gHacks technology news » video-games http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:24:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Best free (and open-source) FPS games http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/25/best-free-and-open-source-fps-games/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/25/best-free-and-open-source-fps-games/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:35:14 +0000 Joe http://www.ghacks.net/?p=8514 Whilst first person shooters are mainly confined to the console, several good FPS games are available for PC. I’m nothing more than a casual gamer but I enjoy shooters and I was surprised by the sheer number available. I use a Mac, so this article will primarily focus on cross-platform shooters.

AssaultCube

AssaultCube is a quite simple 3D FPS available for Linux, OS X and Windows, which just reached version 1.0 about a week ago. The graphics are not very advanced, but a benefit of this is that it’s easier to run a server and that it can run on nearly any machine.

The best aspect of AssaultCube is the online play; there’s always a few busy servers available where one can play capture the flag, deathmatches or variations on those modes. AssaultCube is limited to seven weapons: sniper rifle, assault rifle, handgun, grenades, knives, shotgun and submachine guns.

Maps can be created for AssaultCube quite easily.

Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten is an FPS built on the same engine on which AssaultCube is built but has much more sophisticated graphics and is built in a fantasy world as opposed to a real one.

In Sauerbraten, weapons include crossbows, guns and rocketlaunchers. This is definitely a more interesting variety than AssaultCube! Once again, CTF and deathmatch are popular game modes.

The game notably lacks a crouch mechanism and struggles to run at higher resolutions on my MacBook Pro. However, it is an amazing open-source game with many fantastic maps.

Once again, Sauerbraten is orientated towards online pay but the CPU games are much better than AssaultCube’s.

Interestingly, the game can also be played as a 3rd person shooter!

Nexuiz

Nexuiz is an FPS with quite fictional weapons, like electricity guns etc. The game clearly belongs in the realms of fantasy, being set on a space station where one must shoot aliens.

I find the game difficult to play. Movement is far too fast compared to Cube engine games and it really does require quick reflexives.

The game isn’t smooth either. Before a game starts, there’s a text-only screen telling me what is loading etc. and the menu at the start looks terrible, especially at my screen resolution.

It’s still a fantastic game to play, however.

AssaultCube

Sauerbraten

Nexuiz

Needless to say there’s scores of other good games, these are just my favourite free (as in beer and freedom) shooters.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/25/best-free-and-open-source-fps-games/feed/ 15 Play Nintendo 8-bit games in your browser http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/09/play-nintendo-8-bit-games-in-your-browser/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/09/play-nintendo-8-bit-games-in-your-browser/#comments Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:56:38 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/09/play-nintendo-8-bit-games-in-your-browser/ I really loved the 8-bit gaming systems. I was pretty much a Sega fan back then and only played some Nintendo games like Super Mario Brothers or Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I did however follow the news and games and know lots of old classic games that came out for that Nintendo video game system and I actually bought a few already on my Nintendo Wii using the Virtual Console.

Still, it’s sometimes nice to just play a quick game and that’s where browsers excel. Nintendo 8 is a website that has huge list of available games that can be played in the browser which has to support Java because the games are emulated in a Java applet.

You can choose to browse a category like Action and RPG or browse all available games. Every category except the one that lists all games displays a preview image of the game. A click on the title or screenshot loads the game. Controls are usually the arrow keys for directions, B-key being Z, A-key being X, Start key being enter and Select mapped to CTRL.

nintendo games browser

Games are fast loading and performance is fine. Excellent way to spend some free time.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/09/play-nintendo-8-bit-games-in-your-browser/feed/ 4 OCZ Actuator Next Gen Video Gaming http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/02/ocz-actuator-next-gen-video-gaming/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/02/ocz-actuator-next-gen-video-gaming/#comments Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:49:09 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/02/ocz-actuator-next-gen-video-gaming/ Keyboard, Mouse and Gamepads: Those are the standard controls of today’s video gamers and I personally did not think that this would change anytime soon. Then came the presentation of the OCZ Actuator which changed my mind. It looks like a high tech headband but it’s actually more than that.

It decodes neural signals into unique commands that are used to interact with the computer. I found a video on Youtube that was taken on the CEBIT 2007 (a year ago) were someone was playing an ego shooter with a mouse and the OCZ Actuator. He did not have to press buttons to shoot, he did not have to press the forward key to move, all he needed the mouse for was to look around.

That’s a whole new level of gaming in my opinion. OCZ will be present on this years Cebit again which takes place from March 4th to 9th in Hannover, Germany. The release date (planned) for the device is mid 2008.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/03/02/ocz-actuator-next-gen-video-gaming/feed/ 2 Zero Punctuation http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/17/zero-punctuation/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/17/zero-punctuation/#comments Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:14:41 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/17/zero-punctuation/ I recently came upon a series of video game reviews called Zero Punctuation over at the Escapist Magazine which could probably described as reviews in a hurry. Yahtzee Croshaw, the guy doing the reviews, was apparently born with the talent to talk pretty fast which he is doing in those reviews that usually last between three to five minutes.

