Here are new screenshots from Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V, the hotly anticipated open-world game that still has no release date or even platform info.
In a stunning move for the series, it appears that you will be able to drive vehicles this time.
Transport [Rockstar]
The dead will rise and the vines will writhe come spring 2013, when Popcap Games finally gets around to releasing a sequel to the popular lawn defense game Plants. Vs. Zombies. It's about damn time.
Other than the fact that the sequel will bring new features, situations and settings to the missions of champions of plant life that played the hell out of the original game (hi), no further details were given regarding platform, pricing or even a proper name.
The official announcement was just stopping by to let you know that there is a sequel coming, possibly in response to folks like me that bitched about the lack of a true sequel earlier this month when Popcap announced a virtual zombie pet.
What does seem clear is that this game is a direct sequel, which could be interpreted to mean that it will feature the same sort of game play as the original Plants Vs. Zombies, making it a completely different animal than the rumored console action game based on the franchise.
And hey, the release did come with an official statement.
"Spring is crullest curlie ungood time, and plantz grow dull roots," noted an unidentified spokesperson. "So, we are meating you for brainz at yore house. No worry to skedule schedlue plan… we're freee anytime. We'll find you."
So, 3D, huh? Is that what you like? Leaves and papers and stuff hovering in front of you?
Ok, takes all kinds, we guess.
So, of course, there's only one gaming handheld for your kind and there you are, unboxing it as we speak. The young 3DS needs care and feeding. Here are 12 essential gaming experiences that will help it—and you—grow strong. Remember to rest those eyes!
Update 11/14/12:
We've added the newest Professor Layton to our Bests list for Nintendo's stereoscopic portable. Whether you've sporting the original 3DS or the newer, super-sized version, these games will make the most of the handheld.
Update 02/26/13: The call has sounded! And it says "Fire Emblem is pretty great!" Who are we to ignore the call? Of course, one game has to get the boot to make way for Intelligent Systems' fine RPG. So, wave goodbye to Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and say hello to an addictive new handheld experience.
Consider Cave Story the godfather to latter-day indie games like Braid or Super Meat Boy. Developer Daisuke Amaya (a.k.a Pixel) coded the whole thing in his spare time over the course of five years, with the end result being a poignant old-school platformer/shooter adventure centered an amnesiac character named ArthurQuote. Without spoiling the story, let's just say that this 3DS port lets you experience a great fusion of old-school aesthetics and some modern mechanics wrapped up in a whole bunch of cute.
A Good Match for: Collectors of re-mastered masterworks. Let's say you played Cave Story before in its 2004 form as a PC release. You should still take another look as the graphics have been polished, the soundtrack remastered and an option to play as supporting character Curly Brace has been added.
Not for Those Who Want: True old-school graphics. While the character and gameworld design still evince a love of the NES era, Cave Story 3D's shift to polygons creates some animation inconsistencies and visual disconnects that might have some pining away for the blocky sprites of old.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
Fire Emblem: Awakening revolves around two things: Complex tactical combat and sweet, sweet romance. It's a turn-based tactical role-playing game like Final Fantasy Tactics or Devil Survivor, but with a twist: As your combatants fight alongside one another, they can fall in love. If you keep them paired up, they'll boost one another's stats, and they can even get married and have kids together. Without all the love and marriage, Fire Emblem: Awakening would be an immaculately designed, rewarding, and difficult strategy game. With all the love and marriage, it becomes one of the best strategy games on any system, and certainly one of the best games on the 3DS.
A Good Match For: Strategy fans, people who like games where loss carries real consequences, romantics, micromanagers, matchmakers.
Not For Those Who Want: Fast-paced action, uncomplicated rules, unchallenging games, main characters who have feet.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Wal-Mart | Best Buy | GameStop
This entry in the Tom Clancy-licensed military games doubles down on the tactical decision making at the heart of the series.
