Tired of wrestling with assorted meats and vegetables, Mama has moved from the confines of Majesco's kitchen and into the fresh outdoors, or at least she will next Spring when Gardening Mama is released for the Nintendo DS. Developed by the folks responsible for Mama's culinary exploits, the game will allow players to "plant, nurture and harvest" flowers, fruits and veggies growing in her backyard.
Perhaps this is the beginning of a trend for Mama as she explores the world outside of her kitchen to discover firsthand just where her ingredients come from. We gleefully await the arrival of Slaughterhouse Mama to deliver some delicious reindeer steaks just in time for next year's holiday rush.
Majesco kept it classy in its response to PETA's Cooking Mama parody. Taking the whole situation in stride, the publisher quoted the fictional Mama as saying, "I would never put rat in my Ratatouille. Like any accomplished cook, I create my recipes to appeal to a broad range of tastes and preferences. My only goal is to ensure you leave the table well fed."
Majesco went on to note that the company's latest entry in the franchise, Cooking Mama World Kitchen, features over 25 vegetarian-friendly recipes. It also states that Mama is not a vegetarian, but "fully supports" the humane treatment of animals, as her doggie "protégé" Max will make his debut in the latest game -- hopefully, not as an entrée. Kudos to Majesco for incorporating some flair into what would otherwise have been another boring press release about a game launch. And thanks to PETA for making the whole laugh possible.
If you're still exploring the galaxy and seeding obscure planets with your peculiar race of tripedal penguins, you'll be pleased to note the arrival of Spore Patch 3, which not only strangles several known bugs but gives you a hand in creature creation. Well, 24 hands in fact, or 24 exoskeleton appendages to be more precise. We encourage you to welcome these latest members of the "Free DLC" club and promptly slap them onto your latest creations.
In order to download the patch (corrections are listed after the break), simply hop online with Spore or launch the EA Download Manager -- you'll be placed in arm's way automatically. Though the game is still locked up tight in DRM prison, it's nice to see it enjoying some free limb.
Despite receiving a few complaints from critics concerning gameplay shortcomings, Will Wright's latest brain child, Spore, was recently chosen as one of Time Magazine's 50 Best Inventions of 2008. Finishing in 20th place, and credited as "The Everything Game", Time remarked on the ambitious nature of the title, labeling it as "blasphemy, brilliance or both."
Other "inventions" listed include "The Direct-to-Web Supervillain Musical", Hulu.com, and 23andMe's home DNA test, which garnered top honors. The Large Hadron Collider, the "world's most expensive science experiment", made an unremarkable 5th place finish -- Time cited the machine's failure to follow through on its promise to destroy humanity as the reason for its disappointing placement on the list.
Ever wanted to create your own spacecraft and sail the ocean of stars? Well, you can do that with Nude Maker and Platinum Games' Infinite Space for DS -- sorta. We caught up with Hifumi Kouno, both president of Nude Maker and director of Infinite Space, to find out more about the spaceship-building title that's due out next year.
THQ has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over the trade dress and copyright of an off-road racing game, reports law blog Patent Arcade. THQ alleges that SCORE International Baja 1000: The Official Game, releasing this month, infringes on the trade dress (box art) of its Baja: Edge of Control.
We certainly notice the strong similarities between the two covers, but we're sure the legal rationale for the suit will go beyond saying: "These two cars are in practically the same position on the cover, with a red car in the foreground and a blue one airborne in the background." At least, we hope the legal arguments go beyond that.
PDF - THQ Inc. v. Activision Blizzard, Inc. [Patent Arcade]
While we still believe that nothing beats a crowbar for self-defense, the gun-toting quartet in Left 4 Dead seems to be doing pretty well for itself. According to Valve's Doug Lombardi (via GameDaily), "With just over four weeks until launch, Left 4 Dead is showing every sign of topping The Orange Box on both the PC and Xbox 360, at retail as well as on Steam."
Lombardi said that retail pre-sales are 65% greater the Half-Life 2 mega-pack at the same proximity to launch. We're sure the 10% off pre-order deal helps a bit. Left 4 Dead will arrive November 18.
Potential storm in a teacup news now, with EA CEO John Riccitiello recently commenting on Spore's "particularly aggressive" digital rights management at a Media & Money conference. Though expressing a dislike for the anti-piracy system, Riccitiello explained that better protection against those with a propensity for pilferage had yet to manifest. He further added that the widely reported outcry against Spore's DRM originated from a deafening minority.
