Free EGM subscription returns!

Some people may still remember when I linked the free magazine subscripions of OCR awhile back, when now my subscription is UP so it’s time to renew!
http://www.zdmcirc.com/forms/EGM_073106_pax_form.html

http://www.zdmcirc.com/forms/EGM_070606_newegg_form.html

Both links are pretty much exactly the same. All you do is put in your address and wait a month or 2 for your free EGMs.

Sign up for whichever you’d like, or hell…try both. I did.

40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted

MMORPGs and game addiction.
If you’re suffering from dry eyes, headaches, back aches, erratic sleep
patterns, it may be more than just your average hangover: according to
Dr. Maressa Orzack, you could be suffering from video and computer game
addiction.
A clinical psychologist, Orzack is founder and coordinator of
Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass., and is
also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Computer
Addiction Services is one of the few outpatient clinics in the U.S.
that provides specific treatment for game addiction.

Source: slashdot

Within A Deep Forest

Nifflas, a prominent tracker who hangs out in the modarchive.com irc channel on espernet, is also a freeware game developer.  The project is now “complete.” and Nifflas is focusing his time on the sequel, most likely working on design while he awaits the release of Multimedia Fusion 2, as he has already created a great beta engine in MMF 1.5.

I stumbled upon WADF recently when chatting in the modarchive channel on esper, and after I started playing it, I decided to check out the credits, and, much to my surprise, Doragon was credited for music and sound effects (his music/sfx are in the locked minigames).  The game itself is simple in terms of story, but the atmosphere and the design are quite exceptional for being a freeware project.  That is, unless…

Please see http://withinadeepforest.ni2.se for more information.

Videogames Aim For Olympic Recognition

Chris Morris at CNN’s Game Over column reports that there is a push on for possible representation of pro gaming at the 2008 Olympics. From the article: “Television
networks are getting interested, too. NBC’s USA Network will air a
series of seven hour-long shows featuring Major League Gaming
tournaments this fall.

But financial and network interest don’t earn a sport an Olympic
berth; Just ask fans of golf, motorcycle racing and bowling – or, for
that matter, baseball, which (along with softball) will be dropped from
the Olympics in 2012. And the fact that video gaming is so technology
dependent could be particularly damaging.”

Source: slashdot

Free MMO with Final Fantasy Tactics Style Combat

So I was talking to one of the half-ops over in the WouldYouHitThis chat, when she directed me to this game called “Dofus.” The music and character illustrations on the website immediately drew me in. It totes itself as a “Tactical MMORPG”, but I didn’t really get to full effect of what that meant until I visited the Wikipedia page.
The article had this to say:

“Unlike other popular MMORPGs, Dofus is a 2-D, overhead RPG with turn-based combat. Characters are represented on the screen by customizable sprites. Combat is performed in the same manner as standard tactical RPGs, such as Final Fantasy Tactics. The user can choose from one of twelve classes, after which they can further customize by upgrading spells and characteristics. The game also features a “job” system, in which the character can pick up a trade skill to earn extra money on the side. What also makes the game unique is that it’s not a stand-alone application, instead being a Macromedia Flash program that can be played on any operating system with a Flash player.”

Final Fantasy Tactics style combat? I’m sold. You can also play Dofus for free for as long as you want, but there are certain stipulations:

*You’re stuck to 1 town, and a limited area to explore (roughly 5% of the entire map)
*You can only fight monsters ranging from levels 1-20
*You have a max level of 30
*You’re limited to what is generally n00b items
*You have a limited ammount of classes you can advance to (if any at all) *You can’t PvP

Actual subscriptions can be done in 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, or 1 year intervals via a wide array of payment methods and range from as much as $7 a month for 1 month to as little as $70 for an entire year.

I’m definitely gonna try this out either way, might even subscribe for a month or 2. Anyone else willing to join me, drop me a line!

CT: Crimson Echoes rom hack demo out

The ROM hack sequel to Chrono Trigger, “Crimson Echoes,” has been released in demo form again. Three chapters of the game are now playable (versus the simple prologue
of the last game), featuring new areas, scenes, events, characters and
story as the rich world of Crimson Echoes unfolds.
Nearly every era is
accessible, and a host of other surprises await. I’m really reluctant
to reveal much more, as you must experience it for yourself. At a
minimum, the demo will last 30-40 minutes; at maximum, if you talk
to all the NPCs and immerse yourself in the world of the game, it can
last up to 3 hours or more. Instructions for playing are in the
readme.Demo LinkFeedback Thread

Spore coming to ALL next-gen systems

When Nintendo initially announced that Wii would be the “system that never sleeps” and that it’d always be online, I made a comment over on GamesAreFun about how that would be perfect for Spore. I had no idea they’d actually RELEASE Spore on the Wii, though!

A recent interview with Will Wright about his upcoming PC game Spore
revealed his intentions of porting it to all next-generation systems as
well as cell phones. These conversions will be released some time after
the debut of the PC version.

Spore is set for a release date of first quarter of 2007.

For more on Spore, check out our E3 hands-on impressions here.

Source: Gamespy, GamesAreFun

Freeware Video Game Company Simulator & More

I happened to stumble upon a website recently that has freeware games.. and not only that, they’re GOOD! One that happened to catch my eye was a game called GameBiz! Where you control a small video game company during the big video game boom of the early 80’s.
You manage employees and contracts while deciding such
factors as the genre of a game, what platform it will be for, research into upcoming platforms, if it will have multiplayer, if to
beta-test it, etc. But while doing this you have to manage finances, the time to create the game and how well certain genres of a game are doing in the current market to maximize profit. While the game is being produced you can send it off to gaming magazines and have them rate it in the three major categories. Graphics, Music, and of course the all-important Gameplay. Hiring project managers, renting out sound/graphic studios, etc. will all help in improving your games. But just be sure to keep an eye on that cashflow!

This game and other greats can be found at Osiris Games.

Also in the works is a sequel to GameBiz!, appropriately named “GameBiz II”. Screenshots and news for it can be found here.

Home of the Underdogs is BACK

One of the biggest abandonware sites on the internet (Home of the Underdogs) is now back up online and fully functional once again. The site which was down from March 21st 2006 until April 23rd 2006 due to problems with re-registering the domain name now has a new domain for the time being. You can visit it here…

http://www.the-underdogs.info

Negotiations over the previous .org domain it once held are still underway.

Videogame Remake of 1986’s World Series Game 6

From slashdot:

Even non-baseball fans must concede that the re-creation
of the bottom half of the 10th inning of Game Six of the 1986 World
Series, using the original broadcast audio and a replay with Nintendo’s
RBI Baseball, took enormous dedication.

‘Something like the Keith Hernandez at-bat, where he flies out to center, took like 200 attempts,’
Creator Conor Lastowka told WSJ.com. Though it wasn’t quite as hard as
it looks: ‘Thanks to the emulator software, each time Mr. Hernandez’s
at-bat strayed from history’s script, Mr. Lastowka was able to replay
from the previous at-bat. Using a computer rather than an actual game
console like a PlayStation allowed Mr. Lastowka to save his progress
along the way. He built his precise Game-Six replica bit by bit — not
in one flawless, improbable take.’ Before he made the viral video,
Lastowka was jobless; three days after its release, he had a job with a
classic-films company.