual with higher resolution, allowing them to experience a richer visual in the game. Other changes include a complete revamp on interface, making it simpler, neater and easier to navigate.

Prepare for the REBIRTH of Granado Espada

After 3-years operate as Free-To-Play game, Granado Espada has never failed to mesmerize gamers in the region to continue playing and explore the New World. Gamers continue to be the best as they could with the consistent content patches that improve the gameplay approximately every 3 months.

Granado Espada allows gamer to control up to three characters and have the option to enhance their gaming experience through purchases of weapons, armors, in-game items, etc. And now, Granado Espada will be progressing into its latest expansion, Version 5, across Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Gamers are expected to experience refreshing and dramatic differences from its previous versions.

New features of the game includes a new map expansion based on a periodic concept of the 1500s to 1700s, new character Valeria, new dungeons & expert stances and a brand new item reward system.

Valeria is the hidden twin sister to Princess Gabriela who is leader of the Royalist faction. Since birth, she was confined in the deepest part of Prison de Jaquin by orders of the Vespanola King to prevent any opposition from kidnapping her for anti-government activities. The name, Valeria was given to her by her rescuers when her camp was invaded.

Valeria in the game is a scout class, but with better recovery level and a longer range for healing than her predecessor.

With an Expert stance (skills book) provided, she will be the best supporting character! She might have very low DEF but that's due to low Strength and robe-type armor. However, she has a set of powerful recovery skills that makes her indispensible in raids and PVP.

How to select a good MMO for your child

If you really dont understand which MMO is appropriate for your family (especially your children), maybe you would consider this article to be your ultimate guidance for you. If you want to keep your kids safe on the internet, the best strategy for choosing suitable games is a combination of tactics tailored to your family's likes, dislikes and needs.

Check the ESRB rating.
Like movie ratings, ESRB ratings are far from a fool-proof system for deciding what's right for your kids – but they're a great starting point.

Read outsider reviews.
Game reviews from sites that specialize in media and reviews, not in games themselves, can sometimes miss context and nuance within a game. However, that doesn't render their insights worthless. Reviews from sites like these are often conscientious, thoughtful analyses.

* Common Sense Media
* What They Play

Read insider reviews.
Here's where you get a whiff of what a game smells like once you're inside. Start out here at Massively and then run through other gaming sites around the 'net.

* Joystiq
* Game Rankings
* Gamespot

Read other gaming parents' reviews.
It's the best of both worlds: reviewers who both play video games and have children of their own.

* Gamer Dad
* PlaySavvy

Watch trailers and game play footage.
Trailers all too often bear little resemblance to actual game play, but they do illustrate a game's overall tone. Videos of actual game play may be of more use. Google and YouTube liberally for both official and player-made footage.

Read up.
The Book of Games provides in-depth reviews plus handy features for parents, including ratings on each game's complexity, required reading skills and even morality (to what extent the game rewards positive behavior). Print media does become outdated fairly rapidly. Still, with all the supporting material that's included, books like this one can be a decent value (and an interesting read).

Don't make systems-based assumptions.
As the gaming industry continues to wolf down new demographics, you can no longer afford to make sweeping assumptions about individual games based on the gaming platforms on which they appear. Just because it's on Wii (or Nintendo) doesn't mean it's appropriate for your child. Even though it's also on XBox, it might not be evil incarnate. Review games, not gaming systems.

Is it sandboxable?
Kids want to play what everyone else in the family is playing. Many young players enjoy supervised play in smaller "sandboxes" within larger MMOs. Newbie zones, cities and crafting can be fun, smaller-scale ways of playing the big-boy stuff. You can keep an eye on things with precautions such as restricting chat and player interaction, or you can join the fun and play along with them. Would that work for the game your child wants to play?

Know your child.
Only you can match your children's age, abilities and personality to the games they want to play. Would your devilishly intelligent grade-schooler latch onto pervasive innuendo? Don't buy the game. Might your homework-laden teen be likely to get sucked into endless faction grinding? Choose another game. What makes this principle so difficult to put into action is that it demands some level of familiarity with the games kids want to play. Beyond the storyline and general goals of the game, ask yourself what sort of activities players are doing on a daily basis. (Are they killing monsters or other players? Playing mini-games? Chatting?) What are the other players like? (How old are they? How much will they interact?)

Let's collect and share your favorite methods of sniffing out the best (and worst) games for your kids. How do you decide if a game is a good fit for your family?

