Angry Birds Now Available for Microsoft Windows

Previously Angry Birds was only available on the iOS, Android, Palm, Symbian^3 & N900 platforms.  Now even Microsoft Windows users can have fun wasting time playing this #1 game!

ANGRY BIRDS DESCRIPTION: The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the green pigs who stole the Birds’ eggs. Use the unique destructive powers of the Angry Birds to lay waste to the pigs’ fortifications. Angry Birds features hours and hours of challenging physics-based demolition gameplay, with lots of replay value. Each level requires a mixture of logic, skill, and brute force to crush the enemy. Features 195 levels and lots and lots of Angry Birds! Protect wildlife and save Angry Birds! “Lemme tell ya, these ain’t no ordinary finches we’re talkin’ about. These here are the Angry Birds, the ones that’s gonna kick you in the ‘nads. And they’re the ones on your side. They must be from Galapadapados, or sumptin’.” – Col. Angus, Bird Expert.

• Download Angry Birds for Windows

Microsoft Brings Games on Demand to the Web With New PC Game Store

Microsoft announced the Games for Windows Marketplace, a new online PC games store that combines the convenience of the Web with the power of Games on Demand online distribution. Launching Nov. 15, the Games for Windows Marketplace will offer PC gamers a robust lineup of games they love, easier navigation and purchase, and recurring specials such as Deal of the Week.

“With Games for Windows Marketplace, we set out to create a digital store built for PC gamers end-to-end,” said Kevin Unangst, senior global director, PC and Mobile Gaming, at Microsoft. “And by integrating with our existing Xbox LIVE and Windows Live services, we’ve made it easier than ever for millions of gamers to see for themselves how easy buying PC games can be.”

Source: www.microsoft.com

GameStop: Black Ops pre-orders surpass Modern Warfare 2

As reported by IGN, data from video game retailer GameStop indicates that pre-orders for Treyarch's upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops could be poised to top its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

"GameStop is tracking to all-time, record reservations on Call of Duty: Black Ops," says GameStop's Merchandising SVP Bob McKenzie, who didn't disclose the number of preorders. "We are ahead of where we were with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year, which previously set the industry standard."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 set the pre-order bar, selling nearly 3 million copies before it was released in November 2009 - in North America alone. The title then went on to become one of the most popular games of all time, selling over 20 million copies worldwide.

Call of Duty: Black Ops won't hit store shelves until November 9, but the reboot for its rival first-person shooter series, Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor, ships next week.

GameStop also announced a "Surprize Attack" sweepstakes and promotional campaign for pre-order customers. Gamers who reserve the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC title can enter their receipt code on the official contest website and be eligible to win over one million Black Ops-inspired prizes through November 9.

Call of Duty: Black Ops features 3D support

According to Kotaku, Activision has announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops will feature support for stereoscopic 3D visuals on 3D-ready HDTVs and Nvidia 3D Vision-ready PCs that use active shutter 3D glasses.

The first-person shooter's Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC editions will offer both 3D and non-3D modes when the game launches in November. Call of Duty: Black Ops for Wii, and other platforms will not include support for stereoscopic 3D.

Developer Treyarch says it began working on stereoscopic 3D support as a research and development project but eventually felt it would be appropriate to the series. Players will be able to see the 3D effects while aiming with their weapons' sights, flying in helicopters, rappelling down mountains, and in other activities.

Call of Duty: Black Ops' 3D setting is presented as a menu option that players can choose to enable or disable at any time whether they're in the single-playing campaign, multiplayer matches, or the recently confirmed Zombie mode.
"Development of stereoscopic 3D began as an R&D project, but once we saw what the technology brought to the Call of Duty experience, what a great fit and how immersive it was, we knew that we had to develop it for Black Ops," says Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is set to hit store shelves on November 9 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and PC.

OnLive online gaming service drops subscription fee

OnLive, the online gaming service, has decided that they will not charge users a monthly subscription fee to use the service. When the service went live, they were letting users sign up and use the service for free for the first year, after which they were going to charge a monthly fee of $4.95 plus the cost of the game you wanted to play.

CEO and Founder Steve Perlman said on the company's official blog,

"Although we wish we could have confirmed no monthly fee from the get-go, pioneering a major new video game paradigm is hard: we had to first grow to a large base of regular users before we could understand usage patterns and operating costs. Now that we’ve reached that stage, we can confidently say a monthly fee is not needed, which deserves a double WOOT! WOOT!"