"We chose a particularly aggressive form of DRM, which 99.8 percent of consumers would never notice, but that two-tenths of one percent got incredibly focused and formed an online PR cabal," he said. "We can eliminate piracy by essentially blocking the online service from the pirate." Riccitiello called it "the future of DRM," one we hope will be more adept at distinguishing between the consumers and the criminals.
EA confirmed that they're working on two different expansions for Will Wright's universe-in-a-hard-drive Spore this morning, both the previously revealed Spore: Creepy and Cute Parts pack and a new expansion for the game's "Space" phase, which is already exponentially larger than its co-levels.
Expect Cute and Creepy to add around 100 new parts -- some cute and cartoonish, some monster-like. "Cute" and "creepy" is fine as a title, but at a price of $19.95 those parts had better be nauseatingly adorable and perversely horrifying. It's due on Nov. 18 and will also work for those who only own the Spore Creature Creator.
The untitled Space expansion won't arrive until spring of 2009, but it sounds substantially meatier than the parts pack. According to EA, "players' space faring creatures will be able to beam down from their spaceships to explore new planets and earn rewards for completing challenging missions" and "a new Adventure Creator will allow players to build and share online their own custom missions."
So, yeah, EA is flogging Will Wright's new creation. If this comes as a surprise, we'd kindly direct you to the Sims aisles of your local game store.
Well, that was fast. With just over a month since Will Wright's Spore was released to the masses, a listing has popped up on Electronic Arts' online store for Spore: Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, something we've known to be coming since our E3 2008 interview. You can currently pre-order the expansion, available as direct download for $19.95 on Tuesday, November 18, though that could change. Are you ready for an onslaught of creepier (and cuter) penis creatures?
When we last spoke to The Sims' studio head, Rod Humble, he was applauding the franchise's retail success. Now the exec has another, albeit more personal reason to celebrate, having climbed up another rung on the corporate ladder, laying claim to the role of The Sims' brand's executive VP. The move follows the recent hiring of Jeff Green, who left the world of game journalism last month to throw his body on the gears of EA's expansion factory as well.
Humble replaces former lead, Nancy Smith, who EA notes will handle "special" The Sims-related projects before eventually moving into a new as-yet-undefined role in the months ahead. We offer congratulations, and suggest he celebrate his new position by locking co-workers in the bathroom or pushing them in the corporate pool before deftly removing any means of escape.
Look, we consider ourselves experts around here. Bungie tries to put one past us? Heck nah! Case closed. But then this little ditty hits our inbox and we're totally stumped. What is this? A game? Is this supposed to get us excited about something? You ever get the feeling, like, there's this whole other planet of other people who play other games...? Yeah, we got that feeling right now.
What do you know, people actually did pay for Spore. EA recently announced that its DRM-riffic title Spore has sold one million copies worldwide across PC, Mac and DS platforms. The publisher also stated that 25 million creatures, vehicles and buildings have evolved in the Sporepedia.
Not that there was any doubt that Spore would ever reach the million sold mark, but whether its "mile wide, inch deep" gameplay brings it The Sims level of success remains to be revealed.
"... So this is the way I did it: The Sims, as you know, you can control your imaginary world, right? And in our movie, a young man, a 16 year old kid or a 14 year old kid and his friend get their hands on this thing called the Sims Infinity Pack, right, which is kind of this very strange video game store which was there just for that moment, and seemingly wasn't and all that. But what they realize is that they can scan their world in, because this is the most life like, real Sims game ever. And as they are playing this they are all of a sudden realizing is what they are playing on the game is having an effect on the real world. So in effect, through the game, they are able to control their world. It's wish fulfillment, and obviously it turns against them."
It's a larger quote than we'd normally post in full, but we didn't want you to think we had tampered with it in any way. So as not to make this post take up any more real estate on the front page, we've put our mature and insightful critique of the film's concept right after the break.
If any sort of parallel can be drawn between Spore and the creatures you foster into civilization within its digital confines, then we've reached a very proud moment. After it emerged from the development seas, wobbling on two spindly legs, Spore has now gone through its first evolution, thanks to a recently released patch that should help the fledgling game walk just a bit straighter.
There's a bevy of changes, from a difficulty increase in the game's first half and a decrease of random attacks on your home planet during the Space stage. Read all about Spore's evolutionary step right here. The patch is available via BigDownload.
Tired of wrestling with assorted meats and vegetables, Mama has moved from the confines of Majesco's kitchen and into the fresh outdoors, or at least she will next Spring when Gardening Mama is released for the Nintendo DS. Developed by the folks responsible for Mama's culinary exploits, the game will allow players to "plant, nurture and harvest" flowers, fruits and veggies growing in her backyard.