A Good Match for: People who pine for the original X-Com. As in the mid-1990s classic, you're tasked with moving the Ghost soldiers through enemy terrain via turn-based combat. And also like X-Com, you'll be able to deploy special skills like cloaking to fire on bad guys without them knowing where to shoot back.
Not for Those Who Want: Actual 3DS feature implementation. The stereoscopic depth doesn't really add anything to Shadow Wars and the Ubisoft release doesn't take advantage of StreetPass or any of the other cool tricks built into the 3DS.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Wal-Mart | Best Buy | GameStop
We've called it first-person Tetris. We can also label it one of the best download-only games for the 3DS. (We can show you why!) Ketzal's Corridors is a puzzle game that has you twisting and turning a Tetris-piece-like shape as it sails forward toward a series of walls. Each wall contains holes that are barely big enough for the shape to pass through. The game is all about making the right twists to get the piece through each opening. In later levels, the pieces you control are more complex, the holes tricker. You can speed things up or fill extra openings with the same piece for more points. The more you play, the more complex the challenges. But Corridors remains one of those pure gameplay games. There's not much story or other garnish getting in the way. It's distinct from anything else out there on any handheld and highly recommended.
A Good Match for: 3DS owners who want a quick-fix game to play during commutes or while waiting in line. Also for those who want some comfortable straight-ahead 3D in their 3DS games.
Not for Those Who Want: Online multiplayer. It offers same-system and multi-system local multiplayer, but you won't be able to compare scores or compete online.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: The Nintendo eShop.
Kid Icarus Uprising isn't like most 3DS games. Really, it isn't like most video games. It's weird as hell, but it's enthusiastically weird, a hot mess of arcade shoot-em-up, rail-shooter and multiplayer smash-fest. It also offers absurd amount of oddball, off-the-beaten-path content, hidden menus, and unlockable weaponry. The screwball dialogue is a trip, the jokes will make you chuckle, and the voice-acting is great (if occasionally a bit too constant). It's one of the most distinctive and enjoyable games for the 3DS so far. (Read our review.)
A Good Match for: People who want a lot of content in a single game, fans of Sakurai's Super Smash Bros., people who want different sort of 3DS multiplayer experience.
Not for Those Who Want: Precise controls, a game that's easy to play on the bus, a serious, dramatic story, menus that don't take a full hour just to understand.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
Let's be honest: the gloss of 3D adds very little to this 13-year-old video game. But it's still Ocarina of Time, arguable the best entry in the best franchise of all of video games. Being able to play it in your hand thanks to this new remake makes picking it up a no-brainer.
A Good Match for: Zelda fans who don't mind a little evolution. Small tweaks change the way this Ocarina plays: you'll be able to use the gyroscope for first-person aiming and can equip items by tapping the touchscreen. These may not be canonical controls but they are helpful and different.
Not for Those Who Want: Visual Continuity. While the characters all benefit from graphical upgrades, only some of the environments got that new coat of paint. The result is that you'll have a shinier, sharper Link running through dull blocky environments, an awkward reminder of the distance between then and now.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Wal-Mart | Best Buy | GameStop
The Mario Kart formula wasn't broken so you can't say that Nintendo needed to fix it. What they did need to do, though, for the franchise's 3DS debut was find a way to add new elements that would tap into the device's key features. Hence, the addition of glider wings, aerial sections, submersible karts and underwater detours. You can steer usng the gyroscope while airborne and the will get the benefit of a nice 3D pop when you're soaring or submerged. Just goes to show that your wheels don't have to be in the ground for a Mario Kart to still be great.
A Good Match for: Bumper car addicts. The wild unpredictability of Mario Kart races are what make them so fun. Just like the theme park staple, there's only a loose connection to these vehicles and actual real-world automobiles. Until Toyota includes a forcefield as a standard option, that is.