When you sign up for the service, you have free access to play game demos, spectate other users and view 'Brag Clips' (videos created by users). When you demo a game, you are able to play it free for 30 minutes. after that you have the option to buy a PlayPass. A PlayPass can be bought as a rental that gives you access to the game for three or five days or you can buy a full pass which gives you unlimited access to the game for as long as it stays on OnLive.

OnLive has been hard at work to make their service more accessible. They recently added wireless support for the service and they say that a console version is in production.

World Cyber Games launched

The Olympics of the video game world launched Thursday with players from 58 countries marching through the Los Angeles Convention Center waving their nations' flags.

Over the next four days, more than 400 gamers will compete at the 10th annual World Cyber Games Grand Final for more than $US250,000 ($NZ340,000) in prize money, as well as new gear.

"We're quite confident," said Johan "face" Klasson, who will be representing Sweden while playing the first-person shooter "Counter-Strike" with his team. "I think the strongest opponents this year will be the Ukrainian team, also known as Navi. They've been playing really well in tournaments all over the world. Those are the ones we have to look out for."

Players who previously qualified at regional competitions held across the globe are here to face off in such games as "Guitar Hero 5," "Forza Motorsport 3," "FIFA 10," "Tekken 6" and "Warcraft III." The tournament-style matchups are occurring along rows of monitors erected in a giant circular pattern inside a dimly lit convention hall.

After the World Cyber Games launched in Seoul in 2001, the Grand Final has been held over the past 10 years in such cities as Singapore; San Francisco; Seattle; Monza, Italy; and Cologne, Germany. Last year, organizers said more than 82,000 spectators attended the event at the Century City New Convention and Exposition Center in Chengdu, China.

"We wanted to come back to America to celebrate our 10th anniversary because it's the most important market in terms of entertainment," said Hyoung Seok Kim, president of the World Cyber Games. "It's the center of entertainment. Many publishers and developers are located here, and there's a good infrastructure. We don't have to worry about translation."

Kim said he expects 40,000 attendees at this year's Grand Final. While the World Cyber Games have grown over the last decade, competitive gaming still lacks the same cultural punch in the United States as it does in Asia, where players like Lee "The God of Destruction" Jae-Dong are chased by squealing female fans and earn enormous salaries.

"I think it will happen soon but not now," Kim said. "There's still a big cultural difference with the Western audience. American people are enjoying playing games now more than ever, but their level of competition is not like that of Chinese or Korean players. It's still more a form of entertainment for friends and family than it is a competition."

Despite the trappings of traditional sports - players in uniforms, referees in stripes, corporate branding in every place imaginable - competitive gaming, or e-sports as some call it, hasn't upgraded from niche to mainstream, though the World Cyber Games and main sponsor Samsung Electronics Co. hope to change that mindset with "WCG Ultimate Gamer."

The second season finale of the Syfy reality TV contest, which features players battling in real and virtual challenges, will be filmed Friday at the Grand Final's main stage with the winner taking home $100,000. Besides cheering on gamers, attendees will also be able to test Kinect, the upcoming gesture-recognition system for Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Microsoft Flight

Microsoft’s Flight Simulator dominated the genre for nearly 30 years and in its final versions had made huge strides in using the ability of modern day computers and graphics cards to make the experience as real as it could be.  I mean if the program is used during flight instruction to teach instrument flying then it is obviously hitting the mark.

Three years ago Microsoft Flight Simulator X was on my laptop during my final deployment in the Navy of 220 days.  I flew around the country, virtually of course, throughout that deployment and it was a great way to pass idle time.

I am really psyched about this version and although I made the move to console gaming a couple of years ago, I will certainly have this on my PC.

I knew I kept that flying joystick for a reason.

Check out the first two teaser videos at the Microsoft Flight Homepage.

Starcraft 2 is the fastest-selling strategy game of all time

Blizzard has released the sales figures for the massive RTS sequel Starcraft 2. The game has fast become the best selling PC game of the year, as well as being the fastest-selling strategy game of all time. The game sold more than 1 million copies on the first day. Launching simultaneously in more than 8,000 stores worldwide, it is clear that this is the biggest game for PC this year. The CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime, had this to say about the sales figures.

"We launched StarCraft II in 11 different languages and on 5 different continents because we wanted to make sure as many players as possible were able to log on and play on day one," said Mike. "We're pleased that so many people around the world have already picked up a copy of the game,and we look forward to welcoming even more players to Battle.net in the weeks and months ahead."

