The year is all most over and everything you could about as a geek has been released. Its been a good year we got Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Cthulhu Saves the World, The Humble Indie Bundle and many, many more it has been a great year for games. 2012 looks like its going to be another epic year for video games. What are we looking forward to in 2012?

1. Skyrim DLC/Creation Kit/Mods

Bethesdas’s games have all ways been breath taking but the modding community that has grown around Bethesdas’s games is something to be in awe of. A short list of the amazing work done by the community should includes complete over hauls of the games including new engines to power them, unofficial patches, new spells and new quest lines. The list could go on and on but from those few examples you can see the love these people have for the games and only begin to imagine what’s going to come in the future from such talent. Some of this work has all ready started over at the skyrim nexus and huge projects like making the game HD are all ready underway but when the creation kit for skyrim launches in January we are going to see some utterly epic projects start.

I haven’t even mentioned DLC yet. The expansion pack shivering isles for oblivion is a one of the best pieces of DLC I have every played. I can’t tell you how excited I am for skyrim DLC. We have been told there will be less release but bigger release for skyrim which by its self gave nothing away but when it was discovered that all of tamerials landmass was in skyrim the theories began to fly around the web that the dlc for skyrim could see you returning to morrowind or cyrodil. Now the idea that the DLC packs for Skyrim could essentially give you essentially a whole new game like shivering isles did doesn’t sound so crazy only time will tell but what ever it is bethesda has in mind for DLC it will be epic.

Skyrim is an utterly mind blowing game, you can read my review of skyrim here.

2. Mass Effect 3

Without a doubt mass effect has been one of, if not the best, new series to launch this generation. The epic space opera has scratched an itch for many gamers and RPG fans alike. Mass effect 3 will bring an end to the epic journey of Commander Shepard and the climax of the Reapers invasion.  This is what we know so far Mass Effect 3 will begin on Earth with Commander Shepard on trial as a result of what happened in the Mass Effect 2 DLC pack Arrival. While there the Earth is attacked by Reapers. Shepard is forced to flee the planet in order to gather support from alien civilizations and mount a counter-attack while also having to deal with Cerberus, who have decided to turn against him/her. It is possible for Shepard to lose to the Reapers.

Sounds like a fantastic way to end the series. What really makes me smile is the fact you can lose. I cant think of any games that actually let you loose and see the hell that will be unleashed upon doing so. We also know that we will be heading to the major home worlds of each race so there is no question that old faces will return. On that note Bioware has made it well known that every choice made in mass effect 2 will affect the state of Mass Effect 3′s universe. From how you are perceived by the galaxy at large to who will come to your aid in those desperate last days.

Mass Effect 3 will be one of the biggest game launches next year. All of us here at dropdead can not wait to see more from the Bioware team.

3. Darksiders 2

I think Darksider is best summed up by penny aracde. Darksiders just scratches an itch that most of us didn’t even know we had. Its the perfect mix of all our favourite games. Darksiders is like the perfect cover band they take your favourite songs add their own flair and make you fall in love with the new version. Now thats not to say the originals are better or worse when its done right they can live together in a happy medium.

Darksiders left me wanting more. Everything about it the story, music, gameplay just made me smile I could find no problems other than the memories of other games the kept surfacing while playing. With Darksiders 2 I can only hope for more of a good thing. I have only one expectation for Darksiders 2 more of the same in greater quantities and with more polish.

Darksiders 2 is going to rock.

4. Borderlands 2

Borderlands was a serious time sink for all of us at dropdead. But to be honest it was the multiplayer that stole our hearts when it came to single player while cool it very quickly worn out its welcome for us. Either way the game was a welcome surprise. From the early reports on borderlands 2 it sounds like it’s going to rock. Introducing new classes, characters, guns and fixing bugs. Apparently they have adjusted and tuned up the gun generator so that a purple drop will all ways be better than a blue drop. I’m excited for it.