Not for Those Who Want: Customization choice. While the ability to swap out bodies and add on details is a new one in MK7, new parts get doled out to you automatically.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Wal-Mart | Best Buy | GameStop
New Super Mario Bros. 2 is all about greed. Not on Nintendo's part, though it may seem that way. No, the sidescrolling sequel wants players to get as gold-crazy as they can, tasking them to grab up as many gold coins as they can. The mercenary focus introduces some clever twaeks to the tried-and-true SMB formula, like power-ups that turn enemies into gold so that they splatter into coins when you defeat them.
A Good Match for: Venture capitalists. Co-op play is a big part of NSMB2 but working together with someone also becomes a competitive experience, too. Players can power-drop their partner to become the session leader, which means that the screen progess according to your progress. And the mad scramble to grab the most coinage will sometimes make you forget you're supposed to be working together.
Not for Those Who Want: A radical re-invention. While it has the word "new" in the title, this Super Mario Bros game basically harbors the same structure as many titles in the iconic plumber's legacy.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
The latest entry in what has become one of gaming's best yearly franchises, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask starts the eponymous professor as he puzzles his way through a quaint, British version of Las Vegas. Miracle Mask shakes up the formula once or twice, playing around with its new three-dimensional skin to deliver some really interesting puzzles. Charming dialogue, a lovely story, and fantastic music don't hurt either. (Read our review.)
A Good Match For: People who like puzzles, and thinking, and British accents.
Not For Those Who Want: A fast-paced, action-packed adventure.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
Oh, boy! It's a game about pushing blocks. Aren't you glad we're here to help you recommend fresh, wonderful games? Trust us. This one is phenomenal. All you're doing is climbing elaborate piles of blocks—piles that may just happen to resemble iconic shapes and characters. The challenge is to push and pull the right blocks to create a staircase that gets you to the top. It's way tougher than it sounds.
A Good Match for: People who like both solving puzzles and making them, thanks to the game's elaborate level-creator. It's easy to snag new levels by taking photos of special QR codes that Pushmo proponents constantly publish on the Internet.
Not for Those Who Want: Triangles.
Purchase from: The Nintendo eShop
This is one of the best Resident Evils on any platform and an incredible showcase for the deep 3D effects of the 3DS. Play through this episodically-chopped up horror game that oscillates between old school survival horror missions and Rambo-style action sequences in what amounts to a satisfying 10-hour adventure that nestles into the elaborate Resident Evil timeline. (Read our review.)
A Good Match for: People who like to play games that are made to be played in the dark. The music, the creeping bad guys, the lack of ammo... you'll jump in surprise at least twice, guaranteed!
Not for Those Who Want: Modern-style big-action Resident Evil. They've got some of that in here, but the reason to play this is to enjoy the throwback to the more tense survival-horror style of the series' original games.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Wal-Mart | Best Buy | GameStop
Of course, it's a Super Mario game that validates the decision to base Nintendo's newest hardware around glasses-free stereoscopic 3D. Even with the gameplay as familiar as always, the mid-air blocks and moving hazards seem more dreamlike and surreal than ever, floating somewhere between the device and your brain.
A Good Match for: Folks who need a little bit of help. 3D Land riffs on the play-assisting Guide features that Nintendo's been putting in games for the last year or so with the Super Tanooki Suit, which makes you nigh-invulnerable
Not for Those Who Want: The rug to stay right where it is. If Super Mario 3D Land's rug is warm nostalgia, then it gets ripped out from you once you finish it the first time. A whole new level of challenge opens up for subsequent playthroughs and there's nothing warm about it.
Here's how it looks in action.
Purchase from: Amazon | Wal-Mart | Best Buy | GameStop
Note: The 3DS can also play the original DS's entire library of games. Check out our list of "Best Games on the DS" list for more game recommendations.
This list will be updated if and when we discover better games. We will only ever list 12 games, at the most.
Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680 may have swiped the performance crown away from AMD's Radeon HD 7970 earlier this year, but at $500, the initial Kepler offering was inaccessible to most system builders. That situation improved slightly in May with the GTX 670, a popular choice among enthusiasts for delivering an incredible value. In our testing, it provided GTX 680-like performance at a $100 discount.