According to Joystiq, 1.2 million Starcraft 2 accounts have been registered to Battle.net, this is not an indicator of sales, but rather an idea of how many online players there are playing the game currently. SC2 has approximately 620 thousand registered users in the US alone, not surprising considering gaming retailer GameStop assisted with the launch by holding midnight sales around the country.

"GameStop had more than 3,000 stores open at midnight, so our StarCraft players got a jump start on playing the epic experience Blizzard consistently delivers with its games," said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop. "StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is officially GameStop's fastest-selling PC game since Blizzard launched World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King in 2008."

Xfire purchased by Titan Gaming, developers leaving

Xfire, a popular game-oriented messenger platform, has come under new ownership. According to official announcements today, Titan Gaming has purchased the service for an undisclosed sum, and most of the existing team is leaving. A developer bid his farewells in a message on the Xfire site. "We've enjoyed our time and I personally am sad that I was only able to do 127 releases. Good bye and game on!"

Launched in the early 2000s, Xfire was purchased by Viacom in 2006 for $102 million. Since then, it has quadrupled in users, with 16.7 million registered members today. In addition to instant messaging, the service provides a broad range of features, including game tracking, live broadcasts, an in-game browser, and a clan system.

Despite the shift in management, Titan Gaming says Xfire will continue to operate uninterrupted and vows to use the platform "to help gaming companies better engage and monetize their games." Although there are said to be over 16 million users, it's not clear how many are active. Plenty of members have abandoned the platform in favor of Steam and others. Do you still hop on Xfire regularly?

President Obama to be featured in Madden 2011

This year’s Madden game is set to be a major improvement over its predecessors. One major aspect of the game that is getting an overhaul is the Super Bowl. Previous Madden games made the Super Bowl feel like simply another game. With Madden 2011, the Super Bowl will be seen in most if not all of its glory.

IGN compared the Super Bowl in prior iterations of Madden to spending a Saturday afternoon spent on the couch with a bag of potato chips. It was very much a non-event compared to what we would have seen on TV during the actual Super Bowl. Thankfully, the developers have taken notice and Madden 2011’s Super Bowl will likely live up to its name.

The event begins with the final whistle blow as the confetti begins to fall. The team comes up to center stage and accepts the Lombardi trophy. Along the way, the announcers comment on each step of the event and add a great sense of immersion to the experience.

The celebration culminates towards a finale that showcases the team meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House. The fact that President Obama is seen in the game marks a continuation of Presidential appearances in sports video games. IGN posted a video of the celebration that you can view here.

According to N4G, “Following the footsteps of Bill Clinton being included in NBA Jam, Barack Obama, the President of USA is included in Madden NFL 11.” It is very clear that the developers intend to make Madden 2011’s Super Bowl and other gameplay a memorable experience.

Download FIFA 10 PC Game [Free Demo]

FIFA 2010 World Cup is already in full action since its start on June 11. If you’re a FIFA fan, there you can get some exciting and real flavour of FIFA by playing the Demo of latest FIFA 10 Soccer game on your PC, which is available for Free.

Features:

• 360° Dribbling – The first-ever true 360° dribbling system in a football game provides finer dribbling control, enabling players to find spaces between defenders that previously were not possible.
• Skilled Dribbling – All-new animation warping technology provides unprecedented control. Skilled players now have the ability to face a defender and use highly-responsive lateral dribbling to skip past him.
• Freedom in Physical Play – Wider dribble touches and new collision sharing creates a varied, less predictable, and extended fight for possession between the dribbler and a defender.
• Player Urgency – Improved urgency AI logic, with over 50 new movement cycles, delivers more responsive positioning so your players stay focused on the ball and move at a speed appropriate to the action.
• Improved Trapping Intelligence – Players now have a better awareness of where the easiest, most natural trapping position is so they can get the ball on the ground and under control easier and earlier.
• Advanced Positioning – Defenders multi-task and play the pitch more intelligently by covering dangerous spaces left by out-of-position teammates. In attack, players analyze space more effectively, curve their runs to stay onside, create passing lanes and vary attacking options.
• More Accurate Passing – Players better analyze space resulting in pinpoint passes that give their receivers more options and time to outrun defensive pressure.
• Authentic Shooting – Refinements to the shooting system and modifications of the ball physics create a wider, more realistic variety of shots that enhance the exhilaration of scoring.
• Varied Defending Options – Slide Tackle targeting has been enhanced so skilled players have more reach and avoid tackling through the dribbler.
• Refined Goalkeeper Intelligence – Numerous improvements mean that goalkeepers now have more urgency and better perception of where to intercept loose balls, resulting in a more responsive and powerful rushing system.
• Manager Mode Authenticity – More than 50 major improvements were designed to create an authentic experience to mimic the real-world game.
• Continuous Gameplay Maintain the atmosphere, pace, and intensity of a match with quick free kicks and referee carding.
• New Practice Arena Work on individual skills in a fully featured practice mode before stepping on the pitch.

