What Constitutes an Acceptable Release?

In an industry that ranges from giant companies like EA to tiny start-ups like Pigsels Media, there are many versions of the "rules" under which game companies relate to their customers. One of the most noteworthy aspects of any game company is how it handles customer service and support, particularly around the time when a given game launches or receives a significant update. The speed of an Internet-connected world means that happy and angry customers alike can voice their feelings instantly to the rest of the world, and potentially shape the buying decisions of millions of would-be players. In this environment, where big-ticket games promise epic thrills and millions (billions?) of dollars are spent on games of all prices and types, there is much debate about what constitutes an acceptable release.

Fit to Game: The Return

I looked through my old articles for a bit of inspiration. I saw the "Fit to Game" section, wherein I documented a whole year of exercise via video games. Granted, with my life emergencies, it wasn't the best year to do that, but I lost a good fifteen pounds in the process.

Then, I looked down. At that belt I was two notches in on. The partially used notch mocked me, used but then forgotten. At one point, I was all about having to get a new belt/pants the other direction, and here we are creeping back on.

Spirit Tales Coloring Book

Have you been playing the Spirit Tales beta this past week? I have and it's a really fun free-to-play MMORPG. If you haven't downloaded it yet go do it already. Maybe a free in-game item would persuade you? Read on to find out how to claim your item as well as get signed copies of artwork from the game.

Download the 7-page Spirit Tales coloring book, color it in, and send it to the Koramgame office where the artists of the game will sign it and send you an in-game item code. While most of the pages in the coloring book are detailed illustrations ready for you to color in there is an "easy mode" page that makes it easy for those that aren't confident in their artistic abilities.

Spec Ops: The Line Demo Impressions

Demos are a perfect way to get more people to buy a game. Specs Ops: The Line gives gamers a well rounded taste of the game and it looks to be the action title gamers will need come this summer.

Fighting Games Can Learn From Mortal Kombat

The latest Mortal Kombat was released last year. I was shocked by the game and based on my review, the game was nothing short of amazing! Mortal Kombat had really fallen on dark times before this semi-reboot. Other fighting games could learn from MK’s success.

Amazon PC Game Download Deal: Let's Get Serious

Who doesn’t enjoy an fps with lots of action? Amazon has a great deal on the Serious Sam games next week. Most of these PC Downloads are regularly anywhere from $10 or less to $50 or more. Amazon will have most of the games for less than $10.

Gamer's Long Lost Loves

You thought you met the love of your life: the perfect one to spend forever with. Then, another came along. Together, they made a complete package. Who could ask for more? Suddenly, you're having so much fun with your new love that you forget the old love: the ex, despite the flaws, had a special something...and you miss it.

No, I'm not talking about old girlfriends or boyfriends, I'm talking about your old games. Newer, better models keep coming out, but sometimes some awesome experiences get lost in the shallowness of the upgraded system. Today, I want to revisit the older games and talk about what made them special, and why that something special is missing in the newer versions.

What are You Playing - May 11th

Here is another entry in our series "What are You Playing?"  With no big releases this week, it seems everyone is headed to their backlog to fill their gaming time.  If you're looking for something to play we've got a variety of suggestions across all platforms.

EVGA Releases GeForce GTX 670 Lineup

The EVGA GeForce GTX 670’s are here. The lineup is the GTX 670 (2GB and 4GB), GTX 670 SC (2GB and 4GB), and GTX 670 FTW (2GB). If you’re one of those people who are waiting for the prices to drop for the GTX 680, the GTX 670 might be what you want if you don’t want to wait. It packs the same features as the GTX 680, but has slightly lower base and boost clocks, texture fill rate, and CUDA cores.

Yesterday's Gone Book Review

Over the past couple of years, and this should come as no surprise to anyone, books have skyrocketed in popularity. This sudden rise in popularity is no doubt due to the iPad, tablets and eReaders. People who enjoy reading books are realizing the convenience of a portable eReader as compared to lugging around large, bulky paperbacks and hardcover books. And it’s not just books that are becoming more popular. Novellas and serial fiction are also on the rise in popularity.

Not everyone has the time or the patience to read a several hundred page book. Many people are looking for shorter, hit-and-run style stories, that they can read in a quick amount of time. Readers, just like everyone else, are short on time. Having 45 minutes to spend leisurely reading a book every day is a luxury not everyone can afford. However, people still want to read, and having access to books written in bite-sized chunks would make many readers very happy.

Yesterday's Gone, written by Sean Platt and David Wright, is a perfect example of serial fiction done right for eReaders -- in particular -- the Amazon Kindle. Sean and David promote each book as episodes, as if you were watching Lost, The Walking Dead or other similar shows. The first two seasons of Yesterday’s Gone is already available. So, if you want to start reading the series, there is plenty of content available to you. Let me break it down as to why you might want to start reading Yesterday’s Gone.

City of Steam Alpha Test to Begin in July

The developers of City of Steam have announced that the alpha test will start sometime in July. City of Steam is a free to play browser based MMORPG set in the industrial age. There was a sneak peek a couple months back and it was a huge success. A lot of data about the game has been gathered thanks to the help of the players who participated. The information will help the developers polish the game enough for the alpha test.

Next Mass Effect 3 Bounty Weekend Announced: Operation Silencer

In the previous bounty weekend, Operation Exorcist, the goal was to kill one million Cerberus Phantoms. In the first challenge weekend, the goal was to kill one million Brutes. These goals have not only been reached by the community each time, but they have killed a lot more than enough. It looks like BioWare is making it more challenging this time with Operation Silencer and upping the amount to three million. Are you ready to do your part?

Our Consoles are Addicted to the Internet

Due to spyware, viruses, and whatever have you, my PC has lost internet connectivity. I have realized just how much our world is connected to the 'net these days. Without the internet, it's off to the library to pay bills, or drop a personal email at lunch or the end of the work day. Articles get submitted when I can. The biggest difference though has been with my gaming consoles. My PC is the only way my systems gets online. I have to hard-wire the computer to get a decent enough signal to play online.

Spirit Tales Open Beta Schedule

The Open Beta for Spirit Tales is nearly upon us and Koramgame has revealed the schedule along with information about an array of awesome in-game prizes and three lucky winners get an awesome out-of-game prize: a new iPad.

Mother's Day: Visit Calendar Man in Batman: Arkham City

Calendar Man is really cold this month. Given that the whole of Gotham's supervilliany pretty much knows why he does what he does, I wonder why Batman doesn't have a retort when Calendar man suggests he should come visit him after giving his mother a call for Mother's Day. (insert "MY PARENTS ARE DEAAAAAD!!" joke here, but the original pun is on Christmas, so the pic will have to wait until later.)

The Technology Behind Sorcery

So, (I really hate starting sentences with 'so' or 'well' but in this case I'll make an exception), I get up this morning and I get this rather cryptic email from GoozerNation Contributor Craig Will. Apparently, he uploaded some kind of video and he asked me to post it for him as he was heading out to work. As the dedicated and trusting Publisher that I am, I am going to publish said video sight unseen. You have been warned, here it is:

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