5. Half-life Episode 3 and/or Black Mesa Source

I know it’s a long shot but I am looking forward to these games and it’s been ages since word has surfaced about either could this be the year we get black mesa and finally hear about Half-life ep 3. Only Gabe knows

That’s our list of what we are looking forward to. Have your own list share it below or email us. Either way here is to an epic year of Nerdom.

What Are We Looking Forward To In 2012

Raam’s Shadow is the latest piece of DLC released for Gears of War 3 and is a mini-campaign featuring General Raam who you may remember as the main antagonist from the first Gears of War. Set before the events of the first game, Raam’s Shadow tells the story of Zeta squad as they aid in the evacuation of Ilima city before a massive kryll swarm arrives and the locust take over completely. Along the way General Raam makes several appearances, not just as an enemy but also as a playable character for the first time.

For the majority of the five chapter campaign you play as Barrick of zeta squad, yet another manly slab of muscle from the Gears of War expanded universe (a universe that I hope will eventually explain what happened to everybody’s sleeves after Gears of War 2). Rocking the sleeveless look before it was cool and always smoking a cigar, Barrick is a somewhat jaded and cynical mo fo who doesn’t screw around. He is humanized by the other members of zeta such as the compassionate Valera (a new character from what I can tell), the calm and collected Kim (from the original Gears of War) and the philosophical and superstitious Tai (from Gears of War 2).

These sections are more or less your standard Gears of War experience and occupy the majority of your time in the five chapters on offer. Gameplay reminds me more of the original Gears formula, with a focus on small tight encounters in city streets and an emphasis on closing emergence holes. It also seems to inherit annoying difficulty spikes at some points – particularly near the end where my AI teammates refused to be useful. Beyond that it’s the usual smooth gears gameplay that we know and love.

As advertised, at certain points you will get to control General Raam (co-op partners will be Mauler Elites) and go about massacring COG soldiers. As Raam you cannot take cover, but that’s okay because you’re 10ft tall and damn near invincible thanks to the swarm of kryll that protect you from bullets. You can stroll around the battlefield happily removing heads from shoulders with your melee attack, or – if you want to be extra villainous – you can point dramatically at enemies and your kryll shield will abandon you and go reduce them to gruesome explosions in a mad feeding orgy. This leaves you wide open to damage but is quite a lot of fun, as well as your only ranged attack. I challenge you not to laugh maniacally while doing this. 

If there’s a drawback to Raam’s sections it’s that not a lot was done with them. You just stomp forward pressing B and occasionally sending a swarm of kryll in some unlucky sods direction. Then, just as you’re getting used to the shift from cover based gameplay the game switches back to zeta squad. I understand that pacing will always be an issue when dealing with a mini-campaign that lasts only two or three hours, but every time Raam takes the spotlight, all you do is go forward for a little bit.

At the end of it all, Raam’s Shadow offers a solid, self-contained campaign that lasts a respectable amount of time and presents something a little different. Its biggest flaw is that it tries to cram too much into too little and as a result, the sections where you get to play as Raam feel a little under developed and end too quickly. What’s presented is still a lot of fun however, and for someone who just wants a bite sized chunk of Gears of War action, Raam’s Shadow is an excellent way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Score:

Gears of War 3: Raam’s Shadow – Review

As the gaming industry has developed so has its market as well, the demographic has expanded from its stereotypical nerd boy into a huge range of ages in both genders.

When the general public think of a gamer, they think of a young teenage boy, sitting like a zombie at a computer for hours on end, and while they do exist and are a large part of the gamer demographic they are no longer the main target audience that games are marketed to.

With the wide range of console and games now available they market has expanded amazingly.

The Wii has allowed family involvement in games, such as Wii Sports, Mario cart and puzzle games too, as well as still holding the classic aspects of first person shooters. It also holds aspects never before seen in consoles, with its controllers. This opens the market to include younger and older people, and its marketing strategies have evolved to include them, with new games being developed for multi-person friendly and family environments.

