Some video game names just aren't meant to be. Take Puck-Man, the original, susceptible-to-vandalism name for Pac-Man. Or take today's example, the iPhone game soon-to-be-formerly-known-as Pussy Flip.
The Othello-style game will be updated later this month, its creators at U.K. development studio Kwalee, adding achievements, a new mode, a new board and a new name.
"With it's new update Pussy Flip will be renamed as Flip the Cats, which will work better in global markets and better describes what the game is about."
Well, yeah, that name might raise a few less eyebrows.
When I saw this morning's name-change news, I wondered, on Twitter, if perhaps "pussy" didn't have all the same connotations in the U.K. that it does in the U.S. Or if it's only used in the U.K. for cat.
A few folks replied:
Not even the candy-craving critter Om Nom can resist the allure of steam-powered technology. Today's free Steam Box update for the Android and iOS versions of ZeptoLab's popular physics puzzler may not offer popular PC games via Valve's online service, but it does deliver 25 new levels featuring the awesome power of super-heated water.
Considering this week's big PC gaming news, one would almost think this was a calculated move on the part of ZeptoLab. That's silly, of course — no developer responsible for something as harmless and adorable as Om Nom could possibly be that conniving.
In the 25 new levels, players must tap the valves to change the steam cloud pressure using three different modes, and then use the steam to navigate candy into Om Nom's mouth.
For those of you yet to partake, Cut the Rope is available for iOS and Android for $.99. That includes the Steam Box. If only Valve's upcoming hardware could be so cheap.
GameStick, a prospective Android gaming platform that easily surpassed a $100,000 funding goal within days of being listed on Kickstarter, has had its fund drive pulled by Kickstarter in light of "an intellectual property dispute." That decision is per Kickstarter itself.
Engadget reported that a support email sent out by PlayJam, GameStick's management, said they have 30 days to resolve and re-list their Kickstarter project. "If we are not able to re-post it within 30 days, we will cancel the project," says the email. Kotaku has reached out to a GameStick representative for comment.
The project seeks to deliver a $79 console—basically a thumb drive plugged into a TV's HDMI port—and a controller, allowing the user to play Android mobile titles on the television.
Just this morning, PlayJam announced an agreement to support a fully analog bluetooth controller made by Green Throttle Games. The statement said that GameStick had raised more than $270,000 in funding so far. The Kickstarter campaign opened Jan. 1.
Update: Looks like it's back up. A GameStick representative says a statement is coming shortly. We'll update with it here.
Second Update: The project's Facebook page said: "This IP issue has NOTHING to do with our design or product! It's a small snag in one of our promo videos demonstrating a game that was exposed without clearance. An oversight and one that we're editing in the video now."
Third Update: A statement from GameStick confirms the above: "As we launched on Kickstarter, we made a small oversight in one of our promo videos hosted on our campaign wherein we overlooked a game image in the video that wasn't cleared for exposure. ... To give Kickstarter credit, they look out for the intellectual property of others. They were alerted to this game in our video and immediately hid our campaign from the public. Once we learned what the intellectual issue was, we quickly removed the video and within two short hours we are now back up and running."
GameStick pulled from Kickstarter due to IP dispute [Engadget]
Some games haunt you. Whether it's industrial slums of Midgar or the overcast island of Myst, there are those precious few worlds we look forward to inhabiting; realities that stick with us vividly while others fade from memory.
Kentucky Route Zero, Act I, is just such a game.
In the short video above, I talk about the recently released first act of the IGF finalist Kentucky Route Zero. Without giving too much away, I break down why it's a game that deserves your time, attention and support.
Hearing the announcer in a first-person shooter boom a proud "killing spree" is standard fare. But what happens when your killstreak is so damn high that the announcer himself can barely keep up with you?
TheWarpZone and an Anthony Burch (from Gearbox) look alike have that answer for you. And now I can't stop laughing.