Although nothing matched the GTX 670's price-to-performance ratio, the $400 entry fee remained a steep one. Gamers who wanted to spend less were left with the $230 HD 7850, the $300 HD 7870 or a card from Nvidia's last-gen lineup. Naturally, it would only be a matter of time before Nvidia tried to fill this gap with tons of hearsay about a GeForce GTX 660 Ti in the pipeline for a mid to late summer launch.
Well, we're here and the rumors proved true: Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 660 Ti has its crosshairs set on the HD 7870. Assuming it's priced competitively (more on this in a second), the GTX 660 Ti seems like it could put a real hurting on AMD's offering, as it features the same DNA as existing Kepler products and boasts the same number of CUDA cores and texture units as the GTX 670.
Nvidia has been pretty aggressive with Kepler's pricing and we'd look for the GTX 660 Ti to retail for about $300. Considering the fact that we expect it to deliver performance on par with the $350 HD 7950, this could spell disaster for AMD, prompting the outfit to administer yet another price cut. As fun as it is to speculate, let's move on and see where our evaluation board from Gigabyte stands...
There isn't an official Nvidia reference board for the GTX 660 Ti, leaving it up to manufacturing partners to come up with their own products. This means PCB designs and length could vary significantly between cards.
We were sent Gigabyte's take on the GTX 660 Ti (GV-N66TOC-2GD). The board's PCB measures 8.46" (21.5cm) long, which is quite compact on its own, but the cooler pushes that to 9.84" (25.0cm), slightly longer than the HD 7870 reference design. At this length, Gigabyte's GTX 660 Ti should easily fit in most ATX cases as it's still much shorter than higher-end cards such as the HD 7970.
The GTX 660 Ti's GPU ships with 1344 CUDA cores and 7 SMX units, 1 SMX unit and 192 CUDA cores less than the GTX 680 but the same number as the GTX 670. The TAU count also matches the GTX 670, while the ROPs have been reduced from 32 to 24.
The memory subsystem has changed from the GTX 680 and GTX 670, which have four 64-bit controllers for a 256-bit wide bus, to one 64-bit controller with a 192-bit bus. Combine that with 2048MB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1502MHz (6008MHz DDR) and you end up with a bandwidth of 144.2GB/s, which isn't bad, though it is 33% less than the GTX 670 and that's where the performance difference lies.
Nvidia's specification for the base clock frequency is 915MHz, while the average boost clock speed is 980MHz. Gigabyte has increased this to 1032MHz and 1111MHz, while the memory operates at the standard 6008MHz.
What really makes Gigabyte's iteration unique is its WindForce 2X solution. The cooler employs dual 75mm ultra quiet PWM fans connected to a custom shroud. Under these fans is a massive heatsink consisting of three main parts connected by 8mm copper heatpipes.
At the heart of this setup is the biggest block, which has a unique RAM heatsink to cool the GDDR5 modules and "Triangle Cool" technology that uses a series of fins and triangular clip modules to better direct airflow over the heatsink.
Gigabyte says its Triangle Cool technology can reduce temperatures by up to 10% over traditional designs, so we're keen to see just how cool this card runs.
To feed the card enough juice, Nvidia's specification calls for dual 6-pin PCI Express power connectors — identical to the HD 7870, 7850 and GTX 670. Nvidia also says those wishing to use a single GTX 660 Ti graphics card should have a 450 watt power supply or greater.
Naturally, the GTX 660 Ti supports SLI (3-way SLI in this case), so it has a pair of connectors. The only other ports are on the I/O panel where you'll find a pair of dual-link DVI-I connectors, a single HDMI 1.4a port, and a DisplayPort 1.2 socket.
Core i7 Test System Specs
The standard speed GTX 660 Ti scored 2755pts in 3Dmark 11 Pro Extreme, while Gigabyte's overclocked card was 5% faster reaching 2903pts, placing it very close to the GTX 670 and HD 7970 GHz Edition cards. What's more interesting is that the GTX 660 Ti was 33% faster than the HD 7870.