The DS has also allowed a range of ages to play games, with games suited to each age group, and ones that cross over too.  For example, Nintendos “Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training” allows older and younger generations to share great experiences which suit both groups.

We will always have the Playstation and the xbox to rely on when it comes down to the shooters, and the “jock” games of the gaming world, such as “Call of Duty” and also the slightly more nerdtastic ones like “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim”. We all know and love them, and they reign the market when it comes to sales and research and development of games and technology, but they too have to adapt to fight with newly formed competitors, and push themselves to reach into the family friendly market.

The xbox360 has adapted with the Kinect, which allows family to play group games together, yet also allows expansion to include all the old school games, and they’re expansions.

The Playstation has been in our homes for years, and has become very good at recreating itself. From the old grey Playstation one, to the first larger, then made smaller Playstation Two, and into its current stage, Playstation 3, with its sleeker smaller version as well, not to mention the Playstation Move, Sing Star and Buzz to top it all off. That is a lot of adaption, so I am really curious to see the next move.

Which brings us right around to our old forgotten friend, the PC. Left in the dust, only the real nerds still play it, it is used for social networking and looking up things for assignments, the disc drive a thing of the past… No, not at all correct. We still have millions of users who prefer a mouse and keyboard to the handheld controllers of other consoles, and who are just as competitive as others. It has never had to adapt, because it has always made games for families and for all aspects of the gaming community, without need to be told. It is timeless in its innovation.

So in this expanding market, I am very curious to see who excels, and who will be left on the shelf.

Console Adaption in the Markets of Today

Are games art is a topic of constant controversy. When Roger Ebert posted on his blog that he didn’t belive games were art which sparked an internet wide retaliation. Then a few months later he conceded that may be one day games could art.

In this months podcast we try to figure out for ourselves where we stand on the topic. Game creation is an artistic process but does the end product really count as art? Sure they look and sound beautiful. Some video game stories even beat the socks off most of Hollywood movies today. Writing and music are examples art on their own. So does wrapping them up in a new product make that product art in their own right?

Geeks Drinks And Video Games Ep.25 – Are Games Art

I’m going to be a girl here and complain. The makers of Battlefield Three announced that they have no women featured in the game.

No voiceovers, no features, nothing!

I’m not surprised, it is not the first game to not have women in it, all the Call of Duty’s feature no women either, but they didn’t announce it to the world.

In the modern-day world you would think that they would play a larger role in the game.

All major stereotypical males roles have a corresponding female part. James Bond superior “M” is a woman in the new movies. Resident evil has male and female lead characters. In recent time even Princess Peach from the Mario games has taken on a starring role. No longer needing to be saved in every game.

Female gamers now take up 40% of the demographic. Don’t you think they deserve a role in some of the biggest games of the year. The last two rainbow six games have let you be male or female.

It doesn’t really make sense to me that as a member of the female market. What caused EA to announce that they have no featuring women in the newly released game is beyond me and everyone at dropdead.

Saying that however I don’t think it will impact sales as it is one of the biggest games to have ever been released racking up over 8 million unit sales.

Editors note: There is in fact a single woman in both Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty 4, one of which is a mute, and the other gets nuked. Yup.

Battlefield 3 Features no Females

Everyone who has ever played a game has at one stage or an another said,”This would make a great movie”. Hitman, MetalGear solid, and Final Fantasy, the list goes on. Attempts at these have been made but never to any measurable success. When there is an existing fan base a proven story and characters that inspire franchises, I ask you how they mess it up time and time again.

This might sound obvious to anyone who has seen a film or played a game but actors make or break films. This is why films sometimes never get made because the director can’t get the star he wants. This may have to do with the theatrical range of the actor or the feel his specific talent brings to the role. Unfortunately for us directors only seem to make sure that the actor looks similar enough to the character and sufficiently cool so that a fake hype can be built up before the film’s release.