If you've got a device with a MIcrosoft logo on it, you'll be able to play 17-Bit's action/strategy title, Skulls of the Shogun. The long-brewing game—playable on Xbox 360, PC, Surface and Windows Phone, complete with asynchronous turns—will be out at the end of the month. Come for the great music and fun character designs. Stay for the lightning-fast tactics battles.
Land is hard to come by in FarmVille 2, but if you've got a few extra acres to spare, you can now build the Yogurt Creamery to give your dairy animals much more important status on the farm. The Yogurt Creamery will take advantage of your (hopefully many) goats and cows, as you work to collect a series of 12 yogurts, just like you collect eggs from chickens in the Hen House for prizes.
Before you can ever use the Yogurt Creamery though, you'll need to build it. The first of two building stages see you collecting six Milk Cans, eight Stone Blocks and eight Wood Planks. The Milk Cans are earned by posting general requests to your news feed, while the other two sets of items are earned through individual requests to your neighbors. Finally, you'll need to add four friends to the building as workers to finish it off. These workers are earned through even more individual requests sent directly to friends.
After the Yogurt Creamery has been completed, you can use it only if you have four Adult Cows or Goats on your farm (not Prized Cows or Goats). Feeding these Adult animals results in Milk Droplets added to the Yogurt Creamery. Once the Creamery is full, you can then harvest it for Yogurt. Each time you harvest the Creamery, you'll always receive Plain Yogurt, the only exception being the very first harvest. This first time, you're guaranteed to receive a "Gourmet Yogurt," which comes in three rarities: Uncommon, Rare and Ultra Rare. As for the Plain Yogurt, it can be used as a crafting ingredient to make different Yogurts or overall recipes.
According to Zynga, the Gourmet Yogurts aren't used for crafting. Instead, they will go into a Yogurt Collection. Once you've collected 12 of them, you'll receive a Highland Cow animal that's only available via this event. At any time, you can skip these steps with Farm Bucks to earn the Highland Cow right away. But since this feature is heavily automated, there's no reason to not just let things run their course, so long as you're not too impatient.
This Yogurt Creamery is complex in writing but easier to understand in action. Now, how long before we can craft Greek yogurt?
Play FarmVille 2 on Zynga.com >
• Rancher's Delight Items
• Rancher's Delight Crafting Recipes Guide
• FarmVille 2 Stats
Have you already started filled your Yogurt Creamery? How long do you think it will take you to complete this collection and receive the Highland Cow? Sound off in the Games.com comments!
Republished with permission from:
Brandy Shaul is an editor at Games.com
Exciting news, everyone! David Fennoy, the voice actor behind the wonderful The Walking Dead's Lee, is going to answer your questions live, right here. Let him introduce this latest live Kotaku Q&A for you in the video above. (Which was stolen from yesterday's piece, so don't worry! When he says "tomorrow" it means today.)
Dave Fennoy is quickly stealing many hearts with his phenomenal voice acting skills, breathing life into most recently (and perhaps most notably) Lee, the character many of us took on in a zombie adventure last year, as well as Gabriel Tosh in StarCraft II, and many, many other video game characters.
We've highlighted Telltale's fabulous narrative game here for you quite a bit. And we've touched on the excellent voice acting. But not nearly enough. For instance, did you know that each episode of The Walking Dead required roughly 1,200 lines of recording? I don't know about you, but my voice would be hoarse by the end of that.
So if you've got questions, Dave Fennoy himself will be answering them for you as of 1PM Eastern, and he will be answering your questions for one hour. Have at it!
According to DerpWY, the owner of this smooth-looking custom Spartan Armor set, it takes at least two months of non-stop work and 5-700 bucks to build something as good-looking and detailed as his creation.
Should you decide to get into it, you might want to dig through this massive manual of the Halo Costuming Community.
Custom Spartan Armor Build [Imgur via Reddit]
Above, YouTube user OneHitKi11 describes an incident where, due to a random disconnection, he found himself swimming in the air after ejecting from a helicopter while playing DayZ.
DayZ Namalsk - What Happens When You Eject From a Chopper While in Desync [YouTube]