A parent's guide to World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft? Yeah, even folks who don't play video games at all have heard of this behemoth of MMO gaming. With 12 million subscribers worldwide, the WoW practically come to define an entire generation's worth of MMO gaming. While it's designed for teens and up, the game is so ubiquitous that you wouldn't have to dig far to find players of all ages, including many teens but also younger children as well.

With a new expansion, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, due for release on December 7th, plenty of kids (and grownups) will be angling for WoW in their holiday stockings. The question is: Is WoW a good fit for your kids? With good preparation and consistent parent moderation, it can be -- but if you don't play the game yourself or you take a more hands-off approach to gaming, you may want to wait until your little goblin- or worgen-to-be is well into the teen years. This article come from MMO Family which is a good guide for parents to inside-look about WoW for younger children and teens.

World of Warcraft
Developer Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher Blizzard Entertainment
Launched November 23rd, 2004; the latest expansion, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, will launch December 7th, 2010

What systems does it run on?
WoW is built to be as systems-friendly and forgiving as possible. The bare minimum system requirements for Windows systems are: Windows XP 32bit (SP3), Windows XP 64bit (SP2), Windows Vista 32bit (SP1), Windows Vista 64bit (SP1); Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500; 1GB or more of RAM; NVIDIA® GeForce® FX or ATI Radeon™ 9500 video card or better; DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability; 25 GB free hard drive space; a keyboard and mouse; active broadband internet connection. For Mac systems: Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.4, or newer; Intel Core Duo processor; 2 GB RAM; 25 GB free hard drive space; a keyboard and mouse; active broadband internet connection.

The game will run much more smoothly and enjoyably on a system that meets WoW's recommended system requirements.

How much does it cost?
As this post went to press, pricing for the game itself was changing in preparation for the launch of the Cataclysm expansion. The game is currently available from Blizzard at the following rates: original World of Warcraft, $5; The Burning Crusade, $5; Wrath of the Lich King, $10; and Cataclysm, $39.99. The game also requires a monthly subscription with plans ranging from $12.99 to $14.99 per month.

What's the game all about?
World of Warcraft takes place in the fantasy world of Azeroth. Players create characters from races within one of two factions and choose one of a handful of traditional, fantasy classes. Although WoW is billed as a roleplaying game, for most players, the gameplay itself is all about questing, running dungeons with groups of five players, leveling up and raiding. While casual players may be more interested in the leveling experience itself (all the way to 85 in Cataclysm), the kernel of today's WoW experience is all about gearing up for and participating in endgame raiding with a group of 10 or 25 other players.

What does the game look and feel like?
World of Warcraft's art direction has been called cartoonish by some, but there's no denying how successfully its rich color palette, imaginative world design and details such as over-the-top shoulder armor propel players into the fantasy world. Make no mistake, however -- despite an aversion to strict realism in art, this is not a world designed specifically for youngsters. While the social atmosphere of such an immense player population varies according to and among realms, time of day, guild membership, and individual groups of players, pop internet culture is the invariable social bottom line.

Who's the target audience?
World of Warcraft is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB for blood and gore, crude humor, mild language, suggestive themes, and use of alcohol and violence. In Australia, the game's earned an M rating from the Office of Film and Literature Classification, and Pan European Game Information gives it a 12+ (11+ in Finland). While younger children can (and often do) enjoy playing WoW, the meat of the game is definitely aimed at an older, more socially interactive group of players.

Who plays?
It's safe to say that World of Warcraft is enjoyed by all ages of players, from very young children to senior citizens. Families will find WoW to be a wonderful venue for gaming at different levels of intensity for the whole family; it's a fantastic way to keep in touch for families who are spread out across the miles. That said, the majority of World of Warcraft players whom you'll encounter out in the gaming world at large are most likely to be young adults, with men skewing younger and women skewing older.

What playstyles does the game most suit?
Over the years, World of Warcraft has evolved to be more and more receptive to players with a casual attitude who enjoy shorter, more productive play sessions. That said, the emphasis is still very much on endgame content -- and that means raiding or highly strategic encounters in organized groups of 10 or 25 players. Raiding is very much like joining a sports team or any other after-school group; it's a commitment that shouldn't be undertaken lightly, and we've written an entire article to help you decide if raiding is right for your teen.

For families, WoW offers a rich tapestry of questing, exploration and crafting, whether family members enjoy playing on their own or as a group. Young teens might enjoy the game the best by planning to play with real-life friends. Keep reading for tips on ways your younger children can play WoW at their own level of enjoyment.