Going by the success rate these translations you would assume that no good actors have ever stared in any game to film swap. You would be wrong as Timothy Olyphant, Angelina Jolie and even Dennis Hopper have all shared a hand in stealing hours of our life we will never get back.
What some directors seem to be unable to understand is that while actors and characters are fundamentally linked to each other the actor is meant to take after the character and not the other way around. While Timothy Olyphant is somewhat of a tough and stern looking man, Agent 47 on the other hand is a cold-blooded killer who has no want nor need of human warmth.

Artistic direction is key to a the audience being impressed in the fantasy world. This is fortunately one of the aspects that these platform jumps do well. Silent Hill was possibly one of the best examples of this. A world that genuinely felt as disturbing as the game but was let down by characters inane dialogue. From Pyramid head to the zombie nurses, the creatures in this film and the environments they inhabited all felt right but unfortunately the almost alien presence of the protagonists seemed to constantly ruin any chance of holding the creepy atmosphere from one scene to the next.

My main problem with most attempts at video game translations is the need to reinvent the game on the silver screen. If you were handed a machine that printed money would you open it up and fiddle around with the complex inner working of something you didn’t even have a hand in making? If you answered yes then you’re either greedy or an idiot.
Take resident evil, a series that has captured the decomposed hearts of horror and zombie fanatics alike. It has some of the best rated games of all time and yet when a film was to be made the writers thought it a brilliant idea to scrap the entire original characters, plot and atmosphere that made this series a benchmark of the survival horror genre.

I understand that directors and writers don’t want to just copy the game. That they want to make their own film and not one that’s constricted by a cannon or genre but they shouldn’t really be attempting the adaptation should they.

While it may seem hopeless there has been note worthy attempts. Mortal Kombat is still one of my favorite films because it sticks close to the essence of the original game. Bloody Fights, Cheesy one liners and let’s face it the best dance song ever written. The film has been portrayed as a failure but I would consider it to be the closest adaptations we have ever had.

I believe it is not an impossible task to make a good film based on a game. If a director stays close and true to a game’s story, characters and chooses his actors based on the role opposed to their facial features then he should have no problem making these films. If we can do it with comic books novels and for Christ sake a film about Facebook then we can do it with games.

Can games make good films?

How do I even start to review skyrim. After only  a few hours its clear it’s unlike anything I have had to play before. 55 hours of play and I havent even scratched the surface. All I can do is give you what I have so far.

Skyrim is the sequel to Oblivion. The fifth in the long running series called The elder scrolls. Oblivion took 600+ hours of my life and I enjoyed every second of it. So obviously I was hugely excited for Skyrim. I  have not been disappointed. If any thing my expectation were blown clear out of the water. With in minutes of sitting down and booting up steam I caught up in an other worlds problems.

Then without noticing it was 9am the next day. Skyrim had taken my night from me. Dungeon diving, fishing, slaying dragons, finding new spells and finding a wife where my activities that weekend. Since then I have tried my hand at the thieves guild quest line. I threw aside the main quest in favour of exploring and have found my self caught in my own personal story. Thats not to say that the main quest isn’t any fun but like in oblivion the side quests and random encounters in skyrim have been mind-blowing, showing the darker side and daily lives if those that live in skyrim. All the while making me care more and more what happens to this land, making me want to return to the main quest as soon as I can in hopes to save everyone.

Suffice to say the game is epic on a grand scale. Normally in my reviews this is the point where I talk about the bad stuff and to be honest aside from the bugs one expects to find in these massive games there is nothing really bad to highlight. I have yet to find one thing that has made me want to stop playing and do something else. There has been some arguing about the new UI on PC’s but it really doesn’t bother me.

This game is without a doubt an A. If we had a higher score we would hand it out. Skyrim is simple one of the best games of 2011 and has my vote for game of the year.

Skyrim Review

So first off I want to say sorry for being off the air for so long. We had a serious discussion about where dropdead was heading. You see its gotten too big for just the four of us to handle. As it stands we make very little money from dropdead so many of us have jobs outside of the work we have to do here.