Download FIFA 10 DEMO*  (2.2 GB)    [Webpage]

* The Demo version may not have all the features of the game.

ESPN brings HD sports to Xbox LIVE Gold members, for free

In a move that could push many over the edge on canceling their cable, Microsoft announced at their E3 media briefing that they are partnering with ESPN to bring live sports to all Gold subscribers. This joins Microsoft’s already hearty stable of non-gaming services including Netflix, Last.fm and others.

This “exclusive partnership” will allow all Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers to stream content including NBA, MLB, soccer, college basketball, college football and more at no extra cost. Microsoft and ESPN also mention that many of the 3,500 games available within the first year will be available in HD. While it is hard to complain about an announcement like this, the NFL and NHL are notably absent.

In addition to simply streaming games, the service will also provide a contextual interactive layer that allows viewers to vote on teams, answer trivia questions and more. If all of this isn’t enough, the service will support controller-free navigation though Kinect.

Microsoft has not announced details regarding the availability of this new content, but with announcements like this, they continue to increase the value proposition of the $50/year Live service.

Free Cooking Games

Want to play free cooking games for Mac or PC? Visit Download Free Computer Games for the best reviews, coupons, deals and FULL, FREE downloadable games!

FIFA Online Beta Is Now Open

EA Sports has now opened up their previously private beta of FIFA Online to everyone.  This is a version of FIFA which you play completely online in your web browser.

It is setup very similar to how Tiger Woods Online works – which is a game that plays surprisingly well in the browser.

Are you Ready For Some…Soccer?

FIFA Online Open Beta Registration Page

InstantAction launches browser-based gaming platform

InstantAction has launched its new distribution platform that allows games to be embedded directly into web pages, similar to flash video. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is the first game made available using this technology. InstantAction’s use of a browser-side thin-client and progressive streaming technologies removes the need for long initial download times.

With the ability to have a game playable anywhere on the web, this could prove to be a way for publishers to get their games out to more people. With such a low barrier to entry, games using a service like this can ‘go viral,’ much like videos do today.

The InstantAction platform is flexible and can allow for subscription, micro-transaction, and pay-as-you-go payment models. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition allows anyone to play for 20 minutes with an option to buy the game for $9.99.

InstantAction CEO, Louis Castle said, "Gamers not only get the try-before-you buy and rent-to-own benefits; they can easily embed full games into their social networks, accessing their friends' lists and adding social features to games where they may not have existed. InstantAction not only changes how games are distributed and discovered, but how they are enjoyed."

InstantAction is not alone with this type of approach to instantly available gaming, but it is among the first to be released to the public. They will soon see some competition with Gaikai rumored to have a big announcement at E3, and OnLive coming on June 17th.

Blizzard kicked over 320,000 hackers from Battle.net

Blizzard posted an official annoucement on their forums that they have kicked over 320,000 accounts from Battle.net they found were violating the terms of service.

We’ve recently banned over 320,000 Warcraft III and Diablo II accounts that were found to be violating the Battle.net Terms of Use. If this is a first offense, the CD key associated with the banned account will be suspended for 30 days, while repeat offenders will see their keys banned permanently. All account ban decisions are final.
We would like all players to remember that abuse of unintended mechanics and/or use of third party programs is a violation of the agreement made when signing on to Battle.net, and can subject your account to disciplinary action up to and including a permanent ban of its access to the service.
Many account closures come as the direct result of tips emailed to our hacks team by legitimate Battle.net users.

This is not the first time Blizzard has done something like this. In November of 2008 they banned over 350,000 accounts from Battle.net stating, "Cheating ruins the game experience for legitimate players, and we will not tolerate it."

Halo: Reach Limited and Legendary Editions revealed

We now know that Halo: Reach is days away from being feature complete, and with it being Bungie’s last hurrah in their hit franchise in the foreseeable future, they are going all-out with the Legendary Edition of the game.