When testing Aliens vs. Predator at 1920x1200, the default GTX 660 Ti averaged 40fps (Gigabyte's solution was 2% quicker), which worked out to 5% slower than the HD 7870, 25% slower than the 7950, and 22% slower than the GTX 670.
In Metro 2033, the Gigabyte's GTX 660 Ti was 3% faster than the stock speed, which placed 7% ahead of the HD 7870 and 12% behind the HD 7950 while being only 10% slower than the pricier GTX 670. Also of note, the 660 Ti was faster than Nvidia's previous-generation single-GPU flagship card in this test.
Republished with permission from:
Steven Walton is a writer at TechSpot. TechSpot is a computer technology publication serving PC enthusiasts, gamers and IT pros since 1998.
Playing hooky is pretty common. I did it, and I'm sure some of you have too. Interestingly enough in China, one 84 year-old retired middle school principal has actually made a hobby out of catching students cutting class.
Retired junior high school teacher and principal Xu Dezheng has been visiting internet cafes over the last ten years looking to prevent young people in his hometown from becoming addicted to the internet. Xu's actions have led to a nationwide movement of seniors and retirees volunteering to monitor internet cafes. This is the first time that I've ever heard of such a program going on.
Believing that cutting school to spend time at internet cafes creates "internet addiction" Xu started visiting net cafes and tried to get students to return to class. Often, he would pay for the student's time at the cafe and tell them to back to school.
Xu, now the Internet and Game Room supervisor of Jiangsu province says that internet addiction is a scary problem. During his time monitoring the situation in his hometown, he's come across 300 plus cases of internet addicted youth. Xu says the youth have become so addicted to the internet that it has become a problem for their development as people.
Xu also marks down every internet cafe he visits that has truant students. It is illegal for internet cafes to allow minors, children under 18, into net cafes during school hours on school days. Internet cafes require photo id and the like to enter; however, there are ways that minors get in anyway.
Many seniors in his community have also taken up Xu's cause. Now in Xuzhou, there are old people monitoring the internet cafes for truant youth. Every month, there are two random sweeps across Xuzhou by groups of seniors visiting internet cafes trying to persuade kids to go back to school.
84岁退休教师义务巡查网吧 劝阻迷途少年300余人 [中国新闻网]
Andrea Petrachi is a sculptor. He doesn't use clay or marble. Instead, he creates with broken toys and discarded electronics, from electric shavers and audio connectors to old doll heads and figurine parts. His work is a mishmash of plastic and metal, joined in their common bond: they've been tossed aside for trash.
His work looks like the coolest mecha and robots Japanese anime never saw. With titles like "Otaku", the Japanese influence is undeniable—even if he doesn't always use Japanese electronics or toys—and it's no wonder his art is making its way through Japanese cyberspace.
For Petrachi, however, he thinks his work symbolizes our insatiable consumer appetite. From the vicious cycle of buying, breaking, and trashing, his art emerges.
Check out more of his work in the link below. Giuseppe Fogarizzu took all the wonderful photos in the above gallery.
Himatic [Andrea Petrachi via GIGAZINE]
![Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17wjju6liyviijpg/original.jpg "Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]")
Several gamers on BioWare's social forum are reporting that they recently took a survey for Dragon Age III. Above is the game's rumored logo supposedly revealed by a BioWare character artist's Linked In page. So, what about possible names?
According to the rumored survey, those taking the survey were supposed to select their favorite title from these choices:
• Dragon Age 3: The Breach
• Dragon Age 3: Exarch
• Dragon Age 3: Inquisition
• Dragon Age 3: Inquisitor
• Dragon Age 3: Apocrypha
The game's plot, as Strategy Informer points out, seems to center around a civil war in the French-style location of Orlais. All of Thedas continent is tossed into chaos, and magical forces have taken out the Chantry's holy council leadership. Here's more that was apparently in the survey:
A portal between the worlds unleashes hords [SIC] of demons in the land, civil wars rip apart nations and the corruption is limitless. Someone is behind the shadows, drawing the threads which destroy the world. Time has come for the Inquisition.