Instead of shutting dropdead down we have decided to make it a feature site. Instead of news we will post editorials, trailer break downs and guides to being a geek . You can see our first two pieces on the front page now. There are many more to come you just have to wait while me make the change.

The next big change is the podcast, it will also become a feature based podcast. Which means more prep-time. So expect less podcasts but with better content.

This week we talk about perfection. What makes a game and A or a 10 and is it the same as other forms of media.

We hope you enjoy this new direction. Remember if you have ideas to share you can contact us with the form above.

Geeks Drinks And Video Games Ep.24 – A New Dawn

An increasing trend in shooters lately is this idea of persistent progression and unlocks. A reward system of sorts, intended to make your experience feel more personal, lasting and meaningful. As you play you gain new skins, abilities, weapons or even advantages over your opponents, all the while chasing that next delicious carrot on a stick. While this mechanic is by no means a new idea in the industry, it’s frequency among shooters has definitely risen in recent years to the point where a game without it could be looked on as lacking by some. Whether you’ve just unlocked the defibrillator for the Assault kit in Battlefield 3, an ACOG scope for your UMP .45 in Modern Warfare 3, or even that Mark VI Mjolnir helmet for your Halo Reach spartan, you have experienced this trend in some form or another.

Call of Duty is probably the best example of this mentality. I’m not going to jump on the Modern Warfare 3 hate train that lots of gamers seem to be riding – its an enjoyable game that gets plenty of its design decisions right. I enjoy CoD for what it is: uncaring, bombastic fun. One of the mechanics that help make it so fun is the reward system, a system much lauded way back in ’07 with the advent of Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare. Ever since Modern Warfare 2 in ’09 it’s been difficult to get through a single multiplayer match in a CoD game without earning some kind of reward. From Killstreaks to medals, the player is constantly encouraged to keep playing through positive feedback for his or her efforts.

This feedback feeds into the persistent progression system in the form of unlocks and ranks. Your awesome performance suddenly has a tangible meaning in the game beyond the match you just played in. If you kick enough ass, not only will you win the game: you’ll eventually be given a bigger gun that lets you kick even more ass in the future. And you know what? That bigger gun will get even bigger as you use it through the wonder of unlockable attachments. Additional perks allow you to further tailor your experience, letting you play the game the way you want to play.

It’s easy to see why the system is popular yet at the same time the drawbacks are readily apparent. Lets say you start playing a generic shooter using an unlock system with John. Now, you’re new to the game. John has spent 18 hours every day for the last year playing it. Simply put, John has a much, MUCH bigger gun than you. You get absolutely destroyed until you can get a gun as big as his. What’s more, the particular combination of unlocks John is using is very much over powered – say cluster grenades and a giant explosive radius upgrade, or x-ray goggles and the ability to shoot through walls.

While this is an extreme example it serves to illustrate my point: balance can be an issue. How do you give someone a bigger gun without making the ones that came before it feel redundant. You also have to somehow make sure the player feels rewarded when he unlocks something and thus give it some tangible advantage over the ones that came before. Furthermore, all these possible unlocks have to be designed with one another in mind, lest a game breaking, reputation ruining combination surfaces. They also have to be careful not to make the differences between unlocks too arbitrary.

Lets look at Battlefield 3. It’s fair to say that game has its fair share of unlockables, from weapons to attachments to gadgets. Working in a similar carrot-on-a-stick way to Call of Duty, you have various merits and rewards thrown at you on a game to game basis. But whereas CoD has weapons that are clearly better than others, BF3 generally does a good job of keeping the infantry stuff balanced. The weapons have subtle differences in handling or firing modes, and each always has a place or role it’s suited for. Map design usually encourages a focus on all classes and, for the most part, essential gadgets are available from the get go. The gadgets focus more on offering new ways to play like the mortar for support or the EOD bot for the engineer, rather than outright improving your character. The perks that do improve the player are generally passive ones such as sprint faster or additional ammunition.

