Phil Villarreal
Mom Whose Kid Went Crazy Buying Stuff In Facebook Games Sues Company
A bunch of free-to-play games aimed at kids are geared to trick ankle-biters into buying upgrades and charging them to parents who game makers hope don't check their credit card statements.
‘PixelJunk 4am’ Will Start Keeping You Up All Night Next Month
Sony's downloadable PixelJunk series is full of challenging throwbacks to old-school gaming, tacking new twists onto ancient concepts. Next up to bat is the rhythm-based, motion-control-compatible PixelJunk 4am, which will hit the PS3 May 15.
Next ‘Call of Duty’ Will Be Announced May 1
Even though Call of Duty games aren't selling as well as they did before, there's still no bigger name in the show. Any trickle of news about the next game -- even an announcement that there will be an announcement -- stirs the internet up into a frenzy.
‘Trials Evolution’ Was So Popular Its Leaderboards Became Bleederboards
Folks love themselves some motorcycle trickery. The Xbox Live Arcade download 'Trials Evolution' was too popular for its own good midweek. With more than 100,000 players active, the game's servers were overwhelmed and its leader boards were crashed...
‘Big Win Blackjack’ Mobile Game Review
We'd call blackjack games on the App Store a dime-a-dozen, but they're actually cheaper than that since most of them are free.
Valve Never Met With Apple To Discuss Game Console?
Either Valve overlord Gabe Newell is messing with us, or that reported meeting about between his company and Apple's CEO about Apple's new TV and video game console never happened. Newell insists its the latter, telling Seven Day Cooldown that it, like the rest of us, it only wishes that meeting took place...
How To Sex Up ‘Skyrim’ On Your PC
PC gaming snobs love to crow on and on about how much better their games look on their high-end rigs as opposed to the Xbox 360 or PS3. Normally we tolerate only so much backtalk before giving those guys atomic wedgies, but in the case of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, they do have a point...
‘Prey 2′ Doesn’t Have a Prayer Of Coming Out This Year
Bad news continues to bombard those hoping to play Prey 2 any time soon.
‘Monster Words’ Mobile Game Review
Many times when mobile game developers go wrong, it's because they're trying to replicate a home console experience on a device that fits in your pocket. There's something to be said for thinking small and nailing a simple concept with precision, and that's just what 'Monster Words' does.
Mac Gamers, Your 7-Year Wait For ‘Quake 4′ Is Over
If you're really into computer gaming, odds are you don't use a Mac. Big-budget game publishers have such a history of neglecting the platform that Mac gamers have gotten used to the abuse and gleefully accept any crumb tossed their way. The latest of these is the all-but-forgotten fragfest Quake 4.
‘EverQuest II’ Proves It Pays To Not Pay To Play
Things are going a heck of a lot better for trailblazing PC MMO 'Everquest II' after its publisher gave up on that silly idea of trying to get people to pay for a game that was released in 2004. Since December, when the game went fully free-to-play, its audience has not only grown, but people are actually spending more money on the game...
They’re Shaking, Not Stirring, Six Bond Movies Into One Game
The whole "Let's turn a James Bond movie into a game thing" rarely works out well. We can't even remember a decent one since GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 was the dorm game du jour back in 1997. Activision, though, isn't ready to banish the franchise the way it did Guitar Hero...
Kratos Will Get It Up In ‘God of War: Ascension’
Rest assured that whenever a game publisher insists the finale of a trilogy will close out the series, what's left unspoken is "only if it doesn't sell well." Not ready to kill off its old warhorse, Sony is prepping Kratos for another round of god-slaying and vixen-sexing in God of War: Ascension.
‘Darksiders II’ Needs a Couple Extra Months To Come To Light
If you were planning your summer vacation around the couple weeks you planned on locking yourself down along with Darksiders II, you'll want to pull up your calendar app to do some rearranging. Originally due out June 26, the game has been pushed back until sometime in August.
Author’s Lawsuit Claims Ubisoft Ripped Him Off With ‘Assassin’s Creed’
To most people, the concept behind the Assassin's Creed games seems unique. But the setup, in which corporations jack into ancestral memories to relive the past, sounded a bit too familiar to sci-fi author John L. Beiswenger, who says the franchise ripped off his 2003 novel, 'Link.'
‘Super Monday Night Combat’ Accidentally Releases Early
Usually when you find yourself playing a free version of the game that the developer doesn't want you to have, it's because you partook in some illegal downloading shenanigans. But that's not the case with the shooter Super Monday Night Combat.
‘Tekken Tag Tournament’ DLC Characters Will Be Free
In a conversation that seemed to be a pointed jab at friendly rival Capcom, a producer working on 'Tekken Tag Tournament' said any characters locked on the disc will be given away for free. Remember that Capcom infamously charged gamers for such content in 'Street Fighter X Tekken.'
‘Diablo III’ Beta’s Omega Is May 1
If you've been feasting on the free hacking, slashing and looting offered up by the 'Diablo III' beta, get ready to go on a diet. The game's free pre-release appetizer goes offline May 1, two weeks before it launches on PC.
Online betas are both brilliant marketing moves -- players get a taste of the new game, spread the word and cough up their pre-order cash -- and savvy technical maneuvers that
Xbox Live (Fool’s) Gold Is Free This Weekend
Good news for freeloaders: Xbox Live Gold, which costs $60 a year, will be free Thursday through Monday.
‘Midway Arcade’ Mobile Game Review
Imagine you could step into a time machine and revisit all your favorite moments. Pretty cool so far, right? Only this time machine doesn't let you walk around and enjoy yourself -- it keeps you locked inside the clunky device, forced to peek out through a muddy, distorted window. When you try to relive your glory days, you end up screwing them up and ruining all your memories.