Week in Review: Gaming News

April 9, 2010 - By Erin Stuelke

Here are a few of the latest tidbits traveling around the gaming community. There was certainly a lot more going on this week, but I found these to be particularly interesting or fun. Enjoy!

Dr. Horrible goes 8-bit! I had to put this first since it’s just…well…awesome. Doctor Octoroc turned Joss Whedon’s short into what he refers to as “an interpretation of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog as a theoretical Nintendo game.” Even though you can’t actually play it, it is made of pure awesome and everyone should watch it.
Kid racks up a $1400 bill on Farmville. While Zynga games are free to play, they do offer in-game items and boosts for real money. Apparently, it is possible to spend $1400 in one month on all these digital wares as one UK 12-year-old proved after spending all of his savings then stealing his mother’s credit card. Scary.
DRM troubles still abound at Ubisoft. After more than 2 weeks post-release, Ubisoft’s Settlers 7 gamers are still having problems accessing the DRM servers. Because of Ubisoft’s always-online requirement, this means players can’t play if they can’t connect to the DRM server. Hopefully, these issues will make Ubisoft and other game publishers rethink this DRM strategy.
PlayStation 3 not-so-smooth mandatory update. Sony required PS3 owners to install a firmware update that increased security and removed the option to install an alternate OS. However, as The Escapist reports, some consoles are not getting by unscathed.

Live Support for Minesweeper?! According to The Escapist and Joystiq, there’s a rumor going around that Microsoft plans on adding Live Support for Solitaire, Minesweeper, Hearts… You know, the games that are shipped with Microsoft’s OS. If true, that means all these little time-wasters (I say that endearingly) will have achievements, online chat and leaderboards.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Free Weekend! Interested in trying out CoD:MW2? This is your lucky weekend. Steam is offering a weekend of free multiplayer play. Just install the game and go!
New releases this week: First up, available on PC, Xbox360 and PlayStation 3, is a Western-style, team-based third-person shooter from Fatshark called Lead & Gold: Gangs of the Wild West. If Westerns aren’t your style, maybe you’d be interested in suicidal robots? Indie developer Beatnik Games released Plain Sight, “a multiplayer arcade game about suicidal ninja robots.” Available on the PC, has the tagline “Kill Yourself”, and it’s only ten bucks. If you’re not quite in the suicide mood, try some games on the lighter side of life. Reflexive Entertainment released Simplz: Zoo. It’s simulation plus puzzle adventure and the website has the cutest music ever! Available on Mac and PC at a super cheap $5 from Steam. Or how about some racing fun with 2XL Games 2XL Supercross? Still looking for something else? Here’s a new action game from Tragnarion Studios called The Scourge Project. There’s definitely a variety to choose from this week and most of these titles are on sale over at Steam.
GTA IRL?! Lots of videos today. This one was done by Rooster Teeth. They did a science “experiment” on what it would be like to drive a real-life car from a third-person view like you would in Grand Theft Auto…including the Yakuza. There are a couple NSFW moments of swearing.