Section: News , PCs , Windows , Game-Companies , Developers , Publishers , Genres , Adventure Point-and-click adventure fans will be a bit dismayed to hear that the Windows detective adventure Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel has been delayed. Originally, the title was expected to squeak out before the end of 2008, but now Lighthouse Interactive has announced that Akella’s game won’t be out until early 2009. If Amazon is any indication, Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel will be out March 31, 2009 and cost $19.99. Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel is designed to be a classic point-and-click adventure game. You play a detective who happens upon the Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel. Suddenly, an avalanche traps everyone in the hotel, and then someone dies. As the detective, you have to explore the hotel and interview the 15 other guests and residents to determine what really happened. Depending on how you play, you’ll unlock one of five possible endings. Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel actually has quite a long history. The story originally stems from Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s 1970 Russian novel, ????? “? ????????? ??????????.” The story was also made into a movie called Hukkunud Alpinsti Hotell in 1979. Read [ Blue’s News ] Also Read [ Adventure Gamers ] Site [ Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel ] Product Page [ Amazon ] Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell . | Comment on this Article »

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Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel closed for remodeling until 2009

Section: News, Consoles, PS2, Xbox, PCs, Windows, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers, Genres, 3D, Action, FPS, Shooter

Who can say “no” to a free game? I certainly can’t do it, especially if the free game wasn’t all that bad to begin with. I’m referring to Area 51 which was released on the PS2, Xbox, and PC back in April 2005. Cruise on over to Strategy Informer to get in on all the alien splattering action.

The complete download will take up close to 2GB of space on your hard drive and features the voice talent of David Duchovny, Marilyn Manson and Powers Boothe. How’s that for a star-studded cast?

Area 51 is a typical first-person shooter that didn’t break any new ground when it was released. If you’ve played Resistance or any Halo game, you pretty much know exactly what to expect. You’ll have access to a variety of weapons that has two firing modes such as standard shooting, or extra damage shots that gobble up more ammunition. Just shoot at anything that doesn’t look human and you should be fine. You also get some nifty mutated powers as the game progresses.

Download [Strategy Informer] Read [Gamershell]

Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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Download Area 51 for free

Section: News, PCs, Windows, Game-Companies, Publishers, Genres, MMO, Role-Playing, Updates, Game-Content, Web-Sites, Official-Sites

Today is certainly the day for free-to-play, online game updates. The latest is an announcement from IGG concerning Zu Online‘s Fight in the Righteous Pagoda version update. A definite date hasn’t been set for the release of the latest version of the free-to-play, mmorpg, but IGG confirms that it will be released before the end of October, 2008.

IGG has created a special page for Zu Online – Fight in the Righteous Pagoda that discusses the version’s new features and also chronicles updates on the game update. The three major additions are the Justice Killer opponents in the Righteous Pagoda, which drop rare items and give lots of experience, outfits that will allow players to change their avatar’s gender and the ability to create level 6 Epic gear for their avatars.

Zu Online is a massive, but fairly accessible game. You’ll need a computer with Windows 98 or higher and a broadband connection to play, and enough time and space for the 973mb game client you’ll be downloading. You’ll also need an IGG account to actually play your game.

Read [SpawnPoint] Also Read [Games32] Site [Zu Online]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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Zu Online Fight in the Righteous Pagoda update details revealed

Section: News, PCs, Windows, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers, Genres, Flash, Online, Sim, Updates, Game-Content, Web-Sites, Official-Sites

WEBMMO’s free-to-play, browser based, online game Lords of Evil has just entered the open beta phase. This Flash based game allows players to interact with others and build up a massive empire. The only downside is that closed beta players’ empires’ data and statistics have been reset, so veterans are on the same level as newcomers. Veteran players do get to keep items earned during the closed beta, so I suppose it isn’t a total wash for them.

I was a bit disappointed with Lords of Evil. I was hoping for more of a standard, mmorpg. Instead, its a city/castle management simulation. You build an empire, try to accomplish tasks, become stronger than others and then take over. I was also disappointed in the character selection. I assumed once you picked a class (human/orc/demon), you’d be able to further customize your character. Instead, you retain the same static image.

If you like kingdom management/building simulations, then you may really enjoy Lords of Evil. Especially since its free and doesn’t require you to download anything. Other players may find it a bit tedious, since so much time is required to really build up an empire. If you’re interested, it only takes a minute to make an account and give it a try. Plus, it has a tutorial that guides you through the first few steps of the game.

Read [Gamers Daily News] Also Read [GamersHell.com] Site [Lords of Evil]

Full Story » | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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Browser-based Lords of Evil’s open beta begins

Section: News, PCs, Windows, Game-Companies, Publishers, Genres, MMO, Role-Playing, Updates, Game-Content, Web-Sites, Official-Sites

Today (October 7, 2008), gPotato launched the long awaited version 12 update of Flyff. Flyff, short for Fly For Fun, is a free-to-play, mmorpg known for being a classic fantasy rpg where flying is a major past-time and method of transportation. Version 12 of the game brings a slew of new additions and changes to the game, designed to improve play, balance out characters and provide more adventures for players.