How does the game address kids' internet safety?
WoW features basic parental control tools including a profanity filter for chat, a parental control scheduling tool that allows you to determine the hours your young player can be logged in to the game, and controls that allow or prohibit sharing email addresses, Facebook connections and real names with other players. None of these tools is specifically designed to create a child-friendly atmosphere for young children; if the thought of pervasive, free social interaction with strangers raises your alarms, then WoW is not the game for your child.

What kid-friendly features keep young players moving through the content?
Since WoW's content is aimed squarely at teens and adults, the game isn't in any way designed specifically with kid-friendly features. But that's not to say that a gaming-savvy parent can't set up a situation for even young children to enjoy playing.

This article would not recommend buying WoW specifically for a younger child to play; however, if you already play the game and your own kids desperately want to join in the fun, there are plenty of ways to do that safely, productively and enjoyably.

What can players do outside the game?
There's an "other" world tied in with the World of Warcraft -- books, comics, a board game, a trading card game and enthusiastic communities devoted to fanfic, music and arts and crafts. By far, though, most players will spend their time in the game itself or reading and discussing it with others on Blizzard's forums or dozens of other independent, specialized websites, forums, blogs and guild websites.

Pay it a huge cash, Play on a huge screen

If you had $15,000.00, what would you do with it? Pay some bills? Maybe upgrade your girlfriend's gifts? Well, if you're the guy who love MMO than anyone else, maybe you could try this crazy thing, renting out the biggest honking video screen one can find and playing an MMO. Yes, indeed, for the low, low price of roughly 1,500 dollars a minute, you too can subject random passers-by to a raw display of your mad online skillz and leetness for a whopping 10 minutes. Only 10 minutes, ha?

Nah this was a joking, this is the kind of way from publisher to campaign their latest MMO, Magic World Online 2. So what's next? Well, we'll wait for the inevitable e-peenery of someone renting out the entirety of Fremont street's 1,500-foot long Las Vegas LCD skyscreen just to play those game. This kind of method is another way to deliver crazy idea beside already given campaign by playing video game on iPad and playing games on iMax screen theater. :)

Video Games Sends to Afghanistan by Canadian

Do you think by playing Video Game in the middle of the war could release their stress, even for a bit? Well that is what Canadian think about their soldier. Recently, spokesman of Canada's DND (Department of National Defense) confirmed that 500 copies of games are headed for their forward operating bases in Afghanistan. At present, 500 to 600 Canadian soldiers are stationed at Ma'sum Ghar and Sperwan Ghar outside Kandahar, and the game purchase can almost endow each soldier with one copy. Canada plans to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by July 1, 2011, and will be turning over infrastructure to U.S. forces and NATO over the coming months, including a forward operating base.

Canadian military officials declined to provide details about the handover, or about the precise number of Canadian soldiers deployed at the forward base, citing operational security. Cmdr. Hubert Genest said that the game purchase actually served as a part of the DND's morale and welfare program

"Soldiers are in location 24/7. They don't take any leave. And so this program exists," said Genest.

The 500 copies of games purchased include 93 copies of Gears of War (said to be PC-based), 82 copies of Call of Duty (two versions involved), and Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock that are both not that violent.

Do You Really Get Paid to Play Video Games?

There are many ways for you to get paid to play video games out there. There are also many ways to earn money online by following the online game contests. It is true that this kind of job for playing video games can be achieved. Before deciding to seek work in the video game industry, you should be familiar with some specific requirements that will be required.

The question of whether a job such as "Get paid to play video games" is a scam or real. Even if teenagers have the ability to play video games very well, the fact that most companies in this industry will not employ anyone under 18 for an internal position in which the company must consider the tax laws and labor so that they are very strict about the age employees. Despite your love of the game is huge, there is a possibility that you can not meet educational requirements for college since you are under age.

Such educational qualifications are needed for most positions that allow you to get paid by playing video games. Despite the fact that your performance may be great in the game, but the industry require you to have the ability to analyze, discuss, read and write your skills at a very high level. Experienced on writing for this kind of job is very important, especially to write analytically.

Although you can jump over these obstacles, many high-level job slots in the video game industry brings you into a condition where you need to show proof of previous experience. As a result, you may have to start by working in small companies that will help build your resume but an opportunity for you to get experience out there is to browse the network called the Internet.

