Frontierville is great!

Filed in archive Industry New , New Games on July 20, 2010

Social gaming network Zynga has done it again! Following games like Mafia Wars and Farmville, Zynga recently launched Frontierville. And this very simple gaming idea has once more turned into gold.

Frontierville has climbed way up to the top of the charts, surpassing other Zynga hits with more than 20 million players. The latest Zynga creation, which lets users play go back into the Old West - follows only FarmVille and Zynga Poker as the company's most played games.

But perhaps what is more impressive are some of the game's more ridiculous stats: it has over 2 million players who have gotten married, over 1 million who have had a child, and - most importantly - more than 3.6 million players who have scared away a bear. Overall, bears have been chased off of frontiers by more than 128 million times.

You really should try this hit from Zynga. Have fun chasing off Yogi!

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New release 27th July video game: Need for Speed World

Filed in archive New Games on July 19, 2010

© Carlos Varela
The soon to be released video game, Need For Speed World is the upcoming installment from the Need For Speed Franchise. After much success with the Need For Speed games, the creators have decided to develop another installment, which many have been waiting in anticipation for.

Need For Speed World will cover a number of new locations, exciting police chases and illegal racing. The game also has a feature where players can play online with multiple players using co-op gameplay and team based game modes.

The scheduled worldwide release of Need For Speed World is on 27th July. You can however, preorder the starter pack before the release date to ensure you are one of the first to play Need For Speed World.

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Introducing The Xbox Slim

Filed in archive Industry New , Xbox on June 15, 2010

Attendees at Microsoft's annual E3 press conference were treated to a surprise with the introduction of the new Xbox 360. It has a slimmer, angular new look and an internal redesign that reduces noise and adds much-wanted new features -- and it's out in stores this week!

Coming in a black-finished case with prominent cooling vents, the new machine - known as Xbox "Slim" -- will sell for $299, just as much as the 120 GB Xbox 360 Elite system. It works with all Xbox 360 games and hardware, except for the old-style external hard drives and memory cards.

The redesigned 360 is quieter, has built-in super-fast 802.11n wireless networking, and packs an internal, replaceable 250 GB hard drive. It also comes with a smaller power supply, a dedicated connector for Microsoft's upcoming Kinect motion control system, and five USB ports. There is also a black wireless controller that comes wit the gaming system.

This also means that Microsoft will no longer produce the original Xbox 360 hardware.

Microsoft will also cut prices of the existing Xbox range to $149 for the basic Arcade model, and $249 for the upgraded Elite. So this could also be your chance to grab a cheap Xbox, that is, if you're not too bothered about getting the brand-new Slim.

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Nintendo, Heart Association Promoting 'Active Play' Games

Filed in archive New Games , Nintendo , Uses of Gaming Technology on May 17, 2010

Wanna stay healthy? Then watch out as Nintendo works with the American Heart Association (AHA) to come up with games on its Wii consoles as a means to stay active.

Among key points in their negotiations are Wii boxes which will soon include the AHA brand, a health summit to be hosted by both Nintendo and AHA, and displaying Nintendo consoles at future AHA health events. A web site known as www.activeplaynow.com. is also in the offing.

The two organizations have agreed to focus their partnership on the Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort, and the original Wii console. Boxes for these products will bear the AHA stamp of approval, and will suggest consumers to buy active-play games.

Hopefully this will make people think about a healthy approach to living and how maybe active-play video games can be included in a healthy lifestyle.

A health summit featuring representatives from health sciences, health care, research, fitness, and video game industries will be hosted both by Nintendo and AHA although no date has been set yet.

Nintendo will be featured at Start! Heart Walk events this fall, including those in Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta from September through November. Participants will be able to try out the Wii consoles.

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Professor Uses Wii™ To Teach Lessons

Filed in archive Game Application , Uses of Gaming Technology on May 11, 2010

Photo Credit
Tom Daniels, after taking a shift pedaling an old bike propped up in the corner of an Iowa State University computer lab, joined a few of his freshmen students back at a computer.

The aspiring computer engineers were huddled over the monitor, tapping away at the keyboard, trying to use a Wii Remote™ to collect data from that bike.

They were using one of Nintendo's handy controllers for Wii video games to track infrared lights attached to one of the bike's pedals. Their project for Computer Engineering 186 ("Introduction to Computer Engineering and Problem Solving II") was to write a program that would use the Wii Remote to collect data about the spinning pedals and turn that into useful information about cadence and maybe even information about a rider's movement and efficiency.

The assignment was all about figuring out how to collect, process and use data, said Daniels, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. And it was about solving the problems that inevitably crop up when working with data as it comes in.

The students were having a hard time making it all work during a recent lab. Try as they might, their data wasn't showing up on the computer screen. But, they weren't frowning about it.

"It's really interesting," said Andria Osborne from Ely. "Most people in computer engineering want to work with numbers and stuff. I want to work with biology and other stuff. And so to work with this is exciting."

The Technology Association of Iowa recently honored Daniels with a 2010 Prometheus Award for Best Innovation in Teaching. The association says the award "recognizes a teacher's use of technology to create exciting learning opportunities."

Daniels said using a Wii Remote as a teaching tool is part of a new take on the department's two introductory, problem-solving classes. The idea was to find new ways to boost student interest and retention in computer engineering. A lot of students are attracted to computers because they like video games and game technology.

"We want these projects to be reasonable, but challenging," Daniels said. "I also want to give students a reason to care about the math and physics."

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