So did Battlefield nail the balance between rewards and gameplay perfectly? Well no. Vehicle unlocks are another story completely. Ground vehicles like tanks aren’t too bad, although a naked tank will have a challenging time taking down a fully kitted out tank. Jets are quite ridiculous, with a fresh pilot starting out with nothing but a gatling gun and and some faith in god. Taking down enemy jets without heat seeking missiles is very difficult for a beginner pilot (which everyone was at some stage), and evading missiles without flares is damn near impossible with no experience.

Battlefield and Call of Duty are just two examples of games that use this kind of persistent progression and together they’re probably the biggest shooters this year. They’re not the only ones though. Splinter Cell Conviction and Rainbow Six Vegas had and unlock systems that actually spanned all modes in the game, both single player and multiplayer. Halo Reach does it as well, though from a purely aesthetic perspective. Team Fortress 2 continues to be a completely different game every time I play it thanks to the plethora of tradeable items made available from weapons to hats.

So is persistent progression a good thing for gaming? More importantly is it a necessary feature for multiplayer shooters? Would you be put off if a game didn’t have it? Games like Quake and Unreal Tournament did just fine back in the day. They got by on their solid gameplay and fun factor, with things like balance being far less of an issue than it is today thanks to players generally starting with the same weapons and the strategic placement of power weapons around the map. Counter Strike had a progression system but it was on a game by game basis. It may be nostalgia, but I kind of miss the old ways of doing things. The experience felt more pure and skill based, rather than “oh, you had better gear than me”.

That said, it would be hard to imagine a Battlefield or Call of Duty game without persistent progression. Would the multiplayer be as fun without that beautiful carrot being dangled on a stick in front of me? I know I spent many a night in Battlefield 3 instead of my bed, saying “just one more unlock” after my sixth or seventh unlock that hour. I get hooked on these things and at the end of the day isn’t that what developers want?

Persistent progression in shooters

GTA V has been officially announced and everyone has something to say about it. Those of you that listen to our podcast you should all ready know our tastes can swing in a less conventional direction. So what do the drop dead crew expect to see and what do we hope we will see in the new GTA after seeing the first teaser trailer for GTA V.

1. The Return Of Some Old Favourites

Right off the bat its clear that we will be returning to Los Santos. For those of you that don’t know Los Santos is a city from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This has raised the question will GTA V return to the playground sandbox that  all the previous GTAs  bat GTA 4 have been. Features haven’t been confirmed yet but from the trailer it looks like many of the GTA San Andreas toys are back like jets, mini games (all we have seen so far is golf but I would imagine that’s only one of many mini-games) and even is back Bigfoot, the esteemed easter egg.

Right there next to the bird and below the flag walks a legend

2. Multi-player 

Yet to be confirmed but without a doubt set to return is Multi-player. Rockstar had something of a rocky start with multi-player, back in the early days of gaming GTA and GTA 2 had multi-player but it wasn’t exactly easy to use or set up. Multiplayer was completely dropped from GTA 3 and GTA San Andreas had the equivalent of fable 2′s multi-player which all of us will remember was not the greatest thing in the world.

Just a regular day in san andreas

It wasn’t until GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories that multiplayer for GTA really got sorted out. Each person had their own screen, could play from their own perspective and the power to render the world at the same speed as everyone else.  Then came GTA 4 which turned the power of high-speed broad band into a ton of fun in a big sandbox. Red Dead Redemption was the final layer of polish on Rockstars multi-player by finally working out away to stay connected to your friends a huge world and adding zombies .

So what should we expect from GTA V? Well if the above is anything to go by the multiplayer in GTA V will be damn near perfect. Each and every time Rockstar have made a GTA with Multiplayer it is hand over fist better than the last one. There are a few things however I would love to see added this time around.