There is also no ingame footage but great drawings that visually explain what Yahtzee is talking about at the moment. I personally think that his reviews are up to the point and really funny to watch and listen to.

I decided to embed a few of his latest reviews, those of Half-life 2 Orange Box, Bioshock and Halo 3. All others can be viewed by following the link at the end of this article.

via Zero Punctuation

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/17/zero-punctuation/feed/ 2 Nintendo Wii Launch Games http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/15/nintendo-wii-launch-games/ http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/15/nintendo-wii-launch-games/#comments Wed, 15 Nov 2006 08:12:46 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/15/nintendo-wii-launch-games/ The Nintendo Wii will come out in the United States November 19th, 2006, in Japan on December 2nd, 2006 and in Europe on December 8th, 2006. The Nintendo Wii features a unique method of controlling the action on screen which could revolutionize the way games are played on video game systems. It concentrates on this aspect instead of pure horsepower like the ps3 and xbox 360.

Wikipedia lists 26 games that will be available on launch day in Northern America, some are the usual multi-platform titles but many make good use of the new controlling scheme. Still, only a few rely on the scheme exclusively. A big advantage of Nintendo’s Wii is the price – the basic system including the Wii Sports game costs only $249.99, this is less than half the price of a premium playstation 3 system which does not ship with a game.

Games for the Wii seem to have a lower price as well, most stay close to $50 while PS3 titles are closer to mid-end $50. The Wii still features all those popular games, like Mario, Zelda and Metroid that made Nintendo the biggest player in the video game market which is great for Nintendo fans. It also offers the unique opportunity for different kind of games that have not been possible with normal controllers.

Let us start with the games, I included at least one link to reviews or previews to give you the ability to read more about a specific title that could be of interest to you.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (ign preview)
Barnyard (ign preview)
Call of Duty 3 (ign review: 7.7)
Cars (gamespot review)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (ign preview)
Excite Truck (ign preview)
GT Pro Series (ign preview)
Happy Feet (gamespot review)
Madden NFL 07 (ign preview)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (ign preview)
Metal Slug Anthology (gamespot preview)
Monster 4×4 World Circuit (gamespot review)
Need for Speed: Carbon (ign preview)
Open Season (gamespot preview)
Rapala Tournament Fishing (gamespot preview)
Rayman Raving Rabbids (ign preview)
Red Steel (ign preview)
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (ign preview)
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (ign review: 8.4)
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (gamespot preview)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (lawrence: 9.9)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent (gamespot preview)
Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam (ign preview)
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (ign review: 8.0)
Wii Sports (ign review: 7.5, lawrence: 8.9)
World Series of Poker (gamespot preview)

Everyone has of course his own game types that he likes to play, some like Sport games, some racing, some roleplaying games. It is a matter of taste and the Wii should deliver something for everyone. Let us take a look at the most interesting games of some of the most popular categories:

Wii Party Games: Wii Sports included, Rayman Raving Rabbids, probably Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. Watch out for Wii Play which is a launch title in Europe.
Wii Games you can’t do anything wrong with: Zelda
Unique to the Wii and worth a look: Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Red Steel

Everything else is up to you. If you have not played all those typical games that come out for all systems (Splinter Cell, all EA games, Call of Duty 3 aso you might want to check them out as well.)

I will buy a Wii and use it for games that you can play with friends plus games that use the unique controller for the Wii in a great way. I will not buy conversions, I will not buy all those games that you can buy for every system that comes out. Wii is unique and that is what I want as well, unique games.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/15/nintendo-wii-launch-games/feed/ 1 Mario Brothers Videogame Live Performance http://www.ghacks.net/2006/04/27/mario-brothers-videogame-live-performance/ http://www.ghacks.net/2006/04/27/mario-brothers-videogame-live-performance/#comments Thu, 27 Apr 2006 09:38:13 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2006/04/27/mario-brothers-videogame-live-performance/ This is so funny. College Students perform a Mario Brothers level live on stage. You have to see it to believe it. Great acting and good for some laughs. Thanks to online high tech magazine for the link.

mario live performance

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2006/04/27/mario-brothers-videogame-live-performance/feed/ 0 Video Game Myths Debunked http://www.ghacks.net/2005/12/13/video-game-myths-debunked/ http://www.ghacks.net/2005/12/13/video-game-myths-debunked/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2005 15:31:02 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=219 I found an article written by Henry Jenkins, the director of comparative studies at MIT, that counters public perception of video games with scientific research. Everyone has read stories that connect violence in computer games to violence in the real world. “He shoot them because of Doom”, “The drive by shooting was caused by playing GTA” and similar stories made it to the frontline news in most parts of the world.

Professor Jenkins took a look at eight common myths about computer games including: Scientific evidence links violent game play with youth aggression, Video game play is socially isolating and Video game play is desensitizing.

Next time someone makes up claims like those you know how to reply.

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