Take the Inquisitor's cloak and lead the only force able of bringing light into the darkness. Choose the direct method and gather your armies, send spies into the shadows or engage in a political war, make friends and use your connections indirectly: it is up to you how you lead the inquisition. But you'll have to take lead of it from the beginning. Make your player a rogue, warrior or mage and set up your crew from up to ten (!) complex companions to lead them against those who attack you by systematically spying on, revealing and destroying them.
Art that was allegedly included in the survey seems to resemble the concept art of Matt Rhodes—who does Dragon Age design work for EA.
As popular forum NeoGAF pointed out, Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw quipped on Twitter, "I think it's kind of grainy, but the text is nicely justified with good paragraph weighting. 2.5/5 for presentation."
Kotaku is following up with EA and will update this post should the company comment.
![Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/9/2012/08/bild2sd.jpg "Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]")
![Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/9/2012/08/bild3ed.jpg "Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]")
![Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/9/2012/08/bild4u.jpg "Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]")
![Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/post/9/2012/08/bild5df.jpg "Report: More Dragon Age III Info, Possible Names, and Concept Art Leak [Update]")
Update: The above logo, which was not included in the survey, seems to be fan-made.
DA3 Information & Speculation [BioWare Social]
Dragon Age 3 details leak through survey [Up: Lots of info/character art] [NeoGAF]
GamesCom 2012: More alleged Dragon Age 3 leaks spill out [Strategy Informer]
Artist's Linked In [OnlySP]
Earlier this month, we reported that the Chinese State Administration for Film, Radio and Television (SARFT) came out with six guidelines that could affect the future of Chinese television. Those six guidelines included a ban on the creation of TV dramas based on online video games. Now it appears that SARFT has come out and said the guidelines were false and that TV shows can be based on online games among other things. Oh.
Previously Beijing Evening News and various other Chinese media outlets revealed that SARFT, the administration that monitors film, radio and television in China, had released six guidelines with the potential to make Chinese television worse. The release of this information had led to an outcry by the Chinese public and the screen writers of China.
Now in a odd reversal of events, SARFT's own deputy director Wang Weiping has come out and said that the released guidelines were "false". Wang went so far as to say that it was impossible for the State administration to have even come out with the guidelines. What makes Wang's statement more confusing is that the point of SARFT is to regulate the TV, Radio, and Film industries in China.
The guidelines in question are listed in the previous Kotaku post on the subject.
So far there has been much clamor online in China about the media screwing up the coverage. In fact, people are still unhappy with SARFT mostly because of the 20 foreign film limit.
Right now the only thing that can be done is to wait and see whether or not there will be any changes to Chinese television. If there are going to be any government regulations to the country's TV, there needs to be one to make it less sucky.
游戏可以改编电视剧！广电总局限令子虚乌有 [Tencent]
Have you seen the trick that Sleeping Dogs protagonist Wei Shen can pull off? Watch and marvel.
Wei the MagiShen Debuts His Newest Trick! [YouTube Thanks, Praxic!]
Last week, we posted some pictures that appeared on WIRED of Chinese cops burning and destroying gambling machines that look like arcade cabinets. Gambling is illegal in China, and it is constantly being cracked down on. Video game arcades as well as internet cafes are often covers for gambling.
Just this weekend, 30-plus people were detained in an arcade in Hubei province. The detained were partaking of illegal video gambling inside the arcade. The arcade was shut down and destroyed. Also last week, there was the story of a 17-year-old girl ran away from home because she was assaulted after during one of her father's gambling induce rages.
On top of all of that, God of Gamblers series that show and often glorify the role that organized crime has in gambling.
Often times gaming arcades are fronts for illegal gambling. The bells and whistles of real video games cover the sights and sounds of gambling machines. So every now and again, the Chinese government cracks down on arcades across the country looking for gambling machines, and when they find them, they destroy them.