Starting at the lower end, Bungie will offer a Limited Edition for $79.99 that will ship in special ONI “Black Box” packaging. It will include an exclusive in-game Elite armor set, and an “artifact bag” that will contain “documents and effects that unravel long held secrets from the Halo universe."

The Legendary Edition is where it is clear just how big of a send-off this title is meant to be. Coming in at an incredible $149.99, it will include all of the contents of the Limited Edition, a flaming Spartan helmet for use in multiplayer, and a hand-painted, numbered 10” statue of the game’s protagonists, Noble Team, that weighs-in at 10 pounds.

Publishers have continued to incentivize purchases of premium priced “limited edition” releases, and this looks to be one of the most ambitious attempts yet. While Bungie promises that the Legendary Edition will be produced in “very limited quantities,” remember, Halo 3’s Legendary Edition that included a cat-sized Master Chief helmet wasn’t so limited and could be found for the same price as the stand-alone game some months after release.

Microsoft finally allows Mechwarrior 4 to be freely released

After a year of squabbling over licensing rights, Mechwarrior 4 will finally be available as a free download. If you haven't been following the drama, here's what's been going on.

Smith & Tinker, an offshoot of FASA, the former development house responsible for Mechwarrior 4, announced that in honor of Battletech's 25th anniversary (Battletech is the official name of the Mechwarrior franchise), Mechwarrior 4 would be released for free. It was also in the wake of an announcement that the series would be getting a reboot. They gave MekTek Studios, the team that has basically supported the community for the decade since MW4's release, rights to distribute it. They released an SDK called "MekPak 3.1" that allowed players and developers to weed out any stray bugs before its re-release. All systems were go until Microsoft showed up and crashed the party. It turns out they needed sign-off from Microsoft, who owns part of the Battletech franchise, to push this through. Needless to say, Microsoft wasn't very quick about this, and the project seemed to have disappeared off the radar.

Nevertheless, MekTek proundly announced this week that the deal did indeed go through and that the free release of Mechwarrior 4 is "imminent." No date yet, but I'll take imminent over "whenever Microsoft decides to let us have it."

From the MekTek website:

"After nearly a year since the announcement came, MekTek Studios is pleased to announce, that Microsoft Legal has given the all clear for the free release of Mechwarrior4. This hallmark movement by Microsoft Games couldn't come at a better time, as the Mechwarrior community is attempting a rebirth, amidst an announcement of a Mechwarrior Reboot. Thank you Microsoft."

Gears of War 3 announced, coming April 2011

Epic Games' Cliffy B has unveiled a Gears Of War 3 trailer on U.S. chat show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this week.

The "worst kept secret" in the games industry has seen subject to several leaks recently but now it's official and coming on April 5, 2011 in North America and Asia, April 7 in Japan and April 8 in Europe and the rest of the world. According to Now Gamer, the trailer also revealed a third new enemy named the Lambent. The new enemy will fight both human and locust. Cliffy B also confirmed the new title will be based on a time after Gears 2 and will feature new weapons as well as female soldiers.

We expect Gears 3 to feature heavily at this years E3 which is scheduled for June. For now enjoy the trailer below.

 

Michael Jackson Returns to Videogames

Could Sony be preparing Michael Jackson-themed videogames for the PlayStation 3 and the PSP in the near future? Rob Stringer, who is the chairman of the Columbia Epic division of Sony, was quoted as saying that “There may be theater. There may be films and movies. There may be computer games.”

The remark comes after Sony entered a huge deal with the Michael Jackson Estate, worth more than 200 million dollars, which allows the company to use both released and unreleased material created by the pop star in a variety of medium, including, apparently, videogames.

Of course, the big possibility is that Michael Jackson's music, both the already known albums and the tracks not released at the moment, will be featured in a music game, something likes Sony's own SingStar. A special edition of the title might be dedicated to the pop star and downloadable content could be delivered through the PlayStation Network.

 

Sony also plans to launch the PlayStation Move motion tracking system during the fall and if its capabilities are integrated with SingStar, then players could actually complete complex performances similar to Michael Jackson’s, dancing at the same time as singing his hits.

The famous artist already has a videogame to his name. During 1989 and 1990, SEGA put out a number of versions of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, a game based upon the movie of the same name in which the rising pop star (at that time) was trying out his acting fortune.

The plot sees Michael on a quest to save a group of children who have been abducted by Mr. Big. The idea behind the videogame, which arrived both on arcade machines and on home consoles and the PC, was to enact several music videos created for the singer in the form of videogame levels with the music playing in the background.