Since there are so many changes, gPotato has launched a special Flyff mini-site that just focuses on version 12. It has eight different sections discussing the eight major changes, these being the new Lord System, the Forgotten Tower area, the new Ranga enemies, the new game tutorial, the changes to the pet system, gameplay changes, new quests that were added and a general section to address anything that doesn’t fall into the prior categories.

The system requirements for the game haven’t changed, despite the change in version. If you’ve never played Flyff before, but version 12 has you curious, be aware that you’ll need a Windows PC. Flyff only works on systems with Windows 98 (service pack 4), 2000 (service pack 4), ME, XP (service pack 2) and Vista, and it also needs DirectX 9.0. Its also a pretty sizable download – 696.9mb, so make sure you have plenty of time to spare.

Read [WarCry Network] Also Read [MMOsite] Site [Flyff] Site [Flyff Version 12 mini-site]

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Flyff version 12 soars

Section: Exclusives, Originals, Features, Opinions, Handhelds, DS, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers

My name is Jenni and I’m a Nintendo addict.

Hello Jenni.

I have a particular fondness for the Nintendo portable systems. Throughout the years, I’ve accumulated a collection that includes a Game Boy, a Game Boy Micro, a Game Boy Color, a Game Boy Advance (imported from Japan), a Game Boy Advance SP, a DS and a DS lite.

I’ve had no qualms about purchasing ‘tweaked’ versions of existing handhelds. Until now.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

The DSi crosses a line. Instead of being a familiar, handheld game system, it is trying to do it all. It resembles a PDA or a Windows Mobile Device more than a video game system. If people are buying a handheld console, they’re buying it to play games. Let’s keep things simple, and not drastically alter a system in its golden years.

Here are the reasons I am not getting a DSi.

I don’t want another camera.

My cell phone has it. If I need to take a picture, its simpler to just pull out my phone, snap it and move along, rather than prepare a DS. On the DS, it’s more of a gimmick than a necessity. There’s been talk of games using the camera function but this might not be anything to get too excited about. So far, Otona no DS Kao Training, a face muscle training game, and a Shisedo makeup game make use of a DS camera peripheral in Japan. If Square Enix decided to port the Japanese cell phone game Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis to the DSi, then maybe it would be worth the purchase but it seems like a silly and unnecessary built-in peripheral.

I don’t want an internet browser.

My laptop already does that. My PSP has an internet browser in it and I’ve used it once. Seriously. I went online once with my PSP to see how it would work. That’s it. The portable game browsers have too many limitations, when it comes to viewing pages, using email clients and accessing the web to make it worthwhile.

I do not want slightly bigger screens.

The DS Lite has 3-inch screens and the DSi will have 3.25 inch screens. There won’t be any difference in brightness or in the number of colors that can be displayed. So, basically, your games will just appear a quarter of an inch bigger. Yes, that quarter of an inch (about the size of a mosquito, in case you’re curious) is going to make a drastic difference when I want to play games.

I do not want to have to charge my DS every day.

The DSi has a shorter battery life than the DS lite. This is a crucial issue for me, since the battery life of my PSP keeps it captive in the house because I can’t trust it to keep a charge or last over five hours. Kotaku specifications post on the DSi shows the DS lite getting between two and six hours more battery life at each brightness level than the DSi. That’s disgraceful.

I do not want another MP3 player.

I have an iPod (and a phone and PSP) for that. My PSP has 50 of my favorite MP3s on it. Do you know how many times I’ve used it to listen to said mp3s? If you guessed once, you’d be right. The rest of the time, I use my iPod because it doesn’t kill the battery on it. I can understand some people possibly wanting one gadget to do everything, but I don’t want that from my handheld gaming system. I want everything to be focused on providing the best gaming presentation.

I do not want region locks.

CVG has just confirmed that the DSi and its specific games will be region locked. So you can’t play Japanese DSi games on your US DSi and vice versa. Regular DS games will be fine, but any DSi-specific games will be exclusive to that country’s handheld. It is unfair that a company should try to limit people’s playing and libraries by imposing region limitations.

I do want my GBA slot.

The elimination of the GBA slot will be a let down for many gamers. Especially for those who purchased Guitar Hero for the DS or imported a Japanese DS peripheral. So much for enjoying games like Guitar Hero: On Tour, Oshare Majo Love and Berry, Slide Adventure: Mag Kid or Arkanoid with the paddle controller. Plus, it means you have to have a separate unit for playing GBA games. Quite a hassle. Plus it halves your gaming collection. I know, the games could also be released via the upcoming DSware gaming store, or a Virtual Console for the DS could be implemented, but I don’t want to pay for a game I already own.

Nintendo shouldn’t have created the DSi. Instead, it should have saved these additions and implemented them in the next incarnation of the DS. Thanks, but no thanks.

My name is Jenni and I’ll be sticking with my DS Lite.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

Read [Kotaku] Also Read [Videogaming247] Also Read [CVG]

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DSi? Do not want.

Okay, I don’t get it at all.  It might be because I am a Mac user, or maybe it’s because I am not a fan of Jerry’s form of comedy.  This is Microsoft’s attempt at a Vista promotional ad, or… something.