1. A less clunky interface. I loved the mobile phone of GTA 4 it felt like it belonged and added an extra little bit of immersion. That was until you began to use the damn thing. To many menu to drill down through and it never felt like a modern phone. That said I would hate to see SIRI in GTA even more than that phone. Just bring back the good old overlaid menus that we have gotten used from almost every other game.
2. More friendly fire rules. I love as I’m sure many of you do shooting my friend in the back at the last-minute and just generally fucking with them. But there is a time and a place in private games all is fair and up for grabs. But once that game goes public there should be more active rules for team trolls. Something along the lines of bungies ban hammer would be welcome.
3. More Game. I know it could be argued that you have a whole city with multiple islands to play with. But Im speak more about game modes than maps. In GTA 4 we had a great choice of mode but they all dried up very quickly. After you played them a few time it stared to cycle the same routes and surprise over and over. I would just like to see some more variations.

Bank Heist Mode, Rob them all and win a prize

3.This GTA is going to vastly different.

Its been said multiple times by Rockstar that this is there biggest GTA ever and aims to go a completely new direction. First the protagonist this time could be a well of high-class criminal… That looks like Frank West no less.

This guy looks like frank west.

Seriously they look they so similar

But that may not be the only person you play as. Rumors would have us belive that this time round we might be playing more than one storyline. My guess would be that you only play a specific part of each characters life, Kinda like the GTA 4 DLC but much more focused. So you play as Frank West above then you meet a thug you take a shine to and boom now you play his life working for Frank. Personally I would like the game play to go this direction, It would feel a lot more movie like and would be a great way to split up your friends, mini games and even the gameplay could switch between each character.

Obviously more will become clear when GTA is closer to release. But for now take the above as a guide. With out a doubt GTA V is going to blow our minds.

GTA V What Can We Expect

Be the first to tackle Voxatron — a voxel-based, old-school-gone-new platform shooter. The Humble Voxatron Debut is your chance to both help charity and pick up a game for a price you set yourself. Much like the Humble Indie Bundle earlier this year, you can choose how much you pay, with the proceeds going to the Child’s Play charity. If you pay more than the average price paid by others (around $4.83 at the time of writing) you get additional content in the form of The Binding of Isaac and Blocks That Matter. Visit the site here to check it out. to be perfectly honest you’d have to be either mad or a Scrooge not to. Yes, I go for the guilt trip.

http://www.humblebundle.com/

Humble Voxatron Debut

Almost one year ago this week Kinect set out to change the way people interact with video games. Controller-free games and entertainment – once the stuff of science fiction – had become a reality through the impressive technology behind Kinect.  Sales soared to over 10 million Kinect sensors sold, setting the Guinness World Record as the fastest-selling consumer electronics device in 60 days along the way. Kinect opened up Xbox to a broad set of new audiences, bringing new categories of entertainment to the platform.

From family friendly games like The Gunstringer, to the very unique and interesting Child of Eden and even the Auto Vista in Forza 4, Kinect has found some clever uses, even in games you wouldn’t expect – Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary even has some features that utilize it. But the Kinect’s uses go beyond games alone.

Six months ago, a diverse group of hobbyists and academics from around the world embraced the possibilities of Kinect. In a wave of creativity, they downloaded the Microsoft Kinect for Windows SDK and began developing creative applications and innovative uses in healthcare, education, art and so much more.  Microsoft calls this “The Kinect Effect”.

Marking the 10th November (4th in the US) anniversary of Kinect, Xbox 360 have announced that the Kinect for Windows commercial program will be launched early next year. The commercial program will give businesses the tools to develop applications that not only could improve their own operations, but potentially revolutionise entire industries. To date, more than 200 businesses worldwide – including Toyota, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Razorfish – have joined a Kinect for Windows pilot program to begin exploring the possibilities of Kinect. While no one knows what the future holds, if the past year is any indication, it’s going to be inspiring.

Kinect’s one year anniversary