Microsoft's "Kinect" system is a game changer

From Here: "I think Microsoft has a major, long-term, hit on its hands with the Kinect sensor, which was released Thursday.

Kinect retails for $149.99 and is essentially a camera that detects players’ movements and some voice commands.

Sony’s new PlayStation Move controller and the popular Nintendo Wii-Mote both allow users to hold wand-like devices in their hands to play games. This allows for a unique playing experience, involving the player in more true-to-life movements. If you want to swing a golf club or a light sabre, you wave your Move or Wii-Mote controller like a golf or Star Wars weapon in real time.

Kinect allows you to do this without holding anything.

I think, potentially, Kinect will be as big a game changer as the Nintendo Wii became.

It’s easy to set up. If you have a newer “slim” Xbox, you plug in one cable in the rear of the machine. If you have the older version, you plug in the Kinect to a USB port and to a power source. The Kinect detects body movements in a virtual “field,” so you will need a little space. I had to move a table and a chair, and you need to be standing six to eight feet away from the sensor.

Using Kinect in the Menu screens reminded me a lot of watching Tom Cruise in “Minority Report.” You are swiping things left and right with your hands in the air while watching the TV screen respond to your movements. The revamped Xbox Live experience is stellar, too.

With Netflix, ESPN and the upcoming Hulu Plus, Xbox is a solid alternative to Google TV or Apple TV and is something many people already have in their living rooms. The ESPN intergration is especially cool, allowing you to see “SportsCenter” on demand and view live and saved sporting events, including some out of market.

Moving around the menus is seamless -- and sometimes hands free -- and you can even tell Kinect to do things with your voice, such as turn on, play a disc, go up a screen or back one. But it’s not perfect.

Kinect had issues detecting me while I was seated, and playing “Kinect Joy Ride,” a simple driving game, required you to stand up and hold your hands in front of you like you’re gripping an imaginary steering wheel. The driving game, though, is quite fun, and Nintendo simple, except its got HD graphics. I just would expect to sit down while I played a driving game.

In some sports games, Kinect can’t detect how hard you throw a ball or necessarily which direction. It just knows you made a throwing motion. Still, “Kinect Sports” should be every bit the hit here that “Wii Sports” was before it. Bowling while making real bowling motions -- with arms and legs -- is incredibly realistic. Track and Field got me sweaty and I just flat enjoyed kicking the balls around in soccer.

“Kinect Adventures” was another standout among the games I tried. You played in space, in water and on mountains. The graphics were amazing and truly using your whole body to play, while not perfectly implemented, is a new thing in videogames. There’s a “Space Invaders” like segment on Adventures where you are smashing balls with hands and feet that is just amazing.

“Dance Central” featured music from Salt N Pepa (“Push It”) and Craig Mack (“Flava In Your Ear”) and asks you to repeat the dance moves you see. Simple. Fast. Fun. But my favorite was “Your Shape Fitness Evolved.”

It features workouts created by the guys at Men’s Health and Women’s Health and you basically create a character that looks a lot like you (with a digital picture of you) and follow the on-screen assistant in a variety of workouts from step aerobics to boxing. The game gives you feedback as you go to make sure you’re doing moves correctly and I think you could really get in shape using this.

I think this is something families will really enjoy. You can video-conference from your living room, connecting your family all at once to loved ones who have a Kinect or a Windows Live Messenger account on their PC. And as Microsoft works out the kinks via firmware upgrades, I think Kinect could end up as the best of all the new controller gizmos.

It’s definitely on my Christmas list."

Aion 2.5/3.0 Info Revealed

"Aion 2.5 will upgrade the visual effect and the graphic will be close to that shows in the Vision movie. If you still remember the movie released last year you must be impressed by its enhanced graphic. People see this video as an Aion 3.0 trailer, but NCsoft has told in different occasions that the contents show in the trailer won't be available in a single update but will be released to players in several patches."

According to NCSoft's Kim Hyoung-Jun, they will apply improved CryEngine in Aion 2.5 but considering the upgraded graphic will require more powerful PC, the developer will provide another version that makes little change on graphic. That's to say, there will be 2 clients, one for high end PCs, one for low end PCs, and the 2 clients are just different on graphic.

He also explains their work on making the Vision movie into reality. He tells that the Aion team understands players' want to have all the exciting new contents in one expansion, but it's difficult for the developer to make it.

It's an interview mainly focuses on Aion 2.1, but the developer mentions some information of the future versions, too. But first I'd like to share with you a new Aion 2.1 dungeon that the developer unveiled in the interview. The 6-man dungeon is different from any of the current dungeon, and it features in challenge mode that allows your party to battle the bosses one by one.

As for the future plan, Kim Hyoung-Jun tells that hopefully in Aion 2.5, the boss monsters could drop pets(the same appearance as the bosses) when you defeat them. Player houses and mounts are two important systems that they plan to release in next expansion. The location of those houses is undecided and mounts are only for travel. He also denies that rumor of new playable race in Aion 2.5/3.0 and says that even there's new playable race it will be in the very far future. Although there won't be new race to play, according to Kim Hyoung-Jun, there may be a chance that Asmodian and Elyos will work together in some quests.

Blizzard Announces World of Warcraft Price Cuts

Savings abound, just in time to Thanksgiving, Cataclysm and Christmas!

Expansions are great aren’t they? Deathwing is officially menacing the world and you’ve got lost in Stormwind three times this morning. All this makes it a great time to get your friends into World of Warcraft, especially with Thanksgiving, Cataclysm and, of course, Christmas coming up.

Blizzard has announced a load of savings if you know someone who is looking to start playing or upgrade from vanilla WoW. The classic game and The Burning Crusade expansion costs just $5/€5 each, while Wrath is just $10/€10, not a bad saving at all! You can also purchase the games at the discounted prices from the Blizzard Store as well.

FFXIV Deploys November Update

While many of us were gorging ourselves on turkey this Thanksgiving, Square Enix was hard at work deploying its November version update for Final Fantasy XIV. Players returning from a short holiday will notice quite a few changes. A rather lengthy post of update notes have been added to the FFXIV website with all the details about the latest changes, which will address a number of issues that have plagued the game since launch, prompting Square Enix to include an additional two months of free play time.

Included in the update are several gameplay changes and a reduction of points needed for ranks 11 through 31. Inventory space has been increased and new tutorial messages have been added to help players learn how things operate.

G-Star 2010: Deals Worth Nearly USD 200M Signed, 280,000 Visitors Attracted

According to the latest news, 4-day Gstar 2010 that was held between Nov. 18 and Nov. 21 has come to an end smoothly as expected. The exhibition attracted 316 game companies from 22 countries, like the world-famous companies including Sony, Microsoft and Blizzard, and the well-known South Korean companies including NCsoft, NHN, Nexon and NeowizGames. It can be said as the greatest Gstar in history.

In the four days, the B2C (Business-to-Consumer) zone of Gstar 2010 attracted the most visitors ever, i.e. 280,000 visitors, 40,000 more than the 240,000 visitors at Gstar 2009.

Meanwhile, over 3,550 negotiations were carried out in the B2B (Business-to-Business) zone, and 166 export contracts worth USD 198 million in total were signed. In comparison with last year's 53 deals worth USD 28 million, a huge progress was made this year.

Gstar is co-run by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism and the Busan city, and is supervised by Korea Creative Content Agency and the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency. Gstar 2010 stands for the sixth time that Gstar has made its appearance.

Dragon's Call Better Than Sex?

A recent contest held by Dragon's Call official shows some interesting views about the game and sex. Many players intended to compare the game - Dragon's Call with their girlfriend and wrote a funny joke about it. Meanwhile, another Dragon's Call Facebook event called "What's your in-game Tarot Card" ran out of 500 gift keys in one day. How did these happen?

Actually, game and sex are not two comparable topics, but it's pretty understandable for young adults to get everything related to sex during the adolescence. (Most young adults, especially male, have a sex impulse in every 30 minutes according to science research and personal experience.) A creative event theme would certainly call out their imagination and creativity in this aspect, just like this contest called "You know you've played too much Dragons Call when..." Players only need to scan the memories in their gaming life and complete this sentence to depict a real situation or a joke. So there we go, a player named Mammotherection wrote - You know you've played too much Dragons Call when...you say "One sec, Running Instances with my new apprentice" when your girlfriend is already naked in bed. (Note: Instance and Mentor-Apprentice are two major game features in Dragon's Call). If a smile appeared on your face, check out more creative entries underneath this News.

And no, no more entries for this contest now. It's closed. But Dragon's Call official started another enticing event, called "What's your in-game tarot card" with tons of free gift keys on the event page. The first 500 gift keys were sent out in 24 hours instantly after the event page went live on Facebook. Luckily a lot more keys have been loaded due to the pressure of player replies in the official forum